Family Secrets

A Gift

"You guys didn't have to come back early, ya know," Peter mumbled. "I know that opening a lab on the other side of the country is pretty important."

"And you aren't? We would have come home for a paper cut if you wanted us to, baby, this was definitely something we were coming home for," Pepper said, joking a little to relieve some tension.

"Besides, it was the most boring vacation ever... A whole bunch of stiffs in suits talking about things that don't matter to me," Tony said, winking at his son. Pepper smacked his arm playfully, and the trio laughed.

Tony, Pepper, and Peter made small talk like that for a while longer, until Pepper and Peter both noticed Tony had fallen asleep.

"He was really worried, you know... I've never seen him so scared," Pepper sighed, stroking Peter's hair slowly. "He's probably exhausted."

"Dad doesn't sleep a lot anyways, I can't imagine this helped anything," Peter said, guilt creeping into his voice.

"Hey, no, your father," Pepper took a breath, trying to compose her thoughts. "Yes, sometimes he overworks himself and doesn't sleep much. And sometimes, like right now, he crashes because he is tired and really scared and when everything is okay, he feels like he can finally relax a little. You are not responsible for his sleeping pattern, Peter, and you shouldn't feel bad about this!"

Peter gave a small smile. "Okay."

Pepper fell asleep not long after that, leaving Peter to his thoughts. He had been so stupid, letting that guy get him so easily. He'd put everyone in danger! His mind was a whirl of bad thoughts, each one coming back to how Peter had put his family in danger, how he had been duped, or how he had caused his parents so much worry.

The teen stretched, racking his neck to the side and rolling his shoulders. Besides feeling sore, he wasn't really all that torn up about things. His super healing really came in handy at times like this. The stitches on his abdomen would most likely be able to come out tomorrow, and other than that, he felt fine.

Peter carefully wiggled out of the sheets, cautious not to wake his parents. Something about the way his skin felt, as strange as that sounded, was making Peter uncomfy. He took a few steps, feeling... different. Maybe it was all because of his laying down too long, or maybe he was just stiff. Or maybe it was the spider repellent?

Peter walked towards the elevator. He had no idea what time it was, or if anyone was up, but he was craving something to snack on, maybe an apple.

The first thing Peter saw when he entered the penthouse was what looked like the messiest sleepover ever. Natasha and Clint were slumped on the couch, while Sam was asleep on the floor. Rhodey, the Guardians, and Shuuri were all asleep in the situation room, which was wide open. Bruce was at the dining table, surrounded by books and papers.

The only person awake in the whole of the living area, was Stephen Strange, who was sitting at the kitchen island, staring at the wall, and holding a cup of coffee between his hands. The older man looked tired, and for the few, brief moments Peter looked at him before talking, the teenager noticed how grey his hair had gotten since the last time he'd been at the Tower. How white the man's knuckles were, clenched around the mug. How much he reminded Peter of Tony.

"Hey."

Strange looked up, noticing the teen. "Hey, yourself. You aren't supposed to be out of bed." Despite the warning tone and words of concern, the older man didn't move or do anything about it, just go back at staring at the wall.

"W-W-What time is- is it?" Peter had never really talked to the man before, only in passing. He was a bit nervous to be alone with him. He made his way closer to the island, taking a seat next to the man.

"Around midnight. Maybe closer to 1 now."

"How is everyone?"

Stephen blew air out his nose, almost laughing. "Look around, kid. You gave us all a pretty bad scare. Your friends are sleeping in your room and everyone else has been working non-stop."

The two were quiet for a moment. The kitchen was impossibly quiet and Peter couldn't remember a time when it had been like this before.

"I remember the day I met you," Stephen said softly, breaking the silence. "You probably don't remember, though. It was right after you'd been adopted. I was flying in to work on a case with your father, who, I might add, had not told me anything about you. I'd never thought much of kids, let alone having one myself. I was... I was cocky before I started working with your family. Kind of blunt. Never really imagined myself in a family at all."

Peter was quiet, trying his best to let the man next to him talk. Maybe this is what he needs to do to feel better, Peter thought.

"I came into this conference room, with all your uncles and aunt and... whoever else. And Tony comes in, starts talking about the case and all this science and whatnot. All of a sudden, his AI come on and starts talking about how 'Peter' is looking for him, how Pepper isn't home and the kid is crying. It was this... this instant response, the whole room gets up and leaves. I'd never seen anything like that. They all just dropped their work to go and look for you. Well, I had no idea what was going on, so I am sitting there, waiting for someone to come back, and in you stumble. Sure as hell, you're crying and calling for Tony- your dad- and you walk right up to me. These huge brown eyes, just... swimming in tears and you go 'where's my dad?'. So I said he was looking for you but if you wanted to wait with me, you could. I told you my name and you just crawled right into my lap, no hesitation. You told me you liked my cape, and that I looked like your dad only older, which I found amusing, and then you fell asleep. And the last thing you said to me, just as you were really starting to black out, was 'night-night, dad'. And I haven't had a day go by that I don't think about that."

Peter smiled. "I don't remember that at all, I'm sorry."

"Nah, you were young and scared. You probably really did think I was your old man."

The two sat in silence again, but it was a short lived quiet.

"I know I'm not here a lot, and when I am, I can be a little stand offish," Stephen continued. "But I keep up to date on all your school work. And I always read the updates Tony sends me, and all that. And I always love you, ever since that day. You really scared me, Peter. I thought I was losing you today, I really did."

Peter looked up, only to see the man next to him wipe a tear away from his eyes quickly, as if he didn't want to be caught.

"I'm sorry," Peter whispered. "I'm so sorry." His voice cracked slightly at the end, and he felt tears pick his eyes. He looked down at his hands.

"It's not your fault, Peter. You gave us a all this huge scare and it was the best thing in my life. Not that you got hurt, that came out all wrong, I just mean that you scared me and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had a family. Like I had this crazy, wild family, full of annoying pranks and stupid puns, but I also had this amazing boy that I love. And I would do anything to protect." Suddenly, Peter felt arms go around him, and he instinctively wrapped his own arms around the man next to him.

"You gave us a gift, Peter. You scared us, but it was worth it. You gave us family."