Family Secrets

Weekend Trips

Peter liked staying home at the Tower. He liked learning with his uncles and aunts, he liked sleeping in, and most of all, he liked working with his dad in the labs.

That all being said, he missed Ned and MJ. Sure, they'd come over every Thursday for homework and again on Saturdays for movie nights, but he still missed them day-to-day. Peter had found ways to keep in contact through out the week, keeping Ned on coms whenever he went out to patrol, and Skyping with MJ nearly every night. It still wasn't enough.

"Please?" The teen had his hands clasped tightly, his face was scrunched up into some sort of pleading scowl, and his voice was at least and octave higher. "Pleeaaasssseeeee?"

"Peter, no," Pepper sighed. "Its just not safe."

"What's not safe?" Sam, Bucky, and Steve stepped into the penthouse. Pepper was struggling with her earrings and trying to get ready, but Peter was following her around, making that nearly impossible. The teen ended up propping himself onto a stool at the kitchen island.

"Peter has some wild idea of taking Ned and MJ camping with him."

"Oh," Sam said, collapsing on the couch. "What's wrong with that?"

Steve and Pepper both looked at him with eyes wide.

"Seriously," Steve scoffed. "You think it's a good idea to send Peter, Ned, and MJ to the woods? Alone? For 2 nights?"

"Well, they are almost 16. Peter is a literal superhero, MJ is like a mini Pepper, and Ned is a genius! They'll be fine."

"They most certainly will not!" Pepper said, throwing up her hands. "We never caught that crazy nut job who nearly killed Peter!"

"Exactly," Steve jumped back in. "Its just not safe. And they aren't old enough."

Steve and Pepper both crossed their arms, as if they had somehow won a big argument. Bucky, however, chuckled lightly. He strolled over to Peter, ruffling his metal hand through the teen's hair, and sending hims a wink.

"You and I went camping for the first time alone when we were 13, Steve."

Steve paled slightly, but kept his arms crossed. Pepper, however, let out an exasperated sigh.

"I have to go, we will talk about this later." Her heels clicked away and Peter looked up at Steve with his best puppy dog eyes.

"Uncle Steve?"

The blond man tried to resist his nephew's stare, but he eventually gave in. Goddamn those eyes. "Bucky and I were 13, yes, but it was also the 1900's, Pete! It was a different time!"

"But you were still only 13!"

Steve sighed. He didn't want to get into an argument between Peter and his parents, so he instead thumped Bucky on the head and sat on the couch. Bucky rolled his eyes.

Peter hopped off the stool in the kitchen he had been perched on. He retreated to his room, with a plan that was sure to convince his parents to let him go.

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"Young sir, dinner is ready." FRIDAY's voice startled Peter out of his nap. At some point in the evening, he had falling asleep on his desk. Peeling his cheek off of the cool glass top of the desk, Peter stretched and cracked his neck.

Peter padded down the hall and into the dinning room.

"Dad, Mom," he nodded at both of them and served himself some pizza. Tony could spot Peter's mood from a mile away, and he would have seen it even if Pepper hadn't told him what was going on.

"Hey, underoos. Care to explain why you think camping is a good idea?"

The whole family seems to shrink back from the table. They'd all been filled in on the situation, but none of them wanted to take sides. The last time they had taken sides in an argument between Peter and his parents, it had been about a dog and they all ended up in a hotel for a month afterwards.

"I've done a ton of research on which parts of the parks and stuff are safest and there is a place like 10 miles away that is super safe! I'll be close enough to call if anything happens, but I can spend the whole weekend with Ned and MJ and have fun with my friends! I'm literally a superhero, I'll be totally fine, just like Uncle Sam said, and Uncle Steve and Uncle Bucky went camping alone for the first time at 13! I can totally do this and be safe!"

Sam, Bucky, and Steve had quietly gotten up, but were quickly pulled back to the table.

"Uh-uh, you three are staying here. Clearly you all have so much to say about it." Pepper shot daggers at the men.

"Peter, we don't know who tried to attack you last month. We don't know anything! It's just too risky!"

Peter slumped back into his chair. He thought for sure he would have convinced them with the whole safe site thing. "This is so unfair," he said softly.

"Peter," Pepper warned.

"It is!" The teen threw his arms up. "I know that guy is still out there, but I really miss my friends! I love you guys and I love being here but I miss them and I just want to go and do something fun and grown up and- and- and UGH!"

Peter shoveled more pizza into his mouth, chewing angrily and putting his head on the table.

"Is it just a weekend trip you want?"

Peter looked up to Wanda with a curious stare. "Yeah, I guess..."

Wanda smiled. "Why don't we send him to the house I used in Hawaii? Its safe and off the grid and virtually impossible to get to for the public!"

"What?" Pepper wheeled around, looking upset, but Tony put his hand on her arm.

"It would be a lot safer. Just about as safe as you can get."

The whole family got quiet. Natasha sent Pepper a reassuring nod, and Stephen offered to portal the teens there in order to avoid airports.

"I just revamped the security system in all the houses," Rhodey offered. Peter grinned like a little kid.

"That's literally the safest place we could go!"

Tony gave his son a look that clearly said don't push it and then turned back to his wife.

"He is almost 16. He'll be in one of the safest places in the world. If anything happens, FRIDAY will tell us and we can portal there. We could send him and his friends for the end of the school year, say, next weekend? Just before finals?"

Pepper looked at her husband. No amount of security would make her stop worrying, but this was much, much better than camping.

"Okay."

**A/N: Hi, y'all! I'm back off hiatus and I just want to say how thankful I am to have your guys' support! I honestly expected to get like 2 reads, so this is amazing to me! I hope you all had a wonderful spring break, I know I did, and I'm happy to be back and writing for you again! Hope you enjoy it, and as always, leave a comment if you have any feedback!**