SAVED BY THE AVENGERS

WHO?

"Shi-" Gwen started to say before she glanced at her brother who was wide awake at this point. "-Take mushrooms."

"Good cover," came a voice from the door. Bruce looked to see Tony standing there.

"You learn to do that when you live with kids," Gwen replied as she struggled to stand on her own. She bit her lip as her right leg gave out, making her lean heavily on Bruce. "Now, before this gets any farther, I believe we should all be introduced and last night should be explained to me from the beginning."

"How about breakfast first?" Natasha said, eyeing Peter and Gwen. "It'll give us time to wait for the rest of the crew to wake up."

"Rest of the crew?" Gwen echoed. She suddenly looked very nervous.

"There's just a couple more people," Bruce said as he watched her successfully stand and take a couple of tentative steps on her own. Watching her like a hawk in case she fell again. He frowned when she bent down to pick her brother up off the bed.

"I'll be fine," Gwen said, her back to him. "I've slept off most of the effects of the drug. I just needed to tell my muscles to start working again. Where's the kitchen and what's for breakfast?"

"So, you know what the drug was?" Tony asked, suddenly serious as Natasha lead the way to the kitchen.

"Not its name, no. But I know the effects. It's some kind of sedative and muscle relaxant rolled into one, I think. That's what it's always done to me."
"That stuff has been used on you before," Bruce asked, startled. Gwen neglected to answer as they walked into the kitchen.

"Now, you guys are going to sit down at the table and wait while I make breakfast," Natasha said, cutting off Gwen when she opened her mouth. "No if's, and's or but's. We brought you here to make sure that you were safe and to care for you. We expect nothing in return for this. So sit down with your brother."

With something that sounded like a cross between a sigh and a huff, Gwen sat down beside her brother, who was talking animatedly with Tony, who had just sat down at the table with a cup of coffee. After a second, Gwen's eyes widened.

"Are you Tony Stark?" she asked. "Of Stark Enterprises?"

"The one and only," Tony replied.

Gwen frowned. "I don't know whether to hit you or thank you."

Natasha covered her giggles while Bruce very quickly swallowed his coffee so he could laugh both at the comment and at the look on Tony's face.

"Don't worry, most people don't know the answer to that question," said a red haired woman, walking into the room. "Especially this early in the morning. Pepper Potts. I'm assuming that you two are Gwen and Peter?"

Gwen scowled. "Just how many people are there who know about us?" she demanded. "We try to keep a low profile for a very important reason. We've got people after us and I'm not keen on having a repeat of last night anytime soon."

"Calm down," Bruce said, the irony of the comment not lost on him. "We're not going to turn you two back onto the streets with this guy after you. There are only a few people who know you are here and we'll make sure that it stays that way. Remember what Natasha said earlier?"

"The man after us is smart and if you've run a background check on the two of us, like I think you have-" Gwen shot Tony a very dark look "-Then you'll have set off at least two of the red flags that he's got up. What did you find on us anyways?"

"That your last name is Parker and that your parents died a couple of years ago. Pretty much just enough to corroborate what your brother told us last night. I couldn't find records of your adoption or fostering in any of the federal files though," Tony replied. Pepper smacked the back of his head.