Let's Begin

Ch. 1

"Mom!" Peter yelled, running into the living room, Ned and MJ following close behind.

At the sound of Peter's shout, Pepper looked up from her Stark tablet to see her curly-haired son with his two friends come to a sudden stop at the end of the couch. Ned stumbled into Peter who tripped over the couch and fell on top of it, making Pepper bounce just a bit. MJ merely raised an eyebrow at the two and shared a look with Pepper.

"Yes, Peter?" Pepper asked as Peter righted himself then glanced back at his friends.

"Can Ned and MJ stay the night?" he asked. He rushed to continue, saying, "We already asked their parents and they said it was fine since school starts in two days and we can't have sleepovers during the week once school starts. Pretty please can they stay?"

Pepper smiled. "Sure."

Peter cheered and high-fived his friends.

"We can take you home afterwards too," she told Ned and MJ, "If that makes it easier on your parents."

MJ shrugged. "Mine won't care."

Pepper knew MJ's parents weren't exactly the most caring, but she wasn't going to let the young girl fend for herself even as she suggested, "I can just take a cab. Send Ned with me and I'll make sure he doesn't get robbed."

"No one is taking a cab home," Tony said from behind them.

The three kids spun around to see Tony walking up from his lab, limping slightly. His lip was busted and he had a couple of bruises from his latest mission. Although it was nothing Peter hadn't seen before, it still made him upset to see his dad beat up.

"Tony!" Pepper cried, getting up from the couch and hurrying into the kitchen for ice.

While Pepper hurried off, Tony grinned at his son and two friends, hiding a wince when his lip protested.

"What happened to you?" MJ asked, watching as Tony sat on the couch.

Returning to the living room, Pepper handed him an ice pack and he promptly placed it on his knee. He managed to steal a kiss from her and received a scowl in response.

"Bad guys had a bomb," Tony replied, turning to look at MJ.

Pepper sat beside him while the three 12-year-olds sat on the couch she had previously been on, staring at Tony with wide eyes.

"It was a poorly made one," Tony said, "But I went for a short, unexpected flight."

"You should have called for backup," Pepper scolded. Tony shrugged and Pepper sighed.

"Now, who am I driving where tomorrow?" Tony asked. Peter stuck two thumbs up, one at each of his friends who sat on opposite sides of him. "I figured that much. What I meant was where am I taking them?"

"Oh, home," Peter answered. Tony nodded. "Mom said they could stay the night since school starts on Monday and we can't have weekday sleepovers."

Tony grinned. "Well, that means we have to have an impromptu Nerd Night, doesn't it?"

Peter rolled his eyes, having long since given up on trying to convince his dad to call it Night of Fantastic Adventures and Movies instead of Nerd Night.

"No, it does not," Pepper argued. She received three disappointed looks and one annoyed one. "Don't give me that. Ned and MJ can stay over, but no Nerd Night."

* * * * *

They had Nerd Night on Bruce's floor. After Pepper had fallen asleep (JARVIS had confirmed she was entering the second stage of sleep), Tony snuck out of the bedroom and down the hall to Peter's room. The three kids were laying down, absolutely still when he opened the door. After realising it was just Tony, they leapt up and followed him down the hall and to the lift.

It was 1:38AM when they stepped off the lift, but thanks to coffee (Bruce), insomnia (Tony), and energy (Peter, MJ, and Ned), they were all wide awake and ready for Nerd Night. Fortunately for him, Tony managed to steal some of Bruce's leftover coffee before following the three kids into Bruce's living room where Netflix was waiting along with D&D, Risk: Star Wars Edition, and Clue: Harry Potter Edition.

"D&D!" Peter declared. MJ frowned and said she wanted to play Risk, but Peter argued, "We played it last time and you won, like always."

"That's because it's a good game and you suck at it," MJ replied, grabbing the game.

Jumping forward, Peter snatched the game out of her hands and sat on it to prevent her from getting it.

"Get your ass away, Stark," she said. Tony looked up from his coffee.

"Where am I getting my ass away from?" he asked. MJ rolled her eyes.

"Not you," she snapped. She shoved Peter off the game and he hit the floor. "Your son."

"Oh," Tony said, nodding. "Don't say bad words."

MJ gave him a dry look. "What? Ass?"

Tony nodded, reminding her that it was a bad word and she shouldn't say it because, technically, she was in the presence of adults.

With her hands on her hips and eyes locked on Tony's, she said, "Ass, ass, ass."

Tony sighed and looked at Bruce who shrugged, taking another sip of coffee.

"Even I saw that coming," he told his friend.

At Tony's blank look, Bruce turned away and walked into the living room, declaring he wanted to play Clue and if they wanted to argue, he'd tell Pepper they were down here. Peter and MJ groaned, but let Bruce open up Clue. A few seconds later, Tony joined them, setting his empty coffee cup on the counter.

"You good, Ned?" he asked, sitting between Ned and Peter.

Snapping awake, Ned nodded quickly. He sat forward and stared at the floor.

"I'm good," he promised eagerly.

Tony nodded, not convinced in the least, but handing Ned a game piece anyway. He had no doubt the boy would be the first to fall asleep.