Pepper paced back and forth behind the curtain that divided the backstage from the press below that was on the other side. She looked out through the crack in the curtains, her blue eyes taking in all the people that were waiting for the announcement that they'd stated they'd be releasing today. She ran a hand through her loose curls, why had she agreed to this? She straightened the seams of her navy pencil skirt as she waited for the rest of her family to come from the connecting rooms. Morgan and Penny came into her view first, the younger of the two pulling her older sister towards their mother, her pigtails bouncing slightly as she approached the strawberry-blonde. Pepper picked up the eight year old who tackled her legs, hugging her tightly before pulling Penny in for a hug too. Morgan pressed her forehead against her mother's, their noses touching, it made her smile; she wished the girl could stay this age forever. Penny stood next to her, her own blue dress matching the color of her's and Morgan's skirts; Pepper hoped that the idea of matching made their family look more unified. She knew reporters and the opinion of the public could be brutal, especially to those who didn't know how to navigate it. She'd learned the tricks of the trade- not to wear something too revealing but at the same time not something that was too modest, appear cordial but not overly friendly to the public, and that by wearing similar color matching colors, that a group could appear more unified. That's why she'd requested that everyone wear blue, navy was preferred because it was professional. She noticed Penny swaying back and forth on the balls of her feet, her deep brown eyes full of nervous energy. She reached over to the younger teen, gently gripping onto her hand and rubbing soothing circles on the back of it in an effort to chase away her middle child's nerves; she'd found the action to be soothing during the younger teen's panic attacks. The fourteen year old looked up at her and flashed her a small smile that she returned; she started talking to her two daughters trying to distract them about the upcoming press conference while they waited on the billionaire and the brunet teen. Peter came over with Tony a few moments later, both wearing navy blue suits with similar ties; the younger of the two's curly brown hair had been neatly styled, making him have a more boyish charm look about him. She and Tony pulled their children in for a quick hug, doing their best to make them as comfortable as possible; they pulled away after a few moments and linked hands, stepping out of the curtains. The two teenagers waited for their cue to go on stage; Happy had stayed back with them, quietly waiting with them, and making small talk. Peter kept looking towards the curtains, it was obvious that the teen could hear the murmurs of the crowd from where they were standing along with the noises of the cameras flashing and anything else that might be going on in the room. Happy did his best to distract the teens from the conversations that were going on in the crowd and distracting Peter from listening to everything else. They were both nervous, today marked the day when everything would change for them yet again, and they weren't a hundred percent certain they could handle many more changes between the two of them.
Tony let go of Pepper's hand a few moments after they stepped out from the curtain, the flashes of the cameras had died down and the questions had almost stopped. Morgan had buried her face in the crook of his wife's neck; the flashing cameras and the rapid firing of questions made her nervous. The billionaire looked at all the flashes of light, a growing sense of worry about what they were about to do started forming in his stomach. Was this a good idea? How would Pete react to all the flashes when the cameras started going again? It wasn't like he was wearing the special sunglasses that he'd made for him or that he was wearing his suit. What about Penny? She was new to her powers and wasn't the best at controlling her emotions. They seemed to be controlled by her emotions, especially the telltale sin of her eyes changing color. Had they thought this through enough? He did his best to shove his worries aside. The last thing he needed to do was stress over this because if he stressed, the kids would stress and that wasn't good for any of them. He stepped towards the microphone and pulled it off of its stand, lifting the piece of technology up to his mouth so everyone would hear him.
"Welcome everyone!" he greeted, trying to sound cheery in order not to make the two teenagers backstage even more nervous. "Now I know Stark Industries rarely has a press conference as big as this one or during this time of the year, but my dear wife and I have some rather large and important news to share with everyone. Now this is old news to those who work in the upper rankings of the company and to those who are close friends of the family and close business partners, but to the public it's not known. Before you start asking a million little questions, no, we aren't releasing new tech, at least of yet, and we aren't pregnant." he laughed, pausing dramatically, "However, during the summer, a tragedy happened to someone very close to our family. Unfortunately for him, the new changes that were about to be implemented in his and his sister's lives were not going to happen unless we did something about it and they were left with little to no options on how to deal with their futures. No longer having a legal guardian, they became Pep's and I's legal wards since we'd agreed to be their caregivers if anything happened to the lovely woman who, unfortunately, did pass. A few months passed, we felt like we needed to make a decision, so in late November we decided on making it official and we adopted them, making our small family of three grow to one of five. So without any further delays and my deepest pleasure, we'd like to introduce the newest members of the family." he announced, dramatically turning to the side and opening his arms out widely, "Come on out kids!" he announced again, motioning for the two teenagers to walk out onto the stage.
He turned around to face his older two children and gave them reassuring smiles. The pair were holding hands as the cameras started flashing wildly at them; the billionaire noticed their nervous glances around the room and he felt bad, was this the right decision? They'd never have privacy now. He saw Peter was starting to blink his eyes rapidly as the lights flashed below the stage, he could see him holding back the urge to slam his eyes shut, He better fix that before the boy had an overload.
He cleared his throat, "How about we cool it with cameras you guys no need to blind them," he announced in his usual "teasing" manner, "Now I know the majority recognize Peter here as my intern, but now he's got an extra title to his name,"he paused, grinning at the two teenagers next to him, "my son. Say hey kid." he announced, pushing the mic towards the teen.
The brunet waved slightly to the crowd and flashed the group of reporters a small, uneasy smile.
The billionaire placed his hand on the younger of the two's shoulders, "And this...this lovely little lady with him is Penny, Pete's younger sister and my second daughter," he paused for a few seconds, "Well I guess you can say our oldest daughter," he replied, laughing slightly at his joke.
Penny laughed quietly next to him and the crowd followed action.
Tony could feel Peter squeezing onto his hand in his nervous state, jeez the kid had a grip; he motioned for Pepper to come forward to join the three brunettes on the forefront of the stage. The strawberry-blonde conceded with his request and stepped up next to Penny. She placed her hand around the younger girl's shoulders and smiled at the sea of reporters as she adjusted Morgan to her hip. Morgan grinned largely at the crowd and waved to them. The camera started flashing; everyone was in a hurry to get photos of the newly revealed Stark family. Eventually, the loud questions and flashes of light died down. Pepper carefully moved her hand from off of Penny's shoulder's making sure she brushed her fingers against the brunet's hair and arm, to show her that everything was fine, she could feel her heavy breathing next to her as she took the microphone from her husband.
She smiled sweetly at the crowd, "Now we are sure that there will be questions from everyone directed towards the family as a whole and towards Penny and Peter. We request you remain polite and not bombard us with questions. We will try our best to get to all of your questions. However, we will limit each of you to one inquiry each due the amount of you that are here. Please try to remain respectful to us and our privacy to the best of your abilities. Thank you, you may begin with your questions."
Penny stared at the strawberry-blonde in awe; she'd never seen her mother manipulate a crowd in person before and it was an act that was admirable. She handled them with ease and they willingly listened to her; it was refreshing to see and it made her proud. Hushed whispers started rippling throughout the crowd before the first reporter decided to brave the slight tensions that were starting to settle in on the room.
"What made you decide to adopt the Parkers?" he asked.
Tony smiled, leaning over towards the mic, "We love them." he replied matter of factly, like it was the obvious answer.
Pepper laughed at her husband's directness, "What he means is that we couldn't see ourselves without them. Once they came to stay, our family felt complete and, of course, like Tony said, we love Peter and Penny like they are our own."
Peter grinned at his parents, while Penny focused her eyes on her shoes, a small smile playing on her lips at the strawberry-blondes words.
"Are the rumors true that Peter Parker is Tony Stark's biological child from his party days?"
Tony laughed, "I wish."
Peter shook his head, laughing lightly, "My dad died when I was a baby, I never knew him. Pri-erm Penny's dad adopted me when he married my mom...they both died a few years later."
The man nodded, "Sorry for your loss." he replied, honestly.
Peter solemnly nodded as he held onto Penny's hand.
Another reporter spoke up, "How do you kids like living with the Starks as your new parents?'
Peter laughed, "Pepper's always acted like my mom. When our aunt used to go on business trips, I stayed at the compound. She always had snacks ready when I got back from school and extra food because I eat a lot...and she offered to help with my homework even though I don't exactly need it along with a bunch of other stuff that moms do. I love it." he grinned brightly, "I wouldn't want anyone else to be my second mom. And dad's Tony Stark, he's great!" he added.
The reporters laughed at his enthusiasm.
Penny decided to speak up, not wanting to seem like she was uncaring, "It's really nice, they are great people and I'm glad I met them. They're always there when I need them and they really do love us."
A different reporter smiled up at them, "Glad to hear that they're that great to you two. How's it like living with the Avengers?"
The two teens laughed lightly and started answering the question. The family of five continued to answer the questions that were fired at them. The questions ranged in topics: the pair's hobbies, why the couple decided to adopt the siblings, where Penny attended school, the pair's birthdays, the relationship they had and others of like nature. The two made a good impression on the reporters, which wasn't hard to do, the majority of people liked the siblings. They enjoyed seeing the dynamic between the siblings, it was easy to see that they had a good relationship and that they loved each other very much; it was also easy to see how much they loved Morgan as the pair kept whispering to her. Peter ended up holding Morgan on top of his shoulders halfway through the conference. After over an hour, the eight year old started to grow heavy in Pepper's arms and the younger girl wanted to be held by the teen. She enjoyed being high on his shoulders and how he always told her jokes to make her laugh. The youngest member of the Stark family was sitting on his shoulders with her arms crossed on the top of his head, her chin resting on her arms. Peter kept whispering things to her when he wasn't answering the reporter's questions, making the younger girl giggle cutely. The photographers started taking pictures of the interactions between the siblings; Penny was trying her best to keep her composure at her brother's antics. The taller teen looked at her and winked at her cheekily, making her break out in a grin. Pepper decided to end the conference after it had been going on for almost two hours; she knew everyone was growing tired from the conference and she could tell all the lights and smells were starting to get to Peter. He was starting to blink his eyes again, especially when a camera flashed at him. She could see the restrained, pained expression that was starting to weave itself onto his brown.
She cleared her throat, "We'll take three more questions before we end the conference." she announced.
A pudgy reporter raised his hand.
The strawberry-blonde called on him, "Yes, Mister Anders?"
"My question is for the girl, Penny." he announced, motioning his finger towards the fourteen year old.
The smaller teen blinked her eyes, she was surprised that people still had questions for her. "Y-yes sir?" she responded.
"How old are you, kid?" he asked.
She went to respond but paused, not knowing if she should answer the question.
The man continued to speak, "I mean you stated your birthday was early May, meaning it was recent. And we know you're the younger sister and we also know your brother's sixteen. So how old are you?'
She looked up at Pepper, seemingly asking for permission to answer the question. When her adoptive mother gave her a slight nod of her head, she decided to answer, "Oh...I'm fourteen." she replied.
He nodded, quickling scribbling down her response.
An all too familiar reporter stepped forward, "Did you adopt your intern and his kid sister for charity or for the publicity?" the gray-haired man asked.
Tony flared his nostrils, he really hated this guy, "Excuse me?" he asked, slightly begging the man to repeat his question so he'd be able to give him a piece of mind.
The man smirked, seeming proud of himself for getting the billionaire's skin, "Did you adopt the Parker's for publicity or for charity?" he repeated.
Tony grabbed the mic from his daughter's hand a little harder than he'd meant to and she immediately tensed at the action.
He felt guilty when he noticed her tense up, "Sorry hun," he apologized softly, softening his gaze at her; he moved the mic up to his mouth, ready to give the man a piece of his mind, "I resent your accusation, Mister Garrett." he announced loudly.
The man laughed, "Well is it? I mean, we were all shocked when you hired some random kid from the projects to be your intern. We all thought it was charity," he smirked, " I did my research. May Parker died in July right after getting full custody of the little one," he replied, jabbing his fat finger towards the fourteen year old, "Then you and your wife magically get them and the next thing you know you're plastering their faces out to the press. Why would you adopt two poor kids from Queens? You gain no benefits from adopting them other than you look rather good to the public when you announce the adoptions," he finished, a proud smirk plastered on his face when he noticed the reddish tinge that was taking over the billionaire's features.
Tony narrowed his eyes at the man, "Now listen here Garrett." he snapped, not caring to appear cordial at the moment, no one insulted his kids or May Parker, "May Parker loved those two more than anything on this planet. And she'd never do anything to hurt them or to cause them to get hurt in any possible way. She made sure they were taken care of if anything ever happened to her. Pepper and I were asked to be their godparents if anything ever happened to her months before she died. We gain nothing by adopting them; they gain everything. A loving home where they are treated right, the chance to stay together, education that suits their needs because they are both intelligent and so much more. Like I said in the first palace, we adopted them in November, which was over six months ago if you do the math. The only reason we had this press conference now instead of waiting till we were all ready for it is because you decided to sneak into my kid's birthday party on Saturday and continue to harass my kids. We wanted to do this later, give them more of a chance to get used to everything slowly, but you ruined that for them," he was pointing an accusatory finger at the man, "I've warned you to leave my kid alone Garrett and you've been banned from coming to anymore Stark Industries related events for months now. You've run out of chances." he motioned towards the curtain where Happy was, "Hap have security escort Mister Garrett to the nearest police station for breaking his no trespassing order and for harassment."
The burly man nodded, stepping out from behind the curtains, "Yes sir, gladly." he announced, he wasn't the biggest fan of the man, in fact he was pretty far up on the small list of people he hated. It was mainly for stalking Peter for months to the point where the poor boy had panic attacks and for his behavior at the birthday party where he'd make Morgan cry.
After the reporter had been dragged out of the building, Tony turned his attention back to the room full of reporters, flashing them a small smile.
He placed a hand on Peter's shoulders, pulling the teen to his side, "If anyone has any more wisecracks about my kids, you'll be thrown out. Do I make myself clear?" he announced, his eyes scanning the room for anyone else who dared to make a comment.
The crowd echoed a series of "Yeses" in response.
He nodded his head, proud of himself, "Good. Pep and I love all of our children equally and nothing will change that. We see no difference regardless of whether they're adopted or not, they're still our kids." he paused, quickly changing back into his cheery mood, "Last question?" he asked.
A pretty sandy-haired young woman held up her recorder, "Morgan, how do you like having a big brother and big sister?" she asked.
The eight year old grinned brightly at the woman, this was the first time she'd been asked a question, "It's awesome!" she replied, cutely, "Petey lets me play with him in the lab and lets me do his hair. I make him play tea parties with me and Bri and he has to wear a tutu." she giggled, looking towards Peter who flushed a bright red when his baby sister told the reporters that she made him wear a tutu, "He carries me around all the time and I get ice cream whenever I want!"
The reporter laughed at her child-like excitement, "What about having Penny around?" she asked again.
The younger girl reached over towards the fourteen year old and gave her a big thumbs up, "I love it! Bri plays dollies with me and she takes care of me when I'm sick. Her and Petey color with me and help me with homework, and I get to spend the night in her room a lot. We have lots of fun and we get to watch movies and she plays with my hair. I never want her to leave."
Penny was smiling brightly up and the younger girl, "I guess you're stuck with me Morgie." she replied, softly, reaching up and grabbing the younger girl's hand that was outstretched towards her.
The camera's started flashing again, and Peter tensed slightly, the brunet looked like he was in a serious amount of pain. Pepper held her hand up, and the flashing of light stopped, the older teen seemed to relax a little.
"That's all the time we have everyone. Thank you for coming." she announced, smiling sweetly at the group, "We do ask that you respect the privacy of our family. Please do not stalk them or follow them around when they or we are out in public. Please do not bother their friends either or anything of the like. We request that all articles be sent to the PR office before publication in order to make sure that nothing being published endangers any of our children. Thank you for understanding and we hope everyone has a safe return to their homes or their jobs." she announced.
She turned around, gently grabbing onto Penny's hand as Tony placed his arm around Peter's shoulders, both guiding the teenagers back to behind the curtains so they could leave through a side door. Tony took Morgan from Peter, resting his youngest child on his hip while he slipped Peter his special sunglasses; he could tell the boy was in more pain than he was letting on. Peter brought his now free hands up to his face and scrubbed his forehead with the palms of his hand. Tony shot him a concerned look before casting a glance towards Pepper.
"You okay there underoos?" he asked quietly.
The teen nodded slightly, "The lights hurt my eyes..." he mumbled; he had a habit of mumbling when he was starting the process of a sensory overload.
The billionaire frowned and held back the urge to pat the teen's arms, he knew that depending on how bad the sensory overload was, Peter couldn't really stand to be touched, "I know, kid, sorry. We're going home right now. You can stay in the panic room, till the overload dies down." he replied quietly.
The teen nodded, slightly frowning, "But it's not an overload dad..." he replied softly, "Just a headache."
The billionaire scoffed, "I've heard that one before kid, you and I know that this is just the precursor to the overload," he announced, "it's why you're whispering right now."
Peter blinked in defeat at him, "I guess you're right...can we go home?" he asked.
Pepper nodded and leaned over to kiss his cheek, "Of course you can baby. I'm going to stay here till the day's over, but your father's taking you three home. Get some rest sweetie."
He nodded, gently hugging her, which touched the strawberry-blonde; she knew that it was probably really uncomfortable at the moment to give her a hug, "Will do mom, love you."
She smiled at the teen, "Love you too sweetie. Tony, you and Happy take them home, Happy can come get me later or I'll drive with Natalie," she replied.
Natasha still went by her alias when she was in the public, the majority of the public had no idea what the black widow looked like and she intended to keep it that way. When she was on missions or doing something with the team that required press or publicity, she often used a nano-tech mask to keep her identity concealed and either dyed her hair or wore a wig. She usually settled for wearing a blonde wig, it was too much work trying to keep the dye in her red locks.
The strawberry-blonde gave her husband a quick kiss and did a similar action for her two daughters, hugging them both tightly while ushering them out of the building and down to the garage. She waited for the billionaire and the three minors to pull out of the company's garage before going back to her office. She pulled off the blue blazer she was wearing and set it on the back of her chair as she sat down, crossing one leg over the other.
"JARVIS?" she spoke.
The screen of her computer lit up, Tony had insisted on putting the compound's AI into his wife's computer and she'd decided that it was a good idea, "Yes Miss Potts?" he replied.
"Let me know if Peter's condition changes."
"Yes ma'am, I'm keeping tabs on him as we speak, I will let you know if he changes for better or for worse."
"Thank you." she replied as she pulled out a few files from her desk.
When they returned to the compound, Peter excused himself to go to his room so he could get out of his suit. He quietly shut the door behind him, flinching at the noise it made. He tugged the tie loose, almost ripping it in the process as he played a small game of tug-a-war with the silky material. He pulled at the buttons of his shirt, trying to get it off. It felt like it was suffocating him by how tight it was. He finally got it off, along with his loafers and dress slacks, discarding them haphazardly over the end of his bed. He hated cameras at the moment, why were they so bright? Why didn't he think of making special glasses or something that could've word during the conference? He mentally kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner. But it was too late now; he was on the verge of a sensory overload and going to the lab wouldn't help him at the moment. He pulled on the softest pair of pants he could find, which just happened to be from when Aunt May was still here God he missed her. He started digging around in the box under his bed, looking for the mask from one of his old suits. He sighed in relief when he found it and tugged it over his head. He felt himself relax a bit as KAREN dimmed out the majority of the light in his room and shut out most of the noises. He opened his door and looked down the hall, his eyes lingering on the door that led to the panic room. Tony had built the panic room for reasons such as this one. Steve and Bucky occasionally had sensory overloads, however they weren't near as bad as Peter's. It also helped serve as the one room that Bruce couldn't destroy when he hulked out, and it kept the scientist as well as everyone else safe. Wanda also had been found in the room on several occasions, especially when things got loud for her to handle. The materials used to make the room and the features programmed into JARVIS helped block her powers from hearing everyone's thoughts; the redhead had been found in room on several occasions when she wanted peace. Peter hoped no one was in the room, he didn't think he'd be able to make it down to the training room floor without collapsing. He just needed to get to the room and he'd be fine, he told himself. He started tiptoeing to the room, trying to keep the noise he made down to a minimum while his hearing was going haywire. He tucked his head down, shielding his eyes from the light that was causing his eyes to burn and his head to throb. He ran into Pietro, almost knocking the eighteen year old down.
"Sorry," he mumbled, slightly wincing at the noise that his voice made as it bounced off of the walls around them.
The older teen chuckled, "You know small fry if you're going to patrol, you really should wear the rest of your suit." he teased.
Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes, knowing the action would make him feel worse than he did already, "Not...patrolling." he forced out, his own voice feeling like it was scraping against his eardrums.
The older boy laughed, "Then what's up with the mask little brother?" he asked, curiosity dripping from his voice.
""Not..feeling..well..." he groaned softly, he really didn't feel like talking.
Pietro started talking again Gosh why was he so loud? "What's-"
He felt like screaming, "Please..." he whispered, begging the ash-blond to be quiet as he held a shaking hand up to him.
The older boy nodded knowingly, "Sensory overload?" he whispered softly.
Peter nodded, clapping his hands over his ears gently and braced himself against the wall.
"I got you Pete," the older boy announced, his usual nicknames being left in the wind, when he noticed the younger boy's pain. He picked him up as carefully as he could, feeling guilty for the grunt of pain that escaped from the brunet boy's lips. He used his superspeed to rush him to the room at the end of the hall that was by the elevator. He set Peter down, the younger boy swaying on his feet, "I'm going to leave now." he announced.
Peter gave him a shaky thumbs up as a thanks, finding his words to be lacking at the moment due to his pain. The ash-blond nodded in response, knowing that it was better for him to be as quiet as possible in order to let the younger teen rest his senses. He pulled the thick door shut behind him, faintly hearing the locking mechanism go into effect. He rushed downstairs, his goal was to tell Tony or another adult about the spider-teen's situation in hopes that they could do something for him. Maybe they had something to help him now. He arrived downstairs to see Tony sitting on the couch, working on his tablet. He cleared his throat, causing the billionaire to look up at him.
"Whatcha need blondie?" he asked.
"Peter's in the panic room tin man...I think he's having another overload." he blurted.
Tony nodded slowly, it seemed like he already knew, "How bad is it?"
Pietro blinked a couple times, wondering why the billionaire wasn't losing his mind, "I had to carry him to the panic room because he looked like he was going to fall over in the hallway and he could barely talk. " he responded.
The billionaire nodded, "Thanks for telling me kid, the cameras at the press conference were messing with him," he stood up and ran a hand through his hair, Pietro could tell he was worried for his son, "I should've known this would happen, should have planned better...now Pete's in pain-"
Pietro decided to stop the billionaire before he got too deep in his self-depreciation pit, "Can't you do something tincan?" he asked, hoping that he and Bruce had worked on something that could ease his pain.
The billionaire sighed and shook his head, "Not really, we just have to wait it out. His metabolism is too quick for the stuff to work and we haven't had the chance to make one that'd work."
"Oh.... the eighteen year old replied, frowning.
The man flashed him a small smile, "Don't worry blondie, I'll activate his SO protocol."
The young man nodded.
"J?"
"Yes Boss?"
"Activate spider-baby overload protocol three, shut off the lights and completely soundproof the panic room on the fourth floor. Direct anyone else who needs to use one to the one on this floor or on the training floor. Give me updates on Peter's vitals every half hour and if something changes in his condition."
"Spider-baby overload protocol three is activated sir and I am monitoring Mister Parker-Stark's vitals as we speak."
Tony nodded his head, "Great, now we just wait it out," he announced, plopping himself down on the couch, he looked back to the ash blond, "Blondie, it'll do no good if you focus on it. The girls are in the pool once again, you should join them."
Pietro stayed in his spot.
The billionaire sighed, "I wasn't really asking blondie." he announced, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Oh..." Pietro replied, he was worried about Peter and he didn't really feel like swimming much.
"It'll distract you...all Pete needs is rest and food. Which I keep stocked in the rooms for when he's in there and when Capsicle and Manchurian are there. He'll crash for a few hours then he'll eat his heart out when he wakes up, he'll be as good as new." he assured, motioning for the teenager to go change into a swimsuit.
The teen gave in, sighing deeply, "Fine...but keep me updated?" he asked, deciding to give into the incredibly stubborn billionaire.
Tony chuckled to himself, despite the oldest teen's teasing nature he really cared for the younger member of his team, "Other than Pep, you'll be the first to know."
Pietro nodded, "Great." he replied, disappearing up the stairs to his room to change.
A few hours later, Peter woke up on the soft pillows and oversized bean bags on the floor. He sat up and pulled his mask off before running his fingers through his curly hair and rubbed his forehead tiredly. He stretched, feeling his muscles pop as he moved; he stood up and walked over to the thick vibranium door and leaned towards it, the machine scanning his eye so he could leave. The brunette teenager walked out of the metal-like room and back down the hall and down the stairs, where the others were waiting for him. He found Pietro at the kitchen counter, the ash-blond leaning against the counter, popping a series of grapes into his mouth. The eighteen year old spun around to see him, jumping up from his position, he grinned at him.
"Small fry!" he announced, hugging him tightly.
Peter groaned slightly, "Ow...what's up P?" he asked, patting the boy's arms with a small smile on his face.
The ash-blond laughed, "Waiting for you, of course."
He blinked slowly, "Why?" he asked.
The ash-blond set him down and roughly ruffled his messy brown locks, "Because last time I saw you, you were barely able to talk to me and you were stumbling around because of your senses messing up." he replied.
Peter nodded, he barely remembered what happened when he had a sensory overload, "Oh...where's everyone else?" he asked.
"Princessa and the girls are getting a shower, we were swimming while you were out."
The teenager laughed, pretending to be offended, "Without me?" he asked.
Pietro sighed, "I wasn't going to but your old man made me." he replied, slightly rolling her eyes, "He didn't want me to stress over you and literally forced me to go swimming."
The brunet laughed, "What'd dad do?" he asked.
"He sat on the couch for hours and worked on his tablet while he waited. He's still in there, he didn't want to miss you coming down the stairs, but you came down the backstairs." Pietro replied, slightly smirking.
The sixteen year old laughed, "I'll go see him, now."
The brunet slipped into the living room where his father was sitting on the couch. He leaned against the back of the chair, watching over the billionaire's shoulder, looking at the work that he was completing on his computer. He leaned closer over to his father and whispered in his ear.
"Whatcha doin' dad?"
"Waitin' for you to get up..."the man replied, quickly pausing before he turned around to face her, "You're up." he announced.
The brunette nodded, "P said you were waiting for me." he replied.
The man nodded, "I was...but now you're up, so I'm no longer waiting."
"What were you waiting for?" the brunet asked, tilting his head to the side, his hair slightly tickling the man's ears.
The man moved his head slightly, rubbing the top of his ear with his index finger, "See how you were feeling...so how are you feeling?" the billionaire asked, turning himself to where he was looking at his oldest child.
"Better, my head's not pounding anymore and I can't see better, everything isn't as bright anymore and it doesn't feel like you're screaming at me." he grinned, "I'm hungry." he quickly added as his stomach grumbled slightly.
The billionaire nodded, "Sounds pretty good...What shape's the fridge in?" he asked.
The teen laughed sheepishly, "Might want to restock it ...sorry dad," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck, his fingers brushing against the curls at the nape of his neck.
The billionaire laughed, "Sounds pretty accurate," he replied, he smirked at the teenager, "you're gonna eat me outta house and home one day spidery-boy." he teased.
Peter's cheeks reddened, "S-sorry...but eating helps with the overloads."
The man frowned, reaching his arm over the back of the couch to ruffle the teen's hair, "I know kid, just messin' with ya. You've been around here for over three years now, kid. I know all about your sensory overloads; we've come a long way since then, remember?"
Peter laughed, grinning cheekily, "I remember, I almost gave you a heart attack."
The billionaire scoffed, "Not my fault. I didn't know how to take care of my spider-boy yet." he teased.
Peter rolled his eyes playfully, "Spider-man." he corrected, "It's a good thing captain Rogers was here then," he replied, remembering the first time the billionaire had experienced one of his sensory overloads.
The billionaire shuddered at the memory, "I'd rather not remember that kid." he replied.
He remembered the teenager coming down the stairs one morning when he'd spent the night during one of May's business trips. The teenager had complained of a small headache while he'd kept his eyes squeezed shut and his hands over his ears as he tried to block out the morning light and the noises that the other avengers were making. He remembered how the teenager pretended he was fine for the majority of the day until they got down to the lab to work on one of their projects. He remembered starting the music that usually played while they worked and hearing a whimper from behind him. He'd turned around to find that the teenager had immediately crumpled to the floor, curling in on himself as he cried out loudly in pain. He had immediately turned off the music and rushed over to the boy who'd curled himself into the wall, trying to make his pain go away. The boy never replied to anything he'd said while he frantically asked him what was wrong and that had terrified him. Steve ended up getting called downstairs by JARVIS and when he'd arrived, he found the billionaire on the verge of a panic attack while the teenager looked like he was about to collapse from a sensory overload. The blond soldier ended up carrying the half-conscious spider-teen to the panic room on the floor below them and locking him in. After that, he'd helped talk Tony down from a panic attack, while he explained what was going on. After Peter had recovered six hours later, the then thirteen year old and the dark-haired man had created a series of protocols for his sensory overload. He preferred not to get through that again, and wished that he'd known what to do at the time. He was glad that he'd become more experienced with Peter's overloads through the years.
Tony shook the memory off of himself and cleared his throat, "I was thinking, why don't we make you something for your overloads, like meds to help with the pain you feel or some type of anesthesia that can help you?"
The teen shrugged, looking like he was considering the idea, "Sounds like a good idea..." he replied, pausing for a few seconds.
The billionaire could see the "but" hanging on the tip of his son's tongue, "But.."" he continued knowingly.
"But my metabolism burns through everything...it's basically pointless." the boy replied, shrugging.
The man scoffed, "Nothin's pointless underoos." he replied, "We can always try. I made something for Capsicle and his popsicle." he reminded.
Peter snickered at the idea of Bucky being referred to as Steve's popsicle, "Bucky's not Steve's boyfriend..." he corrected, "but I have another idea." he announced.
Tony nodded, he knew that the blond-haired man saw Bucky more like a brother than anything, he just enjoyed teasing the pair about it, "Shoot." he announced.
"It won't help with the smells or the sounds and it definitely won't help with when one just randomly happens...but it would help with the lights." he started.
Tony nodded, he'd already created sunglasses for the teen for when they were outside, as well as special earbuds that helped filter out the sounds and lights, "Whatcha thinkin' kid?"
"What if we make special contacts? They'd filter out the light and could prevent a portion of my sensory overloads and headaches if they worked. We could make them clear so no one would be able to tell I was wearing them, that way I could wear them the majority of the time and have the sunglasses as backup; it'd be really helpful during press conferences."
The billionaire grinned and gave him a thumbs up before tousling his spiked up hair, from his sleep and from when Pietro had ruffled his hair when he'd seen him earlier, "It's a great idea kid, we'll start on it and the drugs in the morning."
Peter frowned, "Why not now dad?"he asked.
The billionaire laughed, "Because your mother will have my ass for letting you in the lab the same day you had an overload...plus she'll be home any minute."
The burnet teen nodded, he knew his adoptive mother would kill the man if she thought fit, "I guess you're right."
The man laughed, "I'm Tony Stark underoos, of course I'm right." the man replied matter-of-factly, "Besides it's almost dinner and I can hear your stomach trying to climb out of you." he teased.
Peter snickered to himself, "I am hungry..." he agreed, "When do we eat?"
Tony checked his watch, smiling lightly to himself and slightly shaking his head, "Right...about...now..." he replied, looking towards the hallway that led to the elevator.
"I'm home!" the Stark industries CEO's voice rang throughout the floor from the elevator.
Peter looked at his adoptive father, "How do you always manage to do that dad?" he asked, his eyes wide.
Tony smirked, pushing himself up from the couch, "A mechanic never reveals his secrets underoos." he replied, making his way to the large dining room like his wife had.
Peter followed after him, "It's magician." he corrected as the three of them walked into the dining room where everyone else was waiting for them.
The billionaire shrugged, "Same thing kid."
Pepper sighed, "Stop teasing the boy Tony so he can eat." she announced, giving the older of the two a quick kiss.
Peter sat down and grinned at her, "Thanks mom."
She kissed the top of his head as she walked past him to her own chair, "No problem baby, now let's get some food into you boys before your stomachs decide to eat themselves." she replied when she noticed that both Pietro and Peter looked like they were absolutely starving.
Peter's stomach seemed to rumble in agreement with what she said and his cheeks flushed a light pink, "Good idea..." he mumbled, taking a large forkfull of spaghetti and bringing it to his mouth.