~Iron Family~

Adventures in Babysitting

art not mine

"The house is on fire!"

Peter was sitting alone in his room, as he had been for the last day and a half, when Clint burst into the room and sprayed him with a fire extinguisher.

After he coughed out all of the cold, disgusting foam, he sent the Avenger an enraged glare. "What the heck, Mr. Barton!"

"Only way to get your attention!" he laughed. "Come on downstairs, we're going to be playing a game."

"I don't want to play," Peter grumbled, crossing his arms and turning to stare out his window. It had a lovely view of the lake outside, which was wonderful for distracting yourself. Peter almost forgot that Mr. Barton was standing there until he jump-scared him.

"You'll come down to play the game, and you'll like it, young man! Muahaha!" he rasped in what was probably an impression of Gollum.

Peter set his jaw and walked timidly downstairs with Mr. Barton.

Harley and Morgan were seated at the kitchen table, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Barnes sitting across from them. Morgan sent him a giant wave and Harley a stiff smile, which was a huge improvement.

"What are you guys playing?" he asked, sitting on the end next to Morgan. The Winter Soldier grinned at him from across the table.

"Only the best game in the entire world!"

"We're playing Avengers-themed Monopoly, aren't we?"

"Junior!" the Falcon cheered, pumping his fist into the air.

Harley groaned. "I don't understand why you like this game."

"What?" Mr. Wilson cried. "Look! There's me!" He pointed to a little gray blob.

Peter started to say, "Um, Mr. Wilson, I don't think--"

"They really captured my handsome complexion, don't you think?"

"Sure, buddy." Mr. Barnes slapped him on the shoulder with his metal arm, making Mr. Wilson squeal in pain.

Mr. Barton slid into the kitchen for a moment to grab 'essentials.' When he returned, he was laden with candy, chips, and soda. He set it down on the table with a flourish, telling them to help themselves.

Morgan and Harley grabbed for the candy, but Peter just quietly fidgeted in his chair. He wasn't hungry, not after last night's disaster with Happy.

***

They played Monopoly for ten minutes, until Sam got bored after he discovered that the gray blob was, in fact, not him. After having a debate that took twice as long, involving an angry little girl and a spatula, they decided to play hide and seek.

Before Clint could start counting, the door burst open.

"I'm back!" Captain America announced. "What'd I miss?"

His gaze landed on Clint, who was still covering his eyes, and then to Sam and Bucky, who were trying to wedge themselves under the couch.

"That's my hiding spot!" Bucky hissed, smacking Sam's head. "Go find your own!"

"Nuh-uh! I had it first!"

"Wait..." Steve ripped off the apron he had on that advertised a place called Steve's Flowers to reveal his suit underneath. Peter wondered if the guy ever took it off. "You guys are babysitting? Why wasn't I invited?!"

Clint started to stutter out an excuse, but Steve was already running off, giggling about his perfect hiding spot.

Clint rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Okay, let's start over. I'm counting to sixty! I'm not going to take it easy on you! Aaand...GO! One, two three..."