The Good, The Bad, And Everything In Between - DISCONTINUED

Steps

Category: Fluff with a little bit of angst

3rd Person POV
One year after the Battle of Earth

It was a quiet summer afternoon at the Avengers Compound, the first since they had defeated Thanos. The first since Tony snapped Thanos and his army away and lost his arm. The first since Steve returned the stones and brought Natasha back. The first since Tony built himself a new arm. The first peaceful afternoon they have had in a long time.

This was something that didn't happen often, and the Avengers were not taking it for granted.

Natasha and Clint were sparring in the training room, muffled curses could be heard every now and then from the latter as the former beat him...again.

Steve and Bucky were out by the *pool enjoying the sunshine. Sunbathing always helps chase away the memories of their time frozen.
*The pool was installed two weeks ago by the one and only Anthony Edward Stark because, and I quote, "What's the point of having a compound in the middle of nowhere if you can't even have a pool, Pepper? Besides, the kid loves swimming. Especially in a frozen lake in the middle of the night when I told him to stay home - you know maybe a pool isn't necessary. No, it definitely is. I'd rather he was swimming in the pool than the lake."

Peter was leaving the compound, ready to go on patrol for the day.

Bruce was down by the lake meditating. Well, he was trying. Thor wanted to learn meditation so Bruce was teaching him.

Wanda and Vision were baking cookies. Pietro was stealing ingredients for a while until Wanda got fed up and hung him upside down for a few minutes. He stopped bothering them after that and joined Sam for a run.

Tony was the only one not taking advantage of the day. He was absorbed in his StarkPad™ working on schematics for the next IronMan suit.

"By, Mr. Stark! I'm going to start my parol early!" Peter called out as he opened the door to the exit stairs.

"Mhm, bye kid. Have fun. Let me know if you need anything." Tony said, still focused on his work.

"I will. Thanks, Mr. Stark!" Peter said, leaving.

"It's Tony," Tony called, but he know it was no use, the kid refused to call him anything else.

*CRASH*

Tony glanced up from his StarkPad™ but figured it was just Natasha beating Clint again and looked back down.

"Shit! Fuck! Ow! Godammit!"

At this, Tony lept up. Cursing wasn't uncommon at the compound. In fact, Clint had been cursing every time Natasha beat him, which was quite often.

What scared Tony was the voice that the cursing belonged to.

"Christ, kid. You never curse. What the hell happened?" Tony muttered as he opened the door. He saw Peter sitting at the bottom of the stairs and sighed.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Stark!" Peter said, waving.

"What happened?" Tony asked.

"Well, umm. You see those stairs?" Peter asked.

"Yeah?" Tony answered.

"Yeah, I didn't," The boy admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

Tony sighed and walked down the stairs to the teenager.

"You okay?" He asked. Peter nodded, receiving the infamous 'don't lie to me, Parker™' look.

"I'm serious, Mr. Stark. I'm a little sore from the fall, but that's it." The teenager said and stood up to prove his point. But, as soon as he put a small amount of pressure on his left leg, it buckled and Peter crumpled back to the ground. Tony quickly grabbed him to keep him from hurting himself more than he clearly already was and carefully lowered him down.

"I'll ask again, are you okay?" The genius asked.

"Well, maybe not. My leg really hurts." Peter admitted. He sniffed slightly and fought the tears back. Tony saw this and his face softened.

"Hey, kid, it's okay. Let's get you to the MedBay and get your leg looked at, okay? You'll be just fine in no time." Tony said. Peter nodded. Tony carefully helped Peter stand again. This time, Peter stood on his right foot and put his left arm around Tony for support.

"Think you can walk now? Or do you want me to -" Tony started to ask.

"I can walk, but thanks," Peter cut him off. Tony raised an eyebrow but decided not to argue with him today.

Determined to prove that he was fine, Peter stepped forwards, putting all of his weight on his left foot.

Immediately, pain shot up his leg and he cried out in agony. Black spots danced across his vision and his stomach churned. He quickly turned his head away from his not-father-father as he vomited.

"Peter? Shit!" Tony exclaimed.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter mumbled, coughing.

"Yeah, it's me, bud. We're gonna get you some help, don't worry." Tony said, carefully picking up his not-son-son and carrying him inside.

"I don't feel so good," Peter said. Tony froze, memories washing over him.

"Mr. Stark?" "I don't feel so good."

"I'm sorry."

A cloud of dust.

"I lost the kid."

Tony shook his head, clearing the panic from his mind.

"I'm sure you don't. I think your leg is broken." Tony said.

"Hmmm, probably. It hurts a lot."

"Come on, let's get you to the medbay."

"No," Peter whimpered.

"Peter, please. We've gotta get you some help."

"What if it's worse than this?" Peter asked, his eyes pleading.

"It's not, Pete. It's just gonna be Uncle Bruce and maybe some other people. They're going to set your leg and make it feel better. Okay?"

"Okay. Mr. Stark." Peter's voice sounded so small.

*1 Week Later* ~~ (In all the Avenger's room)

"Mr. Parker has requested your presence in Meeting Room A. He has an important presentation to share." JARVIS announced.

In around 10 minutes, all the Avengers arrived and sat around the table.

Peter, propped up on his crutches, waved at everyone.

"Hey, kid, what's up?" Bucky asked.

"I wanted to share something important so you don't end up like this." Peter motions to his leg and cast.

He clicks on the projector.

"These are the steps to follow if you DO want to end up like this." Peter says.

"Step 1,"

He pauses,

"Step 2,"

The Avengers look confused.

"Step 3,"
"Step 5,"
"Step 9,"
"Ground."

Peter smiles and the team chuckles.

"Now, if you DON'T want to end up like me," he continues,

"Step 1,"
"Step 2,"
"Step 3,"
"Step 4,"
"Step 5,"
"Step 6,"
"Step 7,"
"Step 8,"
"Step 9,"
"Ground."
"Don't fall down the stairs."

He laughed.

"Well, glad you're feeling better, kid." Tony laughs.

Hey, not sure how to feel about this one. It's been a draft for a while, but I'm not sure what else to dow ith it.

It's not my best, I know. Sorry.

Love y'all! <3

Kari (pen name)