Sticks and Stones

9

"Hey, Peter!" Tony greeted, and Peter ran to hug him.

"Daddy! Missed you." He said, hugging him tightly.

"I missed you, too. I heard you're sick."

"Yeah, but I took my medicine!"

"Good job. Those are some great pj's you got there."

Peter beamed. "You got 'em for me!"

"Did I?"

"Yeah! For Christmas!"

"That's right! I did! How was your birthday?"

"Fun." He sighed. "Missed you and daddy."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"S'okay. You're gonna be home with me, right? I made stuff at school I wanna show you. And I made new friend!"

"Come on, let's sit down and you can tell me everything."

The two moved to the couch, and Peter sat on Tony's lap. "I made a new friend named Ned a while ago, and he's really nice, and I made a friend yesterday named Mary Jane, but she likes to be called MJ. And I can do better at saying 't'."

"I hear! I'm very proud of you. And your nails look very pretty."

"Auntie Wanda painted them." Peter said proudly. "And uncle Vis read to me, too. And a bunch of days ago, me and Happy went to see a movie."

"Ooh, what movie?"

He paused, and thought for a moment. "Don't remember," he admitted. "But I got to have ice cream."

"Sounds like you had fun without me."

"Yeah, but missed you, still." Peter sighed, resting his head on Tony's shoulder. "Where's daddy at?"

"I don't know, buddy."

Peter started to cry, and Tony carried him to his room- it was almost nine o'clock, way past his bedtime. "It's okay. Don't cry. He'll be here when you wake up."

"I sleep in your bed tonight?"

"Just for tonight."

"Love you."

"Love you, too, buddy." Tony tucked him in, and brushed his curls away from his forehead. He still felt warm, and his brown eyes were glassy. Hopefully he'd sleep the fever off. He kissed Peters forehead. "'Night."

"Night-night."

—

"Daddy!" Peter hugged Steve tightly. "Missed you 'lot."

"I missed you, too." Steve picked him up and kissed his forehead. "How you feeling?"

"Better."

"Good." He smiled. "Tony, can we take him with us to the meeting?"

"Yeah, why not?"

They all gathered in the meeting room, with Peter in Steve's lap. He was coloring on a piece of paper, doing his best to make it neat and pretty. "Who's this?" Ross asked.

"This is mine and Tony's son, Peter."

"You're gay?"

"Why does everyone keep asking that? No." Tony said.

As the adults talked, the conversation started to get slightly more heated. Peter didn't notice much, until Steve handed him to Tony and left in a hurry. He stared after his dad with a hurt expression, lip quivering slightly.

"I'm taking that, thanks." Natasha took Peter from Tony and chased after Steve. "You forgot something."

"I'm not taking him to a funeral."

"You need him and he needs you."

He considered it for a moment. "Tell Tony he's with me."

Steve took Peter.

"Yay!" He cheered, wrapping his arms around his neck. "Love you."

He smiled softly. "I love you, too, buddy."

Peter kissed his cheek, and Steve's smile widened slightly.

—

Sam held Peter at the funeral. The kid wasn't quite sure what was going on, but knew he had to be very quiet, as explained to him by Steve beforehand.

"Uncle Sammy," he whispered. "I gotta go potty."

"Can you hold it for a few more minutes?"

"No. Gotta go now."

"Okay, let's go." He sighed, picking him up and carrying him to the bathroom.

They waited outside the rest of the time. The two sat in the grass and played with Peters action figures until Steve came into with a woman and Natasha. "Auntie!" He skipped over to her and hugged her legs.

"Hey, sweetheart." She smiled, ruffling his hair.

"Oh, who's this?" The woman asked. Her tone went a bit sour.

Sam walked over and put his hand on Peters head. "This is my son, Peter." Steve introduced him. "Peter, say hi to Sharon."

He shook his head and hid behind Sam's legs. "Bad lady." He whispered to him.

Sam looked down at him, then to Steve, then to Natasha, then to Sharon. "Steve, can we talk for a sec? Alone?"

"Sure. Nat, can you watch Peter for a sec?"

"No! No! Go with!" He protested, reaching for Steve's hand.

"Okay, come on."

The three walked a few feet away. "What's up?" Steve asked.

"Peter, tell him what you told me."

"Bad lady." He whispered. "Sharon's a bad lady."

"Of course she's not, she works for Shield." Steve said, and Peter shook his head tearfully.

"No! Seen her, long time 'go. She hurt me a lot."

"I'm sure it was just someone who looked like her." Steve assured him. "She's a good lady. She's gonna babysit you for a day or two."

"No!" He shouted. "Go with Happy!"

"He's busy."

"Go with auntie Pepper!"

"She's working."

"Stay with auntie Wanda."

"You can't. Look, Peter. Sharon is a nice lady, she won't hurt you. I promise."

Peter reluctantly went with her. Sam and Natasha cast him sympathetic glances as her car pulled away.

"It certainly has been a while, hasn't it, Peter?" Sharon smirked, and he started crying. He undid his seatbelt and tried to open the car door, but it was childproofed.

"No!" He screamed, beating against the window. "Daddy! No!"

"Shut up!"

"No!" He broke the window with his super strength, and tried to crawl through, but Sharon reached back and grabbed him. She hit him so hard, he passed out.