Growing Up

8 Years Old

Tony had no idea how this could have gone so wrong. It was supposed to be a simple in-and-out mission. Just get the guy and leave. He was supposed to be home 9 days, 17 hours, and 23 minutes ago and Peter knew that, but Tony hadn't yet been able to call Pepper and warn her the mission was going to be longer. There was no doubt in his mind that both Peter and Pepper were worrying and he could hardly sit still on the quinjet as they flew back to New York.

No one said anything as they touched down. Natasha silently helped Clint to his feet, leading him off the quinjet to medical while Tony limped out of the quinjet in his suit. Behind him, Steve groaned as he stood, but walked off the quinjet with only a little pain. Banner went with him to debrief Fury.

As soon as Tony was clear of the quinjet, he told JARVIS to take him home, not having the energy to fly himself. The flight back to the tower wouldn't be more than five minutes, but Tony wanted to save all his energy for when he finally got to see Peter again.

* * * * *

"Pepper?"

Pepper glanced up from her Stark tablet to see a Peter peeking around the corner from the hall. At the sight, she smiled and Peter took that as a sign to tear across the living room, diving onto the couch by Pepper. Crawling closer, he laid his head in her lap and wrapped himself up in his Iron Man blanket while Pepper set aside her Stark pad. When Peter looked up at her with a sleepy, worried expression, she gave him a small smile and combed her fingers through his hair.

"Hey, Peter," she murmured.

She knew what was wrong. It was the same thing that had been wrong for the past ten days, ever since Tony left for his short mission, so she didn't need to ask what was worrying him.

"He'll be here very soon." God, Pepper hoped it was true. "He just told me he's almost done, but he has to finish up some things," Pepper lied easily. It was the only way to keep Peter from worrying more. If he knew she hadn't heard any more from Tony than Peter had, he would panic and begin to worry Tony had died just like his mom.

"Why does he never talk to me?" Peter asked in a small voice.

Pepper's breath caught at his teary face and she shook her head.

"You're busy with school," she answered, "He wants you to get a good education and he wanted me to tell you he loves you so, so much."

Peter nodded and turned on his side.

"Do you think he'll come home tonight?" Peter asked, pulling his blanket over his shoulder and getting comfortable on Pepper's lap. Pepper continued threading her fingers through his soft hair.

"Maybe."

Peter didn't respond, but she knew he wasn't asleep. Until either Tony returned or the lack of sleep caused him to pass out, Peter wouldn't be sleeping.

* * * * *

When Tony got a call from Fury halfway to the tower, he had to wait for a few seconds before he could answer it without snapping. Despite Steve and Bruce offering to debrief their director, Fury wanted Tony's account as well as information on what had happened to Clint. Since only Natasha and Tony had been there to see the accident and Natasha was currently not leaving the medical bay, it fell on Tony to report to Fury.

"You can do it now and be done in ten minutes or I can come interrupt your day tomorrow," Fury warned when Tony tried to protest.

Taking a deep breath, Tony took control of the suit and turned around to return to SHIELD.

"I'm giving my story then leaving, Fury," Tony gritted out. The last thing he wanted was Fury keeping him at SHIELD longer than necessary.

"I wouldn't expect anything else," Fury replied before hanging up.

It was thirty minutes later when Fury finally let him leave. By then, Tony had given up all pretence of staying polite and nearly through his pen at Fury's head when he was dismissed. Instead of taking the elevator, he flew down the stairs and out the emergency exit as JARVIS disabled the alarm system. He was going home now and SHIELD would not stop him again.

* * * * *

Peter had been asleep for five minutes. Although he'd tried staying awake with Pepper on the couch, he couldn't hold out any longer. Pepper struggled to type on the Stark tablet but didn't stop brushing her fingers through Peter's hair. In the middle of what had to be her fourth yawn, JARVIS spoke up. She jumped, accidentally waking Peter in the process.

"Mr. Stark has returned to the tower."

Peter was rubbing his eyes when he processed what JARVIS had said. Seconds later, he was wide awake and racing towards the balcony with Pepper close behind him. On the balcony, Tony was just stepping out of his suit when Peter collided with him.

"Daddy!"

Tony picked Peter up and hugged him tightly. Clinging to his dad, Peter started crying.

"I was scared you weren't coming back," Peter said, wiping his face.

Tony squeezed him tighter then reached out with one arm to hug Pepper. She looked relieved to see him again as well, but she didn't start crying like Peter did.

"Sorry I'm late, kiddo," Tony said, setting him on the ground. Peter latched onto Tony's hand and refused to let go.

"Don't leave!" Peter cried, clinging to him still.

Tony squeezed his hand tightly and promised he wouldn't be leaving for a long time. When he caught a glance at the time, however, he frowned.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"I had a bad dream so I came out to Pepper," Peter mumbled, moving even closer to Tony.

Tony rubbed Peter's back and looked up at Pepper. It wasn't the first time Peter had had nightmares while he was out on missions, but Tony still worried.

"Alright," Tony said, "Well, I'm home now, so how about we all have a big sleepover?"

Peter jumped at the idea and quickly scooped up his Iron Man blanket from where he had dropped it while running to Tony. Once he was happily wrapped up, Tony carried him all the way to the master bedroom with Pepper close behind. He left only for a moment so he could change out of his soiled clothes and as soon as he returned, Peter scrambled to hug him. Tucked between Pepper and Tony on the bed, Peter finally looked content.

"I'm glad you're back, Daddy," Peter whispered, "It's scary when you're gone."

Tony frowned. "Why?"

"No one to fight the bad guys if they come to get us," Peter answered and Tony smiled.

"Don't worry, kiddo," he murmured, "Even if I'm not here to fight the bad guys, all it takes is one call and I'm headed your way."

Peter nodded as his eyes slipped closed. Curling up in his Iron Man blanket under the heavy duvet, Peter was quickly falling asleep despite how hard he tried to fight against it.

"Go to sleep, buddy," Tony said, "I love you."

"Love you too," Peter sleepily responded. A few seconds later, he was fast asleep.