Family is More Than Blood

Safe

Tony sat anxiously by Peter's bedside, waiting. He was still covered in blood and filth- whether Peter's or his own he didn't know. Peter was still unconscious but he was stabilized, so now it was a waiting game. Bruce had informed him that Peter could be out for days, but Tony had refused to move from his side. May was also there, but because she lacked the self destructive tendencies that Tony possessed, she occasionally left to use the bathroom or eat. Tony had seen in Pepper's eyes that she wanted to ask him to take care of himself, but he overflowed with gratitude when she said nothing, only sat beside him. He hadn't realized how much she had cared about Peter, too, but all that time Peter had spent at Stark Towers had caused Pepper to love him just as much as Tony and May. Bruce flitted around them, checking in Peter every few hours. Nat also seemed worried, but she kept her distance, confining her visits to watching from the door, then quietly slipping off again.

Still Tony sat there, leaving once after two days to use the bathroom. Pepper forced some food into him, then brought baby wipes to clean him. He was in some kind of shock, unable to leave Peter unguarded again. Sometime during Peter's rescue, the other team members had filed into Stark Towers, and they all took time to slip in and stay with Peter. They had never all been in the room at the same time until one day, when the entire team, Pepper, and May happened to visit together.

It was then that Peter finally opened his eyes, to the joy and relief of all the others. There were exclamations of happiness and greetings, and they all got hugs in, May the first and Tony the last. He held his kid tightly, and Peter didn't seem to care that he smelled of five days of sweat and blood and dirt.

Peter was still confined to bed rest, but Tony finally took a shower and ate regular meals, though he still slept in the chair next to Peter and spent every spare moment by his side. He didn't care about Swivilla, didn't care about anything at all, except for his loved ones unharmed and happy.

Two weeks later, Peter was walking around the tower, joking and laughing and back to his normal self. They all assembled in the kitchen, talking and bantering and throwing sarcastic comments around. With one arm around Peter and the other secured around Pepper, while simultaneously discussing quantum physics with Bruce and casually giving comments to Nat about her appearance while she steadily ignored him and talked to Clint, he had never felt happier. Thor was munching on Pop-Tarts in the corner, and Steve was studying the new phone that Rhodey had recently bought him. Wanda was laughing at something that Vision said, while Sam and Bucky argued with each other as always. 

"So," Peter addressed all of them and somehow, miraculously, got all of them to listen, "What exactly happened?"

They exchanged both sides of the story, Tony explaining that Natasha had had this woman on her radar for forever, and had always been on their side, about how he had figured out about the serum from the very beginning, about how Swivilla hated him for succeeding, while Peter gave a detailed account of the inside of the headquarters and Swivilla's brain.

"What are we going to do about her?" Peter asked fearfully.

"We're Avengers, we don't kill," Tony said thoughtfully. He thought he would be filled with boiling rage every time he thought of Swivilla, or Elena, but he was too glad that Peter was okay to be mad. "We'll capture her, turn her in."

"Something will go wrong," Nat said, but she said it calmly.

"It always does," Tony sighed, "For now, lets just hope it'll work out in the end."

"I'm very glad I don't have your mentality," Pepper grinned at him. They laughed, and they returned to the mini conversations and random chatting that always filled the air.

They would worry about Elena later. For now, everything was okay.

    Soooo, almost done. Just have to take care of Swivilla - Elena, whatever😂- and maybe have one chapter of bliss. Sad to be almost done with this story, but there'll be new stories and new plot lines and all will be good!! Thanks for staying with me, as always, and the encouragement. Hope the story was (and will continue to be for a short while) worth it.