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Ch. 9

Peter and Tony made it back to the house with four minutes to spare.  They came running into the house, arms loaded down with grocery bags.  Some were take-out while others were not.  Pepper decided not to ask what kind of junk food the two had gotten.  Instead, she helped them get the food ready and the table set.  Peter had just finished setting down the forks when a knock came to the door.  He flipped out of the kitchen and ran towards the door.  He grinned as he threw it open to see Steve, Natasha, Bucky, Sam, and Vision standing at the door.

Bucky and Sam stood in front of Natasha and Steve, not looking too pleased.  Peter looked at them confusedly then glanced back at Natasha.  She just shook her head, telling him not to ask.  Peter shrugged and opened the door wider, allowing Vision to walk in first with the bowl he held.  Bucky and Sam followed with Steve and Natasha close behind.

"What is it, Vision?"  Pepper asked, taking the bowl from him when he offered it to her.

"Wanda showed me how to make pudding, so I figured I could bring some to share,"  Vision explained.  Pepper nodded and set it on the table for him, grabbing a spoon and putting it in the bowl.

"Where is Wanda?"  Peter asked, glancing at the pudding and dipping his finger in it when he thought Pepper wasn't looking.  He received a stern look, but he still stuck his finger in his mouth to try the pudding.  Surprisingly, he didn't think it was horrible.

"She is visiting Clint's family for a few days,"  Vision answered.  Peter nodded in understanding.  He knew how close Wanda had grown to Clint and his family.  Especially with his youngest being named after her brother.

"What's up with Thing 1 and 2 over there?"  Tony asked, jabbing his thumb at Sam and Bucky who were glaring at each other across the table.  Natasha stood behind Sam, beside Steve as she watched them closely.

"Thing 1 thought it would be funny to hide Thing 2's wings,"  Steve answered, looking at Bucky who simply smirked.  "We still haven't found them."

"You never will,"  Bucky said.  He crossed his arms and leaned back as he looked at Sam.  "Not after he broke my favourite gun on purpose."

"It wasn't on purpose!"  Sam snapped.  Before Bucky could yell back, Natasha had her hand raised with a remote.  They froze and returned to simply glaring at each other.  Tony clasped his hands together and smiled awkwardly.

"Well, let's eat,"  he announced, pulling out a chair at the table.

* * * * *

By the time dinner was finished, Bucky and Sam could be in the same room without anyone else suffocating from the tension.  Thanks to Peter's ability to get them to play nice, they were at least trying to be civil.  Natasha didn't leave them alone, though, and stuck close when they left with Peter into the living room after the meal.  They were currently playing Uno while Steve and Pepper cleaned up the meal.  Tony said he was helping, but he was really just finishing off Vision's pudding.

"Uno,"  Sam declared, placing a draw 4 down for Bucky.  Bucky scowled but drew four cards.  Unfortunately, he didn't have the colour Sam had called so he had to draw more.  Peter placed a reverse down and Bucky grumbled as he had to draw again.  Sam happily put down his last card, declaring himself the winner.

"Cheater,"  Bucky said.  Sam narrowed his eyes at him but before he could launch at Bucky, Natasha was interfering.

"Alright, Sam, you go help Steve and Pepper clean up,"  she instructed.  Sam grumbled, but stood up and did as was told.  "Bucky, go take a walk and calm down,"  she instructed.  Bucky left the house quickly, pulling the door shut a little harsher than he meant to.  Once it was just Natasha and Peter in the living room, they turned to each other to talk.

"How's Avenging?"  Peter asked, putting away the Uno cards.  Natasha got comfortable on the couch, watching Peter stuff the cards back in their box.

"Boring right now, but that's good,"  she answered.  Peter nodded then joined her on the couch after all the cards had been put away.  "How's the last few weeks of high school?"

"Awful,"  Peter replied.  Natasha gave him a look, silently asking him to explain.  "Just finals.  Oh, and the agency messed up the conference date so as of right now, I'm becoming the official Stark Industries heir on Monday."

"What?"  Natasha asked.  She sat upright, looking at Peter in concern.  "Have Tony and Pepper tried changing it back?"

"Yeah,"  Peter nodded, glancing down at his lap.  "They're trying really hard and they're telling me they'll fix it, but I know they can't.  It's okay.  It's only two weeks until graduation.  I can handle that."

"Peter,"  Natasha said.  Peter shrugged.  "Well, I guess I know what I'm doing next week."

"What?"  Peter asked, curious and glad for the subject change.

"Playing bodyguard at a high school,"  Natasha told him.  Peter rushed to tell her that wasn't necessary, but it seemed to accomplish the opposite of what he wanted.  "I can ask Steve to come too,"  Natasha said, talking over him.

"I'll be fine,"  Peter said, not really listening as they both talked at once.  "You don't need to bring Steve, really, I'll be—"

"—and Bucky could come too,"  she told him.  "We'll be the three muske—"

"No!"  Peter yelled.  He covered his mouth quickly when Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.  "Fine, you can come.  Just don't bring Steve or Bucky, okay?"

"Okay,"  Natasha agreed.