Always Silent, Peter Darling

Chapter 25

Peter had never slept so much in one day before, but to be fair, it was an emotionally and physically exhausting day. He was just thankful that he was too tired in both areas to properly dream. Just flashes of memories and incomplete thoughts, if anything stirred him awake, he was always reassured by the presence of Mr. Stark or Pepper, sometimes both, on the couch next to him.

When he did finally wake up, he was surprised that he didn't sleep that long, just a few hours really.

His head felt groggy, but that was ok, he didn't have to force himself into alertness like he usually did.

His change in breathing alerted Pepper, who was sitting on the far side of the couch with her legs curled under her as she tapped away on a StarkPad.

"Have a good nap, Peter?" She glanced up at him from the tablet, it was easy to notice the slight puffiness under her eyes, he no doubt had the same problem unless his spider abilities kicked in and he recovered quicker.

Peter nodded slowly, <Where's Mr. Stark?>

He looked around trying to find his phone, the slightly muffled translation was coming from the couch cushion, he found the phone pretty quick after that.

"He's talking with the judge that will be looking over your case, he's getting proper custody of you so we don't have to worry about any legal issues later. After your trial we'll be able to officially start the adoption process."

<Trial?> He asked nervously, it didn't come across in the artificial voice since it didn't have the same sensors as the suit but it was easily seen on his face.

"Unfortunately," She sighed "but we're working out a deal with the police, so there shouldn't be any repercussions for your time as a courier."

Peter was sitting up now and had shifted slightly closer to Pepper, <What will I need to do?>

"Information, just whens, wheres, hows, probably a few whos in the process," Tony said as he walked through the elevator door. "You're talking about the deal right?"

"Yup, just gave him the basics," She said with a smile, she got up to greet Mr. Stark with a kiss. "How'd talking with the judge go... you behaved right?" She asked almost scornfully.

"Of course I did, I wouldn't purposely screw something as important as this up," The man rolled his eyes, "They've agreed to let us keep you, mostly, but she wants to talk to you first, see how you feel about the arrangement."

"When do I have to go?" Peter asked quietly.

"Sometime today would be best, but she understands if you want to wait till tomorrow," Mr. Stark walked over to Peter who was still sitting on the couch, he knelt down in front of him. "Really it's up to you, so don't feel pressured about doing it today," Tony said casually, but there was still sincerity behind his words.

"I can do it today," Peter said absently running his hand over his scar before looking up and giving a confident nod.

"Excellent!" Tony said as he quickly stood up. "Just tell me when you're ready and I'll have Happy take us over."

Peter nodded as he got up, he noticed he was already hungry again, but decided not to say anything about it. He'll just eat when they have dinner later.

After a quick shower, (because Peter was going to take full advantage of having access to running water, especially since that running water was coming from a luxurious shower with a freaking waterfall mode) they made their way down to the ground floor and out a back entrance into an alleyway where Happy was waiting with the car.