Family is More Than Blood

Peter had no idea what was going happen to him. He was pretending to follow Nat and Swivilla's every word until he could determine whether or not Natasha was actually working for her. He had asked what he had thought we're inconspicuous questions, but every time she had looked shrewdly at him, so he stopped. He had forgotten how smart she was, how lethal, because she was always so kind to him.

"Peter," Swivilla snapped him out of his thoughts, "Were you-?"

He knew she was going to ask if he had been paying attention, but she never got the chance to. An alarm went off, blaring and flashing.

"What?" Swivilla let out a string of curses. "Why would the fool break in now? He must not know that you're pretending to be under our control."

Peter froze. Pretending? Swivilla practically cackled.

"Oh yes, I know," she crooned, "Ms. Romonaff was kind enough to inform me that you were only faking being subservient. Let us administer this-"

Peter struggled, but somehow Nat was there and she was holding him back and how could she have betrayed him and why was the alarm still going off and -

A wave of blankness spread over him as he lost control of his muscles.

"Peter?" Swivilla's voice swam into his head.

"I am yours to command," Not-Peter responsed. Peter wanted to scream.

"Stark has attacked the compound," Swivilla said, "Destroy him. God knows he won't be able to destroy you."

Peter tried to resist but, with a start, he realized that Swivilla had been weakening him so that when she re-administered the serum he wouldn't be able to fight it. He was helpless as his body carried him away.

The breach was in the main room - why had he targeted the main room? - and he was blasting everyone in sight.

"Hello, Mr. Stark," the words coming out of his mouth were alien, "I'm afraid your time is up now."

That was it. No preamble, no pretend. Not-Peter grabbed the suit from where it was hanging and donned it with Peter's skill. Tony didn't even attempt to shoot him. Not-Peter shot three webs in his direction, which Tony barely managed to duck. He shot a blaster at him, missing by a millimeter. Peter knew that that had been a warning shot, but that Mr. Stark would never carry out on that threat.

"You are never touching my kid," Tony ground out, and Peter could sense Swivilla just behind him.

"Oh, it's too late, Mr. Stark," she whispered just loud enough to be heard.

"Is it?" He asked, then held up a syringe in his left hand. It looked minuscule compared to his battered red and gold armor plated fist, but it held more meaning then a bomb would.

"Get that," Swivilla spit. Not-Peter swung into motion. Webs were shot, blasts fired, Peter could barely keep up. Usually he fought on instinct, and since now his instinct wasn't in play, he could hardly tell what was happening when. He wasn't having an adrenaline rush or a panic attack, just an ever increasing feeling of dread. They were evenly matched, but Mr. Stark was purposely missing, trying to keep Peter alive and unharmed. It worked against him.

Swivilla was keeping up evil villain commentary in the back.

"Feel my pain, Stark," she crowed, "Feel my despair. Not nice, is it, being beaten?"

"I wouldn't know," Tony managed to fire back at her. Peter tried to force his features into a grin but it didn't work. Resistance was fruitless. Peter watched helplessly as Not-Peter webbed Tony to the wall then, using a carefully aimed shot of web, knocked the anti-serum from Tony's waist and went lunging after it. It was snatched up before he could get to it. Not-Peter and Peter were both curious and fearful as to who picked it up, and lifted their head in unison.

The antidote was held firmly in the hands of Natasha.

Peter felt the dread plunk like a concrete load in his gut. Where did her loyalties lie? She grinned menacingly and tossed the antidote to the side.

Peter traced the antidote's path with his eyes, but Not-Peter was keeping him from leaping after it. It made a long arc through the air, and landed in the outstretched palm of-

The Black Widow. She had run across the room and caught it with her own hands, giving Tony time to unravel from the webs that Not-Peter had shot at him. She tossed it to him now, a move which neither Peter nor Not-Peter had seen coming. His mouth fell open. Natasha grinned and winked at him, and Swivilla let out a horrible scream.

"You! You said-!" Her finger was raised, pointing at Nat, her entire body shaking with anger.

"You trusted too blindly in your anger," Natasha said coldly. "You really thought I could work for you, I, who is a known member of the Avengers, who is a spy? You thought I could work for someone who bends people to their will to take revenge in one person who didn't even do anything?"

"But.." Swivilla was actually trembling now, "But..."

"It's over, Elena," Nat said quietly. Peter wondered briefly who Elena was, until he realized that Swivilla could hardly be her real name.

"No it's not," it wasn't Swiv-Elena's voice. It was a strange voice, coming from the side of the room. There was a woman there, standing alongside a similarly aged man.

"But Fiona!" Mr. Stark pleaded, "Drien. Please."

Peter stared uncomprehendingly as the scene unfolded. Drien seemed to hesitate, and Mr. Stark's expression became hopeful, and he paused. 

It cost him. Faster than Not-Peter could register, both Swi-Elena and Fiona made for the serum. They collided beneath him, but in a desperate attempt to fly straight up, the injection fell from his hand.

It lay on the ground, and though Peter screamed at his muscles to move, Not-Peter was stronger. Both Sw- Elena and Fiona were recovering from the impact with each other. Mr Stark, frantically swooped down, but with such a huge suit, he couldn't move as gracefully as he wished. Peter heard him desperately telling FRIDAY to locate it, but either she couldn't through the melee, or S-Elena had jammed the signals. 

Drien tried to exchange a look with Natasha, as though they were in a fight, but Nat, who had learned to use every second at her disposal, had already dived for the serum. Tony was there first, scooping it up in his bulky hands.

"Peter!" He yelled. He zoomed down towards him, but Not-Peter finally moved - away from Iron Man. Peter tried to slow him down but he was just so tired and Not-Peter was flinging webs this way and that and swinging out of danger.

Peter forced an, "I'm sorry!" Out of his mouth, leaving him exhausted. He decided to preserve energy for trying to slow Not-Peter down. Elena and Fiona were racing after them, right after Natasha who was catching up, but they were on the ground and the fight was in the air. 

"Nat!!" Tony called desperately. She knew immediately what he was saying and ran up on the wall, backflipping through the air just as Tony tossed the serum to her, landing in a crouch on the floor, vaccine in her outstretched hand. She sprinted after Peter, but Not-Peter was faster, and she threw it back up to Mr. Stark and-

A hand caught it midair. Drien. He looked torn and scared.

"Drien, please," Tony's voice cracked. Drien froze.

"Drieeeeen," Elena cooed, "I pay you."

"Drien!!" Fiona shouted, "Come on, ya big lump!! Give it to me."

"Give it to Peter," Tony's voice broke the tension. "Let's see who's stronger."

Peter was momentarily paralyzed. Him choose? He was barely strong enough to say his own words! The injection was flying through the air towards them, almost in slow motion. Peter was still frozen. Then Mr. Stark panned his helmet up, and their eyes met.

It was Peter who saw Tony's eyes filled with complete trust and complete love, Peter who dove for the serum, Peter who caught the injection, and Peter who slammed it into his neck, pushing the antidote into his veins.

Peter passed out seconds later, but he knew that he was going to be okay.

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.

"Operation ready?" Nat's voice sounded through the earpiece located in Peter's ear. Peter heard Tony sound back an affirmative, then look back at him. Peter was allowed to come on this mission only on the condition that he would listen to everything Tony said. He would listen.

He just might not do it.

"Do you have the serum?" Steve's voice crackled over the earpiece. Bruce had extracted it from Peter's blood stream, while Peter was comatose and Tony was sitting by his bedside. Tony repeated his, 'Yes,' spared Peter one more glance, then flipped his helmet down.

"It's go time," he muttered. Peter flung himself up the wall and scampered across the roof, wincing as the cold Chicago air hit him inside his suit. His Iron Spider suit was undergoing some changes so he had had to settle for his old one. He slipped into a hatch that Nat had rightly informed him was on this roof. It led to an air duct which he crawled through, even colder now. Three levels down there was a small grate which Peter removed using a pick Tony had given him and squeezed through. 

"Bingo," he murmured.

He was in Swivilla's office, and he quickly flipped his earpiece on to a fifth channel.

"Hey Ned," he said cheerfully. He could feel Ned squeal on the inside.

"God, I love being the guy in the chair," Ned's voice came back to Peter.

"Ok, Chair Guy, please walk him through this," Tony's voice sounded strained.

"Yeah, sorry!" Ned squeaked, and immediately turned his attention to Peter's cams. "Ok, first you have to-"

Hacking while having someone tell you what to do was mindless. Peter was merely pressing buttons for the next ten minutes. Eventually, Ned said that the cameras were down. Peter sure as hell hoped they were, because he hadn't been paying attention at all.

"Alright, we have two minutes to get in," Tony said, "Nat, you grab the main plans from her room. Pete'll guide you there. Steve, distract Elena. I'm gonna jab the thing in her neck."

"Hey, Miss Romanoff," Peter said. "Okay, so I'm three levels underground in the -" he pulled up floor plans, "seventh door down on the right."

"Got it," Nat replied. Peter waited one minute before he got anxious.

"Miss Natasha? Miss Black Widow?" Peter's voice was small.

"Yeah, I'm coming, don't worry," Natasha sounded amused. The doorknob handle turned.

"Oh, yeah, I can see," Peter laughed.

"What?" Nat sounded worried, "Kid, I'm not there ye-"

The door swung open.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Elena asked.

Tony was moving as fast as his suit allowed. He zoomed down the stairwell, narrowly missing the ceiling. 

"Peter, stand down," at this point, he wasn't sure what standing down even meant but if Peter was in any danger he couldn't live with himself. Not after it was so close last time, not after he had promised May - and himself - that he wouldn't let any harm come to Peter.

"Tony, do you have the serum?" Steve's voice cane through and the only reason Tony didn't punch him was because he wasn't there.

"Yes I have the fucking serum, where the fuck is my kid?" Tony nearly screamed. 

"It's okay, Tony, I'm here," Natasha's voice was muted. She was whispering, then. Tony almost imperceptibly slowed his pace, but it was enough that he didn't bang into any more walls. 

He reached the door Peter described and saw Natasha lurking outside, eye presses firmly to the keyhole.

"The door's impenetrable by any of SHIELD's weapons," she explained as Tony neared.

"Move aside, then," he said. She didn't question his order, just stepped to the side. Tony blasted the door in, rubble spraying on the other side, and burst in. Peter was on the ceiling and Elena was cowering in a corner. Tony held up his hand towards her. It glowed menacingly. He gently tossed the concoction to Natasha, who filled the syringe with it. 

"If you move, I'll shoot you," Tony threatened.

Elena through back her head and laughed, "You wouldn't. The superhero the people have come to love? No."

"Yes, I would," Tony's voice was low. Elena must have seen the shift in his eyes, because she froze. "You captured Peter, tortured Peter. You will not get mercy."

Natasha crept towards her like a cat, lethal but steady. She held up the syringe and realization dawned in Elena's eyes.

"NO!" she screamed and lunged forward. Tony blasted at her, but she wasn't running to her freedom. She grabbed a gun from the floor, disrupted from her desk by the door explosion. Nat held up one of her hands, and said soothingly,

"Put the gun down, Elena."

Elena cackled, "You have made me into this, Tony Stark. This was you. And my death is on you, too."

"We're not going to kill you," Tony said forcefully. 

"You're not going to," Elena held up the gun, then swiveled it around and placed it in her own mouth. Tony leapt for Peter, latching on to him and throwing his hands over his eyes just as the gun went off. Nat tried to snatch the gun away from her, but it was too late. Elena lay on the floor, eyes glazed.

Tony didn't let Peter look, and walked him out of the room.

Natasha and Steve took care of cleanup while Tony flew back to New York with Peter.

And while Peter lay in his bed at May's apartment, Tony lay next to Pepper, head buried into her chest, and wept.

He wept for Peter, for the horror and trauma he had been through at such a young age. He wept for Elena, for the girl who felt such overwhelming despair and sadness that she took her own life. He wept for himself, for his irretrievably damaged self, for this mess of brain and blood and tears that was Tony Stark. And Pepper held him, and through the night he healed.

The next morning, he did not greet anyone with a sarcastic one liner. He held out his hand to each of them, and they understood.  

Peter understood most of all. They all gathered in the living room, silent but still together.

The Avengers, broken and hurt and in pain, but real and true and better than any single one of them could ever be.

The Avengers - including Peter.

Peter could feel the eyes of his classmates on him as Mark flung words at him, at his friends, at Aunt May. He merely smirked, waiting for the deluge of insults to stop. After a few minutes, Mark froze, realizing that Peter wasn't even responding. He opened his mouth - no doubt to up the ante - but Peter was already walking away.

At night, the nightmares had returned. He imagined the gunshot going off over and over, Tony's desperation in getting to him, Elena chaining him, punching him, hurting him. Now, though, he could easily crawl into Aunt May's bed, the shame no longer creeping over him. Or on the nights he was at the Avengers compounds, he would slide in between Tony and Pepper, and both would wordlessly accept him. Sometimes, Pepper would have to comfort Tony and Peter simultaneously, but she never seemed to mind.

After school, he often brought Ned, MJ, or both to Stark Towers. They would spend hours designing and chatting, talking with the Avengers, Tony or Bruce occasionally slipping in and giving them random advice.

Today he was walking up the stairs of the compound alone. He had shaken off both Ned and MJ by telling them he was going with the other, and he was nearly a shadow as he snuck into the elevator. Pepper met him in the penthouse, pressing a finger to her lips to gesture for silence.

"I have everything set up, except for -"

"I got it," Peter whispered. He pulled a small folded cloth from his pocket, placing it almost reverently in Pepper's hands. They both jumped when FRIDAY's voice came loud and clear over the intercom.

"Mr. Stark is returning home, Miss Potts," she announced. Pepper jumped, and motioned for Peter to hide behind the couch, where she quickly joined him.

Next to him was Nat, who was scolding Steve and telling both him and Clint to be quiet. She turned to Peter with a rare smile. Peter immediately grinned back, then promptly told Steve and Clint to be absolutely silent. They froze, their mouths locked, and turned to wait. Nat rolled her eyes.

"Everyone ready?" Pepper asked in a hushed voice. They nodded a silent affirmative, Thor putting his half eaten Pop Tart on the ground in a solemn promise. The elevator door slid soundlessly open, and Tony stepped inside, his head hanging slightly.

"Happy birthday, Mr. Stark," FRIDAY announced cheerily. Peter groaned internally.

"Thanks for remembering," he said dejectedly. Peter glared at the ground, then prodded Pepper hard in the arm. She nodded, and held up three fingers. Slowly, she put down one. Then the other. Then-

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!" all the Avengers, plus Pepper, leaped up from behind the couch. At the same time, balloons and confetti exploded from the ceiling as they began to sing. Presents appeared from seemingly nowhere as Tony wiped happy tears from his eyes. Pepper strode over and kissed him thoroughly enough that Steve jokingly covered Peter's eyes. When she broke away, Peter was surprised to find that she hadn't give Tony The Present. The one they'd planned for months. She made eye contact with Peter and walked over, pressing the cloth into his hand.

"I think you should give this to him," she said quietly. Peter couldn't bring himself to move closer, but Tony took care of that for him. He came over and gave Peter a bear hug, practically squeezing the breath out of him. When he finally let go of Peter enough to gasp in a bit of air, he had found the courage to give the present.

"This is... something we made for you," Peter could feel a knot rising in his throat. What if Mr. Stark didn't like it? What if it made him sad? But now Tony was looking at him expectantly and it was too late to go back. He handed the faded red and gold cloth to Tony. The man unfolded it carefully, his mechanic's hands peeling the fabric gently. With the last fold uncreased, the cloth expanded into a small scrapbook, with a red background and the words 'Family is More than Blood,' embroidered onto the cover. Tony opened it cautiously. Tears were streaming down his face from before he had even flipped the first page. There were pictures of him with Howard, Maria, and Jarvis - but also of him with Pepper, with Rhodey, with the original Avengers, then with the newer Avengers, and finally with Peter himself.

"It... it folds up so you can take it on missions with you if, i-if you want to, I mean, of course," Peter stammered. This time when Tony hugged Peter, he didn't even care if he could breathe or not. The other Avengers piled on and hugged for what seemed like an eternity.

"Now," Tony sniffled, then a smirk spread over his face, "I love the party. But it can't be a party without cake."

Laughingly, Pepper ordered Dum-E to bring out the chocolate cake and they all took turns smashing it in Tony's face. He simply couldn't have that - so he smooshed a bit on theirs as well. It took less than a second for a full-on food war to begin, with Peter as the reigning champion.

A few hours later they collapsed, exhausted. There was food and confetti everywhere, everyone's face were stained with tears and laughter, they would most likely have a horrible argument tomorrow, but they were all the happiest they had ever been. And ever would be.

As family.