The Revenge of Devil | Irondad, pepperony

Epilogue

Four months later

"Good morning," Peter greeted his parents cheerfully as he entered the kitchen. Tony sat at a table with a cup of black coffee, reading the news on a tablet while Pepper stood at the hob and cooked them breakfast.

"Happy birthday, honey!" Pepper said instead of greeting and immediately imprisoned him in an embrace. "Wow! Sixteen, I don't believe it," she breathed with a smile and kissed his forehead before returning quickly to making pancakes.

"She's been a little hypersensitive since morning," Tony warned softly as Peter sat down next to him.

"I heard that!" She nodded, but the smile didn't leave her face. "I don't know which of us were looking at photos of Peter's childhood today," she teased.

Peter had to laugh. "I'm only sixteen, what are you going to do when I'm twenty?" he asked with a smirk. After the whole event with Teresa, it took them a while to find happiness again, but Pepper saved them, as always. To Tony's displeasure, she took care of everything about his sister. Only she dealt with Ross, and Peter was incredibly grateful for that. She arranged a session with a psychologist who regularly went to Raft to see her, and who Pepper even paid herself. With Ross's help, she arranged a correspondence with the warden so that Peter could stay in touch with her. Tony didn't want to support any of this, and for a while, it tarnished their relationship, but between father and son, it finally began to return to normal, so everything was fine.

"None of that," Tony protested. "You are not allowed to grow older anymore."

"If it worked that way, he would have been banned a long time ago," Pepper smirked, handing everyone a plate full of pancakes.

"What time will the others come?" He asked with his mouth full of pancakes. They haven't seen much of the others in recent months. Somehow they all needed time for themselves. He looked forward to seeing them all again. And especially Aunt Nat. He had to tell her that he had long ago accepted her past and that he loved her anyway. It took him a moment to come to terms with what she had done in the past. To accept that the real Black Widow did not remain in the past, as everyone thought. But it was still his Aunt Nat. He needed to have her in his life, just like mom and dad.

"We're scheduled for three o'clock, but you know, they'll probably show up sooner," Tony scoffed, watching the pancake plate with interest as a wrinkle began to form on his forehead. "Didn't you really change your mind?" He sighed and looked at him with concern in his eyes.

"You know it's a useless question," Peter muttered, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed. He was afraid Dad would forbid him to. He knew his mother would stand up for him, but he didn't want to argue again. Not when they were finally so happy.

"I'm just worried about you. I'm not sure you're ready for what you see there," he explained. He wanted to stop him from visiting Raft, but he couldn't. Not when his wife agreed. He couldn't put up with it, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

"Minister Ross will be with me, nothing will happen to me," Peter tried to reassure him.

"And you're forgetting that Teresa is in a closed sector. Everett leads him behind her and then straight out. They won't see any more prisoners," Pepper reminded him.

"I don't like it anyway," he growled, sipping his coffee.

"Secretary Ross has just arrived, waiting for Peter," Friday told them, after which Peter stuffed his last bite and quickly got up from his chair.

"Take care of yourself, little bat," Tony said anxiously before his son could walk away.

"And tell her the good news, if the situation is right," Pepper said. Peter nodded and turned to leave, but when he was at the door, Pepper added, "And come soon! Not that you're late for your own party again!"