It's Not Over Yet

Ch. 2

When they landed in Wakanda, the Guardians were the first ones off the ship. Doctor Strange followed shortly after spotting Wong among the group waiting for their return. However anxious Tony was to see the other Avengers, his first priority was Peter and Peter was not going to leave the ship without a great deal of convincing. He refused to let go of Tony and whimpered every time Tony tried to pull away. Tony didn't blame him, though. If he had been in a battle like the one they had just been in when he was 16, he would probably be pretty shaken up too.

"Come on, kiddo," Tony said, rubbing Peter's back. "The other Avengers are out there and want to make sure you're okay." Peter pulled his head up from where he had buried it in Tony's chest and frowned.

"Aren't they fugitives?" he asked. Of course Peter wouldn't know about how things had changed.

"Not anymore," Tony answered. "Now come on, we have to go prove we're alive." Peter nodded and let go of Tony enough so they could stand up. He stayed glued to Tony's side as they walked off the ship and outside.

The first Avenger to see them was Steve. He smiled warmly at Peter who gave a shy smile. Steve recognized him from the airport battle years ago, but it was the first time he had seen Peter with the mask off and he was horrified to see how young he was. Natasha saw them next and gave Tony a nod, a small smile on her face when she saw Peter beside him. When Rhodey saw them, he broke away from his reunion with the others that had been trapped in the soul stone and hurried as fast as he could over to Tony and Peter. In the years between the Leipzig battle and the battle against Thanos, Peter had spent a lot of time with Tony and had gotten close to Rhodey as well. However, he was reluctant to leave Tony's side even to hug Rhodey. Rhodey sensed this and didn't hug him for long.

"I'm glad you're alright, kid," he said. Peter nodded sharply, focusing on the forest around him.

"Where are we?" he asked. He was pretty sure they weren't in New York anymore, but he wasn't exactly sure where they were.

"Wakanda," Rhodey answered. He pointed to where T'Challa was clinging to Shuri, Nakia, and Okoye. All three were crying. "That's the King; the Black Panther." Peter nodded, looking away from the reunion as he felt like he was intruding on them. He smiled at Bucky and Sam who were both talking to Steve. Steve was obviously trying not to cry but wasn't doing too well.

"How long have we been gone?" Peter asked, turning from Bucky and Sam to look at Tony.

"Two years," Tony said quietly. Peter didn't seem too shocked. He just nodded and looked down.

"It felt longer than that," he told him. Tony squeezed his shoulder and Peter tried to smile as he said, "I guess I'm a legal adult now." Tony frowned and shook his head.

"No, it doesn't count if you don't celebrate it," he said. "You're still sixteen."

"But that means Ned's older than me!" Peter complained. Tony rolled his eyes. "Can we have a double birthday party so I can be 18? We'll just pretend we had it before, though, so I'm still older than Ned."

"We'll see," Tony said. Peter gave him a look and Tony sighed. "Fine. But it has to wait until everything has settled and we're back home."

"Deal," Peter agreed. Tony was glad to see this time Peter's smile seemed almost normal. It wasn't nearly as big as it usually was, but it wasn't sad and it wasn't fake, so Tony felt happy to see it. "By the way, did you guys figure out a way to fix Vision? Wanda told us what happened and she wouldn't stop crying for a long time."

"We did, actually," Tony said. He pointed across the clearing towards Vision and Wanda. "Shuri managed to do it, actually. She's brilliant; you two would be good friends." Peter smiled at the sight of Vision and Wanda. Wanda was crying (pretty much everyone was at this point) and Vision was holding her tightly. Peter didn't want to intrude on them either, so he looked away.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter asked. Tony looked down at him. "Do you think we could get some food? I guess it's been two years since I've last eaten and I'm just now realising how hungry I am."