Epilogue

OOOOOOO

"So they weren't with Fish and Wildlife?" Pepper asked, fascinated.

"Not even close," Stark replied. "Turns out one is an investment lawyer and the other trades stocks."

"Huh. I imagine they're going to be paying through the nose for this."

Strange nodded.

"Apparently the state of New York does not take kindly to poaching on protected grounds."

"Or anywhere else, for that matter," Natasha added.

They were sitting at a table in the lounge, eating dinner and telling Pepper all about their trip. As much as they could in one sitting, at least. All three of the cameras that had she sent with them were out on the table and she'd been flipping through them one by one almost since they'd returned an hour earlier.

The rangers had been pretty quick to respond to Stark's call, and both of the poachers had been awake by then. They were sitting on the ground in the area between the picnic table and the fire pit when the green truck had pulled up behind Tony's sedan. Stark wasn't in his Ironman suit by then. With one of their handguns only inches from where she sat at the picnic table, the only guard they really needed to have was Natasha. Although that was never tested, since the two men were pretty much dazed from the unexpected turn of events, and with the knowledge that Stark could activate his suit at any minute, they knew they didn't have any place to run even if they'd managed to get to their feet.

There had been a lot of recording of statements, then. All done at the picnic table. This time around, Stark had allowed the rangers to ask Peter questions, but had refused to allow them to get an actual statement – using his status as a minor to keep him out of the entire proceedings, and anything that might follow if it came to trials and court dates. He was more than willing to be a witness, and that would be plenty once all the evidence was sorted out.

They had the arrow that Peter had found still had blood on it, and it could be tested to prove that it was the one that had injured the bear. That would be the physical proof needed to bolster the circumstantial evidence and would definitely be used against the men.

"Sounds like an amazing time."

"You could have come," Stark reminded her.

She rolled her eyes, smiling, and looked at the picture that Strange had taken of the deer by the lake. It was already one of her favorites of the lot.

"This picture is amazing, Stephen," she told him. "I'm going to steal it. You know that, right?"

He smiled.

"As long as you make a print for me, you can do whatever you want to with it. I-"

He was interrupted by a commotion at the lounge entrance and Clint and Steve came in, dressed in casual clothing that told them all they were done with whatever duties they'd been working on when the campers had returned. The two men saw the group and headed their way, grinning.

"Peter!"

Barton and Steve were immediately on the boy, wrapping arms around him and picking him up, cheerfully, hugging him from behind before he could get to his feet, and ignoring the cloak, which had been draped around Peter's shoulders. Peter dropped his fork with a clatter, but was grinning, more than willing to be manhandled by the two.

The cloak grumbled grudging acceptance at being pinned between Peter and them – it could learn, too.

"Careful, gentlemen," Strange cautioned, watching the roughhousing with amusement, but also with that immediate concern that comes naturally to any doctor who is watching someone they sewed back together moving more than they probably should. "Don't ruin my handiwork."

"Did you really get attacked by a bear?" Steve asked, picking up Peter's fork for him and running his fingers through the boy's hair, affectionately.

"And a skunk," Barton added, pulling back just a bit and making a show of holding his nose.

"Yeah."

"He has the stitches to prove it," Natasha told them.

"Can we see?"

Peter nodded and pulled up the t-shirt he was wearing, held the hem in his teeth to keep it out of the way and then pulled the bandage aside. Both men looked at the four rows of neat stitches with interest.

"That's going to leave an interesting scar," Barton said.

"Not as much as you might think," Strange replied. "I'm better than that, believe me."

"What are you going to tell May?" Rogers asked, looking at Tony.

They were all well aware that this was not the kind of thing that they'd really want to share.

"The truth," Stark said, shrugging. "We can't really hide that many stitches –and she should know. But momma bear is going to be a baby bear to downplay the amount of danger he was really in."

The two men pulled up chairs and joined the group at the table so they could hear the story of the camping trip as well. Including the skunk story, which made both of them grin at Natasha, who rolled her eyes at their amusement. She knew right then that she'd been absolutely correct to insist on not coming back to the compound in the state that she'd been in right after being sprayed.

She was going to have enough trouble living that one down until one of them did something dumb to overshadow the skunking.

They talked well into the evening but finally had to call it a night.

"When are you going home tomorrow?" Barton asked Peter, looking at Tony for the answer.

Stark shrugged; they didn't really have a timeframe, and he was always willing to keep the boy until the last minute.

"I'll probably take him home before dinner. Why?"

"Dropping jumpers in the morning," Steve said, and he was looking at Peter. "Interested?"

The boy nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Which meant a wild ride once they lost the passengers. Something Peter never got enough of. Steve and Clint left, followed by Pepper who had to get some sleep. She took all the cameras with her, though, to make sure none of her pictures would get lost, and said she'd see them all at breakfast.

"I'll walk you to your quarters," Strange said, standing up when the others did and offering his arm to Natasha to support her injured knee, even though her limp wasn't too bad.

The four of them left the lounge together.

"Are you staying here tonight, Stephen?" Stark asked.

"No. I'm going home, and I'm going to take a long hot shower, shave the scruff off my jaw and sleep for a week."

"But we'll see you at breakfast, though, right?" Natasha asked, reaching up and running her fingers along the 5 days' growth of stubble that lined his usually well-trimmed cheeks and jaw.

"Absolutely. As long as none of you are cooking, and I don't have to do the dishes."

"Sounds fair."

The cloak transferred to Strange's collar and with a wink he vanished, leaving the three of them standing by Romanoff's door.

"Thanks for joining us," Tony said to Natasha.

"More fun with a woman there?" she asked with a teasing smile.

"More fun with you there," Peter told her, sincerely.

She hugged him for a long moment and kissed his cheek.

"Next vacation we'll go to a beach somewhere. Someplace with no skunks."

Romanoff told them she'd see them at breakfast – she wanted a long hot shower, too – and went into her quarters, leaving them in the hall, alone.

"We could do Hawaii during Winter break, I suppose," Stark told him, leaning against the wall and watching Peter. "Take May and Pepper, and do the opposite of roughing it. I imagine that would appeal to Stephen, as well."

"It'd be better than camping in the winter."

"True." He smiled, reaching out and pulling Peter into a one-armed hug, holding the boy close for a minute, and feeling that same rush of affection and love that he always did when he was with him. "Thanks for coming."

Peter hugged him back, burying his face against Stark's shirt.

"Thanks for taking me."

"You're welcome." Tony let him go, and couldn't help but ruffle his hair as he did. "Now go take a shower. You still smell like skunk."

OOOOOOOO

A/N: the end! I enjoyed writing it, and I really am enjoying my AU with these characters having the relationships that they do. One of the reviews from a guest mentioned the relationship and a question of how it would have made the battle on Titan different and that is an interesting point (that I will not go into to avoid spoiling anything for anyone who hasn't seen it) As a heads up, though, the next story I write (still in my own little AU) is going to be different. I love writing happy and fun, but I'm ready to toss out some angst for a change of pace.

Thanks for reading!