Oh my goodness! The epilogue is finally here, heralding the end of an era. This Shifter AU has been so much fun and I really appreciate all of those who stuck with me throughout everything and reviewed along the way! In particular, those who reviewed for the last chapter: shine lots, kittygirl998939, Agent Ruby Red, Veuve Noir, I'm a Nerd and Proud, Guest, silver wolf, SoulMore, ramen-is-my-goddess, and XxTaintedxDaggerxX! Just as a reminder, I'm still running my "Ask Avengers Shifters" Tumblr page (accessible via my Author's Page on this site) and will continue to do so until all of you tire of it (which I assume will happen eventually, a fact that makes me sad but that I must realistically acknowledge).

PS: There's some M rated stuff right at the start of this chapter. If that makes you squeamish, I'd skip down to about the middle of it.

Epilogue

Four Years Later…

O

.

O

"I have to admit it's good to be back." Steve laughed as Tony leaned forward to rest his hands on his knees to try and stretch out his back muscles. They had just made it back home after handling a small situation in New Hampshire. Steve could have assigned anyone to run the mission with him, but he had picked Tony since the Panther had a few free days on his work calendar. That and they actually worked surprisingly well together as long as they resisted the urge to one-up each other, which wasn't always easy. But it was worth it.

Walking up to stand beside him, Steve gently ran his hand up and down the Cat's back even as he grinned, "You can't be tired already. This is only your first mission this month!"

"Leave me alone, I don't run ten miles a day unlike some people." Truth be told Tony had been feeling off for a few days and it wasn't because of the mission. Growling under his breath, he bumped Steve's hand off and straightened up. "I'm going to go take a shower."

Steve smiled again but lifted his hands up and stepped to the side to allow Tony to pass. He did so and made his way through the house and up the stairs. It was late, past midnight, and the rest of the house was quiet. It helped that there weren't many people left in the house. Natasha was supposed to be in, and so was Bruce, though he was scheduled to join Clint out in the field on a surveillance mission first thing in the morning. And Peter, of course. Peter was home. Despite his bad mood, Tony stopped by his son's room on his way to his own and scented the door, relaxing a bit as he sensed Peter resting peacefully on the other side. Everything was as it should be, except for the weird feeling he couldn't shake.

Growling to himself, Tony shuffled back down to the end of the hall to his room and closed the door as soon as he was inside. The first thing he did was kick off his shoes then peel off his tactical suit. SHIELD had finally provided their Pack with their own team tactical suits about a month after the mercenary incident. They had been eerily perfectly tailored for each of them with a SHIELD logo patch on one shoulder and a stylized "A" on the other, as promised. Tony had taken it upon himself to add an "ST" and "RK" before and after the "A" with a silver permanent marker on his suit. Steve hadn't approved but by the time he saw it, the deed had already been done and he didn't want to bother Coulson with sending them a new one.

But today the only thing Tony cared about now was getting the damn thing off. Stumbling around as it caught around his feet, Tony swore and rolled onto the bed to finish tugging it off of feet then threw it across the room. Damn skin-tight clothing. It didn't help that he had been sweating up a storm the last hour or so which was ridiculous because that was when they had been traveling back home and he hadn't been doing anything that active and, for fuck's sake, he felt like he was coming out of his skin!

Snarling, he pulled off the rest of his clothes and stumbled off of his bed and into the bathroom. He had been planning on taking a bath to get himself to relax now but he didn't think he'd be able to stay still for that long. So he by-passed the jacuzzi tub and went straight for the shower stall. He felt he should probably take a cold shower but he turned it on hot instead and climbed in. The steam almost choked him and he swore again and cranked the temperature back down to cold. But even as the water pelted his skin, he was still sweating and it was only then that he realized exactly what was going on. "Ah…fuck…JARVIS? You on?"

The AI responded instantly. "Yes, sir."

"Alright…we're going to have to talk about boundaries but right now I need you to get Steve up here for me…"

"Should I pass along a message, sir?"

"Ugh…Jesus…Yeah. Tell him I need him upstairs to help me reach something on the top shelf in the closet…"

It seemed like hours before he heard any noise from outside of the shower stall. When he asked JARVIS he said that it had only been three minutes but what the hell did he know? He had his head beneath the spray to try and cool himself down when a voice finally rang out from the bedroom. "Alright, Tony, what is it rea—Tony? Tony, where are you?"

Pulling his head from the water, Tony ran a hand over his face and growled back. "In here! Where you better be in about five seconds!"

"Tony?" He heard Steve pause then hurry towards the bathroom. "What's wrong?"

"Ah, fuck-define your version of 'wrong'?"

He saw Steve's outline appear in the fogged glass of the shower stall and apparently Steve saw more from him than he was expecting. "Are you…Are you jacking off in the shower?"

By the time he got there Tony had given in and already had his hand wrapped around his arousal. Just the sound of his mate's voice sent shivers of pleasure coursing through his body and it was already getting too intense for him to just sit with. Panting, he rumbled out a low growl in response. "Yeah, yeah, looks like it. I think I finally realized why I feel like I've been feeling particularly horny these last few days."

"Tony, are you going into heat?" It was a stupid question but Tony knew why Steve had asked. Ever since Hammer had come after Tony, Tony's body had all but gone on lock-down for a good half a year until his heat had finally bowled him over like a freight train. Every year since then his hormones had been balancing out and while it made him feel like he was running right again it had made every year a bit difficult to predict. It didn't help that Thor and Loki weren't around consistently enough for Steve and Tony to fall into their pattern and Bruce made himself scarce during his own heat before either of their hormones reacted to it.

But Tony was able to hear the smile in Steve's voice as he spoke and snarled at him through the glass. "How about you stop smirking about it and get in here and let me fuck you."

Steve growled at being ordered around but was already slipping out of his own tactical suit. Leaving it pooled up on the bathroom floor, he was in the shower stall with Tony a second later and instantly buried his nose against Tony's neck. Even with the water coming down on them, Tony knew that he still must be emitting some pretty strong pheromones when Steve shuddered and the movement rolled through his entire body. "Hell, Tony, you smell so good."

Tony's eyes closed and he leaned against Steve as the Wolf's hands fell to his body. A low rumble rose up in his chest at the feel of Steve's fingers running down his sides and back. His touch was doing more good than the water had, that was for sure, and Tony nipped at Steve's shoulder. "Your heat coming too? Fuck, let me feel it, big dog." They always had hair-trigger heats when it came to each other, ever since the very first one they had shared together. Tony would like to think it was because they had an especially strong bond but from what he heard it was like that with most mated pairs. At the first whiff of their mate going into heat, something triggered in their partner's mind to kick their own heat into hyper-drive. Steve growled and slammed Tony against the tiled wall, his nose still buried against his throat and his quickly growing erection already rutting up against Tony's hip.

Tony wasn't going to let him get away with that though and with a sudden burst of strength flipped them around and pressed Steve into wall so that his back was showing. Steve rumbled a low, disapproving noise in his throat but didn't fight it and let Tony pulls his hips out so that his ass was pushed out. By now they had an unspoken agreement; they took turns fucking each other during their heat and Steve knew that if he let Tony do this now, he would get his turn later.

The water helped to loosen things up and Tony snatched a bottle of body wash to do the rest. Steve grunted as Tony pressed his first finger in and glanced back with furrowed brows. Tony purred sympathetically—though not quite sympathetic enough to stop—and leaned in to bite at Steve's shoulder. "Sorry, no lube."

"Just do it then!"

"Hold on, honey, need to work you open more. We have a long week ahead of us and I can't have you getting hurt on the first go." It never ceased to amaze him how much their bodies were not built for this kind of thing. But they were both strong and could take it so it never stopped them. Steve only snorted and Tony chuckled and kissed his shoulder blade as he added another finger.

Prepping him seemed to take forever—it always did—and Steve was the one who broke first. "For God's sake, Tony, just fuck me!"

Tony growled against Steve's spine. "Suit yourself." Drawing his fingers out, he liberally spread another handful of body wash onto his cock. Holding himself steady with one hand, he wrapped his other around Steve's waist to ground them both as he guided himself to Steve's entrance. He felt Steve's abdomen tense under his palm as Tony first breeched him and Tony rumbled comforting sounds against Steve's skin as he worked his way into his mate. He saw Steve's jaw tighten and the Wolf reached back to hold his hip while his other disappeared between his body and the tile wall and just imagining he was doing with it made Tony's stomach clench.

The next five minutes was a wash of pleasure and the sound of wet flesh on flesh. Tony grimaced as he felt his orgasm start to rush up on him already and swore, his voice having dropped to a graveled snarl. "Fuck…Steve. Not gonna last long!" He was going to come embarrassingly fast. But they usually did at the start. Then, during their peak, they could literally go for hours, but there was just no way that was happening. Not when Steve felt so amazing and Tony was already so wound up that all he could do now was ride it out. Moving the hand he had resting on Steve's waist down, Tony wrapped his fingers around where Steve already had his own fingers wrapped tight around his length. He heard Steve growl and Tony pressed forward and bit down onto Steve's shoulder almost hard enough to break skin. He was coming a second later and Steve followed soon after.

The water quickly washed away any evidence of their coupling but they had to help each other step out, towel off, then stumbled into the next room and onto their bed. Tony rumbled happily as they finally lay down and he tangled himself up with Steve. Usually the Wolf was the one who initiated any cuddling and Tony just bitched about it but right now it felt like he couldn't get close enough. Steve didn't seem to mind and quickly wrapped his arms around Tony and nuzzled against his jaw, licking and kissing up and down Tony's throat as the Panther spoke. "Now that the edge is off, what do you say to a trip to Hawaii? We haven't made it there for our heat yet. It's a long flight but I have a condo there already. And we could fuck on the plane. That's the benefit of owning your own plane, you know. The Mile High club."

Steve snorted at the suggestion. "We can go wherever you want. But no sex on the plane. Peter might see."

Tony blinked then craned his head so that he could stare at his mate who seemed to be horrifically ignorant of the point of their trip. "Peter's coming with us?"

"Isn't he?"

"I don't know, you know I have a hard time thinking about Peter when I'm going into heat. "

"Yeah, you have a hard time with some other things too."

It took Tony a minute to realize what Steve meant but when he did he huffed out a laugh and buried his face against Steve's neck. "God, I love your ridiculous innuendos. But I've got a better plan."

Steve's lips quirked up into a smirk. "Oh you do, do you?"

"Yeah. Let's take off, just the two of us."

"But Peter—"

Rolling his eyes, Tony leaned forward and nipped at Steve's ear. "Peter can take care of himself now. He's fourteen now—"

"He's fifteen."

"I knew that. He's fifteen now and he can survive a week on his own. This is our last chance to do it. Next year he might present himself and then we're fucked." Tony didn't even want to think about that happening, about Peter reaching sexual maturity and experiencing his first heat. Tony had presented when he was sixteen and at some point during their ten plus years together Steve had admitted that he had been a late bloomer and hadn't presented until he was nineteen. God knew when it finally happened they'd all be a mess, especially since it would undoubtedly happen right when Tony and Steve were about to go into heat themselves.

"I thought we're fucked now? And about to be fucked again."

Tony couldn't help but laugh and he punched Steve in the shoulder. "Alright, stop turning things into innuendos! They're not sexy, they're just hilarious."

Steve grinned back and in that moment he realized that Steve might have been baiting him. "Make me."

"Oh, I'll make you alright." Growling, Tony pounced and Steve laughed as he was tackled to the mattress.

Another long fuck later found them sprawled out on the bed with Steve sitting propped up against the headboard and Tony lounging with his head in the Wolf's lap and his legs hanging off the side of the mattress with most of their sheets beneath his feet. Steve had his hand resting on Tony's chest with his broad palm covering the scar tissue. Momentarily satiated again, Tony was able to feel the drying sweat on his skin and wondered if he should take another shower but decided against it. They'd just be getting dirty again soon.

After a long moment of just sitting silently in each other's company, Tony tilted his head back and grinned at Steve. "…So what do you think? Without Peter we can fuck everywhere, the bed, the couch, the floor, the beach…" He let his voice trail off, knowing that Steve and his big imagination could take the reins from there.

Sure enough, he actually saw a small glint in the Wolf's eyes and knew that he was coming around. Finally, he grunted out an acknowledgment and nodded. "…Just for three days."

Tony made a face. Three days wasn't even worth the time it would take to fly there. "What? No. You're missing the point, Steven. We have to go at least seven days."

Steve frowned, clearly not wanting to be gone that long. Tony could logically get that. If any missions came up both of them would not only be in heat, they'd be out of state and an ocean away. And they hadn't both left Peter for that length of time before. But Tony didn't give two shits what logic had to say about it. He'd been wanting to spend their heat in Hawaii for over four years now and this year he was going to get his way. Finally, Steve caved and Tony grinned as his mate let out a sigh. "Five, and we'll let Peter stay here with the rest of the Pack."

"Deal." Tony could live with that. But he would need some compensation for his two lost days in paradise. "Can you move?"

Steve raised a brow in disbelief. "You can't?"

He could but…"I'd rather not…" It had been Steve's turn last and while they both gave it their all when they fucked each other, he couldn't deny that Steve had a height and weight advantage that knocked Tony for a loop when his mate really went for it. "Make me breakfast?" They had gotten back late, or early, depending on your perspective and it was a reasonable demand. "I want an omelet with bacon, sausage, cheese, and peppers and a cup of coffee."

Steve sighed again but he was still smiling. "I thought I trained you out of this habit."

That made Tony's own smile grow. "You can train dogs, Steve, cats do what they want." Steve scoffed and shoved him before slipping out from underneath him. As he moved off of the bed, Tony reached back and poked his leg. "Oh, hey, you should probably tell Peter that we'll be taking off today. I was going to have JARVIS do it, but since you'll be going downstairs anyway you might as well take care of that."

"Remind me why I put up with you?"

"I guess it must be love."

O~O

Steve pulled on a shirt as he walked down the stairs and ran his fingers through his hair to try and comb it back into some sort of order. When he stepped into the kitchen though he knew he should have dragged himself out of bed earlier.

Peter was crouched on top of the cabinets and just as Steve walked into the room he shot a web up at the vaulted ceiling, swung across the room, then flipped himself upside-down and lowered himself to the counter. A second later the toaster sitting on the counter dinged and a browned piece of toast popped out. Peter grinned and snatched up the bread and Steve decided he should probably say something, as impressive as the little display was.

He cleared his throat and Peter started and flailed, causing the thin web he had spun to snap and sending him crashing to the ground. Steve barely managed to keep a smile of his face as Peter floundered a bit more before pushing himself up onto his feet, all of the grace and agility he had just effortlessly utilized gone like a puff of smoke. He might have been worried but Peter was a Wolf—despite what Hydra did to him—and Steve knew it would take more than a four foot drop to really to any sort of damage. "Oh, hey, Pop, I didn't see you there!"

Shaking his head, Steve walked over, reaching his hand up as he did so to gather up some of the webbing left hanging from the ceiling to pull it down. It wasn't the first time he did it and Steve knew it wasn't going to be the last. "You know you're not supposed to be doing that sort of thing in the kitchen."

Peter pouted then stuck the piece of toast in his mouth and talked around the slice of bread. "Aww, come on!"

Steve just gave him a look and Peter rolled his eyes but nodded. "Fine." Pulling the toast out of his mouth, he took a few large bites before he lifted his chin and met Steve's gaze again. "By the way, why weren't you and Dad…?" As he was speaking, Steve saw him scent the air and a second later he pulled a face and his nose scrunched up. "Oh. Nevermind."

Steve frowned and tilted his head apologetically. There would have been no way for Peter to miss the scent of heat that was undoubtedly hanging around him like a cloud. Steve just hoped that the shower had washed away any smells of sex off of him. Peter was more than old enough to figure out what those scents would mean and there were certain things he didn't want to share with his son. "Yeah. It's that time of the year. Your Dad and I are leaving and will probably be gone for at least three days. Bruce and Clint are running a mission and will be in and out of the house and Thor and Loki aren't due back until Thursday. Natasha will be here but she will probably be spending most of her time in the SHIELD offices. They might have some undercover work for her that she needs to prep for. Will you be okay by yourself for that long?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

The way Peter rolled his eyes was so similar to the way Tony did it that Steve was momentarily struck with amazement about how many things could get passed along without any need for genetics. "I'm fifteen, Pop. I think I can manage to keep myself fed and not burn the house down for three nights. And even if I do, JARVIS is here."

"Though I would prefer you not use that as an excuse to start any fires, Master Peter." The AI was clearly listening in and rightfully felt the need to speak up.

Peter shrugged up towards the ceiling. "It was a joke!"

"All the same, I would appreciate if you kept that in mind."

Steve smiled appreciatively as he realized that at the very least JARVIS would be keeping an eye on things and moved over to the fridge to start pulling out things for breakfast. Peter watched him work for a moment then decided to stick around and jumped up onto the counter next to where Steve was prepping. Steve thought he was hanging out to get some food but Peter managed to surprise him. Although he would have seen it coming if his heat-fogged mind had been more cognizant.

"So, Pop, while you're gone is it okay if I got out with Bruce and Clint on their mission?"

Steve glanced over at his son. It was unexpected but not out of the blue. "Now Peter, we've talked about this already. At length."

"Yeah, I remember. But I still think it's a load of bull. I can do so much now and I've been training really well the last few months! I think I'm ready!"

"Ready for what?"

Steve caught Tony's scent before he even walked through the door. The pheromones Tony was still giving off made Steve want to curl around the Panther and mark him up with his lips and teeth. Taking a deep breath, Steve kept his hands to himself by resting them on the counter and glanced over at Tony as he stepped into the room. His impatience probably started to outweigh his laziness and they naturally sought each other out during their heat. The Cat had managed to pull on a pair of lounge pants and a tank top that only hid some of the bruises and hickeys Steve had left there earlier. He had good timing too; Steve could handle this conversation alone but it would be good for Peter to hear that they were both on the same page about this. "He's asking if he can go out with Bruce and Clint while we're away."

"Oh." Tony was as unsurprised as Steve had been. "Nope. There, argument settled."

Peter's mouth fell open. "What? That's not fair!"

Tony shrugged dismissively and walked over to stand next to Steve, resting his chin on his shoulder as Steve began to fry up some sausage and bacon. "And that's my prerogative as a parent. You're still too young." And Steve knew that Bruce wouldn't let Peter anywhere near their operation if he knew Steve and Tony didn't want him there. Clint might, but that was why they had partnered him with Bruce.

Peter threw his hands up into the air. "How long am I supposed to wait? Until I'm thirty? Come on, Dad, you were already in MIT when you were my age!"

Snorting, Tony turned back towards Peter. "Yeah, but no one tried to attack me there." Although, when Steve thought about it, from what he knew of Tony's life his time at college was one of the few times in his adult life that someone wasn't trying to kill him, as sad as that was. "If you're planning on getting accepted into a decent university within the next few months we can talk."

A bolt of internal panic rushed though Steve at the idea of Peter leaving for college but he kept that inside. They had enough to talk about right now. "Speaking of which, above all else school is still in session."

Peter groaned and leaned back against the cabinets behind him. "Ugh…Who cares? I can skip some classes for a day or two, I'm acing them all!"

Steve frowned and shook his head. "Education is important. You can't just cut classes whenever you want to. Even if you're doing well."

"Especially in high school where you're legally supposed to show up." Tony added.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Peter frowned at his Dad. "Don't tell me you never cut classes."

Mentally, Steve commended Peter for making a good point even though it in no way made his argument. He and Tony had never had a big discussion about what Tony's high school life had been like but he was guessing that as smart as he was Tony wasn't exactly a role-model student.

"Hey, I never said I was leading by example. Do what I say, not what I do."

Seeing Peter open his mouth to keep pressing the issue, Steve decided that it was time to stop the discussion there. He really wasn't in the mood but, more than that, this wasn't something either him or Tony were willing to negotiate on and Peter was going to have to accept that. "Enough. Peter, I'm not going to argue with you about this. You're not going out with Bruce and Clint and I'll be letting them know." He had used what Clint called his 'alpha voice', making what he was saying a command rather than a statement.

It never worked on Tony but it still had an effect on Peter and the teen shrunk back a bit into himself before jumping off of the corner and leaving the kitchen with an angry huff. Steve felt bad but this wasn't something that he could afford to fold on. Tony clapped him on the back but let his hand linger on Steve's back. "It's not always easy, is it?"

Steve knew that he was talking about being a parent." No." But at the same time… "It's a little bit easier when I know we're going to Hawaii though."

"Tell me about it. Now when's that omelet going to be done? I'm starving and I'm starting to get horny again."

O~O

After breakfast and a frantic return to their bedroom to go another round and let off some steam, Tony had JARVIS call the nearby airport to start prepping his jet then called Pepper to let her know he wouldn't be showing up at the office for the next week. She wasn't pleased but understood, probably due to the fact that she would never want him near the office anyway when he was in his heat. Climbing off of the bed, Steve took a moment to stretch so that he wouldn't limp then redressed. There was something he had to do before they left.

He walked out of their room, leaving Tony to pack—or, more likely, lounge on the bed with his Stark Pad until he came back. Steve made his way down the hallway to Peter's room. With his senses heightened from his heat he had been able to catch his scent as soon as he stepped out into the hall and knew he was inside. He paused, not knowing what sort of mood his son was in, but knew that he would have to do this either way. So he knocked. "Hey Pete, can I come in?"

"Hold on!" Steve raised a brow as he heard a semi-frantic shuffling noise seep out from behind Peter's door. After a second or two the rustling abruptly stopped ad then he heard Peter chirp out another reply. "Okay. You can come in."

Steve gently pushed open the door and glanced around Peter's room before stepping inside. Peter was sitting at the desk he had in his room with his laptop open in front of him. Everything seemed normal so Steve stepped in a little further, met Peter's curious gaze, and decided to cut right to the chase. "I didn't want to leave with you angry at us."

Peter sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I'm not angry…I get it."

"Good." Because even all the emotions that came with a heat wouldn't be enough to dispel the guilt that he would have felt at leaving Peter on a sour note.

Peter glanced at his computer screen for a moment before looking back up at him, his tone surprisingly thoughtful. "Hey Pop? When you guys go on missions why don't you, Dad, and the rest of the Pack go after all the stuff going on in the city? There's a lot of crime going on by both Shifters and humans." He

At least he wasn't asking whether he could go out on missions again. This Steve could handle. "If we had more time and more people we would but there's only so much even we can do at one time. Even with the other teams SHIELD has in operation now. We need to choose our battles and SHIELD helps us to figure out what the most important ones are. Our job is to keep both humans and Shifters safe by dealing with any Shifters who pose threats. Though we wouldn't be able to stop human criminals even if we found them."

"Just because they could claim that you tried to 'attack them'? That's stupid."

"Sometimes it is." Steve didn't always think it was right but he could understand why the laws were in place. Humans were still frightened of Shifter's increased strength and speed. Steve hoped that he and Tony could continue making headway in human-Shifter relations and eventually change some of those laws to protect Shifters as well as humans but things like that took time.

"What if there was somebody who could help try to keep those guys from hurting anyone else?"

"We do have someone like that; they're called the police."

"They can't keep up with everything!"

"They do their best, just like we do. "

Any response Peter was going to give was interrupted by a shout from the hallway. "Steve? Hey, I just got a call, the plane's ready!" Steve and Peter both looked up as Tony's voice broke the tension that had been slowly building back up towards another argument. A small smile flickered onto Steve's face. He wondered if Tony had sensed tempers rising or if he just had amazing timing. The door creaked back open and Tony poked his head inside. He was dressed, thank goodness, but his hair still had a tussled look and a bruise was peeking out from beneath the collar of his shirt. There were certain signs that neither of them would be able to hide on this trip but that was alright. With the private plane, the private vacation home, and the private beach, he wasn't sure if anyone else would even get the chance to see them. Tony raised a quizzical brow as he saw Steve and Peter standing together. "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing that can't wait until we get back."

Peter pouted a bit at Steve's response but it looked like he had momentarily given up wanting to fight about it because he didn't correct him. Steve was grateful because the last thing he wanted to do was start another argument when he was trying to make things right before they left. "Alright. Peter, we're heading out. If you want to use the lab, don't go near anything flammable without Bruce's supervision. Natasha is the only acceptable substitute. No arguments."

"Fine…"

"Great. Now, come on, Steve. We have a plane to catch."

"Alright, I'm coming." Bending down, Steve pressed a kiss against the top of Peter's head. The teen squirmed but didn't pull away. "We're going, Peter. Call if you need anything, we'll both keep our phones on and you know how often your Dad's checking his messages."

"I think I've checked ten right now just waiting for you to be ready to go."

Steve straightened and huffed out a breath. "I'm saying goodbye to our son." In case that had slipped his mate's notice.

"You're taking forever is what you're doing." Stepping into the room, Tony gabbed onto Steve's arm and pulled him towards the door. "Let's go. See you, Peter, love you, stay out of trouble, bye!"

O~O~O~O

Peter grunted awake as there was a loud slam on his bedroom door before Clint's voice echoed through the wood. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty! You got school in an hour and fifteen minutes. I got up early for this, so you better be ready to go in half an hour!"

Peter glanced over at his alarm clock and found that Clint was right. Groaning, he rolled off of his bed and stumbled to the door. It felt too early but there was definitely light slipping in passed the curtains drawn over his windows. He knew that if he didn't respond Clint would have no problem bursting in and yanking him out. And with all the stuff he had scattered around his room after his Dads left he didn't want anyone coming in until he cleaned things up. Pulling his door open just enough for him to stick his head out, he blinked blearily up at the Hawk. "Okay, I'm up!" Wow, Clint had looked better."...What are you going to do all day?"

"With your dads gone? I'll probably go back to sleep as soon as I boot you out the door until Tasha notices." Clint was still dressed in his pajamas and looked as tired as Peter felt. "I got back from the field with Bruce too late last night, er, early this morning, and I need about twelve more hours of sleep before we gotta go back out again but someone needs to make sure your ass gets to school."

"And you're just going to boot me out the door?"

"I called your Dad's driver, Hogan. He says he's free to drive you into town."

"Oh…" Peter thought for a moment before he smiled up at Clint. "Okay. Lemme get dressed and get my stuff together."

"Sure…whatever. I'm gonna go start some coffee and get some cereal out for you. Cereal's fine for breakfast, right? I think we have milk. Otherwise I think Thor left some Poptarts last time he was here…" Clint's voice trailed off as he shuffled away from Peter's door.

Taking his chance, Peter shut his door again and ran to his closet to pull out some clean clothes. Once he was dressed, he dove for his backpack and quickly turned it over and dumped all his school books and binders out. Peter quickly pushed them all underneath his bed then scrambled to repack his bag with everything he had been finishing up last night. The blue and red fabric disappeared as he zipped his backpack up then threw it over his shoulder. He carried it with him to the bathroom as he rushed through his morning routine, too anxious about it to let it out of his sight even for a minute in case someone noticed. Someone always seemed to be watching but with his Dads out, Thor and Loki gone, Bruce asleep, and Natasha out of the house, he wasn't going to get a better chance than this. Peter had been working on this all by himself for almost four months now and he had just been waiting for this kind of opportunity. He had hoped that he would have been able to show his Dads first but it looked like he was just going to run his own tests.

Peter found Clint downstairs wrestling with the cappuccino machine but he had actually pulled out three different boxes of cereal so that was something. Peter picked one of them, dumped it and some milk into a bowl, and practically inhaled it. He was all nerves this morning but was trying not to let it show on his face. Clint was pretty out of it so he probably wouldn't notice but even he might get suspicious if Peter started acting too strangely.

He looked up at the clock and saw that it was late enough to reasonably want to leave. Dropping his bowl in the sink, Peter grinned up at Clint. "Alright, see you later, Clint! I'm heading out now."

Clint didn't even glance up from the coffee machine as he jabbed at one of the many buttons, his brows dawn down in a groggy scowl. "Yeah, sure. Text us when you're done, someone will pick you up from school."

"Will do!"

Just as Clint had promised, Happy was waiting for him in the driveway. He smiled happily as he saw Peter come out the front door and Peter almost felt back for tricking him as he smiled and waved back. The sun was beaming down on him now, but this time the light was a lot less obtrusive and a lot more energizing. This was going to happen today, this was really going to happen! Hurrying down the front steps, he ran up to the car and climbed into the back, being careful to keep his face innocent and his backpack clutched tight in his hand the whole time. Natasha had told him once that over-explaining something was a big sign of lying so Peter kept things simple. "Hi, Happy! So it's cool if you drop me off at the Natural Science Museum, right?"

Hogan frowned and looked at Peter in the rearview mirror as started the car. "What's that? I'm pretty sure it's a school day, Peter."

Peter instinctively wanted to shy away at the slightly reprimanding tone in Happy's voice as his nerves fluttered in his chest. But, no, he had already come too far to turn back now. So he gave an exasperated sigh. "Clint didn't tell you when he called? I have a field trip today and we're supposed to meet at the museum downtown."

The man heaved a sigh of his own but rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I knew I should have called to confirm what the plan was…It figures something like this happens the day your Dads take off. Do you need a permission slip signed or anything?"

"Nope, I'm good. Pop signed it for me last night." That was a blatant lie but Peter was actually kind of grateful that Happy would actually think to ask about something like that. Then again, he and Pepper pretty much had to remember everything for his Dad so he had practice with that sort of thing.

Happy nodded as he guided the car out of the driveway. "Alright. Will you need a pick-up from the museum this afternoon?"

"I'll call you. I think there might be a second part of the field trip scheduled so I'll let you know where we are." He was going to try to make it back there by three but who knew where he was really going to end up?

Happy seemed to accept the answer and Peter's story, probably because it was the first time that Peter had ever lied to him. The rest of the ride was easy. They were both comfortable enough with each other that they were both able to enjoy the drive and Peter found that his nerves were actually starting to settle. Until they pulled up in front of the museum that was.

Narrowing his eyes, Happy looked up at the large building. "That's funny…I don't see any other kids around."

"Uh, yeah, we're meeting inside and I guess it's still pretty early. You made good time!" Climbing out of the door before Happy had too long to question everything and poke holes in his story, Peter gripped the strap of his backpack. "Thanks, Happy! I'll call you when I'm ready to be picked up if that's alright?"

"Sure, Peter."

Happy waved as he drove away and Peter stayed right on the curb, waving back until the man was no longer in sight. Then he turned away from the museum and hurried in the opposite direction to where he knew thanks to the internet that there was a public bathroom. The smells were pretty bad as he pushed his way inside and closed the stall but Peter hardly paid them any attention. All of his senses were focused instead on his backpack as he set it down and unzipped it. He released a long breath and a smile spread across his face as he pulled out his red and blue suit that he had spent the last few months making, the spider symbol he had created sewn right onto the front. He wasn't just going to sit back and watch anymore. He was going to step up and make a difference, just like his dads. Except he was going to be able to do things they weren't. "Sorry Pop, Dad. But if you're not going to let me go out with Bruce and Clint, I'm going to have to go to the crime on my own…"

O~O~O~O

The whole house was quiet, the temperature perfect, and the soft sound of the breeze and birds chirping outside of the open window. It was usually peaceful and it was as if everything was settling in the wake of the stillness inside.

Natasha's eyes flashed open and she looked up at the sharp sound of her cell phone ringing. Sighing, she uncurled herself from her hummingbird pose and hoped that whoever was calling had a good enough reason that it would warrant interrupting her mid-way through her yoga routine. Now that Clint and Bruce had gone back out into the field she had the whole mansion to herself in what felt like years and she had been making the most of it. But of course it couldn't last long.

Snatching her phone off of the table, Natasha answered it. There were only so many people who had this number so she knew it had to be important. "Romanov speaking."

"Hi Natasha, it's Coulson. I was hoping that you might be able to make it to the office this afternoon."

Natasha frowned and moved to stretch the muscles in her legs out. "I was in this morning and wasn't scheduled to come back in until tomorrow night."

"Something came up."

"A problem?" Natasha drew her brows together as her frown deepened. Coulson didn't often show his nerves but his voice didn't seem tense the way it could be when an emergency popped up. The only reason Natasha could hear it was that she knew Coulson so well.

She heard the man sigh. "I hope not. I'd rather show you. Please come in as soon as possible."

"I'll be there in forty-five minutes."

Natasha made short work of changing into more appropriate clothing, choosing not to wear her tactical suit but a top and jeans she could move well in instead. She still didn't think that Phil had an actual mission for her and didn't want to stand out when it would more likely benefit her to blend into crowds. After that she borrowed one of Tony's cars and drove herself into the city. At this time of day in the early afternoon traffic wasn't bad and she walked into Coulson's office with three minutes to spare. Coulson was sitting at his desk staring at his computer monitor with his hand resting over his mouth but his eyes flashed up to her as she stepped in. "Natasha, thanks for coming in on such short notice."

"Of course." She would always show up when he called her. For work or otherwise. Natasha wondered sometimes if Coulson knew how much she, Steve, and the rest of them would really do for him after all he had done for them. "What did you want to show me?"

Coulson sat back in his chair and gestured towards his computer screen with a soft sigh. "I thought you might want to see this."

Raising a brow, Natasha walked around his desk so that she could see the monitor. She was confused at first when she saw that he was streaming the local news station but then she realized that it must be the story itself that he wanted her to see. From the tone of the newscasters' voices it was clear that it wasn't like a national disaster. They almost seemed amused, which only confused her again. This didn't seem like something that would fall into her area of expertise.

On the screen it showed two masked men dangling from a billboard as the news anchor spoke over the video. "It was an exciting day down at the First National Bank on Fourth Street today when two armed men rushed in demanding money. The teller just had enough time to activate the panic button before she was forced to the floor at gunpoint. But before they were able to harm anyone, witnesses say that a costumed man 'flew' inside the door, beat the men into submission, and then attached the men to the billboard using some sort of web." The picture cut back to the two reporters who were facing the camera with carefully crafted expressions of interest and surprise on their faces. "The costumed stranger is believed to be either a human with advanced technology or some sort of Shifter. This expert though says that there are a number of clues to the young man's species."

The camera switched again, this time to an older, professional looking man being interviewed by a field reporter. He reminded Natasha a bit of Bruce and she wondered if he was a college professor. The man adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat before he looked into the camera. "Yes, I find it difficult to believe that this man is a Shifter. First of all, his behavior is like no other Shifter that I have yet encountered. Second of all, these abilities are unheard of for a Shifter in their human form. We all know that they are stronger and faster than humans but they certainly are not able to climb walls like this."

They cut to a video someone took with their cell phone of a figure climbing straight up a building. A very recognizable figure and Natasha leaned forward over Coulson's desk. There was no way…She almost missed it as the reporters spoke again. "Some speculate that it is a stunt to gather media coverage from Stark Industries, the massive technological powerhouse that is based here in the city. CEO Tony Stark was unavailable for comment but his representative, Ms. Virginia Potts, denies all allegations or connection to the masked man."

Natasha wasn't surprised that Tony hadn't picked the news station's calls but if he had he would definitely know a thing or two about this. Pepper hadn't recognized him dressed up in that suit but Natasha had watched Peter grow up and learn to climb walls. She had taught him how to spin his web. And there was no mistaking it now on camera. "Coulson , that's Peter."

The tired way Coulson was looking at the screen was enough to let her know that he already knew that. "I assume you didn't know about this?"

"No." Which was saying a lot. Natasha had to give the kid credit. Peter had clearly been planning this for a while. He had even made himself a costume without anyone noticing. "Steve and Tony aren't going to like it." They weren't going to let her, Clint, or Bruce get away easy with letting it happen either.

"I'd say that's an understatement."

Sighing, Natasha straightened back up. She was maintaining her calm, just as Phil was, but her chest felt tight with worry. Peter had been trained, yes, but not in the full set of skills that would allow him to safely take on armed robbers. He was going to get himself hurt and she would never forgive herself if that happened. "Should I go get him?"

Coulson finally looked away from the screen and met her gaze. "I already sent an agent to collect him. I figure if Peter wants to be a public figure he needs to start learning how to deal with public agencies."

"Like SHIELD?"

"Better than the police."

"True." Very true. And the police were sure to be looking for him. They had an uneasy enough truce with SHIELD. Natasha wasn't sure how they would react to a super-powered vigilante running around their city.

O~O~O~O

"Mr. Parker."

Peter had been swinging across rooftops when the sudden shout caught him off guard, making him miss grabbing onto his next web and sent him toppling to the rough graveled roof of an apartment building. "Huh? Ack!" He tucked himself into a roll but still skid across the sand and tar but he was beyond gratefully when he came to a stop and found that he hadn't torn up his costume. Looked like springing for the higher quality material paid off. Hissing, he pushed himself up and rubbed at his elbow where he had banged it against the roof. "Ow…Why can't I have Dad's reflexes…?"

"Mr. Parker."

He snapped back to attention and looked up at the person who had called him out. It was a woman dressed in an all-black tactical suit, sort of like the one he had seen his Pack wearing. She had dark sunglasses over her eyes and the rest of her face as absolutely expressionless and impossible to read. She was human but not even her scent gave anything away. Swallowing, Peter pushed himself back up onto his feet and dropped his voice to try and disguise it. "Uh, sorry citizen. You must have mistaken me for someone else."

"I don't think so." It took everything Peter had not to back up as the woman walked over to him. He didn't even flinch when she reached to her belt and unclipped a small leather wallet. She flipped it open and his eyes caught on a badge and an ID card. "Agent May, SHIELD."

Peter couldn't help it as his shoulders slumped in relief. For a second there he thought she was going to kill him or something. "Jeez, you guys are quick."

He could be wrong but he thought he saw the barest hint of a smile flicker onto her lips but then any signs of it were gone. "I'm here to bring you back to SHIELD headquarters. I trust you'll cooperate."

Peter did cooperate. He could've run but he knew that wouldn't be good for anything. If he went along with her maybe she wouldn't tell his dads. Besides, he had already caught the bad guys, and had been pretty badass about it if he didn't say so himself. That had to count for something, right?

He tried to start up a conversation after Agent May loaded him up into her car but she didn't say a word back to him which just intimidated Peter all over again. Which left him sitting in the passenger's seat, still in full costume, twiddling his thumbs and trying not to look as awkward as he felt.

Peter was actually relieved when they pulled up to the SHIELD building. He hopped out of the car as soon as May put it in park. She had pulled into the SHIELD agents' parking lot that was tucked underneath the main building so Peter didn't worry about any normal people seeing him. Of course he was wearing a mask, so what would it matter if they did? Agent May caught up with him at the locked door that led into the building and after she swiped her ID, Peter held the door open for her in an exaggerated show of chivalry. She wasn't impressed.

May walked him directly to the elevator but at that point Peter didn't need her to lead him around. He didn't come to the SHIELD office a lot but all the same he had been coming there his whole life. He had spent a few good months in their hospital and then in their barracks after his Pack took down Hydra. Peter didn't have any solid memories from those days but it was like the blueprint of the SHIELD offices had been imprinted in his brain. So he knew exactly where they were going when May herded him out of the elevator and down the hall.

Sure enough, a minute later they were standing outside Phil's door and May grabbed Peter's arm and tugged him inside. Phil was standing in front of his desk with his arms folded over his chest and nodded to Agent May with that small smile on his face that Peter had learned early on didn't necessarily mean he was happy. "Thank you, May." The stoic woman nodded, gave Peter a look, then reached up and pulled his mask off. Peter sucked in a breath and scrambled to snatch it back from her. She let him have it without too much of a fight then walked back out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Peter and Phil just stared at each other for a moment after they were left alone before Phil decided to break the silence. "Peter, it's good to see you."

"Y-yeah. You too, Mr. Coulson." As he spoke, he fiddled nervously with his mask in his hands. There was still a chance he was okay. He didn't know how SHIELD had picked up on him so quickly but maybe they didn't know what he had done that afternoon. It sure seemed like he was in trouble though. Okay, so they probably knew about the robber thing. But maybe Phil wouldn't tell his dads. "Um, why am I here?"

Before he could find out what the man knew, all of Peter's questions were answered when the door swung open and a very familiar redhead walked in. Crap. He was so screwed.

Natasha closed the door again as she stepped inside and rested her hands on her hips. "We saw your performance on the news."

Peter opened his mouth to offer some defense but Phil moved forward and motioned to his mask. "May I…?"

He instantly handed his mask over and Phil unbundled it and carefully looked it over. "Nice work. Your stitching could be a little more even though."

Peter furrowed his brow and looked from Phil to Natasha. He could tell Natasha was mad but he had seen her worse. And Phil was being remarkably cool about the whole thing. Peter didn't know what that meant for him. Natasha wasn't one to beat around the bush. If he was in trouble she would have let him know it right off the bat. "So, am I in trouble?"

Natasha looked over at Phil, then back at Peter. "That depends on what you define as 'trouble'. We're certainly going to have a long talk and—" She was cut off as her cell phone chirped with a text message. Reaching into her pocket, she fished it out and glanced at the message. It was from Tony.

Hey, JARVIS just sent me a weird news story. You know anything about it?

Shaking her head, she looked up again as Phil began to address Peter. "We won't be pressing any sort of charges if that's what you mean. But you have to be aware that would have been an option. I'm going to see to it that your name isn't connected with what happened at the bank but you are going to have to be more careful next time."

Natasha glanced down at her phone as another text came in. From Tony again.

Everything's normal over there, right?

Alright, so he suspected something. She was going to have to figure out what to say to him. JARVIS must have been programmed to forward Tony any local news stories about Shifters and since the news station suspected that the mysterious masked man at the bank might be a Shifter she wasn't surprised that JARVIS had sent the story to Tony. If he had been sent a clip from the news channel than she knew it would be a matter of seconds before he and Steve recognized their son.

Peter's not picking up his phone. Where is he?

Focusing back on Peter, Natasha tilted her head. "Peter, do you have your phone on you?"

The teen shook his head. "This suit doesn't exactly have room for pockets…I was planning on redesigning it but right now my phone's in my bag which is on the roof of the Natural Science Museum. I was gonna go pick it up before I called for a ride back home…"

Please don't tell me that's Peter.

Oh, good. Tony had been sent the clip and had clearly already watched it.

Holy fuck, that is Peter!

PICK UP YOUR PHONE NATASHA WTF IS PETER DOING ON THE NEWS?!

All caps and no punctuation. Natasha had never seen Tony revert to that before. No more pretending then. She arched a brow as her phone began to ring and held it up so that Peter could see it. "It's your Dad.

Peter squinted at her cell's screen as if to confirm then let his head roll back with a low moan. "Oh…crap. I'm so grounded."

Phil's smile widened as Natasha's phone continued to ring. "After you get off the phone with your dads, I'd appreciate it if we could talk for a moment to discuss your crime-fighting strategy. Welcome to SHIELD, Peter."