Pepper Potts-Stark was not Mr. Stark, but she understood Peter better than he ever expected her to. In the years where he'd been Mr. Stark's unofficial intern, both in the lab and outside of it, she seemed to know what he needed and when. From getting three pizzas instead of one to ordering everything he needed to premix his web fluid without him needing to ask, Pepper Potts-Stark was there for him. After Mr. Stark's death, Peter had worried he'd lose all the Starks. This had not happened.

Almost overnight, Happy took on Mr. Stark's job as a chaperone and showed up just as regularly and unexpectedly in the Parker's apartment. Pepper's phone number somehow appeared in his phone and although it had been startling at first, she sometimes asked Peter to visit the Tower and entertain Morgan after school. Certain that it was only out of pity and a temporary arrangement, Peter had tried to make the most out of the time before Pepper inevitably moved upstate for good and Peter was left without any link to his mentor.

Even after graduating from Midtown, Pepper had not cut all ties. Quite the opposite, in fact.

She arranged for him to take an official job in the R&D department and in his last year at ESU, began to arrange for him to take over. Morgan became his new lab partner and although Pepper always scolded him for their more dangerous experiments, she never kept Morgan out of his lab.

Unfortunately, like the last time Peter had visited the Tower, today would not be a simple social visit. He wouldn't even be heading up to the R&D floor for work. Instead, FRIDAY directed him straight up to Pepper's office after Michelle had finally convinced him to let her start preparing for her interview in peace.

"Miss Potts?" Peter poked his head through the door and was immediately given a chastising look.

"Mr. Parker," Pepper replied. She waved him in nonetheless and although Peter's face felt warm, he happily entered the familiar room.

"Where's Morgan?"

While Stark Industries had a daycare center for employees, Morgan didn't often frequent it. Between their small family of Happy, Rhodey, May, and Peter, there was no need. Even Michelle took over child care duties when she wasn't busy writing an article for the Bugle.

"Happy took her to the park," Pepper said, clearing off her desk. "I didn't think this would be a conversation that she should be present for."

Peter bit back a grimace and shook his head in agreement.

"That was a good call," Peter muttered, already fighting the urge to fidget in his seat and fiddle with... something. Anything.

With a warm smile, Pepper offered him a Rubik's cube, something that he was fairly certain she only kept in her office for him. It didn't match the rest of her trinkets and it had appeared after his third visit, but he had yet to ask.

"Tell me what happened, Peter," she said softly. She leaned forward in a comforting way that immediately made Peter want to do just that.

They hadn't told May everything that happened, but Peter knew better than to try and hide from Pepper. Damage control was only effective if he shared the full story, but Peter had never felt the need to lie to Pepper. May would worry and while Pepper would worry as well, she knew how to handle a Stark Industries-related crisis as she did.

Starting from the very beginning, Peter recounted the events in Venice―the elemental's attack and the destroyed bell tower. He mentioned Fury and meeting Beck, how he'd seemed like a good guy up until Prague when Peter had finally filled in some of the more suspicious gaps in Beck's story.

"The multiverse theory made sense," Peter told her because that hadn't been part of Beck's story that gave him a bad feeling. "He was just―always there. He knew what we'd need and he knew about EDITH."

"You took EDITH to Europe?" Pepper gave him a look and Peter shrunk in his seat.

"It was just in case," he muttered. Pepper sighed and Peter spun the Rubik's cube around and around. "I didn't want to take the suit."

At the time, it had seemed like a good plan: take EDITH along in case he needed her, but leave his suit at home. Spider-Man couldn't be seen in Europe anyway. Up until the moment where Beck messed with his mind and he got hit with a train, he'd been doing okay.

"I'm sorry, a train?" Pepper interrupted. Her eyes narrowed. "And what do you mean 'messed with your mind'?"

"He was behind BARF," Peter explained meekly, trying to avoid the 'hit by a train' part of the conversation. "In Berlin, when I was supposed to meet Fury, he used it to―to mess with my head."

"And that led to you being hit by a train?"

Peter wasn't proud of that, but he wasn't going to deny it, so he nodded numbly.

"Alright." Pepper nodded, more to herself than to Peter. "Beck used the BARF technology, you got hit by a train, and then what?"

"I called Happy."

Happy who, despite Peter insisting he couldn't be seen as Spider-Man, had brought the Iron Spider suit with him and allowed Peter to use the onboard lab to make adjustments. He'd called Happy who stitched up his back and later made sure his friends were safe while Beck attacked London. With, like, a million killer Stark drones, might Peter add.

Admittedly, he left out some of the details about the fight in London, but he did apologize to Pepper for what was sure to be a pretty hefty fine for destroying the London Bridge.

"I'll pull the costs from the Avengers' fund," she said with a wave of her hand.

Unfortunately, with that part out of the way, Peter was left with only the end of the story which did not have the best of endings.

"Beck died," he whispered, staring down at the solved cube in his hand. He resisted the urge to rip it apart and instead, twisted it around nonsensically until it was a colorful mess.

"How?" Pepper asked softly. She reached over her desk and grabbed Peter's arm, stopping his rapid twisting.

Peter hadn't rewatched the footage that Karen recorded from the fight and his memory from that day had turned into a bit of a blur. He had known at the time, though, that the injuries Beck had sustained were bad enough that he wouldn't be leaving the bridge. Even Peter, with his excelled healing, had limped away and was still feeling the effects of the fight.

"The drones," Peter muttered. "They misfired and he got hit."

It was really the only thing he could remember. The drones and a gun. Cloaking technology and nearly dying before stopping the attack and taking care of Beck. He wasn't even sure he wanted to rewatch Karen's recording.

Pepper pursed her lips and although it wasn't the first time during his story that she'd done so, it made his gut twist nervously.

"The Stark drones?" she asked. Peter nodded. "That's―That's okay. I'll take care of that."

She scribbled a hasty note on a sticky note while Peter muttered another apology. As with the last few times he'd tried apologizing, she brushed it off and promised him that it was not his fault.

"Fury should have covered this," she assured him gently, "but I can make sure it stays quiet."

Not trusting his voice, Peter simply nodded his thanks.

There was little more to cover in regards to the Europe incident, but Pepper was nothing if not thorough. By the time Peter handed back the Rubik's cube, she had a small list written on a single sticky note.

"Do you think SI will get in trouble?" Peter asked, glancing warily at the list. "You know, with the drones and everything?"

"I think we'll certainly have to prove we had no knowledge of it," Pepper admitted. She sounded optimistic, though, and followed it up with, "I've handled worse things before, though," as extra reassurance.

"Good, good." Peter nodded.

"Between me and Fury," Pepper assured him, "you don't have to worry. We've handled bigger messes with less proof of innocence."

Peter gave her a tight smile, glad to be of some help, but still feeling much too guilty about everything.

"Just make sure Karen sends FRIDAY that footage, alright?"

Another nod.

"And maybe Spider-Man should lie low," she suggested carefully. Peter's eyes caught hers and she gave him a kind smile. "Just until I can clear everything with Fury, okay? Give me two days."

If he hadn't just been gone for two weeks, Peter might not have protested to taking two days off so Pepper could sort out his mess. However, he was still a bit jet-lagged and he'd been a bit fidgety ever since leaving his apartment that morning, so his almost immediate reaction was less than professional.

"What?" he cried. "I can't just stop patrolling! I've been gone for two weeks―"

"And what harm will two more days do?" Pepper interrupted, not unkindly.

Peter clenched his jaw. It was a fair point, but not one that he wanted to consider.

"I'll even call Kate," Pepper offered, reaching across her desk to grab Peter's hand. "She can take over patrol until we give Spider-Man the all-clear."

And with that, Peter had no more negotiating power. Kate would cover for him if he asked, especially if Pepper was asking on his behalf. Queens would be in good hands with Hawkeye taking point for a few days.

With a sigh, Peter agreed. Pepper squeezed his hand before pulling away and reaching for her phone, already sending Kate a text so that he would have an immediate answer. A second after Pepper's phone buzzed with a reply, Peter's vibrated twice in his pocket.

a sick day??? the message read. Just below it, a second message appeared: tell me what's really going on

"She'll do it," Pepper said, giving Peter a small smile. "Now go." With a pointed look, she said, "Let MJ work on her interview, but go home. We have this handled."

"Thanks, Pepper." He tried not to groan as he spoke. "I'm really sorry. Again."

Pepper waved her hand, brushing aside his apology in favor of pulling him into a tight hug before he left.

"That's what I'm here for, Peter," she reminded him. Squeezing his shoulders, she pulled away and nudged him towards her door. "Enjoy your few extra days off."

Peter's response was merely a wave and a smile as he stepped out of her office.

Instead of going back to his and Michelle's apartment as Pepper had instructed, he took the elevator up to the lab. Michelle would be busy, running through a million possible interview questions, and the last thing he wanted to do was distract her with his moping or incessant fidgeting. The lab, however, was a great place for fidgeting and would (hopefully) keep him busy enough to forget about the Europe disaster.