#how must it have felt to hear the bracelet ping and you look around and then you realise you're all alone.

[keitorinrose]

My day be so fine and then boom i think about branch's past

[elisaphoenix13]

Spiderman And Rescue

Peter smacks against the side of the tower and groans from the excruciating pain in his side before reaching up and starting his slow trek up toward the family floor. It was a long way up and he wasn't even sure if he would make it, he barely managed to swing back to the tower after all. Normally in a situation when he was as wounded as he was, he would ask Karen to call one of his parents and wait for them to come help, but after being impaled and knocked around, his suit went offline. Which meant Karen was offline. Peter knew he couldn't sit still and hope that help would come, he already lost too much blood. So he applied a compression web and swung home. It hurt like hell and he almost passed out from the shots of pain that coursed through his body, but he managed. Now he just needed to finish climbing the tower.

Easier said then done. Not only was his blood making it hard to keep a grip on the glass, but the sky decided that it was the opportune moment to take a royal piss. The small silver lining the rain provided was that it would wash away the blood trail that Peter was leaving behind. He climbed little by little, his vision slowly filling with black spots as he made his way to the balcony, but as he reached up to finally grab the railing, his body gave out on him. As the rest of his vision darkened, he felt himself fall away from the tower and free fall toward the ground. The last thing he saw before falling unconscious was a blue and silver suit diving for him.

________________________

Harley barely caught Peter in time. He was further down the tower when he caught a glimpse of his brother climbing the side of the tower through the windows, and he raced upstairs to the floor with the balcony when he caught sight of red. Of blood. He made it to the railing just as Peter did and reached down for the younger's questing hand, but then Peter fell back before Harley could grab his hand.

"PETER!" He screams through the downpour.

His next reaction was to dive over the railing after he activated his nanotech bracelet, the Rescue suit covering his body. The moment he caught Peter, he flew back up to the balcony as quickly but carefully as possible. Peter's blood was already spreading across his armor, the rain washing it away as quickly as it appears.

"SARA! FRIDAY! Somebody, I don't care! Get Mom and Bruce up here! It's really fucking bad!"

He drags Peter inside and out of the rain, and when he reaches over to disengage Peter's Spiderman suit, Harley's AI stops him.

"Don't! It's his only chance of surviving at this point!" She says just as a gateway fizzles next to them and Stephen steps through with Bruce.

Harley was pretty sure he would have been shoved aside if he didn't back away by himself with the way Stephen and Bruce knelt next to his dying brother. Bruce checked his pulse and then Stephen used his magic to carry Peter through the gateway that led back to the med-bay. It closed directly behind the two doctors before Harley could follow, so the teen had to race down on the elevator and arrive just in time to watch them place Peter in the Cradle.

It was worse than Harley thought and he already knew it was bad. The Cradle was only used strictly for regeneration purposes. Peter had his healing factor, but his injury must have been bad enough to need extra help. Harley watches as Stephen raises the palm of his hand to his forehead as Bruce says something he can't hear, and the sorcerer responds with a single sob. It was enough to have Harley leave the med-bay and take the elevator down to the lab.

"SARA, bring up the video feed of Peter's last fight." He demands and a video starts playing on one of the screens. He watches from Peter's point of view as he jumps around some guy in a large rhino looking suit until the Rhino chucks something at him. Peter was obviously stunned long enough for the Rhino to charge at him and impale his horn into his side and then the screen blacks out. "Where's the rest of it?"

"That attack shut down Spiderman's suit. Karen is still offline."

"Upload any data on that guy to my suit. I'm going after this asshole."

"You will do no such thing." Stephen says from the door and Harley whips around to stare at him incredulously.

"WHAT?! I won't just sit around-"

"Harley, please!" The sorcerer snaps. "I already have one child in intensive care...please don't make yourself a second." He says quietly.

Stephen walks over to the couch and sits on it heavily as he leans forward to place his head in trembling hands. They were shaking more so than usual and that only meant that the sorcerer was scared. Harley clenches his fists in frustration and inhales deeply before releasing both his breath and his hands.

"Will Peter be okay?"

"...we don't know." Stephen admits quietly.

"Is anyone going to do something about the guy that did this?"

"Show me the video."

Stephen stands up and joins Harley at the screens as the teen asks SARA to replay the recording, and cringes the moment Peter gets impaled. When the screen blacks out again, the sorcerer sighs and rubs his eyes. It was then that he declared that he would send Steve, Bucky, and Quill out to track down the Rhino to take care of. Harley didn't care who as long as the job was done.

And boy was it done. Quill could have easily taken care of Rhino himself, but Steve and Bucky were there to try and keep him from going berserk. After Rhino was taken care of, the Avengers took shifts sitting in the med-bay with Peter. Tony shut himself in the lab when he wasn't with Peter to repair his suit and Stephen had to be forced out of the med bay on multiple occasions and be told to rest. Harley was between helping Tony, sitting with Peter as he recovered in the Cradle, and keeping Diana busy when Cassie spent some time of her own in the med-bay. Diana wanted to visit as well, but Stephen didn't want her to see Peter the way he was now.

It took three days for the Cradle to repair Peter's body enough for him to be safely taken out of it, and that was when everyone sighed with a little bit of relief. The teen wasn't quite out of the woods yet, but he definitely had better chances now. He wasn't breathing by himself yet, but at least he didnt have a gaping hole in his abdomen. His healing factor could take care of the rest.

Diana was finally allowed to see Peter when he was taken out of the Cradle and placed in a bed. She of course cried a little bit when she saw them, but then she wiped her eyes and sat on the bed with a book and read to him. She was convinced Peter could hear them and didn't want him to be bored. Everyone else followed her lead and either talked directly to him, or to each other if anyone shared a shift just so he didn't feel alone. Assuming Dia was right and he could hear them.

Peter woke up three days after they took him off the machines that had been helping him breathe, and it was during Bucky's shift. Harley was with him keeping him company while they watched a movie, and since it was a movie they had both seen before, they were pointing out unrealistic things and other nonsense. They didn't even notice when Peter woke up at first since he didn't make a single sound, but Bucky happened to look back at him a couple minutes later and jumped up when he found the boy's eyes open and a little glazed over.

"Bambi!"

He and Harley rush to separate sides of the bed and Peter barely manages a grunt when Harley grabs a glass of water with a straw and holds it up for Peter. The younger teen drinks slowly until he weakly pushes his brother's arm away, and Harley puts the cup back down on the nearby table as Bucky asks FRIDAY to tell Bruce, Stephen, and Tony that Peter woke up. It didn't take more than a couple of minutes for all three of them to rush into the room and for Bruce to check his vitals and his injury while Tony and Stephen asked him simple questions. Did he know where he was? What was two plus two?

What was the last thing he remembered?

Peter furrows his brows. "The Rescue suit." He clears his throat when his voice comes out raspy and Stephen grabs the cup of water to hold out for the teen to drink.

"Yeah, well, your brother was in the Rescue suit. He technically saved your life twice. Once from becoming a stain on my doorstep, and the second time being the general fact that he saw you and called for help." Tony says. "Mom said he was about ready to go after Rhino."

Harley sniffs with disdain. "Thanks for talking about me like I'm not here...and no I didn't confront him." The teen says when Peter releases the straw from his mouth and opens it to say something. "I didn't even make it out of the lab. Mom sent Quill, Steve, and Bucky."

"He gave us a bit of trouble." Bucky says from the wall he settled against when the parents first came in. "Let me just say that Quill is a lot stronger than I thought. As in, he grabbed the guy, and threw him over his shoulder and down the street."

Peter's eyes widen and a long moment of silence passes. Everyone in the room had either fought the guy or at least saw the video of Peter's fight, so it was a well known fact that the Rhino was not something one threw around. The only other person who could probably do what Quill did was Thor.

Tony then asked the question that some of the team had been wondering. "How is Thumbelina not dead?"

"Self control." Both Stephen and Bucky answer.

"He has that?" Tony asks dramatically and Bucky laughs.

"Anyway, do you feel up to seeing Diana?" Stephen asks Peter.

"...sure. For a little bit."

"Before I forget, I'm fixing your suit. The guy somehow managed to damage the part that sends a distress signal to either FRIDAY or Victor. Mom and I never got pinged when Karen went offline." Tony says with a frown.

"I guess it's a good thing I didn't sit still then." Peter says quietly.

"The one time I'm glad you didn't."

Bruce finishes looking Peter over while Stephen leaves to gather Diana, and Bucky leaves to make dinner for everyone. Then Tony leaves to go grab some fresh clothes for Peter when the teen complains about feeling gross, and when Harley turns to follow, Peter calls out for him to wait. Harley turns and walks back over to his brother's bedside and Peter holds up a fist.

"Thanks."

Harley smirks and the two do their special handshake. Thankfully this one not as elaborate as the one Peter and Ned had. "It's like I said, someone's gotta look after you."

Peter returns the smiles albeit weakly. "That's what parents are for."

"And older brothers."

"You know, I vaguely recall this conversation."

"Well that's a good sign." Bruce says from across the room.

[ambeer6]

Samurai Flamenco exchange

Here is a Masagoto fic I wrote for @prince-kraehe for the gift exchange hosted by @watchsamuraiflamenco. asked to use the themes romance and fluff, but it ended up mostly just domestic.

This is set after they’ve been married for a while. I hope you enjoy it.

When Hidenori arrived back home, he noticed Masayoshi’s shoes still missing in the hall. He must still be out. A quick look at his new phone, Masayoshi insisted they buy new matching phones together, revealed that it was nearing 7 o’clock. Hidenori let out a sigh and made his way to the kitchen. Could just was well start cooking right?

Standing in front of the fridge, looking at the options, a thought suddenly came. Curry would be the correct option. It was almost the anniversary of their meeting and curry used to be their go-to during that time. Hidenori smiled as he held the exclusive Flamen Red curry paste in his hand. It was extremely rare as it featured all members wearing red.

Hidenori was still chopping up vegetables when he heard the front door open. Some stumbling later a familiar voice could be heard.

“I’m home!”

“Welcome back!” Hidenori yelled back.

Loud footsteps made their way to the kitchen. Door opening. Short pause and a sniff. Then Hidenori felt arms wrapping around his waist. A face pressing against his own.

“How was work today for the cutest husband in the universe?” Masayoshi asked.

“I don’t know, how was work for you?” Hidenori replied without hesitation.

“ah, uck! I meant you!”

“I know, but you’re wrong.” He laughed, “Now are you gonna tell me about your day or what?”

Masayoshi took a step back but let his hands rest on Hidenori’s hips.

“Today I visited an elementary school with Momoi. She told them about what kind of hero work is legal and what is not. Apparently they were afraid we might influence the kids too much.”

“You probably do.”

“Anyway, I told them my story about how I became the hero I am today. Momoi kept interrupting me to clarify to the kids whenever I did something illegal.”

Hidenori couldn’t help but laugh. He almost cut his finger and Masayoshi pouted at him.

“After all that, we had an afternoon full of exercises. The kids were super excited and I was pretty surprised how strong some of them were!”

“So you stayed late to give them secret hero training?”

“No, I wish I could, but Momoi took me on a secret shopping mission to buy Flamen Pink merchandise. I actually got to keep this one”

Masayoshi sticks out his hand and Hidenori laughs again when he sees the bright pink bracelet on his husband’s wrist. He spins it slightly to reveal Momoi’s face on it and turns back to the pan with a grin.

“Wait a second,” Masayoshi huffs, “I asked you about your day first! You didn’t answer me yet!”

“It wasn’t super eventful.”

“Oh come on. I know you can do better than that!”

“Fine. A lady came over to our station and started complaining about some florist being rude to her.”

“Just rude?”

“Yes. I had to listen to her complain for 20 minutes before I could actually ask her if there was any actual crime involved. Turns out there wasn’t and she was simply warning us about this person being potentially dangerous.”

“So do you think the florist could be dangerous?”

“Not really. In all honestly I felt more sorry for the florist having to deal with this lady than anything else. The entire story started with her admitting she was trying to return flowers after supposedly using them for a week.”

“Returning them.”

“Yes, she tried to return the flowers.”

This earned Hidenori a laugh from Masayoshi. He looked back to find his husband sitting down at the dining table burying his face in his hands. He actually looked more like he was suffering secondhand embarrassment rather than laughing at the story.

A ping from the rice cooker. Hidenori gestures at it and Masayoshi jumps back on his feet to take the rice out. The curry itself was almost ready to serve as well.

Masayoshi got out plates and started scooping rice onto his own, when Hidenori took the pan off the fire. The entire room smelled like curry. The two of them filled their plates with curry and rice, thanked for the food and started eating.

Suddenly Masayoshi gasped.

“Nori, don’t tell me this is the Flamen Red curry?”

“It is. I thought it would be nice to eat it since it’s been almost 4 years ago that we met. Just two more days-”

“That’s a super exclusive curry though! I wanted to save it!”

“It wasn’t the last one! We have one more left!”

Masayoshi stood up and started searching the cupboards in disbelief. Hidenori groaned, but refused to let this stop him from eating. He chewed down a mouthful of curry as he heard Masayoshi sigh out in relief.

He watched his husband sit back down at the table, smiling in relief. He really was very good looking, Hidenori thought to himself. He was a little disappointed that Masayoshi still doesn’t trust him when it comes to food. He would probably have more hope for Hidenori flying a space ship with no prior knowledge about it’s workings than for Hidenori to not cook up his last exclusive curry.

“You know, you should’ve warned me. Even as Flamen Red myself, I only got my hands on 3 of these ever. We can only enjoy this 3 times!”

“I know, I’ll ask you before using the last one.” Hidenori stared at his plate. “Actually one package is enough for 4 people, so we can just put this in the fridge and eat it again tomorrow. We could technically enjoy it 6 times that way.”

“That is true, but it’s definitely the best when freshly made!”

“You could always request them to do another collaboration with the same curry brand.”

“It wouldn’t be really the same, though…”

The rest of the meal was spent coming up with concepts for Samurai Flamenco themed foods. The two of them washed the dishes and put the leftovers in the fridge. They headed over to the tv and watched the news.

Hidenori was intently listening to the weather forecast when he felt Masayoshi leaning onto him. He looked to his side and realized his husband had fallen asleep. It wasn’t so rare for this to happen. Masayoshi worked multiple jobs and would often get home exhausted from work. Today he also woke up early to prepare for work.

A smile made its way onto Hidenori’s face again as he turned down the volume of the tv. He brushed the hair out of Masayoshi’s face and leaned to kiss him on the head. It’s been many times and he knew he could safely move Masayoshi to the bedroom without waking him up.

Several years back, Hidenori would probably have complained and woken him up, but now he knows it’s better to just let him rest. A quiet buzzing of his phone grabbed his attention. He opened up the email he just received.

 I’m so proud of you!

Hello mister Hazama number 2! You’ve been doing so well lately! Your last message made me so proud! You’ve come such a long way.

When you first told me about Masayoshi, I thought he was just some silly guy, but as time went on you really fell for him hard. I could tell from the way your messages changed!

You’re not still angry about the time he mixed up the laundry, are you? Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even you.

Ever since the two of us broke up, we’ve been messaging each other less and less. This was somewhat disappointing to me at first, but right now I think that was the right decision.

When I don’t hear from you every day, I just get more excited to what you have to tell me next time I receive an email.

But more importantly, I think this was the right decision for your sake. You have become a lot more kind and courageous since then, but mostly I feel like you’ve become more calm. More relaxed, so to say.

I will definitely still keep messaging you from time to time, but I think you’re doing very good without me. Now that you have Masayoshi, I see you started feeling better and better. No need for me to cheer you up anymore!

Anyway, I intended on keeping this short, but in the end it got pretty long. Bottomline here is: I’m proud of you! Super duper proud! You’re doing well and I will always be cheering for you!

<3 Love!

[decaffeinated22-blog]

Realization This story follows the new preview. They are not my characters. Please review I am new to this. SQ

Regina followed Zelena out the front door as she is pulled away in a puff of smoke and lands hard on her tailbone on her office floor . "What in the Hell!" Regina shouts. "You deserve to be dropped on your ass, says the Queen scowling fiercely." Regina rubs her hip with one hand as she stands up and produces a fireball in the other and realizes the Queen is no longer in cobra form and is missing the bracelet that was binding her magic. "What do you want?" Regina says cocking her elbow ready to attack. "Are you really going to try and set yourself on fire again," purrs the Queen as she grabs her left wrist and snaps the bracelet on Regina.  "I asked you a question. What do you want?" says Regina as her voice continues to elevate and she realizes she is now without her magic. "I want you to wake up and really see just how weak you have become! yells the Queen. "What are you talking about? Have you done something to my son? Get this off of me now! yells Regina. "Our son is fine.  This is not about him.  This is about you." says the Queen in a low voice.  "You should have seen your face?" says the Queen as she looks down at the floor. Regina seeing a moment of weakness pushes and pins her against the wall. The Evil Queen quickly magics them into the reversed position as she holds Regina against the designer wallpaper with her forearm against her neck and chest as Regina fights back fists flying. The Queen freezes Regina and bushes herself off. She readjusts her long form fitted black velvet gown as she paces back and forth across the room clicking her heels while Regina's angry frozen face stares at her. The Queen dips her head and runs her hands through her hair and claws at her scalp in frustration. "God you piss me off you idiot!" the Queen growls. "You are lucky no one else saw your face," says the Queen. She unfreezes Regina who slowly gathers herself looking dazed.  "What are you talking about you crazy bitch?" yells Regina who is now seething. Come on...Are you really that dense? asks the Queen.  "For the last time what in the hell are you rambling on about? asks Regina. "Are you going to let her marry that filthy pirate? pleads the Queen.  Regina takes a step back and stares at the still pacing Queen who has her fists clenched at her sides. What do you mean? I have no control over Emma's romantic decisions bad as they may be. "Well, you want to!" shrieks the Queen. The Queen un-clenches her fists and waves her hand releasing Regina from the spell. "Enough! "What do you mean!" You will take this off of me and explain yourself at once! shouts Regina as she lunges at the Queen.  "The cuff stays on," says the Queen as she turns to face Regina inches away from her nose. "What did you mean you saw my face? What in the hell are you going on about," questions Regina. The Queen gives her a slow menacing smile.  "I have been observing you for some time now. You must remember our training on invisibility spells. You are really going to have to work on your poker face in addition to your wardrobe" teases the Queen.  Regina now even more angry and confused that she is being spied on by her Evil counterpart flares her nostrils and growls "send me home right now.  I am done with this nonsense! " "Seriously?" says the Queen as she grabs a book closest to her and tosses it at Regina's head.  The book lands in a hard thud against the door barely missing Regina as she ducked.  You are really deep in denial. You know I am you don't you?  You really don't see it do you? Well, I suppose I literally had to be outside myself watching to realize it. Come on Regina!  I saw your face when you congratulated the princess. You have feelings for Ms. Swan and you don't want her to marry him!.  "That is ridiculous, says Regina who takes a step back stunned by the Queens accusations. "I care about the mother of my son and she is my friend and that is just insane. She is happy. "You can go back to the tree you slithered out of and leave us all alone in peace." says Regina with venom.  "That's just it. I can't because you are once again so terrified that you are sabotaging our happy ending," says the Queen through clenched teeth. Emma felt too much energy buzzing through her from the events of the day and needed to walk and found herself at Regina's office door.  She heard a loud thud and stopped as she was about to charge in when she realizes that she hears both the Queen and Regina's voices.  Emma feels time slow down and she is paralyzed by the conversation that she overhears. She just stands there stunned listening while she allows the idea to worm its way into her  head that Regina could ever be interested in her. That thought had never truly occurred to Emma and and it was making her brain short circuit.  Broken fragments ping  pong in her mind  as she is tries to make sense of what she is hearing.  She asks herself, Regina couldn't possibly feel that way? Right? She has never shown any interest in women, especially me. The Queen is just fucking with her as usual.  Or could they to be talking about something else? Regina just brought back Robin from the wish realm. He is supposed to be her true love. You are happy with Hook and she is happy with him.  Well, its not really him but I do want her to be happy. Get a grip Emma she just told herself this was insane so obviously the Queen is just playing some angle.  Regina could never think that? And you said said yes to Hook. You are getting married. "Shit," Emma says to herself as she realizes she had accidentally tuned out the conversation while she was lost in thought and her legs had turned to stone. She has no idea how much time went by and could now only hear muffled voices as they had moved away from the door.  She starts to feel a burning sensation through her stomach and hears another loud crash that sounds like glass and tears open the locked door with her magic without hesitation.  Emma yells, "Regina! Are you OK?" I heard the Queen! A wave of smoke hits Emma in the face and she frantically waves her hands around and again cries out "Regina?" As the smoke dissipates, Emma sees Regina standing in front of her desk and immediately notices the beat red flush in Regina's chest, face, and neck and rushes over to see if she is hurt. Regina has a deer in headlights look on her face and asks Emma in a quiet voice, "how much of that did you hear?" Emma quickly says, "I heard the sound of breaking glass and I ran right in to see if you were alright What's going on? What did she want? That is what technically what happened. I had to have misunderstood that conversation, Emma tells herself. A wave of relief washes over Regina when she hears that the savior did not overhear to the nonsense the Queen was speaking of earlier.  Regina slowly smooths the front of her shirt trying to calm herself as the previous conversation with the Queen races through her mind. "What are you talking about? Why am I am sabotaging our happy ending. If you have done anything to Robin I swear I will finally end you?" Regina says in a steely voice. "Don't worry you pretty little head about the fourth Doug from multiplicity?" says the Queen.  "Lets finally have that cocktail," purrs the Queen.  Her majesty magics a martini into Regina's hand and slowly guides the glass to Regina's lips.  "Just a little sip you really need to loosen up," says the Queen. Regina struggles but can't resist without her magic and takes a drink of the red martini. It burns as it goes down her throat and she feels a wave come over her. Her stomach turns when she realizes what she has just drank. "I mixed up some new syrium vernum potion. Isn't it yummy? I added a little vodka and a splash of cranberry for fun! Well Dear, as you know you will be telling me the absolute truth about anything I ask." Regina knows first hand that the one who drinks the potion can't lie to the witch who created it. Regina has not used this since her days in the Enchanted Forest due to the egregious ingredients that must be used to mix the potion. "Shall we get started? I promise you won't be able to lie," smiles the Queen. Regina eyes all the exits. The Queen scowls and says irritatingly, "you will cooperate with me." "So, first question.  She paces back and forth with a giant smirk on her face. "How much did you love me making out with Rumple? the Queen cackles. Regina responds automatically, "I hated it. "I was mortified." The Queen laughs deeply, "I knew that would get to you!"  "I want nothing more than for you to be gone forever," says Regina. "I know you do, " the Queen says quietly with a look similar to the one she wore when Regina tried to end her the night they were first separated. "You need me. You can't just get rid of me!" the Queen protests. "You have to seriously realize somethings about yourself and one of them is that you can't just slice out the parts that you don't want. You know that you can never truly be rid of me.  I am your darkness...your power... your pain! You already know deep down that for your heart to be whole and to feel the depths of true love I must carry the burden of your darkness and you will have to let me back in.  The Queen then turns away gathering herself and pivots on her heels with a Cheshire cat like smile on her face.  "Next question.  Are you happy the savior is getting married?"

[elisaphoenix13]

The Sorcerer's Cub (Ch.1)

Stephen was enjoying a quiet evening. Peter was out patrolling and wouldn't be back for a couple of hours, and Tony was out of town for some SI business and would be for a couple more days. None of his fellow team members were on the family floor with him, so Stephen was free to stretch out on the couch with some tea and a novel he had been meaning to finish. He was able to enjoy himself for a couple of hours, but then he got an alert from Victor.

"Doctor, Karen has gone offline and has remained so for five minutes." Stephen's AI announces through the tower speakers in his British accent.

Stephen marks his spot in his book before setting it on the coffee table. "Do you know where she last went offline?" He wasn't worried just yet. Peter's AI had gone offline before and the teen had immediately swung back home.

"The tracker in Spiderman's suit is still functional. He hasn't moved since Karen disconnected."

Now that was odd. "Show me."

Victor sends a hologram to the sorcerer's nanotech bracelet and Stephen dismisses it as soon as he figures out Peter's location. He opens a portal to the alleyway, and as it closes behind him, he looks around the seemingly empty backstreet. Peter was nowhere in sight. Just a few empty cardboard boxes, a dumpster that Stephen gave a wide berth, and a couple of loose bricks. Just as he was about to double check the location that Victor sent him, that was when he heard it.

Whimpers. Followed by a couple of sniffles.

"Peter?" Stephen calls out carefully and slowly approaches the cardboard boxes he heard the noise come from. "Peter, if that's you, answer me."

All he got in response were more scared whimpers, and Stephen follows the sound to its source, stopping dead in his tracks when he looks behind the boxes. Peter was there, but his condition was what had Stephen frozen. He was the size of a two year old again, and based on the sniffles, was acting like one too. He wasn't sure how aware Peter was of what happened, but Stephen had a feeling that Peter wasn't. Otherwise the boy would have found a way to call him.

"Peter." Stephen repeats as he crouches down to the boy's level and smiles softly when the boy finally looks up in response. 

"Mama!"

Sniffles turn into loud sobs as the baby launches himself into the doctor's arms, and Stephen reacts instantly by cupping the back of his head with one hand and rubbing his back with the other as he stands. At least Peter recognized him and that was a plus. Stephen didn't want to think of the nightmare of trying to take his son home if he didn't recognize him.

Stephen removes the hand on Peter's head to form a portal back to the tower, and once again it closes and disappears behind him after he steps through. Now that he was in the safety if their home, the sorcerer could focus on soothing Peter. He was still crying and fisting the front on Stephen's shirt in a death grip, and fat tears were rolling off chubby cheeks and onto his shirt. He swipes a tissue from one of the side tables in the living room and wipes Peter's runny nose as he shushes him quietly, and the sobs taper off after a few minutes.

The doctor tilts his head to check and see if Peter had fallen asleep, but instead found the boy contentedly sucking his thumb and laying his head on Stephen's shoulder. So Stephen continues to walk around the family floor in the hopes that it would help Peter fall asleep. The boy made no indication that he knew he shouldn't be a baby, so it was up to him to go through the recordings of Peter's patrol and see if he could find anything before Karen went offline.

"Victor, bring up the last ten minutes of Peter's patrol before Karen went offline, please." Stephen asks softly when he hears the unmistakable sound of soft breathing. The baby had finally fallen asleep.

Stephen maximizes the video footage in the hologram that Victor pulls up on the tablet and then moves his hand back to the back of Peter's head. He gently strokes brown tufts of hair as he watches the recording of Peter trying to get alien tech away from some criminals and then being hit by one of the beams. Last time Peter was turned into a baby by alien tech, it only lasted a couple of days, but the weapons in the video looked more advanced. That could mean that Peter could stay a baby longer than a couple of days.

Not that he minded. It was summer break and Stephen loved it when Peter was a baby. He admittedly had a bit of baby fever after the teen turned back to normal, but Tony took care of that with some fantastic sex. Not to mention the kinky talk.

"How long will it take for Peter to go back to normal this time?" Stephen asks.

"Based on the weapons in the footage, it could take up to two weeks for the effects to wear off." Victor replies. "Would you like me to call your husband?"

"Um...yes. Might as well." The sorcerer sighs as his AI calls Tony, and the man pops up on screen after the second ring. 

"I got a ping from FRIDAY. Is Peter-" The engineer starts fretting but stops mid sentence when he notices the baby on Stephen's shoulder. "Is that Peter?"

"Yes, and besides the obvious, he's just fine. I've already looked into what happened, but Victor says he could be like this for up to two weeks." The sorcerer says calmly.

"I'm coming home."

"Tony...no. I've got this handled right now. You'll only be gone for a couple of days."

The engineer sighs. "I can't leave you to take care of him by yourself."

"I literally have babysitters at my beck and call, love. I promise to call you if I need you to come back early."

"...alright. Keep me updated." Tony huffs out.

Stephen smiles. "I'll send pictures."

"You better." He watches Tony look up on his end as if he's looking at something. "I have to go babe. I love you."

"I love you too." Stephen whispers just before Tony hangs up, and he fights down the blush threatening to creep onto his face.

Tony always surprised him with those three words. Just because he didn't say them as often as normal people did, Stephen never felt like the engineer didn't love him. Actions spoke louder than words. Tony was ready to drop everything and come back home to help take care of Peter after all.

Hearing those words was always nice though. Sure, it left Stephen flustered, but Tony was always genuine when he said them. He always looked the sorcerer in the eyes when he said it, and Stephen could feel his heart swell every time.

"Perhaps you should get Peter out of his suit." Victor suddenly say and Stephen nods.

"A diaper won't hurt either." The sorcerer says in agreement and climbs the stairs up to the master bedroom.

They had saved some baby supplies from the last time Peter was infantized, but it wouldn't last two weeks. He would have to go to the store and buy some more. At least clothes. Friday could order everything else. Stephen decided that the trip to the store could wait until tomorrow as he was leaning down over the bed to carefully move Peter from his shoulder and onto the bed. The infant whimpers at the loss of warmth (and quite possibly Stephen's soothing smell), but otherwise doesn't protest when the sorcerer moves away to check the closet for some baby pajamas and a diaper. There were only enough diapers for overnight and the next morning so it was a good idea they were going to the store.

When he walked back out of the closet, Stephen came upon one of the many reasons he wanted to keep Peter a baby. He was sprawled on his back, sleeping peacefully with a thumb in his mouth and his other hand gently gripping his hair. He must have woken up briefly and soothed himself back to sleep by playing with his hair. Which was good. Stephen was afraid that when Peter woke up and realized the doctor wasn't with him, he would start crying again. Peter was more attached to Stephen as a baby, but he wasn't really complaining.

As gently as possible, Stephen removes Peter's nanotech suit with the press of a button and was relieved to find that both the baby and the suit were dry and clean. He had no doubt that the suit would fit Peter properly when he was back to his teenage self, and that it only shrank to accommodate Peter's new size when he was infantized. One diaper and a pair of Iron Man pajamas later (surprisingly Stephen was the one who bought them and Tony had loved it), the sorcerer was moving Peter toward the middle of the bed and laying next to him. It was late enough that he could retire to bed early, but since he wasn't quite tired enough, he turned the tv on at low volume. Stephen was lulled to sleep by his son's soft breaths and the unintelligible murmuring coming from the television, and both of them would have slept through the night if it weren't for Peter having a nightmare.

Stephen woke to him crying and was quick to pull the baby into his arms and gently shush him. "It's okay cub. You're okay. It was just a bad dream."

Peter grips the front of Stephen's shirt in another death grip as he cries into his shoulder, and the sorcerer carefully slides out of bed. He would have to do a bit more walking around to help Peter go back to sleep, so that was what he did as he held the boy's head to his shoulder. It took about five minutes  for Peter to calm down, and when he hiccups through his sniffles, Stephen brushes his hair back.

"All better?" He whispers and smiles softly when the baby nods. "Ready to go back to sleep?"

"Don't wanna. Scary."

"I'll be right next to you." Stephen promises as he sits on the bed.

When Peter refuses to let go of him, he has to maneuver them back under the covers in the hopes that the warmth between him and the blankets would comfort the baby. It did not. He just sat up and stared down at the comforter as he sucked his thumb. Stephen didn't want to turn on the tv for him since that would only make it harder for Peter to fall asleep, but he had to think of a way to make things less scary.

Then he had an epiphany.

"I have an idea Peter, but you have to lay down."

Peter looks over at him and studies his face for any trace of a lie before he hesitantly lays back down. Once the boy curls into the sorcerer's chest when Stephen lays on his side, the sorcerer conjures a few butterflies with a simple flick of his wrist. Peter relaxed almost instantly. Butterflies were pretty and not scary, and their blue color was calming, and it helped his son fall back to sleep within minutes. Doe-like eyes fluttered closed, one hand remained fisted in Stephen's shirt, and the other had a thumb in a small mouth that eventually slipped out when Peter succumbed to sleep.

Stephen only risked a kiss to the crown of his head, before settling to fall asleep himself, making sure to keep a protective arm around Peter this time. Hopefully it would help Peter feel safe and protect him from further nightmares, as childish as the notion was that adults kept the nightmares away. Childish, but he believed it was true. When Tony held him during the night, his bad dreams were few and far between, but nights like these when Tony was away? They were more constant.

He just hoped they wouldn't plague him tonight. Peter needed him to be Mama Bear right now.

[decaffeinated22-blog]

Realization This story follows the new preview. They are not my characters. Please review I am new to this. SQ

Regina followed Zelena out the front door as she is pulled away in a puff of smoke and lands hard on her tailbone on her office floor . "What in the Hell!" Regina shouts. "You deserve to be dropped on your ass, says the Queen scowling fiercely." Regina rubs her hip with one hand as she stands up and produces a fireball in the other and realizes the Queen is no longer in cobra form and is missing the bracelet that was binding her magic. "What do you want?" Regina says cocking her elbow ready to attack. "Are you really going to try and set yourself on fire again," purrs the Queen as she grabs her left wrist and snaps the bracelet on Regina.  "I asked you a question. What do you want?" says Regina as her voice continues to elevate and she realizes she is now without her magic. "I want you to wake up and really see just how weak you have become! yells the Queen. "What are you talking about? Have you done something to my son? Get this off of me now! yells Regina. "Our son is fine.  This is not about him.  This is about you." says the Queen in a low voice.  "You should have seen your face?" says the Queen as she looks down at the floor. Regina seeing a moment of weakness pushes and pins her against the wall. The Evil Queen quickly magics them into the reversed position as she holds Regina against the designer wallpaper with her forearm against her neck and chest as Regina fights back fists flying. The Queen freezes Regina and bushes herself off. She readjusts her long form fitted black velvet gown as she paces back and forth across the room clicking her heels while Regina's angry frozen face stares at her. The Queen dips her head and runs her hands through her hair and claws at her scalp in frustration. "God you piss me off you idiot!" the Queen growls. "You are lucky no one else saw your face," says the Queen. She unfreezes Regina who slowly gathers herself looking dazed.  "What are you talking about you crazy bitch?" yells Regina who is now seething. Come on...Are you really that dense? asks the Queen.  "For the last time what in the hell are you rambling on about? asks Regina. "Are you going to let her marry that filthy pirate? pleads the Queen.  Regina takes a step back and stares at the still pacing Queen who has her fists clenched at her sides. What do you mean? I have no control over Emma's romantic decisions bad as they may be. "Well, you want to!" shrieks the Queen. The Queen un-clenches her fists and waves her hand releasing Regina from the spell. "Enough! "What do you mean!" You will take this off of me and explain yourself at once! shouts Regina as she lunges at the Queen.  "The cuff stays on," says the Queen as she turns to face Regina inches away from her nose. "What did you mean you saw my face? What in the hell are you going on about," questions Regina. The Queen gives her a slow menacing smile.  "I have been observing you for some time now. You must remember our training on invisibility spells. You are really going to have to work on your poker face in addition to your wardrobe" teases the Queen.  Regina now even more angry and confused that she is being spied on by her Evil counterpart flares her nostrils and growls "send me home right now.  I am done with this nonsense! " "Seriously?" says the Queen as she grabs a book closest to her and tosses it at Regina's head.  The book lands in a hard thud against the door barely missing Regina as she ducked.  You are really deep in denial. You know I am you don't you?  You really don't see it do you? Well, I suppose I literally had to be outside myself watching to realize it. Come on Regina!  I saw your face when you congratulated the princess. You have feelings for Ms. Swan and you don't want her to marry him!.  "That is ridiculous, says Regina who takes a step back stunned by the Queens accusations. "I care about the mother of my son and she is my friend and that is just insane. She is happy. "You can go back to the tree you slithered out of and leave us all alone in peace." says Regina with venom.  "That's just it. I can't because you are once again so terrified that you are sabotaging our happy ending," says the Queen through clenched teeth. Emma felt too much energy buzzing through her from the events of the day and needed to walk and found herself at Regina's office door.  She heard a loud thud and stopped as she was about to charge in when she realizes that she hears both the Queen and Regina's voices.  Emma feels time slow down and she is paralyzed by the conversation that she overhears. She just stands there stunned listening while she allows the idea to worm its way into her  head that Regina could ever be interested in her. That thought had never truly occurred to Emma and and it was making her brain short circuit.  Broken fragments ping  pong in her mind  as she is tries to make sense of what she is hearing.  She asks herself, Regina couldn't possibly feel that way? Right? She has never shown any interest in women, especially me. The Queen is just fucking with her as usual.  Or could they to be talking about something else? Regina just brought back Robin from the wish realm. He is supposed to be her true love. You are happy with Hook and she is happy with him.  Well, its not really him but I do want her to be happy. Get a grip Emma she just told herself this was insane so obviously the Queen is just playing some angle.  Regina could never think that? And you said said yes to Hook. You are getting married. "Shit," Emma says to herself as she realizes she had accidentally tuned out the conversation while she was lost in thought and her legs had turned to stone. She has no idea how much time went by and could now only hear muffled voices as they had moved away from the door.  She starts to feel a burning sensation through her stomach and hears another loud crash that sounds like glass and tears open the locked door with her magic without hesitation.  Emma yells, "Regina! Are you OK?" I heard the Queen! A wave of smoke hits Emma in the face and she frantically waves her hands around and again cries out "Regina?" As the smoke dissipates, Emma sees Regina standing in front of her desk and immediately notices the beat red flush in Regina's chest, face, and neck and rushes over to see if she is hurt. Regina has a deer in headlights look on her face and asks Emma in a quiet voice, "how much of that did you hear?" Emma quickly says, "I heard the sound of breaking glass and I ran right in to see if you were alright What's going on? What did she want? That is what technically what happened. I had to have misunderstood that conversation, Emma tells herself. A wave of relief washes over Regina when she hears that the savior did not overhear to the nonsense the Queen was speaking of earlier.  Regina slowly smooths the front of her shirt trying to calm herself as the previous conversation with the Queen races through her mind. "What are you talking about? Why am I am sabotaging our happy ending. If you have done anything to Robin I swear I will finally end you?" Regina says in a steely voice. "Don't worry you pretty little head about the fourth Doug from multiplicity?" says the Queen.  "Lets finally have that cocktail," purrs the Queen.  Her majesty magics a martini into Regina's hand and slowly guides the glass to Regina's lips.  "Just a little sip you really need to loosen up," says the Queen. Regina struggles but can't resist without her magic and takes a drink of the red martini. It burns as it goes down her throat and she feels a wave come over her. Her stomach turns when she realizes what she has just drank. "I mixed up some new syrium vernum potion. Isn't it yummy? I added a little vodka and a splash of cranberry for fun! Well Dear, as you know you will be telling me the absolute truth about anything I ask." Regina knows first hand that the one who drinks the potion can't lie to the witch who created it. Regina has not used this since her days in the Enchanted Forest due to the egregious ingredients that must be used to mix the potion. "Shall we get started? I promise you won't be able to lie," smiles the Queen. Regina eyes all the exits. The Queen scowls and says irritatingly, "you will cooperate with me." "So, first question.  She paces back and forth with a giant smirk on her face. "How much did you love me making out with Rumple? the Queen cackles. Regina responds automatically, "I hated it. "I was mortified." The Queen laughs deeply, "I knew that would get to you!"  "I want nothing more than for you to be gone forever," says Regina. "I know you do, " the Queen says quietly with a look similar to the one she wore when Regina tried to end her the night they were first separated. "You need me. You can't just get rid of me!" the Queen protests. "You have to seriously realize somethings about yourself and one of them is that you can't just slice out the parts that you don't want. You know that you can never truly be rid of me.  I am your darkness...your power... your pain! You already know deep down that for your heart to be whole and to feel the depths of true love I must carry the burden of your darkness and you will have to let me back in.  The Queen then turns away gathering herself and pivots on her heels with a Cheshire cat like smile on her face.  "Next question.  Are you happy the savior is getting married?"