#I stayed up all night to read it after also reading rogue protocol and exit strategy

[forgetme-eternally-blissfully]

I have finished Network Effect and this charming protagonist has eaten my wallet and my sleep because I love it so much

[elisaphoenix13]

To Lose Everything...(Ch.5)

It took a couple more months for Peter to don his Spiderman suit again, and it was only because of some coaxing from Stephen. As much as he wanted to keep Peter inside and safe (Wong had teasingly called him Mom again when he mentioned this to him), the teen was getting antsy. He didn't even realize that he missed being Spiderman. Stephen told him to try a couple of hours out and if he still wasn't ready, he could return home and try later. Peter wasn't not ready, he just decided that it would be best to go out on a gradient. Two hours turned into four, then six...then eventually he stayed out until the curfew that Stephen had set. The curfew wasn't entirely strict in the regards that if Peter was dealing with something close to curfew, he was to tell either Stephen or Wong.

That had only happened once so far, and Peter got home ten minutes after and apologized. He really was a good kid. The teen always looked exhilarated after his patrol, and also a bit tired, and Stephen would just send him up to bed with a glass of water and a late night snack. Something healthy that wouldn't give him much energy but would at least fill him up enough so that he wasn't waking up in the middle of the night with a growling stomach. That had happened one night, and no matter how quiet Peter tried to be, he had still woken up Wong and felt terrible about it. Stephen had to come up with the solution to give him a snack because Peter wouldn't go back down to the kitchen in the middle of the night for fear of waking one of them.

Then, one of Stephen's newest fears had come to fruition. Peter had gotten hurt during patrol and Karen was the one to call him (a protocol that the teen changed with Ned's help to contact either Stephen or Wong instead. Happy was kept on in case they weren't available).

The Sorcerer Supreme had been reading when he got the dreaded call. "What is it Peter?" He asks when he answers the call.

"Doctor Strange, Peter has been shot and he's losing an alarming amount of blood--" Karen's voice filters through the phone and Stephen jumps to his feet.

"Where?!"

When Karen gives him Peter's location, he shouts to Wong about the situation as he creates a portal and steps through. The sight that met him had his heart clenching and the blood draining from his face. Peter was face down in an alley with a pool of blood surrounding him, and completely motionless. Stephen rushes over and falls to his knees beside the teen and quickly looks over his wounds to assess the damage. To his relief, Peter had groaned at being moved and the sorcerer cloaks the entrance to the alleyway before he pulls off the kid's mask.

"No...no...can't see me..." Peter protests weakly.

"It's okay Peter. It's only me." Stephen soothes immediately and starts on checking for exit wounds. It wouldn't be a good idea to move him right now.

"Hehe..." The teen snickers and the doctor immediately chalks that up to shock from blood loss. "Hey Doctor Strange?" Stephen only grunts to let the boy know he was listening. If it kept him awake, he would listen. "You're kinda like a mom...you know that?" Stephen falters for only half a second before focusing on healing Peter. "You hug me even though I know that's not your thing...sometimes send me to bed with a juice box..." Peter giggles again at that. "And I know you astral project to watch me sometimes. Wong told on you."

Stephen listens to Peter ramble about all the 'motherly' things that the sorcerer does but only takes it with a grain of salt. Peter was in shock and he wouldn't even remember any of it in the morning. It didn't mean that he didn't feel good hearing about it though. It showed how much Peter had noticed what Stephen was doing for him, and how appreciative he was.

"...you have a mom smell too." Peter says matter-of-factly.

Stephen chuckles. "A mom smell?"

"Yup...you smell like tea leaves and that stuff you burn...what's it called?"

"Incense?"

"Yeah...that stuff." Peter slurs as he begins to lose consciousness. "Smells like home now..." He then blinks rapidly to momentarily clear his undoubtedly blackening vision. "You have big Mom energy...I'm gonna call you that now."

Stephen tilts his head as he finishes healing the boy. "Call me what?"

"Mom." Peter replies as he finally loses his battle with sleep and nods off against Stephen's thigh, where the sorcerer had placed his head moments before.

Wong had been right, but Peter wouldn't remember this would he? It actually kind of...hurt. He genuinely wouldn't mind if the teen called him that, because he was finding out very fast how easy it was to get attached to Peter. His happiness was contagious (now that they were getting the old Peter back), and even Wong hadn't minded it when the teen sat on the ceiling above them while they studied, eating chips. When a Dorito fell out of his hand and landed in Stephen's open book, the doctor merely picked it up and ate it...then motioned for more. It turned into a comfortable setting. Peter would sometimes sit with them while they read and usually brought a snack that they would all share between them.

Stephen sighs and pulls Peter into his arms as he moves back to his feet, and dismisses the illusion at the mouth of the alley before stepping back through the portal he had arrived in. It closes behind him as he carries Peter up to the teen's room, and after he double checks the boy's injuries, puts him in bed and sits in the desk chair.  He was just going to make sure Peter really was okay before he started dinner. The kid had only been out on patrol for a couple of hours and--

An unwelcome shift from the Sanctum alerted Stephen minutes later and he audibly growled. Someone was trying to attack the Sanctum and Stephen really wasn't in the mood. He stands (sparing a glance back at Peter to make sure he was sleeping), and makes his way down to the foyer as magic crackles in his hands. He was beyond upset. His kid was hurt and someone had the audacity to attack his Sanctum?! Not today. He levitates down the rest of the way with the cloak's help and a couple of rogue sorcerers actually flinch back when he comes into their view. Even Wong looked a little frightened.

"Sorcerer Supreme--" One of the rogues start and Stephen snarls.

"NOT...NOW!" He shouts and release a wave of magic as multiple portals open and drag the small group of rogues into them before they have a chance to say anything more. 

Once the portals close, Wong looks up at him in bewilderment. "Why haven't you done that before?"

Stephen inhales deeply to calm himself and the magic at his hands slowly dissipates. "Do what?"

"Stephen...your eyes were glowing green. You banished five rogues with just a thought!" Wong exclaims and Stephen blinks.

"I...didn't know I could do that." He confesses.

Wong studies him for a few moments and then his eyes fill with understanding. "I think it's because you had nothing to lose before."

Stephen levitates down completely onto the first landing of the stairwell and looks at his hands in wonderment. He had conjured powerful magic with a thought...and that was because he was protecting Peter. Before, he had nothing to live or die for and that was how he used his magic, but now? Now he had Peter. He had something, someone to protect. To fight for.

"...you're like a mother bear." Wong says with a smirk. "Your cub was injured and in the cave and you were protecting him."

"Enough with the analogies Wong." Stephen says dryly and turns to return to Peter's room.

"When's dinner?"

The doctor sighs heavily and climbs the stairs back up to the teen's room and finds Peter sprawled out on his bed. An indication that he was already healing and would be fine. So Stephen gives him one more look over, and pauses when Peter stirs at his touch.

"...hungry Mum..." Peter slurs sleepily.

Stephen had responded without a second thought to what the teen had just called him. "I'm about to make dinner. Just rest until it's ready." 

"Hnn...kay..."

Stephen leaves when soft snores escape the teen and makes his way down into the kitchen where he starts something quick and simple for dinner. Peter would need it to help his body replenish the blood he had lost (thankfully Peter didn't need a transfusion), and he was sure Peter would have a large appetite with how much his body was working to heal itself right now. Stephen had done most of the work, but it was only to get him out of a critical condition and be able to safely transfer him home. Large quantities of dinner was a must tonight. At least more than usual. Even he needed some sustenance. The magic he had used just minutes ago drained him quite a bit, but not enough to make him tired.

Halfway through cooking dinner, it had hit him. Peter had actually called him 'Mom'. Was he healed enough to realize it? Or maybe he was still half-asleep? Maybe Stephen would just wait and see if it happened again. If it brought it up, Peter was bound to get embarrassed and apologize.

"Smells like pasta." Peter sluggishly walks into the kitchen and sits at the table where he folds his arms and lays his head on top of them.

"With chicken." Stephen says as he turns off the stove and fills a plate for himself and the teen. "I thought I told you to rest."

"I did until I smelled food." Peter sits up when the sorcerer sets a full plate in front of him. "Thanks."

Stephen hums in acknowledgement and sits across from him to dig into his own meal, and Wong soon joins them a couple minutes later. Stephen knew the smell of food would lure the other man, so he hadn't bothered shouting. Their meal passed quietly, not quiet silently since they still held conversations, but not as loud as usual because Peter was tired and sore from his earlier wounds and didn't have the energy to ramble about his day.

"Are you in pain?" Stephen asks and Peter shrugs.

"Not so much anymore. Your magic helped a lot."

The doctor stops his fork halfway to his mouth and looks at Peter incredulously. "Wait...you remember everything?"

Peter blushes. "Uh...yeah...sorry about that."

Stephen smiles softly. "I don't mind."

Wong looks between the two of them. "What? What happened?"

"Nothing." Stephen says at the same time Peter says, "I called him Mom."

"Thanks kid." Wong says and Peter looks at him in confusion.

"For what?"

Stephen silently hands over some cash and Wong beams. "You made me fifty bucks richer and proved me right."