AN: Hello all! A big thank you to all my reviewers, It was so great see all of your guys comments! I never expected so many people would enjoy this and it honestly means a lot! You guys rock! Please keep up the reviewing! I know I began with two fast updates but unfortunately rhythms will be slower from now on. My summer vacation ended and I am back to work and Grad School, so my time for leisure writing will be less. In any case I'll try as hard as I can to update every week or so, but no promises! Life can be pretty hectic for me right now.

To answer to the anonymous review with the 6-item-list, thank you for spotting the "patrols" issue. Regarding your OOC comment, yes both Tony and Peter will be rather OOC. I edited my 1st chapter's author's note to state that more clearly. Yes aunt May obviously knows! Your comment about my language skills made me smile! I am glad you like my style and you find my English good! I can assure you I hadn't even thought of searching for "bigger" words. I guess the cause of the issue might be that I greatly enjoy reading old and classic novels and not so much contemporary ones (recently I've been obsessed with George Eliot) So maybe what you spotted is the old writers' effect on me? Or maybe the fact that all my English writing experience up to now is essays and scientific papers, which obviously include more groomed language than other types of writing? I am a grad student, not undergrad and to be honest with you my professors have only made positive comments on my written products so far, so you're the first spotting this aspect of my writing. In any case that's something a beta could help with, but unfortunately I don't have one! :) Again, thanks for the time you took to write the review and for your comments!

To Guest reviewer that commented on Peter's accepting demeanour through his punishment, I hope this chapter might shed some light to the reasons behind that! :)

Tony's thoughts raced as he fumbled in the kitchen. He took his time taking out all the essential ingredients to fix two generous sandwiches, though he felt like he could not stomach anything at that moment.

The fact that he had proceeded with punishing Peter made it all too real. There was no stepping back now; And if he wanted to be honest with himself he didn't want to step back. But he couldn't help but feel completely incapable and inadequate to support a growing super-hero, a teenage boy. His crappy relationship with his father did not make things any better, nor the complete absence of any mentor he could turn to for advice.

Sighing he withdrew his phone from his back pocket and proceeded to call the one and only person he felt like talking to at the moment.

"Hey, TIn-Man. Survived?" her voice quipped as soon as she answered.

Tony smiled besides himself and leaned on the counter in front of him. "Hey, hot-mess! Survivor speaking."

"You ok, Tony?" Her voice held concern now.

"As ok as possible. What the hell did I got myself into, Peps?"

"Oh, come on! It's not that bad! You just get to know a side of yourself you never had the chance to meet till now. I am sure you'll be a rocking good mentor to that boy." Pepper answered instantly.

"Yeah, thanks for the pep talk, but i sincerely doubt that my name and the word mentor can coexist in the same sentence."

Pepper shot right back, "A certain spiderteen seems to disagree. Gee, Tony, the kid almost killed himself in the effort to catch your attention and did not seem to oppose in having you arrived from what I've heard! He even followed you to your home knowing he'd be punished, do you honestly think he'd do any of those things if he didn't really want you around?"

Tony smiled faintly at her words. "When you put it that way…"

"You might not see yourself as anything close to a mentor, Tony, but that little stubborn guy, does. And honestly, that's pretty much all that counts. You want to be there for him, he wants you to be there for him, so suck it up and work with each other to find a balance."

"You're so cute when you try to be strict, you know that?" Tony chuckled as he sat himself on one of the counter's bar stools.

"Got work to finish for you, tin-man, so if that's all I really need to go." Pepper answered fondly.

"Yeah, yeah… Go work your magic, babes. Talk to you later."

"Love you! Feed the kid!" Pepper hastily added and proceeded to terminate the call.

Chuckling at her, Tony threw his phone on the counter and proceeded with the sandwich preparation. He took his time, knowing that Pete would not wake up for at least half an hour. When he loaded the bread with generous amounts of ham, cheese, tomato, lettuce and mayo, he proceeded to wrap them up and store them in the fridge to keep them fresh.

Having nothing more to do with himself at the moment he proceeded to check the kid's room and make sure he'd have anything he might need for his short stay. Pleased to see everything in order he returned to the living room and continued to his study, creeping in as quietly as possible.

Peter was snoring lightly, making hard for Tony to contain a soft laugh. Sitting in his desk he regarded the thin body sprawled out on his sofa and contemplated how he should proceed when he woke up.

Bringing out two pieces of paper he started scribbling on them all the things he wished to discuss with Peter. When his task was completed he checked the clock of the office and noticed it was closing 40 minutes from the moment the kid lied down to rest. Not wanting to wake him up abruptly, Tony stood and started preparing some coffee in the office's coffee-maker. The soft sounds of the machine and the strong aroma of the high-quality coffee did the trick and the young body started stirring. Yawning deeply Peter slowly sat up on the sofa wincing slightly, before he turned his head to the man in the room.

"Got any cookies to go with that?" He asked a bit awkwardly.

"Nope, but I do have a ridiculously big sandwich waiting for you in the kitchen. Would you like to eat?" Tony answered back.

Nodding vigorously the kid stood up and Tony hid his smile in his steaming mug, as he reached to grab a few sheets of paper and a pen from his office before leading the way to the kitchen.

When Peter managed to find a somewhat comfortable way to sit on the wooden bar stools of the counter, Tony placed the sandwich in front of him along with a big glass of fresh juice. He watched Peter devouring the food marvelling how fast he finished it. "I happen to have a second one of those if you're still hungry" the man offered.

"Won't you eat?" Peter asked before gulping down a generous amount of the juice.

Tony shook his head and retrieved the second piece from the fridge. "No, kid, eat up. I'lll prepare something later if I'm hungry."

Smiling down at the plate Peter proceeded to consume the whole thing in less than 3 minutes. Spotting the teasing glint in Tony's eyes he quickly said, "Since I got my powers I can eat really large portions of food." He said almost apologetically.

"Thanks captain obvious!" Tony chuckled, but shook his head reassuringly,"Kid, when I was your age i ate like that and even more, without any superpowers to blame it on. No need to worry."

Peter snorted lowly at that, "It's your food I'm eating, why should I worry?"

"Let's see how smart-ass you'll be for the next part, spider-tongue", Tony quipped amused. Seeing the confused glance Peter gave him, he placed the papers on the table.

"Talking time." The man declared evenly.

Peter nodded his face turning solemn and sat up straighter in his stool. "Get ready to hear it, then, Stark!"

"Oh, I'm more than ready, Parker! You see, if this is going to work we both need to lay down our lines and find some common ground. So I will hear you, but so will you. This will not turn into a quarrel or an opportunity for either of us to blow out anger, agreed?"

The boy nodded and regarded the man expectantly.

"I want to begin with the reason for your recent choices. The agreement. I want to know what you believe needs to change, so that we can work out a solution that me, you and your aunt will agree upon. So, this is your chance. Shoot."

"I want the curfew gone. It makes no sense, bad guys don't work early in the night and you know it, nor do they have to be home by midnight!. I need to be able to be out till morning to get the chance to fight crime."

Tony shook his head, "There is no way you won't have a spidey-curfew. You got school and you're underage. This would be completely out of the question." Peter instantly opened his mouth to protest only to be stopped by Tony's warning look and his emphatic next words. "BUT, I do agree that it's a bit tight." After some silent pondering, while flicking the pen with his fingers he continued, "How about we push weekdays to 1 o' clock and weekends to 2 o' clock AND if you'd like , arrange two weekends per month where we can patrol together, with no preset time-limit. We call it a night, whenever we deem it right."

"Patrol together? Like Ironman and Spiderman, as a team? Like, we'll also tackle the more dangerous guys? Together?"

Tony had to try hard not to laugh at the almost awestruck way the kid spoke. "Don't sound so excited, groopy. I am not used to a fan club, that's Rogers' territory."

Peter blushed a little but could not resist the huge grin that spread on his face "That's what I was hoping for ever since I got my powers. To fight with you, learn from you… Cap is too much goody-two-shoes for my taste."

"We got that in common kid, just don't let that slip in front of him. But let's clear some things out, on your solo days, same rules stand. Small crimes ONLY. Anything big will be immediately reported to the base and whoever is available will deal with it. You got a taste of what the consequences will be, if you ever break that rule again. Are we clear on this?"

Not particularly pleased by the second bit, Peter asked "When will I be allowed to tackle harder cases?"

"When I feel sure you stand good chances ending a scene unscathed. And not a minute before. Plus, there would be no way your aunt would allow anything less than that. So, are we agreed on this part?"

Peter huffed annoyed, but still nodded.

"Another thing i want to make perfectly clear, when we patrol together, you will be under training. That means that especially in the beginning you might not always be cleared to get involved. If I ask you to stand by and observe that's what you do. If I say you can improvise, you can do whatever you feel will work best, if I tell you to do something specific you do whatever that is. If I tell you to god damn sing, you'd better god damn sing. Clear?"

"Oh, I might sing anyways, Stark." Peter answered smiling.

"Aha, adorable, Spidey. Now, please state that you're agreed to the above."

"Fine, I agree. But you have to promise to let me do stuff too, it's all over education Tony, experiential learning is the new thing nowadays."

"You'd better keep in mind the very recent experience of your spanking then, cause that's a certain thing we'll be reviewing if you ignore me while we're out on the streets. We'll see how much you like experiential learning then, smart-ass."

The instant blush that spread on the boy's face satisfied Tony, who added in a lighter tone, "Rest assured, you won't be benched. You'll be mostly,actively engaged, I promise."

"Good." The teen responded.

"Anything else on the agreement then?" Tony further pushed.

"Just one thing. If through training you are persuaded that I am good to go for a level-up-crime-scene, do you promise to add it to my solo-allowed-acts?"

"Yes, I guess that sounds fair."

"Cool!"

"Ha, joke's on you, spiderling, next part is super UNcool. Get ready for what I like to call General Rules of Conduct!"

Groaning and tossing his head back dramatically Peter almost whined, "Come on now, Tony!"

Ignoring him completely the man raised his clenched fist high before dramatically flipping his thumb, "Rule of Conduct Number One: Never put yourself in unnecessary danger."

Allowing some silent seconds for emphasis he continued counting with his index finger, "Never lie. For anything. No matter what has happened, lying will only land you in hotter water, Peter, that's a fact for every aspect of your life now and in the future." After another second, his middle finger joined the two others, "No slacking in school. Super powers are not the sole thing defining you. You are a smart kid with hell of a lot potential. I will be damned if I allow you to throw any of those away simply for your spider-business."

"Objection!" Peter called calmly.

"Declined." Tony answered back calmly. "These three are non-negotiable. Breaking them will almost always land you in spanking territory. I do leave open a small window of situations that might be resolved with grounding and other forms of discipline depending on the case."

Groaning Peter dropped his head dramatically on the table. "Fine, ok."

"Also, I expect you to be respectful at all times to everyone. You are allowed to be angry as hell, or consumed with any other teen-hormone-inflated emotion, but you're not allowed to let them take control of your words and actions. I know that's a challenge at your age and that's the only reason I do not include it to the three golden rules. You should still expect punishment for disrespect, though. I believe it's imperative for a young man to exercise his self-discipline, and controlling your emotions is the best way to train on that. More things might be added to this list of rules. We'll discuss any addition in advance though. Any questions?"

Pete seemed sceptical now. "Where's the limits of respectful? Is the way I'm speaking to you when I call you Stark, or when i get sarcastic disrespectful?"

"No! God no, kid! That's your style and quite honestly, it rocks. Disrespect is when any of these things are meant to hurt or make someone feel inferior. Or when you use it to blow out steam. Like at the hospital, when you yelled to your aunt, or when I called you, before you collapsed, and you called me Tony Damn Stark and proposed to shove a certain agreement to a certain place of my body."

The intense now blushing of Peter told Tony, he understood more than well.

"Well said, Stark."

"And I will add a single exception. During crime-fighting activities you are allowed to use whatever tone and attitude you wish to the bad guys. Sometimes it's a tool more than useful, while others there is not much to really respect to some of the criminals. These are fine lines though, Peter. I don't want you to be unnecessary cruel to anyone, so make sure to always be in control of yourself, especially duty. Yes?"

"Yeah, Tony, I understand."

Nodding the man said, "Enough with the serious matters for now. I am dangerously close to Rogers' territory again and I don't like that at all!"

Something in the man's words, combined with previous mentions of the Captain, made Peter comment thoughtfully, "My spider sense tells me you two might be working together again."

"Your spider sense might need more of Dr. Randall's help, it seems completely tuned out."

Completely ignoring him, Peter continued "But I guess you wouldn't advertise that with cap wanted and all…"

"Damn, Peter, I am worried now, your spider sense should warn you of imminent pain in certain body regions if you don't change the subject or, preferably, drop it altogether."

Eying the man with suspicious eyes, Peter probed, "Top secret, huh?"

Sighing resigned - and secretly admiring the kid's gut and his persistence - Tony only said, "You'll learn more on the matter soon. For now I cannot discuss anything."

"Knew it!" The kid whispered triumphantly as he grabbed his glass of juice and sipped its remaining contents.

IM~SM~IM~SM~IM~SM~IM~SM~IM~SM~IM~SM~IM~SM~IM~SM~IM~SM~IM~SM~IM~SM~

The living room was dark, its only source of light coming from the TV-screen and the lights of the city that flowed in through the large room's windows. The day had rolled easily with Tony and Peter cooking together, resting after lunch, playing pool in the game room, visiting the lab and then concluded with dinner in front of the TV, with Peter making the selection of the film.

Tony was almost completely still, sitting straight in the large comfy sofa and looking at the ridiculously large TV screen almost accusingly, "What's going, on? Why did titled come out, the movie can't have ended, we never learnt if that was his son!" He turned to Peter expectantly.

"There is a sequel, isn't there?" He asked, hope sparking in his eyes.

Peter's laugh filled the room, loud and warm. "Tony, it's written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and Bill Murray is the central character. Dude, of course there is no sequel. And you're not supposed to learn if he was his son!"

Tony was completely silent now, looking at the kid completely disbelievingly. "That's the cruelest and stupidest way any movie has ever ended in the history of cinema." He declared dejectedly.

Peter chuckled again, "Oh, don't tempt me, Stark! I can't believe you hadn't seen this masterpiece."

"I come close to perfection kid, but everyone has his flaws."

As the duo rested lazily on the couch a few silent minutes passed.

"Hey, Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"What are we gonna do tomorrow?"

"Training kid. Intense training. This week won't be just fun and games."

"So, it's gonna be punishment?"

"No, not punishment. Just a reality check for what you're getting yourself into. I believe you'll enjoy it for the most part."

"Cool."

"Hey, Peter?"

Smiling Peter answered, "Yeah?"

"How come you didn't try to chortle me when I punished you this morning?"

Peter was surprised by the question, but he was more surprised at how difficult he found forming an answer. "I guess it's your Ben effect."

"Wow… I had no idea I had one of those. What is that again?"

Chuckling Peter continued inwardly thanking the man for managing to turn that particular conversation from embarrassing to comfortable. "I call Ben-effect the way my uncle managed to make me see things from other people's perspectives. How he made me concentrate not solely on the consequences my actions brought to me but to others too. He had a way to make me somehow feel a better person after each and every punishment and its accompanying conversation. Does that make sense?"

"I think it does."

"You made me feel like he did. You made me care more for what I caused to others and myself rather than for the punishment. Of course with uncle Ben, there was also the fact that I cared about him. I don't care about you."

"Oh, that's nice to hear!" Tony managed to respond neutrally to that.

Peter rushed to explain, "No, no! That came out completely wrong! I mean, he was there my whole life, he raised me. With you, it's not the same. Not yet anyways. I don't know if it will ever be, or even if that's something you want or don't want or whatever."

Tony chuckled but resisted his urge to call out the comment on Pete's eloquence.

Peter smiled awkwardly but continued, "What I know is, that from the very little we know each other, you have the same effect on me. You make me want to become better. No matter the cost or the pain."

Tony allowed a few seconds to pass in case the kid had anything more to add, before responding in a self-assured tone, "I am a hell of a mentor, dude."

The pillow that landed squarely on his face took him by complete surprise.

A/N: Fluffier chapter, more concentrated on the relationship-building and hopefully shedding light to the characters and their views of the recent events. Again a huge thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. It means so much! Please let me know what you thought on this. Have a great rest of the week. Cheers.