"What the fuck!"

Peter turned chalk white as he saw Aunt May's reflection in the mirror. She opened and closed her mouth several times trying to form words through the shock of seeing her nephew dressed as Spiderman.

Why didn't I double check if May was home? Peter asked himself as he stood with his jaw hanging open. He briefly contemplated calling it a costume, but he knew he had been rumbled. Also, the lying was becoming exhausting, making up excuses for where he was when he went out on patrol was difficult, he couldn't claim to be at the tower seven days a week after all.

"Get dressed. See me…living room" May stuttered at her nephew hardly able to get the words out her mind was moving so fast.

Peter nodded as she turned away, listening as she seemed to collapse down onto the worn couch. He felt slightly sick, he had no clue how she would react to this. Would she stop him from being Spiderman? Would he listen if she did? Would she kick him out? Oh god, what was Mr Stark going to say?

How could I have been so stupid? He thought. He had just been excited and wanted to check out the new features Mr Stark had added. He seemed to do that a lot these days, keep a hold of the suit after Peter came to the tower on Wednesdays then have it waiting on his bed by the time he was home from school Thursday. The updates were super cool usually, he now had coloured web options and camouflage mode. The reinstalled baby monitor protocol was much less cool he would have to concede though, but Mr Stark would not be swayed on the topic. He had tried to argue with the man but it had done him absolutely no good, he had just ended up standing in the corner of the man's office for twenty minutes to 'cool off'. Ugh, he didn't think he would ever get over the embarrassment of Ms Potts walking in to speak to Mr Stark just to find him standing with his nose in the corner like a child.

Throwing on his faded blue jeans that had begun to fray at the ankles and a random t-shirt he rushed to join May just in case she became even angrier, he supposed it was better to get this over with. Like ripping off a band aid. Edging into the room he sat himself down at the other end of the couch tucking his legs up, his chin resting on his knees like a child.

"Peter, please explain," she whispered.

So, Peter did, he explained about the Spider bite from the Oscorp trip and subsequently waking up with sticky hands and feet, enhanced senses and rapid healing. He knew he had been caught and once he started talking it was just too difficult to stop.

"Okay, I understand the abilities Peter, you couldn't have done anything about those but why didn't you tell me or Ben? Why did you start going out and getting into dangerous confrontations with criminals?"

"With great power comes great responsibility" he replied smiling sadly.

May nodded through her tears, she had heard Ben say it countless times throughout his life after all.

"Peter, it isn't safe…" she started. She could see Peter's logic but she had already lost her husband, she couldn't lose her nephew as well. It would break her.

"NO!" he interrupted, "I'm as safe as I can be May."

"How?...Peter you are alone, what would happen if you didn't beat a criminal or got injured?" Just the thought of her little boy bleeding in an alley after getting into an unnecessary altercation made her feel sick, the thought that it could have already happened made bile rise in her throat.

"Mr Stark" the teen mumbled refusing to lift his eyes from his feet.

"What! He knows about this? Get him here. Phone him. I need to speak to that man." Her voice got louder and louder with each statement, her tears of worry quickly becoming those of anger and frustration. Who did that man think he was? Coming into their lives and lying to her face about an internship. And that was a whole other kettle of fish. She was so proud of Peter when she heard of the internship and now she knew it was all lies she couldn't help but feel slightly betrayed. Tony Stark was an adult. He should not be encouraging such things. She was Peter's legal guardian for god sake!

Peter opened his mouth to argue but a single furious look has him fishing his battered phone from his pocket and dialling who May could only assume was Tony Stark. Her blood was pumping in her ears, anger now her overwhelming emotion, anger at the man foolishly encouraging her nephew, her last family member to risk his life. Her mind was running a mile a minute, remembering Germany, the countless times she has seen Spiderman in the local newspaper, those two last minute 'internship' sessions and that ferry incident. The plane crash. That man allowed her Peter to get involved in that calamity of a ferry incident and be in the vicinity of a plane crash! He could have died!

"Hello…no I'm fine….totally fine…no don't ask Karen…I'm not injured….ugh, fine ask her, but I'm not injured at all…no I wouldn't hide anything…see I told you! Thanks for the suit…yeah I got it…no I haven't yet…that's what I'm trying to tell you…No my history grade is a B+…." May listened as Peter spoke quickly on the phone seemingly answering a barrage of questions. Why is he speaking about his History grade? She wants Tony Stark here not on the phone with her nephew she wanted him here five minutes ago. She stared at Peter and started tapping her wrist when she got his attention. She could see the boy was trying to tell the man but he clearly wasn't trying hard enough!

Peter nodded trying to stop Mr Starks prattling at the other end. He soon gives up trying to be polite and interrupted Mr Starks questioning of what he has eaten today (good time to interrupt anyway he probably wouldn't be impressed, not that it can be helped if theres no extra snacks in the apartment). "May knows", he blurts out when the older man pauses for breath after what feels like an age.

"Yes…okay…I'll tell her, see you in ten." He says hanging up and putting his phone back into his pocket. He looked up at May anxiously nibbling his bottom lip, "he will be here in ten" he whispered, now quite afraid of what she was going to say to Mr Stark, he liked hanging out with the man, they didn't always do Spiderman stuff after all, the labs were sooo cool, and he didn't want to lose that. Would Mr Stark still care about him and let him into the labs if he wasn't Spiderman?

May nodded and the next ten minutes of silence dragged on for the both of them. Peter wandered to the kitchen after some time and boiled some water for coffee for the two adults in his life, Mr Stark said coffee made everything better. He could only hope that would be the case today. He added milk to Mays coffee just as he heard a knock at the door. Wow…he hadn't realised Mr Stark literally meant ten minutes.

Tony took a calming breath as he waited for the door to open, trying to think of what to tell May, how to ease her worries. What will I do if she stops me from seeing Peter? She can...of course she is his guardian but he can't bear the thought of not being able to see the boy, he has become a light in his life, he looks forward to their Wednesday evenings and weekends together. Every time he mentioned Pete Pepper got this strange look on her face and it somehow made him love his fiancée even more. The door opened to reveal May, just as young and beautiful as the last time he saw her, but today tear tracks ran down her cheeks and her eyes were swollen from crying.

May ushered him into the small apartment and his eyes immediately turned to Peter, just entering the lounge area with a cup of coffee in each hand. He murmured a thank you as he is given his, a strong black coffee, as he always has it, he's touched Peter noticed to be honest.

Peter watched the two adults nervously as they sat quietly for a moment sipping their coffee. Mr Stark couldn't look more out of place in their dated apartment with damp on the ceiling and faded curtains but he still manages to look perfectly at ease and cool as his eyes take in the many photos dotted around the room.

May watches the billionaire survey the room his eyes softening as he looks at the numerous photos of Peter throughout the years, from the photo of him covered in ice cream age 3, to the boy with no front teeth at 6 and his most recent school photo. Maybe he does care about Peter more than I thought? Maybe my nephew is slightly more than a body with powers.

"Peter says you have known about what he has been doing for months Mr Stark" May states looking the man in the eye.

"Yes. I've known maybe 6 months now, I knew of him for a month or so before Berlin, saw him running around in his pyjamas and knew I'd have to rectify that, especially once I found out how old he was." He smiles softly as he sees Pete scowl at his words, the boy always insisted his first suit was not pyjamas and it only made him call them that even more.

"And you didn't try to stop him!" May yelled at the man.

"What right did I have? He wouldn't have stopped anyway, he's too stubborn, too good. I decided if he was going to go out and do what he does he was going to be as safe as he could be as he did so. That's why I gave him an upgrade, he has a direct line of contact with me through that and I can see where he is and what he's doing every time he puts it on."

May nodded calming slightly, she had noticed after all that the suit she saw Peter wearing looked much more high tech than just pyjamas. The press had mentioned it as well after Berlin. She opened her mouth to question him more about the safety features but was interrupted by her nephew.

"I won't stop May, I can't."

"Peter, respect your Aunt, do not interrupt her." Tony admonishes.

May surprised by this turns to see how her nephew would respond, she was shocked to see the boy sporting a blush and looking down at his hands. She knew how argumentative Peter could be at times and was surprised he had taken the admonishment so well.

"Sorry Aunt May that was rude of me."

"It's fine Peter, I won't make you stop…but I want to know all the safety procedures in place to keep you from getting hurt. I want to know about this internship and I want to be sure this will not impact your studies. Also tell me about what happened with that ferry and there were rumours about a plane!"

Tony immediately started to explain the safety measures he placed within the suit and how Peter is able to contact not just himself but also Happy and even Pepper if he finds himself in trouble. He told her about the new rules he introduced three months ago after homecoming and the consequences for falling grades. He spoke of the internship cover story and how it is in fact just time for the two of them to update the suit, spar or sometimes just hang out in his lab tinkering together.

She nodded when he stopped speaking happy with how is putting the safety of her nephew first and ensuring his night time activities will not impact his schooling. She's also relieved the man convinced him to rejoin decathlon, she had been confused when he dropped it, it meant a lot to the boy. She could see the tenderness in Tony's eyes as he spoke of Peter and the boy's adoration of the billionaire is impossible to miss.

"And the ferry?" She questioned. At this she noticed them both blush.

"It was my fault" Peter told her quickly "I got involved in things I shouldn't have after being told not to, Mr Stark saved me."

"Peter you could have died! Do you understand that?"

He nodded, his ears red as he looked down at his feet, "yeah Mr Stark made sure I did."

She raised an eyebrow at the man urging him to explain.

"I spanked him." He said avoiding her eyes. "I didn't know how else to respond, I'm sorry if I overstepped, but I had to make sure he understood the seriousness of what he did."

Her eyes softened. "I would have done the same, it's fine. I understand. I give you my blessing to act as you see fit should such an occasion come up again."

"May!" Peter groaned. He knew she would agree he had deserved to be smacked for the ferry incident, but he didn't expect her to give Mr Stark her blessing to do it again!

Tony quirked his lip at this and nodded at the woman. "Hopefully we will not have a repeat of that situation again."

"Hmph, Peter is clearly your first teenager Mr Stark." She quipped laughing lightly.

Unsure how to respond Tony gave her a slight grin and drank the remainder of his now lukewarm coffee. "I will always be here for him May, there's no need to worry, I will not allow him to be hurt."

Peter blushed again as both adults turn to look at him fondly. Unsure what to do he shuffled slightly in his chair and sighed in relief as a chiming of a clock in the distance brings everyone back to the present.

"You'll stay for dinner Mr Stark." May stated rather than asked the billionaire.

"Of course," he grinned, "let me get us something though, it's the least I can do."

He stopped their protest with a single raised hand. "I insist. Pete what do you want? And if you say pizza again I will combust. We've had it the last four times I'm 50% pizza now."

"Thai?"

"Good choice Underoos" he replied ruffling the teens hair fondly as he fished his phone from his pocket.