"Are you that stupid, boy? We went over these twice yesterday. How long is that diagonal?" Cap asked, gripping Pietro's ear.
"Cap, it's - it's-" Pietro struggled. He closed his eyes for a moment and felt Cap's hand connect with his cheek. The pain came an instant later, and tears ran down his cheeks.
Cap twisted his ear. "Think, idiot! 13-year-olds do this stuff," Cap snapped at Pietro with a slap across his shoulders. Pietro tried to focus through the pain and fear. AB-squared + CD-squared or...?
Clint came in and glared at Pietro. "What is it, Steve?" he asked.
"He's refusing to learn, Clint. I've been struggling with him for a week, and he's not able to do a single problem yet." Cap said, with another cuff to Pietro's head. Pietro sobbed.
"Lazy boy. Slaps and the hairbrush are not enough to get through your thick hide, are they? Steve, hold him down." Clint said. Cap threw Pietro onto the table, pinning him down, while Clint pulled off his belt. Pietro struggled, tears running down his cheeks as his pants were undone and dragged off.
"No, please! Clint, Cap! Please don't" Pietro screamed. Clint gripped his shoulder.
"Wake up, Pietro, wake up!" Clint called out. Pietro was thrashing around, a blur on the bed. His sheets and pillows had been kicked off, and Clint was wary of getting a supersonic kick.
Finally, Pietro opened his eyes. In that instant, Clint grabbed both his arms and pinned them to his side, and pinned Pietro's knees down with a leg. "Clint, I'll do better!" Pietro screamed again, and Clint held him down, looking him straight in the eyes. He released the boy once the confusion in the boy's eyes gave way to relief.
"Yes, Whitey, it was just a nightmare," Clint said, putting the pillow back under Pietro's head. "Mind telling me what it was about, hmm? What was so scary?"
Pietro shook his head, still gasping from the nightmare. It had been so real! Clint wiped away Pietro's tears and stroked his hair. "Want some water?" he asked, and poured out a glass when Pietro nodded. Raising the boy to rest against him, Clint held the glass for Pietro, then helped him back into bed."You're safe, lightning. No one is going to harm you. Back to sleep, now." he said, tucking the boy in. He waited till Pietro's breathing slowed down to a steady rhythm, then quietly left the room leaving the door open. Pietro had screamed "Clint, Cap, No!" What could he have dreamed about?
That morning, however, Pietro was fine as he and Peter crept into Tony's workshop. Peter bypassed Jarvis, the boys went up to the Mach 55, and Pietro disassembled it in a few seconds. They split up the parts and laid out their tools. Paintbrushes, a chemical from Bruce's lab, and a modified version of web fluid.
Quietly, they drew lines of the two chemicals over a number of joints. "Nothing will happen the next few times Mr. Stark uses this, but once they've melted together, they'll freeze the whole thing. And then evaporate by the time Mr. Stark takes it apart." Peter explained.
"So first he's literally stuck, then he's figratively stuck!" Pietro laughed. "Figuratively," corrected Peter.
"Why do the hands feel so real?" Pietro asked.
Peter had noticed it as well. "It's Dr. Cho's artificial tissue. Maybe he's working towards a flesh textured suit." He shrugged.
"Eww!" Pietro said, and Peter nodded. The boys worked quickly and were done with the painting when a beep came from Peter's watch. Peter looked at his watch and said "10 seconds!" In a flash, the armor was back in place, and Pietro picked up Peter and rushed out. The next minute, the boys were sitting with the adults and Wanda in the lounge, looking as serious as they could possibly be.
"A schedule has been prepared for each of the teens, for 140 hours every week," Jarvis announced. The three teens opened their mouths to protest but stopped when they realized that the schedule included sleeping and mealtimes. Steve rolled his eyes at Tony, who shrugged.
The new schedule had four spells of scheduled activity: The teens would have two training sessions every day, and spend mornings working in their classrooms. Afternoons were for extra classes.
"Extra classes?" The teens pouted.
"Well, instead of getting tutors here, I thought it would be better for you to take classes outside." Tony said, and Pietro asked "classes on what?"
"Anything you choose, as long as it's a new skill," Steve answered.
"Photography?" Peter asked, and Tony gave him a thumbs up.
Natasha nudged Wanda, who tentatively asked "Ballet?" The other adults looked at Natasha, who said "Show them!" to Wanda, and told Jarvis to play music. Wanda flitted gracefully across the room turning and leaping. When she sat down the adults gave her a round of applause. "When she can control things with her mind, she should be able to control her own body too. Wanda picked up a lifetime's worth of ballet in a month." Natasha explained.
Pietro had no idea about extra classes, but Clint and Steve assured him that he would hit upon something. Then came the best part - Tony was giving the twins a car to get to their classes. The teens also had a curfew, but all said, this was much more freedom than they had till then.
"How do I get to classes?" Peter pouted.
"Automatic car, Carpool with the twins, or I'll drop you off," Tony said, and Peter perked up at the last one. An attachment would be good, Tony thought. A harness of some sort for a passenger. He'd get started on it right after he fine-tuned his current experiment. He headed to his floor.
"Anthony Stark, for breaking rule X, you are to receive a spanking." The Mach 55 informed him, and the recliner it was sitting on opened up. He had chosen a stern voiced AI and it was working very well. He had not specified a crime, but hearing the sentence spoken out loud was frightening.
"Come and stand directly in front of me." the suit ordered. Tony moved into position, and there was a beep as the suit scanned his position. "Raise your arms." came the next command, and Tony obeyed again, gulping. The suit then undid his jeans and pulled them down along with his underpants. Half naked, Tony shivered, even if he knew there was no one else in the room, not even Jarvis.
The suit took him by the hand and laid him across its lap. He had to cushion the front of the suit's thighs, Tony thought as he hit the hard metal. The recliner sides came up, supporting his legs and his torso. Tony shivered. If it was this scary when he was in control?
"What are you going to be spanked for?" The suit asked. Tony's torso was now clamped down by the suit's arm.
"For breaking rule X," Tony answered.
"Are you ready for your punishment?" The suit asked again.
"Yes," Tony answered, his heart aflutter.
With a whirr, the suit raised its arm and brought it back down.
"Ouch!" Tony clenched his fists. That was what he had expected, the pain was intense but not unbearable, and it felt like a human hand. After the initial sting, the pain increased alarmingly, and the suit brought its hand down again."Ow, Ow, Ow." Tony yelped as he was spanked three more times. Tony felt the suit shift. Now came the next part of the program, the worst part for him, the undercurve. He braced himself for the pain.
However, the suit pushed him too much forward and Tony tumbled to the floor. Right, more work ahead. He pressed a button on his watch, freezing the suit and got up, righting his clothes.
Jarvis piped up immediately. "Are you feeling contrite, sir?"
"Shut up, Jarvis!" Tony snapped. He gave his bottom a rub. He had other work to do, and the suit had to wait. He entered the elevator, stopping at the teens' lounge. "Wanda, get out of here and find Natasha. I have a car ready, you need ballet gear." When Wanda walked past, he stopped her. "Anything you like, all right? Don't look at the price." Wanda nodded, and Tony turned back to the boys. "You two, my workshop, now! Stop what you're doing!"
The two boys nervously made their way to the workshop. Were they caught?
However, Tony had other ideas in mind. There were prototypes for Pietro to test, new sneakers and a bodysuit, and a camera for Peter. A state of the art DSLR with accessories and multiple lenses. Peter gave a whoop while Pietro tried on the sneakers.
"Decide what you need classes in, and we'll get you what you need," Tony said to Pietro who was grinning.
"Should we clean off the armor?" Pietro asked as they made their way back to the lounge. After the schedule, the car, and the sudden gifts, it seemed very unfair to trick Tony.
"Yeah, I think so, as soon as I find the right solvent," Peter answered, fondling his DSLR. But that might take some time, he knew. In the meantime, he had to learn how to use his new camera!
"Cap, pose with the shield?" Peter jumped around Steve's apartment with his DSLR.
"I've posed way too many times with my shield. Go bother someone else!" Steve hid the shield behind a cushion.
"I'll go photograph Dr. Banner at work!" Peter said and made his way to Bruce's lab. Bruce was staring at a number of screens at once, and Peter walked up next to him. Bruce's laboratory was the only place where he bothered to walk on the floor.
"Dr. Banner, see my new camera. Can I photograph you, please?" Peter said, bobbing on the balls of his feet.
"Yes, you may!" Bruce said and went back to work, and Peter started clicking from every possible angle, including right through the screens. Bruce laughed. The pictures went to the main server, just like everything else in the tower, and Jarvis sent them across to Tony.
Tony saw the images on the StarkPhone and grinned. Bruce, laughing while looking at a bunch of equations, looking completely at ease. Steve grinning with his shield hidden behind a couch cushion. His little spider had what it took to be a good photographer. He was still looking at the pictures when a sudden explosion rocked the tower, pushing him to the ground.
"Dr. Banner's laboratory has been hit," Jarvis announced. Tony's training kicked in, and he motioned for his Hulkbuster armor without thinking. He jumped out the window suited up halfway, and flew down to where the explosion had taken out a wall, and a sickening sight met his eyes. Peter hung on to Hulk's back, and Hulk was trying to shake Peter off vigorously. Tony flew to the pair, and suddenly, Hulk turned back into Bruce Banner.
As Tony watched in astonishment, a terrified Peter ran to him. Tony quickly flew the boy up to his penthouse, where he shed the Hulkbuster suit. He held Peter for an instant before saying "Suit up!"
The other Avengers came up to the launchpad. Hulk along with them, now with his mind in control.
"Jarvis, report on the explosion," Steve said.
"I cannot trace the source, Captain," Jarvis answered. The superheroes looked at each other as Spider-man joined them, still shaking. Natasha put an arm around him.
"What did we lose?" Tony asked the AI.
"Structural damage to the wall, sir. Nothing more." Jarvis said in a level tone
"An undetectable explosive, just powerful enough to blow out a wall?" Clint spoke out loud what the others were thinking. It had been carefully planned. Unleashing the Hulk could cause more damage to the Avengers than just about anything else.
"Jarvis, what is the chemical signature - " Tony asked, but was interrupted by a flash of lightning.
"My friends, I am afraid the attack is not of Midgardian origin," he said.
"Loki again?" Steve said, his face hard. "He knows to target Bruce's laboratory."
"I do not know whether it was my brother's doing. But I found the portal and closed it and Helmdall is keeping a lookout. I will have to stay and find out more but for now, you are safe." Thor said, and the Avengers breathed a sigh of relief. The group went to their lounge, all of them still tense, while Natasha gave Hulk her lullaby. Tony touched Peter's shoulder, and the boy clung to him in spite of being in the suit, and with people around them. Steve sat next to Peter, stroking his hair gently.
"Peter, I'm sorry," Bruce said. "I'm glad that nothing happened." Peter looked up and nodded. Bruce had his arms wrapped around himself.
"Peter, do you remember why the other guy turned back to Bruce?" Tony asked.
"He changed before you reached him?" Steve asked in surprise.
"Yes. One moment, Peter was on the other guy's back struggling not to get thrown, the next, the other guy turned back to Bruce and Peter was running to me."
"I asked you why you were green," Peter said to Bruce, and the Avengers looked at him in surprise. "I was scared, and you know how I just blabber whatever's in my head when I freak out? So I thought your skin is green, it's usually white - do you absorb energy from the other frequencies and convert them to mass when you transform? I asked you that, and you changed back." Peter spoke very fast, then leaned back on Tony again. The Avengers were silent for an instant, and then Clint burst out laughing.
"A science question? That's simpler than a lullaby. But not for you, Nat!" he said and was promptly clouted on the head. He grabbed her arm, and they started to scuffle. Natasha and Clint grappled after every battle, so the others barely paid attention.
"We worked on Veronica for how long? Three months?" Tony asked Bruce, who had his head buried in his arms. "And we never even thought of -"
"Remember the time we worked out the lullaby? Sensory neurons firing? Auditory patterns?" Bruce asked, raising his head. Tony began to laugh. "You! Come over here!" Bruce said to Peter. For the first time ever, Bruce pulled Peter into his lap and a full hug. When he released Peter a moment later, Wanda and Pietro started talking to Peter at the same time. Bruce and Tony started talking to each other over the din. Somehow, Thor and Clint were on the ground grappling. Steve and Natasha rolled their eyes, caught each other's eye roll and started laughing.
"You deserve a reward, pet. What do you want?" Steve asked once the room was silent again.
"Can you throw me off the tower?" Peter asked.