A/N: Hello guys! Here's the 12th! Iknow You've all hoped for a quicker update, but as I've told you before things aren't easy around here these days. I finished today's chapter while procrastinating working on my thesis, but in any case I am super excited for this story as I started working on the plotline in greater depth and know where this is headed for quite a few more chapters. I'm also working on my characters and hopefully this will start to show :) It's amazing how productive I can be when I have other extremely pressing issues and obligations to ignore :) Here's to future regret, sleepless nights and crying for me :P
You might had to wait a while but at least it's a long one! Please let me know what you guys are thinking. Reviews make me happy and thoughts give me inspiration!
Cheers!

Wanda stared at the yellowish mixture in the bowl as she stirred it absentmindedly. She could hear Peter's foot nervously tapping and his fingers cracking every now and then. "Can you please grab the bag of berries from the freezer?" she asked him in an even tone.

Peter stared at the back of her head incredulously. "Can you please remind me why we are wasting our time cooking instead of looking for a damn solution for this?" he asked, trying hard to keep his temper in check.

"Firstly, Pete, we're baking. Or rather I am baking, while you're simply brooding on your stool," Wanda calmly answered. In any other case she would have for sure snapped at him something harsh and argue until both of their frustration had evaporated, but right now she felt calm and in control of her emotions. Baking and cooking did that to her. Turning to glance at him she added, "Secondly, I am baking because it helps me think. And honestly, that is all we have right now. The possibility of thinking of a way to fix this."

Peter huffed annoyed but couldn't deny that his friend did seem much calmer than usual. Getting to his feet he walked to the fridge of the Avenger's Base large kitchen area, opened the freezer's door and started rummaging on its first drawer for the bag of berries. When he spotted it, he took it out and went stand next to Wanda as he handed it to her.

"Can't Quill fix him?" Peter asked hopefully.

Wanda shook her head. She opened the bag and grabbed two fistfuls of fruit before throwing them in the resting mix. Watching them slowly sinking in the creamy substance she answered gloomily, "Since I did this with my magic it needs to be solved by my magic as well. I just don't know how to fix it. I am not that experienced nor do I have an older witch available, who could advise me on how to work through this."

Peter started cracking his fingers again as he watched the girl pouring the mix in the muffin tray that rested on the counter next to the bowl. "The poor man… I feel like crap."

Wanda glanced at him with a serious face, "Me too." Taking a deep breath she turned to lean on the counter and faced her friend before telling him her next words, "Pete, I think we need to tell Steve."

Peter's eyes enlarged at her words and he threw his hands in the air exasperatedly. "Are you serious? Cap' will kill us! You know how adamant they are about using powers at school! Especially when we're talking about trying to manipulate professors to get out of homework!"

Wanda felt her composed temper cracking at his words. When she spoke her voice held some of her usual fire and was slightly trembling. "Yeah, well, this is on me though! And I can't continue as if nothing happened with the poor man not being able to utter a single word or staring at his students like he doesn't recognize them! You saw him today! I can't have the man fired, Peter! And who knows what might have happened in his home with his family… No, this is too much!"

Peter glanced around them nervously. Wanda had told him all the Avengers were currently out on a mission but he still feared the possibility of someone popping in and hearing them. Lowering the volume of his voice he shot back, "But as you said, this is why we're here, to think of a solution!"

Wanda huffed as she grabbed the tray and moved to the preheated oven, opening it and putting the muffins in with a bit more force than needed. She slammed the oven's door shut and turned back to Peter, "I don't know how to fix this! Ok? I have no fucking idea!"

Peter could read her nervousness and fear and tried to calm his tone even more before answering, "I know you don't, but we'll figure this out together. You said it yourself. Since this was your magic, you need to fix it on your own. So what good would it make to tell Steve? It will only get us in serious trouble and won't change the situation Gertrings is in."

Wanda could see his reasoning but felt overwhelmingly guilty and helpless over what had happened. Remaining silent for another second she said, "Ok. We'll try to find a solution. But if we can't I'm telling Steve!"

Realizing there was little point to argue on this Peter nodded immediately. "Deal."

Wanda turned back to the oven and set its timer to the appropriate time. "Let's go to the library. There is a bunch of old grimoires there, maybe we'll manage to find something before the others get back."

The two teens were sitting on the floor at the far back of the base's library. The corridor they were in, offered them some privacy and even if someone came, Wanda would have the time to magically put all the books back to their spot before she and Peter would pretend to look at the other titles.

A plate with empty muffin paper cups rested between them and the two kept searching for their magical solution.

Wanda tilted her head on the side when she spotted a certain reversing incantation. Reversing spells was a far more complicated process than casting them, and this was obvious in the complexity of this spell. A large latin script was to be whispered while her mental energy was completely focused on reversing exactly what she had cast in the first place. Considering that her spell to make the man forget was also sloppy and demanding made things worse but the girl knew she stood little chance of finding anything else. They had already spent all their afternoon in there and Peter would have to leave for his home soon.

"Pete, I think I found something that could work," the girl said in a tired voice.

Peter glanced up his face splitting into a grin. "Really?"

Rubbing her eyes Wanda smiled back herself, "Don't get so excited just yet. It's very complicated. And considering I managed to screw up the first one I don't stand much of a chance to actually succeed in this one."

Peter shook his head. "No, you're gonna do it, I'm sure. You probably just need some time to practice it, right?"

Seeing the hope in his eyes and how tired he looked, Wanda managed to force a reassuring smile, "Yeah, I'm sure with some practice I'll make it work. But I need to start working on it ASAP, so you'd better leave."

Peter quickly got up and nodded his agreement. "Yeah, I'd better get home before May does anyway. I am supposed to be studying and resting this week."

"Well, technically you were studying and resting, while here, so…" Wanda answered smirking slightly as she also got up and used her magic to place all books except the one with the spell back to their original place.

The two teens walked together out of the library and to the large corridor outside of the room. Peter turned to look at his friend. "Thank you for doing this. And don't feel guilty. I am the one who asked your help in this. I am the one who is responsible for Gertring's situation. You just did what I asked you to do."

Wanda formed a small smile as she told him, "I could have said no, Pete." And that much was true she could have said no. But the fact that Pete was by now her closest friend she couldn't stop herself from feeling protective over him or trying to get him out of trouble. "Anyways," she added in a lighter tone, "get out of here before someone sees you and we raise suspicions. I'll work on this and hopefully, we'll fix the man first thing tomorrow morning."

Peter smiled at her and nodded. "'Night, Wanda."

"Night, Pete."

The young witch was sitting perfectly still in the lotus position, her eyes closed and her hair swaying slightly around her face. She repeated silently the incantation for what should be the hundredth time that evening and focused all of her power on a broken necklace that rested in front of her. She had broken the piece of jewelry with her magic a couple of times now and had managed to successfully repair it with the spell right after. This would be her fifth and last effort to repeat the process and she hoped with all her heart she could manage to work on the far more complicated damage in Gertring's head the next morning.

The sound of her door opening made her whip her head around startled. She watched Steve stepping in a confused expression on his face, "What are you doing?" the man asked.

Wanda felt her cheeks flush a bit but managed to get to her feet and answer in a steady voice, "I couldn't sleep so, I tried some meditation."

"Good idea," the man commented smiling.

"How was the mission?" the girl asked as she made her way to the bed practically collapsing on it.

Steve walked to her and proceeded to cover her with the folded comforter at the end of the bed, "It was hard but we made it," he answered and felt his smile growing bigger at Wanda's heavy eyes. "I think meditation worked," he commented.

"I think so, too…" The girl mumbled.

He ran a gentle hand over her silky soft hair then walked back towards the door clicking the lights off. "Goodnight, darling."

"Night, Steve."

Wanda waited until she couldn't hear his steps anymore and then quietly got back to her feet and walked to the spot where the necklace rested. Taking it into her hands she was glad to see it had been repaired. As she clutched it to her chest she couldn't help but wonder how much she could improve and strengthen her powers by studying old-school magic instead of relying on her impulsive energy manipulation and desire-based practice. Deciding she could think this over tomorrow with a clear head she crawled back into her bed and letting her eyes close almost immediately.

Professor Gertrings was staring at the desk in front of him not sure of where he was or why he had been there. His mind felt fogged. He remembered that when he got up that morning he knew he had to go to work and that the work was at a school but right now he couldn't for the life of him remember this classroom or any of his students or what he was supposed to be doing.

He all but jumped when two young people entered the room as well. He watched as a slim framed young man walked closer to him, while the girl who had followed him inside closed the door and its blinds, before locking it.

"W...What's going on?" the man answered gripping hard on his briefcase to steady his now trembling hands. "Who are you?" he asked again in a hoarse voice.

Wanda and Pete glanced at each other worriedly. "Professor Gertrings? It's alright, it's me, Peter. Peter Parker. I am your student…"

The man's eyes darted from Peter to Wanda who had now sat on the floor of the class facing at him directly. He watched her even more confused as she proceeded to assume a weird position with her legs and closed her eyes. The position seemed vaguely familiar, " What's going on?" He asked again glancing back at Peter.

"Nothing's going on, I promise. I know you must be feeling a bit confused, but we're here to help you," Peter tried. He remained close to the man but not too close as to not intimidate him. He glanced at Wanda and was relieved to see the usual sway of hair around her face as the energy started to rise up inside her.

Wanda moved her lips whispering the familiar by now latin words. She brought to her mind what she had done to the man's head, how her energy had infiltrated his brain and toyed with his memories. She felt the surge of energy leaving her body with the last syllable and opened her eyes with a loud gasp. Her eyes flew to the older man who was now standing looking even more confused than before. 'Crap.' The young woman thought. 'I made it worse, I must have!'

Peter looked at the man too and hesitantly addressed him, "Professor?"

The man turned to him with his eyes narrowing, "Peter? What is this?" his now livid eyes turned back to Wanda and he loudly yelled, "What the hell have you done to me?"

Peter took a hesitant step back as Wanda stood up hastily moving to the door. The older man got their first and grabbed her arm raising a finger near her face. "You did something to me, I remember now!"

His eyes darted at Peter who stared wide-eyed at an equally shocked Wanda.

Turning his eyes back to Pete the man said in an angry voice, "You said you had the make-up paper I had assigned you and then she came up behind me and did something to me! She made me forget, didn't she?" He turned to Wanda and asked her curtly "Didn't you?"

Trying to force the words out of her mouth Wanda asked, "Sir, what are you talking about? How could I possibly make you forget anything?"

The man released her arm, unlocked, and opened the door, "Just like you made me remember right now! You two conspired to save Peter from his work and you made me forget. Just like you just made me remember," he repeated. "I remember now! I remember, how you stood behind me and all these red lights started dancing around me…."

By now, a number of students who were in the corridor outside the class were staring at the scene bewildered. Everyone had noticed the man's weird behavior the previous day but now he sounded plain paranoid.

"To the principal, both of you! Right now!" The man barked as he kept the door open allowing

Peter and Wanda to numbly walk ahead of him. The two of them glanced at each other frantically not knowing how they could possibly handle this.

When they finally arrived outside of the principal's office, the man knocked emphatically before opening it and bursting in. The teens walked in behind him but instead of the principal came face to face with the vice principal who had raised his head from a file startled at the sudden entrance into the office.

"The principal is out for the day," the man said as he stood to his feet and glanced from the livid professor to the nervous looking kids. Motioning for all of them to sit he walked behind them and closed the door before returning to the desk and sitting in the large, brown, leather chair. "What seems to be the problem, Professor Gertrings?"

The man jabbed a finger at the direction of the teens and answered in a heated tone, "They messed with my head!"

The vice-principal remained silent, looking at the man completely taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"Parker, here, was not happy over having to redo a paper. When it was due he came to me with this girl and she did something that made me forget. I am sure their aim was to make me forget just about the paper, but they messed it up and that's why I was the way I was yesterday… " Gertrings face flushed as his temper rose even more upon realizing the vice principal did not believe a word he said. "Don't just look at me like that! They did! And then today they came back and she did… She did something. Something unnatural. And I have my memory back! She… She has some sort of power. Like a w...witch!"

The vice-principal listened dumbfounded at the ranting man. His eyes turned to the silent kids. His heart started beating faster. Hopefully, all he had to deal with here was some sort of break down. Gertrings was old after all. Cursing his luck the principal was out of the school that day he cleared his throat uneasily.

"Professor Gertrings, I want you to calm down. Whatever this is we'll get to the bottom of it," he said calmly. He then turned to the computer screen in front of him clicked with the mouse a couple of times and then looked at the kids before asking, "It's Parker and Jones, right?"

Peter gulped but nodded. He feared this would happen the moment Gertings started yelling. When the vice-principal took hold of the phone and started dialing his worst fears were confirmed. He watched Wanda closing her eyes and bringing a hand up to rub her forehead.

"Hello, Is this Mrs. Parker?... This is Vice-Principal Weathers… No Peter is fine, no need to worry, but there's been a situation with one of his teachers and I will need you to come over as soon as possible...Oh, I see… a second number? Oh, yes, I see it. Ok, Great. Thank you, Mrs. Parker… Good day to you too."

As soon as the man put down the phone Peter dared to ask, "Is my aunt coming?"

The man glanced at Peter over his glasses before shaking his head, "She can't leave work unfortunately but she told me to call your allocated guardian, Mr. Stark."

Peter felt his stomach drop to the floor and glanced at Wanda who remained with her eyes closed and she was holding her head. Hearing Weathers talking to Tony, Peter stole a glance to his professor anxiously. The man was now searching for something in his briefcase.

After the vice-principal ended with the third phone call to Natasha, Gertrings quickly handed the man a stack of stapled papers.

Peter immediately recognized the cover page of the supposedly rewritten paper. The vice-principal turned the blank pages and furrowed his brow turning to Gertrings, "Yes, I can see Mr. Parker did not complete his assigned work, but I don't think this is a matter that needs my intervention, Leonard."

Gertrings looked at him incredulously, "If he simply had handed that in I would have contacted his guardian and that would be the end of it! I am showing this to you as a proof. How could I possibly have received this and changed Peter's grade back to an A?"

Weathers looked at Peter now. "Peter, how about you tell us your side of the story?"

Peter glanced at the two men nervously. "Um… I… I didn't do the assignment, obviously, as you can see. But I didn't… I mean we didn't do anything to Mr. Gertrings. I just handed that over and hoped he'd change the grade before he graded it," Peter attempted.

The vice-principal nodded. That was a stupid course of action but it was a very logical explanation. Bringing to his mind how lost and absent-minded Gertrings was the previous day along with his delirious claims of the kids magically making him lose his memory, the man quickly made up his mind about what was happening.

"Kids, please wait outside until your guardians are here, I need some privacy with Mr. Gertrings."

Wanda and Peter didn't need to be told twice. They walked out of the room and threw themselves on two chairs in the small waiting hall.

Wanda glanced at Peter and managed a small smile, "At least the spell worked…"

Peter chuckled wryly before shaking his head. "God, we're so dead."

Wanda nodded immediately, "Deader than dead."

It was around twenty minutes later when the sound of two sets of feet were heard approaching. Both kids looked up as Tony and Natasha rushed in the hall and paused in front of them.

Tony spoke first, "Everything alright? Are you guys ok?"

"Yeah, no, we're fine!" Peter immediately said.

"Wendy?" Natasha asked her brow slightly frowning at seeing the girl rubbing her forehead.

"Fine." The girl said in an even tone.

"Is there something we need to know before we get in there?" The woman asked again scrutinizing the now squirming teens.

Tony watched as the two of them glanced at one another anxiously before prompting in a no-nonsense tone, "Peter?"

Peter gulped once before saying in a low voice, "We might have played a little with a teacher's head to get me out of some extra work he demanded…" Reluctantly he stole a glance at the man but regretted it when he saw his face twitching with anger.

Natasha shook her head before stepping in front of Tony and knocking twice on the door.

The vice-principal tried hard to school his features as his patience had started to evaporate. He heard Gertrings retelling his story in front of the kids' guardians who were standing stiffly and hearing what was being said with disbelief. When the small story reached its end the vice-principal rose to his feet and opened the door calling loudly the secretary's name. The middle-aged woman appeared after a couple of seconds smiling and approached the door. "Mrs. Lewis, please take Mr. Gertrings to the nurse for some fluids and painkillers. He had quite the day, the man said casually."

Gertrings stood up shooting a suspicious glare at the vice-principal, before following the woman. When the two of them could not be seen anymore Weathers motioned for Wanda and Peter to follow him back inside. Taking a seat next to their respective guardians, Peter and Wanda waited patiently to follow the lead of the two adults.

Weathers cleared his throat uneasily, "As I am sure you might have guessed, Professor Gertrings must have had a breakdown. It's rather common really in our profession. My sincere apologies for dragging you into all of this but it's a school policy that parents and guardians are always informed when the intervention of the principal is requested by a teacher."

Tony spoke first, his tone nonchalant, "No need to apologize. We sincerely hope the man will get the help he needs."

"Oh, yes, rest assured. Our insurance covers a state-of-the-art clinic that has most teachers in need of its services as good as new within a couple of weeks. That along with some sick-leave will hopefully have Professor Gertrings cleared to return to the school before Christmas break." Weathers immediately answered, relieved that Stark wouldn't pose a problem with the situation by making a scene or dragging lawyers in.

"That being said, I also want to apologize for Peter's neglecting his work and for not complying with his teacher's demands. That is not going to happen again. Is it Peter ?" Tony asked looking at the now squirming young man meaningfully.

"No. It won't happen again. I am sorry Mr. Weathers," he quickly quipped.

"If that is all, Mr. Weathers I think it would be best if we took the kids home now. I mean this has been a hard day on them as well, I am sure you understand," Natasha said in a sweet tone.

Wanda had to force herself not to vigorously shake her head behind the woman's back at these words. As she heard Weathers easily agreeing she closed her eyes again, gathering up her courage to stand up and follow the woman.

Peter did the same and waited for Tony in the hall as the man exchanged some more pleasantries with the vice principal. When Tony finally came out he threw a hand around Peter's shoulder before instructing, "Go grab your things and meet me in the parking lot, Happy's waiting."

Natasha nodded looking at Wanda, "Same goes for you. My car is right outside the gate."

As the teens walked away, Natasha and Tony turned to walk to the opposite direction toward the nearest exit of the building.

"I can't believe they were so stupid," the woman said through gritted teeth.

Tony glanced at her surprised, "You can't? This was one of the things I was sure we'd have to address at one point or another."

Her turn to look at the man surprised, Natasha asked, "What are you talking about?"

"If I was in high school and had super powers or friends with superpowers I would definitely use them to manipulate teachers," the man shrugged. "I mean, I can understand the urge to do it. The temptation."

"So you're gonna let this slide?" Natasha demanded her tone annoyed.

Tony chuckled, "Hell no! I am just commenting on your surprise. They're practically hormones with feet and superpowers. They're bound to test the limits every now and then."

"Have you been reading mommy blogs as well?" Natasha asked now smirking.

Snorting at the memory the man shook his head, "I doubt you'd say that if Cap' was around."

Natasha's turn to snort she only quipped, "I'm not afraid of him like you are, Tony."

Tony turned his back to the woman as they got closer to the parking lot and headed to the waiting car. As soon as his back was turned he started mimicking the woman and making grimaces.

As Natasha moved towards the gate she hesitated not to shout "I know what you're doing, Tony" as she flipped him off while he was not looking at her direction.

The car ride to the base was silent. Natasha, having not brought a driver, sat behind the wheel and focused all of her attention to the road. After a couple of failed attempts to break the ice and start some small talk with Wanda, she decided to leave the girl to her sulking.

Wanda stared outside of her window but not at something in particular. The blurry colors as the car sped along the large roads helped her mind relax and she could finally feel her headache subsiding.

While she felt awful for having been caught, she couldn't help the sense of pride over the fact she had managed to perform that spell on her own. Using her rage and emotional anguish to manipulate huge energy blasts was one thing, but actually succeeding in using magic effectively in such a delicate procedure as fixing the alterations she had caused to a man's brain was another level entirely.

Her thoughts then started wandering to Steve and how he would react to all of this which made her stomach churn uneasily. How the hell was she supposed to explain everything that happened? She hated the fact that Steve couldn't be the one that had been called in at school and Natasha had. She hated that she had to endure Natasha debriefing Steve and then him asking her to explain what had happened all over again.

The logical part of her mind told her that Natasha was cool for doing this. That she had better things to do in her life than turning up at school every time something came up. If it was not for her, Wanda would not have the chance to get this experience of a normal life, of school, of friends. She wouldn't have met Quill. She'd be cooped up all day in the base going from studying to training and from training to studying. That was her sane voice.

There was another voice though, a piercing one, that kept whispering nasty things. That tried to persuade Wanda that Steve couldn't really be bothered with shit like this. That Natasha only did any of this to get Steve to notice her and offer her more power in the Avengers team. That Natasha loathed her for the burden that she was and for the constant useless trouble she caused.

Shifting uneasily in her seat Wanda stole a glance at the rear-view mirror and caught Natasha's eyes glancing at her before they returned to the road ahead. The young girl got out her phone and headphones and plugged them in. Pulling up her favorite playlist she let the music flood her mind and kick all other thoughts and voices away.

Peter didn't wait for Tony to give the instruction, instead as soon as they exited the elevator of the Stark Tower he quickly headed to the man's office. He had little doubt of how Tony would punish him for this and no matter how much he hated the idea, he recognized he more than deserved it; Especially after everything Mr. Gertrings would have to go through because of him.

Tony followed the kid, studying him thoughtfully. He knew Peter well enough to be able to tell he felt awful about this. He was the cause of injustice and that alone was tearing the kid up inside and he knew it. As he entered the office behind the teen and closed the door. He watched as Peter stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. Putting his hands in his pants pocket Tony simply looked at Peter waiting for him to get the first word out.

"Where?" The teen asked flushing a bright red.

"Where what?"

"Um… Where do you want me? Couch, desk?" Peter said again looking at the floor and bringing his hands together behind his back. The cracking sounds that followed made Tony shake his head and approach the kid. He gently tugged his hand at his sides and guided him to the sofa, pressing him at his shoulders to make him sit down. "Not so fast, Pete."

Peter looked at the man desperately, "But I already know what I did wrong, so please, Please Tony, let's just get it over with."

"No way. First of all, I can see you're very upset. And that is no state for anyone to be punished in," Tony said evenly. "Now, please, let's take things from the beginning so that I can get a grasp of what exactly led us here, ok kid?"

Peter took in a deep breath. He hated when Tony did this but he couldn't bring himself to be difficult with him today, not after what he had done. "It was that stupid paper. I turned it in and Gertrings told me it was not satisfactory. But it was just one damn paper. When all my work has been exemplary! It just felt so unfair. I had a bunch of exams at the same time, plus the patrols…"

"Is that the night I came to your home and you had that little tantrum? When I grounded you from Spider-Man duty?" The man inquired.

Peter grimaced at the fact the man put two and two together but nodded anyway. "Yeah. It just felt so unfair, you know? 'Cause I've always produced top quality material especially in Gertrings class. He said so himself. And yet he couldn't let one paper slide. He asked me to redo it and turn it back in after a couple of days. But there was no way I could get everything done in time…"

Tony interrupted here, "Well, you could because you got your patrolling restricted that night. That left you with enough time to get everything done."

Hating that the man pointed that out, Peter countered, "Well, I had formed the plan already by the time you came home that night. So I asked Wanda if she could erase his memory and have him grade me well for my paper. It took some convincing but I persuaded her. And you know the rest…"

Tony remained silent for a few seconds. Then realizing something he tried to clarify it. "So the original paper, the one that was graded poorly. Why was it that you didn't manage to do a satisfactory job with it?"

Peter shifted in his seat uneasily. "Because I had a lot of work for all of my classes."

Tony looked at him knowingly, "Peter, if you had not patrolled for a couple of nights, do you think you could have made it with your school responsibilities?"

Peter hated the way he phrased that question. "But I didn't want to not patrol. I need to learn to cope…"

Tony shook his head immediately, "No. The only thing you NEED to do is make sure you get the most out of your education, out of your potential. Remind me please our third rule of conduct, Peter."

Huffing annoyed by now the young man mumbled, "No slacking off in school. School's my top priority."

Unimpressed with his attitude Tony curtly asked, "And did you treat it as your top priority?"

"No," Peter answered his mouth coming dangerously close to forming a pout.

"And when it was arranged for Wanda to start attending your school, did we or did we not discuss how imperative it is for your own and the school's safety to not use your powers unless your safety was at risk?" Tony pressed on, his eyes boring into Peter's.

"You did."

"Ok, I am glad we cleared that up. So, should I guess that after the hostage situation was settled you returned to school, saw him acting strange, and realized something didn't seem quite right? Is that right?" Tony asked then.

Peter considered how to answer that. He could attempt to lie and risk Tony catching him in the act. But even if he didn't catch him there was always the possibility he'd learn from Cap parts of the story that might lead him to the whole truth. "Um… Well, we kind of suspected it before we saw him. Remember the device that made our powers not working? We realized it was quite possible that they hadn't worked well that morning either when we tampered with Gertrings' brain." Stealing a wary glance at the man, he didn't like what he saw.

"So, you mean to tell me, this whole situation could have been avoided altogether if the two of you had come to us that night with the truth?" Tony asked in a disbelieving tone.

Peter gulped before answering, "Well, we weren't sure that it hadn't worked. But even if we were, it's not like we could have changed the outcome! Gertrings would still have remembered everything!"

"Causing much less of a scene as we would arrange for this to happen somewhere else! At a place where we could keep him for a bit so that Wanda could safely create a false little memory that filled in the gaps and would have your teacher sane at school come next morning! It would also not jeopardize further the revealing of your identities, which is already compromised after the school infiltration!" Tony sternly explained.

"Well, when you put it that way... " Peter said feeling his heart sinking at the prospect of the trouble they could have saved his teacher from. "Can't we go do that now? To him? So that they won't keep him in the clinic?"

"No, because now it will raise suspicion and draw attention to the event. We'll allow some time to pass in the therapy center and see if we can arrange a visit and make it happen later on so that it looks like he is better due to his therapy."

A bit relieved at that prospect Peter nodded. Feeling ten times worse than when the conversation had started he quietly said, "I know it's too little too late, but I am sorry."

Tony sighed and brought his right hand to gently squeeze Peter's slim shoulder. "Between you and me, there will never be a too little too late. No matter what you find yourself into. I will always be here and I will always forgive you."

"Why?" Peter asked after a second of hesitation and raised his eyes to meet those of the man.

Tony appeared a bit taken aback by the question but managed to answer besides feeling a bit uneasy with the emotional confrontation, "Because I deeply care for you. Because… I've come to see you as my own kid. As my own… Son." He paused studying the kid carefully. "That being said, you're not obliged to see me as anything more than your mentor or your annoying supervisor or whatever else you choose; unless of course, you want to."

Peter looked at the man silently. It was not the first time he heard him telling him he genuinely cared, but somehow he still couldn't quite wrap his head around why he would. That did not stop the warm feeling Tony's words brought to spread from his chest to his whole body. Dissolving the tension. Managing a smile he managed to mumble, "Thank you for saying that."

"Thank you for being here with me, Pete," Tony answered. He scooted closer and enclosed the slim frame in his arms squeezing him reassuringly, before he let go and calmly instructed, "Alright, enough with the mushy stuff. I want your nose in a corner, while I'll be thinking about how to handle this. You broke quite a few rules and I need some time to figure all this out, alright?"

Peter nodded and got to his feet, his shoulders dropping. As he walked to the closest corner he heard Tony's voice add, "I need you to think good and hard on the rules you broke and on their consequences to you and those around you while you're standing there."

"Yes, Tony."

Wanda was sitting with her legs gathered together to her chest in the big comfortable leather armchair in Steve's office. Steve was standing in front of the open door, his poise stiff, his arms crossed over his chest and his face serious. He was talking quietly to Natasha who was standing under the door frame ready to leave. Wanda couldn't help but glancing over to them every other second trying to hear what they were saying. When Natasha smiled at the man and brought her hand to squeeze his upper arm before saying goodbye, the young girl couldn't help but roll her eyes in annoyance.

As the door clicked shut she focused her gaze to her knees and she unconsciously started chewing her bottom lip nervously.

Steve grabbed one of the pair of wooden chairs that rested in front of the large desk and brought it in front of Wanda's armchair and took a seat quietly. He looked at the girl intently and couldn't help but feel part of his temper evaporate at seeing her so nervous and vulnerable.

"Are you feeling alright, Wanda?", he asked in an even tone.

The girl glanced at him surprised. She expected a full-blown scolding, not a question of how she felt. "Yeah. Fine…" She trailed off.

Steve shook his head, "You look kind of pale. And I know you are nervous over being punished but that seems a bit too much. Am I scaring you?" his voice was genuinely concerned now.

Wanda looked at him steadily in the eyes now, "No, of course not, Steve! It's not about that… I just… Well, the spell was hard and complicated and really different than what I've been doing with my powers up to now. It kind of drained me for a while. But I'm ok now, honestly."

"I think you should eat something…"

Before he could continue she answered, "I can't eat anything right now. Maybe later. After this."

Understanding she felt too nervous to eat right now the man nodded, "Alright. I'll bring you some lunch later on then."

Wanda only nodded before softly speaking, "Steve, I am really sorry…"

The man straightened his shoulders and leaned a bit back in his chair, before asking, "For?"

"For going behind your back and for doing that to Mr. Gertings. I only wanted to help out Peter, but I have really regretted it. I feel like crap for being the cause of so much trouble for the poor man."

Steve was relieved to read absolute honesty in her tone and body language. This would everything a bit easier for both of them. "I am glad you recognize what you did wrong. I know it must be tempting to manipulate people around you for things you or your loved ones want, but that is not ok, young lady. You have no right to play with innocent people minds. I know you wanted to help Peter, but that does not make any of this ok."

"I know…" Wanda said in a quiet voice. Then taking another second she stole a glance at the man and added, "I'm sorry for being such a pain all the time."

Steve's brow furrowed at that. "What on earth are you talking about? You are nothing of the sort, Wanda!"

"But I am. I mean, you're an Avenger… You're the lead Avenger. You have a thousand things to do in your life and then you have me screwing up and having to fix my messes."

Steve extended a hand to affectionately cup the side of her face as he spoke the next words, "You are the most important person in my life. I love the team, and I love our work, but there is nothing I care for as much as I do for you. You are not a burden to me, Wanda Maximoff."

The girl bit her lip once again. She had a seriously hard time believing that but she nodded anyway.

Steve saw traces of doubt but knew he had to earn her trust with actions, not words and that wasn't something that could happen in a single night. "Are you ready to get your spanking over with then?"

Wanda flushed a bright red at the way he phrased his question but nodded. The faster this would end the better for both of them.

Nodding the man rose to his feet. "I need to run to my room for a second and will be right back, alright?"

A bit perplexed as to why he needed to go to his room Wanda only nodded and watched him leave. A minute later he reentered holding a wooden hairbrush. Wanda felt perplexed for all of a second before she realized what he had brought it here for, "Oh, come on, Steve! Your super-serum hand hurts enough!"

Raising his eyebrows in his usual manner the man only looked at her sternly."Do you remember what I said would happen next time you lied to me, young lady?"

"But I didn't lie!" Wanda said in what sounded almost like a whine.

Steve took his seat back to the chair as he sternly said, "You hid the truth making things ten times worse for everyone involved. For you, for Peter, for us and for your teacher. By not coming to us for help, instead you risked using your powers at school a second time, while if you came to us we could have made sure the whole thing would be settled discreetly and quietly. Am I wrong?"

Unable to think of a way to argue with that statement, Wanda only shook her head.

"Right. To me then, young lady." The man said as he placed the brush on the floor beside him for later use.

Wanda slowly walked to him and awkwardly bent over his legs. Even though it was the third time things came to this with Steve, she still found herself feeling stiff and not used to this type of discipline whatsoever. She didn't make any sound when the man bared her behind. She expected him to do as much. The first smack as always took her by surprise. As the smarting pain started fading, a second and a third landed and soon Steve fell into a rhythm that made it really difficult for her to stay still. Closing her eyes tightly, Wanda tried to focus all of her energy into controlling her vocalizations. No matter how long she knew Steve, she still felt embarrassed to cry in front of the man.

After two full rounds of lighter smacks, Steve packed a bit more force behind each of his swats. This was serious and Wanda had crossed several lines by abusing her powers as she had. "So remind me again what is this punishment for, Wanda?"

Wanda despite her current predicament found it hard not to roll her eyes at the man's words. "You wanna chat right now, Steve?" she asked through tight lips but the next smack found her upper thigh and made her yelp in pain. "We discussed it already, please!" she tried in a pitiful tone. When the only answer was four more impressive smacks on her thighs she gave up and yelled, "Ok, ok! For using my powers in school for no good reason and for causing all this trouble to Mr. Gertings!"

"And?" The man simply asked as his hand kept descending smartingly.

"And for hiding it from you!" Steve nodded satisfied and kept bringing his hand down with solid smacks. When the whole sitting area glowed a vivid pink he paused and rubbed her back allowing her to catch her breath.

Wanda found herself hoping against hope this would be it, even though she knew more than well that what she had received up to this point although painful, was by no means the hardest spanking Steve had doled out. Feeling him shift slightly she turned her head only to see him leaning to his side and grabbing the hairbrush. Unable to stop herself she immediately pleaded, "Steve, please, don't use that!"

The man looked at her with a serious expression as he shook his head. He transferred the brush to his left hand and used his right to rub her back some more, before saying, "Wanda, I know this is not pleasant, but it is a punishment. It's not supposed to be easy. You got yourself into some serious trouble and these are the consequences you knew to expect from me. Am I wrong?"

Wanda turned her gaze downwards but shook her head.

"Do you trust me?" Steve asked.

"More than anyone," the girl said quietly biting her lip as she felt her eyes moisten rapidly.

Nodding Steve took in a steadying breath and brought the brush down smartly on her behind. He felt Wanda jump slightly under his arm and heard her loud yelp. Reminding himself of the reasons they were there he brought the brush down on her bottom again and again.

Wanda felt her grip on her emotions slip away as the fire on her bottom intensified. As she had expected, the brush in Steve's hand was a lethal weapon, at least for her ass. Her tears started spilling freely before the third swat and she was crying by the tenth.

When he heard her crying, Steve had to apply all of his self-discipline to make himself continue the lesson. He would expect to become more desensitized to Wanda's crying with each spanking encounter, but to his horror, he found it harder and harder each and every time. Not wanting to drag this out for either of them he added some strength and speed to the spanks before he started speaking in a stern tone, "No more using of your powers at school unless it's for your own safety! What you did was irresponsible and selfish. You risked yours and Peter's safety not to mention your teacher's!"

Wanda managed to sob out an apology at his words feeling more than stupid for not following her instinct and going to Steve the day before.

"Our powers come with a responsibility, Wanda. We use them to protect and help other people, not to deceive others for our or our loved ones whims!"

"I know! Please, Steve, I'm sorry," mumbled the girl through her cries. Her bottom was burning something fierce by now and all she cared for was for the brush to stop falling.

Seeing the bottom a bright red by now, Steve slowed down the swats considerably but aimed them all to her sensitive undercurve as he brought the punishment to an end. "And lastly, you will never, EVER, lie to me again! Not a direct lie, not an omission of truth, nothing! Honesty is the number one ingredient of trust, Wanda. I am always honest with you and I expect exactly the same from you. Am I understood, young lady?"

"Yes! Yes, sir!" Wanda sobbed out pitifully.

The blonde man immediately stopped the spanking and let the brush fall to the carpeted floor with a soft thud. His hands made quick moves of replacing the teen girl's clothes before he gently helped her off his lap and into his arms.

Wanda couldn't stop crying no matter how hard she tried. Not so much from the pain, as from the feelings of guilt over her actions and the fear that Steve would hate her if she kept screwing up. She buried her face in his shoulder taking in his comforting smell. She hadn't realized, to that very moment, just how safe this smell made her feel.

The man held her tightly stroking her hair as he lightly rocked her to help her calm down, "It's over, darling. You're forgiven."

The two of them remained like that for a good ten minutes before Wanda's sobs slowly stopped. Snaking her hands up to rub her eyes and get rid of any residual moisture, Wanda then used them to hide her face as she felt Steve breaking the embrace and attempting to look at her.

Steve frowned concernedly. Wanda hadn't been so embarrassed or defensive not even the first time he had spanked her. "Hey," he spoke in a hushed tone as he gently used his own hands to make her reveal her face, "What's going on? Why are you hiding from me?"

Wanda simply stared at the floor and shrugged. Honestly, she had no idea where these feelings came from.

Steve's voice grew serious as he asked, "Please tell me I wasn't too hard on you…"

Wanda glanced at him tentatively as she slowly shook her head, "It's not about that.."

"What's it about then?"

Taking in a shaky breath the girl shook her head, "Silly, angsty, girl stuff," she said managing to form a small smile. "Don't tell anyone I told you this but we don't really know why we're doing a bunch of stuff actually."

With a tiny smile of his own Steve only commented, "Nice try."

Wanda shook her head again, "No, really, it's silly…"

Remaining silent for a few seconds, the man gently clasped her hands in his, "Could this by any chance be about what you told me earlier? You feeling like too much trouble for me?"

Wanda's eyes slowly ascended to meet his own as she mumbled, "Maybe…"

Sighing Steve asked her, "Wanda, how can I prove to you just how important you are to me?"

'Way to go, Wanda! Make the man spend even more energy on you and your emotional issues!' she thought angrily to herself before she shook her head and managed a bigger smile, "You don't have to do that, Steve. I know you care. It's just my stupid insecurities. You have nothing to worry about."

Steve regarded her seriously. "Are you sure?"

Wanda nodded immediately. "Yes. Uhm… Can I go lie down for a bit?"

"Of course, love. Go rest and I'll see you when you wake up," the man answered. He watched as the young teen slowly walked out of the office and shut the door behind her.

Wanda took in a deep breath as soon as she found herself on the spacious corridor. She walked briskly towards her room doing her best to ignore the throbbing in her behind with each step she took. As she turned around a corner lost in her thoughts she all but jumped when she found herself face to face with Natasha.

The older woman's face was even but her eyes held concern, "Hey, there. You ok?" she asked in her characteristic deep, raspy voice.

Wanda felt defensive and annoyed all of a sudden. Throwing a glare to the older woman she did not utter a word as she simply walked past her in the opposite direction, leaving the slightly annoyed Black Widow watching her departing figure.

"Ah Tony, come on! Not so… Ow! Not so hard!" Peter all but yelled as a series of sharp smacks targeted his rear cheeks.

Tony held the struggling teen closer to him with his left arm that was circled around his waist as his right arm kept bringing the special paddle down briskly. "Funny how you think you have a say in how this is done, Pete. Seeing how quickly you forgot how sorry you claimed to be only minutes ago, why don't you remind me why you're getting your little spider-butt handed to you?"

"For having Wanda alter Gertrings brain to get me out of my paper!" Peter answered through pained yelps.

"And?" Tony prompted his hand never losing its steady spanking pace.

"Oh, come on, that's the only important thing!" Peter whined.

"I don't see why you make this harder than it has to be. We talked and established two more wrongdoings, and the sooner you mention them the faster your spanking will be over," Tony said in a stern tone.

His face flushing a bright red, Peter gritted his teeth for the next few spanks not really knowing why he tried to fight Tony over this, especially when he truly felt guilty over Gertrings. When several spanks landed on his sit-spots he quickly changed his mind though. "And for not making school a priority and for not telling you about Gertrings or that I had trouble with finishing schoolwork," He blurted out as he felt the first tears sliding down his cheeks.

Letting out a relieved breath, Tony looked at his target which was already close to the well punished red he was aiming for. Raising his right knee to gain better access to Peter's sitting area he increased the speed of the swats as he started lecturing sternly, "Using your powers or someone else's for personal selfish gains is below you, Peter. You're much better than this. You behaved like a spoilt inconsiderate brat, which I know you aren't. This will never happen again!"

"No, it won't! Tony, please, I really get it!"

Ignoring the teen's pleas Tony continued, "Lying to me won't happen again either! IF it does, this spanking Peter Benjamin Parker will seem like a swing in the city compared to what you're gonna get!"

"No more lying, promise!"

"And last but not least," Tony paused to punctuate each of his next words with an impressive swat, "No more slacking off at school! You'll ask for help when you need it!"

Peter was only able to nod by now and did just that.

Nodding to himself, Tony let the paddle rest next to him on the couch as he slowly brought Peter's boxers back into place.

Peter remained still crying a bit more over the man's knee before attempting to get up. He felt Tony's hands helping him up and soon as he was uprighted he immediately turned to the open waiting arms for comfort. As Tony held him close he snaked both his hands back and tentatively rubbed his burning backside.

"You broke my butt," he said in an accusatory tone to the older man, who couldn't help but chuckle at his words.

"I merely warmed it, drama queen," he answered as he ruffled the kid's hair tenderly.

"That's not merely warm, that's inferno level warm," Peter shot back as he broke the embrace and cautiously put his jeans back on.

Tony shook his head as he answered, "Your inferno level warm butt is also grounded for a week. Don't look at me like that! You're lucky it's not more! During that week you're also grounded from Spider-Man duty. I want you to catch up on schoolwork. If at the end of the week everything is back in order then you'll get to go patrol again. If not we'll see how much more time you might need."

"Great," Peter mumbled unable to stop the pout that formed on his mouth.

Tony ruffled his hair once again, "You'll live to tell the story, kid. Now, I want you to lie down for a bit. Here or in your room, whatever you prefer. I'll call you for lunch. Since May will be staying late at the bank I thought you might want to stay here tonight? May's ok with it."

"Movie marathon?" Peter asked hopefully.

"If you're done with homework we could catch a couple of movies sure. But it's a school night so don't get too excited."

Despite the man's words, Peter's face split into a grin as he turned his back and walked out of the office.

Tony shook his head amused. He was grateful that Peter's mood seemed to recover so quickly after punishments. He certainly preferred it to the moody or angry side of the kid. With this thought, he grabbed the spider-paddle and placed it back to its usual desk drawer and tidied up his desk, before making his way back upstairs. As he expected, Peter was laying stomach down on his bed fully clothed and lightly snoring. Smiling at the sight, Tony walked in and carefully took the sneakers off of the kids' feet before covering his slumbering frame with a light blanket.

As the movie's titles appeared on the screen Tony turned to look at Peter with concerned eyes, "Peter, if you need to talk to someone…"

Pepper who was lounging between them on the sofa immediately grabbed a throw pillow and smacked it to the man's head.

"Hey, Peps, this is serious, I mean, if he actually enjoys this type of cinema, we might need to seek the help of the professional!" Tony told her his tone and face dead serious.

"I can't believe you're trying to bash The Time of The The Time of The Gypsies'!" Peter protested half-jokingly. He had watched enough movies with the man to know exactly what he'd enjoy and what not, but he was determined to at least make him watch some of the classics.

"That movie was amazing!" Pepper added looking at him incredulously.

"That movie made no sense! The only cool part of the movie was the turkey! And they cooked it!"

Peter erupted in laughter at that and then turned to Pepper who was looking at the ceiling with a helpless expression. "Pepper, I'm afraid there is no hope…"

"Don't I know it, kid. Thank God I got you now," the strawberry-blonde woman said as she affectionately ran her fingers through Peter's hair.

"You two don't get to choose another movie for the next three movie nights! You're movie-grounded!" Tony informed them with an annoyed expression.

Peter's cell phone vibrated once and he made quick work of taking out of his pocket and looking at the notification. Seeing it was an IM from MJ he opened it smiling. She had sent a photo of a poster in school. Peter opened it and quickly read the short text before jumping on the sofa's back excitedly, "Hey, guys, listen to this! My school organizes a Halloween Photography contest! That's so cool! Will you come if I take part?"

At their surprised expressions his face fell a bit, "You're right it's stupid, you don't have time for this stuff…"

"No, Pete, no! We just didn't know you were interested in photography, is all," Tony immediately placated. "Of course we'll come!"

"You mean it?" Peter asked, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Of course, Pete," Pepper confirmed smiling.

"I'm not that good or anything, I don't even have a decent camera, but I've been told I have quite an eye for themes. I might actually stand a chance in this!"

Tony smiled fondly at the excited youth. "I am sure you're gonna rock, kid. Now, I don't wanna be the party-pooper but it is past midnight and you have school tomorrow. So how but you crawl to bed like a good little spider?"

Snorting Peter hopped to his feet and all but hopped out of the room, "I'm neither good nor little, Tin-man!"

Tony glanced at Pepper smiling and the two of them snuggled closer on the sofa.

"I like him better than you, you know," Pepper informed the bearded man closing her eyes and relaxing in his arms.

"He's not legal yet, Peps. You gotta wait a couple of years…." the resulting growl from the petite woman preceded her vicious pillow-bashing attack.

"You're really good at this! I had no idea," Steve marveled as he watched the young girl move briskly around the kitchen as two different pots bubbled happily on the stove.

Wanda glanced over her shoulder from where she was working on the Shepherds pie's crust. "We never really had a decent kitchen up to now…"

"Where did you learn to cook so well?"

"I used to watch my mother cook when I was little. And then just played around with recipes when I was cooking for me and Pietro. Whenever we had the chance and enough ingredients I would whip up the fanciest thing I could and we'd pretend we dined in some fancy restaurant. It was stupid, but it used to make us happy…." Wanda trailed off smiling fondly at the memory.

"You still miss him terribly, don't you?" Steve asked hesitantly from where he sat on the kitchen island.

Wanda turned around with a bright smile plastered on her face, "Can you stir the ground meat for me, while I put this in the oven please?"

Taking the hint the man stood and did as she asked, "I'll leave it alone, but you know you can talk to me about it if you ever want to, right?"

"I know. Not so fast, slowly and lightly," she instructed as she leaned on the counter beside him and followed his moves. "Great. Now turn off the heat and let it rest. When the Crust is baked we'll pour it in, cover it with the cream sauce and bake it for another half hour. And that's it!"

Shaking his head Steve commented, "You make it sound way easier than it actually is."

"Hey, Steve?" Wanda tried after a few silent seconds. When his blue eyes met hers she asked: "In order to reverse Gertrings situation, I had to learn a spell."

"A spell?" Steve asked a bit perplexed.

"Yes. Not the usual thing you've witnessed with my powers. Old school stuff with a latin script and focusing energy…"

Steve only nodded. "I have to admit I had never thought of that. But it makes sense…"

Wanda nodded. "The thing is, that it made me feel more powerful. It was not the impulsive burst of energy. It was architectured and controlled… The reason I mention this is because I'd like to start working with the Grimoires available here. See how much I could improve… Would that be ok with you?"

Before Steve had a chance to answer Clint and Natasha stepped into the room.

"Are we interrupting, Cap'?" Clint asked as he walked towards the stove, ruffled Wanda's hair and sniffed over the steaming pots. "Woo this smells too good!"

"Well, actually, I think your input could be valuable in this case," Steve said glancing to Wanda for confirmation.

The girl hesitated but nodded.

"So Wanda, practiced a spell from a grimoire -did I say it right?- and she believes that training further with this kind of magic will develop her abilities. What do you guys think?" The blonde man asked glancing from the red-head to the now beaming Clint.

"Way to go, Sabrina," Clint winked at her.

Chuckling to herself, Wanda promptly answered in an annoyed tone, "Don't call me that!"

"Well, I think It would be great for Sabrina here, to work with this voodoo or whatever. If it's gonna make her stronger why the heck not?"

All eyes turned to Natasha who said in an even tone, "I think it sounds interesting, but since we don't have another more experienced witch to turn to, it might be dangerous for her."

Wanda full on glared at the woman now. "I did fine on my own this time," she said curtly.

"Hey," Steve's voice intervened, "Watch the tone, Natasha is only trying to help."

"No, Clint is trying to help, Natasha is trying to stop this from happening," Wanda said in a more composed tone not wanting to risk a scolding from the man in front of their teammates.

"Keep some of that aggression for tomorrow's hand to hand, yeah?" Natasha commented feeling her patience running thin.

"We don't have hand to hand tomorrow," Wanda answered coldly.

"Uh, yeah you do. Natasha and I discussed this and decided it would help with your impulsivity and strengthen your basic combat performance. After the hostage incident, we realized it's important that you become stronger in physical fighting. So from now on, you'll have hand to hand with Natasha every other day starting tomorrow."

Wanda looked at him dumbfounded. "Don't you think I should be consulted on this?" she asked fighting hard to keep her temper in check.

"No, since it's for your safety and for the good of the team, I made the call," Steve answered truthfully.

"I see." The girl said evenly. She remained still for a few seconds before taking off the apron she was wearing while cooking and throwing it on the counter. "I guess I'll leave you two to decide what will happen with my magic as well, then, it's not like I get a say," she said sarcastically as she started walking away.

Natasha and Clint exchanged a look, while Steve tried to coax the girl back, "Hey, Wanda, come on! Let's talk about this over dinner!"

"Not hungry anymore," the girl yelled over her shoulder as she briskly walked away.

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