Thanks for your wonderful reviews, they really help with motivation.

Sorry for the late update, had problems uploading. I aim to update twice a week therefore you are owed another this weekend, hopefully there will no repeat of the problems so look out for an update tomorrow.

Laters

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''You okay?'' Peter walked into Harley's room, he was playing Halo.

''Yeah, I'm good,'' Harley was relaxed and happy. He had slept really well, talking to Sam had helped and he felt much better than he had for a while.

''Right okay,'' Peter didn't ask anymore, respecting Harley's privacy.

''Can I play?'' he asked as he picked up a controller.

''You're grounded from computer games Pete,'' Harley pointed out.

''Yeah well, Pops is gonna wear me out real good anyway isn't he? So what the hell!'' Peter sat down.

''Your funeral bro,'' Harley replied.

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Steve was cooking, humming along to The Isley Brothers, part of his on-going musical education. He was a huge fan of Motown thanks to Sam.

''Are you making pancakes?'' Sam grinned as he poured some coffee.

'' Yep,'' Steve flipped some onto a plate.

''Kids okay last night?'' he asked as he poured in more batter. He didn't use a machine, preferring the traditional way. Steve's pancakes were beloved by everyone.

''Yeah great, no problem at all,'' Sam replied, lying easily.

Although after the difficult conversations, the boys proved good company and they had had a fun evening together.

Morgan only woke up once - Sam enjoyed feeding her and rocking her back to sleep. It was a stand-out night despite the Harley issue which was weighing heavy on Sam.

Peter had relaxed around him for the first time so Sam was feeling much more positive about that relationship which he valued. Obviously he was close with Harley anyway.

'' Right, so that's good,'' Steve chose to believe him.

''Coffee, I need coffee,'' Tony walked in, he looked better than he had for months; his face free of worry lines and he was well rested.

''You are eating Tones, you cannot exist on coffee,'' Steve scolded him and Sam sighed in relief. They were totally back and if they were back; then the Avengers were back.

''Yes Cap, whatever you say Cap,'' Tony snarked.

''You need to set a good example for the kids,'' Steve replied calmly and Tony nodded, suitably chastened.

''Where are the kids?'' Tony looked around. It was way too quiet and orderly for their home which was chaos most of the time.

''Nat and Pepper took Morgan out to the Zoo for the day and I don't know where the boys are. Avoiding us remember?'' Steve raised his eyebrows and Tony chuckled.

''Oh right, we have to endure the horror of report cards this morning. Oh the joy! I'll go get them shall I?'' he grinned as he walked towards the bedrooms.

''So you feeding them before you kill them?'' Sam asked with a smile and Steve shrugged.

''Yeah, even the bad guys get a meal before execution right?''

''Cap, did you just make a joke?''

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Tony waited until they noticed him, he was chilled and happy; they had an out-standing night out and Tony felt more content than he could ever remember.

''Oh hey Dad!'' Peter was first.

''Pops made breakfast, let's go bambinos,'' Tony raised his arm and Peter came over, tucking himself around his dad.

Tony kissed the top of his head, then looked over at Harley.

''You okay Harls?'' He reached out a hand and ruffled the teen's hair.

''Yeah, I'm good,'' he grinned, blushing slightly as he remembered what he had said to Sam.

''So Petey Pie, playing a video game huh?'' Tony popped Peter on the behind, not hard but enough to remind him he had noticed his transgression.

''Don't tell Pops,'' Peter blinked mournful, doe eyes at him and Tony laughed.

''Scoot you little monster!'' Tony did it again and Peter ran off ahead.

''You sleep well Harls? You look better,'' Tony wrapped his arm around his older son's shoulders; he was concerned that Harley appeared wiped out recently.

''Yeah I did, I really did.'' Harley grinned and Tony nodded, reassured.

His parents did not favour Peter; he was starting to understand that.

Breakfast was pleasant and civilised, the boys quiet as the adults chatted.

Peter was drawing shapes in maple sauce with his finger, whilst Harley browsed on his phone. Sam and Clint looked at each other, they left discreetly aware that the peaceful atmosphere was about to experience turbulence.

''Peter, can you not do that?'' Steve scolded and Peter looked at him in surprise.

''Do what?'' he sucked the syrup off his finger.

Steve shook his head in despair and took the plate away.

''I hadn't finished,'' Peter protested.

'' Well you have now!''

Peter shrugged and jumped down; Tony held his arm out stopping him as he ran past.

''Hey! Hey! Not so fast. Sit down,'' Tony placed him back on the stool he had just vacated.

''Oh God, what now? You're not adopting another baby are you? I only just got used to the last one,'' Peter made Harley laugh out loud.

''What? No!'' Steve looked at Tony who was struggling not to laugh as well.

''Don't say what, Pops. It's not polite,'' Peter grinned mischievously at him.

Steve satisfied himself with an eye blaze.

''So Guys, what's the date today?'' Tony clapped his hands. Peter pulled a pained face at Harley, they had remembered about the report cards then.

''Don't you have some important meeting to go to Dad? Pops, you have normally gone for a run by now, all those carbs!'' Harley smiled at them.

''No, its fine Harley. We always have time for our adorable children, how about you both go get your report cards?'' Tony smiled back at him. Harley's face fell; he sighed- resigned to his fate so went to fetch the dreaded item.

''Okay so right, what you have to understand here is that what with all this turmoil, that maybe I have not been as focused on school as I should have been,'' Peter panicked.

''Really? I did not expect that! Just go get your report card Pete or I will pull it up online,'' Tony said firmly.

''Why don't you do that anyway? I don't get it,'' Peter shook his head.

''Because you get to own it when you have to show them to us,'' Steve replied.

Peter hesitated then disappeared.

''That bad huh?'' Steve commented and Tony nodded.

Oh yeah they really were, he had already looked them up. He kept that from Steve, he understood his approach but he was Tony Stark, he didn't do waiting.

''Sure seems that way. Guess we are gonna have to supervise them more closely,'' Tony shrugged.

The boys had always done well at school; especially Peter who excelled but that had changed recently and they had to halt the slide. It was part of returning to normality, or as normal as their lives ever could be.

''Do you think?'' Steve grimaced.

The boys reappeared and set the cards on the counter.

'' Wow, so Harley this is…this is…mediocre in the extreme,'' Steve looked at the row of Bs and Cs in dismay. He wouldn't be that harsh if he thought this was the best Harley could do, but before he was a strong B+ with several As.

''Why does it say that you appear half asleep all the time or that you have actually fallen asleep in class? You go to bed at a reasonable time, are you having trouble sleeping?'' Tony inadvertently handed his eldest son a lifeline.

''Yeah, I don't sleep so good anymore. I have nightmares,'' Harley went with it.

Peter pulled a face at him, that was such a crock but the dads were falling for it.

''We can do something about that kiddo; you should have said something,'' Steve was sympathetic. He had enough issues with sleep himself.

''I didn't want to bother you,'' Harley played it just right.

Peter glared at him; he was throwing him completely under the bus.

''You need to do better than this buddy, we will help with the sleep issues but you have to do your part. Meet us half way,'' Tony was as empathetic.

''I will Dad, I promise,'' Harley nodded and Peter wanted to kill him, kill him stone dead.

Peter collapsed his head in his arms and buried his face. They couldn't say anything to him if he refused to speak to them so he was staying put.

Tony looked at Peter then down at his report card which was worse than the last, it was a disaster. He handed it to Steve who read it with a perplexed expression.

''A C, you got a C in Math Peter. How?''

''Well you get a C even if you are a genius if you never do any homework. Did you read the comments?'' Tony pointed out.

''He is kind of busy Dad. Homework isn't really his priority,'' Harley tried to help out.

Both adults glared at him, he held up his hands defensively; he was shutting up now.

''Peter, sit up,'' Steve ordered and Peter shook his head.

Tony was at a loss, they couldn't talk to him if he refused to engage. It was an effective strategy.

''I have homework,'' Harley made good his escape.

''Do you want some more coffee?'' Steve offered and Tony nodded.

He tapped the back of Peter's head.

''Hey Smalls, we can wait you out. So how about you sit up and we can discuss this?'' Tony offered an olive branch.

''No. Pops is already mad at me and now you're both mad and you're just gonna yell at me,'' Peter mumbled into his arms and Tony smiled.

He was amused, he knew he shouldn't be but he was.

''Tony!'' Steve warned quietly.

''Sorry,'' he mouthed at him as he accepted the offered coffee.

He looked over the report card again, it was worse on second reading. It basically said Peter was gifted, extremely gifted but had stopped doing any work in any class even Math and Physics, his favourite subjects.

''Peter, sit up and speak to us. I am done with this, you sit up or I am going to count. If I get to three then your TV is gone and you will not get it back anytime soon,'' Steve was proactive.

Peter huffed; he really did not want to lose his TV, it was the last thing he had left.

''One,'' Steve said and Peter sat up. He rubbed his eyes and stared sulkily into the distance.

'' Peter, why have you stopped doing homework?'' Steve was at the end of his tether. He couldn't help but wonder how they had missed that, they needed to be more attentive as they appeared very out of touch with what was happening with their boys.

''Cos it's counter-productive, does not contribute to educational excellence and is against my human rights,'' Peter proclaimed.

Tony started to laugh, he tried really hard not to but he couldn't stop it even though he knew it would really irritate Steve. He put his hands over his face and took a deep breath, trying to control himself.

''See Dad gets it,'' Peter pointed at Tony.

''Well your father should know better,'' Steve threw Tony a disapproving glare.

'' You young man will sit at that table every evening and do your homework and you will not do anything else until one of us has checked it. Do you understand me?''

''Yes Pops,'' Peter was meek; doing what was needed so he could get away.

''We are not done Peter,'' Steve warned, he flashed his eyes at Tony who had re-emerged, his mirth under control.

''We need to talk about Spiderman Peter,'' Tony stepped up.

''Do we? Why?'' Peter was stubborn, no great surprise there.

''Yes we do, we really do,'' Steve replied firmly.

''Why did you call Ned's mom? He's in so much trouble, his Dad is real mad. He's gonna get a spanking cos of you,'' Peter accused Tony.

''Whoa there Smalls! Your buddy is not as good as he thinks he is and I had to clip his wings. He could get in some serious strife if he carries on as he is. The being arrested and put in jail kind of strife. So you button your lip, I was doing him a favour,'' Tony switched on a penny and got very serious quickly.

''Whatever!'' Peter glowered.

''Hey small fry, show some respect or you and I will have a serious discussion which will not involve much talking on your part, capiche? So watch it,'' Tony pointed at his youngest son. Peter blushed and dropped his head.

''Are we done now?'' Peter tried to leave again.

''No, we are far from done,'' Steve looked at Tony, this was not going to go well and they had to back each other up. Tony nodded.

''So Dad and I have made some decisions about Spiderman,'' Steve started.

''You can't stop me,'' Peter interrupted.

''Hey! Behave! What did I just say to you?'' Tony flicked the side of his leg and Peter scowled at him.

''That is not strictly true, we can stop you and we will if we have to. But we are going to allow it on a very restricted basis. You will never and I mean never turn off your AI again. If you do even for a second then you will be automatically grounded, which includes Spiderman, for a month,'' Steve paused and looked at Peter who nodded.

''No Spiderman during the week, no going out on school nights,'' Steve waited for the inevitable explosion.

''What? No! No! You cannot do that! You can't!'' Peter was outraged but they expected that.

''Oh yeah we can Smalls, we just did,'' Tony backed Steve 100%. Little did Peter know that Tony had wrung concessions out of Steve, who was all set on banning Spiderman altogether.

''It's not fair. You pick on me, I'm the bad kid. You are all nice to Harley and give me a real hard time. I hate you!'' Peter went into hiding again, burying his face away.

Tony was sympathetic, this was tough but Peter was a child, they had to protect him from himself. In a few years' time, it would be different.

Tony rubbed his back and Peter wriggled huffily away from him.

''Don't touch me, I don't like you touching me,'' he grumbled and Tony quirked an eyebrow at Steve. Peter was fighting dirty.

''Peter, you can patrol at the weekend,'' Steve held out the carrot and Peter sat up instantly.

''Can I? Really?''

''With restrictions,'' Steve interjected.

''Shocker!'' Peter pouted.

''Smalls, you are really pushing your luck here. How about you zip it and listen?'' Tony said and Peter threw him an apologetic glance, he had just been extremely nasty to him and regretted it.

''You have a 9pm curfew and you do not break it ever. If you do then you will be automatically grounded. Dad and I will monitor what you are doing and if we decide it is too dangerous then you will stand down. You will stand down immediately. Is that all clear?'' Steve was not happy about this but he was compromising against his better judgement.

''Yeah I guess so,'' Peter agreed, although he wasn't really in agreement.

''Good, now you go to your room cos you and I are overdue a conversation aren't we?' Steve said and Peter froze.

''Are we? About what?''

''You know about what, now go or we can have that conversation right here if you would prefer,'' Steve warned.

Peter sighed heavily, got up and trudged miserably to his room.

''So that boy is a complete mini you. I feel sorry for your mom, how did she keep you under control?'' Steve looked at Tony who chuckled.

'She kicked my ass a lot,'' he admitted.

''Big surprise!'' Steve retorted.