Chris looked up from his paperwork when the sound of pens scratching against paper stopped. Scott was flexing his wrist and Peter was glaring at him.
"Can I help you, Mr. Parker?"
"I shouldn't be doing this. You have no authority-" Chris shifted in his seat.
"On the contrary. Tony asked me to do this before he left for his trip because he didn't have time to spank you like you deserved."
"I-"
"A beer, Peter? At fifteen? Really? With your abilities, that could have been-"
"I don't need the lecture from you," Peter said angrily. Scott said nothing and went back to his sentences for cursing.
"No, you don't," Chris agreed. "Tony took care of his portion and I've been instructed to let your aunt know, too."
"You can't do that!" Chris blinked and turned to Scott.
"Did you tell him something to make him think he could tell me what I can and cannot do?"
"No sir," Scott said quietly. Chris saw how uncomfortable Scott was and sighed.
"How many do you have left, son?"
"Twenty-two sir." Chris held his hand out and Scott gave the papers to him.
"I don't want to hear you say that word again. Next time, you'll be tasting soap. Understood?"
"Yes sir."
"Go on," Chris said, gesturing with his head. "You have a meeting with Dr. Banner to run tests with your glasses and visor so he can send the report to Mr. Stark."
"You mean your bed buddy," Peter mumbled. Scott paled as the vein on Chris' head made an appearance.
"I don't see how my private life is any of your business, Mr. Parker."
"It is when it's Tony that you're with!" he said, throwing the pen on the table. Chris eyed the writing utensil as it rolled and dropped to the floor. He looked at Peter again, the muscles around his eye twitching.
"Friday, are you keeping an eye on things?"
"I am, Major Summers."
"Good. Just wanted to make sure I had a witness that couldn't be accused of anything." Chris stood up and Scott backed away, his eyes wide.
"You can't-"
"Pick up the pen, Peter." Peter swallowed.
"No."
"Dude, pick it up," Scott hissed.
"Why? It's not like he can-"
"Are you certain about that, Mr. Parker? Are you sure that Tony didn't give me permission if you acted like, how did he put it, 'an unruly spider brat?'" Peter started sliding down in his seat.
"You- He wouldn't have said that."
"Are you sure? You don't think I know about that Asgardian belt in his office, or that Friday won't unlock the door for me to retrieve it?"
"Please-"
"Pick up the pen and keep working. One more outburst like this, and you'll be writing again tomorrow, and I won't be able to guarantee the safety of your ass from that belt."
"Yes sir." Peter quickly picked up the pen and started writing again. Chris nodded and sat back down.
"You can go, Scott. Friday will let me know when you get there."
"Yes sir." Chris watched his son take off and he returned his attention to Peter.
"He won't ignore you, you know." Peter looked up, slightly teary-eyed.
"What?"
"Tony. He'll still be your… mentor figure. You're not going to lose him." Chris watched Peter's chin start to tremble.
"He'll have Scott and Alex and-"
"Yeah, but he technically already had them," Chris said as gently as possible. "He's been spending a lot of time around my kids, but he still makes time for you, right?"
"But now that you're together-"
"We don't know what we are," Chris said, hoping his face wasn't red. "And I think he and I need to actually sit and talk before we talk to you five."
"He won't stop spending time with me?" Peter asked timidly.
"No," Chris said, picking up a folder of the narrowed down potential pilots. "If anything, I've just gained another son."
Scott nodded to Bruce's instructions without really hearing him. It had been the same thing over and over again, so he didn't feel too guilty.
"-ott. Scott. Earth to Scott," Bruce said, waving his hand in front of Scott's face.
"Yes sir?"
"You didn't hear a word I just said, did you?"
"Don't lose the glasses, the visor is for training purposes only, and don't abuse the AI because Tony will lose his cool. I heard you, Dr. Banner." Bruce crossed his arms and Scott sighed. "You said something else, didn't you?"
"I said let's head outside and test the thickness of the quartz. I need to make sure it's not too thin to stop the beams but not too thick so that you can't see."
"Yes sir." Scott grabbed the shades and the visor and followed Bruce out of his lab and out of the Compound. They went to the clearing he and Steve had been using and he put on his glasses.
"They look good, Scott." Scott turned and saw the Avengers were gathered on the clearing.
"What are you guys doing here? You don't have to be-"
"We always show up to things like this," Clint said. "When Stark makes me new arrows and I practice-"
"When Tony makes me weapons to try out," Natasha added.
"When Stark has a new weapon in his suit," Steve said.
"And when young Spider-Man receives upgrades," Thor said, wanting to be included.
"We do things as a team," Bruce told Scott. "And, junior member or not, you're a part of the team."
"Shouldn't Peter be here, then?" Bruce shrugged.
"I tried, but your dad's pretty adamant that Peter finishes his essay before he gets to have fun-"
"This isn't for fun," Steve frowned. "And Summers doesn't have the right to-"
"Mr. Stark actually asked him to step in after… last night," Scott said, blushing.
"What happened last night?"
"It's- You'll have to ask Peter. I'd rather not say." Steve let it go and motioned for Bruce to take back over.
"Alright, Scott. Put on the glasses and first tell me that you can see out of them." Scott slid the glasses onto his face and blinked a few times.
"Everything is red, but I can clearly see things."
"Look at me," Bruce ordered. Scott turned to him and Bruce was able to see Scott's eyes. "They're not too thick. That's good. Turn back towards the trees and let's see if they stop the beams." Scott closed his eyes and breathed before opening them and forcing out the blasts.
"How do we know he's doing it?" Clint pretended to whisper. Scott smirked and lifted the glasses, the red beams shooting across the clearing. "Yeah, he's doing it." Scott put the glasses back over his eyes.
"Go ahead and stop," Bruce said. Scott blinked and then nodded and lifted his glasses to show he wasn't using his powers anymore.
"I think they work."
"Good. Let's try again with the visor." Scott switched eyewear and repeated the tests.
"I think they work," he told Bruce.
"Good. Glasses on again, please." Scott did as Bruce said, watching as the man put something in his ear. "Mick, you there?"
"I am here, Dr. Banner."
"Whoa! It felt like someone was talking directly into my ear!" Scott said.
"That's because of how Tony made the glasses. Your AI is pressed against your head and the frequency it uses is still being picked up by your auditory nerves, allowing you to hear Mick."
"Mick?"
"Mr. Stark named me McKinley and has been calling me Mick, Scott." Scott smiled.
"Alright. Mick it is. Do you report things back to Mr. Stark like Karen does with Peter? And do you do the same thing Karen does?"
"I can perform the basic functions that Karen does. Your glasses have an infrared scanner that will allow me to keep track of your vitals and I have the ability to record everything you see, but that is a feature that can be turned off for your sunglasses. For your visor, there is no such feature to stop the recording for security and safety purposes."
"Ok, cool. But you didn't answer my first question: do you report back to Mr. Stark?"
"When you are in the visor, I will. I also have the ability to tap into the communication device that any Avenger is using. But for your glasses, no, I do not report to Mr. Stark."
"Yes!" Scott cheered.
"Tell him who you do report to, Mick," Bruce said, trying not to laugh.
"I report directly to Major Christopher Summers."
"What?! That's- That's a complete invasion of privacy that a dad doesn't need to have!"
"Non negotiable," Bruce said, shrugging. "And until you can control your powers, the glasses are pretty non negotiable, too. Tony and your father agreed-"
"As did I," Steve interjected.
"But we're working on it," Scott said, hoping it didn't sound as whiney to the Avengers as it did to him.
"We are," Steve agreed. "But it could be more than a year before you have complete control. Do you want to wait that long to go to school?"
"It could also just take another month-"
"Kid's got some balls arguing with Captain America like that," Clint told Natasha. Scott blushed, having forgotten that the whole team was there.
"I'm sorry, Cap. Glasses are non negotiable. Understood."
"I don't mean to come down hard on you, Scott. It's- People out there won't care if you're a kid. We've all come to care about you a great deal, and none of us want to see anything happen to you. The glasses are just a fail safe, alright? They aren't permanent."
"I know, sir."
"Now that that's settled, let's make sure Mick is working in your visor."
"Yes sir, Dr. Banner." Scott switched to his visor. "Mick? You there?"
"I am, Scott. And I am recording this experience." Scott curled his nose.
"This is weird. It's all one piece and… It'll take some getting used to." Scott turned to Steve. "May I wear these most of today to get used to how they feel? I'm worried I'll be more focused on the newness than training."
"You may, Scott. And that's a great job planning ahead."
"You know Stark's probably gonna call you One-Eye, right?"
"There is great power in having one eye," Thor said. "My father, Odin, has a singular eye and he is the ruler of the gods."
"But I don't have one eye. It-"
"You know what else has one eye? A cyclops."
"That could work," Bruce told Clint. "Scott, you could go by Cyclops in the field. Would that work for you?"
"I'm not a cyclops!"
"And I'm not a hawk," Clint said.
"I'm not a spider. Peter's not a spider, nor is he a grown man."
"I… I want to see what Mr. Stark thinks first," he said, blushing.
"He'll think it's hysterical- I mean perfect," Clint said, rubbing his ribs and glaring at Natasha.
"Still, I… Mick, can you tap into Friday's… whatever and ask him?"
"Mr. Stark is in a dinner meeting, but I will pass the message along, Scott."
"Thanks."