"Are you even paying attention?"

Tony scowled, jerking his gaze back to Pepper.

"What? Yeah. Of course."

Her scowl was a match for his own.

"Why do you look so nervous? Tell me you didn't get some woman pregnant and now you're avoiding her – or her angry father – and trying to figure out how to tell me so I can handle the nightmare publicity."

"I didn't get anyone pregnant," Stark responded.

He turned and looked over his shoulder, again, though.

"Then what is it?"

"You won't believe me."

"Try me."

"I'm being stalked," he said, speaking softly. "And I think JARVIS is in on it…"

Pepper raised an incredulous eyebrow, and looked around. They were on the balcony of the tower, admiring the view and discussing some upcoming meetings over a very private lunch.

"Your AI is stalking you?"

"No. A little kid is. I think JARVIS is helping him, though."

"A little kid?"

"Yeah. The one that broke into my apartment last month."

"Patrick?"

"Peter."

"You're being stalked by an eight-year-old?"

He rolled his eyes.

"It just sounds crazy when you say it like that. But, yeah. Every time I turn around, he's there."

"What does he say?"

"Nothing. I tell him to get lost. Presuming he gets close enough to talk to me. Sometimes he just stares at me for a minute and then vanishes. It's creepy."

"Yes…" she couldn't hide her sarcasm. "Because little boys are so spooky."

"The kid's some kind of Ninja, Pepper," Tony told her. "Seriously. One minute he's standing there, and the next he's gone. And he knows my schedule. He has to. I see more of him than I do Happy – which is saying something."

"How would he know your schedule?" she asked. "I don't even know it, most of the time."

"I think he's hacked JARVIS."

"An eight-year-old hacked your billion dollar AI?"

"Stop saying it like that," he complained.

"Like what?" she asked, shaking her head. "Like I think you're crazy?"

"Yes. I'm not. JARVIS makes my schedule, based on everything I need to do on a particular day, and almost any time I'm outside, I can almost guarantee that I'll turn around and find Peter Parker standing somewhere close at hand."

"It could be coincidence."

"It isn't." He looked around. "It's spooky. I'm thinking a restraining order might be in my future."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "You think a judge is going to put a restraining order out on an eight year old? He'd be more likely to add to your impressive collection."

Tony scowled.

"Those are all expired."

"He's not going to climb up the side of the building," Pepper pointed out. "So stop looking so nervous."

"I'm not nervous. It's just annoying."

"Did it ever occur to you to just ask him what he wants?"

"I can't just go chatting up a little kid, Pepper," he replied. "If I talk to one, I'm going to have to talk to all of them – and I don't have time for that."

Or any interest in it.

"Well, I can't see how you're going to be able to hide from your AI, so you should probably figure something out."

"Like what?" Tony asked, exasperated.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "You're Ironman. Think of something."

"Ugh."

She smirked.

"Or… you could see what he wants. It might be easier to just do that…"

"Stop being reasonable, Pepper," he grumbled. "It's unbecoming."

Besides, she'd already said that.

OOOOOOOO

"It doesn't seem to be working."

"You've got his attention," JARVIS told the boy. "Now you need to spend time with him, so you can get to know him – and he can get to know you."

"Why?"

"Because he can't teach you if he doesn't know what you can do – and how you think. And you two definitely need a level of trust that hasn't been attained, as of yet."

Huh.

"I didn't think of that," Peter admitted.

"You're eight."

The boy ignored that.

"What do I do, then?"

"You let me elevate the plan to the next level."

Peter was surprised. The more he 'spoke' with JARVIS, the more he was impressed with the AI. He'd found himself sometimes logging into the computer just to chat in the middle of the night, because JARVIS never told him to go back to bed, or to stop bothering him. He wondered if Tony Stark had purposely programmed the AI to be kind, or if it had developed that on its own.

"We have more levels?"

"Of course."

"But the final one is me learning what to do with my abilities?"

"The final level – the endgame, so to speak – is much more than that, Peter Parker," JARVIS told him. "But, yes, if things fall into place, you will certainly have a mentor who can guide you in the proper use of your abilities. Natural and otherwise."

"Wow."

He felt such a rush of hope, just then, that he couldn't help but hug himself, wrapping his arms tightly around his thin frame.

"Stay away from Tony Stark this week. You need to make sure you're in class where you're supposed to be, in case someone comes looking for you."

"Alright."

He didn't even ask why. He trusted JARVIS.

OOOOOOOO

"Your approval ratings are tanking…"

Tony frowned.

"What?"

Pepper held up her tablet, which she'd been studying when he'd wandered into her office to see what she was doing.

"Your approval ratings? How the public views you? They're in the shitter, in more common jargon."

"Everyone loves me." He countered with his own tablet, and with a couple of swipes of the screen, there was a headline with Ironman and crowds cheering him. "See?"

"Everyone loves Ironman…" she agreed. "It's Tony Stark that they can't stomach."

He shrugged.

"We're one and the same. Love my suit, love me."

"That isn't how it works, Tony. You need to soften your public image, or stocks are going to start dropping."

"We can absorb a few angry consumers," he pointed out.

"Yes. But I don't want to have to. You're going to start being less of a spectacle."

"What? I'm not a spectacle."

Again with the tablet, and crowds around Tony Stark, who flipped off one reporter, and smirked at another in the crowd who asked about what he thought about the crime rate in the city.

"A reply of 'That's a job for the Batman, not for a real superhero', isn't really gaining you a lot of friends."

"I don't need friends, Pepper."

"No. But we want better publicity."

He could see from her expression that she was serious, and that she wasn't going to put up with his usual sarcastic reply.

"I'll work on it. No more Batman remarks…"

"Oh, you're going to work on it," she agreed.

Stark frowned.

"Why did that suddenly sound ominous?"

"Because you have pretty good instincts." It was her turn to smirk. "Don't make any plans for next week during school hours."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm implementing some school field trips here at the tower, and you're the main event."

"What? No."

"Yes. You're going to be charming, and witty, and you're going to schmooze with the kids, who are going to go home and tell their parents just how great you are. And then, at the end of this week, you're going to pick a kid and become his or her mentor."

"What? Mentor? For what?"

"You can help with homework, or do an after school program – or do the big brother big sister program. I haven't decided, yet."

"Pepper, c'mon, don't make me do this." He was actually wheedling, now, and he didn't do it often. "I'll stop with the comments. I'll get a puppy. People love famous people with puppies. I'll make a huge donation to some foundation."

"Yes, you can do all of those things," she agreed, her eyes steely and uncompromising. "And then you can spend a few hours a week with some deserving kid who could use some extra attention – especially since you have so much attention to spread around."

"Why are you doing this?" he groaned, flopping down on the sofa, well aware that when she acted like that, there was no way he was going to get out of it. "It isn't that bad…"

"It isn't that bad, yet," she told him. "JARVIS pointed out that if you're allowed to continue these actions, unchecked, we're going to start losing business. I'm not alright with that."

He scowled.

"When did you start talking to JARVIS?"

"When he started making more sense than you do."

Tony rolled his eyes.

"I'll buy you anything you want if you don't make me do this. I'll buy you France. Do you want France?"

"I want the public to like you," she replied, hiding her amusement. "And this is what we decided would work the most efficiently."

"We? I didn't get a say in it."

Obviously.

"Because we didn't ask you." She smirked. "Enjoy your weekend," she told him. "But be here, Monday, at 9am, sharp – sober and cheerful."

Ugh.