Tony had spent countless hours tinkering, designing and inventing in his workshop through the years. It was therapy. He did it for amusement, he did it to take his mind off things he should be focussing on and, yes, sometimes he did it for vengeance. His workshop was his escape from reality. It was his world. Just him, Dum-E and U. And sometimes Pepper when she saw the need to drag him out of self-pity and back into reality. When he was in his workshop, he was in control. He was in his man cave. His space just happened to be a little more extravagant than the average man's man cave. Then again, Tony Stark tended to be a little more eccentric than the average man.
Right now he sat staring at the watch on his wrist, activating and deactivating the gauntlet. It was just a simple piece of wrist jewelry until he activated it and even after he'd activated it, it was only powered enough to do a few things…a flashbang or a sound wave created more to garner attention than to be a weapon. Tony planned to use it in a very different way to capture attention, namely the attention of a 15-year-old stubborn, web-slinging kid.
It had been painfully simple to alter. Tony couldn't believe what he was contemplating on doing. He'd spent the better half of an hour having an internal argument but in the end, as he massaged his still aching hand, he made his mind up. He just hoped he wasn't breaking some kind of moral code of ethics because his gut already ached enough. Instinctively, he knew he should call up the kid's aunt and let her deal with the delinquent spider. The trouble was Tony knew that the kid's aunt would never be able to keep him under control. It wasn't that Peter was a bad kid, he wasn't at all. He was a great kid, a polite kid, not to mention a brilliant kid but the point remained, he was a kid. He was a 15-year-old minor with superpowers and too many hormones running amuck. Peter Parker needed guidance, and preferable the guidance of a man, not an emotionally fraught wishy-washy aunt.
"Damn it," muttered Tony, deactivating the gauntlet once more. He needed to stop second-guessing himself and go to the kid before he lost his nerve.
Tony climbed the stairs slowly keeping his heart rate even. He didn't want the kid to see him as anything but calm, cool and collected. His mantra was never let them see you sweat. Kids could smell fear and they'd use it to their advantage. He should know. He'd been a master at manipulating his mother's emotions.
Tony reached a platform on an upper level and entered the elevator to the top floor where the penthouse of the tower was located. He knew Peter was still where he'd left him because FRIDAY would have told him otherwise. Tony hadn't worried about the kid taking off. One thing he knew about Peter is that for some strange reason, he respected Tony's authority. Knowing that just made him feel worse. Geez, why did people even have kids, anyway? The little monsters just needled their way under your skin and into your heart and then you felt obligated to protect them and keep them safe from their stupid, idiotic selves.
Entering the room silently, Tony wasn't noticed right away. The teenager sat still on the sofa where Tony had left him. Tony cleared his throat and Peter looked up in surprise immediately standing to his feet.
"Thought you had Spidey senses, kid."
Peter wiped at his eyes quickly but not before Tony noticed the tear tracks and the slight reddening of his cheeks.
"I do," mumbled the kid, almost defensively.
Tony walked in and sat down across from him. "Sit down, kid. We've both had some time to cool off so let's have a chat. Did you get a hold of your aunt?"
Peter sat and nodded, fidgeting with his hands. "Mr. Stark, are you really going to keep the suit forever? No second chances?"
Tony was poker-faced. "My gut says, you bet your ass I am," Tony held up a finger to keep Peter from saying anything stupid, "But my common sense tells me that taking the suit isn't going to stop you from doing something asinine anyway. No, taking the suit isn't going to resolve the underlying issues here, is it Underoos?"
Peter's face paled. He had nothing to say in return because Tony was correct. He had a suit, albeit, a really crappy suit but a suit none-the-less. Nothing was going to stop him from going out as Spiderman. Not even Ironman was going to stop him from being who he was.
"W-what issues, Mr. Stark. I don't understand," managed Peter.
Tony smirked in amusement. Peter was good when he was playing dumb.
"Okay, I'll play along," began Tony sitting up a little straighter. "Not so very long ago, Ironman pulled a naughty little spider out of the lake," Tony looked sharply at Peter. "Listen up, kiddies, this story is interesting. Ironman told that mischievous spiderling to stay out of the danger business and stick to being a friendly neighbourhood superhero. Spider-baby could save some grannies from pickpockets or rescue a cat or two from a tree but other than that, he was to keep his skinny little butt away from the really bad guys. This story sound vaguely familiar to you, Mr. Parker?"
Peter swallowed knowing it was best to keep his mouth shut at this point, instead he nodded.
"Good, we're on the same page. Well, apparently, for some unknown reason, our web-slinging friend decided it would be wise to go head to head with some really nasty supervillain on his own. Whilst doing that, he almost killed himself along with hundreds of others. As it is, he created thousands of dollars of damage to personal property, not to mention a ferry being split in half!"
"That weapon going off was not my fault. I tried to stop it!" insisted Peter, weakly attempting to defend himself.
Tony's eyes opened just a little wider and he clucked his tongue. "Uh… Uh…uh… not your turn to talk yet. My story isn't quite done yet."
Peter closed his mouth and looked away.
"Now, Spiderling has a foxy aunt named May. Lucky guy! Aunts didn't look like that in my day. Anyway, May is oblivious to this naughty spider's web-slinging adventures. And apparently, he wants to keep it that way. Aunt May is supposed to happily raise her devious nephew to adulthood blissfully unaware of the fact that he risks his life almost daily." Tony Stark laughed out loud at this point. "And the funny thing about this whole story is that the baby spider thinks he will actually get away with it."
Tears burned in Peter's eyes. Tony Stark's words were hitting home and he was feeling very guilty about deceiving his aunt. She deserved better than that.
"I don't want her to worry," whispered Peter.
Tony wagged his finger. "You see, on one hand, I do believe that. I do believe you genuinely care about her. But on the other, I know you are only saving your own skinny ass. You don't want her to know because you don't want to deal with her forbidding you to do it. You want to do what you want to do and screw everyone else."
Peter stood up. "That's not true!"
Tony crossed his legs calmly. "Sit down!"
Peter licked his dry lips and sighed in annoyance but sat down.
"I am prepared to help you keep this under wraps provided we come to a little understanding. Mr. Parker. You agree to a few things and we can make this work. You don't agree, and I am having a chat with your aunt. There is no third choice here."
Peter blinked. "Agree with what things?" His voice cracked.
Tony rose to his feet, walked over towards the large viewing window and stared out at the skyline. He stood there for several minutes before turning to face Peter with a stern look on his face. He held up a finger.
"Number one. Spiderman only goes out on evenings and weekends. School comes first. Ever superheroes need something to fall back on and you're too damned smart to squander a good education. I have contributed to an excellent scholar fund at MIT and it has your name on it when you graduate. Don't let me down, kid."
Peter didn't say anything but nodded.
Another finger went up to join the other. "Number Two. No going after supervillains with dangerous weapons by yourself. Leave that to the Avengers. You're not there yet, kid. Your suit has a babysitting protocol in it. I can see everything you can see. There is no way you can one-up me, Underoos, so don't even try. I'm serious, Pete. I'm not going to keep repeating myself here. You stick to the friendly neighbourhood kind of stuff. If you can do that, then Ironman and Spiderman can do some patrolling together once and while, and I'll feel out how you do with some bigger stuff. Once I can trust you with the little stuff, I will move you onto some bigger responsibilities. But you need to prove you are responsible enough! Great power comes with great responsibility, Pete. You get that right?"
Peter felt tears burn in the back of his eyes. His uncle had once said something similar to him, not in the same context, but still, the meaning was the same. Peter again nodded.
A third finger went up. "This last one you're not gonna like, kid. Not even a little. But it's all part of the same deal. You screw up the first two rules then you deal with me. Number three. You disobey me or try to one-up me or mess with your suit or just generally piss me off and I'm going to discipline you." Peter's eyes widened as he watched Tony tinker with the watch on his wrist. Before his eyes, it transformed into a smaller version on the ironman glove from Tony's suit. It didn't quite cover his entire hand as his fingers were still visible but it was most definitely made of the same stuff as the suit. "We both saw earlier that a smack from my hand only hurts me. And damn, kid, I don't know what you're made out of, but I think you got buns of steel under those jeans. My hand still aches from swatting you."
Peter couldn't stop the smile that came to his face.
"Yah, you laugh now because it's not going to lasting long," warned Tony and the smile melted away as fast as it came. "This gauntlet on my hand I guarantee you will feel, and I promise to use it on your errant little butt if you cross me again. You, my friend, are still a minor…a child and as long as your aunt doesn't know about this Spidey business, you're going to listen to me. Am I clear?"
Peter gulped and his line of vision went right to Tony's hand. The man was still holding it up, allowing Peter to get a good look at it. Peter didn't even want to imagine what a swat from that hand would feel like. Maybe it would hurt, maybe it wouldn't, but he wasn't sure he was willing to find out just how strong he really was. Tony could be totally bluffing him.
Tony took a few steps towards Peter, almost like he could read his mind. "Am I clear, Peter?"
"I…I…don't think that's legal, Mr. Stark…to, uh, hit minors that…uh…aren't related to you…and umm…my Aunt May…she…uh, well, I don't really want you to…and…that would probably hurt…so uh, yah, it's clear." Peter rambled quickly as his face went from pale to a dark red.
"I've done worse that's illegal, kid, and if this can keep you on the straight and narrow than I'm willing to risk it. If May finds out later and wants to sue my butt than I guess that's my problem but for now, that is the deal. Take it or leave it."
Peter fidgeted with his hands a little but remained quiet.
Tony walked towards him, deactivating the gauntlet. "I'll give you the evening to think it over, Pete, but I want you to know something. Regardless of what you decide, I'm still deciding if your reckless butt needs to meet the gauntlet over the whole ferry fiasco. And I'm pissed you messed with the suit. I trusted you, kid and that trust's been broken. I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with that yet."
Peter clenched his fists, not really liking the sound of the threat.
Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled it. "Yo, Hap, Pete is spending the night. Can you toss another burger on the grill and show him to his room?"
Peter could hear Happy faintly in the background but Tony hung up on him.
"I have some work to do, kid. I'll see you in the morning."