"What the fuck!"

Peter turned chalk white as he saw Aunt May's reflection in the mirror. She opened and closed her mouth several times trying to form words through the shock of seeing her nephew dressed as Spiderman.

"Get dressed. See me…living room" she stuttered.

Peter nodded as she turned away, listening as she seemed to collapse down onto the worn couch.

How could I have been so stupid? He thought. He was just excited to check out the new features Tony added. He seemed to do that a lot these days, keep a hold of the suit after Peter came to the tower on Wednesdays then have it waiting on his bed by the time he was home from school Thursday. The updates were super cool usually, he now had coloured web options and camouflage mode. The reinstalled baby monitor protocol was much less cool he would have to concede though.

Throwing on his faded blue jeans that had begun to fray at the ankles and a random t-shirt he rushed to join May just in case she became even angrier. Edging into the room he sat himself down at the other end of the couch tucking his legs up, his chin resting on his knees like a child.

"Peter, please explain," she whispered.

So Peter did, he explained about the Spider bite from the Oscorp trip and subsequently waking up with sticky hands and feet, enhanced senses and rapid healing.

"Okay, I understand the abilities Peter, you couldn't have done anything about those but why didn't you tell me or Ben? Why did you start going out and getting into dangerous confrontations with criminals?"

"With great power comes great responsibility" he replied smiling sadly.

May nodded through her tears, she had heard Ben say it countless times throughout his life after all.

"Peter, it isn't safe…" she started.

"NO!" he interrupted, "I'm as safe as I can be May."

"How?...Peter you are alone, what would happen if you didn't beat a criminal or got injured?"

"Mr Stark" he mumbles.

"What! He knows about this? Get him here. Phone him. I need to speak to that man." Her voice gets louder and louder with each statement, her tears of worry quickly becoming those of anger and frustration.

Peter opens his mouth to argue but a single furious look has him fishing his battered phone from his pocket and dialling who she can only assume is Mr Stark. Her blood is pumping in her ears, anger now her overwhelming emotion, anger at the man foolishly encouraging her nephew, her last family member to risk his life. Her mind is running a mile a minute, remembering Germany, the countless times she has seen Spiderman in the local newspaper, the weekend 'internship' sessions and that ferry incident. The plane crash. That man allowed her Peter to get involved in that calamity of a ferry incident and be in the vicinity of a plane crash! He could have died!

"Hello…no I'm fine….totally fine…no don't ask F.R.I.D.A.Y. I'm not injured….no I wouldn't hide anything….no my history grade is a B+…." May listens as Peter speaks on the phone. Why is he speaking about history? She wants Mr Stark here, she wants him five minutes ago. She stares at Peter tapping her wrist.

Peter nods trying to stop Mr Starks prattling at the other end. He soon gives up trying to be polite and interrupts Mr Starks questioning of what he has eaten today (good time to interrupt anyway he probably wouldn't be impressed, not that it can be helped if theres no extra snacks in the apartment). "May knows", he blurts out when the older man pauses for breath.

"Yes…okay…I'll tell her, see you in ten" He says hanging up and putting his phone back into his pocket. He looks up at May anxiously nibbling his bottom lip, "he will be here in ten" he whispers.

May nods and the next ten minutes of silence drags for the both of them. Peter wanders to the kitchen boiling some water for coffee for the two adults in his life. He adds milk to Mays coffee just as theres a knock at the door.

Tony takes a calming breath as he waits for the door to open, trying to think of what to tell May, how to ease her worries. What will I do if she stops me from seeing Peter? She can...of course she is his guardian but he can't bear the thought of not being able to see the boy, he has become a light in his life, he looks forward to their Wednesday evenings and weekends together. The door opens to reveal May, just as young and beautiful as the last time he saw her, but today tear tracks ran down her cheeks and her eyes were swollen from crying.

May ushers him into the small apartment and his eyes immediately turn to Peter, just entering the lounge area now a cup of coffee in each hand. Tony murmurs a thank you as he is given his, a strong black coffee, as he always has it.

Peter watches the two adults as they sit quietly for a moment sipping their coffee. Mr Stark couldn't look more out of place in their dated apartment with damp on the ceiling and faded curtains but he still manages to look perfectly at ease and cool as his eyes take in the many photos dotted around the room.

May watches the billionaire survey the room his eyes softening as he looks at the numerous photos of Peter throughout the years from the photo of him covered in ice cream age 3, to the boy with no front teeth at 6 and his most recent school photo. Maybe he does care about Peter more than I thought? Maybe my nephew is slightly more than a body with powers.

"Peter says you have known about what he has been doing for months Mr Stark" May states looking the man in the eye.

"Yes I've known maybe 9 months now, I knew of him for e a month or so before, saw him running around in his pyjamas and knew I'd have to rectify that, especially once I found out how old he was."

"And you didn't try to stop him!" She yelled.

"What right did I have? He wouldn't have stopped anyway, he's too stubborn, too good. I decided if he was going to go out and do what he does he was going to be as safe as he could be as he did so."

May nods calming slightly, she had noticed after all that the suit she saw Peter wearing looked much more high tech than just pyjamas. She opened her mouth to question him about the safety features but is interrupted by her nephew.

"I won't stop May, I can't."

"Peter, respect your Aunt, do not interrupt her." Tony admonishes.

May surprised by this turns to see how her nephew would respond, she is surprised as the teen blushes and looks down at his hands.

"Sorry Aunt May that was rude."

"It's fine Peter, I won't make you stop…but I want to know all the safety procedures in place to keep you from getting hurt. I want to know about this internship and I want to be sure this will not impact your studies. Also tell me about what happened with that ferry!"

Tony immediately starts to explain the safety measures he placed within the suit and how Peter is able to contact himself, Happy and even Pepper if he finds himself in trouble. He tells her about the new rules her introduced three months ago after homecoming and the consequences for falling grades. He speaks of the internship cover story and how it is in fact just time for the two of them to update the suit, spar or sometimes just hang out in his lab tinkering together.

She nods when he stops speaking happy with how is putting the safety of her nephew first and ensuring his night time activities will not impact his schooling. She can also see the tenderness in his eyes as he speaks of Peter and the boys adoration of the billionaire is impossible to miss.

"And the ferry?" She questions. At this she notices them both blush.

"It was my fault" Peter says quickly "I got involved in things I shouldn't have, Mr Stark saved me."

"Peter you could have died! Do you understand that?"

He nods looking down, "yeah Mr Stark made sure I did."

She raises an eyebrow at the man urging him to explain.

"I spanked him." He said avoiding her eyes. "I didn't know how else to respond, I'm sorry if I overstepped, but I had to make sure he understood."

Her eyes softened. "I would have done the same, it's fine. I understand. I give you my blessing to act as you see fit should such an occasion come up again."

"May!" Peter groans.

Tony quirks his lip at this and nods at the woman. "Hopefully we will not have a repeat of that situation again"

"Hmph, Peter is clearly your first teenager Mr Stark." She quips.

Unsure how to respond Tony gives a slight grin and drinks the remainder of his now lukewarm coffee. "I will always be here for him May, there's no need to worry, I will not allow him to be hurt."

Peter blushes again as both adults turn to look at him. A chiming of a clock in the distance brings everyone back to the present.

"You'll stay for dinner Mr Stark." May says rather than asks.

"Of course," he grins, "let me get us something though, it's the least I can do."

He stops their protest with a single hand.

"Thai?"