Peter was wringing his hands in the elevator up to Mr. Stark's penthouse. There had not been groceries in the apartment to make a decent meal, so instead of spending money they didn't have on takeout, Peter ran to the grocery store to get ingredients, then cooked up a stir fry for May and Morgan. When he had left the apartment, he knew he would be late for the second time in a row. To top it off, the normal subway was offline, so the route he took to Mr. Stark's was circuitous at best.

The whole time, he was trying to decide how to bring up the money with Mr. Stark. The man had billions, so it really shouldn't be that hard to ask him for some. A very little bit. Enough to get Morgan music lessons, and to cover the subway fare to Stark Tower that was slowly eating away at his spare change.

When the elevator doors opened, he mumbled "Thanks Friday," and stepped out to see Pepper and Tony talking at a table, documents spread out between them. His mouth suddenly dried, for some reason it would be doubly hard to talk to both of them. "H-hello!" He stuttered.

They both looked up, smiled on their faces. Tony waved a sheaf of papers at Peter, "Sit down, kid, I'll be done in a minute. Where's Morgan?"

"I…uh…wanted to talk to you both about that. She…we…we both were excited about the lessons, but we can't afford them. You had mentioned before about paying me to go to Germany, and that didn't happen, but is there any way I can do some work for you guys to pay for the piano lessons?"

Tony snorted and turned back to his papers, "The lessons are free, kid, you're embarrassing me by even suggesting that I wouldn't pay."

"I…just…I know that they can be expensive, and I didn't want you to feel obligated of taking care of us."

Pepper was appraising him, a furrow in her brow. She pulled out another chair next to her. "Come have a seat, Peter." He took the proffered chair, sitting up straight as his eyes fell to the table. Pepper swept the papers away and stared at him until he looked up. "Peter, I'm sorry I didn't say so when I asked you today, but of course we would cover the piano lessons. We have enough money that it is not a big deal for us, the way it would be for you, and we want to help you and Morgan because we like you. You don't have to earn anything from us. Does that sound okay?"

Peter nodded mutely, cowed by both of the adults' reactions. "Yes. I'm sorry, I didn't bring her today because I wasn't sure and didn't want to disappoint her. Also, she had to take care of…her homework." Peter didn't feel like he could tell them about May's cough, in case Tony made another rash decision before thinking through the consequences, and he and his sister ended up taken away from their last family member.

Pepper nodded, "That's fine. We can set up a schedule for her to come weekly to meet with the teacher, and then whenever she wants so that she can practice."

"That would be great," Peter said happily.

Tony has signed the last of the papers and organized them into a stack. "About the other thing you mentioned…about Germany. I know it is in the past, but I didn't forget about it. I put the money into an account under your name. I've been meaning to talk to you about it. Paying a 14-year-old to work isn't strictly legal, but a scholarship totally is, so Pepper and I just made a trust for you."

"Oh," Peter said. "OH. Wow. And it's…"

"Pepper can get the paperwork for you. It's the $50k that I promised you, and it will gain interest that's all yours."

Peter was quiet, rolling everything over in his head. "And…you're just giving it to me? To us?"

Tony smiled. "Us, yeah. That's a good idea. Pepper, we should set up another trust for Morgan."

"Mr. Stark, that's crazy. I mean, that's going to change our lives." Peter went quiet again. He was focusing on his breath, trying to control his squirming emotions.

Pepper put a hand on the teenager's arm. "Peter, what's going through your head right now? You look…overwhelmed."

Overwhelmed? Yeah, he was overwhelmed. Words were spilling out of him before he knew what he was saying. "It's so much. I…I don't know how I can pay you back. I know you said it's like, a gift, but…you barely know us. I mean, you know me, but you've only met Morgan once! And she is special, and I guess I'm spiderman, but…we're just two kids! And…what do you want from me?!" Peter stood up now, and stepped back from the table. "I already have people that need me for things, and I'm just…I'm juggling a lot already, and my future is just…up in the air. Like, I have to get good grades at school so I can get in to a good college, and it feels I have to do the internship so I can pay for the college or get a scholarship, and now if Morgan's college is riding on that too, it's just a lot of pressure."

When he realized he had made Tony and Pepper concerned, Peter sank back down into the chair. Tony looked slightly off-put, but Pepper was downright concerned. She leaned forward. "First of all, Peter, these college funds are yours and Morgan's guaranteed. No limitations or conditions. Second…we never meant to put pressure on you."

Tony scooted his chair closer; now there was a hint of sadness in his eyes as he looked at Peter. "Kid, I'm sorry if I made you feel like you had to do this. I…I know that it must be hard to be Spiderman, and be 14, and…I know that it was probably hard for you to go through all of the other stuff in your life. I just wanted to make things easier." Tony took a deep breath. "And I did what is easy for me to do, which is just to solve the problem with money. I tried to do that in Germany too, when I said that I would pay for you to fight with me."

Peter looked suspicious, but let Tony continue. "Once Pepper and Natasha found out what I offered you, I did get a lecture about…the way I solve my problems. Once Steve came around, he gave me a good lecture too. And…to everyone's surprise, including mine…I listened…mostly."

Pepper cut in, laying her comforting hand on Tony's shoulder this time and giving it an affectionate squeeze. "Obviously, we're not perfect either. We need to talk and listen to each other to make sure that everyone is happy and heard." The boys nodded at her words, and gave each other small smiles. "So, Peter, is there anything else you want to say? Any other way that we can help you?"

"Um…I'm sorry that I have been late recently, some things have come up and then today the subway was closed. And…I had to take two extra trains, and it is getting a little expensive. Is there any way you can help me out with some subway fare?" With a shy and mischievous smile, Peter finished, "It's a lot cheaper than a college fund."

Tony looked at Pepper, whose eyebrows were raised, challenging Tony to respond appropriately, and he nodded his understanding. "Yes, I can certainly give you some money for your tickets. Would it be easier, and maybe safer, for Happy to pick you and Morgan up at school?

Peter considered the offer, but very quickly nodded. "Yeah, that might be better, definitely safer for Morgan. But, could Happy pick us up at our apartments instead? So we can check in with Aunt May."

"Absolutely. Would it still be helpful if I loaded up subway cards for you and Morgan?" It hadn't slipped past Tony that Peter was struggling just to afford the subway.

In response, he got shy Peter again, staring down at his shoes. "Yeah, that would be great."

"Alright, with that settled…what do you want to do tonight? Lab time on the Spidey suit? Homework help?"

"Oh, I do actually have some homework that I need to work on. But if you work on the suit, and I work on my homework, maybe I'll be able to do both. It's just math problems, but easier ones. Actually, that problem that we did together, no one was able to solve it. It turns out there was a textbook error!"

Tony looked confused. "But…we solved it?"

Peter looked guiltily away, "Well, we solved it…and got it wrong." Pepper broke into laughter at the annoyed look on Tony's face. "There was supposed to be a negative sign on the exponent."

Tony licked his lips. "This is maybe the most embarrassed I've ever been…bested by high school math. I think I need to retire now."

"Would you, please?" Pepper murmured, smiling cheekily.

Tony grabbed Peter's arm and tugged him away. "Let's go, Peter, before she tricks me into signing over the company."