~Iron Family~

We're Besties Now

Peter shot a strand of webs and caught Happy in midair before he could tumble into the water below.

The car wasn't so lucky--it splashed into the lake and was grabbed by some creepy washing machines, which dragged it under the surface. He shuddered--if he hadn't been there, that's what would have happened to Mr. Stark, Happy, Harley, and Morgan.

"Everyone okay?" he asked, lowering his voice and adding the Queens accent. He thanked Aunt May for raising him to talk without it.

"As much as we possibly can be," Mr. Stark groaned. Happy was gasping for breath and shaking, staring in terror at nothing in particular. Peter waved his hand in front of his face.

"Hey, Happy--er...I mean, you don't look happy, s--sir."

Happy gave him a knowing glare, tracing a finger along his throat and mouthing the words, 'We need to talk.'

"Of course he's not happy!" Mr. Stark snapped, stomping over to get all up in Peter's face. "We almost fell off a bridge because of you!"

"Because of me?!" Peter fired back. "How is this my fault?"

"You're always lurking where those appliances are!"

Peter was fed up with Mr. Stark accusing him of being in league with the man in the ice cream truck. "News flash!" he hollered. "The appliances are committing crime! Don't cha know what I do all day, sir? I fight. Crime. Appliances? Crime. Crime? Me. Me and crime? We have a date with destiny, which never works out too well for the crime."

"What the heck does that even mean?" Mr. Stark grumbled, crossing his arms. Peter shrugged.

"I dunno. My point is, if I was controlling the appliances, I wouldn't be doin' all this stupid stuff. I would be using 'em to help people."

Mr. Stark sighed for awhile, but he eventually cast Peter a sideways glance. His next words sounded forced out of his mouth, but Peter appreciated them.

"I guess I was wrong about you, Spider-Man. Thank...you for--for saving us."

"Oh, it was nothin'," Peter said with a smug smile behind his mask. "But does this mean you'll stop chasing me now?"

Mr. Stark slowly rubbed his goatee, hand moving up to his eyes and then his hair. "Ah, I don't know."

"I just wanna help the little guy," Peter begged. "I'm not tryin' to hurt nobody." Gosh, this accent was kind of fun.

"I'll have to take it up with Fury," he said eventually. "But I can't make any promises--and we're not going to hurt you. We just want to talk."

"Well, talk right here!" Peter said cheerily, raising his arms. "What can I do for ya?"

Tony grinned. "You can join my team."

***

Peter was thrilled.

Not when Mr. Stark gave him a three hour lecture, but because--because--

He could hardly contain his excitement. He was teaming up with Iron Man! He didn't have to worry about getting captured while on patrol now! He could swing around without fear, feel the wind in his face again!

Of course, he hadn't been grounded--it was his first week here, he didn't really earn the rank to get grounded yet. Instead, he got severely reprimanded: by Happy, Pepper, Mr. Stark, Rhodey, and, for some reason, Steve, who had decided scolding teenagers was more interesting than pruning his flowers. His lecture had turned into a lesson about succulents.

Pepper had screamed when she saw Morgan's new hairstyle. Mr. Stark had sure gotten an earful from his angry wife.

Peter wasn't allowed to go anywhere with his friends after school, unless he asked permission from three different adults, including either Mr. Stark or Pepper. Mr. Stark had installed extra tracker things in his phone, along with Harley's. Of course Harley took this all as Peter's fault.

He'd cornered Peter after dinner that night and gave him a piece of his mind.

"Listen, Parker," he spat. "Nothing in this house has ever been the same since you got here. You're ruining everything--now we all have to be watched 24/7!"

"I'm sorry," Peter mumbled lamely.

"Sorry doesn't make anything better! Sorry doesn't erase the fact that you're here and slowly tearing our family apart!"

The words tore at Peter's heart more than what Harley claimed he was tearing.

"And that's not all--you're bugging Spider-Man."

"Excuse me?" Peter was taken aback, but tried not to smile when the words bugging and Spider-Man were in the same sentence. "What do you mean by that?"

"You're being a burden to him," Harley hissed. "He's just trying to do his job, and you're going to bother him at abandoned warehouses!"

"Um..." Peter was trying very hard not to burst into laughter. "Okay. I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that! Just...whatever." Harley pulled up his hood and ran up to his bedroom, leaving Peter very confused. He shrugged.

Oh, well.

If Harley didn't like him, he wouldn't force him. But it would be nice if they would stop ripping at each other's throats.

At least he and Morgan got along. He spent at least two hours before and after school up in the kids' lounge with her, playing house, pirates, or whatever new thing grabbed her attention.

Tony also talked at dinner that night about how he wanted to make Spider-Man a new suit--something much more stylish than swimming goggles and red slip-ons. He promised that Peter could help with it too, since he 'knew Spider-Man better.'

Peter didn't want to admit it, but he felt like he was slowly adjusting. Slowly getting used to FRIDAY's alarm waking him up every morning, Pepper's breakfast, and Happy's silent car rides.

Things were looking up.

***

Happy helped him set some protocols in FRIDAY to where she wouldn't alert Tony if Peter snuck out to go Spider-Maning at night. They set other protocols as well, such as the Tiny Tony Protocol, which was activated when he was stressed or panicked (not super thrilled about that one), and the Princess Protocol, which could be activated when Mr. Stark's presence was demanded in the kids' lounge whenever Morgan wanted to play with him. And as soon as they finished Peter's new suit, Happy promised to install the Spidey Protocol, which, when activated, would alert Mr. Stark to Peter's location. It could be used when Peter found bad guys doing sus stuff and he didn't want to draw attention to himself, or if he needed backup.

Peter couldn't keep the grin off of his face all the next day. Especially during school, when he couldn't even tell Ned what had him so happy.

Now that he and Mr. Stark were working as a team, there wasn't anything they couldn't do.

You're toast, Leonard Saber.

***

A/N: If you didn't already hear, we're approaching the one shot-like section of the book of bonding that's before the climax, so prepare for huge updates on Friday and next Tuesday!
Once again, thanks so much for reading! You guys are amazing, cool, and funny :)