Things were back to normal (Well... except for the spider powers. He was still getting used to that.) But Peter couldn't be more thankful. He and Tony were talking again, Pepper and Tony weren't fighting anymore, and Peter was happy.

Three weeks had gone by, and those have been spent in training, and improving his suit. Tony was proud of his son for the work he'd put into making his mark one suit. It was unbelievable how well the kid had done, with webshooters, focus lenses, among other things. But he wanted to make sure his kid would be as safe as any super hero could possibly be. So he and Peter had been hard at work, drafts and blue prints and ideas. Peter didn't think the safety protocols were all that necessary, but agreed to have them for Tony's sake.

Of course there were features that Tony had installed that Peter didn't even know about. The boy would be able to use them once he had more experience in the super hero gig. After a lot of editing, adjustments, and improvements, Peter would be trying out the new suit today. And to say he was excited would be an understatement.

"Mama паук." He yells, running into the training room. "Mama паук guess what!"

"You get to try the suit today?"

Peter stops, his head tilting slightly in confusion. "Yeah, How'd you know?"

"You've been talking about it almost non-stop, маленький паук."

"Oh yeah." Peter flips and gets comfortable, taking a seat and casually hanging upside down from ceiling. "You think I'll get to do any actual hero work today?"

"Maybe. It's up to your Dad. But if you do you're not going solo."

"What?? Why not?"

"It's like learning to drive. When you learn, you have an experienced driver in the car with you. And when you're ready, you go on your own. The same thing applies here." Peter nods in understanding- even though he'd never actually gotten his learners permit. He was supposed to get them this summer, and then life kind of happened.

Oh well.

"So Dad's running a last minute check on everything. Can we train for a while?"

Natasha noticed it almost immediately. He'd referred to Tony as 'Dad'. Peter had done it a few times before, but only when he was talking to Natasha.

"Does Tony know you do that?"

"What?"

"That you call him Dad. You've said it around me, but when you talk to him you still say 'Tony' or 'Mr. Stark'.

"Oh."

"You know, Stark would be over the moon if you called him Dad." She continues as she begins to set everything up for their training session.

"But what if you're wrong? What if it just makes him uncomfortable, or makes everything awkward?? Things are going pretty okay right now, and I don't wanna mess that up." Peter's accent had slightly faded in the time he'd been here, but in times like this- when he was nervous or worried or embarrassed- it would be stronger than ever.

"The only way you'll find out is if you ask him."

"And what if it makes Pepper feel left out. I don't think I could call her mom... not yet anyway."

He was pacing on the ceiling now, back and forth. From what Natasha could tell, this had been bothering him for a while.

"Pepper would understand. She knows that's different."

"Maybe." The boy falls silent, his mind racing. Natasha can almost see the wheels turning as he thinks over the situation.

"You don't have to decide anything right now, Peter. You take your time and wait the time feels right."

The topic isn't mentioned after that. They simply fight. By the end of the session, the score is almost even.

"Black Widow-4, Spider baby- 3. I'm impressed." Natasha compliments him. And she truly was impressed. It becomes even more impressive when you factor in Peter not using his full abilities. "You're going to make an excellent Hero, маленький паук."

"Thanks, I-"

"Pete!" He turns around quickly, to see Tony Stark standing in the doorway. "Hit the showers, kid. Test run starts in fifteen minutes."

Peter was radiating nervous energy. And though Tony was trying to hide it, he was more terrified than any of them. What if something went wrong? What if the safety protocols failed? What if-

"I'm ready." Peter interrupted his train of thought.

Everyone was standing on the landing pad on the roof of Stark Tower. It's one of the highest buildings in New York, and if it makes sense- the safest. The height would give Tony plenty of time to fly down and catch the kid, should something go wrong. Peter leans over the edge, just enough to glance down at the street below. It took everything in Tony to keep himself from pulling Peter away from the ledge and calling the whole thing off.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked to find Natasha giving him a reassuring look. "He's got this, Tony. And we'll all be right here to help him. Nothing is going to happen to him."

She had a point. Everyone was suited up ready to jump in at a moments notice, Even Pepper was suited up in her rescue armor. However that didn't ease his nerves, and Pepper looked as afraid as Tony felt.

"Tony..." Pepper said quietly. "You won't let anything happen to him. You'll catch him." Tony knew she was trying to be encouraging, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anything.

"I'll catch him. He's going to be fine."

"You two are awfully come for people who's son has is about to launch himself off a building."

"BARTON!" The team collectively yells. Natasha hits him.

"Oop, sorry. My bad."

Peter gives an excited yet nervous smile, and Tony steps away from Pepper. He activates his thrusters and is soon hovering in the air a couple yards in front of Peter. Suddenly Tony has the best idea. He says; "We have our heading-"

"Here we gooooooo!" Peter grins and leaps off the edge.

Tony's stomach drops, and is more than ready to catch Peter and take him back inside, where it's safe. But he can't. He watches as Peter does a flip or two mid-air, and then shoots a web. Soon the new hero is swinging between buildings, Tony flying close behind.

"How's the suit, kid?" Tony asked. He hears Peter's answer through the comm unit.

"THIS IS AWESOME!!"

And Tony couldn't disagree. Because this job could be truly awesome sometimes. Not all the time, but he wasn't going to ruin Peter's moment with that tidbit of information. Instead, both Tony and his son just enjoy the moment.

"Mr. Osborn... the research isn't ready for human testing! There's still months, maybe years of research before we can safely experiment cross species genetics on human being."

"Dr. Connors?" Norman's voice is cold, enough to make the doctor shiver. "You do realize that this experiment could solve your problem as well as mine, correct?"

Connors looks down at the prosthetic where his hand should be. What he wouldn't give for a solution. For his arm back, for full function. But to risk human lives to get there? Was it worth it?

"I'm aware of that sir, but-"

"Need I remind you that the reason we're months behind in research, is because you lost the most important variable in this experiment?" The doctor thinks back to the day he found the young boy in the genetics lab, looking at the dozens of spiders in the room. The boy looked terrified, and it was an honest accident. The young lad had offered to pay for the damages, had apologized profusely, and had a bright future ahead of him. Dr, Connors could tell.

A potential lawsuit could ruin that young man's future, and Dr. Connors didn't want that happening based on an accident that was partially his fault. He should've made sure no one could get in. He was supposed to be in the lab that day anyway- if he'd been in there when he was supposed to it wouldn't have happened.

But now that spider was gone- it was the one that had shown the most successful test results so far. And since it was lost they have still not been able to replicate the genetic modifications.

"Make it happen, Connors. If I die, I'm bringing someone with me. Fix this and fix it now."

"Yes, sir..." Dr. Connors mumbles quietly and leaves the way he came. There's two ways he can do this. He dies for not finding a solution, or he succeeds at the risk of dozens of human lives. But there's a third option, and the only one that makes sense.

Self experimentation.

If it works- he regains his right hand. If not... he dies. Which likely would have happened anyway should he fail. He races to his lab, and collects his notes.

This is going to end one way or the other, and he's about to find out exactly how dangerous this is going to be....