"But I swear I had him. I don't even know where things got out of hand."

Peter had been going over the situation over and over again in his head. He was on a small mission with the Avengers- nothing too intense before he got into the habit of working with a team. In the heat of the battle that swarmed through the streets of Detroit where they had been called to take care of business, Cap instructed Peter to keep watch of one of the "bad guys" while everyone was busy cleaning the rest of his buddies off of the streets.

"We need him alive. Make sure he stays that way." Cap had told him. Peter nodded affirmatively.

"Got it."

Apparently, he did not "get it" as much as he thought though. A jet came out of nowhere at one point, threatening to kamikaze itself straight into a building full of civilians. Naturally, Peter turned his back for one second to web-sling it off course and when he looked back, the guy was gone.

"I told him to stay put." Peter stated, knowing full-well that made 0 difference. Mr. Stark smirked from the driver's seat of his Audi R8. "Anyway… Lucky that Clint found him, I guess."

"Don't beat yourself up, kid. It takes time to get a hang of this stuff, and even then, no one really knows what they're doing. You don't think I royally fuck up from time to time?"

Peter thought about that.

"Uh, yeah, actually. That's pretty much what it seems like.

Peter knew what happened wasn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but he didn't want to let anyone down on his first outings as an official Avenger. If there was ever a time to prove himself, it was now.

"Believe me. I've had my fair share of 'moments'. I don't even know where to start."

Tony started listing some examples as he sped down the upstate New York bends. Usually, he'd just jet Peter home, but most of the quinjets were damaged from combat or getting upgraded and Stark felt like going on a drive anyway.

"If we're just starting with Iron Man, let's see… My birthday party, fighting Rhodey, Ultron, the suit obsession, inviting a terrorist to my house…"

All the while, Peter was resting his head against the passenger-side window, flicking the window button up and down. The roaring wind sounded for a second before he closed the window. Then open. Then closed. Then open.

"So, whatever happened today, it happens. No biggie. On the other hand, if you break my window, I'll repulse you through it so fast-"

"Sorry." Peter retracted his hands with wide eyes. He appreciated Tony making him feel better about the whole thing. Peter was so used to seeing "Iron Man" on TV and regarding him as a hero who could never do wrong. It was strange to learn that Tony was flawed… well maybe that was even an understatement. Peter slowly learned that Tony was a total mess at times (according to some people, most time), but that's never how Peter personally knew him. He'd still hold Tony up on a pedestal of sorts- even if Stark didn't necessarily deserve it.

"How many cars do you have?"

"Heck, I don't know."

"Like… 10?"

"Ha."

"20?"

"You're at least 40 shy."

Peter mouthed the word 'wow' and continued to admire the chrome finish on the Audi's hood. He didn't know tons about cars, but he always wanted to. His Dad was more or less into car-stuff, but obviously he had never had the chance to teach Peter anything.

"Is it hard to learn stick?"

Tony didn't answer, but kept driving with the same focused gaze. He did this sometimes when he was either too deep in thought to hear Peter or when he believed what Peter said didn't justify an answer. Peter waited patiently. He wasn't expecting Mr. Stark to start pulling off to the side of the road though. Parker looked at Mr. Stark in confusion, but he was still ignored.

When they came to a complete stop, Tony popped the door open and got out of the car. Peter stirred anxiously in his seat until his own door swung open, revealing Mr. Stark.

"Scooch.", was all he said. Peter's stomach flipped excitedly. He didn't need to be told twice. He carefully crawled his way over the median and into the driver's seat as Tony got in the passenger side. Peter felt hundreds of thousands of dollars underneath his fingertips as he touched the steering wheel. Woah.

~ X ~

"Woah! Okay, third… No, third… Hey, eyes on the- PARKER!"

"I got it, I got it!"

The car made in around the bend, but just barely. Peter was getting the hang of this… kind of. It was just so hard to remember which gear was for what while also keeping his eyes on the road, staying the speed limit, and not hitting other cars. Mr. Stark bugging out in the seat next to him didn't help much.

"Watch the- Christ almighty… Pete- Jesus, what the Hell are you trying to do?"

"Drive!" Peter finally shot back, trying to restrain himself from making a retort about Tony only inducing more stress.

"You're driving me crazy right now is what you're doing. Second."

Peter slowed the car and switched to second gear calmly. The car settled into the change nicely and finally glided into a smooth rhythm. Peter took a deep breath and continued driving with laser-sharp focus. When he had the chance to speed up again, he switched to third.

"There ya go. See, I knew you could do it." Stark complimented, as if he hadn't been losing his shit a second ago. Peter shot him a look. Tony gave him that 'I-know-I'm-an-ass' smile and firmly touched his fingertips to the top of Peter's head, turning him back to face the street.

"Eyes on the road, Brian O'Conner."