When Peter finally did return to school, it was with Natasha as his new homeroom teacher. Somehow his dad had managed to spin things just right (he was fairly certain it had a lot to do with bribery and reminding Principal Jones he'd hired a criminal, so anyone Tony Stark hired was an upgrade if anything). Nevertheless, Aunt Nat was undercover as his new homeroom teacher.

Part of Peter wondered if she had been the one to suggest the idea to Tony. Of all the Avengers, she had been the most often to check in on him or hide candy in his room during his recovery. It wouldn't have been all that much of a surprise to learn she'd bribed his dad into agreeing with the idea. What Peter did want to know, however, was why she thought it was necessary to arrive at school at 7:30 in the morning.

"Why do we have to come so early?" Peter whined, trailing behind Natasha into the school building. Maybe he could convince his dad that taking two cars to school every day was a good idea. No matter how cool Aunt Nat was, leaving the Tower at 7am was not okay.

"Because I have to come and do teacher set up stuff," Natasha reminded him.

Peter frowned but didn't argue further. While Natasha went into the office to talk with Principal Jones, Peter waited outside the front desk. Through the window, Peter watched as Principal Jones handed her a set of keys then she came back out.

"What are the keys for?"

"My new classroom and the front doors," she answered, leading them down the hall and into the homeroom.

The entire team had come in over the weekend—with Principal Jones's permission—and helped redecorate the room. They argued that it was because they didn't want Peter to have to think about his old teacher while at school, but Peter thought it had a lot more to do with Mr. Patrick's poor decorating decisions. One of Peter's favourite new additions, however, was the speakers at the front of the room. With a grin, Aunt Nat had promised that she would play music while the class worked on assignments.

"I can still call you Aunt Nat, right?" Peter asked. Natasha nodded.

"My cover name is Natalie Workman," she answered and Peter grinned.

They had agreed that it could be known Natasha was Peter's aunt, but she couldn't be 'Aunt Natasha' at school. Even if people didn't know the name of the Black Widow, she refused to go undercover without a fake name.

While they waited for the school day to begin, Peter worked on his remaining homework while Natasha printed off assignments.

The classroom filled up slowly at first, then all at once. Peter stuck near the back while Natasha introduced herself to each student. When Ned walked through the door with wide-eyes, she'd merely given him a look and sent him over to join Peter. With hushed whispers, Peter explained why she was there and that no matter what, Ned could not call her Natasha.

"Will she kill me if I do?" Ned whispered in a panic.

"I don't know!" Peter hissed back, "Just don't."

Interrupting their conversation, Natasha drew everyone's attention to the front of the room after the bell rang.

"Welcome, everyone," she said, "I'm Mrs. Workman and will be replacing Mr. Patrick."

A hand shot up in the front.

"Why are you replacing Mr. Patrick?"

She answered vaguely with some excuse about a family emergency, but she made her dislike for the man clear. Unsurprisingly, another hand shot up.

"So you're a permanent teacher now?"

Natasha nodded and he looked at his friend to whisper something. Moving on, she began announcements, starting with what was for lunch in the cafeteria.

* * * * *

At the end of the day, Peter met up with Natasha in her classroom. He waited for a group of seventh-graders to come pouring out of the room but was the entryway was clear, he walked in. There were still three lingering students that were asking Natasha something related to the homework, so Peter waited near the back for her. As soon as they left, Natasha turned to Peter with a smile.

"I'll be ready to go in fifteen minutes," she told him.

Peter nodded and found a desk where he could sit down to begin his homework. He didn't have much, but he was well occupied until Natasha was ready to go. As she locked her door, he quickly finished the last two problems on his math assignment then raced after her.

"Can we get ice cream on the way home?" he asked, still stuffing a book in his backpack.

"As long as you tell me exactly what you thought of me as a teacher and gives me tips for how to do better," Natasha agreed. Peter smiled. He could do that.

"But you're the best teacher ever," he told her. Natasha rolled her eyes and threw her arm around his shoulders.

"I'm sure you could find something I could do better."

Peter turned red and looked at his shoes.

"Well, you could just not give us homework," he suggested and Natasha gave him a look.

"Tips for things I can actually do and still be a teacher," she clarified.

Peter grinned innocently and climbed into the car. At least Aunt Nat was a cool teacher.

The End