Chapter Text
As the elevator rose slowly to the 98th floor, Riri Williams couldn’t help but smile. All of Peter’s classmates were chattering excitedly, probably expecting to meet Pepper Potts, and maybe Iron Man. Little did they know, they were going to meet all of the Avengers. It was going to be brilliant.
“This is floor 98!” she said, “I’ve never actual been up here, but because of Peter’s Level 10 clearance, we’re all allowed up.”
They walked in to the conference room, which was entirely empty. The students looked around, confused, at the table, chairs, and blank walls. Or, well, most of them did. Peter, Ned, and MJ, as well as a student Riri remembers is Betty Brant, were all just waiting. Clearly the Avengers had some kind of grand entrance planned.
Clint Barton dropped from the ceiling.
The crowd gasped, and one girl, Cindy Moon, screamed.
Clint grinned at them, and waved.
“Hey! Sorry, but it’ll be a few minutes before everyone else arrives. Feel free to sit down and make yourselves comfortable.”
With that, he walked over to Peter, ruffling his hair with one hand, and started up a conversation with him. They moved to take their seats. Flash Thompson shoved his way right up to the front.
They waited for a few minutes - just enough time for everyone to calm down - and just as Riri had been about to tell everyone the other Avengers probably weren’t going to arrive, Wanda, Pepper, Tony, Vision, and every other Avenger that could fly landed on the balcony. Cap slammed the door from the hallway open, and soon every Avenger (except Spiderman, of course) found themselves inside the Conference Room.
Tony practically had to scream to get the chattering students to go silent, but once he did, they all gave him their complete attention. He had a way of drawing people’s eyes to him.
“So, hi, uh…” he started, then looked at Pepper, confused. She whispered something in his ear.
“Midtown Science and Technology!” he continued triumphantly.
Steve rolled his eyes and stepped forward, smiling.
“We thought, since you’ve got some very special people in your class, we’d give you guys a chance to meet us, ask questions, and all that sh-crap”.
He barely kept himself from swearing, but that near save didn’t stop the others, even Bucky, yelling all at once.
“LANGUAGE!”
The other teens looked thoroughly confused, and none of them moved until Natasha waved an impatient hand for questions. Cindy (the girl who had screamed earlier) was surprisingly the first to raise her hand. Tony pointed at her with a grin.
“Are those rumors about Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye and Spiderman look-alikes true? And if so, are you working with them?”
Thor answered this question, voice booming, and Loki sighed loudly from his place behind his brother.
“Some are true - no Spiderlings, however, and no one can match me!” The God laughed.
Riri thought she heard Cindy murmur something about 'Silk' being a cool Spiderman inspired superhero name.
Several more questions went by, asking about the lives and work of the Avengers, and Riri noticed those who answered the questions - mainly Steve, Wanda, Thor, Bruce, and Vision - were incredibly careful when it came to discussing Spiderman, about whom many questions were asked.
After a while, Betty Brant raised her hand, and Tony simply smiled at her to let her know she could speak.
“Are there likely to be any openings for High School Internship spots anytime soon?” she asked.
“Actually, yes, that’s part of the reason we brought you here today - three Midtown students are be considered, as well as the three who already work here. But you have to be very special to get an internship,” Pepper responded, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Most of the class nodded, but Eugene Thompson seemed to be struggling to contain his anger. It only took two more questions before he blew, speaking out of turn.
“Why did you choose Parker for an internship here? He’s not that special!” he said bitterly.
Tony, who had been mostly silent, responded immediately, tone sharp.
“ Peter is an intern here because he is highly intelligent, kind, and innovative. Not only that, he works incredibly well in teams, and offers a new perspective to many of the problems we address with our technology at Stark Industries. He is also a personal friend of Spiderman,” he stopped for a breath, “Don’t act like you’re anything special. Your name’s Eugene, right? Well, I can tell you right now that we never even considered you for a place here.”
Riri knew that was a lie - Eugene had been a candidate - but she supposed it wasn’t that far off. After all, he certainly wasn’t getting the position after this ridiculous stunt. He’d barely been considered in the first place, after what Eugene had done to Peter, but his good grades kept him in the running. Revenge was a dish best served cold, she thought.
And, it looked like they were about to get their revenge. Steve turned to Flash with a vicious smile on his face.
“And we don’t tolerate bullying. So you wouldn’t have got in, anyways. We don’t accept it from guests, either, actually.”
Natasha continued on from her friend’s statement with a cold stare