Work Text:
Peter’s sophomore year was finally done. After all the events of the past year, including the “Snap” and everyone returning, Peter was ready for anything that normalized his life. Now that school was over, he was able to spend more time in the lab, where his research kept his mind occupied.
More accurately, all the Labs. Tony had made the mistake of having Peter look over a few projects on the main floor, while he was in China for a business meeting. By the time he had returned, the Project Managers were demanding Peter’s help on all their projects. Some it was just a simple technical detail, that would strengthen, or lighten, or something else to improve the function. Mostly it was the infectious sense of achieving the impossible. It didn’t hurt that the sixteen-year-old was already better at chemistry that most of the PhD’s hired here, or that he had an innate sense of material composition and relative strength and weakness. And an IQ that was in the range of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner helped a bit too. Without even trying, Peter had the entire workforce wrapped around his little pinky.
The Stark Tower was once again a headquarters and production building. Not for the Avengers anymore, although they could frequently be found here. Research and Development had taken over. The almost unlimited energy and extensive computing power proved too valuable. That and the fact that every buyer had backed away, due to the insane cost of insuring the ARC reactor. The only other reactor had exploded and killed a man. When every potential buyer figured the cost of either operating or removing the ARC reactor, the deal always fell through.
The computing power alone was leap years ahead of even the best super-computers available at any university. The raw energy used by many of the experiments and projects would have darkened a small city. Here, they were essentially off the grid.
In the two weeks Tony and Pepper were in China, overall efficiency was up twelve percent. If the company would have democratic, Peter would have been elected CEO by almost an almost unanimous margin.
Peter had never worked so hard as he did those two weeks. Six am start every morning, often not finishing until after midnight. He was seemingly everywhere and was always on top of every project he was told about. His energy level alone was making everyone else work harder. Any time in the elevator was used to study what was being developed on the next floor. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner was food surrounded by technical manuals. His only breaks were to reinvigorate himself by disappearing out of the building, and web-slinging around Queens.
Peter had never had so much fun.
He thought it would all come to a crashing halt when Tony and Pepper returned. Less than an hour after their return, however, the glowing reports from everyone, including Friday, convinced them to plan a well-deserved vacation.
“Hey, Underroos, I’m impressed. The building hasn’t blown up or anything,” Tony said.
“Peter,” Pepper added, “We have been getting reports of course while we were gone. What you have done is fantastic. I am very impressed how you have handled some of the technical people down on the floor. I have to admit, Tony is much better with that than I am.”
“You have to cut me a little slack, Honey. It only because you’re better at dealing with every other single person on the planet than me.”
“Well,” Pepper continued, “Peter seems better than both of us. Even housekeeping has shown a twenty-two percent improvement. That’s something neither of us could do.”
Tony stroked his goatee, “It is a small sample, however. Pep, do we have any projects due for a roll out any time soon?”
“No,” Pepper replied, “the next rollout is in eight weeks, on the StarkPhone II.”
Peter had been watching the exchange like a front row observer at a tennis match. Now he shook his head, “Um, more like six weeks.”
Pepper shook her head, “No, we couldn’t do it until the middle of August.”
“Um, we were able to eliminate the bottleneck in the supply chain, and production can begin at least two weeks earlier, with increased capacity of production.”
Pepper stared at him, “That’s not possible. We’ve had a major problem developing and getting the improved chip-sets. They won’t even start production until August 1st.”
Peter stared at his shoes, “Well, Suri, T’Challa’s sister, had an improved version of the same chip-set, but didn’t have our bus connectors that allowed for allocated flow regulation. The phones will be twenty percent faster with their chips, and they have been in production for three months already. The first shipments should arrive next Tuesday.”
“Well done Peter!” Pepper beamed. “A delay in the roll-out of the new phone would have cost millions. Tony, you should give him a raise!”
“That’s easily enough done. Kid, your salary is doubled.”
“But, Mr. Stark. I’m not. Oh. You’re right, that was easy. Double nothing is still nothing.”
Tony turned to Pepper, “And this was with the adults being gone only two weeks. Imagine what he could do full time! I think it’s about time you had that vacation I have been promising you.”
Just like that, Peter was left in charge.
It wasn’t all work. May was over frequently to have dinner with Peter. She had been granted her own visitor’s room to be near Peter. Ned and MJ were frequent guests. Ned almost went into apoplexy the first time he met an Avenger up close. Even MJ was intimidated when the Black Widow was in the room. MJ summed it up as the total ability to be as graceful as a woman, but as deadly as any man. Thor brought both of them to silence, but he did have ability with mere mortals.
Tony and Pepper were ecstatic with how well Peter had done. Both of them, but Tony in particular looked refreshed and better than usual. But even though Peter had been very useful, the Operations of a billion dollar company needed someone to manage the contracts, deals, and any other issues that routinely appeared. As much fun as Peter was having, it all had to come to a stop when school started back up. Peter could honestly say he was looking forward to the Decathlon team, but little else was as exciting as his summer life.
It turned bad on the first day back in school. Flash saw the StarkPhone II that Peter was texting May with. He reached over and grabbed it. “What’s this? Penis Parker got himself a new phone? I haven’t even got one of these yet. Who’d you have to blow to get this, Penis?”
Peter had stood up and turned toward Flash, but he couldn’t use any of his abilities to get the phone back, not without possibly giving away his other identity.
MJ was the first to express her outrage, “Flash, quit being a dick, give the phone back.”
Ned found his tongue, “That’s not yours!”
Flash grinned, “It is now, you dweebs, possession is ninety percent of the law.” With that he turned and walked away.
MJ and Ned hollered at Flash’s retreating back. Finally MJ turned back to Peter, “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“It’s only a phone,” he answered, but his voice conveyed a sadness that proved his words a lie.
The following Saturday was another day at Stark Tower. One big difference was that Peter was called into Tony’s lab shortly after arriving. In the lab were Tony, Pepper, and Clint.
Tony motioned for Peter to take a chair. “Kid, I got a question for you. I think I know part of the answer, but I can’t quite figure it all out. You know I routinely measure your bio-metrics, if only because you seem to routinely get yourself into more trouble than any three super heroes. When you spike readings, Friday, thru Karen, automatically records what’s going on.”
Peter started to squirm in his chair, anticipating what might be coming.
“This was a bad week for you, I’m sorry that school is such a bummer, I can promise it won’t always be, although, for you, maybe a little, as long as you’re smarter than your teachers.” Tony waved away that thought. “Anyway, we saw some interactions with you and this Flash kid. Why do you let him bully you?”
Peter was looking down, “You wouldn’t understand.”
Clint said, “Try us kiddo.”
“Were any of you ever bullied?” the question came out almost in tears. “Mr. Stark, you were rich, Pepper, I don’t know, maybe, but Clint, you don’t strike me as the bullied type. I’ve always been bullied, I was always smaller and weaker than the others. I’ve always been a target.”
“But you’re not anymore,” Clint said. “You’re Spiderman, you could mop up the floor with twenty Flash’s”
“Oh? How do I, after being picked on for years, suddenly develop the ability to beat my bullies up? And if I do, what happens then? Do they figure out who I am? Who do the bullies pick on then, somebody even weaker than I look? Someone without a healing factor? Someone who can’t recover from a punch or a kick? Or do I just beat up all the bullies and become one myself?” Peter’s words were flooding out of him now. “Sometimes I can protect others by stopping the bad guy, as Spiderman, but Peter Parker can only stand in for others that would have gotten hurt even more.”
All three adults looked at the young man that had just taught them something. Tears were in Pepper’s eyes and she openly dabbed them away. Even the two tough super-heroes were caught in the emotion of the moment.
Pepper sniffed into her hanky and looked back at Peter, “I, we didn’t realize. I am so sorry Peter, I never understood.”
“There’s got to be something we can do,” Clint exclaimed.
Tony softly said, “Underroos is right, how could he explain suddenly being better than any bully. And you’re wrong, kiddo, I have been bullied, but not like you think. This still drives me crazy, but I respect what you’re doing. It’s reminds me of what the good Captain would do, which is why I’ll never understand it.”
Pepper brought her head up sharply, “It doesn’t mean others can’t fight Peter’s battle for him! Thank you, Peter, for coming to talk to us. We have some work to do. Why don’t you head back to your lab?”
Peter went back to his lab with a huge sense of dread.
The following Monday, it was announced that the winning Decathlon team was getting an invitation and tour of the Stark Tower. Peter was mortified. The team would leave Friday morning and spend the day reviewing the capabilities of the Tower and the people in it. The entire school buzzed with excitement, several dozen people attempted to get onto the team, only to be told that the invitations were for the previous year’s winning team.
Several classes had homework specifically about the Stark Tower, the Avengers, the Accords, or any of the projects known to have been developed by the Stark team.
By the time Friday rolled around, Peter had given up the thought of pretending to be sick, he really was sick, full of dread at a what was going to happen. Only Ned and MJ really believed he interned at Stark. Flash had sown the seed of doubt to everyone else for over a year. He didn’t have much of a choice, however. All week long, Flash had kept up a running commentary of how Peter was going to shown to be a liar after all this time. That no one would even recognize him. That he had probably never even set foot in the Tower to begin with. Peter couldn’t back down now. Flash had made it impossible.
Mr. Harrington, their Decathlon advisor was of course going with them. The other was a surprise, Principal Morita exercised his power and decided all the teachers were necessary for their classes and only he could be spared.
The bus ride over was the longest of Peter’s life. He couldn’t even hear Ned gushing about being in the holiest spot on the planet. Even though Ned had been to the tower, he had never been granted a tour of the facility. Even MJ looked a little excited, but it was hard to tell.
She didn’t sound any different. “Hey loser, did someone steal your puppy? Seriously, nerd, you look like you’re ready to hurl. Make sure you send it Ned’s way, it’ll make a great picture for the yearbook.”
Ned didn’t even notice, he was simultaneously counting down the streets as they passed and commenting on who and what he might see inside. Running all his words together, it didn’t make much sense.
When the bus pulled up in front of the Stark Tower, they were met by one of the Senior Tour Guides, as this wasn’t the only tour the tower ever had. Peter made sure he was the last one off the bus and tried very hard to stay behind everyone.
The guide’s name badge read Sarah, and she waved them all into a group. She was busy welcoming them all here, and she was trying to explain the color coding for the badges she was handed out. “You are all very lucky, your tour today will be seeing things very few outsiders ever see. You have been granted Yellow access, which very few people have ever had, that aren’t a Stark employee. You can see that I have a Yellow badge too.
Mr. Harrington asked the obvious, “Miss, if I can ask, what are the color codes, or what order?”
“Good question,” Sarah answered. “Most visitors can only get a white badge, which gives access to the lower two floors and gift shop. A few can get a red badge, which allows access to some meeting rooms and video conference areas. Your yellow badges allow you access to non-active labs, mostly for safety reasons, and the production areas. The Green badges you may see are for senior staff and production leads, such as designers and programmers. The highest level is Blue and those are restricted to those who have access to the living compartments of the Avengers and Mr. Stark’s private labs. Not even our Manager’s have a Blue clearance. None of the employees down here have ever been to the top of the Tower.
“Hey Penis,” Flash started, “is this your first time actually inside the building?”
Sarah started handing out the ID badges. “Each badge will give your location at all times and is specific to you alone. You cannot trade badges. Please keep it with you at all times.”
Standing next to Peter, Flash got the last one. “Aww, sorry Penis, it looks like you don’t get to go inside today either.”
Sarah looked at Flash then turned to Peter, “Peter, your biometrics will of course activate whatever you need, it’s good to see you again Peter.” She turned to look at Flash again, and then stepped back in front of the entire group. “After we enter through security, we will have a group tour of the lower levels, the group will be broken up into smaller groups, each with a higher-level guide for the upper levels. Please stay with your group.
What Sarah was saying was only tangentially caught by the students and teachers alike. Like most of the student body, the Decathlon team had their doubts to Peter’s actual participation in a Stark Internship. For the first time, it actually looked to be true. As hidden as possible, Mr. Harrington slipped a Ten Dollar bill into the hand of Mr. Morita.
Sarah led the way through the security check-point. As she stepped through the device it read off her name and access color. Mr. Morita followed and everyone formed a line behind him. Peter was the last go through. When he went through, the machine announced, “Peter Parker, Access Blue, Welcome back Peter.” The color of Peter’s face was anything but blue.
Even Flash was quiet for a second, before he questioned if the janitor for the upper levels would have a Blue Card too.
Mr. Harrington slipped another ten dollars to Mr. Morita.
After the first fifteen minutes, it was almost embarrassing how many people had stopped to say hello to Peter. It was obvious to even Flash that Parker was well known, and worse yet, well liked.
They went through several labs and saw a production run on the StarkPhone II. At the end of the run, they were all given a new phone, except for Flash, who the sensors noted already had one with him. He really couldn’t complain at that point.
Then something really surprising happened. Several Avengers appeared and started breaking up the group into smaller parties. Finally, the last four remaining were Peter, Ned, MJ, and surprisingly, Flash. Pepper Potts asked MJ to follow her, Peter went off with Bruce Banner, Tony took charge of Ned, and Clint took a hold of Flash. Before they separated, Tony looked down at Flash, “I really wanted to do your part of the tour, but Clint beat me fair and square. Although It wasn’t my best idea, playing darts with a guy named Hawkeye, he had twenty Bullseyes in a row! Oh, well, it’s time me and Zed here had a talk anyway.” He turned and escorted Ned out of the room.
Peter was very nervous now as he and Bruce headed toward a lab. He asked Bruce, “What’s happening?”
“Several of your classmates have been identified for special treatment. Think about it, they are some of the smartest kids around, Tony, or actually Pepper, would be a fool not to encourage some activity out of them, sort of what he gets from you. Don’t worry, nothing will happen to them, I think. Though, I’m not really positive about Clint, but he did promise to be nice.”
“OHGODOHGODOHGOD,” was all Peter could say.
“Hey, I’ve got some work for us, and since we have a bit of free time…” Bruce soon had Peter distracted by another interesting problem in the lab.
Tony escorted Ned down to a main computer Nexus. In here, you could see the energy flowing through the air from the connections of Friday. “Wow,” was all that Ned could get out. In the liquid crystal screen surrounding the room, Ned could actually see the interactions between the various processors that made up the AI in front of him.
“Okay, Zed,” Tony said, “We need to talk. Or I need to talk, you need to listen. Any twelve-year-old that can hack into my systems has some mad skills. I need fresh eyes that can look for things others might be to regimented to see. I need to you to start as an Intern with our computing department. Same deal as Pete, or almost. I know you’re his Man-in the-chair, whatever that is, and I think you could help even more here.”
Ned looked like he was either going to explode, combust or start crying, but not a word came out. This was beyond even his wildest dreams, and Tony Stark talking to him!
“A yes might be nice, I will be confirming with your parents, but it would be nice if you actually responded.”
Ned nodded, and nodded, and didn’t stop nodding until the next morning.
Pepper took MJ into a conference room. On the screen above them was some of the social media posts that MJ had done over the past year.
“We are impressed with the depth and insight of your blogs,” Pepper began. “For someone of your age, you show a remarkable grasp of political awareness. Part of the reason for this tour was to meet and greet these outstanding minds of your generation. We would be fools to not look ahead and try and help develop those minds now.”
“So, are you offering me an internship like Peter?” MJ asked.
“Slightly different, but along the same lines. Your skill set is quite different from his, and your viewpoint is refreshingly pointed, which gives a nice counter-point to some of our staff. We need someone to help write and develop the Stark communication for the future. We want opposing viewpoints, from many sides, because only then can we be sure we are looking at the problem from all sides. You, and others like you, will become the conscious of Stark Industries, helping direct our path in the future. We need viewpoints like yours to help direct the best efforts of the company, helping to choose the proper language to our company statements, contracts, and directives, and avoiding "lawyer speak" to help the people left behind by everyone else. Stark Industries is really trying to be a force for good in the world today.”
“Look, Ms. Potts is it? I really would have like to talked to Tony Stark. I had a lot I wanted to say to him. I can’t work for anyone that puts Peter in danger.” MJ held u a hand. “OH-Don’t even try it. I know. I’ve known for a long time. You can’t go from nerd to hottie overnight, and a hundred other small inconsistencies that is Peter Parker. He doesn’t know I know, and you can’t tell him. But how dare you put him in such danger!”
“How did you find out?’
“I’m observant, okay? All of a sudden, he doesn’t need glasses? Spider-man shows up in DC when the Decathlon team is there. I can often still detect a bruise on Monday morning, but by lunch it’s gone. Every time I see a report that Spider-man has helped police, or saved someone from a fire, or stopped a robbery, Peter is exhausted the next morning, like he doesn’t get enough sleep. I think I can give you his schedule for the last year, when he was out on patrol. When he thinks no one else is around, he becomes amazingly agile, catching something behind him Ned has thrown. And, if you whisper his name, a hallway away, you can see his head come up to try and localize the sound. And don’t forget Spider-man got a better suit shortly after Peter got an internship at Stark Industries.” MJ’s eyes glared at Pepper, almost daring her to argue.
Pepper looked almost motherly, “If you think you know something about Peter, then you probably also know why. I can’t think of anyone who has a better soul than that boy. Tony is not trying to put him in danger but trying to keep him safe. It’s hard, because he seems to have a unique ability to find an extraordinary amount of trouble.”
“I know, I see the bruises, he doesn’t think anyone does, but I do. Even he can’t fall down the stairs that many times. You’ve got to keep him safe.”
“That’s what we want to do. Look, everyone in this building loves Peter, and only a select few know about his “other” job, but even those that do would lay it on the line for him. But those of us that know about him, know that he was doing his other job before Tony intervened and would still do it without his help. Peter has an ability to wrap himself around others, with his caring, his smile, his brains. I’ve even seen Loki laugh and smile with him, and he’s done more to make Tony grow up than I ever thought possible. Remember, part of our job here is to create press favorable to heroes like Spider-man, which I’ve seen in your blogs. Come help us make a difference.”
“I want to be angry. I had a whole litany of things to say. I wanted to holler at Tony Stark. I want to help Peter.”
Pepper looked into MJ’s eyes, “We all want to help Peter.”
“But working here, it’s the antipathy to everything I am. What if I disagree with the establishment?”
“I expect you to. I want you to look out for the people others are missing. I expect you to strongly advocate for those left behind. You may not win every case, but you will make a difference. Even a small change in policy can affect many. You know how powerful the word is, or at least the right word, at the right time can be. Stark Industries has changed, and is changing more. Help us move in the right direction.”
“I can’t believe I’m selling out to the empire. But, "The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart.” (1)
In another room, Clint was sitting across from Flash. Monitors were in play here also. These were showing some of the low points of Flash’s week. The bullying, petty theft, or grand theft in the stealing of Peter’s phone. The audio that perfectly captured him lying to his parents, his teachers, and his so-called friends. Flash was squirming. He had never expected to be called out or caught in any of his activities. He was above reproach, but not here, and not now.
Clint had been fidgeting with his arrowheads as the video played. He set them back into his quiver and laid it carefully on the table behind him.
Clint finally had something to say. “Maybe you finally see how much we appreciate Peter around here. More so than some little weasel. We have plans for him. We could as easily have plans for you too. Remember, Tony Stark is a Major contributor to almost every Ivy League School, and dozens of others. Not only in cash, but with Stark technology. So, if you want to go to any college other than Siberia PolyTechnic, I would seriously reconsider your current activities, they are not serving you well. I can personally guarantee you that any further actions against ANYONE like we’ve seen you do, and every single door will be closed to you. Do we understand one another?”
All Flash could do was nod, and he didn’t stop nodding until the next morning too.
As the tour wound down, the groups were reunited. Sarah was waiting for them in the lobby. As each student came through the security checkpoint, the machine again read off their name and badge. This time there was one difference, as Flash went through the device, it said, “Flash Thompson, Yellow Access. Improper registration for Sim card noted in StarkPhone. Deactivating Device.”
Proving once again that not much slips past the teachers, Mr. Harrington slipped another ten dollars into the hand of a smiling Mr. Morita.
Peter knew what that meant. His old phone was dead. Everyone on the tour had been given new phones except Flash, who was now the only one without a phone. Poor Flash. Peter could not restrain a smile. It had turned out to be a pretty good day.
(1.) The “intertitle” for the 1927 movie Metropolis, which had a glowing, workers vs. leaders message. Of course MJ would have loved a movie like that!