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Peter groaned, staring at the permission slip in his hands. His teacher had just announced that Career Day was in two weeks, and that they had to bring in one of their parents. The presentation was apparently a grade, and if they didn’t bring anyone with them the alternative was to write an essay. “Stupid corrupt education system.” Peter thought angrily as he shoved it in his bag and prepared to walk home.
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That night, as May watched the food in the oven closely as not to burn it, she questioned Peter about school.
“It was fine,” he mumbled from his place at the kitchen table where he was doing calculus homework.
“What, that’s it? Nothing new and exciting happen?” May prodded him with a wooden spoon in an attempt to interrogate him. Peter just pointed his pencil at her, “I don’t think it wise to seek conflict, madam,” he clashed the pencil and spoon together, “or you’ll have to face the consequences.”
She gave him a serious look, “Oh really? Face me coward!” Peter quickly rose from his seat, and they circled each other in the small kitchen, making faces at each other. May made a move to jab him in the side with her spoon, but he was too fast. He quickly grabbed the spoon and threw it across the room. “Haha! I have claimed victory again!”
May pouted like a child at his fowl play, “No fair!” The oven beeped behind her and she let out a string of curses, which Peter laughed at.
“Don’t laugh at my distress!” She protested as she took a slightly burnt casserole out of the oven, but couldn’t help laughing herself.
Once Peter had put aside his homework and they began eating, May asked him about school again. “So, before I was challenged a duel, I was asking how school went.”
The teenager sighed, “Well, we got permission slips for Career Day.”
“Oh really, when is it?”
“I think, like, two weeks from now. So it’s a Wednesday.”
“Hm. Doesn’t give us parents much time to organize our schedules. When is the permission slip due?”
“Next Friday, I think.”
“Well, I’ll see what my schedule looks like by then, okay?”
“Okay!”
Peter finished his homework after dinner and put his suit on, kissing May on the cheek before swinging into the night. He had high hopes for this stupid Career Day after all.
------
A week later, May got her work schedule. She frowned as she looked at a string of “request offs’ from her coworker.
“What is it?” Peter peeked over her phone, somewhat anxious.
“It looks like I was called in all this week to cover shifts for my coworker,” she rolled her eyes, “I forgot Melinda had that trip to the Caribbean she’s been talking about for weeks. Guess I have to pick up the slack. I’m sorry baby,” she saw the slightly disappointed look on her nephew’s face, “Guess you have to write that essay after all. I can help you if you want, when I’m not covering for Melinda’s ass, at least.”
Peter sighed, feigning his indifference, “Nah, that’s alright. I can bang out five pages no problem.” May wasn’t so sure though.
“I can call in sick that day if it’s really important--”
“May, I said it’s fine,” he lied, collecting his books from the kitchen table, “I should probably go on patrol.”
“You do that,” May stared guiltily down at her phone as Peter retreated to his room, leaving their tiny apartment to save the citizens of Queens.
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May huffed, looking at her phone in her hands. She decided to make a call.
He picked up on the second ring, “Hey May, what’s up?”
“Hi Tony, I had a question for you.”
“Okay, shoot. Is it about Pete? Did he do something to his suit again?”
“No, no. He’s actually out on patrol right now. I actually wanted to ask you if you were busy next Wednesday.”
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Wednesday of the next week, Peter walked through the doors of the classroom, essay in hand. His fellow classmates were whispering excitedly as they talked about who was coming in for them.
“My mom is a doctor,” said one kid proudly, “She’s a pediatrician.”
“My dad’s a lawyer,” said another, “He handles homicide cases sometimes!”
“My aunt is coming in to talk about what it’s like to be a professional Broadway actress!”
“A professor at The City University of New York!”
“Both my parents are surgeons.”
“My grandpa is gonna talk about his job with the government!”
It seemed that everyone had someone to be proud of, except Peter. Since May wasn’t coming, he didn’t really have anyone. He considered asking his other guardian Tony, but he knew the man was always busy during the day and didn’t want to make him adjust his schedule for him just as he had asked May to.
Ned turned to his friend excitedly. “Who’s coming for you? May or Tony?”
Peter just shook his head, “Neither. May is busy and I didn’t even bother asking Tony. His schedule is always full on weekdays.” It was true. Even months after the world had returned to a somewhat normal state he and the other Avengers were still trying to sort things out. He figured his mentor could miss out on Career Day. No one believed that Peter that he knew him, anyway, so handing in a permission slip with his signature would be passed off as a joke.
Ned gave him a pitiful look, “Well you’re welcome to stick with my mom and I today.”
He smiled. His friend always did his best to make him feel better. “Thanks, Ned.”
“Yeah, loser, my dad’s coming in too, so you can come say hi,” MJ sauntered over, having overheard their conversation, “Sorry your parents can’t come.”
Peter went to give a grateful reply when he heard a voice behind him, “Hey Penis! Who’s coming in for you? Your mom?”
Peter just scowled at Flash, while Ned looked at him with disgust, “Seriously, Flash? That’s low, even for you.” Everyone knew Peter was an orphan, so it was a low-cut insult.
“Whatever. See ya later, Parker.” The bully quickly retreated to his seat as MJ took a step towards him, shielding himself behind a crowd of his friends.
First period was spent finishing up their presentations. Peter handed in his essay and helped Ned organize his powerpoint. Soon, the bell rang to signal second, and parents began to trickle in slowly.
Peter stayed with Ned and his mom as they waited for everyone to come in. He was enthralled in a conversation with them about biomechanics before the room went deathly quiet.
Peter’s spidey sense went off and he tore away from his conversation to see why everyone had stopped talking.
And there, standing in the doorway, was Tony Stark.
He spotted Peter and immediately crossed the room towards him, “Hey kiddo!” He ruffled his hair and the teenager blushed. He didn’t like it when he did that in public, especially when everyone was watching them intently. “What’s with you not telling your old man about stuff like this, huh?” His teacher stuttered, “Um, Mr. Stark? Do you have a permission slip? I don’t believe Peter turned his in.” She smiled, trying but failing to act professional.
“Yes I do, actually,” he produced a half sheet of paper and handed it to her. She took it before collecting herself.
“Alright! Let’s all find our seats, then,” she clapped her hands together as everyone found their spots.
“I thought you were busy all week?” Peter questioned quietly as they sat down. Tony shrugged “today was all boring meetings and whatnot. Pep gave me permission, since I haven’t seen you a lot lately.” He grinned, and Peter rolled his eyes but smiled.
They began to go through each presentation, the student and their guest standing up to talk about whatever it was they did for a living. Peter tried to pay attention, he really did, but was struck with the realization that he didn’t have anything to present. As if reading his mind however, Tony just nudged him in the shoulder, “I brought a little something to present, don’t worry.”
At that Peter relaxed, quietly voicing his thanks as he focused on the presentations at hand. As hard as he concentrated on the people at the front of the room, however, people kept glancing back at him and Tony. He wished he could just vanish right then and there.
Eventually, it was their turn. “This is uh. . .my um, my dad-- erm, mentor, Tony Stark. He’s the owner of Stark Industries and is also the Avenger known as Iron Man.” Peter swallowed nervously as people began to clap before Tony spoke, quiet murmurs about Peter’s little slip-up. He smiled his best camera smile and stepped forward.
“Thank you, Peter. Now, I’m sure you’ve all heard of Iron Man, that’s the exciting stuff-- but what about this?” He held up a phone, displaying it to the class, “This is the newest model of the Stark Phone to date. It’s pretty, yes, but what’s more important is what’s on the inside.” He pried off the back off the back of the phone to reveal it’s inner workings, “This phone contains one of the most efficient batteries in the western world. You can go days without charging it. Its inspiration was somewhat drawn from the self-sufficient arc reactor technology that powers the Avenger’s compound and Stark Tower. . .”
He continued on, talking about Stark Industries for a couple of minutes before moving onto the Avengers Initiative. His audience hung on every word, laughing at his jokes and clapping when it was appropriate. Peter couldn’t help but smile as he watched his father-figure enthusiastically talk about batteries and internship programs. He never met anyone in his life that could make such trivial topics sound so interesting.
“This,” he started, “Is a portable Iron Man gauntlet. Pete, will you do the honors?” Peter punched in the four-digit code on Tony’s watch that unfurled a gauntlet, the crowd ‘oo’ing as the nanotech did its work. “De-weaponized, of course,” Flashing a smiled towards their teacher as the audience chuckled.
“The nanotech used in this is used for a few of the iron suits. My suit, Rescue and Spider-Man all have this tech incorporated into theirs.”
Abe raised his hand, and Tony pointed at him “Yes? You are. . .”
“Abe.”
“Abe! Good man. What’s your question?”
“What was the most challenging suit you’ve ever had to build?” It was a good question, Peter thought.
“Well, Abe, if I’m being honest here the most difficult suit I’ve ever had to build was Spider-Man’s,” he leaned on the desk, crossing his arms, “Do you know how difficult it is to work with spandex?” That earned him some laughs.
Flash raised his hand and Tony called on him. Peter internally groaned.
“Does Peter really work for you?”
Tony raised his eyebrows at that, and glanced at Peter. “Well, yes, I thought that much was obvious. Though, he doesn’t really work for me, per say, more alongside me. As the heir to Stark Industries he needs to know the trade.”
At that statement the class stared at Peter in awe before they started asking questions all at once. Peter was taken aback for a moment, having no idea that this was Tony’s plan for his future. Many of the parents were in shock as well, but they spent more time trying to get their teenagers to be quiet then asking questions.
“What?? Pen--Peter wasn’t lying this whole time?”
“The heir?? Since when?”
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!” Ned was at the back of the classroom, smiling wide at his friend. Peter looked at Tony for guidance, who seemed to be very much enjoying the chaos he had set in motion. He smiled down at Peter before urging him to sit back down.
“Okay!! Thank you Peter and Mr. Stark!” The teacher tried desperately to gain the class’s attention again, but it was in vain. Even as other presentations continued on, the murmurs continued as people were staring at them, not even trying to hide the fact that none of them were paying attention. Even some of the adults snuck glances behind them. Peter just sank lower and lower in his seat, Tony watching him, amused.
Eventually, it was the end of the half-day they had. Peter’s teacher had let him have points for the essay as extra credit, though his grade didn’t really need it. As they exited the building, it became apparent that someone had posted something on social media at one point during the day. Tony with one arm wrapped around Peter’s shoulder, they were suddenly bombarded by a crowd of paparazzi trying to get their attention. They asked so many questions it made Peter’s head spin, and he felt the beginnings of a headache at the flash of the cameras and the reporters’ desperate attempts to interview them. Tony held him close and steered him to a black car where Happy was waiting.
They entered the car, Tony cackling as Peter looked horrified. “What just happened?”
“That, kid, is what my life is like on a daily basis. You’d better get used to it,” He pointed out the window at his classmates and their guests, talking to some of the news reporters.
Peter groaned and fell back on the seat as Happy tried to drive through the sea of photographers. “Why did you have to do that?”
“What? Announce my heir to the world? Good question,” Tony furrowed his brow. “That kid sounded like he was instigating trouble. It just kind of slipped out.”
Peter raised his eyebrow. Things do not just ‘slip out’ with Tony Stark. Save the time he announced himself as Iron Man.
“Okay, okay, so I might have planned on it. But you have to admit,” Tony began to laugh, “The look on his face was hilarious.” Peter hesitated, but began to laugh as well, “Yeah, I guess it was pretty funny.”
Tony stopped laughing abruptly, “Seriously, though,” he gave him a pointed look, “That kid doesn’t bother you, does he?”
The teen shrugged, “I mean, sort of, but nothing I can’t handle.”
“Peter. . .”
“No, really!” He said quickly, “I’d rather him pick on me then someone who can’t deal with it. He never gets physical, just a lot of stupid name calling. At most he’s just a mild annoyance.”
“Peter, you tell me about this stuff, okay?” He hesitated.
“Peter!”
“Okay, okay, I promise!”
“Good. Hap, let’s go grab some lunch.”
“You got it, boss.”
For a while, silence filled the car as they drove to get pizza.
“Hey Tony?”
“Yeah, bud?”
“Thanks for today.”
Tony grinned, “No problem, kid.”
Peter smiled against the window. His own personal superhero, and not because he was Iron Man.
------
The next day, Peter stayed home at the tower to avoid the press.
“Tony Stark’s Illegitimate Son?” and “Heir to Stark Industries Announced at local STEM School in Queens” decorated the headlines that morning.
Tony confirmed all of the rumors to be true, much to Pepper’s dismay, but even she couldn’t help the smile on her lips as she watched him show Peter off to the world.