Archive of Our Own

In retrospect, it should have been oblivious that this would happen at some point.

After all, has Parker luck (TM) ever passed up an opportunity to make Peter’s life miserable?

So when everything's said and done, even if Peter was swearing 80 words per minute in his head, he was not all that surprised when Mr Harrington put the permission slip on his table along with some NDAs. There, on the top of the note, in proud Arial font stood the words Permission Slip for Field trip to Stark Industries .

Feeling numb inside, Peter picked it up and stared at the paper, as if staring at it long enough would make it cease to exist. He barely noticed Ned gushing about the trip on his left even as the boy tried to get his attention by pulling his sleeve.

What finally got Peter out of his head was the slight buzzing at the back of his skull, the type of buzzing that was saved only for Flash and his goons. And no more than two seconds later Flash slammed his hand on Peter’s desk, demanding attention.

“So, are you finally ready to come out about lying? Or are you going to wait until you are proven wrong on Friday?” Flash was smirking like Christmas came early. Peter didn’t answer. It wasn’t like anything he said would make Flash go away or convince him about the internship (that he actually did have now, thankyouverymuch) being real.

“Answer when I am talking to you, Penis.” Flash kicked Peter’s chair in an effort of making him fall down. He didn’t kick hard enough to budge the chair, not to even mention topping it, but Peter made a displeased grunt. Not because it hurt, but to not aggravate Flash further. Flash hummed and went away before Mr Harrington could tell him off. Mr Harrington wasn’t as strict with Flash as he was with others, but he did tell him off during classes if Flash’s antics disturbed the class too much or if it was getting out of hand.

“Peter, are you okay?” Ned’s quiet whisper would have been almost impossible to hear if not for Peter’s enhanced hearing ability. His best friend's concerned tone made Peter’s chest swell up - he truly had the best possible person for a friend.

“Yeah, Flash is just being, well, Flash,” he whispered back, careful to not be seen by the teacher. Harrington would not shy away from telling Peter off since he wasn’t the one whose parents were loaded.

Ned seemed somewhat reassured and his eyes started to shine in excitement again. “Dude, this trip is going to be totally sick . I mean, it’s Avengers tower!” Peter couldn’t help but chuckle at Ned’s barely contained voice. He himself wasn’t all that exited for the trip, but Ned deserved to feel happy about it.

“You have been there already and I can take you there anytime, so why the sudden interest?” he teased. Ned merely rolled his eyes, which gave the “it’s the Avengers tower dude, I will never not be exited to go” message through pretty well. Peter chuckled again.

The two began to converse at silent for the rest of the lesson - Mr Harrington apparently noticed, but then again, half the class was talking about the field trip at that point so any attempts at silencing the class were doomed anyway - and Peter’s anxiety creeped back up. He couldn’t help the cold sweat surfacing on his back at the mere thought of what’s to come.

~~~

“Auntie, can’t I just stay home?”

And May truly did seem conflicted. She knew that Peter didn’t really get anything out of the trip and he would also be at risk of revealing some of his secrets. But-

“You really can’t afford to have any more absences, Peter.”

Peter sighed. His aunt was right, with Spidermanning and the internship Peter was basically at constant risk of failing from merely being absent too much, so he really couldn’t afford to miss the trip. 

“Do you think Tony and others won’t be too bad,” he said after a silent moment. Peter and May both knew that being embarrassed on the field trip wasn’t the main issue here, it was just the easier problem to discuss. The main issue would be Spiderman’s identity being revealed since even if they were planning on revealing it as soon as Peter turned 18 - old enough to sign the accords - it was by no means desired for his identity to get out just yet.

May cracked a smile at that. “You know nothing will get them off your back, they care a bit too much about you and trouble for that.”

Peter sighed again. Without another word he gave the cursed permission slip to May who signed it as wordlessly. The signature itself seemed mocking to Peter.

~~~

“Mr Parker, if you would stay behind for a minute after class?”

Peter raised his gaze to meet Mr Harrington’s. Others were rushing out of class, Ned along with them after saying a hasty goodbye, and Peter really couldn’t for the life of his come up with a reason why Harrington would need to talk to him after class - he had even remembered to turn in the permission slip today (day before the trip wasn’t great but Peter tried).

“Yes, Mr Harrington?” 

The older man seemed uncomfortable, like he really didn’t want to have the conversation he was about to start. Eventually, after Peter had counted 30 anxious heartbeats, he opened his mouth again.

“It’s about your internship at the Stark Industries.” Peter felt his heart skip a beat. He could basically taste what was about to come next. “Now, I know that you are smart enough for Stark Industries, I’m not doubting your abilities. But to even apply for an internship you have to be at least in college, preferably at least a year in, and have a schedule that allows you to work at least 20 hours a week and you don’t fill either of the requirements.”

The silence hung in the air, neither needing to end the thought train. Peter could feel his mouth dry.

“Sir, I can assure you I indeed have an internship at Stark Industries. And-” Peter gulped and took a steadying breath. “I believe the school has been given all the necessary documents to prove it.”

Mr Harrington looked uneasy. 

“Yes, and that’s why I want to give you the benefit of the doubt. Given the forms, it indeed looks like you have the internship, but given the requirement for applying the school believes that it’s possible you have forged the documents. So that’s why I decided to ask for another form of proof that you have the internship.”

Peter felt his brain struggle for air. He didn’t know what the other form of proof could even be. Was there even another possible form of proof?

“I really wouldn’t even need to ask for this, but since we are going on the field trip there, it would reflect very badly on our school to not have this cleared up before then.”

Barely hearing the other man’s words Peter reached for his phone. His fingers basically flew across the screen as he texted Tony.

To Mr Stark

Mr Stark, the school requires another form of proof that I have the internship what do I do?

Grinching at how childish he sounded, Peter prayed with all his heart that Tony would answer. His prayers were answered with a ding of his phone.

From Mr Stark

Didn’t we already send over the necessary documents? I'll ask Pep

To Mr Stark

you sent the documents no need to bother Pepper

From Mr Stark

Why is she Pepper, but I’m stuck with Mr???

To Mr Stark

I’m showing respect

JK

it annoys you

From Mr Stark

Remind me why I care about you again?

Pep says that we can came down there

Wait like 45 minutes

Well that got out of hand.

Peter messaged back frantically that it was not necessary but Tony didn’t answer anymore. Peter breathed deeply to calm down and looked at his teacher who seemed rather put off by his texting. It seemed fair to fill him in about the situation.

“Mr Stark and Ms Potts are coming down here to clear this up.” 

Harrington paled at that. He obviously did not want them there any more than Peter did over this.

“Mr Stark and Ms Potts are coming here?”

“Yes, that’s what Mr Stark said to me.” Harrington just stared at Peter, looking afraid as if he was about to face two angry predators - which could very well be true.

“Should we go to principal or something? I mean, shouldn’t he also be filled in?” Peter said unsurly. What are you supposed to do when your father-figure/mentor/friend/boss/superhero-idol and mother-figure/friend/kickass CEO-role model come to your school to tell your teacher that you didn’t forge documentaries of your internship?

“Yes. Yes- yes, I believe that would be the best.” Harrington stood up and made his way to the principal’s office with Peter following him and looking kind of like a lost puppy. 

Harrington explained the situation to the principal (Morita? Peter didn’t really remember, so he just dubbed him Morita in his mind) who paled slightly himself, no doubt afraid that suggesting Peter had forged the documents had earned them the rage of Stark and Potts. They all proceeded to sit in silence as they waited for the two’s arrival (and those were the most awkward 39 minutes Peter had ever experienced).

After the long wait filled with the three just staring at walls, Tony and Pepper finally entered the office. They both smiled at Peter who waved back awkwardly. Harrington and the principal (turns out the name was indeed Morita) rose to shake the pair's hands. After the required greetings all sat down again.

“So, I believe there was confusion with Peter’s internship at Stark Industries?” Pepper started. She had her “dealing with some bullshit” suit on (which, thinking about it, was really flattering to Peter, seeing that Pepper bothered to suit up in it to deal with this) and she looked level as ever. Tony didn’t look any less impressive on his own, but next to Pepper almost anyone looked less put together.

“Yes. We looked into it and Peter doesn’t fill the requirements to apply for internship, so we believed there was a chance of forgery.” Peter was impressed how sure of himself Morita managed to look.

“But you do have the necessary documents?”

“We still have them.”

“And with us coming down here you don’t believe there is a chance of forgery anymore?”

“Absolutely not.” Seriously, Morita was most likely shaking in his shoes, but he looked so calm with Pepper Potts and Tony Stark staring at him. How Peter envied him.

“Perfect. Do you need us to put together any more legal proofs of Peter’s internship so that you have something to show to other teachers should a situation like this repeat?” 

“I- don’t believe that’s necessary. There will be just a report filled of your visit about Peter’s internship and that’s enough for future reference.”

Pepper looked satisfied at that and rose up, Tony following her suit. Peter stood up as well. There was another round of socially required customs (parting words) and then the trio made their way out of the office.

When outside the school, Pepper huffed. “Well, that was absolutely unnecessary. They should have contacted the Industries themselves. Our HR or legal would have filled them in. Chickens”

Tony was smirking, looking chipper. Peter giggled at Pepper’s words before they got into car (driven by Happy - who looked a bit smug himself after being filled in about the whole ordeal) and made their way to the tower.

~~~

Sitting in the yellow bus - one of four - on the way to the Stark Tower Peter felt the dread set in yet once again. Think positively! he kept reminding himself. After all

• you can prove your internship is real

• you can prove you know Tony Stark

• you are missing school

• Ned is happy about you being on the trip

• You get to spend time with MJ and Ned

Peter couldn’t think of positive point six and gave up. Next to him Ned was googling all and any facts about Stark Tower, probably trying to live the tour before it even began, and on the other side of the bus isle MJ was reading The Pride and Prejudice . Peter smiled looking at the two and the dread died for the umpteenth time (counting since he woke up that morning - it was like a rollercoaster in his mind). Ned was going to have a blast and MJ, while she would never show it, would be impressed too.

The busses came to a stop and people rushed out. Most stopped dead on their tracks to ogle at the tower (it was pretty impressive) before being ushered inside. While the tower had been impressive from the outside, just the lobby alone outshone it. It screamed expensive, but managed to be elegant and welcoming. Or it would have been welcoming if not for all the obviously busy people rushing all over the place.

Mr Harrington went to the receptionist desk to let them know about their arrival along with other advanced chem class teachers. Once he was out of ear shot, Flash turned to face Peter.

“I bet you have never seen anything this impressive in your whole life, Penis. I bet you wouldn’t be able to afford one thing in this room.”

Peter merely rolled his eyes. While he didn’t have any spare money, he had more than one filthy rich friend who was ready to buy him anything he wanted (not that he ever asked for anything). Flash didn’t have money either, his parents did, so Peter not having the money himself was kinda moo point since Flash was in the same situation as he was. Also, Peter knew for fact that the lamps on far left costed sweet fucking nada, he had dumpster dived them and put them together himself (Tony had thought it was hilarious to put something of absolutely no value to lobby that looked more expensive than Rolls Royce Sweptail plus they looked good).

Flash looked annoyed at Peter’s lack of response, but decided he wasn’t worth it at the moment. Soon Mr Harrington came back with chirpy twenty something tour guide. Peter knew he had seen him somewhere (company party?) and was pretty sure his name was Michael. He was also pretty sure Michael(?) had four dogs and he loved brownies.

“Hello everyone and welcome to Stark Tower. I’m Micah” almost got it “and I will be your tour guide today. 

You have been granted a tour around some of Stark Industries lower and higher labs as well as some of the Avengers premises. We will start with the lower labs and proceed to the higher labs before lunch. After lunch we will visit the avengers museum and SI exhibition. Then we will visit some of the Avengers related premises like public gym and secondary weapon threshold. Lastly we have a short Q&A.”

(Peter had already known what they would be doing today minute to minute, seeing as he had searched the schedule from SI’s database as soon as he could.)

Leading their group to the visitor entrance Micah continued. “Apart from the lobby that is accessible to the general public the rest of the tower is strictly off limits to anyone without access card. So now you will be given an ID badge that doubles as an access card. It is only usable today and you will be asked to return it after the tour so it can be reused. You must have the badge on and visible at all times. The AI of the tower, FRIDAY, will detect anyone without a badge and they will be removed from the company’s premises. Your badges will be of the lowest level, epsilon, so you will need someone with at least gamma five badge to let you into rooms and elevators. But if there is an emergency like fire, you will be-”

Peter tuned the safety guides out, he knew them. He looked around himself subtly, seeing everyone else staring intently at Micah. Micah truly did have that something in him that made him hard to ignore. Maybe it was all the muscles, Micah looked like a tank - not on the same level as Steve, but bulkier than your average Joe. Or the stubble, it made him look mature, but also kinda relaxed and sexy. Or the clothes, the jeans were perfect fit while looking professional and the black sweater was like any basic nerdy shirt, but on him it looked anything but. Or that he was kinda intimidating but still sunny in personality. Also Peter shouldn’t think about this subject so much, it was weird.

Tearing his eyes off of Micah Peter slowly sneaked behind his schoolmates and dug his phone out. The Avengers didn’t know about the field trip, but really it was a matter of when rather than if they would find out. Peter texted FRIDAY about the location of the team, getting answers like ‘gym’, ‘living room’, ‘bedroom’ and ‘on mission’. 

“So, if you would proceed to go through one by one.”

Peter’s head shot up. Having received the badges (when did that happen?) his classmates were already going through the scanners, FRIDAY announcing everyone’s name and status as they went (feature that was only there for tours - it would take too much time on regular basis, but it impressed people and since there were at most two tours per week it wasn’t that time consuming). Now Peter had asked FRIDAY to announce alternative status when he entered, but Since you are carrying confidential material that will not be displayed on the security scanners your status has to be at least alpha five. Given that you won’t take your web shooters off for the tour, I can’t go lower than that. Additionally, if you want to say you're an intern, you should have at least alfa four since alpha five status isn’t for interns . Peter had tried to get FRIDAY to just say something else than classified for his belongings, but Happy being who he is didn’t allow anyone to override scanning security protocol. Well, alfa four was better than alfa one. He had even remembered to take his badge with him (most alfa level people didn’t need to use badges to get around but Peter figured that not having his with him would be overly suspicious).

“Cindy Moon, epsilon one, no threatening items.”

“Ned Leeds, beta three, no threatening items. Welcome back Ned.”

There was open staring and gasping as Ned answered FRIDAY. He had gotten an internship once Tony heard it was he who hacked his suit, but unlike Peter’s internship it wasn’t known at school. Ned walked to MJ, smirking under all the attention.

Peter breathed deeply when it was his turn to go through. Just - get it over with, Parker .

“Peter Parker, alfa four, classified. Welcome back Peter, would you like to alert Boss of your arrival?”

“No- No need FRIDAY, we are on a class trip, thank you.” Peter could feel the stares on his skin. He walked to MJ - who was smirking at his pain, that traitor - and Ned who was smiling at him supportively.

“How come Peter and Ned have that high of an access?”

Damn you Abe.

“Mr Leeds works in the higher labs sometimes and thus needs at least beta level status.” FRIDAY filled in before Micah could. Said higher lab was Peter’s lab but the others didn’t need to know that

“And Peter?”

You too Cindy?

“Classified.”

That created more questions than it answered. Peter supposed FRIDAY couldn’t just tell them why his level was that high since his mere existence was an open secret within the company.

“Micah, who even gets alfa status in the tower?” Flash asked pointedly, proving yet once again he was bigger pain in the ass than drunk Deadpool. 

“Well, there are five alfa levels. Level five is for family and friends of residents of the tower who need clearance for the living quarters. Four and three are for residents of the tower depending on their need for clearance and some high level employees. Two is for Mr Stark and Ms Pott’s personal assistant as well as occasionally anyone who needs to get almost anywhere in the tower temporarily like SHIELD. There are only two persons with alfa one, Miss Potts herself and one other person but that person is like a myth - I don’t think anyone has seen them ever. There is a betting pool going on about them not existing in some labs.”

Now that Peter thought about it, he was the only one besides Pepper to have alfa one. Pepper had wanted the authority to keep Tony out of some of the PR team and HR’s floors or rooms or force him stay out from his lab when he wasn’t taking care of himself so he had had to settle for alfa two status. On the contrary Peter was welcome to go anywhere in the tower - save for private living quarters like bedrooms - including said PR and HR’s rooms and floors since Pepper liked to coach him about the wonders of legal work and PR management.

Peter looked pointedly at Micah, urging him silently to go on. Micah seemed to get the message and led everyone to the elevator with some info about the architecture of the tower. Flash didn’t stay to listen, but instead walked over to Peter. 

“How did you get that high of a clearance, Penis?” Peter winced. He knew Flash wouldn’t like the answer.

“I intern for Mr Stark himself, so I needed the clearance.”

Flash scoffed. “As if and sooner or later it’s going to come to light. I don’t know what you did - maybe you hacked the AI or paid someone. Except you are not smart enough to hack the AI and you don’t have money. Did you actually work for someone here on your knees? Are you Mr Stark’s boy toy or maybe some other Avenger’s?”

Peter could taste hints of vomit in his mouth. The Avenger’s were like family to him - aunts, uncles, sister and brother not to even mention dad-like Tony and mom-like Pepper. The mere thought of sleeping with any of them was revolting.

“Given your choice of nickname for Peter and your belief that he would be that good in bed, it sounds like you want some action yourself, Flash.”

Flash glared at MJ’s deadpanning, but went away. Peter shot MJ a grateful smile. The girl just nodded, but had a soft look as she went after the guide. They rushed to the elevator with Ned, being the last ones to get in. Mr Harrington shot them a disapproving look, but they didn’t have to suffer his staring for long before the elevator was already stopping.

“These are some of the lower intern labs. The work here consists mostly of shorter projects that are monitored or led by higher intern or permanent employee. Right now they are working on alternative material for Stark phones’ case and low energy heating system among other things. There are also many other projects going on, but these are the two we will learn more about.”

Micah led them through the halls, pointing at different people and work stations, talking all the while. Peter lurked at the back of the group, greeting everyone he knew (which was most of the interns). 

“Hi Midtown, I’m Laura. I am the leading intern for the heater project and will tell you a bit about it.”

Laura was one of the nicest higher interns - she was cheerful, considerate and supportive. Peter hung out with her and her team often. While Laura was telling about the usage of the heater and how it’s operating principle can be applied to different appliances, she made eye contact with Peter. 

While Laura was very nice and supportive, she also liked to show off people close to her and had a wicked sense of humor. Fact that Peter now wished he would have considered sooner.

Sporting a cunning smirk, Laura stopped mid sentence. “Peter, I didn’t realize you were here. Is this your class? Anyway, you should come here and tell about the usage potential of the heater, you came up with most ideas after all.” Peter glared. She made it sound like a big deal, while in truth he just got competitive with other intern about how many ways to use the heather they could come up with and nobody else bothered to add more after them.

He moved in front of the group, knowing Laura wouldn’t let him go. He kept his gaze focused into the air between him and his class when he started. “Well, the heater project was started to make affordable heaters for low level income families and homeless people, but of course normal households can use it as well. Since it can be modified depending on the size of the environment being controlled, it can be used by small units as well as bigger ones like hospitals or office buildings, including SI. The malleability makes it possible to affine it to work in cars, open areas, chairs and so on. So really, the basic system can be used in almost any way.”

Peter didn’t know if he made any sense, but judging from the looks he was getting his classmates were impressed in any case. After a moment of silence Peter nodded at Laura and went back to the group. Laura was smiling, but didn’t look satisfied yet.

“Thank you Peter. I hope your classmates know how much you help in the projects around here - we would be basically lost without you half the time.”

“Really?” Someone - Johan maybe? - asked.

“Really. He is not only able to out smart just about everyone in this tower and has always fresh ideas, but he is also the most pleasant person to work with. We actually took down some numbers and collected data and turns out the work morale boosts to almost 142 % when he is around. So in short he is innovative, smart enough to work on his ideas and is nice to work with. I just wish Stark would let him down here to work with us more often.”

Peter wanted to melt into a puddle of goo. While he was flattered - even though he didn’t believe any data was actually collected - he didn’t need the heat from his class. While Peter was praying for any God up there - except Thor, man didn’t know how to be subtle - to make him disappear, Micah and Laura led them through the rest of the intern labs, stopping to mention interesting facts every now and then. The team working on the phone case talked about their project a bit more, mostly about the chemical compositions and the shaping.

“So, do you have any questions?”

Micah’s question made good fifteen people raise their hands. There were questions about the heater and the case as well as general questions about interning, like about team building and labor division. Peter dreaded only one raised hand and that hand belonged to Flash. Eventually, he got his turn to ask.

“I was wondering about the different ways of getting an internship and the requirements, since the website only tells about applying straight to the SI.” Flash had his winning smile on, looking smug but not too smug to piss anyone off.

“Well, you can also apply through the September foundation and we scout for specific types of graduates if we have a shortage of specialists. You can also work your way up from one of SI’s sub or sister companies and sometimes some high up enough, like Stark himself, will take notice of a person and offer them a job.”

Flash didn’t look completely satisfied and shot his hand up again. Peter could feel himself sweating, he had gotten the internship through Spiderman instead of any listed ways after all.

“So Peter here was offered a job from someone in a very high position? How did that happen?”

Micah looked sort of annoyed. This kid had once in a lifetime opportunity to be at SI and he was wasting it by being fixated on something like this. “That’s confidential.” Flash frowned at the answer. On the other hand Peter was basically singing Hallelujah in relief. Thank you Micah for knowing when things should be kept private.

The tour continued to the upper floors where higher interns worked. Even though half of the staff recognized Peter, no one called him out this time. He did receive a lot of winks and waves though which was sweet.

They were even given time to mess around with spare parts before lunch, which hyped everyone up. Expect Peter when he noticed that some of the parts were his spare parts that he himself had tossed away. Oh well.

When the lunch rolled around, Peter was in a notably better mood. He, Ned and MJ had made a taser that looked like key fob. Even if it wasn’t really ready, they could come back later to finish it and Peter was a little proud of their team's idea and production. The higher level intern labs were interesting even after Peter had spent a noticeable amount of hours there.

“This is the SI tower’s cafeteria. You have permission to buy anything you want here for lunch. Your ID badges enables you to buy twelve dollars worth of food, so if you want to buy more than that you will have to pay the difference yourself. You have forty-five minutes before we continue the tour.”

Peter watched how his classmates poured around the cafeteria, looking for food they would want to eat. Looking back at his two friends they quickly discussed what whoever wanted - MJ opted for vegan falafel, Ned for Subway sandwich and Peter landed on pizza. They chose a table before setting out. Peter had just set his order and sat down to wait when a familiar voice rang out.

“Well well, look who I found. You really thought it would be appropriate to not tell me about your field trip?”

Peter twisted around, coming face to face with Tony. The older man looked amused, especially when the teen paled.

“Mr Stark, I didn’t think you would need to know,“ he managed to stutter out.

“Lie. You were scared me and others would try to embarrass you.”

Peter nodded guiltily in confirmation, that was part of the reason after all. “Will you embarrass me too badly?” he asked, shooting his best puppy dog eyes.

Tony faltered, but only for a fraction of second. “As much as you have gotten better at using your eyes to confuse me, you deserve to be embarrassed after not telling about the trip. But if it makes you feel better, we have practically no time to put anything big together.”

Peter sighed. He hadn’t expected the outcome to be any different. “At least be subtle. I have successfully proven I have an internship here, but they don’t have proof that I work for you specifically, so I would like to keep that under the wraps. That and my other stuff like, you know.” Spiderman and living in the tower half the time went unsaid.

Tony scoffed. “We are not that tardy. In our little family you are the one without ability to lie.”

“I only can’t lie when it’s about my own things! I keep other people’s secrets, well, secret pretty well!” 

The childish argument went back and forth until Peter’s pizza arrived. While paying Peter shot one final pleading look at Tony. “Just, try not to bring too much attention to me. What happened with Laura was enough.”

Tony smiled at that. “Laura really did well. I looked at the security footage just before and I couldn’t have asked for more.”

That left Peter confused. “You didn’t ask her?”

“Didn’t have to. Your low self esteem is notorious around here, so just about everyone wants to help you with it. While ” Tony didn’t let Peter interrupt him “I do realize that this isn’t your preferred way of getting more self esteem, it works. Plus we get to show you off.” 

There was a reason with what Tony was saying, but Peter would never admit that. Frowning, Peter reopened his mouth. “It is pretty over the top and gets me more attention at school that I would care for. And showing me off with fake data is pretty flimsy.”

Peter’s solid argument was met with smirk. “It wasn’t actually fake. Some intern group was between projects and did it for fun. About 68 % of people you interact with here with filled the questionnaire and they took some hormone level testing, as well as heat and heart readings. You are scientifically proven popular, liked and a motivational booster.” Peter felt his cheeks heat up. With a nod, he turned around and scurried off. Tony laughed at his antics before walking off himself.

Claiming his seat next to Ned and diagonally from MJ, Peter dug into his pizza. Ned, having somehow already eaten (did Peter really talk that long with Tony?), began to babble about how cool the intern labs had been. MJ quipped in every now and then, but kept on eating and reading for most part.

After everyone had eaten (miraculously within the time limit) Micah rounded the students up before leading them back to the elevator.

“We will visit the Avenger’s museum and Stark exhibition next. You will have one hour to look around, taking photos is allowed. If you have any questions, you can ask me.” The students scattered around the museum that started right from the elevator as soon the doors opened. The museum and the exhibition took up almost half of the floor, but given that it had showcases about all the Avengers and most of their significant allies and the exhibition detailed SI’s origins, birth, growth, goals, achievements and other facts it was the minimum amount of space needed while avoiding making the space crammed up.

Ned, MJ and Peter were making their way around the floor. They had looked over Natasha, Tony, Pietro and Wanda’s showcases already and were moving to SI side to look over the corner for Pepper (Tony had insisted on doing it, half because it amused him and half because Pepper deserved it - even if she didn’t really want or need it) when Peter felt soft tingle in the back of his head. This particular shade of tingle was reserved for harmless things that still deserved a warning - like a cookie being tossed towards the back of his head.

Peter caught the cookie mid air, taking a bite before lazily turning around. The culprit - Falcon in all his glory - was standing just three meters away, munching on his own cookie. Clad in a pair of jeans and F.R.I.E.N.D.S hoodie he looked relaxed and not at all dangerous.

“Little metal birdie told me that your class was touring the place,” the older male said, smirk evident in his voice. Peter groaned internally - this wasn’t big enough to be the embarrassment (TM) Tony and others were planning especially since no one had noticed that Falcon was present, so it really was just another nuisance to deal with. At least he got a cookie out of it.

“What are you doing here?” 

Sam grinned. “Tony told us about warning you but I thought it would be fair to give you better head ups. I remember what it was like to be in school, bet I had the most common experience out of all of us actually, and I remember the want to not stand out in a negative way.” Peter’s eyes widened. That was pretty nice of Sam.

“You get it. I don’t deal well with attention to start with and being singled out by avenger’s out of all people guarantees me the kind of publicity I wouldn’t want to deal with, well, ever.” More closely looking Sam’s grin was actually sympathetic. He nodded behind Peter.

“Can I have the honor of being introduced to your friends now?” Peter turned around once more. Ned was there, gaping, and next to him was MJ looking a bit bored, but Peter could tell she was anything but (if nothing else she was thoroughly amused).

“Of course, these are my friends, well, you knew that. This is Ned, Ned you haven’t met Falcon Mr Wilson Sir yet.” One day. One day Peter would stop spouting out people’s names in the most embarrassing manner, but today was apparently not the day. “And this is MJ, you haven’t met either.” Ned and MJ both had met some of the avengers, but neither had met Sam yet - their timings just kept clashing.

Sam smiled pleasantly and walked up to the two to shake their hands. “Pleasure. Peter has told me a lot about you two, all good of course.” MJ narrowed her eyes.

“If Peter has managed even the least amount of honestly, it can’t be both lot and all good.” Sam laughed. “Everything Peter tells us about his friends is good, we love hearing about the people in his life.” And if Peter blushed while averting his eyes, no one had to know. MJ seemed satisfied though. Ned for his part looked like he had ascended to Heaven (he looked like that every time he met a new avenger - or really every time he met an avenger).

“Back to the heads up, you never mentioned what it was exactly,” Peter called after a while. He couldn’t afford to lose any information that might help him prepare for the inevitable.

“Right. So firstly most of them are going to come by for the gym. I’m not sure about the final decision, but they are going to pick you for some demo and make you fight for real or something along those lines. Stark is going to come with us to the secondary weapon threshold, expect to get called out about the weapons you have designed. And I think Steve is going to make an appearance at the measuring centre. Of course we are all going to be present at the Q&A and they are probably going to mention you at some point, but there you won’t get called up or anything for sure.”

Peter sighed. He had figured something along those lines, but hearing it said out loud made the reality sink in. On the bright side with Sam’s warning he would be at least able to prepare mentally for what’s to come and maybe work out some scenarios beforehand.

Sam patted his shoulder before promptly walking away. Peter didn’t want to get spotted talking with the Falcon, but he kinda wished that he had more time to ask about what’s to come. And Sam was good company.

“So Ned, how was meeting Falcon?”

MJ’s question popped Peter out his bubble. Ned, looking slightly red, was glaring at smirking MJ.

“It was awesome, thank you very much.” MJ’s smirk grew.

“It was, wasn’t it? I’m especially glad that you almost managed to open your mouth.”

Ned turned even more red. “It was Falcon, MJ, one does not just speak to the Falcon!”

“First of all, off with the LOTR reference and secondly, Peter does it all the time.” Both turned to look at Peter who simply shrugged. MJ didn’t seem to have more to say on the subject herself, so she just led them to Pepper’s exhibition corner.

Peter hardly paid attention to the rest of the floor. When everyone was back at the elevator, Micah led them in once more before he started talking.

“We are now going to the avenger’s training room. They have two training rooms, public and personalized gym. The public gym is open to the avengers as well as some SI personnel. The public gym is less personalized, whereas the private gym is specially equipped for avengers training, like with the state of an art shooting range with moving hologram targets or training ring for Hulk. While the public one is not nearly as used as the private for obvious reasons, it is used for showings like these, when the primary gym is full and by the rare SI personnel who wants and has the permission to use it for example.”

The elevator doors opened to a lobby where there were doors deeper into the floor as well as a glass wall to the gym. The lobby was large enough and the gym organized in the manner that made it clear that the glass wall was meant as a viewing spot - probably to keep watching people out of the way, but still giving them the best point of view. Through the glass wall Peter could see Black Widow, Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, Ironman and Falcon. Despite it being a gym, they were just standing in the middle of it all, talking, waiting. Noticing the ogling high schoolers Tony made his way to the glass.

“Step in, step in, we have something prepared for you.” Peter couldn’t help but smile at the theatherical hand gestures and the bravado of the man’s voice as his class made it’s way into the gym. Some delighted gaps could be heard which, fair, the gym was a piece of art. There was about every piece of exercise equipment you could think of as well as large space for sparring, climbing wall and ropes, shooting range and weights clearly meant for people with enhanced strength. Or anyone normal stupid enough to try.

“So usually we just let people mess around the gym for a while, but this time around we decided to come down and organize a little sparring sessions.” Peter’s groan was covered by excited squeals. “This is how this is going to work. First you can leave all your stuff by the glass wall. Then Nat here is going to show you some basic self defense things, like correct fighting stance and some hits and kicks. After that you are given a chance to spar with us.” 

Natasha took her place in the front of the group, starting with showing the proper fighting stance. Others, save for Bucky and Tony who stayed behind Natasha to watch, walked among the teens, correcting their postures and giving tips. They pointedly didn’t go by Peter - who was admittedly glad, he didn’t know if he could resist hitting the smug smirks off their faces - but nobody seemed to notice. Same repeated as Natasha showed a couple basic punches and kicks.

“Okay, now we are going to spar. You are going to spar one by one since there is not enough space to make sure no accidents happen should more than one pair spar at the same time. You can choose from myself, Clint and Sam who to spar with. Make a line.” While all of Peter’s classmates hurried to the line, some more hesitant than others, Peter tried to stay back. Stress on word tried as Tony and Natasha’s glares made him realize that should he try to skip the sparring they would force him to do it anyway by calling him out. Well, being last in line ensured that the others would have normal and unsurprising experience.

No one seemed to last past one and half minutes - the difference in skill was just that great. Even those who had some experience with martial arts like MJ didn’t last long, even though they admittedly lasted longer than others. Then it was Peter’s turn. Just as he was about to call Clint’s name - he had been most kind to those he sparred with, so it wouldn’t be as blaringly oblivious that Peter knew what he was doing - Bucky stepped forward.

“Come on Peter, I will spar with you.” Peter heard gasps from his classmates. He narrowed his eyes. Being the only one to spar with Winter Soldier was giving him just the kind of extra attention he didn’t care for - which, thinking about it, was probably what they were aiming for.

“I thought you weren't an option.” Bucky’s smirk was both shining and off putting.

“That’s because I can’t control my strength as well as Steve yet so it would have been pretty boring, but you have enough skills to make this interesting.” Knowing he didn’t really have a choice Peter made his way to Bucky. They both took their stances and after tense three seconds Bucky’s fist shot towards Peter.

Peter could hear all the surprised noices as he easily evaded Bucky’s hit before giving out one of his own. He could feel the staring as they continued to exchange blows and kicks. The fight was actually relatively unimpressive as Peter had to hold back with his instincts and strength and so did Bucky so as to not raise suspicion more than necessary.

“Come on, you know you can win,” the older male taunted. Peter gritted his teeth. After being taught by Natasha and others he indeed could take down everyone in one on one easily save for Thor and Wanda, his powers made sure he had that much of an advantage. 

“You know I can’t, Buck, so just end it already.” 

“Yes you can so just do it. Or are you ready to face Clint if you lose now, even if deliberately?” 

Rolling his eyes Peter made an impressive flip to avoid Bucky’s swept leg. Clint would indeed tease him about losing (most likely bitter that Peter was almost undefeated in one on one nowadays) even if he knew it was on purpose and even worse he doubted Bucky would take him down if he let this continue. That in mind Peter quickly gripped Bucky’s hitting arm and using the man’s own momentum flipped him down to the mat, landing himself on top of him to straddle him with his legs. They held the pose for couple seconds before Bucky tapped out and they rose up.

“What the fuck Pe- Parker?”

Peter refused to return Flash’s stare as he made his way back to the group. Natasha picked up the blonde’s unanswered question instead to Peter’s dismay.

“Are you confused about something?” The sickly sweet voice did nothing to hide the venom in the assassin’s words - she, along with others, knew about Flash and how he treated Peter. Flash didn’t seem to notice the venom, meeting Natasha’s gaze.

“There is absolutely no way that Peter Parker could beat Avenger in a fight.” Before Natasha could say anything, Clint piped in.

“Oh, he can. Granted, Bucky having to hold back his strength made it probably whole lot easier but he can.” Peter cursed inside his mind. Had nothing been said about his fight with Bucky, his classmates would have been forced to just accept it, but now that it was given attention it would more likely raise unwanted suspicion. Flash not giving up even after Clint’s statement was proof of it.

“I am sorry, but that is impossible. You are highly trained and Pe- Peter is some random teenager with hardly any experience.” Natasha bit his lip and Sam had to turn away so as to not laugh. Peter glared at the two as Tony came to his rescue.

“Peter is actually trained. Some have tried to kidnap higher up employees of SI so most of them prefer to have some self defense training under belt in case something happens. Peter is one of such people.” While Tony’s reasoning was smooth and Peter was certainly glad that there was explanation for his level of skills, there was still no way some random trained teenager could take down Winter Soldier even if the man was holding back. Flash seemed to think the same (and judging by their looks so did most of his classmates) but changed tactics since his previous was bringing no results.

“Had this been all out fight Peter would have had no change then.” Peter could understand Flash’s want to bring him down to normal and almost felt bad when Clint started snickering.

“Sure, in an all out fight he has no chance of winning.” The archer’s voice sounded sarcastic. Peter glared at the man but just got a wink back. Tony noticed the tension and jumped in, again.

“Okay, so now that that has been addressed, I could actually take you to the next place myself. Take your things and follow me please.” People rushed to take their stuff and follow Tony except for Peter. He walked up to Clint.

“Don’t go saying things that could give out my identity.” Unfortunately Peter apparently looked like a puppy trying to pick a fight since Clint only smirked. Next to him Bucky started to laugh.

“I know why they think so but it’s still hilarious they think you wouldn’t be able to take on any of us.” Clint joined Bucky’s laughter and even Natasha was smirking. At first Peter hadn’t been that good at fighting - he had had little control over his strength at combat and lacked both training and experience - and when he started beating others it had been hard for them to accept, what with some sixteen year old wiping the floor with them, but now they were mostly just amused by it. And maybe a bit bitter. Usually their glee was nice but now Peter wished they were a little more sour about the whole thing.

With one final glare - that didn’t mask his love for his teammates sadly - Peter hurried after his class. MJ and Ned hung at the back of the group so he went straight to them.

“I can’t believe you could win Winter Soldier in a fight like that man.” Ned’s pure excitement melted most of the frustration in Peter’s mind and he smiled back.

“Yeah, after proper training my- well, the level difference in basic abilities makes me pretty hard to beat.” Ned looked impressed. MJ scoffed.

“So your biology is what makes you so good, not skill?”

“Well, it’s what makes me so much better than most. At first they could come over the difference with my lack of fighting skills, but once they trained me properly I got better than them. It’s like, my biology makes the difference so big but currently my skills are good enough to back it up.” MJ looked content at that.

“I’m glad you have actual skills to back up your abilities. Otherwise it would be just sad.” Ned looked surprised.

“Why would it be-”

“If you at the back could listen too? Thanks.”

The trio snapped their eyes to the front. They were already in the secondary weapon threshold.

Micah was walking behind Tony as the man himself was telling about the weapons. Basically, the secondary weapon threshold had back up weapons and outdated models that were still usable or couldn’t serve another purpose. It was mostly unused, but it’s “Good thing that nobody has kicked our arses so badly we needed to get back up weapons to stage” as Tony eloquently put it.

“This here is widow’s bite’s earlier version. The one she uses now is both smaller and lighter but also has more power in it. Over here we have some rejected arrow ideas, mostly because they weren’t useful or were too much of a hazard to use. There are some that should explode completely, some that are just sharper than your usual arrow and these were designed to cut through Spiderman’s webs. Then we have outdated guns-”

Peter, yet once again, zoned out. He had researched all of these weapons thoroughly so that he could help make weapons to the team. Every once in a while he would even come down here to examine them. Ned and MJ shot some questions to Peter when Tony didn’t explain something in detail, for example about the gazooka for Clint and the poisonous bullets for Natasha. Now that Peter thought about it, most of the stuff here had been for one of the two. Steve used his shield and Tony's repulsors, even old models, were stored elsewhere. Sam and Bucky used mostly guns like Nat and she opted most often to test new weapons out of them. War Machine suit was stored elsewhere as were the rejected upgrades and Vision’s weapons were inbuilt like Wanda’s powers were within her at all times. Thor had his own weapons and Peter never used anything other than his webs unless absolutely necessary. Hulk-

“Here we have some designs for weapons that Hulk could use. Most were made by Peter,” Peter could feel as everyone turned to look at him yet once again, “but ideas were from me too. Hulk can’t really use long range weapons so Peter made hammers, axes and knuckle dusters. He also made some vibranium armour, mostly gloves of different kinds, for Hulk to use. Mostly Hulk’s own strength is more than enough, but we wanted to be prepared for when it’s not.”

Peter could feel the stares digging under his skin. Sliding to stand behind Ned, Peter refused to acknowledge any of them. Peter couldn’t thank enough as Tony reclaimed the attention by moving on to old designs for Sam’s mechanical wings. He didn’t move out from behind Ned’s back before they were out of the threshold though. Tony had barely led everyone outside before he was waving and walking away. While a chorus of disappointed objections broke out Micah took the control back.

“Now, settle down. Dr Stark will make a new appearance at the Q&A. Now, I will take you to the measuring centre. They have measured every avenger’s as well as their allies' different stats like maximum speed or strength, but it was originally meant to map out enhanced people’s powers.”

The walk to the measuring centre wasn’t a long one so before long the class poured into the set of rooms. There was some normal lab equipment but also benches, different kinds of treadmills, glass cabinets full of medical equipment and other cabinets full of different machines and for some reason toasters. Behind one of the tables sat scientist - Dr Evan Smith Peter read from the ID card - and next to him stood Steve Rogers, clad in sweats and tank top to many’s delight. Dr Smith stood up while Steve only nodded.

“Hello, Midtown was it? This is the measuring centre. We here measure all avengers as well as their allies capacities. Originally, we only measured enhanced people, but it is not only necessary to know your teammates capabilities in fight but it also makes pre planning easier so in the end we measured everyone. Mostly, we take note of people's strength, maximum speed, running durability, immune system and resistances, hearing, seeing and some other powers, like Spiderman’s sixth sense. Here” Evan walked to the benches “we measure strength. We have one for normal humans, one for middle range strengths like Vision and Iron man’s suit and one for high range strengths. Over here” treadmills “we measure running speed. We try to take durability and maximum. One of the matts is a normal treadmill, but the other is zero friction that allows us to take someone’s maximum speed. Basically the matt is rolling around with zero friction but the runner has normal friction as if running on ground. Then we have” Evan walked over the glass cases “equipment to test one’s hearing, eyesight, immune system and resistances. Hearing and eyesight is basic stuff you do also, but we test resistances and immune system for possible poison or other substance resistances. For example Black Widow was forced to acquire basic poison resistance with exposure and super soldier serum that was used to Captain strengthened his whole immune system and quickened his metabolisms which means that he has better resistance and he burns through substances faster.”

Evan continued to tell about the ways they had tested the different capacities and capabilities, showing off the machinery and equipment in the rooms. While others were focused on data he was showing about the strength testings Peter sneaked next to Steve. The blonde man hadn’t moved once or said anything either, which made Peter nervous. Steve had been looking at Peter most of the time though, so he didn’t fail to see the smaller one moving closer. 

“Steve, what are you doing here?” Peter whispered when in front of Steve. The blond only smiled.

“I am usually here to demonstrate the strength measuring.” At Peter’s raised eyebrows he sighed. “Really. We did plan to call you out, but I don’t think there is a safe way to do it without compromising your identity and I figured that talking to you randomly would be more assholy than anything else so I decided to just not do anything.” Both males turned to look as Evan was telling about Black Panther. “It starts after this so you should probably go back if you don’t want to raise attention.”

Thankful, Peter scrambled back to Ned and MJ. Both had sneaked closer to eavesdrop on the conversation, but since both Steve and Peter had enhanced hearing they had whispered way too quietly for them to hear. Just as Peter had filled them in Evan indeed came back to the bench press for higher enhanced strength and asked Steve to come. Steve shot one last smirk to Peter before going.

“When we test someone’s strength, we monitor their vitals to see how much it takes out of them to pull their maximum performance. It also gives a frame about how long they can hold it. So here” Evan gave Steve a black wristband “this measures Steve’s blood pressure and pulse. The numbers will be displayed on the black screen. If you could Mr Rogers.”

Steve put the wristband on and went to lie down. There was a total of 1,5 tons about to be lifted. The students watched as the super soldier did so effortlessly (Peter sniggered quietly, for he could see Steve straining himself to make it look easy - this was almost his normal limit after all). The screen jumped alive, starting to display a series of numbers and couple charts. It took almost twenty seconds for Peter to notice that most of the information was actually displayed twice and some of it was practically useless - most likely a trick to show off to people as well as keep some of the technical stuff under wraps.

“As you can see, the weight is displayed here. Here is blood pressure and pulse and if you look at this chart you can see how they change as time goes.” Peter wasn’t listening or looking really, he was far too busy smirking at Steve who was starting to show oblivious signs of getting tired. The blonde man glared at him good heartedly which made Peter almost burst out laughing. Managing to keep himself in check Peter collected himself as Evan finished talking about the results. 

“So that was about it. Now, anyone who wants to can try to measure their strength as well. We will do this at the normal human bench thought.” Only a couple people laughed at the admittedly dry joke, but everyone moved next to the intended bench regardless (expect for Steve who went off to probably drink). Evan made everyone willing to test form a line, giving some rules like only try to lift what you know you can lift and don’t try to put on or take off the wristband yourself.

“Now, Pe- Peter, aren’t you going to try? After your little show earlier it would be a shame above no other that you would skip this.”

And believe or not Peter had actually forgotten all about Flash. He looked his bully straight into the eyes as everyone turned to look. Grimly, Peter had to admit that he actually admired Flash’s guts speaking out loud so that everyone could hear making their conversation public along the way. Evan was the only one who looked actually annoyed.

“Peter then? Move to the line like others.” Peter did have half a mind to refuse, but a quick look at Flash made him realize that trying to refuse would bring him way more attention than just going and doing some average performance. Moving to the line behind Flash Peter shot a fake desperate look at MJ and Ned who weren’t in the line but they just smiled.

The line moved pretty fast for only a handful of students wanted to try the weight lifting. In no time at all it was Flash’s turn. The blonde lifted 90 pounds and looked far too proud after it given how average performance it was for someone in his weight range (then again it was best anyone had given yet along with one another 90 pound press). Just to spite him Peter told Evan to put the weight at 95 pounds.

“Shouldn’t you take your shirt off? It looks expensive and you wouldn’t want to rip it by accident.”

Peter whipped around along with others. There stood Steve Rogers, leaning to the doorway sipping from a water bottle. Peter wanted nothing more than to strangle the star spangled man with a shitty excuse to take off his shirt but it wouldn’t really improve his situation. It was one thing to win a mock fight with avenger and it was another to talk back to them like they were your annoying neighbor. So the question was: would it bring him more attention if he showed off his muscles or if he talked back to Steve?

Steve raised his left eyebrow. He knew as well as Peter that he wouldn’t talk back to America’s greatest treasure in front of his whole class. Never breaking the eye contact Peter took his shirt off, unceremoniously dumping it to the ground before giving his arm out so Evan could put the wristband on him. 

After the spiderbite all of Peter’s muscle mass had developed into top shape while still staying lean. In an effort to not raise unnecessary attention to himself Peter made sure to cover up as often as possible and use baggy clothes to top it off. And while he understood that thus people didn’t know that he had abs, it really wasn’t gasping worthy. Not attention worthy.

Honestly, it was just all kinds of low blow from Steve to make him take his shirt off.

Trying his darn hardest not to react to the gasp and questions about his physique (did people really have nothing better to think about than his apparently impossibly well shaped abs?) Peter laid down and raised the weights. He tried to show an appropriate amount of struggle, but failed if Steve, MJ and Ned’s expressions were anything to go by. Putting the weights down Peter gave a half hearted glance to the screen (the machine estimated that he could hold the weights for well over ten hours, possibly longer - it wasn’t really synced with enhanced people’s bodies). Evan, looking kinda shocked himself, took the wristband off but didn’t say anything about the results (Peter really should have thought twice about the results, they were bound to raise suspicion).

Dressing up again Peter made his way back to Ned and MJ. Ned looked ready to burst.

“Dude, they are totally gonna talk about that.” Peter glared at the boy. “For real! I mean, now they know for sure that your body is hot!”

“Coming from Ned it sounds weird, but he’s right you know. Having Captain America worthy abs is definitely a selling point.” 

Peter groaned. Micah (who had stayed in the hallway during the measuring) came in just then, ushering the class to follow him. Walking through the hallways Peter’s sensitive ears picked up stray conversations.

“I didn’t think he could bench 70 pounds not to even mention 95!”

“Did you see his abs? When did Peter become hot?”

“Did you see Flash’s face? He looked ready to burst!”

“Did you see the results on the screen? I mean, ten hours?”

“Bug or something probably but I heard that holding heavy weights doesn’t always affect your body right away. And Peter did hold them only for couple seconds.”

Peter groaned again. He was thankful that people were brushing off the weird results (Parker Luck (TM) finally giving him the break he deserved) but having his body discussed so intently was just downright weird. After noticing his friends’ looks he did something between whine and shrug. “I liked to believe I looked good even before the abs.”

Ned laughed and even MJ smiled at that. The way to the smallish auditorium styled conference hall (for SI’s standards - you could easily fit around hundred and fifty people in there) wasn’t that long and way too soon they were being seated. The stage was still empty, but Peter could hear the avengers talking behind the curtains. And was that Pepper? Peter focused in on the conversation.

“We can’t all go, we can’t keep things under control properly if we do!”

“Why not? It’s not like there's a big difference between four and eight.”

“We need enough people to make this interesting, but too many will just allow things to spill out of control. If there are too many of us up there, the attention will be too divided.”

“Bottom line is that Pepper said no more than four people. So, who gets to go?”

“I do, it’s my company.”

“It’s not all yours Tony.”

“Schematics.”

“But you are right, you have to be up there. I will go too, so two out of you guys.”

“Let’s fight for it?”

“No way, I’m not having a losing battle.”

“Let’s just… Rock paper scissors?”

“Okay, rock, paper, scissors- HELL YEAH!”

“Aww man.”

“Hah.”

“For pity’s-”

Peter tried to suppress his laughter. His family was crazy and drove him crazy sometimes, but how could he not love them. Whispering the content of the conversation to MJ and Ned kept them all occupied until Pepper finally walked onto the stage. Tony, Natasha and Clint followed him, taking their stand behind her as she went to the center of the stage behind the mic.

“Welcome students and teachers of Midtown high. I am Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries. And with me are” she made one wide hand motion behind her “Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, also known as Iron Man, Black Widow and Hawkeye, but you probably already knew that. I hope your day has been pleasant and memorable.”

Pepper smiled pleasantly to her audience while the trio behind her looked more serious but given who they are people stared unashamedly. Pepper started her speech which was relaxed and felt almost improvised but Peter knew better; he had been the test rabbit for the speech in questions more times than he cared to admit. Basically it covered briefly basic goals and values of the company (that you could also read in the exhibition in different words).

Peter tried to look around imperceptibly. MJ was completely focused on listening to Pepper’s speech as was Ned. There were a couple people who tried to subtly look at their phones but otherwise everyone was focused. Given that they were highschoolers Peter would say that that was a pretty good listening ratio.

“-Q and A. You can ask questions from any of us or on a general level, topic is completely free. We will do this simply, so just raise your hand and we will call out whose question we take.”

Peter tuned back in with a shock. The speech was shorter than he remembered (then again he had listened to it more times than he cared to admit). Pepper had said that it was better to keep it simple since, in Tony’s words, ‘we aren’t trying to sell propaganda and you hormone filled demons couldn’t focus for long either’. 

Almost two thirds of people had raised their hand. Tony had stepped forward on the stage and begun choosing questions. They ranged from questions about avengers day to day life and deep moral questions to finer parts of CEO’s work and was Natasha allergic to anything. Peter knew most of it and didn’t really pay attention - MJ’s question to Natasha about facing sexism and Ned’s question to Tony about his newest Iron Man suit being expectations since he was a good friend who cared about what his friends wanted to ask - and instead tried to find Flash among the sea of people. Soon enough he spotted the familiar blonde hair and as expected his hand was up. It took almost ten minutes before his question was taken though.

“You, you blonde with a blue shirt,” Tony said, pointing at Flash. He lowered his hand and plastered a smirk on his face as he started talking.

“We have heard today that the only way for high schoolers to get an internship here at SI is to be scouted by high level employees. Since Pe- Peter Parker here is said to have an internship I wondered if you could tell how that happened. I mean, we were told that it is private information but I wondered if telling was okay since we all know Peter already or if Peter’s permission is enough for you to tell us.” Peter could see Clint’s eye twitch. Flash was just behind the line of smugness and going overboard but since he hadn’t gone over it he wasn’t giving any reason to answer in nasty manner or - dear lord - embarrass the teenager. Tony seemed to think among the same lines.

“That is indeed private information you know, but” Tony looked like he really wanted to wipe the floor with Flash. Peter had asked to keep his position at SI secret, but the means as to how he got it… “I suppose I could tell you. I actually found Peter myself. He was reselling old Stark phones that he had fixed himself. That in itself wasn’t the part that got my attention thought but how he had actually improved the phones as he fixed them. The battery life and overall durability of the phone had been raised by about 10 % and that’s compared to how they were new from the store. I admit that at that point I was just mildly impressed but when I went to meet the kid and found out he used solely dumpster dived parts - well, that’s when I realized I really wanted the kid working for me instead of taking the risk of losing him to some other company. Does that answer your question?” Flash didn’t look satisfied. He raised his hand back up and Tony allowed him to speak up again.

“Peter said that he interns for you personally” and shit Peter had said that when he was explaining his high clearance. Damn you, well, Peter. “and I was curious as to why he? Why Peter? As far as the public knows you have only one personal intern so why him?” Tony raised his left eyebrow bit which gave ‘Peter, you tell me not to tell how high your position at SI is and then tell it yourself, for shame Peter’ away well enough.

“Peter simply met all my standards for the person I would care to work with myself. He can not only keep up with me but has proven to become more and more equal to me in the lab and he is a delight to work with. Why? Why are you so surprised it’s Peter of all people? As a person who goes to school with him I would assume you know how smart he is.” Peter blushed but Flash just kept the smirk on his face. Peter could hear his raising pulse thought.

“It’s just that there is only one personal intern for you and I would imagine it’s highly wanted position and since Peter can’t apply to the internship himself it seemed highly unlikely that he would have managed to get the position as your personal intern when there are so many people with degrees and experience already under their name, that’s all.” Peter could see that Clint wanted to jump down from the stage and strange Flash. Tony’s fist twitched in a manner that made it oblivious that he wanted to do the same. They wanted to show the pompous asshole to his place damn it!

“Guess I’m just surprised it’s so hard for you to believe it. BTW” yes, Tony did say B-T-W as in the letters. Peter also noticed that the man seemed to relax a little and regain some of his bravado. “it seems that almost none of you really know what Peter does here at SI. Let’s pause our little Q an’ A for a sec so I can enlighten you.” Damn you Mister Stark, everything was good and well. Why would you do this?

“So like you know he works directly under me. Actually, if it wasn’t for the work he does in intern labs and chemical labs and HR- okay, he works almost everywhere- but the point is that if not for that other work he would be working directly under me instead of SI. He works on Avenger’s tech, is the only person to work on Spiderman’s tech and assists me with basically whatever I’m doing at the moment. He also does his own projects and has authority to manage projects that need up to fifty people and he does also paperwork - approves projects, goes over status reports and evaluates intern and employee’s work performances.” Tony turned to look at Pepper who continued without pause.

“Peter has the second highest level of authority at my side of work too. Most of the intern and employee’s performance report evaluation is actually done in HR. Sometimes he also helps making deals with potential buyers or takes part in conferences here at SI with various people including but not limited to SHIELD, government officials and SI’s abroad branches. He also has stepped in to take I or Tony’s place in said meeting sometimes instead of only being present at them.” Pepper moved slightly to the right which was apparently some preplanned mark for Natasha and Clint to walk fort since they did so immediately.

“Peter doesn’t only work on Avenger’s tech, he also designs some of it. This is sometimes done with him working directly alongside us - thought to be honest we mostly tell what we need and he does all the work. Except for Iron Man and War Machine’s armory he does most of the avenger’s tech right now. He’s also the person in charge of doing any and all maintenance on Bucky’s arm.” Natasha didn’t even have to look at Clint’s direction before the archer took over. Seriously, was this preplanned? And if so, how???

“Those out of you that were in the same groups as Peter when visiting the public gym heard that he trains there, sometimes even with us. Now that you all know he interns directly under Tony you would understand how it’s even more important that he knows how to defend himself. While he trains mostly with S- Sam, Natasha and myself, training with us has given him insight on what kind of technical equipment is best suited in helping us train. So he has designed, alongside Tony, simulators, battle robots and obstacle courses among other things for us.”

Everyone looked properly impressed. Tony didn’t let them quell on it too much thought and instead resumed the Q&A. Most of the questions were unfortunately about Peter now.

“Simulators?”

“Winter Soldier’s arm?”

“Peter does absurdly much for someone who is supposed to be only an intern.”

The last one wasn’t really a question but Tony answered anyway.

“Oh yeah. Peter does enough work to qualify as an employee but he didn’t himself want to become an employee before graduating high school, which is total waste. But as for the reason itself we are actually grooming Peter to inherit SI when I and Pepper want to retire.”

Had Peter been drinking he would have done spit take and had he been standing he would have definitely fallen over. He was close to falling off his seat and only managed to stay on thanks to Ned and MJ steadying him. 

That - was definitely the kind of information he would have liked to hear first before it was being announced to four classes from his school. Ned looked at him starry eyed and MJ looked uncharastically impressed (Pepper’s approval was most likely the reason behind it). However they didn’t say anything, prolly sensing that he was as shocked as they were if not even more so and definitely not ready to talk.

The murmuring among the audience became almost too much for his enhanced hearing. The quartet on the stage looked somewhat smug and Pepper took the next question. Peter was almost surprised when Flash didn’t try to ask anything else but then again he had proved he was really close to Avengers and Pepper in addition to having the internship so Flash would have played against himself by asking anything more about it. Peter was glad about that and never before had he been so happy that Flash was actually smart enough for Midtown instead of just paying his way in.

Sooner than most students were ready for the Q&A ended, Micah and the other tour guides leading them back to the entrance. The walk back was filled with chatter and Peter picked up pieces of conversation. What was the most surprising was Flash saying offhandedly that Penis must be really pitied to get a position that high or chummy with the right people. Peter sighed. Seemed like Tony Stark pitying the poor orphan Peter Parker and making him his pity project was the next rumor about him.

Harrington was just doing headcount when Tony entered the lobby himself. Those who noticed him stopped to stare but with the overall chaos he managed to make his way to Peter’s class without much fuss.

“Hey, Harrinton was it? Anyway I thought that I would come to collect Peter. He’s going to come here after school ends and seems wasteful to have him go back to Midtown only to return here straight after. I am listed under as his secondary guardian with Pepper, you can check with the school.” Peter was confident that Harrington wouldn’t oppose anything Tony said (especially after the secondary form of proof incident) and would you look at that, the teacher only nodded without saying anything. Hugging MJ and Ned goodbye Peter rushed to the man’s side and they made their way into the private elevator. The silence lasted all but three seconds.

“I can’t believe you outed me as your heir to all our advanced chem classes before telling me.” Tony's expression was amused.

“Didn’t come up before. Me and Pepper have been talking about it, well, for months actually. Soooo, was the field trip satisfactory?”

Peter stopped to think about it. Everyone knew he had an internship now. He had been outed as Tony’s personal intern and heir to SI which wasn’t according to the plan but he could live with it. His, physique, and fighting skills had been revealed to some extent but that was all explained even if the explanation was sloppy at best. So all in all-

“I think so. I mean, I need to be even more careful with Spiderman now and there's a higher chance people will come to bug me about stuff but I can maybe keep my identity under wraps and people will lose interest over time… Okay maybe they won’t with the whole heir to SI thing but you made then sign NDAs right? So only the classes present would know. I bet someone will blabber though…”

Tony smiled besides him as they stepped out of the elevator. “When you turn eighteen you are going to have to sign the accords anyway and with that your identity becomes public knowledge, so as long as you can keep your identity secret for six months you should be fine.” He quieted down as they walked up to others present.

Other Avengers were waiting in the common room. Peter looked over them and they all looked a tiny bit nervous. Finally Steve broke the silence.

“So, Peter, was the field trip too bad?” The super soldier didn’t sound anxious per se, but rather a bit unsure. Huh. Maybe they did care about his dignity and reputation more than he thought. It was certainly uncommon to see Steve crossing his hands a bit too tightly and swaying softly while speaking with such fake stability - unless, like right now, he was feeling unsure or anxious.

“It was- fine. Not too bad. Thanks for keeping it civil enough.” Sam and Pepper shared a high five and Clint let out a breath he had been holding. Natasha smirked.

“Sam, Pepper and I promised to have their lifes if they went overboard. Or rather I was going to have their lifes, Pepper was going to cover it up and Sam was going to film it.” Peter chuckled at that. And it did make sense that there had been someone holding them from going overboard. 

“But I must say that the shirt thing was cutting it close.” Steve didn’t look apolegit in the least, all the previous telltales of his nervousness gone as he stood there with a smirk on his face.

“Well, it is much more believable that you could bench 95 pounds if you got well refined muscles to bench it with.” Peter just stared.

“So that’s the excuse you are going with.”

“That’s the excuse I’m going with.”

Peter did his best not to smile and failed miserably. “You know that the stuff you pulled is only okay because we will be revealing my identity in half a year, right?” There was scoffing and even some offended wails.

“We would have never put your identity even slightly at risk if that wasn’t the case Pete, little more trust would be nice.” Peter rolled his eyes goodheartedly. That seemed to dispel last remnants of trepidation in the room as postures relaxed and heartbeats along with breathings steadied and slowed. Then Tony frowned.

“The only thing that the tale was missing was showing that Flash kid his place. Oh, how do I hope that he would have slipped up.” General nodding ensued. Peter made some half hearted hand gesture that was generally accepted as ‘what can you do about it’ or ‘I don’t know’. He meant the former and luckily it got across.

“I mean, now he doesn’t speak like I don’t have the internship. I heard him talking on the way back to the lobby and it looks like his next big claim is that I'm a charity chase around here. Or that I managed to make friends in high positions or, well, slept to get this high in the food chain.” Bucky actually scowled at that, with audible noices and all. No one else looked pleased either.

“Are you sure we can’t kill this guy?” Peter glared.

“No killing. And it will probably- well, hopefully blow over. Unlike fake internship that seems impossible, these rumors are kinda mellow and people can’t be that interested.”

“Are you sure kiddo? You were just outed as this hot extraordinaire teenager who can kick Winter Soldier’s ass, is helluva smart and knows Avengers personally.” And frickity frick that was a good point. “And besides aren’t super successful people always bullied more if they aren’t popular?” Peter feighted astonishment.

“Are you saying that I’m not popular? I’m hurt Stark, I am hurt.” Sam chuckled before turning serious again.

“But for real, he isn’t gonna keep bullying you after that right? Is there-” Peter raised a hand, cutting Sam off effectively.

“I have no doubt he will keep saying unsavory things, but he can’t say that I don’t have the internship anymore and that’s most important. And as to all the - means - as to how I got it- Yeah, he will keep saying shit. But I got the internship through Spiderman so it’s not like I can go and be all innocent about how I got it anyway. Besides people are gonna talk shit, it’s not fair to single out Flash just because he’s one of the few who has the guts to say it to my face.”

“But he’s not going to continue being physical with his shit, is he?” Clint put in. Peter had to think about it for a moment. Now that it was proven Avengers knew him and even liked him Flash wouldn’t probably risk them seeing him do anything. And since Avengers were higher in the hierarchy than his parents the school wouldn’t blindly choose his story over Peter’s anymore so any sort of physical abuse would be risking it. 

“I actually don’t think so. Oh my gosh, what if he goes after someone else?!” Tony put his hands on his shoulders, trying to ground him from his sudden spike of anxiety.

“It is not on you what that vile excuse for human does. BUT-” Tony hardened his voice when Peter tried to butt in “if you are worried, the best thing you can do is bring up his past behavior with you.” Peter looked deeply unimpressed with a deadpan face and raised eyebrows. “Think about it. If you make Flash account for the shit he has pulled you through other students can report him easier after it. And not only because it’s always easier to do something like that after someone else did it first, but also because the school can’t turn a blind eye on something that has been given hard evidence against.”

Natasha nodded. “You know how we never approved of you ‘taking care of it’” the sarcasm hurted “on your own but let you do it anyway? Well we were also collecting video footage as well as sound recordings about Flash. The security cameras at school, your phone, sometimes someone else’s phone, you name it. It’s just sitting there collecting dust since you didn’t want to ‘call out Flash’ and ‘risk him changing targets’ because ‘I am Spiderman I can take it better than others’” now the sarcasm was actually killing him “but now that he’s going to move on anyway you might as well take him down first.”

Natasha was making some solid points. If Peter couldn’t keep being the space goat for Flash’s behavior he should try to make sure no one else gets picked as his next victim.

“That- makes sense. Okay, I will do it.” There was cheering which made Peter crack a wide smile. It was ridiculous how much his family cared about his business, wellbeing and being part of his life, but he wouldn’t change it for the world.