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Peter knew he was smart. He would be stupid not to realize that and it is now establish that Peter is in fact smart. He just didn’t think he was qualified for a Stark Internship.
“Of course you are,” Ned reminded him. “You are going to be valedictorian one of these days.”
“Peter, you are just like your father and mother. You have all these ideas that could change the world and one of these days you are going to change the world,” Ben told him. Peter didn’t know what to say to all of this so he just hugged his uncle and held on to him tight.
“I’m proud of you,” May had told him as he told her. She had made sure he was hugged and reminded that he deserved this.
Peter knew they were all proud but not he was nervous and worried that he would mess this all up. It was a big deal to get a Stark Internship. Especially when he was in high school. Not many people got the Stark Internship so Peter getting it was a surprise for him. He just had to deal with his first internship day.
~
Peter had loved his first day at the internship. There were five high school interns besides himself. They all seemed nice and Peter figured this wouldn’t be a bad internship as he worked with his partner, Harley.
“I heard you go to Midtown,” Harley told him.
“Yeah, I’m a Freshman there currently,” Peter said.
“I start next week,” Harley told him. Peter seemed excited to have his new partner in crime go to school with him. Peter didn’t think he would make any friends but he was thankful to be friends with some of the other high school interns.
“Hey, can you spare Harley and whoever he is working with for a second?” a voice broke out in the lab. One that Peter had only heard on tv.
“Of course,” Natalie, their manager, told Tony Stark. She was just as shocked. Harley seemed to look down, embarrassed.
“You save a man once and he forever thinks he's in your debt,” Harley mumbled. Peter didn’t know what that meant but he was now about to meet the one and only Tony Stark. Harley and Peter walked over to Tony who seemed to look over Peter amused at the young boy.
“I need someone who has worked on the Iron Man tech to look over some stuff. Figured you and your partner would enjoy a look at a battle damaged armor,” Tony told Harley. Harley didn’t seem amused but the two agreed to go up. Peter is excited and talking to Tony asking about certain things with the Arc Reactor. Tony was impressed by Peter to say the least so when they entered the lab and the boys were looking at the suit giving their suggestions, Tony took both into consideration. Peter didn’t realize how much Tony was impressed by Peter.
~
Peter got home and told Ben all about his day. Ben was impressed by everything that Peter was telling him. His nephew was working with a literal genius.
“My partner and I got to work with Tony Stark. Like it was amazing. He even helped me understand some things about the arc reactor that confused me in the past,” Peter told Ben.
“That is amazing. I’m glad you had a good first day at your internship,” Ben let Peter know.
“Who had a great first day?” May asked.
“Peter got to work personally with the owner of the company,” Ben told her.
“You don’t say,” May said.
“Harley and I both got to. I think Harley knew Mr. Stark from something else. Just by the way Mr. Stark treated him as family and such,” Peter said. May and Ben seemed surprised but didn’t say anything more focused on how happy their nephew was.
~
Tony Stark had been impressed by Harley Keener when he first met him. Harley had become the only kid he could tolerate. Until today.
“Pepper,” Tony whined.
“No, Harley can not be your personal assistant,” Pepper said.
“How about Harley and Peter?” Tony asked. Pepper looked at him confused.
“Who is Peter?” Pepper asked.
“Peter is Harley’s intern partner,” Tony said. “He might even be smarter than me.”
“I’m not giving you two high schoolers as personal assistants,” Pepper said.
“Pepper, this could be a big opportunity and look good on their applications to college,” Tony reminded her. Pepper seemed to think before she sighed.
“Only because I want them to have a good future,” Pepper said. “But I am going to monitor any projects connected to the internship and they will still have to do monthly team meetings with the other interns.” Tony agreed before running off to tell Harley.
~
Peter didn’t expect that text saying he was now Tony’s personal intern. He didn’t know what to say. Harley had told him that he was just told and to expect a phone call. So when he got the phone call he was even more surprised. He was excited for the change in his internship. Peter knew May and Ben would hear soon so he told them. He was vibrating as he told them about the new changes.
“I should have known you would blow away their minds,” May said. Ben agreed with her, proud of his nephew even if he was iffy of Tony Stark.
~
Peter and Harley did a lot together while also assisting Tony. Tony got to know Peter and realized the kid reminded him of a younger version of himself. He enjoyed working with both of them but sometimes just hearing Peter rant about his latest idea made him wonder if the idea would work but he normally let Peter figure it out himself. Tony didn’t want to steal the boy's credit. Peter was always excited when Tony asked him to work on one of his ideas. Harley would even give his two cents and Peter would enjoy listening to their feedback. It was nice working with both boys and Tony was starting to enjoy it. That was until Fall Break came.
“Do you really have to go?” Peter asked the Thursday before Fall Break. Harley looked at him with a kind smile.
“Yeah, Ma wants me home for a bit so next week will just be you and Tony in the labs,” Harley told him. Peter still was pouting but he seemed to understand. The day went by without a hitch and Harley left the next day after school. Tony didn’t know what to do without a kid around for a few days until Peter was in the lab. That’s when it hit Tony. Peter was like a son to him just like Harley. Yes, Peter had his own family but he treated the kid like he was his own. Maybe he could invite the Parkers over sometime to get to know them.
~
Peter was excited when Tony suggested meeting his uncle and aunt. After a bit of planning courtesy of Ben and Pepper. The three ended up having dinner with Tony, Pepper, and Harley. Peter had told his uncle about what he had been up to and Ben was interested in meeting Tony after Pepper told him about how much Peter had affected her boyfriend.
“Harley and Tony have their bond but Tony seems to just adore Peter and find him interesting which he rarely does with children. It took him a while to warm up to Harley when they first met,” Pepper informed Ben. He expected as much from his nephew. He had a way around people.
“He is that way around everyone he meets,” Ben told her. “He is something special. I’m just sorry that his parents couldn’t see it before they passed.”
“Well I’m glad he has you,” Pepper said. “I met him once and he talked about how important you were to him.” Ben seemed surprised but didn’t say anything about it. He didn’t think he was that important to his nephew. Tony had made sure to talk to them both and all he said were praises for their nephew. Ben saw the way he looked at Peter and Harley. It was the same way he looked at his nephew.
“He has this way of pulling people close to him,” Ben told Tony.
“Well he did that. He just is something else,” Tony said. “Reminds me of myself at that age before everything happened in my life.” Ben seemed to be glad that Tony wasn’t like the man he had once heard about in the news. He had seemed to change. Maybe it was a start to something better.
~
Peter had been sick for four days and so he hadn’t been in the labs. When it had been almost a week without him seeing Peter, Tony was concerned. That was until he got a phone call from May telling him that Ben was gone. Tony had got to the Parker residence quickly and found Peter freshly showered in pjs on the couch. May told Tony he had been there and held Ben as he passed away. Tony made sure to sit next to the kid and slowly. Peter moved closer to him and hugged him as the kid cried. In the past, Tony would not know what to do but now he was getting used to hugs.
“Thank you for being here,” May whispered to him after Peter fell asleep in his arms. Tony knew he had become connected to this family since he met them. Peter was like another kid to him.
“Thank you for calling me. I know it's hard to lose a parent,” Tony told her. She just nodded as she helped get Peter to bed before Tony asked how he could help. May just let him know being there helped. Later when Peter woke up and Tony was asleep on the couch, Peter smiled before thanking the hero while he slept. He knew Tony didn’t hear it but he didn’t want to thank his hero. He sat at the table with a notebook and worked on his next private project, codename: Spider-Man.