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Peter really thought that the school board would have put a temporary ban on field trips after everything that had happened in D.C. but alas, here they were.
The Academic Decathlon team had been blabbering about it excitedly the whole way, how they couldn't wait to see everything at Stark Industries Headquarters. Peter had to listen to Cindy and Sally talk in the seats at the front of the bus the entire time about whether they would see Mr. Stark himself, or better yet, CEO Pepper Potts.
"This is so cool, Peter!" Ned whispered loudly next to his ear. "I mean, you probably see this stuff all the time with your... job, but still! We've talked about this kinda stuff since middle school. I wonder if an Iron Man suit will be there. Does he just keep them flying around?"
Peter couldn't really blame him. He had to admit, Stark Industries was an incredibly cool place to be. He grew up with the news stories, with Architectural Digest and Buzzfeed alike talking about how fantastic the building was from the design to the inner workings of technology. His inner fanboy and hero worship over Tony Stark still flickered somewhere in his brain, but only because it was really difficult to get used to the fact he knew the man in real life!
"Hey, Penis." Flash grinned. "You ready to get absolutely destroyed for lying about your internship? I'll even ask Tony Stark himself."
Peter had given him an unimpressed look.
His "internship" would be pretty difficult to prove false, considering that the actual internship program was at the Avengers Compound and definitely not the building they were headed to. (He's checked it out a few times. The people there are all college students, but Peter is still able to keep up with them easily and helps out with their projects whenever he can. They think for some reason that Peter is secretly Tony's son. He hasn't had any time to try and crack that mystery.)
Secondly, the chances of Tony really being there, at the headquarters of his own company? That happens about as often as Peter calling Mr. Stark when he's been stabbed or in physical danger. (Not often. Not often at all. Actually, to be avoided at all costs unless absolutely necessary.)
"Can't wait, Flash." And with that, he put his earbuds back in and let the sweet sounds of alt-J drone out the sound of his classmates.
Michelle was different, of course. He never had, nor wanted, to drown out her voice, especially in moments like these. The most attention she had given him was a glance up from her book and a quirk of her eyebrow, as if asking him if he were okay. She only looked back down after he gave her a little half-smile and nodded, and it made his heart soar.
The next time his eyes were open, it's when Ned was shaking his arm gently to notify him that they were at the building. Peter stood up and pulled his backpack over his shoulder. For the most part, he stayed beside Ned near the back of the line the class had formed to get off the bus and into the lobby.
It was nearly as soon as they walked in that he started having problems... which brings us to now.
As the door shuts behind them, a buzzing white noise jolts at the hair in Peter's ears. He instantly looks around for something that could go wrong.
The walls are secure, just as the supports. No possibility of them collapsing. Peter felt the tiniest bit of relief from that. His senses weren't giving him a pull in any particular direction, meaning that bullets weren't going to start raining through windows that he had to dodge or anything extreme like that. There wasn't even an inkling giving to him as to if there was a specific person in the room to look out for—They all looked like regular employees or visitors.
That was the worst part of having a sixth sense for danger, he figures. When he has a sense that something bad is about to happen but he doesn't know what.
"Ned," he starts, turning to his friend. He tries to express the urgency in his voice as much as he can, and hopes that the look in his eyes is enough to make Ned understand. "I gotta go. Get everyone to a corner of the room if you can, make up an excuse that I went to the bathroom."
Ned widens his eyes and quickly nods. Just as he's about to turn around and tell the class about some 'very elaborate and definitely interesting thing in this part of the room that we should definitely go all look at right now', Peter's senses burst and send a shockwave down his spinal cord that causes him to full-body shudder.
"Attention, all employees and guests. Please do not panic," F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice rings from above. "We have just entered lockdown. The windows and doors will now shut down completely. Please do not panic. Authorities have been notified and—"
Her voice glitches. A new voice sounds through an intercom. "Is this thing on? The light's green. Good. Glad you can all hear me. This is how it's gonna happen. I'm shutting down this whole building, and you all are gonna sit and be quiet until the police come here, and then I'm gonna get what I want and you can all go home. Sounds good? Great. You don't have a choice anyways."
The man on the intercom clears his throat. "Some ground rules. You want to call someone for help? Tough luck, I just shut down every access point for WiFi or cellular you could ever get in this building. You're not getting in or out without helping me first."
Peter glances at his classmates, all of them are looking around in shock. Betty looks terrified, frankly so does Flash. Michelle even looks scared, biting her lip in worry and furrowing her eyebrows at the ceiling. While surveying the room for Peter makes eye contact with Mr. Harrington. Oh boy.
"Peter! Get over here. We are going to sit tight and do what the man says. I'm not letting you or anybody else in danger," Mr. Harrington gestures to have him over here. "If you had needed to go to the bathroom, you're just going to have to hold it. Do the potty dance. I don't care."
Peter opens his mouth to argue, but shuts it just as fast. Secret identities leave no room for argument. But they do have room for lying.
"I know a security code," he blurts. "If I input it in, then it'll allow for calls and I'll be able to call Mr. Stark."
Mr. Harrington shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Peter. Not gonna happen. I can't let a student out of my sight. Get over here, please."
Peter clenches his teeth and walks forward, taking a seat next to Ned on the floor.
The first hour passes in a haze. Peter tries to make several excuses with Mr. Harrington, which ends up getting him placed directly next to the man and eliminating any chances of him escaping to go take out whatever bad guy just hacked the entire building.
("But if I just get to the security panel—"
"Zip it, Peter! You aren't a superhero. You're my responsibility. Now sit down."
If Peter was on The Office, he would be staring directly into the camera. Directly in the lense. Zoom in right up to the pupil.)
Cindy is anxiously and very quietly making conversation with anybody who will talk with her, which ends up being Abe. Peter can overhear them quizzing each other back and forth on a history test.
Most everyone else is silent or doodling in their notebooks next to other people. Even Ned, who was playing a heated game of tic-tac-toe with Michelle.
The second hour and people are getting antsy. Peter can only stay still for so long, mostly only when he's unconscious or physically incapable because of an injury. Mr. Harrington has finished telling Peter his third very long story of his ex-wife, and Peter is about one more mention of breakup poetry away from eating his own ears off. He doesn't know how he would do it, but he would find a way.
Michelle won every single game of tic-tac-toe. The several sheets of grid-covered paper in Ned's journal are now being repurposed by her as she sketches what Peter swears looks like his own tired face.
Ned is talking to Betty. Peter doesn't actually care enough to tune in to what they're saying, but it looks like they're getting along fairly well.
The rest of the Decathlon team are quietly testing each other on the periodic table, and it seems they all are getting bored of the questions, Peter only tunes in once and all he hears is Cindy and Charles reciting every elemental pun they can think of while Flash argues with Abe about a question he apparently got wrong.
There have been no announcements on the intercom from whoever decided to ruin their fun-filled field trip. (Try to say that one five times fast.)
Hour three, and finally something happens.
The lights all cut out at once, and repower not even two seconds later. Peter wants to be as alarmed at this as all his other classmates, but his senses somehow feel more at peace. It doesn't click why until the window shutters open back up and the locks on all of the doors unclick.
"My sincerest apologies," the familiar voice of F.R.I.D.A.Y. chirps. "It seems I have been offline for the last three hours and twenty seven minutes due to a spontaneous hacking incident. The offender has been taken into custody, lockdown has superseded. Thank you for remaining calm and collected."
Peter furrows his eyebrows. How did anybody get up to the level where the man had been? The only way he could have been put in custody was if—
"Is that Iron Man?!" Flash squeaks, pointing frantically out the window.
Several students gasp and crowd around to look. Ned gives Peter an expression radiating his excitement and surprise before getting up and quickly walking over to him.
"Dude, did you know about this?"
Peter looks at him incredulously. "You think I knew about someone breaking in and hacking the tower? No, Ned. I didn't have a clue."
"Oh." Ned looks back out the window. "Are you gonna say hi to Iron Man? Is it weird to say hi to your boss?"
Peter huffs a laugh. "I doubt he even knows I'm here, honestly. I don't have much to worry about."
Famous last words!
Tony steps out of the Iron Man suit and through the doors. He hadn't been paying any mind to Midtown up until that point, but that was because up until that point, he hadn't seen Peter. The second Tony spots him, the man does sort of a double take.
"Kid?" Tony asks in confusion. "I thought you were supposed to be at school. Wasn't expecting you here, especially so... underdressed."
Peter gives a tense smile. "Uh. That's because I'm here on a field trip, Mr. Stark."
"Hell of a field trip." Tony turns to look at the rest of the class, watching them speak with shock written on nearly every one of their faces. Except MJ. "Your class looks like they need to be in some rice, or fully restarted, or something."
After a moment of silence, and Peter anxiously swinging on the balls of his feet, Flash breaks the ice the only way he knows how.
"Do you really know Peter Parker?" Flash asks dumbly.
Tony raises an eyebrow and slips the glasses off his face. "Uh. Yeah. He's my intern."
"What the fu—"