Work Text:
"Mr Stark!"
Tony didn't need to look up from his workbench to know exactly who was summoning him in so imperious a manner. "Sorry, Fury, I'm on a union-mandated break. We can't talk ass-kicking aliens until, oh, sometime next month." He continued tinkering with the Mark VI, trying to work out a few dents the Hulk had put in it during their last spar. He was in no mood to talk to Fury at the moment—he was too happy, he didn’t need that sort of a buzz kill.
Fury gave him an annoyed look. "You formed a union?" He stood in the doorway, hands clasped behind his back. Still, Tony refused to look at him.
"Oh, you know," Tony said, now starting to rewire an impulse blaster that had been popped loose while trying to block a particularly nasty left hook from the Big Guy. "We got together with the X-Men, wrote up a fair treatment code, mainly just to piss you off. We invited the Fantastic Four, but Reid wasn’t too hot on it. Bruce got a kick out of meeting Dr. Grimm, though."
Fury rolled his eye. He didn't have time for Stark's sarcasm, nor did he really want to think about what would happen if they all did band together. It would be hell for Legal. "Well, I'm not here to talk to you about aliens, Mr. Stark, or work. At least not your work."
Tony made a muffled grumbling noise as he leaned over the red and gold suit. Fury, whether Tony had meant it as such or not, took it as his sign to continue. "I took the liberty of getting you an intern."
Finally, Tony looked up. His thick brows furrowed. "An intern? No. I don't want an intern. Send them somewhere else." He turned back to the suit, scowling.
"Not an option, Stark. He's one of ours, and I want him somewhere I can keep my eye on him. He's a smart kid, and I think he could learn a lot from you and the rest of the team.”
“Doesn’t this have to be run by the C.E.O. or something?” Tony quipped. Maybe he could talk Pepper into refusing to cooperate with Fury. Unlikely, but still, it was worth a shot. He was already sharing the lab with Bruce, anyway.
“Already done. Miss Potts fully approves.” Tony rolled his eyes as Fury continued. “He'll mainly be in the P.R. department of Stark Industries, but I think you'll find him to be a great asset in the lab as well."
With a grumble, tony set his tools down. "Fury, if I'd wanted a puppy, I'd have gotten one. I don't need some snot-nosed kid getting underfoot while I'm trying to work."
"I won't get in your way, Mr. Stark, I just want to be of use," came a voice from behind Fury's shoulder, and a scrawny teenager scooted into the room. He had messy brown hair and thick glasses, with a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. Not a snot-nosed kid, really, but young. Probably still in college. "It would be an honor to work with you."
As Tony looked the kid over, Nick nodded. "Tony Stark, meet Peter Parker. Mr. Parker, your new boss."
Peter offered his hand, and Tony halfheartedly shook, his brow furrowing. Parker…how did he know that name?
Fury gave Peter a look. “Now, remember our deal, Parker.”
Tony perked up. “Deal? What deal?”
A flush crept across Peter’s face and he adjusted his glasses. “Well, uh, Director Fury hasn’t really approved of my…extracurricular, as it were.”
Tony nodded. “So, what was it? DUI? Underage smoking?”
Peter shook his head. “No. Vigilante justice.”
Tony's eyes lit up in recognition. "Ah! Peter Parker, the incredible Spiderman. That’s how I know it. Right, teenage superhero, radioactive spiders, bright red Spanx. I’m a big fan." Peter grinned. With a sigh, Tony turned to Fury. "Alright, he can stay. But I am not responsible for him! That's Pepper's job!"
Fury rolled an eye.
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"So, who's the kid?"
The team was gathered in the kitchen on Tony's floor of Stark Tower, yawning and sipping coffee. There had been a situation in South America the night before, and Fury had called them all together. As per usual, once the dust had cleared and Steve had promised they’d be back for their debriefing in the morning, the Avengers had boarded Stark Jet and flew back to New York to crash and decompress. Everyone had slept in, but since no one had bothered to inform Peter, the intern had arrived promptly at 9:00am. Jarvis had buzzed him in, and, feeling the need to be useful, Peter had put coffee on. Minutes later, the smell had drawn all the sleepy superheros out of bed and to the kitchen. Clint was the first to break the early morning silence with his question.
Tony waved a hand in Peter's general direction. "An intern Fury stuck me with," he said. He took his coffee, mumbled something about impulse thrusters and not being bothered, and disappeared out the door to his lab.
"Hi, I'm Peter Parker." He offered his hand.
They shook. "Clint Barton."
Peter's eyes went wide. "Oh, wow, you're Hawkeye! It's so cool to meet you."
Clint smiled a little over his coffee. "You, too. Have you met everyone else?" Peter shook his head. "Well, Thor's back in Asgard, but that's Natasha, also known as Black Widow, and that's Captain America himself, Mr. Steve Rogers." They each exchanged waves. Steve even gave Peter a friendly smile. Clint frowned though. "Wait, where's the Big Guy?"
The kitchen door opened. "What about me?" Asked a groggy voice.
"Ah," Clint said. "There you are. Peter, I'd like you to meet--"
"Bruce Banner," Peter breathed, his eyes glowing with awe. "It's a complete honor. I've read all your work, I think it's absolutely brilliant." He looked like a kid meeting Santa Claus.
Bruce looked surprised. "You've read my work? And you understand it?" He quickly surveyed the skinny college kid standing before him.
Peter nodded enthusiastically. "Every word. You...you're my hero, Dr. Banner."
Going a little pink around the ears, Bruce smiled. "Well, thank you." He quirked his head a little. "Hey, how'd you like to come up to the lab and give me a hand? I need a second opinion on something, and I already know what Tony will say about it. I need some fresh eyes."
Now it was as if someone had announced Christmas was coming early. Peter gaped. "I'd-- well, I'd love to, th-that would be fantastic," he stammered with excitement.
As Peter eagerly followed Bruce to the lab, Natasha rolled her eyes. "Well, there you have it. Science claims another victim."
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The door to the lab swung open, and Bruce chuckled a little. "You're lucky Tony isn't here, Pete," he said. "He'd chew you out for being late aga--" Bruce stopped when he looked up from the computer screen and saw Peter leaning against the door frame, bruised, battered and holding his Spiderman mask to his face to staunch the blood pouring from his nose. Bruce paled. "Peter! What happened?!"
Peter smiled weakly. "Well, let’s just say the spidey senses were a bit off, Doc." Bruce jumped to his feet and strode to the door, catching Peter gently by the shoulders and leading him to the couch. "I miscalculated a jump and wound up smacking full-force into the side of a building. It wasn't pretty." He winced as Bruce sat him down. "God, I hope no one saw that," he moaned. "I was trying so hard to be cool..."
Bruce's doctor instinct took over, and he quickly began to check Peter’s injuries. "I think that's the least of your worries right now, Pete." Well, nothing looked too broken, except maybe that nose. Still, if Peter had hit the building that hard, it really wasn’t too bad. He’d have to ask Tony about maybe coming up with some improvements for the boy’s suit—knee pads at the very least. "Okay, what all hurts?"
Peter took stock himself while Bruce searched for a mostly motor oil-free rag to give him. "Uh, left knee, left wrist, right elbow, chest, ass, face..."
Bruce handed him the rag. "Well, we'll get you patched up. I think you were pretty lucky, though, this could have been bad. Maybe let’s double-check our trajectory next time, alright?" He turned to the one of Tony’s robot to his left. "Dummy, go get some ice from the bar." The robot chirped and rolled off. Bruce gave the intern a small smile. He was really growing fond of the kid—he fit right in at Stark Tower, which couldn’t be said of many people. "Don't worry, Peter, I'm sure no one saw it. Besides, we all make mistakes."
The lab door whirred open and Tony stepped in, phone in hand. “Bruce, have I got something to show you,” he called. He was grinning from ear to ear, and it only seemed to grow when he saw Peter. "Hey Spiderman, nice face plant. Saw it on YouTube."
Peter groaned.
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The lab was mostly dark, except for the ethereal glow of the computers. Peter frowned. He swore he had heard Tony and Bruce say they were going up to the lab. So where were they? And what was that noise? He tapped the light switch. And instantly wished he hadn't.
"Agh! Oh god!! Sor-sorry!" He cringed and turned away, stunned.
Tony sounded almost amused from his position on the floor, semi-obscured by one of the lab tables. "Jarvis?" He asked calmly. "Can you dim those lights a little?"
"Yes, sir." The lights went down some, but it was still light enough that the bright red blush on Peter's cheeks was still clearly visible, as was the glow of Tony's arc reactor.
"Think we spooked the big guy," Tony mused. "You alright, babe?"
Bruce sat up from behind the table, bare skin flushed and his eyes glowing especially green. "Y-yeah, I'm okay." He flushed even more at the sight of Peter. "Oh, oh my gosh...Peter, I'm so sorry, you shouldn't...we were going to...I am so sorry."
Tony chuckled. "I can't tell who is more red right now, and it is hilarious. You should see your faces." He fumbled around behind the lab table for a moment, then stood up, shirtless but at least wearing a pair of boxers. Somehow, Peter felt like they weren't Tony's. "Parker, why don't you head back downstairs? We'll call you if we need you." He winked at him. "But we probably won't."
Peter stumbled out of the lab and down to where the rest of the team was watching "Star Trek." Steve glanced up, and grimaced upon seeing Peter's face. "Oh no...Peter." He stood up. "You just walked in on Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner...being intimate, didn't you?" Peter nodded forlornly. "Son, I am so sorry."
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"Peter, you need to leave now."
Tony's voice was level and low, but there was a definite tone of urgency beneath it. His eyes were rooted to the figure across the lab—Bruce. He was clinging to a table, spasms shaking him and rippling the muscles of his shoulders as his skin started to tint ever so slightly green. The charred remnants of test tubes and molecular models surrounded him, the explosion of the threesome's most recent experiment having set off the imminent transformation. Even Peter knew that this usually wasn't enough to trigger the Hulk, but very little sleep, Tony attempting to do the impossible (as always), and threats of a situation Asgard had made it a long, stressful week for all of them, Bruce especially.
"Dr. Banner?" Peter asked tremulously. He had never seen Bruce transform, and didn't particularly want to, but somehow he couldn't look away. It was incredible, scientifically, but also…this was his hero, and seeing him become something else entirely was a frightening thought.
Tony's eyes were glued to Bruce. "Parker, I'm sure Dr. Banner appreciates your concern. However, the Other Guy does not, so you need to leave now. Jarvis, suit."
A panel in the wall opened, revealing the Iron Man suit, but still Peter stayed rooted to the spot. Tony was two seconds away from tackling Peter, willing to take the brunt of the fight unsuited if he had to just to give the dumb kid some sort of protection, when Bruce spoke.
"No," he growled. His voice was somewhere between his own usual soft cadence, and the Hulk's guttural growl. "No," he repeated. "You...stay down. Not...in front...of Peter."
It took Tony a moment to realize that Bruce was actually talking to the Hulk, willing him down. It was the hardest Tony had ever seen him try to stay in control. Bruce gritted his teeth and clung to the table so tightly his hands lost their color. There was a terrifying moment when the room was totally silent, everything frozen, everyone waiting to see the outcome. Even Tony, in full protective mode, made no move. Finally Bruce slumped down to the floor, relaxing. The tremors subsided and he regained his normal coloring.
Tony raced to his side, his expression taught with worry. "Bruce? Bruce, can you hear me?"
Bruce nodded, trying to catch his breath. "I can't believe that worked." His eyes slowly focused on Peter. "I couldn't...I couldn't let you see me like that. Like a coward."
Peter gaped, completely taken aback at the implications of Bruce’s comment. "I'd-- I'd never think you were a coward, Dr. Banner. You're the bravest guy I know." He smiled a little, and Bruce smiled back.
Tony sat in awe at just how much of a help his intern had turned out to be.