Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

2 AM. Why did it have to be 2 AM? He could have gotten home much earlier, but no. He just had to fall into a dumpster and cut his leg on… something. He never did see what it was, he just knew it was sharp and it hurt . 

And he obviously couldn’t tell Mr. Stark ( no, we are not telling him, shut up, Karen ) because it was such a stupid rookie mistake and Peter was sure the billionaire would take the suit away again. Not to mention he was embarrassed. He should have been paying better attention to what he was aiming his webs at. 

So, swinging back to the tower to patch it as fast as possible it was! 

Or sleep it off. 

Whichever the exhausted teen had the energy for.

…It was not looking good for this wound.

He lost track of how many times he almost passed out. Granted, he was losing quite a bit of blood. But every single time he felt overly dizzy, he had to sit on a roof to wait for the feeling to go away. He might be an idiot, but he did not want to fall and add a head injury to his current list of problems. 

Safe to say Peter was annoyed. He just wanted to get home.

The tower slowly became closer and closer, and Peter was filled with both relief and anxiety. All he wanted was sleep. But he didn’t know if Mr. Stark was waiting for him (as he sometimes did when Peter was out past curfew) or if he would call May. She was away visiting extended family in Italy, leaving Peter with Mr. Stark for a few months.

Which was fine. It was fun. He got to have more lab time and hang around more of his family, but he still missed her. And he was, maybe, just a bit, absolutely terrified of her protective fury if she found out he was hurt. 

May said she didn’t have the money for both to go, but Peter was kind of glad for it. He really didn’t want to miss too much school. Or lab time with Mr. Stark. That was the most important of course.

I should call her soon, Peter thought as he started to climb the building.

As soon as he reached his window at the tower, FRIDAY let him in and he crawled through. He rested on his stomach inside his room. Peter sagged in relief after finding the space empty of other people. As he was debating just going to sleep there, he heard the click of the glass close behind him and FRIDAY ask him a question.

“Sorry, FRI, can you say that again?” Peter said after another dizzy spell went away.

“I know you do not want Boss to know you are hurt, and considering it is not life threatening, I will not tell him if you clean and bandage the wound before going to sleep.” FRIDAY said as calm and patient as ever.

“Sure, sure, give me a second.” Peter responded as he ripped his mask off, panting a little. Then FRIDAY’s words registered in his brain. “Wait, seriously!?” He turned on his back to whisper-yell at the ceiling.

“Yes. Although if you do not take care of the wound, I will have to inform Boss.”

“Ok! Alright!” Peter, happy with that compromise, scrambled to his bathroom where he kept a fully stocked first aid kit under the sink. The fact that Mr. Stark didn’t know of its existence was an unimportant blessing. Bruce and Nat knew, and Peter was pretty sure Bucky knew, but Mr. Stark didn’t and that’s what mattered.

After digging the kit out and laying it open on the cold tile floor, Peter carefully peeled off his suit and took a good look at the wound. He grimaced when he saw the gash. It really wasn’t bleeding anymore, it just looked nasty. 

The whatever-the-hell that cut him made a jagged slash along the outside of his left leg, from his hip to his knee, ripping through his briefs. Peter groaned quietly as he realized he had to take them off to care for the wound decently. 

Peter sighed, dreading the amount of work patching the wound would take. He grumbled quietly as he got up to close the door, took his briefs off and washed his hands properly, then sat on the floor to take care of it.

It didn’t look like it needed stitches (thank fuck) but it was still deep enough that it needed something to hold it together. He took out the salt water bottle, gauze, tissue adhesive, and, after a bit of debating on the colors, the red compression wraps.

Considering the varying degrees of dried and wet blood around the cut, Peter decided to clean the wound a bit with normal water first. So, he grabbed a clean, already blood-stained cloth (thank everything he got to do his own laundry) and got to work. 

Dabbing the wound with plain water was painful, but it was nothing compared to the sting of the salt water. He had to bite another towel to keep from screaming. And even then, he still let out small noises of pain. 

Eventually, he stopped trying to control his tears. He just let them fall to keep his eyesight as clear as possible.

After the fifth time he had to stop due to pain, Peter was doubting if there was a time he felt weaker. Not even having a building collapse on him was as bad as this. How could he call himself a hero, or even a vigilante, if he wasn’t able to deal with a small wound by himself? Or without crying like a baby?

Time blurred for a while as he cleaned the wound, but once it was thoroughly clean, Peter tossed the rag aside to pick up and take care of later. Probably with more force than necessary. Whatever, he was annoyed and in pain and the cloth would be fine. The teenager gave himself a break, trying to calm his emotions and breathing. 

He wished Harley were there. His boyfriend would be worried but at least Peter wouldn’t have to clean the wound alone. However, the cowboy had the audacity to live in Tennessee. Not exactly close but at least it wasn't somewhere like Washington. 

Long-distance relationships were hard, but they were happy and healthy. Even though they both missed each other like crazy. Besides, Harley would be in New York for the summer on a Stark internship anyway.

Just one more week. Peter told himself. Just one more . 

As soon as he felt like he wasn’t going to pass out again, Peter grabbed the tissue adhesive and took a few deep breaths. He decided to close it in parts, just a little bit at a time. 

Each section took at least two minutes to fully dry. After twenty minutes of nauseating pain from holding the wound closed and biting the towel so hard his teeth were sore, Peter just wanted to sleep. 

He didn’t know how long he spent trying to fix his mistake, but he was tired. And he had school the next day. Peter groaned as he remembered that small, little, very important fact.

Then he remembered the Aca Dec field trip and almost banged his head against a wall. He would be fine with the stupid trip, if all his past trips hadn’t gone horribly wrong. Oh, and this trip was to Stark Industries, his fucking house and the company he was going to inherit along with Harley. 

His house for the time being at least. 

His family was going to embarrass the hell out of him. 

Goodbye social life. 

Well, whatever sliver social life he had with Ned and Mj being his only friends.

At least no one questioned why Tony Stark had signed his permission form… yet.

He huffed as he grabbed the gauze and placed it on the wound, wincing despite how gentle he was being. Maybe he could convince Mr. Stark to home-school him. But May would never go for it. Damn . 

Once his leg was carefully covered in the compression wrap, Peter started to put the med kit back together. Time blurred again, but at least it was over and he could finally go to sleep. 

He threw on some pajamas (Peter never knew what would wake him up. It could be his alarm, or it could be some annoying bird with a bucket of ice cold water. That was not fun. Especially because Peter couldn’t thermoregulate, Clint! ) And made his way over to his bed. He passed out, barely managing to get under the covers before darkness consumed him.

Chapter Text

“Rise and shine, kid!”

Peter jumped at the sudden loud noise and landed with his hands and feet sticking to the ceiling above his bed. Panting, he frantically looked around his room to see what so rudely awakened him.

Standing in the doorway was a very disappointed looking Mr. Stark… And Peter was so happy he used some energy the night before to put pajamas on.

“Oh, it’s just you Mr. Stark.” Peter breathed, sticking his clothes to his skin (which, so uncomfortable, but he couldn’t let Mr. Stark see the bandage and gravity was a bitch sometimes) in order to un-stick his hands to stand up, upside-down.

“Just me!? I welcome you into my home, give you a bed, and let you eat my food, and I’m ‘just Mr. Stark!?’ Ridiculous!” He looked offended now, his hand over his arc reactor and everything.

“You scared me!” Peter laughed, fully knowing Mr. Stark was just trying to mess with him.

“The slander I face in this household, my own household, might I remind you!”

“Yours and Pepper’s! I’ll tell her you left her out, Mr. Stark.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” He gasped.

“Oh, I would!”

“Then you wouldn't mind me telling her about how you didn’t sleep for two whole nights last week?” Mr. Stark smirked, his hands now on his hips.

“...fine. I’ll be quiet.” Peter said, admitting defeat.

“Good,” Tony said, laughing and walking out of the room. “Now get down from there. You need to eat before school and Aunt Hottie will kill me if you’re late.” The door closed after him. Peter considered telling him to stop calling his aunt hot, but decided it wasn't worth it. It never worked anyway.

Peter un-stuck his clothes and, after flapping his hands from the relief of not having fabric sticking to him anymore, re-stuck his hands to the ceiling. He crawled to be over the floor instead of the bed. He let his feet go to dangle above the carpet.

And, because he was a dumbass and he thought he was probably healed enough, he dropped.

Peter yelped as he landed with most of his weight on his injured leg. The teen crumpled, landing on his ass, with his hand hovering over the wound, not quite sure what it needed at the moment.

“You ok!?” Mr. Stark yelled from down the hall.

“Yeah, I’m good! Just landed wrong!” Peter yelled back. He waited a few moments to make sure Tony wasn’t going to physically check on him. Once he heard the billionaire’s receding footsteps, Peter gently touched the clothed and bandaged wound. He hissed and pulled his hand back immediately. 

“You should change the bandages,” FRIDAY said, too quietly for anyone else to hear. He nodded and hobbled his way to the bathroom. Peter would forever be grateful for FRIDAY’s existence. He closed the door and noticed the rag from the night before. He sighed as he threw it into the laundry basket.

Then he took his pajamas off and unwrapped the wound. It was already scabbing a bit, and looked a lot better, but it was still sore as hell. He was lucky it wasn’t bleeding. That fall really hurt.

After a painful morning routine, Peter went through the same steps as the previous night. He re-cleaned and wrapped the gash. He paced up and down the bathroom, trying to get used to the feel of the wrap and trying not to limp.

As soon as he felt he was ready, Peter left the area. He started to get dressed, wrestling with his binder for a second. It wasn’t as much of a struggle as it used to be, but considering he hadn’t owned the garment for long, he was pretty proud of how fast he could get it on now. He only had it since the holidays, but he was already pretty used to it. It was a gift from Mr. Stark because May couldn’t afford one and Peter had thrown up one too many times when he thought about his chest. 

Apparently, Mr. Stark thought he had an eating disorder and went to May for advice on how to help Peter. She explained the situation only after texting Peter to make sure Tony already knew he was trans. Once they were on the same page, they started looking for ways to help and May let Mr. Stark buy the binder as a gift.

Peter was thrown back to the present when he tried to put on a pair of jeans. He instantly decided they were too scratchy and opted for some black sweatpants insead. A comfortable t-shirt and his favorite Spider-man hoodie Mr. Stark gave him as a gag gift later, and Peter was ready to go. He grabbed his backpack, headphones and phone, and his watch. He checked over his space, and left his mess of a room.

Even though Peter had his own room on Mr. Stark and Pepper’s private floor, he preferred to stay on the common floor. He just felt more connected to everyone and Mr. Stark never seemed to mind.

“Morning, Baby Spider ,” Natasha greeted from her seat on the couch.

“Morning, . Mama Spider . ,” Peter responded. Then paused. “Shit, wrong language, that was Italian, sorry Mama Spider ,” he corrected, smiling awkwardly and rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s fine Little One . We should get to breakfast, though. I think Bucky and Steve are almost done,” Natasha suggested.

“Bucky’s cooking!? Hell yeah!” Peter said brightly, running into the kitchen. Natasha was much less enthusiastic, but amused none-the-less.

“Language!” Steve shouted from the kitchen.

“English! …I think?” Peter looked at Mr. Stark, head tilted like a confused puppy.

“Yes, English. Now, love ya, but I’m going to need you to take it down a bit, I’ve barely finished my first cup of coffee.”

“But, Mr. Stark! Bucky’s cooking is so much better than yours!” Peter commented, sitting at the table, flapping his hands a bit.

“How dare y-!”

“Aw, thanks Peter, I’m flattered,” Bucky smiled, cutting Tony off and setting a plate of waffles and pancakes on the table. The teen immediately tried to dig in. He pouted when his hand was slapped away. “Wait until the others get here, you little monster.”

“Nah, let the kid eat, he’s going to be late for school if he waits,” Nat pushed the plates closer to Peter. Bucky sighed, but backed down and walked away. When he came back not even a minute later with a plate of cut fruit, most of the food was gone and Peter looked like a happy chipmunk with the way his cheeks were stuffed.

“Peter! Don't eat all of it, we still need to eat too!” Bucky exclaimed, setting the fruit down to pick up the waffle and pancake plates.

As soon as the fruit was on the table, Peter grabbed a handful. He stuffed it in his mouth and mumbled something about being late as he ran to the elevator, grabbing his shoes on the way.

“God damn it.” Bucky sighed when the doors closed, ignoring Tony and Nat’s laughter.

“He really is yours, Tony,” Steve laughed, setting more plates of pancakes and waffles down.

“Yeah, he is,” Tony said, smiling fondly at the shut elevator doors.

Chapter Text

The car ride to school was as quiet as ever. Happy never liked to talk to him and Peter kind of enjoyed the quiet. It was nice to not have to keep a conversation going, peaceful even. Watching the city rush by, the blare of car horns, the smell of not-quite-clean air; it all felt like home to the teen. But Peter must have zoned out at some point because Happy was suddenly trying to get his attention. 

“Hello? Earth to Peter? You there, kid? Come on, I don’t have all day,” Happy had turned around in his seat and was waving his hand at Peter’s face. Peter jumped and looked out the window, finally noticing the school.

“Sorry, Happy, guess I zoned out, I’ll see you later!” Peter called as he gathered his backpack and got out of the car. He stood on the curb, watching the black BMW drive away.

“Peter!” A voice called from behind him.

“ Good morning , Ned,” Peter said, turning around after he spoke.

“German, right?” Ned asked and continued after Peter nodded. “Dude, it’s so cool how many languages you know! Wait, how’d you know it was me?” Ned asked, looking a little disappointed as they walked to their lockers.

“You have a very recognizable voice. Not to mention you’ve pretty much been my only friend the past couple years. And I’m only fluent in Italian, I’m still learning German and Russian. Don’t give me that much credit.” Peter responded, unlocking his locker to grab some of his books.

“Still so cool! Are you excited for the field trip tomorrow!?” Ned exclaimed, copying Peter to get his own books, “I am! I’m so excited! Do you think we’ll see your dad!?” Peter coughed at the last word, but Ned barreled on, not noticing the bombshell he dropped on his friend. “What about everyone else!? Oh my-”

“Ned, holy shit, I love you, but calm down.” Peter winced a bit as he remembered Mr. Stark’s words from that morning sounding similar. Maybe Pepper was right about them spending too much time together… Nah, impossible. “First of all, he’s not my dad, he’s my mentor. There’s a difference. A big difference. And second, everyone but Nat, Steve, Bucky, Clint, Bruce and Mr. Stark are out on missions right now.”

“So what?” Mj said, appearing out of nowhere next to them, making Ned and Peter both jump. “Is Pepper good enough for you, Peter? Is she not special enough for you to remember?”

“That’s not it, Mj. She’s way too important to be able to leave the tower most of the time so I always just kind of assume she’s there.” Peter explained. He was vaguely wondering where Flash was, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to bully Peter about knowing the Avengers. It wasn’t like he was complaining though, not being bullied for every word he said was nice.

“Sure, you keep lying to yourself, I’ll find the truth, I always do,” they warned him.

“Notice how I didn’t forget Nat? Is Nat not important enough for you, Mj?” Peter mimicked Mj; a dangerous move if you weren’t her friend, but Peter was, so it was fine. Probably. “Also why would I lie, I am awful at it, you know this.” 

Mj smiled as they shook their head.

“Fair point. Oh, and don’t get detention for being late to class, we need you both at practice today. Later losers,” she reminded them as she left. And not even five seconds later, the first bell rang. Ned and Peter looked at each other for only a second before they both scrambled to class.

Peter barely made it to his first period on time, but he only got a glare from Mrs. Dawn, so he counted that as a win. The rest of the day was a blur, but lunch was when it all started going downhill. Very quickly.

It was ok at first. Peter, Ned and Mj were talking and joking and having fun. Then Ned, the loveable idiot, brought up Harley.

“So, when’s your boyfriend coming back? He’s spending the summer right?”

“Yeah, he should be here next week, but he hasn’t taken my calls for a few days, he’s only been texting me and not very often, so I think he’s planning something.” Peter said as he struggled to open his chocolate milk carton. He gave up after another try and handed it to Mj.

She smirked and opened it, slowly, just to annoy Peter. He sighed and snatched it back as soon as it was open, missing the worried looks his friends gave each other, too focused on the milk.

“You sure? We don’t need to beat him up, right?” Mj made a move to reach into their backpack, but stopped to glare at something behind Peter. Well, more likely some one . Peter sighed, knowing full well what was about to happen.

“Penis has a boyfriend!? Ha! How much are you paying him? Or how much is he paying you for your ‘services’ is the better question! We all know no one would ever actually love an orphan like you, pathetic Parker!” Flash cackled as him and his lackeys surrounded their table.

“You know, you seem to be really obsessed with Peter, Flash. You sure you’re not just fantasizing there? Do we need to worry about you? Not that anyone would anyway, you’re just an idiot who’s only joy in life comes from hurting others. And since you’re too stupid to understand what I just said, I’ll spell it out for you, you’re the pathetic one, not Peter.” Mj said, glaring daggers at the bully.

The entire lunchroom was quiet at this point, waiting for Flash’s reaction. If Peter didn’t have enhanced hearing, he would have thought no one was even breathing. Including Peter and Ned.

When Mj’s words seemed to have registered in Flash’s head, he turned as red as a tomato and Peter was pretty sure there was smoke coming from his ears.

“ What did you say?” Flash growled.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I said you’re pathetic .” Mj raised her voice as if Flash hadn’t heard exactly what she’d said. 

“You know I can just sue you, right? My parents are more powerful than anyone else’s.” Flash crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking smug, but a little worried. It seemed like a losing battle for Flash and Peter silently celebrated and thanked Mj for her existence. Then Ned joined. And look, Peter loved his best friend, but he had never wanted to strangle Ned more after what he said.

“Unless your parents are close to the Avengers and Tony Stark, Peter has you beat!” Ned looked so proud about practically signing Peter’s death certificate himself that Peter had a hard time being mad at him. But it wasn’t impossible. The lunchroom was noisy again, everyone deciding the fight wasn’t interesting anymore.

“Still lying about knowing the Avengers, huh, Penis? Well, I guess we’ll see tomorrow. Get ready to watch your world crumble around you when I expose your lies to Tony Stark himself, dumbass. You’ll never work as anything other than what you already are, whore.” Then Flash leaned close to Peter’s ear and whispered, “Meet me in the bathrooms if you know what’s good for you.” 

But before Flash left, Peter felt a chill run up his spine and rest, ice cold, at the base of his neck. He struggled to keep himself still as Flash stopped and whacked the back of Peter’s head, laughing with his lackeys as he finally left. 

After a few moments of internal debate, Peter sighed. “I’m going to the bathroom,” he said as he grabbed his backpack. Best to just get it over with. 

“You should tell someone about this, Peter. He should get expelled.” Mj always encouraged him to seek help about Flash, especially when it started to get physical.

“No, it’s fine, expelling him will only make it worse. He’ll blame me and the rest of the world and end up in jail. And besides, I can handle it!” Peter said, a hopefully convincing smile on his face.

“...sure.” Mj said, very obviously not convinced, as she watched Peter leave.

Peter, on the other hand, just wanted this to be over. He thought up worse-case scenarios as he walked to the closest male bathroom, trying to calm his breathing and already figuring out how to hide whatever Flash would do from his family. 

He felt the chill at the base of his neck before he even reached the door. Whatever was going to happen would be bad .

The teen hesitated outside the door for only a moment, then pushed his way into the bathroom. Flash and two of his flunkeys already waiting for him. 

“Really, Penny?” Peter flinched at that. “Don’t you know this is the wrong bathroom?” Flash taunted as Peter glared.

“Guess we’ll have to teach her a lesson, right, Flash?” The minion to the left of Flash said.

“Oh, absolutely.” Flash agreed, a horrible smirk on his face. Then he snapped his fingers and Peter struggled to stay still again as the two lackeys grabbed Peter’s arms. They threw his backpack and headphones to the wall. Flash stood in front of him with brass knuckles already on his hands from who knows where. 

“I’m going to enjoy this, but if you make even a single sound, I will make your life a living hell . Understood?” Flash was still smiling, truly looking like this would be a blast for him. However, he frowned when Peter didn’t respond. 

“I said, understood ?” Flash spoke slowly, as if Peter was too stupid to follow. “Fine,” he continued when he didn’t get a response, “we’ll do this the hard way.”

Peter wished he could have blanked or blacked out or something, anything , so that he wouldn’t have to feel the pain. But, no. Life was almost never that kind to him. He felt the bite of every punch, felt the burn of every bruise forming, felt the sting of every single cut and scratch. He suffered it all as it was happening.

Peter wanted to throw up. He wanted to scream, to cry. But he never let any of that show. Not even a single tear (which was so goddamn hard by the way, but he couldn't let Flash have that satisfaction). He was a limp ragdoll, he’d let them have their fun, then lick his wounds in peace.

Lunch had barely started when Flash came up to their group. They had about twenty minutes to beat up Peter as much as they wanted.

And they used.

Every.

Single.

Minute.

If Peter wasn’t getting beat up he might congratulate them on their time management skills. However, he was in so much pain he was surprised he could still think. He was surprised he hadn’t actually thrown up yet.

He had no idea how he was still being held up. He wasn’t super light and he didn’t have the strength to hold himself up anymore. So the minions were the only things keeping him off the ground. A little impressive.

Flash had been talking in the beginning, but now, he was quietly enjoying beating Peter up. With brass knuckles. How the fuck does Peter keep getting into these situations? How did Flash even get those into the school? Why does he even have them ?

Peter decided it didn’t matter after a particularly hard punch. He tried to escape into his mind, but was brought out with every hit. Peter just wanted this to be over. He had no idea how long it had been but he was pretty sure if they kept going, they would give him internal bleeding.

Eventually, finally , the bell rang and Peter was dropped. He landed hard on his knees, wincing as he aggravated the cut on his leg from the night before. Flash tilted Peter’s head up and said something, but Peter couldn’t hear anything aside from the rushing in his ears.

Maybe Flash had been talking the entire time and Peter just hadn’t noticed. Not like it mattered anymore.

Flash nodded, looking all too smug and overjoyed, and left the dirty bathroom. Peter sighed in both pain and relief. He already knew he would be late so he just took his time to exist and check the damage.

He didn’t want to look, but Peter knew he needed to. He needed to know if he should just go home and try to treat it there, or if he could power through the day. He took a few deep breaths to lift his now blood-stained and ruined shirt and his somehow ok binder and gasped.

He knew it would be bad, but it was another thing to actually see it. His stomach was sore and red and slightly swollen, coated in black and blue and purple bruises as well as blood. There were sporadic cuts in the same area, all varying in severity, but none too awful. 

Peter groaned as he tried to move, pain flaring in his… everything. He breathed through it, getting some wet paper towels and attempting to clean the wounds as best he could. He managed to get most of the blood off. After he was done, he stuffed the ruined shirt into his bag, and pulled his hoodie on.

He didn’t have another shirt for some reason, that would actually be really helpful in situations like this, but he didn’t think that far ahead. All he had was the hoodie. Which was comforting, but still physically uncomfortable without a shirt underneath.

Peter walked around the dingy bathroom a bit for the same reason as the morning; not letting the pain show. He did one final check to make sure he had everything, then nodded to himself in the mirror and left the room. He really hoped the rest of the day wouldn’t be as painful as it had been so far.

Chapter Text

Peter’s last few classes and Aca Dec went surprisingly well. He was strangely able to get all his work done for every class, despite being in mass amounts of pain.

Well…

He hurt, but not that much. He had been shot at close range once with the gun somehow blowing up on both him and the criminal, adding a nasty burn to the bullet wound. That was a massive amount of pain. This was more… he hurt (like hell) but it was vaguely manageable.

Amazingly, Peter was able to get through the school day without his teachers noticing the slight winces the teen gave whenever he moved too quickly. His best friend, on the other hand; not so oblivious. Ned would not stop asking Peter if he was ok. And Peter had a lot of patience, he needed that skill to be able to comfort victims, but he was so close to snapping. 

Ned had every right to be worried, but Peter would tell him (or just leave, but Ned didn’t need to know that) if it was life-threatening. And Peter told him as such. Which finally seemed to quiet his best friend.

Peter was so ready to leave when they were finally dismissed from Aca Dec practice. He was almost to the door, almost to freedom for the day, when Mr. Harrington asked him to wait. He held back a sigh and went back to his desk, telling Ned to not wait for him.

“Peter,” his teacher started as soon as everyone left. “As you know, this field trip is very important-”

“Mr. Harrington, with all due respect, I’m not lying. I have an internship, there should be papers on file with the school, and if that’s not enough, I don’t know what would be.” Peter was calm, but he was also very done with the day. He was a bit harsher than he meant to be, but who could really blame him? His stomach hurt and all he wanted was to ice it. Which would raise questions from his family that Peter really did not want to answer.

“I’m not sure what to believe Peter.” Mr. Harrington said, shaking his head. “Those papers could probably be found online with enough digging. And besides, Stark Industries doesn’t take any interns from high school, everyone knows that. I need you to be on your best behavior here, no sneaking off, no longer than necessary bathroom breaks, and no fiddling with anything you’re not allowed to. Ok? I’m giving you a warning here, you could be expelled for this, you know that right?”

“Yes, Mr. Harrington.” Peter had given up on convincing him. “Is that all? My ride is waiting for me.” He was gripping his backpack straps so hard, he was sure his knuckles were white.

“Yes, that’s all. Have a nice day, Peter.” Mr. Harrington sighed.

Peter didn’t respond as he walked out of the classroom. He was so close to crying. He just wanted his family, wanted Harley, wanted to tell them everything, to get help. But what would they think of Peter if he couldn’t handle one stupid bully? They would know how weak he was and they would ditch him then and there. No. Peter couldn’t risk it.

He took a minute just inside the deserted hallway doors that led to the parking lot to catch his breath. He didn’t want Happy to notice he wasn’t ok and tell Mr. Stark. The man liked to act like he didn’t care but Peter knew he was a big softy.

Tony would ask too many questions, then Peter would have to lie and Mr. Stark would know he was lying and then he would be grounded. Rightfully so, lying wasn’t great, but Peter couldn’t tell them.

The teen took one last breath inside the building, smiled, and walked out the doors. 

He looked around for Happy’s BMW, but couldn’t find it. He began to wonder if Happy forgot him, but that wasn’t like him. Peter almost frantically scanned the parking lot again. He noticed a biker with their helmet on, visor up, staring at their phone.

Peter was going to ignore it, but he actually looked at the bike the person was standing next to and could no longer leave it be. The bike was a shiny orange Harley-Davidson, designed for two-up riding. Well, not designed. Peter remembers helping him fit the bike with new seats and everything else so they could ride together. They never got to test it before he had to leave though.

And if he had any doubts, Peter also recognized the helmet the biker was wearing. It was an Iron Man inspired helmet. It had hot-rod red as the base color with gold and silver accents. Peter’s helmet was similar, but was red with blue, gold and black highlights. They were dorks, sue them.

“Harley!” Peter exclaimed as he ran up to jump on his boyfriend. 

“Hey baby!” Harley responded after he took his helmet off and put his phone away. He caught Peter with a small grunt as his legs wrapped around Harley’s waist. Peter had a long day, but this infinitely made up for it. Peter did have to hide a wince at the impact aggravating his stomach though. “Are you made of copper and tellurium? Because you’re CuTe.”

Before they started dating, Harley would relentlessly use bad, cheesy, or funny pick up lines on Peter. Occasionally some dirty ones too, but Harley always kept those private. Peter absolutely loved them. They were stupid and annoying, but they were also a way for Harley to show his emotions and Peter loved that. They left Peter a blushing mess and Harley seemed devoted to making that happen.

The one time Peter did it back, he used the Tennessee line and Harley laughed but couldn’t stop blushing for the entire day. Tony thought he was sick and Harley had to awkwardly explain what happened. Tony apparently laughed at him and walked away. By the end of that day, the teens had talked and were dating.

“‘CuTe?’ That was awful. You’re lucky I'm happy to see you. Why are you here, though? Not that I’m complaining, but I thought you weren’t going to be here till next week.” Peter asked as he pulled away a bit to see his boyfriend's face. 

“What are you talking about?” Harley seemed just as confused as Peter. “I got in this morning… Like we planned. Did you convince yourself our plans were for a different week again?” Harley was now amused at the realization, then guilty look on Peter’s face.

“No?” He meant for that to come out as less of a question, but life had other plans for Peter.

“Really?” Harley laughed, and wasn’t that the most beautiful sound. No scratchy microphone noise to distract from the angelic noise the love of his life just made. “What month is it then?” Harley, the bastard, looked smug as hell.

“I don’t… I… It- it’s not important! Also can we go home? I’m really hungry.” Peter gave him his best puppy-dog eyes and saw the exact moment Harley caved.

“Fine. Nice deflection, by the way. However, I will tell Ton- wait, no. Pepper. I’ll tell Pepper that you’re spending too much time in the lab.” Harley threatened as he put his helmet back on and got on the bike.

“Then she’d ban me and you wouldn’t get to spend as much time with me.” Peter sang, getting his own helmet out, putting it on and clambering on the bike behind Harley.

“...true.” Harley said right before starting the motorcycle, effectively cutting off the conversation. Peter grinned knowing he won and that Harley wouldn’t tell Pepper. Too much was at stake.

The ride home was a lot of fun for Peter. They definitely broke a couple laws (probably more than that) but it was fine. Rules were made to be broken, as Mr. Stark said. Besides, they made it to the tower safely.

Both teenagers were laughing uncontrollably as they entered the private garage and parked the bike. They were still smiling as they made their way to the lab. 

“Do you know what we’ll be working on today?” Peter asked as they got in the elevator. He immediately went to the corner of the metal contraption. He hated these things.

“Tony said we’d be working on something new and old and wouldn’t give me any other details.” Harley responded, smiling fondly and walking over to Peter when the elevator moved and the shorter teen flinched.

Peter only nodded in response, just trying to breathe. He never liked elevators. They made him feel weird and dizzy. Even more so with his enhanced senses. And that trip to DC hadn’t helped any. The small amount of relief Peter felt from having Harley close was very much appreciated.

He would have just taken the stairs, but no. The lab was on floor 95. Because Mr. Stark was annoying and he just had to have 100 fucking floors.

As soon as the stupid thing stopped and the doors opened, Peter stumbled out of it. Harley grabbed his arm to steady him and Peter gave him a shaky smile in return. 

“Hey, kids! I was just… Is Peter ok? It was the elevator again, wasn’t it?” Mr. Stark asked. He was standing in the middle of the lab, a rag covered in grease stains in his hands and fond concern spreading across his face.

“No- well, yes, but I’m fine. What are we doing today?” Peter moved to hold Harley’s hand, convincing his body he no longer needed the physical support.

“If you’re sure… Anyway, you’re going to keep getting hurt, I can’t control that. So, I thought we could help you make bandage webs!” Mr. Stark announced happily. Peter felt the anxiety rise in his stomach. Did he know what happened last night? No. He would be very… annoyed if he knew. And Mr. Stark wasn’t annoyed. 

“Oh, hell yeah!” Peter exclaimed. He had been working on his poker face and lying with Nat. And judging by the way all of them started to work, it was paying off. They started brainstorming and Peter relaxed with every second. He was trying to forget about the day and throw himself into his work.

Chapter Text

It really hadn’t felt like they’d spent that much time in the lab when Pepper came down to find them. Apparently it was now dinner time and they had spent… five-ish hours? Working on the bandage webs.

“But Pepper,” Peter drew out the last syllable of her name. “We’re so close to being able to test this! Thirty more minutes? Please?”

“No! If I give you boys even five more minutes you’ll be down here for the next five hours too.” Pepper had her hands on her hips looking more amused than annoyed. But still annoyed. “Now, clean up. I’m not leaving until you’re done and I can leave with you, got it?”

They all murmured some variation of ‘yes’ and got to work. Peter let himself zone out again, just going through the calming, familiar motions of cleaning his workspace. He thought about the day. How he had gotten hurt the night before. How Flash had hurt him pretty badly. How Harley had unintentionally surprised him. How much he was still hurting now that he thought about it. 

Maybe he should go to bed early… Harley never actually slept the night in Peter’s room (everyone at the tower was a helicopter parent (even if most of them denied it)) so he wouldn’t have to worry about his boyfriend seeing the bruises. They probably look worse now, most likely yellow and gross.

Where did Flash even get brass knuckles? Did anyone know what he was actually using them for? 

…Probably not. Flash is admittedly good at keeping secrets. He only bullies Peter when they have breaks between classes or at lunch. Or in the bathrooms that Peter attempts to steer clear of. Peter somehow memorized what areas Flash would be in throughout the day so he could avoid those places like the plague.

The bully was surprisingly nice to his friends. He remembered their birthdays, got them random gifts occasionally, and seemed to hang out with them outside of school. He just despised Peter for some reason. He was sure he didn’t do anything to make Flash hate Peter so much, but his memory was never that good so Peter wasn’t sure.

What if he did do something? What if Flash had a right to bully Peter? What if-

Peter was yanked out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder and flinched. Hard. Having a bully and being a vigilante will do that to you. 

He looked around to see Pepper and Mr. Stark talking behind Harley, who was looking worried with his hand raised as if he had- …Oh.

“Sorry Harls, I’m good, just zoned out a bit.” Peter answered the un-asked question with a hand scratching the back of his neck. “Are we all done then?” He scanned the area, noticing the lab hadn’t looked that clean in weeks.

“It’s probably as good as it’s going to get. You sure you’re ok? You flinched pretty bad there…”

“Yeah, yep, all good here, nothing wrong what-so-ever!” Peter grimaced as he heard what he said. So much for learning how to lie. “Sorry, I’m good, really. I was just thinking about school.”

Harley still didn’t look convinced. He opened his mouth to, most likely, get an actual explanation out of Peter when he was interrupted.

“Hey, love birds! .Hurry up., ” Tony whined, waving his hand for them to follow. “I’m hungry now.”

“.Fuck you.!” Peter said sweetly, grinning with his hands clasped behind his back. 

“Oh, you little shit!” Mr. Stark lunged for Peter, who pretended he didn’t see it coming and let the older man tackle him. He yelped as he hit the floor. It was mostly due to the fact the impact hurt his bruises and leg, but he played it off as surprise.

Or, he hoped he did at least. 

He and Tony wrestled for a bit on the floor of the lab, both laughing as they got, and then lost the upper hand. Pepper and Harley were smiling, at least as far as Peter could tell, so he counted that as a win, regardless of the pain from aggravating his wounds again. When the billionaire eventually pinned Peter and told him to yield, Peter did, out of breath and also hungry now.

“Still can’t beat me, huh, Bambino?” Tony got up and held a hand out to Peter. 

“You know I go easy on you Mr. Stark,” said man gasped, apparently not, in fact, knowing that. “The only ones I go all out against are Bucky and Steve cause I know they’ll be fine. Well and Nat, but Nat’s… Um… Nat.”

Mr. Stark nodded solemnly at that, but quickly went back to the part about Peter holding back. Peter tried to reason with him (you have heart problems Mr. Stark, I don’t want to kill you) while their significant others herded them into the elevator.

Peter was having the time of his life making fun of his da- father figure- mentor! mentor. But, as soon as the elevator moved, Peter clung to the closest thing he could, which just so happened to be Harley, and stopped talking. 

He tried to be careful about his strength, but he could still feel Harley wince. He could distantly hear Harley shushing him as he muttered apologies. It was so dark and cramped and he could hear every squeak and grind of the steel box as it rose and smell and taste the copper now flooding his mouth and it was all too much. Everything hurt and Peter just wanted off and to ice his wounds without being asked questions or change his bandages or do literally anything other than be on this death trap.

He clung tighter to… whatever he was holding as he was gently moved. He didn’t want to at first, but he could smell the comfort of cedar wood walls and Käsespätzle and he felt himself move his legs to follow whatever was pulling him along.

He stumbled along, being carefully held by… someone? He opened his eyes, vision still blurred around the edges, to find Harley coxing him to sit on the couch. Peter could tell Harley’s lips were moving to make sound but Peter couldn’t hear any of it. 

A shame, really. He loved Harley’s voice.

Peter climbed onto the couch and curled up next to his wonderfully soft boyfriend. He let his eyes close again and focused on the sounds around him. 

Most of the Avengers were in the kitchen, bantering. 

“Oh, sure, let the one who almost burnt down the whole tower help make food.”

“Isn’t Tony banned from the kitchen anyway?” Nat asked, probably reading and barely paying attention to the conversation. Or acting like it at least.

“Says who!? I make a mean hot chocolate and I need the kitchen for that!” Tony sounded mostly annoyed with a dash of offended mixed in.

“Yeah, because that’s the only thing you can make!” Clint laughed.

Peter flinched at the noise of something being thrown at the bird and the ensuing yelp. He smiled, however, when he heard Pepper tell them to stop throwing food, almost laughing at the memory of that particular fight.

“You back with me, baby?” Harley asked softly as he carded his fingers through Peter's hair. Peter gave a hum, too relaxed and tired to say anything.

“Hey kid, you alright now?” Mr. Stark walked in, speaking just as softly as Harley and Peter was suddenly hit with the overwhelming feeling of… Love. Loving and being loved back. The feeling of knowing those he cared about will always be there for him, and vice versa, was almost suffocating.

Peter didn’t even realize he was crying until Mr. Stark was cupping his face as gently as possible and brushing his tears away with his thumbs. He was smiling softly, even as Peter started to sob. He let go of his boyfriend to crash into his dad.

Tony just held him tightly, just enough weight to ground Peter without hurting him. It had taken them a few tries to get the pressure right, but Tony’s hugs were now one of Peter’s favorite things.

After a while of being held by both his boyfriend and da-... Peter called Mr. Stark dad… Thank fuck that wasn’t out loud. Oh god. Dad?

Peter shoved that thought away into a tiny box in the back of his mind labeled, ‘Don’t Wanna Feelings.’ He’ll get back to it later. Probably. Maybe.

Anyway, his boyfriend and Mr. Stark eventually asked him if he was ready to eat. The teen nodded and they ate dinner quietly.

Not silent, never silent, but just… quietly. Nat and Clint were arguing about the morality of the archers vent crawling. Steve and Bucky were pretending not to hold hands under the table. Tony was getting chewed out by Pepper for missing another meeting. Bruce and Harley were talking about a biology thing Peter would normally listen to, but he was too tired and hungry to really care at the moment.

After Peter had eaten enough, he rested his head on the table. He didn’t mean to fall asleep. He should have guessed that would happen though. When Tony told him it was bedtime, Peter forced himself to be conscious enough to stumble with him to his room.

Tony got him to change in his bathroom, then tucked him in like he was five. He would normally be annoyed, but with his exhaustion and pain slowly taking hold of him, it was actually kind of nice. 

“Goodnight, kid.” Tony whispered, pressing a kiss to Peter’s forehead.

“G‘night, dad,” Peter mumbled, smiling, as his world dissolved into darkness.

Chapter Text

Peter woke with a gasp from a nightmare he didn’t remember. All he knew was that it was gory, but even that was slowly fading. His body was covered in cold sweat, his pajamas sticking to his skin uncomfortably and the bandage on his leg feeling gross in a way he couldn’t describe.

He looked around the room. It wasn’t necessarily dark, but it wasn’t light either. He recognized everything, remembered when and who he got each thing from. The Death Star lego set from Tony and Ned. The Spider-bot he made with Tony and Harley. His hoard of candles and bath bombs from Clint, Nat, Bucky, and Pepper. The rocket science mug he got from Bruce. The knife collection from Loki, Bucky and Nat. The birthday hat from Thor and Loki. His hand-made pottery from that one class he took with Pepper and Tony that they all decided should never be used for actual food or drinks. The gifts soothed him.

Peter sighed as he calmed down and remembered bits of the nightmare, nothing solid, but enough to know what it was about. That stupid building just couldn’t let him get a good night’s sleep, could it? 

Suddenly, the door was thrown open, and Tony walked in yelling, “Awaken, oh Great Spiderling!” with a smile on his face, way too happy for however early in the morning it was. Peter, on the other hand, scrambled back, tangling himself in his sheets and yelping when he rolled off the bed and hit the floor. His wounds were not pleased with this new development.

He whimpered quietly as he tried to curl around his stomach. However, that only tightened the blankets and put more pressure on the area, causing Peter to gasp in pain.

“You alright, Underoos?” Tony laughed at Peter’s misery. He didn’t seem to notice the teen was in pain. A very good thing in Peter’s mind. He wasn’t sure what Tony thought was happening, but he also didn’t really care at the moment.

Peter slowly untangled himself and glared at Tony as he stood up. Tony said something about breakfast and being late to something, but Peter was more focused on trying to stand and breathe correctly. Tony closed the door behind him as he, in Peter’s mind, finally left the room. 

Then Peter realized that Tony was trying to remind him about the field trip.

Peter sighed.

Today’s going to be a long day…

Peter did his usual morning routine and changed his bandages, vaguely noticing the bruises from the day before were still a bit blue and purple and that the gash on his leg was still scabbed. He expected them to be a bit more healed by now. He shrugged it off and finished getting ready.

After a very rushed breakfast and a fairly quick drive to the school, Peter was standing on the curb, waving goodbye to Happy.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t our favorite liar!” Flash called from the steps where the nine other students of his class were waiting, without a teacher. Hopefully Mr. Harrington would get there soon.

“Shut up, Flash!” more or less everyone groaned. Except for Randy and Flash himself. Randy was one of Flash’s several lackeys and the only one in the Aca Dec group. 

Despite everyone being annoyed by Flash, Peter could still hear the whispers.

“ Are we sure he has an internship?”

“Does he really know Tony Stark?”

“I guess we’ll find out…”

“I can’t imagine being caught in a lie like that.”

Peter sighed as he walked over to sit by Ned and Mj. Ned was practically vibrating with excitement while Mj was reading. She looked like she’d rather be anywhere else, but Peter thought they looked a little bit excited.

Ned lit up when he actually noticed Peter, apparently having been too focused on the brochure in his hands to hear Flash.

“Dude! This is so awesome! Oh I can’t wait!” Ned continued to ramble until Mr. Harrington got there. Kind of impressive, actually, considering their teacher was almost an hour late. When he finally got there, he was slightly red in the face and panting.

“Sorry kids,” Mr. Harrington said, still breathing heavily. “I got caught in traffic, let’s do a headcount and get going, shall we?”

Thankfully, the bus wasn’t set to leave for ten more minutes, but they cut it really close. Once everyone was lined up next to the bus and counted, they started to board. It went relatively quickly, even though no one would shut up. They were mostly whispering, but Peter could hear the voices. Even though he couldn’t make out any words (considering everyone was talking over each other), he was still getting overwhelmed just by the noise and enclosed space. 

Peter and Ned sat at the very front of the bus, hoping to get away from Flash’s torment for a while. And because the front had the most windows, making Peter feel less claustrophobic. And because the ride was smoother there. 

Mj sat in the aisle across from them, sketching. Probably trying to give some form of, much appreciated, Flash protection.

Peter barely heard the driver give their safety talk, but he definitely felt when the bus moved. He tried to take deep breaths, but every bump and shift made him a little more panicked. Ned was trying to ground him by coaching him through breathing exercises and holding his hand, squeezing it when he breathed in, letting up on the pressure when he breathed out.

It helped. A lot. Damn, what did Peter ever do to deserve his best friend. 

About halfway through the bus ride, Peter was calm enough for Ned to start talking. He was quiet, but incredibly excited. He hadn’t had a chance to visit the tower yet. He rambled about what they would see and who they would meet. Mj even chimed in, hoping to meet Pepper.

That led to a heated debate about who was better, Tony Stark or Pepper Potts. The whole bus ended up involved. It was actually really impressive. Peter’s classmates kept asking for his feedback, but Peter said they were both amazing and he wouldn’t choose.

The bus was pretty evenly split between the two bosses, but Pepper had one more vote than Tony. And Peter couldn't let that stand. He would protect his mentor’s honor.

“Tony.” Peter said in a rare surge of confidence.

“What?” Betty asked over the roar of students. She quieted everyone down and they all waited at the edge of their seats for Peter’s answer.

“My vote. It’s for Tony.”

The whole bus groaned. The score was even. No one won and Peter could not be happier. Of course, the tower soon came into sight and the debate was quickly forgotten. Everyone piled onto one side of the bus to get a better look at the famous building. Their teacher and bus driver tried to get the excited students to sit or at least calm down. They were very much ignored.

The bus got to the drop off area and the students tried to rush out.

“Everyone quiet!” Mr. Harrington yelled. Peter squeezed his own hand to keep from holding his ears at the loud noise. It had the desired effect though. Everyone slowly sat back down, not used to hearing this teacher yell at them. “Ok, now that we’re calm… We are going to stay calm. We will get off the bus, line up next to it, do a headcount, then patiently walk into the building to get our badges and meet our guide. If we cannot stay calm, we will head back to the school. Sound good?”

The group of teens nodded and were let off the bus with a few ‘thank you’s to the driver. They did as told, most of them (including Ned) barely containing their excitement as they stood outside, looking up at the tall tower. 

Peter let out a breath in relief from the quiet. 

Mr. Harrington led them inside and their line almost immediately devolved from a single-file to a cluster. Their teacher went to get them checked in with the receptionist as the students, Peter included, marveled at the interior. It was modern, shiny, and clean. There were no bright colors, but the designs and the way the shades of black and white were placed made it beautiful. Peter smiled to himself, knowing Tony could never pull this off. It had to be Pepper.

“You look like you’ve never seen this before, Penis. Are you really that bad at lying?” Flash whispered to him. Peter knew he was there; he just hoped Flash would behave. He knew it was wishful thinking, but Peter could still hope, right? 

He really did not want to explain why he only used the private entrance (reserved for avengers and family) so Peter just shrugged in response. Flash scoffed and was about to continue when Ned came up to them.

“Go away, Flash. You’re just jealous of Peter here because he’s smarter and cooler than you.” Ned defended Peter. Who gave a grateful nod to his friend.

“Whatever, you’re both delusional.” Flash sneered as he walked toward the front of the group.

“Thanks, Ned. What would I do without you?” Peter said sincerely.

“Be dead, probably.” He deadpanned. They lasted until their eyes met before they started laughing. It was true, but the way Ned said it was amazing.

Mr. Harrington came back a few moments later, one rectangular box in hand.

“Ok, kids. These are your badges. They’re pins, so just stick them somewhere visible and we won't have problems. And they have to be visible at all times, ok?” Mr. Harrington instructed. Peter wondered if he would have a badge or not. He’d never needed one before considering FRIDAY knew him. But he was part of a tour, so maybe he would get one.

Mr. Harrington passed out the badges, but paused when he got to Peter. Seemed like he didn’t have one.

“I’m sorry, Peter, it looks like there’s been a mistake… You don’t seem to have a badge. I’ll go fix this,” Mr. Harrington looked so confused and Peter almost felt bad. But not enough to actually tell him it wasn’t a mistake. 

Mr. Harrington told him to keep his mouth shut about his internship. And who was Peter to break the rules?

Peter was much more petty than people gave him credit for.

“It’s not a mistake, don’t worry.” Oh no. Peter recognized that voice. “Why don’t you finish passing out the badges and then I’ll introduce myself.” The southerner said as if he hadn’t just made, then broke, then made Peter’s world again.

Peter was happy Harley was here, but there would be no way he wouldn’t find out about Flash. But… does he really care? Flash was mean, and having someone who wouldn’t take his shit might be nice for a change.

“Are you our guide?” Mr. Harrington asked skeptically. Which was fair, Harley was Peter’s age; he looked like a high schooler.

“Yup!” Harley responded, happily showing off his badge. 

Nothing good could come with Harley – who’s nickname in the tower was ‘Chaos Demon’ – being their guide.

Oh hell.

Peter was so dead.

Chapter Text

“Alright, everyone!” Mr. Harrington said to get the class's attention. To Peter’s surprise, they shut up pretty quickly. “This is our tour guide. Everyone will treat him with respect, understood?” They all nodded. Mr. Harrington then gestured to Harley and he began to introduce himself.

“Hello, y’all,” Peter was sure he heard some of the people in the group swoon over his boyfriend’s accent. Peter couldn’t help but stand a little taller, knowing that Harley was all his. “My name’s Harley Keener, but y’all can call me Harley. I’ll be your guide through these wondrous halls, as your teacher mentioned. Now, as amazing as this building is, it’s very easy to get lost in, so stay close. Everyone have their badges? Great, let's get through security, drop our stuff off and start the tour, ok?” 

The class (bar Peter and Mj) cheered as they followed Harley to the metal detectors. There were two guards on either side of each scanner. They didn’t interact unless FRIDAY detected something dangerous.

“When you come up to the scanner, just walk to the center, stand there until FRIDAY, our building’s AI, says your name, then walk the rest of the way through. Let’s line up, single file, and I’ll demonstrate.” Harley was smiling, but it wasn’t his normal soft or happy smiles. This was his press smile. Peter distantly wondered if he did this for every tour he led.

Peter hadn’t had the chance to lead a tour yet, but Tony and Pepper both really wanted him to, so the teen knew it was going to happen at some point.

Harley and Mr. Harrington corralled the students into a line. Peter was last, with Mj and Ned in front of him. Harley walked through the scanner and stopped. Whispers broke out as nothing happened for a moment.

“Harley Keener,” FRIDAY spoke, but she sounded cold, as if she was just a robot. “Level 144, Potato Kid, Baby Boss 1, Scary Person 3.5.1, classified, Chaos Demon 2. Welcome back Harley,” There was the warm FRIDAY Peter knew and loved. “Shall I alert Boss and Scary Boss of your arrival?”

Peter may or may not have forgotten about the nicknames. Oh hell, he was so dead . He didn’t even remember which names Tony had programmed into FRIDAY. At least spider related things seemed classified. Harley’s other nickname was ‘Spidey’s True Love.’ Peter was so happy that was classified. He did not need his entire class knowing he was bi. Or that he was Spider-Man.

“No need, FRI, I’m here doing a tour.” Harley actually smiled and continued walking through the scanner.

“Very well, have a nice tour, Potato Kid.” 

“Friday won’t respond to anyone other than the Avengers, their family, and level 34 and up residents and guests, so don’t worry about responding to her,” Harley explained once he was on the other side. Then he noticed Cindy’s hand up. “I’ll answer questions once we’re all through the gates, ok?” Harley said kindly. Cindy put her hand down.

One by one, the students of Midtown went through the scanner, each getting their name read out by a very cold sounding FRIDAY. Before he knew it, Ned was going through.

“Ned Leeds, level 34, Ted, Best Friend 1, classified.” Both Peter and Ned were surprised by the classified name. And the fact Ned had any nicknames at all. Peter made a mental note to ask Tony about it later. “Welcome Ned, enjoy the tour.” 

“Than-Thank you, FRIDAY?” Ned, clearly unsure of what to do, stuttered out. 

“You are very welcome.”

When Ned walked to the other side, he seemed to finally notice the entire class staring and whispering. He paused, then looked proud, obviously enjoying the attention more than Peter would.

“Michelle Jones, level 34, Mj, Best Friend 2, Scary Person 3.5.2.” Apparently, Mj had nicknames too. Peter also noticed the level this time, and suddenly everything made sense. Level 34 was for the family of the Avengers. Evidently, Peter had done something to cause someone to program them at that level. And give them nicknames. He still wasn’t sure about the classified thing for-

Oh.

Ned was his Guy in the Chair. Of course that was classified. Well now Peter felt like an idiot.

“You coming, Pete?” Harley called. Peter shook himself out of his head and nodded. His whole class was waiting for Peter. He took a deep breath and stepped through.

“Peter Parker, level 144, Baby Boss 2, classified, classified, classified, classified, Fire Hazard, The Kid, Chaos Demon 1.” Did… Did Peter really have that many nicknames? He knew the four classified ones were ‘Spider-Kid, Spider-Idiot, Small Spider, and Spider Baby,’ but really? Eight names? “Welcome back Peter. Shall I alert Boss, Scary Boss, and The Others?”

Peter did not miss the wording there. She wanted to know if she could tell Tony, Pepper, and the rest of the Avengers that he was hurt. Hell no.

“No! No, FRI, I’m good, thank you.” Peter hoped she picked up on the fact he meant the ‘thank you’ for not announcing he was hurt.

“Very well, welcome home, then.” She seemed to know. Probably.

“Thanks FRI.” Peter let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Said breath was immediately lost when he left the scanner and looked at his class.

“‘Welcome home?’” Betty asked.

“What’s with the classified names?” That was Cindy.

“What were those languages? One sounded like Russian?” And there was Abe. 

“‘Fire Hazard?’ I didn’t know about that one,” Harley, the traitor, was visibly trying to not laugh. 

“Makes sense though,” Ned said with a shrug.

“True,” Mj joined.

Peter no longer had friends. He no longer had a boyfriend. He was all alone in this world. He’ll die all sad and alone because those closest to him betrayed him. Minus his dad and May. And mom-

Fuck! 

Peter called Tony dad again. That was getting annoying. He also called Pepper ‘mom.’ Oh, hell. Was this really his life?

“I am… I’m not going to answer any questions for the sake of my own sanity.” Peter called over the noise his class was making. His statement was met with some pleading and a few dejected sighs. Harley only tried to get the class’s attention after the pleading stopped.

“Anyway,” he started as he was still trying not to laugh. “Oh yeah, you had a question, right?” Harley pointed to Cindy.

“Yes. What are all the different levels and what do they mean?” She asked.

“Well, notice how our badges have numbers next to our names? Those numbers tell security and FRIDAY what you’re here for. Each number can only access certain levels. That I won’t go into because we don’t have time. But, your numbers, 0, mean that you’re a day visitor or part of a tour. The next level is 1A, press. Then 1B for visiting representatives from other companies. Next is level 2, janitors. Our janitors are amazing. We would not be able to function without them, which is why they have access to most floors. Then there’s level 3 for our part-time interns and level 5 for full-time interns. Yes?” Harley called on Abe who had his hand up.

“What’s level 4?” 

“We don’t have one. There’s a reason we have these numbers in this order. Why don’t y’all guess what that reason is when I’m done explaining?” They all nodded, ready for the challenge. “Ok then, next is level 8 for our intern heads. They make sure all of the interns are being safe in their respective departments. Then there’s the lawyers, public relations and human resources specialists at level 13. Then we have level 21, for security. And level 34 for the family of the Avengers.”

Whispers broke out at that one and Ned and Mj turned to stare at Peter. He shrugged trying to convey the fact that he didn’t know why they were that level.

Harley coughed to get everyone’s attention again. “So, as I was saying, next up is level 55 for visiting Avengers, then 89 for live-in Avengers. And finally, 144 for Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, and anyone they consider family. Peter and I are lucky enough to be among those four who have that honor.”

“Bastard…” Peter whispered under his breath as he felt his class turn and stare.

“Heard that, Pete. Be nice to your amazing tour guide or you might get kicked out.” Harley teased.

“Really?” Peter laughed. “That’s what you’re going with? You know I can-” He was about to say he had the same power, but someone interrupted him.

“Mr. Parker!” Right. Mr. Harrington. Why did Peter think he could get away with sassing anyone here?  “What did we say on the bus? Be respectful! I’m sorry, Mr. Keener, was it? Peter will do better.” The teacher sent a not-so-subtle glare to Peter. 

Peter sighed quietly. He stiffened, however, when he saw the look on Harley’s face. That too-tight smile and the way his eyes were narrowed… That was the face he got when they dealt with annoyingly rude business partners; the ‘I’m going to murder them’ face. Normally it was with words, but Peter was a bit worried he would actually murder him.

“Harley.” Peter warned. Said teen glanced at Peter, then Mr. Harrington, then back to Peter again. He huffed and looked away, smile falling for only a second.

“Fine,” Harley mumbled. Peter sent him a grateful look.

After a deep breath, Harley started the tour again.

“Alright everyone! Anyone know what the number sequence is called? How about you… Flash?” He squinted as he read his name tag.

“They’re all prime numbers!” Flash called proudly.

“Uh… Not quite. Betty?”

“It’s the Fibonacci sequence, not prime numbers.” Betty corrected.

“Yup! Great job! Now, we’re going to head to one of the conference rooms where we can drop our stuff off and listen to our head of security give a safety talk!” Everyone groaned at that and Peter tried to hide his smile. “I know it sounds boring, but it is very important. We can’t function as a business if our designs constantly get leaked, can we?” Harley reasoned as he turned and started walking toward one of the ground floor hallways.

The class followed. Well… Most of them anyway. Flash hung back and Peter knew what was coming. He tried to keep up with the other students, but Flash stayed right behind him.

One normal day. One normal day. One normal day. One norm-

“Parker.” Flash whispered. At least he had one brain cell left that prevented him from talking any louder. They were still following the group, just slightly out of earshot.

“What do you want, Flash?” Peter grumbled back just as quietly.

“Oh, you’ll regret that tone,” Flash grinned and Peter couldn’t help but feel a little bit scare- nervous . Spider-Man shouldn’t be scared of some kid. He wasn’t. “How did you hack the AI? Or get our guide to lie for you? You’re definitely not smart enough, and neither is anyone else in your geek squad, so how? Did you pay someone? Or maybe you offered your ‘services’ again? Whatever it was, I will find out and I will get you banned for life!” He spat. Then he sauntered up to where the rest of the students were. Peter sighed and followed, going to stand by Ned.

At least Ned didn’t notice Peter’s absence. Mj, on the other hand, kept glancing at Peter as if he’d just fall over or burst into tears.

Which… Ok, not that far off actually.

The day had been horrible so far and Peter just wanted to go upstairs and sleep. Or cuddle with Harley. Hopefully both.

The class went inside a relatively small, empty, conference room and sat down at the oval shaped table. Ned and Mj sat on either side of Peter. Everyone was still whispering about the security levels and why the trio were so high. 

Harley caught on pretty quickly.

“Hey, y’all. This is a once in a life-time opportunity. Please try to gather as much information as you can while you’re here. I know it’s exciting to learn of your friends levels, but please don’t let that distract you from learning something, ok?” Harley reminded them. Which seemed to work? Peter didn’t expect anything to change, but suddenly his classmates were whispering about the Avengers and the tower, and not if Peter or Ned had hacked FRIDAY.

“Dude, dude, dude! Oh, I can’t believe we’re actually here!” Ned whispered to Peter, hitting his arm lightly.

“I know, I am sorry I haven’t invited you here yet,” Peter whispered back.

“No, no, it's fine! I'm just happy to be here!”

“Yeah, I can tell,” Peter laughed quietly.

The door opened and in walked an irritated looking Happy. Peter saw how Happy’s face relaxed a tiny bit when he saw Peter. The kind of ‘blink and you miss it’ type thing. 

“Enough talking.” Happy said when he got to the front of the room. He sounded bored. “Let’s get started. Put everything you have with you on the table. Phones, watches, bags, etcetera. Your pockets need to be empty. The room will be locked until the tour is over and you can collect your things. No need to worry about things getting stolen.” Happy clapped his hands when no one moved. “Well? Let’s get going.”

The class hesitantly started to put things on the table.

Peter put his bag and phone on the table. He was about to take his watch off when Happy came up behind him and whispered he could keep his phone, headphones, and watch. Peter nodded and put his phone away. Thankfully, no one noticed.

“Ok, if you try to sneak anything out of this room, you will be escorted off the premises. If you try to harass anyone , you will be escorted off the premises. If you try to take anything out of the labs, you will be escorted off the premises. Just don’t do anything stupid and listen to your guide at all times. Understood?”

There was a chorus of ‘yes’s from basically everyone before Harley started handing out little slips of paper and pencils. Peter noticed that Mr. Harrington got one too. Happy explained that they would need to pass a small, five question, multiple choice quiz. They could only get one question wrong. If they got more than that, they would need to stay behind until they got all of the answers right.

The test started as soon as the papers and pencils were given out.

What can you NOT do in the labs? Choose two answers.

• Take or touch anything without explicit permission

• Climb on the ceiling or walls

• Be respectful to the staff

• Listen to your guide

What should you do in case of an emergency?

• Calmly listen to your guide/staff instructions and follow them

• Run from the emergency

• Scream

• Stay completely still

What should you do if you see someone disobeying the rules?

• Alert your guide and let them handle it

• Immediately call security

• Yell at them

• Quietly remind them of the rules

If you see or learn something confidential, do you: 

• Keep quiet and act like it never happened

• Tell everyone

• Tell only people you’re close to

• Report it to security

If you do see the Avengers or their family, should you:

• Let them be unless they talk to you

• Ask for an autograph

• Ask for a picture

• Insult them

As soon as Peter read the second answer on the first question, he winced slightly, knowing it was directed at him. There had been more than one occasion of Peter climbing on the walls and/or ceiling because he was sleep-deprived. He’s pretty sure the staff thought he was a science experiment. Or a deity. They were geniuses, but tended to overthink things. 

And, if Peter was being honest, he was kind of grateful for that. Once he was done, he realized all the answers were A (and B for question 1). It was probably designed that way to give the grader an easier time. 

Peter gave his test to Happy, but hesitated in front of him. Happy apparently noticed and waved Peter closer. He brought out his phone and typed a message, then showed it to Peter.

What’s up, kid?

Happy gave Peter his phone and the teen started typing, deleted it, then re-started.

Why am I allowed to keep my phone, headphones and watch when no one else is allowed to keep anything?

Peter gave the phone back and after Happy read it he gave him a look that Peter couldn’t place.

Because you’re you and something is going to happen and Tony would actually kill me if I was the reason you couldn’t contact anyone.

But… why?

I don’t get paid enough for this. You are his kid, Peter. He wants to protect you.

But I’m not?

“Oh my- Go sit down.” Happy whispered, sounding irritated. Peter gave Happy his phone back and went back to his seat, not quite sure how he annoyed the man so much. Most of the class got up when Peter left Happy, making Peter’s face heat up with embarrassment. He didn’t mean to hold up a line or anything.

After a while of mostly everyone sitting in silence while the rest of the testers finished, Happy had all the tests. Once he checked all the answers, he nodded to Harley.

“Time to go, everyone! Make sure you leave your things here. As Happy said, you’ll get them back at the end of the tour,” Harley said as he waved for them to follow him out of the conference room. 

There was a lot of excited chatter about where they were going and who they would meet again as they filed out of the room. But of course, things were just a bit too quiet and Flash decided to fix that.

“Mr. Tour guide sir! Peter still has some of his stuff! Shouldn’t he stay behind for that?” Flash asked loudly. 

Peter sighed. One day. One stupid fucking day. All he wanted was to be able to exist for a single day. Why was that too much to ask?

“Oh, Peter has permission to keep his things. But thank you for trying to warn us! And my name’s Harley,” Harley said sincerely, then continued on with the tour. Peter vaguely noticed Ned and Mj glaring at Harley as they moved closer to Peter. 

“Guys, it’s fine. He doesn’t know,” Peter murmured to his overprotective friends.

“You… You’ve never told him? Not even mentioned it?” Ned whispered, looking very confused. Peter only shook his head.

“Peter, you have to tell someone. He’ll never learn if he gets away with it.” Mj reasoned.

Peter stayed silent. He tried to listen to Harley, but he was caught up on Mj’s words. What would happen if Peter did tell someone? Would anything change? Would his family be supportive or angry? He didn’t think he could risk it, but maybe if this trip went horribly wrong because of Flash, Peter might consider telling… Someone. Maybe Tony or Pepper. Probably Pepper. She tended to be a little more composed when angry. 

Peter breathed out slowly. He shouldn’t waste his energy on this. He still had a field trip to get through after all.

Chapter Text

Peter and his class were led into another room on the ground floor. This one was bigger and set up like a classroom. Except for the fact that there were cleaning supplies lining the walls. Mops and buckets, different kinds of brooms, colorful bottles, and everything else ‘cleaning.’ It really looked like a janitor’s closet.

Actually, they might be in a janitor’s closet. Or something similar at least. Peter had heard the other interns talking about this part of the tour. He normally zoned out when they brought stuff like that up, so he had no idea what awaited him.

They were told to sit at any of the tables, in groups of two or three. Peter, Ned and Mj silently decided to be a group and made their way to the back row of tables. Once everyone was seated in groups, one of the janitors Peter had actually talked to before, Jason, entered the room. He was in his late twenties and was always very nice to talk to. Peter asked him a lot of questions about how to clean certain spills and Jason would always answer with a smile. He even let Peter help him clean sometimes.

“Hello, kids!” Jason said from the front of the space. “My name is Jason, you can call me whatever you want, including Mr. Janitor if you so desire. We’re going to go through a slideshow about how to clean some spills, then take a little group test to see what you remembered!” He continued as he set up a projector and screen.

Jason took them through the procedure of how to clean incidental spills, what proper personal protective equipment (PPE) looked like, and how to sweep up the spill. He also went over what absorbent materials to use for certain spills. Like for Hydrofluoric acid, they could use Calcium carbonate or Calcium bicarbonate. Or for most flammable organic liquid spills, use a lot of ground corn cobs. Jason, apparently, used SlikQwik for a lot of things like that.

After Jason finished his slideshow, he gave everyone bells that lit up and a sheet of paper. He told them that he would put a question on the screen, they had fifteen seconds to talk about the answer and when the time was up they could hit the button and raise their hands to be called on for their answer. 

Each question had a set number of points that a team could earn. If a team didn’t get the right answer, two other teams could guess and get the points, but if they both got it wrong, the answer would be given and no one would get the points. There were twenty questions in total, plus one bonus. The paper was for everyone to keep track of their points.

“Ok, is everyone ready?” Jason asked. He got an excited ‘yes’ from mostly everyone. And Flash boasting about how he was the smartest person here and that he’ll get every question right. 

“Ignore him Mr. Jason, he’s just an idiot who wants attention,” Betty said. The rest of the class laughed, and Peter tried to hide his smile, but failed miserably. He could see Flash turn into a tomato again and Peter gave up hiding his amusement. He chuckled a little bit which earned him a hard glare from Flash. 

Peter stopped laughing.

“Let’s begin then!” Jason said, starting the new slideshow.

Should you use SlikQwik for oxidizing liquids?

10 pts

“Yes!” Flash responded.

“No.” Peter’s team corrected. More specifically, Peter corrected. Oh he was so in for it later. However… Peter was competitive. Extremely so. Living with Bucky, Nat, and Clint (and sometimes Loki) will do that. Well, Peter was competitive before living at the tower, they just made it worse. He couldn’t give them all the credit, now could he?

Regardless, Peter’s team got the points.

And a really pissed off looking Flash.

Can you use cat litter for oil spills?

10 pts

“No!” Flash again.

“Yes!” Ned corrected.

The back and forth went on for a while, but Peter made sure to give the other teams a chance at gaining points as well. Even if it was physically painful, he knew his classmates would like the opportunity to shine. And besides, Peter’s team was still winning so it was fine.

“Ok! Time for the bonus question! Are you all ready?” Jason drum rolled on his legs and flipped the screen.

What should you do if an explosion risk is present for a major spill?

35 pts

So far, the points hadn’t gone above 20 and were pretty much ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions, so this was supposed to be hard.

“You turn off all equipment, right?” Ned asked quietly. Mj was too busy drawing Flash, so they just let them do their thing.

“Nope,” Peter responded just as softly. “If you do that, or unplug anything, something could spark and turn into an ignition source.”

“You turn off all electrical equipment! Everyone knows that!” Flash flaunted. Jason winced and asked if anyone else would like to take a guess. 

Peter raised his hand and hit the bell before he could think. He only somewhat regretted it.

“You leave everything as is, tell everyone in the room and evacuate. If the explosion could affect the whole building, pull the fire alarm to evacuate everyone.” Peter answered.

Jason awarded them the points, making Peter’s team win the game. Peter high-fived Ned. He was excited about how well they did and-

He turned to see Flash and Peter regretted every decision he made that led to this point. Flash looked about two seconds away from murdering Peter. And he couldn’t help but be a little bit afraid now.

“It’ll be ok, Peter, this is your home, he can’t hurt you here!” Ned tried to comfort him. Peter only sighed and nodded.

Peter tried to stay positive while they walked to the first of four research and development labs, but with Flash and Randy whispering about him, it was hard. They were quiet enough so that no one else but Peter, Ned and Mj heard them. 

They talked about how Peter, sorry penis, allegedly had sex with the staff, how he paid everyone to lie for him, how disappointed his family must be, oh wait he didn’t have any. Which was apparently hilarious.

Mj and Ned were both obviously getting fed up. Peter didn’t really care, he just wanted the trip to be over already.

Although, proving Flash wrong would be kind of nice…

No! Flash was fine. It was ok. Better him than someone else. It was fine. Peter was fine. Peter… wasn’t sure he truly believed that anymore. It was hard constantly being ridiculed and made fun of for every single word or action. Peter wanted to tell someone. Pepper and Tony were still options, but maybe… Maybe Steve and Bucky were possibilities too. Steve had been bullied before the serum, right? And Bucky had helped him? Peter would talk to them later.

Mj suddenly grabbed Peter and Ned by the wrist and moved them closer to the front of the group, right before they got into the elevator. Harley kept the doors open for everyone while they piled in. Flash ended up next to Harley and Peter could tell his boyfriend was uncomfortable. Especially when Flash started talking.

Peter couldn’t hear what they said, but he quickly forgot about it when the elevator lifted. Peter’s breathing became heavier and he flinched when… Ned? Held his hand. He was trying to get Peter to breathe, but it was such a tight space and so crowded that Peter struggled to hold onto reality.

Thankfully, the elevator stopped, and Harley led them out. Peter’s legs were jelly and he tried to move, but ended up putting most of his weight on Ned. Peter could hear himself muttering apologies again, but it was like he was underwater. Ned, the absolute treasure, lowered Peter to the ground outside of the death trap. He leaned Peter up against a wall and started grounding exercises for him.

Ned put a bit of pressure on Peter’s legs and started talking. It took a minute for Peter to know what he was saying, but he got there eventually.

“-ok, you’re safe, you’re in the tower, you’re ok, that was a long time ago, you’re safe.” Ned chanted. “You back?” He asked when Peter’s breathing evened out and he started nodding along to what his best friend was saying.

“Yeah… Yeah. I’m good. Thank you,” Peter tried to get up. Harley had corralled his classmates away, but Peter could still feel their stares. He wanted to forget this ever happened, it was so embarrassing. Letting his class see him having a panic attack? Not on the to-do list for the day.

“Not so fast, Peter. Five things you can see.” Ned kept him down, putting more pressure on his legs. Peter tried not to wince as Ned pressed on his cut.

“Really? I’m fine,” Peter whined and tried to get up again.

“Nope, you’re not throwing me into a wall so you’re not ‘good’ yet.”

“You, the class, the lab, the floor, my clothes.” Peter grumbled.

“Good, four things you can feel.” 

“I thought it was hear next?”

“Nope, stop deflecting. Four things you can feel.” Ned knew him too well.

“Worth a shot. Clothes, the floor, you, my lungs.”

“Ok, three things you can hear.”

“Do we really need to do the whole thing? I’m fine, Ned!” Ned gave him an annoyed ‘do as I say or I’ll tell’ look so Peter continued, reluctantly. “The class, you, movement in the lab.”

“Good, two things you can smell or that have a scent.”

“You.” Peter joked, smiling. Ned hit him lightly. “Uh… I can smell Cindy’s perfume, and… gummy worms.” Peter smiled, knowing exactly who had them.

“Uh, ok, we’ll circle back to that. One thing you can taste.”

The vents above them rumbled as a warning and Clint slowly lowered himself to the ground. He wordlessly handed Peter a gummy worm, which the teen took gratefully.

“Hi, Clint! Oh, and taste: gummy worm.” Peter said happily. “Now get off.” He said less happily.

“Guess you weren’t hallucinating when you said you smelled candy.”

“Nope! Is there a reason you’re here Mr. Barton?” Peter asked, turning his attention to the archer. He held his hand out and Clint gave him three more worms.

“You ok?” Clint asked, clearly worried as he helped Peter up.

“I’m fine.”

“Good. Now quit calling me ‘Mr. Barton!’” Clint put Peter in a headlock and ruffled his hair.

“Ok, ok, fine!” Peter laughed and pretended to struggle, but Clint didn’t stop. “Clint! Clint! Get off!” Peter relented, shoving him away lightly.

“Ow! Why must you hurt me so!” Clint dramatically fell to the floor clutching where Peter had pushed him.

“Drama queen.” Peter responded. Ned looked so lost and star-struck that Peter had to take pity on him. “Anyway, Ned, this is Clint, also known as Hawkeye. Clint, this is my best friend, Ned.”

“Oh, so this is Ted.” Clint said, jumping off the floor.

“Ned, Clint. Don’t turn into Tony. Unless, of course, you want me to tell Nat about-” 

“Ok! Ok! Ned! It’s Ned! Nat has eyes and ears everywhere kid, don’t get me killed!” Clint looked around frantically as if Natasha would just… appear. Which, not wrong, but still.

“I know. I helped her make some!” Peter said, smiling innocently.

“Oh, you mother-”

“Ok folks!” Harley cut Clint off. “We still have a tour to go on so if you don’t mind…”

“Oh, right. Hi Peter’s class! Bye Peter’s class!” Clint waved before jumping back into the vents and crawling away. He wasn’t silent, but he was quiet enough that only Peter could hear him. How Clint did that in tiny metal vents he shouldn’t even be able to fit in? Peter would never know.

Chapter Text

Peter turned back to face his class after eating his candy and watching Clint leave in the vents. Everyone was shocked that he seemed to know Hawkeye and if Peter thought Flash was pissed before… Well, oh boy was he furious now. Peter smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. He knew he’d get beat up later, but for the look on Flash’s face as he was being proven wrong about Peter’s lies? It was kind of worth it. Not to mention the satisfaction he felt.

“Now that that’s over with,” Harley said, dusting his hands off. “Let’s continue into the lab, shall we? This lab is for part-time interns. You’ll be able to ask them questions about what they’re working on, we just ask that you not bother someone who doesn’t want to be bothered.”

The group reluctantly followed Harley, clearly wanting to ask about Peter.

“You alright, loser?” Mj asked quietly as Peter and Ned joined her at the front of the group again.

“Yeah, Clint’s always a whirlwind though, so nothing new there,” Peter replied.

“I meant about your panic attack, idiot.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m good. Just don’t like elevators.”

“And understatement of the century award goes to Peter Parker, any words for your fans?” Mj joked, holding a fist up to him as if they were holding a microphone.

“Uh, yeah. I am very honored to be given this award and-”

“Darling,” Harley hummed in Peter’s ear, suddenly right behind him, voice dripping with his accent. The shorter teen froze and felt his face turn into an inferno. “Do you want to maybe pay attention? You might learn something…”

Peter heard Mj groan and Ned laugh as she dragged the two of them away.

“I… Uh… I-um.” Peter tried to form a sentence. Then Harley’s words caught up to him. “Wait. What do you mean ‘learn something?’” Peter turned and pointed an accusatory finger at Harley’s chest. “I made half the shit in here. And don’t use your accent to fuck with me, we talked about this.” 

Harley didn’t back away, but he did raise his hands in surrender. Which would have been nice, if he wasn’t grinning like the Cheshire cat. 

“I hate you.” Peter said as he dropped his finger to cross his arms.

“No you don’t. But seriously, go try to learn something, or at least help some of the interns. I don’t want you standing here doing nothing.” His smile fell for a moment, obviously worried.

“I’m not doing nothing.”

“You’re right, I could be your nothing,” That grin was back.

“Wha- Oh! Harley! No.”

“Have you been to the doctors recently?”

“I mean-”

“Cause you’re lacking some vitamin me.”

“Harley!”

“Are you a spark plug? Cause you ignite my heart.”

“That was bad, even for you.”

“My love for you is like a covalent bond, unbreakable.”

“Ok! Fine! I get it, I’m leaving! Bye Harley!” Peter said as he turned away from the love of his life, face still on fire. 

The part-time labs were basically a way for the head interns to see who could work the best at Stark Industries. Those who met the deadlines and whose work was correct would become full-time employees when they were ready. The projects were designed by someone and the interns were given the end goal, told to figure out a way to get there. 

They could get help from their peers, and they could only ask a certain amount of questions from higher-ups, but no other help was really allowed. Peter, of course, found a loophole. He wasn’t a peer, and he was one of the higher-ups, but he could still give hints. He only gave one or two per lab every month. Mostly so that the part-timers couldn’t constantly ask him for help.

Most of the projects for the part-time interns of the engineering, mechanical, and chemistry labs were designed by Peter (or Harley, on occasion). He wasn’t sure how well he’d do when Tony first gave him the task, but Peter had gotten more comfortable with it as time went on. He even had to dial back some of the projects because they had too many steps.

He moved to a particularly stressed looking intern standing in front of a whiteboard with calculations on it. After looking at their work, Peter knew why they were stressed. The deadline for that project was coming up and the intern was so close to being done. The only roadblock was that their calculations were just slightly off, a missed decimal at the start of an equation being their mistake.

Peter was about to go up and offer his help, but Flash got there first.

“You know, I can help with those calculations, if you answer a question of mine.” Flash propositioned.

“Hey, I know you’re part of a tour, but I’m really busy, so could you please leave?” The intern asked politely.

“What? No, the mistake is here.” Flash pointed to a random part of the board. “Now answer my question.”

“Please leave me alone.” The intern was obviously trying to remain civil, but with Flash? That’s an impossibility.

“Do you know-”

“Ok, back off, Flash.” Peter said, stepping forward and putting himself between the poor intern and the bully.

“What? Don’t want your lies exposed Parker?” Flash taunted.

“Flash, for the last time, I’m not lying. I stopped you because you’re bothering an intern who said they don’t want to be bothered. Which is exactly what Harley said not to do.” Peter stood his ground for once. It felt kind of nice.

“Whatever, penis. You’ll pay for this later.” Flash said as he stalked off.

“...Thank you?” The intern probably meant it to be less of a question, so Peter just rolled with it.

“Of course! Now-” Peter turned to face them only to be cut off.

“What lies was that kid talking about?” The intern asked skeptically. Peter didn’t really blame them, but it was still vaguely annoying.

“He just doesn’t believe I'm interning here. Anyway-”

“Aren’t you in high school? We don’t take high school interns.” Cut off again.

“Yes, I’m in high school. I’m also one of the two high school aged people to intern or work here.” Peter huffed. “Now, if you’ll stop interrupting me.” He waited to see if they would speak again. They didn’t, so Peter continued. “Your mistake was that you lost a decimal somewhere. I can’t tell you where, but hopefully that’ll help you make your deadline. See ya!” Peter walked away before the intern could respond.

He found a corner to hide in while he watched the intern review their problem. They gasped and erased most of the board, adding the decimal they missed and re-doing the calculations. 

Peter walked back to Harley, smirking.

“You have fun?” Harley whispered to him.

“Yup!” Peter whispered back.

“Alright everyone!” Harley raised his voice to be heard across the lab. “Time to go, Midtown! We still have three more labs to visit before lunch.”

Harley and Mr. Harrington gathered the students again and they were off to another lab.

The two other part-time intern labs they visited went fairly smoothly. Flash actually behaved somewhat and Peter helped a few more interns. And he didn’t have another panic attack in the elevator! He still got disoriented and needed Ned to ground him, but he got through it.

He was a master at avoiding Harley’s worried glances and looks by this point. He didn’t send them very often because he was still answering questions from Peter’s classmates. He played it off as just making sure they didn’t lose anyone, but Peter knew Harley was trying to check in with him.

“This lab is a much more advanced lab than the ones we visited before,” Harley started when they got off the elevator. “So do not touch anything unless you’re asked to by the staff. We’ll have time to go around and ask about projects after a brief introduction, just like the other labs.”

They walked into the lab and Peter held back a groan. This was a lab he frequented. Everyone knew him and as soon as he walked in, word of his arrival spread quickly. The interns there just stared, stopping everything to wait and (probably) ask Peter for help.

Harley was trying not to laugh again as he called over Jessica.

“Hello everyone,” Jessica waved as she walked forward. “I am the head intern for this lab and it is an honor to have everyone here. In this lab, we specialize in engineering. Our projects are designed to help everyone, from firefighters to new parents. Please have a look around, but be respectful.”

The class started to disperse, but the twenty interns who worked there rushed up to Peter. They dropped to their knees and started bowing to him, asking for help on their projects from their lord and savior. Peter was struggling to not laugh, but that went out the window when Jessica joined them too. From what Peter could tell, she didn’t even need anything.

“Alright!” Peter called, trying to quiet the interns as he wiped tears from his eyes. “Alright, I’ll do some rounds, but I am on a tour, so I have to leave when Harley says, ok?” 

He got a few cheers and some ‘thank you’s before they all went back to what they were doing. They acted as if nothing happened and Peter tried to not laugh again. Most of his classmates were just confused, some were also trying not to laugh, and some (Flash and Randy) were angry.

Peter ignored them and started his normal routine of trying to help everyone with at least one project before he had to leave. He distantly heard Harley ask his class to learn what they can about the company and ask Peter questions later. 

Peter zoned them out as he started on the left side of the room and worked his way to the right. Some of the projects just needed a simple ‘that’s addition, not subtraction,’ or a ‘you forgot a variable here.’

Other projects weren’t so easy, but it was as fun as usual with this lab. They weren’t afraid to banter with Peter and the teen loved it. He was just about to start his second round when Jessica tapped his shoulder.

“What’s up?” Peter asked. Jessica only smiled and pointed to the entrance to the lab… Where his entire class was waiting with a pissed off Mr. Harrington and a very fond looking Harley.

“How- uh- how long were you trying to get my attention for?” Peter smiled weakly as he walked over to them.

“A while,” Ned answers before Harley can even try. The couple looked at Ned, Harley a little annoyed and Peter a little nervous.

“Sorry… Lunch, right?” Peter switched topics, not liking the attention he was getting.

“Yeah,” Harley sighed, dropping the glare he had on Ned. Who, apparently, didn’t even notice he was being glared at. The class piled into the elevator again and Peter tried to prepare himself for the long ride down.

Chapter Text

Once again, the elevator wasn’t awful for Peter. He didn’t panic, but he still needed Ned’s help. Ned used a different grounding technique than the one before. He would squeeze and tap Peter’s hand sporadically to give Peter something to focus on. It helped a lot more than Peter thought it would.

He was actually able to follow the conversation Harley was having with Cindy. He couldn’t even hope to contribute, but he could still follow it. It was something about what projects Harley was working on. 

Peter couldn’t help the small pang of jealousy he felt when he realized Cindy was trying to flirt with his boyfriend. The feeling didn’t last long. Peter knew Harley was his, and that he was Harley’s. He trusted his significant other.

“Do you want to put your headphones on?” Mj whispered to Peter.

“Why?"

“Because we’re going to the cafeteria, and you can barely handle the school lunchroom on a good day.” 

“Fair point,” Peter muttered as he grabbed the device around his neck. He put them on his head and turned on the noise reducing function just as the elevator doors opened. He winced at the increase in noise and brightness.

The cafeteria was set up like a food court, small food businesses as well as corporations lined three of the four walls. The last wall was arranged as a seating area. There were big fluorescent lights hanging from what seemed like everywhere.

Peter was really wishing he’d brought his sunglasses. The lights were already giving him a headache.

“Y’all have thirty dollars in your badges,” Harley explained as he led them out. “So, feel free to get whatever. If you go over the limit, it’s coming out of your pocket. We’ll meet back by the elevators in forty minutes. Have fun!” 

The class scattered and Harley was left with Peter, Ned, and Mj. Harley noticed the headphones and gave Peter a questioning look.

“I’m fine, It’s just loud,” Peter reassured him. Harley nodded.

“We can all get separate things or decide on one thing together. What do y’all want to do? Oh, but whatever we pick, Peter should stay with at least one of us at all times, agreed?” Peter knew Harley wasn’t trying to say he was weak or fragile, but it still stung a bit and he couldn’t help but scowl when his friends agreed so easily.

“I say we get our own things. I don’t think we can come to a decision and eat the food with the time we have.” Mj said.

Ned and Harley nodded while Peter stayed silent. He was hungry, he just didn’t know what to eat. Not to mention how guilty he felt spending Mr. Stark’s money. Maybe he could get away with not eating?

Yeah right, he thought. Harley would see through that in a heartbeat and force me to eat. Damn it. Unless I don’t go with Harley first…

“I’ll take Peter first, unless you two want him?”

Fuck.

“He’s all yours,” Ned said as Mj pushed Peter to his boyfriend. He tried to glare at them – he did not like being thrown around, thank you – but they were gone before he got the chance.

“So, what are you in the mood for, . my love . ?”

“When did you learn Italian?” Peter asked, surprised.

“The old man taught me, but only that and swears.” 

“Of course he did,” Peter laughed.

“Now, what do you want to eat?”

“Uh… How about… No?” Peter asked sheepishly. Harley only glared at him, so Peter looked around to reconsider his options. 

There were traditional foods for all different types of cultures, like German, Russian, and Italian. As well as more Americanized foods of those cultures. They tried to be as diverse as possible which led to a lot of asking Loki if he’d been to specific places recently and what the food there was like. And a lot of online research.

Peter felt a stab of pain at the thought of the god. They had become good friends when he was here last and Peter didn’t know when he’d be back. He hoped it was soon.

After deciding on Italian food and telling Harley, the two made their way over to their favorite Italian counter. They talked about some of the projects they were excited for while in line. Peter was a little anxious about being too loud with the headphones on, but Harley said he was fine when he asked.

Once they ordered and got their food, they made their way to the table where Mj and Ned had already sat down at.

The rest of lunch passed in a blur, Peter was pretty sure he ate, but he couldn’t really remember. One second he was picking up his paidina to eat it and the next Mj was offering to throw out his trash.

It was kind of jarring, but the show must go on, right? And oh, what a show it was. So far, Peter had been caught sassing someone, completely freaked out about the elevator just about three whole times, and couldn’t remember most of lunch. Oh and he had Flash to worry about. The bully was going to do something and Peter was kind of terrified.

The class met up by the elevators again and, after making sure everyone was there, Harley made sure to have Peter and his friends stand by him. Thank everything Peter’s thing with the elevators seemed to be calming down. He didn’t think he could handle that at the moment.

The next thing on their list was apparently a combined lecture by the Lawyers, PR, and HR departments. Peter could only hope it would go over as smoothly as he wanted it to, but life pretty much hated him. 

He really just wanted the day to be over already. Maybe fall asleep on the couch with his family, watching a movie and eating junk food. Hopefully with Loki and Thor.

The class made it off the elevator and followed Harley down the hall. Peter didn’t notice himself dropping behind until the class rounded a corner. Flash grabbed his arm as soon as the last person disappeared behind the wall.

Peter was about to tell Flash to let go, but the bully spoke before Peter could even try.

“Make a sound and I’ll hurt you far worse than what I did the other day, got it?” Flash whispered.

Peter nodded, knowing Flash wasn’t joking.

“Good,” he smiled. “Now… Quit. Embarrassing. Me,” Flash punctuated each word with a heavy punch to Peter’s stomach. He struggled to stay quiet again, the new punches landing hard on his still sore and bruised and cut up abdomen.

Flash only gave the three hits, then dropped Peter again, sneered, and left. Peter got a strong sense of déjà vu with how Flash abandoned him again. He was sure FRIDAY would tell Tony and the others now and Peter tried to feel bad for Flash, he really did. But Flash was mean and Peter wasn’t sure he actually would have told anyone if not for this annoying field trip.

The tower was his home, his safe place. He didn’t want that to change. Maybe FRIDAY telling everyone would be a good thing? Peter had to believe that.

“It’ll be ok, It’ll all be fine,” Peter whispered to himself as he got up. He caught up with his class relatively quickly, especially for someone who was just hit where they were already injured. As he got closer he noticed the class going into one of the rooms and Mr. Harrington looking around, obviously annoyed and a little bit worried. When he spotted Peter, the teacher glared and started walking toward him.  

Peter knew he couldn’t avoid him so he just stopped and waited for the lecture.

“Mr. Parker,” yeah, he was not happy. “I told you to stay with the group! If you break the rules one more time, I will be forced to tell our guide and have you wait with security. These little stunts reflect our school and we can’t have you destroying our reputation like this, do you understand?” He wasn’t loud, but he was definitely mad.

“Yes, Mr. Harrington,” Peter sighed. He knew he wasn’t winning that fight and he didn’t even want to try. He was just so tired at that point.

His teacher nodded, pleased, apparently, and led him into the conference room. Peter sat next to his friends again and the lecture started.

Chapter Text

Peter really tried to focus on the hour and a half talk, but he was in too much pain. His leg and stomach hurt so badly. He knew what dying felt like (he’d been there way too many times to not know thank you very much) and he knew he wasn’t going to, but he still felt really bad.

He couldn’t think of anything other than what or when FRIDAY would tell everyone. Would they be angry? Would they do anything? Would they stop letting Peter go on missions? He really didn’t want that. He had just gotten to the point where the Avengers would ask for his help more often than not and Peter desperately didn’t want to lose that.

He was tired and in pain and sad and annoyed and feeling overall miserable. He really just wanted this trip to be over.

Peter was so out of it that he barely even noticed his class getting into, and then out of, the elevator. He didn’t know what floor they were on, but it was familiar. Peter knew why as soon as they went into yet another conference room.

This was Pepper’s floor. Well, the entire floor wasn’t hers, but it might as well have been. This floor was where her office and meetings were held. Peter and Harley got to sit in on a few meetings with their business partners before. It was actually very interesting. Pepper was amazing at explaining things and very patient when Peter or Harley didn’t understand something.

Once Peter tuned back into reality, he noticed Harley sitting next to him at the oval-shaped table.

“Shouldn’t you be standing and, you know, not sitting next to me?” Peter asked.

“Why? Are you complaining?” Harley answered with a smirk.

“No, just… confused?”

“Eh, my feet hurt… And I’m worried. You didn’t really pay attention to the last lecture and that ‘Flash’ kid looked like he was bothering you before that. You want to explain?”

“Nope!” Peter responded with false joy. Which earned him a glare from Harley. But before his boyfriend could say anything, Pepper walked into the room, earning the attention of all the students.

Saved by the CEO, Peter thought.

“We will talk about this later,” Harley warned. Peter sighed softly, very much done with the day.

He did manage to return Pepper’s smile when she gave him one, even though he was stressed about everything. 

“Good afternoon, everyone! My name is Pepper Potts,” as Peter’s kind-of-mom-but-also-not introduced herself, he could almost feel Mj’s excitement from two seats over. “And I want to know what questions you have about me and what I do here. Please raise your hands and ask any questions you want, within reason, of course. Let’s start with you, Abe? Is it?”

“Yeah, uh, what’s it, um… What’s it like managing a company this- this big?”

The Q&A continued on for a bit with Pepper taking all of the questions in stride, even the ones about her and Tony’s relationship. 

“Do you plan to have any kids?” Randy asked as the last question of the half hour. Peter thought Pepper was going to skip that one, but she surprised him.

“Well… I already have one, probably two at this point.” She said, glancing in Peter and Harley’s direction. 

Peter froze.

Tony and Pepper… Had kids? 

Who? What were their names? How old were they?

Peter didn’t know why this information hurt so badly. He should be happy for them, right? So… Why did he feel angry and sad?

Peter was so wrapped up in his head that barely noticed the footsteps of someone who shouldn’t be anywhere near his class approaching the room they were in. That was until he heard them speak.

“Peter,” the person Peter was hoping it wouldn’t be whined before they entered the room. “Steve wrecked my arm again and Stark is being a bit-,” Bucky fell silent as soon as he saw the class. He curled in on himself a bit and turned to leave, all confidence lost.

Bucky wasn’t used to that many people in that small of a space, especially not kids. Kids who were whispering and gossiping to each other about Bucky’s indeed very mangled arm.

“Wait!” Peter whispered under his breath so that only the super-soldier could hear. He almost sighed in relief when Bucky did stop and turn to look at him. “Want to go to the Mirror Room? That can’t be comfortable and I doubt you’ll let Tony anywhere near you.”

Bucky nodded slowly, obviously very uncomfortable.

“Great!” Peter said, forgetting about the whispering. He only hesitated a second at the amount of eyes on him now before turning to look at Pepper. “Can we move this to the Mirror Room, please?”

The Mirror Room, as Peter and most of the others called it, was a lab with a one-way mirror taking up almost all of one of the walls. Peter and Bucky were pretty much the only ones to use it. Mostly because Peter was really the only person Bucky was comfortable enough with to let him fix his arm. The two would sit on the mirror side, with Peter working on Bucky's arm whenever needed, and at least one of the other Avengers would sit on the window side. 

The one condition Tony set for when Peter was allowed to fix the arm was that someone was there who could take the Winter Soldier down if things went south. This came with its own set of problems because with too many people in the room, Bucky would panic. But Tony wanted someone there to keep Peter safe.

Peter’s solution? The Mirror Room! There was a door on the window/mirror wall that the Avengers could easily get in and out of, just in case and the rest of the room was a full lab. Bucky was a bit uncomfortable with the first few uses of the room, but quickly warmed up to it. 

“Of course, who do you want to tell?" Pepper asked. "And don’t try to say ‘no one,’ Tony would not be happy if I let that happen.”

“Uh…” Peter was very much going to say ‘no one,’ but Pepper didn’t need confirmation of that. “How about- Hey, wait. Bucky, where’s Steve? You said he was the one who destroyed your arm, and I highly doubt he’d leave you alone like that, so…?”

Before Bucky had any time to respond, Steve came through the doors, looking a little bit guilty. 

“Eavesdropping now, are we? Thought you were better than that,” Peter snarked. He knew the soldier wouldn’t be offended and was proven right by his response.

“Hypocrite,” Steve said, a fond smile on his face. Just as he was going to keep bantering with Steve, Mr. Harrington interrupted them.

“Mr. Parker! What have I said about being respectful?” The teacher came to stand right behind Peter’s seat, his hands on the teen’s shoulders in a way that reminded him so much of Tony, it made him want to puke. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Rogers, he’s not normally like this, I promise.”

The other adults in the room (plus Harley) gave Peter a look he didn’t want to think about, so he started to lead his class out to the Mirror Room.

“So, what even happened? I won’t judge, I’m just curious,” Peter asked Steve as they walked to the elevator.

“Oh… I uh, may or may not have, well… We decided it would be a good idea to see how strong my grip was?” Steve said nervously, looking away. Even Bucky looked a bit guilty.

“By using Bucky’s arm?” Peter was definitely judging now. Very harshly. He barely even noticed the elevator taking them higher because of how harshly he was judging them.

“Yeah…” Steve looked at Peter again and started trying to defend himself. “Don’t give me that look! It seemed like a good idea at the time!”

“You’re both idiots,” Peter sighed. Bucky huffed a laugh and nodded. “Ok, why is he agreeing with me? I thought you decided to be dumbasses together?”

“Well… About that… It was my idea and I kind of pressured Buck into it?” Steve explained quickly enough that Peter needed a second to decipher what he said.

“Wow. Captain America, peer pressuring someone. What would your PSA’s say?” 

“I’m sorry, your what?” Bucky spoke, smiling widely, for the first time since finding Peter and his class. 

His class. 

Who were right behind him. 

Listening and whispering to each other. 

Luckily, Pepper was keeping Mr. Harrington distracted, but the students were an entirely different problem.

Fuck.

Steve seemed to notice Peter’s sudden nervousness and tried to comfort him by placing a hand on his shoulder. Peter gave him a tired, but grateful, look in response.

When they reached the Mirror Room, Steve took the rest of Peter’s class and Harley into the window side of the room, explaining how the room was used. Bucky and Peter went to the other side.

As soon as he reached the table he normally sat at, Bucky hopped up and held out his arm, already knowing and mostly comfortable with the process.

Peter liked to think part of the reason Bucky was more comfortable in the room was because of the game they played. Peter would retell a movie Bucky had seen and the former assassin had to guess the movie. The only rule was that Peter couldn’t use the characters names, if he did, Bucky won and Peter had to think of a different movie. If Bucky didn’t guess before Peter was done with the arm, Peter won.

They didn’t really keep track of their wins, it was just something fun to keep the soldier distracted.

Peter got his supplies and started from the beginning of The Princess Bride.

“There was once a princess who lived in a faraway land-”

“Tangled?” Bucky guessed.

“Nope! I didn’t know you knew that movie though, I’ll keep it in mind for another time.”

“Yeah, Clint made Steve and I watch a lot of Disney movies.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Peter laughed and continued with the story. He had to pause occasionally to let Bucky guess or when there was a wire being particularly difficult. 

Eventually, Peter finished his work, double checking to make sure everything functioned correctly. When it did and Bucky still hadn’t guessed the movie, Peter started to act out the super-soldier’s favorite scene.

The poison one.

He sat in a chair with wheels and tried to remember the dialog for the scene, struggling only a little bit. As soon as he dramatically ‘died’ as Vizzini, Bucky seemed to get it.

“The Princess Bride!” He said proudly.

“Yeah! I figured you’d appreciate that one.” Peter grunted as he got off the floor and his stomach and leg flared in pain.

“Yeah,” Bucky laughed, not noticing what type of pain Peter was in. “I did, thank you.” 

“Of course!” Peter attempted to remain normal, but a bit of pain must have sipped through because Bucky was giving him a worried look and Peter knew he needed to get out of there.

“Why don’t we go back out? I’m sure my class is waiting for me.” Peter resisted the urge to fidget.

“Alright…” Bucky let it go, thankfully. Peter was sure he’d come back to it, but he was grateful for the break.

As soon as they left the Mirror Room, Steve grabbed Bucky and dragged him away, looking pissed.

“Bye!” Peter yelled, against his better judgment, at them before they made it too far away.

Only Bucky returned it.

Then Steve let Bucky go, turned back around and stopped in front of Peter. He put his hands on his shoulders and started speaking.

“This is not your fault and I will make it better,” he promised and left to join up with Bucky again.

Peter turned to look at Harley and Pepper for answers, but Harley only shook his head and Peter can tell Pepper was trying so hard to be civil, but left them soon after.

What the hell happened?

Chapter Text

When Harley announced their schedule had changed and that they were going to do something no other tour had done, Peter was worried and suspicious. He hoped it didn’t involve the Avengers murdering Flash.

They were either very lucky or something with Peter in mind was planned, because the thing they were going to was on the same floor as the Mirror Room. Peter figured it was the latter. Parker luck was no joke, this entire trip had proved that.

As Peter’s classmates who were ahead of him walked into a large room, they all gasped and stopped in the doorway.

“Come on, move!” Flash told them. He was in the middle of the group of kids, all (except the first few) trying to see what the others had stopped at.

“Come on in, don’t be shy, we don’t bite. Well… Most of us, but don’t tell Clint that.” Oh fuck no. That was Tony. Peter could now see where this was going and he hated it.

“Me?! What about Loki?” 

Peter wanted to run. To sprint away and hide in a lab somewhere, but that would just-

Hold up.

Loki!?

Peter resisted the urge to push through the remaining teens to get to his favorite mischief god. Thankfully, they started funneling into the room and sitting in the chairs. As soon as the coast was clear, Peter made his move.

He ran up behind Loki and jumped on his back, the god catching him easily. He vaguely heard his class gasp and hold their breaths, but he didn’t care at the moment. Peter was tired and wanted his home, his safe place, to stay that; safe.

“Welcome back!” Peter exclaimed, wrapping himself tighter around Loki.

“Thank you, little one. It is good to see you again,” Loki laughed at Peter’s antics.

“When did they get back?” Peter asked, finally noticing Thor and waving at him. “And how come no one told me?” He glared (with no real heat) at Tony.

“You were on a field trip, kid,” the man glared back with the same amount of not-anger.

“Alright, boys,” Their staring contest was broken by Pepper and both inventors grumbled at the kind of tie. They were competitive, so what? “We don’t have that much time so if you could start us off, Tony?”

“Right. Ok, Flash? Could you come forward?” Tony kept his glare carefully hidden, but Peter could see he was still pissed. This could not end well for the bully.

Peter took a second to look around the room, just to see who was there. Apparently, most of the Avengers. Tony, Nat, Bruce, Clint, Steve, Bucky, Thor, and Loki were all present. Peter also noticed how angry almost all of them looked and he knew exactly what was coming.

He was proven right when Flash, excitedly, stepped forward.

He did not stay excited.

“Eugene Thompson,” Tony started, unmasking his glare. “Do you truly believe any of the Avengers or staff at Stark Industries would have sex with a child?” Flash sputtered, trying to save himself, to no avail. “I’m not done.” Flash shut up. 

“Did you really think you’d get away with hurting Peter, calling him names, spreading rumors, both at school and our home? Outright bullying him in front of us and behind his back?” So that's what happened in the Mirror Room. “Do you even understand the consequences of your actions? Because I assure you, you will find out.”

“And you!” Tony turned his glare to Mr. Harrington. “You are not getting away with calling my kid a liar and looking away from the obvious bullying!”

“Now,” Pepper cut Tony off, knowing he was getting too worked up. “We will contact your principal regarding your and your teacher’s behavior toward our kid, and you are both now banned from any Stark Industries building or their affiliates. You will stay here for now, but neither of you will say a word.”

Both Mr. Harrington and Flash were speechless.

Their kid…? Oh. Harley and Peter. That was what Pepper had meant. Ok, Peter was more of an idiot than he thought.

The rest of the class, on the other hand, were whispering about Peter being Tony’s kid. Which… was actually really nice to hear. Maybe calling the man ‘dad’ wouldn’t be that far of a stretch.

“Was all of that true, little one? Did that child really say and do all of those things?” Loki asked.

“Yeah…” Peter confirmed, trying to hide in Loki’s shoulder. He was expecting to be dropped, to be called weak, to be yelled at. 

He flinched when he felt Loki raise one hand and snap, thinking the worst.

None of that happened.

Instead, Peter heard a bray.

He looked up confused and found a very distressed looking donkey where Flash was standing a second ago.

“What?” Peter asked, trying not to laugh. The Avengers looked to Loki, back to Fla- well, the donkey- and started laughing. Peter tried not to. This was still (probably) his classmate, but he couldn’t help it when Flash noticed his form and started running around the room, bucking and braying and probably panicking.

“Why? Turn him back!” Peter burst out, trying to control his laughter.

“He was being an ass,” was Loki’s answer before he turned the donkey back into Flash.

Flash was on all fours, looking thoroughly embarrassed at the entire class and the Avengers laughing at him. He stood up and sat in the furthest corner of the room, trying to look as small as possible.

Peter kind of felt bad, but he was also petty. It was a little nice to see Flash get a taste of his own medicine.

The laughter settled and Steve explained they were there for a Q&A thing and told the class to ask appropriate questions. 

Loki, Peter, and Harley arranged themselves so that Loki was sitting on the floor with Peter in his lap. Harley was next to them and Peter started swaying side to side as he played with Loki’s hands, more comfortable than he’d felt the whole day.

Bruce and Tony got the most questions, mostly science and engineering related, which Bruce seemed delighted about. Nat and Pepper got some questions about their gender in their fields. Clint and Bucky got questions about being disabled, which Bucky immediately grabbed Steve's hand to hold while he answered. No one had the guts to ask if they were dating. They both looked relieved at that. 

The last question was to Thor.

“Thor, can I try to pick up your hammer?” Abe asked. Which sparked the whole class to ask if they could as well.

“Of course! Why not everyone try!” Thor exclaimed.

Flash almost got up, but sat back down when he noticed Nat’s glare.

One by one his class failed to lift the hammer. Until Ned did lift it, which surprised almost everyone and earned him a clap on the back from a smiling and slightly unnerved Thor. Peter sat a little taller, knowing his best friend was worthy.

Ned looked surprised and like he was going to burst with excitement. He set the hammer down carefully and ran over to Peter for them to geek out at Ned being able to lift the hammer.

All was going well, until Thor spoke again.

“Would you like to try, Son of Stark?” Thor asked him.

Peter froze. It wasn’t the name that got him, no he’d come to terms with that name from the god a while ago, it was the offer. A civilian being able to lift the hammer was one thing, but a third hero? Besides Steve and Thor himself?

Then Peter realized how stupid it sounded to even think he could lift the thing. So he shrugged and stood.

As soon as he grabbed the hammer, he felt a small spark in his hand. He pulled away quickly, a little scared of it now.

“It’s ok,” Peter expected that to be Thor, but it was Steve. He was giving Peter an encouraging (and knowing?) smile and waved him on. So, Peter grabbed the handle again and pulled.

He gasped when he lifted it, electricity thrumming through his veins. He looked to Steve, who was smiling fondly at him, then to a shocked Thor, and then a proud Tony. He carefully put the hammer down, apologizing and suddenly the room was filled with silence.

“I knew it,” Steve sang, holding his hand out to Clint. He grumbled and gave Steve what looked like ten dollars.

“How?” Peter asked, still in shock.

“The first shock, it’s what happened to me,” he explained.

“Oh.”

Then suddenly the room was filled with noise and Peter threw on his headphones and shut his eyes. Eventually the sound died down and Peter felt someone pick him up. They smelled of motor oil and metal and Peter could hear the hum of the arc reactor, leaving no doubt that the person carrying him was Tony.

When Peter opened his eyes, they were in the Avengers common room. 

“Thanks, dad,” Peter said as he took off the headphones. Then he realized what he said, and his eyes widened. “Wait, uh- I mean-” 

Tony seemed as surprised as Peter was, but regained his composure quicker than Peter.

“It’s ok, Pete. I’d love to be your dad. I don’t want to replace your father or Ben, but I want to care for you the same, if you’re ok with it,” Tony said softly.

“Really?” Peter asked. Ton- his dad nodded. “Thank you… dad,” The name sounded weird, Peter not having used it in years, but it was still… right. He rushed forward to hug his dad and winced when the bruises he forgot about made themselves known.

“Ok, I love you too, but we’re going to Medbay and talking about the bullying, ok?” Tony said seriously.

Peter only nodded. 

Maybe nothing would change. Maybe everything would. But maybe, just maybe, Peter was ok with that. As long as he had his family by his side, he knew he’d be ok.

“Also don’t think we’re not going to talk about you hiding injuries again.”

Shit.