Chapter Text
Incoming call from Guy in the Chair
"DUDE! Have you seen the email." Ned shouted through the phone. Peter winced at the volume.
"What email Ned? I don't have one?"
"It went to our parents, forgot May was at work. I'll forward it to you."
Ned's screen paused as he sent the email. Peter tapped his leg, unable to sit still whilst he waited the 30 seconds it took for the email to come through. Ned's face reappeared and he was trying and failing to hold back a grin. Finally Peter's phone buzzed and he opened his email.
No, no. Nonononono. This couldn't be happening. Damn Parker luck. "Ned what is my life?" Ned was laughing hysterically, literal tears forming in his eyes. At least someone was benefiting from his pain.
"Your life is crazy man, I don't know how this shit keeps happening to you."
Peter groaned. "This cannot be happening. Flash is going to be on me. This is gonna be the worst trip ever." He dropped his head into his hands.
Ned snorted again. "Come on man it can't be any worse than Oscorp. At least this time you won't get bitten by a radioactive spider."
"No but I'll have to explain how I know Mr Stark, why my clearance is so high, if people look too closely they might find out I'm Spider-Man." Peter was starting to panic now. There was no reason for him to know Tony Stark. The internship excuse was flimsy at best and wouldn't hold up when everyone saw his clearance. He was well and truly screwed.
"Talk to May Peter. Talk to Tony, I'm sure they will help you. the trip isn't till Friday. That's like 3 whole days to figure it out. I gotta go finish my Chemistry homework. See you tomorrow dude."
Peter was done for. This was his final week. He should drop out of school, he should move to Canada. Ok maybe that was an over reaction but Friday was gonna suck. Groaning, he laid down and closed his eyes. Why did the universe hate him so much? Parker luck had a lot to answer for. Peter's phone was vibrating violently next to his leg and he assumed it was just Ned excited about the trip. When the buzzing didn't stop, he picked it up and had to resist the urge to throw it at the wall.
4:31pm
Flash Thompson
FT: yo penis parker are you ready to completely embarrass yourself on friday
FT: theres no way you know tony stark
FT: hey im talking to you
FT: too scared to answer penis
FT: just you wait ill make sure everyone knows your internship is fake
FT: no one will believe you
FT: goodluck keeping your spot on the decathlon team
Great, exactly what he needed. May would know what to do. Whenever Peter couldn't handle something May would always know what to do. Peter's brain couldn't stop thinking about all the ways Flash could embarrass him on Friday. He knew some of the interns in the R&D labs but he didn't know very many, definitely not any that worked on the floors Midtown would get to see. Shit. He really was gonna look like a loser after this.
Lost in his despair, he didn't notice time passing until the apartment door opened and May walked in with a bag of what smelled like Thai food.
"Peter! Honey, foods here." May shouted but Peter had already jumped out of bed, the smell of the Thai food enticing him out of his cave of misery and despair.
"Hey May, how was work?"
May huffed a laugh. "The usual. Big car crash came in at the start of my shift but it's been quiet since."
May unpacked the food and Peter started shovelling food into his face. May couldn't get him to talk about the email if his face was full of food right?.
"So, I got this email today." Peter groaned and pulled a face at May, she ignored him and kept speaking. "It says your decathlon team has a trip this Friday. To Stark Tower. What a coincidence you happen to work there." May was starting to giggle now.
Peter threw his hands out, exasperated. "It's not funny May it's gonna be so embarrassing." Peter whined. May was laughing harder now.
"Why Peter would it be embarrassing? You do know you actually work there right? No matter what anyone, and I know Flash has already said something or you wouldn't be panicking so much, says, your an employee, they can't deny that."
"Flash will find a way to make me seem like a liar. I don't even know most of the staff, when no one recognises me it will be like I don't even work there."
May's brow furrowed. "Don't people stick to their own labs? How many people besides you and Mr Stark actually move round labs?"
Peter thought for a second and realised. "Like 10. Wait so it wouldn't be weird for me to not be noticed. May you're a genius. Larb you." Peter finished, a mouth full of rice.
May laughed. "Yes Spider-boy I am, don't speak with your mouth full."
"Sorry." Peter mumbled, mouth full with another spoonful of rice. May gave him a withering look. He winced.
Swallowing dramatically, earning an eye roll from Aunt May, Peter started talking again. "I'll message Mr Stark after dinner. He should be able to temporarily give me intern clearance right? He wants to keep my secret as much as I do so he probably would."
May smiled. "Sounds like a good idea baby. I'll clean up you go message Mr Stark, and Peter, don't stress about this you'll be ok."
Peter gave a halfhearted smile to May before he went to his room to grab his phone.
6:11pm
Tony Stank
PP: Hey Mr Stark, can I ask you for a favour?
TS: Sure Underoos, hit me.
PP: My school kinda has a field trip to the tower on Friday and I need to keep the whole Spider thing under wraps and its really suspicious that I have such high clearance so I was wondering if you could lower it to like a normal intern so I don't look totally crazy but obviously if you can't its like fine I'll figure out an excuse or something.
TS: Woah Kiddo slow down there. Of course I can lower your clearance. You'll still have your normal clearance but I'll get Happy to print you a fake badge and have FRIDAY read out level 5 for you. Don't stress, I don't want Spider-Man news to get out either believe me.
PP: Thank you Mr Stark, you're the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TS: That's a lot of exclamation marks Pete. I'll have to restrain myself from coming to see you during the tour. Luckily it's a lab day right after. Why don't you get May to write a note that you can stay after the tour? Save Happy and yourself the trip back.
PP: Yeah I'll ask her. See you Friday!!!
TS: See you kid.
On Friday Peter found himself stood in front of a yellow school bus at 8am, ready to go on the trip. He was early for once, not wanting to be late and miss the bus but that just meant he had more time to stand anxiously waiting for his class to pack onto the bus and drive to his workplace. He felt slightly nauseous and jittery but he hoped that once he got to the tower his anxiety would fade and he could just enjoy the trip.
He took a few deep breaths as he listened to Ned's excited rambling. He was finally starting to calm down when Flash spoke up.
"Yo Penis Parker you ready to get humiliated today? Enjoy your lies whilst they last, today you'll be exposed as the fraud you really are." Great, just what Peter needed this morning. Peter could hear people snickering around him. He felt a red flush form on his cheeks. May's advice was all well and good but it didn't make people not believing any less embarrassing.
Finally Mr Harrington ushered them all onto the bus and they started the drive to the tower, with Flash coming up with more and more taunts the longer the drive went on. After an agonising 30 minutes for Peter the bus pulled up in front of Stark Tower and they all got off.
The class walked into the lobby of Stark Tower and everyone looked around in awe. Even Peter who saw the entrance multiple times a week couldn't deny that it was impressive. Marble pillars were surrounded by lush vines and flowers and between each pillar was beautiful art works commissioned by Pepper herself. The floor was formed of shiny tiles that reflected the light off the massive chandelier that hung in the centre of the lobby, thousands of crystals shimmering above guests and employees as they entered.
Whilst everyone was busy gawking at the room, Mr Harrington had gone to the front desk and met up with their tour guide. Both were now heading back towards the group. Peter seemed to be the only one to have noticed which he was glad of when he saw their guide walking towards him. It was Maddie from PR. He had bumped into her a few times running errands for Pepper. She was one of the more senior PR members, part of Pepper's trusted inner circle of the team but she led tours sometimes.
"Hey Peter." She whispered, low enough that the others wouldn't hear. "Stark briefed me on what people are allowed to know. No one will get any information they aren't supposed to have." Peter breathed a sigh of relief at that, the jittering of his body slowed as his anxiety calmed.
"Thank you Maddie." He said, thankful that he had someone in his corner on the trip.
She smiled. "Don't worry Pete." She said before moving to the front of their group to introduce herself. "Ahem Midtown. Thank you for your attention. Welcome to Stark Industries. I know you all must be very excited to begin the tour but I have a few messages for you before we go in. Firstly, I am Madeline and I will be your tour guide for today. I am a senior member of the PR team and have been with the company for 15 years so I have plenty to tell and show you today. Now, before we go in I will be giving you visitor passes. These need to be clipped to the front of your jackets for the entirety of the trip so that we can identify you. They cannot be used to open any doors so do not worry about needing to take them on and off. Please remember the forms you signed before you arrived, what you see and hear today is not to be spoken about outside these walls if it is not in the public exhibit. That means no photos, videos or recordings either. If you would all like to walk through the gates to my right, the Towers AI will scan your badges and let you pass."
They all made their way to the entry gates and started passing through. Peter and Ned were at the back of the group. Luckily FRIDAY didn't read out everyone's name and clearance, that would be loud and annoying, not to mention unsafe but there was a screen that security used on the other side of the gates to check everyone coming in and he knew his class would see his name and level pop up. His palms were sweating as he was the last to walk through the gates and saw "Peter Parker, Intern, level 5" appear on the screen. It's not like his classmates wouldn't notice the green badge he was wearing but it was less obvious than the screen.
Flash immediately put his hand in the air. "Yes?" Maddie asked.
"Do you know Peter Parker? He keeps claiming to work here but there's no way a high schooler does right?" Flash asked, smirking at Peter. Peter felt his breathing pick up and his stomach felt like it was doing somersaults. Why did Flash have to be such an ass?
Maddie's face dropped into a frown. "Yes as a matter of fact I do. I've crossed paths with him before. He's been working here in one of the labs for some time now. Does that clear everything up Eugene?"
Flash scowled, "Yes Ma'am."
Betty was the next to raise her hand. Maddie's face softened, "Yes?"
"What do the different levels and colours mean? I've seen like three different badges since I got here."
Maddie smiled, " That's a good question. We have clearance levels of 1 to 10. Level 1 is for guests of the tower such as yourselves and the press, you pretty much can't go anywhere except the toilets with those badges without someone more senior. Then 2-4 are for cleaners, maintenance, secretaries and interns. They grant the owner access to the labs they need or the rooms they have been assigned and nowhere else. 5-8 are for more senior staff like myself, we have access to a larger amount of the building. Finally 9 and 10 are for the upper floors of the building which is all I can say. Colour wise, purple is for PR, green is for R&D, grey is for security, white for guests and yellow is for everyone outside of those departments like maintenance staff. Does that answer your question?"
Betty nodded. "Good, now lets go up to the museum. It has information on Stark industries and the avengers so plenty to look at. I'll tell you some basics about SI in the elevator.
Peter completely zoned out whilst Maddie was talking about SI, he knew basically everything there was to know about the company. They quickly reached their floor and they spilled out into the museum. "Everyone has an hour to look round all the exhibits and we will meet back by the elevator at half ten. Enjoy."
"Come on Ned, there's something cool I wanna show you." Peter dragged Ned over to the far corner of the room where a display case sat against the wall. Unlike the other exhibits this display wasn't dedicated to Stark Industries or to the Avengers but rather to the ideas of interns. There was several things in there that Peter himself had made or at least worked on, like his organic adhesive bandages that were eerily similar to Spider-Man's webbing if you looked too closely but Peter wanted to show Ned something else. Ned was gazing at the cabinet, reading over all the pieces when he gasped. He looked to Peter, face in shock. "Peter how did this even get in there?"
Ned was referring to the little robot on the top shelf labelled "Bandage buddy". "Peter how did my robot get into this case?"
"Well you kinda left it at my house and then forgot about it and then Mr Stark saw it and thought it would be a good idea for the labs so that if someone got hurt the robot could bring them first aid supplies. He wanted to credit me but I said it was you who made it and coded it and so he credited you. It's been really helpful to the lab staff."
Ned looked like he was going to tear up any minute. "This is awesome man thank you. Oh my god Tony freaking Stark knows who I am and he liked my robot. I can't believe it. Wow."
"You're amazing dude, now other people know too. Now lets go see the Avengers exhibit."
After looking at all the Avengers exhibits, it was time for everyone to meet back at the elevator. Peter had been enjoying himself and had completely forgotten about Flash for a whole hour. Unfortunately he was reminded of his existence again when the boy insisted on talking to him before they moved on.
"Hey Penis," He sneered. "I don't know how you got that pass but even if you do work here you're nothing more than a janitor and I'll prove it."
Thankfully Flash hadn't whispered very quietly and Mr Harrington overheard. "Eugene Thompson if I hear that foul language or those insinuations again on this trip you will be waiting on the bus, am I understood?"
A mumbled "Yes Sir." came from Flash before they all packed into the elevator. Peter's heart was pounding, still not over Flash's comments. He just wanted to enjoy the trip with no issues was that too much to ask for? His hope that he would feel less anxious as the day went on was misplaced, somehow he felt worse now than he did this morning.
Before lunch they were taken on a tour of a few minor labs and the PR department. It was interesting but nothing Peter hadn't seen before. He was just thankful to make it to lunch without any incidents. He grabbed a sandwich from one of the stalls in the cafeteria and sat down with Ned. His stomach was still twisting from anxiety but he had to eat. Damn his super metabolism. He managed half the sandwich before they had to move on to another lab.
The next lab they went into had an activity set up. "Ok everyone, for the next hour and a half you will be building something from the parts in front of you. The lab tech will be pairing you up. Be as creative as you can."
Parker luck struck again as Peter and Flash were paired together. Ned grimaced when he heard the pairing and Mr Harrington frowned and kept his eye on the pair. They got to building and everything went to shit.
"We are building my robot, I don't care what you want to build. I'm smarter than you Penis." Peter sighed but let Flash do what he wanted. Peter couldn't be bothered to argue. As the time went on Peter found it harder to breathe. Flash was doing just about everything wrong and the robot would never work, it would be an embarrassment. Every time Peter tried to help fix Flash's mistakes he got shoved away or insulted. This was going to be a disaster and everyone would laugh at him. He needed space, he needed to breathe.
When Peter still couldn't control his breathing any longer he got up abruptly and headed for the hallway opposite the lab. The door was biometric locked but Peter didn't even think before he pressed his hand on the pad and stepped inside. Sinking down against the wall he tried and failed to take some deep breaths. He was shaking. Then he was being enveloped by someone, someone who smelled like motor oil and cologne. Mr Stark.
"Breathe Roo, come on take some deep breaths. There you go." Peter's breaths slowed down and he felt less shaky.
"Sorry Mr Stark." Peter almost sobbed. He had nearly gotten through the day. Stupid anxiety.
Mr Stark lifted his chin. "Hey Pete, no need for that. You did good. Lemme talk to your teacher and then we will go up to the penthouse. Ok?"
Peter nodded and he heard the door open. "Hey teach, could you come in here for a moment?"
Peter heard the gasps as Tony Stark poked his head out of the door and into his classes lab. Mr Harrington must have agreed because he was suddenly standing next to Peter as Mr Stark shut the door.
"I know May Parker gave you a notice to say Peter could stay here after the trip, but is it ok if I take him now, he's in no state to finish the trip?" Mr Stark asked.
Mr Harrington smiled down at Peter. "Yes of course Mr Stark that's fine. You know you can talk to me if things get too much Peter, remember that." Mr Harrington went to leave but Mr Stark stopped him.
"Tell the kids he works as my apprentice. We were trying to keep it quiet but they will ask and they can't blab anything they see here anyway. Thanks teach."
"No problem Mr Stark. Hope you’re back to yourself on Monday Peter." Mr Harrington said before leaving.
Mr Stark turned to him. "So. Pizza and video games sound good?" Peter nodded and they headed up to the penthouse and away from the definitely shocked classmates.
This field trip wasn't so bad Peter thought, leaning against Mr Stark and on his way to the penthouse. he'd definitely had worse.