Chapter Text
The email came into his inbox on a Tuesday afternoon.
Congratulations Peter Parker!
You have been accepted to the Stark Industries Internship program! As a member of this program, you will get the opportunity to work on important programs among Stark Industries scientists. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow at 3:30 PM.
Thank you,
Pepper Potts
Now, this was great for Peter Parker. More than great! It meant that Peter would have something to put on his college applications, and potentially a letter of recommendation, and it meant he would have an actual challenge for once in his life.
This development, however, was not great for Spider-man. Spider-man was being hunted down by the Avengers, which Mr. Stark happened to be a part of. And Peter Parker happened to be Spider-man.
Peter hadn't actually even thought he'd get the internship, and he'd mostly applied for the fun of it. He didn't think anything would actually come of it. Of course, they might kick him out once they figured out he didn't talk. He ran his tongue over his fangs nervously as he reread the email. If they didn't kick him out for not talking, surely they'd kick him out for something else right? Peter was constantly getting into trouble at school for one reason or another, whether it be his weird refusal to talk since eighth grade, or him getting into another fight with Flash, or him not doing the assignment the proper way.
Surely the people at Stark Industries would find something to kick Peter out for.
He sighed, shaking his head. He needed to clear his head. He went deeper into the alley he lived in, and found the bag that held his suit. It used to look pretty pathetic, but he'd managed to get his hands on some upgrades recently, consisting of a sleeker looking design that looked much less like he was in a DIY costume and much more like a genuine superhero suit, and his web shooters had gotten an upgrade, courtesy of the Midtown Tech robotics department. Not that they knew they'd helped him with his upgrade. He pulled the suit on, smiling to himself as he finished. Peter loved patrol. It was the only time he didn't feel like a failure, because while Peter may be nothing more than an oddly clever, nonverbal delinquent, Spider-Man was a chatty vigilante that took villains down and helped the people of Queens.
Spider-Man swung up to the rooftop and perched on the edge, looking out on the world for a few moments until he heard a scream nearby. His head turned and he ran towards it, jumping from roof to roof like it was nothing. He heard more screams as he ran.
After a minute he found the source of the screaming and dropped into the street. There was a big car crash that involved a bus and at least three different cars. There was smoke coming from every vehicle. Spider-Man climbed onto the bus and stuck to the wall, looking through the window with his body upside down. The windows were all locked and the kids inside were elementary school aged so they probably couldn't get out. Spider-Man punched the glass and the kids screamed as they looked at him. “Hey hey, it's okay! I'm here to help! Come on, let's get you guys out of here.” The kids ran towards him. “Whoa whoa, one at a time guys! Single file line, like you do in the hallways.” The kids obliged, and Spider-Man was quick to pull the students through the window one by one, who went over and huddled together on the sidewalk. The smoke from the bus rose and heat started to build. The back of his neck tingled. “Okay we gotta speed this up. Two at a time.” He said, trying to speed up the process. Sweat started to soak his face as he did, and he heard a hissing sound from the engine as he was pulling the last kids. A shiver went down his body. The cars under the bus still had people in them though. The police and fire fighters still hadn't shown. Peter looked around in annoyance; did none of the bystanders call anyone yet?
He shook his head to clear it and pulled the bus away from the other cars. Another shiver went down his body and he jumped back as the bus combusted. His eyes were wide as he ran around it and to the other cars. His body was screaming at him to run run run but he wasn't listening to it right now. He had more people to save.
He forced the door of the first car, a black car with tinted windows open, and pulled the blonde woman from the back seat. She was unconscious and her head was bleeding, but he didn't have time to do first aid. He set her on the sidewalk instead before going back in for the driver. As he pulled the man (also unconscious) out, he heard a high pitched hiss from the engine. “Shit.” He whispered. There were two more cars underneath. He checked in both of them. The people were awake. Okay, good good. He helped them out, and as the last person left the car he suppressed a full body shudder. He grabbed the person and webbed onto a wall of a building, getting out of harm's way right as the cars exploded into each other.
“That was close.” He muttered before looking at the woman he was holding. “You okay?” She nodded, and Peter made his way back to the ground and set her down. It was then that the sirens started. “Alright everyone this has been great and all, but that's my cue to leave!” Peter didn't hesitate before climbing up a different building and running off.
It was only a few minutes later when his muscles screamed at him to move, and his body didn't wait before forcing him to dodge the punch from something. Peter forced himself to look behind at the ice monster coming towards him. He was fighting against his own body right now– it did this sometimes, whenever it found a threat it deemed too much for Peter to handle on his own, the spider side of him took over and Peter felt like a passenger in his own body. Peter could fight it for the first few seconds, but that side would take over and Peter wouldn't even remember what had happened. He gritted his teeth in annoyance as his body moved on its own again, and he knew he couldn't fight himself any longer, so he let the Spider take over.
—
Peter woke to being curled up in webs back in his home alley. He was glad that, if anything, the spider side of him always took him home after. He groaned softly and stretched out, flinching as he felt how sore he was. And he'd definitely sprained something. Great.
Looking up at the sky, he saw it was dark but a tiny bit of light was bleeding through. He sighed softly, standing and decidedly ignoring his sprained wrist. It would heal. Eventually. It may take a bit longer considering how little he ate lately, but his healing factor always worked out at some point.
He looked down at himself and saw that last night he'd changed out of his suit and into some clothes that could pass for school clothes.
Whatever.
Grabbing his backpack, he jogged to school and ran to the bathroom. He pulled out a toothbrush and toothpaste and quickly brushed his teeth, going over the fangs a few extra times, before then using a washcloth and the school's hand soap to take the closest thing to a shower that he had. He was grateful no one came in and bothered him. That wouldn't have been fun to explain. No one knew that Peter didn't have a home to go back to, and he intended to keep it that way.
After he was satisfied with that, or as satisfied as he could be, he headed to his locker, where he found Ned waiting. “Hey man! How're you doing?”
Peter smiled. ‘I'm good, just busy and stuff. You know, the usual.’ He signed the words, and was glad that Ned had learned sign language when Peter had mysteriously stopped talking. Of course Ned now knew part of the reason he didn't speak, that being the fangs that showed anytime he opened his mouth. ‘Oh, I got the internship I applied for by the way.’
“Holy shit, really??” Ned practically shouted the words, causing Peter to flinch a bit and thankfully the other teen lowered his voice. “That's- like, so cool dude.” Peter smiled as he shut his locker, wincing as he slung his backpack over the shoulder attached to his sprained wrist, and started walking to his first period. Ned caught up and didn't seem to notice Peter's wince. “So, are you Mr. Stark’s personal intern or something?” Peter huffed and shook his head. “Then what are you gonna do there?”
Peter shrugged. ‘I find out later.’
“Oh, right right.” Ned said softly as they sat next to each other in first period. “Well, you wanna come to my place after?” Peter nodded.
Peter tried to focus in class, he really did. But everything was just so boring. It was a pretty advanced school already, sure, but he found himself doodling in his notebook or working out ways to improve his web fluid or working on different ideas he had for inventions but he knew would never come to fruition.
After school, Peter found himself walking to Stark Tower and trying not to have a panic attack. Based on how his heart beat out of his chest and his body screamed danger danger danger he was not succeeding. He took a deep breath and stepped through the door. He went up to the front desk and took out his student ID, sliding it to the clerk. “Oh, you're here for the internship?” A nod. “Great! Well, here's your ID for the building, and you'll be going to the fiftieth floor. It's the chemistry section.” The woman pointed to the elevator, and Peter nodded again, taking the new ID the lady slid to him along with his school ID. Going into the elevator, he scanned his ID and picked the fiftieth floor.
“Greetings, Mr. Parker. Going up!” The robotic voice said. Peter flinched in surprise as he heard the greeting.
“How do you know my name?” He said out loud, since there wasn't anyone else in the elevator.
“I am FRIDAY, an AI model. I know everyone's names. You also scanned your ID.” Friday explained.
“Oh. Nice to meet you Friday.” Peter whispered. The elevator opened and Peter found a scientist waiting there.
“Hello, Mr. Parker, right?” Peter nodded. “Great. I'm Dr. Tatchi, but you can call me Luna. It's a pleasure to meet you.” She offered her hand, which Peter shook hesitantly. “Come in, let me show you what we're working on today.” She turned and led him into a lab. “Make sure to wear goggles and a lab coat anytime you're in here.” She spoke like he'd never been in a lab before. He assumed it was because he was still technically a kid, but come on, he couldn't get this internship without doing at least some lab work. Instead of saying any of this, he just nodded and put on the coat and goggles, ignoring his body that said run run run. ‘Mr. Stark isn't even here.’ He thought to himself, ‘what danger could there be?’
Luna smiled at him once he'd finished. “Perfect! You'll just be doing some organization today, so if you want to step over there and start going through those papers?” Peter nodded, going to the workbench she'd pointed to and starting to sort them. He read through a few folders that interested him, finding some interesting projects they were working on like a new adhesive bandage that they hadn't been able to perfect the formula on yet, and a new type of carbon dioxide converter, also not finished yet. He had some ideas for both, but it wasn't his place to bother, so he sorted them into the respective piles he'd made.
The internship ended three hours later, and Luna led Peter back to the elevator. As he got closer his brain screamed run run run hide hide hide, the instincts getting louder and louder as the elevator opened. Of course, because his luck was bullshit and he had Parker Luck™, Tony Stark was waiting inside. Why the man didn't take a private elevator, Peter didn't know. Peter didn't grace the man with a greeting, considering Peter didn't speak, and instead he just stepped into the elevator. Run run run. “Soo, you're one of the interns.” Mr. Stark said. Oh, okay, he had to make conversation. Great. Peter was great at that. Well, not exactly, considering Peter didn't talk. “How was the first day?” Peter gave Mr. Stark a thumbs up to communicate it was good, ignoring the freeze hide freeze that his brain screamed at him. “Not much of a talker, are you?” Peter shook his head. “That's okay, Pepper says I talk enough for three.” Peter laughed a little at that.
‘You’d need one more quiet person to balance that out then.’ He signed.
Mr. Stark looked at his hands, then glanced at the ceiling. “Friday, can you interpret that for me?” Friday did so, and Mr. Stark smiled. “Yeah, I guess I would.” He said. “What's your name, kid?”
Peter pulled his ID out and showed it to the man. “Peter Parker. Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Parker. I'm Tony Stark, if you didn't know.”
Yeah, no fucking shit. Peter didn't say that, he just nodded. The door opened as they reached the first floor. Danger danger DANGER. He could barely hear the rest of his thoughts at this point. Mr. Stark said something but Peter couldn't hear him over the run run run run hide hide hide hide out out out out that his brain was shouting at him. He took a deep breath and focused, making the spider quiet down temporarily. His mind a bit clearer now, he signalled for Mr. Stark to repeat himself. "You're pretty quiet. I like quiet. Makes it easier for me to focus. And I need someone to get my coffee and help organize the lab, and Pep forgot to get me my own intern. Let's say you meet me here tomorrow?”
Maybe his instincts were right. They always were.