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Peter wakes up to a loud alarm blaring from his phone. He groans, rolling over and turning it off. He picks up his phone and scrolls through social media until he has to get up–or be late. He gets dressed, going down to the common floor for breakfast. When the elevator opens, the smell of Steve's pancake fills his sensitive nose.
“Peter, come eat before everyone gets down here!” Steve yells from the kitchen where he is flipping pancakes and putting them onto a large pile. Sam is in conversation at the counter with Bruce. Nat and Wanda are talking quietly on the couch. Bucky is mixing something next to Steve. Peter walks over, Stebe tossing a stack of pancakes onto his plate before taking a seat next to Wanda. Tony comes strolling in, obvious that he hasn’t slept from the oil stains and empty coffee cup in his hands.
“Hey underoos, I can’t drive you today. Got a big project I have to help R&D with.” He says, chugging whatever is left in his mug and a long heavy blink.
“It’s okay Mr. Stark” Peter answers, shoving pancakes into his mouth one after another. It comes out more of a grumble.
“I can give him a ride. I’ve gotta head over to the VA soon anyway. Early group session” Sam offers, pushing himself up from the stool and hopping down onto the tile floor.
“Thanks birdie!” Tony shoots back before grabbing the whole coffee pot and running out of the room.
……..
Sam drops Peter off at school. He thanks him and walks inside. He goes through his school day with his spider senses tingling in the back of his head. He ignores it, chalking it up to anxiety and nerves about decathalon practice. and makes it to the academic decathalon meeting. He slips into the seat next to Ned at the far end of the table.
“Welcome back team! I want to congratulate you on the win. You all did amazing at the meet and I hope we can continue this in the future! As a reward, Stark Industries has offered us a tour of Avengers Tower this Friday! Here are permission slips I would like back by Wednesday.” He says, moving down the table and handing out permission slips. When he gets to Ned and Peter he stops.
“Peter, can I please talk to you? In the hallway.” He says. Peter nods, getting up and following Mr. Harrington into the hallway.
“Is there something wrong Mr Harrington?” Peter asks.
“Peter, I know you’ve been spreading rumors about interning at Stark Industries. I just want to ask you not to bring this up on the field trip. I don’t want a stupid decision to ruin your future.”
“Mr Harrington I’m not lying-”
“Peter, don't dig the hole deeper for yourself” Mr Harrington actually looks empathetic.
“Okay” Peter sighs, giving up. No use in trying to convince him it’s true. Peter knew most of his peers didn’t believe him about the internship, but his teachers? That was a punch to the gut. Especially Mr Harrington, who is one of his favorite teachers.
“Thank you” Mr Harrington says, turning back into the room and beginning the AcaDec meeting. Peter follows suit and sits down next to Ned with a huff.
“Peter? What’s wrong?” Ned asks.
“Mr Harrington told me not to bring up my internship because it’s not real.”
“What! You’re telling the truth though!”
“I know. It’s fine, I was just excited to show you stuff and where I work” Peter sighs.
“You can still come right?” Ned asks nervously.
“Yeah” To be honest, Peter doesn’t really want to go anymore. But he won’t leave Ned alone like that.
They make it through the meeting with only a few rude comments from Flash about Peter being exposed on Friday. Peter walks out of the building with the permission slip burning a hole in his pocket. Happy picks him up and brings him home like he does everyday. Peter goes to his room to facetime May. She picked up a job helping people who can’t afford healthcare in Europe, and agreed to let Tony watch over Peter while she is abroad.
“Hi Peter! How are you doing? How was school?” She asks as the call connects.
“It was okay” He says, not really wanting to talk about school and think about the field trip.
“What’s wrong honey?” Peter thinks May has her own Spider senses sometimes with how she can always tell when something is wrong with Peter.
“I have a field trip on friday. It’s to Stark industries and my teachers and classmates don’t believe me about my internship. I know if I tell Mr. Stark he’s going to be super embarrassing” Peter sighs. He really doesn’t want to tell Mr. Stark about any of this. He loves the man of course, he’s been taking care of Peter like a son for almost two years now. And Peter’s been staying with him for a couple months. They hang out in the lab at least three times a week for hours, they have frequent movie nights (with or without the Avengers) and Peter has accidentally called him Dad way more times than he’d like to admit.
“Why don’t they believe you? You’re obviously smart enough for it” May states, beaming about her nephew's strong mind. Peter can’t help but smile.
“I don’t know. Stark Industries doesn’t give out internships to teenagers, it’s pretty unbelievable I guess” Peter completely understands not believing him. But Mr. Harrington didn’t even ask if he had proof before throwing accusations. He should have asked Tony to do some paperwork for it. Even if he hates the work, Peter is sure he’d do it for him.
“Talk to Tony about it. He can sort it out” May assures him. Peter wishes he could hug her. She’s so optimistic.
“Okay” Peter sighs, breathing in and sighing. He knows he isn’t going to talk to Tony, but May doesn’t need to know that. She’ll just worry.
“Oh Pete I’m sorry I have to get to work. I’ll talk to you soon. Love you hon!” May says before someone shouts in the background and she hangs up. Peter decides to busy himself with homework. About an hour later, Tony knocks on the door.
“Hey Pete, May texted me you have a field trip on Friday?” He says, walking into the room. Damn it, May! Peter thinks. She’s too smart for him. She knew he’d never tell Tony and would just forge a signature.
“Oh yeah, I have the permission slip in my bag” Peter reaches for his Acadec folder and hands Tony the slip.
“It’s here? Oh shit Pete wait until the team hears about this” Tony laughs to himself. Parker luck.
“Please don’t embarrass me Mr. Stark. I can’t deal with any more embarrassment. I think I’ll die on the spot actually.” Peter frowns as Tony signs the permission slip, handing it back to him cackling. At least his handwriting is so messy Mr. Harrington won’t be able to tell it actually says Tony Stark. It’s not the same signature he uses for fans, he’s got a really ugly “boring profession documents” one as he likes to call it.
“You’re gonna be fine, Bambino. Come on, Capsicle made dinner and I think Bucky’s got a cake or something in the oven for you to help decorate” Tony says, putting a hand on Peter's shoulder.
Peter throws the permission slip into his backpack and follows Tony down to the avengers common floor and into the dining room. The team eats dinner as normal. Tony tells everyone about the field trip and Peter groans. Everyone seems to have a mischievous twinkle in their eyes after (especially Tony and Clint. Sam is very angry he won’t be in the tower). Peter hopes he dies before Friday.
-
“God, let a supervillian explode our bus on the way to the tower” Peter grumbles as he, Ned and MJ get in line to get on the bus. They’re about to leave for the tower and Peter is extremely upset he didn’t perish earlier in the week. Flash has been taunting him non stop about getting exposed on the field trip. Peter ignored him each time. He doesn’t need to prove anything to the bully but he also doesn’t want the tormenting to get worse. Or worse–he goes after kids who can’t handle it.
After they’re stacked onto the bus, Mr Harrington tells the driver to go. Peter crosses his fingers for a crash or anything to get him out of this trip.
“Are you ready to get exposed Penis?” Flash shouts from about five seats in front of him. Peter rolls his eyes and ignores him. Ned seems to be sick of it though.
“Shut up Flash! Peter isn’t lying!” Ned shouts back angrily. He’s always there for Peter, but Peter really really wishes he would just sit down and close his mouth.
“Shut it Leeds!” Flash complains, slumping back down in his seat. Peter smiles at Ned. MJ is doodling away in her sketchbook, concentrated. She flips it, displaying a distressed but accurate sketch of Peter. Peter sticks out his tongue as MJ smirks.
Peter keeps his head down the rest of the ride, trying his best to tune out everyone and everything around him. Which is pretty darn difficult when you have super hearing.
After about 20 minutes, they are parked outside of the Avengers Tower. Peter sucks in a breath and trails behind everyone getting off the bus. Mr Harrington shoots him a look that says ‘If you even try to mention that internship I’ll throw you out myself’. Peter decides maybe it’s best to just let Tony harass his class. Maybe even Peter can show off himself. Who is he kidding? Tony’s going to make him look like the kids in the bunny suit from a Christmas Story—an absolute idiot. He pulls the hood over his head, trying to disappear. He stole Tony’s MIT hoodie from the lab this morning. He fell asleep on the couch there and had to hurry to get ready.
They file off the bus, Peter failing to stay behind ‘up and at ‘em Parker. This is gonna be pure entertainment for me’ MJ had said. Ned gave him two reassuring thumbs ups. Peter sighs, walking off the bus.
He passes Mr Harrington, who gives him a very pointed look. Peter sighs for probably the fifteenth time today. They all bunch together in the lobby. His classmates are looking around in amazement. Peter did the same thing the first time he was here, but it just looks like plain old home now.
“Hi! You must be Midtown!” An intern smiles at them, quickly gaining everyones attention. Peter recognizes her from passing, he thinks she is one of the business interns. “I’m Amanda! I’m a business intern here at Stark Industries and I will be giving you the tour” She continues to drone on about rules before handing everyone a visitors badge. Peter shrugs, putting the lanyard around his neck. He doesn’t have a badge as a resident and doesn’t even think he had one before that either. He hopes it doesn’t mess with Friday's system.
“Alright, everyone through security!” Amanda announces, showing to empty their pockets and walk through. Peter knows there's a screen that shows status and names on the other side, besides for visitors because they aren’t personalized badges.
Everyone runs through quickly until it is only Peter and Mr Harrington left. Peter sighs and steps through.
Friday doesn’t say anything thankfully, but if it announced his rank and name everytime he came in he would probably get kidnapped or something. The screen says “CLASSIFIED” and Peter shrugs before joining the group. Luckily no one is really looking, besides the tour guide making sure everyone gets through. She looks puzzled but doesn’t say anything at the moment.
Mr Harrington soon follows behind him and they begin filing into the elevator.
“Our first stop is going to be some of the R&D labs! We thought it would be a great first stop for such a prestigious science school” Amanda says enthusiastically, smiling at the group.
“Should just admit it now Penis, no one is going to know you in the lab” Flash whispers from behind him and snickers. Peter rolls his eyes and ignores him.
“Okay! Follow me and please do not touch anything. Pictures are also strictly prohibited on this floor!” Amanda says, stepping into the brightly lit and frankly beautiful lab.
“This is so cool!” Ned bounces beside Peter. MJ nods, looking a bit impressed herself.
“The lead of research in this lab is Dr Jones. He looks over interns and all projects which could even be you in a few years!” She explains. “He should be with us any minute now!”
Peter shrinks into himself, hoping the floor will swallow him up. Dr Jones is a good friend of Tony and Peter spends a lot of time around the intern lab, helping or getting advice.
“Ah here he is!”
“You must be Midtown correct? It is wonderful to meet you!” Dr Jones eyes scan the crowd but he barely stalls on Peter’s eyes, giving him a knowing look. “You seem like wonderful candidates for future interns so why don’t I bring you to the lab to show you what they do?” He smiles, keeping it very professional even when the class gets loud with their excitement.
He leads them over to a small corner of the lab and through random double doors off to the sidel. It opens to a large room with about 10 work stations, each having some sort of project on them. There’s an extra table in the corner. It looks like it would just be for extra junk, but it’s really Peter’s mini work bench because he helps out in R&D so much. Dr Jones loves him, and so do the interns. They even leave him offerings for help with their projects. Tony got a big laugh out of that when he found out.
There’s only 6 of the interns in the room but they’re some of Peter’s favorites. He can’t let them know that though. Most look extremely busy so Peter tries to stay inside the group so no one sees him. They walk over to one of the interns. His nametag says Jameson, but Peter knows everyone calls him J or JJ. He’s a junior in college, majoring in mechanical engineering. He’s got dark blue dyed hair and gives Peter the best snacks.
“JJ! Care to explain the internship program details for our lab? This is Midtown high and they’re very interested in our program for college” Dr Jones winks at the group. A couple kids laugh.
“Yeah! No problem. Hey guys!” He says, placing his tools down and coming around his table. “So glad you were able to come today! The lab you’re standing in is the specified lab for interns. We basically learn more about the industry while working here. We work on projects in the main lab, but also our own projects here! Stark industry is here for innovation so we make sure to do just that. I am currently working on a bot that can work kind of as a police dog. It can sense dangerous chemicals, weapons and metals such as vibranium!” He explains excitedly. Peter loved this idea when he presented it.
He picks up a piece of the bot and explains how it works. “Also, some interns here create something that may be dangerous, or just blow up because of wrong calculations. We have a safe room over there for tests! You can see the window there” he points, and everyone’s heads turn towards the door with caution tape across it and a large glass window next to it.
“Questions?” He asks, opening the floor to the students.
A boy in Peter’s class raises his hand and JJ calls on him.
“If someone is always getting their calculations wrong and keeps blowing things up, do you get fired?” He asks. Peter almost laughs. JJ seems to also think it’s funny because he makes eye contact with Peter and blinks for a long time.
“No.” he says flatly. “If we got fired for blowing stuff up here. Tony Stark would be on the ban list. That man blows more shit up than everyone else combined.” He deadpans. Everyone looks around nervously at the small Tony Stark diss but JJ and Dr Jones start laughing. Peter almost does too.
Dr Jones and JJ wouldn’t know this without Peter. Well maybe Dr Jones, but Tony barely visits the intern labs. Last week, Peter visited for his every-couple-of-days check up on R&D. He complained that Tony had blown up his current project and they had to leave the lab to let it be aired out and that’s the only reason he was there. He was trying to fix Sam’s wings. Everyone knew about it.
“That’s right. Dr Stark really does know how to cause an explosion” Dr Jones chuckles, wiping his eyes. “I don’t know if we were supposed to say that.”
“Dr Stark’s own personal intern told us that. We can blame him. The kid can’t get fired” JJ shrugs. That catches the class's attention. Tony Stark's personal intern?
“Tony Stark has a personal intern?” A girl blurts. Peter thinks it’s Cindy, but he can’t be too sure.
“Oh yeah. Kids a literal genius. Dr Stark literally adores him. I’ve heard him ‘fire him’ at least forty times. Always see the kid the next day” JJ basically brags. Peter’s cheeks get a little pink at how many people know about him and Tony’s fondness.
“You keep saying kid? How old is he” another girl asks, raising her hand this time.
“He’s in high school. So smart he helps out here though” JJ explains.
“He even helps out in the major labs and projects” Dr Jones beams. Peter’s face feels like it’s 100 degrees from all this praise. MJ elbows him, subtly smirking when he looks over.
“They hire at high school age?” One kid asks loudly from the back. The class erupts into whispers of how this could even happen without them knowing.
“No. Stark Industries has a strict policy of over 18 and enrolled in college or a graduate program. But because he’s a personal intern, he gets away with it. And Dr Stark wasn’t seeking out an intern, the guy works best solo. But he stumbled upon the kid and they’re a power team” JJ explains. “We’ve spent way too long on this subject. Let me give you a proper tour!”
JJ launches into a full tour of the intern labs. He explains the tool rooms, larger equipment that is for the entire floor, safety protocols and anything he finds interesting enough to include.
“Oh and we love to-” JJ starts to go on another tangent before he is stopped by Dr Jones.
“JJ I think they should be headed out soon. Is that right Amanda?” He smiles.
“Ah yes! It is that time. We should be headed to our next stop in a moment!” Amanda turns to the group excitedly. “Let’s thank Dr Jones!” The class gives a chorus of thanks before turning back to the door and filing out.
“Oh Peter, can you stop by whenever you have a chance? I have a few questions for you” Dr Jones says quietly when most of the class has left. Peter nods, following after his classmates.
“I can’t believe we made it through a whole area with no Avengers interrupting-” Peter says, he's spoken too soon. Because when the elevator opens, none other than Bruce Banner steps out.
“Oh! I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to get into your way” He says, stepping out of their way and fixing his glasses. His eyes light up when they land on Peter. He gulps and prepares himself for what's next. “Peter! I needed to talk to you about-” Bruce starts, and then realizes what is going on. “Oh my god you’re on your field trip Peter I am so sorry- I know you didn’t want us saying anything- I’m just gonna go” Bruce rambles before rushing past them and to Dr Jones, showing him something on his Starkpad before Peter can even respond.
“What the hell?” Flash mutters. “Did you pay off that guy to talk to you?” he asks, getting into Peter's face.
“Dude, that was Bruce Banner” One of Flashs friends whispers into his ear. Flash’s eyes show a flicker of doubt before returning to their usual evil glimmer.
“And? He probably would accept a wad of cash to pretend to know Penis Parker” Flash scoffs. Peter clenches his fist. Bruce is one of the nicest people he knows. He deserves no insults, or anything the media says about him and the big guy.
“Shut the fuck up Flash” Peter bites, giving him a glare. Flash just rolls his eyes as Mr Harrington comes up behind him.
“Peter! Watch yourself. Remember what I said about causing problems and lying?” He raises a sharp brow and Peter internally groans. Not wanting to cause more trouble, he simply apologizes.
“I’m sorry Mr Harrington. It won’t happen again” Peter mutters. Mr Harrington hums disaprovingly but steps back to the front of the group, entering the elevator.
“You gotta stand up for yourself man!” Ned whispers to Peter once everyone finally enters the elevator. Peter sighs.
“I don’t want to get everyone kicked out because Flash or Mr Harrington throw a fit” Peter rolls his eyes. He likes most of the other people other than Flash and his goons, and he knows how important this opportunity is to them.
“I have nothing to lose” MJ says flatly, smirking at Peter. He knows where that is going. He sighs, shaking his head.
“You’re team captain. You do” Peter explains, trying to get her to stay out of it. She rolls her eyes as the elevator door opens to their next stop.
“Okay, we have something very exciting for you today” Amanda says excitedly, capturing the class’s attention. “We have recently opened up an Avengers memorabilia museum as an extension of our Stark Industries history museum! You’re welcome to explore the Stark Industries section for 30 minutes, and then I will open up the avengers section next. You may stay in here for up to 15 extra minutes but it will cut down your time in the Avengers section! Understand?” She asks, clapping excitedly and beaming at the class.
Everyone makes noises of agreement and she nods, stepping out of the way and allowing the group to roam.
Peter loves this section. He visits when he’s bored and never can get enough. He works for this company with such a lot and rich history that he feels compelled to know every piece. Some day he may even run it (as Tony and Pepper had previously told him he is the most probable Heir. He cried a little). He wants to make them all proud.
“Peter?” Ned taps him, snapping him out of his long thought process as he stares at a model of Captain America’s shield and the different designs that were tried.
“Oh yeah, what?” Peter says, turning to Ned and MJ.
“Did you see that?” Ned points over to a display by a door which they assume is the entrance to the Avengers Museum. Peter shakes his head, confusion clear on his face. Ned lights up, grabbing his wrist and running over.
The title at the top of the display plaque says Our Future and continues with an image from Tony and Peter in the lab. It blocks out Peter’s face to keep him anonymous but they’re working on an Arc Reactor. Peter recognizes the time it was taken. It was the first time he’d worked with one up close. Tony taught him how he built it. He really would give Peter the code to building nuclear bombs if he asked, as Pepper always said.
The paragraph under the plaque says:
Though Stark Industries is always evolving, we know it will always be in the right place with our choices in the future of running the company. Though we choose to keep the Heir’s full identity anonymous for now, we know he will do a fine job. Maybe even better than Pepper Potts and I (Tony Stark) combined. His initials can be found under the contributors to many projects here at Stark Industries in his initials, P.P. The future of Stark Industries is uncertain, but we know it will be a good one with him in charge.
“Holy shit” Peter says in almost disbelief. “Wow.”
“Yeah holy shit man. Why did you not tell us they decided you’re the Heir?” Ned sounds as starstruck as Peter felt.
“I didn’t know. They told me they were considering me but..” Peter can’t even finish his sentence.
They stand there for a few more minutes before Amanda alerts them they can now enter the Avengers museum. Nobody chooses to stay in the Stark Industries section. Shocker. Peter would have but Ned is too much of a fanboy and Peter didn’t want to hold them up.
“This is awesome!” Ned says excitedly, looking at a few Iron man suits.
“They are. This is Mark 46. Or its original design at least, they can’t put the real one in here” Peter explains, noticing the detailing Tony had tried with this suit.
“Aw, why isn’t the real one here?” Ned asks, kind of disappointed he’s not seeing the real thing.
“Well, it’s the suit Tony fought the ‘civil war’ in. Steve.. destroyed it” Peter says slowly. Peter explained the fight to them, but not Siberia. He doesn’t think he could ever let those words leave his mouth. He barely wants to think about it.
“Oh” Ned says, understanding. He knows how upset Peter was about the entire ‘civil war’ and that it can still be a touchy subject.
“Yeah” Peter breathes, moving onto the next section of the museum.
They wander for a while, and end up right in front of the Winter Soldier exhibit when Peter hears someone clear their throat behind him.
“Peter” Bucky rasps. He’s got a baseball cap, sunglasses and a leather jacket with gloves on. Peter cannot believe they ever get away with these disguises.
“Oh, do you need something Bucky?” Peter asks, trying not to show his nervousness. Maybe no one will notice this random, very buff, very scary and half metal man that should not be here right now.
“Sorry to interrupt but could you help with my arm later? Stark is being a shit” he huffs. “It’s just being a little weird. I hit Steve a little too hard in training.”
“Yeah sure, I’ll come by when I’m back from my fieldtrip” Peter smiles nervously. Bucky nods. Peter looks to Ned for a second to tell him ‘hey that’s the winter soldier’ but when Peter turns back, he’s gone. Amanda is squinting at Peter. She’s totally going to figure him out.
“Oh” Peter says quietly. “I’m really glad no one saw him” he is finally able to let out the breath he didn’t even know he was holding.
“Who-“ Ned starts to ask, but MJ places her hand on his shoulder and he knows to stop. Best not to talk about it.
“I can’t believe this is happening” Peter sighs, probably too soon because in that exact moment, Clint falls out of the vents with a loud bang. He hits his own display on the way down, rolling off it and onto the floor.
“Owww” he groans, but quickly pulls himself up. “Pete!” He says excitedly, running over and making a show of it. He one hundred and ten percent knows what he’s doing. “How’s it going bud?” He wraps an arm around Peter’s neck, aggressively ruffling his hair with a fist.
“Clint” Peter grits out, holding his eyes shut. Maybe if he can’t see Clint, the rest of his class can’t either.
The thing is, yeah it’s cool Peter is being treated so normally by an Avenger who calls him by a nickname. Peter really does love Clint. He loves all the Avengers, they’re family. But Clint is currently in an old ‘Sunset Curve’ t-shirt that has the sleeves cut off, a pair of basket shorts and sneakers with some sunglasses on his head. He looks nothing like an Avenger. He isn’t even a public facing one like Steve or Tony, so no one is gonna know that it isn’t some random janitor.
“Aw can’t a guy come hang out with his second favorite teenage boy? Coop comes first obviously” he winks at Peter. He wants to shrink into the size of a real spider and let someone stomp him to death.
“Clint please-“ Peter says half-heartidly, knowing never in a million years would Clint stop.
“Guys! This kid is awesome! He makes the best shit-“ he starts, but stops. “Sorry. Pardon my language!”
“Please leave” Peter sighs. Clint’s eyes show a little bit of doubt.
“Is this actually bothering you?” He asks quietly. Peter hesitates for a moment, and Clint’s grip loosens on Peter. “I’m sorry kid I didn’t know this was actually a problem-“ he starts.
“It’s okay. You didn’t know” Peter shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I’ll go,” Clint says awkwardly, climbing back into the vent he came out of.
“What the fuck” one of the boys standing beside Flash says. Flash elbows him, hissing something.
“Did you pay a janitor to pretend to know you?” Flash hisses at him now. Peter just sighs.
“I’m not in the mood” Peter glares. It doesn’t get him to back off as he storms closer, but MJ gets between them. Everyone is afraid of MJ.
“Fuck off Flash. He said he’s not in the mood. Don’t make me drop you from the team” MJ threatens. Flash’s face turns slightly red, whipping around and stomping back to his friends. “Good riddance” she scoffs.
“Thank you” Peter smiles for the first time since they had shown up here.
“Parker, stop causing problems. One more and you’re waiting on the bus while I call your Aunt” Mr Harrington says seriously.
“But I-“ Peter starts in complete confusion, because he had done absolutely nothing. He even told Clint to leave. He was actively shutting down the problem.
“I’m sorry? Do you want to go now?” Mr Harrington asks. Peter wants to cry.
“No. I’ll try to keep quiet” Peter replies, putting his head down. MJ and Ned place their hands on his shoulders as Mr Harrington's steps get quieter.
“Asshole” Ned groans. “You didn’t do anything!”
“I know,” Peter sighs. “It’s fine. It’s gonna be over soon, right?”
“We have lunch and maybe like 2 more places after that. Good luck” MJ replies snarkly, but Peter can tell it’s really just to make him feel better. He tries to smile.
“Okay Class!” Amanda says, clapping once loudly to gain everyone’s attention. “Lunch!” She smiles widely.
“That’s good. I’m hungry” Peter’s stomach rumbled on cue.
They all pack into the elevator as Amanda explains they will eat in an employee cafeteria, which has plenty of options (similar to a mall food court). Peter is at least excited for lunch because he loves this pizza place in the far left corner.
“Okay, I’m gonna go get my pizza” Peter says, moving towards his favorite smell in the world. Other than the smell that hits him of something burning, motor oil and expensive cologne when he enters the lab.
“I’m gonna get Thai!” Ned says excitedly, turning towards the delicious Thai stand behind him. MJ nods to him and follows.
Peter wonders his way over to the pizza place and gets into line. He looks out of place in his (not really his) MIT hoodie and jeans around all of the business casual outfits and lab coats.
He quickly orders two large pizzas, quickly sitting at a table to eat most of it before he goes back. It’s a little suspicious if he can down two full pizzas on his own.
“Peter!” Someone shouts from behind him. He closes his eyes, taking a very deep breath.
“Hi Steve” he tries to smile.
“How’s your field trip going?” He asks, smiling at Peter and sitting down. “I didn’t want to talk to you while everyone else was there. I got the impression at dinner you didn’t want that?” Steve asks. Peter nods, shoving another slice in his mouth.
“Well, I’ve run into Bruce, Clint fell out of a ceiling in front of my entire class, Bucky came to ask me a question—no one noticed him. And my teacher thinks I’m causing problems and I’m lying about my internship” Peter deadpans. Steve just stares for a moment, processing Peter’s words. His brows furrow.
“What?” Steve asks a little more seriously this time. “Your teacher doesn’t believe you? But your internship is real?”
“Yeah, basically. He told me if I get ‘into trouble’ one more time I’m waiting on the bus” Peter groans. “It’s dumb.”
“Well, he’ll have to deal with us,” Steve responds, smiling proudly. Peter fondly rolls his eyes, smiling a bit.
“Thank you Steve” Peter responds, shoving the last bite of his pizza into his mouth. “I should get back, my teacher will be looking for me.”
“Ah, yes. You do that” Steve stands. “I’ll see you later kid” he waves, walking towards the private elevator.
Peter stands after he’s gone, bringing himself back to the table with his classmates.
“Hey man! What took so long?” Ned asks as Peter sits next to him. Everyone is almost done with their food by now. Peter didn’t realize he took so long.
“Oh Steve came to ask how it was going” he responds, stealing a fry off MJs plate. “I thought you got Thai?”
“I did. And then I went to McDonalds and got flies” she explains, slapping his hand when he reaches for another.
“Steve? As in Captain America?” Ned’s eyes glimmer for a moment.
“Ned you’ve literally met him” Peter laughs.
“Well, it’s still like, awesome dude!” Ned smiles widely.
“Okay everyone!” Please clean up and get ready to go” Amanda says, coming back from eating her own lunch. “We have a very exciting stop that we will finish off with, because our groups usually like to just stay watch, and ask questions if we have time! We will be exploring a personal lab floor!” She announces excitedly and the class begins to whisper, questioning what labs we’re going to see.
A few minutes later, they are once again piled into the elevator. It takes a minute or two but when the doors finally open Peter’s stomach drops he is way too familiar with this hallway. He walks down it every single day.
“Okay! I have exciting news for you! This floor has Doctor Bruce Banner and Tony Stark’s personal labs!” Amanda announces. Everyone cheers. Peter tightens the drawstrings of his hoodie.
The class walks very very slowly down the hall. Or it just feels like that to Peter. There’s a couple doors they walk by but they haven’t hit any of the glass walls yet. They have them specifically for tours. Tony and Bruce know not to work on anything top secret, but Peter isn’t worried about that. He’s worried about Tony embarrassing him.
“This is Dr Banners lab! You can see that he is very hard at work. He can’t see us but he might wave if he notices! The glass is mostly soundproof so don’t worry about disturbing him!” Amanda says excitedly. Peter has heard her talk about Dr Banner before when he visited Pepper in her office. She seems to worship him.
“This is kinda boring” a girl whispers to her friend in front of Peter. As if Bruce had heard it, he looks up and notices the group of teens. He smiles and waves, placing something on the table and walking towards the door.
“Hi! You must be Midtown. We ran into each other earlier!” He says, opening the door and stepping outside. The class starts whispering again, it’s getting old.
“Hello Dr Banner! We were wondering if you could answer some questions for some of our next generation's eager minds?” She smiles, looking at Dr Banner with a glimmer in her eyes.
“Of course!” he smiles.
Students raise their hands and Bruce takes his time answering each question thoughtfully. He seemed genuinely happy to be doing this. Some questions are about genetics, or actual work Bruce does here at Stark Industries but most are about Avengers. He has to shut a few down because of clearance and all that. Peter makes eye contact with him a few times but Bruce is honestly very professional about it.
“Ah, I should probably let you go if you want to see his lab. I need to go eat something as well. Thank you for visiting and the wonderful questions!” Bruce bows before walking towards the elevators.
“Okay class, next we get to see Tony Stark’s lab! Isn’t that exciting?” She smiles, leading them around a corner. This lab is so much bigger. It’s got tons of tables, displays and holograms. There’s even a couch, TV and mini fridge. Peter looks at the couch and sees his Midtown sweatshirt draped over the side. He freezes. But no one else is focused on it, so he hopes he can avoid that conversation entirely.
He hopes that he didn’t leave anything out but it looks like Tony cleaned up. Or, at least clean for their standards. There’s random tools, scraps of metal and other stuff that looks like junk everywhere but it is usually worse. A lot worse.
They watch Tony for about five minutes but he seems way too absorbed in his work. Peter is getting bored at this point and messages FRIDAY on his phone to tell Tony the tour is here but not mention his name. Maybe he’ll forget.
It must have worked because Tony looks up and actually lights up. Not a PR smile, a real and very mischievous one. Peter sighs and accepts his fate.
“Welcome, welcome, come on in! Don’t touch anything” Tony smiles, holding the door open for the class. He winks as Peter walks in. Peter discreetly flips him off. Tony just smiles wider.
“I am so glad you are here! I’ve heard good things about this group” Tony fidgets eagerly.
“You have?” Cindy asks in surprise. Tony laughs and smiles, more PR looking this time.
“Yes! Okay, who wants to see some science happen and probably something blow up?” Tony asks. The class erupts into cheering. Mr Harrington actually looks scared. To be fair, Amanda did too.
“Alright, this here is my buddy DUM-E” Tony points at the bot that is holding a fire extinguisher. “He will put out any fire I cause!”
“Is it safe for all of us to be here?” Peter's classmate–Abe asks.
“Definitely not,” Peter grumbles. Tony perks up. Peter gave him exactly what he was looking for. A way to call out Peter.
“Wanna repeat that?” Tony smirks slightly. He probably looks serious to everyone else.
“I said definitely not” Peter replies more confidently. Might as well own it.
“Excuse you, I am very safe all the time” Tony scolds in the most Dad voice ever. Peter smirks.
“Excuse you actually. What’s your ‘blow shit up count’ this week Tony?” Ned is shaking with laughter next to him. Even MJ is smiling a bit. Tony looks proud.
Mr Harrington has obviously not caught on because he storms up to Peter and places a firm hand on his shoulder.
“I am so sorry about my student. I’ll escort him to the bus to wait and think about his behavior” Mr Harrington apologizes in a very angry tone. Tonys face drops.
“Woah. hands off my kid teach” Tony walks over, slinging an arm over Peters shoulders and walking him away from Mr Harrington. “Just a little loving banter is all. No hard feelings” Peter will give him credit, Tony sounds pretty calm. But Peter knows Tony’s calm voice and this is not it.
“You make it sound like you gave birth to me” Peter tries not to smile or laugh. Maybe he should because then he won’t cry.
“I did. Spiritually” Tony smiles. “Now besides the sas, what’s going on with scolding Pete? That’s my job” Tony asks Mr Harrington rather harshly. Peter can feel all the eyes on him. Stupid Peter tingle.
“I- what? Peter is my student. He was speaking inappropriately-”
“Yeah no duh. But I let him speak to me like that. My dear intern here has quite a mouth on him but so do I. Plus this is his place. He can speak however he wants here. Got that?” Tony says, now walking up to Mr Harrington.
“Oh my god Tony this is embarrassing please stop” Peter groans. The hero complex on this guy, really.
“Hush Bambino, the adults are talking!” Tony says, not even looking back when he reaches and pats Peter's head in a very condescending way. Peter huffs.
“I am so sorry. I didn’t know that he actually worked here-” Mr Harrington starts, but that just gets Tony more confused.
“His internship is registered with the school. All you had to do was check with the office” Tony shrugs. “I hate ignorance” he deadpans and then rolls his eyes.
“Okay, I think we get it. Can you stop making a show and just I don’t know, do normal fieldtrip stuff? Ask questions, watch you blow stuff up?” Peter steps between them. Though Mr Harrington had really hurt his feelings, he didn’t need the man to be destroyed in front of a ton of high schoolers.
“I guess” Tony groans. “Okay! Who has a question?” He asks, pushing Mr Harrington off to the side for Amanda to watch. She’s almost bright red from holding in her laughter.
“What the fuck?” Flash asks angrily from the front of the group. “There’s no way!”
“There is a way, Peter works here. End of story, zip your lips little one. Next!” Peter has to turn around so he doesn’t laugh in Flash’s face.
“What does Peter do?” Cindy asks. “Like what does he do as your intern?.. Get you coffee? I feel like he’s smart enough to help” Bless Cindy’s heart. The girl actually believed him.
“Pete, be a dear and explain your job!” Tony steps to the side, giving him the floor.
“It’s not a job if I’m not paid” Peter sighs.
“Do you want to get paid?” Tony asks, way too seriously for Peter’s liking.
“No. You’ve done enough for me.” He looks back to his class. “Basically, I help him with whatever he needs. Or if someone needs something done but he doesn’t have time. I fix most of the Avengers tech, they come to me or Tony about it and we do it together if it’s a huge problem or new to me. I also go help out in research and development a lot. And a lot of stuff I can’t say for legal reasons” Peter shrugs. It sounds like a lot on paper, but it doesn’t feel like it.
“Dude” A boy gasps. Peter shrugs again.
“It’s not as hard as it sounds. Next?”
They continue asking questions about Peter’s experiences or actual things about Stark Industries (bless MJ and Ned for getting them off the topic of Peter). Some are really good actually, like about Stark Industries plans for future tech advancements and clean energy. Tony got into the flow of things, and blew up a couple things for show.
“Okay, I think it’s about time you leave. You” Tony points at Flash. “What’s your name?”
“Eugene Thompson sir!” Flash puffs his chest, smirking.
“FRIDAY, put a Stark Industries wide ban for Eugene Thompson” Tony smirks. Flash’s jaw hits the floor.
“Wha-” he sputters. He turns bright red.
“Yeah” Tony smiles. “Get out. Don’t mess with my kid. I’ll be keeping him by the way.” Mr Harrington doesn’t even argue. He just nods.
“Okay class! Come on!” Amanda laughs nervously, dragging them out of the building.
Peter feels a bit of satisfaction after they all file out. He was so nervous, but the Avengers always have his back. Silently supporting him.
“Steve told me how it was going by the way. You weren’t even supposed to come to this floor” Tony says, quietly placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hope I didn’t overstep.”
“No, no, that was amazing. Thank you Tony” Peter says, wanting to hug him but knowing how much he hates it.
“Is that my MIT hoodie?” Tony raises an eyebrow.
“Maybe,” Peter says quietly. Tony huffs a laugh.
“Bring it in Bambino.”