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Ned's POV
Mr. Harrington's voice cut through the loud chatter around the classroom.
“Before I let you off today, I have one more announcement to make.” Mr. Harrington shuffled the pile of papers in his hands and continued. “I know this comes a little all of a sudden to everyone, but unfortunately there have been some complications, which is why we're only hearing about this now. So, as we all know, the Academic Decathlon team has won the National Championships this year, and as a result, the team has been rewarded with an overnight trip to Stark Industries!”
Before the teacher could continue, the class erupted into loud cheering. There could be heard a few disbelieving gasps as well.
“Alright, alright,” Mr. Harrington silenced the class. “I understand that this is very exciting, but I need you to behave yourselves for a couple more minutes. So, here,” He gestured towards the pile of papers lying beside him. “are the permission slips and contracts I need you to sign. They need to be returned by tomorrow, as we will be traveling there in two days. You will not be able to attend the trip in any way unless you have them with you. All the details about the trip can be found in these documents, but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me.”
It’s unfortunate Peter was absent this week, Ned thought. It would have been so cool to wipe that grin off Flash’s face and show him how wrong he was about the internship.
After the class was dismissed, Ned heard Flash and some of his friends talk about the field trip.
“Such a shame Parker's not there today. I'd love to see his expression when all his lies are exposed!”
Fools, Peter totally had an internship in the Stark Industries.
“Flash, are you sure Peter isn’t an intern there?”
“Of course, why are you asking?”
“Just thinking. How do you know that, then?”
Flash seemed to pause for a second before looking around and lowering his voice.
“Promise you won’t tell anyone?”
“Uh, okay?”
“I’m actually Tony Stark’s son.”
“Really? Why aren’t you famous, then?”
“Uh… My parents wanted me to be safe, so they kept it a secret, I guess.”
“Whoa, that’s so cool!”
Wait, that can’t be right, doesn’t that mean Peter is a liar, then? No. What was he thinking? Of course Flash was lying. Tony Stark cannot actually be his parent. It was weird that Flash's friends believed it so easily, though, when they wouldn't even believe Peter had an internship.
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Peter's POV
Peter was hustling with some of his old prototypes for Spider-man's tech, when he heard a voice across Tony Stark's laboratory.
“Hey darlin’.”
“Harley!” Peter exclaimed as he jumped into his boyfriend's lap.
“Miss me?” Harley chuckled before pausing. “Wait. Aren't you supposed to be in school? Are you skipping again?”
Busted.
“Uhh..”
“I don't get why you're even going there anyways, if you're skipping every day! You have 3 PhDs. Think about it! You could be here with me instead!”
“Well, I am here now, am I not?” Peter defended himself “Besides, I have friends there. And most importantly, it's conveniently exactly when Pepper has most of her meetings, so I don't have to attend them!”
I have an actual reason to be skipping, too. I got stabbed in my abdomen last night while on patrol, he left unsaid.
“Fair point,” Harley said before diving in for a heated kiss.
“Ew, do you always have to make out in public?” A voice startled the boys.
In the doorway stood Tony Stark, looking sleep deprived as ever.
“You know full well your lab isn't a public space!” Peter shot back.
“Exactly, my lab. So if you must be kissing all the time, go to your lab instead! Peter, take my advice and break up with him already!”
“I know you love me, old man!” Harley answered.
“Whatever, cowboy, I came here to say that your tour group is here!”
“Really? I had a tour today? Sorry princess, I need to go, then!”
Peter pouted in return.
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Harley's POV
As he walked towards a group of seemingly high school kids, he heard some whispering.
“Look, it's Harley Keener!”
“Omg, it's him!”
Well, he was quite known, so that was to be expected. He was about to begin his introduction when he heard something quite interesting.
“So is this where you live? Wait, no, if your dad's Iron Man, do you know him?”
Iron man, huh? He turned to see where the voice was coming from.
“Well, technically, yes, we know each other, but dad told everyone to lay low to not blow my cover. Besides, most of the guys here don't even know that I'm his son.”
The talker was a blonde boy with a big crowd around him.
Harley decided to text Peter. He knew he'd find it hilarious.
Potato Boy: You want to hear this. There's a kid in my group pretending to be you
Bug: Pretending to be me? WDYM?
Potato Boy: He's telling everyone he's Tony Stark's secret son
Bug: Really? LOL
Potato Boy: Should I just expose him?
Bug: Nooo! Play along, okay? You're stopping at dad's lab, right? I want to see him when you do that!
Potato Boy: Yeah? Okay, then!
“Alright, everyone, I'm Harley Keener and I'll be y'all's tour guide today!” Harley yelled over the noise. “Let’s get over the basics, okay? So, before you go to the reception to get your passes, I'll give you some general safety instructions.”
Luckily everyone gathered around to listen.
“First of all, listen to me and your teacher, we are likely to know why there are certain rules, so that will eliminate potential dangerous situations that could be caused. Stay with your group at all times unless stated otherwise so you won’t get lost. If you were to do so, please go to your nearest employee, I'm sure they can help you! Any questions? No? Alright, please go get your lanyards!”
Within minutes, everyone had their passes and they were ready to go.
“Alright, if everyone has their passes, I'll show you what to do next! So, please insert your badge right here.” He pointed at a reader. “The building's AI, F.R.I.D.A.Y., will read your name and clearance out loud. After that, the gates should open and you'll get to walk over to the other side.”
“Um, mister tour guide?” A girl from the group asked.
“Harley.”
“Right, Harley, why don't you have a badge?”
He grinned.
“Well, that would be because my clearance is high enough it would be a security risk in case the badge were to get into the wrong hands. Instead, Friday will scan my biometric information to make sure it's me.”
He heard some whispering again.
“Do you also not have a badge, then? Your clearance must be high!”
“Remember when I said I wanted to lay low? They printed a badge for me as well!”
“Alright, are we ready to proceed? Mr. Teacher? Could you please go last to make sure no one gets left behind?” He didn't wait for an answer. “Great. I'll go first!”
“Harley Keener – Clearance level: 10”
He passed through the gates. Not long after, the students started to flow through.
“Eugene Thompson – Clearance level: 1”
“Edward Leeds – Clearance level: 1”
He thought that kid — Eugene — had already said the most ridiculous thing there was. He was proven wrong when he heard him whisper:
“Dude, I think our tour guide is Spider-Man!”
He barely concealed his snort as a reaction to that.
“For real? Are you on something or what?”
He was beginning to actually believe so.
“I mean, why else would such a young person have that high clearance?”
“What? That doesn't make any sense. Besides, wouldn't you know? Didn't you say you knew him?”
“I, uh, well, just trust me. I live here, I have more evidence, but I'm not supposed to tell you.” The boy blushed.
After everyone had passed through, Harley continued speaking.
“Before I start reciting today's schedule, I'll lead you to your designated resting area. I'm sure you must be at least somewhat exhausted from your bus trip here, so you'll have an hour to settle down and rest.”
With that, he started walking towards the elevators.
“Friday, could you bring us to the floor 71?”
He didn't hear an answer, but the elevator started moving up.
“Is my darlin’ still in the lab?’
“Yes, he appears to have fallen asleep while working on his project.” Friday answered.
He facepalmed. “Of course he has. Please wake him up and inform him that I'll be there in ten.” Before the AI could answer, he added: “And let him know that he's an idiot.”
“Of course.”
Someone from the tour asked: “Wait, who's darling? You have a boyfriend?”
“I do. And you'll see.”
“Mr. Keener,” A boy asked. “My classmate, Flash, has been telling everyone he's Tony Stark's son. That's not true, is it?”
Harley was about to burst into laughter, when he remembered Peter had asked him to let the rumours spread. Instead, he just shrugged non-committally.
“We're here!”
The elevator's doors opened up to reveal an open space with multiple doors around the room. The only things to break the emptiness of the room were a couple of bean bags in the furthest corner and a small podium with a microphone in the front.
“Can I have your attention, please?” Harley started.
“This is where you will be sleeping tonight. There are five identical rooms with four beds in each.” He held up a deck of key cards in his hand. “Each room you'll share will get a total of two key cards. These will open the door to your room and a few other places. Do not lose these.” He passed the stack to their teacher.
“Now, I'll leave you to your teacher for a while. Make sure to listen to him. Bye!”
And with that, he walked back to the elevators. God, why didn't anyone bother to tell him he was supposed to guide a tour today?
“Friday, could you take me to Peter's?”
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Peter's POV
Peter heard the quiet ding of the elevator just after he had gotten back to the lab. He had gone to get a quick change of clothes — initially, he had planned to just be shirtless when he first noticed the enormous oil stain on his shirt. Unfortunately, being shirtless wasn't exactly the best way to hide a stab wound from your boyfriend, so he had to fetch a spare shirt instead.
“I'm back~” Harley sing-songed.
“Aren't you supposed to be leading your tour now?” Peter crossed his arms.
“What, you don’t want me here? I can leave.”
“NO! You know that's not what I meant!”
“Relax, relax, alright? They're on a break right now, so I figured I'd peek in for a while.”
“If you say so. What do you want to do?”
“Actually, I have more interesting stuff to tell you. It's about the same guy.”
“What do you mean there's more stuff?” Peter half-yelled.
“You won’t believe this, but he thinks I'm Spider-Man.”
“WHAT?”
“Yeah, apparently my clearance is suspicious enough that it's completely possible that I could be Spider-Man!”
Was this guy a total idiot? Now that he thought about it, this could be very entertaining…
“Harley?”
“Hm?”
“Could you do one more thing for me?”
…
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Ned's POV
None of this trip was making sense to Ned. He'd noticed how the tour guide had avoided the question about Flash. Why hadn't he just answered no? There's no way Flash is actually Tony Stark's and Pepper Potts's child.
He sat on his bed and glanced around the room. Mr. Harrington had put him and MJ into one of the shorthanded rooms, since they didn't have that many students on the field trip.
Before he could continue to think about the matter, he heard their tour guide call for them.
“Could everyone gather around the podium in the lobby so we can go over today's schedule?”
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Harley's POV
“Is everyone here? Cool. I'm going to be very straightforward with this so that we can get going as soon as possible. Bear in mind that there has been some last-minute rescheduling, so this might not match what you were told at first.”
“Right after I'm done talking, we will go see the Avengers Museum. We will have approximately an hour to go around depending on how much this will take. Then, you'll have a unique opportunity to view the Avengers' gym. We do not usually offer this for our tours, so consider yourself lucky. And lastly, you'll get a glance at Tony Stark's very own laboratory. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, it is very possible that you'll get to see my boyfriend himself working there.”
He shot them a smug grin at that.
“Sir, is there a minimum age requirement for an internship at the Stark Industries?” Eugene blurted.
“Generally, you have to have graduated from at least college before you can apply for an internship.” Harley answered.
“Wait, but you look like you're around our age. How do you have an internship, then?” another student asked
Well, let me tell you a secret. I graduated early, so I, in fact, have a degree. Is what he almost said. Instead, he thought, Wait, they're asking because they think I'm Spider-Man, aren't they? I promised Peter to play along, so what's the most suspicious way to answer them…
“Uhh, no reason?”
Nailed it.
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Ned's POV
He knew why Flash had asked that question, he thought when they stepped into the elevator again. He wanted to ‘expose’ Peter's internship. The answer honestly shocked him a little. Does that mean that Peter's a liar, then? Was Flash actually telling the truth? No way. Peter wasn't a liar.
“Did you know Flash believes our tour guide is Spider-Man?” Ned hadn’t noticed MJ sliding next to him.
“Seriously? Is he just going around saying anything?”
Before they could continue their discussion, they were interrupted by their guide causing commotion.
“What is it? Why'd you jump like that?”
They turned their heads to see their tour guide backed up against the wall.
“It's, uh, it's a spider?”
“A spider?”
“Yes, a spider, kill it!”
Their guide is scared of spiders? That scared? Seriously?
Based on the expressions of his classmates, they seemed to be thinking the same.
“Anyways, we're here!” Their guide (Harley, was it?) exclaimed.
Saying the place was insane was an understatement. They stood right in the middle of a plaza leading to enormous showcases dedicated to each avenger.
As they were let go to explore, most of the class seemed to go see either Captain America or Iron Man first. Ned and MJ decided to go see Spider-Man first, since it was one of the less crowded areas around.
“Look! There's some fun facts about him!”
Spider-Man hates Peppermint
Spider-Man doesn't create his webs naturally — He engineered mechanical web-shooters for himself for that purpose
Spider-Man doesn't have a problem with a gun pointed at his head, but if he sees a spider, he'll scream louder than you've ever heard
…
Unfortunately, Ned could finish reading the list before he was blessed with the displeasure of hearing Flash yell loudly right by his ear:
“Look, it says right here that Spider-Man is scared of Spiders! Looks like our tour guide and Spider-Man have a lot in common, huh?” He lifted his eyebrows suggestively.
“Flash, come on, there's no way!”
“No, I'm starting to believe he might be right..”
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Harley's POV
Potato Boy: You owe me big time for what I just did
Bug: Don't keep me waiting, what did you do?
Potato Boy: I can't believe I pretended to be scared of spiders in front of a group of teenagers! The things I do for you…
Bug: What? Why would you do that?
Potato Boy: Remember when you told me to pretend to be you and keep dropping ‘hints’ about being Spider-Man? Ring a bell?
Bug: Wait, are you saying that you're embarrassed of doing something while you were pretending to be me?
“Get back here! We have to move on!”
Unlike last time, this time it took the group a full 20 minutes to finally get everyone on board. Luckily, there wasn't a huge line into the elevators, as they were already behind the schedule, that would've been the cherry on top.
He glanced at his phone. It seemed like they would only have around ten minutes to visit the gym. Not even nearly enough time for the original plan. Well, no can do.
Ding
“Before we go in, I want to make it very clear that this is a special privilege the Avengers have granted us, so I expect you to act like it. And especially now, it is important that you listen to your superiors. We're risking some serious damage if you're not cooperating.”
The class nodded as an answer.
“Well, let's head inside, then!’
As he opened the door, he was answered with none other than Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, waiting for them.
“Welcome. It appears you're a little late so we're on a pretty tight schedule. My name is, as you might know, Natasha Romanoff and today we also have Captain Steve Rogers with us.”
“Look, it's Captain America!”
“Forget about Captain America, the Black Widow just spoke to us!”
“We were planning on teaching you some basic self-defence. The original plan was to demonstrate you some moves first and then see if you can apply them, but since we don't have time for all that, we're going to show you some sparring techniques instead. It wouldn't be safe for you to fight without a proper demonstration, so unfortunately you won't get to do anything today.”
The class groaned in unison.
“What are you doing?” someone whispered, “It’s the Avengers, be quiet!”
“Well, Harley, would you be willing to demonstrate with me?”
Harley made a show of rolling his eyes before getting onto the tatami. He and Peter had contacted the Avengers about their little prank beforehand. Natasha had agreed to holding back a little to sell the lie. Since he was a pretty decent fighter, they could pull it off.
It seems that Harley had still underestimated Natasha, though. Even when she was holding back, the fight lasted for a total of 41 seconds before he found himself pinned on the mat, panting.
“Are you believing me already? He's totally Spider-Man!”
“I don't know, he didn't seem to fight as well as Spider-Man.”
“He was obviously holding back so we wouldn't figure it out!”
Harley grinned. Peter was going to be so pleased with him.
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Peter's POV
Peter was excited to see how this would play out. Sure, he and Harley had made a plan of some sort, but it was still pretty open. Anything could happen. The group was supposed to arrive any minute now…
Speak of the devil and he shall appear
“So, welcome to Tony Star-”
“MR. PARKER?”
Oh shit. What was his teacher, not to mention his CLASS, doing here?
“Mr. Harrington?”
“Oh, you're in so much trouble right now, young man! What on earth are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be sick?”
“Well..” Technically, he was sick, but there's no way you could convince him to admit to having been stabbed while his boyfriend was in the room.
“You know each other?” Harley cut in.
“I am extremely sorry, Mister Keener! I have no idea why my student is here right now. I promise this will be dealt with!”
“Dealt with? I don't understand.- Wait. Your student? This is hilarious!”
“Harls, come on!”
“Fine, fine, how about we continue with our tour now and sort this out later?”
“...”
“Alright, everyone, who wants to see Spider-Man's web-shooters being used live?” Harley asked while wrestling the cuffs on.
This will be fun, Peter thought. They had gone through the basics of the web-shooters a while ago, so Harley was sure to fool them. They hadn't exactly planned whether they would be revealing Harley wasn't Spider-Man or letting them believe he was. Probably leave it as is, it's funnier that way. Especially since it was Peter's class here.
Peter saw Flash tinkering with something out of the corner of his eye. Wait. Was that his new prototype for his acidic web bombs?
“Flash, stop that! You don't know if it's dangerous!”
He felt his spider-sense go off. Without thinking, he jumped to push Flash off out of the range. It seems that Harley had also seen the same thing happen, because simultaneously, he had shot a pair of webs to cover the bomb before it exploded, so luckily no-one got splashed.
Snap
It seems like Peter wasn't as lucky, though. Yay, there goes my stitches!
“Get off me, jerk!” Flash called while shoving Peter away from himself.”
“Friday?”
“Boss has already been made aware of the situation. He is currently rushing to get here.”
Great, just great. He could already feel the blood soaking through his shirt.
“Is everything alright he- What the fuck, Peter?”
“Um, I might have been stabbed last night? Just a little?” He offered.
“JUST A LITTLE?” Both his boyfriend and his dad yelled.
Without an explanation, his dad just rushed through the crowd and grabbed Peter.
Well, that escalated quickly.
“Alright, we're going to get you checked out right now. This is the third time you've been stabbed without telling me!”
“Dad!”
Oops.