Work Text:
Nerds (Very berry gummy clusters)
Peter
you don’t get this from me but there’s a field trip
Flash
no
Betty
who what when where
DETAILS PARKER
Sally
what??
Abe
oh fuck no not another one
Charles
I start the go fund me for mr h therapy
Betty
yea yea
Peter
we’re going to si
Betty
si as in stark industries?
MJ
yes
Betty
no
Abe
hell nah
Charles
I’m not going
MJ
you are.
Charles
ok I am
Abe
pahaha
Flash
fuck my life
Sally
shiiit
Betty
can’t you get it cancelled?
Peter
I tried believe me I tried
MJ
mr h already knows
Abe
there goes my last flicker of hope
Sally
maybe we can all be sick?
MJ
it’s 30% of our final grade
Flash
nobody ever told mortia that we don’t go well with field trips?
Cindy
I think he just doesn’t care
Peter
I hate my life
So yes, the Academic Decathlon team from Midtown High was gonna take a field trip to Stark Industries.
Which would’ve been cool, if it wasn’t… you know, them.
Freshman year, Oscorp. Peter got bitten by a radioactive spider and was sick for two weeks before he came back without his glasses and asthma. Abe and Charles had gotten food poisoning in the cafeteria and Sally had gotten her first period.
Sophomore year, Washington DC. Was a nice trip until they almost fell to death in the Washington Monument. They lost Peter and had to be saved by Spiderman.
Junior year, the surprise trip that they never even found out the location. Peter had somehow disappeared in the school bus and when they realized and stopped somewhere upstate New York, all of them got blipped except Mr. Harrington and the bus driver.
The team trauma-bonded over field trips, which quickly turned into a genuine friendship. Especially after they had found out that Peter was Spiderman. Okay, Betty had found out and Ned hadn’t been prepared for a confrontation with Betty Brandt. Didn’t matter, the damage was done.
Somehow, after everything that happened, Midtown high had decided to get them a replacement field trip in their second half of their junior year… five years later.
To Stark Industries.
—
“Everyone seated? Good.”, the bus driver shouted and turned the motor on. Mr. Harrington looked back to them nervously.
“Nobody get lost on the way there, please.”, he asked of them and then fixed Peter with a stern look. “Peter?”, he added.
“Yeah, don’t worry, Mr. H.”, Peter replied nervously. He really had no intention of leaving, and there really was no reason to. The Stark Tower was still overrun with superheroes that could handle everything. He was determined to make this field trip completely normal.
“Okay.”, Mr. Harrington sighed and leaned back in his seat.
“Should we all pray or something?”, Cindy asked. “I mean, can’t make it worse, right?”, Charles agreed. “I actually prayed for the last two.”, Abe piped up, who had been a very devout Christian until recently.
“So that didn’t help either? Man, we’re screwed!”, Betty sighed and everyone nodded along.
“Is it too late to start being sick?”, Sally asked.
“It is.”, MJ said, who didn’t look any happier than the rest to be here but it was her responsibility as a captain to at least appear like she cared about rules.
“We just gotta think about the positives!”, Ned tried to stay positive. “Stark Tower got really cool tech and maybe we even see some superheroes!”
“I guess, yeah.”, Betty agreed. “If we even make it there.”, she added with a grim face.
“Guys, everything will be fine!”, Mr. Harrington assured them from the front of the bus.
“You said that the last time we had a trip too.”, MJ pointed out dryly. Mr. Harrington looked like he already regretted every life decision that led him to this moment.
But they made it to the tower without crashing, dying or loosing any student. Mr. Harrington did three headcounts and nobody could fault him.
“Alright, let’s go inside!”, Mr. Harrington exclaimed. “Before something falls from the sky and crushes us.”, he muttered a lot quieter. Peter snickered. Charles looked uneasy.
The doors slid open and they stepped inside the lobby.
The lobby was recently redesigned after everyone came back, to accommodate new beginnings and the large humanitarian efforts reception.
Peter had helped the builders with getting the large Stark Industries logo up on the wall - as Spiderman, of course.
“We’re not going anywhere close to that.”, Betty declared immediately and Mr. Harrington’s relief was palpable. It would’ve been funny but even Peter agreed that they really shouldn’t. He was buzzing the entire morning and wasn’t really sure whether it was only nerves or his spider sense.
“We’re supposed to check in over at the public relations counter.”, Mr. Harrington pointed to a reception a few meters away. “You’re all coming with me. I’m not loosing you before we even went through security.”
“So after is okay?”, Flash asked and immediately backtracked when all the entire team turned around to stare at him. “Yo, just joking!”, Flash exclaimed.
Mr. Harrington shot them one last warning glance before leaning on the counter.
“Do you think we should bet on what happens today?”, Sally asked. “As long as we don’t disappear again for five years…”, mumbled Charles.
“Yeah, would be cool to not almost die for once.”, Peter agreed quietly.
“Have a little faith, dude!”, Ned said and bumped their shoulders together in an attempt to cheer his best friend up.
“You know the infamous Parker luck.”, a new voice said from behind and everyone turned around to see the newcomer.
“Harls, what are you doing here?”, Peter exclaimed surprised. “Hey, darlin’.”, Harley replied, his wide grin betraying his smooth demeanor.
“Darling?”, the three girls exclaimed and immediately started whispering to themselves. Peter didn’t care at all.
“Hey.”, he said softly and stepped closer. Harley wrapped his arms around Peter’s waist and pulled him into a hug before pressing a quick kiss to Peter’s lips.
“Great, gone for a minute and my student is kissing the tour guide.”, Mr. Harrington sighed and Peter stepped back, red in the face.
“Hey everyone, I’m Harley Keener, Peter’s boyfriend and your tour guide for today!”, he introduced himself. Peter just blushed even harder. Betty whistled appreciatively.
“Dang, Peter, you dint tell us your boyfriend is hot!”, she exclaimed. Cindy chuckled next to her.
“Betty, you’re gay.”, Peter just reminded her dryly, not at all bothered about the comment.
“Just appreciating the aesthetics.”, Betty told him grinning. Half the team affectionately rolled their eyes at her. At least she didn’t start talking about which relationship stereotype they were again.
“Thank you.”, Harley replied with a smile and turned to Peter. “See, that’s how you’re supposed to talk about your boyfriend.”, he said.
“I think I was pretty appreciative of your aesthetics last night.”, Peter replied cockily. MJ snorted, Abe whistled again. Mr. Harrington looked like he really wanted to disappear.
“Okay, okay.”, Harley calmed them all down again. “Y’all need a badge before we go through security. You gotta wear it at all times during the tour because the head of security is uh- very special. He will throw you out if you don’t wear ‘em so beware.”
“Pete, you wanna give ‘em out? You already know their names.”, Harley offered the box full of badges with lanyards to his boyfriend with a too innocent expression.
Peter grumbled something nobody could understand but it amused Harley a great deal.
Peter gave everyone a lanyard with their personalized badges while Harley continued to go over some of the important rules.
“So, Peter only spoke well of ya, so I hope y’all can behave yourselves. You gotta stay with me or Peter at all times during the tour, don’t touch anything without permission - actually, don’t do anything without permission.”, he corrected himself.
“I know your luck with field trips, so we’re gonna avoid all active labs and dangerous areas. I’m afraid we’re gonna have to use the elevator though, unless y’all wanna go up sixty stories of stairs.”, Harley said.
The entire group looked relieved.
“I think the elevator will be okay.”, Charles said quietly, the others nodding along.
“Good, ‘cause I wouldn’t’ve walked with ya.”, Harley joked and Peter, back by his side, elbowed him in the stomach.
“I think it’ll be fun, guys! I’m not a tour guide and haven’t been here in a month, so we’re gonna explore the tower together. We got Peter-man here for any questions, after all.”, Harley said and threw one arm around Peter.
“I hate you.”, Peter informed him.
“Aww, hate you too!”, Harley replied and pressed an obnoxious kiss on Peter’s cheek before waving everyone over to the security checkpoint. Peter sighed very deep before following his group.
“Just walk through the scanners here with your ID visible.”, Harley informed them. “The tower’s AIs will scan you and open the doors to the other side.”, Harley said and slapped the full height glass door on the beginning of the security lane.
An alarm started beeping that he promptly ignored. Abe grinned, Mr. Harrington didn’t.
“One at a time, yeah? You can use every lane that’s lit up.”, Harley said, swiftly moving to one that didn’t blink red. Everyone scrambled.
They all met again on the other side of the security checkpoint not even a minute later.
“Wow, I thought it’d take longer.”, Flash said to nobody in particular.
“It’s a bit for the show, the whole thing.”, Harley said easily. “You get scanned long before you get through the security checkpoint, y’know? Otherwise people would blow up the lobby all the time.”
“AI scans without proper machines are also not admissible in court.”, Peter added. “Even though the sensors we built-in in the lobby are way better than the machines.”
“It’s still crazy that you have an internship here, by the way.”, Abe said. “I know it’s casual for you, but it really isn’t.”, he told Peter.
“I mean-“, Peter shrugged. “I’ve been more in this building than May’s apartment.”, he said. Now it was Harley’s turn to elbow Peter into the side.
“Uh, because of my internship, of course.”, Peter added quickly.
“Wow, real smooth.”, MJ said dryly. Harley actually facepalmed himself with his free hand. Ned was definitely amused by the entire thing.
“Okay, elevator, now.”, Harley suddenly remembered. The doors opened automatically when they approached, as if it was waiting just for them. (Probably was.)
“We’re gonna skip the Avengers museum, because they’re doin’ some light construction work on the floor above and that makes the structural integrity of the ceiling approximately 0.01% worse.”, he explained as they all stepped inside.
The doors closed and the ascent began without anyone ever pushing any buttons.
“You’re the best.”, Charles told Harley earnestly. The rest nodded in agreement. Harley grinned.
“Good to know.”, he said cheekily. “We’ll show y’all the recently renovated Biochem lab first.”, he revealed. “No chemicals, no experiments, not even electricity for all non STARK appliances.”
“Sounds like a dream.”, Cindy sighed happily.
Mr. Harrington shook his head, half amused but definitely agreeing. He just couldn’t believe how much bad luck this group of students had. Really, he was glad they agreed that this field trip should be as boring as somehow possible.
“Welcome to Biochem on the 32nd floor!”, Harley exclaimed as they filtered out of the elevator and into a hallway.
“There is a total of four big group labs on this floor. The other three are in use, but don’t worry - they’re separated by hulk-proof materials. You should be good unless we find something stronger than him.”
“Never say never.”, Ned mumbled. Charles began humming the Justin Bieber song and Peter tapped along from his (apparently) permanent spot next to his boyfriend.
“This is Lab 46. With a Z.”, Harley informed them as the door to the lab opened.
“As y’all can see, top of the art appliances, big workspace for every employee and all that jazz. If you wanna work here, it’s pretty cool.”, he grinned.
“Y’all can just look around for a bit and we can do any questions later on.”, Harley said and the group scattered.
Only Peter remained where he was, standing so close next to his boyfriend that he might as well be one person.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this.”, Peter mumbled quietly enough so only Harley could hear. Didn’t want anyone else to know when they were all freaked out anyway about the trip.
“Is it your anxiety? Or your Peter-tingle?”, Harley asked, keeping his face carefully neutral.
“Don’t call it that.”, Peter replied immediately, more of a reflex than conscious behavior. “I am not sure. It’s buzzing since I woke up today, but it doesn’t feel like anxiety.”, he replied with a shrug.
“Maybe one of the labs is dealing with explosives again?”, Harley suggested, because Peter had sensed that over thirty floors the last time.
“Different.”, Peter just said again. “Feels closer, but not quite eminent.”, he tried to explain it. “And I’ve felt it over in Queens too.”, he added.
“Which is still hilarious, by the way. How often are you going back and forth today?”, Harley asked, who knew there wasn’t anything Peter could do to change his feelings and probably wanted the distraction until anything actually happened.
“Not funny. Four times.”, Peter replied, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. Harley never failed to cheer him up, in the three years they’ve known each other.
“Actually, very funny.”, Harley corrected him, satisfied with Peter’s reaction. “Y’ know I was able to sleep two hours longer than you?”
Peter’s groan was answer enough.
“You know nobody is supposed to know-“, Peter stopped when Betty wandered dangerously close to them. She was dangerous, all that investigative journalism she did for fun.
“All I’m sayin’ man, it’s totally your fault.”, Harley reminded him sweetly. “In fact, I know everyone would prefer if you didn’t-“, he gesticulated wildly in the air. “-do, you know.”
Peter did in fact know. Hiding his identity, not just as Spiderman but also being in the process of getting adopted by the Starks currently. Really wasn’t the easiest thing for a group of people so public.
He just really didn’t want to deal with all that attention just yet.
“Do what?”, Betty asked anyway, because of course she wasn’t actually looking at the amazing tech in the lab.
“None of ya business.”, Peter replied immediately. Harley chuckled and pulled him even closer.
“Eh, worth a try.”, Betty shrugged with a smile. Yeah, she was noisy but she respected people’s boundaries.
Suddenly, Peter’s head snapped over to the glass front that connected the lab to the, still empty, hallway. His neck hairs stood on end, a cold shiver running down his spine.
Harley snapped to attention.
“Definitely the tingle.”, Peter told him rushed, and Harley couldn’t even make fun of Peter actually saying ‘tingle’ instead of ‘Spidey sense’ because the elevator dinged.
“Everyone get the fuck down!”, Harley shouted as the same time as Peter shouted: “Get down!”. He wasn’t gonna disappoint Mr. Harrington and his no-cursing policy just because of an emergency!
The doors opened and three men stepped out, carrying two heavily padded bags each. Peter could still hear the liquid inside, and whatever it was - it was boiling.
The men clearly hadn’t expected anyone to be in Lab 46, the middle one stopping in shock while the right one almost walked into a trash can.
Peter glanced back as quickly as possible, nobody was in sight. Good, whatever was going on - they wouldn’t be involved.
“Get out!”, the middle one - their leader? - screamed and did some vaguely threatening hand movements.
“Afraid we can’t do that.”, Peter replied easily. He wasn’t really worried, not as long as the bags stayed close and there was no weapons on them. (There wasn’t, or FRIDAY would’ve already flagged them.)
“I don’t think you should be here.”, Harley said, who at least looked like he wasn’t still 16 and got the muscle to back it up too.
“You clearly shouldn’t be here either!”, the left one spoke up too, but was immediately stopped by the middle man:
“Shut up, Gary!”, he hissed. Gary just nodded timidly and stepped back.
“Actually, we’re scheduled to be here. What about you?”, Harley asked, a little too innocent. Only Peter could see how he was playing with his nanoball underneath the table. He’d be in full armor before anything could hit him.
Peter locked and loaded his web shooters, activated his own suit. He was ready for whatever.
“We’re supposed to sabotage the lab.”, the right one said, which maybe hadn’t been the smartest move.
“Oh come on, you’re even stupider than Gary?”, the middle man exclaimed angrily. Gary snickered, clearly happy about being in the middle of the hierarchy for once.
“I’m only surrounded by idiots.”, the leader mumbled, but it was more than loud enough for the quiet lab.
“Okay, as that might be, we still can’t allow you to sabotage anything.”, Peter told them.
“Hey, small one! I’m not sure of you noticed, but we’re not exactly friendly here!”, the middle man told them mockingly.
“Yeah, actually, how did you get here? Isn’t Stark’s security supposed to notice that kinda shit?”, Harley asked, an attempt to stall and de-escalate the situation. Getting some extra information was never bad.
“It’s actually from inside the tower.”, Gary said, while the right one said: “We actually work here.”, at the same time.
“You work here? Didn’t like the employee benefits?”, Harley asked cheekily.
“Hammer recruited us. He pays better.”, Gary said with a slimey grin. The right one nodded along while their leader looked like he wanted to throttle the two idiots.
‘Oh, shut up!”, the middle man shouted.
“I mean, I know that ain’t true, but sure.”, Harley shrugged. “Why you wanna sabotage a lab?”, he wanted to know. “And why this one? There’s a lot cooler ones.”
“Stark’s kids are supposed to be here soon on a trip.”, Gary answered before remembering that he probably really shouldn’t. “Sorry, boss.”, he mumbled right after.
“Oh, really?”, Peter asked interested.
“Enough questions, kid! Get out!”, the boss said again. Peter swore he could see a vein twitching in the man’s forehead.
“Sorry, no can do.”, Harley replied with a wide smile. Somewhere in the back of the lab, someone sucks in a deep breath that Peter immediately tries to cover with his own.
“Fuck, I think they’re Stark’s kids!”, Gary suddenly realized and Peter would’ve congratulated him on connecting the obvious dots, if the Boss didn’t open his bag.
Peter smelled chemicals.
“Hydrofluoric acid!”, Peter whispered shocked before the man pulled out a plastic container and absolutely hauled it at them.
Both sidestepped without any big issue. Boss maybe wasn’t the best thrower.
“Come on, what are you waiting for? Get them!”, he shouted at Gary and the other man. At least the two were listening to him now, opening their bags and pulling out containers.
Peter exchanged one last glance with Harley, then both activated their suits.
“Fuck!”, Boss exclaimed shocked and threw the next container at Harley. It dripped down the armor without any damage.
“Hey Karen, are we Hydrofluoric Acid proof?”, Peter asked when the mask closed over his face.
“The suit was not tested for Hydrofluoric Acid resistance, Peter.”, she replied and Peter cursed. That was not good, since it was an acid that ate away human fat too.
Harley tried to get closer to the attackers while Peter was mainly busy with avoiding the vials that now came chugged rapid fire at them.
“Wow dude, how many of those do you even have?”, he asked while ducking under another two doses. They hit the floor behind him.
“More than enough!”, Boss cackled and tried to throw three in one just to show it.
“It seems that the suit is resistant against Hydrofluoric Acid spatters. However, I would not recommend getting hit by a full dose.”, Karen informed Peter.
“Yep, I’m trying!”, Peter replied.
He was a bit lost on what to do here. The three really had, what seemed like, endless containers. Harley could hardly fire a repulsor inside without destroying everything and Peter couldn’t use his webs indoor or get too close.
Another one flew by his nose a little too close for Peter’s liking.
“Where is the rest of your trip group, hm?”, Boss asked tauntingly. Unfortunately he actually had a few brain cells and remembered that fact. The right man did not look like he did. (He looked surprised, almost flabbergasted - a good model for MJ’s crisis sketch book.)
Focus.
“Already in the next lab.”, Peter told them as confident as he possibly could.
Gary actually looked over to the wall that Peter had pointed at. Peter took the opportunity and leaped over the table at him. His feet his Gary square in the chest as he tumbled to the ground, liquid spilling around him.
Peter would’ve felt bad for him if Boss didn’t start concentrating on him. It was a lot harder to avoid all the containers from up close. Peter just needed to-
There! An opening.
Peter stepped closer, blocked his arm from reaching into the bag, then the fist that came swinging at him and then the other one.
“Isn’t it nicer like that?”, Peter asked him cheerily, holding both arms with one hand over Boss’s head. Unfortunately Boss didn’t share the same opinion with him.
He growled and spit at Peter.
“Yo, so not nice!”, Peter exclaimed and finally shot his ‘capture webs’. A web on the mouth and the hands, effectively tying him up.
Just in time too, since Gary stood back up with a groan.
Peter let Boss fall like a sack of potatoes and turned around to give Gary the same treatment. He could make out Harley in the corner of his eye, locked in a strange dance with the right guy. He’d almost reached him as well.
“Gary, you really wanna have a round two?”, Peter asked and used the confusion to tie him up swiftly.
Gary crumbled to ground, where Peter gave him the same treatment as his boss. He even webbed them together, for good measure.
Just to see Harley finally reach the third guy and knock him out too.
“Oh great, I think we’re done!”, he exclaimed happily before walking over and picking up the third guy to bring him to his compliances.
“You can come out now.”, he shouted towards the back of the lab. It was quiet for a moment, then careful shuffling.
Mr. Harrington’s face peeked up first over a lab table, the rest following a second later.
“What the fuck?”, Betty exclaimed when she saw Peter and Harley, still in their suits. Or maybe it was the three people laying on the floor, tied up. Knowing Betty though, it was probably the former.
“Betty!”, Mr. Harrington reprimanded her. There really was never an excuse to curse in his opinion. Even things that could’ve easily killed them. (Or maybe that had just become common occurrence?)
“Gary, you laid in the chemicals?”, Peter asked, because as much as he wanted them to be tied up, he wasn’t gonna let a man get eaten alive by some acid.
“Nah, was never HF in mine. Thompson paid me for it.”, Gary said with the roll of an eye.
“Thompson?”, Flash exclaimed shocked. Peter could only echo that sentiment. What the fuck was going on and why was every fucking business involved?
“Oh fuck, you’re the Thompson brat?”, Gary asked, recognition in his voice.
“That what he calls me, yeah?”, Flash asked bitterly.
“I mean, he paid me so you wouldn’t get hurt.”, Gary said, as if he wanted to put Flash’s dad in a better light.
“And my teammates?”, Flash wanted to know. When he didn’t get an answer, he just scoffed bitterly. “Yeah, thought so. Fuck him, man.”
Abe and Charles were by his side immediately while Harley turned back to Gary.
“Triple agent, yeah? Got some money?”, Harley asked and got really close. “I hope that was worth it, because you’re not gonna see the light of the day for quite some time.”, he said, and it sounded like a promise.
“Harls.”, Peter carefully put his hand on Harley’s shoulder, the armor receding under his touch. “Nobody got hurt.”, he reminded him.
“They could’ve killed you!”, Harley hissed. “Heck, they wanted to!”
“Yeah, but they didn’t.”, Peter said calmly. “Nobody got hurt, everything is fine. You did good, yeah?”, he mumbled into Harley’s ear.
“Yeah?”, Harley asked, voice small. Just needed to be sure.
“Yeah.”, Peter agreed calmly and could physically see the fight drain out of his boyfriend. “Good.”, he whispered and squeezed Harley’s hand with a soft smile.
“Anyone against stopping the field trip and going up to our home?”, Peter asked his teammates. Everyone shook their heads, didn’t speak. Still shocked and afraid of it all.
“FRIDAY, where is Happy? Get him here immediately, please.”, Harley ordered towards the ceiling.
“Already done, Harley. T minus 10 seconds.”, FRIDAY replied with her smooth Irish accent.
You good?”, Peter asked worriedly when Betty winced, finally letting his suit recede and jumping to help his teammates.
The elevator doors open and Happy walked out with another few of his senior security guards in tow.
“Why was nobody notified anyway?”, Peter asked the AI while helping Betty and Cindy up from underneath the table.
“It’s because you’re classified as an Avenger, kid.”, Happy answered before FRIDAY got the chance.
“I’m not an avenger.”, Peter reminded him immediately. The distinction was important to him. He did not want to be part of the team unless absolutely necessary.
“Boss says you’re capable as one.”, FRIDAY chimed in helpfully. “Although you aren’t part of the avengers, you certainly have the necessary skills to do so.”, she explained.
“That feels illegal.”, Peter deadpanned, because thinking about the implications would only freak him out.
“Ask the Boss, then. He just came back from San Francisco. You might even find him outside his workshop.”, FRIDAY said cheekily.
“So, what exactly happened here?”, Happy cut in, because the other two looked like they were waking up as well.
“Wanted to sabotage the lab because they knew we were gonna come here. Paid by Hammer, apparently. And Thompson too, in his case.”, Harley pointed to Gary.
“I remember those faces.”, Happy nodded. “Just got hired as hazmat cleaners.”, he told them.
“That’s hos they must’ve gotten the large HF quantities.”, Peter said. “He said everything came from inside the tower.”, he added at Happy’s confused face.
“Alright, thanks boys.”, Happy said. “We’ll take it from here. FRIDAY, you got everything on video?”, Happy asked towards the ceiling.
“Yes. I’ve already produced a blurred out version for federal authorities.”, FRIDAY replied, already two steps ahead of everyone else. Peter loved her.
“You’re the best, FRI.”, Peter sighed. “Okay, I guess we’re going up now.”
The team followed him into the elevator without complaints. The silence being a testament of how shaken they still were.
“Take us up.”, Peter mumbled as the doors closed and leaned against the walls. He was exhausted - not in the physical way, but in the mental one. He was glad that it was over, but tired of it happening in the first place.
—
The doors opened to the penthouse.
Not the big avengers floor where the living room was larger than most apartments but their private one, the Stark penthouse. On the highest floors.
The door opened to a cozy living room. There was a big couch with designer pillows and cheesy blankets. A few textbooks scattered across the coffee table, Morgan’s play castle in the corner. A pair of designer heels kicked off next to the kitchen door, a spidey suit and a few shirts thrown over the railing of the stairs leading up to their bedrooms.
“Y’all can sit down.”, Harley told the team and pointed to the couch. “FRIDAY, where’s Tony and Pepper?”, he asked toward the ceiling.
“Ms. Potts is currently in the quarterly budget meeting. I have informed Boss of your arrival here.”, she replied. “Should I inform Ms. Potts as well?”
“No, that can wait until she’s done with the meeting.”, Peter said. He could hear a door open and close downstairs.
Then steps on the stairs.
“Can’t have one normal field trip, huh?”, Tony asked when he appeared on the stairs. He casually walked up the rest of the stairs, cleaning his hands on a rag which he discarded onto the railing.
“You know the Parker luck.”, Harley just shrugged.
Seeing them casually interact with Tony freaking Stark finally woke the AcaDec team out of their stupor too. Someone gasped, another one shook their hair in confusion.
“Holy- that’s Tony Stark!”, Abe exclaimed quietly.
“Yes, I am. Honestly Pete, what did you even tell them?”, Tony asked confused and turned to Peter, who didn’t want to meet his eyes.
“He said he had a normal internship here.”, MJ replied for him instead. Peter shot her a look that would probably translate to ‘traitor!’ but she did not care.
“So I guess that isn’t the entire truth?”, Betty asked, who’d recovered the quickest. “And you’re Spiderman and IronLad too.”, she added.
“Yeah.”, Peter sighed. “I’m Spiderman and Harls is IronLad.” Harley rolled his eyes.
“Name still pending.”, he added.
“Kid, you never have a say in those.”, Tony chimed in. “The streets will call you a name and that’ll stick even if it’s not the truth or completely fucking stupid.”
“Yeah, okay, we know that. Saw you in your suits.”, Abe interrupted their bickering. “But what’s with all the rest? And isn’t that our Calculus textbook?”, he pointed to a book on the coffee table.
“Uh, yeah, it is.”, Peter said, already fidgeting with his sleeves again. “Truth is, I am not exactly a normal intern here. Never was, really. But you know, the blip happened and Aunt May had moved to Miami, and because I obviously couldn’t leave-“
“We’re adopting him.”, Tony cut in. “Sorry Roo, you’d never gotten to the point.”
“I would’ve!”, Peter exclaimed.
“You wouldn’t.”, Harley disagreed and Peter turned around to throw him a mean, betrayed look. As mean and betrayed Peter could look, anyway.
“You’re getting adopted by Iron Man?”, Charles exclaimed excitedly. “That’s so cool, man!”
“It is pretty cool, yeah.”, Peter agreed, embarrassed. “But I’ve worked with him since I was like, barely fifteen.”, he shrugged.
“More than enough time to find out he isn’t that cool, really.”, Harley ‘translated’ and Peter nodded along.
“The betrayal!”, Tony gasped. “I feed you, give you a roof over your head and that’s how you repay me?”, he acted rather badly.
“Technically, you’re not giving me anything. That’s all Pepper, you know?”, Harley reminded him sweetly. “And I gave you food and a roof over your head first. Remember, old man?”
“That-“, Tony pointed a finger at Harley. “-was ages ago!”
“Still counts.”, Harley grinned. “You would’ve frozen to death or something in your broken suit.”
“Which wouldn’t be cool since we can only have two popsicles on the team.”, Peter said cheerfully. “And anyway, I’m glad you didn’t because otherwise I would’ve never found him.”, he said and bumped his shoulder against Harley’s.
“Yeah yeah.”, Tony grinned and rolled his eyes at them.
“Alright.”, he clapped in his hands. “I’m not making you go back down. You can stay here and do whatever teenagers do. Uh- Pep might be up here soon and going on video call. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”, Tony said.
He walks past Peter, ruffles his hair and pats Harley’s shoulder.
“I’m going to sign all the superhero involvement forms for you.”, he tells them. He looked annoyed, but Peter knew he wasn’t. Probably secretly proud of his ‘kiddos’ and all that stuff.
“Thanks, old man!”, Harley says at the same time as Peter said: “Thanks, Dad!”
Tony’s satisfied grin was the last thing they saw before the elevator doors closed on them. It was quiet for a moment.
“You totaled my car!”, Flash exclaimed and somehow that broke the dam. Everyone started talking over each other, bringing up anecdotes and jokes.
Peter was in the middle of it all, laughing at his teammates’ shocked reactions and giddiness.
The elevator dinged again and revealed Pepper Potts, looking stressed in her suit dress, a STARKpad in hand.
“Oh, hello everyone.”, she greeted the class easily. She was more than used to the weird antics of ‘her boys’. “Are you two okay? FRIDAY just informed me on the way up.”
“Yeah, all good. Not even a scratch.”, Peter replied.
“Good.”, she sighed and looked like a massive weight had just fallen off her shoulders.
“I am really sorry for what happened today. We never had a security slip in the history of the tower, and today- that was simply unacceptable.”, she told the class.
“I am sorry, I’ll need to catch a meeting in five minutes, but we can talk about compensations and potential NDA’s regarding their identities later.”, she said.
“Mom-“, Peter mumbled embarrassed.
“We don’t need any compensation.”, MJ said and they knew she spoke for the team. “Just give Hammer a big lawsuit. And Thompson too, maybe?”, she directed that last part toward Flash.
“Yeah, you definitely should. I can’t go back there, knowing…”, Flash trailed off but everyone understood anyway.
“Okay, I’ll be with you in half an hour.”, Pepper promised and slipped out of her heels. “You two did great today. I’m proud of you.”, she said and bent down to ruffle Harley’s hair and press a kiss into Peter’s hair on her way to her office upstairs.
—
When Pepper emerged out of her office again, the group had gotten comfortable on the couch.
Peter and Harley had gotten everyone drinks and snacks, Abe and Charles shared a Spiderman blanket and Mr. Harrington finally relaxed too.
MJ, Betty and Sally had held a little crisis meeting in the meantime. Intense whispers and multiple mentions of Flash. Peter tried his best to not eavesdrop.
“We have decided we want compensation after all.”, MJ spoke up confidently.
“We do?”, Abe asked confused.
“We want a fully funded apartment for Flash so he can get away from his family.”, Betty said and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Pepper looked impressed.
“Guys, that’s really not needed. I can find something on my own.”, Flash tried to protest, but was silenced by the three girls’ stare.
“Can you?”, Sally asked provocatively.
“It’s alright, everyone. We will gladly fund a way to get you away from your family if you wish that.”, Pepper said to Flash. “In fact, I have already started organizing a few things.”, she added.
“Oh.”, MJ blinked.
“I like your initiative, girls. Would you be interested in an Internship in HR, legal or PR?”, she offered casually, even though Peter and Harley knew it was anything but casual for Pepper and SI.
“Of course we would, Ms. Potts.”, Betty replied, the disbelief obvious in her voice.
“Great! We can discuss details later.”, Pepper replied warmly and finally made her way over to her ‘quiet time’ armchair.
“Mr. Thompson, we have a few different options prepared for you.”, Pepper said. “As you’re seventeen already and based on the circumstances, we could emancipate you and get you situated in your own place. You could always enter the foster system until your 18th birthday, or stay with relatives.”
She handed him her STARKpad.
“I’ll take the first option.”, Flash replied before he had even taken a look at it. “I mean, if that’s no problem, obviously.”, he added a little quieter.
“Not at all. I will tell our lawyers to start preparing the case. We can go over details later today, yeah?”, Pepper asked and Flash mumbled some sort of agreement, clearly overwhelmed.
“Alright, then we can talk about their secret identities.”, Pepper said and nodded over to Peter and Harley.
“Obviously, you can’t share their identities with anyone.”, Pepper began, looking even more serious than usual.
“Usually, I’d like everyone of you to sign me an NDA. However, since nobody except you, Mr. Harrington, is legally an adult, it would have to get all your parents and guardians involved too.”
“We’d never tell anyone!”, Betty exclaimed.
“I am sure.”, Pepper replied. “This is just standard routine. We have to legally secure that though, since any slip up could endanger their lives and everyone around them.”, she explained kindly.
“I will make you all a counter offer.”, she said. “Avengers and superhero related secrets are covered under the standard Stark Industries employee NDA.” Betty and Cindy gasped, who already realized where this was going. Peter smiled.
“The employee NDA however can be signed by minors. This would erase the need for any parental and guardian involvement.”, Pepper said. “I have only ever heard good things about you.”
“I would like to offer everyone of you an internship at Stark Industries.”
The room exploded in noise, everyone talking over another. Bewildered excitement seemed to be the theme though.
“I think you broke them. And they’re all going to accept.”, Peter told Pepper dryly. She was just watching the scene unfold in front of her eyes with the same amusement she held for Tony’s usual stupid ideas.
“We accept!”, Charles shouted. “Yeah, of course you do!”, MJ agreed.
—
Nerds (Very berry gummy clusters)
Peter added Harley
Peter
your wish is my demand
Ned
welcome to the club man
Harley
hey y’all
Abe
ok most insane field trip ever btw
Sally
almost getting killed was pretty average
Betty
hanging out with stark and ms. potts wasn’t!
Charles
and getting an internship on the spot
Flash
and getting away from my family
MJ
we’re all happy for you flash
Peter
you’re all gonna do great!!
Harley
pretty insane experience, would not recommend 0/5 stars
would definitely do again though
Ned
immaculate vibez
Harley
new nerdz
Peter
pls stop
MJ
insane revelationz
Peter
I’m begging you
also u already knew I was Spiderman!
Betty
YOU KNEW?
Harley
of course she did she isn’t stupid
Cindy
you calling betty stupid?
Peter
NO
Ned
I knew first :)
Harley
yes bc petey can’t keep a secret to himself and told you
we actually had to figure it out
Peter
Tony literally threw you across the room at me and I had to catch you
Charles
you could’ve been the hulk tho
Peter
I hate all of you
MJ
you don’t.
Peter
I don’t.
Abe
you think that could’ve convinced mortia?
Ned
nope
Betty
nope
Charles
nah
Sally
I wish man
—
And so their new reality became routine.
Happy got them all from school and drove them to the tower. They’d do their internship and usually met somewhere afterwards for homework or hanging out. (The cafeteria on the 67th floor hated to see them coming.)
They still had Decathlon practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but sometimes that didn’t feel enough or someone had an important meeting at SI, they held practice in the cafeteria. Mr. Harrington got a permanent guest badge for it too.
The entire Stark Industries legal division got Flash emancipated and moving into an apartment close to the tower within a month. He now drove to school with Peter and came over for dinner once a week.
Charles started working in the freshly renovated Lab 46, which still had a security footage picture of the teammates underneath the work tables.
Happy and the security team overhauled their system and found one other double agent in the process. Since there was no field trip that day, he went quietly and was only seen again at the trial of Gary and the other two men.
Harley loved crashing the team’s practice just as much as their internships. They had sort of… trauma bonded. He got adopted into the group and started the never ending accent war.
It could’ve stayed that way forever.
But of course there was still the senior trip for the entire grade. And guess where they were going…
(Mortia had argued the AcaDec team had never gotten the full field trip experience and therefore wasn’t a valid argument for skipping the occasion.)
Nerds (Very berry gummy clusters)
Betty
well fuck.