Us Against The World ｡ Peter Parker [2]

9 - The Daily Bugle

The Avengers Tower wasn't just the home base for everything Avengers, it also doubled as one of the only self-sustaining skyscrapers in this city of concrete, powering the whole building with clean energy. With the lack of Avenger meet ups with the war among themselves, this building had become something more too. Labs had been installed sub-level and hosted some of the greatest minds, all working away to make this world a better one. It was even rumoured that Dr. Bruce Banner himself had stayed in the tower for a few months before dropping off the map completely. 

As I hurried through the downpour, I glanced up at the tower, trying to contain my excitement. Despite my somewhat crappy day with the visions plaguing my every waking thought, there was still a tiny bit of excitement flooding through my body with the very sight of where I would be spending much more time in the coming months.

 Inside the foyer, I collected my name badge and information packet, detailing everything I needed to know about the internship. As I waited in the cold foyer, I noticed a familiar girl standing among the other interns, Michelle Jones. I didn't know her, not really. We shared a few classes and she seemed nice enough, but there were many faces in Midtown that I didn't speak with on a daily basis. Before I could go lamely say hello, Tony Stark was stepping into the foyer himself, giving us a warm welcome. A man the world knew as Happy Hogan, head of security for Stark Industries and Tony's close friend followed behind him. We played follow the leader up a few floors until we all gathered into a conference room, two women standing at the front of the room patiently. 

After a short speech about why we were all gathered today, Tony stopped circling the room, finally standing beside the two young pretty faces. "This is Poppy Thayer, she's my junior part time engineer." The girl gave a little wave, her eyes a hazel colour. She couldn't be more than twenty years old but I had no doubt she was nothing short of a genius. 

"And this is Darcy Lewis," Tony went on, looking across at the girl with dark waves, a beanie tugged over her head and framed glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. I knew exactly who she was, having studied a fair amount of Jane Foster's work in the past. "She's our leading researcher but has honours in political science. She's a handful, give her hell."

There was a quiet laugh, a few teenagers around me snickering with his comment. He gave both his employees a handsome grin quickly. "In all seriousness, they're on my payroll and they work hard. Be nice to them, they already put up with my attitude."

"That's an understatement." Darcy Lewis snickered, earning a giggle from Poppy, her eyes scanning the bulk of us internship kids. 

Tony was naturally rolling his eyes at her comment, but let it slide. "They're in charge of you kids if I'm busy, meaning you'll be seeing them around. Don't hesitate to ask them anything, they're bright." There was an air of pride about him now as he talked about the girls and I wondered how long he had known them. "Apparently, the future is female. So, get to know them."

The introductions were over, Tony blending back into the room and my eyes followed him. Shortly, we would get taken on a tour of the building and end in the labs, the place I was intending to spend most of my time in. 

On our way down to the labs, Darcy Lewis stepped up to me. The pretty Popper Thayer was speaking about how Tony created his very first arc rector many years ago. "Ever met an Avenger?" Darcy was saying, "I mean, besides Tony Stark."

I set my face blank, wondering if Peter even counted. "Um, I got my bobblehead signed by Black Widow, does that count?"

Darcy nodded, very serious about the topic. I liked Darcy, she was different and didn't care what people thought about her, she also had a kickass swagger about her and a sharp tongue that could rally against Tony himself. "That's pretty cool, yeah. I know Thor myself. I've even got a picture of us just hanging out on Facebook. Those muscles though, a girl could dream all night about those."