Word Count- 9,402
Chapter One
"Okay everyone. Quiet down. Before you leave, I have an announcement to make," Peter's teacher, Mr. Davis shouted over the sound of 30 teenagers preparing to leave.
The noise died down fairly quickly and the entire class settled down. As unusual as this was, it had only happened because Mr. Davis was known to take his engineering class to some of the most epic field trips. Now, Peter and his classmates were all awaiting for the announcement that would tell them where they would get to go.
Peter and his best friend, Ned, exchanged an excited glance, with Peter just managing to not bounce in the seat.
Peter's knowledge of engineering was better than every other student in the class, and maybe even the teacher. He simply attended the class to satisfy Pepper and Steve, who had firm beliefs that attending school was good for his growth. If it was up to Tony and Bruce, he would be at Stark Towers right now, actually doing something productive with his time, and learning from the two geniuses.
In spite of all of this, he still got excited. I mean, who doesn't want to skip a day of school? And, since he probably knew everything that they would be shown on the trip, he could actually enjoy it, instead of having to pay attention and learn something.
"Okay. Now that I have your attention, you may or may not know that every year, I take my engineering students on a field trip to facilitate your further understanding of the subject, as I believe that practical knowledge is better than the theoretical," Mr. Davis said, his words further exciting his impatient students.
Peter should help but nod in agreement to what his teacher had said. He had learnt so much more working in SI than he ever could in the classroom.
"What you nodding for Parker? Does this have something to do with your fake internship with Tony Stark?" A gruff voice asked from behind him, accompanied with a not so gentle jab in the ribs.
Peter forced a wince, knowing that he had to play the part of weak, nerdy Peter Parker lest someone restarted the rumors that Spiderman attended Midtown High.
But he knew, since he had started training with the likes of Steve, Nat, Bucky and even Thor when he visited, he could take more than Flash could ever give.
He hid a smirk at the slight grimace on Flash's face as he had obviously not expected nerdy Parker to be that solid.
Mr. Davis' voice brought him back to the classroom, interrupting any sort of response Peter could give to Flash.
"This year, I believe I've planned the best trip yet. We're going to be visiting Stark Industries, and seeing the top engineers and scientists in the country at work." He finished.
Peter felt his blood run cold.
Stark Tower? Why, out of everywhere in the world, did he have to choose there?
The class erupted into excited talking, the noise steadily building once again.
He sensed more than felt another jab in the ribs.
"Huh Parker. What do you know? Guess we'll all get to go see that you were lying," Flash said, a smirk evident in his voice.
Peter rolled his eyes discreetly, and said nothing.
"This is a mandatory event, and the things covered will come in an exam worth 30% of your grade. If you skip out on the field trip, then you've automatically failed. Collect a permission slip on your way out. They're due by Thursday, and we'll be going on Friday," the smiling teacher said.
Peter slumped into his seat as everyone filed out, chattering excitedly about Friday. Thursday was the day after tomorrow. Could he hide a permission slip from two master assassins, two super soldiers, two geniuses, and a Norse God?
Probably not.
With a heavy sigh, Peter stood up and took the last remaining slip on the table.
Ned met him by the door, bouncing on the heels of his feet.
"This is so exciting! We get to see where you work and live, and we could even meet the Avengers!" Ned thrilled.
"You've already been there Ned," peter said, smiling at his friend.
"Yeah. It's still exciting. And I haven't met the whole team yet," Ned said.
Peter mumbled out a halfhearted "Yeah" and trudged to the exit.
"Should I really go. I feel like I should probably that home on Friday," peter mumbled to Ned.
Ned gasped loudly, clearly showing his hurt.
"Of course you have to go. Are you just going to leave me on my own with Flash?" He accused.
Peter shook his head, no.
"Good. Besides, I'm sure they're lots of reasons that you should go on this trip. Good ones too," Ned said cheerfully.
"Yeah? Like what? Name one?" Peter demanded.
Ned hesitated.
"Well I can't think of any now, but you promised not to abandon me, so you better hadn't," he said sternly.
Peter sighed heavily but nodded, assuring Ned that he would be there.
They rounded the corner where they came face to face with a black Audi. Without missing a beat, he bid goodbye to Ned, and slid into the back seat.
"Hey Happy," He greeted, unable to hide his despair.
"Hey," the man answered. "How was school?"
Peter shrugged.
"Pretty good. Still don't see why I have to go though. I know everything they can teach me."
Happy chuckled and agreed.
When they got to the Tower, Peter swiped his pass and made his way up to the top floors, the most secure section where you needed maximum clearance to get to.
"Good afternoon Mr. Parker. How are you?" The AI greeted.
"Hello F.R.I.D.A.Y. I'm good. How are you?" He responded.
"I am well. Should I inform Mr. Stark and the other members that you have arrived?" She asked.
"Yes please," he responded.
He walked into the living room, expecting to see Natasha or Bucky.
"Hey!" Peter greeted, a bright smile on his face as he saw Thor, God of Thunder, lounging on the couch. Mjolnir lay on the coffee table as if it was the most normal thing. And I guess, around here, it was.
"Hello Little Spider-Boy. How was the day spent?" He asked, his deep voice, usually intimidating, brought a wave of comfort over Peter.
He hadn't seen Thor in a while, and was ecstatic that he was visiting earth for a bit, even though he never stayed for long. He usually only came here when he wanted to take a break from everything else.
"It was good. Pretty boring. How long are you staying for?" He asked, moving to the fridge to get a juice box and offer one to the God.
Thor accepted a juice box from Peter and said, "I will remain on Midgard for 4 of your days."
Peter pouted. That meant that he would be here for the field trip and, whether intentionally or unintentionally, would assist in the Great Embarrassing of Peter.
"Cheer up Little Spider. You will not even notice me," he promised, reaching to ruffle Peter's hair.
It was a habit that every single Avenger had acquired, solely to annoy the teenager. When he had first moved to Stark Tower, after his aunt's death, he had taken extra care everyday to ensure that he looked presentable, especially in the presence of Tony, who always looked professional and impeccable. They had all taken it upon themselves to tease the boy and mess with him and his hair to simply annoy, and help him feel more comfortable with them.
"No no! It's just that my class is coming here on Friday. And I'm afraid that they will meet you," he summarized lamely.
"Why are you afraid? I promise, I will not hurt them," he said, voice sincere.
"I know I know," Peter rushed out. "Just promise that you'll avoid them. Please?" He begged.
The God sent him a confused look, but nodded all the same.
"I give you my word Little Spider. If that is what you wish, I will not interfere," he swore. "Once there is no threat to you or the members of the team, I will not interfere."
Peter grinned happily up at him, and thanked him.
While Thor's intentions were good, he knew that if he met Flash, Thor would blow a fuse and probably remove him from existence.
He'd told them enough about Flash for them all to dislike him. However, Peter insisted that they stay out if it, and let him deal with his problems. I mean, isn't that one of the reasons he went to the dumb school.
Peter made his way to his room, swinging up the the furniture that was located on the ceiling.
A soft know on his door sounded and Natasha peeked in.
"Pete?" She asked, looking about the room, spotting him in the far corner.
"Hey. What's up?" He asked, swinging down to the door.
"Just letting you know that dinner's in 30 minutes. And don't worry. Bucky's cooking," she said with a wink.
He grinned and nodded.
Bucky was the official unofficial chef, who cooked when they wanted home-cooked-food, and not professional-chef-food.
Peter emptied the contents of his bag, allowing the permission slip to flutter under his desk, hoping that it remained there forever.
If he came to the Tower on a school trip, the Avengers wouldn't hesitate to embarrass him, and then the kids at school would start to look at him weird if they saw that he lived at Stark Tower. No normal person lived at their place of employment, and he wasn't really employed either. He was only interning here. Then they would probably figure out his secret. Why else would a nobody like him be living with the Avengers? He sighed heavily.
"Baby Stark, there is a message from Mr. Banner for you," F.R.I.D.A.Y announced to him.
"Please, please never call me Baby Stark ever again," he pleaded, hands clasping at his chest involuntarily.
"It has been requested by Mr. Barton that I refer to you as that," she insisted.
"But Fri, you know better than to listen to anything he says. Ever," he argued. "Tony said so."
"I know this. But Mr. Stark has agreed to this name," she informed him, her robotic voice amused.
Peter sighed.
"Of course he did. Please Fri. For me. Please never call me that?" He begged.
"Okay Peter. For you. Will you like to hear the message from Mr. Banner now?" She said.
He nodded, and soon Bruce's voice floated around him.
"Hey Pete. I'm in the lab. Swing by as soon as you can."
The transmission ended.
There was a moment of silence before it started again.
"Please don't swing down! Last time you knocked over everything and nearly blew up the lab! I repeat, do not swing!" Came Bruce's voice again, considerably more frantic than the previous message.
Peter chuckled to himself and made his way to the lab that the man usually occupied, using the elevator.
"Hey Pete. How was school?" He asked, glancing up at him briefly before refocusing onto the piece of equipment on the table before him.
"Okay. Still a waste of time. The only good thing is Ned," Peter admitted, earning a chuckle from Bruce.
"What do you think of this?" He asked, shifting to the side so Peter could stand before the device and inspect it. "I can't get it to work."
He studied it for a few minutes before mentioning his findings to the man.
"There's a loose wire over there," he said, motioning with a small screwdriver.
"And if you disconnect this," he said, disconnecting two connections of wires, "and reconnect it here," he said reconnecting them in a different order, "it should work," he said as the device powered up.
Bruce laughed.
"You're good kid," he said, giving Peter a quick side hug and a pat on the back.
"Not really. You're just insanely sleep deprived," he said, inspecting the dark circles and the strong smell of coffee.
Bruce chuckled again.
"No. You're really good. But you're probably right about the sleep thing. I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me when it's time for dinner," he requested, earning an affirmative nod from Peter.
Peter wandered over to the kitchen where he saw Bucky behind the counter, wearing an apron and a chef's hat. His long hair was tied back and he vigorously stirred a pot with his metal arm.
"Hey Bucky," Peter greeted. "What's for dinner?"
"Hello Little Spider," he greeted, a nickname that had been adopted by most of the team as well, glancing up an offering a smile. "I am making pasta."
Peter nodded and offered his help which Bucky politely declined. After the time Peter had tried to bake something and managed to make the oven explode, he had been deemed unsafe for the kitchen.
Just then Clint walked in.
"Pete! Hey bud! How was school?" He asked, his voice excited.
Out of all the Avengers, who were all kids in their own way, Clint was the most childish.
"Okay. Still boring," he replied, his usual reply.
Clint chuckled and ruffled his hair. He then turned to Bucky.
"You got any cookies left from the last batch?" He asked, his voice eager.
Bucky rolled his eyes and motioned to the fridge.
Peter and Clint glanced at eachother before launching into a mad scramble to see who could get them first.
It was only due to some mild cheating using his webs that allowed Peter to emerge from the fridge with the plate.
"If you don't shoot me 'accidentally' next time were training, I'll give you a cookie," Peter offered.
Clint folded his arms and turned away childishly.
"Two cookies?"
Clint seemed to think about it before sighing and grabbing three cookies off the plate.
"No promises!" He shouted behind him as he raced down the corridor clutching the cookies.
Peter laughed and took a cookie.
"I'll leave one for Thor, and one for anyone else," he decided, replacing the plate in the fridge. "Don't let Clint get any! Okay?" He asked Bucky, and received a nod and a grin in return.
He took a bite of the cookie, and was instantly in heaven at the sweet taste that washed over his tongue.
He flashed an appreciative thumbs up to Bucky, mouth too stuffed with cookie to say anything.
•-•
"So Little Spider. When were you going to tell us about this little field trip of yours?" Natasha asked, breaking Peter's train of thought as he was focused on Clint trying to steal Thor's pizza off his plate, without him noticing.
So far, he was unsuccessful, a lot of smacks and 'ow's had come from that end of the table.
"Field trip? What field trip?" Asked Tony, his sharp eyes focused onto Peter.
"Yeah. What field trip?" Echoed Steve.
"It's this dumb trip my engineering class is taking to this place. I don't even want to go," he said.
"And how did you even know about that?" He asked, suddenly coming to his senses.
Natasha flashed him a cheeky grin and produced the slip from who knows where.
She passed it to Tony, who skimmed it quickly.
"You class is coming here?" He asked, an amused smirk on his face.
"You see. This is why I didn't want to tell you," he sighed. "Pepper. Please make them leave me alone on Friday," he begged, sending puppy dog eyes to Mrs. Stark.
Peter could see her resolve crumble.
"We both know they won't listen to me," she said, voice apologetic.
Peter pouted but nodded understandingly.
"I promised that I would not interfere, Little Spider," Thor told him, earning a grateful smile.
"Hah! Well I promise no such thing!" Came Clint's obnoxious voice.
Peter rolled his eyes as he saw Clint and Nat exchange evil looks.
"Dont worry kid. I'll try not to bother you," Bruce promised.
"I won't!" Came Tony's voice, amusement clear. "I'll definitely bother you."
Steve said nothing, but exchanged a look with Bucky, resulting in both of them plastering a wicked smile on their faces.
Peter could just feel the trouble that Friday would bring. Especially was Tony signed the permission slip, allowing his school to bring him to his home.
•-•
Chapter Two
"Woah dude! Cutting it a bit close don't you think?" Ned asked, patting a panting Peter on his back.
"Yeah. Sorry. I overslept," he said.
"Sure," drawled a voice from behind him. "You were just trying to find a way to fake your internship at Stark Industries."
In all honesty, he had been debating on whether to simply remain at Stark Tower and meet the class when they arrived, but Steve had dragged him out of bed, insisting that he go to school.
"Flash. When we get there, I highly recommend that you leave me alone," Peter suggested.
Flash sent him an amused look.
"Why on earth would I do that? Afraid I call you out on all your bull?" The boy snickered.
Peter rolled his eyes and ignored Flash as the bus started to move.
If Flash decided to be his usual self, he would have the wrath of the Avengers upon him.
Peter sighed again and settled into idle chatter with Ned.
So here he was, taking a bus back to the building he had been in not 30 minutes before.
•-•
"Here we are students. Now, I want you all on your best behavior. Maybe, if you're lucky, we can get to meet the Avengers. I heard that Thor's currently visiting Earth," said Mr. Davis.
Ned shot Peter a wide eyes look, asking him to confirm.
He nodded subtlety.
"Yeah, Thor's here. But I asked him not to interfere," Peter told him.
He didn't know how well that would work, considering Flash.
Ned pouted and they moved with the group to the front.
The receptionist, Ally, gave them a friendly smile and confirmed their tour of the building.
"If everyone will please hold on a minute, temporary badges will be made for you so you can see the building."
Her gaze skimmed over everyone, counting, when her eyes landed on Peter.
"Pete! Hey. What are you doing here? You can head on up. You don't have to wait in line. You know that." She said, sending him a confused smile.
Peter turned red as every person there turned to look at him.
"Um, no Al. I'm here with my class," he said gesturing to the gaping students.
"Ah," she said, understanding before disappearing to get the badges.
"Parker. What was that? How much did you pay her?" Flash asked, his voice disbelieving.
Peter sighed heavily.
"I didn't pay her numbskull," he said.
He could see the rage flare up in Flash's eyes, but Ally returned before he could do anything.
"Here you all go," she said, distributing the badges to everyone. "You have your badge right?" She asked, directing the question to Peter.
He nodded and pulled out his badge. While the temporary Omega level badges were a white rectangle with a barcode and the company logo, Peter's was navy blue with iridescent red streaks resembling his suit, with his name, picture, the company logo and a barcode. He had been the opportunity to design his own pass and would have been insane to pass that up. Tony had told him that he didn't need a pass anyways, as Friday would scan him, but he had wanted one. Also, probably the most worrying feature on the small card, it had the letters 'SM' etched into the material. Hopefully no one would notice that little detail.
"Hello!" A cheery voice interrupted his thoughts.
He looked up to see Bill, one of the college interns.
"I'll be you tour guide for today. My name is Bill, pleased to meet you all," he introduced himself.
There was a chorus of 'hi' and 'hey' from all around.
"Now, if you please all come this way," Ally said, gesturing toward the scanner that lead into the building.
One by one everyone passed through, starting with Bill.
A robotic voice read out 'Beta Clearance; Level 6'.
As everyone else passed, it read 'Omega Clearance; Level 1'.
It sounded like a broken record as it read that out 30 times.
Until it was inevitably Peter's turn.
'Alpha Clearance; Level 10' the computer read out.
Peter made sure to avoid all eye contact.
Then came F.R.I.D.A.Y.
"Hello Peter. Should you not be at school?" She asked.
Peter had to fight every nerve in his body to not turn and send a glare to every pair of eyeballs that were burning into him.
"Hey Fri. No, I'm here with my class. Dont worry, I'm not breaking any rules," he said.
"Well that is a nice change. Should I inform the others that you have returned?" She asked.
"Ha ha. Very funny Fri. And please don't," he asked, his voice laced with sarcasm turning serious, borderline desperate.
"Very well Mr. Parker. Enjoy the tour," she concluded.
"Pete! You didn't tell me that you'd be here," Bill laughed, walking up and clapping Peter on the back.
"Yeah sorry Billy," he said with a guilty smile, scratching the back of his head.
"Well, let's start the tour, shall we?"
Ignoring the staring eyes of his classmates, he followed the guide.
Bill did a great job, explaining and joking with the group, but Peter couldn't help but get bored. He knew all of this already. He'd seen it already. He'd given this tour already. Hell, he'd created some of the projects that the group of interns before them were working on, and it was a common occurrence to see the 'Little Spider' helping out, checking code and all that.
Through the glass that separated them from the interns, your could see everything that was going on.
One of the interns, a girl named Maria, saw Peter and waved at him. When he responded, she made a signal calling him inside.
He pointed to his teacher and shook his head. She nodded in understanding and made her way to the door.
"Excuse me. Could I borrow Peter here for a minute please?" She asked.
Mr. Davis furrowed his brow.
"What on earth for?" He asked, confusion written on his face.
"Well, he usually helps out, and he made this program so I though he could check it for me," she said, sending a smile Peter's way.
Mr. Davis looked like he wasn't sure what to do, then nodded hesitantly.
"Great!" She said, grabbing Peter's arm and pulling him into the lab.
He ignored all of the stares from his classmates and he watched the lines of code that skimmed past on the screen. After a few minutes he turned to Maria and nodded.
"Yup, seems right," he said.
She sent him a grateful smile and he rejoined the class outside.
"Parker.. What the hell?" Came Flash's shocked voice.
"I told you, I'm an intern here," Peter said.
"Yeah, but, why would an intern, not to mention a high school intern, be helping and creating programs for college interns. And why would you need such a high level of clearance?" Another girl from the class asked, Mandy.
Peter shrugged.
"I work with Mr. Stark?" He offered up.
"Anyways!" Interrupted Bill, sensing Peter's unease. "Let's continue."
The group made their way to the higher floors, and Peter was grateful that he hadn't met an Avenger yet.
But, as if him thinking about them was a homing beacon, Clint suddenly dropped out if the vents.
"Hi!" He chirped happily.
A great many of students screamed, and so did Mr. Davis.
If it hadn't been exactly what he had been hoping wouldn't happen, he would have laughed.
"Hello," Peter said, watching him suspiciously. "What do you want?"
"What? I can't say hi to my favourite little spi-person?" He asked, ruffling Peter's hair, pretending like he hadn't just almost revealed Peter's secret.
"Yeah. No. You can't. Go away," he said, shoving Hawkeye away.
He clutched his chest in mock pain.
"Ouch. That hurt," he whined.
Clint turned to the class, all of whom were standing in shock watching the exchange.
"Hi!" He said with a little wave.
"You- you're an Avenger!" Someone screeched out.
The sound made Peter's ears hurt, with his heightened senses and all.
Clint sent a glance over at the boy when he grimaced at the noise, and took a step towards him.
They knew to be careful with loud noises around Peter, especially since he had once experienced sensory overload, which had left him screaming in pain, and bleeding for hours. Tony had freaked out, along with all the other Avengers who had been present.
"Yes. Yes I am," Clint said, smiling easily at the group, his attention still on Peter.
He flashed him a thumbs up, and Clint nodded.
"Okay. Now I have two cookies. Since you left two in the fridge last time, I'll give you one," Clint offered.
"What?! Those weren't for you!" Peter exclaimed, unable to help the smile that made its way onto his face.
Clint smiled smugly.
"I know."
Peter laughed and shook his head.
"What are those?" He asked gesturing to the baked treats in his hands.
"Cookies and cream, and white chocolate chip. Pick one," Clint said, lifting the respective cookie.
Peter thought for a minute and took the white chocolate chip.
"Oh hey Ned," the man greeted, seeing the familiar face in the crowd. "You want this one? I can get another," he offered to the boy.
Ned grinned and accepted the cookie with a mumbled thanks.
"Thanks. Now go away," Peter repeated, munching on the cookie.
Clint rolled his eyes but complied, bidding the group goodbye.
Peter sighed again, something that had become alarmingly frequent during the past few days. He had almost forgotten about his classmates.
"Peter? Ned? Since when did you know Hawkeye?" A surprised vice asked him.
Peter turned to look at a shocked Mr. Davis, and shrugged.
"I work here. I've met him around the place," he said dismissively.
"And I sometimes come by to help," Ned added.
"Yeah. But this still doesn't mean that either of you loosers know Mr. Stark," Flash's insistent voice said.
Peter said noting, instead begging Bill with his eyes to continue.
•-•
As fate seemed to have it out for Peter today, the next floor they went to just had to be the one Bruce was on today.
Why couldn't he just be in his normal lab?
As the crowd of students plasters themselves against the glass, Bruce glanced up and offered an uncomfortable smile. Side effects of becoming the Hulk meant that Bruce really, really hated being watched and ogled at like he was some sort of show.
That was when he saw Peter, and realization dawned on his face. He sent a small wave to the boy who returned it, along with some of his classmates who had thought it was for them.
"Don't worry Parker. He wasn't waving at you," Flash drawled, jabbing Peter in the ribs.
Peter could see the annoyance that appeared on the Avengers' face through the glass as he witnessed the two boys interact.
Bruce lifted his head and spoke to F.R.I.D.A.Y, then settled a glare onto Flash.
Now Peter's biggest concern wasn't even what he had told who. It was that the scientist didn't Hulk out.
Flash, upon noticing Peter's lack of acknowledgement, turned his attention to the glaring Avenger, and paled considerably.
Nobody wanted an angry avenger after them.
The elevator to the side suddenly dinged, drawing the attention of the class. Then, as if the universe had decided that it hated Peter, out stepped Thor.
"Hello tiny mortals. Littl-Peter. Ned," the God greeted, cutting himself off upon noticing Peter's frantic head shaking.
One thing that the God always forgot and never really understood was their desire to hide their identities.
"Hello!" Ned greeted, still a little starstruck by the god, as he was every time he saw him.
The sound was echoed by Mr
Davis and Bill, who had never met a majority of the Avengers.
Then the class followed, sounding more like a mass of garbled words.
Thor sent a smile to Peter.
"I know I promised not to bother you, but I have received news of a certain child bothering you," the God said, his eyes hardening on Flash, like he already knew.
"No it's okay. Remember what I told you guys," Peter insisted, trying to step away from the group and closer to the God.
However, he entire class moved with him, eager to be closer to the God of Thunder.
Thor seemed to notice what he was doing and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, successfully drawing him out of the crowd.
"Are you sure Little Spider?" He asked, his face concerned, his voice low.
Peter nodded.
"I'll call if anything happens. I promise," he swore, flashing his puppy dog eyes.
The God sighed and smiled down at him, patting his back.
"Okay Little Spider. Do not hesitate to use the talking ceiling," he said, earning a nod from the boy.
He sent a hard look at Flash again before disappearing into the elevator.
As Peter turned back to his classmates, the expression on their faces told him that this was already massive disaster, caused by the Avengers.
•-•
Peter's eyes drifted over to Bill, once again pleading for him to continue, but the older intern was focused elsewhere.
Peter followed his gaze, eyes landing once again on Bruce, who still wore an annoyed expression.
The man looked to the ceiling again before refocusing on Peter.
Friday's voice suddenly occupied the space they were in, startling more than a few people.
"Peter, Dr. Banner requests your presence in the lab. He says it is not optional," the ever so elegant AI said, causing all faces to turn.
Peter glanced at his staring teacher, who shrugged in a way that clearly said that he knew that where Peter went really wasn't up to him anymore.
Peter offered a slight smile before going over to Bruce.
The older man frowned at him as he entered, clearly still upset about Flash.
"What did Thor do?" He asked.
"Nothing. I told him everything was fine," Peter admitted, earning a disappointed look from the doctor.
"Why?"
"Because everything is fine! Don't worry Bruce. I'm handling it. Trust me," Peter assured him.
Bruce looked st him skeptically before nodding slowly and giving him a slight smile.
"Okay kid," he said, standing to ruffle Peter's hair. "I trust you. Now you better get back to that tour before they leave you."
Peter glanced back at his staring classmates.
"I wish to God that they would leave me," Peter said wistfully, earning a laugh from Bruce.
"What are you working on here?" He asked, looking at the table.
"Oh!" Said the scientist, suddenly reminded of his task causing Peter to snicker. "I was working on this tiny little chip that's supposed to work as a tracker and a data store. It's for you actually," he said. "But why Tony put me to work on this infuriatingly tiny thing is beyond me," he mumbled to himself.
Peter narrowed his eyes.
"Is Tony going to put that in the suit so he can track me? I'll find it you know. Just like last time," he said.
Bruse waved a hand dismissively.
"No Tony isn't gonna bug your suit," he said with a mischevious grin.
Peter rolled his eyes, already knowing why.
"You're gonna bug my suit aren't you?"
Bruce hesitated for a moment before nodding sheepishly.
"Why don't you invite your class in, so they can see," Bruce siggested, nodding behind Peter.
"Ugh. Okay," he said, turning and catching Bill's attention.
As his class filed in, a thought occured to Peter.
"Hang on a sec Bruce. I just realized, why are you down here?"
Bruce scratched the back of his head guiltily.
"I'm hiding from Tony. He's been in a stabby mood today," the older man explained, causing Peter to nod in understanding and many of his classmates to pause in confusion.
"What?!" Squeaked a timid voice.
"Tony's been poking him with random pointy things," Peter clarified distractedly, peering at the miniscule parts on the desk.
"Oh. Is this a common occurrence?" The same voice asked.
Peter looked at Bruce, and both shrugged noncommittaly.
"I guess so. It happens whenever the mood takes him," Peter settled on.
"Mood? More like his inner demon," Bruce muttered sourly to himself, earning a snort from Peter.
"Oh, Ned is here," the boy said, pointing over his shoulder to his best friend.
Bruce's eyes scanned slightly before a grin lit up his face at the teenager.
Ned and Bruce got along superbly, simply because they could both sit and geek out about things not even Peter understood.
Before the two could launch into it, Peter tapped his shoulder and gestured to the table. A sign reminding him that he had invited in the group for a reason.
Bruce nodded hastily, gesturing for the group to move closer.
•-•
"Why is Stark Industries creating this?" Asked Ned, fully aware as to why.
"It's for Peter actually," he said, causing Peter's heart to stop.
"It's for him to put into spider-man's suit, since Peter is the one who upgrades and works on the Spider suit," Bruce quickly clarified, causing Peter to exhale his held breath.
There were nods as a few more people asked some questions, before Bill led them back out.
There was excited muttering that filled the hallway, people still amazed at being so close to an Avenger.
"Hello!" Interrupted a chipper voice.
It was Mary, another intern who was always happy, and also insanely intelligent, and someone who Peter enjoyed working with.
There was a chorus of hellos from the group.
"Before y'all leave, I wanted the group to do this excercise," she said, more to Bill than anyone else.
He glanced at the group and then at his watch, seeming to work out if they had time.
"Okay. Yeah. Everyone, follow me. We're going to do a little exercise set up to determine of any of you are SI material," he quickly explained, herding the group into an adjacent lab.
"Now be careful. Almost everything in here can explode so we're trying to not cause any explosions and fireballs again," Mary said.
"Wow. Someone set the lab on fire before?" Questioned someone from the class, Jake Peter thought his name was.
"Oh yeah. We have a wall of shame. But some people are seeing this as an achievement board instead, and that is why Peter Parker is at the top with 21 explosions," she said, gesturing to the wall and selling him out unknowingly.
Everyone's eyes, once again, were focused onto Peter.
Mary's eyes landed on his as well, seeing to see him for the first time as his classmates created a small berth around him.
"Oh! Peter you're here! Hi!" She exclaimed, waving at him.
Peter returned it, albeit begrudgingly.
"Yeah, I'm here. Hi Mary."
The lady smiled apologetically but continued leading them to the back.
It wasn't Peter's fault that he caused the most explosions. On at least 3 of those instances, he and been set up by some other interns. And the rest were because everyone else was too timid to do it and Peter couldn't tell people no.
Mary set they up at a 2 long tables, telling them to get into groups of 3. Peter considered sitting this out as he had literally designed this test, but decided to do it since he didn't want to abandon Ned.
They ended up teamed up with this guy that Peter really didn't talk to, but he was pretty sure that his name was Josh.
"What are we gonna make?" Ned asked, looking at the various parts sprawled before them.
Josh shrugged nonchalantly, seeming uninterested with what was happening.
Peter picked out a circuit board, deciding that they would make a robot of sorts. Hopefully they could code enough for it to actually walk.
Voicing his idea to his team, he received positive reviews from Ned, and Josh looked interested so that was good, right?
•-•
When time was called, the combined brain power of the three of them had actually managed to enable the robot to dance. It did a slight jig, wobbling precariously but, thankfully, not collapsing. Turns out that Josh was pretty good with his hands, and had been the one to solder the parts together since they couldn't weld.
Bill, Mary and another intern, Sara, passed around, inspecting their projects, praising everyone, even those that collapsed instantly.
Actually Mary especially praised the ones that collapsed, clearly making the students feel better about the pile of parts on the table in front of them.
Peter noted with some degree of satisfaction that Flash's project had been on of those that had fallen to scrap. The distraught look on his face quickly becoming enough to make up for years of teasing and bullying.
It was clear that Peter's group had done the best, but it seemed like there were still a few others that qualified for at least an interview if the forms they were handed was anything to go by. Ned and Josh both got one as well, and his suspicions were confirmed. Ned basically worked here though, as it wasn't an uncommon sight to see Ned accompanying Peter all over the building, leaving a trail of chaos in their wake. They had actually become pretty infamous for that, but were still allowed everywhere because of Tony and their undeniable ability.
Chapter Three
As the group filtered out, Peter received a number of dirty looks from his classmates, but mostly from Flash. Thankfully, nothing was said about it being unfair because of his internship, and Peter suspected that it was because no one actually wanted to admit that they had been wrong in not believing him.
"Okay everyone. That sort of took up the time for exploring this floor. So why don't we head over for lunch," Bill told them, almost regretfully.
He probably wanted to show them where he worked. Peter felt kind of bad about that.
"Then we'll go to the museum and then there's a special surprise planned for you guys before you leave," Bill said, causing Peter's eyes to narrow suspiciously at him.
What was he planning?
Knowing the people at this tower, it was almost 100% guaranteed to and not good.
•-•
For lunch, they were led into the large, faux open air cafeteria area.
The ceiling was a massive skylight that made the space feel like it was open, and the cool temperature from the air conditioning that circulated only supported that. The floor was tiled, and everywhere was white and gray, giving the area a very clean feel.
Numerous food outlets lined the walls, and there was a large courtyard area in the centre that had tables for people to sit at, and a fountain in the very middle.
The only thing Peter disliked about the space was that the chairs around the tables were metal, and therefore they were always freezing cold.
••-••
They quickly got their lunches after being told they they had, strictly, a half an hour.
Peter and Ned sat together and were quickly joined by their new friend Josh and, one of his friends, Dean.
Peter knew that sometimes the Avengers tended to wander down here, hungry and in search of food. Thankfully he knew that it wouldn't be Bucky, because he could cook and usually preferred to do so, or Thor, because the Asgardian usually only desired pop tarts, or Tony, because he never remembered to eat. That only left Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and Steve.
Nat probably would leave him alone, and Steve could be mischevious when he wanted. Especially since neither him nor Bucky had appeared yet. Clint shouldn't bother him again and Tony definitely forgot about the field trip.
The future wasn't superb, but it didn't look too glum either.
•-•
The four of them chatted idly, mostly about SI. Josh and Dean were swiftly warming up to the idea that Peter had been an intern all along, and had already apologized for not believing him. Now, they were drilling him, trying to find out what the Avengers were like, and if he knew all of them.
In hindsight, Peter probably should have noticed when everyone suddenly got quiet, his senses catching a break for the first time today. But he had been to absorbed in reminiscing about the most recent prank war that had happened, wrapped up in the part when he had hidden Bucky's arm and as payback, had gotten suspended from the ceiling with his own webbing. Obviously, he hadn't said his webbing, he had mentioned that Spider-man had been present, and had went with that. Also, the punishment hadn't been all that bad since Peter often hung from the ceiling voluntarily, but he couldn't say that either.
His spider senses suddenly alerted him of a presence behind him, and before he could stop himself, he ducked and scooted his chair just as an arm swung, right where his head had just been.
Spinning around, ready to blow a fuse at Flash, he stopped short when he saw Steve and Bucky, both with grins on their faces.
He wrinkled his nose, fighting the urge to stick out his tongue at the Avengers infront of all his class.
"What are you guys doing here?" He asked as the two superheros pulled up chairs along their table.
Josh, Dean, and for some reason Ned, were staring shocked. In all fairness, Bucky was a very imposing figure.
"Just here to check on you Petey-Boy," Steve said, his grin ever present.
"Yeah. Bruce told us about this Flash kid, but I completely understand that you want to take care of him on your own," Bucky said calmly, offering a smile to show that he wouldn't attack the boy in question.
But Peter knew him too well. If Flash did anything dumb now, Bucky wouldn't hesitate.
He had warned him already though, so anything he did was on him.
Peter still smiled gratefully, glad at least he trusted him enough to leave things up to him for a little longer.
"Oh. Josh, Dean, this is Buc- no. Jam- nope. The Winter Soldier and Captain America," he quickly introduced, gesturing to the respective people.
"You can call me James," Bucky introduced himself, holding out a hand to shake.
"Yeah. You can just call me Steve," Steve said with a smile, holding out his hand as well.
"This is so cool," Peter heard Dean whisper to Josh.
Steve and Bucky stayed there for the remainder of their lunch, regaling the people at his table with stories of all the embarrassing things that Peter had done, and the general chaos that follows the Avengers around like a plague.
•-•
When Bill called them to regroup, he told them that the tour was winding down, so they would now be going through the museum that Tony Stark had compiled from the Avengers missions in the past.
They were carried up a few floors, Friday dinging gently at their stop, something Peter was very unused to.
They were allowed to roam about, they boundaries being this floor and the one above as the displays took up the two.
Ned instantly pulled Peter off, eagerly reading the little sign and asking for confirmation about some of the random 'fun facts' that he and Tony had thrown in.
•-•
"Is that true?" He asked, nose scrunched up in confusion as he pointed to something that was written.
Peering closer, Peter read it.
'Captain America has won a gold medal for Creative Arts in the "Art of the Future" contest.'
Peter mulled over it for a while before nodding. He had seen Cap draw and he felt like Tony had mentioned an award once, if only in teasing.
"That's so cool," Ned murmured before moving on, Peter trailing behind.
•-•
Unsurprisingly, Ned's favourite section was the one on Spider-Man, especially since the 'fun facts' listed were really just embarassing.
'Spider-Man is terrified of spiders'
'Spider-Man sometimes forgets how to tie his shoelaces'
And random facts that Tony felt like putting down.
'Spider-man's favourite food is gummy worms'
'Spider-Man can actually stick to any surface, be it glass, concrete, tile or otherwise'
Some of which were literally just taunts, and not facts at all.
'Spider-Man is a dedicated member of his school's marching band'
That one had confused Ned considerably.
'Spider-Man is a firm believer in fair play, and has never included the God of Mischief into a prank war'
But there were a few that Peter was proud to say was true.
'Spider-Man can take on Captain America and win'
'Spider-Man is the Hulk's favourite Avenger'
'Spider-Man can lift over 10 tons'
Peter grinned as Ned scanned the list, his expression changing drastically between confusion, laughter, disappointment and awe with each one that he read.
"Yeah. Sometimes, Tony just writes random stuff for these," he quickly explained.
Ned nodded in understanding and continued browsing through the showcases.
•-•
They were all seated in one of the auditoriums, quiet chatter echoing in the cavernous room.
"Why are we here?" Asked Ned, leaning over to Peter.
He shrugged, truly unsure.
"I guess that Tony might come to talk to us. He doesn't usually, but I don't know what else could be happening here," he said quietly.
•-•
Peter sat quietly as the lights dimmed and Tony Stark himself appeared on the stage with an explosion of noise and colour, always one to make an entrance.
Tony launched into a speech that Peter had heard before, talking about all that happened at SI and so forth.
He told them about the conversion from a weapons manufacturing company to the mainly research and developmental work that they did now, highlighting on the accomplishments they had achieved as a company.
He then discussed some of the upcoming projects and goals that were expected to be reached such as the newest Stark phone.
The audience ate it all up, more than eager to hear Tony talk. Peter had to admit that the man had a flair to his words that drew everyone in, and seriously suspected that he could have spoken about boxed mac and cheese and the audience would be enthralled.
He watched as Tony placed the length of the stage, using his space more effectively than most people did, sounding more like he was having a conversation with the audience than giving a presentation.
He spoke for the better part of an hour, but no one complained. Peter suspected that they would run overtime if Tony didn't end soon, but no one stopped him.
Who really was insane enough to do that anyways?
•-•
When he finally closed and allowed the questions there were, surprisingly, some actually good ones.
Peter had initially been wary, especially since Flash had his hand up, but he had asked about SI, seeming to forget about Peter for a bit.
It was only when someone asked about the development of weapons for the Avengers and their suits did they hit a snag.
"Actually, as I'm sure you know, we have one of the main developers of the Avengers tech right here," Tony said, eyes finding Peter's for the first time since he entered.
A murmur rippled through the crowd, and Peter froze in his seat, shaking his head minutely.
"It seems like he's a little shy, but still, please welcome Mr. Peter Parker to the stage" Tony said, sweeping an arm toward Peter.
Peter froze, only moving to his feet when Ned nudged him in the side.
How was he supposed to do this? He was unprepared in literally every way.
As he reached up to Tony, the older man wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
"Don't worry kid. You know this stuff. Just answer what they ask," he said softly, nudging Peter forward slightly.
"So, please ask Mr. Parker your questions, as I'm sure that he can do a better job of answering them than I can," Tony said with a laugh, earning one from the audience as well.
"How do you develop the suits? Like, how do you know what to do?"
"Well," Peter began hesitantly, receiving an encouraging nod from Ned.
"I upgrade the suits based on the wearers preference and abilities. Everytime the Avengers go out on a mission or train I monitor their suits and fighting styles, taking into account dofferent things, like which hand they prefer, which leg they put forward first, and how often they use a particular weapon and make upgrades based on that. Take for example Iron Man," Peter said gesturing to Tony.
"He does a lot of dumb things like fly headfirst at a shooter or take a missile to the chest. So I have to make sure the armour in certain areas is thicker and better plated."
"So why don't you just make the whole suit out of that thicker armour?"
"Well, the armour is denser and thicker, which also means it's a lot heavier. Tony and I experimented with that once, but we had to modify the suit's thrusters, the handling was horrible, movement was slow. It was really just ineffective. In certain areas, if spliced in correctly, it can provided the extra protection without causing a lot of strain on the wearer. Say for example the Black Widow. She had a preference to her right hand, which means that her right side is exposed more often to blows, therefore ther is a thicker padding on her right side. It is a similar situation with the Widow's Bite. Her left hand delivers slightly less force than her right, and therefore the electrical charge that is in the left is slightly higher in order to achieve the same results from both bracelets," he said.
There was some murmuring from the audience and Peter couldn't help but worry that he had said too much. What if he just sold out some secret and someone from his class was an evil villain in the making.
Hey, anything was possible.
Isn't that what adults like to say.
Glancing over at Tony, he saw the man nod encouragingly and give him a gentle smile that was incredibly effective at calming his erratic heart. Quickly returning it, Peter faced the crowd again.
"Are there any more questions?"
•-•
Peter held the stage for a lot longer than he had expected to, answering questions and explaining. People were incredibly willing to listen and had been interactive, making the whole ordeal less awkward for everyone involved.
He had miraculously not received a single out of place question about how legitimate his internship was, so hopefully people really did believe him now. They would be idiots not to, but Peter knew not to put it past some of his classmates.
When he reclaimed his seat, Ned had a huge smile and looked overly proud. Something he was not shy about telling Peter, making the teenager blush scarlet, and he felt a lot better, knowing that he hadn't screwed up massively.
•-•
Peer stood in the lobby again, contemplating whether or not to ask his teacher if he could stay here. He had to come back anyways.
He supposed that he would need a guardian's permission, but Tony was literally in this building, it wasn't difficult to get that.
Before he could approach his teacher however, Friday sounded from the ceiling.
"Baby Stark, Mr. Stark has requested that you remain here, as he doesn't see the logic in you going back to school to get picked up to come right back here," she said, sounding amused.
Peter narrowed his eyes. His class had already heard it so there was nothing he could do. He had to deal with this before them.
"Friday! I asked you not to call me that," Peter practically begged.
"I know Pete. But Mr. Stark specifically said that I was to call you that. If you would prefer I could call you Mini St-"
"No! No thank you Friday. That's all good. Tell Tony that I'm pretty sure I need actual consent to get to stay back," Peter interrupted quickly, not wanting his classmates to hear another embarassing nickname.
Glancing at his teacher, he saw the man nod as Peter mentioned consent.
"He said he will be there shortly," Friday informed him.
"Thanks," Peter said with a smile.
An awkward silence steeled over his classmates as everyone either stared at Peter, or the elevator from which they expected Tony to emerge from. Peter, on the other hand, contemplated whether or not to tell them that they were facing the wrong way, and that Tony would be in the mostly concealed elevator behind them.
He opted not to inching closer to the doors which opened in a few seconds.
Tony hated waiting, so the elevator that went up to their floors was insanely fast, and always put Peter slightly on edge.
"Hey hey. There's my teacher. Tell him to let me stay," Peter said quickly, pouncing on Tony as soon as he exited, pointing to his tecaher and slightly pushing Tony his way.
"Jeeze kid. I'm on it," Tony laughed as he slightly stumbled toward Mr. Davis.
Peter's class suddenly seemed to realize what was happening and all turned just in time to see Peter lightly shove Tony Stark, talking a mile a minute.
To their surprise, the billionaire only laughed and fondly ruffled Peter's hair before going over to their teacher.
The two spoke briefly, Mr. Davis nodding and looking very star struck before Tony took a step back and Peter latched onto his side.
What was this?
Was Peter actually getting to stay?
Was Tony Stark Peter's guardian!?
•-•
"Okay everyone. Tell Mr. Stark thank you for the very educational tour of his company. Then we'll head back to the bus in an orderly fashion," Mr. Davis announced.
The class compiled, slowly making their way out.
"Peter's really staying?" Asked an incredulous voice when he noticed that Peter hadn't budged from under Tony Stark's arm.
Peter nodded hesitantly, not sure what to say.
He had thought it obvious.
"Yes. Now go Mr. Allen," Mr. Davis instructed, shooing the boy out.
On the bus back, everyone was buzzing about their incredible trip, impatient to get back and share their experiences with undoubtedly jealous schoolmates.
"How does someone get Tony Stark to be their guardian?" A lone voice pipped up.
There were many unsure murmurs before Ned decided to step in before Flash could say anything dumb.
"Peter works as an intern there. No they don't take high schoolers but Mr. Stark clearly made an exception for Peter because Peter is literally a genius. Mr. Stark is his legal guardian because sometimes he requires Peter at all kinds of odd hours, especially when he's in school. So Peter's aunt and Tony Stark decided that it would be a lot easier of he could take Peter out of school instead of having to get May to come all the way down to Midtown to sign Peter out," he explained.
There was a mumble of understanding, and Ned silently dared Flash to argue what he had just said.
Before that could happen however, another voice piped up.
"Damn. I wish I was genius too. Stark Tower looks really cool," a girl said wistfully.
"Yeah," added someone else. "Imagine knowing Tony Stark and the Avengers that well. Parker's living the life," he laughed, receiving a jealous sort of agreement from the rest of the bus.
"Yeah. Peter's got the whole Avengers behind him. Damn Flash. Makes me wonder how you're still alive right now," Josh laughed, winking at Ned.
There was chorus of agreement from everyone else, and Flash turned bright red. The topic was swiftly changed again, and everyone got distracted once more.
Ned couldn't help the proud smile on his face. Flash didn't look like he would be picking of him or Peter anytime soon if the better red of his face was anything to go by.
He had known from that start that there had to be a good reason for Peter to go on this trip.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/18549370
another one of their works that I love
https://archiveofourown.org/works/18423996