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“Oh god.” Peter frowned, looking up at the huge tower in front of him. “This is going to be an absolute disaster.”
“What do you mean disaster ? We’re at Avengers Tower! ” Ned beamed, a wide grin on his face. Ned has been ecstatic all week long about this trip, constantly blabbing to Peter about it. Not that Peter minded, the tower was extremely cool and in other circumstances he would’ve been ranting right along with Ned about it despite the tower being like a second home to Peter.
But what worried Peter was the fact that Tony knew about the field trip.
When Tony found out, he gave his mentee the biggest presumptuous smirk Peter had ever seen. The man was planning something, and Peter was terrified to find out just what it was. Especially since the man knew about Flash Thompson’s teasing.
He almost ended up not going but decided against it. It was easier to go rather than do the make-up work.
But another reason why he was going was because of Flash. Not that Peter felt he had to prove himself to Flash, because he had better things to worry about rather than if Flash believe his internship or not.
The thing is, if Peter didn’t go on this trip, Flash would never let him see the end of it. He would be even more unbearable with his teasing.
And it’s not like Peter was lying about his internship. So if Flash just so happened to get proven wrong today, maybe that would make Peter’s life a little easier. Not like he’s going to go out of his way to do so, but if it happened Peter would not be complaining.
Okay , maybe Peter is lying to himself about being annoyed with Tony’s unofficial embarrassing plan. Call it teenage hormones, but he so wants to prove Flash wrong.
Because of the embarrassment he and Ned faced after Spiderman flaked at Liz’s party, Peter and Ned had become even bigger losers than they already were. Damn Spiderman. Can’t believe he just had to go kick some bad-guy butt. What a jerk that guy.
Peter had been silently hoping for the right moment to reclaim his and Ned’s coolness at school, and here it was. Planted right in front of him like a gold mine.
Fuck being scared of what Tony was planning, Peter could use this to his advantage .
Not that he’d admit it — Because Peter was supposed to keep up his moody teenager act — but Peter honestly hoped Tony had some fancy trick up his sleeve. As long as it wasn’t embarrassing. Because after months of mentoring from the man, Peter had come to the realization that contrary to popular belief, Tony Stark was a total doofus .
What other people had believed was Tony Stark being a smart-ass — Which wasn’t completely off — was actually just him being an absolute idiot. Tony Stark is a glorified nerd when it boils down to it, and maybe Peter’s goal to prove Flash wrong with Tony as an accomplice was futile.
Actually, who is he kidding, it’s fucking IronMan and they go to a nerd school. Anything Tony does is gonna blow Flash’s pea-sized brain out of the water, regardless if Peter thinks the man is a complete dumbass or not. Tony could just breathe in Flash’s direction and the boy would faint on the spot.
“Alright now that I’ve finished counting you all for the third time, let’s head inside.” Mr. Harrington said with a strained smile, leading the way into the tall building. Ned excitedly trailed behind their teacher, pulling Peter along with his arm slung over his shoulders.
As the group trickled inside the tower, everyone gawked at the sleek and clean interior. Except for Peter of course, who had gotten over the awe of everything already after coming here almost every week.
Plus, getting to eat junk food, watch stupid movies, and tinker in the lab with Tony Stark in his penthouse was so much cooler than the lobby .
“Oh my god, Peter . You get to come here every Friday?” Ned gaped, releasing Peter from his hold. “This is awesome.”
“It is pretty cool,” Peter confirmed. Because yes, it was pretty cool that IronMan wants him to come chill at Avengers Tower every Friday.
“Parker doesn’t spend every Friday here. That’s total bullshit.” Flash scoffed from behind Peter and Ned. Peter did his best to suppress his smirk as he turned to face Flash. Ah-ha, just who Peter was waiting for .
“I cannot wait to see the look on your face when your whole ‘Stark Internship’ story turns out to be a total sham.” Flash continued, grinning from ear to ear.
“Peter isn’t lying about his Stark internship. This trip is gonna prove you wrong, just wait.” Ned spoke, his brows furrowed as he defeated his best friend.
Peter is glad Ned answered for him, he didn’t trust himself to open his mouth and not say anything snarky. Because proved wrong is exactly what Flash will be when this trip is over.
“Whatever. Can’t wait to see how this all plays out for you, Parker.” Flash said as he raised his chin in indifference and walked off. Oh little did he know.
There was a tour guide waiting for them at the front desk, who was patiently listening to Mr. Harrington’s rambling as everyone took in the space around them.
Ned sighed. “Hopefully this trip will finally get him to shut up.” The boy said, his lips forming a lopsided frown.
Now Peter let his smirk show. “It better . I know for a fact Mr. Stark is planning something.”
“ Peter ,” Ned spoke lowly, his eyes wide with bemused shock. “Are we going to meet Tony Stark?”
Peter shrugged and raised his eyebrows. “I’m not sure. He better show up though.” At Peter’s words, Ned gasped and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him slightly.
“Dude, oh my god!” Ned exclaimed, looking Peter straight in the eyes in amazement. “I will never understand how you’re just so cool about all this. If I was Tony Stark’s mentee, I would never be able to relax!” Ned marveled, a look of disbelief on his face.
“Probably because you don’t get how much of an idiot the guy is.” Peter said fondly. Obviously , Tony wasn’t dumb. He was a genius. But that doesn’t make up for the fact that he’s a total man-child.
“Okay!” Mr. Harrington shouted to get the group’s attention. “Everyone listen closely to our tour guide, please. She’s going to give us the run-down on this place.”
The tour lady gave their teacher a kind smile as she thanked Mr. Harrington for their attention. She held a clipboard close to her chest as she spoke, “Hello Midtown Tech! I’m going to be your tour guide for today.”
The lady stepped to the side, and behind her at the front desk were small badges for each student. “These are your visitor badges, each of you come up and find your name.” The guide spoke in a perky tone.
The students all piled up to find their names while the lady explained, “Make sure your badges are visible at all times. Our head of security is very strict about identification badges, and our AI system also won’t let you enter any other areas throughout the tour without it due to our high-security policies.”
Peter and Ned found their respective badges, Ned showing off his visitor badge to his best friend. Peter just fondly listened to Ned as he ranted on about how cool everything was.
Peter clipped his badge onto the front of his jacket even though he didn’t need it. FRIDAY knows who he is and knows he isn’t a threat. But hey , why not wear it for shits and giggles.
“Hey, Parker! Don’t you have your own employee badge?” Flash hummed with amusement, a stupid grin still plastered on his face.
“I don’t need one.” Peter replied truthfully, unbothered. Flash looked taken aback by his quick response but didn’t seem to believe him. Which is fine. Because later Flash is going to get slammed with the cold hard truth .
“Alright, Midtown.” The tour guide spoke up, getting all the energetic teens’ full attention. “If you follow me right this way to the elevator, we will begin our tour at our employee labs where we manufacture products for Stark Industries.”
As Peter followed the tour lady, it occurred to him he has never been to any of the employee or intern floors. Sure he goes to the tower pretty much every week, but he usually spends most of his time with Tony on the Avengers floors, in the penthouse, or the workshop/lab.
The internship was a cover story for Spiderman stuff. Peter isn’t technically an official employee or intern for Stark Industries so he has no idea how the intern stuff even works around here.
Once the tour group pilled out of the elevator and into the employee floors, they were met with a long hallway with glass windows separating the employees and the students. It was somewhat quiet — Everyone focused on their work — with the occasional chatter in the distance.
Their guide walked them down the hall and chattered about different facts and answered questions from curious students.
The tour lady stopped at one particular lab filled with some younger people inside, sitting at tables tinkering with devices or typing some kind of equation on a computer. “This is our college intern lab. We recruit several different students from a variety of different tech schools every year to come and enhance their education here.” Their tour guide explained brightly.
Flash glanced over at Peter, grinning slyly at him before raising his hand. The guide pointed at Flash, permitting him to ask his question.
“You said college interns, correct?” Flash wondered, a certain amusement coating his tone. He must’ve thought he caught Peter red-handed. Their tour lady confirmed that yes, she did say college-level interns.
“So, high school students cannot intern here?” Flash questioned, with so much eagerness to prove Peter’s internship fake it was embarrassing to watch.
“No, high school students can’t intern at Stark Industries.” The guide established, holding her clipboard close. The wild look that Flash gave Peter was amusing. Flash thought he caught him, but was once again taken aback by Peter’s unbothered look. Flash must’ve expected him to frantically defend himself. But all Peter did was shrug his shoulders. Confusion wrinkled the bully’s face, his eyebrows furrowed.
Any moment now Tony was going to waltz right through that elevator and hijack their school field trip. Peter was sure of it. Because somehow the wealthy dumbass always knows exactly when to enter a room.
And sure enough, here said dumbass was, striding confidently down the hallway towards them. Ned latched onto Peter’s arm in shock, his mouth gaping like a fish.
“Peter—Oh my god—“ Ned stuttered out, his eyes blown wide. The rest of their group was also completely dumbfounded, but Peter only focused on Flash. Who was staring dumbly at Tony as the man made his way over to the group.
Tony and Peter made quick eye contact, the two grinning cunningly at each other. They were both on the same page here. This is going to be good.
“How’s the tour going? You guys bored looking at interns doing boring intern stuff?” Tony questioned, putting his hands in his pant pockets.
“Oh—Mr. Stark!” The tour guide spoke, startled by his sudden appearance. “What a nice surprise.” She said nervously, but not losing her sweet tone.
“ Isn’t it. ” The man commented arrogantly, flashing the group of starstruck kids a paparazzi smile. All Peter did was roll his eyes.
Tony then turned his attention to his mentee, giving him a fond side smile. “Get over here, Pete. Don’t pretend like I can’t see you back there.” The man remarked. Just like that, the tour group subconsciously made a clear path for Peter to walk right up to his mentor.
“You know Peter?” Mr. Harrington wondered, curiosity in the teacher’s voice.
Tony slung an arm over Peter’s shoulders and shook him around a bit lightheartedly. Peter couldn’t help but huff out a small laugh at the gesture. “Of course I know this kid. He’s my mentee.” Tony explained.
“Oh.” Is all Mr. Harrington replied with, the teacher’s eyes widened slightly.
Yes , this is exactly what Peter was waiting for. Just looking at the bewildered look on Flash’s face from the small confirmation from Tony Stark himself was all Peter needed. But this was Tony and Peter they’re talking about. Why would they stop there and pass up the perfect opportunity to show off together?
“Um—I was just telling them about our college internship program.” The tour lady explained, her mannerisms somewhat tense in the presence of Tony.
“Ah. Right, right.” Tony nodded, taking off his signature sunglasses and putting them safely in his blazer pocket. The man paused for a moment of contemplation, before looking down at Peter and asking a silent question. Peter replied with a cheeky smirk. Yeah , they were totally gonna go show off.
“Why don’t I take this group off your hands, hm? I wanna show them something much cooler than interns.” Tony suggested, looking around at the group of kids.
“Oh—I mean if you’re sure, Mr. Stark.” The tour guide agreed somewhat reluctantly.
“What time does the tour end, Teach?” Tony asked, turning his attention to Mr. Harrington — Who jumped at the sudden unexpected question.
“It ends at 2:50, sir.” The teacher replied, pushing up his glasses that slid down his face.
Tony quickly checked his watch on the arm that was hung around Peter’s shoulders. “We’ve got more than enough time.” The man commented.
“Alright follow me, adolescents.” Tony commanded as he pat Peter’s shoulder before taking his arm off the boy, then strode over to the elevator. The tour group followed behind Tony like a bunch of eager ducklings.
Everyone piled into the elevator, still perplexed by the fact that they have been essentially kidnapped by IronMan.
Peter stood next to Tony, Ned having joined Peter’s side in shock. Tony looked down at Peter’s best friend.
“You’re Ted?” Tony questioned, pointing at the boy. And that had Ned sputtering.
“It’s Ned , Mr. Stark.” Peter correct the man. “I keep telling you it’s Ned .”
Tony sucked in a breath and nodded. “Right, right. Ned .”
Ned just gaped and was completely speechless, but he at least managed to muster up a starstruck smile.
“Hey, FRI?” Tony spoke up. “Take us to my workshop, beautiful.” He requested.
“Sure thing, boss.” FRIDAY’s voice filled the elevator, startling a few students and Mr. Harrington. Flash was one of those students, which made Peter force back a laugh.
“Alright, kiddos. When we get to my workshop, do not touch anything . It’s most likely dangerous or extremely expensive.” Tony emphasized. “And the last thing we want is you kids going home with less limbs than you came in with.” Tony explained as the elevator dinged and opened to his workshop.
Everyone trickled out of the elevator in amazement. There were tools and parts scattered around everywhere, and even a few IronMan suits that were in the middle of being taken apart and repaired.
There was also a smaller workbench in the room, which was where Peter usually worked at if he wasn’t doing some kind of project with Tony. It was messy with pencils and paper, a pair of webshooters that Peter was currently working on, and oh — There’s where his water bottle and other jacket went.
“Okay,” Tony began, taking off his blazer and setting it on a nearby table. “Who wants to check out some nanotech suits I designed?” The man questioned, and the group immediately went wild. Because of course , a group of teenagers wants to see some nanotechnology superhero suits.
“Alright, alright.” Tony shouted over the students, gesturing with his hands to get them to quiet down. Which they immediately did, giving Tony all their undivided attention.
Once the tour group calmed down Tony strode over to a table with holograms hovering around it. The man pulled up hologram blueprints for two nanotech suits for the kids to look at.
The group was awed as they looked at the blueprints for a nanotech IronMan suit, as well as a nanotechnology Spiderman suit. Which made Peter smile and Ned gasp.
“Is that a Spiderman suit?” Flash questioned in astonishment.
“Yup. I needed something other than an IronMan suit to help me develop the nanotech. So I thought, why not give our friendly-neighborhood Spiderman a little upgrade?” Tony explained, casting a quick look over at Peter with a smile.
“That’s so badass.” Ned muttered, staring at the Spiderman suit blueprints. He would’ve ranted on about how cool it is that Tony Stark developed a nanotechnology suit for Peter, but they had a secret identity to conceal here. So that had to come later.
“I know right.” Peter mumbled back, a wide grin on his lips. Peter still couldn’t get over how cool the suit looked and the fact that it was for him .
“Hey, Pete? Why don’t you scoot on over here and help me with a little demonstration?” Tony spoke, folding his arms. Of course, Peter is gonna scoot on over , they still had a bully to impress.
Peter made his way over to Tony, then turned to face the group of students and his teacher. Ned gave him a quick thumbs up, getting a smile out of his best friend.
Tony picked up a high-tech-looking watch from the workshop’s counter. “Hold your arm up.” Tony commanded, and Peter did. Holding up his arm for everyone to see as Tony strapped the watch onto his wrist.
“This watch is a housing unit for the nanotech suit. Anyone can wear the watch, but only one person can activate the suit. This suit hasn’t been integrated with Spiderman’s biometric features yet, so Peter here can activate the suit to show you all.” Tony explained, giving everyone a white lie to protect Peter’s identity. For all they know, Peter is just here to show off the cool suit. Which is what he’s doing, but they don’t need to know the suit is his .
“Give the watch a little double tap.” Tony instructed. So, Peter tapped the watch face twice and the nanotechnology suit materialized around him. The tour group burst into a sea of chatter upon seeing the shiny, new Spiderman suit.
Peter blinked a few times to have his eyes adjust to the mask that appeared over his face, and the first thing he saw was the utter shock and amazement on Flash’s face. Take that, dickwad.
“Why don’t you give us a turn, Underoos? Show them the back.” Tony suggested, rotating his hand in a circular motion for emphasis.
Peter spun around, but Tony scoffed and shook his head. “Slower than that, Abby Lee Miller. Make sure they can see the suit.”
“Sorry, sorry, sorry.” Peter snickered as he apologized, a grin on his face under the mask. He turned around much slower the second time, everyone gawking at the sleek and shiny suit.
“There you go,” Tony said, grabbing Peter by his shoulders and stopping his mentee’s movements. “Was that so hard?” He teased, Peter only laughed in response.
“Okay let’s see that face.” Tony spoke, and Peter follow his mentor’s orders once again. The mask dematerialized, revealing his face. It felt odd because usually, Spiderman wouldn’t be revealing his face just like that. But no one in the group knew but Ned. Everyone was clueless, which was sort of funny.
“Look at you. It’s like looking in a mirror.” Tony joked sarcastically. Peter shrugged and smiled.
“The nanotech suit connects with the wearer’s mind and biometric frame. It’s all about what the mind wants. The suit can materialize, and dematerialize at will, while still having the same functions and features as a regular suit. Which is quite handy for guys like Spiderman and myself.” Tony explained, taking his hands off Peter’s shoulders.
“I call this suit the Iron-Spider ,” Tony announced confidentiality, and that had Peter double over laughing. “What are you laughing at?” Tony’s brows furrowed in confusion. This is what Peter meant when he said Tony Stark is a total idiot.
“ The Iron-Spider ? That’s what you came up with? Very original. ” Peter snickered, Tony just huffed and pushed the boy lightheartedly.
“I can’t believe you’re laughing at me after everything I’ve done for you. I let you into my home, you eat my food and sleep on my couch and this is how you treat me. Plus, the suit isn’t even for you. You never know, what if Spiderman likes it?” Tony sneered, but there was no real bite in his words. Peter only laughed harder, Tony rolled his eyes.
“You’ve slept on Tony Stark’s couch? ” Flash ogled, his eyes still unbelievably wide in shock.
Tony rested his hands on his hips. “Yes. He has. Multiple times, like a little leech.” The man commented, an unimpressed look on his face.
“It’s not my fault you freak out and ‘ dad ’ me when it gets late.” Peter cast Tony the same unimpressed.
“I don’t ‘ dad ’ you.” Tony held a hand to his chest in offense. “I just don’t want your aunt to eat me alive if something happened.”
“See look, you’re ‘ dad-ing ’ me right now.” Peter said with a smirk. Tony scoffed at him.
Ned raised his hand enthusiastically, and Tony pointed at him. “Saved by Ted. What’s your question, kid?”
“Can we see the nanotech IronMan suit, Mr. Tony-Stark-IronMan-sir?” Ned forced out, the excitement of everything getting to him. A huge grin was on the boy’s lips.
“That was probably the longest name I’ve ever been called, and I’ve been called a lot of things. Sure thing, Ted.” Tony replied, and went off to look around his workshop for the nanotech IronMan suit housing unit. The tour group burst into another wave of excited chatter.
“Ned, Mr. Stark. His name is Ned .” Peter corrected once again, folding his arms across his chest.
“Right, right.” Tony waved off as he was searching for the IronMan housing unit.
“Uh—Mr. Stark, sir?” Mr. Harrington spoke up from the tour group, holding a shaky hand up. “I hate to interrupt—but our bus is here.”
The crowd of teenagers groaned and complained at Mr. Harrington’s announcement. No nanotechnology IronMan suit for them, then.
Tony cocked an eyebrow before looking down at his watch. He hummed when he saw the time. It was 2:45, their tour ended at 2:50. The man had almost forgotten in the pursuit of proving a bitch wrong.
“ Welp .” Tony shrugged. “Guess I’ll have to stop by your school one day and show you, kids, then.”
The tour group went from disappointed to ecstatic in a matter of seconds.
“Please don’t , Mr. Stark.” Peter groaned, trying to keep up his moody teenager act. Tony gave him a sneaky smirk in response, ignoring his protégé’s empty plea.
“C’mon children and teacher.” Tony started towards the elevator, motioning for everyone to follow. “I’ll take you guys to the lobby.”
Peter disengaged the Iron-Spider suit, took the housing watch off his wrist, and gently placed it on the table next to him, then joined Ned’s side once again as they made their way to Tony’s private elevator.
Ned latched onto Peter’s arm with disbelief for what felt like the hundredth time this trip. But he could only smile at his friend’s excitement.
Tony had FRIDAY take them to the lobby. Once the group exited the elevator the lobby was filled with energetic chatter from the bemused teenagers. Tony walked them to the front desk and answered a few of their last-minute questions before sending them off.
(Tony was expecting more intellectual questions, seeing as these kids go to a STEM school. But all he got was dumb questions like: “Have you ever sneezed while wearing the mask?” “Does the Hulk smell good?” “If Black Widow and Hawkeye were in a fight together who would win?” All of which he replied quickly with: “Yes. No. Black Widow. Now I’m kicking you out of my building.”)
“See you later, Mr. Stark.” Peter spoke as he gave his mentor a quick hug. Said mentor returned the hug tenderly. “I’m still coming over after school, right?” Peter wondered as he pulled out of the embrace.
Tony gave his mentee a fond smile. “Doesn’t you’re aunt still have a late shift?” The man questioned, ruffling the boy’s hair.
“Yup.” Peter answered simply, nodding his head.
“Then yes.” Tony replied. “ Actually , you know what—Hey teach!” The man called out to Mr. Harrington, who was once again counting his students. The teacher jumped and turned around to face Tony.
“Yes, sir?” Mr. Harrington spoke, rubbing his hands together nervously.
“Can I keep this one?” Tony said, putting a hand on top of Peter’s head, shaking it slightly for emphasis. “He’s coming back here after school anyways.”
“Oh. Is that—Is that okay with his aunt?” Mr. Harrington’s eyebrows raised at Tony in curiosity.
“Sure is, Teach. He’s gotta do intern stuff. Like bring me a coffee.” Tony took his hand off Peter’s head and let it hang at his side.
“I’m not bringing you coffee.” Peter deadpanned, flashing a glare at his mentor.
“Alright…” Mr. Harrington trailed off. “I guess I don’t see why not.” He said reluctantly.
“ Wait . Peter, you’re staying?” Ned came up behind Mr. Harrington, startling the teacher a little at his sudden appearance.
“I guess so?“ Peter answered, shrugging his shoulders. Tony didn’t ask him what he wanted. Which was very Tony Stark of him. Not that it was a big deal, Peter doesn’t mind staying behind at the Tower. That just means more time he gets to spend with Tony.
“Oh! Well, I’ll see you on Monday then?” Ned smiled, holding out a hand for their special handshake.
Peter grinned back, grabbing Ned’s hand, accepting the invitation. “Yup, see you Monday.” Peter said, pulling Ned into a quick hug once they completed their handshake.
Ned pulled out of the hug and walked off to join the rest of the tour group along with Mr. Harrington. “Text me!” The boy called out to his best friend.
“I will! Cya’ Ned!” Peter shouted back.
“Bye, Ted!” Tony butted in. Ned jumped, but gave the man a wide smile and waved excitedly as the tour group left the building.
Tony draped an arm over Peter’s shoulders, a smirk plastered on his face. “So you’re using me for your teenage revenge?”
“ So what if I am? ” Peter narrowed his eyes.