Stark Internshipspidey567
Peter's always had bad luck. From being Flash's favourite, most frequent victim to losing three different parental figures, its inevitable that his rotten luck comes to play at least once a week, a figure which increased dramatically since that damn spider bite.
That's why it doesn't come as a surprise when Mr Harrington announces the location of the decathlon team's latest field trip during what initially, seemed like a normal Friday afternoon.
"Okay, listen up," he claps to get everyone's attention at the end of the lunch hour. "We've been really fortunate to be offered a chance to go see one of the leading scientific and technological companies of our time!"
Mr Harrington's little speech and the surprising, extremely unusual enthusiasm present in his voice caught the attention of every teenager in the room, including Flash who even took the liberty to stop kicking Peter's legs and MJ, who looked more attentive than usual.
"Stark Industries have selected the brightest students from schools around Queens and New York for a tour of their HQ, including all of you after your impressive outcome in the Academic decathlon earlier on this year."
While there were gasps of wonder and thrilled shouts around the hall, Peter remained silent and grimaced, dread seeping up through him, knowing that the trip would result in all the attention on him. Ned looked at his friend worriedly, trying his hardest to contain his own excitement.
"Oi Penis! Sacred we'll all find out about your lies? Shouldn't have pretended to have an internship in the first place Parker, as if your smart enough to bag a place at Stark Industries." Flash grinned and walked out, nudging Peter on his way out.
Peter sighed deeply and walked out, trying his hardest to remain calm. What's the worst that could happen, he thinks to himself; they find out that I'm Spider-man? Or maybe the fact that Mr Stark is basically like my dad? He groans and leaves, immediately thinking of ways to either get out of going in order to save his dignity from the inevitable embarrassment Mr Stark would cause and his identity as local vigilante/ part-time Avenger.
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Thanks to Peter's bad luck, May makes him go, saying that there is nothing to worry about and missing out will only make him look more suspicious. So he finds himself on the coach, sat next to an extremely hyper Ned.
They get inside and immediately, Sarah the receptionist/tour guide notices him and smirks, aware of his predicament as the precious intern of the great Tony Stark. After explaining to the class a little more about the company and the events of the day, she turned to Peter.
"Hey Pete. I heard that your school was making a trip here so I didn't make an extra visitor pass for you. You brought your own, right?"
To anyone else, it seemed innocent enough but the gleam in her eye gave her away to Peter and he scowled before assuring her that yes, he does have his own entry pass. He turned to look at his classmates and everyone except Ned and MJ looked shocked to see that Peter wasn't lying.
He felt slightly smug at proving them wrong and more importantly, himself as being worthy enough to be an intern at Stark Industries but the feeling quickly vanished once he realised what using his own pass meant. Friday.
As each person meant through the security doors and tapped their passes, they were greeted by a monotonous voice which read out their name and their level; Level 1. Once Sarah went in, the voice said Level 7.
"What do the different levels refer to?" questioned Flash.
"Each level shows a different amount of security clearing that the employee or visitor has. As I'm this building's receptionist and your tour guide for today, I have enough clearing to get inside everywhere I need to be. A couple labs, meeting rooms and Mr Stark's private quarters are off bound for me." Sarah glances at Peter and teasingly smirks again, before continuing.
"Level 10 is the highest level which is only given to Mr Stark and his closest friends or colleagues."
Peter feels like crying. He knows what's going to happen once he passes those doors and suddenly he feels an immense amount of irritation towards Sarah, for making his superhero identity more obvious to his classmates. It must show on his face because Ned rubs his back and Peter sighs, reminding himself that Sarah doesn't even know he's Spider-man, so he shouldn't be letting it get to him.
He braces himself and taps his pass. The previously monotone voice brightens up to greet him.
"Peter Parker, Level 10. Welcome back, it's nice to hear from you so soon after you left yesterday night. Would you like me to contact boss and let him know you've arrived?" Friday asks, as warmly as an A.I can.
"N-No. No, that's alright Friday, thanks. Just here for a school trip". Peter says as he scurries past and keeps his head down. By now, all of his classmates have heard the encounter and are staring at him with expressions of awe
"Level 10? What the hell Parker, how do you have the highest level of clearing? You're just an intern." Flash scoffs, looking at him with disbelief.
"Uhhhh, that's because... I'm Mr Stark's personal intern?" Peter says, sounding more questioning than confident.
He tries again, standing up taller. "Yeah, Mr Stark's personal intern. I need access to every where he has access in order to help him."
Sarah senses Peter's increasing discomfort and swiftly cuts off whatever the Flash kid was going to taunt next. She shoots Peter an apologetic smile, regretting putting the attention on him so much now that she sees what type of kids he goes to school with.
From then on, the tour goes on much more smoothly in Peter's opinion. Despite the quick glances of wonder he catches from his teammates from time to time, most of them are much more focused on the actual tour, including himself.
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Obviously, things start to go downhill as the day continues, including quite a surprising encounter with Dr Bruce Banner.
While passing the biochemical labs, Peter caught sight of Dr Banner and subtly waved, happy to see his scientific hero and new friend. Bruce saw and grinned warmly, exiting the lab to talk to him.
Peter's eyes widened as he realised Dr Banner's intention. Although he was undoubtedly a kind and welcoming man, they'd only met recently and he didn't except Bruce to go out of his way to come see him.
"Peter! Do you mind coming in and taking a look at this new formula I'm working on? I need someone to double check my conclusions before sending it off and Tony tells me you're more than qualified to do so.'
Peter cringes at the mention of Tony, aware that is classmates are hanging onto every word that is said to him. He then turns to Mr Harrington with a sheepish smile, whose jaw was slacked and mouth open. All the teacher could do was nod and just as soon, Peter was swept into the lab, fitting in seamlessly with the busy scientists.
While Peter was busy with the acclaimed doctor, both talking and laughing with each other, the decathlon team tried to process everything that they'd seen so far.
"Honestly what the hell is happening here? Since when is Parker on friendly terms with Bruce Banner? And how does a scrawny, socially awkward kid like him become a personal intern to Tony Stark. He must've paid them to say this shit, there's no way he earned this." Flash scoffed.
Ned frowned and was about to jump up to Peter's defence but MJ beat him to it.
"As much we all love listening to your idiotic and simply embarrassing observations Eugene, every one knows you can't just buy your way into Stark Industries and anyone that works here must be insanely intelligent. So I think it'd be best if you shut up and realise that its really not all that surprising that Peter works with the best of the best as he has proven himself to keep up with them time and time again, unlike yourself." MJ smiles sweetly, pleased to see the the scowl on Flash's face.
"Very well said, Miss...?" They turn around and come face to face with Stark Industries' CEO, Pepper Potts.
And for the first time in a long time, MJ was left speechless.
Although her dislike and disregard towards the Avengers and rich companies run by rich men was well known amongst her teammates, it had decreased considerably once she realised that Tony Stark was all for the Accords and wanted to be held accountable for his mistakes. Her dislike decreased further when she found out that Peter Parker was Spider-Man and not all heroes are like war criminal Steve Rogers.
However, one person she had nothing but respect for was Pepper Potts. A woman in charge of the leading scientific and technological company who always presents herself formidably was everything that MJ hoped to be when she stepped into the adult world.
A few moments of silence were all it took for MJ to compose herself and reply, "Jones. Michelle Jones, ma'am".
Pepper smiled, "Well Miss Jones, I wholeheartedly agree with all that you've said. Here at Stark Industries we only hire the best, Peter Parker being one of them".
If the classmates still had any doubt about Peter being an intern at the company, it was all vanished in an instance as soon as the CEO acknowledged his position, and they could all sense fondness in her voice as she said Peter's name... even Flash, who was looking slightly green for being called out not only in front of his friends, but one of the most powerful women in the world.
Peter said his farewells to Dr Banner and walked out the lab.
"Ms Potts! What are you doing here?"
"Hey Pete. I knew your class was coming down for a visit so I thought I'd come down and say hi."
"You didn't have to do that. I know how busy you are. Plus, I'll see you in a couple hours anyways."
"Oh! You staying over this weekend, right? I know how much Tony is missing you."
Their conversation flowed easily, and they forgot that there were a dozen other kids in the room hanging onto every word being uttered.
Staying over? How close is Peter to Tony Stark? These were the questions going through the teenagers' minds.
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Pepper Potts talked to the decathlon team for a couple more minutes, answering questions about the business side of things and the running of the company. She'd managed to intrigue anyone in her proximity by the fierce loyalty and protectiveness she had over Stark Industries and she left Peter and his classmates feeling more in awe than before.
It was nearing the end of the trip and Peter was grateful that he hadn't bumped into a certain someone yet. Sure the Level 10 pass, conversation with Bruce and closeness to Pepper were things he didn't want to disclose to his teammates and most certainly to Flash but overall, the two things he was most worried about hadn't occurred yet.
Peter's bad luck however, had different plans. Spider-Man's identity was safe, Iron Dad.... not so much.
They were at the last exhibition of the tour. The Iron Man exhibition. It showcased all of the suits from Mark l in Afghanistan to Mark 46, the one Peter has grown accustomed to. The exhibition presented Tony's story, his battles, his inventions and his ideas.
Looking around reminded Peter of all the hardships his mentor had gone through and he felt a surge of protectiveness go through him. He promised himself that he'd keep his family safe when Ben died and this meant keeping Mr Stark safe too.
Wrapped up in his thoughts, Peter failed to notice the man who walked into the room, until he heard gasps around him. He looked up and saw Tony Stark in all his glory, with twinkling eyes focused on him.
Peter gulped and slowly shook his head, trying to communicate the fact that he didn't want Mr Stark to go overboard.
Tony grinned wider and winked.
"Kid! Friday informed me that you were here. I haven't seen you in a couple days, missed having you around," he said as he clapped Peter's back and rested his arm over Peter's shoulders.
In the corner, something smashed. Probably Flash dropping whatever he was holding to marvel at the fact that Tony Stark was standing in front of him. Gasps were heard across the room and jaws dropped, everyone staring at Peter with expressions ranging from wonder to guilt for not believing him.
Peter let himself have a moment of happiness, knowing that he wouldn't be classed as a liar anymore. He cleared his head when he realised that Tony would surely do something to embarrass him now that he'd arrived
"Hi Da- Mr Stark. Sorry, you know how school gets... busy." Peter smiled nervously. Tony squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and Peter allowed himself to relax slightly. "But I am staying over the weekend. Help with all that I missed this week."
"Good, it'll be great to have you here. May knows?"
"Yep, she's fine with it."
Tony smiled at his kid again and then addressed the rest of the teenagers.
"Hello, Midtown High. I usually wouldn't come over to greet you as I'm sure you are aware of the many responsibilities I have," he teasingly boasted, earning a couple grins from the students who felt less intimidated.
"But you can thank Peter for that. He's my intern and a bloody good one at that, so I think I owe him to come down and say hi to his friends." Tony said while looking at the team in front of him, eyes narrowing slightly at Flash who gulped and looked away.
Peter nudged Mr Stark's side, indicating for him to be nice but Tony just laughed and ruffled his hair. Peter smiled back and they continued to chatter.
Peter's classmates were taken aback to see the ease between the two and were taking turns either looking at the pair in awe or at each other with surprise.
Flash felt the most disgruntled. He honestly didn't believe that Peter was capable of scoring an internship at Stark Industries, never mind the close bond he seemed to have with the man himself. He observed Peter and Tony, both in their own world as they spoke to each other.
There was a sense of ease and comfort between them. One you'd only encounter when spending time with a loving family. And did Peter really almost refer to Mr Stark as Dad earlier on? After witnessing the last couple of minutes, Flash didn't doubt it anymore and he scowled. Another thing that Peter had achieved before he did. An impressive internship and a caring father-figure.
Mr Harrington coughed, startling Peter and Tony out of their exclusive conversation.
"Ah right. So, this exhibition showcases all of my Iron-man suits, from its origin from my time in Afghanistan to the most recent one..."
While Tony continued giving a brief explanation of the exhibition and answering the questions asked from various questions, he kept catching Peter's eye, giving him small but warm smiles every now and then.
They were noticed by everyone almost every time, Ned and MJ enjoying themselves far too much and Peter simply turning red every time.
Once it was time to leave, Tony convinced Mr Harrington to allow Peter to stay at the compound, arguing how he would be staying here for the weekend anyways. Not that much arguing was required; its hard to say no to a multi-billionaire genius and superhero.
Peter said his farewells to his close friends, and nodded at the others in the team, sheepishly smiling as they gave him knowing looks. He knew that even though he escaped the ride back to Midtown High now, when school came round on Monday, he'd be bombarded with questions about his newfound relationship with one of the most profound men on the planet.
They left and Peter signed in relief. What a day. And it could've been much worse, as thankfully Spider-man was still safe.
Tony put and arm around his shoulder and dragged him up to his private workshop, where they spent the next couple of hours talking and laughing, enjoying each other's company. And as night fell and Pepper, Rhodey, Bruce and May joined them for dinner, Peter felt as loved and at home as a person ever could hope for.
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