Peter was lucky his mom was willing to protect him from his dad's often embarrassing habits. This included a lot of things, but the most notable was the ability to lie to his dad's face under any circumstance. Right now, it included telling Tony he had to be in a board meeting the next day in Malibu even though there wasn't one planned.

After Peter had come home with a permission slip to go on a field trip to Stark Tower, Pepper had signed it and had Dum-E deliver it to her office, a place she knew Tony wouldn't find it. Next, she had called for the private jet to drop Tony off in Malibu then remain in Los Vegas until late evening before flying him back. It was a fail-proof way to make sure Tony couldn't possibly embarrass Peter on a field trip through his own home.

"You need to be in the air right now!" Pepper yelled up the stairs to where Tony was struggling to get dressed.

Peter glanced up from his cereal briefly.

"Why wasn't I told this earlier?" Tony asked, running down the stairs.

He grabbed Pepper's waist and kissed her quickly before running into the kitchen to eat breakfast.

"I told you three days ago," she reminded him, stopping herself from spinning after he sped past her.

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Tony, if you don't go to this meeting, Peter and I will lock you in Fury's office in a straight jacket and force you to listen to all of SHIELD's protocols."

Tony looked at her in horror.

"I'm leaving," he said, racing onto the balcony and suiting up.

"No! You have to take the plane!" Pepper cried, running after him.

Tony was already suited up, though, and she knew there was no way he was coming out.

"Plane won't make it in time," Tony said. Pepper wanted to pull her hair out. "Love you! Bye!"

With that, he shot off into the air and disappeared.

Pepper let out a frustrated scream before composing herself and walking back inside just as Peter finished up his cereal.

"So, I'm screwed," Peter declared, looking up from his bowl.

Pepper shook her head. "Not necessarily."

As his mom continued, Peter got up to wash his bowl.

"I'll make sure he doesn't find out there's a tour group or that you're in it. When he comes back, he won't leave the penthouse."

"Good luck," Peter grumbled.

Pepper shot him a look and he grinned innocently.

"I love you, Mom."

Pepper kissed his head then sent him off towards the elevator.

"I love you too," she called after him, "Enjoy the tour!"

* * * * *

Peter slumped in his seat on the bus. Ned sat behind him, reading a mobile book, and MJ sat across from him, reading a paper book. In his head, he couldn't help but count down the minutes before they arrived at the Tower. Whether or not his mom kept his dad back, he knew he was in for it. Flash would never let him forget his lie about having an internship with Tony Stark and Mr. Harrington wasn't the type of teacher to tell Flash off.

As the bus came to a stop, Peter looked up from his phone and groaned.

"We're here!"

They were, indeed.

As Mr. Harrington led them all off the bus and into the reception area, Peter dragged his feet. The further back in the group he was, the least likely he was to encounter his dad. At least, he hoped.

"Hey, Penis," Flash hissed, poking his back sharply. "Since you work here, where's the front desk?"

Peter raised an eyebrow and pointed at the very obvious front desk.

Flash rolled his eyes. "Way to be observant."

"You're the one that asked," Peter reminded him.

"Don't talk to me like that," Flash snapped before stalking off to find his friends.

Peter sighed as they waited for Mr. Harrington and their tour guide to bring the badges. He'd never actually used one before as FRIDAY already knew who he was, but the plastic guest badges had never interested him anyway. The new metal badges, however, was something Peter would consider carrying.

"Gather 'round, team," Mr. Harrington called, waving for the group to join him and their tour guide.

As the group swarmed him, their tour guide began to hand out badges and explain how their day would go.

"If you have any questions," the guide said, "My name is James and I'll be with you the whole time."

Slipping the guest badge over his head, Peter glanced down at it curiously. In a crisp font, the word 'Guest' was printed on the front. On the back, the Stark Industries logo glimmered.

"Don't you have your own pass?" Ned asked over his shoulder.

Peter shook his head.

"Don't need it," he answered, "FRIDAY just recognises me, Mom, and Dad without one so we don't need anything."

Ned stared at him as if it was the coolest thing he'd heard. Peter wasn't so sure it wasn't, either, so he didn't blame his friend for his amazement.

Drawing the boys away from their whispered discussion, James said, "Please scan your badge as we go through then follow me into the lift."

He led the group through the security gate and scanned his badge. The light above went green and he waved for the rest of the Decathlon team to follow suit. Sticking near the back, Peter hoped no one would notice when FRIDAY protested.

"Peter, why are you in possession of a badge?"

Peter walked through the security gate and felt his face heat up when his team looked at him.

"I'm on a field trip," Peter explained quietly, "Just ignore the badge."

He joined Ned and MJ, trying to ignore Flash's confused scowl as they walked into the lift.

"FRIDAY's so cool," Ned whispered excitedly to Peter.

Peter smiled and nodded as the lift doors closed. Yeah, she was pretty neat.