Tony pulls the mic away from his face, covering it with his hand, "Peter?" He whispers to me. "Are you okay?" He whispers into my ear as he shakes my hand. I just keep up my facade as I give him a tight smile and step into line beside Benjy and Flash.

"And the winner is..." Tony says into the mic as he flashes me another concerned look. As obnoxiously as they possibly can, the rest of my student body drums either their hands on their thighs or feet on the stands in a drum roll.

"Peter Parker!" Tony shouts into the mic. Everyone starts applauding—not for me, but for Tony and his coolness. However, I do notice how Ned has begun to ferociously scream from where he's standing in the crowd and starts furiously playing the air guitar to celebrate.

I look over at Flash beside me and see the utter anger radiating off of him. "You'll pay, Parker." Flash whispers into my ear as he tries to cordially shake my hand. Benjy gives me a hug and a polite congratulations.

Tony places his hand on my shoulder and gives my class one last wave before guiding me out of the gym and into an empty hall. "Peter, what happened to your face?!" He asks as he tries to inspect my eye.

"It wasn't you! I promise." I insist as I carefully push his hands off my face.

"Then who was it?" Tony scoffs, leaning away. Then realizations dawns on him.

"You don't need to worry about me." I hum as I look down at my feet.

"Well, you're my personal intern now, so I'm gonna have to." He snorts as he places a hand on my shoulder. "Where's your backpack?" He asks casually.

"With Ned." I answer, gesturing back to the gymnasium.

"You think he can get that back to you?" Tony checks, shooting me a finger gun as he pulls his sunglasses on.

"Yeah." I shrug as we walk out of the school.

"Off we go, then." Tony hums as he shoves his hands into his pant pockets.

"What?" I snort. "Where?"

"The Tower?" Tony replies as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "School is out, kiddo. It's time to learn."

The next thing I know, a bombardment of flashing cameras and shouted names overcome my senses, leaving me on the floor in a smol ball.  God knows where Tony went, but when I look up, all I see are camera lenses, flashing lights, and angry faces.

"Are you the kid Stark hit with his car?!"

"Name?"

"Are you Mr. Stark's new intern?"

"Are you Mr. Stark's son?"

I want to scream. Just sit there and scream. But before I have the chance to, I feel someone grab my upper arms and pull me out of the crowd and into a car. I peep one eye open, my head pounding with pain. Tony is saying things to me in a rushed manner, but I can't seem to hear any of it. All that I hear is a light ringing. The flashes have yet to stop, they seem to be making it through the shaded windows of the car. It's only when we make it 2 blocks away that my senses finally start to dial back in to their regularly highly sensitive state.

"Kid? Peter?" Tony tries, worry evident on his face.

"Yeah, Mr. Stark?" I murmur as I look back out the window.

"Oh, thank god! You weren't replying for a minute there, kid." He releases a deep breath of relief. "Sorry about the press, it wasn't until I'd made it to the car that I realized I'd lost you in the hoard."

"It's okay." I chuckle tightly in response. We pull up to the Avengers Tower. "Holy cow..." I murmur under my breath as I look up at the looming building.

"Magnificent, isn't she?" Tony sighs as he tilts his glasses down to look up at his architectural beaut. "Well, onwards!"

I follow Tony as he throws some bellhop his car keys and makes his way into the elevator. "Floor 89, FRI." He shouts into the air.

"You got it, boss." She replies in the coolest Irish accent ever. I've read about Tony's AI, FRIDAY—she can do anything from ordering a pizza to launching a nuke. This girl's got some power.

"Wow." I breathe out when the elevator opens to reveal a science lab.

Okay, let's back up—this isn't just any science lab. This is Tony Stark's science lab.

Gadgets and electronics of any variety are laid across holographic tables, images of machines and rocketry being portrayed into the open air. My jaw practically hits the floor.

"Cool, right?" Tony smirks as he pulls off his coat and tie, then rolls up his white sleeves to get to work. "So, kid—what do you know about Iron Man?"

My mind becomes flooded with the buckets and buckets of knowledge I've studied on his suit—"Oh, don't even get me started!" I gush, "I've spent hours studying the molecular energy of his blasters and the chemical makeup of their impact on the human body, and, and their impact on tricychloride hemapologrin—"

Tony places a palm in the air—"Why would you study that?"

I freeze. Shoot. I've said too much. Tricychloride hemapologrin is what my webs are made of.

"Uh..." I trail, my eyes wider that freaking saucers. "I thought you wrote about it in one of your books?" My eyes trail off around the room as I furiously try to find something to change the subject with.

"I didn't write any books." Tony snorts as he turns to look at me, his attention veering away from the machine he's been tinkering on.

I swear I could litEraLy feel a hand smack me across my face. "OH." I say, far louder than I meant it to be, "I meant Dr. Banners's books! Yeah, um—I read about it in one of Dr. Banner's books." No, I did not.

"Oh." Tony shrugs carelessly and turns back to his work. "Well, don't just stand there, take a seat." He waves a dismissive hand to some other desk in the room, too focused on his device to look up.

I pop a squat at a desk a little ways across the room, snagging some tools and scrap parts to tinker with for the time being. "Uh, what am I making, Mr. Stark?" I ask after a couple minutes of making it look like I know what I'm doing.

"Oh!" Tony laughs as he turns to me. "I'm trying to improve my blasters." Is all he gives me. He raises his eyebrows at me, then once again, turns back to his work.

Tony is not a very elaborative man, I guess.

"Uh, okay..." I trail with a lighthearted shrug.

__uhhh time skip? more like time y e e т __

"Alright, kid, it's 5:30." Tony sighs as he leans away from his project. I'd finished mine around 2 hours ago, so I've just been tinkering around with scrap metal since then.

"Oh, so is that my schedule?" I check, hurrying to replace my tools to where I had found them.

"Hm?" Tony hums, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he makes his way over to me.

"After school to 5:30?" I ask as I put away my last tool, then go to grab my backpack.

"Oh my god, I never told you your schedule, did I?" Tony groans as he runs a hand down his face exhaustedly. This guy is tired.

"You just did!" I give him a wide, encouraging smile. "Thanks, Mr. Stark!" My mind starts to race as I can't seem to find my backpack. Where did I put it?

"Kid, what are you looking for?" Tony chuckles as he leans on a chair carelessly, watching me dart around the room in a fluster. I stop in my spot as I take a few deep breaths to try to calm myself down. Where's my backpack? My suit's in it, I cannot lose it. Especially in here.

"My backpack." I reply breathlessly.

Tony wipes grease-coated his hands on an oil rag as he steps into the elevator, gesturing for me to follow. "Oh, you left it with your friend."

Relief floods over me. "Oh, thank god!" I sigh as I follow him in. "Oh, would it be okay if I used a phone?"

Tony raises a confused eyebrow at me. "Sure, why?"

"I don't have one, and I've gotta let Ned know I'm swinging by to grab my backpack—" I start, but Tony interrupts me with a raised palm.

"You don't have a phone?"

I pause in an embarrassed silence. "No." I murmur.

"I'll have one for you by tomorrow." Tony decides as he faces forwards, the elevator doors finally closing. He dips his hand into his pocket and pulls out his iconic Stark phone, opening up the phone app so I can dial in Ned's number.

"Thanks." I smile at Tony as I type in Ned's number and hold it up to my ear.

Tony shouts a quick, "Lobby" to FRIDAY just before Ned answers, "Hey, Ned." I start as the ringing stops.

"Peter?" Ned questions. He sounds completely panicked.

"Yeah?" I chuckle at his wackiness.

"Oh, thank god!" Ned sighs dramatically. "You literally disappeared after you walked out with Tony Stark! I have your backpack here. So what is Tony like? Is he cool? Oh, well of course he's—" Ned pauses. "Wait, how are you calling me?"

"Mr. Stark's phone." I whisper into the speaker. I am so trying not to explode with excitement right now. I'm literally talking to Ned on Tony Stark's Stark phone!!

"WHAT." Ned shrieks and I flinch away from the speaker.

"Hey, I gotta get off, I just called to let you know I'm coming by your house to pick up my backpack in a few."

"Okay! I'll be here!" Ned says excitedly. I can practically feel the energy emanating from my best friend.

"Thanks, Ned." I hang up the phone and pass it back to Tony. "Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"No problem, kid." He smiles as the elevator door starts to open. "You gonna make it home okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll be fine." I smile at him as I step out of the elevator.

"You sure? You don't have your backpack or a phone." Tony replies worriedly as he waits in the elevator. Is Tony worried about me?

"It's not that long of a walk." I add as I start to make my way for the exit, walking backwards so I'm still facing Tony. "Thank you for the internship, Mr. Stark!" I shout out.

"You earned it." He gives me a genuine smile just as the elevator doors close. I take a step out of the revolving doors as the chilly air of New York City washes over me. Stuffing my hands into my hoodie pockets, I set off towards Ned's house, hoping and praying for an uneventful walk.

Sadly, that walk was about to be anything but uneventful.

___________

HI! My name is NOT shalack, but when I signed the first chapter, I felt a creative impulse to write shalack, so here we are. I am diggin this story line so far so I think ima stick to it.

Yours truly,

-not shalack