Word Count- 8,150

"Now don't forget, team," MJ says as they all make their way out of the room. "Get your parents, or guardians, to sign the slip letting you go to Stark Industries. And it's not my problem if you forget,"

There's a chorus of "yeah"'s and an "okay mom", Michelle just rolls her eyes.

"Peter."

The male in question turns and looks at his Decathlon team leader, letting out a little "hmm?".

"Make sure your guardian signs it. This is a good bonding exercise for the team, no excuses." MJ says, sounding threatening.

Peter puts his hands up in surrender, "I-I'll make sure he signs it! Don't worry Michelle-"

"MJ." The girl corrects him. He smiles lopsidedly, before he coughs to cover his goofy grin.

"Right- sorry- MJ, I'll get him to sign it tonight." Peter says, walking backwards towards the exit with a small smile. Michelle smirks and points at him playfully intimidatingly,

"You better, Parker."

The teen waves goodbye and leaves the building, finding himself in a deserted hallway. This is what school is like when you've got extracurricular activities.

"Well if it isn't Penis Parker," Flash says from behind him, spooking the boy. "Finally gonna find out your little internship was all a big lie on Friday, aren't we?" Flash high fives one of his friend's with a smirk on his face.

Peter turns away from them and spots Ned waiting at the end of the hall for him. Thank god.

"Ned!" Peter shouts, making the other teen turn towards him with a smile.

"Peter!" Ned greets once his friend gets closer to him. "We still on for tonight?"

"For sure, you got the Lego's?" He asks, his voice dropping into a hushed whisper.

Ned's does the same. Nodding he replies, "Yeah, you got the snacks?"

Peter nods as well before he stops and has a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, that is unless Tony ate them all."

They both share a laugh and make it outside the school, having lost the bullies on their way out.

There's a slick black car waiting for them and Peter pulls open the door for them to get inside. "Hey Happy," He greets, looking in the rear view mirror with a smile. The only way Peter knows Happy heard him, is the little jerk of the driver's head in greeting.

Peter slides the door closed and both boys take their seats as they chat away.

But before long the conversation comes down to the field trip in a couple days. Peter didn't want to go, mostly because he knew that his family would just have to be there, but he couldn't disappoint Michelle- his team again.

"So you're gonna get Tony to sign it? How's that gonna look to the others?" Ned asks seriously.

Peter shrugs, "I dunno Ned, technically speaking he is my guardian so he's the only one who's really.. allowed to."

Ned nods, face still serious, before it breaks out in a smile at Happy's words, "We're here,"

Happy climbs out of the car and the door opens a few seconds later, as the two boys are picking up their bags off of the floor. Peter hops out, followed by Ned who both follow the driver up to the facility.

The door opens at Happy's ID badge and the three enter.

"Good afternoon, Happy, Peter, and Ned." FRIDAY's voice says through the speakers in the ceilings.

"Hey Fri," Happy greets, leading them through the building's first floor. Peter and Ned give their greetings to the AI as well, as they follow Happy.

"Tap your ID badges on the screen please." FRIDAY speaks, making Ned's eyes light up in wonder.

"You know- I will never get over how cool she is!" Ned whispers excitedly to Peter. The latter smiles, "I know right?"

"Why thank you boys," Comes her almost human-like reply.

They pull out their ID's and tap them on the screen provided.

"Happy Hogan, Alpha Card, Level 10. Welcome," Comes a female robotic voice through the screen.

"Peter Parker, Alpha Card, Level 10. Welcome,"

"Ned Leeds, Beta Card, Level 6. Welcome,"

"How come Mr. Stark only has female AI's?" Ned asks Peter.

"Well, Ned, it's simply because females are.. well.. better at our jobs most of the time. Isn't that right FRIDAY?" Tony says, stepping out of the elevator.

There is a female human-like chuckle from above but nothing more is said from the AI.

"Anyways, what are you kids up to?" Tony asks, pulling at the cuffs of his dress shirt.

"Well we were going to stay up tonight building Lego's and eating snacks-" Tony cut's Ned off.

"Happy you'll need to go out and buy some more snacks, FRIDAY will send you the list." Happy rolls his eyes with a slight smirk.

"You ate them all ?" Peter asks, almost impressed.

Tony shrugs dramatically, "I'm a hungry guy!" Peter laughs, shaking his head.

"And whatever about the snacks, Ned did you make sure your parent's are okay with you sleeping over? It is a school night." Tony sends a pointed look at Peter.

"Oh- yes Mr. Stark," Ned throws a thumb over his shoulder at his backpack. "I've got clothes for school tomorrow and they said it's fine!"

Tony nods approvingly, "Alright, well Happy you should-"

Happy waves him off, "Yeah yeah I gotcha Tony, off to buy the snacks."

Tony grins at the man and then turns back towards the open elevator. "Thanks for holding the door for me, Fri." Tony thanks his AI as he and the two children walk inside.

The doors shut and Tony glances at them with a sly smirk, "So, what's this I hear about a field trip to SI?"

Ned freezes and turns to look at Peter, who clicks his fingers like he's remembered and ruffles through his bag, "Yeah! It's in here somewhere.. aha!" He yells in victory, pulling out a sheet of paper. "Wait- no that's my English homework," Peter sighs and digs through his bag again, pulling out another piece of paper and smiles, before thrusting it at Tony. "Here it is!"

His guardian dad takes the paper given to him and reads over it quickly. "On Friday huh? Is it the whole day?" He asks, eyes flicking down to where he has to sign his name, a blank bar.

"Yeah, so basically no school!" Peter and Ned high five. "But it's a little annoying that I have to go to school and come back on a bus with the Decathlon Team, wish I could just stay here." Peter huffs out a sad sigh.

The elevator doors open and Tony chuckles, "It's the way school is buddy," He says, taking the sheet of paper to the kitchen.

"I'll wait in the lounge," Ned says with a large grin, Peter smiles and nods at him before following his dad into the kitchen.

"But why does it have to suck so bad?" Peter asks, leaning against the counter. "Honestly if Flash wasn't there I'd be more inclined to go every day." He shakes his head with furrowed eyes brows and a tight frown.

"Flash? Is he bothering you?" Tony asks seriously, taking a pen out of the cupboard.

Peter shrugs and lets his bag rest on the ground, "Kinda, it's not really a big deal, just some name calling here and there."

Tony doesn't look convinced.

"Well it's better if it's me he picks on, because I heal faster than the others a-and I can ignore him," Peter explains, only making Tony's eyebrows furrow further.

"Kid," He starts, quickly signing off his name. "If someone's bullying you, you need to tell your teachers- or hell! Tell me even, I'll take it to the school and they'll get it sorted out for you."

Peter shakes his head, "You don't have to do that- plus, that'll just make him start harassing other people, I can take it dad." He finishes softly.

Tony's hard eyes soften and he sighs. "Don't- don't give me the puppy dog eyes Pete. Just promise me one thing, okay?"

Peter nods seriously.

"If he ever gets physical with you again, you tell me." Tony's voice is even, he's made up his mind about this and it would be dangerous for Peter to ignore him.

"Yeah, okay, of course." Peter says just as seriously.

Tony's eyes narrow at him and he holds out his pinky finger. Well, didn't expect that one.

"You can't break a pinky promise, Peter. So if you break this promise, there will be dire consequences. Got it?" Peter quickly grabs his pinky in his own and they shake on it.

"I got it."

Tony's serious face becomes happy again and he hands the paper back to his super-son. "Go have fun building your Lego's, Happy will be back soon. And if you need anything I'll be down in the workshop." He says, patting Peter's fluffy hair a few times before making his way back to the elevator.

"Okay!" Peter says, picking his back up and returns to the lounge room.

"Ready?" Ned asks excitedly, already having taken out and organised the Lego's into separate piles.

"Ready!"

-

Next day, after school.

"Peter, glad you could join us." Michelle greets, her back towards him as he enters the room. "Did you get your paper signed? Today's the last day you know."

Peter takes out the sheet of paper and runs up to her table, where there's a small stack of papers like his with signatures and some other knickknacks. "Hey Michelle-"

"MJ." She corrects.

"-MJ, and yeah he signed it- here you go." He says handing her the sheet.

MJ glances over the sheet, disinterestedly but stops and stares at the signature. She blinks a few times at the name and glances up at Peter, who's nerves are making his hands shake but they're in his jeans' pocket's to hide it.

"Alright, cool, thanks Peter." She says finally, putting it down on top of the pile. Peter nods stiffly at her and then puts his bag down and takes his seat up on the stage next to Ned.

They run through a bunch of questions, Peter giving his input when he hits the buzzer first.

Then through the next question his phone starts going off in his backpack. He glances down at it and lets it ring out once, apologising for the interruption. Then it rings again and he's itching to pick it up when Flash yells, "God Parker, just pick it up!" angrily.

Peter excuses himself and picks up the phone, glancing at the caller ID, it says Dad. He grins and answers quietly while the others continue with their questions.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Kid! Where are you?"

"I'm at Decathlon practice, why- what's wrong?"

"Oh crap- that's on today isn't it?"

"Yeah, like it has been all year." He rolls his eyes. "Now, can you tell me why you called?" He asks not unkindly.

"Eh it's nothing to worry about, I just bought a movie and I thought you'd have been home by now to watch it."

Peter deflates slightly, he would've loved to watch it with him. Damn school!

"I'm sorry,"

"Hey don't worry about it, we'll watch it when you get home later, I'll just busy myself downstairs."

Peter makes a disgusted noise. "Eugh- I did not need to know that! Tmi dad!"

"What- oh god no Peter! I meant down in the workshop! That's just- god, okay I'll see you when you get home. Say hi to Ned for me."

Peter's face flushes with embarrassment, all the way up to his ears. "Will do, bye!"

The phone clicks off and Peter lets out an exhausted sigh, oblivious to the silence around him. He puts his phone back in his bag and turns around to see everyone staring at him confusedly.

"...What?" Peter asks, cutting the silence in half.

Ned looks worried for him, eyebrows creased in concern. Flash has a devilish smirk on his face and he asks loudly, "You call your boyfriend "dad"? That's a bit messed up- even for you Penis." No one laughs at it and MJ shuts him down real fast.

"Shut up Flash, what Peter does outside of school is his own business." She says, not trying to hide her anger at the bully.

"Whatever," Flash grumbles, turning the smirk into a scowl.

"Wait- I do not call my boyfriend "dad"- I-I don't even have a boyfriend!!" Peter is beyond mortified by now.

"Now Pete," Their teacher starts. "There's no harm in having boyfriends or girlfriends-"

"I don't have either!" Peter squeaks out, frustrated. "Look a-are we done? I kinda have to go."

MJ raises an eyebrow at him and shrugs. "Whatever loser, just make sure you're here before nine. Or we'll leave without you."

Peter chuckles, feeling a little intimidated, "I'll be here, MJ. Bye Ned," Ned waves goodbye and Peter slips out of the room just as MJ continues with the questions.

^^ Peter Parker 4:10 PM: Hey Happy, got out a little early, I'll be out the front waiting for you
Read 4:10 PM

Peter sits on the bench outside of the school and plays on his phone while he waits for the black car to pick him up.

And ten minutes later, a shiny black car pulls up and Peter jobs over to it. He opens the door and gets in, sliding it shut. "Thanks Happy," Peter sighs, sitting back in his chair.

Happy looks back at him through the mirror, a foreign expression on his face that Peter's never seen before.

"What's wrong kid?" Ah, so that must be what concern looks like on Happy.

"It's nothing, Happy, I just- I called Tony "dad" on the phone in front of my whole team and they thought I was talking to like- a boyfriend or something." Peter explains, throwing his hands around in wild gestures.

"Ah," Is all the driver responds with. Peter pulls out his phone and opens up messages, clicking on Ned's icon.

Peterlicous Parkervicious 4:22 PM: Tony told me to say hi when I was on the phone before, didn't wanna say it in front of the team just in case they like made fun of you or something.. sorry for leaving early, I was just really annoyed

They arrive home relatively quickly and Happy opens the car door for him. "Thanks," Peter smiles and starts walking up to the facility.

He opens the front door and FRIDAY greets him, "Hello Peter, you've arrived home early. Would you like me to inform Mr. Stark?"

"Hey Fri, yeah just let him know I'm having a shower first." "Of course."

Peter steps into the elevator and goes up to the level his bedroom is on. The doors open and he makes his way into the en-suite. He has a quick five minute shower and gets dressed into a loosely fitting tee and pyjama pants.

He wraps his soft bed blanket around his shoulders and lets it drag across the freshly cleaned floors to the elevator.

"Mr. Stark would like me to let you know that he'll be up in the lounge in ten minutes with snacks, so you can get comfy on the couch." FRIDAY says through the speakers.

"Thank's FRIDAY," Peter smiles up at the elevator's camera.

He seats himself on the couch with a bunch of pillows and his blanket, and approximately ten minutes later, Tony plops down next to him with a grin, his arms filled with snacks.

"Now then, without further ado, let's eat away our feelings and forget the world for two hours!" Tony says cheerfully, tossing Peter a packet of Doritos. Peter startles out a laugh and catches them.

Tony raises his own packet, in a toast. "To being fucked up- wait no you can't swear-"

Peter raises his packet with Tony, "To being messed up." smiling. They both break off into laughter.

"Now let's watch this movie kid!"

-

It's the day of the field trip. Peter jumps out of bed, his nerves giving him all the energy he missed from not sleeping. He quickly gets dressed and splashes his face with cold water to wake up more. Immediate regret.

"ooo- that's cold oh god-" His teeth chatter as the cool air from the open window nips at the already freezing water. He grabs a towel and dries his face before fixing his hair.

"...Good enough." He mutters, turning on his heel and exits the bathroom.

He makes his way downstairs to the kitchen with his bag and sees a half-asleep Tony eating a waffle. "Mornin' kid," The Stark replies, stuffing his mouth full of the food again. He swallows when he sees the bags under Peter's eyes. "You get any sleep last night?"

Peter looks through the fridge and grabs out the carton of 100% orange juice that Tony keeps stocked just for him. "Not really, you look like you didn't either?"

Tony sends him a glare and eats another bite. "No, I was up making some adjustments to a project I'm working on- but that doesn't matter! I don't need sleep to help my brain grow into something functional, mine's already done that!" Tony chastises, pointing at him accusingly.

The kid laughs and fills up a glass of the orange nectar and chugs it. "Too late to change that now, gotta leave now or else the team will leave without me." He says shrugging his other arm through the loose bag strap. "And please don't tell the others, or at least keep them away from the tour?" His eyes are hopeful, but he knows that Tony won't give up on such a great opportunity to embarrass his son.

Tony's eyes narrow ever so slightly, he tries to hide a smirk behind his half eaten waffle. "I'll see what I can do kid."

Oh god.

The team is about to start entering the bus when they see Peter jogging over to them, MJ sighs exasperatedly and shakes her head as she climbs on.

"Starting to think you chickened out Penis, cause now we're all gonna see how your internship is a load of bull-" Flash is cut off by their teacher.

"That's enough Eugene, get on the bus now." He says, ushering them forward.

Peter gets to the back of the line behind Ned. The rest of them climb into the bus and take their seats. The teacher gives a brief explanation of what will be happening at the Facility, and that they will all have to act maturely- he sends a pointed look at Flash -and be respectful of everything. So no touching.

"Crap!" Peter whisper-yells to Ned, looking scared. "I forgot to tell FRIDAY before I left- our cards are gonna be higher than everyone else's!" Ned helps calm him down with a reassuring smile.

"It's okay Peter, if they ask, just say that you need an all-level card because you're an intern for Tony, and that I've got a higher one because I sometimes come over and help out. Technically it's not a lie." Ned's comforting words help to put Peter slightly more at ease.

They exchange idle chit chat for the little while it takes to get to their destination, and then-

"And we're here! If everyone can please get off the bus in an orderly fashion-" Their teacher drones on, letting them out before himself.

They all line up in an imperfect line as the bus drives away, letting them walk up to the large building.

Happy greets them at the doors. "So you must be the ones here for the field trip, right this way." He takes them inside and FRIDAY startles half of the class.

"Peter, Ned, welcome back." The AI says warmly, making the class turn towards the two in question.

"H-Hey FRIDAY.." Peter says, unsure, Ned says his own greeting as well.

"That's Tony Stark's AI FRIDAY," Happy says, motioning up to the ceiling. "FRIDAY, this is the class Tony told you were coming."

"Yes, I do recall Mr. Stark mentioning something about Peter's class coming today. Would you like me to inform Mr. Stark that they have arrived?" FRIDAY asks, robotic sweetness in her voice.

"Yes please Fri, now if you'll please scan your ID badge that your teacher will be giving you we can continue with the tour."

The students take their respective ID badge's from their teacher and walk up to the screen. Happy explains that they just have to tap and hold it for a moment and they do as instructed.

"Michelle Jones, Omega Card, Level One. Welcome," The robot voice says, making MJ smirk at it good naturedly.

The voice welcomes a few more kids, and then Flash.

"Eugene Thompson, Omega Card, Level One. Welcome," Flash smirks and lifts his chin like he's all that and walks on through, standing next to the group as instructed.

"Ned Leeds, Beta Card, Level 6. Welcome back," The other kids raise an eyebrow to that. Flash looks outraged and tries to speak when-

"Ned sometimes comes along with Peter to intern for the tech side of Stark Industries. Therefor he needs access to the levels," Happy explains, not sparing a glance at the grateful looking Peter.

The others seem to take that well, apart from Flash who's sneering at no one in particular.

"Peter Parker, Alpha Card, Level 10. Welcome back," The robot speaks, and this time Flash speaks before Happy.

"Alpha Card?! Level 10?! Why's he got all that access?" Flash yells angrily, the teacher frowns at him and tries to chastise him but Happy beats him to it.

"Because Peter is an intern for Tony Stark, which means he needs access to any level Tony Stark gives him so he can help out the boss in whatever room he's called to." Happy says sternly, feeling his patience for this boy running thin. Peter looks at him wearily and offers a small smile, which he gets a very small and fast one in return.

"Now we can get on with the tour, FRIDAY, if you will please get the doors?"

FRIDAY opens the doors for them and they walk into the large hallway. An elevator opens further down the hall and out steps Clint, holding a plastic tub of something. He sees Peter and his face lights up, he runs down the hall to meet them.

"Peter Pete Pete Pete!" He repeats over and over.

"Yes yeah yeah yeah?" It was their usual way of greeting each other, although this usually happened in private with just the two of them (sometimes other Avengers as well).

Clint holds up the tub and peels off the lid to reveal two types of cookies, a batch of each.

"Buck was trying out some new recipes for cookies and told me to bring them down for you to try, have one! They're really good I promise." Clint says shaking the box in front of the teen. Clint's promises were never really "promises" he just said that about nearly everything. But if he gives you his word.. well that's a different story, he has never broken his word.

Peter awkwardly takes two of the cookies and takes a bite out of one, it being a greyish-white and sprinkled with chocolate chunks.

"Mmmm!" Peter hums approvingly. "A Cookies and Cream cookie? I'm gonna need more of these." Clint nods with a grin and motions for him to try the other one.

Peter takes a bite out of the second one and chews for a moment before he recognises the flavour.

"Snickers?? Oh my god- I think I'm in heaven." Peter sighs dreamily as the caramel mixes with the crunchy cookie. "I love them both, please send my compliments to the chef!" Peter says after swallowing, looking around for somewhere to put the snacks.

"I'm glad you like them! I'll tell Bucky to make these his usual then?" With an excited nod from Peter he closes the lid and hands the boy a plastic zip-lock bag.

Peter thanks him and puts the biscuits away in his backpack.

"Ah hey Ned, hey Peter's class, stay in school and don't do drugs!" He says as he salutes them and wanders off back down the corridor.

The students look at him as he leaves, shocked, then to Peter. Peter flushes under their gaze's and quickly looks to Happy for help.

"Alright kids, lets keep moving if you wanna see the rest of the place."

They move down the corridor at a relaxed pace, when Flash starts acting up.

"So Parker, I guess you've seen all of this? Seeing as you intern here," Flash says, snarkily. A few people turn to see Peter's reaction but most of the team is too focused on all the cool science-y stuff that's going on in the rooms separated by glass.

"U-Um.. Yeah, well I mostly intern for Mr. Stark, so I'm not down here very often..." He lies. He's seen all of this a hundred times. More even, maybe a couple thousand. In fact, most nights he'd down here helping Bruce with codes and fixing wires and other stuff like that.

Flash makes a little "hmfp!" noise, and it sounds victorious almost, like he's just won an argument.

They move further down and come to a room where Bruce is tapping away at a keyboard, his hair is a mess and the glasses on his face are askew. He notices them in his peripheral vision and turns to see the little group of kids and the two adults, he rubs his eyes tiredly and focuses more on their faces, a small pleasant smile on his face, when he notices Peter and visibly lights up.

He pushes the chair backwards and it rolls itself to a stop and he exits out the door to their left.

"Peter! What're you doing here?" Bruce greets, walking up to the group. Peter sees the bags under his friend's eyes and keeps his voice down.

"I'm here on a school trip with my Decathlon team," Peter says quietly, knowing that loud noises will only give Bruce a headache. "How's everything going down here?"

Bruce looks grateful for the quiet tone and sighs tiredly, "Well you know, so much to be done, not enough hours in the day." They share a soft laugh. The scientist looks to Happy and then his teacher, "Could I steal Pete and Ned for a minute? I need someone to look over the code and they're the best we've got."

Happy shrugs and looks towards Peter's teacher as well.

"Well.. I suppose you could take them for a minute, as long as that's alright." He says, unsure.

Bruce nods in thanks, "They'll only be gone for a second, you won't even know they're missing."

Peter and Ned follow Bruce into the room and Ned takes a seat on the wheel-y chair, scrolling through pages and pages of text, Peter also scanning along with his eyes.

It takes about three minutes for them to look over the whole thing, (and there's a lot there!) and Ned stands back up.

"The code is great, nothing wrong with it!" Ned says with a cheerful smile. Bruce gives him an appreciative pat on the shoulder, and a smile.

Peter looks at him, concerned. "How much sleep have you had today, Bruce?" He asks, putting a hand on the man's shoulder, to steady him out.

Bruce blinks away the blackness creeping into his vision and thinks. "Uh... Probably... About an hour or so?" He settles on, knowing better than to lie to his little science partner.

"Go get some sleep Bruce, Tony won't be happy with you if you work yourself sick." Peter says, and Bruce knows that he's right, but he also knows that Tony needs this code.

"But Tony-"

"Bruce." Peter's voice is stern, but his face only shows soft concern.

Bruce sighs, giving in to the boy and pets his head lightly. "Alright, I'll go sleep. But I'm pinning this on you if I get in trouble," Bruce says, but Peter knows he's kidding, Bruce is way too nice to ever push the blame on someone else, although it would be Peter's fault. He'll make sure to tell Tony that he told Bruce to take a break and sleep.

The three of them walk out, Bruce bidding the other scientists goodbye and he nods at the boys and then the class as he leaves for the elevator.

MJ is still watching the scientists work but the rest of the class is gaping at the two boys.

"Okay, that's all for the techie-scientists if you're all ready we can proceed upstairs, we've been given permission to visit the Gym, so long as no one touches anything."

The class nods and half of them go with Happy in one elevator, and the other half go with their teacher in the second elevator, so they're not all crowded.

The doors open and Natasha and Steve are fighting hand-to-hand combat in regular gym wear. They continue even after glancing at the kids and two adults in the room. In fact, they seem to fight harder- more intensely, as the group watches.

Steve gets a kick in and Natasha catches it, flipping the super soldier over, but he retaliates, catching himself on his hands and kicks her square in the chest- not expecting that, Nat flies a few meters and lands on her back trying to catch her breath. Steve stands up and breathes out a laugh and runs over to help her up.

Natasha smirks and kicks his legs out from underneath him and he falls over also. They start laughing and stand up after a moment.

Steve turns around and sees the kids and turns back to Natasha, "We'll keep practising later, Peter's class is here." He says, getting a nod of confirmation in return.

They both walk over to the group, wiping away the sweat with their small gym-towels.

"Well, you guys must be Peter's class!" Steve smiles in greeting, leaving the kids in awe, and some in fright.

"Y-You're Captain America!" One of them stutters.

"You're a wanted criminal!" Another says, alarmed.

Steve laughs awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck, something he picked up from always having Peter (aka a nervous wreck) around. "No we- we got that sorted out a few years ago, everything's fine now." Steve says, but his voice is strained, he didn't really want that to be their first impression of him.

Natasha notices his discomfort as well and steps forward, making them look at her. "I'm Natasha, it's nice to meet you all." She says, smiling slightly- it looks more like a friendly smirk.

Some greet her back, while others are frozen in admiration or awe, maybe a mix of the two.

"You're the black widow!" Flash speaks up, pointing at her, making Natasha train her eyes on him.

"That is correct, what's your name?" She didn't really know how to act around children, but them being all about Peter's age made it a bit easier.

"I'm Flash Thompson," He smirks in greeting. Natasha narrows her eyes at him as the name rolls around her head. Where did she recognise that name from?..

Steve stiffens beside her and she looks at him questioningly. His eyes are fierce, burning with something akin to hatred, not very familiar to see in the passive one.

"You're Flash?" He asks, his voice no longer awkward and kind, it now has a hard edge to it.

"Yes sir," Flash responds formally, noticing the change in demeanour, he sort of feels threatened by the waves the super soldier is giving off.

Steve's eyes flick to Peter and then back to the boy standing in front of him. "So, you're the kid who's been bullying our Peter?" The man asks, and immediately Natasha recognises the name and she grows cold towards the kid.

Flash takes a hesitant step away from the two and Peter recognises fear in his normally snarky eyes. Peter jumps into action, grabs their attention by walking away from the group, beckoning the two to follow. They do as told and Peter speaks in a hushed tone,

"Flash already hates me enough as it is, you really don't need to feed into that flame." He says, almost begging them not to do or say anything to his "teammate".

Natasha's eyes soften for the teenager and Steve frowns.

"I know, I'm sorry Peter. It's just when I knew who he was-" Steve breaks off in a disgruntled, annoyed sigh.

Natasha doesn't look the slightest bit sorry for what they were going to do. "He's been pushing you around Peter, and yes we do ask Tony for regular updates on the matter, because as soon as he gets physical enough to actually harm you- then we're going to have a serious problem." Nat's tone is serious, and Steve nods along to what she says.

"I get it, you're my family and you're going to worry," The two adults soften and smile when he says they're his family. "But can you just hold out for this trip? For me?" The two share a look before begrudgingly nodding. Peter lets out a sigh of relief and thanks them.

They rejoin the group and the two bid them farewell as they go back to training.

Happy motions for everyone to follow him back into the elevators, and they go up another level to where there's an office full of people rushing around talking on phones and typing on computers.

Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes is scrolling through a Starkpad as he walks towards the elevators, stopping when he feels the stares on him. He glances up and sees a bunch of children staring at him, as well as Happy and a man he's never met. His eyes scroll over the kids and he notices Peter, letting a smile light up his face.

"Peter! What are you doing here?" He asks not unkindly.

"Hey Rhodey, field trip." Peter greets and explains in two short words.

"Ah, of course. These must be your...?"

"Decathlon teammates," Peter provides, making Rhodey click his fingers once and nod.

"Right, well I'll let you get back to the tour then." He nods at the boy and then at Happy as he walks past them into the elevator, his prosthetic legs making soft whirring noises as he walks.

They walk around the office for a little while, talking to some of the interns (the ones that aren't swarmed with work and only offer a smile as they go past). It's quite loud in the room, the sound of typing and talking and papers being moved, Peter was starting to get a headache.

Peter walks around the group of teens and over to Happy. He taps Happy's shoulder and the man looks down at him, seeing the pain in Peter's eyes. Happy nods once and Peter slinks off into the elevator, hoping no one notices.

"Hello again Peter," FRIDAY's voice comes through the speakers in the elevator, but her volume is quiet, which he's very thankful for.

"Hey FRIDAY, where's dad?" Peter asks the AI, rubbing his temple to try and sooth the on coming pain in his head.

"He is down in the workshop, tinkering with a new product design. Would you like me to ask him to come upstairs?" She asks coolly.

"No that's okay, I just need to go up to the kitchen and get some painkillers before this headache really sets in."

"Of course, Peter."

The elevator moves on its own and starts going up.

The doors open and he walks in, taking notice of the man washing dishes in the sink. Bucky looks up upon him entering and smiles, he now notices that Clint is sitting up on the bench, eating a cookies and cream cookie.

"Hey Peter," Bucky greets, Clint also greets him with a mouthful of cookie dough. "Aren't you supposed to be down with your class?"

Peter reaches up into the cupboard and grabs out some medicine, and fills a cup halfway with water. "Yeah, I stepped out to help my headache." He explains, popping the small tablet in his mouth and swallowing it with a bit of water.

"Spidey-senses actin' up again?" Clint asks after swallowing his food. Peter nods while drinking the rest of it down. "That sucks-"

"Peter, your teacher is asking for you to come back downstairs." FRIDAY cuts him off, making the man pout dramatically, taking another bite of his cookie.

Peter sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. How the hell was he supposed to finish this tour without ripping out his hair?

"I... I'm coming down now FRIDAY. What floor are they on?" Peter asks, waving goodbye to his uncles.

"They are in the "armoury" as Boss calls it. Floor four." She informs, opening the doors again for him.

"Thanks Fri,"

"No problem, Peter."

The doors open again and his teacher glances at him before he frowns, "Where did you run off to? You can't leave the group without telling someone Peter, you could've gotten hurt." His teacher chastises him.

Peter is about to defend himself when Tony walks in and puts a hand on his shoulder, silencing him. "He was helping me down in the workshop, some intern stuff, nothing to worry about." Tony says, waving his hand dismissively. The teacher is quite shocked, and it shows on his face. Peter guesses that no one really thought he was being serious about the whole "Stark Internship".

"Wait!" Flash shouts, pointing at Peter. "You mean Parker wasn't lying about the internship?"

"No he was not." Tony says coldly, knowing exactly who this boy was. He'd heard enough about this Flash kid to know that he wasn't a very good person.

"But why would you let Parker intern for you, when you could take on someone actually worth it- like me?" There he goes again, sitting on his high horse. Peter holds back his eye roll, knowing he'll get punched later for it.

Tony's eyes narrow and his grip on Peter's shoulder gets tighter, not enough to hurt, but enough to know that Peter should stay out of it.

"Because Eugene," Tony says snarkily, crinkling his nose in distaste. "Peter is a smart kid who gets stuff done without acting like it's a big deal. He doesn't boast about how he's my intern, only tells people when they ask or if being one is inconveniencing someone else." Peter is struggling to hide his smirk at Flash's wide-eyed mouth slightly parted expression.

"He's my intern, and not you, because he can actually understand how the things down in my workshop work, and he doesn't touch things he's not supposed to." Tony practically growls, referencing back to a few minutes ago when he saw Flash touching Cap's shield through the camera.

Flash shrinks away from the man and keeps his eyes trained on the floor as Tony talks on and on.

"And frankly, I like him. And from what I've gathered today, and every other time Peter has mentioned you bullying him, I. Don't. Like you." Tony snaps, his grip on Peter's shoulder finally easing up slightly.

Flash swallows thickly and creeps away from the two, going back to looking at the armour and weapons.

"You didn't have to yell at him like that," Peter says softly, looking back at the man he calls his father. Tony chuckles, shaking his head slightly.

"Kid, I've been wanting to do that since you first told me about the damn guy." Tony says, making Peter snicker.

"Well... thanks." Peter smiles up at him appreciatively. Tony smiles down at him and shrugs.

"Eh, it's no big deal." Tony ruffles his hair and Peter squeaks indignantly.

"Agh- dad stop that!" He smacks Tony's hands away, making the multi-billionaire laugh heartily.

Silence falls over the room and Peter freezes as he realises what he just yelled out loud.

"DAD?!!" They all yell, apart from Happy, Ned and MJ, the first two who are sending them sympathetic looks, while the latter just looks a bit shocked. Peter can't say he blamed her.

Everyone starts yelling all at once and they start getting closer to ask Tony Stark himself. Peter winces and covers his ears and Tony pulls his kid behind him.

Happy runs over and ushers the kids to stay away from Tony but it's hard because they all want answers.

"Shut up!" Tony barks angrily, and silence falls over the room once again. He looks towards his son and slowly takes his hands off his ears, "Hey Pete, it's alright. You just go back upstairs okay? I'll sort this out." Peter looks at him hesitantly but nods once he sees a reassuring smile on his dad's face.

"Okay, thanks." Peter barely whispers, before turning and speed-walks to the elevators.

Once he's gone upstairs Tony turns around and sees a bunch of wide-eyed teenagers looking at him. "Alright... Well I guess you all know now," Tony grumbles, sighing.

The girl, Michelle, raises her hand, the only one that wasn't totally freaking out. Tony nods at her. "Okay, so is he like your adopted kid or something? Cause I did see your signature on the field trip sheet." She asks, still a little surprised but is coming to an understanding.

Tony nods again. "Yeah, I signed the guardianship adoption papers a little under two years ago." He says vaguely.

Another hand shoots up, he points at him. "What happened to his parents?" He asks. This kid obviously doesn't realise that Peter lived with his aunt before moving in here.

"His parents left him with his aunt and uncle when he was about six and a half. His uncle passed away a bit over three years ago, and his aunt as well about a year later." He tries to keep it simple, these kids don't need or really deserve answers but he feels compelled to give them some, considering what just occurred.

Flash's hand slowly raises and although Tony is annoyed and could be petty by not answering, he nods at him anyways. "Why did you.. adopt him? Doesn't he like- have other family members he could've gone to?" Flash asks.

Tony pauses in his answer to collect his thoughts. Making them all slightly lean in, intrigued.

"Peter doesn't have any other family that I'm aware of." And he wants to stop there, but the words just end up tumbling out. "And.. Peter's been in my life for the past two and a half years. And these years have been some of the best in my entire life. When his aunt died, he needed a shoulder to lean on, and I provided that. Told him to stay home from school if he felt like he couldn't get up to go, and I called in sick for him, every time. I went around to his house almost everyday. Provided food, made him take showers, sometimes I made him go for walks with me just so then he didn't look so dead..

"He quickly webbed his way into my life and I became like a father to him, I guess. I always did see him as the son I never had.." Tony drifts off into silence, reminiscing the darker times. "So I guess that's why. Because he was already my kid, I just had to make it legal so he wouldn't go into the adoption system.

"Of course- I never pushed him to let me adopt him, or make him move in. He said yes to both in his own time," Tony clears his throat, totally not feeling an oncoming of tears no way.

Another girl's hand shoots up. "Yes?"

"If you adopted him.. Did he ever think of taking your last name?" She asks.

Now that one sent him on a roller coaster of feelings and emotions, none of which he showed or expressed.

"If he ever thought of it, he didn't tell me." Tony forces a smile. "Well, I think that concludes the tour for today, and teach- if you don't mind I'll be keeping Peter here for the rest of the day. I don't see the point of sending him back to school for one more period just so he can take the train home."

The teacher is still a bit shell shocked but manages to find his voice after a moment. "I will.. I will need a note from his guardian- er- from you sir." The man speaks.

"Ah right, right." He turns to Happy. "Happy you got a pen?" The man offers a pen out of his pocket and Tony signs his name on a slip of paper, given by the teacher, stating that Peter will be staying home for the rest of the day.

"Th-thank you. We'll be off then," His voice is shaky and Happy tells them to follow him back to the ground level. Ned lingers behind for a minute.

"Hey Mr. Stark?" He asks, eyeing the teenagers trudging to the elevators slowly. "Could you tell Peter not to worry about Flash? I don't think he'll be bothering us anymore after learning he's your kid."

"Wait- us? He's bothering you too?" Tony puts a hand on Ned's forearm to keep him there a minute longer.

Ned shakes his head quickly, "Oh no not really, he's learned not to do that anymore." At Tony's raised eyebrow he explains further. "Flash started making fun of me first, pushing me around and called me names, but Peter stopped him and we became friends. Now the only time Flash ever puts his hands on Peter is when Peter's defending me. That's the only reason he never fights back, because he doesn't want me to get hurt by Flash."

Tony nods, feeling anger bubbling up inside of him. "Right, well if he ever bothers you or Peter again, call me." Ned nods and then stops.

"I don't exactly have your number, and Peter wouldn't let me call you because he think's he's being a burden." Ned says, frowning at his friend's antics.

Tony holds out his hand, "Give me your phone kid," Ned does and he punches in his contact info. "Now, call me if Peter is ever in trouble. I don't care if it's three in the morning or the afternoon. Even if I'm in a meeting. And especially when Peter tells you not to call me. Okay?" Tony tells him sternly, knowing what his kid's like.

Ned nods quickly, glancing over at his impatient teacher. "Of course Mr. Stark. You can trust me." Tony smiles and lets go of him.

"I sure hope I can kid. Now go on, your teacher's probably itching to get out of here."

"Thank you Mr. Stark. Bye!" Ned starts walking over to the elevators and Tony waves them goodbye.

Upstairs, Peter is lying horizontally on the couch, with a hot-pack on his face, taking away a bit of the edge as the medicine kicks in. He hears footsteps and the couch opposite dipping as someone sits down. "You feeling any better, Pete?" Tony asks softly. Bless this man.

Peter hums softly, the hot-pack over his eyes so he can't see anything. Tony chuckles lowly, "Do you need water or anything? I can get you some cookies from the kitchen, I know Bucky's in there making them."

The boy sighs contently, "Some water would be nice, but I'll skip on the cookies right now, too tired." He yawns and snuggles into the comfy couch. He hears a soft "alright kid" and footsteps walking away, before silence settles over the room.

It's quiet for about two minutes before he hears footsteps again and the clinking of glass being set down on the coffee table. A blanket drapes over his lanky-built body and he snuggles into that as well. "I'll keep everyone out, there's water next to you. Sleep it off kiddo, and tell FRIDAY to get me if you need anything," Tony says softly, petting Peter's hair.

"M'kay..." Comes Peter's drowsy response, and Tony leaves him to sleep, flicking off the light as he goes.

A week later, Peter walks into school with his head held high. He feels on top of the world right now. Seeing as last night they got back from changing his name. Tony and himself both thought it was fitting, seeing as they were going public with the whole father and son thing.

Peter Stark.

He clicks his tongue approvingly, he held onto his old name for his aunt and uncle's memory but.. he'll always have them in his memory, and heart. He doesn't need a last name to prove he was ever a Parker. His heart explodes every time he thinks about how he'll get to introduce himself as "Peter Stark" now.

"And this is my dad- I'm sure you've heard of him. Tony Stark."

Yes. Today was a great day.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14512944