Peter couldn't help craning his neck to stare at the imposing building as he followed his class off the bus. While not as tall as the Avengers's Tower, the current headquarters for Stark Industries was still impressive.
He trailed behind everyone into the lobby, soaking in the familiar and observing the changes from the last five years. While he had spent time with Mr. Stark in Wakanda and later at the Stark family's lake house, he hadn't been back to SI.
“How's that internship going, Parker?” Flash snarked playfully beside him. Peter rolled his eyes. Since they returned, the two had reached a truce of sorts. Flash still would give Peter a hard time, but his remarks were more symbolic of a lost normal rather than intended to hurt. With Ned in college, and MJ in California with her family, Peter was grateful for the sense of familiarity. As the only two returning sophomores, the two naturally gravitated towards each other. But they weren't friends. Yet.
“I haven't actually started back yet,” Peter said as they followed their class to security, grabbing visitor badges and heading to the metal detector, “Mr. Stark is just getting back to work, so we should be starting soon.”
“OK, I know I didn't always believe you, but it is really cool that you have an internship with Iron Man,” Flash admitted. He followed the student in front of him through the detector. Peter followed, hiding a grin at the way the security guard's eyebrows flew upwards as he read Peter's information and security clearance.
The tour guide met them on the other side and began leading them through the labs. Peter grinned as he watched Flash listening enthusiastically to the various scientists and engineers their group met. It grew larger each time he watched the boy's eyes dart around the lab, eagerly taking in as much as he could.
After lunch, towards the end of the day, the group headed towards the R&D labs. As they stepped off the elevator and onto the first R&D floor, the class was greeted with a very familiar figure.
“Iron Man!” A girl hissed excitedly. The class pushed close, everyone eager to catch a glimpse of the universe's savior. They all knew he had lost his arm and almost died in the efforts to reverse the Blip. Tony and the man with whom he was conversing turned to see the cause of the commotion. The billionaire grinned as he caught sight of Peter.
“Hello, Midtown,” he greeted. The class erupted in whispers as the tour guide and chaperones herded them to the next lab.
Peter stood at the back observing the demonstration of some of SI's latest projects and almost jumped when he felt an arm wrap around him.
“Enjoying the tour?” Tony's voice came softly in his ear. Peter nodded and leaned into the man's embrace. Beside him, Flash's eyes bugged. Tony nodded at the boy in greeting, gave his own kid a final squeeze, and headed back to work.
“That's so cool you really know him,” Flash murmured as they left the labs and headed to the bus. Peter nodded and then bit his lip thoughtfully.
“You know,” he said slowly, “I could talk to Mr. Stark to see if you might be able to have an internship here. They're thinking of giving more opportunities to high schoolers.”
“Really?” Flash grinned.
“Yeah,” Peter nodded, “Really. And maybe you'd like to come over sometime to hang out?”
“I’d like that,” the other boy answered. No, they weren't really friends…yet. But they could be soon.