Howdoistartthishelp
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Peter groaned loudly as Mr. Harrington announced that the class was going on another field trip. Hasn't anyone ever learned?
These trips never went well, and his ‘Parker Luck’ didn't exactly leave a wonderful resume.
Peter shared a look with Ned, talking with their eyes. He could practically hear Ned complaining. Peter suddenly flinched his head to the right, narrowly avoiding an eraser cap thrown at his head. Thank god for his Peter-Tingle. He didn’t have to turn around to know it was Flash and his group of dogs.
“Yoo, Penis! Is your friend Spiderman going to be there? He wouldn't even show up to save you last time!”, Flash snarked. Peter turned to face flash, about to point out that he wasn’t even there when his class got saved by spiderman, when Mr. Harrington cleared his throat. Peter closed his mouth, and turned to face the board.
“Settle down class, I have some information surrounding the field trip” , Mr. Harrington said with a starry look in his eye, that immediately unsettled Peter. That could not be good. “Settle down, please! Eyes up here!”, he repeated, raising his voice. Once the class had gone quiet, Mr. Harrington began to drumroll on the desk, until the other students caught on and began to hit their desks.
Flash obnoxiously beat on his desk, seemingly determined to be louder than all the rest.
Peters' enhanced hearing made each crash on the desk rather excruciating, and he squirmed slightly. Begrudgingly, he began to lightly roll his fingers on the desk as well, sharing another glance with Ned, who shrugged lightly.
“ We won a field trip to STARK INDUSTRIES!” Mr,. harrington cheered, quickly followed by thunderous applause and delighted squeals. It made Peter’s ears bleed.
Oh No.
Stark Industries?! How was he supposed to cover this up? Despite Flash’s claims, he did know Tony Stark. However, he didn’t exactly have the internship he always talked about.
He had lied. He had never actually met the other interns or worked there at all, and when he went there tomorrow, everyone would see.
Everyone would see what a liar he was, and even worse, they would start to believe the things Flash had been saying about him.
It wasn't like he had intended to keep his lie going on for so long, but he wasn't able to back out. He was in too deep before he could question the waters he dived into. He was totally, utterly, screwed.
Peter felt the blood drain from his face, and Ned looked over at him, grinning. That was the other thing. Ned didn’t know that Peter had lied to him too. And he couldn't even conjure up what Ned’s face would look like when he found out, nor did he really want to. His insides suddenly felt all slippery and wrong, and the urge to vomit set in. This was not good.
His thoughts were cut short by a hand slapping on his desk, and he looked up through his eyelashes, unsurprised to see Flash. Before he could taunt him, the bell rang and everyone began to rush out of class. Relieved, he took a deep breath and began packing his things. On his way out of the door, however, Mr. Harrington stopped him.
Peering underneath his glasses, Mr. Harrington met Peter’s eyes. With a firm, but light voice, he spoke, “Peter, I need to speak to you for a moment. Can you come in here please?”.
Peter’s eyes burned with shame as he stood in front of mr. haringtons desk, trying his hardest to stare at the hole in his shoe. His lips began to quiver, and his eyelashes began to stick. Mr. Harrington said a few words, but Peter didn’t quite register them. All he could tell is that his teacher, his favorite teacher, thought he was a lair.
And it hurt, not only because his teacher didn’t have faith in him, but because he was right. He nodded and hurriedly apologized and left the room.
——/———————————————————/——
On the day of the field trip, Peter sat nervously on the bus. He could only hope and pray that somehow, someone really liked him up there. He was relying on the fact that Tony very well might be there, just to embarrass him.
For once, he actually wished Tony would be there to embarrass him, which was a really weird thought. Normally, he hated it, and now it was the only thing that might save his reputation and spot at Midtown Tech High.
As the bus pulled up, he could hear the shocked gasps and murmurs of the students behind him, as well as the click of Flash’s phone as he began his livestream.
“Whatsup my loyal followers, guess where ya boi is today. STARK INDUSTRIES baby! This is where I belong!” Flash all but screamed. Peter could hear the spit leaving his mouth and hitting the chair as he yelled, and he glanced back at him.
Flash was shaking his hands wildly and making some rather odd faces, seemingly trying to impress the camera. As Flash pushed his way to the front of the bus, just so he could get off first, he ‘accidentally’ whacked Peter on the back of the head.
Brushing it off, Peter stood up between the cramped seats, and made his way off the bus.
His stomach was already not agreeing with him, even though he hadn’t eaten, (He didn’t want to spend any of May’s money) and it lurched when he looked at the tower.
His last good look at the world before it all came crashing apart. On the plus side, if his life as Peter Parker officially ended today, he could be Spiderman for the rest of his life.
Peter couldn't help but marvel himself as he entered the tower, and he had only been in here on special occasions. He began to stare and gape like all of the rest of his students, already blowing his cover. Peter saw a smirk spread across Flash's face, and he opened his mouth as if he was about to speak. Flash’s brutal display of Peter was put to a Halt when a young woman came around the corner, holding a box full of little white slips, but Peter couldn't quite determine what they were. He all but tuned out as she started to explain the system and the passes. It looked quite professional and procedural, but Peter knew better.
The only reason they really had the scanner and I.D badges was so Mr. Stark could display the awful nicknames he gave people. For example, Bruce’s badge said ‘Honeybear’ instead of his real name. For the people who Stark didn’t nickname or involve with, they were quite standard.
Peter wondered if his name would be used, or if it would label him as Underoos. When the woman finished handing out badges, Peter’s name hadn’t been called. Of course it wasn’t. Just another thing to point out his soon-to-be-obvious lie. He fidgeted with his fingers nervously, looking around. Flash picked up on it immediately.
“Pen-Peter Parker didn't get a badge,” Flash said smugly, giving Peter a wolfish grin.
The woman looked up and asked “I am assuming this badge is yours then, yes?”, holding up a golden badge with the name ‘ UNDEROOS ’ labeled in dark black letters. Peter quickly realized that his badge was very different from everyone else’s, and his classmates soon followed.
“Yes, ma’am, that’s mine. Sorry, I shouldn't have expected it to have my name on it. You know how Mr. Stark is when it comes to his nicknames,” he murmured. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, and avoided eye contact. He looked at the Tour Guides badge that read ‘Gator’. His eyebrows shot up, confusion flashing across his face. He would have to ask her about it later, because it clearly did not have to do with the way she looked. She was a short, and pretty woman, and there was nothing gator-ish about her. Not on the surface anyways.
He looked up with a smile, and shook her hand politely, “Hi, I’m- I’m Peter. Sorry about the mix up, Miss Gator”.
“It’s not a problem Peter, nice to meet you!’ she said with a cheery voice.
Flash, however, shattered the only cheerful moment Peter had by saying “So you don't know Parker? See Guys? I told you he’s not an intern, this lady doesn’t even recognize him! He even has a fake pass! Those don’t look anything like our passes”.
The tour guide turned to look at him, clearly appalled by the kid's statement. She frowned at him, and spoke sharply “That is a real pass. Look, mine is golden too. All employees have golden passes, and guests have white passes. Mr. Parker's pass is not a fake. It's rather laughable, really. The building AI would have detected a fake ID immediately”.
Peter sighed with relief. His cover wasn’t blown. His lie hadn’t fallen apart quite yet.
Flash’s face flushed, and boy did it feel good. This field trip was going way better than he thought it would.
Someone had actually stood up to Flash! That never happened at school, because Flash’s parents contributed to so much of the school’s funding. However, he looked up and questioned “ AI? What AI?”
Miss Gator launched into a full, clearly rehearsed speech about the building AI, FRIDAY. “ The STARK INDUSTRIES building has its own, unique AI, created by Tony Stark. It keeps track of everyone's vitals, where files go, and monitors what everyone is doing. There are many capabilities of this AI, but you won't be able to interact with it. The AI only interacts to point out when something is incorrect or when absolutely necessary. It answers only to those of very high ranking,” she finished, seeming a little bored. Which means she had probably done this speech a million times, Peter realized. Peter found his eyes wandering around the room as well, not very interested in the description of the AI he already frequented with.
“ Any questions before we started the tour?” she asked. A few hands shot in the air, but Peter wasn’t one of them. He was busy thanking Thor for saving him from the awful fate. Maybe he could go undetected this field trip.
Ned made his way over to Peter, and held his badge to compare. “Dude! Look how different our badges are, that's so cool! What do you have clearance for/ do you get to like boss us around now because you're higher rank than us in here? Are you going to be all like ‘ Do this, do that’ with us? Because that would be so awesome.”
Peter had no trouble keeping up with Ned’s explosion of questions, as he had grown quite used to it. “No, Ned, I can't just order everyone around. And I'm afraid I can’t discuss my clearance, that is classified.” Peter whispered.
Ned looked at him with awe. “Classified? That’s so badass,” Ned whispered back, a look of wonder in his eye. Peter smiled at him, and for the moment everything felt like it might actually be okay.
The class continues along the tour, Gator explaining many different things about the tower on the way. “ And here, is the newest display, your very own Spiderman!”
Peter grinned to himself, and Ned gave him a questioning look. Ned thought Spiderman was cool and all, but he wasn’t obsessed with him. However, Peter watched as Flash, his number one fanboy, began to take selfies informant of the display.
FRIDAY spoke very suddenly “Taking photographs or footage of the STARK tower is not permitted. Eugene Thompson, please direct yourself to Gator and hand over your cellular devices”.
Everyone but Peter jumped at the ceiling talking, and even the tour guide seemed shocked. It was rare to hear the AI speak at all. Peter loved hearing FRIDAY, although they normally spoke in long sentences, and she had taken on a different tone when talking to Flash.
Flash made the walk of shame up to the tour guide, and begrudgingly placed his phone in her hand. The tour continued smoothly after that, until Flash made a devastating mistake. In Front of the building AI, Flash began to taunt him.
“Where's your friend Spiderman now, huh Penis? What did he leave you too, ,like the rest of your family? Poor orphaned Penis Parker, has to make up lies about an internship just to be popular,” he spat.
Peter wasn’t really phased by the bullying, and didn’t let the words get to him. Peter understood that Flash acted the way he did because he lacked any real affection at home, and was jealous.
Peter though, as kind as he was, never pointed out that fatal flaw to Flash. Peter liked watching Flash fall sometimes, or knocking down a peg or two, but he would never be doing the knocking. It just didn’t feel right. He knew he could hit Flash once and make him stop, but he also knew that Flash was too fragile to take that kind of hit to his ego. He was afraid the boy might shatter.
Ned, however, was not a fan. “Fuck off, Flash. Leave Peter alone! And he’s not lying about the internship, look at his pass,” Ned said smugly.
Peter always appreciated the backup, but he felt weird about it. Flash wasn’t wrong, he did lie about the internship. Not for attention, contrary to Flash’s belief. It was really to cover up about his secret identity as Spider-Man. (Flash’s hero)
What Peter didn’t take into account however, is that Tony would hear about it. Tony would be mad about it.
Peter went to explore the display case itself, and stared at the original suit he wore, the sleeves ripped in many different places, and blood of old wounds still stained the fabric. He had no clue how Tony had even gotten it in the first place. He thought he had thrown it away?
The tour guide looked up from her tablet, and announced that there was going to be a sudden change in schedule.
The moment the words left her mouth, Peter got a buzzy feeling in the back of his mind. He knew something was off, but it didn’t ring like danger, so he let it stay on the back burner.
——/———————————————————/——
The tour guide began to guide them into an elevator.
Miss Gator began to reach for the buttons, but was interrupted suddenly by FRIDAY.
“Good afternoon, Peter. Where would you like me to take you?”
Peter could almost hear a sleigh fly affectionate tone in the AI’s voice, and he felt his lips tug upwards.
“Ah, thank you Friday, but Miss Gator is the one directing us today. I am on a field trip, remember?”
FRIDAY spoke “Yes Peter, I understand. Have a wonderful rest of your field trip!”
Peter just nodded, remaining silent. The rest of the class turned to him, including the tour guide. “How did you get FRIDAY to speak to you?” She questioned.
Peter turned to face her, the tips of his ears going red. “Uh- I work here, and I interact with FRIDAY a lot. I guess she- uh- knows me?”
What a terrible explanation.
The entirety of the elevator's occupants watched Peter. Flash made a furious face, because there was no denying that Peter really must have an internship if Tony Stark’s AI recognizes him. It made his blood boil.
The group arrived at the gym, and everyone looked around, rather confused. Then, Tony frick’n Stark walked in, in all of his glory. Remember when Peter said he would be glad to have Mr. Stark embarrass him? Forget that. This could not be good.
Mr. Stark had a look in his eye, one Peter couldn’t quite place. He had never seen it on his Fath- mentor’s face before. He didn’t like it one bit. And the moment Tony’s eyes landed on Flash?
That's when Peter deemed the expression to be murderous.
Tony was dressed in his usual attire, a fancy suit and sunglasses, even though it was a windowless room. Even so, the edges just seemed a little sharp.
Tony projected his voice as he spoke, “Good Afternoon, young women and gentlemen. I hope you all have had a wonderful time here at STARK INDUSTRIES!”
(It was about to end)
“However, I am not impressed with what I saw, “ he chided. He looked genuinely disappointed, with a wonderful side of irritation. It was a combo nobody wanted.
Mr Harrington's blood drained from his face, and he all but fainted. Peter felt bad.
(He wouldn’t be the only one)
“I am giving y’all one last chance here, so don’t throw away your lifeline. I brought you here to this gym to see what yall are made of. Who’s got the stuff? Why don't you show me?” he said, his voice taking on a slightly lighter tone.
(It was a trap)
“I have set up eight different courses to test not only endurance and strength, but strategy and willpower. This is your opportunity to show me why you're the best. Prove to me that you deserve the title.” he said. The room was filled with excited chatter, and everyone was looking to impress Tony Stark.
Peter knew that this was set up to deliberately target Flash. Tony was stoking the fire on purpose, dragging flash out with one of his greatest weaknesses: his desire to be seen as better than everyone else.
(He dragged him out to cage him)
Flash stood up proudly and announced “I am! I am the greatest out of everyone here! I’ll ace this. Where do you want me to start?”
This clearly upset Stark, but as the displeasure passed his face, it was quickly replaced with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Well aren’t you brave? See this is what I wanted!” Come up here, Eugene” Tony snarked.
(This was what he wanted)
Cringing at the use of his real name, he stalked forward. Flash tossed his head back, grinning, and mouthed a few words, but the shape of his lips made it impossible to decipher what he was saying.
He sauntered up to the front and asked “So which test do you want me to ace first?”.
Tony smirked and said “We will start with weights. You see that rack over there? Grab whichever one you think you can confidently lift. Then, you’re going to come over here and show me what you can do with it. I will be judging your form and how much you can lift accordingly.”
The one problem? Tony had pointed to Captain America’s weights. Not the regular set. There was no possible way flash could lift even the smallest one, which looked about as small as a 3 lb weight.
Peter couldn’t help but smile a bit, despite his worry. He now knew that Tony must have heard what Flash said earlier, and is now playing him like a fiddle. ‘Well, I guess knocking him down just one peg can’t hurt.’ He thought.
Flash confidently walked up to the rack, and smirked back at the class. He immediately went for the biggest dumbbell he could see, which happened to weigh a solid 4 tons. Even Cap could barely lift those, and they were used on rare occasions. You could still see the dent in the floor where he once dropped it.
Flash tried to pick it up, and it didn’t even move. Flash whipped his head at Tony in confusion, and asked “What's the problem Eugene?”
Flash moved along the weights, trying and failing miserably to pick up any of them. He tried to pick up the smallest weight, and it barely moved. 400 lbs. He turned, face red.
“What’s wrong with these weights? Are they magnetized to the stand? Why can’t I lift them?” Flashes questioned seemed to blend together. He was speaking so fast.
Tony cocked an eyebrow and said “There’s nothing wrong with these weights. Watch. Underoos? Can you please show Eugene how to lift up the weights?”
Everyone looked around, few of them remembering the events of this morning. Then, Liz turned to Peter and said “You’re Underoos right?”
Peter smiled. She was so pretty. And talking to him! Hide felt his face get warm, and he turned and looked away quickly, not maintaining eye contact.
“Yeah, I’m Underoos. Mr. Stark!”
Tony reprimanded “ah-ah-ah. None of that Mr. Stark stuff. I’ve been telling you that for three years. It’sTony. You’re making me feel old.” However, his tone was light and joking, and no real displeasure showed in his tone.
Peter grinned, eyes lighting up. “Sure Mr. Stark, whatever you say”.
He walked up to the stand, a light bounce in his step. He was guilty about hurting Flash's ego, but he did slightly relish the fact that he was about to prove Flash was not high and mighty.
Peter went over to the smallest weight, because if he went any higher he risked spilling his identity. The weight felt like paper. He lifted it easily and held it out to Flash.
Peter saw Tony smirk, and it was with genuine pleasure.
Flash sputtered a bit, before turning red with anger and embarrassment. He went to snatch the weight out of Peter's hand, and when he did Peter let go. Flash was not able to keep holding the weight without ripping his shoulder from its rightful socket.
He bent over to pick it up, and barely moved it off the ground. Peter smiled internally, wondering how tomorrow would feel at school.
He glared up at Peter and spat “What’s the trick, huh?” Under his breath, he whispered “you’re so dead”.
Peter ran his fingers through his curls and said “there’s no trick, Flash. They’re just weights.”
Tony spoke up “These weights are a little rigged”
Flash grinned and gave a pointed look to Peter.
“These weights belong to Captain America. The smallest weight is 400 lbs. The biggest one is 4 tons. I sent you to Captain America's stand to show that even the mightiest person in the class can’t touch this building.”
Flashes face fell, and he whipped his head towards people. You could hear his neck pop from the sudden movement. His eyes blushed out of their sockets, and his lips curled in an unfriendly expression.
“How would Penis Parker be able to lift 400 lbs? That’s not possible! He’s puny and tiny! He can’t run laps around the gym! He’s worth nothing! I am so much better than him!”
Tony’s expression turned dark, and you could hear a pin drop. Flash noticed his mistake the moment it left his mouth.
If looks could kill, Flash would be dead. Like, really dead.
“You will NOT come to MY tower, and speak like that about MY kid. If you weren’t a kid, I would kill you myself.
Get out of my sight. And pray that you’re still a child next time I see you”.
“Happy? Escort this kid outside,” Tony spat furiously.
Happy stepped forward, always dressed to his finishes t. His usual exasperated expression was one filled with cold rage. It made the hairs stand up on the back of Peter’s neck, and he shivered.
Questions and murmurs rang all across the room, and Peter watched as all eyes turned on him. Many people, including Ned, who looked hysterically funny, were staring with mouths agape.
Peter was too hung up on Tony’s words to worry about Flash. ‘His kid’? Tony called him his kid! I mean, Peter did think of him like a Father. But was that betraying his father and uncle Ben? ‘His kid?’
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Flash’s outrageous screams. “Peter! Peter? Why him? YOUR kid!? He’s nothing, he is small and worthless! I’m so much better than him. Why him and not me?”
Peter’s face fell. He knew what this was really about. Flash’s parents didn’t care about him, and he hated to see someone so important care about Peter. Because Flash never had anyone truly care about him.
Peter interjected quickly “Wait! Don’t throw him out for his behavior. It’s not his fault. Really, it’s nothing. See?”
He walked over to Flash and gave him a hug, squeezing him tightly while whispering “You’re welcome”.
Flash’s eyes widened and he stiffened at the hug, and it occurred to Peter that Flash may not get hugs very often. This made Peter quite upset, and he realized he needed to talk to Flash later.
If only Flash would listen.
Tony interrupted the two by saying “Peter, sweetheart, you’re too kind for this world. He treats you like shi- crap.” Tony caught himself at the last second, not wanting Cap to come scream at him.
“Yes, Tony, I really do want it. It’s not his fault. Let him stay, please? It’s a really good opportunity for everyone. Everyone deserves a second chance, right? People can change. You know that”
Flash eyed him, bewildered. He couldn’t understand why Peter was being so nice and forgiving to him, because Flash had never done one nice thing for Peter. He had no idea why Peter would stick up for him, especially to the Tony Stark.
Peter turned and gave Flash a reassuring smile.
He walked over to stony and promised “I will be fine. I really appreciate the protection, but he’s just a kid.
“ You and I both know he can’t touch me,” he added.
Tony nodded, pinching the spot between his eyes. “Fine, Bambino. But just for you, alright?” He turned and eyed Flash, and warned “I hear about this ever again and I won’t hesitate to take you and your whole family to the ground. If I hear about it again after that? You’ll all be six feet deep”.
Flash paled, along with Mr. Harrington.
Peter stepped in front of Tony. “Mr. Starkkkk we talked about threatening murder. Three times!!”
“I know, kid. Maybe we should run over those rules one morere time,” he teased.
“Wait, so is no one going to talk about Peter clearly being the son of Tony Stark?” Liz interjected.
Michelle pointed out “Or the fact that Peter lifted 400 lb weights like they were nothing?”
Peter shifted his eyes down to the floor, transferring his weight from foot to foot.
Tony rubbed his back and then shot a look at Midtown high. They quickly dropped silent, and Tony seemed satisfied.
Gator eyed the pair, and pulled her tablet up to take a photo. She so was going to send this to the other interns.
Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.
Peter smiled up at him. Everything was going to be okay. This field trip had gone way better than he had hoped it would turn out.
Flash had gotten proved wrong about the internship (that he didn’t have), Tony did not kill any kids, and it wasn’t too embarrassing.
And, Mr. Harrington was about to get on his hands and knees and beg for Peter’s forgiveness, which was a huge bonus
. His ‘Parker Luck’ hadn’t screwed him over.
Then, from the sky, they heard a booming voice shout “Son Of Stark!”
And mother fucking THOR came through the ceiling, in a blaze of rainbows and light flashes.
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