Chapter 7
Their lunch seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye, between eating, joking around, and looking after Morgan. It did, however allow Peter to destress enough to feel he could make it through to the end of the day. Besides, May had written the note detailing that Peter would leave his class at the end of the tour, and not be getting the bus back to school with the others. Surely Mr Turner would have to uphold that, right? To force him onto the bus would be akin to kidnapping. Although with the current situation of being accused of forgery, breaking and entering, bribery, stealing, and hacking, Peter wasn’t too sure.
Emily returned to the room and successfully gained the attention of the troop with one of her signature loud claps.
“My guys, gals, and non-binary pals, I hope you are all suitably fed, for now we are once again heading back to the elevator!” she exclaimed.
Moments later, the class (plus Harley and Morgan, (cause honestly who could say no to those eyes)) found themselves gasping and stepping out into a grand hall. The walls were all painted a deep red, around which were a number of displays – made up of posters, holograms, and gold trimmed glass cases (red and gold, in true Tony Stark Fashion).
“Welcome to The Avenger Museum” Their guide declared. “You all have some time to wonder around and take in the exhibits that are here, all of which pertain to the members of The Avengers, and their battles. Each of our heroes have their own area for you to learn all sorts about them. Although most of the displays have been put together by a designated team, many of the exhibits have been checked and edited by each person they are for, and you may even find some cheeky titbits and jokes that The Avengers themselves have added about their fellow teammates. And once again please no touching” That last bit was directed purely at Flash.
Most of the class headed off in different directions, all honing out their favourite hero, while the four interns and child simply started at the display closest and worked their way around the room.
The teens all knew most of the hard facts and history of each individual, given that Harley and Peter live at the tower, and MJ and Ned were very frequent guests. Most of the superhero team didn’t actually live at the tower, but spent a great deal of their time there. They each had a bedroom, and there were many meetings to attend, along with general bonding time of group meals, movies, video game, drunk nights, etc., plus the after battle veg out that they all did together. It became like a sanctuary to them, a place where they could relax and be themselves, not worried about spies (thanks to F.R.I.D.A.Ys security) watchful eyes of the public, or keeping their abilities under wraps – Okay, so they didn’t technically live there, but they basically did.
None the less, they still were all particularly intrigued while going around. So the personal facts they all knew, but the holographic replays of fight moments interesting and impressive, while spotting some of the sillier facts, especially those added by their teammates, were highly amusing.
Morgan however, less interested, and about due for her nap anyway, was suitably out for the count in Peter’s arms, with her head tucked neatly in the crook of his neck, by the time they reached the fourth area.
Soon they arrived at the Spider-Man presentation, which obviously had Ned absolutely beaming.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Peter! Spider-man has his own display!”
“You literally already know everything you could, Leeds” MJ sighed, but with a slight chuckle, which was particularly heartfelt given her usual persona.
The group stood around the display, all highly amused and biting back sniggers as they read through a list of facts that were very clearly all written by The Avengers, mostly Tony himself.
- Spider-man is deathly afraid of spiders.
- Spider-man can talk so much we sometimes get concerned that he doesn’t take time to breathe.
- Spider-man’s vine, tiktok, and meme references need to be stopped.
- Spider-man can eat three large pizzas to himself in one sitting – it’s terrifying.
- Spider-man’s favourite treat is the winter soldier’s homemade cookies.
- Spider-man is the only other team member that can keep up with and join in Dr Banner and Mr Stark’s science talk – again, terrifying and insane.
- The only thing more irritating than Spider-man’s references, is his ability and determination to hide his injuries from the team.
- Spider-man currently holds many crowns (yes, real, physical, albeit plastic) for team events, including but not limited to - Mario-Kart, paintball, and biggest accidental damage (he exploded a whole lab floor)
Spider-man’s display had almost double the number of facts as the rest, given that there was a separate list for all of his abilities and background, such as the bite, his strength etc.
“Spider-man afraid of spiders, what a loser” Harley was the first to speak, finally making Ned and MJ break their resolve as the burst into giggles.
“That’s enough outta you!” Peter pointed, trying to keep a straight face, but failing miserably, before his partner leaned over and gave a loving peck on the lips.
Inevitably, this caught the attention of the teacher that had been watching the group, angrily waiting for a slipup.
“Peter!” Mr Turner quietly but furiously scolded while marching over, still aware of the sleeping girl in his arms – he didn’t need an overtired screaming toddler to add to his headache (whether he deserved it or not was a different matter). “Once again you are tarnishing the reputation of this school! And you…” he turned and pointed to Harley “…should not be encouraging this sort of behaviour on these premises”
“Well…” The dark blond started “I’ll think you’ll find that I, along with the others in this group, am a member of staff in this building and can behave how I wish in accordance to the polices set by the company. However, unlike these guys, I am not one of your students, so I really don’t have to listen to any of the shit that falls out your mouth” his statement started calm and polite but with each passing word, became more venomous, a skill he very quickly learnt from The Avengers, namely Tony and Nat
The adult began to open his mouth, but was quickly stopped by the teen raising his hand and continuing
“I can kiss my boyfriend where the hell ever, and when the hell ever I like, given consent. And before your next words I would like to remind you that you already have a black mark against you in this tower for bullying and physical contact, on top of which, homophobia and discrimination of any sort can and will result in your removal from the grounds.” Damn he had been spending too much to around Pepper, but it definitely paid off.
Mr Turner’s Jaw clenched and his eyes flared, but he was not about to risk being removed from the group, whether he thought he was in the right or not. With clenched fists he turned and walked away.
Harley swung an arm around Peter and Morgan, holding them in almost side hug. The gang stayed silent as they all gave empty stares to the exhibit in front of them.
“Bucky’s cookies really are great though” MJ finally broke the silence, successfully cutting through the tension like a hot knife to butter, and like a sudden weight had been lifted, there was a small chorus of “yeah”s and “mmhmm”s as the group made their way to the next display.