Chapter 8
Apparently if one thing was going to go wrong for Peter today, then everything was. Harley pulled Peter between himself and the stairwell while his AcaDec team probably got whiplash from how quickly their heads turned to the shout. His boyfriend's giggles were not giving Peter confidence as he listened to the muffled cursing and heavy footfalls coming down the stairs.
When his dad finally reached the lab, Peter had to slap a hand over his mouth to stop himself bursting into laughter.
There was Tony Stark, Iron Man, drenched and covered head to toe in red and gold glitter. The look on his dad's face was a mix of furious and wet puppy.
Occurrences such as this weren't uncommon during Harley's visits to the tower. Harley himself always claimed innocence, but anyone with half a brain knew better. This trip alone has seen Bruce's hand super glued to his favourite tea cup. Steve had been sent on a scavenger hunt to find his shield that had 'mysteriously' disappeared one morning after breakfast. Only for the snarky clues to lead him back to his bedroom where the shield was sitting under his bed (It hadn't been there earlier, Steve had checked). Most interestingly, 'someone', had given the kids a can of red bull each. Cooper, who was piled under school work at the time, found the energy to complete all of it in one sitting. But the other younger kids, Morgan, Lila and Nathaniel, had been bouncing off the walls for hours afterwards, leaving the common areas a mess. Thank god for FRIDAY, who had locked the kids out of the labs and other more dangerous areas of the tower.
This information was unknown to the teens that made up the Midtown Academic Decathlon team, but they didn't need to know to find the Tony Stark, covered head to toe in glitter, hilarious. The teens erupted into laughter leaving Tony looking scandalised that a bunch of unknown teens found his predicament funny.
This didn't last long however, as Tony spotted his son and the offending prankster. Tony stomped over and without a word, latched his arms around Harley, trapping Peter between them. Peter and Harley screeched in protest as Tony's hug covered the two of them in glitter as well.
As Tony released them from the glitter hug, Peter groaned, "Did you have to cover me in glitter as well?"
"I'm sorry. I thought that you and Harley were partners in crime. That's what you told me yesterday," his dad retorted with a playful snort.
Before Peter could reply Harley spoke up, "Yep, and this was Peter's idea by the way."
Tony just rolled his eyes, "I know that's a lie Keener. You know how I know?" He paused for dramatic effect before continuing in mocking tone, "Because we're connected."
That caused the three of them to dissolve into hysterics. In the background Nat just shook her head.
The initial comedy of seeing a grumpy Tony Stark covered in glitter was beginning to wear off on the other occupants of the lab. And of course, Ned being Ned, was so caught up in fanboying that he didn't realise his thoughts were actually being verbalised.
"Oh My God! Is that Tony Stark? Like the actual Tony Stark? This day is actually insane. First we get to meet THE Black Widow, the Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier, and now the actual Tony Stark is standing in front of us. Covered. In. Glitter."
Ned's comment pulled Tony from his laughter to actually take in the random teens standing in front of him. He was faced with several, not so fresh-faced teens, who's eyes were locked on him with gleams of hero worship.
"Ahhh… Pete? Who are these random beings that have invaded your lab?"
Peter took a deep breath to stifle his laughter and leaned on his boyfriend, "You know how there was supposed to be a field trip today?"
Realisation dawned on Tony's face, "So this would be your AcaDec team then? Hello Pete's AcaDec team. How did you manage to make it into Peter's lab? He doesn't let people in here real often."
MJ shoved her way to the front of the group and made an uncomfortable amount of eye contact with Tony before answering in the most bored voice Peter had ever heard, "I think that question would be better directed at the Black Widow."
"Thanks, ugh…?"
"MJ."
"So you're MJ. Makes sense. Thanks MJ." Tony turned to Nat who was still sitting on the couch, but who now had her phone out taking photos of the glitter coverd Tony, "So Nat?"
"I thought Peter ought to show off all his assets, so I might or might not have blackmailed him to let them up here after hijacking their tour."
"Very wise Nat," Tony nodded, "Very wise indeed. So kiddo's, what has our resident spider duo shown you?"
"Spider duo?" Abe asked. Now it was Tony's turn to panic.
"Ah did I say spider duo? What I meant was resident spider. Yep. Resident spider."
MJ fixed them all with a long-suffering look and sighed, "No. You meant spider duo. Seeing as Peter's Spider-man and all."
That statement left more than one jaw on the ground.
A wave of utter panic overcame Peter. He tried to breath but air seemed to only come in short bursts. His heart was beating loudly in his ears. The lights to bright overhead. The thought that he had been found out cycled through his head in some kind of demonic loop.
After what felt like an eternity and only a second the air started to come back. A hand he identified as Harley's was rubbing his back and the soft voice of his dad replaced his heart beat.
Peter turned and buried his face in his boyfriend' chest. He'd had a minor panic attack in front of his classmates.
Seeing that Peter had recovered slightly, Tony left his son to Harley and turned to face the worried looking teens. Despite the glitter, Tony could still be incredibly intimidating, and it helped that a murderous Black Widow was now standing next to him.
"Right. Serious time." The teens expressions switched from worried to terrified like lightening and MJ had a pained look on her face.
"I'm so sorry," MJ started but Tony help up a hand to stop her.
"I know that you didn't mean to. Peter's told me a bit about you MJ and from what I've heard you're a good friend so I'm going to let it slide this once. But only this once. Am I understood?"
"Yes sir."
"Now. The fact that Peter is Spider-man is still highly confidential. While he does plan on revealing his identity to the public in future, this is not that moment. I recognise this as a mistake of my own as well. However, as this is confidential information and I have access to everyone who knows it, if this is leaked, the person responsible will easily be found. To attend this tour in the first place you all signed Non-Disclosure Agreements that should cover this information. If Peter's identity is revealed before he chooses to do so Stark Industries Legal Division will bury you in a mountain of law suits so large you won't get to the top. So no talking about this to anybody. Not your best friend. Not your parents. Not even your damn pets. Am I understood?"
"Yes sir," the teens replied gravely. They were smart enough to understand the threat.
Peter looked at them. As the threat settled, they were now looking at Peter, their gazes all awed. MJ had a sorry written on her face. Ned looked supportive. He hadn't expected to do this today, not for another few months at least. But plans never seem to work out the way he wanted them too.
Slowly he pulled away from Harley, giving his boyfriend a thankful smile.
Well if plans weren't going to work out then this could be what he told himself earlier. A little confidence worked its way into his system.
Peter moved and stood next to his dad. This would be his practice run.
Tony gave him a look of concern, asking without words if he was okay. The teen nodded. Drawing a deep breath Peter addressed his classmates.
"I'm sorry about that. Caught a little off guard is all. Yes, I am Spider-man and yeah that's pretty cool. But, and I apologise for this, I'm going to use you all as a practice run for both announcing that I'm Spider-man and something else." Peter paused and shot a small smile at his dad, whose eyes went wide with realisation. He continued on, gesturing to Tony, "I'd like to introduce you to someone. This is Tony Stark. My Dad."