Miscommunication

Peter sighed yet again, wondering why he was subjecting himself to this. As soon as they had gotten out of that traffic jam, which had taken two hours, they had finally made it to the tower. He didn’t want to admit it, but he had been afraid of Happy for a moment. Yeah he was sure that he could take him in a fight, but he was afraid of his words.

Thankfully there was nothing to be fearful of as the man had seemed honestly apologetic. He really needed to stop jumping to conclusions.

The reason for his current train of thought was, the fact that he was waiting with his class in the lobby of Stark Tower, while the guard rang up someone. He had been planning on not even subjecting himself to this field trip, but after Mr. Stark had gained knowledge the trip he wasn’t able to get out of it.

It also didn’t help that Aunt May, and Mr. Stark had teamed up together and were now both against him. He shook his head ruefully, wondering where the hatred that his Aunt had felt for his mentor had gone. He had thought that them getting along with each other would be a good thing, until it actually happened. Now they both seemed to double team him, when they wanted him to do something he had no intention of doing.

Ned had pointed out that they were co-parenting him, and this was what it was like for kids with both parents. That had made him feel warm on in the inside but he was still annoyed in a sense. On top of all of that, Flash was being even worse then usual. Peter wanted to warn the teen to just shut up, as today he actually feared for the other males life, but he felt that saying as much would do much more harm then good. Flash would just have to dig his own grave and deal with the consequences of his actions for once.

Peter shook his head as he ignored his peers round him, talking quietly with Ned, trying to ignore the looks he was on the receiving end of. The rich kids had shown their true colors, everyone who had been there in class sans Flash the other day had started to treat him differently. They had even turned on Flash a little bit, this was why he had made a vow to never be one of them. How the Hell was that considered friendship?

“Is Mr. Stark going to even be here?” Ned asked curiously, his fingers playing with his I.D. Badge.

“I don’t know, after him and my Aunt ganged up on me yesterday, I wasn’t in the best mood,” Peter admitted with a sigh. He felt a bit childish at how he had acted this whole week, before he shook his head. There was nothing he could do for it now at least.

“I hope he does, and I hope he can see first hand on how Flash treats you and how you just let him get away with it,” Ned said cheerfully, though his eyes had a hard look in them.

“Dude, not cool,” Peter said worriedly his eyes flickering up to the ceiling and back to his friend. “Did you forget about J.A.R.V.I.S.? I’m trying to keep my vitals calm man, as I’m being monitored every time I enter a room,” Peter said quietly.

“Like I said, I can’t wait for shit to hit the fan,” Ned said having no sympathy for what he hoped was to come.

“Don’t curse man, J.A.R.V.I.S. will use it to blackmail you into doing chores you don’t want to do in the future,” Peter said in the same worried tone as his eyes glanced at a camera.

“I don’t think I’ll have that problem, I don’t come here often,” Ned said easily.

“You will, when May goes out of town for her yearly retreat for work and I’m spending the month here,” Peter said dryly.

“Oh shittake mushrooms, I had forgotten about that,” Ned said, barely able to catch himself as his eyes a little wide in excitement and worry. Because the chores that Peter had said the A.I. had made him do did not sound fun at all.

Peter grinned but didn’t get to reply to his friend, as he was able to breathe out a sigh of relief when he saw the person coming up to their group. It didn’t look like anyone that he recognized so he figured he would be safe for the time being.

“My name is Amanda Smith, and I will be your guide today at Stark Industries. We will be touring some of the labs of the interns who currently work here and the small museum for the Avengers as well. We will break for lunch, which you can all enjoy at our cafeteria free of charge before we resume the tour, with a special guest,” Amanda said in a clear voice.

“So whose this special guest?” Flash asked out, actually curious to see who it might be.

“I’m not sure, it could be either Mr. Stark or Ms. Potts, I won’t know until they come into the door,” Amanda replied truthfully.

“Mr. Del, I will be handing out visitor badges that will allow you and your students minimal access to the tower. You may keep them once the tour is over, but note that they will no longer work the moment you leave the tower,” Amanda warned the students as she gave the man half the badges so they could hand them out to the students.

“What happens if we drop our passes or lose them?” Liz asked out quietly.

“Then the tour is over for you and you will be escorted out to the waiting area to sit with a guard while the rest of your classmates finish the tour. You are all 14 years old and up, and are able to keep up with your mobile phones, then a badge will be no issue for you,” Amanda said in a no nonsense tone.

“Why can’t you just reprint us another one?” Mark asked in confusion, because that couldn’t be too hard right?

“Because we do not make duplicate badges,” Amanda told him seriously.

“Why not?” Mark asked quietly, wanting to know the reason.

“Because Mr. Stark values his safety and his secrets above anything else. If you lose your badge you will not get another one,” Amanda said with a note of finality.

“Amanda, I think there was a communication error between our school and your advisors. I said that we were bringing 12 students, but you have only given me badges for 10,” Mr. Del said in confusion.

“Two of your students already have had badges issued to them,” Amanda answered out truthfully.

Here Peter ducked his head, and winced because he knew what was coming. He glanced over at Ned who was looking wide eyed, like a deer caught in headlights as he too realized just what was about to happen.

“How could that be possible?” Mr. Del asked in disbelief, because there was just no way.

“Peter Parker and Ned Leeds, please put on your badges,” Amanda called out in her no nonsense tone of hers.

Peter groaned before untucking the badge from underneath his shirt, so he could be displayed. He noted out of the corner of his eye that Ned had also done the same.

“Wait, hold on why do those two already have badges to get in here?” Flash out in anger and disbelief.

“You are not authorized to ask that, the information regarding Mr. Leeds and Mr. Parker is classified. And Ms. Smith is not authorized to answer it, so I suggest you get started on your tour, Ms. Smith,” J.A.R.V.I.S. suddenly intone, unintentionally startling everyone who wasn’t used to hearing him speak.

Amanda nodded, suddenly feeling very out of her depth, and wondering just who exactly those two boys were. She had common sense however and after making sure everyone’s badges were showing, she led them out to start the tour.

Peter grabbed Ned and pulled him up to the front, so they could walk as close to Mr. Del and Amanda as possible. He could see the disbelief in his classmates eyes and the hatred in Flash’s and he so didn’t want to deal with that right now. As it was, he was starting to feel very uncomfortable with his teacher, the man wouldn’t stop looking at him.

“I’m so sorry for giving you grief about this internship Peter,” Mr. Del said quietly, when he became apparent he would need to speak up, if he didn’t want the boy to jump to conclusions.

“It’s okay,” Peter said with a shrug, even though it really wasn’t. He had been quite hurt when his favorite teacher in the whole world had accused him of being a liar. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it now, he didn’t even want to accept his apology. And he wondered silently to himself, if that was okay or was it just him being petty?

“No it’s not okay,” Mr. Del told him truthfully, he had felt so ashamed of himself. He would need to speak with both Peter and his Aunt in a conference as soon as he could. Right now however he needed to focus on the rest of his students, which is why he allowed himself to fall back and make sure they didn’t lose any stragglers.

Peter shrugged before he turned to look at Ned who was taking in everything. Usually when they came to the tower, they never went in the public way. As Tony was very particular about keeping them both safe. He didn’t say anything, even though he could feel everyone’s eyes on him. He simply stuck close to Ned and listened to Amanda give them their tour.

~*~*~*Line Break~*~*~*~

Peter managed to avoid Flash and his classmates for the first half of the tour, it was when they stopped in the cafeteria for lunch that his peers descended on him like wolves.

“Why didn’t you say you had an internship here?” Mark demanded, when the teachers had moved towards the lunch line to get everything sorted.

“He did, he was deemed a liar by the prince himself and that was that,” MJ said boldly, her eyes going straight to Flash, who ducked his eyes from her hard gaze.

“That’s true,” Mark admitted out quietly. “Why doesn’t your badge say guest like ours does?” He asked instead.

“Because I’m not a guest, well not really, and neither is Ned,” Peter said before grinning as his friend pulled him out of the crowd of kids and into the lunch line.

“This is not how I thought today was going to go,” Ned admitted out as he grabbed a tray for him and Peter.

“It’s going how I expected it, a bit better though. Everyone is still in some shock, and I don’t think Flash is even going to do anything,” Peter said completely elated of that fact.

“I think you are wrong, Flash doesn’t really think before he says anything. He’s going to try something and it’s going to end bad for him,” Ned said honestly, and with a little bit of glee.

“I’m pretty sure it’s frowned upon to be happy when someone is about to be killed, both literally and figuratively,” Peter said dryly.

“My compassion for Flash left the day he decided that Lard butt was my new name, its better then Penis but not by much,” Ned said quietly.

“That’s fair,” Peter answered out in the same soft tone, not feeling very charitable for the other boy anymore either.

After that topic, the boys quieted so that they could actually eat there lunch. Peter sighed happily when he finished up his lunch, he had gone back for seconds and now he was so full he could nap if he wanted too. As it was, he could also feel the milk from breakfast and the water bottle he had drank on the tour as well as the soda he just finished from lunch. In short his bladder was started to become uncomfortably full and he wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

He knew of course he could ask to use the bathroom, but Tony had explicitly told him not to use the public toilets. He hadn’t been paying attention really, only that he said something about not leaving his DNA for people to find. He was only supposed to use the toilets that were higher then the cafeteria level, as the lower level employees couldn’t access them. The man could be fairly paranoid when he wanted to be, but Peter supposed he had a reason too.

As there were people constantly trying to kidnap and kill him or make him work for them. Wasn’t that saying, it wasn’t paranoia if people were really out to get you or something like that? He shook the rambling thoughts away before he turned to his friend, who thankfully was finished eating.

“Can you come with me to the bathroom?” Peter asked out hopefully.

“I thought you would never ask, I’ve been dying to go,” Ned said as he quickly stood up with his tray.

Peter nodded in agreement as he grabbed his tray and tossed his food away before he made his way over to the teacher’s table. “Ned and I have to use the bathroom,” he announced to his teachers and Amanda once there was a lull in their conversation.

“I’m sure that the rest of your classmates also feel that way. We were just discussing that, right after everyone finishes lunch we will make a detour to the bathrooms near here,” Mr. Del told the two boys.

“I won’t be allowed to use it, I’m not allowed to use the bathrooms that are cafeteria level or below. We need to go up,” Peter told him seriously.

He would probably have to wait until they hit the Avenger museum, it’s location was much higher as it had actual pieces from the superhero team, like his first Spiderman suit and Tony’s first armor.

“Peter that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Who told you that?” Mr. Del asked, eyes narrowing as he wondered which child he would need to have a stern talking to too.

“Mr. Stark,” Peter whispered out truthfully, eyebrow arching like the man he mentioned when he saw his teacher apparently choking after what he said.

“I see, then you’ll just have to wait until we go up a bit higher,” Amanda said recovering smoothly when it became apparent that the remaining teacher was incapable of speaking.

“Is that an even plausible excuse? Can he do that?” Mr. Del asked, recovering slightly so he could ask that.

“Mr. Stark does whatever he wants, whenever he wants. If he told Peter not to use the toilets lower then the cafeteria, then he did so for a reason. And the child understands the reason and will not disobey him, though with J.A.R.V.I.S in control, I don’t think he could have anyway,” Amanda explained to the still shell shocked man.

“Alright well thanks anyway,” Peter mumbled out before he quickly walked away from the table, completely leaving Ned. He was feeling completely embarrassed at this point, because of Amanda’s explanation and his teacher’s shock.

“Do you mind if I use the toilets then? He never banned me from using them,” Ned said as he jogged to catch up with his friend.

“Yeah you can totally use them, it’s because of my other duties remember?” Peter said softly, his face slightly pinched.

“Oh yeah,” Ned said softly, as remembered that his best friend was Spiderman.

Of course Mr. Stark didn’t want Peter to use the public facilities, what if someone got his D.N.A and tried to replicate it or figure out who he was? Ned thought it was terrifying just to think about, so he could definitely understand what the Billionaire was thinking when he made that rule.

Peter nodded, watching dejectedly as his classmates were rounded up and led to the bathroom. He took a seat in the small waiting area by the bathrooms and played on his phone. He was checking to see if he had any new messages from Mr. Stark, but there was none. He contemplated sending the man a text and asking him just this once if he could use the public toilet, but felt stupid for even thinking of the suggestion.

He was fourteen years old, not four, and he could hold it. It was literal hell to sit near a bathroom and not be allowed to use it, especially with how full his bladder actually was. Not to mention he couldn’t understand why everyone was taking so long, it took a half hour just for 11 kids and 2 teachers to use the toilets.

“What took you so long in there?” Peter asked, standing up with Ned finally came out of the bathroom, looking more then a little harassed.

“I got cornered by Flash and his guys, I nearly pissed myself until Mr. Del came in,” Ned admitted out, face going red in his embarrassment as he remembered. It had been a close call.

“I can understand that, I feel like I’m going to do that any minute now,” Peter confessed out desperately.

“You can do it, we are going up right now,” Ned pointed out as everyone started heading for the elevator.

Peter deduced that his friend had a point and they quickly hurried after so they wouldn’t get left behind from the group. He was a little in the back in the elevator and used that to his advantage, and making sure his bladder stayed where it was supposed too. He couldn’t get off the elevator quick enough but once he was, he headed to his teacher.

“Can I go to the bathroom now?” He asked out urgently.

“Not just yet Peter, our speaker is due to come in a couple of minutes. And I know you don’t want to miss this,” his science teacher said excitedly.

Peter groaned about to say something else, when his teacher was suddenly pulled away by Amanda. He grimaced before he went to go sit down, not caring where he sat but needing to be sitting before he disgraced himself. He nodded along, but wasn’t really hearing what one of his classmates were saying to him. He needed a distraction so he could just go anyway. The question of the day was, where the hell was Ned?

Peter felt like his eyes were floating as well as his teeth, because of how bad he needed to go. He could see his father figure coming into the room, and should have known that Tony wouldn’t miss a chance to properly embarrass him.

He couldn’t even think on that long, as he could barely even keep still as it was. He glanced around at his teachers, who hadn’t even noticed the man come into the room, which is why he quickly made his way towards him.

“I thought Aunt Pepper was speaking?” Peter asked out quickly, trying to make quick talk before he undermined his teachers.

“Her meeting ran long, and I was free so you get me,” Tony said with a smile as he glanced at his phone.

Peter could only grimace in return as he struggled to keep his potty dance as minimal as possible. “Oh yeah that’s cool,” he said in reply.

“Underoos, what’s the matter with you? Does something hurt?” Tony asked worriedly, as he actually caught a glimpse of the agony on his child’s face, now that he was looking at him directly.

“I need to use the bathroom, but I couldn’t go earlier because of your rule and they wouldn’t let me go because Pepper was coming to speak,” Peter told the man frantically.

“You’ve heard this speech a dozen of times, go kid. I’ll cover for you,” Tony told him child, giving him a small push when the obviously desperate child didn’t move at first.

Peter nodded and ran out of the room, not thinking about the fact that he had essentially left Flash to his fathers mercy. His bladder couldn’t be kept back for much longer, so he focused on his task of getting to the bathroom in time.

Tony shook his head, when the child actually ran out of the room and started making his rounds throughout the room. He was casually checking out all of the kids, trying to see who had potential and who didn’t when he caught sight of Peter’s best friend.

He grinned and made his way over to the boy, who he knew was named Ned but liked to call him Ted in hopes that the boy would get over being star struck and correct him. It hadn’t happened yet, but Tony was hopeful. He was caught off guard however as he got closer and caught the end of the conversation that Ned was having with some taller kid.

“I’m going to ask you this one more time Lard butt, how did you and Penis get those badges?” Flashed out menacingly. It just didn’t make sense to him, how the hell could those two losers get an internship here when he couldn’t?

“What did you just call him?” A quiet voice asked, tone sharp as a knife.

“N-n-nothing sir, I uh I was just joking around,” Flash replied quickly, stomach literally jumping into his throat as he turned around to find himself face to face with The Tony Stark.

“That didn’t sound like joking around, it sounded like you were bullying him. But that would be quite stupid of you don’t you think? Especially to do that here of all places,” Tony said in a tone so casual it had Ned freezing in place and he wasn’t even in trouble.

“Sir, I don’t understand,” Flash whispered out, wondering how everything could go to hell just that quick? How was he going to get out of this?

“I can assure you, that in time you will,” Tony said before he turned around to look at the rest of the class. “Is this kid by any chance Eugene ‘Flash’ Thompson?” He asked the group of teenagers. Most of them, were to shell shocked to even answer him which is why he turned to the one he was most familiar with, since Peter was occupied in the bathroom.

“Yes Mr. Stark it is,” Ned replied truthfully when it became apparent no one, as Peter was nowhere to be found. He fought hard to keep the grin that threatened to take over his face, as he wanted to see what was going to happen.

“Thank you Ned,” Tony said, his grin turning rather shark like, not wanting to call him the wrong name for fear that the bully would try to latch on it like a lifeline. It of course wouldn’t do the bully any good, but he didn’t want to cause Ned anymore distress.

Flash frowned at that, the fear giving way to his confusion. “How does he even know you dweeb?”

“You really are an idiot,” Ned said with a shake of his head before he turned to look at his friend’s father with ‘what can you do’ expression on his face.

“I’ll pound you for that, lard butt,” Flash said anger breaking the confusion that Tony Stark had brought.

“I don’t think you’ll be pounding anyone today, or tomorrow or anytime in the near future,” Tony interjected as he brought the bullying teenager’s attention back to him.

“What are you going to do to me?” Flash asked, feeling a genuine sense of fear. Was Iron man really about to kill him because he picked on a couple losers?

“Meaning what? What do you think I’m going to do with you?” Tony asked a dark glint in his normally kind eyes.

“Are you gonna kill me?” Flash whispered out fearfully.

“No, because I unlike you do not pick on people who are perceived as being weaker then me,” Tony answered out with his eyebrow arched, in his trademark look.

“Then what are you going to do to me?” Flash asked out, feeling himself pee a little from his internal terror. He knew that if he hadn’t done that bathroom break and hour before he would have probably pissed himself, almost like he had made Leeds do. He was terrified and didn’t see a way of getting of this conversation alive and well.

“By the time I get done with you, you’ll wish I had of. Because I’m going to destroy you and everything you love,” Tony told the teenager darkly, already pulling out his phone to get J.A.R.V.I.S. started on destroying this kid and his family’s life.

Who the fuck did this kid think he was? He came into his place, to threaten his kid, the same kid who May had told him was bullying Peter. Only to find out, it wasn’t just Peter the kid was bullying, but Ned too. Chances are, there would be a lot of other children who Flash had bothered as well. He refused to let it lie any longer, the idiot boy had brought this on himself.

Flash choked on his spit, eyes bulging out a little bit as he tried to process all of that. He wanted to ask how the man was going to do that, but was to afraid to even speak. He wasn’t sure if he was happy or angry when one of his classmates asked instead.

“How will you do that?” Mark asked quietly, ever the brave one, despite the fact that the whole floor that they were on had gone dead silent. Despite the amount of people on that floor, he swore that everyone else was holding their breath because he couldn’t hear them.

“It’s not that hard, especially for a genius like me. I’ll start with his phone number and personal addresses before dwelling into his bank accounts as well as his parents. I’ll find out where they work, what they do for a living. I will drudge up every dirty little thing you and your folks have ever said or done and then I will spread it all over the goddamn internet for everyone to see,” Tony started off cruelly watching as the boy went white as a sheet in his terror, but he wasn’t done yet.

He was so thankful that Peter was not around at the moment, as he would have never been able to say all this. The kid was way too innocent and soft and dicks like Flash, would take advantage of it, every single time.

“You’ll be barred from all the top Universities, that even your money won’t even be able to get you in. Forget about MIT or Stanford or Harvard, or even Brown, and Cambridge. They won’t take you, not after I get finished with you,” Tony replied harshly, even as his eyes stayed locked on Flash’s to let the boy know that he meant every damn word.

“Why are you doing this?” Flash asked out, eyes filling up with tears in his fear as he struggled not to completely break down.

“Because this is personal,” Tony said ferociously, eyes flashing in his anger.

“How is it personal? How do you know even know Leeds?” Eugene asked out, bewildered enough to stop the tears briefly.

“He’s my son's best friend, that’s how I know him,” Tony replied quietly, not worried about anyone here spilling anything. In order for the students to even get a tour, they and their parents had all signed NDA agreements.

Flash felt a massive amount of dread suddenly go throughout his body as he took in the man’s words. Everyone knew who Leed’s best friend was, and he swallowed audibly. This couldn’t be real life was it?

“Whose that?” He asked out weakly, needing to know before his life was over.

“You know who he is Flash, you call him Penis all the time,” Ned said vindictively, having no remorse.

Tony’s eyes narrowed as he gave Eugene a piercing look, eyes flickering up as Peter walked into the room, and all hell broke loose.