By the time that Tony parked in front of the apartment building that May and Peter lived in the sun was just beginning to rise over the iconic skyline of New York City. Glancing at the console’s clock he saw that it 6:00 AM, and couldn’t help but let out a sleepy groan. It is way too early for this, Tony thought to himself. I mean, who the Hell would want to have a field trip so early in the morning?
Tony sent out a quick text to the kid to let him know that he was outside as he hummed along to the Black Sabbath currently playing in his car. Luckily he didn’t have to wait long as Peter practically flew out of the building, looking way to happy to be awake at such an early time. He bounded up to the car and grinned as he opened the door. “Good morning Mr. Stark!”
Tony tried to give him smile back, but it came out more like a grimace. “Morning kiddo.”
“You look like Hell!” Peter chirped, settling himself in the passenger seat as he pulled on his seat belt. “Haven’t had your coffee yet? Or let me guess, you went to sleep way too late because you were working on something in your workshop?”
“You know me way too well, kid,” Tony shook his head fondly, driving off for Midtown High School.
Peter frowned and scrunched up his nose. “Mr. Stark, you gotta stop doing that, you need to sleep more, or at least at a reasonable time.”
“Now you’re sounding just like Pepper,” Tony chuckled, stopping at a red light. He leaned over to ruffle Peter’s hair, and the kid squawked indignantly. “Anyways, kid, where are we even going on this little field trip today? Probably some boring old museum, huh?”
“Well, you’re close,” Peter beamed as he fixed his hair in the passenger’s vanity mirror. “We’re actually going to Liberty Science Center!”
“The museum in Jersey City?” Tony blinked.
“It’s not a museum, it’s a science center actually,” Peter said, rolling his eyes.
“Practically the same thing, but whatever. Why is your school going all the way across the river if there’s a ton of museums and science centers here in the City?”
“Cuz we always go to the same places every time,” Peter groaned. “The teacher let us put it up to a vote, and LSC got the majority of the vote. Plus LSC has a zoo, and the bodies exhibit, and even has the biggest IMAX theater in the US!”
Tony couldn’t help but chuckle because holy crap, this kid was too cute for words sometimes. “That sounds like a lot of fun, bud. Is there anything I should know ahead of time?”
“Not really. Well, I mean, Mr. Osorio’s gonna go over all the rules of being a chaperone with you before we go I’m sure. It’s not that hard, though, you’re only gonna have to chaperone me, Michelle, and like two other kids.”
“My toughest mission yet,” Tony teased.
“Whatever,” Peter replied, disconnecting Tony’s phone to connect his own. The car switched from playing Black Sabbath to Coldplay as Peter bounced in his seat along to the song.
“Who said you could change my music?” Tony asked with no real heat in his voice. In fact, his voice held that particular form of fondness that was reserved for the Spider-Kid sitting next to him.
“You know you secretly love this song,” Peter sassed back. “I heard you humming it the other day in the lab.”
“Yeah, because you keep playing it and it got stuck in my head!”
Peter laughed, and that made Tony smile because after everything that happened in the past year, it was hard to make Peter laugh like that. “Whatever you say, Mr. Stark.”
It was 6:30 by the time the duo made it to Peter’s high school and they weren’t even the first to arrive. Already sitting on the front steps were about twenty students and a tired looking adult with a lanyard around his neck. He perked up when he saw Peter and Tony making their way over to him. The kids around him whispered excitedly as they caught sight of Tony Stark.
“Holy crap, I didn’t think Peter was being serious, why-”
“-how the Hell does Peter Parker even know-”
“-oh my God, would it be rude to ask for a picture?!”
“I should’ve worn something better-”
Peter couldn’t help but blush as his enhanced hearing caught the excited chatter of his classmates. He had never really realized how few people actually believed him when he said he was interning Mr. Stark.
“Peter! Mr. Stark! Hello, I’m glad you two could make it!” Mr. Osorio greeted as Mr. Stark shook his teacher’s hand.
“Good morning, I’m assuming you must be the man I spoke to yesterday evening, happy to meet you in person.”
While Peter’s teacher and Mr. Stark continued to converse Peter made his way over to his other classmates.
“What the Hell Peter! You actually know Tony Stark??” Lara Crayers asked excitedly.
Peter knit his eyebrows together. “I mean, I didn’t exactly keep me being Mr. Stark’s intern a secret.”
“Yeah but we all thought you were kidding!” Luis Ruiz pipped up.
Peter shrugged as he bit his lip. “I mean, I don’t know what to tell you?”
“Why couldn’t you aunt come again?” This time it was Abe asking.
“Her co-worker broke her arm, so my Aunt May had to cover her shift at the hospital. It was really last minute so the only person I could ask to replace my Aunt was Mr. Stark. It’s a really good thing he said yes or else this trip would have been cancelled.”
Before anyone could ask anything further a confident but mellow voice called out, “What’s up, losers?”
The group turned and saw Michelle walking towards them. Someone asked as she neared, “Can you believe that Peter actually brought the Tony Stark to chaperone us today?”
Michelle lifted up a perfectly sculpted eyebrow as she eyed the boy who asked the question. “Parker didn’t exactly keep his internship with Stark a secret.”
“You believed him the whole time?” Lara asked incredulously.
“Eh, I figured why would Parker even want to make that up? Not worth lying about,” Michelle shrugged before taking a seat on the first step and pulling a thick book from her bag.
While the other teens stared at Michelle Peter made a quick escape away from them. Further down the sidewalk Mr. Osorio was still talking to Mr. Stark, probably explaining the rules to him and answering any questions. Peter made to grab his phone from his backpack to text Ned as the other boy wasn’t going on this field trip, but before he could he heard a voice call out, “Yo Parker!”
Peter tensed as he realized it was Flash. Squaring his shoulders, he turned and watched the other boy walking from the parking lot of the school. “What do you want, Flash?”
Flash smirked. “So where’s Tony Stark, huh? Or has everyone finally realized that you were lying about that.”
“He’s right over there,” Peter said, pointing a thumb to behind him.
Flash’s smirk became larger and he laughed, “So, you’re saying he’s imaginary?”
“What are you talking about?” Peter asked confusedly, turning to look back at Mr. Osorio and Mr. Stark. But the two adults were nowhere to be seen, and Peter blinked. “Well, they were just right there. They must have gone inside for something.”
Flash shook his head as he continued to laugh. “Geeze, Parker, just admit it when you’re wrong! It’s pathetic that you’re still trying to keep up the lie. And let me guess, when Mr. Osorio comes out you’re gonna tell everyone that Tony Stark had a work emergency and couldn’t stick around. This is just sad, Penis, why would Tony Stark actually chaperone a field trip for a nobody dweeb like you?”
Peter flushed, but before he could reply a frosty voice asked, “What’s going on here?”
Both teens turned and watched as Mr. Stark made his way down the steps of the school, eyes cold as he glared at Flash.
“Holy shit, it’s actually Tony Stark,” Peter could he Flash whisper in shock, and Peter couldn’t help but give a wide grin because he had never heard Flash sound so shocked. Serves him right.
“Yeah, I know who I am, but who are you? And what gives you the right to insult my intern like that?” Mr. Stark demanded.
“Uh, m-my name is Flash Thompson, sir. And I was just playing around with Parker!” Flash cried out as he realized that Tony Stark was giving him a full on glare.
“This true, Pete?” Mr. Stark asked him, not turning his eyes away from the cowering bully.
Peter swallowed when he felt the weight of not only Flash on him, but the rest of his classmates’ who had all turned their eager attention to the brewing conflict in front of them. Peter timidly aswered, “Yeah, sure.”
Now Tony turned to look at Peter, but he softened his eyes when he saw the flush on Peter’s face, and the anxious shifting of his eyes. Mr. Stark turned his eyes back to Flash and said in one of the coldest voices Peter had ever heard the man use, “Regardless, if I ever hear you call Peter that, you’re really going to regret it. And trust me, even if I’m not physically around I’ll find out about it, I have ears everyone. Don’t ever mess with my kid again, got it?”
Flash gave a hasty nod. “Y-yes sir, I promise!”
“Good,” Tony said, nodding his head shortly. “Glad we could reach an agreement. C’mon, Pete,” Mr. Stark beckoned Peter as he turned back towards the school, “I need your help getting the water cases onto the bus.”
“Coming!” Peter called, sparing one more glance at the pale-faced Flash before he ran to the building. He ignored the looks the rest of his classmates were giving him, well everyone except Michelle. To an outsider’s perspective it would look like she was aloof, but Peter could see how her fists slowly unclenched from her book, and Peter smiled as he realized that she had been seconds away from intervening on his behalf. As much as Michelle Jones hated to admit it, Peter knew that she was just a good a friend to him as Ned was.
“Why did you never tell me that that asshole was giving you trouble, kid?” Tony demanded as the two walked down the silent hallway of Midtown High School.
“Doesn’t matter,” Peter mumbled. “I had it handled.”
“Oh I’m so sure you did,” Tony shook his head. “Kid, you don’t have to deal with everything by yourself, there’s a reason why your aunt and I are around. We’re both here to help, you just have to ask. Whether it’s some Biff Tannen wannabee or an alien invasion, we just want to help you.”
Peter was silent as they walked, one hand clenched tightly into a fist while the other played nervously with the drawstrings of his zippered sweater. The boy sighed before offering his mentor a tired but genuine smile. He softly said, “Thanks Mr. Stark. Both for putting Flash in his place, and everything you just said.”
Tony hooked an arm tightly around his kid’s shoulders. “No problem, kiddo. You think it would be immoral to get that punk blacklisted from all major universities?”
Peter made a choked sound that seemed to be a cross between a laugh and a gasp. “Yes, very immoral! Thanks for the offer, but it’s really not worth it.”
Tony smiled as they entered the classroom. “Just remember, kid, I’d do anything for you.”
It was a quarter after 7 by the time they left for Jersey City. Currently Tony was sitting in the second row of seats next to an older woman named Carla Thrope, the grandmother of another student. Peter was in the back, sitting next to Michelle because as he put it, it would be social suicide to sit next to a chaperone, even if said chaperone was Tony Stark. That little shit, Tony thought fondly.
“It’s so sweet that you were willing to take May’s place as chaperone for this trip,” Carla gushed. While the other two chaperones had been shocked that the one and only Tony Stark was joining them on chaperoning this field trip, Carla instead acted completely normally. Privately Tony assumed that the woman didn’t fully know who he was, but regardless Tony was thankful that the woman was treating him like any other chaperone instead of the billionaire-superhero that he really was.
“I knew that she was pretty busy with work, plus I knew Peter was disappointed that she had to cancel. So I thought he would feel better if I tagged along,” Tony shrugged nonchalantly.
“I’m glad that May and Peter have someone else to rely on,” Carla smiled. “After Ben’s death, May had to deal with the stress of working two jobs and caring for a growing boy, and I know how tough that can be. I raised my own daughter alone, no friends or family to speak of, so I know how it feels. But now I can relax knowing that my daughter has a family of her own, just like May can relax knowing Peter has another father figure in his life.”
Tony gave the woman a genuine smile as the kids on the bus cheered as they entered the parking lot of the science center.
“Alright everyone, break up into your assigned groups. Stick close to your chaperone at all times, we don’t need anyone getting lost here. Our assigned lunch period is at 12:45 PM, so please don’t be late. Afterwards we’ll head to the IMAX theater to watch the film, have another hour to wander around LSC and the gift shop, and finally head home to beat the traffic into the city. Any questions?” Mr. Osorio paused his speech before finally announcing, “Alright, then you’re all free. Have fun, and please be respectful of the other visitors.”
Tony stood awkwardly under the giant Hoberman Sphere as all 30 students broke up into groups of four. Tony nodded as Peter, Michelle, and two unknown students joined him under the sphere. “Alright, kiddos, you all obviously know who I am, and I obviously know who Peter is, but I have no idea but you three. So, names please.”
“Michelle Jones,” The tall, curly haired girl said.
“I’m Cindy Moon,” The only other girl beamed.
“And I’m Abe Brown,” Said the last student.
“Ok, awesome, let’s just get this show on the road,” Tony said. For some odd reason he had never felt so awkward in his life. Put him in front of a room of intimidating executives or politicians and he wouldn’t even bat an eye, but in front of these four young adults who couldn’t even drive and he just wanted the ground to suck him down. “For the record, I’ve never chaperoned in my life, so I have no idea what I’m doing. I guess it’s up to you guys?” An awkward silence fell upon the group.
Thankfully, before Tony could facepalm over his sudden case of nervousness, Peter broke the silence. “Well,” he began, looking over at his group, “We were talking on the bus and we figured that we should start from the top and finish at the bottom. So we should head to the bodies exhibit first.”
“Great idea!” Tony exclaimed. He made his way over to the elevators as the four chattering teens followed him.
“Honestly, kid, this wasn’t what I was expecting when you said the field trip was here,” Tony whispered to the kid next to him.
Peter frowned. “Why are you whispering?”
Tony blinked, before gesturing to the exhibit around him. “Well, we’re kind of surrounded by a ton of dead bodies, so I figured it was appropriate.”
Peter rolled his eyes as he glanced over to his pseudo-father. “Mr. Stark, that rule is for cemeteries. All these people donated their bodies for science to be put up on display to educate the public.”
“Regardless, this is pretty creepy,” Tony muttered, walking around the body of an old man. The sign next to him said that the man had died well into his 80s, and that he had chosen to donate his body to the exhibit as he had been a biology teacher in life. The body itself was skinned all the way to the muscle level, and Tony had to admit that it was pretty educational to see a life-sized view of all the major muscles and systems in the human body, even if it was seriously creepy
Peter raised an eyebrow as he snarked, “You know, if you’re so creeped out, you could wait for us inside the Thomas the Trainexhibit next door.”
Tony narrowed his eyes at the boy. “Oh, I am so going to get you back for that comment squirt. Just wait until I embarrass you in front of your little friends.” He couldn’t help but smirk at the panicked look on the kids face as he turned to continued walking through the exhibit.
The rest of the third floor was pretty boring in comparison to the bodies exhibit. The rest of the floor just contained a small but well-loved aquarium, an exhibit on energy (which Tony promised himself to donate money to as it was missing some more recent developments in the field of energy), an exhibit for younger kids on Thomas the Train, and a virtual sports system. The group of five made it to the third floor in decent time, where they were currently waiting on line to go into the Touch Tunnel. Well, at least the four teens were on line while Tony sat on a nearby bench with their stuff.
Apparently the tunnel was pitch black, with minimal sound allowed to enter. The point of it was to have visitors traverse the maze one hands on knees while only allowing them to use their sense of touch. Tony didn’t see the big deal about it, but the kids were excited as they waited on line.
“Wouldn’t it be cheating for you,” Tony had asked Peter as the boy removed put down his bag near him. “You know, with your great senses and all?”
Peter grinned as he answered, “Nah, as good as my eyes are I can’t see in the dark, plus I doubt sound helps in there. My sense of touch is good, but I’ll still have to rely on feeling the walls to center myself.”
Finally the four teens were allowed to enter the pitch black maze, and Tony amused himself by watching the four of them fumble in the darkness through the night vision cameras that were displayed on screen. The foursome exited the maze around the same time, with Michelle being first and Peter being last.
After the Touch Tunnel the breezed through the exhibit on the infectious diseases and made their way to the indoor zoo area.
“Hey look, it’s your brethren,” Tony teased Peter, pointing at the enclosure holding numerous spiders.
“Technically those would be Nat’s brethren, since those are black widows,” Peter responded. Tony was about to snark back at him but the kid glanced away before gasping loudly. “Oh my gosh!”
Tony watched in amusement as the kid practically ran to the biggest enclosure, which held a family of cotton-top Tamarins . “They’re so freaking cute!” The kid practically squealed. Tony had to admit the animals were adorable (especially since it seemed that they were all playing with various baby toys), but he thought that at that moment, an excited Peter Parker was the most adorable sight in the world. Damn, I really am going soft, he mused to himself ruefully.
After visiting the indoor zoo Mr. Stark led Peter and his friends down to the cafe area to eat lunch. They met up with the other groups before they all headed over to buy food. While Aunt May had left Peter $10 for lunch that morning, Mr. Stark insisted that he pay for them.
“Kids, I’m a billionaire. Paying for your lunches won’t exactly make a dent in my wallet,” Tony said, rolling his eyes good naturedly at the four sputtering teens.
After everyone had eaten lunch they all went in to watch the IMAX movie, which Peter found pretty entertaining since it was about cotton top Tamarins, which he now thought were the cutest animals on the planet.
The movie ended up starting and ending late, which only left the class and chaperones a half hour in the science center.
“Let’s just hit up the gift shop,” Michelle suggested. “It’s not like we can do much more.”
“Good idea once again, Ms. Jones,” Tony praised. “Get anything you want, guys, it’s on me.”
While the other three students happily went to pick out what they wanted Peter just frowned. “You really don’t have to pay for me Mr. Stark, honest.”
“Kiddo, when are you going to get it through your thick skull that I don’t feel forced to pay for you, I just want to. Now go pick out something for, and for your friend New while you’re at it.”
Peter grumbled but had to admit that he was excited to be able to pick whatever he wanted without worrying about price. After twenty minutes on deliberating on different experiment kits, Legos, and other products he settled on the biggest K’nex kit, the Ferris Wheel model, for himself, and a Star Destroyer for Ned.
Peter’s eyes practically flew out of his head when the cashier told Tony that the total price for his groups items were over $1000, but the man didn’t even flinch as he gave the starstruck woman his credit card. After they paid the group started the trek back to the bus.
“Thanks a lot, Mr. Stark,” Cindy said, hugging the giant penguin stuffie close to her chest as she ate Space Ice Cream (and let me tell you, Peter had been to space already, and they definitely didn’t have ice cream, unless it was on the Guardian’s ship).
“Yeah, thanks again Mr. Stark!” Abe beamed. Next to him Michelle gave a grudging but thankful nod as she began to read the biography of Nikola Tesla that she had picked out from the store.
“No worries, kids, I just hope you all had fun,” Tony said, writing something on his Starkphone as they walked towards the bus.
Cindy, Michelle, and Abe all walked towards the back of the bus while Mr. Stark sat in his seat in the front of the bus. It seemed they were the first group back, but Peter had no doubt the other would be joining them soon enough. Peter hesitated in front of Mr. Stark’s seat, before quietly asking Michelle to save him a seat in the back. The girl didn’t look up from her book but Peter knew she had heard him. Peter than took a seat next to Mr. Stark, surprising the man enough to put down his phone.
“Thought it was social suicide to sit next to a chaperone?” Tony asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, we’re not leaving yet. But I just wanted to thank you again.” Tony opened his mouth, probably to tell him to thank him again, but Peter rushed on. “I know I know, you do everything for me because you care, but still- I wanted to thank you for putting up with us, for buying everything you did, and just being nice to my friends. I mean, I am so sure you were dying to hit your head against the closest wall when Abe kept asking you why radiation makes that creepy noise.”
Tony chuckled. “It really wasn’t a problem, kiddo. I’m just glad to see that you got to have fun with your friends and act your age for once. It was worth being a chaperone to see you be a kid for a couple of hours.”
The two smiled at each other before Peter launched himself at his father figure to give the man a hug. Tony’s lack of hesitation in returning the hug truly showed how far their familial relationship had come in the last few years. They hugged for a moment longer before Peter broke the hug.
“Alright, I can hear everyone else coming so I’m gonna head back to my seat.” He got up, turned to walk back to his friends, but ended turning back around. He bit his lip a moment before he quietly added, “I love you, dad.”
Tony blinked for a moment before breaking into a large, but soft grin. “I love you too, kiddo."