Peter’s hyper-aware that his classmates are all staring at him, now, as they move forward from the entrance and to the first stop on their tour. A long hallway that’s lined with pictures of Stark Industries through the years. Newspaper clippings hailing it the first step toward the future of clean energy, pictures of Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts standing proudly in front of the building, handwritten notes from the desk of Tony Stark with the goals of the company scribbled out in his rough but looping handwriting. And yet, despite all the super-cool stuff that’s surrounding them… Peter is the one getting stared at, like he’s the display and everything else is just background noise.

And it’s disconcerting. 

He doesn’t really know how to feel about it or what to say. Part of him wishes he could enjoy it. Maybe do a little I-told-you-so dance, but it doesn’t really feel like a victory. He’s just kind of tired. So, everyone believes him now. What does that mean? It’s not like he’s going to suddenly be popular. Or maybe they think that he will be, but he’s not sure he wants to be friends with a bunch of people who counted him out from the get-go. The hero worship is so bizarre from this side of things and Peter makes a mental note not to stare at Mr. Stark so much. 

Luckily for him, Lisa is an expert on getting and keeping attention and her never-ending explanation of every photo they pass is pretty good at keeping some of the gazing off of him and all of the conversations to a low murmur rather than a roar. Even so, Peter sticks to the back with Ned who’s positively beaming at everything around them, just to avoid getting roped into a conversation that’ll loop back into his internship. Like, asking how he got it. Where he applied. How it worked out for him. All of those questions that he can’t possibly answer. 

Ned’s questions are easier to deal with. 

“You’ve really never been down here! That’s great! I mean, I was worried that you were going to be bored the whole time and not really have fun hanging out with me but it’s way cooler that we’re both experiencing it for the first time, together!” Ned’s words are somehow moving faster than his lips. It’s like experiencing lag in person and Peter can’t help but grin as they’re ushered into a HUGE elevator. One that’s so spacious and so tall that it seems like it was designed for groups like them… or for the Hulk. “I wish we were allowed to take photos. How cool would that be?” 

“Very,” Peter says, nodding in agreement. “But you know, it’s a legal thing.” 

“Well, Penis -” Flash suddenly hisses behind them. “Maybe you should talk to your good friend Tony Stark about it, since he apparently bends the rules for you. If he can give you an internship, why not let Ned, here, take all the photos he wants?” 

“Life sure is hard when you’re not the one benefiting from special treatment, isn’t?” Michelle says, casually reaching over to grab Flash by the back of his jacket and pull him back a few feet. “Stop breathing down Peter’s neck like you’re going to try to steal his badge or you’re going to get us all kicked out.” 

“I wasn’t going to -” 

Too late. Michelle’s voice, dry as it is, carries to Mr. Harrington. And he, at the words “kicked out” shoves his way through the group to usher Flash to the other side of the elevator and away from Michelle, who looks self-satisfied. 

Peter opens his mouth to thank her, but a melodic chime and Friday’s cool voice interrupts him before he can -

“Welcome to the 20th floor, Midtown High. Remember: Look, but don’t touch. And try not to disrupt our work environment. Thank you and have a pleasant tour.” 

“Thanks, Friday.” Peter says, automatically and at the same time as Lisa.

Everyone’s staring at him again, but not as hard as they do when Friday suddenly chirps back to life with a saucy little, “You’re welcome, Peter.” 

Leave it to Tony Stark to program an AI with a sense of irony. His face is burning with a blush as they step out of the elevator and into the office space, crammed in a single file line between desks. There’s not much in here that seems interesting and even Ned is starting to deflate a little when -

“Heads up!” 

One of the girls further down the line shrieks as a robot crawls past her with determination, a cup of coffee on its back. The liquid inside sloshes without spilling and it’s carefully picked up by one of the desk workers, who lifts it in a “cheers” motion to them. 

“Sorry about that,” He calls, a little smile on his face. “Stark Industries is all about innovation. Even in office spaces like ours.” 

“Yes!” Lisa says, jumping in with that smile on her face. “Believe it or not, there are many robots that are tested for the first time in here. Mr. Stark doesn’t just invent for himself or for the world at large. He’s also known for tinkering with ideas to improve the lives of his employees and for offering his interns the chance to do the same. That automated coffee delivery bot was the invention of one of the interns on the robotics floor. We promote learning and growth through hands-on experience here, not just watching and listening to other people learning around you.” 

There’s a low murmur of awe and appreciation and Peter grins at the coffee bot as it takes another order and dutifully shuffles off. 

“Wow, that’s so cool.” Flash announces, with just a hint of sarcasm underlying his voice. “Ms. Lisa? Since we go to school with an intern, is there any chance we can see one of his robots? Are there any in here?” 

“Well… I, um, I’m not sure.” Lisa says, her expression faltering. “I wasn’t aware that one of our interns would be here. But, um… Mr. Parker? Do you have a project that you would like to show your classmates?” 

Oh boy. 

He’s not sure what Flash’s endgame is, here. If he’s trying to humiliate Peter by assuming that he’s not techy enough to have created anything or if he’s hoping to prove that Peter isn’t really an intern if he doesn’t have a roaming robot around. But, either way, he has effectively backed Peter into a wall. 

Because he HAS worked on things with Mr. Stark. But not a single one of them can be shown off to his classmates. It’s not like he can whip out his web shooters or show off the watch and wireless earbud that he wears to keep him connected to Karen. He’s never really had the chance to make a bot just to see if it would work. There were always more important things to work on. 

“I uh,” He says, his voice cracking. “I don’t think anything I’ve worked on with Mr. Stark would be in here. Everything would be in his private labs and, unfortunately, they’re restricted to everyone.” 

“Except you?” Flash challenges, eyebrows raised. “Wow, that’s super convenient. Isn’t it so cool, guys, how Peter has been in the Tony Stark’s lab, only he can’t prove it?” 

“When did he say that he couldn’t prove it?” 

No one saw her approach but, suddenly, Natasha is right there behind Flash. Fully-suited up like she’s just gotten back from a mission. Her long, bright red hair is pulled back into a ponytail and she has her hand curled into a fist, holding it out to Flash. 

“As it so happens, I was just one floor down testing one of Peter Parker’s inventions. Catch.” 

Flash opens his hand automatically and then screams when a spider is dropped into his hand. A Black Widow, in fact. He flings it out of his hand and, still shouting, stomps his foot down onto it. When he lifts his foot back up, it’s curled up into itself on the ground. 

“Is - is that real?” Flash asks, looking at Natasha with horror. “Black Widow just dropped a black widow in my hand!” 

“It’s a robot.”

Natasha doesn’t even blink. There’s no smile on her face like she enjoyed the display that Flash put on when she put SPI-DER in his hand, but there’s no remorse in her eyes either. She’s just impassive. 

“You asked to see one of his inventions, so I showed you.” 

“That’s a robot?” Flash repeats, uncomprehendingly. And he starts to reach out to grab it but Peter bolts forward, crossing the narrow space between him at his end of the line and Flash where he’s standing, shoving him back away. 

“Flash, don’t!” He says, shaking his head. “You can’t do that.” 

“What, I’m not allowed to touch your robot?” Flash asks, looking startled as he’s shoved away. 

“It’s programmed to bite whoever tries to grab it after trying to squish it. The toxin its teeth are laced with will knock you out.”

“A very effective weapon, I think.” Natasha says. She reaches to her side and pulls out a knife from its sheath, twirling it around in her hands before leaning down to poke the spider with it. It jumps up and immediately tries to sink its fangs into the knife. Natasha wipes the trace of toxin off of her blade with her gloved index finger and thumb and re-sheathes her knife, letting the spider crawl back into her grasp and over her fingers. “Peter, would you like to tell your class about your invention? I came to thank you personally for it. Stark said that you put a great deal of effort into its creation for me.” 

“Of- of course.” Peter stammers, trying not to feel put on the spot. But he has a feeling that SPI-DER had not been a floor beneath them, just based on the way that she’s looking at him. “Uh, this project is called SPI-DER. It stands for System for Portable Information, Data Extraction and Retrieval. Uh, Mr. Stark and I worked on it together as a new weapon for Black Widow. I mean, for - for you. He did the exterior and figured out how to make it indestructible, while I made a microphone that’s half a millimeter long but can still pick up conversations within ten yards.” 

Peter hasn’t been nervous around Natasha in a long time. Not since they’d met, officially, and she dubbed him “baby spider”. But she, like Mr. Stark, has a mask that she wears in public and it’s a little more intimidating than who he knows behind closed doors. 

“And she’s a beauty,” Natasha says, kicking the top of the robot's head before slipping it into her pocket. “You. Teacher.” 

She points at Mr. Harrington. 

“I’m going to have a private conversation with Peter. I have questions about the design of this robot that cannot be spoken in front of the rest of you. I’ll return him in three minutes so he can take part in the rest of the tour.” 

“Uh, I’m not sure if -” 

“Great.” 

Natasha takes Peter by the arm and leads him to the elevator. They step inside and she pushes the button for the bottom floor, again. As soon as the doors close, Peter feels like he can breathe again. Even being under all of the camera’s never felt as stifling or as watchful as his classmates did. And he relaxes his shoulders a little. 

“Um, what questions did you have about the design? Cause, I didn’t really have that big a part in making the exterior or most of the features so you’d really wanna talk to Mr. Stark about -” 

“I didn’t bring you in here to talk about the robot, Peter. I brought you in here because we have a problem.” 

Peter’s heart leapt into his throat. “A - a Spiderman problem? Because I get the suit on in like, five seconds and be ready to -” 

“No.” Natasha interrupts again, holding her index finger up to ask for silence. “Not a Spiderman problem. A Peter Parker problem. SPI-DER has been trailing you since you entered the building. I arrived this morning and thought you’d be a good person to test its capabilities on. I heard what that boy has been saying to you. The one with a complex?” 

“Flash,” Peter guesses, suddenly stricken. “You’re not here to kill him, are you?” 

Natasha’s lips twitch with amusement. Real amusement. “...I thought about it. Briefly. But I felt that there would be something morally wrong with murdering a teenage boy for being a bully. I just want to know why you’re putting up with it.” 

“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” Peter asks, staring at the floor instead of at her as the elevator chimes with every floor that they go down. “I’ve tried killing him with kindness but he doesn’t want to be friends with me. And it’s not like I can just beat him up.” 

“Why not?” 

Natasha is very serious when she asks that question. Peter knows it and he groans. It’s not the first time he’s been asked why he doesn’t use his spidey-skills to teach someone a lesson.

“Because. Spiderman is a secret identity kind of thing. Like Superman, only...real. I have to keep my glasses on and keep from getting into fights because I’d never be able to take him before the spider bite and people would really wonder how I accomplished it after, you know? Besides, I’m way stronger than he is. I could really hurt him.” 

“...You sound like Steve.” Natasha says with a sigh. “Stop smiling, I’m not finished. You sound like Steve in those tacky videos he did to promote harmony between superheroes and regular people. The PSAs.” 

“Oh, I know. We have to watch those in - hey!” Peter says, suddenly offended. “I’m not an after-school special.” 

“No, this is an in school special. Since, technically, that’s what’s happening here.” Natasha says, hitting the button labeled “20” as soon as the doors open to the bottom floor. They start to go back up. “...I understand that you want your identity to be a secret. I don’t understand why you don’t want to solve your problems by kicking them, but I suppose we grew up differently. But there are intermediate options. Like telling an adult or verbally standing up for yourself.” 

“Up until two days ago, none of the teachers at school really cared what I thought,” Peter admits, quietly. “Flash’s parents are the ones with money. He kind of gets whatever he wants because of it.” 

“I can get you money,” Natasha says, blinking with confusion. “If that’s what you need. So could Stark. High-school dynamics are so weird. I thought there’d be more singing like in that movie you made us watch.” 

“That was the dream, not the reality. There’s a lot less dancing than High-School Musical would lead you to believe,” Peter says, smiling wryly. “I’m… okay. Sometimes people are jerks. Isn’t that just part of life?” 

“Only if you don’t kill them.” 

Peter isn’t sure if that was a joke or not and he doesn’t have time to figure it out because the doors open back up and he’s promptly maneuvered back out as Natasha picks up the tail end of an imaginary conversation. 

“ - that was very intuitive of you to add. I can see what Stark meant about you. I have an idea for another weapon. I’d like you and Stark to work on it together. The two of you are a good team.” 

Natasha looks down at her watch as she brings Peter to a stop in front of them. Everyone’s looking at him with equal parts awe and fear. Awe, because he’d just been alone with Black Widow… and fear, because he’d just been alone with Black Widow. 

“Two minutes and 54 seconds,” Natasha says, pushing Peter back into his place in line. “As promised, here he is. Enjoy the rest of your tour.” 

She moves forward without another glance at them, back into the elevator. 

“...Well!” Lisa says, clapping her hands together. “That was certainly an exciting intervention into our tour! And it took up a little more time than I was planning on, so we better hurry. Our next stop is on the upper level to visit robotics. You guys are in for a treat. Today, you’ll be helping interns test their robots and the one that gets the most votes will -” 

“You were just alone with Black Widow!” Ned whispers in his ear, practically vibrating with excitement. “The Black Widow! Peter, oh my god! Everyone was talking about how intense she was and how cool it is that you’re on a first name basis with her. Did you really help design that spider? Of course you did, you’re a genius, I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me all about it because that is so cool. Could you get her to sign my poster too? I was too scared to ask before and -” 

“Ned. Breathe.” Peter interjects, watching with amusement as Ned inhales once before launching right back into what he was saying.

“- Flash was so mad that you went with her. You should have seen his face, I thought he was going to start throwing stuff.” 

Peter turns his head at the mention of Flash, catching a glimpse of the side of his face as he stomped toward the elevator with everyone else, his face still flushed with either rage or embarrassment as he steps in, standing away from his friends who… 

Who are making faces like they’re afraid. Mocking Flash for being freaked out by SPI-DER. And Peter chews on his bottom lip as he follows Ned to the elevator too. Some friends Flash has. At least, no matter what else happens, Peter knows that Ned will always be on his side.

***

The class is hype with pent up energy by the time that they make it to the robotics lab where the interns are. It’s much more spacious here and as soon as Lisa says that they can, everyone bolts to different tables where interns are sitting with their robot designs, ready to show them off and try to win the popular vote. 

Peter hangs back, waving Ned to go and join the fun. It doesn’t feel right for him to put a vote in, since he’s technically an intern here too… and he wonders if he can ask Mr. Stark to let him participate in this game for the next touring school. Maybe he can design a robot to do something cool and useful on his own, without Mr. Stark’s help. See what he’s really capable of and -

“Parker.” 

Peter’s yanked out of his reverie by Flash suddenly grabbing him by his arm and dragging him to the corner of the room, away from everyone else. Mr. Harrington and Lisa are both enraptured by a robot that pours hot-chocolate while doing shaky imitations of disco moves and don’t notice. 

“Flash, let go.” Peter says, under his breath, wrenching his arm free. Great, here they go again. He really should have seen this coming. Of course Flash was going to do or say something else after Natasha made an appearance. What’s it going to be this time? Another barrage of insults? Accusations of bribing someone to get Natasha to make an appearance? Being called -

“...I need you to tell me how you got an internship here,” Flash says, taking Peter completely by surprise. 

“What?” 

“What did you do? How did you do it? I’ve applied six times since my parents found out that you had an internship here and I keep getting told that they don’t allow high-schoolers to intern. You’re not even that much smarter than me. What did you do? How did you do it?” 

Peter’s thunderstruck by the expression on Flash’s face. He’s never seen him look so...insecure, before. 

“Flash, I… it’s hard to explain.” 

“You don’t understand,” Flash says, more urgently this time, looking over to make sure that no one’s watching them. “My parents will kill me if I can’t get this thing. They’ve been all over me ever since you gave your paperwork to the school. I kept telling them that you didn’t really have an internship and they started to calm down, but if they find out that it’s real and I’m not good enough to get it? I… just tell me what you did.” 

“I didn’t do anything,” Peter blurts out, too surprised to lie properly. “I… Mr. Stark came to me. He uh, saw a video of me on Youtube. A um, science video that I had posted. Just messing around.” 

Not technically true, but feeling sorry for Flash isn’t enough of a reason to give his identity up. 

“And he um, thought I had potential. He invited me to come here and show him what I could do so I did and… here I am. I didn’t do anything special. I just got lucky.” 

That’s not the answer that Flash wanted to hear. Peter can see the defeat in his eyes and in the way that his lips tremble with unspoken accusations of him being a liar. He’s staring at Peter with desperation, seeking any sign that Peter’s just keeping the secret from him to be a jerk… but then his shoulders slump and he steps back, staring at the ground. 

“Just got lucky,” He repeats, slowly. “My parents are going to love that one.” 

“...Flash?” 

Peter starts to reach out for him, but Flash yanks his arm away before he can touch him. 

“Whatever. Just forget it.” He says, shoving past Peter so he can rejoin the groups huddled around the lab tables, cheering for their favourite robots. 

***

In the end, it’s the disco-bot that wins first place, stealing everyone’s hearts with sick moves and the ability to ‘pee’ out hot-chocolate. A two for one that would seal any high-schooler’s heart. The intern that masterminded it, a girl with green hair named Emma, did a victory lap around the lab to high-five everyone that had voted for her. 

And just like that, the tour is over. 

It ended on a high-note, everyone walking like they’re lighter than air and chatting animatedly about what they’d seen and done as they’re ushered to the elevator by Lisa to head back down to the bottom floor and be ushered onto the bus so that they can make it back to the school in time for the last ten minutes of their final period. A few people who never looked twice at Peter stop to compliment SPI-DER and some even dare to ask if he can get them the avenger’s signatures. 

He has every reason in the world to be happy. 

He finally proved to everyone that he was an intern here.

People saw what he was capable of, he didn’t blow his spider cover, he got to see Natasha, and nothing bit him. All in all? That should make it his best field trip ever. 

But he’s not quite as peppy as the rest of his classmates seem to be as they reach the lobby. Not until -

“Mr. Stark?” Lisa asks, sounding stunned. 

Peter’s head snaps up so quickly that he thinks something in his spine actually pops and he, along with everyone else, oggles the man that’s standing in the lobby. 

“Oh, look! High-schoolers!” Tony calls, opening his arms wide in the grand gesture that Peter’s staring to dub as “Stark posturing”. “My favourite. I’m kidding, of course, I didn’t even like teenagers when I was one. But, it’s come to my attention that my intern is still attending high-school for some reason, so I thought I’d stop by and say hello. Maybe sign a few phone cases. Oh, hey, Mr. Hardass. Nice to see you again. No, really, it’s a lot nicer to meet you when you haven’t been harassing my intern. Okay, let’s see! Phones out, who wants my signature? Here’s what we’re going to do. Mr. Harassment? You go to the bus. I’m going to sign a phone or a face, or whatever they want ink on and send them out to you. Just to make sure everyone leaves my building. Ready? Set? Go.” 

Peter watches with wide-eyes as Mr. Stark pulls a sharpie out of his pocket and makes his rounds, signing people’s phone cases, their hands, their foreheads or, in Ned’s case, their poster. He’s energetic and dismissive, making quick work of it and sending kids out happier and faster than they would have gone on their own. 

Until it’s just Flash and Peter left standing in the otherwise deserted lobby. 

“Peter, you don’t really need my signature do you? I mean, I signed that permission slip and the second stack of papers giving you permission to leave so I feel like I’ve done enough. You, though…” 

Mr. Stark points at Flash, who suddenly looks nervous. 

“Eugene, right?” 

“Y-Yes sir,” Flash says, swallowing hard. “And, can I just say it’s an honour to -” 

“You can but you shouldn’t,” Mr. Stark says, waving his hand dismissively. “Because, truth is, I’m here with news that you’re not going to like. So maybe save the pleasantries until the end of my speech. Ready? Here I go. You’re not going to get an internship here while you’re in high-school. You know what? Actually, that’s all I had to say. It’s not going to happen. I’m the only one who can have an exception like that made and I already have an intern, so… moot point. Keep sending in applications and you’re going to get blacklisted.” 

Mr. Stark smiles pleasantly, his eyes impossible to read on the other side of his sunglasses. And Flash’s face turns red, the corners of his mouth drooping downward. 

“I am so glad that we got that out of the way. Now, I owe you a signature. No, no. Put your phone away. I have something special that I am going to sign for you. Pete, turn around for a second.” 

Peter does as told, spinning in place, and standing awkwardly as Mr. Stark presses something against his back and uses him as a living desk to scrawl his name out on it. 

“There. This, Eugene, is a letter of recommendation for an intern position at one the safer, subsidiaries of Stark Industries. We’re its parent company, but it has its own brand and fewer attacks, so it can allow for high-school interns. Your GPA won’t be the most impressive that they’ve ever seen but this should give you an edge.” 

Flash stares at Mr. Stark like he’s grown a second head. 

Peter does too. 

But Mr. Stark doesn’t even seem to blink, just holding it out. “Are you going to take this or not? I don’t have all day.” 

Flash takes the offered paper with a trembling hand, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. “Th-Thank you so much.” 

“You’re welcome. And hey, in a few years if you still feel like this is something that you want to do, not just something that your parents want for you, then you can reapply and we’ll see what happens.” 

Flash nods, dazed, and starts to stumble for the door, holding the note in his hand like it’s more precious than gold. 

“Oh, and Eugene? One more thing?” Mr. Stark calls, stopping him in his tracks. “We have a zero-tolerance policy about bullying in my company and its subsidiaries. So, I suggest that you find a better outlet for your stress than what you’ve been doing, because I have connections everywhere and I’m not known for giving second chances. And uh, tell Mr. Harrington that I’m keeping Mr. Parker here. For, intern stuff.” 

Flash turns bright red and nods once at Mr. Stark… and then at Peter before he turns and bolts, still clutching the note like it’s solid gold. 

Peter’s pretty sure that his jaw is still on the floor when he looks at Mr. Stark. 

“...What?” Tony asks, mildly. “Don’t worry, I already cleared it with your aunt. Natasha ordered pizza and is demanding that you spend some time with her. And since she used my money to get the pizza, I am entitled to a slice or two and the chance to kick both of your butts at mario kart.” 

“I - that’s not what I was…” 

Peter has to swallow hard, before looking at Mr. Stark again. 

“...That was a really nice thing you did for Flash, Mr. Stark.” 

“Well, yeah. I’m a giver. Give, give, give, that’s all I do.” Mr. Stark says as he wraps his arm around Peter’s shoulder and starts to maneuver him to the elevator that leads up to his penthouse “...Alright, fine. Friday was keeping me updated on what that kid was saying to you all day and I actually wanted to come down here and chew him out. But then Pep asked me a question that made me reconsider.” 

Peter perks up at the mention of Ms. Potts, but he waits until the elevator doors close to ask -

“What did she ask you?” 

Mr. Stark presses the unmarked button at the top of the panel and slides his key card in. “She asked me what you’d want me to do. If you’d want me to publicly humiliate this kid… or if you’d want me to be the hero that he needed, even if he didn’t deserve it. So, there you have it. My attempt at being your friendly, neighborhood Iron man.” 

He pulls his sunglasses off and glances at Peter out the corner of his eye. 

“How did I do?” 

“...I think Flash’s lucky to have you as his hero, Mr. Stark,” Peter says, after a moment of consideration. “And I think I am too.” 

Mr. Stark smiles, then. A real, genuine smile like Peter’s rarely seen from him. 

“That’s sweet, underoos… but I’m still going to kick your ass at mario kart.”