ItsJustKai: Been a while. How was you Thanksgiving (if u celebrate it)?

Here's a one shot by @spiderlingism on wattpad. Their AO3 is spiderlings.

Summary: If Wanda Maximoff was to listen into the reveries of Peter Parker in the exact moment his eyes scanned the letter, she'd get more than a giggle listening to him recite a vine he found to fit all too well; Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, shit ( he'd definitely get a scolding from Steve Rogers if she snitched on him ).

⠀⠀Much to the discomfort of the young Parker, the top of the parchment screamed five words which he cursed with everything inside of him: FIELD TRIP TO STARK TOWERS! Ned Leeds gave a silent laugh to the boy, and he could hear the hiss-like chuckle rolling off the viperine lingua of Eugene 'Flash' Thompson. Ah, the joys of being a teenager with senses always dialled up to eleven that came with the freaky spider powers he acquired upon a freak accident.

—— Or, Peter takes a trip to Stark Tower and curses the world for not swallowing him whole.

If Wanda Maximoff was to listen into the reveries of Peter Parker in the exact moment his eyes scanned the letter, she'd get more than a giggle listening to him recite a vine he found to fit all too well; Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, shit ( he'd definitely get a scolding from Steve Rogers if she snitched on him ).

⠀⠀Much to the discomfort of the young Parker, the top of the parchment screamed five words which he cursed with everything inside of him: FIELD TRIP TO STARK TOWERS! Ned Leeds gave a silent laugh to the boy, and he could hear the hiss-like chuckle rolling off the viperine lingua of Eugene 'Flash' Thompson. Ah, the joys of being a teenager with senses always dialled up to eleven that came with the freaky spider powers he acquired upon a freak accident.

⠀⠀Excited whispers contaminated the fifth, and thankfully final, period classroom of Mr Harrison's chemistry lesson. The teacher eyed his students with amusement, yet his expression shifted to something more of disappointment when gazes landed on the groaning Peter. No one believed that a high schooler, even one as intelligent as Peter Parker, could get an internship at Stark Industries. Mr Harrison didn't want to label the boy as a liar, but he decided that someone has to say something to him about it before Friday comes. And that someone just so happens to be him.

⠀⠀The last five minutes of the lesson passed by a breeze; the low murmur of conversations overlapped and the sound of laughter filled the science room. Mr Harrison could tell that everyone, save Peter, was through the roof with Friday's arrangement. The animated movements and expressions that coated the faces of all brought an involuntary simper to the lips of the professor —— he couldn't even see the softening to Michelle Jone's usual mask of indifference.

⠀⠀As everyone was leaving, the teacher made it his job to speak to the young Parker; with one simple hand gesture, he was sat down in a stool, parked behind the front rows desks. It belonged to Cindy Moon if he recalled correctly. "So, Peter," he began, choosing to ignore the worry that swam within chocolate pools. A pen danced within the grip of spindly phalanges. "I bet you're wondering why I wanted to talk to you?"

⠀⠀A bitten simper overtook margins and his cranium, draped in a disarray of messy brunette waves, dipped into a respectful nod. It was far from the nah, shit that raced through his mind. "Is everything okay, Mr H?"

⠀⠀The response from Harrison came with a sigh. "No, Peter. Everything is not okay." The youth couldn't help but let his feigned smile drop into a frown. "I need to talk to you about your . . . Stark Internship." Shoulders hunched into one another at his teacher's words —— to think that he actually liked this teacher. "I know how difficult your life has been, but you need to know that lying for popularity isn't right."

⠀⠀Parker almost choked. He was being called a liar . Has Harrison been listening to Flash? Surely not, right? "Suh—sir. I can assure you that my internship is very much real. As real as, uh," eyes darted to the pen he had stopped playing with, "this pen right here."

⠀⠀"Peter, my nephew has an internship there. I've asked him if he's ever heard of you; he said no."

⠀⠀Now Peter was genuinely curious, and his voice hitched to push the questions with of a more force; "What sector does your nephew work in? And what badge level does he have?"

⠀⠀"Biomechanics, level four."

⠀⠀The spiderling's tongue clicked. "That'll be why, sir. I spend most of my time in Mr Sta — uh, the R-and-D labs."

⠀⠀"I guess we'll see on Friday, Mr Parker."

⠀⠀Peter could hardly hold back the smirk that threatened to grab a hold on lips. "I guess we will, Mr Harrison. Oh! And remind your nephew to be more careful when bringing things up to the level four labs, would you? He knocked something over last time and set one of our teams of scientists back two weeks — Mr Stark almost had my head!"

————

⠀⠀Friday rolled around much too quickly for Peter Parker's liking. It was like someone has hit the fast-forward button on his life ( though, given the people he now knows and the things that he's seen, he wouldn't be all that surprised if someone had. ). On Wednesday, the permission found itself atop Mister Harrison's desk, Pepper Pott's immaculate signature sprawled in azure ink. That definitely raised an eyebrow ( or perhaps it was the arrant sauce stain the loitered around the bottom most corner of the slip from Tuesday night's pasta. ).

⠀⠀Now, Friday morning, twelve past nine, having been awake for less than an hour and a half, he found himself sat on a hard leather seat inside of the stereotypical yellow school bus, on his way to meet his certain doom, face to face. Beside him, Ned Leeds was practically bouncing up and down, unable to keep himself calm. Behind of the duo was Michelle Jones, or MJ, as she insists, her bag occupying the seat next to her, sketchbook in hand, the pencil making an untidy attempt to draw Peter in his state of distress.

⠀⠀"Oh my God, do you think Thor will be there?"

⠀⠀"He's so effing hot."

⠀⠀"What about Captain America and Bucky Barnes? I heard that they're dating."

⠀⠀"What do you think, Penis?"

⠀⠀"Thor isn't due back until later tonight, Flash. He's busy."

⠀⠀"Whatever, Parker."

⠀⠀They had reached the halfway mark of the journey and Peter was keeping himself uncharacteristically quiet, making a subconscious choice to try and detur Flash from making any comments that would get him in the Avengers' ( that he was praying weren't going to show up ) bad books. The taunts are easier enough for the vigilante to ignore, and that just makes him want his awfully dysfunctional family of oddities to get involved even less.

⠀⠀Peter's phone vibrated from his pocket, attracting the attention of his Guy In The Chair.

Mr Stark UwU: Hey, kiddo! I hope you're excited for your field trip! ;)

— T. S

⠀⠀Yep, he was one-hundred-percent, totally, absolutely, screwed . Thumbs raced to type a reply ( Spider-Kid: if you leave it alone, i'll change your contact name from mr stark to tony. ) before he could receive a flood of messages about 'ignoring' or 'not texting back quick enough. Eyes rolled and he silenced and pocketed the device. What he missed, however, was Tony Stark's reply, and a message from Shuri ( who Peter still could not believe chose to associate with him. );

Mr Stark UwU: You know I can't do that! I'll see you in a bit!

— T. S

Boss ass bitch: peter! i'm visiting for the week (i got in late last night). tony told me about your field trip. can't wait to see you later today ;)

————

⠀⠀The class sped their way off the bus to the outside of the magnificent tower. Stark Tower, or the Avengers' Tower, depending on the way you look at it, stood before the high schoolers in all of its multi-million dollar glory. Perfectly polished windows, giving an insight into the activities of the building. The grand door stood before the group, itching to be pushed open. It was like the tower was personally inviting them in, with the way that the glass reflected off the orange ribbons of the morning's sun. It was enchanting to gaze at. Parker had to hold in a snigger at the awe-struck expressions that his classmates wore. He'll admit, the tower is pretty cool, especially in the morning like this, though he sees it more than enough. The team tends to split their time between the Tower and the Compound, just for old time sake. Peter most definitely prefers the Compound, however, as he finds it to hold more of a familial feeling.

⠀⠀They slowly moved into the lobby, and Peter found himself edging towards the back of the group with MJ and Ned. It was modern and screamed rich and influential. It was accented with gold flakes. It was smart, clean, and tidy, and Parker found his classmate's expressions amusing, to say the least. Now he just let the snigger roll, not even allowing the harsh glares from Flash Thompson to ruin this moment. By being near the end of the group, he was also closest to the reception desk, and he smiled at the woman sat behind. Her name was Katelyn. If he wasn't on a field trip, Peter would be deep into a conversation with her by now, about whatever they could think about ( though, the topic often fell to her girlfriend, Jessica. Peter finds the pair positively adorable, and has nicknamed them, with Shuri's help, Jesslyn. ). She returned his smile with a mischevious quirk, and that's when it hit him. Jessica was going to be their tour guide. Fuck this Parker Luck bullshit.

⠀⠀"Hello, Midtown!" The perky voice of a raven-haired female brought Peter out of his inner cursings. Ambers met with enstatites, and his bottom lip was pushed out in a pout of petulant annoyance. Like her girlfriend, there was an evil undertone to the way she smiled so brightly. God fucking damnit. "I'm Jessica, and I'm going to be your tour guide today!" As much as Peter wanted to pay attention, the pit in his stomach was too much to just ignore. "I'm going to give you a guest badge. Please don't lose it, Mr Stark has a strict policy against reprinting badges." There it is, and a groan drops from his mouth. Ned shoots him a glance as if asking if Peter had his badge. With a solemn nod, the more svelte framed boy began to search through his pockets for his badge. Fingers clasped around it, then hung the lanyard around his neck while everyone was receiving theirs.

⠀⠀His badge was custom made. Beautifully designed silver webs spun into the background of reds and blues. Big black letters spell out UNDEROOS, and Peter can never hold back a grin at that. In the left corner was the number ten.

⠀⠀"Jessica—"

⠀⠀"Please, call me Jess."

⠀⠀"—Why does your's have a different number to our's?" And Flash's question, a twinkle appeared in her eyes. It wasn't often that tour guides received questions like this ( Peter knew as he's lead a tour or two before. ).

⠀⠀"Well," her tanned palms clasped together, and copper orbs suddenly dropped to Peter, "you have a guest pass, level one. These are usually given to paparazzi, guests, tours, and people seeking meetings. They are permitted to use the bathrooms, the cafeterias, lower meeting rooms, and to go where their guides might be. Guides, like myself, have level three passes. We're allowed access to the first fifty, out of the one-hundred-and-fifteen floors. But, lucky for you all, I've been given special access to some of the higher floors today. You can thank someone special for that." Cue Peter's death glare. And to think, he liked Jessica. This is a complete betrayal. "Level two badges are for reception workers, like the lovely Katelyn over there." Jessica gave a soft wave to the blonde, one which Katelyn replied to with a soft smile. "Level four is for lower interns, ones that haven't been here for very long, janitors and kitchen staff. Five is for higher interns, six for lab directors, government officials, and others like it. Level seven is reserved for security. And then it gets interesting.

⠀⠀"Level eight, nine, and ten are for the Avengers, their associates, Pepper Potts and others of similar importance. Eight is for Avengers that aren't always here, like Princess Shuri and King T'Challa. Who arrived just last night, actually!" A curse almost slipped from Peter's lip; honestly, he would not be upset if the earth just swallowed him whole, or something like that. "And for the family of some, like Scott Langs daughter. Level nine is for the rest of the Avengers and Pepper Potts, while level ten is for Stephen Strange, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and one other. The only real difference is that those with level ten can access the private labs without difficulty." Peter was that one other. "Though, I've heard that the Princess can get into one of the private labs." Everyone in the tour group nodded, drinking in the information like they were in the desert and it was the only real water for days.

⠀⠀"Now, class, we're going to go through security now. Please don't be startled, the voice is only FRIDAY." Flashing her girlfriend a smile, the ravenette stepped her way through the security point.

⠀⠀And, ah, fuck , he knew he had forgotten something when FRIDAY announced: "Lorde, Jessica. Level three. Welcome." She couldn't help but grin at the expressions of the group. Slowly, each person passed through, the A.I. humming the same greeting format of "Jones, Michelle. Guest. Welcome," the only difference being the names. And then along came Peter's turn, and he thought up yet another string of curses. He really should've stayed on the bus.

⠀⠀He scanned his badge, all the relief that no one had noticed his different badge number disappearing into nothing but the crave for sudden death. "Parker, Peter. Level ten. Welcome back, Peter! Dr Strange would like me to inform you that you didn't ma—."

⠀⠀The Irish accent was suddenly cut off by Peter hissing a quiet, "FRIDAY, mute." And he shuffled himself through the gateway, aware of the stares from the members of his class ( excluding Ned and MJ, of course. ). Though he was absolutely mortified, he was drinking in Flash and Mr Harrison's faces the most. They seemed frozen and eyes were plate-wide with shock. Peter Parker does, in fact, have an internship, and is a lot higher up ranking wise than they ever could have imagined. Harrison now felt like a complete idiot.

⠀⠀"Jess, how does Pen— Peter Parker have a level ten badge?"

⠀⠀FRIDAY's voice spoke again, "You do not have the clearance to ask such question, guest."

⠀⠀And with an awkward cough, the tour began.

⠀⠀The beginning was a success. Peter enjoyed looking around the biomechanics labs ( he didn't visit often ) and sneaking off to speak to Laurance about how things were going with Garroth. The best bit, however, was that, so far, no Avengers had approached him. Now it was lunchtime. The group was sat in floor thirty-five's cafeteria. Everyone was tucking into their lunches provided to them by those at home, and it then hit the spider that he had left his lunch in the kitchen in the penthouse floors. As if she knew and could read his thoughts, Wanda Maximoff wandered through into the food hall, and everyone, employees and interns included, froze. Literally, froze. Clutched in her hand wasn't the lunch he had made for himself, no, it was something a lot nicer than two peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches and an apple. It was leftovers from the pizza Steve Rogers had made for him. He hadn't been allowed to eat the meal the others were having ( something about whisky being added to the sauce ), so he was made a pizza. Peter would be lying if he said it wasn't amazing.

⠀⠀With his enhanced senses, he could smell the food a mile away. He could tell that it had been reheated by the way that the cheese was clutching to the piece it was attached to before the woman had ripped them apart. He could tell it had been reseasoned by the way the onyx pepper contrasted against the golden yellows of the pineapple ( yes, he likes pineapple on pizza. Sue him. ) it sat atop. He couldn't help the smile once she had placed the tub in front of him.

⠀⠀"Thanks, Wanda," he mumbled, nimble digits making a race for the box. Though, before he could, spots of glowing scarlet surrounded the container and it was moved out of it. A pout replaced the smile.

⠀⠀"Steve wants a video of you saying thanks," she said, not without an eye roll. Though, she couldn't contain the mischevious quirk that threatened her sanguine-glossed brims. "You know how much he loves hearing you call him Uncle Steve ."

⠀⠀A crimson dust dotted across porcelain cheeks. "Wanda . . ." He groaned, wondering when the world will just eat him. All she did was giggle and raise her Stark phone. The pad of her thumb landed on the red record button.

⠀⠀"C'mon, Pete."

⠀⠀"Thanks, Uncle Steve." His voice was quiet, almost inaudible.

⠀⠀It earned a soft glare for the redhead. "Properly, Peter." Her Sokovian accent was pushed thickly as she spoke his name.

⠀⠀Clearer this time, his eyes wouldn't meet with the camera as he spoke. "Thanks for the pizza, Uncle Steve." And with that, Wanda pushed the tub back towards him and stood. Sending a wave to everyone in the lunch hall, she walked back out with a skip to her step. All Peter could do was sit there and quietly eat his pizza while Ned buzzed next to him. He could literally feel Flash's glares on the pale skin of his neck.

⠀⠀"Dude, she's like your hot, older sister." Peter chose to ignore Ned's statement.

⠀⠀Before he knew it, he had devoured his lunch and Jessica was back to gather the group up. He found himself at the back of the group once more, furthest away from Flash, and closest to Ned and MJ. At this point, those two were the only ones keeping him from straight up jumping out of one of the windows. With his enhanced healing, jumping from a window wouldn't do too much damage. After all, he could always swing himself to safety before actually hitting the ground. Plus, he heals quickly. He decided to keep that as an overly extreme plan B. He decided he should verbalise this plan to Ned, just in case. What their guide was saying wasn't awfully interesting, anyway.

⠀⠀"Hey, Ned. Do you think I could just, like, swing out of a window and escape my doom?"

⠀⠀"Peter," Ned couldn't help but let a chuckle pass, "no, you cannot jump out of a window ."

⠀⠀"But it'd be so much better than being here."

⠀⠀"Loser," MJ rolled her eyes, "you'll be fine. Stop being dramatic" The three started up a small conversation, one which mainly consisted of Peter being mocked. The whole 'Uncle Steve' fiasco popped up and he knew that it wasn't going to be let go of any time soon. Being mocked by your crush and best friend over your odd family situation . . . how wonderful.

⠀⠀Before Peter even had a chance to reply, Jessica straight up called him out . "Parker, I'd be quiet and pay attention if I were you. Mr Stark is probably going to quiz you on this." He shot her a glare. The worst part, he decided, was the fact that every word she had just said was probably true. Damn Tony Stark and his tendencies to make everything overdramatic. He heard MJ snigger. Ned gave the girl a soft swat on her arm, knowing Peter wouldn't —— he's too, as Natasha Romanov might say, head over heels.

⠀⠀"Now, here we have one of the Avengers' training rooms. Usually, tour groups don't have access to these, but Mr Stark made an exception for today." Following the group, Peter couldn't help but let an eyebrow skyrocket at the sounds of grunts that slipped from the room. It was spacious and bright as the midday sun poured in through the window. The only thing that separated the teenagers from those that were in the room was a big glass wall.

⠀⠀"That's Natasha fucking Romanov, " Peter couldn't help but laugh silently at MJ's gaping jaw. At the words, the spy in question raised a hand at the males in the room, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, and Bucky Barnes, all of who stopped the various exercises that they had been partaking in. Romanoff sent Parker a knowing smile, and he couldn't hold back the blush.

⠀⠀"Lookie here, boys," Natasha said smoothly while Barton, Barnes, and Rogers all moved their way towards the woman, "looks like we've got a tour group." She gestured to the door, nodding towards their guide, welcoming the group in. Most looked dumbfound and Peter all but sniggered, a blasé expression overtaking his soft features.

⠀⠀"Peter," Steve Rogers began, locking eyes with the once sniggering boy. His 'Eyebrows Of Disappointment' were tangible in his warning vocal tones. Peter liked to call this Dad Steve. "Don't be rude." And fuck . Peter went back to cursing the world for not yet swallowing him whole. Where the fuck is an alien invasion when you need one?

⠀⠀"Sorry . . ." The youth stumbled off his words, more than aware of the glares from the super soldier. Suddenly, as he mumbled out the rest of the sentence, his shoes seemed a lot more appealing than the four Avengers that stood before him. ". . . Uncle Steve." And then he made the mistake of looking up. Clint was wearing that god-awful grin, and Bucky was smirking. Natasha simply wore a simper of amusement. Peter's cheeks burned, his urge to get up and run silenced by the way he rocked on his toes. In the stunned silence, all he could hear was MJ's sniggering.

⠀⠀Natasha cleared her throat. "Anyway . . . I'm Natasha fucking Romanov ," she sent MJ a kind smile, and the younger woman looked like she could just explode, "this is Clint Barton, Bucky Barnes, and Steve Rogers," she pointed at the males respectively, "but I'm guessing you all knew that."

⠀⠀"Cap, Nat said a bad word."

⠀⠀"Barton, I swear to god."

⠀⠀With the atmosphere now lighter, the class erupted into a fit of giggles. It was odd to see the Avengers like this; they were so used to seeing them just fighting the battles that normal people can't fight. It was heartwarming to see that they all acted like a family —— even if it could be considered more than a little bit dysfunctional. "Pushing that aside," Steve said, "what do you say we teach you all some basic self-defence?" He took the teenagers' cheers with a soft chuckle, fingers motioning for them to finally enter the facility. Crowding into the room, they watched carefully as Clint passed a message to Natasha, who stole a glance at Steve, only to then literally burst in a fit of laughter. Peter managed to follow where she had been staring, and he literally choked . Sat behind the Captain's earlobe was a purple bruise. Steve flushed, realising what Natasha had been glancing at. Bucky's expression remained neutral, though the smirk that threated his lips was reflecting within his eyes. Damn.

⠀⠀Bucky cleared his throat. "Now, we're going to be teaching you the basics . . ." Peter ended up tuning the rest of it out. He had learned all of this before. It was, as Bucky had stated, the basics. Slowly, instructions began to flood from the murder twins and the super soldiers. The tour group took in each word like it was gold. Soon enough, the students were taking it in turns to face off against the mighty Black Widow. None of them lastest any longer than ten seconds. When it came to Flash's turn, however, he looked smug as he sent a wink in the woman's direction. And he was down within five seconds, yelling his surrenders as loud as he could.

⠀⠀Natasha looked simply bored, and then she made firm eye contact with Parker. His eyes widened, and his head had begun to shake. His eyes held a constant string of pleads, each one screaming no with everything he could muster up. But, alas, his silent pleas were for nothing, because, before he could think about it, Clint was pushing the young spider towards the redhead. A suspire forced itself from his lips. "Are we really gonna do this, Nat?"

⠀⠀"Yes, Pete, we are." And, with those words, the two spiders were off. The show almost seemed choreographed. Punches flew through the air, rarely being landed. Kicks were passed, making contact with the mat more than flesh. It was beautiful to watch; they moved with such grace and delicacy. It would only take one wrong move . . . and awh fuck. It was made by Parker. The middle finger that Flash had given him distracted him, enough for Romanoff to pin him to the soft foam of the mat beneath them.

⠀⠀"Okay, okay," he panted, "I give, I give." He could've certainly done better —— not only did he know that, but so did Romanoff, Barton, Rogers, and Barnes. But, he was on a school trip, and it was not one of his training days. So they'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Slowly, Peter retreated to the safety of the back of the class, stood in between a buzzing Ned and a smirking MJ, once again.

⠀⠀"Well, we should let you get going," Steve said, as the three came over to stand near Natasha once again.

⠀⠀"Yeah. There's a treat for you all in the labs," Clint's eyes were sparkling, and Peter had to resist the urge to smack him. "We'll see you all in the meet and greet, thingy, in an hour or two."

⠀⠀And, like that, they were off to the elevators again. It was awkward, glares burning holes in the young Parker. He couldn't contain the flush that spilt onto his cheeks. The descent was slow, until Peter mumbled a soft "FRIDAY, speed up, please." Before they knew it, they were on floor thirty-two. It was a lab-orientated floor, with displays for tour groups. What caught the group's attention the most, however, was three figures that stood behind the glass. Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Shuri. Though no words could be heard, everyone was pretty sure they were bickering. Even while one of the many interns ( His name was Garroth, if Peter remembered correctly, and was hopelessly in love with Laurance of biomechanics. ) of that level was giving a presentation, they could only really focus on the three. Peter especially kept sending glances in the trio's direction. And it wasn't until he met Tony's eyes that a smirk spread across the older's lips.

⠀⠀The door opened. Peter froze. The three started their teasingly slow trot over to the group. The intern instantly shut up. In fact, it was like the whole part of that floor had been silenced. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. "Peter!" Shuri called out to the boy, her accent think. "Come and help us settle this argument. These grandpas over here think they know the Internet." And that had Peter snickering. Tony and Bruce, when added to the Internet, doesn't always equal the best thing.

⠀⠀"Sorry, Mr Stark and Uncle Bruce. You are kind of — how do I put this nicely? — Internet-naive."

⠀⠀"Hey!" Tony protested. "I do all these nice things for you and this is how you repay me? I feel utterly betrayed."

⠀⠀"I did tell you," Bruce reasoned, "that's what Pete would say, Tony." The bickering turned into a full on argument. Peter and Shuri against Tony and Bruce. Peter completely forgot about his classmates. The way they stood in shocked silence at the way the conversation flowed. Peter and Shuri obviously won, but that isn't what matters. All that mattered to Tony, and Shuri ( not so much Bruce. ) was embarrassing Peter . . . which they very much did. It took him a moment, but once his laughter subsided he suddenly remembered that his class was there. The crimson that spread across Peter's face, for what seemed like the one-hundredth time that day, was boiling.

⠀⠀Tony chuckled at Peter's face. "Thanks, kid." A hand, calloused from many sleepless nights locked within his lab, ruffled its way through Peter's soft curls. "Invite Ned for dinner. MJ, too." He began his walk back to the lab they had come out off, Shuri and Bruce following in suit. The girl of the trio was snickering. MJ had her crisis notebook in hand, hand movements quickly working away at the page. Ned was quietly giggling at MJ's drawing, at its accuracy, while Peter blinked almost comically at his classmates and teacher. Who only returned the blank blink.

⠀⠀Jessica Lorde coughed, grabbing their attention once more. Garroth quickly regained composure and continued the presentation, as if nothing had ever happened. Peter tried his very best to listen, he really, honestly, did, but all he could think about was the meet and greet that was coming up after the lab presentations were over and done with. He could only focus on how disastrous it is going to be —— everyone that is out to get him will be in a room with his classmates, his bully, his best friend, and the girl he likes. It could not be worse.

⠀⠀To Parker, the bright words from the blonde sounded monotonous. He felt bad for tuning it all out, he knew how much Garroth loves to talk about his projects. He knew that he should be listening, that Tony will probably test him on it all, but he just couldn't . It was dumb-downed drabble; it entered one ear and left the other. As minutes ticked by, so did the speech. But then his phone buzzed. Mr Harrison shot him a glare, but all Parker could do was pass an apologetic glance forward to Garroth. He fished the device out from the pocket it rested in.

Eagle nose: Start paying attention, Parker. Stucky is on its way.

Spider-kid: gotcha! btw how do you know what their ship name is?

Eagle nose: You really think I don't use the Internet? I'm not ancient, Parker.

⠀⠀A chuckle slipped from his nose and his head snapped towards the sandy blonde who continued to speak. Leeds sent Parker a glance; he mouthed a simple "Clint," and moved on. Peter found himself slipping back into the group, really joining in and enjoying himself for the first time of the whole tour. His hand kept raising to ask questions, which Garroth answered more than willingly. The way the older's sapphires sparkled with passion as he spoke was enough to have Peter wishing that Laurance was here to see ( Peter and Shuri had come up with their ship name, Garrance, and Garroth accepted it with a blush. ).

⠀⠀It was like he had forgotten about his impending doom . . . at least, that was until two super soldiers entered the lab. Rogers had walked his way up to the front, to speak to Jessica and Garroth, while Bucky stayed at the back, next to Parker. "So," the younger began in a hushed tone, pushing cinnamon waves out of the way of his eyes, "why are you two here?"

⠀⠀"Strange thought your group might need a chaperone to the conference hall."

⠀⠀"Now the truth?"

⠀⠀Bucky sighed. "Okay, okay," the corners of his lips quirked up into a shallow smirk, "you know that, uh, bruise behind Stevie's ear?" And Peter felt himself blushing, earning a low chuckle from the older brunette. "Yeah . . . Strange thought it'd be a good idea to have us chaperone your group because the punk was showing it off during the, uh, training session. After Natasha smothered him with makeup, of course."

⠀⠀Peter stuck out his tongue. "You two are gross ."

⠀⠀"C'mon, kids," Steve began, his gazes kept on the kids, to avoid the glances from Bucky. The latter felt quite smug with himself. Offering their thanks to Jessica and Garroth, the class of high schoolers and their teacher followed the Captain America out of the lab. Bucky followed, keeping a close eye on Ned, MJ and Peter as they laughed and joked. He could see the sparks between MJ and Peter, and he began to wonder about them. Peter certainly mentioned the girl enough, and the way he looked at her . . . he made a mental note to ask the unofficial Avenger about it later. Soon enough, they reached the wide double doors and the class hushed down into tense whispers. A personal question and answer session with the Avengers . Steve caught Bucky's eyes and offered a soft simper; it certainly did not go unnoticed by the nosy teenagers ( the girl from the bus shares a knowing glance with her friend. ). Peter felt his eyes rolling.

⠀⠀Pushing open the doors, Rogers motioned to the chairs laid out. Within the minute, every chair was occupied. Steve and Bucky had disappeared, leaving them in the room by themselves. Parker was sat at the back with Jones and Leeds. Ned was buzzing with excitement about being invited to eat dinner with the Avengers, Michelle was sketching the view from the window ( something about needing to improve her landscapes, and Peter loved her for her creativity. ), and Peter was accepting that the world hates him. Unfortunately for the trio, Thompson and his band of imbeciles sat in the row in front of the friends. It only took a moment for Flash to whip 'round and face the three. "So, Penis," he spat the venom without a care, "how'd you do it?" Goddamn, that boy is a total idiot.

⠀⠀"What?"

⠀⠀"Ya'nno, all of this. " The hand gestures were capacious.

⠀⠀"I don't get what you mean."

⠀⠀"Don't play dumb with me, Parker. How much did you pay them?"

⠀⠀"I didn't pay anyone anything."

⠀⠀"Right, 'cause you're so poor. How many dicks did you suck?"

⠀⠀"None! What the fuck Flash?"

⠀⠀"Cap, Peter said a bad word."

⠀⠀"Screw you, Romanov."

⠀⠀"Damn, Stevie. Did you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

⠀⠀"Buck!"

⠀⠀Parker drew in a sharp breath to hide the laugh that threatened to spill through now chewed through margins. Most eyes were flicking between the three, —— Peter, Flash, the Avengers, Peter, Flash, the Avengers. Leeds and Jones were full out laughing, along with a few others, like Barton and Stark. "Can we just get this over and done with?" His voice was thick with a groan.

⠀⠀Tony Stark nodded; his face turned to face the teenagers and their bewildered expressions and his paparazzi winning took over his bronze features. His sunglasses were whipped off, clearly for the dramatics, and passed them to an intern who stood to the side. "Hey, kids. We're the Avengers, here to answer your questions." The room had forgotten about every odd encounter they had gone through so far; all eyes were on the defenders that stood at the front. "So, uh, ask away?"

⠀⠀Steve had the first question; raising a finger, he pointed at bus girl. "Is it true that you and Bucky Barnes are dating?" The men in question suddenly flushed, and the laughing Tony got an elbow in the side by Stephen Strange.

⠀⠀It only took Steve a moment to recollect himself, yet his response was awkward and small. "Yes. Natasha, why don't you take the next question?" His "yes" got bus girl's friend handing over a twenty dollar bill.

⠀⠀Natasha pointed at MJ. "You're MJ, right?"

⠀⠀To which she bowed her head in a nod, a starstruck expression momentarily overcoming her face. "Would you mind if I ask this to Miss Maximoff as well?"

⠀⠀"Not at all," came Natasha's response.

⠀⠀"How does it feel to be two badass women in a male orientated business?" At the question, Maximoff visibly brightened. The two took it in turn to speak; listing off things to do with how to block out the levels of testosterone, to how it's so awesome to be considered some of the most powerful women in probably the world, and how no one should hold you back because of your gender. It was wonderful ( to Peter, at least. ) to see MJ light up in front of her heroes; the way her eyes lit up from under the usual mask of disinterest was so enchanting to the hidden vigilante.

⠀⠀After answering, Natasha passed the next question on to Bruce. Bruce, bless his heart, picked on Flash, clearly not taking Peter's pleading eyes into account. "Dr Banner, does Stark Industries offer internships to high school students?" And, god fuck, Flash really must not value his dignity.

⠀⠀"I'm — I'm not really the person you should be asking . . ." His voice trailed off into something quiet, eyes flashing with confusion upon noticing the pinched expression Peter was wearing.

⠀⠀And, so, just like that, the question and answer session went on rather boringly. Peter had to hold back a laugh at a question or two ( mainly the one's surrounding dating rumours and personal questions, like when Stephen was asked if he was dating Tony, to which the wizard responded to with a small laugh. ), but it went rather well. And then, because Tony Stark is Tony Stark, and embarrassing Peter Parker is what he lives for, Tony picked on Peter. "You, at the back," Tony began, his smile only widening when he noticed the glare in Peter's eyes, "you haven't asked a question yet. So ask away, Underoos." Fuck, shit, damnit, balls, god fuck, asshole.

⠀⠀"Fine," Peter replied through gritted teeth, though his eyes held something of a mystery. And, oh, was all Tony thought in response. "Why do you and Stephen make so much noise . . ." he paused, allowing the words to linger, while his eyes took in the blushes as a secret success, ". . . when arguing?" All the Avengers looked like they were about to burst, while Stephen wore his blush behind shaking hands. Tony, meanwhile, had no way to hide his bugged eyes. The silence in the room was cut off by Sam Wilson's stifled laugh, which set everyone else off. Clint and Natasha were practically crying; Bucky and Sam were howling; Bruce and Steve were letting out little snorts; Wanda and Peter were giggling ( Peter would swear on his life that he heard Sam whisper to Bucky "he's Tony's, alright." ). It was magnificent.

⠀⠀Not long after, the Q-and-A was wrapped up. They were being escorted down to the lobby in two groups via the elevators; one with Rogers and one with Stark. Peter, to his luck, was stuck with Tony. "FRIDAY, lobby."

⠀⠀"Sure thing, Boss."

⠀⠀"FRIDAY?"

⠀⠀"Yes, Peter?"

⠀⠀"Did you record Mr Stark's reaction to that question?"

⠀⠀"I record everything, Peter."

⠀⠀"Could you send it to my phone? And the group chat?"

⠀⠀A moment of Tony's silent glaring had passed. "Done, Peter."

⠀⠀"Thanks, FRI!"

⠀⠀Tony took this as his opportunity to speak up and ruffle Peter's hair, "you're a nightmare, you know that?"

⠀⠀Despite the huff that he passed, and the effort to straighten his hair, a smirk toyed at the teenager's lip. "I learned from the best." The elevator doors pushed open, and Peter scampered away from the man, his whines and rants vibrating on the tip of his tongue as he made his way over to his two best friends. His eyes risked a glance at Flash; he looked small and shaken up, albeit perhaps apologetic. Not too far away stood a rather smug looking Captain America, and Peter could only guess what words were passed in that short elevator ride. He was sure that Ned and MJ would tell him all about it on the bus ride back to school ( which Peter saw as silly, but Tony had insisted the night before that he goes back with his school. ). Now he certainly didn't regret telling the Avengers ( his family ) about Flash and his not-so-nice antics.

⠀⠀It didn't take long for the teenagers to be back on this bus ( even if Peter had to go through the torturing task of saying goodbyes to each and every one of the Avengers with a simple "goodbye, uncle," so-and-so, and Natasha received a special "goodbye, auntie Tasha." She was the only one he wasn't reluctant to say goodbye to. Maximoff took pity on him, thank god, and Strange and Stark got a hug each. ) and on their way back to Midtown. Peter got a buzz of questions, yet each and every person who tried got a long, hard, glare from MJ.

⠀⠀The trio spoke about what they'd be having for dinner, and Leeds and Jones quizzed Parker on who'd be cooking, who sits where, who's going to be there, what should they wear etcetera, etcetera. The trip wasn't as bad as Peter had thought it'd be. Certainly not worth wishing for an alien invasion, though wanting the ground to swallow him up wasn't all that unreal. It would've been pretty cool, to say the least.

⠀⠀It came as no surprise to see a car that screamed "I'm rich!" trailing behind the horrible yellow bus, with audible bickering flying out through the open windows. Peter could only smile to himself. Yeah, his family is kind of dysfunctional, but it's pretty damn cool all the same.