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24th of January, 2020
Peter was on a boat. He didn’t know why he was on a boat - wait, the ferry? That makes sense, he guessed.
Except, why was he going to Staten Island? Also, ferry’s weren’t this rocky. It felt more like he was laying on the floor of a dingy, the waves underneath pushing it up and down, left and right, as Peter rolled aimlessly back and forth over the wooden planks, limbs flailing around him.
Thunder rolled overhead, a dark, ominous sound, singing of horrors beyond the horizon.
It got darker and darker as the voice above him grew louder and louder, taking shape and gaining tenor. Peter strained his ears, eyebrows meeting in a frown as he tried to focus on what it was saying.
“Up,” it boomed as a string of lightning cut through the sky. Except the lightning persisted, and Peter squeezed his eyes shut to shield his retinas from it.
“Underoos!” The voice sounded again, this time sounding suspiciously like Tony.
Peter groaned, trying to bury his face deeper into his pillow but knowing it was in vain. As predicted, he’d barely shifted before the pillow was ripped from underneath him, the soft fabric swatting back down on his head in two quick successions.
“I’m awake!” He huffed, pushing the pillow away as he forced himself to sit up and meet Tony’s amused look with a grumpy one of his own.
“Jeez, kid-” Tony huffed, already dressed for the day. Peter didn’t know how he did it, especially as he was just as much a morning person as Peter and Harley were - which was to say, not at all. “-even Harley’s already managed to pull himself out of bed.”
Peter didn’t respond, simply pointing a blank and exhausted stare at the wall opposite his bed, trying to switch his brain on and shake off the remnants of sleep that clung to his skin. The windows were still dark despite FRIDAY having pulled up the blinds already, and it took a moment of confusion to realize his usual wake-up music was, in fact, playing.
Tony turned to leave, most likely in search of his second cup of coffee as he waited on the boys to get ready, but called back at him from the hallway. “Don’t forget you have your field trip today!”
“Why do we have to drive an hour to school only to get on the bus and get right back here?” Harley groaned from his seat at the breakfast table, head propped up on his hand as he stared at his plate with bleary eyes. He’d hogged their shared bathroom by the time Peter had made it out of bed, stealing another five minutes as Peter waited impatiently in front of the door. The result wasn’t even worth it, Peter considered bitterly. He looked like he always did; blonde curls haphazardly combed, more to avoid tangles than to shape it, and he hadn’t even bothered to put in his contacts. The nice, lined shirt he was wearing was covered almost entirely by a red woolen sweater to protect him from the January cold, only the collars and cuffs peeking out.
It was a surprise he’d even spoken. Usually, it took another cup of coffee and the extra hour of sleep during the drive to school before he was aware enough of his surroundings to conjure words, let alone an entire sentence. The extra rest during the winter holidays must have done him good; it’d straightened out the bags under his eyes at least, though it wouldn’t take long for them to darken again.
Molly was just as bad. As usual, she was asleep at the table, more a snoring pile of dark curls than a person, but Anna was chipper and chatty, ginger braids swishing around her as she spoke animately with Happy. The Head of Security and Assets Manager was standing by the coffee machine, trying to get another cup in him before they had to leave.
Peter put himself closer to Anna on the ‘awareness’ spectrum, feeling refreshed and excited for the day, but knowing full well the one-hour drive into New York would lull him right back into drowsiness.
“If only Dr. Strange were here,” Peter agreed, thinking wistfully of the sleep they could have spared if they’d had his portals to their disposal. From the other side of the table, Tony glanced up from his conversation with Rhodey and Carol, distractedly looking around the kitchen as if searching for someone. Peter was too tired to ask.
He glanced at his watch - six-thirty, meaning it wasn’t likely that anyone else would wake up anytime soon. The glass lining the outer wall of the kitchen was a deep dark blue still, though it was starting to lighten, promising the sun would breach the horizon by the time they’d hit the freeway.
Most inhabitants of the compound stuck to their own rhythm. The school-bound losers had to wake up first, as they had to leave for New York around a quarter to seven. Tony stood up with them as there was no guarantee that Harley and Peter would make it out of bed otherwise. Peter didn’t know if Rhodey and Carol stood up too because they took pity on Tony or if they had their own reason to be awake. Perhaps they just liked to take a head start.
Steve and Sam were usually up only a little later, waking around sunrise and starting their day with a run around the neighborhood. He’d never seen them run on the grounds, so Peter assumed they usually ran down the long drive to the main road. He doubted they’d go as far as the nearest community, but Peter wouldn’t put it past them either. He also doubted the freezing temperatures and the layer of snow outside would deter them from their routine. Presumably, they took their breakfast in the common room of their wing. At least, Peter had never seen them have breakfast with them. Not that Steve had ever been invited.
Bucky sometimes went with them, but since Tony had invited him to join them for breakfast a week ago, he always ate breakfast with the earliest group. Now, it wasn’t unusual for him to be in the kitchen before even Harley and Peter were forced down by Tony.
The remaining Avengers usually trickled in for breakfast around eight-fifteen, grabbing a quick bite before their 9 am training started. The graduated Juniors slept in as long as they liked - lucky bastards - as they only had joined training on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Outside of group exercises, they had individual training sessions with their assigned mentor, depending on their schedule.
Even Dr. Strange, who usually trained with his students in the morning, wasn’t cruel enough to start before sunrise.
Harley nudged his arm, pulling his attention back to the other teen. Noticing the others were grabbing their bags and moving towards the door, Peter downed his glass of orange juice before getting up himself and hurrying to follow.
Happy dropped the four of them off a block away. The unmarked car was anything but inconspicuous, and though it was easily excused in the afternoon as being their ride to their “internship,” there was no reason for them to be dropped off in the morning as well.
This is why, when they finally walked through the school gates onto the parking lot, it was still almost entirely empty. Distance only provided so much cover, so they further minimized their chances of being seen by arriving half an hour early on most days.
It wasn’t ideal, but they usually managed to fill their time revising their homework or trying to wake up more.
They pushed their way into the building, their usual MO being to split up to decrease further association between them and avoid possible suspicion. But today, as they were supposed to meet their guides on the parking lot in less than twenty minutes, they didn’t bother. They took a seat in the lounges that served as a waiting area for the administrative part of the building, overlooking the cars slowly starting to pull up in front of the school.
“Does anyone actually know what this field trip is going to be about?” Molly asked, pointedly focusing on Harley and Peter. Her pink wool cap was crooked, and she’d shrugged partially out of her coat, its fluff pooling around her waist, revealing she was wearing short sleeves underneath her coveralls. Peter got chills just looking at her.
Harley shrugged from where he was leaning back against the couch cushions, hugging his backpack against his chest. “Tony asked our opinion on a few things, but he insisted on being vague.”
“I think it’s going to be fun!” Anna shrugged. “If they do figure us out, at least we don’t have to drive back here at the end of the day to keep up the ruse.”
“Hear, hear,” Harley agreed half-heartedly as he pulled himself up, swinging his backpack over his shoulders as he pointed through the windows. “Time to go.”
Outside they were met with the teachers chaperoning the trip. Peter checked his attendance before heading over to Ned when he’d noticed him already standing near the bus. They piled on once the clear was given, and once they were seated, it was only a matter of waiting until their arrival. The Avengers Compound was only one area of interest out of five, so Peter’s eyes idly followed the other students coming onto the bus, checking whom else had chosen their destination.
It didn’t really amount to much, as Peter was only familiar with his immediate classmates.
Harley was the last one to enter, and Peter watched him pass Ned and his seats. Curious to see who he’d sit with, he turned to follow his process down the aisle. As Harley had been new to Midtown this year and usually spent the time between their classes, including their shared lunch, with him and Ned, he doubted he had made any other friends. It wasn’t that Peter minded - really, it was none of his business. It just felt kind of… sad that the only friends he had were his foster brother and his friends.
Still, where Peter would have felt awkward searching for someone to sit next to, Harley didn’t seem to think twice about it. Bored eyes only glanced around for a spot, and he ended up taking a seat a row behind and across the path from them.
Peter frowned when he noticed it put him next to MJ, despite other seats still being available.
Not that there was anything wrong with MJ! Not at all.
In fact, it seemed like the two were familiar. MJ glanced up when he sat down next to her, and Peter could see the corner of her lip twitch slightly. She didn’t greet him, but for MJ, it was the equivalent of jumping out of her seat and hugging him.
“Since when do they know each other?” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, causing Ned to twist back in his seat as well.
“Who?” Ned inquired way too loudly, making Peter flinch back in his seat, hiding out of sight from his pseudo-brother as he shushed his best friend.
He tried unsuccessfully to dismiss his own inquiry, but Ned was already glancing back and forth between Harley and him, frowning at Peter.
“MJ and Harley?” Ned clarified while Peter was trying hard to hide in the collar of his shirt, sliding down in his seat. “It’s probably just coincidence. Why? Does it bother you? I thought you liked MJ?”
“It doesn’t bother me!” He knew he sounded defensive, cringing when his voice sounded higher than usual, even though Ned didn’t seem to notice. “And of course I like MJ! What kind of question is that?!”
“I don’t know,” Ned shrugged. He tried to glance back again, but Peter promptly slapped his arm to pull his attention back to him. Could he be any more obvious? “Why else wouldn’t you want Harley to talk to her?”
“Never mind,” Peter hissed, stubbornly directing his gaze towards the window. They’d started moving already, and he watched as the bus left their school parking lot and weaved through the familiar streets back towards the main road leaving New York City. He could feel Ned’s confused eyes on him for another minute or so, but eventually, he seemed to shrug it off as he reached into his backpack.
“Hey, want to play Risen from the Depths? They released an update last night!”
Peter agreed readily, glad for the distraction. But as Ned reached down into his backpack to grab his console, Peter couldn’t help but glance over his back towards MJ and Harley.
MJ was still reading her book, leaning against the window as she absentmindedly picked at her thumb. Harley had his headphones in, frowning at his screen as he seemed to be texting someone. As Peter watched, Harley glanced up from his phone and turned slightly towards MJ, saying something Peter couldn’t pick up over the excited chatter of the bus. MJ kept her gaze focussed on her book, face remaining impassive, but her response forced a wide grin out of Harley as he glanced back down at his phone and continued typing.
Where Harley had looked unkempt and messy before, Peter suddenly couldn’t help but wonder if, to others, it might look cool. A little more rugged perhaps, not as dorky as Peter, but still fashionable.
Would MJ prefer it?
There was a coil tightening in his stomach, a sudden weight putting a damper on his excitement for the day. He faced the front again and forced himself to focus on the game for the entire ride, swallowing the bitter taste in his mouth as he ran a hand through his hair and refused to look back.
Surprisingly, it was pretty effective. The new game update kept Peter excited and occupied for the remainder of their trip, and by the time their bus passed the last exit before the compound, Peter was caught up in everyone else’s giddiness.
His classmates had abandoned their previous conversations to focus on their surroundings. Opposed to Harley and him, they didn’t recognize that they were close, but they knew their schedule dictated the bus should be arriving soon. Peter glanced at his watch, deducing that they’d probably end up arriving five minutes ahead of schedule.
He watched as the turn leading towards the Compound driveway came into view, excitement buzzing under his skin. At this point, all he wanted was just to be able to stretch his legs and get some fresh air; he’d basically been sitting in a car for two hours straight.
So it was with great disappointment and a sense of incredulity that the bus kept driving straight, skipping their exit without a care in the world. Peter frowned, for the first time since the start of the ride turning back towards Harley.
This time, Harley was already looking at him, a matching look of annoyance crossed over his features. Peter glanced towards the front of the bus, wondering if he should say something to the driver - but they couldn’t do so without drawing attention to themselves.
“Dude, wasn’t that the turn-“ Ned started but shut up once he met Peter’s resigned look.
“We might be a while still.” Peter sighed, but his eyes caught Anna’s arm sticking out of the second row. She held up her hand, pulling the attention from one of their teachers. It wasn’t a secret that they had an “internship” at Stark Industries, as they needed an explanation for all of them knowing each other and getting a car to pick them up, but they still tried not to draw too much attention to themselves.
Especially this trip would be tricky, as even a Stark Industry internship wouldn’t explain how they’d be as familiar at the compound as they were. So it was with bated breath that Peter watched Mr. Oaken - Peter thought he recognized him as Anna and Molly’s homeroom teacher - lean over towards their seats.
They spoke calmly, Anna, as usual, gesturing widely but with a polite smile on her face. He couldn’t see Molly sitting by the window, only the tips of her pink hat sticking out above the top of her seat. Either way, no one seemed to be paying them any attention. Mr. Oaken checked something on his phone before nodding.
He stood up and went to talk to their driver, putting his phone to his ear presumably to say the same thing to the other bus following behind them.
Either way, by the time they’d turned around, they were already ten minutes behind schedule, so Peter was grateful for Anna speaking up. They stopped in front of the main entrance, the hype in the bus reaching its peak as everyone scrambled to get a better view through the windows.
Peter tried to imagine what the others were seeing; the white and glass building blending in with the snow-covered lawn and Anna’s snowman watching over them from the steps leading up to the front doors.
The first time he’d been at the compound was a little over a year ago, and by now, when he looked at it, all he saw was home. He easily remembered how imposing the building had looked the first time, however, with its sleek design jutting out like a ship on land. Yet the massive windows gave the building a welcoming atmosphere, allowing a glimpse at the heart of the compound and the people living their lives within. Especially now, when the thick cloud cover made it dark enough that the lights were still on, turning the glass yellow like a homing beacon amidst a sea of white and grey.
From here, they could only really see the entrance hall and the stairs leading up to the second floor, but Peter recognized Bambi at the reception desk, chatting with one of the security guards. From this far away, it was hard to identify with whom exactly, and Peter’s attention was pulled elsewhere as they exited the bus. Salt crunched underneath his boots, but he remained careful not to slip on the still-thawing underground.
Other than letting his gaze linger a little longer on each of the compound kids as if to make sure they hadn’t been severely injured since he’d dropped them off an hour and a half ago, Happy didn’t let on that he was familiar with any of them. He was holding a stack of papers - clumsily, thanks to the woolen gloves adorning his hands - and their chaperones went to confer with him about their day.
Peter pulled his extra thick snow coat closer around him, staring longingly at the building entrance and the promising heat of the indoors. Their teachers kept talking while he and his classmates waited patiently outside, jumping on the balls of their feet in either excitement or as a way to stay warm. He could hear Flash talking loudly about the compound - proudly boasting about the excessive knowledge he’d probably found on Reddit or something, only half of it accurate and even then greatly embellished.
Despite only being outside for a few minutes, Peter could already feel the cold getting to him. The way his thermoregulation had gone all out of whack was the only downside to his spider DNA. Instead of trembling to up his body heat, the cold just snuck up on him, making him droopy and tired. He could already feel his eyelids getting heavier, and he tried to fight against the yawn making its way up to his throat, glaring at the ground.
“Can we hurry up?! It’s freezing!” Peter heard Harley yell behind him, causing some of their classmates to snicker or shout their approval. Mr. Harrington scolded Harley for his rude behavior, but Happy’s gaze had immediately snapped up to meet Peter’s. The message had clearly been received, his eyes almost remorseful for having not thought about Peter’s needs sooner.
Peter tried to shrug it off, but Happy was already turning towards the front door, motioning for everyone to follow.
As this was a voluntary field trip for all four grades, they were allowed to divide themselves into smaller groups, unrestricted by class or year. Everyone was eager to rush inside, leaving the groups to be formed by the order people made it into the hall.
Peter sighed in relief as the heat enveloped him and muttered out a thank you to Harley, who’d followed him into the building.
When Harley didn’t acknowledge his gratitude, Peter glanced back at him, noticing his gaze was focussed on the second-floor landing.
Even though he’d seen them only that morning, Peter smiled when he saw Tony, Rhodey, and Carol watching them. Tony was smirking, watching as the students quickly became aware of his presence, glancing up to watch him in awe, nudging their friends and redirecting their attention towards the superheroes. Without taking his gaze off of them, he talked quietly with Rhodey, causing his friend to roll his eyes and shake his head with a smile.
Once everyone was inside, and Happy had given the okay, Carol stepped forward, calling everyone’s attention towards her. The room immediately went eerily quiet, the leaders of the Avengers demanding their full devotion.
“Welcome, everyone-” she started, an excited glint in her eyes, “-to the Avengers compound.”
A shudder of excitement went through the crowd of students. Everyone was eager to discover every corner of the building that housed their favorite heroes and perhaps even catch a glimpse at their heroes in action.
“Today, we’re going to give you a tour, get you an idea of how the compound works, and show you a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes.” Carol continued, letting her eyes roam over each student. “Mr. Stark, Colonel Rhodes, and I will be your guides.”
“Dibbs on the captain of the decathlon team,” Tony called out, causing Carol to throw him an amused glare. Peter heard MJ stiffen behind him, and despite the blush creeping up his cheeks, he sent his own glower towards Tony. His mentor met his scowl and winked as he adjusted his blue-tinted glasses.
It was easy enough to guess that Peter and Harley would be in the same group as MJ, and Peter was glad to have him as his guide. Yet, this didn’t seem like a promising start.
Most likely, having uncle Rhodey as a guide would have been the safer play.
“Anyway, time to get to the interesting part.” Tony stepped back from the railing, shifting his attention to Happy. “Hap, what team?”
Peter heard Harley mutter a distracted “wildcats” under his breath.
Shrugging in response to Peter’s incredulous look, Harley redirected his attention back towards the stairs.
Happy had given Tony their group number, and they were expected to go up to Tony on the landing and follow him towards the second-floor training rooms. Bracing himself for the day to come, Peter ascended the stairs.
He thought about trying not to look too familiar with the steps and promptly scolded himself for being ridiculous. There was no way people would dare to dream Peter and Harley lived here, no matter how comfortable he felt walking towards the training wing. Absolutely unthinkable that people would be able to read his thoughts from his posture alone.
Glancing towards Harley and Ned only confirmed his anxiety was for naught - even Ned, who often failed to be subtle while excited, didn’t look in any way like something was up. In fact, he’d probably have been worse if he hadn’t already been at the compound multiple times.
Still, Peter felt strangely watched while they walked through the hallways, passing cleaning staff and security guards alike and worrying that, this time, they were going to forget to ignore him.
Disregarding the smaller training rooms on either side of the hallway, Tony lead them all the way to the door at the end. He could feel the excitement starting to buzz under his peers’ skin, and with good reason.
It was only a little after nine-thirty, meaning the Avengers’ group training would still be in its upswing. With both team leaders and Tony pre-occupied, Natasha would most likely be the one in charge, but that wouldn’t stop anyone from using the full extent of their power set.
The moment Tony opened the door, the awes of their peers filtered into the hallway. People pushed to get into the room quicker, the hallway emptying in mere seconds as Peter was forced forward by the eager students around him.
It was immediately clear why they were so amazed; the Avengers were showing off.
The cobblestone street was already covered in iron scraps, crushed metal torsos, and torn-off limbs. The houses that lined the pavement seemed primarily intact - the only damage Peter could see from the class’ vantage point on the overlooking platform was a smashed-up car window further down the road.
The ground team was spread out, trying to take down as many robots as they could. Black Widow and Captain America were fighting side by side, the Winter Soldier’s wrist slicing easily through aluminum chests. Iron Fist’s laughter ran through the scene, the smirk on Jessica’s face suggesting she’d been the cause. Daredevil was positioned a little behind them, finishing off his latest opponent, turning around until he’d sensed his next victim.
On the second inspection, Peter noticed scorch marks on the surrounding buildings’ facades, though, for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out who the hell could have been responsible. None of the Iron suits were in play, nor were any of the juniors - meaning it couldn’t have been Nico’s Staff or Chase’s gauntlets. There wasn’t a single Avengers with fire-related or otherwise combustible powers.
Most of the air team was missing - occupied with the students for the day - leaving only the Falcon and Wasp to fly overhead, aiding their teammates where necessary and forming their own offensive team whenever they saw an opportunity. An arrow whizzed past their platform, making students gasp as they glanced up to find Hawkeye on a perch a little higher up the wall. Winking at the students now he had their attention, he fired off a couple more in quick succession, each effectively hitting their mark.
Echo had to jump back as one of the robots came at her, twirling effortlessly out of their reach. Peter wondered idly why she hadn’t taken the opening to attack, until the robot’s face clicked open and a spew of fire just missed her. Pulling an arrow out of the head of a robot that stumbled past her before crashing into the ground, she plunged it into her opponent’s maw before it could close. The well-aimed hit had clearly compromised the oil line as Peter could see the pressure building within as tears of oil leaked out the sides. Echo whistled a warning to the others before disappearing behind a car for cover.
Black Widow was the only one in direct line of the possible explosion, but Falcon flew down to shield her with his wings right in the nick of time.
That explained the scorch marks.
Falcon immediately took back into the air to search for more combatants. When none seemed to replace the fallen, he hit the ground again, joining Wasp, who’d already come to the same conclusion. Sam leaned against the red-bricked wall of a terraced house to watch the remainder of the fight, but Hope stepped aside to check her phone for missed emergencies.
The fight simmered out as, one by one, the Avengers defeated their opponents, sitting down on the ground or standing back as they watched their teammates’ battles. Natasha went to join Sam, leaning in to speak with him. He glanced up at her words, eyes catching the group of students by the door, and waved with the flash of a smile. Abe waved back in delight.
Jessica and Scott were the last to finish off their adversaries, after which the simulation dropped, soliciting another awed gasp from their audience. Clint used a zip line to come down from his perch, joining the Avengers on the ground.
The buildings were peeled away, the cobbled stones drained off, showing once again the grey flooring and concrete walls of the gymnasium. The air became clearer as the vast, newly-uncovered windows allowed natural daylight to pour in, the robots disappearing as the illusion was cleared up. Peter watched MJ’s eyes trace the drones’ return to their compartments in the ceiling, and he vaguely heard Betty mutter about what she’d read about the technology.
Peter focussed on Tony again, whose scrutiny was trained on the group of students, clearly satisfied by their reaction.
“As you can see,” Tony started. Everyone’s attention immediately snapped back to him, though plenty kept sneaking curious glances at their heroes on the ground floor. “We use BARF technology to simulate real-life threats and prepare for every possible scenario. Any of you know what BARF stands for?”
Plenty of hands shot up, eager students trying to prove themselves. Tony glanced idly around the group, eyes lingering on Peter and Harley. For a moment, Peter feared he was going to pick him.
In the end, he picked someone at random. Rose quickly explained Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing had initially been designed to help war veterans deal with PTSD, but that it was now standard practice in every mental hospital for all kinds of trauma or even exposure therapy for people with anxiety or phobias.
“Good,” Tony praised, flashing her a kind smile. “What you got to see here is a more enhanced system that is more than visible. We use it to simulate and prepare for possible attacks, natural disasters, and mission protocols. It’s only a prototype, but once it’s optimized, it can be used to train anyone working in defense or prepare first responders for any type of disaster. We’re also trying to apply it in medicine - a field Stark Industries is getting more and more comfortable in - to train Advanced Trauma Life Support or as a way to practice procedures in a simulation completely personalized to the patient.”
“But you’re not here to listen to the tech talk - you’re here for the Avengers,” Tony conceded with a smile as he motioned to the stairs leading down to the ground floor.
The group didn’t run down the stairs, but for some, it was a near thing.
The heroes had all clustered together around a set of padded benches, watching the students’ way towards them with kind interest or amused smirks. Peter glanced back at Tony, but their guide hung back a bit, giving the stage to the Avengers that didn’t get to spend the entire day with them.
“Good morning, everyone.” Peter was surprised that Steve was the one who stepped forward and addressed them, though he shouldn’t have been. It made sense for him to take the lead here as a familiar figurehead to the students. Though Natasha could take the lead in training or during missions, she still preferred the shadows, or at least to stay out of the spotlight.
Also, as much as Peter didn’t trust him, he had to admit he was the best person for the role.
Charisma rolled off of him in waves, forcing his peers’ excitement levels through the roof without trying.
“I trust Tony already explained the technical side of the training? As you’ll already get enough lectures today, we’d decided it would be the most fun to allow you to ask the questions.” Steve explained, letting his eyes roam over each of the students. “You can direct it to the group or a specific Avenger. The floor is yours.”
“You can sit down, by the way,” Clint called out from where he himself was already sprawled over the ground with Maya. Steve raised his eyes to the ceiling in an exasperated but fond glance, but he motioned for them to sit down as he turned to look at his teammate.
“Thank you, Clint.”
“You’re welcome!” He winked at Steve, signing along with his words more out of habit than necessity.
Some of the Avengers took the benches, so they were more readily visible and could see the students better, but the students themselves had to follow Clint and Maya’s example and sit down crossed-legged on the floor.
The question hour began and, honestly, was pretty dull in Peter’s opinion. Though his classmates managed to come up with some decent and even insightful questions, it wasn’t anything Peter didn’t already know. He really hadn’t expected today to be this boring, even if he appeared to be the only one who thought so. His knee was bouncing up and down with a need to move and do something, eyes drifting around the room for any kind of mental distraction.
His eyes landed on MJ, as they so often did these days. Maybe it was because she’d been so invisible before, able to learn things about him without him and Ned even realizing she was there. Perhaps it was because she unnerved him at times, challenging him and keeping him on his toes.
She was writing in her notepad, though Peter couldn’t figure out what she’d have to be making notes for. Maybe she was drawing again, sketching, or doodling as she liked to do during classes. Her face was slack, soft as her hand came up to tug her cardigan closer around herself before using it to tuck her hair behind her ear for the millionth time that morning.
Her eyes snapped up, immediately finding his. Caught red-handed - red-cheeked - he quickly looked away, his ears ringing slightly. He was so distracted, Flash’s question hadn’t even filtered through until he stopped to think about what he’d asked.
“Why isn’t Spider-Man here?”
It had been an inevitable question on Flash’s part, Peter supposed, glancing towards his classmate, and now his awe of being around Black Widow had apparently worn off, his focus was on his favorite hero once more.
A flash of amusement cut through the Avengers in front of him, but Peter now understood people wouldn’t think anything of it. At least they wouldn’t be pointing fingers at Peter all of a sudden just because of a tilt of Maya’s lip and glance in his direction.
“Because Spider-Man isn’t an Avenger yet.” Sam was the one to respond, as he still had the stage after the last question had been aimed at him. “He’s part of the Junior program. We’re not going to focus on them today because most of their identities are still classified.”
“Why?” Betty spoke up now without being given permission, letting her gaze run over the group in front of them. “None of you have secret identities.”
“Look how well that turned out for my Malibu Mansion,” Tony spoke up from the back, where he was still standing, leaning against the far wall as he quietly watched the proceedings - at least, until now. There was an air of amusement about his words, but Peter knew it was a sore subject. “If it’s possible to keep your identity secret, we try to encourage it. The accords allowed for that clause, as long as Captain Danvers, Colonel Rhodes, and I know who they are and can vouch for them.”
“Whatever you imagine the perks are of being recognized as a hero-” Natasha cut in. Everyone’s heads immediately swiveled back to the front to look at her. “-there are many more advantages to being a nobody.”
The students let that sink in for a minute, but it was quickly pushed aside as Abe raised his hand and directed a question towards Maya. Natasha caught Maya’s attention, and Maya stood up so she could see Abe’s face as she asked him to repeat his question.
Peter managed to listen to what Maya had to say, but his attention faded again after a while, and he spent the next half hour counting down the minutes until lunch.
They were finally leaving the gymnasium when Flash seemed to remember he had a duty to torment Peter. He bumped into his shoulder as he rushed past him into the hallway, turning around and walking backward a few steps so he could face him.
“Well, well, Parker, what happened to Tony Stark "needing you"? Seems to me like he doesn’t even know you exist!”
His snickers were mimicked by some of his classmates, while Abe sent him an almost pitying look.
Peter didn’t know if he should be annoyed or relieved.
For the first time that day, Peter was awed by the Compound.
The cafeteria was crowded.
Usually, people popped in throughout the day, grabbing lunch or snacks according to their own schedule. Some even preferred to make something themselves in the upstairs kitchens. Never had people descended on the cafeteria all at once. It had never even been at half capacity before.
The students’ schedule had decided their lunch would be held at noon today, so they had to conform. The Runaways did not.
His eyes immediately fell on the table smack in the middle of the cafeteria, taken over by the Runaways, who seemed lost in their own world. Every now and then, Peter could see their eyes trail over the surrounding students. He hoped they at least had the good sense to seem as inconspicuous as possible, as no one needed to know their secret identities as Talkback, Arsenic, Messiah, and Sister Grimm. It was clearly going to be a challenge, however, as the most energetic table in the entire cafeteria.
Molly glared wistfully at them from her own table with Anna and her friends, clearly wishing she could join her family but knowing she shouldn’t.
“You can unclench, Peter.”
He was startled as Gert cut in between him and Ned in line to grab their food, reaching past them to grab a bowl of fruit salad out of the display. “What?”
“Relax.” Gert rephrased, turning to look at him through her clear-rimmed glasses. A slight smirk played at her lip, enforcing the signature hint of oldest-sister condescension in her eyes. “Seriously, no one suspects a thing.”
“Not yet,” Peter hissed, trying to keep his voice low but still breathe a little easier. He trusted Gert’s judgment more than any one of the Junior Avengers - except for maybe Karolina or Chase. Still, a glance back showed they, too, were smirking in his direction, indicating they weren’t too worried either.
“Chin up,” she said, stepping back as she turned to go back to their table. “You’re halfway there.”
Following Gert’s advice, he relaxed his shoulders, but he’d only just let out a deep breath when yet another voice sounded up, coming from behind him this time.
“You two seemed awfully cozy.”
Peter turned around, gaping at MJ. He hadn’t even noticed she’d been behind him in line.
“Oh, no, that’s- she just- The Stark Internship- it’s - it’s nothing really.” He rambled, feeling like he couldn’t catch his breath. He wouldn’t be surprised if someone mistook him for a stop sign.
MJ continued to watch him with a cool stare, bemusing Peter more by the second. He was too flustered to think straight, and MJ had always been too good at disguising her true thoughts and feelings for Peter to make much sense of it anyway. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she stepped out of line, ignoring the more fun options in favor of taking a seat in the corner of the cafeteria with only her granola yogurt and apple.
A groan was torn from his throat as he turned back to his tray, ignoring the people yelling at him about holding up the line.
“What’s wrong?” Ned asked from beside him, grabbing one of the sandwiches in the display as Peter finally started moving again. “I think it’s going great! No one suspects a thing.”
“It’s not that,” Peter sighed. He picked up an extra muffin and added it to his platter as they finished up the line. His voice dropped to a harsh whisper as he continued. “MJ just saw me talking to Gert.”
“So?” Ned frowned. “Peter, you’re being so weird about MJ today-“
“Wait-“ Peter fought against the urge to groan again as he watched Ned’s face light up in realization, eyes shifting between MJ in her corner and Peter’s no-doubt beet-red face. “-do you like MJ? Like, like like?”
“What?! No!” Peter spluttered. “She’s our friend!”
“So? Liz was our friend too!”
“No, she wasn’t!”
“Yeah, you’re right. She was way too cool for that.”
“Dude.”
Ned shrugged in a ‘tell me I’m wrong’ way, forcing Peter to concede. Though, he’d like to think that at least by the time he’d taken her to homecoming - sort of - they’d become somewhat friendly.
Either way, that relationship had been doomed from the start.
MJ wasn’t. And not because she was any less cool than Liz.
Peter sent Ned a warning look as they sat down across from her, urging him to bench the conversation for later. Possibly never.
“Hey,” Peter grabbed his extra muffin, holding it out to her. “I got you one.”
“Oh,” MJ glanced at it in surprise, appearing slightly uncomfortable at the kindness. “Thanks, but, um, I don’t eat chocolate-“
“-that you don’t know for sure has been ethically sourced.” Peter finished for her, putting the muffin down on her platter with a smile. “I know. They use Oxfam fairtrade here.”
MJ picked up the muffin carefully, narrowing her eyes at him as if assessing the truthfulness of his words. “How would you know that? And don’t,” she added before Peter could interrupt her, “just say ‘Stark Internship’ again.”
“I uh-,” Peter shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Her eyes were burning into him, in a matter not all too unpleasant. He liked her attention on him, but he didn’t really like admitting what he was about to admit. “I looked into it when I heard you mention child slavery in the cacao trade to Betty. At least, I think it was Betty; I don’t really remember.”
“And yet you remembered what I’d said?” Something about her expression had settled, softened as if pleased by his admission, but the glint in her eyes held just as much skepticism as before. Her eyebrow was raised teasingly, but it was only a slight change; MJ had always had great control over her facial expressions. Almost as if she’d trained not to show any emotion at all - good or bad.
Suddenly noticing the close attention was going both ways, MJ ducked her head, focussing on her granola as she let strands of her hair fall into her face. “Thanks.”
The rest of the day went by without a hitch. Once the novelty of having his classmates over at his home had worn off, the day was just a slew of explanations he’d already heard and rooms he’d already seen.
Tony led them through the meetings halls on the first floor, where he explained the process of analyzing mission parameters and trying to find the most efficient and safe strategy to accomplish their task, and to the hangars where their jets and vehicles were stored.
Their last stop for the day was the labs, which Peter was the most excited about. Tony and Bruce had asked for their input on what to showcase, and they’d purposefully left out some of their own projects - like the new chip he was working on for his suit and Harley’s latest helmet design.
Bruce was still there when they entered, but besides the initial wave and greeting to the students, he stuck to the background, allowing Tony to do this round of explanations.
He started with all the basic stuff - the types of technology they had available (all of it - at least, all that was available outside of Wakanda and even some tech exclusive to Wakanda kindly gifted by Shuri and King T’Challa), the kind of projects they usually worked on, the system they had in place for suit updates, safety measures placed on the lab, etc.
Eventually, he started on some of the more practical stuff, beginning with the basics of the Iron Suit.
“We can’t go too deep into it because most of it is highly classified, And also patented-,” Tony said, turning towards the students with a wink. “-for those of you thinking about making your own. So, let’s head over to the last few tables, showcasing some projects the Juniors have been working on.”
Peter was dancing on the balls of his feet now, eagerly watching his peers take in the two tables closest to the doors. Tony started with the new Fistagon prototypes that Chase had generously agreed to lend them, talking about Chase and his dad’s technology and how Talkback maintained them himself.
“Both Spider-Man and the Mechanic, on the other hand, have suits designed by me. They were gifted as a stand-in to keep them as safe as possible while they work on designing and building their own suits in their own time.” Tony glanced over the students’ heads, smirking as they landed on Harley. “It can take a while when you have a bedtime to consider.”
Some of the students laughed, while others simply continued to watch in awe. Harley rolled his eyes.
A hand shot up, and Tony pointed at Abe in acknowledgment, urging him to ask his questions freely. “Why not give more people suits? They’re only nine Juniors right now, couldn’t you up their numbers?”
Abe sounded eager - like he was ready to personally volunteer on the spot, but Tony’s smile was measured.
“I try to keep the suits close to my chest,” Tony smirked at his own use of words, waving his hand at the housing unit attached to his sternum. “I don’t trust just anyone with them.”
“And as it is-,” Tony continued, clearly eager to move on from the previous show of vulnerability - no matter how small, “-enhanced people seem to be popping up at an exponential rate. There is currently an unknown amount of inhumans out there, each with unique abilities and even weirder stuff that exposes people to enhancements. Maybe eventually, more will find their way here.”
Or to SHIELD, Peter mentally added, thinking about the inhuman agents already working to protect their people. There was a reason SHIELD didn’t advertise.
“Anyway-” Tony cleared his throat, “- what I was going to show you next is some of the progress Spider-Man has made on the data chip for his suit. Actually, Pete-“
Peter froze at the sound of his name, ignoring everyone’s eyes on him as he peeked past his classmates’ heads to meet Tony’s eyes. He was sure he looked like a deer caught in headlights right now. Tony smirked and motioned for him to come closer.
He heard someone whisper, “no fucking way,” while Flash seemed to be biting his lip. Like even he was self-aware enough not to make an ass out of himself in front of Tony Stark.
“If I’m worth my bread and butter, you should be able to explain Spider-Man’s new microchip by now.”
“Uh, yes, Mr. Stark,” Peter stammered out, his classmates parting in front of him as he made his way to stand next to Tony. Of course, he could explain it - he’d designed and manufactured it himself - and it took all his self-control not to start excitedly babbling about his project right away.
He started nervously, making sure to look at Tony for reassurance every once in a while or end a statement with a question mark. It wouldn’t do to appear too competent, no matter how much he’d like to rub it in Flash’s face.
He sighed in relief at the end of his explanation, glad to see many had stopped looking at him and were instead eyeing the chip with curious and intrigued expressions. Tony met his eyes with a slight nod, and Peter grinned widely at him, biting his lip to not give anything else away.
“Stark, I’d like to talk to you about Elsa’s-“ The students turned towards the unexpected person entering the lab, the sorcerer falling silent and stopping in his track as he spotted the students. “Oh. Something’s different. Did you redecorate?”
“You’re the funniest at home, I take it?” Despite the - almost flustered - strain in Tony’s voice, even Peter could tell the way Tony’s face had lit up the moment he’d noticed the sorcerer’s presence.
“Slim pickings; there’s only two of us,” Stephen shrugged, stepping around the group to be near Tony and Peter, still standing in front of the tables. His eyes lingered on Peter for a moment, but luckily his attention was quickly redirected to Tony.
“In all seriousness,” Stephen continued, sounding anything but, “I think it’s great that you’ve made some new friends. Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
Tony rolled his eyes, turning towards the students with a sweeping movement of his right hand, his other casually tucked into the pocket of his pants. “Students, this is Doctor Strange. Strange, these are students from Midtown High School in Queens. We’re showing them around the compound today. Meet the Avengers. That kind of stuff.”
“Oh, so I was just not invited?” Stephen asked. Despite his supposed eagerness to talk to the students, he barely paid them any attention, focused on sending Tony a challenging smirk instead. “I’m gutted.”
“You’ve insisted on several occasions that you’re not an Avenger,” Tony replied, voice just as teasing as he let his eyes roam over Stephen’s face. “So no, you’re not invited to the Avengers Field Trip.”
From the back of the group, Harley coughed, the noise finally breaking the spell that seemed to have overtaken the two of them. Tony took a step back, glancing sheepishly at Harley as he tried to find his composure.
“Right-" He hesitated, glancing at the lab tables surrounding him, very clearly avoiding Stephen’s direction. “-anyway, we were almost done here. They should probably be heading back to the bus soon.”
“As I haven’t been allowed to show off yet, let me help.” Stephen stepped forward until he was standing in a clearing of the lab.
“Ah, yes, because taking fifteen steps down the hall and go up one flight off stairs is such a chore. Shouldn’t you be promoting staying active and healthy, doctor?”
Stephen ignored him as the portal had already been opened to awes of the students. It led straight into the entrance hall, where the others were indeed already waiting on them.
“That’s so cool,” Abe muttered, turning his attention on Stephen, “where can I learn that?”
The corners of Stephen’s lip twitched upwards. “Everest.”
“Woah-“ Abe’s wonder got cut off by Charles pushing him through the portal, followed by the rest of the students. Some stopped to take a step back and forth through the portal, trying to understand the mechanics and stupefied by the change in atmosphere.
Peter and Harley subtly hung back a bit, sliding up to Tony and Stephen as they watched the last few people exit the lab.
“I think that went well.” Tony let his eyes wander over both of them with a questioning tilt of his eyebrows.
“It could have gone worse,” Harley agreed, though he seemed disappointed rather than pleased.
“We shouldn’t hang back too long,” Peter reminded him, nervously glancing through the portal to make sure no one was asking questions yet.
“You’re right. We’ll talk about it over dinner.” Ruffling Harley’s hair, Tony turned him towards the portal, gently pushing him through. Peter followed willingly, waving back at Tony and Stephen as Tony called after them. “Tell Happy to pick up take-out; I don’t feel like cooking today!”
The entrance hall was already crowded with the chatter of both lingering excitement and disappointment over their trip being over. Peter met up with Ned, where he stood near the windows with Betty and MJ.
“So, what did you guys think?” Betty asked them.
“Cool, I guess,” Harley shrugged, taking off his glasses so he could rub at his eyes.
“Oh, that’s right, you probably already got the tour before, right? I mean, Peter, you were basically on a first-name basis.”
Harley burst out laughing, dropping his glasses as Peter blushed.
“I think Peter would die before calling Tony by his name,” he said as he leaned down to pick his glasses off the floor and put them back on.
“It’s nothing really,” Peter quickly talked over him, looking longingly at their chaperones, wishing they’d tell them to get on the bus soon so he could get out of this conversation. “I’ve been his intern for a while, I guess. Bumped into him a few times.”
The look Betty sent them was filled with skepticism, but she quickly directed her gaze over his head as her attention seemed to catch on to someone else behind him. “Flash at least can’t say shit anymore.”
“Whatever-“ Peter turned around at the sound of Flash’s voice. He’d looked up at them at Betty’s words, his phone in his hand as he sent Peter a glare. “He probably just took pity on him. He still lied about knowing Spider-Man.”
“He literally just explained Spider-Man’s invention to us,” MJ argued, causing Peter’s eyes to snap to her at once. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest, looking at Flash with a stoic and impassive expression, eyes as usually squinting slightly with a challenge. “What makes you think anyone but Spider-Man could have taught him that?”
Okay, this was getting way too close for the truth for Peter’s liking.
“Oh, look!” He yelled, pointing towards the first students filtering out of the building and heading towards the bus. “We should probably go.”
Harley raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him, but he shrugged, first to head towards the doors. Peter followed without looking back, though he could hear Ned behind him.
Despite not particularly looking forward to another two-hour drive back and forth, he was relieved to finally be back in the safety of the bus. He sat down in the same spot, but instead of sliding in next to him, Ned stopped in the aisle, looking at him expectantly.
“Actually, Peter, apparently Harley has never played Risen In The Depths, so I was going to show it to him. Do you mind?”
Peter stared at him in confusion - Harley didn't like video games - until Ned made an exaggerated tilt of his head. Peter followed to see what he meant, causing his eyes to land on MJ already back in her own seat.
Oh.
Oh.
Okay. He could handle that, right?
No problem.
He scrambled back out of his seat, sliding in next to MJ. MJ glanced up in surprise when she saw him, eyes shifting towards Harley as he slid in next to Ned. When she looked back at him, her eyes were guarded but not hostile. Peter took that as an okay.
“Hi, Ned wanted to play this game with Harley-“ He started explaining anyway, stopping himself before he could ramble too much.
“Okay,” MJ said, eyes sliding towards the window. Her hands were linked in her lap, fidgeting with her fingers. Peter noticed she didn’t take her book out of her bag.
“Hey,” he pulled her attention back to him once they’d been on the road for a while, taking his phone out of his pocket. “Want to listen to music together?”
“Sure,” she shrugged, taking the offered earphone, “I love judging people’s music taste.”
Peter looked down to hide his smile, opening the playlist with the music he’d thought MJ might like.
Once the students were gone and they’d finished discussing Stephen’s schedule changes, they left the lab together, the sorcerer following him down the hall even though there was no reason to.
“An entire day with those two is too much,” Tony sighed as they got on the elevator. He took off his glasses, massaging his eyelids as he pocketed them. “I need to enjoy my two hours of peace while I can.”
“Like you’re not counting down the minutes.” Stephen scoffed, and when Tony looked up to meet his eyes, he found Stephen already watching him. There was an intensity to his gaze, irises boring into his with a certain heaviness. Tony didn’t know why it made him feel the way it did.
He didn’t reply for a moment, both distracted by watching Stephen’s expressions ripple over his face and trying to make sense of the cloud of thoughts that had slowly been working themselves into a knot over the last couple of hours.
“What’s wrong?” Stephen had apparently picked up on his change in mood, a frown forming as he let his eyes roam over Tony’s face. Tony tried to unclench his jaw, but it didn’t help much to fight back the tension that had worked its way into his shoulders.
“I don’t know. It’s just - seeing those teenagers, awed by the technology and horrified by injuries that seem trivial to us…“
Stephen, seemingly understanding what he was getting at without further explaining, cut him off. His eyes were serious as he stepped closer, making sure Tony’s full attention was on him. “Without you, Peter would be running around unsupervised with nothing but a hoody to protect him. The Runaways would be just that - runaways. You gave them a chance at a normal life - for Molly to get her high school diploma, college courses for Chase, Gert, and Karolina. You made sure they have a roof over their heads and three meals a day. That they can feel safe.”
Tony bit the inside of his cheek, dropping his eyes to the floor as he swallowed down his words. None of what Stephen said took away from the fact that those teenagers were putting themselves in danger more than they should. Peter went out almost every day, the others participating in missions multiple times a month. It didn’t make it okay. They didn’t have to pay for their comfort by putting their lives at risk.
“Tony-“ Stephen cut himself off, apparently recognizing Tony wouldn’t let go of his bitter train of thought any time soon.
“You wouldn’t be able to stop them.” He said eventually, a delicate finger coming up briefly to touch his chin - just a quick tap, really - and Tony jerked his head up in surprise. He tried not to read too much into the movement, redirecting his thoughts back to the matter at hand, but it was too late. He was already measuring the distance between them, the weight of Stephen’s eyes on his, his presence in front of him.
When the elevator slid open, Tony was glad to take the escape provided for him. He got off, turning around to face Stephen again as he’d followed him into the hallway in front of the penthouse. “Do you want to stay for dinner? Peter will probably pick Pizza.”
“No, that’s okay,” Stephen declined, eyes still heavy on his. “Wong is expecting me back.”
“Alright, maybe next time.” They looked at each other perhaps a touch too long before Stephen seemed to collect himself as he turned around to form yet another portal. This one clearly showed the sanctum behind him - the wooden walls and aged furniture not hard to place.
Still, Stephen stopped before stepping through, glancing back one last time to look at him.
“You have wonderful children, Tony. They’re lucky to have you.”
Tony couldn’t help but smile, watching the sorcerer’s steady and reassuring features command him. As usual, Stephen’s tone didn’t allow any room for arguments, confident of his own conviction, and for once, Tony didn’t feel like he had to.
Stephen smiled, eyes softening at whatever he’d read on Tony’s face, before he walked through the portal and closed it behind him, leaving Tony to count down the minutes until the elevator would ding again and release his sons to him.