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Peter whimpered at the increase in sound in the classroom after Mr. Harrison told them they were going on a field trip next week Friday. When he added that they had been selected for a tour of Stark Tower, the whole of the class started talking at once.
It was a known fact that while Stark towers did offer tours, they were very hard to get into. Most of the times they were sold out for years in advance, meaning it had to be a trip plannen way ahead (which wasn’t that easy for a lot of schools). However, you could be put on a reserves list to be called when a school canceled their trip, which seemed to be the case here.
Either that, or Tony deemed it a priority to have Peter and his class over for a trip to make sure they left him alone.
Peter had mentioned it to his mentor last weekend that no one even believed him about the internship. Not that he kept on telling everyone. But Flash had heard about it and started to mock him as there was no way Peter Parker had managed to get into the internship program at SI. Which, fair, he didn’t; he was approached directly by Tony Stark himself.
Ned, seated next to him, was almost vibrating in his seat at the knowledge that they were going to Stark Tower, despite having been there several times already. His eyes shining at the prospect of doing this, of going there with the whole class. No doubt in part to be able to tell everyone ‘I told you so’, when they found out that Peter had been telling the truth all along. Especially Flash’s face at the revelation would be great.
“Isn’t it great, Peter?”
Peter just whined again, pressing his hands against his ears to try and block out the noise that was still going on. Part of him did think it was going to be great, but another part was dreading the outcome of this all. How would his class react, but more importantly how would the avengers and Tony react to all of this.
“Yeah, isn’t it great, Parker. We all get to see your little tale be the made-up story that it really is.”
Peter groaned, of course Flash had heard and decided to comment.
MJ, who had been quiet this whole time, looked up, “Or we get to see your face when you realize Peter has been telling the truth all along.”
Flash sneered, but turned around to make his way back to his friends. Good thing too, as Peter was getting overwhelmed by the noise still. It was as if it came from each and every direction. With his senses, this wasn’t comfortable at all, giving him a headache. Good thing this was the last class of the day, and the week even.
Tomorrow would be a Saturday, and weekend, where he would be going to Stark Tower as May had a long shift coming up. Usually he would be left alone at their apartment, but now that she was aware that he was spiderman and that he and Tony were close, she prefered him to be with an adult to look over him.
Most teenagers would have protested at that, but those teenagers wouldn’t be tinkering in Tony Stark’s lab until early morning. Working on everything from an iron man suit, to his own spiderman suit, to whatever it was that Tony needed to finish for the R&D department.
It was always a lot of fun, and something Peter loved doing. He was hoping to go into engineering after school, but wasn’t certain on what kind of engineering he wanted to do. Tony and Rhodey had an ongoing discussion that it had to be mechanical, or aerospace. Given his own interest, Peter was leaning towards biological engineering, but kept quiet about it, as Tony and Rhodey kept trying to win him for their own field (and made it so that he could learn a lot about different fields while he was at it).
The bell, signaling the end of class, and the end of the school week came as a relief. Getting everything together and into his bag, Peter waited on Ned and MJ before making his way out of the room and towards the front of the school. Ned and MJ’s parents were waiting for them, while Happy was leaning against a car to drive him towards Stark Tower.
Waving at Ned and MJ as they got into their parent’s car, Peter got into the Audi Happy was driving right now.
“Hi Happy.”
The man nodded, “Hey kid, how was school?”
Peter hummed, “It was alright, we got information about a school trip next Friday. Given its location, I don’t think you’ll need to come and pick me up after that.”
As the man hummed, Peter told him that the trip in question was to take place at the Stark Tower. At the reaction, or lack thereof, it was obvious that Happy had already known that was going to happen.
“He’s pulling strings, isn’t he?”
Happy tried to deny, but sighed in the end, “Look, kid, you’re the best thing to have ever happened to him. Between you and potato boy, Tony would go to the end of the world to make sure you’re both alright. Given that you told him no one at your school believes you, and that some kids even bully you for it, he wasn’t going to let that stand.”
Peter blushed at that, “But Harley and I aren't his kids.”
Happy laughed, “No, but you’re the closest thing he has. I don’t know what the future holds, and if he ever does get a biological kid, but for now you and Harley are what he has and what he sees as his own kids. Enjoy it, I know Tony does, as he never saw himself as a parental figure you and Harley prove him otherwise.”
Smiling slightly, Peter was well aware that Tony acted differently around him and Harley. Different enough that Pepper and Rhodey also commented on it, several times. Both of them had told Peter and Harley that the changes they saw in Tony were amazing.
“When is Harley coming back to New York, but the way?”
Happy smiled, but didn’t say anything. Which was reason enough for Peter to start talking a hundred miles a minute, most of those questions about when Harley would be arriving at the Tower. Or how Happy was aware of what would be happening next Friday, what to expect and if Tony was going to be following them along.
When Happy still hadn’t said anything 15 minutes after, Peter pouted as he went to sit back in the car. He really wanted to know when Harley would be arriving at Stark Tower, given that they hadn’t seen each other since Summer and had grown close over the 9 weeks they had spent together.
Harley had mentioned he was planning on coming back around this time, as he would be sitting his early graduations tests soon. Given that he was starting MIT soon after, it was easier to stay in New York and make his way to Massechutsets from there, instead of doing so from Tennessee.
—
Once at the Tower, the reason why Happy kept quiet made sense soon enough when Harley was the one to greet him at the penthouse. Explaining that Tony had been called away to an emergency UN meeting not 5 minutes before.
“Bet you weren’t expecting that, now were ya?”
Shaking his head where he had hidden it in Harley’s chest, Peter just enjoyed the closeness. He had missed Harley in the 6 months they hadn’t seen each other. After growing close during the summer, and finding they had a lot in common despite being adoptees of Tony Stark, their closeness was a natural cause.
They hadn’t officially called it anything, but both of them were well aware that they had a relationship with the other.
“I heard you and your class will be visiting the Tower next Friday?”
Peter nodded, “I can introduce you to MJ and Ned, then. We never did get around to that in the summer.”
Harley grinned, “Most likely because we were in the lab more often than not. Not that anyone was complaining, I think R&D still thinks Tony did a few all-nighters to get it all finished as we did. The number of new products to be introduced and brought on the market really did rise exponentially.”
Peter just smiled, “Maybe that’s the reason he keeps us around.”
Harley nodded, opening his mouth to say anything before they were interrupted by another voice coming from the elevator, “I hope you have a better opinion about me, Underoos. You know that I keep you and Harls close to me because you make me a much better man.”
Harley snorted, “And here I believed it was because we’re connected.”
Rolling his eyes, Tony Stark stepped closer to them to pull the both of them into a hug.
“It’s good to have you both back here, or moving here in Harley’s case. Did your mom finally agree, then?”
Harley gave a sweet smile, one that was too sweet for him to begin with, leading Tony to sigh, “What did you tell her then?”
Harley shrugged, “I didn’t tell her anything. She’s dating this new guy who isn’t that big on education. He kept telling me that if I moved out to college I shouldn’t be coming back or whatever. I packed my things and left as mom didn’t say anything about it. She seems happy though, so I’m glad for her.”
Tony sighed, “I guess that will have to do. Did you at least get permission to leave?”
Harley nodded, taking out his mother’s permission for him to leave and live near his college. It didn’t specify where his mother was allowing him to live, and given Harley’s tense relationship with his mother’s new boyfriend this might be for the best.
All of that was pushed aside soon after when they started on dinner. Not a lot of people knew about this, but Tony Stark was an amazing cook. As the three of them prepared to make quite the meal, Pepper and Rhodey arrived at the penthouse, grinning as the smell of a home cooked mail greeted them.
Dinner was an amazing start to the weekend.
—-
It was Sunday evening, while back in their apartment that Peter remembered that the following week would bring quite a lot of things with it. Sighing he went to get his permission slip for the trip on Friday.
Handing it to May, his aunt started laughing at the notion that the school was taking a field trip to Peter’s ‘other home’ as she called it. The fact that it was more than likely Tony’s way of making sure the school kept its no bullying role and believed Peter about the internship was too good to pass up.
“You do get why this is funny, don’t you?”
Peter pouted, but nodded all the same, “I know, doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.”
May shook her head, “Get used to it, honey. Between Tony and Harley, I don’t think you’ll need to worry about a lot of things. The both of them are more than happy to provide whatever it is you need.”
Peter hummed, “You do know that pertains to you too, you know? Tony’s been trying to talk to you for weeks to ask if you’d like an apartment in the Tower instead of here, but in true Tony fashion he has no idea how to ask you without coming over as rude.”
May blinked at that a few times, before she said, “Well, our lease is almost up. And I know neither of us want to stay here if we have another option. Let me talk to him and Pepper next week and we’ll go from there.”
Peter grinned, before he realized the grin on May’s face was pertaining to something else entirely.
“Now, about that field trip. Should I add a note that I give permission for you to stay there after everything is over? It seems quite illogical to go back to school, only for Happy to pick you up and drop you off at the exact spot you came from.”
Peter blinked, “You’d do that?”
May hummed, “Weekends are most often spent at the Tower, no? And with Harley back in town, I assumed you’d want to spend all the time possible together.”
Blushing at her comment, Peter did smile and nod at that. He would like to spend as much time with Harley if possible. He was glad that he was able to tell his aunt about his relationship, and that she was so accepting of it. It also helped that she adored Harley and wasn’t at all against them spending a lot of time together.
“Let me just add that so you can put it in your school bag. It’s going to be hectic enough tomorrow morning.”
Taking the permission slip as May filled it in, adding a note at the bottom that Peter was permitted to stay at the Tower after the field trip was over, he made sure to put it into his bag. For all that he was dreading the trip, mostly because of the way Harley and Tony would be watching his classmates every move. He was also looking forward to it, to prove once and for all that he was telling the truth. He had been telling the truth all along, none of them had wanted to believe him.
—-
The week passed rather quickly, with the energy in the classroom becoming more and more exciting as Friday came closer. More than a few people were looking forward to the trip to Stark Tower. As their class was the only one going, for now at least, they were looked at with jealousy by other schoolmates.
Some of them had even tried to get transferred into the class group for that reason. Luckily, this was as far as the school was willing to go. No amount of money made it possible to transfer classes so suddenly (and without a good reason), especially as the student in question had never mentioned wanting to transfer before that.
When Friday dawned, bright and early, all of them were at the school sooner than they normally would be. Packed with a bag for the trip and smiles on their faces in anticipation of what was to come.
Even Peter was looking forward to this, now that he had some time to come to terms with it. He was sick and tired of being singled out because of something he told Ned last school year. It was Flash that started spreading it around the school, and who had taken great joy in making sure no one believed him when he said something about his internship.
Right now, the jock was trying to get Peter’s attention by calling out to him how they were going to expose his lies, and how he better just come clean now and spare himself the humiliation.
Several of Flash's friends were smirking as he said this, no doubt believing Flash in this. More than willing to wait and see where this would go, how much lower Peter Parker could sink after all of this was said and done.
As the bus came around and Mr. Harrington made sure everyone was accounted for before letting them get on, he stopped Peter before he, MJ and Ned made it to board the bus. A soft smile on his face as he explained that he and the school had taken note of his aunt’s note on the permission slip. As one of the few people at the school who was aware that Peter and Tony Stark were actually close, having run into them one day in the grocery store, he made sure that Peter was aware of that.
He added that the school had agreed to let Peter stay in Stark Tower, given that Mr. Harrington had vouched for that. Together with the permission slip from May, there wasn’t a whole lot they could do anyway.
Patting him on the shoulder, the teacher let the three of them get on board the bus, as the last one there, they had to take the front seats. Not that they minded; MJ took the second to last one and took out her sketchbook. Ned and Peter took the seat in front of her to talk about the new Star Wars trailer that had come out yesterday, their anticipation high as they waited for the next movie to come out.
Mr. Harrington took a seat on the other side of the front seat after telling the busdriver to depart from the school. He was also looking forward to this, as was obvious by the way he kept looking outside and bouncing his leg slightly in his seat.
—
Arriving at Stark Tower was done with little fanfare, given the hour of the day, it wasn’t that odd to see the rush of people making their way into the building. At 8:30 a lot of the office clerks made their way in.
Several nodded towards the obvious tour group, with a few, such as Pepper’s assistant Ginger and Happy’s second Greg, even waving as they recognized Peter in the group. Much to the surprise of a lot of people in their group.
As they went to announce their presence at the front desk, Peter took out his own entrance pass. Happy had a rule about only making one entrance card per person, seeing as Peter already had his, he wouldn’t be getting one this time around.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see MJ and Ned taking out their own. As people who came with him on occasion, they too already had an entrance card. His peers would be getting one now, with the notion they needed to keep it with them if they ever wanted to work at SI as there was a no duplicate policy.
Mr. Harrington made his way back to the group, “Our tour guide should be here any moment now. I expect all of you to be on your best behavior, this is after all quite the chance we get to be here, I don’t want to mess this up.”
They all gave some sort of confirmation on that, before a Southern Drawl got their attention, “Midtown?”
Peter gasped at seeing Harley there, his boyfriend winked at him, before turning to Mr. Harrington as he confirmed that they were indeed Midtown. Harley grinned, gathering a box of entrance passes from the front desk and approaching them once more.
“Alright, I’m going to call your name and give you an entrance pass. Keep in mind that SI has a strict no duplicate policy, so if you were to dream about working or interning here, make sure to keep that with you for reuse.”
As he said that, he started calling names, one after the other, starting with Mr. Harrington and ending with Eugene. Giving out the passes, Harley put the empty box on the front desk again, before making his way to the check in bay. It looked somewhat like a scanner in the airport, with metal sides coming up about as tall as a human being (they were movable, in case they had guests of a slightly larger size) which FRIDAY could use to scan the person coming through them.
“Alright, tap your card onto the screen before walking past. It will let FRIDAY, SI’s AI know who is entering the building before she scans you. Should something pop up she’ll also state this out loud, so be warned that you can’t take anything unauthorized in or out of the building.”
With that, Harley tapped his card before walking though, FRIDAY’s smooth Irish voice coming over the speaker not long after, “Welcome back, Harley, level 10 clearance, Golden Pass, no detection of unauthorized items.”
As he mentioned them all to come through, most of the tour group had a level 1, white pass. With Ned and MJ, as expected a level 6, bronze pass. And Peter is the same as Harley, a level 10, Golden Pass.
As FRIDAY voiced that out loud, most of the class gaped at Peter. Betty, because of course it was Betty, turned to Harley; “What do the different levels and passes mean?”
Harley turned to her with a smile, “Well the levels are kind of self-explanatory. A level 1 such as yourselfs can only get into the company accompanied by someone of a higher clearance. If you were to wander alone you’d only be able to access restromes and the conference rooms on the first floor. The same card is given to the press the first time they visit.”
He gave a grin, “It’s so funny to see people standing here without that first pass, hearing that they aren’t getting into the building even with an invite. They signed a weaver the very first time that they understood that SI spends a lot of money on these and as such only gives them out once.”
Everyone laughed at that, it did seem kind of funny to know that some high up reporter had an invite to SI or to some interview with the Avengers, only to hear that they wouldn’t be getting into the building because of that.
Harley continued, “As for the kind of passes, white ones are unassigned ones. As such, should any of you decide to come and work or intern for SI you’ll get a color coded pass depending on your department.”
Thinking for a moment, he added to that, “White is general, gray is cleaning staff, green is biology, silver is R&D, red is finance, pink is PR, blue is HR, and lastly gold is head of office. As you noticed that includes Peter and I, as we both intern with Mr. Stark - who of course holds a gold pass. The others are for Harold Hogan, James Rhodes and Pepper Potts.
And while not an official division, there is black for the avengers when they visit. Which they almost never do, but in case they need it, a pass was provided.”
Betty smiled at that, before turning to gape at Peter - as most of their class were doing - turning back to Harley when he mentioned them to follow.
“Seeing as you’re being accompanied by such a high level guide, we can do some of the fun stuff. We’re starting our journey at the bio labs, followed by R&D. As soon as they let us go, we’ll go for lunch, on SI of course. There is an awesome cafetaria here, better then anything I ever ate in high school. I booked us a spot at the avengers museum before lastly we’ll see if either Mr. Stark of Ms. Potts is available for a small interview.”
He smiled at the group following him as he mentioned them to follow. Making sure to step into the elevator last, wrapping an arm around Peter and squeezing slightly. Asking without words if his boyfriend was alright.
Putting his hand over Harley’s Peter gave back a couple of squeezes to let him know that he was fine. He was still getting overwhelmed a little bit, but hopefully that would calm down before it became too much. If not, he would hide away for a little bit, to take a breather.
With his whole class now aware of what he had accomplished, there was bound to be a confrontation with Flash and his cronies. If only for the jock to get Peter to spill how he managed to get this to happen. Flash, for all that his parents paid for each and everything he ever accomplished, never could get that someone like Ned or Peter - both in Midtown on a scholarship - could be better than him in any way. He believed money could buy him anything and everything, where hard work could bring you a lot further.
As the elevator doors opened, they all spilled out into the bio lab, Harley taking the lead to get them to one of the lower level labs. For all that they wanted to show Midtown some of the things going on in SI, they couldn’t just show each and every lap out here.
“Alright, so, we’ll be taking a peek into lab 1, I know that doesn’t sound like much. In reality it is one of the milder labs out here, but you understand that we can’t just show you each and every lab SI has.”
All of them nodded, they were aware of all the things that Si had a hand in. Seeing just a portion of all of this was enough for them all.
Gathering closer, Harley opened up the lab, introducing them to Stacy, Glenn and July who were working on genetic manipulation to make sure that certain fruits and vegetables would be able to hold a lot more vitamins. If they succeeded - and they were making good progress - it would mean that getting people to eat this would elevate a lot of people’s health without adjusting their diet.
As the three explained what they were trying to do, showing the tomatoes, oranges and several different berries they were growing. They succeeded in getting one more vitamin into the fruit and were working on adding more. Beaming as they noticed Peter standing there, they asked him about his opinion on the project. Beaming all the more when he told them it was a great one.
As they left the bio lab, the three bio engineers asked Peter, and Harley, to come back anytime. It was an open secret that if you wanted someone to help you with your project, you put in a request with Tony Stark himself. Before, he tried to come down himself - even if the wait period was long - but ever since Harley and Peter entered SI as his apprentices, they were coming down more often than not.
While young, they more than made up for it in the way they acted and thought about anything and everything the group asking for help would need. The two of them, or either of them, was as great as having Mr. Stark himself is there to help you out. This, of course, made them loved by each and every person in the company.
Waving Midtown to the elevator again, Harley got them to go up towards the R&D labs. Grinning, he told them that things tended to explode on those floors. After all, these were the labs that did the technology advancements SI was starting to get known for.
“You get used to it, though, the noises, as they are just a part of being on that floor. But I am warning you, you can hear a ‘boom’ now and again.”
Peter, out of habit added, “Put out the fire before you break down, though.”
The whole of is class, as well as Mr. Harrington didn’t know what to say about that. When the doors of the elevator opened, they realized that this was where the magic happened, where a lot of coffee was consumed and where people were prone to breakdown because of how they wanted to impress the owner of the company.
Peter sighed, taking a hold of one of the people running around, “Andy, calm down, what’s going on.”
Andy rightened his glasses, “Pete… Peter, you’re here. We need some help in lab D, we don’t know what even happened but it caught on fire and we can’t put it out!”
Peter sighed, turning to Harley who nodded to him, leaving the group to go to lab D while Harley led them all to lab A where a new version of a prosthetic limb was being tested by a veteran. Given the role Rhodney played in Tony’s life it was no secret that the military could still get a lot done by Tony Stark (he just didn’t make weapons anymore).
Mr. Harrington turned back a few times towards lab D, “Is Peter going to be okay?”
Harley hummed, “Yeah, he’ll be fine. He’s been doing this for longer than I have, so they keep running towards him with any problems that pop up. It’s quite annoying as I’m the one going into mechanical and electronic engineering while he is looking to go into bio.”
Shrugging, Harley mentioned them in the lab, “This is Major Lawson, a brave veteran of our army who lost a leg in Iraq. He’s our guinea pig in this project, this is the mark 10 of the prosthetic limb and should be able to react to each and every motion just like a real limb would be able to.”
The major grinned from where he was sitting on the table, had they not been told, they wouldn’t even notice that the man was an amputee.
He hopped down and started walking inside the room. Showing off that the new leg was indeed much like his own leg in range of motion. The grin on his face was something that touched them all, knowing how hard it was for veterans at times.
The door opened to allow Peter entrance, making Major Lawson grin, “Peter, I didn’t know you were going to be in today.”
Peter shook his head, “I’m not, officially. This is my class, we’re here for a tour.”
The Major blinked, before he turned to Mr. Harrington, “He's your student?”
Mr. Harrington blinked once, before he nodded, “He is.”
The Major nodded, “Know you can be very proud of that kid. He started this whole project after fiddling with one of the prototypes of Colonel Rhodes braces. Here we are 6 months later and I can walk. I’m sure I don’t need to explain how amazing that is.”
He took a few steps to hug Peter around the shoulders; “You’re doing all of this while still in High School, kid. I almost can’t wait to see what you’ll accomplish after finishing college.”
Harley snorted, “He’ll be working here full-time. No way that Tony is letting him start anywhere else. He’ll bribe him with whatever he wants to get that down on paper. I know he did the same thing to me once I received my entrance letter to MIT. He’s well aware that scouts come and see college kids as early as second year. He wants to be sure we stay here.”
A voice from the door startled all of them, “Wouldn’t you do the same, who knows who else will walk away with my boys. Can’t let that happen.”
The whole of Peter’s class looked on starstruck as Tony Stark himself entered the lab. Colonel Rhodes on his heels, making the Major salute his superior, before Peter and Harley were hugging Rhodey thightly.
“Uncle Rhodey!”
Tony grumbled, “Where is my hug?”
Harley looked him up and down, “We see you every day, or almost every day. Rhodey has been gone for ages.”
“You just saw him last week!”
Rhodey laughed, “They are just messing with you, aren’t you boys?”
This had all four of them laughing, it was so easy to forget everyone else around them if it was part of their close family and friends together. It felt natural, and not even people from Peter’s class were going to stop that. Tony was through hiding, even if he still kept some things back while at events, he wasn’t the man he used to be.
Harley grinned, “Major, as always, it has been a pleasure. I’ll be taking this group and heading for the cafeteria. I’ll see you soon, and be sure to let any of us know if you’d like some more adjustments.”
The major nodded at that, waving them out as Harley and Peter took the front to lead the group to the cafeteria. Tony and Rhodney go up a few more floors, but promise to be there for the Q&A at the end of the day.
After everything that had been going on, Peter wasn’t even surprised to find Flash at his side the moment he had taken a seat. The jock was furious, so much so that steam could almost be seen coming out of his ears. As usual, he couldn’t wrap his head around what had happened and was still happening when Peter didn’t have any money to buy him into these places.
“How did you do it, Parker?”
Peter hummed, “How did I do what, Flash?”
The other boy sneered, “How did you pay off the tour guide, or the people at the labs, and even Stark and Rhodes. Why would they want anything to do with an orphan like you?”
Peter flinched back at that, until he regained his posture. If he never reacted this would be going on for a long time, and he was tired of it. Flash had been picking on him for ages, singling him out and ever since he became Spiderman he was letting it happen because of his abilities. But here, in his home, Flash couldn’t hurt him. It was time for it to end.
“Maybe because I don’t need to buy my way into anything, Eugene. In fact, a lot of people like me for who I am. I don’t think you know what that is like, now do you? Your whole personality is so fake it’s a wonder that you can manage to get up every morning.
You’re a bully, Eugene, and one that gets told by his parents that everything is possible if you have money. Newsflash, it isn’t. As soon as you get to the adult world you’ll find that out, find out what kind of disadvantage they gave you, making it too late to actually do something with your life.”
Taking in a deep breath, Peter added, “I am an orphan, and I miss my parents each and every day. But I have an aunt who chose to take me on, who loves me and will be there for me each and every time I need her. Can you say the same?”
The whole of their class was silent as they looked on as the confrontation progressed. Mr. Harrington seemed to be doubting what he needed to do. For one, he might need to berate Peter for his words, but on the other hand he had hated the way Flash had treated people all because his parents were Midtown’s biggest sponsors. It was quite a hard pill to swallow knowing he had to turn his head to the actions of one person because of who his parents were.
Without anything being said by Flash, Peter turned around and went back to eating. Leaving Flash to stand there, trying to make sense of everything that was being said to him. He made his way back to his own table with an unreadable look on his face, looking back at Peter’s table now and again.
The rest of their lunch break went smoothly, leading to all of them piling into the elevator again to go towards the avengers museum. It was there that Peter found out that Tony had added a display for Spiderman since the last time he was there. His own onesie was even there, instead of the suit he now wore.
All the other displays were amazing to see as well, even more so as there were always little things added to it. They were never the same, no matter how many times you came here, something changed each and every time.
As they went to the elevator again, the last event of the day - and the most anticipated one - was in front of them. The Q&A with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, and as they entered the room, Colonel James Rhodes was there too.
All in all, Peter had feared it to be a disastrous fieldtrip, but it was quite a fun one.
It became even better when the next week, Flash came to look for him in school to apologize for what he did, that he shouldn’t have listened to his parents as that didn’t make one happy - as seen in his parents - and that the words Peter told him that day at SI changed his life. And it began to show soon enough, as the Flash from the past disappeared and a whole new person emerged.