Work Text:
Midtown High's cafeteria was as rowdy as ever. Shouting, pushing, small food fights, bullies throwing tantrums, and tired teachers who wished they were anywhere else filled the space. The uncomfortable chairs and benches, typical of U.S. high schools, reminded Peter of the prison documentaries he used to watch with Ned and MJ during sleepovers.
He was eating soggy pizza when he heard Flash hitting on Cindy in a pathetic way, and couldn’t stop a snicker from escaping. Who could blame him? Even Ned was laughing when Flash delivered the line: “Are you from Tennessee? Because you’re the only 10 I see.” Looking around, Peter realized that most of the students who heard were laughing too. Whether it was because of the cheesy pickup line or the fact that Cindy was openly gay was still up for debate.
Peter’s gaze found Cindy’s, and she rolled her eyes at Flash. When Peter’s eyes met Flash’s, he could tell Flash was angry. And when Flash was angry, he took it out on the weak ones, mostly Peter and Ned.
“Ey yo, Penis and Fatso, want to feel my fist punching your ugly faces?” Flash taunted.
Peter was scared—not for himself, but for Ned, his best friend, who really didn’t deserve the bullying. Not that anyone did.
“Flash, why are you so fixated on Peter’s genitalia?” MJ asked innocently. That drew even more laughter from the surrounding students. Flash’s face turned red, and for once, Peter wished a teacher would step in. But since Flash’s parents were ‘important’ people on the school board and rich enough to fund parts of the school, no one wanted to provoke their ire. That meant Flash mostly had free reign of the school, as long as things didn’t escalate too much.
As Flash approached with his fists balled, Peter wished he could show him what he was really made of. That he wasn’t weak. That he was the same Spider-Man Flash idolized and even had a fan page for. He was a freaking Avenger! Well, not really—more like backup, and only when it was really needed in an all-hands-on-deck situation.
Just as Flash came closer and the cafeteria grew quieter, a boom echoed through the room, and someone entered.
Total silence.
Standing at the entrance to the cafeteria was Iron Man, and stepping out of the retracting suit was Tony Stark. Tony looked around the cafeteria as if searching for someone, and then his gaze met Peter’s.
“Ah, Petey, I need your help,” Tony said.
If Peter thought it was silent before, now it was impossibly quiet. He himself didn’t know what to think—his mentor, his father figure, was walking toward him in his high school, the same high school where everyone thought he was lying about the Stark Industries internship.
“Ehm, Mr. Stark?” Peter’s cheeks flushed, and he didn’t know what to do with himself. Tony approached him, smiled fondly when he saw Peter’s blushing face, and ruffled his hair.
“Hi, Bambino. It’s really important. I know you didn’t want me ever coming to your school, but you need to look at this.”
Out of thin air, a tablet materialized, and upon looking at the mass of data on the display, Peter understood why Tony was here.
“You’ve located them?” Peter couldn’t believe his eyes. A few weeks earlier, SHIELD had sent Clint and Natasha on a mission, and they went off the grid, disappearing from every radar. The only thing left was the echo of a distress signal reaching Friday, Tony’s AI.
From then on, Tony and Peter spent days and sleepless nights trying to locate the two, but they had gone underground, rendering Tony's satellites useless. They had to create a location system from scratch, using so many variables that Peter’s head spun just thinking about it.
“Our systems indicate that they are alive but injured, and I need you to help me program the nanobots we’ll use to map the recovery route. We’re faster when we work together, Pete.”
Peter could see the hope in Tony’s face. He had come a long way and didn’t hide as much behind his indifferent masks anymore.
Unfortunately for Peter, Flash used the quiet moment between the two to be stupid.
“Yo, that’s funny. As if. How much did you pay Iron Man to come here?”
“Really, Flash? Aren’t you the one always screaming about Peter being a poor orphan? You really think Peter would have enough money to pay Mr. Stark, a literal billionaire, to do anything for him? That’s even more stupid than usual, Flash,” MJ drawled in a bored tone.
“I like that girl; Pepper would like you. Is that the TJ girl you always talk about?” Tony asked.
That was it. Peter was mortified; his face probably looked like a tomato by now.
“DAD! You are so… Urgh!”
Tony just laughed and ruffled his hair again.
“Di-did he just call Iron Man ‘Dad’?” Cindy Moon asked, starstruck, and Peter turned even redder.
“Well, he is my kid in everything but blood, even though I feel that Petey here is ashamed of me,” Tony said with a mock-hurt expression.
Peter knew there was no going back now. He had just called Mr. Stark “Dad” in front of his entire school and teachers. He could feel their stares and shyly buried his head in Tony’s chest. When he felt Tony’s arms tightly embracing him, he knew that everything would be alright.
“Are we going to the tower to code the nanobots, or are we doing it on the jet while flying near the recovery perimeter?” Peter asked.
“We’ll do it in the jet. We’ll be fast and be directly in the vicinity to proceed with the rescue.”
“Okay. Ned, can you collect my homework for me?”
“Sure thing, Peter.” Ned was happy—finally, it was proven that Peter wasn’t lying. Maybe the bullies would lay off now that Peter had backing from Iron Man himself.
“Ehm, excuse me? I’m Mr. Harrington, Peter’s teacher. I-I don’t believe you can just take him out of school for the day for something that sounds dangerous like this,” Mr. Harrington stammered.
“Hangleton, Peter is legally mine. You’ll find this document alongside the internship documents Stark Industries sent you two years ago. Peter will be fine with me; he’s used to traveling around and helping. Now, Bambino, we really must head off. TM and Fred, come by the tower sometime.”
“Bye, guys.” Peter quickly hugged Ned, gave MJ a quick handshake, and walked toward Tony, who already stood in the suit. Handles retracted from the suit, and Peter quickly put on sunglasses to shield his eyes from the wind and grabbed the handles. Off they went.
They left behind stunned teachers, schoolmates, a gaping Flash, and a smirking Cindy.
Suddenly, the noise level rose, and Ned and MJ found themselves bombarded with questions about Peter and Iron Man.
“What!” said Ned, exasperated. “I told you that Peter had the Stark Internship!”