Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Did you see Flash today?” Ned asked, a rare and spiteful smirk adorning his face. “I was running late after gym and saw him struggling to tie his shoelaces. He looked like he was about to start crying.”

“Please tell me you got a photo,” MJ asked, monotone as always but deeply serious.

“I just mentioned I was late-”

“That doesn’t actually surprise me,” Peter snorted. “Though, he once told me his untied laces was an ‘aesthetic choice.’”

“That feels like absolute bullshit,” Ned laughed, throwing his head back against the couch. 

“Right?”

“He’s rich, he can have whatever aesthetic he wants,” MJ drawled.

“Yeah, but he can’t pull it off,” Peter laughed, leaning back to fist-bump Ned with a grin.

As the three of them started slowly getting into more laid back conversation, Peter found himself relaxing. It was nice hanging out, just the three of them. Peter never felt like he had to hide who he was around them – something he’d been doing for years. Of course, MJ ended up noticing. She noticed everything.

“Peter,” MJ turned to look at him. “You’re acting different.”

“How?”

“Relaxed? Laid back? At ease, perhaps?” Ned joked, before turning serious and looking Peter up and down. “She’s right though, you are acting different. Not in a bad way! Just…something’s off, and I can’t put my finger on it.”

“I’m just…more comfortable around you guys,” Peter shrugged. “I don’t feel like I have to hide anything around you like I do everywhere else.”

“You shouldn’t feel like you have to,” MJ frowned. “Fuck the people who judge you for that.”

“Exactly! Who cares? We don’t, and our opinions are the ones that matter the most,” Ned grinned, shoving Peter’s shoulder.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” MJ smirked, “but he’s right. Who cares?”

“Me? I don’t really want to be seen as an egotistical genius, guys,” Peter drawled, rolling his eyes. He sat up and stared at the ground, an action that told the others; this is important.

“I’m smart. My IQ is off the charts – not that you two didn’t already know that. People tend to get pissy if I show off exactly how smart I am. If I showed how un-anxious I was, and stopped trying to hide my “genius” as Mr Stark calls it, I’d basically be putting a ‘hit me!’ sign on my head in neon pink lights.” 

Peter spoke calmly and clearly, but his hands had started shaking. Ned moved to sit next to Peter, throwing an arm around his shoulders. Peter unconsciously leaned into the touch.

“Would you, though?” Ned asked as he comforted Peter, genuinely curious.

“Literally yes,” Peter laughed, with little humour. “Flash has it out for me as it is, can you imagine how insufferable he’d be if I started showing him up in class every day?”

“He’s already insufferable,” MJ pointed out. “But I suppose he could always get worse.”

“Exactly,” Peter said with a smile, “and I’m trying to avoid that.”

Ever since the end of his middle school days – about a week after he’d had his IQ properly tested, scoring 235 at only thirteen – he’d started hiding exactly how smart he was. People had already started to get annoyed with him when he corrected things they were wrong about, and teachers were getting sick of it. He didn’t want to be seen as an egotistical child who believed himself to be better than the rest. Peter was sure there were novels and films that already proved why that was a terrible idea.

So he acted shy, he acted nervous and he acted self-conscious, always trying to hide under the radar. And for the most part, people let him. When Ben died, people started giving him an even wider berth, and it took a while for him to stop beating himself up over the sheer relief he felt at the situation he’d found himself in. He hated himself for it, for being able to use his grief to get some peace and quiet for once, for people to finally just leave him alone, but as time went on, and as he slipped further and further under the radar, he stopped caring.

Yes, he’d been grieving. But he’d also been actively trying to avoid people for damn near three years by that point, with little success. He’d acted out, snapped at people, straight-up ignored people as they were talking to him, and none of it worked.

All of a sudden, his mask had slotted firmly into place. And, at least until his high school career was over and he had some experience and proper life knowledge under his belt, he was going to keep it there. He refused to be used and abused just because he was smarter than the people around him.

This ruse of his was infinitely easier to uphold than the idea of being known as an egotistical genius. Sure, Mr Stark lived his life being known as the ‘Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist’ with an ego problem, but that worked for him. It would never work for Peter. He was too…approachable. Too poor.

Peter, who only wanted to do good in this world, to use his brain and his powers to help people whenever and however he could. Peter, who loathed the very idea of being seen as ‘better than others’ when there were hundreds, thousands of people that were better than he was in every way.

So yes, this mask? It was necessary. If for his own sanity, rather than anything. 

“So…does that mean we see the real you?” Ned smirked. Peter laughed and shoved him away.

“Most of it,” Peter agreed, shaking his head. “I don’t…there’s parts I still leave out, mainly because it’s annoying to deal with.”

“Nothing about you is annoying to deal with,” MJ frowned. “I put up with the two of you nerding out over Star Wars, and you two put up with me drilling social justice into your heads. It’s a compromise, Peter, and other than that, that’s just what friends do.”

“When did she get so wise?” Ned whispered to Peter, after about a minute of stunned silence.

“I think she always has been,” Peter whispered back, staring at MJ with a confused, but grateful, expression.

“And she can still hear you,” MJ replied, rolling her eyes. “You guys are losers.”

“Wow, thanks,” Peter laughed. “Just wait until I start correcting your grammar. You’ll hate me then.”

“You won’t, because my grammar is never wrong.”

“Mine is!” Ned smiled, before shaking his head. “Stop hiding yourself from us, Peter. Better yet, stop hiding from Mr Stark, too. He’d…probably be able to help you.”

“Yeah, no. I’m not doing that,” Peter replied, voice firm. “He knows me as shy Peter, not as this is wrong and I need to tell you that you’ve done it wrong Peter.”

“He’d want to know all of you,” MJ challenged, glaring at him. “Tony would hate that you’ve hidden parts of yourself from him. Just…think about it?”

“...Fine.”

Peter had been interning under Tony Stark for a year now. At first, he stayed upstairs in his personal lab, either working on his Spider-man suit, whatever Iron Man suit had been brought out of storage that day, random inventions Tony wanted his help with, or on one fun day, the cars in the garage.

He knew he wasn’t a real intern – not yet, at least, but he would ask…eventually – and he was okay with that. He was learning under Tony Stark himself. Who wouldn’t be okay with that?

He was grateful to be here, today of all days. Flash had been even more dickish than before, and it had taken every ounce of Peter’s willpower to keep his head down and stay out of trouble – no matter how badly he’d wanted to put the boy in his place, through fists or words.

“Come with me for a second, Pete,” Tony greeted, guiding Peter…away from the lab?

“Hi, Mr Stark…why aren’t we going to your lab?”

“It has come to my attention that, well, my attention to detail has been very much lacking,” Tony huffed. “And that is code for: Happy told me I’d forgotten to get you a badge, and yelled at me for half an hour.”

Peter snorted – yeah, that sounded like Happy. Then–

“Wait. Badge?”

Tony just smirked instead of responding, because of course he did, led him to Happy’s office – not the lobby, because Tony didn’t dare grace the lobby with his presence when he had work to do – and waltzed in, Peter at his side.

“We’re here, Hogan! Be grateful I remembered!”

“I’d have called FRIDAY to send you both down anyway,” the man sighed, rummaging through a drawer. “Here you go, Peter. The access badge that you should’ve gotten at the very start of your internship.”

“Thanks, Happy,” Peter said quietly, feeling a little too awkward to say anything but his thanks. He took the badge – holy shit, he had clearance to the entire building? – and followed Tony out of the room in a daze. 

With the two of them now safely in the lab, Peter had a little more confidence to ask: “Internship?”

Tony looked at him like he was stupid. Which…may have been granted, in hindsight.

“Yeah? Peter, you’re interning under me. You’re my Personal Intern. That makes you an intern, with an internship.”

“Oh. I never thought of it that way.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’re my mentor. Being an…actual intern makes you feel like my Boss, Mr Stark.”

“They don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” Tony grinned, patting Peter’s shoulder. “I can be both your mentor and your boss, kid.”

“This is so weird,” Peter whispered; but he was grinning.

“Yeah? Well get used to it, underoos, you’re officially Tony Stark’s personal intern – but, who am I kidding? Of course you are. You’re smart, brilliant, if not a little shy. Why wouldn’t you be?”

Peter flushed under the praise, but snorted anyway. Shy. There was that word, that mask that he’d so carefully put together, piece after piece, year after year. Unbroken, even in the face of a genius.

“What the hell are you laughing at?” Tony asked. He didn’t sound offended, which was a good sign. “Do you not think you’re smart? Because I’ll get FRIDAY to pull up your smartest moments if I need–”

“No! No, I’m – let’s not do that,” Peter huffed, running a hand through his hair. He thought of MJ, whose words had stuck with him.

“Tony would hate that you’ve hidden parts of yourself from him.”

Maybe letting him in…wouldn’t be a bad idea?

“I know I’m smart, Mr Stark.”

“Oh look, he's admitting it!” Tony was grinning. “We’ll get rid of that shyness in no time.”

Peter couldn’t help it – he laughed. For a man so brilliant, he really couldn’t decipher emotions very well. Or maybe he could, and Peter was just in too deep.

“Okay, now I’m confused,” Tony frowned. “Why do you keep laughing?”

“I’m…I’m not shy, Mr Stark,” Peter said, shaking his head.

“...Really?” the man drawled, sitting down and staring at him. “You, who stuttered through meeting me the first time, who can’t take praise, who needed a solid two months to even give me your ideas on a project?”

“Yes, well…okay, this is going to take a little explaining,” Peter sighed. He couldn’t believe he was doing this; letting someone in. 

“We have time,” Tony said, moving to sit closer to Peter.

“Okay…well, first, it started when May and Ben got my IQ professionally tested–”

“You did?” Tony interrupted, giving Peter a sheepish grin when the boy glared at him. “Sorry, I just want to know what it is?’

Peter sighed. “It’s…actually really close to yours.”

“Well, my IQ is 250, so I don’t know how close you got–”

“235.”

“...Sorry?” 

“My IQ is 235, Mr Stark,” Peter sighed. “I got tested at thirteen.”

“You–”

“Mr Stark, are you gonna let me finish? I didn’t even start.”

“Right…sorry Pete.”

“Thank you.” Peter took a breath, and made to start again. His hands were shaking again, which he tried to hide by clasping them together until his knuckles turned white. Tony grabbed his hands and started rubbing soft circles into the backs of his hands.

“So, after May and Ben got my IQ tested, I realised a few things. One, I’m classified as a genius, and two, people hated it when I corrected them about things. I was getting detentions for correcting questions on homework, being told off for correcting my science teacher on specific terms…they didn’t like that a thirteen-year-old was better. 

So…I started to hide it. I stopped answering in class, stopped correcting people when they were wrong. And because of that, I stopped getting in trouble, stopped painting myself as a target for people who wanted to use and abuse me because I’m smart. When Ben died, they gave me even more space, which just meant I fell under the radar even more than I did before.”

“What does this mean? For you specifically?” Tony asked, when Peter took a moment to breathe.

“It means I’ve put on this…persona, I guess? I’m shy on purpose. I act self-conscious, anxious, overly nerdy – well, that part's true, but I digress – so I don’t get seen as an egotistical know-it-all, who thinks he’s better than everyone else. Because I’m not. There are always going to be people smarter than I am, who think in different ways to me, who can do what I can. I…I don’t want to be known like that.”

Tony was silent for a few minutes. He didn’t look mad…just thinking. Which was both terrifying, comforting, and also dangerous. 

“Well. Thank you for telling me, for starters. You’ve been hiding that for what, three or four years now? That’s…an insane amount of time to fake a personality. And secondly…Peter, look at me?’

Peter whipped his head up. Since when did he start staring at the ground?

“I’m called an egotist by the media, by my own employees, sometimes, and by people that, through my company, I’m in business with. But, the people who do? They’re jealous. Because I have something they want, and can’t have – and they’re never willing to put in the work to change that, either. 

But the people who love you? Who are your friends, your family? That shit doesn’t matter, not to them. They see you at your best and at your worst, through every sleepless, crazy era of invention where your blood is made of nothing but caffeine and you haven’t slept in three days, to the small corrections you offhandedly make, because an answer or a comment is wrong, and you hate misinformation. They get you, and they’re there for you. Nothing else matters, other than being who you actually are.”

Peter couldn’t focus through the tears in his eyes. He slumped forward into his mentor’s chest, letting the man comfort him as he let his walls start crumbling down, piece by piece. They stayed like that – Peter firmly in Tony’s embrace, the man rubbing soothing circles into his back – for what felt like hours, though in reality it was less than one. Peter pulled back with a shaky laugh, wiping his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“You don’t need to hide yourself from me, kid. I get it – all of it.”

“I know,” Peter whispered. “It’s just been so long.”

“I know,” Tony whispered back, too worried about breaking the softness they’d managed to create. “I know. And for what it’s worth, you shouldn’t have to hide yourself from anyone else, either. Who cares?”

“You sound like MJ,” Peter laughed. 

“Well, she sounds like a smart woman,” Tony huffed.

“She needs to meet Pepper,” Peter agreed, shaking his head. “Those two would take over the world in less than a week, and we’d all thank them for it.”

“Honestly? Pepper’s been looking for an intern. Maybe…”

“Oh my god, that’s such a dangerous idea – can I?”

“If you want,” Tony shrugged. “What about that other friend of yours…Ted?”

“Mr Stark. You know his name.”

“Alright, Ned,” Tony drawled, but he was grinning. “What could he do?”

“Security,” Peter said, without missing a beat. “He’s the one who–”

“Broke into the suits coding? Of course he was.”

“I can’t code for shit!”

“You can, you’re just not as interested in it. Nothing wrong there, kid. Your interests lie elsewhere.”

Peter laughed and took a deep breath. “Would you actually give them internships?”

“In a heartbeat – after meeting them, of course. But yes, I would.”

“This feels like nepotism.”

“Call it whatever you want, I don’t care.”

Peter shook his head with a wild grin, tears long gone – which, but the triumphant look on his mentor’s face, was exactly what the man was trying to do. He wasn’t surprised it worked – the man was able to make Peter feel right at home. He always had. 

“You good?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Peter grinned. He looked over at Tony’s project, and smirked. “Your equations are wrong, by the way.”

“Then help me fix it,” Tony huffed, ruffling Peter’s hair. “Get over here, you little shit.”

“May? Can I talk to you?”

“Of course, baby. What’s going on?”

Peter started spilling everything that had happened in the past few days. Ned and MJ learning about his walls, and then Tony Stark himself. How the three of them – without ever interacting – managed to start breaking them down with their own words of wisdom, piece by piece. How Peter was starting to feel like this mask he’d put on was a terrible idea, that he should’ve just owned it, rather than just taken it.

“Tony would hate that you’ve hidden parts of yourself from him.”

“Nothing else matters, other than being who you actually are.”

Peter ranted for half an hour, barely taking a breath, letting the tears he’d been bottling up fall. He let his grievances finally go: how he let himself fall under the radar, how he let people walk all over him instead of hurting him, how frustrated he was about it all, anyway. 

“Oh, Peter,” May said, once he’d finally let it all out, taking her sobbing boy into her arms. “You shouldn’t have had to hold onto all that.”

“It’s been so long, May,” Peter whispered. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to just. Move on?”

“You don’t have to – not right away, at least,” May soothed. “But, Tony – and I can’t believe I’m genuinely agreeing with the man – is right. You shouldn’t care what other people think.”

Peter laughed into her shoulder, before sitting up. “I don’t…I don’t want to keep going like this. I’m so tired of holding myself back all the time. I just…don’t know where to start.”

“I’d suggest you start by standing up for yourself,” May replied, dry as a bone. “Especially to that Flash kid. I know you’re confident, Peter – no matter how hard you’ve tried to hide it, I’ve always known.”

“Well, I do live with you.”

“You spend half of your time at the tower, Peter. Tony never figured it out.”

“He hasn’t even figured out his own emotions, May,” Peter snorted. “Cut him a little slack. He was actually pretty wise today.”

“As you said, yes, he was. I might make him a cake to congratulate him.”

“May. You’re not baking for him. You can’t bake.”

“Yes I can!”

“The last time you tried your cookies came out liquified. I didn’t even think that was possible!”

“Hello, May Parker speaking?”

“Hey, it’s Tony.”

“Stark. How’s being wise going for you?”

“Terrible, I’m struggling immensely. The kid’s lucky I love him.”

“Oh, I bet. What’s going on?”

“I…have a pretty heavy question for you, actually. About Peter’s future here.”

“Okay…what are you asking?”

“Would you sign off on Peter being the Heir to Stark Industries?”

“Oi, Penis!”

Peter sighed. He was tired. So tired. He only had two classes left for the day before heading over to MJ’s for a movie night, and dealing with Flash was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Penis! Don’t fucking ignore me!”

God, he just would not let up, would he?

“I’d suggest you start by standing up for yourself.”

May’s words flowed through his brain, for a moment. Peter was sick and tired of being walked all over. It had been three years since he’d decided to build those walls, to put on that mask. He had people in his corner, now, more than ever before. MJ, Ned, Tony, Pepper. 

There was no need to hide himself any longer.

“Penis! What, are you worried you’re gonna flunk out of school?”

“No, Flash, I’m not. Because unlike some people, I didn’t have to buy my way in.”

Peter turned around and glared, staring Flash down. The boy had his mouth hanging open, not having expected Peter to actually talk back, for once. MJ was walking past, and shot Peter the most gleeful smirk he’d ever seen.

“You – I didn’t!”

“Are you sure?” Peter asked, tilting his head.

“Yes,” Flash hissed, stepping forward. “I’m not the one who failed freshman science.”

“I didn’t either?” 

“You–”

“Jesus Christ, Flash, leave me alone. What are you even trying to do?’

“Prove that you’re beneath me,” Flash spat, taking another step forward. “You’ll never be better than me, lying about your internship the way you are. Tony Stark would never pick the likes of you.”

Peter nodded, and turned around. That would’ve stung, if he hadn’t spent the weekend over at the tower, working on Iron Man suits with the man in question. He was past the point of letting Flash’s words cut him deep.

“Where do you think you’re going, Penis?” Flash yelled at Peter’s retreating frame. 

“Away from you, Flash. What, do you not know what walking is?”

Peter hadn’t bothered turning around. There was no point. He also ignored Flash trying to call out to him, to bring Peter back into the conversation – Peter simply kept walking, turning into his English class with a sigh.

Fuck, he hated English.

A month later, Peter found himself sitting in Tony’s living room in front of both the man in question, and Pepper Potts, looking between the two of them with a heavy amount of confusion.

“Uhm…what’s happening? Do you need Spider-man for something?’

“Nope! No Spider-man. We need – well want – Peter Parker.”

“...I’m even more confused now.”

“Tony, shut up,” Pepper sighed, before turning to Peter with a smile. “We have something we’d like to ask of you. Now, May has already given consent to let you do this, but remember: you have the final say. This is your choice, okay?’

“Okay…what’s going on?”

“Peter,” Tony started, wringing his hands. He was nervous – Peter could see it clear as day. “Pete, how would you feel about taking a bigger role in the company, rather than just my personal intern?”

“...I’d love to? Mr Stark, what aren’t you telling me?’

Tony took a deep breath. “Peter, I want to name you the Heir to Stark Industries.”

“...what.”

“I want to–”

“No, I heard you,” Peter interrupted, “just…what?”

“If it makes you feel better, I had to call May and ask,” Tony shrugged. 

Peter snorted a laugh. “That wouldn’t have gone well.”

“I got lectured for fifteen minutes. It was the most terrifying fifteen minutes of my life, and I’ve almost died multiple times.”

“She has that effect on people,” Peter smirked, leaning back. “What would being the Heir even…mean?”

“Well,” Pepper spoke up, taking the reins, “you would have a more active role in the company. You’d meet everyone throughout the departments, you’d be able to make final decisions for certain things, come to a few meetings…we were thinking of making you Intern Head – that is, the boss of every intern in the company. As a means to train you into being CEO.”

Peter sat back, his mouth on the fucking ground. It was…a lot.

“You can say no, Peter,” Tony said, misreading Peter’s expression. “We won’t judge you, if you feel like it’s too much, with you still being in highschool, and all.”

“Too much? Mr Stark, I go to school because it’s a legal requirement, not because I’m learning anything,” Peter huffed. “And…why would I say no? Like, genuinely. I thought you were supposed to be the smart one?”

“Alright, enough of your cheek, you little shit,” Tony huffed, but he was grinning from ear to ear. “You’ll do it, then?”

“Yes? What the hell made that unclear?”

“I believe that would be Boss’s lack of emotional intelligence,” Happy drawled from the doorway, making the adults in the room jump. Peter had heard him come up the elevator a few minutes ago. 

“I have emotional intelligence!”

“No you don’t,” deadpanned Peter, Happy, and Pepper at once. 

“Okay, I see how it is.”

Good-natured silence followed. Peter had never been more excited in his life. This is how he could do it, he realised. This is how he could work towards letting that mask fall into nothing but ash. He’d need to be confident, if he didn’t want to be undermined. Especially if he didn’t want people to downplay his intelligence.

“When do I start?”

The next few weeks brought a flurry of busy days and meeting new people all over Stark Industries. Students in his year could take a week away from school for career prospects, and Peter abused the absolute hell out of it. Tony, Pepper, May, and Happy all signed off on it, making it extremely clear to his principal that he was out to learn about Stark Industries, lest he be disbelieved.

The first day, he was given a tour of the full company, and a new badge which now read “Intern Head.” 

Public Relations was first, in which Pepper gracefully did not make him stay long. He really didn’t want his social media accounts to be looked through, especially since he was still logged into the official Spider-man Twitter account. 

Security was a breeze, and then came meeting a representative from Production and Assembly – which was in a completely different building. He was nice, but in a way that Peter could clearly see was just because he was young, and not because the man thought Peter deserved it. Pepper noticed, and ensured the man would get a strongly worded email by the end of the day.

Next was legal, where Peter met his second-favourite person employed by Stark Industries: Tobias Grant. Peter had read his thesis. It was impressive. The man didn’t seem to care that Peter had read his thesis in less than a day – in fact, he was impressed.

And he liked Star Wars. That would’ve been enough for Peter to like him.

“This is Tony’s little genius?” Tobias grinned as the two walked into the room, holding out a hand for Peter to shake. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I can’t imagine any of that being good,” Peter snorted, shaking the man's hand. “I’ve been told I’m a chaos magnet.”

“And Tony isn’t?” Tobias asked with a wry grin. Peter grinned back as Pepper sighed. 

Yeah, he was alright. Peter left their little meet and greet with Tobias’ number in his phone, and a promise to call him if he ever got into some shit he needed a lawyer for.

Next up was IT and Marketing, two offices right next to each other. They were busy, so it didn’t last long, but all Peter could think about was how formal everything was. He would be doing what Pepper usually did, and avoiding their offices as often as possible, once he got into the swing of things.

And finally, finally, Pepper took him to R&D. She took him to the main lab, with the most interns – seven, in fact – which was lovingly called “The Chaos Lab.” 

Peter could see why. He walked in and saw a coffee machine with a tiara on it, a fire being put out in the corner, someone yelling about equations from across the room, and a dartboard with Norman Osborne’s face taped to it. Someone got a bullseye – there was a dart sticking out of the man’s nose. Peter snorted.

And all of a sudden, all seven interns had their attention on Peter.

“This is Peter Parker,” Pepper introduced with a polite smile, and a glint in her eye that meant danger, “And he’s Tony’s Heir. Officially, he is the boss of every Head Intern in every department, as he’s only just started training to take over the company. I trust you know my expectations on how to treat him?”

“Yes, Ma’am, you absolute Queen,” A lady from the corner saluted, before turning on Peter. “I’m Jasmine Hart, and the knucklehead next to me is my twin, Jax. Then we have Carter, who’s putting out the fire. Nico, Olive, and Charlie are working on the Stark Phone schematics in the corner, and Mason, the Head Intern for our department, is head-first in the storage closet looking for a beaker.”

“I’m good! None of these are the right size, though!” Mason, apparently, called out, before pulling himself out of the closet and grinning at Peter. “Damn, you're younger than I thought. How old are you?”

Peter looked to Pepper for permission, before replying: “I’m sixteen.”

Seven whistles. One disbelieving, six impressed. Peter locked eyes with Nico, who was scrutinising him. Pepper put a hand on his shoulder – which meant: you’re technically his boss. Say whatever you want.

“How is a sixteen-year-old smart enough to be here?”

“I can’t tell if you’re trying to insult me, or if you’re giving me a compliment,” Peter replied, smiling.

“Mr Porter,” Pepper smiled, looking directly at Nico. The man gulped audibly. Peter grinned. “Peter here has been interning under my husband for a little under a year, now. I've also witnessed Peter arguing with said husband about thermo-nuclear energy at three in the morning, and win. He’s perfectly capable.”

“Wait, you saw that?” Peter hissed, staring at Pepper. “FRIDAY said you were asleep!”

“FRIDAY is a snitch, Peter,” Pepper huffed. “Now if I’m not mistaken, you’d like to spend some time here?”

“If you don’t let me spend at least an hour in this lab I’m starting a coup,” Peter deadpanned, deadly serious. 

“Alright, I’ll come get you when Tony starts complaining,” Pepper smiled. “Take care of him!”

“We will!” The interns called out, grinning from ear-to-ear. Well, aside from Nico. He was staring at his equations and steadily getting redder with every passing second.

“Alright, Peter,” Jasmine grinned. “First things first, let me properly introduce you to Princess Charmer, AKA the coffee machine we all cherish.”

Peter grinned.

“Peter, you’ve been acting much more confident in school,” Ned commented over lunch, giving Peter a once-over. MJ nodded, her head in a book. Peter shrugged.

“I just stopped caring,” Peter replied with a small smile. “You guys were right. Tony helped me see that, too. Actually, I think he might have been more upset that I’d been holding out on insulting his mistakes rather than hiding it.”

“Not this Tony shit again,” Flash groaned as he walked past. “Give it up, Penis. We all know you’re lying through your teeth about this Stark Internship. When are you going to stop lying to everyone?”

“Once you learn how to tie your shoes,” Peter replied, without missing a beat.

Peter didn’t need to look around to see everyone’s reactions – he could hear them well enough. He was, however, most proud of making MJ show any emotion other than indifference, the girl in question snorting a laugh next to him.

He slowly turned his head towards her, a mischievous grin on his face.

“Not a word.”

“Scout’s honour,” Peter promised.

May and Peter were sitting on the couch, the latter laughing at the story she was telling – Tony, being lectured by her.

“How often do you lecture him, May?”

“Once a week,” May deadpanned. “It’s how I spend my Saturday mornings.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Of course not,” May laughed. “I have to make sure he’s responsible enough to take care of you, after all!”

“He’s got Pepper for that,” Peter pointed out with a laugh.

“I know. Which is why she makes him put the phone on speaker, so we can both do it at the same time. We’re efficient with our time, Pete.”

“Oh my God,” Peter wheezed, hiding his face in a cushion to quieten his laughter. “This might actually be the best day of my life.”

“Oh? Beating the day you were told you’re the Heir to Stark Industries?”

“Yeah,” Peter deadpanned. “Because this is funnier. By a landslide.”

“How are you enjoying that, by the way?” May asked, her tone light yet serious, scrutinising Peter. Making sure he wasn’t going to lie to her face.

“Oh my God, May, it’s awesome,” Peter gushed. “I haven’t been to any meetings yet, because I don’t actually know enough, but I think I’m going to the next one? And I spend like, two hours every time I’m there in the Chaos Lab with Jasmine and the rest of them, and they don’t even care that I keep correcting them or anything – actually, they usually just bring me what they’re working on, and if I find a mistake in it, they give me candy. They’ve successfully Pavlov’d me into correcting their mistakes, and I can’t actually find it in myself to care.

And I’ve been learning a lot about what Happy and Pepper do, because Tony said he’d give Ned and MJ internships if they wanted them – which I haven’t told them about, because I’m waiting for the right time to do it – and it’s so cool. And Tobias and I are like, really close now. He keeps sending me Star Wars memes. I’ve got more of them in my camera roll than Ned, now, which says a lot.”

“So you’re having a blast,” May summarised, laughing. “How’s Tony been?’

“I think he’s jealous that everyone seems to like me, because he keeps giving me things. I have his MIT hoodie now. Y’know, the one he said he’d never give me because it was ‘his favourite’ and was ‘a sacred item of clothing that teenagers shouldn’t be the owner of?’ And it’s easier, now, being around him now that he knows. I get challenged more in what he has me doing in his lab, and he listens to what I say about ideas and everything. It’s great.”

May smiled, and decided that now was the perfect time to shed some wisdom.

“He’s good for you, Peter,” May said softly, running a hand through his hair.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, that he’s good for you. You’ve found someone who you can keep up with and challenge, and vice versa. You’re probably good for him, too, in that regard. Neither of you have managed to find people on the same brainwave, who can bounce ideas off of one another without it sounding like actual gibberish, until now.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Peter smiled, leaning into May’s side. “You’re still my favourite, though.”

“I better be.”

“Alright, underoos! Today is the day where Pepper has double-booked her calendar, and therefore, I must grace people with my presence in the worst thing about owning a business ever – a meeting.”

“Do I get to come with you?” Peter asked, a sly grin on his face.

“That you do! Come on, I’m already pushing the boundary of being ‘fashionably late.’”

Peter grinned and wordlessly followed the man. He’d gotten to work an hour ago, hence he was already in his work clothes; a dress shirt, slacks, proper shoes, the whole lot. 

Peter walked in behind him, smiling confidently. Ever since starting to actually work at Stark Industries, Peter’s confidence had sky-rocketed. Gone was the anxious, self-conscious kid who stuttered when greeting people. He’d fully dissolved that mask of his, and now? He was confident, sure of himself, and aware of his intelligence in a way that wasn’t egotistical to the emotionally secure. 

“And who is this?” an older gentleman asked, shaking Peter’s hand with a slight sneer. Peter didn’t react. He let Tony do the talking – the man had been dying to do this for weeks, now.

“This is my Heir, Peter Parker. Anything you’d say to me, you can say to him – just nicer, because he’s got more tolerance for corporate bullshit than I do.”

Peter mentally smacked a hand to his face. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said outloud, smiling at the room.

“Let’s get this shit started, shall we?” Tony asked, and the meeting began.

And, lord. Peter was listening intently, paying extra attention to every detail, making sure he understood what was being said. And, he understood, alright. Too well. To the point that not even Tony had noticed that, between the jargon about Green Energy, and other plans that included blueprints, they were trying to get weapons made.

After half an hour, Peter was fuming, and he’d finally had enough. In a moment of silence, Peter spoke up – for the first time that afternoon.

“You guys are aware that Stark Industries hasn’t made weapons for years, right?”

Tony, who wasn’t expecting Peter to say anything, whipped his head around in shock.

“I – Mr Parker, you must be mistaken,” one of the representatives chuckled nervously.

“I’m not,” Peter replied, pulling a blueprint towards himself. “These are equations that are seen in most common weaponry, paired with the only public mechanism for the repulsors on the Iron Man suits – which, by the way, is very outdated, and doesn’t even work anymore. 

So I ask you again. You are aware that Stark Industries will not make weapons, and has not done so for years?”

Tony was leaning back in his seat and grinning, watching as Peter tore these people a new one. The two of them watched as multiple people in the room started sweating. Tony with a  gleeful grin, and Peter, with a carefully concealed expression.

“Of course,” Peter continued on, as if nothing was amiss, “these blueprints will have to be remade. We can’t have these being put into production now, can we?’

“I – no, of course not, Mr Parker,” the first man agreed, shaking his head. 

“Of course,” Peter smiled. “Was that all?”

“I – yes, that was all.”

“Perfect!” 

“We’ll see you in two weeks' time,” Tony grinned, standing up. “Hopefully, without concealed weaponry plans in your blueprints, hm?”

“Of course, Mr Stark.”

“Right. Peter?”

“Coming, Mr Stark,” Peter grinned, standing up and following his mentor out of the room. As soon as the door was closed, Peter looked at Tony and said: “I need to smash something, like, right now.”

“Let’s get you to the lab then,” Tony chuckled. “We can’t have you breaking the bullet-proof windows and letting your identity leak, can we?”

Peter huffed, walking faster.

“I’m proud of you, Pete,” Tony said as he caught up to Peter. “I hadn’t noticed that, and I’m sure Pepper wouldn’t have – at least, not right away, and by then it might have been too late.”

“I’m sure it would’ve been fine,” Peter said. “But…God, why do they do that? They know you don’t make weapons anymore – everybody does!”

“Do you remember what I said about businessmen and our intelligence?”

“That they’re insecure and jealous about it?”

“Yes, exactly,” Tony praised, “which means they try to outsmart me, hiding shit they don’t think I’ll see.”

“Does that ever work?”

“No, because unlike me, I actually think logically about that sort of thing. They think through jealousy, rather than genuine intelligence.”

“I can fucking tell.”

“Hey, children should not be swearing, underoos!”

“I’m sixteen?”

“And?”

They’d been at Decathlon practice for almost an hour now, and were doing the last set of drills before they would (hopefully) be allowed to go home. Peter hadn’t been acting any different than before, hoping to just keep standing up for himself, letting his mask at school fall slowly, to the point people wouldn’t notice until it was too late.

MJ glared at him, and stopped in front of his desk. 

“You’re not answering enough questions, Parker. These are all for you.”

Peter sighed. “Fine.”

“In what year did Martin Luther King receive his Nobel Peace Prize?” MJ asked, glaring daggers into his soul.

“1964.”

“What is the repeated use of coordinating conjunctions to connect different items in a sentence?”

“Polysyndeton.”

“What is the term for increasing chemical concentrations up the food chain?”

“Biomagnification,” Peter answered with a bored expression.

MJ continued shooting off rapid-fire questions, and while Peter was aware of the dumbfounded stares he was getting, he elected to ignore it. He knew all the answers, even if he hadn’t been asked all the questions yet. He was smart. He knew he was – and, with Tony’s help, and his standing at SI, he’d learnt to embrace his confidence and intelligence. Just last week he talked back to the Military Representative after he’d asked for another Iron Patriot suit.

Honestly, the nerve of the Military, sometimes.

His time at Stark Industries was doing him a lot of good – he was mature enough now to understand how hiding his intelligence, a major part of himself, had been a hindrance, rather than an asset. And with Tony Stark himself as a mentor, he was absolutely thriving.

He’d gotten much closer with the man, too, now that he was fully willing to insult his mistakes – telling them how to fix them at the same time, of course. Tony was just so easy to tease.

(And that was another new thing – calling him Tony, rather than Mr Stark. He’d insisted on it, actually, stating that; “If you’re taking over my company, you aren’t calling me Mr Stark for the rest of our lives.)

“Peter, are you even paying attention?” MJ asked, her eyebrow raised.

“I got the questions right,” Peter pointed out. “Does it matter if I’m paying attention?”

“Yes,” MJ answered. “It shows character.”

“Forget that,” Abe interrupted. “Since when could you do that, Peter?”

“What do you mean?”

“Since when were you smart?” Flash scoffed, interrupting Abe. “You’ve got to be cheating.”

“Well, I’m not cheating,” Peter shrugged. “And…I don’t know? They were easy questions, Flash. I knew half of those at fourteen.”

“You’re lying,” Flash replied, his eyes narrowing in on Peter. 

“Literally why would I lie about that?” Peter sighed. “There’s no point – MJ, can we go?”

“No, I have an announcement,” Mr Harrington says, his voice laced with childish excitement. “Due to the fact we won nationals, I wanted to congratulate you all with a field trip, so for the past week, I’ve been asking around, seeing where we could go.”

The room groaned. None of their field trips have ever ended well, and they all knew they were testing fate by organising another.

“Now, now, before you all start groaning, I still need to reveal where we are going!” Mr Harrington announced. Peter took one look at his face and felt dread creeping up his spine.

“We are going to…Stark Industries!”

Peter will swear till his dying breath that his heart stopped for just a moment. 

As the class broke out into excited cheers, Flash loudly claiming how he will prove that Peter has been lying once and for all, Peter turned to Ned and MJ in fear. He worked there. 

There was no way he was going to be able to hide this from them.

“Do you even have to?” MJ asked, as the three of them slowly made their way out of the school. “I mean, you literally are going to inherit the company.”

“That’s not the point, MJ!” Peter whined, running a hand through his hair. He spotted Happy’s car and started to walk backward towards it, slowly, still talking to his friends. “I just–”

“Just talk to Tony,” MJ interrupted, putting her hand up to silence him. “You’ll be fine. In any case, I’m going to get prime drawing material from this field trip, and I’d rather you not ruin that for me.”

“Tony?”

“Underoos! How was your day?”

“Boring – Tony, Mr Harrington organised a field trip to Stark Industries for winning nationals.”

Tony stared, and then fell over laughing. The prick. 

Peter groaned as he sat down, putting his head in his hands. “What am I supposed to do, Tony?”

“Own it?” the man replied, after calming down. “You’re going to be running this company in a few years, Pete.”

“I know, I know, but…”

“Peter, look at me?”

He did.

“This field trip? It’s a good thing. Peter, you’re confident and brilliant, and your classmates haven’t seen the full scope of that yet – aside from MJ and Ned. I want to show them that you aren’t somebody they’re allowed to walk all over like it’s nothing. I think it’s about damn time you showed them exactly how capable you really are.”

Peter looked up at his mentor, who was staring at him with such intense genuinity that Peter couldn’t help but grin.

Maybe, just maybe, he was right.

“Have you made up your mind?” MJ asked as Peter got onto the bus, running late as usual.

“About?”

“What you’re going to do about this field trip?”

“Oh, yeah,” Peter grinned, shaking his head. “Tony told me to own it, so…why not? Honestly, I think he just wants to show me off.”

“Probably,” MJ agreed, “but good on you. It’s about time people stop seeing you as a doormat to walk all over.”

“Now you sound like him, MJ,” Peter grinned.

“Disgusting.”

“Still lying about your internship, Penis?” Flash taunted, his eyes flashing with mirth. “Just you wait. We’ll prove you wrong as soon as we walk into the building.”

“Sure you will,” Peter flippantly replied. “I can’t wait.”

Ned snickered next to him, having arrived only moments before Peter, and saving him a seat on the bus. Peter turned and gave him a high-five.

“Alright, everybody in your seats! We’re leaving for Stark Industries now. I take it you don’t need me to tell you all to be on your best behaviour?” Mr Harrington asked, directing his last words pointedly at Flash.

As the group chorused out their No’s, Harrington sat down, and the bus began to move.

He’d been texting Tony all night, late-night worries overwhelming him to the point of insomnia, and the man had made sure he was calm, comforting him throughout the night. 

Peter didn’t think he’d ever get a mentor better than him.

But he was excited. He knew they were going to end up in the Chaos Lab at some point, something he was incredibly excited for. They all loved him – even Nico had warmed up to him that first day, spending a whopping ten minutes with Peter before realising he wasn’t some egotistical teenager in a room full of actually qualified (or nearly-qualified) scientists.

Before he knew it, they were walking into the Stark Industries lobby. 

“Are you ready for your lies to be revealed, Penis?”

“Sure,” Peter drawled, walking into the building, not even looking at Flash. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

The class stood together as Mr Harrington checked them in, and all too soon, their tour guide had arrived. Peter recognised her – Lydia, in the lab across from the Chaos Lab on the R&D floor, and usually, very done with Peter’s bullshit.

He wondered what she’d done to get the Tour Guide Punishment.

“Welcome to Stark Industries, Midtown! My name is Lydia, and I am, unfortunately, your Tour Guide for today. I will hand over your badges in just a moment, but first, I need to tell you some basic rules. First, no flash photography or recording of any kind. In fact, you aren’t even allowed to bring your phones with you, they’re to be left behind before you walk through the scanner. Secondly, there is a zero tolerance policy on bullying. I can, and will, kick you from the tour with no warning if I catch you bullying anyone. Keep that shit to yourselves. Third, listen to me, and don’t stray from the group. I’d rather not lose one of you to the Chaos Lab. They've been looking for test dummies all day.”

Peter bit back a snicker. He knew exactly why the Chaos Lab wanted test dummies: Jasmine had figured out how to make their own Chem-Purse, based off of Honey Lemon’s weapon of choice from Big Hero Six, and they needed people to test it out.

“You have a question?” Lydia sighed, pointing at Flash.

“Yeah, why don’t you sound happy to do your job?”

Peter winced.

“Because it’s not,” Lydia deadpanned. “I’m under what’s called the Tour Guide Punishment right now.”

She turned, and found Peter, his face carefully blank, but his eyes dancing with  mirth. “At least you get out of it,” she sighed, nodding at him.

Everyone turned to stare at him as he replied: “No, I don’t. I just make sure I don’t get caught when I blow shit up. Or I do it in Tony’s lab, because then either of us are at fault, and neither of us have to deal with actual consequences. Plus, FRIDAY loves me, don’t ya girl?”

 “Hello, Mini-Boss.”

Peter grinned as Lydia started handing out badges, sighing at Peter and waving him through without saying a word. He patiently waited for the rest of his team to join him, ignoring Betty’s pleading gaze, Abe’s wondrous one, and Flash’s murderous one.

MJ looked so pleased with how the day was turning out.

“We’ll be heading to the Museum first. Projects and inventions are displayed here, and the Avengers museum is attached on the left. We will spend half an hour here – feel free to wander through both museums as you see fit. I will call you back over when your time is up. Scram.” 

Peter grinned at Lydia and walked in with Ned and MJ at his side. They weren’t going to bother with the Avengers museum – Peter had already promised to bring them himself, after the tour was completed.

“Yo, Pen–Parker, why is your name written here?” Flash called out, pointing at one of the inventions displayed. “Part of a pity project?”

Peter eyed Lydia, shaking his head no. His taunts weren’t worth the tantrum he would throw if he got kicked out so soon. She sighed, but walked over to Flash to see what he was pointing at, realising Peter wasn’t going to move.

“Oh, that? He holds the patent for that one. Has for a couple of months, actually.”

Peter ignored the stares. He was getting used to them, at any rate. He turned to MJ instead, grinning as she started frantically sketching everybody's expressions in her book. 

Oh, today was going to be great.

As the tour continued, Peter kept marginally to himself, answering questions Lydia had for him, and ignoring the stares he got from each of his classmates every time his accomplishments and intelligence were mentioned.

He’d disappeared at lunch, much to the despair of Mr Harrington, deciding to spend it with Pepper and Tony, rather than his class – both to hide the sheer amount of food he ate, and to complain.

“I mean, seriously. It’s been what, two hours now? Surely they can start to grasp what I’ve done, and they can stop staring at me like I’ve solved world peace,” he huffed, biting into his pizza.

“They’re not used to seeing you like this, Peter,” Pepper sympathised. “It’s a shock to their systems, after all.”

“That Flash kid, though…” Tony trailed off, staring Peter down. “Do you need me to do anything?”

“Nah,” Peter dismissed. “He’s just jealous. I don’t actually care what he says.”

“‘Atta boy,” Tony grinned, ruffling his hair. “Also, you need to get back now, or Lydia’s going to have my head.”

“Shit.”

“Peter, Colonel Lakeland is waiting for you in Meeting Room C.”

“For fucks sake,” Peter hissed. “Lydia, I have to go deal with this.”

“That’s fine, just be back as soon as you can. I don’t want to be put on clean-up duty on top of Tour Guide Punishment.”

“I wouldn’t let Tony do that to you,” Peter laughed, shaking his head. “See you soon, I swear!”

Peter ran to his office, changed, and was out and heading towards Meeting Room C in less than ten minutes. He was aware that his classmates were heading this way, having heard MJ asking about what the meeting rooms were for, and found himself not caring in the slightest.

“Mr Parker–”

“No,” Peter interrupted, not even looking at the man, “We are not making you your own military-grade Iron Man suits, and I seriously don’t know why you keep asking. I’m always going to say no.”

“Mr Parker!”

“Get out,” Peter hissed, opening the door and standing aside. “My answer is no.”

Lakeland walked out with a huff, barely registering the gaggle of dumbfounded teenagers staring at Peter like he’d just hung the moon.

“Really, Lydia?”

“They asked. I delivered.”

“...Whatever,” Peter sighed, shaking his head. “We’re going to the Chaos Lab now though, right?”

“That we are. Follow me, everyone! And for your own mental wellbeing, I would be avoiding Peter the entire time.”

“I resent that!” Peter called, already walking ahead of them. “I’ll meet you there!”

Peter all but ran through the halls, calling out apologies with a laugh as he maneuvered through people walking past, reaching the Chaos Lab door in record time. He kicked the door open with a grin, immediately pointing at Jasmine, who had whipped her head around to greet him.

“Are we getting test subjects?” 

“As long as you make sure they consent, and have the ability to walk out of the room by themselves in the next half an hour,” Peter confirmed with a grin.

“Good enough! Jax wants you, by the way.”

“Sure, what for…is he stuck to the wall?”

“Yeah, we fucked up the component for the sticky-gun and couldn’t get him down. He’s trying to find a solution to get him unstuck.”

“Alright, I’ll help.”

His classmates chose the moment Jasmine screamed: “Don’t blow anything up!” at him to walk into the room.

“Of course, this is the Chaos Lab. There will be chaos here, and trust me, Peter causes at least half of it,” Lydia sighed. “Don’t do anything stupid, listen to the interns when they tell you something is dangerous, and remember: you are allowed to say no to being a test subject. Now scram.”

Peter laughed as he worked, waving Ned and MJ over to the bench, and explaining what he was doing. Jax was throwing out suggestions as he scrolled through Instagram, not finding much point in trying to do work as he hung off the wall.

“Parker!” Flash called out, storming over to him. 

“What the hell do you want, Flash?” Peter groaned. “I’m trying to get Jax unstuck from the wall, right now, so I’m a little busy?”

“How do you know these people?”

“...Have you seriously not figured out that I do actually work here?” Peter deadpanned, staring Flash down. “Dude, read my badge right now – it’s part of the NDA you had to sign, by the way, so don’t even think about posting what it says online.”

“Why would I do – what does Intern Head mean? Making up titles, now?”

Peter just looked at Jasmine with the most exasperated expression on his face, silently begging her for help. Mason, thankfully, came to his rescue.

“It means he’s my boss,” the man said cheerfully. “I’m the Head Intern for this department, meaning that, for all intents and purposes, I’m the manager for the R&D department. Peter is the boss of every Head Intern in the company.”

Peter just grinned, and turned back to his computer.

“Can you hurry up and get me down, Boss?” Jax whined. “I’ve run out of Instagram Reels to watch.”

“How about you do some actual work?” Peter suggested. “You’ve got your phone, you’ll figure it out.”

“Peter, I’m sorry, but you have to come back with us,” Mr Harrington all but pleaded, staring at Peter awkwardly.

The tour was finally, finally over. Peter had never been so tired in his life, no matter how much fun he’d actually had.

“Mr Harrington, I'm literally at work right now. I have a meeting in fifteen minutes. There's no point in me leaving here just to come right back - and Pepper might actually have my head on a stick if I'm late to yet another meeting.”

“That she will!”

Peter whipped his head around to see none other than Tony Stark waltzing in, coming over and putting his arm around Peter’s shoulder. 

“I would like my Personal Intern to be in one piece by the end of the day.”

Peter decided to tune them out. He knew Mr Harrington was going to argue with Tony for reasons both unknown and stupidly brave, and he didn't want to deal with it. He only realised time had passed when Tony started dragging Peter away, his arm tight around his shoulder.

“Flash will never get a job here,” Tony declared as they stepped into the elevator. “He was demeaning the interns the entire time, and bullying you every second sentence.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Peter yawned. “Do I have to go to this meeting?”

“Nah, Pepper’s letting you skip it – she wants you to tell her about MJ, actually. We’re going to be emailing your friends proper Internship offers tomorrow afternoon, so Pepper wants to know what to expect.”

“Sarcasm, sass, a human rights activist, and a woman who takes no shit,” Peter deadpanned. “She’s a mini-Pepper with less tolerance for idiots.”

“Oh, she’s perfect.”

“I know. She scares me.”

“Pepper or MJ?”

“Yes.”