Chapter Text
When Tony Stark first saw the permission slip, he couldn’t help but let out the laugh he’d promised Peter he wouldn’t. He looked at the paper again, then up at Peter’s thoroughly annoyed face, and burst out laughing once more. Soon, he was full-on cackling, and Peter could only stand there, hands stuffed in his pockets, miserably waiting for him to finish.
“It’s not that funny,” Peter muttered, watching the older man lose it over what was, in Peter’s opinion, the dumbest thing to ever happen to him.
Technically, it wasn’t even the paper—just a harmless permission slip—that would seal his fate. No, it was the signature at the bottom. May Parker. She’d been laughing while signing it too. Traitor.
Peter knew he joked a lot about how horrible the Parker Luck was but, really, this was crazier than anything else he’d ever experienced. And he’d literally fought his ex-girlfriend’s dad once. And stolen Captain America’s shield.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t the craziest thing. Peter just liked to be dramatic.
“I tried begging May not to sign it, but…” Peter groaned as Tony wiped his tears.
“She likes to mess with you,” Tony smirked, his tone teasing.
“Yeah,” Peter sighed, slumping down onto the lab bench like the world was ending.
The day had started like this:
Peter knew something was off when, instead of yelling “Penis Parker” across the cafeteria, Flash Thompson just smirked at him in that horrible, greasy way of his. Usually, Flash would just get jealous of one of Peter’s accomplishments and bully him. But today? Something about that smug look screamed trouble. Flash looked like Peter should be the one jealous. Or scared. He wasn’t sure yet.
“What’s Flash’s deal?” MJ asked, sliding into the seat opposite Peter, her nose buried in a copy of Democracy by Joan Didion. She wasn’t eating—probably because she devoured books the way Peter inhaled food (thanks, spider metabolism!)—but Peter wasn’t worried. She’d steal his lunch eventually.
“He looks way too happy. Something’s definitely up,” Ned said, glancing nervously between Flash and Peter. Peter felt the same unsettling chill. Sure, he was Spider-Man, but Flash had been tormenting him for years. And Flash’s family money? That still carried weight.
“It’ll be fine,” Peter shrugged off the creeping dread. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
He fucking jinxed it.
When they walked into the science lab, the energy in the room was buzzing. Students were murmuring, excitement evident. Peter took his usual seat in the back, MJ beside him, and Ned grumbled as he sat in front of them.
“Okay, kids, settle down,” Mr. Harrington said, tapping the desk with way too much enthusiasm. Peter’s spider-senses prickled. Mr. Harrington? Excited? Something huge was coming.
“As many of you might already know, the AcaDec team will be having a field trip, two weeks from now. Since some of you already know the location, despite not being part of the team, I need to regrettably inform you that this is for the AcaDec members only, not the other students,” Mr Harrington glanced knowingly at the disappointed faces in the classroom, not looking ‘regrettable’ in the slightest, and continued, “Their win at the Finals last semester had a secret prize, and the prize has been revealed to us today. This is why I want all AcaDec members to wait back after school today. Are we clear?”
The AcaDec members in the class nodded, while the other disappointed students started talking amongst themselves sourly. Peter wondered what had caused this reaction. He tapped Betty’s shoulder, who’d been sitting next to Ned, as Mr Harrington started the lesson.
“Hey, Betty,” he whispered, leaning forward. “Where’s this field trip? Everyone seems to know.”
Betty looked genuinely confused. “Wait, you don’t know? Shouldn’t you be the first to find out since you work there?”
Peter’s blood ran cold. “What?” MJ’s eyes lit up, a grin slowly spreading across her face.
“Y’know, the Stark Internship? I know most people don’t believe you but I do! And since we’re going to Stark Industries, shouldn’t you already be aware of this?” Betty wondered out loud and then shrugged. “Jason and I are covering it for the school paper. Exciting, huh?”
Peter didn’t feel excited.
He stared at the back of Betty’s head in shock. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ned struggling—and failing—to contain his laughter, while MJ just calmly pulled out the infamous sketchbook where she drew Peter’s various crisis faces “for practice”.
His life was over.
So that’s where he was now.
At home, Peter had barely walked through the door when May asked him about the field trip. He’d groaned inwardly, hoping to avoid that conversation entirely. But, of course, Mr. Harrington had already sent forms for the parents to sign—and nondisclosure agreements, no less. May had laughed the whole time while signing.
Peter shouldn’t have expected her to take pity on him. MJ and Ned’s reactions should’ve been warning enough.
—
“Okay yeah... if I were in your shoes, this would be pretty humiliating,” Ned admitted, nodding.
“Thank you, Ned,” Peter smiled and turned towards MJ to stick out his tongue at her, who muttered a ‘real mature’ back at him.
“But… well… I’m not in your shoes. So, to me, it is funny,” Ned shrugged, and MJ started cackling.
“Ned!” Peter groaned.
—
Now, he’d entered the lab approximately 45 minutes ago, ready to take his mind off of the field trip. He was currently working on creating a weaker replica of Tony’s original repulsors. The project was a welcome distraction—he’d been learning particle beam tech from FRIDAY and was nerd-ing out over the integrated circuits when his stomach growled.
“Did you just—” Tony turned towards Peter, mischief all over his face.
“What? No! I’m just hungry!” Peter cut him off before the teasing could start.
Tony laughed. “You’re an easy target, kid. You got any food?”
“I’ve got a granola bar,” Peter muttered, attention already back on the screen where Bruce Banner explained the circuits. Tony grabbed Peter’s bag, rummaging through it until he pulled out the crumpled paper at the bottom.
“What’s this?” Tony asked, amusement barely hidden in his voice.
Peter’s heart sank. “Nothing, Tony—wait!” he lunged, but Tony dodged with ease.
“So, you’ve got a field trip here? To Stark Industries? Where you intern every day for hours?” Tony sniggered.
Peter groaned. Why did the universe hate him?