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Tony Stark, genius, billionaire and self-proclaimed philanthropist. One, that was holding five doctorates - along with countless of other degrees in some really weird areas, nonetheless.And here he was, not working in some kind of important science team or the military, but in one of New York’s average high schools. It didn’t even have a science focus for god’s sake.Tony hadn’t bothered to count how many people had tried to make him change his career paths, fellow scientists and CEO’s alike, but he hadn’t listened. That was a habit people said he had, being incredibly stubborn.Back in his days at Stark Industries, Pepper had sometimes gotten desperate enough to yell, which in itself was quite an accomplishment, really.Nowadays most people left him alone, a few years after he gave the reins of his inherited company over to Miss Virginia Potts, they seemed to have given up on him. Maybe he just wasn’t worth the effort anymore.Naturally, Tony missed his engineering work, figuring out new things to make life better or occasional explosions, it had been one of his favorite past times even after-hours. So, he’d made an unofficial deal with the new head of the Stark Industries R&D, a young ambitious woman called Shuri, to visit every once in a while, when Tony either had an idea or just needed to bounce some ideas around.Pepper was equally pleased and displeased at that occurrence, because between the two of them there had been a few incidents making it necessary to renovate the lab space. But as long as they were doing great work the complains were mostly superficial and quickly forgotten about.For smaller scale excitement Tony had come around to host some club activities after school. At first, mostly short-lived collaborations with one colleague or another, later on his very own baby: The Robotics ClubEvery Tuesday afternoon the doors to the biggest of the three science labs were open for curious students who wanted to learn a thing or two about robotics and engineering. It never stopped to delight Tony when the kids hung at his lips and then scrambled off to try out some the basics themselves. He was even happier when they returned the following week, hooked enough to not lose interest again immediately.By now Tony had a steady group of four waiting for him every week, along with one or two drifters every now and then. He was aware that he might be hosting the most laid-back club at school when it came to bureaucracy and attendance, but he didn’t mind. Tony wouldn’t force anyone to show up for every meeting, it was even sweeter if they did anyways.So, close to the end of the year, his four little amateur engineers had learned quite a lot.Sam had teamed up with Bucky a few days prior to plan a set of robotic wings that could spread and fold back together smoothly; Peter and Bruce on the other hand have had problems coming up with an idea on their own.Tony didn’t doubt a second that this cluelessness was more due to their specialties than to her creativity, though.Peter had an amazing grasp of biology while Bruce could easily make a career in physics after school, but both were a lot less hands-on when it came to engineering. In the end Tony had taken pity and dropped all four of them together, hoping that they would benefit from their different skills and viewpoints. No one had complained so far – he counted it as a win~“You want to do what now?” Tony stared at the kids with something akin to shock. It wasn’t the project they’d decided on per se that invited the honest surprise in him, but their dedication and planning. It hadn’t been more than a week since Tony had left them to their own devices which meant they hadn’t met more than once, they were clearly more efficient than some of the scientists Tony had the misfortune to work with. “Not a complete suit of course, we don’t have enough skills for that, but with our plan for the wings paired with their gloves we’re off to a good start.”A superhero. Well, they were kids after all. Tony stopped in his musings for a second. When did he become that old and boring? Hell, he sounded like Obi did when Tony showed him the first prototype for Dumm-e. How much fun would it be to create a working superhero suit? And who else would actually fund kids to equip it with unnecessary shenanigans? The longer he thought about it the more it seemed as if this project was just cut out for him.“You know what, we make a deal. You take care of those parts you’ve planned and when you manage to finish them before next year’s summer break I’ll match it with the rest of the outfit. How does that sound?”Sam’s face looked as if it would split open if his grin would become any wider, so Tony guessed he had his answer. And, he was right, the kid turned and returned to the others in high speed, no doubt retelling what happened in all detail. This was going to be an interesting year.~Pepper only frowned at him over her fancy tea, used enough to his antics to not openly shake her head in astonishment anymore.“Come on Pep, don’t make such a face! It’s going to be fun! You should see their brilliance! They come up with solutions without needing a lot of help! It’s amazing! They’re like mini-me’s, just less good looking of course.His friends face softened a bit at his apparent enthusiasm. “You’re behaving like a proud Dad; do I need to buy you a “Dad #1” mug for your birthday? But I don’t think your ego needs any more stroking as it is.” Tony flashed her a smirk, while contemplating if making JARVIS order him one of those tacky mugs would be too eccentric, even for him. When he got home he would find one of those websites to custom your stuff and slap his face right next to the text. That was bound to rile up Clint a bit at the same time, that’s why people called Tony efficient – hah.“Since you seem to agree with me that this is a super important project, you’ll be ecstatic to sponsor us, right?”“Tony, you’re a billionaire, why in the world don’t you sponsor yourself? I can’t throw out the company’s money for everything, you know?”The man pouted a bit, this by far wasn’t the first time he’d heard Pepper say this to him. “Because they’re the future, of course! I mean, Tony Stark sponsoring them will look great, but if Stark Industries does it it’s more or less a glowing letter of recommendation for the kids!”When Tony saw Pepper’s eyes falling down to inspect the surface of her drink he knew that he had won. If he’d managed to appeal to her more subjective side, doubled with the prospect of helping to shape some kids’ future for the better, she never had any chance of declining.Or maybe she still had a soft spot for him, who knew?“I’m sorry Tony, I can’t reasonably use funds to cover all of your club activities, not when you’re also involved in them. But if you manage to finish your suit I’ll offer them all paid internships for the following summer. How does that sound?”“Pep, you’re the best!”He heard the woman’s chuckle behind him for a second, then Tony was already out of the door, brain working in overdrive. Shuri would have to make do without him today, he needed to go shopping.~“Mister Stark that is amazing!”Tuesday had rolled around and his four students - as well as Bucky’s and Sam’s friend Steve - had gathered in the lab. For today Tony had brought some Starktops for the necessary calculations. After all, the school’s mediocre equipment couldn’t quite live up to the processor power needed for something as ambitious as superhero equipment.“If your teacher shares a name with one of the best companies of America, you should at least be able to reap the benefits.”As predicted, this very morning JARVIS had woken Tony up with the news that ‘Ms. Potts sent four Starktops with the R&D’s newest software for today’s club activities, Sir’. Pepper was just that amazing. And sometimes was just as guilty as Tony when it came to spoiling people – well, but she was a bit better at that. The engineer could remember quite vividly how he wanted to show his gratefulness to his friend and ended up buying a five-meter Teddy bear. It had to sit on the porch because there was no way the monster would fit through the entrance. Pepper was still teasing him about it today.“Oh, and make a list of things you think you’ll need and I’ll order them. Shipping times can be hell, so you should cover that as soon as possible. Once, I tried to quickly build a little particle accelerator to test a theory and I needed to wait two weeks for the last part to arrive. That’s the real thing that breaks your neck with engineering. Seriously.”“What did you do then? You didn’t wait for the arrival, did you Mister Stark?”Tony blinked, startled by the - pretty valid - question. Bruce’s dark eyes were focused on him, unwavering and curious. That might’ve well been the first time that the kid actively sought out his attention without slinking back into the background immediately. “Of course not, I’ve just used one of the things I’ve found lying around in one of the closets.” He grinned at the memory of the Comic hero memorabilia he’d misused for his cause. Phil had nearly suffered a stroke the next time he’d come over and saw this ‘blatant blasphemy’. Fun times. “Hey Bruce, do you have an idea how to build those web shooters yet? ‘Cause I’m not sure how we can avoid spilling the fluid when they’re not in use.” Peter quickly claimed his classmate’s attention for himself and only a few minutes later all boys were discussing and throwing around ideas and hypothesis’. Steve watched with mild interest how Bucky eagerly tried his hand in designing their first prototype and Sam kept insisting that one part or another had to look ‘cooler’. Tony felt reminded of JARVIS and himself when indulging some tinkering of their own - just younger and of course less brilliant. ~Outside of his club activities Tony was a freshman physics teacher and one of the two people responsible for the computer science and its AP course. Seriously, public schools and their organization, they definitely needed someone like Pepper or Hill to make it work properly.Anyway, normally those placements meant that Tony knew all kids who were interested in sciences by at least their faces. No one who wanted to take computer science or AP math really managed to get around freshman physics. Truth to be told there were also rumors going around the teachers’ lounge that the recently increased interest in the sciences was due to Tony’s employment, he himself was pretty flattered by that idea. So, when the robotics club met for the first time Tony was vaguely familiar with all the kids. All except one. Bruce Banner’s name might have rung a bell in the teacher, but the attached mop of curly hair and dirty tanned skin sure as hell didn’t. The first few weeks he had ignored the unfamiliarity, going as far as actually forgetting that the boy was there in the first place. It wasn’t his fault, Tony had argued with Rhodey, the kid always conveniently placed himself behind some giant and didn’t say a word until activities ended. Bruce was just too skilled at being invisible. So good in fact that Tony had dug out the former year’s class lists to find out if the boy had been hiding there as well. And lo and behold, he had been.But that wasn’t the baffling part, no, those were the kid’s grades. Mediocre all across the board, so mediocre in fact, that Tony would’ve gotten suspicious even if he wouldn’t have known that Bruce was a goddamn physics’ genius. It had taken a few months and a greatly lowered count of students in the club, but Bruce had shown his smarts every so often since then. Someone who asked those kinds of questions and was able to educate even Tony on radiation theory couldn’t be a straight C student, no way.This realization had been the starting point for Tony’s silent investigation of the physics genius in disguise, but so far, he hadn’t gotten any real results. That was, until it happened that luck was on his side one day, leading to the teacher running into Bruce all alone in the lab space. “I could be wrong, but I could swear it’s only Monday.”Bruce’s eyes met his for a brief moment before he ducked back behind the Starktop screen. “It is, but I want to finish the simulation for the web fluid capsules before tomorrow so that Peter can give me feedback if he needs something to change. I’m not certain which requirements the webs have”Tony was impressed that they not only already figured out a solution for their spilling problem but were already working towards their first prototype. As soon as the boys were sure about the capsule mechanism Peter could determine if they needed to be bigger or differently shaped and then Bruce could start on the glove itself. They still had enough time before summer for a few rounds of trial and error, but so far it looked quite well.“I really have to take care that you’re not the only one’s finished by summer. I can’t doubt that you will make it anymore, so I need to get to work as well, don’t I?”The boy smiled thinly over to him, a lot tenser than Tony had seen him recently. “It appears so.”Both of them fell into silence as Bruce continued working and Tony pretended to take inventory of a closet next to the door. After a few more, slightly awkward, minutes the teacher decided that he’d just take a leap of fate. People called him an idiot sometimes, granted it were only those who actually knew him personally, and he couldn’t argue with that so he at least could own up to the expectations.“You’ve been in my physics class last year. How come I only get to hear your ideas now? Has someone else monopolized your brilliance last year? Who was it, I’ll demand compensation.”Tony’s ego could just-so bear the lack of reaction to his fantastic humor, what it couldn’t take was the weariness that was directed at him.“I am not brilliant, Mister Stark.”How long did Bruce think he could hide behind his screen or even this unruly hair of his? It wasn’t as if Tony planned on leaving before he had answers, but, he supposed, the kid couldn’t know that. So, Tony did what he could do best – except being a genius, playboy and philanthropist, naturally – talking.“Well, I have three students and one“ he strutted over to the kid’s seat and glimpsed over his shoulder “nearly finished, beautiful simulation of a web shooter capsule department for a super hero glove to back my thesis up. If that isn’t brilliant, I’m not Tony Stark - and believe me, I have an AI to prove that.”Maybe, just maybe today wasn’t the man’s lucky day after all, because apparently, he had accidentally stepped foot in a mine field which existence he hadn’t been aware of. Bruce’s whole body went taut, not much different from an animal preparing the best moment to flee. Sensible people would’ve backed down and tried again another time, but Tony wasn’t one of them, he pursuit confrontation and pressed forward when there was some obstacle in his path. Sometimes this strategy knocked him down flat, exploding in his own face but he wouldn’t learn, not in this aspect, at least not for a long while.“So, you keep hiding, but when you’re found you’ll run away. Perhaps you really are an idiot and I was wrong, huh? But I think you’re aware that I don’t accept being wrong that easily, I need to understand the details to come up with a right assessment the next time.”Hate or fear, Tony wasn’t sure what it was that crossed his students face, but it sure as hell was the thing he desperately tried to keep a secret.“Before you run away now, and I won’t stop you if you do, you owe me an explanation. From one scientist to another.”~Later, Natasha would ask how Tony had managed to get through Bruce’s defenses and the teacher wouldn’t have any satisfying answer for her because truth was he had thrown everything he had against the wall and had hoped something would stick. The important thing was that it had worked, somehow. Bruce Banner hadn’t cried when he broke down, hadn’t screamed or anything like that. He had just stood there, shaking, mouth soundlessly forming words that never took any shape or form. The boy came apart at the seams and even then, his habit if hiding was too deep to shake off completely. If it hadn’t been that terrifying it would’ve been fascinating.It had been awkward, but Tony wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that it was his fault. He had pushed and prodded Bruce, now he had to fix the mess again. It was impossible to say if it had been easy or hard to accomplish, really. On the surface all it had needed for the kid to calm down enough to talk things out was a hug.And well damn had Bruce needed it. Tony had to blink away traitorous tears when the tiny hands grabbed the back of his shirt fiercely, he might’ve had flashbacks from a time long ago, where a young Tony had held on to a different Jarvis just as desperately.After that, things had been a bit less awkward while just as emotional. The boy’s teacher had learned quite a lot of things that afternoon, for example that you couldn’t always recognize abused kids by their faces, or that being smart could just as much be a horrible fate than idiocy – at least for fathers. What he hadn’t learned was, unfortunately, how to help Bruce Banner.By the time the school bell had declared closing time, the kid had pulled on his usual pleasant but bland expression and gathered the Starktop to lock it into his locker. Tony could guess by now why he chose to work in school and not simply take the equipment home.“Hey kid, I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”A little, private smile had tugged at Bruce’s mouth and he nodded before vanishing into the crowd of people who had attended some club until then. ~Summer break arrived and the four kids had managed to finish their projects a week before deadline. Bruce had kept his word and attended club activities ever Tuesday and was sometimes found in the lab on Monday’s as well – sometimes Peter was with him, sometimes he wasn’t. Tony wasn’t really happy with how things were right now, especially when he observed the kid staring at the finished robotic wings and gloves, most likely wishing for a superhero of his own to help him. The last Tuesday of the year Tony’s little group had gathered around the mannequin wearing the finished pieces along with Tony’s own reaction: a spandex like looking red and gold suit that fitted itself when worn and that was able to absorb shocks and protect its wearer. That last ability had actually been Shuri’s idea, the young woman had just been as excited about the project as Tony himself and was more than content to brainstorm for ideas.“So… who wants to try it on first?”Unsurprisingly all of them did and they playfully fought about the honor while Tony sipped some coffee from his new favorite mug. The face had been a splendid idea – he had made sure to “gift” Pepper and Clint both one mug as well. Neither of them ever used them, pretty rude actually.The boys were still busy testing their superhero suit when Hill sauntered into the lab. All of the teachers were aware of Tony’s project, if Pepper had tattled or Rhodey he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t care either way.“The year is over, what will you do now, Stark? Think you’ll keep your little club going? I’ve heard Stark Industries will take the four on as interns this summer. Can the company handle that every year?”Tony didn’t turn over to her, just leaned against the wall next to her, eyes trained on Sam who was scolded by Bucky not to use the wings indoors. “I’m sure Pep will manage somehow. That woman is a beast. But before that there’s something else I need to do.”Tony could feel Hill’s questioning glance on him, but he was busy sending a smile over to Bruce who had started watching the two teachers wearily.“And what will that be?”“I’m gonna be a superhero of course.”~Hill might’ve thought his words as some kind of weird joke, but it hadn’t been. The last weeks Tony had contacted as many help organizations as possible, researched more about the legal system than he’d ever cared to know.He would save Bruce Banner one way or another, he wouldn’t be one of those people who looked away because it was more convenient. Over the summer the kid would be an intern at Stark Industries with all benefits attached – so he would have a support system if Tony’s plan would backfire. ~At the end of summer break Bruce Banner wasn’t just able to add a greatly accomplished internship into his resumé, but he was also able to go home without being scared. He could even introduce his newfound friends to his mother.