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Peter stared at his teacher dully when the announcement came, ignoring the various exclamations—some excited, some wary, most in between—around him.Midtown Tech’s top students, of which Peter was one, would be taking a day-long tour of Stark Tower, supposedly as a reward for being among the top of the state.Peter knew better than to believe that, knowing tours were seldom given to anyone not in a graduate program, and privately thought it more likely that Tony or Pepper had arranged it either in order to mess with him or a misguided attempt to help with the disbelief Peter faced from his classmates regarding his internship.He gave a small sigh as he twirled with pen absentmindedly, half-heartedly trying to think of ways to escape the trip but realizing their futility in quick order, from trying to bribe his Aunt May to breaking a bone or something.“Psst!” he was brought out of his musings as Flash jabbed him in the arm with his own pen and raised his eyes to the ceiling before sighing and turning to the other. “Penis!”“Still going with an insult that only requires a kindergarten level of intelligence, I see.” MJ hummed from her seat behind Peter, eyes not straying from her book.Peter couldn’t help the tiny smirk, even when Flash glared at them darkly, his next words growing louder in an attempt to bolster his ego at the insult, gaining the attention of some of their surrounding classmates in turn.“I see you’re excited for the field trip, Parker.” He said with a sneer, the insulting nickname noticeably absent after MJ’s teardown. “Ready for your lies to come crashing down around you?”“Believe it or not, Flash, whether you believe something to be true or not has no bearing on reality.” Even as he said it Peter gave a yawn, and while it was due to a lack of sleep, Flash took it to imply that Peter thought he wasn’t worth giving him his full attention.Which was admittedly true, but still wasn’t the reason behind the yawn.“Besides, Peter was telling me about it, not announcing it to the class.” Ned spoke up bravely from his desk next to Peter’s.“Mhm.” MJ hummed in agreement. “If anything, it says more about your apparent inability to mind your own business and keep your mouth shut than it does about Peter’s supposed ‘attention seeking.’”Ned gave a low whistle, offering MJ a fist-bump.She stared at him blankly for a long minute, but just as Ned was about to pout and put his hand down, she sighed and returned the gesture."Tch." Flash scowled, not knowing how to respond to that. "Well, no way you'll be able to fake it once we're actually there. Maybe I'll mention your little tall tale, see how the real people who work there react when they find out someone is pretending to be one of them.""Sure, Flash, you do that." this time Peter couldn't stop the snort that escaped him. "In the meantime, though, can you give the rest of us a break and shut up about my supposed 'lies' and let whatever happens speak for itself? I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say it got old a long time ago.""Seriously, man." Abe groaned in agreement, having been one of the classmates in earshot. "Most of us don't care either way. Even if Peter is lying, I don't see how it's any different than some of the more unbelievable claims you've made over the years.""Dude, let's go." Ned muttered from his other side as Flash was bombarded with similar sentiments from the rest of their classmates and knowing to take advantage of the opportunity while it lasted. A few moments later they had waved goodbye to MJ and were walking down the hall, walking towards the front entrance where Happy would be waiting to take Peter to the tower. "I still don 't get why you don't just shut him up."Indeed, Peter could prove his internship with little effort.He could show the other boy any of the hundreds of photos he'd taken with Tony and the rest of the awesome people he worked with, or video call Tony with his classmates present, or bring his employee badge, or bring a copy of the official paperwork that had already been shown to the Midtown staff when Flash had started spreading the rumors about him lying, or…You get the picture."Honestly, he's just not worth the effort." Peter finally answered with a shrug, knowing that while doing any one of those things would solve that particular problem, they could bring on a whole slew of others. "Flash is just…he's like a particularly persistent fly. Annoying, but harmless.""Said the spider to the fly." Ned grinned at the thought before his enthusiasm managed to get past the frustration at Flash's constant harassment of his best friend. "DUDE! We're going to Stark Tower!""I know." Peter grinned, reveling in his friend's excitement. He'd been meaning to ask Tony if they could arrange for Ned to come visit him at work, but there had never been a very good time.It would be nice to finally be able to share this part of his life with his best friend. As Peter had predicted, when he showed his Aunt May the permission slip she couldn't stop the snort of amusement."Oh, kid." She grinned down at the paper as she read through the details, bringing a hand up to ruffle her nephew's hair. "This is going to be interesting, isn't it?""I don't suppose you could just, you know, not make me go?" he pouted, and if she were any less used to his charms May was sure that she would've fallen for the adorable expression."Not a chance." She smirked back at him.And that was that. Now, Peter had debated whether it would be wise to talk to Pepper or Tony about all of this before the big day, but in the end had decided not to, on the (extremely unlikely but still possible) chance that this debacle hadn’t been arranged by one of them and they weren’t already aware of it.However, when their bus arrived and they walked into the building, only to be confronted with the badge readers they would be going through once they'd received theirs, he internally cursed.This was what he got for not thinking things through, he supposed as their tour guide, Martha (who he'd met in passing but never really spoken to), started handing out the badges."Hm." She frowned down at the box she'd been given, which was now empty. "I was told there were twenty-one of you, including Mr. Harrington, was that not correct?"She glanced at Peter's teacher, who nodded."Mr. Parker here is an intern with the company, so perhaps whoever put this together might have thought he could use his own badge?" the man suggested calmly."Mr. Parker?" Martha repeated with a look of recognition, glancing around at the students before her gaze landed on him and she smiled. "Oh! It's Peter, right?""Yeah, that's me." Peter smiled back awkwardly, trying to ignore the weird pricking sensation as his classmates' eyes fell on him, all but Ned and MJ at least somewhat surprised, though most of them also seemed a bit pleased at the confirmation that Flash had indeed just been spreading rumors and their more likable classmate was the one telling the truth all along."Then that would indeed explain why I didn't seem to have enough badges." She laughed, now setting the empty box aside on the registration desk before leading them over to security. "I hadn't realized you were still in high school, Peter. High school interns are pretty rare."Peter was about to respond, but Flash (who had up until this point been gaping in disbelief) responded in his stead."Oh please, we all know he doesn't actually work here!" he said with a scoff, rolling his eyes the rest of them for falling for Penis' lie so easily. "What did you do, Parker, bribe the tour guide? That will only get you so far, you know. Now you don't have a way to get in."As Martha gasped at the audacity of the boy in front of her, Peter rolled his own eyes and calmly took his own badge from the front pocket of his backpack, pinning it to his shirt.He didn't mention, however, that despite not actually living at the tower (though he'd stayed over more than a few times) Tony had him registered as a resident with full access, so he only kept a badge to stave off suspicion from his co-workers, not because he actually needed one to get around."Dude, we TOLD you Peter really did work here." Ned shook his head."What the—" Flash trailed off in confusion as Peter pulled out the badge that looked so similar to their tour guide's own, more decorated than the plain white ones they'd been given. When he recovered, he stepped forward to try and yank the offending accessory from the other. "What the hell, Penis?! If you had that the whole time, why not show it to us before now?""And risk you trying to take it and probably destroy it, like you're doing now?" Peter sighed, gracefully dodging the other a couple of times before Mr. Harrington got a hold of Flash and forced him to back away from him. "Even if I had, it's not like you would’ve believed it was real. What would be the point?""Really, Mr. Thompson, any more of this reprehensible behavior and I'm going to have to have you go wait in the bus." Mr. Harrington mentioned, annoyance seeping into his tone. "Such actions are not acceptable for a student from our school, and I know the principal has already warned you about this."Peter cringed at that, knowing that the public dressing down wouldn't help matters. Mr. Harrington knew his subject and was pretty good at teaching it, but not so great at the other things that came along with being a teacher, like noticing bad behavior and dealing with it effectively. In fact, he thought this might be the first time the man had spoken up on his behalf."Did he seriously just call you that?" Martha grimaced at the thought of the horrid nickname, causing Peter to jump as he hadn't noticed her moving beside him.She didn't wait for him to respond, however, and instead stepped in between Flash and Mr. Harrington, calmly reminding them that they were on a tight schedule, to which the latter flushed in embarrassment."Before we move on, however." She narrowed her eyes and glanced at Mr. Thompson before sweeping her gaze over the rest of the students once again. "I would like to inform you that, as detailed in the permission slip you were given, you are all under constant surveillance while in the building, with the exception of the restrooms. Any evidence of harassment WILL be noticed, and action will be taken. Just something to think about. Now, if you'll follow me, and line up in a single-file line to swipe your badges…""I like her." MJ decided, speaking up for the first time since they'd entered the building, having been content to just watch the chaos when she realized that for once, the adults seemed to be taking care of Flash."Yeah, she seems cool." Peter agreed as the trio hung out at the end of the line, and he subtly took out his phone to quietly direct Karen to ask FRIDAY to be subtle when he went through the scanner, which Karen replied to with a winky face. "I've only met her a couple of times, though. Different department."As it came time for MJ and then Ned to make their way through the scanner, Peter held his breath for a moment as he walked through, praying to any god that was listening (and likely to respect his wish, so probably not Loki) that Karen's suspicious wink hadn't been for the reason he thought it was.He let out a sigh when, as he'd suspected would happen, FRIDAY did not treat his badge the same way as the others'."Peter Parker, clearance level: all access." FRIDAY's voice rung out for the first time since they'd gotten there instead of the beep that his classmates' badges had garnered, causing a few of their classmates to startle and the rest to break out into excited whispers (and a long "DUDE!" from Ned and a "Bullshit" from Flash, though the recent threats caused him to mumble it to himself) as they realized it was Mr. Stark's AI, the most sophisticated of its kind that any were aware of, considering JARVIS' evolution into Vision."Welcome back, Peter!" she continued, Irish accent coming through strongly. "Did school end early? It's unusual for you to be here so early on a school day.""No, FRIDAY, I'm with my class on a field trip." Peter's eyes narrowed slightly, knowing that FRIDAY would have been fully aware of that and wondering what game she and Karen were playing."Ah, I apologize for interrupting then." She did indeed sound apologetic, which made most of the students even more awestruck, having heard how expressive Mr. Stark's AI's were reputed to be but not having realized just how much. "I'll let you get back to the tour, Miss Winthrope.""Thank you, FRIDAY." Martha grinned at nothing, having long since ridden herself of the habit of talking to the ceiling whenever she addressed the AI. "Now, if you'll follow me, we'll be going to Floor 5, where—""Wait a minute, did Stark's AI just say you have all access?" MJ whispered to him as they followed the tour guide, respectful enough to keep their voices to a low whisper, though some of their classmates were able to strain their hearing enough to catch his next words."Er…well, yeah, kind of." Peter rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "It's…maybe less of an internship, and more like a personal assistant thing, I guess. So I need to be able to get wherever Mr. Stark needs me to be."MJ gave another considering hum but didn’t say anything more.“Tch, as if Parker here really has all access!” Flash interrupted from behind them. Peter, who had been aware of his presence, couldn’t bring himself to be surprised. “Either you paid off the tour guide or you hacked the system. Or you earned your way in the hard way.”Okay, now he was surprised.He wouldn’t have thought that even Flash would go that far, but here they were.“Let me get this straight…” Peter said, turning to the other boy slowly. “On one hand, you always make fun of me for having gotten to Midtown on a scholarship, and now you’re assuming I had enough money to pay off a Stark employee, who are already well-paid and, more than that, hired in part based on their ethics, which I guess covers your more crude suggestion, too. Or I hacked the system of an AI created by the man who revolutionized the field, even though you’re also of the opinion that I’m not smart enough to be here in the first place.”Ned whistled quietly, and even MJ couldn’t help but smirk.“Yes, please, go ahead and explain your reasoning.” A very familiar voice came from behind them, and the four students startled, turning to face the one and only Tony Stark, who was glaring at Flash darkly.Peter, exasperated that he hadn’t sensed his mentor creeping up behind them, sighed. “A little warning would’ve been nice, Mr. Stark.”“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Tony, kid?” The older man said with a wrinkle of his nose, the two of them ignoring the gaping from the students around them (the sole exception being, as always, MJ).“Letting you know I was there would defeat the purpose of eavesdropping. Those were some pretty hefty accusations he just threw at you, Peter.” Tony continued.“I don’t really care.” Peter shrugged. “Anyone with a brain would realize he’s talking out of his ass.”A few of his classmates shifted awkwardly, recognizing the dig for what it was, whether Peter had intended it as such or not.If nothing else, Peter’s ease speaking with arguably the most influential person on the planet rather thoroughly proved which one of them had been lying.Flash reddened, fists clenching, though his style of bullying had never been physical, and despite all evidence to the contrary he wasn’t actually dumb enough to change that right in front of a superhero, his teacher, and their classmates.Mr. Harrington, for his part, grimaced.He wanted to scold Peter for his language, but after failing for so long to stop Eugene’s harassment of the boy, including the disgusting nickname he’d started using, he didn’t feel he had the right, at least not in front of his classmates. Maybe a short conversation later on, after a far lengthier one with Eugene on what was considered appropriate behavior?“Tony—” Flash tried to go for familiarity, as if the fact that Tony Stark was a public figure granted him that right.“Uh-uh, Mr. Thompson.” Tony held up a hand to stop him. “Peter can call me Tony, but it’s Mr. Stark to you.”“O-okay, Mr. Stark.” Flash reddened again, this time more due to embarrassment than anger. “I—I just think that Stark Industries could do a lot better than Pen—er, Parker (he corrected himself as Tony’s eyes narrowed suspiciously). There have to be thousands of people more worthy of…well…working so close…to…you.”He trailed off as Tony’s look of disbelief got more and more apparent.“Worthy?” Tony parroted back. “If anything, I’m not worthy enough to work with Peter. For a multitude of reasons, some of which are probably classified, though I wouldn’t waste my breath explaining them to you anyway.”“Oh my god, Mr. Stark.” Peter was mortified, though a pleased flush crept up his neck at the praise.“Don’t let Thor or Loki hear you say that.” Tony chirped with a grin. “We’ll never hear the end of it.”Peter opened up his mouth to argue, but then shut it.“Loki?” MJ interjected instead, eyebrow raised. “Wasn’t he working with the Chitauri?”“At first glance.” Tony agreed, turning his attention from Flash and ignoring him completely to focus on the other students. “However, it was later proven that he was not acting of his own free will. As there was a precedence already in place regarding mind control and clearing Avengers of crimes committed prior to joining up, the UN decided to grant Reindeer Games the same courtesy.”He was, of course, speaking of Clint Barton and Wanda Maximoff, as well as Loki’s actions in New Mexico where he actually was in control, but Peter was the only one there with the clearance to know the details.“Loki’s pretty cool.” Peter piped up, wanting to do his part to defend his new friend, even if it was from MJ. “He’s adjusted to Earth culture a lot better than Thor has, too.”“Seriously.” Tony agreed. “I can see why Loki was considered the smarter one. But enough about that, I believe we have a tour to continue?”“Right.” Martha nodded in acknowledgement and continued walking toward the elevator, the group having stalled in the middle of the walkway when Iron Man joined the group. “Will you be joining us, Mr. Stark?”“Eh, might as well.” Tony reached out to try and ruffle Peter’s hair, though he managed to evade it. “I have nothing else I need to do right now.”Peter raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “Oh, really? FRIDAY?”“Mr. Parker.” The students were once again thrown by how well the AI could emote, artificial emotions or not, as it seemed quite pleased when addressing their classmate. “Boss took the time to reschedule his appointments for the day when he saw your name on the touring list.”“Of course he did.” Peter muttered, pouting at Tony, who shrugged shamelessly.“It’s been a while since I’ve been to school, I figured I’d check it out.” He reasoned.“Oh, yeah, a long while.” Peter agreed. “Did they still use abacuses back when you were our age?”“Rude!” Tony gasped dramatically. “I’ll have you know I feel younger now than I have in years.”Looking at his mentor closely, Peter knew that he was most likely telling the truth.When the Snap was reversed and the unlucky (or perhaps lucky, depending on your perspective) fifty percent of the universe’s population was revived from where they’d been stuck in the Soul stone, Peter among them, things had been iffy for a long while as the universe tried to recover.The Rogue Avengers’ pardons hadn’t helped with that, as despite the public’s opinion as to the reasons behind the Civil War, they were unaware of Captain America’s less than altruistic reasons for turning his back to the Accords, or the reasons for Tony’s entirely justified anger towards the man.Hence why the former Rogues were now based in the Avengers Compound, which Tony had transferred ownership of to the United Nations the moment he heard hint of the intention to bring them back to America, washing his hands of them despite their many attempts to ingratiate themselves back into his life since their return.Luckily Tony had listened to the people who actually cared about him, and though he didn’t always believe it, was starting to understand how poisonous his relationships with the Rogues had been. Even Thor and Dr. Banner hadn’t just been welcomed with open arms just because they hadn’t been present during the Civil War, since those relationships had also had their own issues. As could probably be expected, the moment Tony joined them the tour deviated from its original path, and he cleared FRIDAY to bring them all up to some of the laboratories that focused on things other than the newest Stark phone and similar inventions.The fun ones.Like his, Dr. Banner’s, and Peter’s, though Tony was careful to order FRIDAY to hide anything in the labs that would be considered classified.The fact that Peter had his own lab shook his teacher and classmates to the bone, with the obvious exception of MJ, but the idea that he was working on something top secret was even worse, and caused Flash to start something (again) before Mr. Harrington asked if he wanted his hand held throughout the tour, since he seemed so intent on acting like a (jealous) child who wasn’t getting what he wanted.The teacher had pulled Flash aside to do so and tried to be quiet, but with Peter’s enhanced senses he was able to hear the scolding, and relayed it to his friends and Tony, who he knew was dissatisfied with how his school handled Flash’s attitude, since Happy was a tattle-tale and had mentioned how Peter was the main target of his taunts.And while Peter knew that that would just come back to bite them later, he’d be lying if he wasn’t thrilled to see Flash taken down a few pegs, and even MJ had looked at Mr. Harrington with respect.“Not bad.” Tony admitted, now a little less inclined to make the decathlon advisor suffer for the negligence the staff at Midtown seemed so accustomed to whenever a rich parent willing to bribe them quiet was involved, though he still intended to bring it up to the principal.“He tries.” Ned offered. “He’s not perfect, but he’s better than most.”“Those are pretty low standards.” MJ muttered.“Indeed.” Tony agreed before he cleared his throat and addressed the entire group. “And here we have Peter’s lab. “Usually if he’s not holed up in here he can be found in either my lab, Brucey-bear’s, or one of the R&D labs downstairs. The other minions love him more than they love me, I swear.”“It might help if you stopped calling them minions.” Peter muttered.“Nah, that takes all the fun out of it.” Tony patted the head of the BB-8 and R2 robots Peter had made at Ned’s request, which the boy immediately gravitated towards, awed at being able to finally see them in person. Peter had been debating whether or not he should ask Tony to help create AI’s for them, but for the time being their programmed personalities were more at DUM-E and U’s level.“What kind of stuff do you do, Peter?” Abe asked curiously, eyes bright as he looked around the state of the art lab that belonged to someone his own age.“Er…well, mostly I help Tony develop gear for the Avengers.” He admitted, rubbing the back of his head.“Mostly for Spider-Man, and then of course he does maintenance on Winter’s arm when needed, though some of the others have gotten a few new toys from him, too.” Tony added.“Spider-Man?” Flash questioned, the first time he’d spoken in a while. Mr. Harrington glanced at him in warning, but for once he looked more curious (though skeptical) than antagonistic.“Yeah, I’m…well, I’m kind of the one who modifies his web shooters and the fluid he uses.” Peter breathed out, hoping that no one would put two and two together and realized that not only did he modify them but he developed them. “Right now I’m just experimenting with different materials. Like, trying to find a way to incorporate nanotechnology with the web fluid to help in case something really needs to be patched up so things like, oh, say a ferry being sliced in half won’t be as difficult for Spider-Man to handle. Or repair an elevator before it starts falling. Man, no offense guys, but I’m glad I missed that.”He added that last bit to try and misdirect people if they thought him working with Spider-Man’s gear was suspicious, but aside from those already in the know they were more focused on the rest of it.Everyone’s eyes widened at the new information, even MJ's, though she looked at Peter a little oddly.
“Another thing I’m trying to figure out is how to modify his web grenades to act as a kind of protective cocoon if needed. The fluid is strong enough and seems to hold up pretty well to different temperatures, but I want to try and enable it to filter the air coming in and out of it, in case there’s smoke or something along those lines.” Peter continued, feeling weird using the word ‘his’ in regards to himself.“Another potential application of nanotech.” Tony added with a proud grin.Peter, who wasn’t facing his direction, was unable to see it, but the rest of them sure did.At the revelation that Peter worked with Spider-Man’s web fluid and apparently had been for a while, if he was comfortable enough with the stuff to be working on incorporating something even more advanced to it, Mr. Harrington began eyeing Peter.After all, around the time Spider-Man had started showing up, small amounts of various chemicals had gone missing from one of the science labs, with nothing to account for them.A science lab Peter had access to.Had Peter been working with the masked vigilante this entire time, or…no, he realized, thinking about the various times Peter had conveniently gone missing whenever something dangerous happened and Spider-Man ended up saving the day, particularly the whole mess at the Washington Monument. The tardiness and unexcused absences, horrible excuses, slipping grades despite Peter being the most intelligent student he had ever had the pleasure of teaching…Eyes alight with new knowledge, Mr. Harrington ran a hand through his hair.The question he should really be asking himself wasn’t whether Peter was Spider-Man, because all the evidence pointed in that direction (and he was above all else a man of science), but where he should go from there. “Goose!” Peter gasped as he spotted the Flerken, which bore an uncanny resemblance to an orange tabby, strutting down the hallway they were heading down, grinning as he slowly walked forward to pick the animal up.Eyes widened and people jumped away as Goose meowed, and honestly, Tony couldn’t blame them. He was a little wary of the little alien himself, after seeing the giant purple tentacles coming from its mouth that it used to decimate parts of Thanos’ army.Sure, it had been amusing to find out that the Flerkin had lived with Fury for a couple decades and that he was apparently shameless in his affection for the feline-like alien, but he wondered what it said about him, Carol, and Peter that they were all so comfortable snuggling with it.“Wait, did Carol get back?” Peter grinned in realization.“Just this morning.” Tony answered. “You’ll probably see her later. We’re having Chinese for dinner.”“Strange’s pick?” Peter guessed.“Strange’s pick.” Tony nodded.It might seem unusual, but due to the situation between Tony and Steve Rogers, Doctor Stephen Strange had decided that he would prefer if they used his surname instead, due to the similarities and not wanting Tony to feel uncomfortable because of it. It honestly wasn’t a problem, since most of the people he’d known over the years did so anyway, but Tony (and those close to him) appreciated the consideration. “Ah, shit.” Tony cursed as Martha announced that they would be heading to the cafeteria for their lunch break, though he was busy looking at his Stark phone. “Pepper needs to me to attend a last-minute meeting.”“Wouldn’t want to anger Miss Potts.” Peter grinned, nudging Tony towards the elevator and not at all disappointed to see his mentor leave.“Careful, kid, one would almost think you wanted to get rid of me.” Tony grinned back at him. “I’ll catch up with your class later, don’t worry. Plenty more room for embarrassment.”“Can’t wait.” The younger rolled his eyes. “See you later, Mr. Stark.”“Stop calling me that!” Tony groaned as the elevator shut behind him.With that, Peter turned back to his class, most of whom had been watching their interaction with somewhat blank expressions as they tried to process what they were seeing. Tony being a goofball, their classmate clearly being comfortable enough to tease him and manhandle him…it didn’t at all fit what they knew of their awkward classmate.Trying to ignore their looks as Mr. Harrington requested they all stay within the area for the time being, Peter blinked in surprise as he saw a familiar figure standing in line at the cafeteria, politely refusing offers to allow her to skip ahead to the front.“Well, if it isn’t my favorite captain.” He said with a grin as he got in line behind her.Carol Danvers turned around to glance at him with a borderline disdainful expression until she realized that it was him who had addressed her, as opposed to yet another man who felt entitled to her attention just because she was a woman. It said a lot about society, really, that even the strongest member of the Avengers was still looked down on simply because of her gender, but they were working to change that.At least the boy in front of her never gave any indication of that attitude.“Peter?” Captain Marvel’s eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment at the teenager’s unexpected presence, though she smiled genuinely. “What are you doing here so early? Please don’t tell me I’m mixing up the days of the week again. Being in space so long got me out of practice keeping track, but I could’ve sworn it was a school day.”Peter grinned up at the woman he’d quickly come to admire far more than he ever had the former Captain America. “It is a school day, I’m just on a field trip. How was Louisiana? How are Miss Maria and Monica?”“I really needed that vacation.” Carol sighed, though she was smiling as she said it. “They’re doing great. Monica’s finishing up her second PhD, and Maria…well, let’s just say I’m glad I’m here to stay this time. Saying goodbye the first time was hard enough, but I couldn’t do it again after everything that happened with Thanos.”It went unsaid that Maria had been yet another victim of the Snap, something Peter was sure had been heartbreaking for Carol to come back to, especially since Peter suspected their relationship had been that of more than coworkers and best friends, considering he’d met Monica before a couple times and she’d spoken of Carol like one would expect of a second parent, not her mother’s best friend.The two chatted for a while longer as they waited to grab their lunches, after which Carol apologetically had to leave to make her way to a meeting, and Peter walked back to the table he, Ned, and MJ had staked out to eat at.“Any other Avengers you didn’t mention knowing?” MJ raised an eyebrow as she took a bite of her apple.“Eh?” Peter blinked at her, caught off guard.“Dude, seriously, your life is so cool!” Ned grinned, eyes bright before they dimmed slightly. “Well, I mean. Not always. But you know the Avengers!”‘Kind of am one, too.’ Peter thought to himself with a fond roll of his eyes at his friend’s never-ending fanboying.He’d turned down Mr. Stark back when the man was testing him after homecoming, but hadn’t felt the need to do so when the man ‘knighted’ him as such later on as they made their way to Titan. It wasn’t really official, though, since despite signing the Accords as Spider-Man he couldn’t officially join until he revealed his civilian identity to at least the council.The only reason the council hadn’t demanded he do so already was the admission that he was still a minor, meaning that Tony’s role as his mentor became an official thing in their eyes and, since he was aware of Spider-Man’s alter ego, he would be held responsible if Peter made any big mistakes.It made Peter nervous, having Tony’s reputation on the line like that, but he had to admit the possible consequences for someone he cared about greatly did make him a lot more careful, which was probably better for everybody.“I mean, I’ve met all of the official Avengers, and I met the Rogues in passing, though if I’m being honest I don’t particularly like most of the latter.” Peter shrugged. “Difference in opinion. Mr. Lang was kind of just dragged into everything based on indoctrinated hero worship for ‘Captain America’, which I can’t blame him too much for because how many people could honestly say that if they got a call claiming he needed help they wouldn’t rise to the occasion? They basically used him. But the others seemed to be against the Accords for all the wrong reasons. They’re not flawless, but they’re nothing like what Rogers was claiming they were, and the rest of them just sided with him instead of reading it and forming their own opinions.”“That’s fair.” MJ nodded, having read through the various revisions of the document herself as it was being introduced in order to do exactly what the Rogues hadn’t. “Who’s your favorite?”“Mr. Stark.” He answered promptly, before flushing slightly in embarrassment at how quickly he’d said it. “I was at the Stark Expo back during the whole Vanko debacle, and he saved me from one of the drones. A lot of the others are really awesome, but that’s kind of hard to beat.”“That explains a lot.” Ned blinked, not having known that. “Does he know?”“Nah, I don’t think so.” Peter shook his head. “I mean, he might remember saving a kid, but if he does, I doubt he knows it was me.”“You should tell him.” A voice came from behind them, Ned and MJ startled as they turned to see Doctor Strange step out of a portal and nab one of the fries from Peter’s plate, though Peter himself was so used to it he just nudged the plate closer to the wizard in case he wanted more fries. “Too many villains turn up claiming that he turned them towards their path. Illogical as it might be to blame himself for other people’s bad decisions, I’m sure Stark could use an example where the opposite occurred.”“Doctor Strange!” Peter hissed quietly, eyes darting to MJ, who raised an unimpressed eyebrow at his panic. “TMI.”“Please, Parker, you are many things, but subtle is not one of them.” She scoffed. “I figured it out back in DC.”Peter sighed, suspicions confirmed. “Of course you did.”“At least now you know.” Strange hummed. “Communication is key in any good partnership, you know.”He tried not to flush at that, though he was glad the other had phrased it like that, so that it didn’t necessarily indicate a romantic relationship. “Oh, and how are things going with Tony?”“Splendidly.” The Doctor actually winked, which probably stunned the others, but Peter had already known he was kind of a sarcastic asshole.Well, not kind of, he totally was, but it felt rude to even think, despite the other man taking pride in it.“Why pop up in the middle of the cafeteria?” Peter redirected the conversation.“Wong has been on a bit of a health kick, recently.” The older man’s nose scrunched in distaste.“But you’re a doctor.” Ned said, blinking in confusion.“Yes, well, after everything I’ve managed to survive thus far in life, including being dusted—” he and Peter grimaced in unison. “I think I’ve earned the right to eat junk food once in a while.”“Agreed.” Peter nodded.“You don’t even count, Mr. Enhanced Metabolism.” Strange scolded. “You eat as much as Thor does, and while it makes sense for him, you’re a twig.”“Hey, I have an eight pack.” Peter pouted, though he relented. There was just no competing with Thor, after all, regardless of Peter Quill’s attempts to do so.“A twig.” Strange repeated.“An eight pack, huh?” MJ said. “Wouldn’t have guessed it. The suit hides it pretty well.”“Yeah, well, proportional strength of a spider.” Peter sighed. “I’ve been doing some strength training on the off chance that if I gain some weight—or just muscle in general—my maximum limit will adjust itself accordingly.”“That’s a lot of effort for something that you’re not even sure will help.” Ned breathed out, looking pained just imagining how much exercise his friend put himself through.“Maybe, but if it works the extra effort might save a few more lives somewhere down the line.” Peter sighed.And really, that said it all, didn’t it? In the end, Tony didn’t manage to make it back to the tour group due to an emergency a few cities over, which Peter would’ve helped with had he known about it, but apparently he’d been kept out of the loop so that yet another field trip didn’t get ruined for him.He wasn’t all that enthused that he hadn’t been informed, but could admit that he appreciated that his teammates wanted him to just enjoy the day with his classmates.If nothing else, at least he got to enjoy seeing the look on Flash’s face as he was proven wrong about the Stark internship being fake.Maybe he’d even shut up for a while, though Peter didn’t count on it.