Archive of Our Own ^beta

Sunday Night.

Tony and Peter are sitting in the common room of the Avenger's compound watching a movie when Peter starts up a conversation.

"Tony...?" The kid starts, unsure, still not used to calling his mentor/newly designated father figure by his first name. Tony's lips quirk up in a small smile and he looks over at him, humming to show he's paying attention. "I... well I was just wondering- and you totally don't have to say yes, I just thought-"

Tony rolls his eyes good naturedly, "Spit it out kid."

Peter startles and sits up straighter, nodding. "R-right sorry! I just.. Do you think we could do a tour here for the- the Decathlon team?" Peter fidgets nervously in his seat, not making eye contact with the Stark beside him. "They're all nerds like me and would die for a chance to see this place.."

Tony shrugs, thinking for a moment. "I don't see why not."

Peter lets out a silent breath of relief and surprise, and looks up at Tony with excited eyes. "R-really?"

Tony smiles down at his kid and ruffles the boy's hair. "Sure Pete, I'll get Pepper to sort out the details."

A giant smile breaks out on Peter's face and he projects himself into Tony's lap, hugging him fiercely. "Thank you thank you thank you!" He repeats, hugging him tighter. Tony laughs and hugs him back, albeit a bit out of breath.

"Careful kid, don't go damaging Government Property," Tony winks playfully as Peter pulls away from the hug. Peter snickers and shakes his head. 

"Never."

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Tuesday After School.

Mr. Harrington halts them as they start to pack up. "Hang on everyone, I've got some exciting news!" Harrington being excited? That's a first. "This Friday we're going on a field trip to the Avenger's Compound! I've got the permission slips here on the table, so make sure to get it signed and bring it back in by Thursday." He says, gesturing to the stack of papers.

Everyone starts talking excitedly to the person nearest to them, excluding MJ who just continues packing away her things.

"Peter! Isn't this so cool? Now I get to see where you spend the weekend!" Ned whisper-yells excitedly to his friend as they pack up. Peter nods, a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I know right? I asked him like a week ago, and honestly wasn't expecting him to say yes." Peter says, pulling his arms through the loops on his backpack. Ned audibly gasps, his eyes lighting up further- if that was possible.

"You mean you asked him?" Ned says giddily, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Peter nods as they walk to the table to collect their slip. "Dude that's so cool! Do you think the Avenger's will be there?" Peter shrugs. "Do you think Black Widow will sign my Collector Cards?"

Peter goes to respond but Flash interrupts him, "And now we'll all see how you've been lying this whole time Peter!" He sneers. MJ smacks him upside the head and he yelps.

"Shut up Flash." She says monotone and walks away. Flash growls at him and then walks out of the room, paper in hand.

Peter an Ned start walking to the door when Mr. Harrington calls Peter back.

"Did you want me to wait?" Ned asks, pointing at the door. Peter shakes his head with a smile, "Nah it's fine. See you tomorrow, Ned." Ned says a quick goodbye and then leaves the room.

Peter walks over to his teacher as the other kids file out, chattering loudly to each other.

"Peter, I know that you've been spreading some rumours about you being an intern for Tony Stark, and I haven't said anything.. But I really don't think you should be using Mr. Stark as a way to gain popularity." Mr. Harrington says seriously, adjusting his glasses.

"W-what? But I'm not-"

"I'm not looking for an excuse Peter. I just want you to know that we can't tolerate those kinds of lies here, and I'll have to bring it up with the principal if this continues." Mr. Harrington informs him.

Peter blinks and goes to speak but thinks better of it and keeps his mouth shut, opting to nod instead.

Mr. Harrington nods once and claps his hands together. "Right, well, make sure your aunt signs the slip and you bring it in by Thursday, okay?" Peter freezes at the mention of his aunt, but nods and looks away, itching to get out of there. "Alright, stay out of trouble Peter." 

"Will do, sir." Peter replies and quickly exits the room, ready to go back to the compound and sleep for fourteen hours.

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Later: Tuesday Evening

Peter walks into Pepper's office and takes a seat, staying silent as Pepper finishes up her phone call.

"Of course, Mr. Johnson. Have a good day, goodbye." Pepper says and hangs up the call, smiling at Peter tiredly. "Hey sweetie, how was school?" Peter grins and starts talking about his day as she listens intently, nodding and responding whenever appropriate.

"And then Mr. Harrington announced that we're going on a field trip- here! And-" Peter puts the sheet of paper on the table between them. "-I need to get this slip signed, and I would ask d- Tony, but they'd see the signature and then accuse me of forging it.." Pepper smiles and picks up a pen, signing her name effortlessly on the blank line.

"Thank you so much Pepper!" Peter says and runs around the desk to hug her. "And Tony said you arranged the whole trip- so thank you." Peter smiles gratefully and Pepper pulls him into another loving hug.

"No worries hun," Pepper says cupping Peter's cheek lovingly. "Now, homework?"

Peter groans.

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Friday Morning.

Knock knock. "Peter? Wakey wakey!" Tony calls as he walks into the bedroom. A muffled groan comes from the boy and Tony sits on the edge of the bed. "Kiiiiiiiiiiid. You have to get up for school." Peter groans again and snuggles further into his blankets.

"noooooooo..." Peter cries, trying to tug the blanket back from Tony. Tony just rolls his eyes and tugs on the blanket again, effectively ripping the fabric from the sleepy boy's hands.

"Yessss Peter. You've got that field trip remember? Right here? In like.." Tony looks down at his hologram watch. "An hour and a half, so up up up you get." Peter huffs and blinks open his bleary eyes, staring up at Tony tiredly.

"Do I have to..? Can't I just... skip it...?" Peter asks hopefully. Tony just shakes his head with a laugh and stands up. "So yes? I can stay..?"

Tony laughs again and leaves the room, leaving Peter in his wake.

Peter sighs and flops down against the bed; his phone alarm goes off a moment later, startling him into fully alertness. "Okay okay I'm up-" Peter huffs, hauling himself out of bed. He quickly gets dressed and then heads out to the kitchen to grab breakfast.

"Morning sleeping beauty," Tony jokes, stirring his coffee with a smile. Peter mumbles a grumpy "morning" and pulls out a box of Lucky Charms from the cabinet. He pulls out a bowl and milk, and pours himself a bowl of cereal. "You finish up and then Happy'll take you to school,"

Peter hums through a mouthful of Lucky Charms and the other male cringes. Tony takes his coffee and makes his way over to Peter. He ruffles the boy's hair, "I'll see you later Underoos. Hap's waiting downstairs in the car for you. Be good!" He calls walking out of the room, leaving Peter to roll his eyes.

"Got it! Bye!" He hears a faint goodbye, and finishes up his cereal before running down to the elevator.

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Still.. Friday Morning....

Peter runs over to the bus that's getting ready to leave, and greets Ned with a handshake. "Dude, you're early," Ned says, surprised. Peter grins sheepishly, "Yeah, didn't wanna miss this for the world.." He says semi-sarcastically, rolling his eyes playfully. Ned shakes his head with a laugh.

Mr. Harrington starts listing off names as they all pile onto the bus; he stops Peter before he gets on, a hand rested on the boy's shoulder. "Do you remember what we talked about Peter?" He asks, sounding disinterested. Peter bites his lip and nods, looking away as he gets onto the bus. He sits next to Ned and puts his bag on the floor in between his feet.

"So, what did Harrington want?" Ned asks, pulling out his laptop. Peter just sighs.

"Doesn't matter really, he- just like everyone else- doesn't believe me about being Mr. Stark's intern." Peter says, shrugging.

Flash decides to pipe up.

"Sure thing Parker- your "internship" is one hundred percent believable." The boy says, sneering. Peter's jaw clenches and Ned puts a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "Aw come on Penis, you don't really think anyone actually believed you- right?" At Peter's silence he laughs, hitting the chair in front of him in mock surprise. "You did! Oh that's priceless!"

MJ shakes her head with an annoyed, "Shut up flash."

The bus door shuts and the driver starts up the vehicle; Mr. Harrington tells everyone to settle down before he starts going over the rules. "I'm sure they'll have their own rules, but let's just stick to... the standard rules of a field trip. One: Be respectful- we're going to the Avenger's Compound. Two: Stay with the group. And three: No touching anything."

There's murmurs of agreement across the bus and they settle into another comfortable chatter. Peter fiddles withe the web-shooters under his long sleeves and Ned notices. He points at Peter's arms in question, and the super-human just nods subtly. "Dude, why are you bringing those? Is there danger nearby? Do you need your Guy in the Chair-" Peter shushes him with a pointed look and Ned shuts his mouth quickly.

"I just... something doesn't feel right. It's just a precaution, I'm sure it'll be nothing."

The bus pulls up to the front of the compound and they all shuffle out of the large vehicle. Happy meets them halfway up the path and they follow him the rest of the way.

"When we get inside, you'll be given an ID lanyard and I ask that you wear it somewhere I can see at all times. Not to be hidden by any article of clothing." Happy states, opening the doors with a flick of his wrist. They walk up to the receptionists desk and Happy asks for their ID's.

"Of course sir, here's your eight level one badges." She says handing them over to the security guard. He thanks her and starts handing them out.

They all receive their lanyards apart from Peter; Flash makes this known. "Hey, what about Pe- Parker? Why doesn't he have one?" He asks, waving his own lanyard in question.

"Mr. Stark has a strict policy against reprints. Mr. Parker can use his work one," The receptionist- Brionne- says with a smile. Flash gawks at her and Peter nods, taking his work ID out of his backpack. He pulls the lanyard over his head and positions it so it's seen without trouble. Happy seems fine with their ID's and brings them over to a security screen.

Peter steps through and scans his lanyard, at Happy's request, and FRIDAY speaks up. "Master Parker, welcome back. Would you like me to alert Boss of your arrival?" She asks, and if AI's could emote, he thinks she'd be smiling right now.

Peter shrugs, "Is he busy?" He asks sheepishly, scratching his neck as he stares into the camera.

"Boss is currently in his lab, tinkering with his Ironman suit. He has the whole day free of meetings and would like to be informed of your arrival." She informs.

He nods. "Okay, then sure." Peter says, moving to the side for the others to sign in.

"Notifying Mr. Stark...." FRIDAY pauses. "He says he will meet you further along on the trip, but he has to quickly meet up with some people."

"Thanks FRIDAY."

"No problem, Master Parker." FRIDAY replies, and then goes silent once more. Peter can hear soft questions of "how does the machine know who Peter is?" and "is Peter talking to the machine??"

Everyone gets through security and heads over to a guy waiting by the elevators. He grins upon their arrival and introduces himself, "Hello everyone! I'm Guy, and I'll be your tour guide for today! We're going to go over a few rules before we get started." Guy claps his hands and clasps them together. "One: Please no touching, licking, or sniffing anything on the upper levels. Two: No photography or video. Three: Don't separate from the group unless you're with another staff member. Four. Don’t annoy any of the staff with questions, they’ve got jobs to do and FRIDAY will be able to answer anything you need- except for classified information. Any questions?"

Charles raises his hand and Guy points at him. "Who's FRIDAY?" He asks.

"I am Mr. Stark’s AI. I am wired up to the building, and am in tapped into anything electronic.” The class looks up in mute wonder, their mouths agape as Peter smirks softly.

“Oh my god-“

“That’s so cool!”

“Is that who we heard earlier saying hi to Peter?”

“Wow! An actual working AI!”

Mr. Harrington tells them to calm down and Cindy raises her hand. Guy nods at her. "Um.. Do you think we'll see Tony Stark, or any of the Avengers?" She asks. Guy thinks for a moment. "I'm not really sure about the Avengers, because they are very busy with training and other things. But I'm fairly certain that Mr. Stark will greet us on the tour. Anything else?"

Abe raises his hand and Guy prompts him with a 'yep?'. "What's up with the "no licking" rule?" He asks, an amused smile on his lips. Guy grimaces and shakes his head.

"An incident last year with a tour group... I would like to not repeat it, please." Guy has exasperation in his tone; but he tries to keep up a smile on his face.

"Do you know Peter Parker?" Flash calls out, and Guy smiles.

"Yes! Peter is a wonderful intern for Stark Industries, do you know him?" Guy bites playfully, drawing a growl out of the bully.

Flash turns to Peter and sneers, "How much did you pay him to say that?" Flash asks, raising his hand to grab Peter's shirt; but Happy grabs his arm and looks down at the bully.

"Don't touch him." Happy looks down and grabs Flash's lanyard, looking at it closely. "Eugene Thompson." Flash gulps and nods quickly, trying to free his hand from the scary security guard's grip. Happy glares and releases his arm with a scowl; Flash quickly moves to the opposite end of the group.

Peter smiles softly. "Thanks Happy," He whispers, drawing a similarly small smile out of the guard. Happy nods and claps him on the shoulder gently, before moving to the front of the group once more.

"I-If that's all- then we'll continue on with the tour!" Guy claps his hands again and motions to the elevator to his right. "If you'll all enter the elevator, we're going up to see the history of Stark Industries. Stark Industries was originally founded by Isaac Stark, Sr. in the 19th century and was later taken over by Howard Stark- and then by his own son, Tony, after his death..." Guy trails off into his scripted spiel as they go up in the elevator.

The elevator doors open and they walk into the large room, with different projects behind glass casings. Guy talks about SI's history as they wander around at their own pace.

Peter walks over to a glass casing with Tony's original Arc Reactor safely behind it. "Proof Tony Stark has a heart." The small metal plaque reads. Peter smiles softly.

They keep wandering around for a little while longer and then get back into the elevator.

"Now we're going up for more history! But this time, it's the Avengers and their starting points. You'll see the original Captain America armour, Black Widow's first Widow Bites, and more! Now, before we go in, I ask that you please don't touch anything. While this room has been altered to get rid of the wiring and schematics for how they built all these weapons, they can still be dangerous. So now we're back at rule one. No touching, licking, or sniffing anything in here. Thank you," Guy says and taps his card against the scanner, opening the metal doors.

They all exit the elevator and rush around to look at everything. Ned gasps from beside Peter and leads his best friend over to a display.

"Look Peter! They've got one on Spider-Man!" Ned says excitedly. Peter looks over with interest and feels his cheeks burn in embarrassment.

The plaque reads: We all start somewhere...

Peter muffles his groans with his hands and Ned puts a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "But hey, look at the bright side. You're in the Avengers History room!" He whispers with a giant grin on his face. It sort of makes him feel better.

Then he reads further.

Fun facts about Spider-Man:

• He's afraid of spiders!
• His favourite candy is Gummy Bears.
• He made his own gear out of recycled computers and other.

Yeah no, there goes his feeling better; wave as it goes past kids. Ned laughs to his side as he groans again. Peter shakes his head and with one last look at his old suit- how'd he even get it??- they move on to the Thor exhibit.

Next, they go through the interns lab. "The interns here at Stark Industries are very busy with their projects, so we're not going to bother them-" Guy is interrupted by a guy in his twenties who comes running up to them. "Ah, Bryan, how's everything going?"

Bryan gives a tired smile. "Mostly okay, just need a fresh pair of eyes. Can I borrow Peter for a second?" He asks, adjusting his glasses. Guy looks at Peter and then back to Bryan. "Please Guy, it'll only be a minute." Bryan puts his hands together like he's begging, and Guy nods.

"Okay, but he needs to be back in a few minutes." Guy says and Bryan thanks him while pulling Peter away into one of the rooms. The rest of the class watches through the window as Peter sits down on one of the roll-y chairs.

"We've been working on this formula for weeks and nothing's working!" Emily- another intern- explains, running a hand through her long brown hair.

Peter nods and scrolls down through the numbers and letters, his eyes scanning the code until he stops. "Um... this here," He highlights a section with the mouse. "This is wrong, you should be using the less-than symbol, but you've got the greater-than written down here." He explains and they're all silent. He immediately goes to backtrack, thinking he offended them but then Emily cries out in relief.

"Peter you're a life saver!" She says pulling Peter into a tight hug before releasing him.

Bryan sighs exhaustedly and smiles. "You've just saved us weeks of work, thanks Peter." He pats him on the shoulder and Peter blushes under the attention.

"It- It's no problem! Just needed a new pair of eyes, like you said." He says and rubs his arm. Bryan laughs and shakes his head.

"Regardless, thank you. Now, you should get back to your tour group before Guy gets cranky." Bryan says and ushers Peter towards the door. Peter says a quick goodbye and rushes back to the group.

Everyone is staring at him with wide eyes, excluding MJ, Ned, and Guy. Peter shifts under their gazes and Guy clears his throat to gain their attention once more. They continue on through the room, Guy explaining the interns's projects and the group asks questions when prompted.

"Alright, we're going to break for lunch and then we've got special permission to go to the Avenger's personal training room!" Guy announces and then opens the doors for everyone to enter the Cafeteria.

Peter, Ned and MJ are seated at a table by themselves as they eat the lunch provided; a bunch of different sandwiches. Peter has a chicken salad sandwich with pickles and the request for it to be "smushed down real flat".

He takes a bite and makes a face.

"What?" Ned asks, digging into his own sandwich.

Peter shrugs and swallows before responding. "It just doesn't taste the same as Delmar's, still pretty good though." He says, taking another bite. Ned nods in understanding and continues eating as MJ just looks at them both. Peter glances up at her and they hold eye contact for a few seconds before she shakes her head and continues reading her book.

A hand slams down on the table and they all looks over to see Flash grimace and rub his reddening hand.

"What do you want, Flash?" Ned asks exasperatedly. The other teen snarls and looks at Peter angrily.

"So, how much did you pay for them to pretend to know you?" The bully asks, growling. Peter raises an eyebrow and glances at his friends briefly before looking back at the teen.

"I didn't... Flash, I work here. I-I didn't pay anyone," He sighs, shaking his head.

Flash rolls his eyes with a laugh. "Okay, sure. Then whose dick did you have to suck to get in here?" He asks, squinting his eyes with a smug grin on his face. Peter's face flushes in both embarrassment and anger.

"Piss off Flash," MJ warns, her tone monotonous but with a hint of anger to it.

Flash glares at MJ, and without another word, walks away.

Ned sends Peter a look, but he just brushes off his friend's concern. "Peter.." He falters under Peter's 'drop it' glare, but keep talking softly. "You should report him to Tony Stark, I'm sure Flash would leave you alone if he got Iron Man telling him off."

"I mean... I know he would but- Ned, I'd sooner die than get Mr. Stark to deal with my high school problems. And in my line of work, I probably would." Peter says, pointing his sandwich at his best friend jokingly. Ned stifles a laugh and MJ just shakes her head, going back to reading her book with a mumbled, "Losers.."

"Alright, now we're going up to the Avenger's personal training room!" Guy announces as the whole team lines up near the elevator. They all shuffle in, and Guy tells FRIDAY where to go.

"Right away Mr. Lincoln." Her voice say throughout the metal box.

Guy quickly goes over the four rules again, with the exception that they could touch things if the Avenger's said they could. Excited chatter fills the elevator and Peter is having a nice conversation when he feels his Spidey Senses start to go haywire. Both Ned and MJ notice how his eyes widen and his head snaps around to look at something he can't seem to find.

"Peter-?" Ned starts, but Peter holds up his hand to silence him. There's a soft metal-on-metal grinding noise that's getting louder by the second and Peter tenses.

The elevator comes to a loud grinding halt and silence falls over the students. Guy looks around confused, but Peter can see the way he wrings his hands nervously.

"I.. I'm sorry, FRIDAY what seems to be wrong?" Their guide asks and the others grow tense. This had already happened to them not even a few months ago. 

"North Elevator malfunctioning, rebooting systems. Standby," Comes her cool voice.

They all start to panic.

"Not again-" Cindy exclaims, her voice trembling.

"Oh god, what do we do if this thing goes down?" Charles squeaks, grabbing onto Sally's arm.

"Holy shit-" Flash swears, raking a hand through his black hair anxiously.

Guy also looks very tense and unsure of how to gain control over the panicked group. So Peter does instead.

"If FRIDAY can't get the systems back online, then we'll just have to get out manually! But don't worry, Tony has these serviced every couple of months, so we're not going to fall. R-right FRIDAY?" Peter can't deny that he's feeling quite anxious and claustrophobic himself, but panicking isn't going to help them get out; so he just has to be strong for a little while longer.

"Boss has not had the elevators serviced in nine months and twelve days." She informs him, and Peter feels his chest constrict painfully.

He sighs, and runs a quick hand through his own hair- a nervous habit he'd picked up from both May and Tony. "Set a reminder for Tony to call up the guys."

"Right away Peter."

He's faintly aware of the other students, teacher and guide staring at him, but he pays them no mind. "A-anyway, how's the reboot going?"

"Rebooting system, 67% complete. Standby,"

Peter nods his head and fiddles with the web-shooters under his sleeves, just like this morning, and he mentally smacks himself for jinxing them. The others start whispering panickedly to each other and Guy clears his throat, effectively gaining their attention.

"We're in perfectly capable hands. FRIDAY is the best there is, so nothing will go-" The elevator shifts and makes an awful grinding noise, cutting Guy off. One of the girls screams and Peter winces, grabbing his ears painfully.

"Rebooting failed, notifying Mr. Stark."

Everyone freezes and dares not move, but they continue to voice their panic, much to Peter's chagrin. His own heart starts to beat faster but Guy is quick to reassure them. "It's alright, everything's fine everyone. We're just going to open this up.. FRIDAY open the emergency hatch." A square hole in the roof hisses and Guy shifts forward to pop it open. The box shifts. Cindy whimpers and grabs Abe's arm. "D-don't worry, we're- we're safe here." He doesn't sound so sure anymore.

"Boss has been notified. He, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, and Natasha Romanov are on their way up."

"Thanks Fri," Peter smiles up uneasily at the camera. Guy takes a few more steps forward to the hatch and they hear metal grinding again; Peter starts to feel sick and hot at how closely packed they all are.

"This is all fine, we have nothing to worry about. They'll be here in a minute and we'll all be safely out of here." Guy reassures once again, and Peter feels like he's going to be sick. Stay strong, Tony will get us out. Don't cause panic.

As if on cue, the Elevator doors about thirty feet up open and they can all see Tony Stark through the square opening. Some people gape at him, but most of them won't look up or move at all. "Hey! Is everyone alright down there?" He calls down the shaft, and Guy nods.

"Yes sir! We're all fine here, just a little shaken up." Guy says back, and Peter almost laughs. A little is an understatement.

Tony nods, "Okay, we're going to get you out of there. Can you move?" Guy looks very tense as he slowly takes a step closer; the box shifts and creaks. Tony's eyes widen just a fraction and he mutters loud enough for them to hear, "Alright, don't... don't move." He pulls his head back and they're left in tense silence once more.

The elevator continues to creak and grind against the gears despite their stillness and the others are getting close to hysterical.

Steve Rogers pokes his head out next, and smiles reassuringly down at them. "We're working on something, don't worry, you'll all be out soon." He says before leaving as well.

Peter takes a moment to take a good look at those around him. They're all terrified; even MJ looks a bit nervous, although she's hiding it well. Guy doesn't look calm anymore, his eyes are wide and frightened, and he flinches at every creak and shift. They're all breathing heavily as they try to stay calm, and it works somewhat, but not a lot.

The box makes an ear-piercing screech, followed by a loud scary grinding noise and then.. they were falling.

Everyone starts screaming- well all besides Peter; knowing he's the only way they're getting out of there alive. He sees the metal rope just start coming down and he immediately springs into action. Literally.

He jumps up onto the roof and plants his feet on either side of the hole. He pulls his sleeves up and sprays two shots of web on either side of the rectangular chute. They jerk to a stop and Peter cries out in pain when he feels his arms burning from the pressure. He squeezes his eyes shut and grunts painfully, tears springing to his eyes involuntarily.

"PETER!" He hears Tony shout from a long way up, an unfamiliar terrified tone to his voice.

"We-we're fine!" Peter grits out, staring up- down? No definitely up- at the darkness. Tony lets out a cry of relief.

"Just- Hold on just a little longer kid, we're coming down!" Tony yells before silence once again. Peter takes notice of the doors about ten feet up but a sob breaks his concentration. He looks down at his team and classmates who are all staring up at him with wide teary eyes (apart from Ned and MJ, who don't look shocked, but less terrified than before).

He lets his voice drop down to a soft comforting tone. "It's okay, we're going to get you out." He says with a gentle smile, directing it at Cindy, who is currently sobbing into Abe's shoulder, her own shoulders shaking. He feels his heart sink for them. Twice this has happened to them now.. But Peter dismisses the thought; no good it'll do them right now.

He looks back up and makes sure his grip is steady as the doors open and Tony looks down at him. "Pete, can you hold it while we get everyone up?" The billionaire looks unsure, and borderline terrified as he asks this; but Peter just nods, finding some relief in the way Tony smiles and nods back. "Alright, can you start sending them up?"

Peter nods again and looks down at Guy. "Can you-" He grunts painfully and clutches the web tighter as his hands shake. "Can you help lift them out? I kinda have my hands full.." He manages a smile, despite the pain burning in his arms and throughout his whole body.

Guy nods, putting on a brave face, and quickly puts his hands together in a lock and gets Cindy to climb up first, which she hurriedly obliges. The weight shift hurts Peter's arms but he tries to keep his noises down as to not panic them more than they already are.

Cindy quickly pulls herself up onto the outside of the elevator and takes the hand offered to her by Steve. He quickly pulls her up with a grunt of discomfort but pretty much effortlessly lifts her up and into the waiting hands of Bruce. Bruce looks her over and coaches her though some breathing exercises with the help of Natasha. Steve gets ready to help up the next kid.

Abe goes next, although Flash looks antsy to leave. He gets boosted up and then lifted out with the help of Steve and Tony, then goes over to comfort his friend.

Peter cries out as his grip falters for a split second, but he quickly gets it back, urging them to hurry. Guy helps Flash up next, who is crying out of relief once he's out of the dark chute. Charles goes up next, and then Sally. Ned tells MJ to go next, and she doesn't have any problems with that. She gets out and then it's just Ned, Guy, Peter, and Mr. Harrington.

Their teacher ushers Ned forward and helps the teen out of the metal box. The constant shifting in weight leaves Peter blinking away tears. He keeps telling himself in his head: You lifted a warehouse off of yourself without the suit, this elevator is nothing.

Mr. Harrington is out next, and then Tony is calling down, "Okay, Mr. Lincoln, can you climb up?" Peter's arms are aching, but the weight is no longer as drastic as it was before. Guy nods and jumps to grab the sides of the exit hole, making Peter whimper as his arms receive another brutal tug.

Guy looks down apologetically at Peter once he hauls himself out. "I'm so sorry, Peter-"

Peter just shakes his head. "It's fine, just get out. Hurry, please," He says the last bit softly and Guy nods. He jumps up to meet Steve's hand, and quickly gets pulled up.

"Okay kid, you can let go of the elevator now. Just hang onto your webs." Peter looks up at Tony with wide terrified eyes. Tony's hard, unwavering ones stare right back at him.

"B-but-"

"I'll get people to come fix it. You're more important than the elevator Peter, now please, let it go." Tony urges pleadingly. Peter has full trust in his sort of mentor-dad, and he nods. He takes a small skid closer to the hole, feeling more weight on his lefts and arms as the whole thing starts to shift- and then his feet slip out. And suddenly, the whole box is gone, falling down hundred of metres as Peter hangs, suspended by both webs, his arms aching.

"Tony.." Peter whines softly, tears coming back to his eyes as he feels his grip slipping.

"Peter! hang on, we're going to get you- don't let go of the webs!" Tony shouts, moving his head back out of the chute to do... something.

Everything is becoming blurry. His claustrophobia is clawing back up into him, and he doesn't have the energy to stop it. His chest constricts and his breathing becomes laboured. The pain in his chest, arms, and all through his legs and lower stomach.... it's becoming too much.

He loses his grip on his right web and slams into the left side of the shaft. He cries out in pain and feels his grip start to slip on the left web. Tony reappears in the chute, a rope fastened around his waist as he's lowered into the black abyss quickly; towards Peter. "I-I'm coming kid, just hold on-"

"I-I'm sorry-" Peter whimpers, his hand slipping from its place on the web, and he starts to skid down the wall as a fast pace; his fingertips and rubber soles on his shes burn at the sensation.

"PETER!" Tony screams, throwing out his hand towards his kid, like it would help, and Peter looks up at him- causing him to fall backwards into the shaft.

He knows he has to do something, so he limply shoots a web upwards as his vision comes in and out of focus. Tony grabs it and wraps it securely around his hand as he pulls Peter up as fast as he can. Peter copies his movement and wraps his end of the web around his hand. "Hold on Peter, hold on!" Tony shouts.

Peter does and tears roll down his face, entirely involuntarily, and his shortness of breath finally hits him like a truck.

He also thinks he might have blacked out for a second, because he's much closer to Tony than he was before he shut his eyes. "Tony.." Peter cries as Tony grabs his hand and pulls him up onto his chest, clutching him tightly.

"Bring us up!" Tony yells, making Peter flinch and whimper as he clutches onto him. "Sorry, kid, sorry. We're almost out of here, I promise."

It takes barely two minutes for them to be out of the dark elevator shaft. And when they are, Tony holds Peter against his chest as he rocks them back and forth whispering near silently into Peter's ears while the boy clings to him, trying to ground himself.

"It's okay Pete, you're here. You're right here, in this room, in my arms. You're not back there, I promise." Peter sniffles and snuggles closer, taking in his scent of motor oil and sweat, tucking his head under Tony's chin comfortably. Tony just rubs Peter's back and cradles his head as he hugs him close.

It takes a good ten minutes of near silence (and Steve telling everyone to be quiet) for Peter to come back to himself. But when he does, he's exhausted, and lies limply against his surrogate dad. Tony wraps his arms around his kid's shoulders and under his knees and stands up, groaning at the pops in his back as he does so.

The other kids and teacher are looking at the two of them like they're alien; their shock from nearly dying somehow at the back of their minds.

"Hey teach, I'm gonna keep Peter here for the rest of the day. Health reasons. But I think this should end the tour for today." Tony says with a curt nod and starts walking away, leaving a bunch of stunned people in his wake. "I'll get Pepper to come downstairs and sort everything out. Cap, until then, you're in charge." Bruce follows after the two of them, and the other two Avengers don't pay him any mind, instead asking carefully if anyone's hurt; before escorting them downstairs to deal with Miss Potts.

Tony places Peter down in his bed and sits next to him on the edge, brushing the hair out of his eyes as Bruce runs off to collect some stuff from the Med-bay. "You're a real hero, Peter."

"A superhero..." Peter mumbles, clutching a bit of Tony's shirt. Tony smiles fondly down at the kid.

"Yeah, a superhero." Tony says gently, moving more hair from his eyes when it dawns on him. They know who Spider-Man is now.

"Oh shi-"