Peter pov:
Peter was sitting in Advanced World Geography, his last class of the day (and his least favorite), listening to Ned and watching the clock. He would be meeting someone called Happy after school that would drive him to the internship.
"But dude, how come everything awesome happens to you? Like, first the spider bite, now this! You're super lucky," Ned was saying.
Peter snorted, "yeah, so lucky." He was thinking of how much life had screwed him over. The answer? A lot.
"I mean, what I wouldn't give to be in your shoes!"
"Ned. Seriously, you do not want to live my life."
Ned put down his pencil and turned to face him. "Peter, your life in amazing!"
Peter looked down and sighed. Ned was right, right? His life was pretty great minus May. Even May was sometimes alright. Most of the time she was great. And here he was complaining like a little kid. In that moment, he loathed himself more deeply than ever before. "You're right," he whispered, but Ned had moved onto another topic.
When school was let out, Peter ran out the front doors and down the stairs. He looked around for... he wasn't sure what, he didn't know what to expect.
He certainly didn't expect a long, black car to roll up to him. The window of the driver's seat rolled down and a man's face appeared. He didn't look friendly. At all.
"Get in," he said shortly.
Peter quickly scrambled into the back seat. He smiled nervously at the man, who had begun driving. He really hoped the man (happy...?) was working for Tony Stark and not some company that liked to kidnap kids.
"So, uhhh... you... you're taking me to the Stark internship, right?"
No reply.
"Why do they call you Happy?"
A divider slid between them. That was reassuring.
Peter leaned back in his seat and sighed, looking out the window.
The Stark Tower came into view at last, and Peter started to fidget nervously in his seat. He was going to see Mr. Stark in person again. Texting him was one thing: Peter couldn't see his face or reactions. In real life, a lot more could go wrong.
Happy stopped the car and got out. "Out," he said to Peter, who quickly opened the door and stepped onto the pavement.
"Follow me."
The two walked into the building and it was the same as Peter remembered it last, with the fancy, expensive-looking lighting. At the front desk, Happy explained to the receptionist the situation, who promptly handed Peter an ID.
"You are a level green: intern. You have access to floors 2-68," said the receptionist.
"Uh, thank you." Peter replied quietly, taking the pass.
"Walk through the security gate there and the elevators are just beyond it."
"Okay, thanks," Peter said. He walked over to the door-frame-like thing and stepped through. FRIDAY called out his name and status. Happy followed.
"Happy Hogan, level blue: Head of Security."
Peter stared in wonder at the man next to him. Head of security? Why did Tony Stark send his head of security to pick him up? It wasn't like he needed protection, he could take on any bad guys just fine - not like anyone knew that other than Ned and MJ.
They made their way to the elevators and Happy pressed the button. He turned to look at Peter. "Stop staring. It's freaking me out."
Peter blushed and quickly looked down. His shoes looked out of place on the spotless marble floor.
The elsvator dinged and they went inside. Each second now felt like torture for Peter, and he wondered what Stark would be like. Would it be awkward between them? Would he be mad if he messed something up, like May? What would they be working on?
The doors opened and they walked into Tony Stark's workshop. The man was hunched over a workbench, hacking away at something as music blasted through the room.
"Sir. The boy is here," Happy said.
Tony didn't hear him. Peter put his hands over his ears, trying to block out the sound. It hurt his eardrums and he felt like his skull was shattering. He supposed, what with his already-high stress levels, he was having a sensory overload.
"Sir, it seems as though Mr. Parker is not feeling well. Should I turn the music down?" FRIDAY's voice drifted through the room.
Tony POV:
Tony stopped working and looked up in surprise. He saw Happy looking down at Peter with something like concern, and the kid was swaying on his feet with his hands on his ears. He looked very pale.
He quickly rushed over to Peter and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, grounding him.
"Hey, kid. Look at me, 'kay?" Tony said in a calm tone. He was not calm. This kid might faint or something.
Peter, whose eyes were screwed shut, was breathing heavily. He seemed to be having trouble calming down.
Tony pressed the boy's hand on his chest over his heart. He then took deep breaths, steadying his own heartbeat. Peter was relaxing slowly, and Tony felt the shoulder under his other hand begin to lose tension.
The kid's eyes opened and a frown formed on his face.
"You were having a panic attack, I think," said Tony. He stood up again. "You okay now?"
Peter looked shocked. Tony could imagine that this was not how the boy wanted his first day to go at all.
Happy looked at Tony and tilted his head towards the door, asking if he could go. Tony nodded, before focusing back on Peter.
"Why don't we get some food before we start work? You don't look so good."
Peter nodded. "I- yeah, that'd be good..." he paused and looked at Stark in the eye. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. Really, I'm sorry."
Now it was Tony's turn to be shocked. The kid was looking at him with pleading eyes, and, he thought, a little fear. Were the panic attacks common events because it seemed as though they had happened before. And what had happened for Peter to apologize to him for having a panic attack? Tony frowned to himself. Things didn't add up with Peter. He'd need to look into the kid's life a little more thoroughly. He looked back at Peter and smiled, "you didn't mean to have a panic attack? Really? Because I've had a few in my lifetime and they were just so much fun!"
Peter rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant."
Tony smirked at his intern and they headed off to the cafeteria for lunch.
"Punctuality is the thief of time."
Yes, I am back with the quotes after not putting one for two chapters. Summer break is nearly over and I am sad. Anyone else?