The Life of an Olympian

6 | Peter

Peter's POV

1299 words

I was in Mr. Stark's lab on Saturday at AquaTech working on a solar-powered battery for the cars. We wanted the prototype to generate lasting energy, even when there was no sun. It'd been a few months since I got the internship, so we were currently on summer vacation. It was hard work, but I enjoyed working with Mr. Stark. I was gaining recognition as Spider-Man too, but I hadn't spilled my identity yet. Well, besides Ned. But he was my best friend, I couldn't have kept it from him long anyway. Mr. Stark upgraded my suit as promised, which made taking down the bad guys that much easier.

Someone suddenly entered the lab and jarred me out of my thoughts. He wasn't facing my direction, but I saw it was a guy not much older than me. He had on jeans and a blue fitted t-shirt. I could clearly see his muscles, but it didn't look like he was trying to show off.

"Hey, man. You can't be in here. Only people on the SPP project are allowed in." I called out to the fellow.

When he turned around, my jaw dropped. The tall, dark-haired, nicely tanned guy in front of me was smiling with twinkling sea-green eyes.

"Oh, shit. I just told Mr. Jackson to get out of his own lab."

"It's ok, you didn't know."

I flushed not having realized I spoke that out loud. With a weak chuckle, I apologized.
"Sorry, Mr. Jackson. I didn't recognize you. I've only ever seen you in a suit."

He laughed merrily at that. "I don't wear suits every day. They're too stiff for me. I like to be able to move. And please, Percy is fine."

Ok, sure he was only two years older than me, but he was a billionaire—richer than Mr. Stark! It seemed weird not calling him Mr. Jackson.

"Uhh... ok," I said, running a hand through my hair.

He smiled kindly then asked, "What are you working on? Any progress?"

"Not really," I said dejectedly. But then I quickly covered it up, "Umm... I mean with this part. We've made progress, though." I didn't want him to think we were wasting his money. I was not exactly qualified for this stuff, and I was sure he knew that.

Mr. Jackson didn't seem phased at all by my awkwardness. He just observed as I continued working. It was a little unnerving having my boss's boss watch my every move, but he seemed pleased with my work, so I wasn't too worried.

Oh, who was I kidding, I was sweating under the pressure!

Mr. Stark made things fun and released the tension, but Mr. Jackson didn't say anything! He was silent like the whole time! He didn't work on anything either!

An hour passed before he even sat down and then another twenty minutes before he pulled out his computer and started typing away. I relaxed slightly when he did, but of course, I eventually had to blow something up by accident.

The thing was, however, that the explosion set off the sprinkler system in the lab. All of the equipment was waterproof thanks to AquaTech's enhanced materials, but I wasn't so sure about Mr. Jackson's laptop and it still soaked the papers and such.

Darn.

But to my astonishment, he just kept typing, oblivious to the water. I wasn't even sure if he was getting wet. That was when Mr. Stark ran back into the lab with another cup of coffee. He took one look around the room before shouting for me to get out.

I looked back over at Mr. Jackson to see he was indeed getting wet, but his laptop stayed dry. I guess it was made of the same waterproof material as the stuff in his lab.

I slumped out of my chair and into the hallway with an impatient Tony Stark.

"What the hell, kid?! I leave for an hour and a half to check up on other labs and you've set off the sprinklers. With Percy in the room!"

"I know- I know- I know! It was an accident. And the stuff is waterproof, so..."

"So nothing! We're behind schedule making this damned battery and now we've got to clean the entire lab, save our work, and pray that Percy doesn't kick us out of his labs."

My eyes grew wide at the thought of having ruined the entire project.

"He wouldn't actually do that, would he?! I mean he didn't look upset or anything. I'll- I'll apologize a-a-and-"

"I don't know what he'll do, kid. And yeah, you better apologize. Cause this project is too important to end now!"

"I'm sorry! I'll fix it, Mr. Stark. I promise."

"No. Don't make promises you can't keep." Mr. Stark took a deep breath with his eyes closed. "All we can do now is go back in and try to make things right." With that, he walked into the room whose sprinklers had somehow been turned off. I followed behind, dragging my feet slightly.

Mr. Jackson still hadn't looked up from his computer even as Mr. Stark was trying to make light of the situation.

"Hey there, Percy! Wow, raining indoors now? Weird weather, am I right? Look, so, uhh... I think we can just forget about this little incident and I'll get this cleaned up and we'll keep working and-"

Mr. Jackson cut him off. "Here's what I think, Tony. I think you're behind schedule by weeks, not days as you claim. I think you've used a lot of my resources and have very little to show for it. And I think you are taking advantage of my generosity. Now-"

"We'd never take advantage of-"

"Tony, I'm not finished." If looks could kill, my mentor would have been murdered in front of my eyes by my idol. Mr. Stark gulped but didn't say anything more.

"Now, my scientists want me to shut this project down," Mr. Jackson sent Mr. Stark another glare before he could interrupt, "They say your ideas are outlandish and too ambitious for even 'The Great Tony Stark'."

"They're not! We can do it! We just-" I was stopped by a wave of Mr. Stark's hand. "Sorry."

Mr. Jackson looked between me and Mr. Stark a few times before speaking again.

"I want you both out of this lab by 5:00 pm today."

"Percy, please," Mr. Stark pleaded, "we can work this out. Don't give up on us now."

Dang. I had never heard Mr. Stark sound so desperate in my life. I don't think anyone had. Has he ever said please before?

"I want you both out of this lab by 5:00 pm today," Mr. Jackson repeated. "Take the stuff back to Stark Labs. I'll be in contact with you tomorrow around noon."

Mr. Jackson didn't say anything more before walking out of the lab with his laptop. I stood there stunned. A tiny spark set off a massive explosion of events. Even worse, Mr. Stark didn't look at me once as we moved the stuff into large moving trucks. He grabbed the scotch the instant we walked into the Avengers Tower. They all noticed the heavy atmosphere and left him alone.

I wasn't so lucky.

Bruce came up to me and the avengers crowded around to listen. He asked what happened. I told them everything, barely holding back tears at the end. Bruce's words of comfort didn't make me feel any better and neither did the pity glances from the Avengers. I ended up walking back to Aunt May's and immediately fell asleep.

It was a good thing I got some shut eye because I got none after a certain visitor barged through my door that night.