Peter Parker Short Stories

of field trips and fire drills

Newly appointed CEO in training Peter Parker was having a stressful week. Pepper had gone to a business meeting in Seoul and Tony was out doing God knows what, so Peter was assigned the role of making sure no one blew everything up until Pepper got back. Of course, he couldn't be spiderman, be a student and be a (junior) CEO, so he was absent from school the past week. Why, you may be asking, was he having a stressful week? Surely, he must be trained to deal with these kinds of issues. Wrong.

        Not only did he have to supervise the department heads, but he also had to make sure every safety protocol was working by making surprise drills in every working space. He had to go to board meetings, which was uncommon for someone as young as he was to do unsupervised, but he had been getting exhaustive training from the Mrs. Potts. Of course, he only attended the less important ones, but it was still kind of a big deal. In addition to that, Peter was working on his own project, for he was participating in a national chemistry tournament, and he just HAD to go and choose the relation between microtubules and cancer. So, the kid was working 24/7, he barely even had time to visit his aunt, imagine if he could answer texts. Having seen this, it's not really Peter's fault what happened that Friday.

       Finally, they young CEO thought as he stepped into the elevator, I have only one drill left, holy FUCK that was long.

"FRIDAY, be a dear and take me to floor 89 please" He said, not looking up from his notepad. The last floor was apparently having an intern visit, and it was no surprise that they were in the Permitted access zone instead of the DO NOT ENTER, SERIOUSLY, FUCK OFF zone, because only the higher-ups worked in that part of Stark Tower, so their projects were pretty confidential.

      Peter looked up to check his appearance in a mirror. Given that he was in CEO duty, he was wearing formal yet casual attire: a white dressing shirt with a black tie, black trousers and black, shiny shoes. His hair was slicked back to "make him look more mature and respectable", according to Pepper,  and he had a Rolex on his left wrist (this accessory was bought by Tony, who insisted he wore it. Turns out it was a new STARK x Rolex collaboration and it was built with really high tech). He looked respectable, wearing every bit of confidence in himself he had gained over the past few years.

      At school he was still kind of a nerd, but people did notice that he was a bit more confident. Back then, in the beginning, when he was 15 and made CEO in training, his motto had been "fake it until you make it" but it slowly changed to "I'm the main character and I'm gonna motherfucking act like it".

      Hearing the bell indicating he had arrived, Peter was pulled out from his thoughts and stepped out of the elevator. The other workers noticeably arranged themselves and their posture as he walked by. Peter wasn't really strict, but today was drill day number two, and everyone knew how seriously he took safety precautions. The other workers liked to joke around that "Everyone started being a perfectionist when they heard the click clack of his Chelsea shoes." Peter only wore formal wear when he had meetings, so it was common knowledge that if you saw him dressed like that, he would be more strict because of his bad mood.

      He slammed the door of the lab open and yelled "Fire, there's a fire!" Soon, everyone started panicking and yelling. The scientists started protecting their stuff while the visiting group started yelling. Peter watched as complete mayhem broke out in a silent corner. A minute later of everyone running around screaming, he started impatiently tapping his foot against the floor. He loudly cleared his throat, his annoyance made clear in his face. Clearly, that wasn't enough for them to pay him attention.

       "Aaaand, you're dead!" He said loudly. Immediately, everyone stopped to stare and look at him with wide eyes. Peter thought he recognised some of the faces in the crowd of students, but he didn't have time for that.

       "I cannot believe you. You are the department heads, the higher ups and you can't perform a single fire drill? Are you being serious? I was waiting for someone to grab the STUDENTS and guide them to the fire escape. But you were too busy saving your own work? We can rebuild a robot, but we can't rebuild a life. If you need more emergency drills, just tell me, for fuck's sake! In fact, thanks to this absolutely disastrous fire drill, we are having surprise drills once every two weeks. You had visitors, and not only that, no, visiting students. Shame on you." Absolute silence followed after that. Not even Harley could look him in the eyes. He turned around, to introduce himself and apologize to the class, and met face to face with his classmates' wide eyes, their jaws opened like a cartoon animation.

        He nervously cleared his throat. He didn't have the time nor the patience to go back to his nerdy facade, so he straightened up his posture and wore all the confidence he had in himself and started talking.

        "Um, you might have some questions, but first," He coughed and tidied up his clothes. "Good morning, my name is Peter Parker-Stark, CEO in training of Stark industries. What you just witnessed was a fire drill gone wrong. I must deeply apologise on behalf of Stark Industries for the selfishness of our scientists." He said pointedly looking at the workers, who looked down in embarrassment. "We usually have more professionalism and I'm sorry that you had to not only witness, but also be part of this sorry excuse of a safety drill. Here in Stark Industries we pride ourselves in our safety precautions, but clearly we haven't been practicing enough. Now," Peter inhaled deeply after reciting what Pepper taught him, "How about I answer those questions you have while we get out of here. Quietly, please. This is still a work zone, after all."

     Immediately, all hands shot up. Peter answered at best of his ability while guiding them towards the elevator. "Yes, I wasn't lying, I was an intern, but I was Mr. Stark 's personal intern. No, you can't get a job here now, but maybe an internship after you finish school. Yes, I still build stuff in my personal lab, but I've been quite busy." Another question made him falter his steps a little, "I  met Mr. Stark after I jokingly applied for an internship with Ned and he came to visit me in person, thinking I had somehow cheated the tests he and Dr. Banner himself had created, because I had scored a higher mark than everyone of the department heads."

       When they reached the main entrance, he turned around and flashed a paparazzi smile. "I'm going to have to ask you not to tell anybody about my, er, status here. At least until this Saturday night after the press conference Tony is making. Not that you can, anyways, you signed the NDAs, right?" Mr. Harrington nodded. "Well, if you do tell anyone, just be aware that SI has hired the best lawyers in the world." Flash and Cindy Moon looked at each other disappointed and murmurs could be heard from the small crowd. Peter smiled brightly, "I hope you had a lovely time at Stark Industries. We will gladly receive you again any other time, and hopefully you choose our company in the future. Thank you for visiting!" He said cheerily and ushered them out of the door.

       Right after he saw they were out of sight, he let his smile drop. "Fucking Parker Luck" he muttered as he walked towards the penthouse to get some rest, unaware of the amused pair of eyes that followed him as he left. Later, when Pepper came back, she would listen to the anecdotes the other workers told her about Peter's stressful day and laughed about it with Tony while they shared a whisky. Only Peter.

     Three days later, Peter Benjamin Parker, now public knowledge that he was the CEO in training of SI, walked into the halls of Midtown High. He was dressed in designer clothes because he had to dress respectably for the public. It was weird, walking into school, because now everyone respected him and his confidence and moved out of the way. Many girls had asked him out but after loudly declaring that he had been on a date that Saturday with his very beautiful boyfriend Harley, they mostly stopped bothering him. People didn't bother him nor Ned, and MJ glared at everyone who tried to. Yeah, Peter mused while staring at MJ scaring off another group of rich kids, I could get used to this.