No Lie

Forgotten Fieldtrip

"Dad, can I skip school tomorrow?" Peter asked as he walked into the lab.

Tony looked up from his desk to glance at his son who was fidgeting with his hands, waiting for a reply.

"Why?" Tony replied suspiciously.

Peter glanced at Shuri then launched into a big explanation about how they wanted to make a robot together, but Shuri was leaving the morning after tomorrow, so they really only had time to do it during the school day. In a blatant attempt at boosting his dad's ego, Peter also threw in how he never really learned anything at school anyway and he had more educational experiences in the lab than at school.

Tony rolled his eyes, but Peter wasn't finished.

"And I swear I won't tell Mom."

Tony paused, thinking it over for only a few seconds.

"As long as she doesn't find out," Tony agreed.

Peter and Shuri cheered before giving each other high fives.

"However, if she does, no visits for two months."

"Don't worry, she won't," Shuri assured him before she and Peter hurried back through the door into Peter's own private lab.

Of course, the robot they had designed didn't really need a full day. It hardly needed seven hours with the two of them working on it and FRIDAY assisting. However, Peter really wasn't in the mood to have a perfect weekend with Shuri ruined by Flash, so he wasn't going to return to school if he could help it.

* * * * *

The next morning, Peter found himself being forced to wake up early just to pretend he was headed to school. He ate breakfast with his parents, Steve, and Sam then hopped in the lift as normal. Until he got the all-clear from his dad, he was stuck waiting in the garage. Unfortunately, by the time he was back up in the penthouse, he was too awake to go back to sleep and ended up reading in the living room until Shuri woke up.

"Get up, Pete," she said, flicking his ear as she walked by. "We've got a robot to build."

No further encouragement was needed for Peter to put his book away. Together, they raced down to the lab, nearly falling down the stairs. In an attempt to beat Shuri to the door, Peter jumped on the ceiling and crawled over her. Seconds before Shuri ran through the lab doors, Peter swung inside and settled happily into his web hammock.

"I win."

"You cheated," Shuri protested, rolling her eyes. "Now get down here so we can finish before lunch."

Shuri was called up by her brother around 2:30pm and Peter went up with her, leaving their hour old robot with Dum-E and U. Before ducking out of the lab however, they told FRIDAY to alert them if anything went wrong. What they weren't expecting was for FRIDAY to tell Shuri she was supposed to go down to the 38th-floor conference room.

They both frowned but followed directions. Curious as to what Shuri was needed for, Peter went along with her.

"What do you think it's about?" Shuri asked as they navigated through the offices and people.

"I bet you're in trouble for being an ass to Rover," Peter replied, referring to when Shuri had gotten frustrated with the little robot five minutes after booting him up.

"I was not," Shuri denied, rolling her eyes and shoving Peter.

"You know what?" Peter said, pointing at her. "I'm gonna say it. I'm about to say it. You're always rude to me and I'm gonna tell my dad to fire you."

Shuri laughed and shook her head. "He can't fire me."

Peter raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not being paid to come."

"That's right," Peter said, snapping his fingers and grinning wickedly. "I forgot. Dad doesn't hire amateurs."

Shuri's jaw dropped as she gaped at him.

"You little shit!" she exclaimed, lunging at him.

Peter laughed and shot away from her. With a growl, Shuri raced after him and jumped on him right as they went stumbling through the doors of the conference room. He nearly toppled over, but righted himself last minute and pulled her arms off him. It was in the middle of twisting away from her when he noticed there were more than just the Avengers in the room and stopped. Shuri, seeing her opportunity, jumped on him and he fell over.

"Shuri, get off of me," Peter groaned, crawling out from underneath her.

She stood up, seeming to notice their guests as well, and they both turned to face the people in the room. Unlike Shuri, Peter froze when he recognised the group. Mr. Harrington was staring at them in shock along with the rest of the Decathlon team.

"Yes, they wanted to meet you, Shuri," T'Challa said hesitantly, giving Shuri a look.

Peter glanced at his dad who seemed unimpressed.

"Oh," Shuri said, waving at the class. "I'm Shuri, Princess of Wakanda and designer of Wakandan technology."

She had just finished talking when's Flash spoke up and asked, "How do you know Peter?"

Shuri looked at him in confusion. "How do you know him?"

Flash clearly wasn't expecting that response and stumbled over his own.

"He, um, well he goes to school with us?"

Shuri nodded.

Still confused, Flash repeated, "But how do you know him?"

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked with a frown. "I come with my brother when he visits the Starks. We share a lab."

Everyone's eyes widened and Shuri turned to Peter, confused as to why everyone was so shocked.

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and said, "They, um, didn't know I was a Stark."

Shuri's eyes widened and she looked at Tony who nodded. "It was a secret."

"Oh," she said, looking back at Peter's class. "My bad."

Peter silently agreed.

"Well, now that you've met Shuri, I think it's time to go," Tony announced, trying to shoo the group out of the room.

A couple of the kids immediately refused, demanding to know more and Tony rolled his eyes.

"I don't care if you're curious," Tony interrupted, "I'm leaving, so you are too."

As the group was directed out of the room, Flash turned around and shouted over his shoulder, "Don't think this means you're cool, Peter!"

Peter sighed and turned to his dad. With a groan, Tony dragged a hand down his face.

"What do we do now that they know?" Peter asked.

"You get your first press conference," Tony answered with a grimace.

Now Peter groaned. Shuri apologised again and Peter waved her off. "It would have gotten out eventually."

Shuri still said she was sorry and before Peter could berate her for apologising again, FRIDAY interrupted.

"It appears Dum-E has trapped Rover in the lab and is demanding he try a smoothie."

Peter and Shuri looked at each other in horror.

"Coming!" they both yelled before running out of the room and going to rescue their young robot.