Behind the foggy mirror

Chapter 2

As soon as Peter walked into the Avengers tower, he immediately felt out of place. Everyone here was grown-up, well-dressed, probably rich... He, on the other hand, was just a stupid kid to them.

"Are you lost, darling?" A young woman asked, leaning over him.

She had nice blonde hair and a notebook in her hand.

"N-no, I'm just looking for Mr. Stark."

"Mr. Stark?" The woman looked like she was about to laugh. "I'm afraid I can't comply with your request." She frowned, "Do your parents work here? Are you waiting for them?"

"I got an internship here," Peter said, pulling out a letter.

The woman took it from him and read it briefly.

"Hmm," she murmured, surprised. "You've got to be really smart, huh?"

Peter nodded in acknowledgment. He knew he was smarter than other kids his age.

He was always bored in class, and every year the teachers asked Aunt May if she wanted to move him to a higher class. Every year she answered the same thing: Peter should enjoy his childhood.

"In that case, Dear Sir, I invite you to the 6th floor. Do you see that elevator straight ahead? Yes, this one. Go to the floor and ask for Rob. He'll know what to do next."

"Thank you," Peter said, and walked away toward the elevator, drawing a few puzzled glances.

When Peter entered the elevator, he noticed a man in his early twenties. He was shaking with nervousness as he talked on the phone, and his eyes widened at the sight of him.

Peter clicked button number 6 and waited for the elevator to start.

"Yes, mhm, I'm waiting for the audition. I know! No, I'm not going to miss this chance," said the mysterious gentleman.

Peter stared at the floor, not really knowing what to do. Fortunately, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. He hurried out of the elevator.

Peter began to look around the unfamiliar place. Everything from floor to ceiling was modern.

Blue carpets covered the hallway, and the walls had nice gray wallpaper in unfamiliar shapes. He parted his lips in surprise. He didn't think there was a more beautiful place than this.

"Good morning, I'm looking for Rob," Peter informed the man with glasses standing next to him.

"It's me," he called out in a cheerful voice. "How can I help you?"

"The lady from downstairs sent me here" now Peter began to regret that he had not asked her name.

"The lady from downstairs? And in what matter?"

"I have an internship here," he replied delightedly.

"Mh, I see" the man looked at him carefully. After a moment something occurred to him "Indeed, a young man was supposed to come here, but" he hesitated "you are so small. How old are you?"

"8 and two months," Peter said proudly.

"Hm, well, follow me, I will show you around."

***

"This must be a joke," Tony said at the sight of the first trainee. He just watched as he rode up in the elevator.

"He can't be that bad," muttered Pepper.

"He literally brought his child here. For a job interview!"

"Wait a minute, now he's getting out of the elevator by himself," Pepper pointed her finger at the screen.

They had agreed beforehand that each potential intern would show up every 15 minutes. First they will talk to Tony, and then everyone will meet together. In two hours, the intern will be selected.

Pepper and Tony watched together as he shuffled around the lab not knowing what to do with himself.

"Come down to him finally," Pepper said.

Tony was about to protest, as he still wanted to see how he would behave without him, but Pepper was right, he should go.

"I'm coming," he sighed, getting up from his chair.

As Tony walked down to the lab the potential intern straightened up proudly, raised his head and introduced himself:

"Good morning, Mr. Stark. My name is Joe Michael."

Tony glanced at him from over his glasses. And shook his hand in greeting.

"Hello Mr. Michael, your profile interested me a lot. Please tell me more about yourself..."

***

Rob toured Peter around the lab, explaining where what was and warning him where it was better not to go.

Then he led Peter to a free table and told him to build "something that would surprise him."

Peter worked for nearly 40 minutes until he finally fashioned a tiny robot that drove around in circles.

"Amazing! Did you build it yourself?" asked a surprised Rob walking up to his desk.

"Yes, but it won't stop," said Peter with tears in his eyes.

"Hey, hey, don't worry. I'm impressed! That's a big accomplishment considering you only had 40 minutes. Not to mention your age..."

At this point everyone fell silent. Out of the elevator came none other than Tony Stark himself.

***

Tony was devastated by the level of the interns.

The first one was on the phone all the time, ignoring Tony.

The second one was just dumb. He literally didn't even know what a screwdriver looked like.

The third seemed okay, quite smart, but looked around the room as if he was about to steal something.

Tony had had enough of them. This was a failure. All that was left was to go down to the lab still, as he had promised them he would.

The four of them got into the elevator and went to the 6th floor. When they got off, Tony immediately noticed that all conversation had quieted down.

He smiled under his breath and began showing the three men around the lab. He was walking slowly down the corridor when the kid from the elevator ran right in front of him.

He had brown eyes and hair, and was dressed in worn suit pants and a shirt. Tony was surprised to see that the boy was chasing some robot shouting:

"No, stop!"

The situation was comical, and Tony himself even laughed.

Finally the robot came full circle, hitting Tony's legs. Tony knelt down lifting the writhing robot. It made an impression on him. Tony raised his eyes from his kneeling position to the boy, who blushed from all the attention focused on him.

"This is yours, hm?"

"Yes, thank you," said Peter taking the robot from the billionaire.

Tony stood up and put his hand on the boy's head.

"What are you actually doing here, kiddo? Are you waiting for your daddy?" He pointed with his head to the man in the elevator.

Peter furrowed his brow confused.

"I have an internship here. And that's not my dad," he made an exasperated face.

If Tony was impressed before, it was nothing compared to now.

"You have internship here!? Jesus, kid, how smart you are?"

Peter blushed again.

"Well I guess it was you I was looking for."

Then he whispered something in Peter's ear, and Peter exultantly nodded.

"Ladies and gentleman" Tony turned to everyone there, "I just found my personal intern."