Career Day: A Short Story

Chapter 3

Written by- shewritesitall
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After school on Wednesday, Peter was bouncing with energy.  It was the day they were holding a fake career day at the Compound and he was excited.  He rounded up Sam, Clint, and Natasha then went to find Steve.  His dad was busy in the lab, so he didn't need to go looking for him.  Once Peter had everyone he wanted for the fake career day, he took them all down to the lab.  He unlocked the door and everyone walked in, causing Tony to look up and see who all had invaded his space.

"What's this?"  he asked, putting down his blowtorch and lifting his mask.

"This is your audience for fake career day!"  Peter said excitedly.  Tony frowned as Sam, Clint, and Natasha all fought over the couch.  Eventually they managed to all squeeze in and Tony glanced at Peter.  He was smiling widely at Tony and Tony sighed.

"Alright, how are we doing this?"  he asked.  Peter explained how Natasha, Clint, and Sam would act as the students, Steve was just there to give pointers when it looked like he needed some, and Peter was going to pretend and be Mrs. Jenks.  Once everyone was clear on their role, they began with Tony giving a brief overview of what Stark Industries was and what they did.  When he was done, he glanced at Peter and almost lost it laughing.  Peter was standing with his ankles crossed, hands folded in front of him, lips slightly puckered, and a lovestruck expression.  He waited a moment before pretending to be flustered.

"Oh thank you, Mr. Stark,"  he said in a high voice.  He fanned himself and looked away before bashfully looking at his dad again.  "Does anyone have any questions for this lovely man?"  Natasha's hand shot up and Peter daintily pointed at her.  Clint looked like he was about to laugh with Tony, but managed to compose himself right before Natasha spoke.

"When you're in the Iron Man suit, do you wear clothing?"  Natasha asked in what sounded like an awful impression of a teenage girl.  Steve snorted from behind Tony and covered his face.  Tony looked at Peter for help, but he was back to being a lovestruck teacher with goo goo eyes.

"Um, yes,"  Tony said carefully.  "Do you have a question related to Stark Industries though?"  Natasha nodded.  "What is it?"

"How do I become your personal assistant?"  she asked, still using the awful teenager voice.  Clint lost it and started laughing.  Natasha didn't break her act, continuing to look at Tony as if she really was a teenage girl in love with him.

"Not possible,"  Tony said.  Natasha looked offended.  "I already have one and she's not gonna be fired.  Someone else have a question?"  He was silently begging Sam or Clint to have a good question and not act awful like Peter and Natasha.  When he saw Sam raise his hand, he pointed at him.  "Yes, you."

"Does your AI see everything?"  Sam asked.  Tony looked confused but nodded.  "Like, even when people go to the bathroom?"

"Does someone have a question related to the work done at Stark Industries or the application process?"  Tony asked, looking directly at Clint.  He was beginning to calm down, but Natasha now had her legs crossed and her chin propped up on her knees as she joined Peter in staring at Tony dreamily.  When Clint saw her, he busted up laughing again.  "Guys!  Come on!"

"Just be patient, Tony,"  Steve instructed before laughing again.  Tony groaned and waited for Clint to calm down and raise his hand.

"How do you apply for Stark Industries?"  Clint asked.  Tony made a big deal of pointing at Clint.

"This is a question you should ask!  Be more like him!"  he exclaimed.  He then took a deep breath and told Clint that only the best were accepted at SI.  If someone wanted to apply, they could find the application online, fill it out, and send it in.  However, very few applicants ever got chosen, so if someone did want to apply, they should be very aware they might not make it in.  "Did that answer your question?"  Tony asked.  Clint nodded then raised his hand again.

"If I work at Stark Industries, can I fly the Iron Man suit?"  he asked.  Tony took a deep breath then gave a sharp 'no'.

"Are we done?  I don't think this is going well,"  Tony said.  At this point, he knew to avoid looking at Peter and Natasha, so he looked at Steve.

"You have one more question,"  Steve said.  Tony groaned and turned back around to see Sam sitting politely with his hand raised.

"If this isn't a real question, Wilson, I swear on Thor's life I will end you,"  Tony threatened.  Sam assured him it was a real question and Tony allowed him to speak.

"I was just wondering, how many men and women work at Stark?"  Sam asked.  "And how many are black?  Cause I don't wanna work for no racist or misogynistic man."

"I can assure you we have a very even number of men and women at Stark Industries and many of my employees are black,"  Tony said.  Sam nodded then asked another question.

"Does your AI watch you pee?  Cause I also don't wanna work at some crazy place that watches while people do their business,"  Sam said.  Tony launched off his stool at Sam, causing him to shriek and run out of the lab.  Tony followed after him, yelling curse after curse at him while the others laughed.

"That was great,"  Peter said, giving Natasha a high five.

"You did pretty good too, Pete,"  Natasha replied.  She got up from the couch and reached down to help Clint up, but he was still crippled by laughter.  "I'll just leave him,"  she said, waving in Clint's general direction.

"How about we go order some dinner?"  Steve suggested.  They all nodded and followed Steve upstairs where they found Tony sitting on Sam and hitting him with a pillow in the living room.  Peter grinned but walked past without saying anything.  At least now his dad was expecting the worst on career day which was good.  Peter had a feeling he hadn't acted in love enough with Tony to accurately depict what Mrs. Jenks would be like.