A/N: Hello again! Second update in a row because that first chapter was waaaaay tiny. We're starting up an insight into how Tony's days normally go, though we'll be wishing for these kind of days later, because I'm incredibly mean to Tony. Poor baby.
Next update won't be for awhile, but I hope you enjoy teenage Tony and how much he annoys poor Bruce. The man deserves a prize for dealing with Tony's crap.
As always, a big thank you to my beta BigTimeHiddlestoner! Comments are love!
Mornings at SHIELD High School were very routine. Students flooded the cafeteria, either for breakfast or to wait until the first warning bell sounded at eight o'clock. It was loud, obnoxious, and gave Tony a headache. So he kept his earbuds in and skated around the administrators, until he could slip into a side hallway and head towards the shop classrooms.
Ho Yinsen was the only teacher who didn't give Tony looks of disappointment whenever he walked into a room. They had an understanding: Tony didn't ruin any equipment and be a loud mouthed punk, and Mr. Yinsen didn't tell anybody that Tony was good with his hands.
The back workshop, where Yinsen's office and personal workbench was hidden, was riddled with Tony's creations. He liked building and coding robots, as evidenced by 'Dummy', a repurposed Roomba with a claw that was oddly affectionate. For a robot.
Tony didn't like people to know that he could build things. He didn't like people to know that he wasn't some stupid failure, Howard Stark's genetic travesty.
The truth of it was, Tony was really, really fucking smart.
Tony emerged from his engineering fugue when the end of first period bell rang. He'd skipped out on gym again (because who needs Steve Fucking Rogers and his perfect body and great mom? Not Tony) and had holed up in the shop.
Yinsen turned a blind eye, and ignored the occasional yelps from a soldering iron while he worked through his free period.
"You'll be late for chemistry if you don't get moving," Yinsen warned, adjusting his glasses while waiting for Tony to 'surface for air'.
Tony's head shot up at that, and he hurriedly crammed all of his circuit boards and tools into a plastic container, stuffing it in a cabinet. He gathered his bookbag and skidded out into the classroom, where some of Yinsen's students were already gathering for their class.
"Hey, Stark! You playing janitor again?" Called Justin Hammer, and Tony itched to go and knock the asshole out. His eye twitched, and he clenched his fists, but he managed to stay his temper. Yinsen gave him an approving nod as he walked by, patting his shoulder before turning to teach the class.
Tony heard Yinsen ordering Justin Hammer to start reciting from the textbook, and he snickered, before jogging down the hallway. Stopping at his locker, he exchanged his bookbag full of odds and ends (gears, relay switches, a PB&J sandwich and an apple) for his chemistry notebook, textbook, his idea binder, and a couple of pens before slamming the door shut and taking off.
Hustling down the nearest set of stairs, Tony swung wide around a corner, not bothering to apologize to Principal Fury for nearly bowling him over.
He dimly registered a, "Slow your punk ass down!" but didn't pay too much attention.
With the door in sight, Tony muttered the end of his mental countdown, "Three, two, one..." and managed to slide into the classroom just as the bell rang.
Dr. Banner looked up from the board, looking as weary and careworn as ever. His brow furrowed when he recognized Tony, and the entire class looked as though they were on the verge of killing him. Very slowly. With dry erase markers.
"Mornin', Dr. B.," Tony said cheerfully, skirting the edge of the room to head towards his seat in the back. He caught the eye of one Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, who shook her head ruefully, but Tony could see the hint of a smile.
Dr. Banner had his 'disappointed scientist' look on again, and Tony felt his teacher's gaze tracking him across the room. It was no secret that Dr. Banner had expected Tony to magically attain genius level intellect upon crossing the threshold of his classroom. He'd kept up hope for two weeks (a record!) and then decided to look at Tony as if he were a specimen that hadn't achieved the desired results.
"Have a seat, Anthony," was the terse reply.
Dr. Banner was already turning back to the board, leaving Tony to drop into his seat at the back. No one really wanted to sit with the stupid kid, so Tony had an entire table to himself. Spreading out his notebooks, Tony opened the black one first (spiral, college ruled) and set to copying the notes Dr. Banner already had written on the board.
Once he was caught up, he opened his idea binder, that was held together with red and gold duct tape. He let Dr. Banner's lecture flow into the box at the back of his mind labeled 'Dr. B's Awesome Lectures', and turned his attention to his personal 'log book'.
Thin tracing paper was nestled into a pocket on the left, with notebook paper locked into the three rings in the middle. On the right was tracing paper he'd finished with, riddled with different portions of designs. His dad had seen it once, and had asked if Tony was considering a career in art. If so, he'd be as shitty at that as he was everything else.
Tony had shrugged off the comment, because he knew that if the paper was stacked just right, the design would become apparent. So, promising himself he'd come back to Dr. Banner's lecture later, Tony immersed himself in his binder, writing out equations and codes . He gradually moved closer and closer to the paper, tongue sticking out between his lips as he concentrated.
A textbook slammed down right next to Tony's ear after some time, causing him to jerk back from his notes and look around at the empty classroom.
"What's happening? Did something blow up? Did I do it?" He queried, surreptitiously shutting his binder and pulling it close.
Dr. Banner shuffled into Tony's field of vision, all Disappointed Scientist with a pinch of What The Fuck.
"Were you even paying attention, Anthony?" He asked, crossing his arms. He looked mad, and it made Tony uneasy. Dr. Banner was his favorite teacher, save for Yinsen, and it was already bad enough that Tony was an epic fail academically.
"I...yes?" Tony offered, smiling nervously.
"Then tell me, what were we discussing in class?"
Tony knew. He really did. In his mind box, Dr. Banner's Awesome Lecture told him that they had been discussing the periodic table, and Tony could list them all off the top of his head, but all he could say was, "Um...Bunsen burner protocols?"
Dr. Banner seemed to have developed a tic in his right eye, and his sigh made Tony feel like a dick.
"You ignored the in-class quiz, which was covered in the lecture material. The best I can give you is partial credit, if you drop by after school and read the chapter, then take a quiz based on that material. Can you do that, or do you have somewhere more important to be?"
His teacher's tone was accusatory, and Tony was painfully reminded that he had a reputation for philandering and throwing his money around on top of being horrifically stupid. Whether or not the rumors were true was one thing, but Dr. Banner seemed pretty sure that Tony was a slut and had other plans for the evening.
In reality, Tony would be going to an empty house, with no food, and a new balance on his credit card for the week.
"No sir. I'll be here after school," Tony promised, pulling his best contrite expression.
Dr. Banner pinched the bridge of his nose, took another deep breath, and then waved Tony on.
"You can leave now, Anthony. Hurry so you're not late to your next period."
Tony nodded, gathering his notebook and binder before shoving away from his table.
"Thanks, Dr. B. I'll be there. Promise," he said with a grin before hurrying out of the classroom.
Thanks for reading! Reviews are welcome!