Hello! I'm afraid it's not the longest chapter, but I'll hopefully squeeze out one or two more before school starts up again.

Peter shivered. It wasn't cold, not even remotely, but it was his first day working at Stark Industries.

It was hard to believe. It was one of those things that had never seemed possible at all, even in the most desperate depths of his imagination, but it was real and happening.

As he stared at the glass doors, serious-looking men and women in lab coats strutting out, he wished for the billionth time that Gwen had accepted the job offer too.

"It's nothing to do with you, Peter," Gwen had told him when he delivered Tony Stark's message. "It's just I don't like Tony Stark, and I work at Oscorp. And Oscorp suits my needs, y'know? I like genetics and biology. Stark Industries is more to do with engineering and fancy technological stuff. My interests really lie with what Oscorp does."

It was all perfectly reasonable and Peter was glad Gwen knew precisely where she wanted to have a career, but as a matter of fact, he was still a bit desperate. Yes, he was applying for a photography course at Oxford. True, he loved science. And now he was walking into Stark Industries for a new job.

His face felt hot, a startling contrast the cold shiver he had experienced moments before. He was so anxious, but not for the job. Just because he literally had no idea what he wanted to do with his life.

He wasn't complaining that Tony Stark had hired him. No way.

It was just Peter knew he had his whole life ahead of him, and he didn't know how to spend it.

Career-wise, of course. He was definitely planning to stay with Gwen and hopefully not go to jail, and he was obviously going to stick his mask on and go swinging through the streets. But a career. Like a job he would want to keep doing for the rest of his life. And getting hired by Stark had just awakened every fear a typical college student suffered.

AGGGH.

Why was it so hard to decide on a career? He was almost nineteen, for God's sake, he should know by now. Gwen knew what she was gonna do.

Then again, Gwen had known what she was going to do with the rest of her life since she was ten.

A scientist striding by gave Peter and odd look, and he realized he must have been standing there blank faced, moonboot and crutches still present (more for an act that for actual need; his powers had very quickly healed him up) for at least five minutes.

"Okay," he said aloud. "Here goes. Phew. Source of income. Company belonging to a genius. Cool, great."

And he stepped through the doors.

It was a lot less graceful than it sounded though, since he tripped over at least three people with his moonboot and nearly stabbed someone with a crutch. But he made it inside, at least.

He'd been inside for about twenty seconds when a burly, angry looking security guard barged up to him.

"Are you Parker?" he asked loudly. He had thin hair and a demeanor that said he was used to taking shit and was not going to allow it from a minor. Peter's eyes zeroed in on his badge, an awful picture printed on it and name. He only saw one part of the name.

'Happy'.

"Your name is Happy?" Peter asked in bewilderment. He had never seen someone who looked less like their name suggested.

The man's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, you're Parker," Happy the pissed-off security guard said, and he grabbed Peter's arm and dragged him off to the elevator.

"Whoa, hey!" he said. "Where're you taking me?" He tried to resist, but Happy's grip was strong, and Peter's moonboot was hindering his every move. "I have life insurance. Probably."

Ugh. Forget about acting, when he got home he was just gonna take the damn boot off.

He was shoved in the elevator unceremoniously, and Happy grunted, "Stark's floor, J.A.R.V.I.S.," and the doors closed really, really quickly. Like so quickly, there was a small gust of air that ruffled Peter's mop of hair.

So he was trapped in an elevator that didn't seem to be moving, all alone. He wondered if there were cameras, and if he was trapped in there for much longer, he could bust out without his identity being revealed.

Shut up, Peter. It's a new job, not the fucking apocalypse.

Hello, Mr. Parker, a pleasant electronic voice said.

Peter almost jumped onto the ceiling in surprise, but was hastily reminded that his foot wasn't going to let him go anywhere, and Tony Stark had reminded him that the elevator talked

"You're J.A.R.V.I.S., right?" he asked.

Indeed I am, the AI said smugly. You're headed up to Mr. Stark's private floor. He's hoping you will be able to help him on an experiment.

Peter forgot his fears about career choices and possibly being beaten up. It was replaced with eagerness. Like hell yeah, Stark wanted him to do an experiment on something. That was the coolest thing ever.

"Yeah? What kind of experiment?"

Alterations on his armour, J.A.R.V.I.S. supplied. I believe he is aware of the engineering in a project that you created for a science fair when you were fifteen. Mr. Stark prides himself on recognizing talent in the engineering and technological divisions.

Whoa, talent? Peter was becoming more and more glad that he had accepted the job offer. He made a habit of not complaining when his ego was stroked.

You've arrived at your floor, Mr. Parker.

"What? But the elevator hasn't even-" Peter's sentence was interrupted as the lift doors opened.

Well, apparently the elevator had, in fact, been moving.

He'd barely blinked when Tony Stark's loud voice echoed across the room.

"Peter! Parker! Kid! Whatever," he said.

Oh, boy. Maybe this job wasn't the best idea after all.

On the contrary, in fact, taking the job was the best thing Peter had ever done in his short, irritable life.

The technology was great, of course, and he was secretly toying with the idea of applying for a degree in engineering.

And the job was barely a job, it was fun and had a really high salary. Peter wished he'd applied for an internship there before, but he'd been too busy getting beaten up by mutant lizards to think about working anywhere more complicated than a newspaper company.

All he had to was basically screw around with machinery until he made something. Mr. Stark ("Call me Tony, kid, I'm not the president") delighted in literally everything he made. It was mostly stuff like really-really-really- altered webshooters (he made them shoot different cables, to avoid suspicion). Tony Stark didn't seem to make the connection, so that was all well and good. And most surprising of all, he actually got along well with Tony.

Like, really well.

Sure, his boss's arrogance could be annoying, but the dude was pretty funny, he was pretty generous for a billionaire, and he was sort of kind in a really weird dick-bag way.

Peter was utterly confused about Tony Stark, especially with their history (his ankle still creaked when he walked), but after several weeks of working there, he decided that he liked him.

He was smart, funny, and he actually understood what the hell Peter was talking about engineer-wise.

Honestly, best decision ever.

It had been four weeks since Peter had begun working at Stark Industries, and Gwen was super-glad that he had recovered so well mentally and physically from his injuries.

Although she harbored intense dislike for Tony Stark, his arrogance, the fact that he used to make weapons for profit (yes, that was in the past, but it was kind of a sore spot since those weapons had killed her pen friend living in the Middle East), and that he and Captain America had beaten the crap out of Peter, she had to admit, it was good to see Peter so happily working for his hero.

When she had first begun dating Peter, she had been hopelessly aware of his admiration for Captain America and Tony Stark. The Cap for his contribution in the Second World War, and because Peter was a huge fanboy of the Howling Commandoes (He had a poster of them in his room, and multiple black and white photos of them on a pinboard). He admired Stark for his mind and his inventions, although he had the same dislike for the weapons.

She liked Peter's pacifism.

When he'd been recovering from his injuries, Peter had been really different, especially about his heroes. Gwen knew how much those two particular members of the Avengers meant to him; growing up, they were his role models.

They were everyone's role models.

And Peter hadn't talked about Tony Stark or Captain America in the same way. He scowled when they appeared in newspapers, and didn't mention them unless they were brought up unintentionally by friends and family.

But he really seemed to have gotten over it.

Peter was a smart boy, she knew that. And if he had decided to trust the two superheroes again, then that was what she was going to do. Even though she didn't have to like them, she had to believe that they would do the right thing and look after Peter, and also not try to kill Spider-Man.

That was really her biggest peeve.

Other than that, she was fine.

Sorry it jumps around a bit. I want to get the boring stuff over so the real action can start :)

Thanks again for you patience with the last chapter, I'm aware it was a really long time to update. But as it gets more exciting, it should be easier for me to write!