#YIPEE this one came out so much sooner than expected

[oleander-comic]

Chapter Six

[thewritingcaptain]

The Internship: Chapter One

“Don’t bother with the rest of the interviews.” He stood up, grabbing his cup and nodding to the door. “I want him.”

Her expression brightened slightly. “Really?”

He took a drink and sighed. “Really.” Then he glanced back over his shoulder to check the progress of the calculations. All the ones he’d started running had finished, including the one he’d corrected from Peter’s suggestion and run again.

Only one of them had turned green.

Summary: AU. What if Peter really got an Internship with Tony Stark.

Notes: Now that I’ve realized I only ever posted the title and not the chapter... here it is. Yipe.

It had been a long, boring day for Tony Stark.

Which wasn’t a good thing, because Tony didn’t deal well with long or boring, especially when it wasn’t productive. And today had certainly not been productive.

How he’d been roped into this, he still could hardly fathom. After everything that had happened to him, and how busy he’d been in the past few years with… well, being Iron Man and all… Pepper had been trying to convince him for a while now that he needed some extra hands to help with the business. Tony wasn’t big on hiring new people, though. Not to work closely with him. Hell, the one man he’d grown up with and thought he could trust had turned completely and utterly against him and had tried both to have him killed and, when that failed, to kill him himself. To say Tony had trust issues would be an understatement.

Pepper, however, had no such qualms, and wasn’t so easily dissuaded. If he really wanted to completely reinvent Stark Industries, then perhaps he needed to completely reinvent himself, too - or at least his public image. And that was more than just giving out money hand over fist. Money, when you had as much as he did, was easily given away; time, on the other hand, was much more valuable. And what better way to show he was investing in a better future than to work with youth?

This idea didn’t resonate well with Tony. Kids? He didn’t do well with kids - not teaching them, nor really being around them in general. He didn’t have the patience - or the filter - to be around them for any extended period of time. That’s why he preferred the distanced approach. Besides, what kid didn’t like money?

But Pepper had never failed him before, and after everything he’d put her through, he decided a compromise was in order. She was right about one thing: he had no family, no heirs to speak of, and while he had no intent of passing on any time soon, he needed someone he could trust to leave the company to. He didn’t know when he’d made the decision, likely unconsciously, that it would be her - but at some point, he knew he had realized that was exactly what he wanted to do. But it had never occurred to him that, if she didn’t want it, or if something happened to her, he had no one else he remotely trusted to leave his life’s work with.

With these things in mind, he’d agreed on a compromise. An internship. If she hosted some interviews and sent him the most qualified candidates, he would review them, and if he found one that was remotely suitable, he’d allow them to intern with the company - with him - in the hopes of both lessening his stress load and hopefully resulting in someone he might one day be able to leave the company to. If they were skilled enough and didn’t drive him mad in the time it took him to train them. Not that he intended to broadcast that part; it would be promoted as an internship only, with possibly a future job opportunity, if they lasted long enough.

He promised her a trial period of at least two weeks with whoever was chosen; but if he didn’t see any potential in them… well, they would go, and he could say he tried. His conscience would be temporarily eased, at least. If it failed… well, maybe he’d just give the company to her sooner.

So far, unfortunately, it hadn’t failed.

In all honesty, he didn’t know how that whole thing was being publicized, and if there were any specific students that were supposed to be applying. All he knew was that his personal assistant and head of security had been irritatingly unavailable for at least two hours every day for the past few weeks due to these interviews. Apparently, a lot of kids had applied.

At least, before yesterday, that was all he had known. Now, unfortunately, it was time to do his part, which subsequently meant that he suddenly knew a lot more.

Today was their second day of follow-up interviews; meaning, the kids who had impressed Pepper (and, to some extent, Happy, although he didn’t necessarily have as much sway as she did, due to his opinion on the matter being more in the direction of Tony’s; he was more there to screen the kids’ pasts than their qualifications) were now back for second interviews, of which Tony was required to attend.

And so it was the second day of this - spending long days in his boardroom, pacing, working on the holographic board in the back and half-listening to kids get screened by Pepper and Happy for the second time. As with yesterday, none of them said anything particularly interesting; certainly nothing that caught his attention. Many of them had the same qualifications - they were simply high school kids, after all - so there was little to distinguish them there. Half of them weren’t even smart enough to dress the part, and there was no way in hell he was allowing a kid who couldn’t even tie a Windsor knot near any of his precious work.

About midway through the day, Tony was sitting in the back of the room, feet propped up on his desk as he messed with the holographic design in front of him. He was throwing around theoretical calculations for the design of a new arc reactor. He wanted to make one that was slimmer, more powerful, but also more cost and energy efficient. Especially considering the design of his newer suits, it needed to be more powerful, but also needed to be packed into a smaller model, and if he could get the reactor’s design to be as sleek as that of the newest suit… well, he liked his uniformity, to say the least.

They were on a break for lunch, at the moment, although that didn’t stop Tony from toying with the design in the back of the room while he waited for his food. When Pepper came in and brought it to him, he nodded his thanks before picking up the sandwich, unwrapping it just enough to take a bite, continuing to work with one hand.

Pepper took a seat on the opposite side of his desk without being invited to. Tony glanced at her once, cocking his head. She was never so bold when he first hired her - but, then, she’d become invaluable to him and she knew it, even if she wasn’t one of the only two people in the world he actually trusted at the moment. Perhaps she could afford to be a little bold.

That said, she still wouldn’t have approached him when he was working without a valid reason. She never did. He swallowed his food and took a drink before turning to face her. “Yes, Miss Potts?”

Pepper regarded him for a moment with those startling blue eyes of hers. He held her gaze, waiting for an answer.

Finally, she spoke. “Mr. Stark. It’s been two days, and we’re more than halfway through the candidates. You really have no interest in any of them?”

Tony shrugged, looking back at his work and continuing to virtually disassemble the reactor. He wanted to analyze every part of the design of his current one, to look for technology that was outdated, or could be upgraded, downsized, or replaced. “None,” he told her, flippantly. There was no point in lying. He would only take somebody who he deemed fit, and despite her best efforts, that didn’t seem to be anyone in this pool of applicants.

“Why not?”

Tony heaved a sigh, rolling his head back towards her, still working on the model with one hand. “Because none of them are remotely qualified. I see no reason I should waste my time on trying to have a conversation with half of these kids, let alone let them near something anywhere near even this level of work.” He gestured to the hologram with his sandwich, then took another bite. “And this is basic, in this business.”

Pepper made a face that he knew her well enough to know meant she was trying not to roll her eyes at him. “No. Physics is basic, and that’s likely the most you should expect these kids to know. They’re not supposed to come fully trained and ready to work, or it wouldn’t be called an internship. It would be a job.” She stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles in her skirt like she always did when she was agitated. “Enjoy your lunch, Mr. Stark. The next candidate will be here in fifteen minutes.” She turned away.

He let her take a few steps before calling, “Pepper?”

She stopped, but didn’t turn around. “Yes, Mr. Stark?”

“How far are we in the list of candidates, anyway?” He regarded his disassembled holograph for a moment before looking back at her.

She checked her clipboard. “We’re at the Ns. About ten candidates left.”

Ten candidates. At least another two hours of this bullshit, if most of them managed to talk for their allotted fifteen minutes, which they usually did. Teenagers were almost as narcissistic as he was. He sighed heavily. “Thank you, Miss Potts. Go eat something before the rest of the monsters show up, why don’t you.”

Pepper shot him a look somewhere between amused and exasperated over her shoulder. “I already have, Mr. Stark, but thank you for your concern. Perhaps you should focus on eating yours instead.”

“Will do. But Pepper?” She stopped, looking back at him again. He looked back at her this time, raising an eyebrow at her and silently daring her to argue. “Seriously. Take a break.” Then he turned back to his work, letting her go for real this time.

He spent the next several minutes talking to Jarvis, manipulating the designs and running hypothetical scenarios through the computer, testing all the different substitutions and cuts of materials he could use to rebuild the arc reactor - with improvements, of course. He hardly noticed when Pepper and Happy came back in, nor when the next student came in, or the next. He was flying through calculations by that point, running scenarios mostly in his head and with the aid of Jarvis mostly as a calculator. Running different programs was harder when he couldn’t openly communicate with his AI aloud, and doing so would have been… well, if he was honest, if what he was doing now was borderline rude, that would be pushing it. No doubt Pepper would filet him if he was openly not paying attention.

It wasn’t until the second to last student came in that he found something to pay attention to.

The interview started out as boring as the rest. The kid came in - decently dressed in a suit, with at least a passable suit and tie look - shook hands with Pepper and Happy, and sat down to do his interview. He was very polite, which Tony was tuned in enough to tell pleased Pepper greatly. He started to slip back out of focus when they fell into the same routine he’d heard literally forty times in the past two days.

“You go to Midtown Science and Technology, right?” Pepper was asking.

“Yeah, yeah! That’s right. In Queens. I’m a sophomore,” the boy responded.

Interesting. A nice background, at least. Although he was a little young…

Pepper seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “Only a sophomore? You’ve got quite the academic record for a sophomore, Mr. Parker. And why, at your age, are you interested in something like this? You’ve got the rest of high school to get a better idea of what you want to do.”

The kid - Parker - shifted in his seat, taking a moment to honestly consider the question. “Well, in all honesty, Miss Potts… why else would I make the choice to go to a STEM focused high school if it’s not something I want to go into? And I don’t think it’s ever to early to try to get your foot in the door for something that could shape your future the way an opportunity like this could.” He paused. “Besides, I’m a fan of Mr. Stark’s work. I admire his ethics and his decisions, and I think I could learn a lot from even just seeing him work.” He glanced over his shoulder, looking back at where Tony sat with his feet still propped on the desk, throwing calculations into the computer at rapid speed. “Just look at him go.”

“I get to ‘look at him go’ every day, Mr. Parker.” In more ways than one, of course, but she wouldn’t say that to him. Still, Pepper couldn’t suppress a smile at the wonder in the boy’s face as he watched Tony’s hands fly. “Is there anything else you’d like to say? Any questions for me or…well,” she stopped, knowing interrupting Tony would likely be a bad idea, “...for me to pass on to Mr. Stark about the position?”

Parker’s eyes were still glued to Tony, watching him curiously. “Um, no, thank you,” he told her. He turned around slowly. She could almost see the gears in his head turning as he asked, “But, between you and me, does he ever have anyone check his work?”

“Check it?” Pepper blinked and leaned back, surprised. It wasn’t exactly the question she’d expected. Most kids wanted to know about money, or how closely they’d be working with Tony, if they’d get to see him in the Iron Man suit, etc. “I… why?”

He shrugged, standing up and glancing over his shoulder again. “Well, I could be wrong, but… it looks like he made a mistake in one of his calculations.” There were several lines of calculations scattered across the screen - either red if he had already ruled them out, or blue if they were still in progress. He pointed to one in the top right corner of the screen.

At his name and the word “mistake,” the world snapped back into focus. Tony blinked, once, twice, then turned to him. “What did you say, kid?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, Mr. Stark. Don’t stop on my account. I just said - and I could be wrong, absolutely - it just looks like you’re a decimal point off on this calculation.” He took a few steps closer, pointing to it again.

Tony turned back to the screen, scanning through the lists of numbers until he found the one he’d was referring to. He studied it with narrow eyes, finding the spot that he was pointing to and moving the decimal back to where it should be before running the whole calculation again. It would take several minutes to finish.

Tony straightened, taking his feet off the table and turning fully to face them. He looked at him for the first time since noticing his suit - actually looked at him, taking him in. Scrawny as a rod rail, but he looked clean and presentable enough. He didn’t seem to have any meat on him, but he didn’t look unhealthy, either. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Peter, sir. Peter Parker.” He stuttered slightly, but he put it down to nerves. He’d sounded fine when talking to Pepper.

He cocked his head. “You have any experience with this sort of thing, Parker?”

Peter nodded. “Yes sir. Some. I’ve taken basic physics and engineering, and I was on the robotics team for 2 years.”

“Was?” He wasn’t taking anyone with behavior issues. Or worse, he could have been kicked off for incompetence.

“I quit, sir.”

Ah. “Why?” Tony repeated.

Peter hesitated, as if unsure how to answer. “Family things, sir.”

“Quit calling me sir every time you talk.” He crossed his arms. “Do you have any experience outside of schooling?”

Again, that hesitation, as if unsure, or as if he were going to say something and thought better of it. “Yes, si-... yes. I build computers. Sometimes, I mean, in my spare time. You know, programs and such from scratch...” Peter shifted his weight from foot to foot, as if uncomfortable.

Tony held up a hand to stop him, and he let the sentence trail off. He studied him for a moment. Something about him - the voice, maybe the way he moved - seemed so familiar. And that was odd, especially for Tony. He could barely be bothered to remember people he met with multiple times a year, let alone someone he’d run into once, so he doubted it was one of those types of scenarios. This was a gut instinct, something that made senses go on edge. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. “I see,” he said at last. Then he nodded to Pepper.

She understood the signal, thankfully, and stepped forward, offering her hand for Peter to shake. “Well, that’s all the time we have for today, but thank you for coming in, Mr. Parker. We’ll be in touch.”

“Oh, thank you.” Peter shook her hand, shouldering his bag again and nodding to Tony. “Mr. Stark. Good luck with your calculations.” Then he let himself out.

Tony was still staring at the door when it closed behind him, watching his back thoughtfully. Pepper rushed up to him. “What was that?”

Tony tore his eyes from the door to meet her questioning gaze for a moment before shrugging and sitting back down. “He’s a sharp kid. You wanted me to show an interest, didn’t you? I did. There you go.”

Pepper put her hands on her hips, tilting her head at him. “But did you like him, or were you just being a smartass?”

Tony glanced up at her, mildly surprised. She didn’t curse at him very often. “Oh, you know me, Miss Potts. I’m always a smartass.”

She frowned, narrowing her eyes a bit at him. “That’s not an answer, Mr. Stark. Should I continue with the interviews, or are you not going to bother to show any interest at all throughout the rest of them? Because I could save us all another hour of pointless chattering and just cancel the rest.”

Oh, she was getting sassy now. Tony turned completely back to her, quirking a brow at her. “Am I irritating you, Pepper?”

A small amount of flush colored her cheeks at his tone, but she held her ground. “I just don’t understand why you agreed to let me do these interviews if you were going to completely blow off everyone and not even listen to half of what the kids had to say.”

She had a fair point. He frowned, unsure of the answer himself. “I…” he stopped, pulling a face when he realized he was drawing a total blank. “Well. Let’s just do it this way. Don’t bother with the rest of the interviews.” He stood up, grabbing his cup and nodding to the door. “I want him.”

Her expression brightened slightly. “Really?”

He took a drink and sighed. “Really.” Then he glanced back over his shoulder to check the progress of the calculations. All the ones he’d started running had finished, including the one he’d corrected from Peter’s suggestion and run again.

Only one of them had turned green.

He cursed to himself, then turned back to the holograms long enough to tell the AI to send all the possible changes that could be made based on his calculations to his downstairs lab before simply shutting it down.

Including the one the kid had corrected - the only one on the last set that had shown up green after a half hour’s worth of calculations towards one part of it.

Pepper was still smirking when he brushed past her and headed downstairs. This was going to be fun.