**I literally died and was resurrected. No, jk, but I did try and take a couple weeks off and then that turned into a whole month because I had some family emergencies and finals. This is my first attempt at getting back into writing again so forgive me if this is a little short. My fingers are killing me. 5 times someone saw Peter looking down and 1 time someone did something about it. This is another school+Flash+Irondad one shot. Is there ever enough of these? I think I got this idea from a fic on AO3, but I honestly can't find it now. Damn. Anyways, this is my take on it. Enjoy!**

~1~

Peter wasn't usually known for being a very popular person. He tried to keep his head down and do his work, staying out of the way. Tony had always thought it was because Peter was shy, but in all actuality, it was because drawing attention to himself only ever got Peter in trouble. Flash was always looking for a reason to pick on him, and the teachers held grudges that Peter could at any moment stand up and teach classes better than they could, so they never stopped Flash.

To make a long story short, Peter's dream day was disappearing into the wall and simply going about his day silently.

He was about to watch that dream crash and burn.

Since Tony was going out of town, Happy was going with him as added security even though he hadn't done that in years. Peter was perfectly happy to take the bus, but the team was firmly against it. They all had working legs, they argued, so they could all drive to Midtown to pick Peter up themselves.

Peter expected them, but not like this.

Clint was parked right out front of the school, leaned up against one of Tony's nicest cars, the brilliant paint job glowing in the sunlight. Everyone was staring at the man and the car, trying to get a closer look. Clint was a pretty recognizable Avenger, even with the standard sunglass disguise. Peter rolled his eyes and made his way over, keeping his head down low.

Just as he was about to jump down from the main stairs, he heard a shout that made him freeze.

"What's the hurry, Penis?"

Peter shot a look at Clint, then over his shoulder at Flash. "Just catching my ride, Flash."

Flash scoffed. "Sure, whatever. You going to pay me or what?"

Peter went pale. Flash had recently started something of a gang-like protection regimen of terror - Peter paid Flash in high-scoring homework assignments and Flash didn't pummel him into a locker.

"I don't have them with me, man, I swear I'll have them by Friday."

Flash's face twisted into something like excitement, and Peter hastily opened up his bag. "You can have mine!"

"I don't want yours," Flash said. "Last time you gave me your homework, I got caught on cheating. Just get me the homework you do for me, and we can avoid these little-"

Flash's rant was cut off by an engine revving, and Peter took notice of how his fist unclenched. Peter looked back towards where Clint was waiting, and sure enough, he was back in the driver seat. Before Flash could decide whether or not to punch Peter, Peter was running again, and he slid into the passenger seat with a relieved huff.

"Had an alright day, Pete?" Clint asked, not taking his eyes off Flash.

"Good day," Peter said happily. "I didn't know you were coming today."

Clint gave a half shrug as he pulled away from the school. He was going to tell Nat about this one, and maybe she could figure out whatever the hell he'd just seen.

~2~

Natasha watched with careful eyes for Peter. He was one of the last kids out of the school, his hood up and his bag half-way unzipped. He looked disheveled, like he'd been running or changed out of the Spidersuit two minutes before coming out the doors. She waved from where she was, standing beside the same car Clint had taken yesterday. Peter didn't wave back, but he did change directions to walk directly at the car, so Natasha knew he'd seen. She made her way back over to the driver side door and waited for Peter to get closer before she got in and buckled up.

"Hey, Pete."

Peter didn't speak, but he took his time putting his backpack in the back of the car and rummaging around in the bag, and then zipping it back up. When he straightened up again, Natasha was sure she saw him run a sleeve under his nose, like it might have been bleeding.

"I talked to your mom today. She said she and Tones would be back by next Wednesday, that's got to be good news!"

Peter gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing them." Peter settled into the passenger seat and angled himself towards the window, keeping his head turned away from Natasha as best he could.

Natasha desperately wanted to reach over and yank down Peter's hood, and Natasha did what she wanted, so she did. The teen jumped to put it back up, but Natasha had already seen the blooming bruise under his eye.

"Peter! What happened?"

Peter winced a little. "I had an accident in PE, I just- I wasn't looking and got hit by a basketball. I'm fine."

"That is not an accident, Peter, I know what it looks like to get punched."

"It's nothing."

Natasha let out a sigh and pulled out of the school's parking lot. This, coupled with Clint's recounting of the awkward and suspicious encounter he'd seen yesterday was enough to make Natasha worry. Peter was exactly the kind of person who wouldn't want to worry someone, or who would say it was no big deal if he was being pushed around at school. And while he had super-healing and super-strength, it took a couple hard hits before he bruised like that.

Was it even possible? Who would be stupid enough to pick on Peter, the smartest, most generous kid Natasha knew?

Of course, no one knew that Peter was Tony Stark's son, or that he was Spiderman, but that didn't give every teen poser an excuse to push him around.

Natasha kept an eye on him the entire way home. When they got out of the car and she slammed the door shut, Peter jumped, and that confirmed it. Whatever was going on, it had Peter on edge. She pulled out her phone and shot a text to the only other person she knew who might be able to get some more information. Bucky.

~3~

Peter was starting to worry that maybe his family was starting to suspect something was wrong at school, and that was the last thing he needed to deal with. If they went to his dad, fresh off a long business trip, with some half-baked theory about Peter being bullied, Iron Man would be arrested for child endangerment within a few hours.

When Peter saw Bucky on his bike, waiting to pick the teen up, he was positive they were working on some sort of theory.

"Hey," Peter greeted as he swung over the back of the motorcycle and pulled on a helmet.

"Hey, yourself. How was school?"

Pete shrugged. "It was fine. My eye's feeling a lot better, too."

Bucky hummed. The eye had been a topic of discussion between everyone since last night when Peter came down for dinner with the most obvious layer of Pepper's makeup over the bruise. He wasn't exactly an artist.

"You said that was a PE thing, right?" Bucky prodded gently. He'd been doing some digging in the few minutes he'd been there, waiting for Peter, and spotted some rich kid climbing into the most pretentious looking car Bucky had ever seen. And that was including some of Tony's rides. Just before the kid got in, though, he'd been picking on Ned. Ned was walking to the busses, so Peter wasn't with him, but it made Bucky wonder if maybe, they were both getting picked on by the little punk.

"Yep," Peter said. "We ready to go now?"

"Eh," Bucky said with a shrug of his own. "The parking lot is a little crazy. I'm going to wait a bit if that's okay with you. Don't want any idiot drivers hitting the wheels."

"Alright."

The two watched as families and teens pulled out of the parking lot, squeezing between busses as they went. Bucky spotted the rich kid's car and pointed discretely. "Who's that?"

"Wha-" Peter scanned the parking lot. "Oh. That's Flash."

There was something in the way that Peter said the kid's name that made Bucky's super-spy sixth sense bristle. "What's he like? Kid with money like that, I bet he's a dick."

Peter snorted dryly. "You can say that again. Flash is a major jerk, and he's not even that smart. Not that that has anything to do with a person's worth or anything, but the only reason he's at this school is because his parents paid for the new chem lab."

"So he's a bully?"

Peter went still behind Bucky's back. "Not really. Just a jerk in class."

Bucky hummed and revved the bike. "Let's go."

~4~

Bruce wasn't even sure why he was the one who was nominated to drive the kid today, but he'd really had no choice in the matter. He was waiting in a much more inconspicuous car than Clint and Natasha had suggested he take, but he knew Peter would recognize it.

The 'STARK5' license plate wasn't exactly hard to miss.

Bruce waited for a while, watching as other kids started pouring out of the building, Ned and Peter coming out somewhere in the middle. Ned was holding his hand funny, while Peter fussed over it, and Bruce found himself unbuckling.

He hated crowds, but he'd gladly brave the throngs of high schoolers if Peter needed help.

"Hey, what's going on? What happened?"

Peter immediately drew his hands back from Ned's arm as if he'd been burned. "Nothing, Uncle Bruce. We're alright."

Ned was wearing a pained but well-concealed look, and Bruce narrowed his eyes a little.

"What happened to your hand, Ned?"

"Slammed it in a locker," Ned said, matter-of-factly. "It's just hurting is all."

Bruce held out his own hands gingerly and Ned slowly let the doctor take the injured hand. He hissed in pain as Bruce checked it over. He may not have been a medical doctor, but he knew what a broken finger looked like.

"You broke a finger, kid. Must have taken a lot of force for something like this to happen."

Peter and Ned exchanged looks. "Do you have a splint with you?" Peter asked.

"There might be one in the car. I don't know how extensive your father's first aid kits are. Bruce let Ned hold his hand again, then jogged back over to the car to check the first aid kit. There was some medical tape, and a small metal splint. He grabbed both and hurried back.

"It's not going to be perfect, and you should see a real doctor ASAP, but this will do." Bruce took the hand back and carefully slid the splint on, feeling where the break was. Thankfully, he didn't feel any loose fragments, and it wasn't an open wound, so he was able to gently click the pieces back into place and wrap the splint in tape. Ned smiled at him as soon as he was done.

"Thanks, Dr. Banner. I appreciate the assist. I thought for sure it was going to be worse when Flash-"

Peter cut him off with an elbow to the ribs, and Ned jerked back.

"Ow, man, what the hell!"

"Okay, well I'm sure Bruce has a lot of science to do so we are going to be going now! Bye!"

Peter practically dragged Bruce away and towards the car, Bruce shouting his own rushed good byes at Ned before Ned climbed onto the bus.

"What was that all about?" Bruce asked when he and Peter were in the car. "Did he say that Flash did that? The kid who you told Bucky about?"

Peter shook his head. "No. Nah, no idea what you are talking about."

Bruce leveled him with a glare. "You're a horrible liar."

"It's fine, Bruce. It's fine."

~5~

Rhodey was the last hope. If Peter was being picked on to the point of black eyes and broken fingers, and he wasn't letting it slip, he needed some stern talking-to. Rhodey was his godfather. He was the voice of reason to back Pepper up. The real authority of the Penthouse.

Rhodey decided, in the end, that Bruce had the right approach. Peter wanted to be invisible most days, so Rhodey didn't even bother taking one of Tony's cars - instead, he drove one of his own.

The bell rang loud enough for Rhodey to hear it out in the parking lot, and a steady stream of kids poured out. Rhodey scanned the crowd for his boy, but didn't see him anywhere.

After ten minutes, he got worried, and made his way to the front doors.

There was a dull thudding from down the hall. Rhodey cocked his head to the side, listening intently. It was muffled, but there was definitely someone yelling, and the sound of laughing. Rhodey was running before he even knew he was moving. He ignored the angry shouting of a teacher telling him to sign in at the front office.

The classroom Rhodey burst in on was dark, but he could make out exactly what was going on. Ned was being held back by two other teens, while Peter was on the floor, taking the brunt of Flash's attacked in the stomach and ribs. Flash was mid-kick, frozen as he jumped to look at Rhodey.

"Get out," Rhodey growled, and Flash ran, his two buddied chasing after him.

Peter slowly uncurled on the floor, his breathing returning to something resembling normal as he caught his breath. Ned was leaned up against a table, obviously tired from fighting the two teens who had been holding him. His hand was now in a more stable cast instead of the splint Bruce had used yesterday.

"You alright?" Peter asked after a minute, looking over at Ned.

"Sure, man. I'm not too worried about me, I'm worried about you."

Peter just shrugged. "It'll heal."

"Peter Benjamin Stark." Both teens went still and looked over at Rhodey, who was holding open the door with what could only be described as barely contained rage emanating from his whole being. "Let's go. We need to have a conversation, and call Tony."

~+1~

Peter and Ned waited for Tony to get in the car. After Rhodey had slotted the last piece of the puzzle into place, they'd sat through the entire team's lecture on self-worth and bullying, and then sat through the very awkward call Rhodey made to Tony. Tony, who immediately left his conference and flew home.

And was now about to drive Ned and Peter to school so they could have a conversation with the principal.

"Let's go, boys," Tony said, sliding into the driver seat. That was the only thing anyone said until Midtown came into view.

"Let's go," Tony said again, getting out of the car. Ned and Peter followed him, and all together, the three of them went into the school. The principal was waiting at the front, looking incredibly stressed, no doubt sweating bullets since Tony had called personally to set up a meeting.

After all, no one had really believed that Peter had a personal connection to Tony Stark.

"Good, you're here." Tony walked right by the principal, heading for the main office as if he owned the place. "I can't wait to talk to you."

The principal followed Tony alongside Peter and Ned, all of them looking a little more than nervous. They all settled into the principals office, and Tony clapped his hands.

"So, it's come to my attention that Peter, and Ned, have been the victims of severe bullying and no one has done anything about it." Tony looked at the principal pointedly. "I think I have that straight. So let's move on to what you can do for me now. Now, you can have a serious conversation with your staff about Peter and Ned, and then you can pull that little dick-hole Flash in here, and he's going to be expelled because he sent Ned to the hospital and he's beat up Peter on multiple occasions."

The principal had been going progressively more pale through the entire rant, and by the end of it, he was stark white. He squeaked out what might have been a positive sound of agreement.

Hell, even Ned and Peter looked a little pale themselves.

Tony clapped his hands and stood. "Good, I'm glad we all agree. Now, let's all get going."

Tony was back out in the hall before Peter, Ned, or the principal could move out of their seats. Then Ned was grabbing his bag and rushing down the hall to his English class, and Peter was running after his dad.

"Dad!"

Tony turned back to his son. "Don't you have class."

"I know you are disappointed in me, but I don't-"

"Woah, woah, kiddo." Tony held up his hands. "I'm not disappointed. Why would I be disappointed?"

Peter shrugged. "I should have been able to take care of this stupid situation, and-"

"No, Peter," Tony sighed, putting a hand on his son's shoulder. "I'm not mad or disappointed at you. I'm livid that some shit-stain thought he was going to bully my boy, I am beyond enraged that no one did anything about it, and I am about ready to kill someone with the Ironman thrusters because you deserve so much better. Peter, sweetheart, you deserve so much better and I love you. So I'm not mad, or disappointed, but I am always going to defend you."

Peter sniffed, hiding his eyes that were swimming in tears.

"I love you, too," he whispered. "I have to go to class now."

"Have a good day," Tony said, letting his son go and watching him walk to class. At least someone had done something, and all it took was a few loving family members picking up the clues, and that was everything to Tony.

Peter was everything to Tony.