There was smoke in Happy's eyes, about a hundred people in his way, and a rising urge to strangle Peter Parker simmering in his chest.

The building's fire alarms had blared to life ten minutes earlier, a muted boom and an ominous rattle of the windows cutting their expedition to Pepper's office for updated internship paperwork short and sending Happy into overdrive as he rushed to make sure the proper evacuation protocols were in effect. It was a tall order, given the size of the main Stark Industries campus and the sheer volume of people who inhabited it on a daily basis. The annual emergency response drills never failed to give Happy a headache; he was quickly discovering that the real thing was no better. And somewhere amid the shuffle of snapping orders at the security staff and firing off emergency alert texts to Pepper and Tony respectively and verifying that Pepper got herself out safely and hollering at the morons who evidently didn't know how to exit a burning building ("The stairs! Use the stairs, not the elevator!"), the kid—who had been perfectly content to trail along at Happy's elbow the entire rest of the day—had just…vanished.

Happy let out a growl as he stomped outside under a cloud of ash and smoke, waving the stream of panicky employees at his back on towards the safe perimeter of the street beyond. He knew what the kid was up to. He'd bet his life there was a pile of clothes abandoned in some dark corner, left behind when Peter shifted to Spider-Man and flitted off for a closer look at whatever had happened in the lofty reaches of the R&D section.

On the one hand, Happy was glad someone was looking into it. All he had managed to gather so far was that someone with too many PhDs and too little common sense had miscalculated something sciency in the engineering division four floors above Happy's office. That part, at least, was just another Tuesday—lab explosions weren't exactly an unfamiliar scenario at this point in his life, even if they weren't usually on this grand a scale. The finer details of who had done what had been lost in the chaos of hustling everyone he could out of the building, leaving Happy with bigger fish to fry than the process of sussing out who was to blame or how much damage had been done. His only concern for now was clearing the area before anyone got seared or singed or worse, the kid included.

That was the problem on the other hand…Because no matter how many patrol reports Happy listened to, with the kid's accounts of hefting stalled school buses or scaling skyscrapers "for the 'gram" (whatever that meant), no matter how well Happy knew the kid was capable and competent when it counted, there was always the niggling fear that Peter might get in over his head…

Particularly now, when Happy turned back to survey the scene and nearly stumbled over his own dress shoes. The top of the building was a mess of billowing smoke and raining debris, all stemming from the jagged hole carved into its side. A hail of shattered glass pelted the cement a few feet from Happy's shoes, narrowly missing them as he skittered further back into the street. His mouth went dry as he realized that wherever the kid was now, he was headed for that. He'd been a little angry before, frustrated that Peter had taken off headlong with no information on what he was diving into (just as he always did) and left Happy to field the inevitable call from Tony about why his kid was venturing into a burning lab that was probably chock-full of toxic hazards or killer robots or whatever the hell those geniuses had dabbled in this week. But this…this was worse than he'd expected. It sent a wave of worry roaring in to overwhelm his aggravation.

Happy glanced down to fish in his pockets for his phone. Perhaps he could still get a phone call through, maybe even call the kid off before he reached the worst of it. If he was lucky, then—The shriek of tearing metal echoed from somewhere above, punctuated by an ominous crack that yanked Happy from his thoughts. The harsh noon sunlight around him disappeared abruptly, blocked by an ominous shadow that widened across the asphalt underfoot with frightening speed. Happy tensed without even taking the time to look up. Nothing that fell that fast could be good, and he wasn't as quick as he used to be. He threw himself aside despite the premonition that he wasn't going to be fast enough to outrun it, the sinking feeling in his stomach prompting him to brace himself for a blow that…never came?

"Hey, Happy!" Peter—Spider-Man—was dangling overhead by a delicate strand of webbing wrapped around one fist, a chunk of steel girder snapped from the building's frame tucked under one arm as if it was no heavier than a textbook. "You okay, man?"

"Spider-Man," Happy panted back, a shocked sort of relief washing over him at the sight of the familiar red and blue. Relief because Peter had just kept Happy from getting squished like a bug and he had eyes on the kid's location now, and shock because there was something so utterly jarring about seeing the kid he all but babysat on a regular basis carry hundreds of pounds as if it was nothing.

"Everybody okay out here?" Peter leapt sideways to plop the girder down on a clear patch of ground with a thud that rattled the windows again. Happy shot him a look as he tottered to his feet—relieved or not, there had to be a gentler way to do that—and Peter shrugged in response from his momentary perch atop a parked delivery truck. "Sorry, but it was heavy!"

"We're good—are you good?" Happy couldn't pick out any obvious damage to the suit or to the kid from this distance, so he'd take that as a good sign.

Peter flapped a dismissive hand, muscles already bunching to launch him back up into the fray. "Yeah, I'm great. It's all good, but I really gotta get back up there. Can you just like…stay out of the way? Please? Mmkaythanksbye!"

"No, wait, Pe—I mean Spider—" Peter was gone before Happy could sputter at him over the indignity of a teenybopper telling the head of security to stay out of the way, but he wasn't entirely sure he would have anyway. Peter's request had come rushing out more like a plea than an order, which suggested that it had more to do with Peter hoping he wouldn't have to peel Happy off the asphalt the next time he saw him than any illusions of authority on his part. Happy could understand that since he was being gripped by a similar panic.

He found himself cringing inwardly as he watched Peter jump back into securing the scene. In theory, he had known the kid was impressive. Had to be if he could wrangle crashing planes and dodge bullets on a daily basis. But knowing a thing and seeing it up close were two very different animals. Happy didn't have time for YouTube, where so many clips of the kid ended up, and he didn't pull up the Baby Monitor footage unless he needed something specific ("You did leave the lab door open! What'd I tell you about that?"), so there were limited opportunities to witness Peter in action. Watching him soar overhead, spinning and flipping and sprinting along vertical surfaces with nothing but his unitard-clad feet was...new.

New and strange, since there were times Happy genuinely forgot the kid wasn't normal. After all, Peter spent most of his time in Happy's backseat griping about how pointless his English homework was or gasping over Star Wars trailers he had missed during the school day. He ate as if all the pizza in New York would evaporate if he didn't wolf it down in one sitting and grumbled incessantly about the (rather lenient, in Happy's opinion) curfew that May and Tony had agreed upon. It was the same kind of teenage crap Happy remembered doing, the same crap everyone did, regardless of whether or not they were radioactive. All of it made it that much easier to let the fact that the same kid who snored into his seatbelt when he was out too late was also a genetic marvel just...slip Happy's mind occasionally.

Easier, at least, when said kid wasn't pulling gymnastic stunts twenty feet over Happy's head.

Peter flung himself into empty air to head off a bit of flaming masonry, arcing gracefully over a twenty-foot drop. Every move was smooth, confident, as if he'd been born soaring along the skyline like that. It was impressive, sure, but—much like Tony's careless blast-offs in untested suits—it was no good for Happy's blood pressure. He could feel his pulse stuttering in his chest as he jogged along the street, policing the perimeter and keeping an eye out for the incoming first responders. Peter was doing well, if the sheer volume of webs spattered over the area was any indication. Webs holding up bits of broken architecture, webs netting together salvaged tech, webs lowering rescued civilians to the ground—the kid was thorough, Happy would give him that. His brow creased as he wondered if Peter had packed enough spare web fluid cartridges. He had had a tendency to skimp on those in the beginning, leading to the occasional sheepish call for a ride home from Brooklyn or Midtown when he swung too far for his remaining webs to carry him home. There didn't seem to be any shortage now, when it really counted, but that didn't ease the pang of unease in Happy's gut as Pepper materialized out of the crowd, heels crunching in the gritty rubble as she headed his direction.

Happy would always worry—there was no stopping that, it was a bad habit honed over years of watching after another self-sacrificing idiot—but…perhaps it wasn't the same sort of intense, guilty worry it once might have been. Peter was a kid, but he was no longer an amateur. With nearly two years of webslinging under his belt, he knew how to handle himself…Probably. Happy watched the kid land neatly back on the sidewalk in an action-ready crouch and felt that knot of concern in his stomach loosen.

Not that long ago, the very idea of watching Spider-Man swing into an emergency Happy was even remotely responsible for handling would've driven his blood pressure through the roof no matter how well the kid seemed to be doing, convinced as he was that Peter was just another potential casualty he had to account for. Peter had been and—in some ways—still was his responsibility. His responsibility to keep tabs on, to keep in touch with, and to keep out of trouble. To keep safe. And yet here he was now, having fully trusted the kid to keep that hunk of steel from grinding him into the pavement a few minutes earlier and finding himself…reassured to see Peter stepping in to lend a hand. He wasn't sure where along the line the parameters had shifted. Whether the change had actually been in Peter's capability or just in Happy's own ability to see it. Granted, he might have to remind himself to keep seeing it once this was over and Spider-Man was swapped back out for Peter Parker, but either way, it wasn't a bad change.

As if he knew he was being watched, Peter paused in wrestling a downed lamp-post away from the building's side exit, holding it up to clear a path for a broader wave of evacuees. The mask's lenses crinkled in what was to an expert like Happy clearly a grin. Peter snapped one hand up in a jaunty wave, a clear I've got this if ever Happy had seen one. Happy couldn't the help the brief, faint half-smile that flickered in return. The kid was contagious that way.

"Be careful!" Happy barked before he turned back to Pepper, tacking on a hasty, "Don't do anything stupid!" as an afterthought.

To anyone else, the words would've been lost in the babble of the crowd, but he was sure Peter would catch it. Of course, the odds on whether or not he would pay attention were pretty low, but at least Happy had gotten the words out.

"Is he good?" Pepper craned around him for a better view as Happy pivoted to flag down the firetrucks rolling up the drive. Her phone was out, fingers hovering over the screen to send out a more urgent distress call to Tony if needed.

"Yeah," Happy didn't look back. And if there was a hint—only a hint, he'd admit to nothing more—of pride beating out the panic that had swelled in his chest ten minutes earlier, well…the kid had earned it. "He's got it."

AN: Well, folks, that's a wrap on "Friendly Neighborhood Intern!" (At least for now, as I've run through the original prompt list I started from.) Thank you all so, so much for your kind comments and just for reading my nonsense in the first place! I appreciate you guys more than I can say!

Feel free to come say hi or to mention any thoughts/prompts/ideas you have at friendlyneighborhoodsecretary on Tumblr!