“I want a leg.”
Tony did exactly what he said he would. He called Pepper and they all sat down over a meal the very next night to discuss Harry going back to Midtown to finish the school year.
Harry tried to not be nervous-
Tony was his dad. Pepper was his… his Pepper.
It didn’t have to be an argument, it could be a normal conversation.
Pepper started it off, her face kind and her voice non-judgmental.
“Harry, your grades have really improved, but… you were struggling at Midtown.”
“I know,” Harry agreed. “I- don’t be mad, okay? But I wasn’t really trying much. Paris makes me try and it’s easier when Dad explains things, but now I have the basics down, so it might be easier… to try.”
“If it’s easier here though, why not stay here?” Tony asked. Harry hated the hopeful look in his eyes, the one that said he seemed to want to keep Harry around more often.
A novelty, really.
“I… I liked going to school,” Harry said, trying to explain without hurting anyone’s feelings. “I have friends there and- and sometimes I feel a little trapped here.”
Stifled.
Like Harry’s life ended when he lost his leg and the Tower was his grave.
“You feel trapped here?” Tony repeated. He looked like Harry did manage to hurt his feelings until Pepper reached over and put her hand on top of his and shook her head.
“Tony, he’s a fifteen year old boy,” she said gently. “He needs more than one environment to be satisfied.”
Harry nodded in agreement even though he wasn’t exactly sure what Pepper was saying.
“What about therapy and tutoring and—”
“Those can be arranged for after school,” Pepper cut Tony off. “Stephen can rearrange his schedule and with Harry only doing weekly physical therapy and bi-weekly sessions with Morris, there’s no reason that can’t be done after school.”
“So we’re really doing this?” Tony asked Pepper, raising his voice just enough to have Harry snap his own mouth shut. “What if something happens?”
“Tony, nothing is going to—”
“That’s what everyone always says until a normal day ends in a kidnapping or a murder or—”
“Your best mate hanging himself?” Harry added flatly. He stared blankly at the tabletop, thinking how Tony was right.
All of Harry’s worst days started completely normal - aside from the Third Task, which was a mad day from start to finish. Hell, Taylor killed himself on Christmas.
A person could wake up and do something as normal as going to school and still have a catastrophe happen.
Pepper gave Tony a severe look that Harry missed as his own thoughts began spiraling downward.
“I mean, yeah, but no,” Tony said. He tapped Harry’s hand, causing Harry to shake his head and blink at him.
“Look, kid, all I’m saying is that you’re safe here,” Tony said, his expression open and begging. “I- I can’t protect you at Midtown.”
Harry bit his lip and thought it over for a moment. He was grateful that they were giving him time to think, not pressing him for an immediate answer. It didn’t sound like Tony didn’t want Harry to go to Midtown just because, it was because he was worried for Harry.
Another novelty.
“I can’t just stay here forever though,” Harry said slowly. “And if I’m going to go anywhere, I think high school is a pretty safe bet.”
“You came home injured before!” Tony cried.
Harry grinned a little, fairly certain that Tony was merely grasping at straws.
“Peter probably won’t do that again,” Harry laughed. “I started it anyway.”
Pepper was relaxed in her seat and smiled warmly at Harry while Tony was running a hand through his hair, not even a little at ease.
“We’re a three person family,” Pepper said brightly. “Let’s put it to a vote- all in favor of Harry going back to Midtown?”
Harry and Pepper both raised their hands and Tony huffed and threw his hands in the air.
“Is this what marriage is going to be like?” he demanded of Pepper. “You and my own son outvoting me when I have legitimate concerns?”
“Yes,” Harry and Pepper said simultaneously. Tony finally cracked and grinned at them, though he tried to look angry.
“Fine, fine, don’t be surprised when I start making a tiny army of Mini-Stark’s to vote on my side,” Tony said. “Harry, you’ve always wanted a bunch of siblings, right?”
Harry felt a twist in his stomach, not an unpleasant twist, but… unexpected. Harry didn’t even… he knew that Tony and Pepper would get married one day. And that was fine, because Harry liked Pepper- loved her probably -and it would be nice to all live together and be like a real family.
But Harry never pictured siblings before… and now that he was… now that he was picturing a little brother with dark hair like his or a sister with Pepper’s strawberry blonde hair…
Harry liked it.
Harry liked it a lot.
“Yeah,” Harry said thoughtfully. “Yeah, I’ve always wanted a bunch of siblings.”
Harry called Peter while he took Joey outside and had Tripod on his lap, snuggled inside his hoodie pocket.
“Hey, Bright Eyes!” Peter was yelling and not answering his video call, only audio, and Harry frowned immediately.
“What are you doing?” Harry asked him.
“Me? Huh? Noth— hey, don’t try to stab me! I’m talking to my boyfriend!”
Harry felt the beginning of a headache building behind his eyes when he listened to what seemed like a fight happening.
“I hate you, you know that, right?” Harry asked Peter idly. He heard someone yelp, not Peter, and then heard Peter laugh.
“Nah, you said you loveeeee me,” he sang in the phone. “Give me one second to finish up and I’m all yours.”
Harry sighed and scratched Tripod’s neck while he waited for Peter to ‘finish up’. They’d had a bit of a spat when Harry realized he was still Spider-Blokeing and it hadn’t been pretty.
“YOU’RE GOING TO RISK YOUR LIFE FOR PEOPLE THAT DONT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU?!”
“So would you if you could do this!”
“I CAN DO A LOT MORE THAN SHOOT WEBS FROM MY BLOODY WRISTS, PETER!”
Harry, in a true first for himself, apologized first. And then, less surprisingly, snapped off in anger when Peter wouldn’t see the point he was trying to make.
“I just… I don’t… what if you get hurt?”
“I heal like really quickly. I’m practically invincible.”
“Yeah? That’s good to know. I used to have a friend who thought he was invincible too, two of them actually. Maybe when you get killed trying to stop some bullshit robbery then you can tell Anderson and Cedric that I say hi, huh?”
They ended in a truce—
Harry would never like it because of Cedric.
Peter would never quit because of his uncle.
They ‘compromised’, thanks to Tony.
Peter would patrol whenever he felt like it, but he wore an upgraded suit that Tony made for him. Harry watched as Tony did everything from shoot bullets at the suit to stab a knife in it- he even let Harry try to catch it on fire with a neat blowtorch. The suit didn’t so much as smolder or rip the whole time they tested it.
Plus it was connected to Sirius’ phone so if Peter found anything more serious than a carjacking or mugging then Sirius and the others could jump in to help.
And, if Harry got anxious enough, Harry would simply open a portal and summon Peter through it.
It wasn’t a perfect system, but it worked for them.
Harry waited as patiently as he was able for Peter to finish up so he could share his news. When his phone beeped and he looked at the screen and saw Peter was trying to connect via video, Harry knew he was done.
“Hi,” Peter grinned. He had his mask off and his hair was sticking to his sweaty face in a way that shouldn’t cause Harry’s own face to feel warm.
“Hi,” Harry said back. “How was… whatever that was?”
“Oh, fine,” Peter said nonchalantly. “Some douche bags were trying to break in the bodega on 121st, you know the one with the slushees you like? Anyway, they’re tied up and Gwen’s dad‘s problem now.”
Harry did laugh then. Gwen was shitty as could be when she found out that Peter was Spiderman and Harry was a wizard like Sirius. She didn’t mind being let in on the secrets, she was only angry that she couldn’t write any reports on them.
Gwen said she’d never speak to them again, but she came over the night after Anderson’s funeral anyway.
“Good,” Harry said. “Speaking of Gwen…” Harry paused for a dramatic moment, channeling his inner Sirius…
“Dad said I can come back to school.”
“WHAT?!” Peter stared for a moment before his face spread in a wide smile. “Seriously? That’s- that’s- fuck yes!”
Harry laughed when Peter nearly dropped his phone and pumped a fist in the air.
“You’re sure?” Peter asked after he finished his daft celebration dance. “You’re- you’re good?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
And Harry was, mostly.
His leg didn’t hurt so much anymore; even if his arms were sore as he refused to use the wheelchair most days.
Every day Harry took his medicine like clockwork and Strange finally cleared him to end the antibiotics, so Harry only had two daily pills. The Dreamless Sleep sat untouched, Harry didn’t need it.
He slept at night; even if he woke in panic sometimes, picturing Anderson’s body swinging above his head.
Harry went to the VA every weekend; he didn’t talk much, but the others kept him included anyway.
And now he’d be going back to school, back with his friends that kept messaging him on some app that Gwen put on his phone.
Brittany said she missed him. Flash offered to ‘hit the gym’ together. Shani asked if Harry’s red headed friend could transfer to Midtown.
Sirius was dating Strange, Tony and Pepper were planning a wedding for the summer.
Everyone seemed happy.
So Harry was good. He was.
****
Harry’s first day back at Midtown had been exhausting.
Thanks to his pride and Anderson’s final taunt, Harry didn’t take his wheelchair and insisted to Tony that he would be fine on the forearm crutches all day.
Which would have been fine, except Harry forgot how bloody large the school was and how much walking he had to do in seven minutes for passing periods. It helped that his friends insisted on carrying his books, preventing Harry from lugging around a heavy bag all day, but it typically resulted in whoever carried his stuff to be late as well.
Not that any of them got so much as a stern word, oh, no. The teachers were all disgustingly sympathetic and understanding when Harry arrived two or three minutes late to class, clanking away as his crutches tapped the ground.
Harry would have preferred detention over the big sad eyes the teachers kept giving him.
Tony texted Harry at lunch, just like he used to, and Harry rolled his eyes at the message.
Ready to come home yet?
At 3:10, yeah.
Tony sent back a broken heart and Harry was relatively sure that he was only joking.
“Do you regret everything?” Gwen asked when she slid in a seat across from Harry and Peter. Harry wanted to go outside to eat, but it was freezing out and the cafeteria was closer to his next class.
“Always,” Harry said seriously. “It’s not terrible,” he amended himself. “It’s just… bloody hell, it’s a lot of hopping.”
Peter laughed at Harry’s jest and passed him some of the chips off his tray.
“You could get a leg and just walk again,” Gwen pointed out. “Then you wouldn’t have to hop.”
Harry shrugged, uncomfortable with the topic of a fake leg. It was… it wasn’t terrible. Harry knew a lot of shit people with fake limbs, but… but he knew nearly a dozen people with new prosthetics that all encouraged him to let Tony fit him for one as well.
And… Harry absently reached up and toyed with Anderson’s military necklace he wore… it was important enough to Anderson that even when he had to be in unimaginable pain, he still insisted Harry get a prosthetic.
“Maybe, yeah,” Harry agreed quietly. He changed the subject quickly before his mind could linger on Anderson’s note for too long. “Oi, I’m supposed to make a creative video for history? Any ideas?”
The rest of the day passed by slowly and Harry’s mind was a million miles from high school.
There seemed to be two voices in his head arguing about prosthetics. One was definitely Harry’s voice, thank God because otherwise he’d be concerned, and the other sounded suspiciously like Anderson.
It’ll hurt. Everyone at the VA said they pinch and leave bruises.
And then Tony adjusted them until they were comfortable.
It’s a waste of money. Tony already rebuilt his entire flat to fit my wheelchair, do I really want to say ‘never mind, I’ll take a leg now, please’?
He won’t care. He’s designing a car that you can drive with one leg. Wouldn’t it be better to get it now before he wasted more money on that?
Harry’s mental debate lasted through his afternoon classes. Since he was ‘excused’ from running sprints during gym, Harry tried to pinpoint his biggest worry with the fake leg that period.
It won’t feel real, he realized. It’ll be a heavy and awkward reminder of… of all of it.
Harry didn’t want to remember worrying that Peter had died or that he himself was going to die. Harry didn’t want to think about the conversations he hallucinated when he couldn’t bear to be in his own head anymore.
It’s not like you don’t already remember that though, one of the voices in Harry’s head said rationally. Plus… Anderson said to do it.
Anderson said a lot of things, Harry thought despondently.
Like ‘I’ll see you this weekend’.
“Rough day?” Happy asked when school finally ended and Harry could collapse in the car.
“Rough life,” Harry said flatly. He shifted the crutches around so he could throw them in the backseat, thoroughly sick of them.
Happy hummed thoughtfully as he began driving back to the Tower.
“Stupid kids or stupid crutches?” he asked.
“Crutches,” Harry said. “Everyone at school already knew, that wasn’t bad.”
Though Harry’s math teacher did sniffle at him and say he was a ‘brave boy’. Which was mad. It wasn’t brave to get a leg cut off, it was just stupid.
It was stupid to jump from a car, even if it seemed like a good idea at the time.
“If you’d let your dad give you the leg he built then you wouldn’t need crutches.”
Harry whipped his head to the side to gape at Happy for a moment.
“He built one?” Harry asked, shocked. “How do you know?”
“Because he’s Tony Stark,” Happy snorted. “He probably had it designed when you were having the surgery. Tony’s a fixer, kid. He sees a problem and it’s like his fingers itch until he finds a way to fix it.”
That… that made sense.
Harry told Tony that he couldn’t fly anymore and two hours later Tony had an entire broomstick designed for Harry to use. Harry couldn’t shower and Tony redesigned Harry’s bathroom.
Harry didn’t think he needed a family and Tony gave him one anyway.
Happy stayed quiet for the rest of the drive and let Harry mull it all over.
He was being stupid, again. It was stupid to worry about having to learn to walk again, when Harry could walk again. It was stupid to worry about Tony wasting money on Harry when Tony probably did already design a leg for Harry.
It was stupid to not take Anderson’s letter to heart when it was probably some of the last words that Anderson wrote.
Harry went straight to Tony’s office when he got home.
“Hey,” Tony smiled at Harry from behind his desk. “How was school? You can always quit, you know. There’s no shame in—”
“I think I want a leg,” Harry blurted out. He didn’t mean to cut Tony off, but if he didn’t say it then he wouldn’t say it. Tony’s mouth snapped closed and he blinked at Harry for a moment, causing Harry to feel incredibly self-conscious.
Harry was about to say never mind and change the subject, talk about the video he was going to make that weekend with Peter and Gwen for history, but then Tony smiled wide right at him.
“And here I thought I missed your first steps,” he said brightly. “Come on, favorite son of mine, let’s fit you for a leg.”