Chapter 2
“Let me get this straight. When you were 16, some guy outed your identity to the world, so you tried to make it go away using magic which essentially caused the apocalypse, and then to fix the issue had to use some magic that eradicated you from existence.”
“Pretty much, minus the details of the who, what, where, when etc.” And minus the whole alternate universe versions of himself turning up, but he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to expose that to a random person.
“Yeah okay, I can see why you’d worry about being called insane.” He laughs, as he’s been doing a lot that night in pure shock. “God, that sucks so bad, your life sucks. You know what you aren’t allowed to be alone anymore, I’m attaching myself to you.” Peter chuckles. It feels like a weight has been lifted from his chest.
“Yep, life sucks. I essentially don’t exist outside of Spider-man. I have wondered if there are any exceptions, like I know Mr Stark protects his equipment from magic to spite Dr Strange, so I wonder if FRIDAY still has records of me buried in her software...” He only registers that he’s rambling when Harley trips over his own feet and he instinctively catches him. He places him upright.
“You know Tony?!” Fuck, he’d slipped up on that one.
“Um no, different Mr Stark, 100%.”
“Spider-man you are a terrible liar! Holy shit, I’ll call him he should be able to help.” Peter grabs the excited blonde’s wrist.
“Hold on! 1. I am not a terrible liar and 2. what do you mean you’ll call him? Why would you have Tony Stark’s phone number?” Harley cackles and grabs his phone from the table.
“Have his number? Spidey I have access to the man’s lab.” He starts frantically scrolling on his phone but Peter whips it out of his hand before he can get to his contacts.
“Stop! I can’t risk it. Apocalypse remember?” The brunette is terrified, and it must show in his body language because Harley’s excited attitude quickly drops.
“Sorry, I didn’t think. I just want to help.” He sighs, flopping back on to the sofa. Peter exhales and drops next to him.
“No, it’s okay, I get it. I just don’t want anybody else to get hurt because of me. Especially Mr Stark, he has to focus on Morgan.” Harley’s lips twitch upward.
“You met Morgan?” Peter nods.
“Yeah, after the blip, while he was still in a coma. She kept calling me her big brother and going on about how she was so excited to finally meet me.” His head drops into his hands as he finds himself holding back tears again.
“I take it you we re blipped then? And I'm assuming you were really close with Tony?” Peter weakly shrugs in response.
“Yeah. And I guess so? He was kind of the closest thing I had to a dad.” He pauses then looks at the blonde. “Seriously though, how do you know him?” Harley snickers.
“He broke into my garage actually.” Seemingly not needing anymore explanation, the brunette gasps and points at him.
“Holy shit! You’re the potato gun kid!” The older of the two groans.
“I told him to stop calling me that.” They both laugh lightly before it tapers off. “So, if he told you about me, do you think I knew who you were at some point?”
“Probably, he really wanted us to meet, thought we’d get along well.” Harley stares off into space, considering something.
“Do you think you could tell me some things he might have told me about? We could see if you’re able to jog people’s memories into remembering you, without facing danger. I mean, surely, me remembering some random fact about you isn’t going to bring back the apocalypse? And I'm a willing participant.”
The masked hero considers it, debating every possible outcome, and he’s smart enough to realize that this doesn’t have many risks. He sits up.
“Okay, fine. But I’m being cautious about this.” Harley is immediately beaming.
“Great! Let’s start with something small. What’s something he would always tell others about you? Perhaps how he introduced you to people? Like, I’m presuming you met the Avengers.”
“Yeah, definitely met them.” He snorts. “Let me think, uh, well there was like different introductions. I was his intern, but I was also ‘underoos’.” Harley hums.
“Not ringing a bell yet, got anything else for me?” Peter digs deep into his brain. What’s something Mr Stark would have told Harley about him specifically? He snorts as a thought crosses his mind.
“What? What's funny?” The blonde questions.
“Oh, nothing just- I was thinking about what he might say to you specifically, and I feel like it would be something along the lines of ‘you two can’t meet, you’ll blow the world up or you’ll ditch him and rule the world with his girlfriend’. I remember he said something similar to Shuri.” The idea of Mr Stark talking about him warms his body, making it difficult to stop smiling.
“Girlfriend? Wait no I’m getting side-tracked, I feel like there’s something I remember there but I can’t quite piece things together damn.” He trails off, squinting as if he’s trying to focus hard on remembering a specific conversation.
“I really need to stop dropping details like that.” Peter chastises himself. “Uh, he probably said something particularly absurd, in Tony Stark fashion. Something like ‘you’d definitely be the kid’s type if he weren’t straight, actually is he straight? I’ve never asked him. I’ll have to do that, so I can avoid introducing you for other reasons.’” Harley laughs at the impression of Tony as a smirk settles on his face.
“I’m your type?” The brunette flusters and flaps his hands about pointlessly.
“I didn’t say that! I’m saying that’s something he would’ve said.” The older boy’s smirk deepens and his eyes glint teasingly.
“Sure darlin’, whatever you say.” Peter wills himself not to blush. “On a different note, I think I remember that conversation happening.”
Peter’s head spins so fast he almost gives himself whiplash. “Really?”
“Yeah. He’d come to visit and was going on about how I’d be a perfect match for someone, and he was thankful they were straight so I couldn’t taint them.” That was one way to confirm the suspicions that he isn’t straight.
“Wait so, you remember me?” His skin feels electric, a buzz of hope he hadn't felt in a long time settling in his bones.
“I guess so, and there’s no apocalypse.” It feels too good to be true. Part of him feels like it shouldn’t be this easy, the other is too busy screaming at him for spending so long alone when he could’ve been happy.
Didn’t I?
When he saw his friends heading off for college, he knew then that they deserved that. They didn’t need to be worried for his life, they needed to be focused on their futures. It sucked, but he decided that already, he can’t change his mind now. But... maybe he could get some other people back, people whose lives were in danger anyway. He did miss the Avengers’ chaos.
“What now though?” He asks to nobody in particular; he doesn’t expect Harley to have any solutions. It’s insane how well they have immediately clicked, but that doesn’t mean the blonde is going to be his saviour.
“Didn’t you mention something about FRIDAY? Do you really think there’s a chance she remembers you?” Peter tilts his head.
“Yeah, but what’s that matter? I can’t just waltz into Stark Industries and start speaking to an AI.” There’s a moment where things feel hopeless, and then Harley clicks his fingers as he has a realization.
“How much do you want to bet the old man hooked FRI up this place in some way?” The brunette’s eyes light up in understanding. Suddenly, he’s thankful that Mr Stark is this guy’s boss.
“Of course! He wouldn’t leave you unprotected, and he doesn’t trust leaving AIs unsupervised without extensive testing, so it would’ve had to be one he trusts.” He adds, standing to start investigating the room for any signs of artificial intelligence.
“Exactly, I don’t think there’s any other AI he’d trust to protect the people he cares about.” Harley agrees, joining him in scanning the room.
“He trusted Karen with me-” He stops abruptly, wondering if that was possible.
“What? What's wrong?”
“It’s possible.” Peter carries on searching with a new determination, shocking the other boy when he manages to hear the electricity in the walls signalling an AI presence. He ignores Harley’s mutters about super hearing and sets to theorizing.
“Okay, so the system is probably lying dormant in case of an emergency, or until he gives in and gives you access to the assistant features. So maybe we just fake an emergency?” The older boy’s eyes widen.
“Yeah, or we could try to access it some other, less dangerous way first? You know, I’m not superhuman and I feel like you’d try to burn my apartment down or something without considering that.” He looks at the ceiling, not paying attention to the offended stance of the masked boy. His gaze falls to the section of the wall his companion heard the source of the system. He shrugs to himself before decisively knocking on the wall.
Peter is about to comment on how stupid of an idea that was, when suddenly there is a ding from an invisible speaker.
“Initiating ‘Potato with a brain’ protocol.” A voice Peter recognises well rumbles. He feels his body go weak at the sound of his old AI. Harley must detect the change in his mood as he smiles reassuringly and places a comforting hand on his shoulder.
The TV switches on and a video begins to play. It shows Tony Stark sat at his workstation, alive and well, a way Peter had never expected to see him again besides on the news.
“So, you have a brain after all Keener. I knew it would come in one day. I know you said not to show off with your place too much, but you should realize by now that I will never listen. Now, seeing as you managed to notice the AIs presence, I’ll let you make the most of it. Honestly, I’m not quite sure where this came from, but it had all the records of being tested and safe for use, so I trust it. I probably did it in the party days while drunk honestly, so apologies if it is constantly asking you if you want a drink or something. Feel free to name it whatever you want, preferably female so the poor girl doesn’t feel misgendered. Take care and all that rubbish, blah blah blah.” And the video cuts out.
Peter feels like he could burst into tears.
“Karen?” He calls out, weakly. Harley stays silent beside him.
“Is that what you wish to call me sir?” She responds, and the brunette has to bite back a sob.
“No, Karen. That’s already your name. Can you check your databases?” There’s a moment of silence as the AI presumably looks back in her files.
“You are correct, it appears that was once my name. How did you know that? Additionally, who are you? I can see you are not a threat because Mr Keener is not frightened, but I do not seem to have any data of you.” Harley’s heart breaks for his new friend, this must hurt so bad.
“I know that because I named you. I’m Spider-man, do you remember anything about me?” The silence comes back as she presumably looks into her data once again.
“I don’t understand. I know everything about you, from your blood type to your favourite Star Wars movie but did not remember such. Why is that?” Peter’s knees give in from the relief and Harley barely manages to catch him to stop him from hitting the floor. Karen’s voice is almost motherly as it calls out again, seemingly having regained all past knowledge in an instant thanks to her database.
“Peter! You are extremely malnourished and bruised, why have you not been taking care of yourself? You know your aunt and Tony will be furious if you overwork yourself. It also looks like you’ve aged, how long has it been?” The masked boy barely even registers the fact she said his name, too focused on the fact he’s going to have to update the AI on the fact May is dead and Tony doesn’t remember him.
“Want me to pretend I didn’t hear your name? Because it totally just brought back several memories much more clearly for me.” Harley asks gently, keeping the younger boy upright. Peter pales.
“Shit, um, no it’s fine, just don’t go around telling anyone you know?” The blonde raises an eyebrow as if to say, ‘come on, I clearly know that already’.
It takes a short amount of time for him to catch Karen up on the situation, and she is immediately mother-henning him.
“Where have you been staying, Peter? It is clear you haven’t been eating well, my scans are even showing a lot of issues which you should have checked out by a doctor.” The boy in questions grimaces.
“Uh yeah, about that...” Even Harley perks up at this, clearly not overjoyed by the tone to Peter’s voice.
“Peter Parker, explain yourself right this second or I am calling Tony no matter what you say.” The blonde gasps sharply.
“Peter Parker... Holy shit, I remember everything I knew about you.” The brunette turns to the southern boy. Mind blanking at the use of his full name. Eventually he manages to form words.
“Did you ever see a picture of me?” At the shake of the blonde’s head, the vigilante swiftly removes the mask that was hiding the last bit of his identity. He doesn’t fail to notice the slight pink tinge to the older boy’s ears, or the way his heart race increases slightly. At least I don’t look a complete mess, thanks to that shower earlier.
In fact, that’s probably the part that has Harley relatively flustered. Enough time has passed since he showered for his hair to just be slightly damp to the point of curls, his skin flush from the warmth in the apartment and his eyes probably shining from all of the emotions in the air.
“Well, now you know what I look like. Congratulations.”
“Fucking puppy incarnate.” He mutters and Peter giggles to himself. Then he remembers Karen’s prying and has to steel himself.
“Okay so, don’t kill me mama-bot,” he takes a steadying breathe in, “but I may have been homeless for two years.”
The tension is thick as he waits for any kind of response, keeping his eyes closed to avoid what is presumably a disgusted look on Harley’s face. He doesn’t want pity, or god forbid actual disgust, he can’t take it right now, not from the one human he has that knows his name. The response comes in the form of the southern boy’s arms wrapping around him delicately, making his cheeks tint with a blush of their own. He'd missed hugs, wow.
“You live here now.” Peter’s heart stops.
“I’m sorry, I what?” He remarks in pure disbelief. Harley meets his eyes confidently.
“You. Live. Here. Now. Do I have to put it in writing?” The brunette does his best fish impression as his AI whirs to life.
“I will happily put that in writing for you Harley, would you like me to print it out right now?” The blonde laughs heartily at the joking nature of the AI.
“That’s alright Karen, I think he gets the picture now.” Peter pulls away from the warm arms around him.
“You don’t have to do this you know? I’ve survived this long, I’ll be fine.” He protests but is quickly cut off by Karen’s somehow furious tone.
“Not happening. We are fixing this whole mess starting from now. I was programmed to take care of you and that is exactly what I’m going to do. Don’t make me threaten you with embarrassing footage.” The young hero blanches and waves her off.
“Okay, fine. You win. I just don’t know where we’d even begin.” Harley slides an arm around his slim shoulders.
“We begin with getting you settled of course. I think it would be best if we get you adjusted to the idea of being remembered first, instead of just inviting the entire world over to throw you to the sharks.” Peter smiles thankfully. “Tonight, we’ll just relax and catch up on some better, happier memories. If you want to talk about any harder things, you are welcome to. Then I’m going to make sure you get to sleep soundly.”
The idea of being cared for so genuinely has Peter feeling like he’d gone back in time. “And then tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow, we’ll go shopping with the card Tony gave me, and decorate this place to make it feel less like a magazine page. And Karen, could you please start researching the best way to go about improving Peter’s health while considering his metabolism.”
“Certainly, Harley. I’m also proposing a heroics ban for the foreseeable, until we approve your health conditions.” Peter feels himself begin to argue but he suddenly becomes aware of just how tired and sore he is, like his adrenaline has finally warn of.
“Perfect! Now, for light-hearted conversation, such as; please tell me more about how I’m your type.” The brunette groans and pushes the other boy away jokingly, causing Harley to laugh beautifully.
“Shut up. Like I said it was just an example. Plus, my heart belongs to MJ, not some random biker.” He responds lightly. Harley nods along.
“Of course, I’m only kidding. Want to tell me about her?”
Tell him about her he did. He told Harley every detail about her, from the way her hair fell around her face, to the way she would tap her hands against the desk when she was holding back from calling an authority figure stupid. He truly misses her, and Ned. Damn, he might even miss Flash, and that’s saying something. His new friend smiled and listened inventively into the early hours of the morning, when Peter began to feel his eyes drooping.
“Perhaps it’s time to try and sleep.” Harley insists, and Peter puts up no fight. He simply nods and stands with his new roommate, heading down the hall to their rooms.