May 2017 (Part II)
Harley slipped out of the room quietly while Dr. Miller showed the new intern around the lab. He was appreciative of the suggestion on the project but there was still a part of him that was angry that there would be no repercussions for the farms that were polluting the water. And now he would have to share his project with some high school kid.
Friday brought Harley up to the 87th floor without Harley saying anything. He wasn’t expecting to find any of the Avengers on the communal floor at this time of day, but the elevator doors opened to reveal Natasha in the kitchen. Harley smiled at seeing the spy. “Hi Ms. Romanov.”
He had known Natasha for a few years since her and Tony stayed in touch after her stint as his assistant. They weren’t close, but he was working on getting more comfortable with the Avengers as he would be staying in the tower for the summer for his internship.
“I thought I told you to call me Nat.” She barely looked up from the plate in front of her as he slid into one of the high-top chairs. It looked like she was assembling paninis for a late lunch.
Harley tried not to show that she intimidated him. “All part of my Southern charm.” He did his best to imitate a Southern drawl and gave her a smug smile.
She didn’t acknowledge his comment with anything more than a raised brow. “Want a sandwich? I’m making turkey and cheese for Clint and I, but I can check and see what else there is.”
“Yea that sounds great, anything I can do to help?” The red head shook her head and grabbed a few more pieces of bread for Harley. She continued her work in silence and he sat there uncomfortably, unsure whether he should distract himself with his phone or if that would be rude.
Just as Nat took the sandwiches off the panini press and doled them out to three plates, Clint walked in. His hair was damp, and he was dressed in jeans and a plain T-shirt. Harley had only met him a few times as he didn’t spend as much time at the tower as the others.
He didn’t seem to be surprised at seeing Harley. “Hey kid, how’s the internship going?”
He took the chair next to Harley and quietly thanked Nat for lunch.
“Pretty good, I was able to work on my proposal a little more today and so I’ll keep researching and hopefully I’ll have more of a concrete plan by the end of the week.” The internship had only started a week ago and the expectation was that for the month of May all the college interns would work on a proposal and do the background research which would all be presented at the end of the month. “I also got to meet the high school intern.”
Clint seemed amused at that news. “Starks hiring high school kids to do his work now?”
“That doesn’t sound like Tony.” Harley shrugged at Nat’s comment. He knew Clint was just giving Tony a hard time, but he still felt like he was exposing something he wasn’t supposed to. Nat’s uncertainty probably meant that she wasn’t gonna just drop it like Harley wanted to.
“Just one. This kid named Peter, who goes to some genius STEM school in New York. I think his school won some science competition? I don’t know. He seems alright.” To be honest he hadn’t really been paying attention to the kid until he interrupted his and Dr. Miller’s conversation. After that Harley did his best to leave as soon as he could. He only knew about the competition and STEM school because he overheard Dr. Miller and the HR woman talking about it that morning.
“Don’t worry about it, kid. It sounds like a good opportunity for the kid and I’m sure Happy is all over this kid’s security clearance. Although I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt for Nat to check it out.” His tone was light, but Clint’s little look at Nat indicated that he meant it.
Great, now Clint even sounded skeptical.
She didn’t give Clint any indication that she would take his advice. However, Harley had no doubt that Nat would want to learn more. Despite her deceit at the beginning of her relationship with Tony the two had since become close friends and the Black Widow was extremely protective of those around her.
Harley finished his sandwich quickly trying to end the conversation. Clint and Nat were nice but they also tended to set him on edge. He said a quick goodbye and headed back down to the lab to continue his research.
---
Peter used the rest of the weekend to update his suit. He started with the voice modulator. The last thing he needed was his voice being captured in one of those clips on Twitter. Plus, the people he interacted with on the streets were already making comments about how young he sounded. One more ill-timed voice crack would doom him.
Then he worked on adding a black web design to his new red long sleeve and compression pants that would be lighter for the summer months. He chose a deeper red that would hopefully hide blood a little easier than the bright red sweatsuit he had to toss last month.
Peter heard the front door open and he rushed to shove his suit under his bed. Ben had been picking up overtime shifts on the weekend but the timing was more unpredictable than the weekdays.
“Peter?” Ben called out for him, “Pete? You home?”
Peter froze for a second, unused to his uncle calling out to him when he got home. His childhood nickname sounded foreign to him now. “Yeah?” He was already heading to open his bedroom door.
“Dinner’s here.” Peter came out to the kitchen to see that Ben had brought three grocery bags home with him. A first since May had died. Ben was already putting milk in the fridge with his back turned to Peter, whose face still displayed his shock.
Ben seemed normal? It wasn’t the same as when May was here and he would pull Peter into a big hug the moment he got home from work. But this was a version of normal. A version that Peter could live with.
Ben turned around to grab the remaining items out of the bag. A cooked rotisserie chicken, a bag of red grapes, half a dozen eggs, and a jar of pickles. The items were clearly purchased without much thought to a cohesive meal, but it was better than nothing.
Peter’s stomach sank a little when he saw the six pack already unpacked on the counter. But Ben was an adult, why couldn’t he have a beer after work? He tried to forget the version of Ben who, drunk and slurring his words, grabbed Peter’s wrist a couple months ago.
“I got a job. Well, an internship really, but it's paid so basically a job. I start in two weeks.” Peter didn’t know why he was so nervous to tell Ben. Maybe because it was their first conversation in weeks? Or maybe he was afraid to snap Ben out of whatever mood he was in.
“Really bud? That’s great.” Ben gave him a timid smile and a light squeeze of his shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”
Peter’s stomach clenched. The last time he had told Peter that was the night May died. At the time it wasn’t in response to anything, just a declaration of his love. So why didn’t Peter get the same feeling of warmth as he did then?
Ben retreated to the living room, leaving Peter alone in the kitchen.
He never even asked what the job was.