Request by L120250140 (Wattpad)
Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel.
3rd Person P.O.V.
"Kid, you'll be ok for a few days without me, right?" Peter crossed his arms, turning away.
"Why can't I come with you? I don't want to be alone..."
"You still have school. Plus, this is personal business. I don't know if my friend would want me bringing someone else along, so you would probably just be alone in a hotel room," Tony pointed out. "Trust me, it's better to just stay home." Peter sighed, wrinkling his nose. Everyone in the tower was on vacation... except him. His school had decided to change the week of spring break, which meant that he wasn't able to go along with the plans he originally had for the week.
"Fine," he muttered. It was going to be awfully lonely in the tower...
~
It was the night before Tony was supposed to leave for Tennessee, and Peter was busy hatching a plan. He would stay at the tower until Tony left, then he would suit up and head down to Tennessee himself. What he would do once he got there, Peter didn't know, but he didn't really care. It wasn't like they were going to be busy at school anyway...
The next morning, Tony got in his private jet, waving goodbye to Peter. The teen stood to the side, waiting patiently for the billionaire to leave. Shortly after, the jet took off, leaving Peter behind... but not for long.
He ran up to his room, quickly putting on his Spiderman suit. As a last-minute thought, he grabbed some spare cash from his wallet, then leaped through the window and began his trip down to Tennessee.
~
"Karen? How much further?" Peter panted, feeling sluggish and tired. Maybe trying to swing from New York to Tennessee wasn't such a good idea...
"Three miles to location," the AI replied helpfully. "Peter, you seem to be overworked. I recommend rest and a meal." The brunette sighed, nodding.
"I know, Kar, but it's only a few more miles. I can make it," he insisted. Karen didn't respond, so Peter focused on using his energy to get him to where Mister Stark had gone.
It was nearly 15 minutes later when Karen spoke up again.
"Location reached. Subject is 318 feet away." Peter perched on a large tree branch, his stomach growling. He pulled off his mask with a sigh, sitting down on the branch.
All of a sudden, there was a loud popping noise, and Peter's world went dark.
~
"Well well well, if it isn't the old man himself!" Harley exclaimed, grinning. "Welcome to Tennessee." Tony nodded, stretching his arms.
"Nice to see you too, kid," he chuckled.
"I know it is. Come on, old man, I don't got all day!" Harley beckoned for the billionaire to follow him out to the woods behind his house, where they came across the shed that Tony had stumbled into all those years ago. He pulled out a potato gun, smirking. "Remember this?"
"I sure do."
"Well... I might've made some adjustments..." Harley grinned mischievously. "Why don't I show you? It's basically twice as powerful now, with better aim, and some other slight modifications," the blond explained. "Here, look." He aimed the gun slightly upwards, pulling the trigger with a loud pop. The potato whizzed through the air, until it hit something. And that something fell to the ground.
"Uhh..."
"Shit, what you think I hit?" Harley wondered, looking slightly unsure. "Um... maybe we should check it out, just in case..."
"Yeah, good idea," Tony agreed. Armed with Harley's potato gun, the two of them walked through the woods in the direction the potato was shot.
"Woah, over here, look!" Harley exclaimed, pointing. Tony squinted, eyes widening with recognition. He groaned, facepalming.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me."
"It's Spiderman!" Harley had wide eyes full of excitement. "Oh, his head..." He was right. Peter's head had a nasty bump on it, which Tony assumed was where the potato hit him. Now Harley was looking more nervous.
"He's really young..." the southern boy observed, frowning. "Oh, god, do you think I killed Spiderman!?"
"Kid..." Tony kneeled beside the superhero, checking his pulse and breathing quickly. He had been fairly sure Peter was fine, but it couldn't hurt to check, right? "Jesus, you're gonna be the death of me." He scooped Peter up into his arms, giving Harley orders.
"Run back to the house, set up a bed for him. Grab ice packs... and anything else you have around that might be helpful." They both started walking, Harley quickly breaking out into a run. Tony carried Peter, sighing at his kid's stubbornness. "Oh, kiddo..."
Back at the house, Harley had set up a bed and was busy gathering stuff to help out. When Tony finally joined him, carrying Spiderman, he was quick to place an ice pack on the bump on the brunette's forehead.
"Alright, so he should be fine when he wakes up. Maybe a mild concussion? How hard do you think that potato hit him?"
"Um..." Harley paused, thinking about it. "I don't know, but there's no way he could walk away from this unscathed." He frowned, thinking more. "Unless... he's somehow immune... or takes reduced damage?"
"Close enough. He has enhanced healing," Tony explained. Harley nodded, glancing at the unconscious hero. "You know him?" The older man snorted, rolling his eyes.
"He's practically my kid. And I told him to stay home."
"Oh..." Harley frowned. "How old is he? He seems so young..." Tony nodded solemnly.
"He's about your age... you're, what, 17?" Harley nodded. "Mm. Yeah. He's 16."
"Oh, wow..." he stared at the brunette in awe. "He's really young, for a superhero." Harley didn't want to take his eyes off the boy. He was gorgeous, even while unconscious with a nasty bump on his head. Suddenly, he felt overwhelmed with guilt. Harley had caused this...
"Hey, don't worry about it," Tony comforted, practically reading Harley's mind. "He gets hurt worse than this all the time, he'll wake up soon." The blond nodded, sighing.
"Just because he gets hurt all the time doesn't mean I'm not going to feel guilty about hurting him," he pointed out.
"It wasn't your fault. It's not like you were aiming for him on purpose," Tony shrugged. Harley nodded hesitantly.
"Yeah, I guess not. I didn't even know he was there!"
"Exactly. He'll be fine, I promise. Maybe a few days of rest could do him some good." They were both quiet for a while after that, sitting in silence while waiting for him to wake up.
"Hey, uh, what's his name?" Harley wondered, quickly adding: "Only if you think I should know. I can keep a secret, but if you don't want me to know-"
"Peter." Tony interrupted. "His name is Peter." Harley smiled slowly, looking at the unconscious boy with a hint of longing in his eye. Tony raised an eyebrow, smirking. "He's single, you know." That caught the blond's attention.
"Wait, is he-?"
"I believe he said he was bisexual, so yeah." Harley's eyes widened as he stared at Peter. "You should go for it. He'd like you."
"You think?"
"Yeah, I'm sure he would. And you'd like him too," Tony stated knowingly. Harley didn't respond, instead reaching out to take Peter's hand gently, brushing his thumb over the smaller boy's knuckles. That small gesture caused Peter to stir, eyebrows furrowing as he groaned quietly.
"Wh't h'ppen'd?" He mumbled, blinking slowly. His gaze wandered, eventually settling on Harley, who was still holding his hand. "Who... who are you?"
"Harley," the blond smiled, putting both his hands on Peter's. "I'm so sorry darlin', I swear I didn't see you there..."
"Huh?"
"Oh... well, you got hit in the head... with a potato gun... that I shot..." Harley grinned sheepishly. Peter didn't pull away from his touch, instead playing with Harley's hand absentmindedly.
"It's okay," he shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "It was an accident."
"Yeah. You gonna be alright?" Tony cut in. Peter looked up, nodding.
"Yeah. My head hurts though."
"Mhm. Well... I have some business to attend to, so Harley will stay with you. Sound fair?" Peter nodded, Tony smirking and winking toward Harley. The blond grinned, mouthing a silent "thank you."
"So... need anything?" Harley questioned, gently replacing the ice on Peter's head. "Anything you want, I'd be happy to help." Peter yawned, stretching before curling up onto his side.
"I'm just kinda tired..." he blushed lightly, eyes meeting Harley's for a second. "You can, um, you can join me... if you want..." The brunette grimaced, shaking his head. "I mean... if you think it would be better, y'know, for you to stay down here with me?" He asked hopefully. Harley's grin spread even wider, eyes crinkling with appreciation.
"Well, darlin', that does seem like the best option, doesn't it?" Harley climbed into the bed next to Peter, keeping a bit of space between them. The smaller boy yawned and stretched again, flipping over to curl into Harley's side. The blond was frozen in place, and Peter fell asleep quickly.
"Oh..." Harley's shock turned into a satisfied smile, letting out a soft hum as he wrapped his arms around Peter protectively. He was Harley's responsibility, after all.