I'm Not Okay

Saturday, December 23, 2017, 10:37 AM.

The house was silent as always. Dark and empty. Harley dumped his backpack onto the ground and headed into the kitchen. Coffee sounded amazing. He opened all the cupboards in search of any type of caffeine. Nothing. He opened the fridge and was instantly hit with a wave of nausea. Everything was rotten in there. He hadn’t cleaned anything or grocery shopping. Shit.

He quickly shut the fridge and waved the smell away from his nose. There had to be something to eat in the house. Anything.

Nothing.

Harley gave up and headed to his bedroom. It was just as empty as the rest of the house. Nothing hanging on the walls, no dresser. Just a bed and a duffle bag on the floor. He knelt beside the bag and rustled through it until his hand closed around a familiar orange bottle. He could feel his heart beating faster. His breathing got faster as if his body was screaming at him to take one.

He knew why. Abbie. He wanted to talk to someone. Anyone. There was one person who always appeared to him. Alright, she wasn’t really real. Just sometimes, if Harley was high enough, he would kinda hallucinate his recently passed sister… Okay, it sounds crazy when said like that.

He opened it and shook out one pill. He hesitated for a moment before shaking out another and tossing them both into his mouth. He swallowed them dry and waited.

“Abs?” He called out to the empty house. Nothing. “Abbie, are you there?”

No answer.

“Seriously? The one time I actually want to see you I can’t?” Of course. Harley’s life was somehow plagued with dramatic irony.

It wasn’t long before he gave up on Not-Abbie’s appearance. So, he pulled out his phone. There was the smallest chance that maybe if he called, he could muster up the courage to finally talk about it to someone.

He dialled Peter’s number. It rang a few times before going to voicemail. Harley's heart shattered into 12,000 pieces.

“Please leave your message after the tone,” The automated voice said. Beep.

Harley had no idea why he hadn’t hung up yet. Or why he raised the phone to his ear and began talking.
“Hey, I know you’re on patrol and you’re probably busy but… I told you I was okay and I had everything handled. I was lying. Everything is bad and I can’t fix it. I just really need to talk to you right now. Call me back. Please,” Harley lowered the phone from his ear. A deep sob escaped him. He couldn’t handle the silence anymore.

~

Saturday, December 23, 2017, 1:43 PM.

Peter’s stomach dropped. He lowered the phone from his ear in shock. He’d never heard Harley like that before. He quickly checked the time of the call. Shit. Harley called him hours ago.

He dialled Harley back and waited for him to pick up. Every pause between rings would make his heart speed up.

“The person you are calling is unavailable at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone,” The automated voice droned. Peter hung up and called again. And again. And again. Again. Nothing.

A massive lump grew in his throat. What should I do? Should I call Mr. Stark? Is Mr. Stark still mad at him? Would he help? Call him now.

He dialled Mr. Stark and waited. No answer either. What? The lump grew even larger. He decided; screw that and threw his mask on.

He had just gotten back from patrol and was about to head to sleep but no way he was sleeping until he knew everything was okay. Slipping the mask on, his heart felt like it was beating its way out of his chest.

“Peter, is something wrong?” Karen asked, instantly booted up. “Patrol time isn’t scheduled until 5:40 PM today. May requires at least four hours of sleep per 24 hour period-”

“We don’t have time for that! Do you have contact with FRIDAY?” Peter interrupted.

Karen didn’t miss a beat. “Of course, FRIDAY and I are great friends.”

“Awesome. I need you to ask FRIDAY to find Mr. Stark. I can't get a hold of him.”

“One moment,” The silence was deafening. “Mr. Stark is located at the medbay in Avengers Tower.”

“Medbay?” Peter’s heart somehow sped up more. “Is he okay?”

“I am unsure how to answer that, Peter.”

He exploded out his bedroom window and began to swing through the streets once more. His arms and shoulders burned from swinging so much in one day. He hadn’t stopped patrolling for hours and he was exhausted. Thankfully, Avengers Tower wasn’t too far from the apartment in Queens. Just a couple of blocks.

It only took minutes for Peter to arrive. He didn’t alert FRIDAY of his presence or anything. He just assumed he was allowed inside. He marched directly into the stairwell and up to the medbay.

The minute he opened the doors he was overwhelmed. He always forgot just how many people were in the medbay at once. There were so many people in the room, in fact, that the room was hot as hell. Sanitizer floated through the air and burned his nostrils with each breath. He was halfway across the waiting room when he heard a voice call behind him.

“Kid! What the hell are you doing here?”

Peter nearly had a heart attack. He spun around to see Happy in complete shock. “Happy!”

“Where are you going?” The man asked. He noticed the number of nurses around and began ushering Peter towards the exit.

“Is Mr. Stark okay? Karen said he was in the medbay,” The boy asked. He stuck his feet to the floor so Happy couldn’t drag him any further.

“Tony is fine, kid. He’s visiting someone- You can’t be in here right now, let’s go,” He finally dragged Peter into the lounge and collapsed onto a couch. Peter stood awkwardly in the corner. “What are you doing?”

“Oh um… I wasn’t sure if you meant I had to leave that room or the whole building so I'm just kinda standing here,” Peter stammered.

“So, what? Were you just gonna keep standing there all day? That was your plan?”

“Mr. Stark is alright? You’re 100% sure?”

Happy nodded.

“Thanks, Happy.”

The lounge was thankfully less overwhelming than the medbay. But something about the light level made it feel massive. Like a giant white box and he was a tiny ant inside. He couldn’t tell which room was worse. Maybe it was time to go…

“Harley was admitted to the medbay this morning,” Happy croaked.

Peter froze. He had been halfway to the elevator but there was absolutely no way he was going anywhere now. “What?”

Happy was sitting with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hand. “I knew something was wrong so I went to check on him and he was there alone. He looked like he hadn’t eaten or slept in days and he wouldn’t talk to me…”

Shit… “Is he gonna be okay?”

A curt nod wasn’t as relieving as Peter thought it would be. “Just a bit high.”

“Did you call his mom?”

“He said his mom left, but I don’t know if that’s true. He was pretty out of it. I’ve been calling her but I can’t get a hold of her.”

“What if she doesn’t come back? He can’t stay here.” The lump in his throat grew even bigger somehow.

The man raised his head from his hand for the first time. “That’s where I was hoping you could help me.”

All Peter had to say after Happy’s plan breakdown was ‘wow’. He had to admit, it was genius. But unfortunately, May would never go for it. Despite Peter’s arguments, Happy somehow convinced him to pull out his phone and call her.

“Peter Benjamin Parker, if you tell me you’re still on patrol I swear not even Tony Stark will be able to put you back together,” May raved, ever the kind greeter.

“Hey, May. How’d you sleep? Do you need anything from the store?” He tried his best to butter her up. She was already pissed.

“I want you home in ten minutes. You’re going to sleep on the couch with supervision and don’t even bother asking because no it’s not a joke-”

They had to get to the point already. “May listen! Harley’s mom left, we think.”

“What?”

He took that as a go-ahead to continue. “I got this voicemail from him- I showed up at the tower and found Happy. I haven’t seen Harley yet though.”

“Where is he? Is he at the tower somewhere?”

“He’s here yea but he can’t stay because there’s a whole thing with the government and the Avengers…”

She sighed. It wasn’t an upset-sounding sigh, though. She sounded disappointed. “That poor kid…”

Peter nodded, not realizing she couldn’t see him over the phone.

“What’s going to happen? Does he have someplace else to stay?” She didn’t say it like a question. Thank god, May figured it out on her own. There was no way he would have been able to bring it up on his own. He’d never done this before. Clearly, May had.

“No, he doesn’t. I wouldn’t have asked if I knew we couldn’t handle it. He can have my top bunk and we’ll go to school I promise.”

There was silence for a moment. I wasn't hesitant though. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking. “If you promise me you’ll sleep at least six hours per 24 hour period (and actually mean it, young man).”

“I promise.”

~

Saturday, December 23, 4:48 P.M.

Harley shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was sitting in a massive red armchair in some weird office somewhere deep in the tower. Tony had insisted (a message delivered by Happy since Tony wouldn’t see him) that he see a therapist ASAP once he was cleared from the medbay. Instead, Harley snuck out of the medbay as soon as he was cleared and headed down to the lab. He had to talk to Tony. He wasn't there though. "FRIDAY? Where's Tony? I gotta talk to him."

"Boss is out of office at the moment. Would you like me to leave him a message from you instead?" The AI asked politely.

Harley shook his head. "Nah that's alright. I'll see him later."

He didn't leave the lab immediately though. He made sure to do a couple of laps around all the desks. Not because he believed Tony was hiding, he just loved to see all the little projects and builds Tony was working on. He hadn't been to the lab in some time. He missed it even if he only spent a couple of days in there.

"Hey FRI?"

"Yes, Mr. Keener?"

"Did Tony ever find out about the private server thing?"

"I don't believe so."

"Sick."

After several hours of unsupervised time in the lab, he had finally showered and changed when there was a knock on his bedroom door. Harley shouted for them to come in. Peter peaked awkwardly out from behind the door. A massive goofy grin spread across his face when he spotted Harley. He instantly bolted inside and wrapped his arms tightly around him and didn’t let go.

Harley couldn’t help but laugh a bit at his excitement. “You missed me?”

Peter released and instantly punched Harley in the shoulder. “Screw you! You left that stupid message on my phone and then didn’t answer my calls? Who the hell does that? I thought you were dead, you… Asshole.”

Harley really laughed at that. “Parker, you’re more intimidating behind the mask. You look like a boy scout without it.”

He didn’t laugh. His brows furrowed.

“I’m sorry. I should have called you back.”

Neither of them spoke until Harley was paged to the therapist’s office. Peter decided to tag along because he had something to tell Harley about afterwards.

“Why do you think you overdosed Mr. Keener?” The doctor asked. His fingers gripped the notepad with unnecessary strength. He didn’t look much like what Harley imagined a therapist to look like. In his mind, a therapist was some short and stumpy bald man with a nasally voice and too much interest in other people’s lives. It was pretty clear that Harley wasn’t a fan of therapists. He just thought they were pretentious.

This guy was massive though. He looked like a Captain America wannabe. All muscles and shiny white teeth.

“I took too many pills duh,” He slouched lower in the armchair. “I didn’t OD. I almost OD’d there’s a difference.”

Doctor Eric Thompson (according to his degrees on the wall. Harley had completely forgotten his name in the fifteen minutes he spent with him) didn’t speak. He just continued staring down at Harley from his seat behind his desk.

It felt awfully like a principal's office. Harley had no clue why he was so nervous and had no clue what the man behind the desk was thinking but there was no way it was good.

“This Tony Stark. You seem to have a close relationship, yea?”

Okay… Not where Harley thought that was going. He appreciated the change in topic though.

Harley nodded. “I met him when I was a kid. He saved my life, I saved his life, and then we kinda just stayed in touch.”

“You lived with him for a short while, right? In the Avengers tower.”

“For like a weekend. I would hardly call that ‘lived with’.”

The man nodded. “But, you’ve been in the tower?”

That question was weird to Harley. Why did he need to know? His stomach twisted slightly. None of this felt right. He nodded despite his gut.

“Do you have access to Stark’s private server?” The doctor asked.

That’s when Harley knew this was wrong. Everything was wrong. His breathing sped up and his heart began racing. His eyes flicked to the door. If he ran now he had a slight chance of making it out before the doctor caught up to him. A chance he had to take. He jumped out of the chair and bolted towards the door. The doctor was hot on his tail.

Harley grabbed the doorknob and yanked the door open. He could feel the man right behind him. He was about to shout. Peter was right in the waiting room. He was so close.

The sound was muffled by the man’s hand that covered his mouth. Harley was pulled back into the room by the man. He fought and struggled against him. But he was too strong.

“Shhhhhh,” The man whispered. “Relax or the kid outside dies.”

Harley instantly froze. Shit. They were so so so screwed.

“Are you gonna shut up?” The man asked.

Harley nodded. The man shoved him back into the chair and held onto his shoulder. Holding him down.

“Do you have access to Stark’s private server?” He asked again.

“Fuck you-” the man grabbed him by the hair and yanked Harley’s head back. He couldn’t stop the yelp from escaping.

“I’m not gonna repeat myself.”

“No.”

The man shoved Harley’s head away with a grunt. Harley resisted the urge to rub his head. The doctor began typing on his phone. He stood by the door whilst he did so. The only other escape route was through the window. The only problem with that was they were maybe ten stories up.

The doctor raised his phone to his ear. “I’ve got him. Meet me at the truck.”

Harley’s heart jumped to his throat. Fuck. He wasn’t doing this again. He couldn’t do this again. He only had one choice. Run. Again. The moment the doctor was clear from the door, Harley jumped up and booked it. He made it a bit farther this time. He began shouting before the door was even open. But, he was still too slow. The man grabbed him in a reverse bear hug and dragged him down the hall. One hand clasped firmly over his mouth.

“FRID-” no matter how hard he tried to alert the AI, the hand over his mouth would cut him off and his words would come out wrong.

He dragged him into the elevator and down to the parking garage. Harley didn’t stop fighting until they reached the truck. He didn’t stand a chance though. There was another man already standing there. He lifted the door open and the two shoved Harley in.

On the floor of the truck was Peter. He was completely out. Blood trickled down his face from a wound Harley couldn’t see. One of the men climbed in behind Harley and shut the door. The truck was moving almost immediately after.

“What do you want?” Harley asked. He hated the way his voice wavered.

“You’ll see,” The man replied. He pulled something out of his pocket. Metal jingled and the man stood.

Harley instinctively backed away. The man grinned and grabbed him by the shirt. He slammed Harley against the metal walls of the truck and attached handcuffs to both of his wrists. He shoved Harley to the ground and pulled out a second pair for Peter.

The truck came to a stop and the door opened after what felt like hours of driving. The light hurt Harley’s eyes. He squinted as the man grabbed him by the arm and hauled him from the truck. They were in a huge building. It was kinda like a warehouse but much nicer. The floors were shiny and white and the whole place was lit up with bright neon lights. Judging by the size of the doors, this place was a really fancy airplane hanger.

The man led him away from the truck and into a big open space. A circle of desks covered in tools was the main centrepiece. Harley really didn’t want to know what they had planned.

All that went out the window when the other dude dragged Peter in. He was still unconscious. The man dumped him at Harley’s feet.

“Peter?” It was hardly a whisper. “What did you do to him?”

Harley leant down to check on him but was pulled away by his arm.

“Is he even alive? What the hell man? Let us go!” His shoes squeaked against the floor as he was dragged backwards. There was now a good six feet between the two boys. Harley continued to struggle against the man until he heard a voice.

“Harley Keener!” The voice called excitedly as if they were old friends. The owner of the voice rounded the corner. He was a short man in a white suit. He looked rich. Like Tony Stark, rich. He walked into the room as if he owned it, and everyone in it. His pearly white smile faltered as his eyes rested upon Peter.

“Who the hell is that?” He asked. “I told you to grab the kid and go. What do you think I’m running here? A daycare?”

“Who the hell are you?” Harley asked before anyone else could say anything.

“You don’t know who I am?”

Harley shook his head. He’d never seen that dude in his life. “If this is some crime business thing just know that I won’t tell anybody what I’ve seen. I’m a really loyal person and I hate cops anyway-”

“This isn’t organized crime, Harley. I’m here to offer you a job,” The man replied. “Let me introduce myself first. My name is Justin Hammer. CEO of Hammer Industries. I’m an old friend of your dad.”

“My dad?”

“Oh, yea your old man and I go way back,” Harley somehow found that hard to believe. Why the hell would a CEO know his father? “Good old Tony always knew how to throw a party, let me tell you that.”

Realization struck him like a truck. He was a bargaining chip again. How the hell was he supposed to get out of this again? Tony wasn’t speaking to him. Would he even answer the phone if he called?

“Tony doesn’t do ransoms so if you’re looking for money then you’re out of luck cuz I’m not exactly liquid right now.”

Hammer laughed. Like really laughed. It was really weird to watch. “You think a CEO needs money? Kid, I got a lot more important things I have to worry about.”

Peter stirred a few feet away. Hammer noticed before anyone else.

“Get him up,” He said to the goon closer to Peter. “Harley, we’re getting off subject. I don’t want anything from Tony. He’s already given me so much. No, what I want is in here.”

He knocked on the side of Harley’s head with his knuckles.

“I need your brain, Harley.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” The pit in his stomach grew deeper by the second. What the hell could Harley do for a CEO?

“I need you to design and build me an iron man suit,” Harley would have laughed if Hammer didn’t sound so serious.

“Why me?” Sure he had gotten somewhere with his suit. Like one gauntlet.

Hammer grinned. “You don’t give yourself enough credit, kid. It’s in your blood. If anyone can build me an iron man suit it’s you.”

“Don’t do it,” Peter said. He was taking a strangely long time to wake up. He looked close to being fully conscious though. Hopefully conscious enough to break them the hell out of there.

“I’m sorry,” Hammer said, turning to face Peter. “Was I talking to you?”

“Harley run!” Peter shouted. He lunged forward and kicked the goon holding him up.

Harley didn’t stick around to watch Peter’s fight. He slipped free of the goon’s grip and ran. If he could get out, he could call Tony. He just had to keep running. The plan was going great until he felt a tug on the collar of his shirt. Before he even knew what was happening, he was slammed backwards onto the ground. Everything was fuzzy for a few seconds. By the time his vision returned, he was being dragged back over to the group.

Peter was back in the man’s grip. He looked like he’d given a good fight. Harley had no idea how the goon had been able to take Peter in a fight. They’d tested his strength and he should’ve been able to take the goon out easily.

“Now, about that job offer,” Hammer said as if the last ten seconds didn’t happen.

“If I refuse?” Harley asked.

Hammer flashed his five-star smile once again. “I went easy on the last guy I hired for this job. I won’t make that mistake again.”

“Do whatever you want to me. I’m not building you shit.”

“I was afraid you’d say that. You’re just like your old man, you know that? And If I know anything about Tony,” Hammer chuckled. “I know he cares more about others than he does himself. I wonder if you’re the same.”

Harley slowly shook his head. He found it impossible to even look at Peter. They were so screwed.

“Oooh, you are. Listen you could just make me the suit and then you and your little boyfriend or whatever can be outta here in no time. Or you can make it a lot harder for the both of you.”

Harley had basically already made up his mind when Peter shouted. “Don’t. Harley, you can’t let-”

“Can you shut him up?” Hammer asked the goon holding Peter. He nodded and covered Peter’s mouth with his hand. Peter continued to shout from behind the hand.

“So what’ll it be, kid?”

Harley took a deep breath. He was going to regret this. “No.”

Hammer clicked his tongue in disappointment. He shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “I wish we could have agreed civilly. But you see I really need that suit.”

He turned to the man holding Peter. “Gethrow, go ahead.”

The man- Gethrow apparently -shoved Peter forward and rolled up his sleeves.

“Oh, you guys are gonna love Gethrow. We met when we did time in federal prison. He was a hydra agent for quite some time,” Hammer gloated.

Peter quickly hopped onto his feet. Hammer groaned.

“What? Are you waiting for us to place bets? Get to it.”

Gethrow swung a punch. Peter dodged quickly. Gethrow wasn’t thrown off though. He just threw another. That one hit. It knocked Peter back a bit too. The pit in Harley’s stomach grew even deeper. Had they found a way to take Peter’s powers away? Another powerful punch and Peter was on the floor.

Hammer glanced at Harley. He didn’t seem satisfied so the billionaire nodded at Gethrow to go further.

Gethrow grinned and kicked Peter hard in the stomach repeatedly. He was hurting Peter in a way Harley had never seen anyone able to. The man was somehow stronger than Spider-Man. It was impossible.

“Peter!” Harley shouted. He had to get up and fight back. Peter had to be able to take them. They tested his abilities and he was strong.

The goon behind him yanked Harley backwards pulling him away from the fight.

“Stop! I’ll do it! Just don’t hurt him,” Harley said. He hated how forced the words were. How small his voice sounded. How desperate he felt.

“Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Keener,” Hammer grinned.

Gethrow stepped back from Peter and began wiping the blood from his knuckles. Peter didn’t move from his spot on the ground.

The man holding Harley began moving. He dragged him towards the desks in the centre of the room. On them was pretty much everything he needed to make an iron man suit.

The goon unlocked Harley’s cuffs and replaced them with one chain connected to the desk on one end and Harley’s left wrist on the other. The chain was long enough for him to reach all the tools but too short to escape.

“I’ll be back later to check on your progress. I look forward to working with you Harley,” Hammer said with a wink. Harley felt slightly sick.

Gethrow hauled Peter to a chair and shoved him onto it. He secured the boy’s cuffs to the back of the chair and the three men left. Leaving Harley alone with a half-conscious boy and some tools.

“You can’t do this,” Peter said, after spitting a mouthful of blood onto the floor.

“What’s my other option?” Harley asked, wiping his hand down his face.

Peter gave him a look. They both knew what it meant. Harley turned his head to the table in front of him.

“No,” He said. “Absolutely not.”

“If Hammer gets that suit he’ll sell it to the military or hydra or something. I can’t just sit here and watch you build it for him.”

“And I can’t just sit here and watch you die. I’m not doing that okay? I’m building him the stupid suit.”

Peter thought for a moment. “He won’t let you go when you finish it. I know people like him. He won’t. He’ll just keep using you for tech.”

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

“How is that not important?”

The pencil fell out of his shaking grip. “As long as you get the hell out of here I don’t care.”

His heart was beating faster and faster by the second. He couldn’t focus on the sheet of half scrawled blueprint in front of him. Thoughts whizzed through his mind and disappeared before he could focus on them. This was completely his fault. If he’d just stayed in Rosehill none of this would have happened and Peter would still be okay. Everything would’ve been so much better if he’d just stayed away.

“Shit,” he gripped the desk so hard his knuckles were white.

“Dude,” Peter said. It was distant though. Hardly a murmur behind his racing thoughts. “Harley! Calm down.”

“I can’t…” He couldn't exhale. It was as if he’d die if he released his breath.

“Freaking out isn’t going to help the situation. You need to focus on what’s in front of you. We need a way out that doesn’t involve giving the crazy dude a weapon of mass destruction.”

His vision darkened slightly around the edges. There wasn’t enough oxygen in his system. He had to calm the hell down.

“You’re smart, Harley. You’ll think of something. But you really need to calm down cuz if you freak out, I’m gonna start freaking out.”

There was a sudden halt in Harley’s rushing thoughts when he felt something in his pocket. He plunged his hand in and grabbed it. He nearly cried when he realized what he'd taken from the lab so many hours ago. One tiny metal cylinder could mean their survival.

You’re a mechanic right? You said so. Why don’t you build something?

A plan was beginning to formulate in his head. “Okay,” he sighed. The breath finally escaped his lungs.

~

Saturday, December 23, 11:36 PM.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the building. Harley looked up from the bones of the arc reactor he was working on. He hadn’t expected Hammer to come back so soon. It had only been a few hours.

“Hello boys,” he said cheerfully. His two goons were trailing along behind him of course. “I just came by to let you know that the timeline’s been moved up.”

“What timeline?” Harley asked.

“The one that I just made up. Turns out I need the suit by the end of the day tomorrow,” He shrugged.

Harley’s throat went dry. “End of the day? I can’t do that. It took me months to design a suit let alone build one.”

“That sounds like your problem then. You see, my boss told me he needs the suit tonight and who am I to argue with that?”

“Not even Tony Stark could do that.”

Hammer rested his elbows on the desk. “Well, then it’s a good thing you’re not Tony Stark then huh?”

“He’s not even done the arc reactor! How is he supposed to finish an entire suit?” Peter piped up.

Hammer stood up straight. “Oh… I see what’s happening here. Is this guy distracting you?” He pointed towards Peter.

“You hurt him you won’t get shit from me,” Harley didn’t seem to intimidate the man.

“If you’re too busy chatting, how are you supposed to get any work done? Maybe we should separate you two.”

“I’m going as fast as I can, this isn’t something you can rush.”

“What did you say his name was again?” Hammer asked as if Harley hadn’t said anything.

Harley swallowed thickly. “Peter.”

Hammer nodded slowly. “You care about him?”

He nodded.

“I’m gonna be coming back at noon. Alright? Twelve hours. If I don’t see some real progress,” He gestured to the half-built arc reactor on the table. “Peter’s coming with me.”

Harley didn’t answer, he just looked over at Peter. He was staring back at him. He was making that stupid face again. The face that said ‘let him take me'.

“Nod if you understand!” The man snapped.

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden volume change on Hammer’s part. He quickly nodded.

“Keep him quiet. I can’t afford any more distractions. I’ll see you in a few hours, Harley.”

He patted Harley on the cheek a few times before sauntering off.

One of the goons tied a thick cloth around Peter’s mouth before following Hammer out.

Harley waited a few minutes after the footsteps had slowly faded away to talk again. “I’m getting us out of here,” He said quickly getting back to work. “I have a plan. Hammer’s coming back at noon. We’ll be long gone by then. You look around for a way out. I figure everything else out.”

There was no response. Harley looked up from his work. Peter was still staring at him. “What? Are you gonna help me or not? I’m not giving him the suit okay? This is what you wanted. I have a plan. Now look for a way out, Parker.”

Sure, he was overconfident. But, if he wasn’t, he would just absolutely lose it and freak out and nothing would get done. If he at least looked like he knew what he was doing on the outside, maybe there was a tiny chance they would get out of there. He hoped. It was a dumb theory okay? But, it was the only thing keeping him from falling off the edge.

It didn’t take long for him to finish the arc reactor. Sure, it was an outdated design and not nearly as powerful as any of Tony’s but it would do the job. It could power an entire suit for a few minutes or something small for a few hours. That’s all he needed.