Harley was both upset and relieved the revolutionaries in engineering conference had been cancelled.
He had been excited to find out more about the advances in the field, but he didn't really enjoy the fake conversational portion of it. So, laying his head on the back of a taxi seat, he had two options, go back to his dorm room and mope, or go out, it was New York after all, there had to be something to do. After a weird feeling, almost like a tingle and the added rushing of the tired taxi driver, he decided he would visit the tower, he hadn't been there since the semester started and he missed it, it truly felt like home. He could only hope that Tony had finally lifted his lifetime ban for betraying him and not choosing to attend M.I.T like he was hoping.
Tony didn't take it very well when Harley had pulled the NYU sweater out of his bookbag one faithful Friday, he swore that the man collapsed right there in the middle of the living room, Pepper had to catch him. The rest of the Avengers were very excited for him, even Thor who had no idea what they were congratulating Harley for.
Harley had moved to New York the middle of his sophomore year after he had gotten into a tiny bit of trouble at school, it wasn't his fault the material was boring and way below his level of understanding. So, Tony agreed to take him in and give him something worth doing, Midtown wasn't much more challenging but at least it was a bit better and gave him actual scientific material to attempt. Harvey fell in love with the city quicker than he thought he would, I mean what was not to like about the hostile personalities, dirty streets and concerning sized rats running around, Harley fit right in.
He rolled down the taxi's windows and breathed in the familiar New York air, Harley really could have been back every weekend if he wanted, it wasn't that far a distance. He made a mental note to attempt to visit more often. He stopped the taxi a block from the Tower, there was a great 24-hour ice cream place that he knew both Penny and Tony loved. He purchased them both a pint of their favourite flavour and one scoop for himself. He strolled the rest of the way to the tower, which wasn't a great idea considering the time, but he wasn't going to dwell on that. He stopped across the street and looked up at the Tower, it really was a marvel at night.
A motorcycle zipped up to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road and a very familiar feminine figured hopped off the back. Harley pondered who he would know in New York that rode on a motorcycle, that answer equated to zero people. Harley stayed hidden from their site as the taller male figure unbuckled the shorter figures helmet. Harley almost chocked on his ice cream when Penny's brown curls fell into place. What was Penny doing out of the Tower at three in the morning with a guy that's old enough to ride a motorcycle.
While Harley did have a biological sister, her and Penny were basically the same person to him. So of course, he'd be concerned about the girl's wellbeing. Penny's giggle broke him out of his state of distress and back to the scene at hand. Motorcycle douche had his hands on her waist and then pulled her in for a kiss. That was the breaking point for Harley, no way was he going to watch his little sister be kissed by some creep. Harley was about to cross the street when he noticed the NYU sticker on the side of the bike. Harley went from upset to downright pissed off. In the second that he stopped Penny and the pedo broke apart and she was sneaking off to the side entrance of the building.
Harley dodged the three am traffic as he crossed to the tower, motorcycle guy had already pulled off. Security let Harley in when they noticed who he was, he hadn’t changed in the span of a few months. F.R.I.D.A.Y welcomed him back as he impatiently waited to get to Tony and Pepper’s floor. He stormed out of the elevator and to Penny’s door.
He pounded on the door and waited for her to answer the door. She smiled at him, but the smile dropped when she was his face. Penny had already changed out of the clothes she had on and into her pyjamas, he’d be impressed if he wasn’t mad. He pushed into her room and waited for her to close the door behind him.
“Not that I’m not happy to see you, why are you here?” Penny asked sitting on her desk chair.
“Where were you tonight?’ Harley asked crossing his arms.
“My room studying, why?” Penny feigned innocence.
“Funny I swear I just saw you downstairs!” He scoffed.
“So, what I snuck out, I’m sixteen not six, get over it!” Penny rolled her eyes.
“Then who was the guy with you?” Harley asked.
Penny’s entire demeanour changed.
“What guy?” Tony asked crossing his arms at the door.
“No one, my friend was just dropping me back to the tower” Penny mumbled.
“Oh, so you kiss all your friends that ride motorcycles with NYU stickers on them?” Harley scoffed.
Penny closed her eyes and sighed as she realised where this conversation was headed.
“Penny who was the guy, how old is he and what were you doing together at three in the morning?” Tony stepped into the room
“His name is Trever, and we went to a movie, that’s all, there was a late special showing of Star Wars” Penny sighed.
Harley’s face scrunched up at the name, he could have sworn he heard that name before. NYU was a big campus so the probability of him knowing a Trever was high, however a Trever that had a motorcycle was slightly less probable.
“Nuh uh you skipped a question, how old is he?” Tony asked again.
“He’s twenty-one”
“Okay, so you’re going to break up with him right now and I’m going to put a restraining order out on him, and we’ll talk about how long you’re grounded for later with Pepper, Harley it’s nice to have you here, good night everyone” Tony nodded pulling the door closed.
“Really Penny, he’s older than me”
“Can you just get out of my room” Penny yelled on the verge of tears.
“Penny we’re just looking out for you, this guy is in college, you’re in high school, you shouldn’t be together, he’s an adult, you’re not”
“You think I don’t know that news flash my life kind of sucks, so blame me for liking someone that liked me back for once” Penny sniffled.
Harley began to feel bad about how he handled the situation. Maybe yelling at her wasn’t the best approach. Harley didn’t know what it was like to be a teenage girl, being pressured into having a boyfriend or feeling that no one wanted you. Penny was just trying to find someone to love her back.
“Penny you’re a great person, there are lots of good guys your age that would be interested in you, you just have to be patient, I mean look at me, I only asked out a girl for the first time yesterday and I’m fine” Harley explained crouching in front of her.
“I really did like him” She cried.
“I know but he’s not the person for you right now” Harley sighed.
“What if no one loves me?” Penny whispered.
“Hey, I love you, so does Tony, Pepper, your Aunt May, Happy, the avengers, your friends and basically everyone in this tower and most importantly you” Harley smiled up at her wiping her tears.
“I don’t think you guys’ count, you kind of have to” She smiled slightly.
“Yeah but were the best at it” Harley grinned opening his arms out to her.
Penny dropped into his arms, and he held her in a tight embrace stoking her hair. He really did love Penny and he hopped that she’d love herself a lot more too. Else he’d have to come down to the Tower every weekend and supervise her dating habits.
“Oh, I brought you ice cream from the place you like so much” Harley remembered.
Harley got no response and chuckled as he realised Penny fell asleep on his shoulder. He gently picked her up and tucked her into bed. F.R.I.D.A.Y took off the lights and Harley gently closed the door behind him. He put the ice cream away before noticing Tony in the living room.
“What are you doing?” Harley asked the frantic man.
“Finding this Trever douche, Pepper banned me from the lab during this time in the morning” He grumbled scrolling through holograms.
“Let me help” Harley exclaimed hopping over the couch to join Tony on his search.
Harley and Tony fell asleep on the couch after successfully locating Trever. Pepper gave everyone an earful when she woke up for the morning. Penny and Trever broke up indefinitely and Trever is legally supposed to stay fifty feet away from Penny, she was also grounded for a month and banned from patrolling unsupervised for now. Harley’s lifetime ban was lifted, and he now tries to visit every other weekend.
Harley was glad he followed his Tingle.