I Feel A Shiver (Ripple Down My Spine)
Harry and Peter had always had each other. Both bonded over many things: crappy fathers, being rich, molded and ignored. In the shitshow they both called a life, they'd always had each other. When his dad told him they were taking a boat to the Galapagos, he insisted they invite Peter along. Said some bullshit about building alliances, and got Peter to come along.
There was a storm in the middle of the sea. Harry, Norman and a crew member made it onto a life raft. There were no other survivors. Peter washed out during the beginning. Norman took a gun, shot the crew member, looked Harry in the eye, told him to survive and turned the gun on himself. The boat ended up on a small island, where bad, bad people resided. It was called Lian Yu. Mandarin for purgatory. It was as bad as it sounded.
Peter was still alive, but he wouldn't see or be aware that Harry was too for another three years. Peter had ended up on the shores of Nanda Parbat, home to the League of Assassins. They voted to train him instead of kill him, and turned Peter turned into one of their best killing machine. They called him Aleankabut, the Spider. Peter knew his father wouldn't try to find him. He knew his father was probably relieved that he was gone.
They sent Peter on a mission a year before they made it back to New York, and Peter ended up on Lian Yu, where he reunited with Harry. After years of thinking his best friend and brother was dead, Peter was reminded that there was still good on the Earth. After offing some of the worst people in existence, Peter was finally reminded that there was still good on the Earth.
He didn't go back to Nanda Parbat.
He and Harry spent a year together on that island. They did bad, bad things. They did it to survive, but that did little to soothe them.
Through hell and high water, they had each other. Peter was right by Harry when he had to mercy kill an ally that they had on Lian Yu, and Harry was right by Peter when he found out that the League was hunting him down. They didn't check Lian Yu. They knew what kind of hell that island was, and knew that there was no way that their Aleankabut would willingly stay there.
When a fishing boat got close to the Island, Peter and Harry both screamed and waved like maniacs. When they still weren't noticed, they quickly made an explosion in the directions in the boat. It took a lot of fire and wood, but they managed. The boat came by. They both were saved.
Peter couldn't tell anyone that he was alive, though. It would alert the League of his location.
(Plus, he didn't think anyone cared.)
So, legally, Harry was the only one found. True to his word, Harry didn't tell anyone Peter was alive.
Not even when Tony Stark came to talk to him. His mother threw a gala to welcome him back, and celebrate him being alive and all. Tony Stark had approached him, looking oddly nervous.
"Mr. Osborne, I'm happy to hear you're alive," Tony started.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark," Harry said cautiously. He and Peter spent hours complaining about their fathers, but compared to the people they knew over the past couple years, their fathers were saints.
"You wouldn't happen to know if there's a chance, that Peter's still, you know. . ." Tony trailed off awkwardly.
Harry felt truly bad about crushing the man's hopes, but Peter was clear that no one was to know he was alive. No one.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," was all he said.
The man looked crestfallen, but quickly pulled himself together. "Okay. Stupid to get my hopes up, I guess," he was trying to sound nonchalant, but Harry could sense the grief in the man's gaze, and couldn't stop himself from giving the man some hope.
"I never saw Peter die. I ended up on a deserted island, and Peter might've too."
Tony looked up, tentative hope in his eyes. "You really think so?"
"It's certainly a possibility."
Tony smiled. "Thank you, Harry."
Later that night, Harry told Peter what happened. Peter had scoffed when Harry told him that Tony looked grief struck at Peter's t. "Trust me, he doesn't feel bad. He's just making a show of his grief so the paps don't get wind of him hating me."
"I think it was genuine, Petey," Harry said.
"Even if it was, I can't tell him," Peter said sadly. "He would let the world know, and the League would see exactly where I am right on TV. I can't let that happen. I can't go back," the last sentence came out panicked.
"Don't worry," Harry said, wrapping his arms around Peter. "I won't let them take you."
And he wouldn't. Peter was all he had. Through hell and high water.