Peter has been in Stark Industries for the longest time now.
He’s been here so many times he’s lost count. In fact by this point he’s memorized the entire floor plan like the back of his hand. But today it seemed, different somehow. Like something was off.
He didn’t know if it was just the fact that the entire building was decked out in Christmas decorations or the fact that the Christmas spirit was so apparent that he could smell it.
His nerves were flaring and screaming at him that this was a terrible idea. He had no idea why and continued his trek to Tony’s lab. He kept trying to convince himself that he had nothing to worry about. But after getting the powers and the built in alarm system he couldn’t go anywhere without his brain screaming that he was in danger.
Most of the time it was ignorable and he could live his life in mild peace but today it was like a siren was going off in his mind.
Once Friday notified him that he had “arrived at his destination” liked some kind of navigation device, he made his way in only to be caught off guard at the fact that Tony wasn't here.
‘It’s fine, everything’s fine, Tony’s probably on his personal floor getting something.’ Peter reminded himself, and he continued to do so until he felt calmer and more able to focus on repairing his web shooters he damaged on patrol a couple nights ago. And it worked and he was able to work for at least an hour and a half before he heard the gunshots.
They rang out in burts and at first Peter hadn’t realized anything was happening because of the music he had begun to play. But after he heard it again he realized that it wasn’t in fact the song making those noises.
Another burst rang out and this time Peter heard screams coming from floors below. The alarm finally went off and peter jumped to his feet and began grabbing anything and everything he felt was necessary or important enough to not leave behind. This meant his web shooters, blueprints for the Ironman suits, anything he felt was something that could be disastrous if it landed in the wrong hands. He had just finished putting everything in his backpack when he heard the elevator ding. His brain begging him to run anywhere but he didn’t know what he should do.
So he did what any normal person with superpowers does. And proceeded by throwing himself out the window. Not his brightest idea, because as far as it goes, this was one of the shittiest moves he’s ever made. Because now he might not be shot but he’s gonna become the first ever spider pancake. Overall not the best execution of an escape plan.
He quickly stuck to a window and tried to stop himself from falling and only succeeded on the third attempt. He exhaled in relief because at least he wasn’t freefalling anymore, but now he was stuck to the side of the building with no way to get in and who knows how many people can see him.
As if on cue somebody next to him pushed open the window and called out to him,” ARE YOU OKAY?!”. But with the rushing wind in his ears and his heart practically beating out of his chest he couldn’t hear him.
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” Peter yelled out in vain, he had no idea if the person could hear him at all, honestly he could barely hear himself.
“I ASKED IF YOU NEEDED HELP” the guy repeated, and peter took a closer look at who the heck was talking to him. First thing he noticed was that he was young, couldn’t be much older than he was, blond and blue eyed, with an accent that was so obviously from the south it made peter wonder who the hell this guy is.
The guy in question was somebody he recognized but he couldn’t put a finger to it and decided he was just an intern here that he was introduced to but had forgotten, he wasn’t surprised but thought it would be best to just introduce himself again.
“Hi… I’m Peter” he said, slightly out of breath because of the fall but he hoped that the guy hasn’t noticed it.
“What the fuck?” He asked, and peter realized that maybe his entrance wasn’t all that graceful.
“Sorry about that..?”
“Harley, I’m Harley.”
“Oh well, nice to meet you Harley, I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”
“No you’re good I was just hiding from the guns” he explained and Peter remember just what he was running from.
“Crap they’re still here, how do we get out of here?”
“We can’t” he said, a lot more calmly than Peter would prefer.
“What do you mean we can’t??” Peter asked
“The floor went into lockdown right after you showed up.”
“Great, so we’re stuck here?”
“I’d say protected, but I don’t know what you think of it”
“Okay, okay let me call for help”
“I already tried there’s no service”
“Jesus, you’re just full of surprises aren’t you” Peter exclaimed, his hope of making it out and protecting people dwindling by the second.
“Hey you asked alright, I’m just giving the answers” he defended, reaching into his bag for a granola bar. Which reminded peter that if he didn’t eat soon there’s no way he’d even be able to run out of here, let alone help as Spider-Man.
But either Harley noticed him staring at the bar or he’s a generous person because he quickly offered one to Peter.
“No I couldn’t possibly take your food.”
“It’s not.” Harley replies with a shrug
“Wait then who’s is it??” Peter asked, wondering why this guy was so weird.
“Tony Stark”
“What”
“Are you deaf or something.” He asked
“No, I just didn’t know you knew Mr. Stark”
“Mr. Stark? Is he your teacher or something?”
“What no I work with him.”
“Sure and I’m rich, what’s your deal man, you fall from the top floor and then just barely manage to stop yourself from becoming a intern pancake?”
“Hey I do work with Mr.- Tony” Peter rebutted, taking offense that this guy didn’t believe him.
Another explosion shook the building and this time Peter seriously contemplated falling all the way down and putting on his suit. But he thought that if he risked jumping with damaged web shooters his chances of them jamming was way to high. At this point he decided that his life was over when he distantly heard the familiar hum of the Ironman gauntlets and then another explosion shook the building. ‘Finally’ Peter thought you himself,’ took him long enough’
After finally being retrieved and able to eat a nice homecooked meal, Peter wondered what ever happened to the Harley guy.
(He found out soon after, when he showed up again the next weekend)