Chapter Text
“Dude. Hold still!”
“I am holding still!”
“Go higher.”
“I can’t go any higher!”
“Ok! Ok! Now more to the left. More! A little m ore!”
“Am I close?”
“You’re so close! Yes! Yes, right there!”
“To the right?”
“No! Go back! Yes! Perfect! Stay there!”
“Do I even want to know what you two are doing?” Tony entered the lab to see Peter stuck up on the ceiling with some sort of homemade antenna while Harley was down on the ground in front of the tv.
“Hi, Mr. Stark.”
“Hey, Tony.” Sometime in the past odd some years since the Mandarin attack Harley had dropped the formalities.
“What are you doing?” Tony crossed his arms and looked between the two boys.
“Trying to get a signal so we can watch Fight Night on Sakaar,” the way Peter said it made it sound more like a question than an answer.
Tony shook his head.
“Come on!” Harley interjected. “Watching aliens beat the shit out of each other is way better than the garbage reality shows they got now!”
“Watch the mouth,” Tony gave him a pointed look. He sighed then looked back up at Peter on the ceiling. “You know there are easier ways to do that, right?”
Peter shrugged. “We’re making it work.”
“Yea, we’re using antennas like you did in the stone ages!” Harley snorted at his own joke. Tony was about to say something else when the broadcast kicked back in. “It’s on! It’s on! It’s on!” Harley flopped back to the couch while Peter whipped a web to hold their antenna in place. He flipped off the ceiling and with grace and landed next to Harley on the couch.
“I came down to see what you guys wanted for dinner. We’re getting Chinese.”
“Sesame chicken, please,” Peter looked back and gave him a sweet smile.
“Pork low mein,” Harley didn’t take his eyes off the screen. “Oh! And extra rice!”
“Ooh can you get dumplings?” Peter asked.
Harley let out a hungry groan at the mention of dumplings. “Can you get the fried ones?!”
“Those are the best!” Peter looked at him.
“Dude, I know! So good,” Harley was drooling at the thought.
“You two are gonna eat me out of my house,” Tony crossed his arms and shook his head. Peter’s overactive metabolism was one thing but it was almost alarming that Harley’s appetite could keep up. Tony didn’t know where the kid put it.
“Please.”
“Please.” He had two smiling teenagers batting their eyes at him.
“Yea, yea,” Tony huffed. “You better come up when I call. This isn’t a door to door service,” he turned and started heading back upstairs.
“Thanks, Mr. Stark!”
“Thanks, Tony!”
While he was on Spring Break, Harley was staying at the tower in New York. His visit was business and pleasure, but mostly pleasure. Him and Tony went on another college visit to Princeton while he was here. He was torn between attending that or MIT. Peter and his friends were all headed to MIT so Harley was leaning toward that option. Tony joked that if Harley picked Princeton he’d be betrayed but there was also a little part of him that wanted him to chose it so he would be closer to NY.
Over the years Tony stayed in touch with the kid but it was finally time for Harley and Peter to meet face to face.
The two were practically joined at the hip.
They had hardly spoken to each other and Tony already saw the bromance brewing. They geeked out over all the same stuff and we’re both frighteningly smart. As soon as Peter would finish his homework the two were off in the lab creating only-god-knows-what. Not to mention the two would talk and debate about movies and tv shows for hours.
Tony had never seen Peter so betrayed upon hearing Harley say Star Trek was better than Star Wars. He was actually sure WWIII would have started.
But Tony enjoyed watching his boys get along. Peter had never had a sibling and Harley always wanted a brother. It took little convincing and two sets of puppy eyes for May to allow Peter to stay at the tower while Harley was visiting. Every night the two would stay up late watching movies then crashing together. More often than not Tony would find them either in Harley’s or Peter’s room or the living room completely clonked out. Almost like two puppies who would fall asleep standing up then topple over each other.
When Peter was in school (his spring break was next week) Harley could have all the Tony Alone Time he wanted. His engineering skills had come a long way since the potato gun. Tony had set up a little remote “internship” for him as well. Harley could do all his work and tinkering from his home in Rose Hill and still get credit. When Harley had come to Tony and asked him for advice about college his heart swelled a little. Peter had always been set on MIT while Harley needed that extra parental advice. With his father out of the picture and his mom only with a high school diploma he needed a little more guidance.
Tony teased him for being a big nerd. Even on Spring Break Harley still tagged along to Peter’s academic decathlon practices. He just liked to be involved and watch. MJ had joked he should stay in New York so he could replace Flash. No one was really opposed to the idea, well, except for Flash.
Harley had fit right into Peter’s little friend group. Ned was constantly asking him questions about Tennessee while MJ was chill as ever. After learning Peter and her were dating Harley instantly made the connection to a TikTok that Peter didn’t bag a baddie. No. MJ came in, picked Peter up, and put him on her shoulder and that’s where he stayed.
Betty and some of the other teammates (the girls especially) were enthralled by Harley’s accent. It was by no means obnoxious or twangy, but had just enough drawl to be considered “sexy.”
While Peter and Harley were playfully arguing over which Super Smash character was better, Harley had said to Peter “listen, darlin” as a jab, and Peter would be lying if he said it didn’t send his heart in a brief tizzy.
The accent was more apparent on some words and syllables than others. The biggest difference was just the verbiage. The entire decathlon team spent an hour debating with him over words like soda vs pop or crayfish vs crawfish. The first time Peter heard Harley say pa-JAH-mas over pa-JAM-as he almost wiped out on the floor.
Harley arrived Friday night and it took less than 72 hours for him to figure out Peter was Spiderman.
*********
“Hey, man.” Spiderman landed softly in a low crouch on top of the Avengers tower. He was patrolling at night when he spotted the familiar figure.
“Hi.” Harley didn’t bother looking at him as he stood on the roof’s ledge. The toes of his worn cowboy boots were just hanging over the edge.
Peter tried to keep his voice lower and thicken up his Queens accent so he wouldn’t be recognized. “What are you doing up here?”
Harley shrugged then cast a look over his shoulder to see the masked vigilante. “Oh you know.”
Peter extended a hand out as his heart rate picked up. He wasn’t sure why Harley was out here in the first place let alone inches from a 1130 foot drop. “Why don’t you come back down.”
“Can’t,” he shrugged again ever so nonchalant.
“W-why not?” Peter was trying to keep calm and inch closer slowly.
“I’m doing an experiment.”
“An experiment?” Peter was even more confused now.
“Yea. Gotta test my hypothesis.” Harley turned around on the ledge so he was now facing Spiderman.
“What are you testing?” The lenses on the suit narrowed as Peter’s brows furrowed.
“You.”
“Me?” He said taken aback. He lost his ready-stance at the odd declaration. “How?”
“Like this.”
It was at that moment Harley leaned backwards and went over roof.
“Harley!” Peter shrieked as he went running and leaping after him. He shot a web at the closest building and swung to catch the falling teen. He snatched Harley by the waist and held him close as he snapped another web back up to the tower roof.
Harley was laughing the entire time they were swinging in the air.
Once both their feet were firm on the ground Peter let go of his waist so he could shake his arms at him.
“Are you out of your mind ?! What were you thinking?!”
Harley’s laughter was dying down as he wiped a tear. “I was thinking; you’re Peter.”
“What! ” Spiderman started rapidly shaking his head and hands. “No! No! No! No! No! No! No! I am not this Peter person you speak of!” He was scoffing too much, a clear sign of denial.
“Come on, Parker, give it up. I know it’s you.” Harley crossed his arms and cocked a hip. “It’s so obvious. Why else would you, Tony, and the rest of the Avengers be so close? You have your own room in the tower and know where everything is. Have access to everything. Your own little area in the lab. Not to mention you literally said my name. How else would Spiderman know a kid from Rose Hill, who he’s never met before, name?”
Peter was left stuttering trying to think of any excuse he could.
“And!” Harley shouted and pointed at him. “I know you have abs! I’ve seen them!” Spiderman stayed stock still. “Seriously, Peter. It makes perfect sense.” He crossed his arms again and waited.
Peter let out a deflated huff then pulled the mask off. Harley lit up when he saw his face.
“You can’t tell anyone !” Peter said. “Please!”
“I won’t! I won’t!” Harley held up his hands and broke into a smile. “I knew it! I knew it!” He did a little skip in his damn cowboy boots. “This is so cool! You’re Spiderman! You! Dude, this is awesome!”
“Am I really that obviously?” Peter couldn’t hide his pouty face.
“I mean, not really. I’m just a genius,” Harley shrugged but he had a devious smirk. Peter huffed again. “But seriously, dude, I won’t tell anyone. Promise.”
“I believe you…” Peter stared for a minute at Harley’s bright smile. “But are you kidding me?! You jumped off a roof!”
“You do it all the time.”
“Yea! Cuz I’m Spiderman ! Are you crazy?!” Peter was still shaking his hands at Harley.
“I knew you’d catch me,” he shrugged again.
“What if I wasn’t Peter?”
“Even if it wasn’t you, whoever it is, Spiderman still would have caught me.”
Peter stayed silent for a moment. “I’m mad at you.”
“Come ooon!” Harley rolled his eyes. “It was fun! Like bungee jumping. Or cliff jumping. Which I’ve done like a million times. There’s falls all over Tennessee. So,” he put his hands on his hips. “We should do it again.” Harley took a step toward the ledge.
“No!” Peter shouted and snapped his wrist. A web shot out and secured Harley’s feet to the ground.
“Hey!” Harley barked. “These are my good boots!” He tried yanking himself free which only made him lose balance.
It was Peter’s turn to be smug. “Just like a fly trapped in a web.”
Harley scrunched his face. “Dude. Gross.”
*********
It was getting late and Tony could still hear the two playing video games in the lab. Walking in he could see Peter stuck up on the ceiling and Harley on the floor with their headsets on. Judging by their conversations they were playing with Ned and MJ.
“Boys, it’s late.”
He was completely ignored.
“Hey.” Still nothing. “F.R.I.D.A.Y pause the game.”
“Hey!” Peter and Harley both gasped.
“Ahem,” Tony cleared his throat. The two turned to look at him. “It’s late. Bed time.”
“I don’t have a bed time,” Harley said turning back around. “F.R.I.D.A.Y unpause.”
“No. Pause. I’m talking about a certain spider-baby who has school tomorrow.”
“Can you guys give us a minute?” Peter said to Ned and MJ through his headset. “Come on, Mr. Stark, one more round?”
Tony gave him the “dad-look” as he crossed his arms. “What are you doing on my ceiling?”
“Harley cheats if I’m not up here!”
“Ah!” Harley gawked. “I do not !”
“Yes you do! You always push me and try to grab my controller! It’s cheating!”
“It’s not my fault your bad at this. F.R.I.D.A.Y unpause.”
The game started again and the two were fully immersed. Tony shook his head.
“Unbelievable,” he mumbled to himself. He walked up to Harley on the floor and yanked the headset off.
“Hey!” He waved one hand aimlessly trying to grab it back. His head was whipping back and forth between Tony and still playing the game.
“Five more minutes then I’m shutting it down.”
“Buzzkill.” Tony gave him a little bonk on the head. “Hey!” Harley rubbed where he just got hit. “Why don’t you pick on Peter!?”
“Cuz he’s up there and you’re down here.” From up above Peter snickered.
“Peter! Help me out!” Harley lifted his hand in hopes Peter would web and pull him up.
“Not a chance I’m actually winning!”
“That’s only cuz Tony’s distracting me!”
“Five minutes. I’m serious!” Tony pointed between the two even though they weren’t looking. “Or you two are in big trouble.” He started walking away and Peter and Harley snorted to themselves.
“What’s he gonna do?” Ned asked after hearing their entire conversation.
Harley snorted again. “Absolutely nothing.”
It was coincidental that their round ended within the next five minutes so they decided to call it a night. They got ready for bed and Tony wished them goodnight before joining Pepper in their bedroom. As soon as he was out of sight Harley was running down the hall to meet in Peter’s room. They laid on his bed with a YouTube video playing quietly in the background as they talked a little more.
“Have you thought about school anymore?” Peter asked.
Harley blew his bangs out of his eyes. “No. Not really. Dude, I’m on spring break I don’t want to be thinking about that right now.”
“You better hurry up and decide. Graduation is gonna be soon.”
“Don’t remind me,” Harley grumbled.
Peter smiled. “How’s your big fancy speech, Mr. Valedictorian?”
“Actually I’m the salutatorian, and it’s…” he paused. “Going.” Which really meant I have absolutely nothing done and I want to kill myself just thinking about it.
“Really? Only salutatorian? Aren’t there like 30 kids in your graduating class?” Peter snorted.
“57. And yea believe it or not there is someone smarter than me at Rose Hill High. But low key I think the only reason she’s higher than me is because she did honors band or some shit.”
“You have an honors band?” Peter scrunched his face in confusion.
“Dude. I dunno, it’s Tennessee. It’s weird. Her mom’s on the school board too so she probably rigged it.”
Peter nodded and paused. “She cute at least?”
Harley barked out a laugh. “Bro, she’s like Rachel Berry!”
“Like from Glee ?”
“Yea! She’s exactly like her! So fricking annoying! And we hate each other.”
“So enemies to lovers then?”
“Shut up!” Harley threw a pillow at Peter as he laughed at his own joke. “Living in a small town isn’t exactly what it’s cracked up to be. Seriously, you’re life here is so good here. I wish I could go to Midtown. All you’re friends are so cool. Everyone’s super nice on the decathlon team.”
“Dude. I wish you could stay and replace Flash or Brad!”
Ever since the Disastrous Europe Trip Brad had it out for Peter. He’d never give up an opportunity to stick it to Peter for letting everything think he was a creep. Dating MJ while Brad was still harboring feelings for her didn’t exactly help either. But him tagging up with Flash only made it worse. Nothing was ever that serious and Peter was a pro at turning the other cheek, but even he could admit there was days when he had enough of the name calling and snarky comments.
“Dude! You’re literally Spiderman! You could totally lay those guys out without even trying!”
“You know why I can’t.”
“I’m just saying!”
“Harley…”
Harley mumbled to himself, “you totally could.” They laid in silence for a second.
“You ever been in a fight?”
Harley smirked at him. “You already know the answer to that.”
Peter smiled and rolled his eyes. The video was just ending so he clicked the tv and let out a sigh as he sunk deeper in the pillows. Harley was about ready to tiptoe back to his own room.
“You’re still coming tomorrow to practice, right? And you’re coming to Cindy’s dinner on St. Patrick’s Day? I know she already asked but she’s gonna ask you again. She literally mentions it every day, and that you’re invited. Every. Single. Day.”
Harley snickered a little. “Yea, I’m coming to both. One of us has to keep Flash and Brad on their toes. Right, Parker?” He poked at him.
“Shut up, Keener.”
Harley slid off the bed and headed toward the door. He had one hand on the knob and turned back to look at Peter.
“Seriously, you could show ‘em up. Just one day.”
Peter rolled his eyes. “Sure. One day.”
The “one day” was closer than Peter thought.