Chapter Text
Peter sighed as he stepped into the elevator, not managing to muster up his usual excitement for lab day. He has FRIDAY bring him up to the penthouse first so he can put his backpack in his room. When the elevator arrives the first thing he hears is laughter and Peter’s shoulders slump. He makes his way through the living room passing both Tony and Harley, not that either notice, and closes his door behind him.
“Is everything okay, Peter?” FRIDAY asks, concerned.
Peter’s mouth twitches into a small smile, at least FRIDAY notices his mood. “I’m okay, FRI. Just a long day at school.”
“If you’re sure,” FRI says doubtfully. “Your aunt called and left a message requesting that you call her back before you go to bed.”
Peter’s heart lifts a little at that. A couple of months after Tony took up a bigger role in his life May got the chance to get a raise and start working as an international travel nurse. She always wanted to travel and that had been the perfect opportunity and with Tony offering to take in Peter there wasn’t much holding her back. With her new position and frequent travel, it made it hard to keep in close touch but Peter was really happy that May got the chance she did, after everything they’ve been through she deserves the chance she got.
Peter acknowledges FRIDAY and thinks back to when he started staying with Tony in the middle of last summer, almost six months ago now. It was amazing, they worked in the lab after school, Tony helped him study for tests, and he even got him a therapist after seeing how much Peter struggled with the memories from Homecoming and his uncle’s death. It took a couple of weeks but he finally convinced Peter to start calling him Tony in private, though Peter still insists on Mr. Stark in front of nearly everyone else.
But, everything three weeks ago when Harley came to town. It was pretty obvious when he got here that Tony wanted them to get along but after getting snubbed by Harley a few too many times, Peter gave up trying to interact with the other boy. But avoiding interaction with Harley meant that he didn’t see Tony often anymore. If he still lived with May it probably wouldn’t hurt as much but seeing Tony every day without any time with him was like a punch in the gut. It reminded Peter that while he may see Tony as family the older man probably doesn’t feel the same. After all, if he did, wouldn't he notice by now?
Peter sets his bag by the desk with a sigh and walks back to the living room. Right before he walks in the back of his neck starts tingling and the hair on his arms rises. Peter shakes it off and dismisses it as his usual anxiety around Harley and Tony.
Tony and Harley are still talking when he comes back in but the older man greets him with a quick smile before turning back to the other teen. Peter starts walking toward the elevator to go to his lab to work on some suit upgrades when FRIDAY interrupts the conversation on the couch. “Boss, there seems to be a group armed with weapons similar to the ones made by Adrian Tooms on the Brooklyn Bridge.”
Peter’s neck snaps to meet Tony’s eyes. His mentor shakes his head, “Not this time, Pete. Stay here, I’ll update you.”
Peter feels more and more uneased every second, his spidey-sense warning him of something he can’t see right then. “Tony, something about this doesn’t feel right.”
Tony waves him off and walks past him into the elevator, “Don’t worry, kid. Stay in the penthouse till I get back, maybe finish up that history project of yours.”
I turned in that project this Monday is what he doesn’t say. Not that he could if he wanted to, Tony already having closed the doors to get to a safe place to take off from. He strains his ears and the sound of the repulsors quickly fades into the distance.
He turns and sees Harley’s mouth open right before the power goes out and his spidey-sense warns him to get down. He bounds across the room and tackles Harley just in time for the windows to implode. He hears Harley wheeze from the sudden weight on his chest and feels bad for a second before getting back in action. While getting up off of the other teen he activates the web-shooters concealed in his wrist bands and crouches.
He looks up and sees five men standing there holding weapons with glowing blue cores, the bridge is a distraction. He looks at each of their faces and doesn’t recognize them from his previous dealing with the vulture and his lingering cronies, it’s bad when they choose to show their face, it means they don’t expect you to walk away, he remembers Tony telling him.
All of the guns are pointed at them and without any previous knowledge of those specific weapons and without his suit and Karen to help him, he sits back and waits, they haven’t shot, they must need something. He hears Harley sit up behind him and feels the press of a hand on his back. Though he isn’t focusing on the other boy, he hears his rapid heartbeat and a faint whisper of his name. Peter broadens his shoulders and leans back a little more to block him better, refusing to let Harley get hurt.
One of the men steps forward, his eyes latching on Harley, “So you’re Stark’s secret kid.” He smirks, “Or well, not-so-secret. There have been rumors about Stark having a kid around for a year now, imagine my luck when one of my people sees you walking around with him.”
Oh god. They’re going after Harley because of him. Sure they may have seen Harley, but those rumors started when people saw him and Tony together. If he gets hurt Peter will never forgive himself. He clears his throat, “What do you want?”
The leader eyes him with disinterest, “Kill the other one, he’s of no use.”
Peter’s eyes widen as the person to the leader’s left aims his gun directly at him. “Wait! If you’re looking to access something I’m a better bet. I’m Mr. Stark’s personal intern, and I have access to everything he does so I can work on and learn from him. Har-His kid doesn’t have access to most of the labs or storage rooms because he doesn’t work with him. So, whatever you want to access, take me instead and leave him alone.”
The leader narrows his eyes and looks behind him at Harley, “This true?”
Harley is silent for a moment but finally, he responds. “Yeah. T-Dad doesn’t trust me with anything important.”
Peter’s spidey-sense is screaming at him as the leader continues to stare at them, only speaking when one of the others reminds him of the limited time. “Fine then, kill Stark’s kid, we only need one.”
Peter’s heart stops, but being emotional won’t help Harley so he tries to keep himself in check. “If you kill him you won't get anything. Leave him here or I won't help you.”
A timer goes off and the leader snarls, “Fine!” He turns to the group behind him, “Grab the intern and knock the kid out, we don’t need him causing any trouble.”
The hand on his back grabs his shirt as he’s yanked forward by one of the men. Peter stumbles to his feet and doesn’t have enough time to look back at Harley before he hears the impact of a gun to the other teen’s head and the thump of his body hitting the ground. He goes along with the man tugging him towards the elevator after a quick glimpse of a bleeding and unconscious Harley.
He gets shoved forward to the hand scan so he presses his palm against it and enters his personal code that will activate the elevator with emergency power. They all get into the elevator and Peter is instructed to take them to where the Iron Man suits are stored. Instead of taking them down to the underground storage, he takes them three floors down to an empty floor. It’s supposed to be a lab floor but has been evacuated after an experiment went wrong yesterday.
Peter tells them that they are stored in one of the secured back rooms and leads them farther in, waiting until the elevator closes to confront them. He takes a deep breath after the exit is sealed and prepares himself for the upcoming fight.
They are around halfway down the hallway when Peter throws the nearest man through the wall. The others start shouting and Peter ducks underneath the blast of the weapons they carry. He doesn’t hear the man he threw get up so he assumes he’s unconscious and focuses on the remaining four men. The guns seem to shoot a superheated substance that burns through the walls but luckily don’t seem to do anything else.
While Peter hates to use his powers so openly, but he doesn’t want to risk getting hit by one of their guns. His name was never said in front of them and they didn’t seem to recognize him from anywhere so hopefully, luck will be on his side in regards to his identity not being revealed.
The fight is short but exhausting. None of the men are especially good fighters but the need for near-constant dodging makes Peter struggle more than usual. Even with Peter’s extra diligence, seconds after knocking the fifth guy unconscious Peter is hit by one of the specialized guns from behind. He cries out and hits the wall in front of him. He hears another shot being charged when the windows implode in the same room the now conscious first guy is.
There’s the sound of a repulsor one second and the next Peter is sitting on the ground looking up at the worried face of his mentor. Knowing that he’s safe now, Peter gives in to the pain and everything goes black.