Chapter Text
Harley was sitting in Pepper’s office. They had been inside workshopping how to respond to the whole ‘Darrell made a huge, serious accusation and broadcasted it on national news’ situation. Harley had apologized so many times that Pepper had threatened to ground him if he apologized again. He didn’t understand why Darrell would attack Tony like that. They were such obvious lies, it didn’t make sense what his goal was.
His phone started ringing. Shit . His sister was calling him. He honestly forgot about his mom and sister back home. They were probably freaking out.
He quickly answered. “Hey Abby-”
“HARLEY WHAT THEY FUCK IS HAPPENING-”
“ABBY!” Holly cut in
“MA! DARREL WAS ON THE TV CALLING TONY A KIDNAPPER! I THINK NOW DESERVES A BAD WORD”
Harley heard Holly sigh. “Harley, baby, what’s going on?”
Harley saw Pepper give a motion for Harley to put the phone on speaker.
“Hey Ma, you’re on speaker. Pepper is here.”
“Hello Mrs. Keener. We are working on a way for Stark Industries to respond right now.”
“Okay. But what exactly is going on? How did this start?”
“Um, well Darrell- he kinda...he came to see me.”
“Came to see you? Do you think ‘cause he saw you in the news?”
“Uhhh- not exactly…” Harley saw Pepper give him a disapproving look. He sighed. “Harry kinda called him.”
“What? Why?” Abby exclaimed.
“I think, um, I think a misunderstanding. We had this conversation and I said that I wish that I could speak to my dad honestly. Like, speak to my dad without lying. And I think he thought, well you know, that I was talking about Darrell.”
He glanced up at Pepper, who was looking at her tablet, but he could see that she had a confused look on her face.
“Well that’s stupid!” Abby exclaimed. “He shouldn’t have called him without your permission anyway!” She was getting progressively upset.
“Abby-” Harley tried to calm her.
“No! This is so stupid! He can’t just- He can’t just call Darrell and Darrell just can’t come back-” she was breathing heavily.
“Abby! Calm down! You never really even knew him, why are you so upset?”
“He- maybe i never knew him but he’s still my dad! Just because isn’t yours- doesn’t mean- and now he’s bothering you for no reason - and why did he come back after all these years?... For you ?” Abby said, getting more emotional as she rambled.
“...abby?”
“I know I never technically knew him but it still hurts sometimes. All these kids at my school talk about their dads, and sometimes...sometimes it’s so embarrassing that he left...because I was born.”
“Abby- no. It was not because of you.” Harley said.
“Baby, listen to me. Darrell was not a good man. He did not leave because of you, or because you were a bad kid. You or Harley. He left because he was a bad father. You two are wonderful kids. He doesn’t deserve to be in your lives. I’m so sorry, baby.” Holly said to Abby.
A few moments passed in silence, as Abby was being comforted. Pepper looked up and gave a sympathetic smile to Harley.
“I think the best thing to do right now is to make a twitter post rejecting the claims. I think that should suffice. If not, and worse comes to worse, we will do a press conference with you, if you are willing to speak.”
“Of course, I will.”
“Also, you can make a short tweet as well, or an Instagram post, whatever you feel comfortable with- if you feel comfortable, and that could also help. You could retweet SI’s official post and say a few extra things?”
Harley nodded. “Yeah, totally.”
The door opened and Tony walked in holding three coffee cups in his hands. He set them down in front of each one of the people in the room.
“Hey ma, Tony’s here” Harley called out before taking a sip of his coffee. It was sugary. He always used to drink in black because it made him feel ‘cool’ and ‘grown-up’, but he actually preferred the sugar. He was glad Tony added some to his.
Tony looked at the phone. “Hey Holly, how are you?” He said, in a genial voice.
“I’m good, thankyou Tony.”
“Is Abby there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” She said, her voice thick. Tony brows creased and he looked at Harley, who gave back a small, sad smile.
“The situation is distressing all of us a little right now” Harley offered as an explanation.
Tony nodded.
“Do we have a plan?” He asked, sitting down in a chair.
Pepper detailed the plan again to Tony, and he nodded. He then leaned back and glanced at his watch.
“It’s 2 in the morning- You can make a post tomorrow. You have school in the morning and you need to get to bed.”
“...you just gave me coffee”
Tony took the coffee from out of Harley’s hands. “No I didn’t. Bed”
Harley rolled his eyes. “Bye mom, abby.” He said, hanging up the phone and walking out the door.
====
Harley decided to walk to school the next day, he had woken up pretty early and thought the walk would be relaxing.
It was fine for most of the walk anyway. He was about 15 minutes from the school when he heard his name being called through the people milling about. He turned around and saw Darrell rushing towards him.
“Harley! Son! Wait!” He said. Harley immediately turned around and started speed walking away.
“Harley! Wait!” Darrell called.
Harley whipped around and Darrell jogged the last bit up to him.
“What do you want?” Harley hissed, glaring at him.
“I want to talk to you” he said
“Talk to me?! Really?” Harley said sarcastically.
“Son, please-”
“You have no right to call me that!” Harley said.
“I understand you’re probably angry at me,” Darrell said. Harley huffed but if he heard, he didn’t react. “But I care about you. And I want to make things right between us”
“Why did you say those things about Tony?” Harley asked, ignoring his previous statement.
“I…” Darrell paused and had the decency to look a bit embarrassed. “I might of...overreacted a bit”
Harley chuckled bitterly. "Over- wow. You called Tony a kidnapper and manipulator.”
Darrell paused for a moment before reaching out and grabbing Harley's shoulder. “Look, I just want the best for you. I want us to be close again. Father and son, back together-”
“We were never close.”
“Ahh come on-”
“I was three. When you left.” Harley said, moving back and shoving Darrell’s hand off of his shoulder. He could feel anger rise up in him. “You left . Me and Abby and Ma.”
Darrell sighed. “Look, I know I wasn’t a good father back then. But I'm better now. I’ll be here for you. I just want to be a father again.”
“You don’t get to just choose when to come into my life again! You lost that right the night you left.”
“Come on, Harls, stop being emotional. That was a long time ago” Darrell said.
“Yeah. It was a long time ago. I’ve moved on. You should too. I’m sure it won’t be that hard for you.” Harley said, rolling his eyes at the end. He turned around to leave but Darrell grabbed his wrist.
“Son, please.”
Harley whipped around again, tugging his wrist back from Darrell. “I said don’t call me that!”
“Won’t you at least give me a chance? I came all the way up here from Ohio when Harry called me. I’m tryin’ . I at least deserve a chance for my trouble.” Darrell said, his voice getting angrier.
“Trouble?” Harley said, huffing a laugh. “Yeah. Figured. I don’t owe you anything.”
“Harley listen-”
“No.”
“Harley-”
“Why are you trying to ‘get to know’ me? What about Abby? Huh? You gonna go to Tennessee and try with her?” Harley shouted. He paused, breathing heavily, staring at Darrell, who just looked back, surprised. Before Harley could stop himself, he shouted the one question he had since he was three years old and learned that his father wasn’t coming home with scratchers.
“Why did you leave?!” He could feel himself get emotional and he tried to repress it. He would not cry in front of Darrell .
Darrell looked taken aback. “Why don’t we go to a coffee shop and talk okay?” He asked in a soothing voice.
Harley shook his head “I have to get to school”
“I wanna make things right!”
“Then retract your statement! Tell the truth! To everybody, to the media, to me!”
Harley wasn’t shouting anymore, but he wasn’t exactly being quiet either. He didn’t want to attract attention, so he was holding back. He wanted to scream at Darrell.
“Look, Harley. That would make me look stupid and I-”
“Good! You are stupid and you did a stupid thing.”
“Now, Harley. I did it for you.”
“For me?! Bullshit. Tell me the truth. Right now. What do you want?”
“For us to be father and son again. I just want to reconnect with you.” Darrell started to reach his hand forward again to put it back on Harley’s shoulder but Harley stepped back.
He glared at Darrell for a moment, not saying anything. Darrell opened his mouth to say something but before he could a red lexus pulled up with the windows rolled down. Harley looked to see Harry looking out at them.
“Hey Harls, need a ride?” He asked, glancing at Harley then glaring at Darrell.
Before Harley could speak, Darrell responded. “Harry, please tell Harley that he should give me a chance”
Harry just raised his eyebrows and moved his gaze back on Harley. “Come on, school starts in 20”
Harley didn’t know what to do. Harry was giving him a way out of speaking to Darrell, but he also didn’t want to be in a car with Harry for 10 minutes.
“Harry, come on, you called me up here-”
“And I shouldn’t have.” Harry’s voice was cold and hard. He didn’t even look at Darrell, still looking at Harley. He threw Harley a pleading look and Harley sighed. He started to walk around to get into the passenger seat.
“Harley, you can’t just leave. I’m your father!” He said. Harley ignored him. “HARLEY! Turn around and come back right now!” Darrell shouted.
Harley turned around again. “You’re not my dad! Mom lied to you” He shouted, anger coursing through his body. He just wanted Darrell to go away.
Darrell blinked. “...what?”
“Mom lied to you. She slept with another guy, I was conceived, then she slept with you. Im. Not. Your. Son.”
With that, Harley walked to the passenger side of the car and got in. Harry drove away before Darrell could move.
Harry kept glancing at Harley as they drove to the school.
“Say what you want to say,” Harley said with a sigh.
Harry hesitated a moment, before talking. “I’m a dumbass. I’m a horrible boyfriend and I’m so, so sorry. I know nothing I can say will make up for calling your deadbeat dad without your knowledge. I promise I will never do anything like that ever again.”
Harley stayed quiet for a while. The tension in the car was uncomfortable and static. Harley looked at Harry. “Yeah, I don’t think you should give me any more gifts.” Harley said with a spark of humor in his eyes while fighting back a smile. Harry was hard to stay mad at.
Harry glanced at Harley in surprise but had to look back on the road quickly. He was a pretty safe driver after all. At least when Harley was in the car. Harley knew he liked to speed but he never went more than 5 miles over with Harley.
“I won’t. I promise.”
They had another moment of silence, but now the tension was mostly gone.
“...so, are we...are we okay?”
Harley sighed. “I- I forgive you Harry. I know you were trying to do something good. And I trust that you will never do something like that again-”
“I promise” Harry cut in.
“But I need some time.” Harley continued and Harry deflated a bit. “I’m not- It’s not like a break or anything. I just- I need some time to process and move past this. I’m still a little angry, to be honest. And I need time to deal with that.”
Harry was focusing on the road. “...I understand. Take your time, I'll wait for as long as you need.”
Harley huffed. “Cheesy.” Then he glanced out of the window. Should he? “I’m going to tell Tony” Harley guessed he would.
Harry raised his eyebrows and glanced at Harry. “Really?”
“Yeah” Harley said, taking a deep breath.
Harry parked in a parking space before replying. He turned toward Harley. “He’s going to accept you, Harley. There is no need to be afraid. I know he already sees you like a son. Everything will be okay, I promise.”
Harley nodded. “Thanks, Har”
Harry nodded. “I know you need time. But if you need anything, I’m here.”
Harley smiled a genuine, closed-mouth smile and leaned in, kissing Harry’s cheek.
He then got out of the car, and walked into the school.
====
Harley sat down at the table at lunch with the group. The day had been decent. Except for the morning, of course.
Harry had respected his boundaries, making sure to give him space.
Now he needed to explain what was going on to Peter, Ned and Mj. Peter and Ned were looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to talk. Mj was reading a book, looking uninterested, but anybody who knew her knew she was paying attention.
“So…” Harley said, unsure where to start.
“We saw the, uh, news” Ned prompted
“Yeah, so um… Darrell is kinda insane”
“So he told the world that Tony kidnapped you?” Peter asked.
“Yeah… it’s super weird. He stopped me this morning on my way to school and he was going on and on about how he wanted to be father and son again and I really don’t understand his game.”
“Wait...he talked to you this morning?” Peter asked.
“Oh, yeah… it was just like what I said, him saying he wanted us to be close again.”
“Did he not mention anything about his accusations?” Ned asked, shocked.
“I asked him and he said that he might have overreacted, ” Harley said, making air quotes with his hands during the end.
“Overreacted is an understatement” Ned said
“Tell me about it” Harley grumbled, resting his chin on his arms which were crossed on the table.
“What are you planning to do?” Peter asked.
“Pepper said I should make a social media post promising I’m not kidnapped or anything.”
“Why would anybody even believe Darrell? It’s not like he had anything to back the claim.” Peter wondered
“People are stupid and will believe everything they see on the news” Mj cut in. “Plus people love drama and celebrity gossip. Harley’s dad attacking Harley’s dad is entertaining” Mj added, looking up from her book.
“What do you mean my dad?” Harley said, his eyes wide.
Mj raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Tony is basically your dad. You live in his house and he kinda treats you like a son.”
“Oh...yeah. Right.” Harley said.
Mj squinted but Ned started talking about something that happened in English and she looked down at her book while everyone else looked at Ned.
It’s not like he was now adverse to telling them the truth, but he also was still uncomfortable with the whole ‘not keeping it a secret’ thing. He had gotten used to it. He also wanted to tell Tony before anybody else to minimize the risk of Tony learning from someone else.
Harley took a breath. He couldn’t believe he was going to tell Tony. He also couldn’t believe he had to deal with Darrell. That reminded him again of the twitter and insta post he needed to post. He had only been here for less than two months and everything he built was falling apart faster than nature valley granola bar. Why couldn’t life just let him have a few months to adjust before pelting him with problems?
He spent the rest of lunch going back and forth between listening to Ned and thinking about what exactly he was going to post.
====
Harley was back at home in his room, reading over his twitter post. The official SI twitter page had posted a formal response an hour earlier.
He had retweeted it, confirming their stance, and that he was okay , and not kidnapped , or manipulated .
He then posted a picture of Tony and him on Instagram and basically copied and pasted the same thing he put on his twitter. He also added “If Tony kidnapped me I would have annoyed him into letting me go by now”
He then started scrolling through social media waiting for his post to gain attention so he could see the reactions.
Suddenly Clint dropped from the ceiling vent. Harley looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
“...clint?”
Clint walked over to the door and unlocked it, opening it for Natasha to walk in.
“Did you two just break into my room?”
Clint shrugged. “Your door was locked.” They came over to the bed, sitting on opposite sides of Harley.
“And you couldn’t knock?” Harley looked in between the two spies.
“Don’t look at me, I tried to tell Clint that, but he insisted his way.” Natasha said.
Harley sighed, but he had a small smile on his face.
“What if I was naked.”
“I asked Friday! She said you were clothed and everything. Anyway! To the point. When are you going to tell Tony?” Clint said.
Harley groaned. He knew this conversation was inevitable. “I will, I will. I just- I’m waiting for the best time. I don’t think with everything going on with Darrell now is the best time to, uh, drop that bomb on Tony.”
Natasha nodded. “That makes sense, but the longer you wait, the bigger risk he will find out. And it would be better if he found out from you. No more running away.”
Harley rested his head on Natasha’s shoulder. “I know” he breathed out. “I’ll do it once this whole mess calms down a bit.”
“Okay. You need us, you call us, okay? We are still here for you.” Clint said.
Harley smiled at him. “Thanks Clint.”
“For now” Natasha said, taking Harley’s phone out of his hand and placing it on the side table. Then motioning for Clint to open the computer she brought. “We can watch the office and get your mind off of this whole situation.”
Harley chuckled. “Thanks guys.”
====
Another day had passed, and everyone was waiting to see what Darrell would do. The media had quickly covered SI and Harley’s response. Most of the news sites kept their opinions ambiguous, trying to milk the views they were getting because of this drama.
Most people were on SI’s side, commenting support and lots and lots of confusion on both SI and Harley’s social media. There were some people who were on Darrell's side, but Harley expected that. A lot of people still distrusted Stark and plenty of people distrusted rich business men. Not that Harley blamed them, but Tony wasn’t like any of the cheating businessmen and he had changed since his time making weapons.
He was sitting in the living room when Darrell posted something on his twitter. Darrell’s twitter had gotten an influx of followers over the last day so he could post something and the news would come to him instead of the other way around.
Harley read the post. “SI’s immediate cover up of the situation shows how badly Harley has been manipulated. Making him post on his social media that he’s okay? It’s an obvious lie. Fighting to see MY SON again. Has anyone actually thought about Tony Stark? Not only did he used to make weapons, but now he is a man with a very powerful suit, and uses it only when there is a massive threat to the world. Many people are starving and dying everyday and he sits there in his tower, surrounded by his money and tech. He pretends like he cares but he doesn’t give one shit about us. Not to mention the damage the Avengers do that they don’t fix. He’s a villain all on his own and he has everybody fooled. We need to put an end to his reign of terror before there are serious consequences.”
Harley groaned. Was he serious? When would he learn that Harley wanted nothing to do with him?
Harley needed to fix this. Maybe if he could just talk to Darrell again, he could convince him to go away. Clint and Natasha were right. No more running away. He needed to face this problem. Head on.
He needed to get into contact with Darrell, and there was one person he knew who had his number. Harley picked up his phone and called Harry.
Harry picked up after the first ring. “Harley?” Harry said. His voice seemed hopeful.
“Hey, Harry. I need your help.”
“Okay. What do you need?”
“Do you still have Darrell’s number?”
There was a pause. “Yeah, I do. Why? What are you planning?”
“I’m going to meet up with him, and try to get him to leave me alone.”
“Do you think that’s gonna work?”
Harley sighed. “I don’t know. But I have to try. Face my problems head on. He’s not going to go away with some carefully crafted posts. If he wants to talk to me then… we’ll talk.”
“Okay. I’m sending you the contact.”
Harley smiled. “Thanks, Harry.”
“No problem.” Harry responded. “Uh.. wait!”
“Yeah?” Harley said, hoping Harry would say he missed him or something. It would be cute and Harley was so ready to put their relationship back on tracks.
“Uh… um… let me go with you.” Harry said quickly
“...what?” Harley responded.
“Uh.. i mean, like, well, he’s- you going alone isn’t the safest idea. He’s a bit...unhinged from what I’ve seen. Let me come with you to just- make sure everything goes okay.”
“Um.. okay.” Harley said.
“...okay?” Harry said. He sounded unsure.
Harley smiled. What a dork. “Yeah. I’m going to text him to meet me in the park in two hours. Meet me in an hour and half outside the Tower.”
“Okay.” Harry said. “I’ll see you.”
“See you.”
“And Harley?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve missed you.”
Harley smiled a big, crooked smile. “I’ve missed you too.”
He then hung up and texted Darrell to meet him at literary walk in Central Park. Within a minute he had gotten a response that he would be there. Harley took a deep breath. He was not prepared to face his ‘dad’ but he was going to have to garner up all the strength he could.
An hour had passed Harley was sitting, staring into space, trying to figure out what to say and going through every possible situation.
The elevator doors had opened and Tony stepped into the room. “Hey, kid. Did you see the new post?”
“Yeah, I did.” Harley said, turning around.
“I’ve already talked to Pepper. We are thinking about a press conference as well as another twitter post. I want you to know that we aren’t worried but-”
“I have a plan.”
“Oh,” Tony said, a little confused but humoring him. “what is it?” Tony said, turning around to take a mug out of the cabinet to make coffee.
“I’m going to meet up with him in the park.”
Tony immediately turned around. “Absolutely not.”
“Tony-”
“That man is unhinged. It’s too dangerous.” Tony said, staring at Harley.
“I have to Tony! He’s not going to stop no matter how many social media posts or press conferences we do.”
“I’m not talking you out of this am I?” Tony sighed, setting down the mug.
“No.”
Tony ran a hand over his face. “When is this happening?”
Harley glanced at the microwave clock behind Tony. “In about 30 minutes.”
“Thirty minutes?!”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Fine. Let me drink some coffee and we can go.”
“Uhh… we?”
“Yeah. You think I’m going to let you go talk to an unhinged lunatic alone?” Tony said, turning back around to make his coffee.
“You really don’t have to do that.” Harley said. It was going to make it so awkward if Tony was there. It was already probably going to be awkward, but now?
“I do. And I can’t talk you out but you can’t talk me out. I’m coming.”
Harley sighed. “Fine.”
====
Thirty minutes later Tony and Harley walked out to the front of the tower, where Harry was waiting. Harley went straight to him and gave him a hug.
“What is he doing here?” Tony asked, his eyebrows scrunched.
“He’s coming with us to help.” Harley responded, linking their fingers. Harry gave Tony an awkward close mouthed smile and a small wave.
Tony looked toward Harley, an angry expression on his face. Harley raised an eyebrow. "Harry has been a huge help so far and I want him with me.” He said, standing taller.
Tony pursed his lips. “Fine”
They walked out the door.
The walk to the park was tense. Tony walked in between Harley and Harry, forcing them to be apart.
Harley looked at Harry. He could tell Harry was getting agitated.
“Mr. Stark could you just give me a chance?” Harry blurted.
Tony looked at him, and Harley held his breath, looking at Tony. “No.” Harley and Harry sighed and kept walking.
They arrived at the park and Darrell was waiting for them on a bench. He looked up as they approached and immediately stood up.
“Harley” He said, with worry in his voice. He briefly glanced at the other two, but mainly looked toward Harley.
“Darrell” Harley responded, short and cold.
“To be honest, I’m a little confused why you brought Stark and Harry. I thought we were going to reconnect?”
“Yeah, uh no. I’m here to ask you to leave me alone.”
“Harley, come on. You’re not being very fair.” He said.
“I don’t care. Leave me alone, don’t mention me in any more tweets. I don’t want to hear about you or even see you for the rest of my life.” Harley said, schooling his face to look unbothered.
Darrell pursued his lips. “Fine” he said, shrugging his shoulders and sitting back down.
Harley blinked. “...fine?”
Darrell sighed and looked up. “It’s obvious you aren’t going to budge on the whole ‘I can’t come back into your life’ thing. And I was just going to spend time with you for a week, get you to tell me Stark Industries secrets, and steal the business ideas.”
Harley opened his mouth. Of course he just wanted power and money. “Of course. I knew you were still a dirtbag.”
Darrell ignored the comment. “I’ll leave you alone. And Stop “exposing” Tony” Darrell said, making air quotes, “If you pay me 5 million”
Harley huffed a bitter laugh. “You’re not serious.”
Darrell raised an eyebrow, proving he was.
“You’re not getting any money.”
“Then I’ll keep ruining Tony’s reputation. And I won’t stop until he is destroyed.”
“SI deals with people like you all the time. You will never ruin my reputation. You’re just a little pest that SI will smush. So I would recommend you scuttle away now why you still have the chance.” Tony said.
Darrell laughed. “Sure, Stark. What if I turn up later with a broken nose and bruises and say you came to beat me up for talking to Harley? I can twist this so easily to make you seem like a horrible person.”
“What is ruining Tony’s reputation going to do if you don’t get anything from it?” Harley asked, desperation seeping into his voice.
Darrell turned toward Harley “If I don’t get anything, at least I get the satisfaction of bringing down someone like Stark.”
“And I can sue you for defamation” Tony said, crossing his arms.
“And let me remind you of the whole ‘beat up’ situation? You can sue me but you have no proof I was lying.”
“Actually” Harry said, holding up his phone. “We do. I just recorded the whole conversation. So you leave Harley alone, or Tony will sue.”
Darrell stood up angrily. Looking in between the three of them. Tony looked at Harry. “It’s already been sent to you, Tony.” Harry said, but keeping his glare on Darrell.
“Good job, kid.” Tony said, looking back at Darrell.
“Let’s go.” Harley said, turning around to walk away.
“I always knew you were a failure of a son!” Darrell said as he walked away. “You wanna know why I left?! I left because of you! Because you are a disappointment! And a disgusting faggot! I would be ashamed of a kid like you!”
Harley continued walking. Truth be told, the words hurt a little bit, but he wouldn’t let it get to him.
“And I knew your sister would disappoint me too! Just like your cheating bitch of a mother!”
With that, Harley turned around and ran toward Darrell, disregarding the protests of Harry and Tony. He punched Darrell in the face, knocking him down and punching him again and again.
He barely even noticed when bright flashing lights and loud clicks started around him.
He was pulled off of Darrell by Tony. “Never talk about them again! They are better than you will ever be!” Harley yelled, fighting to get out of Tony’s grip. Darrell’s nose was bleeding, and bruises were already forming.
“Who is your father anyway? Some cheap nobody from Rose Hill?” Darrell asked.
Harley stopped fighting, standing up, with a sick, bitter grin forming on his face. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or his hatred, but he looked Darrell in the eye and responded. “Tony.”
Everyone paused, and all cameras were trained on him.
“...what?” Darrell and Tony said at the same time.
“Mom cheated on you with Tony. Remember that trip to New York for her journalism final?”
Harley was enjoying seeing the shock on Darrell’s face.
“You’re lying.” he said.
“Look in my face and see whether I’m lying.”
Darrell looked at Harley for a moment, then glared at Tony. After a second, he stormed away.
“...harley?” Tony said, and the reality had hit Harley like a freight train. “That was just a cover, right?” He looked concerned.
Harley sighed, looking down. “No, Tony. It’s the truth.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Tony…” Harley said, looking up at him. “I am your son”
Tony stared at him, but as a flash of light happened, the three seemed to remember the paparazzi standing on the side. “Come on, we are discussing this at home.”
The three started walking. The paparazzi seemed to be satisfied with what they had and didn’t follow. Maybe it was a shock? Harley was pretty sure he was in shock.
They got to the tower and Tony turned around, blocking Harry out. “Not you. You go home. I have to talk to Harley.” He then put a finger in Harry’s face. “And no talking about anything you heard today or I will sue.”
Harry raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t said anything so far and I still don’t plan to.” Tony blinked as Harry looked at Harley. “Bye babe. Call me when you can.”
Harley nodded and Tony turned around to look at him. “He knew?!”
“Uh…” Harley said looking down.
“I’m calling Holly.” Tony said, walking toward the elevator. “Friday, take us to the living room”
Harley grimaced. Here we go.
Holly answered the phone immediately. “Tony? Is everything okay?”
“Is Harley my kid?” Tony blurted out.
The line was quiet for a while. “...yes. He is” The response was quiet but firm.
Tony seemed to get angry. “Why did nobody tell me?”
“I’m sorry, Tony. I just- I was afraid. Don’t get mad at Harley, either. He didn’t know until right before he moved up there.”
Tony looked at Harley with his eyebrows raised. “You knew all that time?!” Harley grimaced. “And why were you afraid to tell me?” Tony almost yelled into the phone.
“Tony, don’t you yell at me! You know you weren’t ready for kids back then. What
would you have done? I didn’t want Harley to have a dad that didn’t want him! I didn’t know- I thought Darrell would be a good dad.”
Tony sighed, putting his head in his hands. “Is abby-?”
“No! No, she is Darrell’s.”
“Okay. Okay. Holly, I will call you back later and we can discuss this more. Right now, I need some time.”
“Okay, Tony.”
With that, Holly hung up. Tony looked at Harley. “Why didn’t you tell me.” His voice was frustrated and upset.
“I was afraid. You were building a family. And you are doing so much better than you were when the manadarin incident happened. I didn’t want to ruin your life.”
“Ruin my- Harley why would you think this would ruin my life?”
“You said it would ruin it!” Harley exclaimed, getting emotional.
“What are you talking about?” Tony asked, scrunching his eyebrows together.
“You said, when you told me and Peter that you and Pepper were trying to get pregnant, that you were glad you never got another woman pregnant because you could focus on your family and nothing like that could ruin it. And now I’ve ruined it” Harley rambled, tears forming in his eyes.
Tony just looked at Harley, searching for something to say. “Harley- I... I didn’t mean that. You haven’t ruined my life, you could never ‘ruin my life’. I promise.”
Harley just started crying “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I was so scared you would hate me and I didn’t want to have to stomach that cause I finally had the chance to have a dad again and I didn’t want to ruin it.”
Tony got up and brought Harley into a hug. “Listen to me kid. You haven’t ruined anything. I’m actually...I’m actually kind of glad that you are my son. It explains how creepily alike we are.”
Harley laughed a little. They broke the hug and Tony looked at Harley. “I will need a moment to process this, but don’t think that you’ve ruined anything or I’m upset. I’m not. Okay?”
Harley nodded. “Thanks, Tony.”
Tony leaned back. “Hmm... I guess you can’t call me Tony anymore”
Harley smiled. “Thanks, old man.”
Tony sighed, but a smile stayed on his face “So… you're really my son.”
“I’m your son”
Harley felt so much better now that Tony knew. The guilt and responsibility was lifted off of his shoulders. His heart felt light, and the stupid grin on his face wouldn’t leave, even if he wanted it to.
“Hey boss? I think you will want to see this” Friday said, turning on the news.
The news turned on. It was a reporter with a big headline that read: ‘“Tony, I Am Your Son”’
“Breaking news! Harley Keener, Tony Stark’s ward, Tony Stark, and Harry Osborn met face to face with Darrell Keener. Paparazzi got shots of Harley beating up Darrell before dropping a massive bomb. Turns out, Tony Stark is not only Harley’s guardian, but also his actual father! Harley spilled that to a very shocked Tony as we see in these photos. And where does Harry fit into this? Are Harry Osborn and Harley back together? We will update when we find out more information.”
Harley and Tony looked at each other, processing what had just happened.
Suddenly, they both started laughing. Harley felt so much better after telling the truth to Tony. Nothing could ruin his mood at this point. The world knowing the truth felt more liberating than anything right now.
====
Harley was heading down to the lobby the next day, after Harry had texted him to meet him there.
Harry was standing in the middle of the lobby with flowers. He smiled as he saw Harley step out of the elevator.
Harley rushed over to him. “What are you doing here? Tony won’t be happy if he sees you.”
Before Harry could respond, Tony put a hand on Harley’s shoulder. “I called him.”
Harley turned around, his eyebrows scrunched. “You did?”
Tony sighed. “Yeah. I realize I was being a bit unfair. I’ll give Harry a chance, and I’ve already let him know that if he hurts you, he will go six feet under.” Tony said, raising his eyebrows and looking at Harry, with no real anger in his eyes.
Harry grimaced, but kept a smile on his face.
“Tony then handed Harley a credit card. “Go get some dinner or something. Have some fun”
Harley grinned at Harry, and Harry smiled back. He took the flowers, set them aside, and grabbed Harry’s hand, going in for a kiss. Before their lips touched, two hands pushed them apart. Tony looked in between both of them. “Not that much fun. Leave, go, out!” Tony said, shoving both of them out the door. Harley and Harry chuckled, looking at each other. They interlocked their fingers and walked toward Harry’s car.
They got in and before Harry started the car, Harley pulled Harry in, kissing him. Harry deepened the kiss, grabbing Harley’s hair at the base of his neck. Dinner could wait.