Chapter Text
“Scared, me? I’m Spiderman, I’m not scared of some haunted house,” Peter declared.
“Uh hu.” Harley nodded slowly. “Sure, whatever you say.”
A whole fair had been set up for Halloween, with stalls, games and a haunted house. The youths living at the Compound had collectively decided to visit. They’d got some snacks, then had enjoyed some of the games set up. Lila and Harley had had a friendly competition in all the games requiring aim. She might be well on her way to rival her father in marksmanship but he’d been proud that he had not made it easy for her. His training in the armour he’d made was coming in handy, it seemed. Peter and Cooper had had to pull them away from the game stalls, in fact.
The younger ones had tired soon and were now resting on a bench, watched over by Vision, while Peter, Harley, Cooper, Lila and Cassie went to the haunted house.
“You can stay with the kids if you prefer,” Cooper said.
“No way,” Peter disagreed. He looked to the girls. “But perhaps the –“ He stopped short at the twin glare they shot him.
“Come on, Cassie, we don’t need the boys, we can manage on our own,” Lila said. She grabbed Cassie’s hand, then the two of them entered the house.
Cooper snorted. “You obviously don’t have a sister. Come on, let’s go.”
~*~
The house had been set up like a labyrinth, dimly lit and with cobwebs, mirrors and sheets to confuse visitors, flashing lights and actors jumping out to scare and confuse them. By the time they’d entered, the girls had been out of sight already. Peter wasn’t quite sure how but suddenly he’d found himself alone in the dark. Had Cooper and Harley taken a wrong turn or had he? He looked around a bit nervously, hoping to spot them or some other visitor.
Nothing. No one.
Peter found himself clutching his sweater. That was fine. It was... just a haunted house. There were many people around... somewhere here. It wasn’t... he wasn’t back there. Back... wherever he had been after the Snap. He had no real memory of that time, just impressions, nightmares he could not remember in the morning. This was just a haunted house.
He jumped when he felt something grab his hand.
“There you are, Peter,” Harley said. “You were suddenly gone.”
Suddenly gone. His reply stuck in his throat.
Harley frowned, noticing how pale he suddenly looked. “Peter? You okay?”
“S-sure. I told you, I’m not scared of some haunted house, I’m... you know.”
Harley watched him for a moment, then turned to stand beside him, close enough that their shoulders touched. “Have either of us told you how I met Tony?”
“No?”
“I can tell you now, while we find our way out.” Harley took his hand. “I was 12,” he began. “One night, I woke up because I heard someone in our garage.”