Chapter Text
Alex learned a lot of things about Peter Parker after what had been aptly, and unoriginally, named ‘The Incident.’ He thought he knew all there was to know about the overly exuberant teen until he found out that the golden retriever of a human was the spider-themed superhero. Once that bit of information was out, he and the others learned that they actually didn’t know everything about him.
Any quirk that Peter had, was amplified tenfold now that he didn’t have to hide anything from them.
Take for example that instead of pacing on the floor like a normal person, Peter would pace on the ceiling, and on days that he would upgrade and test his web shooters, he would refuse to pick up anything with his hands. The kid just shot a web at whatever it was he needed regardless of whatever it was sitting on or whoever was using it at the time.
Alex would never forget the look on Damian’s face when Peter snatched a wrench clean out of the other man’s hand instead of finding another one or waiting his turn.
There were benefits to working in the lab with an enhanced person. The biggest of which being that Peter was strong, terrifyingly strong. If there were heavy pieces of equipment or materials that needed to be moved, they didn’t have to make an attempt to team lift it or break it down into manageable parts. Peter would just pick it up like it weighed nothing, sometimes with one hand.
Tristan was beside himself when he found out. He complained for hours that they could have saved so much trouble if Peter would have just done the literal heavy lifting for them, and as much as Alex understood why he didn’t, he couldn’t help but agree because there was one time that a project had to be pushed back a week because the particle collider bit the dust and they had no way of getting it out to repair it.
He still woke up in cold sweats remembering that disaster.
There were of course the things that Tony had told them about Peter’s relationship with the other Avengers, and while they didn’t doubt that the teenager had them wrapped around his finger, it was an entirely different thing to see it with their own eyes.
And they definitely saw a lot of it.
Since being promoted up to independent researchers for Avenger’s tech, they saw a lot of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, especially when Peter was around.
It was mostly Steve and Tony that came down to hang out and dote on their kid – because Peter absolutely was their kid, and that was a hill Alex would die on – but on a few occasions, the others could be seen wandering down there looking for the young protégé.
One of those occasions happened to be Winter Soldier himself strolling in and disrupting a very important discussion on what movie they would all watch on their weekly movie night.
Damian and Tristan nearly passed out, and even Kiara looked a little pink around the cheeks.
“Is the spider punk down here? I need to him to recalibrate my arm,” the super soldier said, looking to them for answers.
Because, yeah, that was a thing that Peter Parker did. He recalibrated the Winter Soldier’s arm. That definitely made sense.
Jessica stumbled over her response, and she was the only one that seemed to be capable of making any noise whatsoever.
Alex wasn’t even sure what to do with his hands anymore, nevertheless his voice.
“Bucky? Is that you?” Peter asked, head poking around the corner. His face was twisted in an honest to God darling expression of curiosity, and it was times like that where Alex forgot exactly who the boy was.
The soldier’s eyes softened around the edges as he turned to Peter who had half-jogged into the room when he confirmed who the guest was.
“There’s my least favorite teenager,” the man snorted. “I figured you’d be down here. I could hear you yapping all the way upstairs.”
It would have been an insult to anyone else, but Peter beamed at the jab. He had told them that his relationship with ex-assassin and the Falcon was slightly different from the others. They pretended to hate him, but in all reality, they would be the first in line to take a bullet for him.
It was honestly the weirdest yet simultaneously the most heartwarming relationship he had ever seen.
Peter stuck his tongue out at the brunette in response.
“Whenever you get done down here, meet me up in Stark’s lab. That hit I took on the last mission really threw something off in my arm, and I need you to fix it.”
“Sure thing! Thirty minutes?”
Barnes nodded and silently left. That was the only time Alex could ever remember seeing the super soldier outside of the odd group dinner.
The interactions that Alex had with the Avengers outside of Steve and Tony were few and far in between, but he considered himself blessed that they even knew his name. Sort of. Sometimes.
Iron Man and Captain America probably knew his name at least.
Alex thought that after months of working with Peter, he thought he finally knew everything there was to know about him because really, the kid had no boundaries.
That’s when he remembered that Peter’s favorite pastime was proving them wrong.
It hadn’t been a particularly rough day in the labs. It was Peter’s first day back with them after a week or so. Between high school and Spiderman-ing, a lot of the kid’s free time was taken up. Normally he wouldn’t shut up after being away from the people he had deemed the Solution Squad, but something was distracting him.
“Alright, spill,” Kiara said, flicking her hand across the hologram in front of her to dismiss it.
It seemed like he wasn’t the only one that picked up on the weird behavior.
Peter had been staring off into space for the better half of an hour, and he’d barely said a word since his arrival. The teen was even doodling on the margins of his notes with some sort of forlorn gaze.
If Alex didn’t know any better, he’d say that Peter had a crush.
Peter jolted in surprise, pulled out of whatever daydream he was in. Something about the act of startling him warmed Alex to his very core ever since the hero explained that once his senses deemed someone as trustworthy, he stopped being subconsciously aware of every movement they made.
“Oh! It’s, uh, it’s nothing! Nothing is wrong. I’m totally fine.”
“That’s what someone that’s totally not fine says,” Tristan snorted, butting into the conversation from across the room.
“You’ve been out of it all day, Pete. What’s up?” Jessica asked, propping her head up with her hand.
Peter’s cheeked darkened, and Alex was immediately interested. Did Peter have actually have a crush?
“I’ve just got a lot on my mind. That’s all,” he shrugged, aiming for nonchalance but missing by about a mile.
Kiara just raised a perfectly manicured brow.
“Care to share with the class?”
The kid opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly snapped his head toward the door, and Alex knew that was a sure sign that someone was about to come in.
The person that did walk in seconds later, however, was someone that he had never seen before.
A tall blonde boy with broad shoulders and a lazy grin strutted in, hands tucked into his front pockets.
One look at his friends’ faces and he knew that they didn’t recognize him either. Alex looked to Peter, and-
Oh.
The poor kid was a goner.
His cheeks looked like they were going to burst into flames at any second, and he ducked his head in an attempt to look busy.
“There you are,” the blonde boy drawled, his words coated with an easy southern accent.
Alex watched as Peter pretended -- pretended -- to look surprised to see him.
“H-harley! What are you doing here?”
God, Peter was adorable.
The blonde’s, Harley’s, smile shifted to a smirk the second he laid eyes on Peter, and he made a beeline for the teen.
“I was looking all over for you. The old man sent me to find you for dinner. He said something about Steve cooking tonight,” he said, stopping in front of the table Peter sat at.
Peter blinked at him once, twice, and cleared his throat, gingerly setting the tools onto the workspace.
“O-Okay! I’ll be up there in a few minutes!”
“Sounds good, darlin’. I’ll be waiting.”
Harley winked at Peter and nodded to Alex and the others before leaving. No one spoke until the doors shut behind him and they could no longer hear his footsteps in the hall.
Jessica shared a look with Alex.
“Oooo Parker’s got a boyfriend,” Tristan teased in a sing-song voice, earning him a swift smack in the back of the head by Kiara.
If Peter’s face could get any redder, he would combust.
“Who was that?” Alex asked because he couldn’t not ask.
The teen gave him a pained look and dropped his head before answering.
“Remember a while back when Mr. Stark mentioned the other kid from Tennessee?”
There were a few hesitant nods.
“That’s who he was talking about. Harley. Mr. Stark met him during the whole Mandarin ordeal, and he kept in touch. We’d visit every time there was a convention or expo in the state, and last weekend, Mr. Stark invited Harley up here to work with him since he just graduated. Today is his second day.”
“And you two like each other?” Tristan ventured.
Peter’s head shot up so fast, Alex was afraid he would get whiplash. He wondered if superheroes could even get whiplash.
“No! No. I mean- no. Harley doesn’t- he doesn’t like me. We’re just friends, and he’s just like that, you know? Super, you know, friendly ‘n stuff.”
Alex resisted the urge to laugh at the poor thing. He’d never seen him this flustered.
“Pete, come on. You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said, grinning at him. “That Harley kid is practically drooling over you.”
“Me?”
“I don’t see any other teenage boys that he was flirting with,” Kiara shrugged.
“That- that wasn’t flirting.”
Damian threw back his head and laughed.
“Dude. He literally walked his redneck ass down here to tell you that Captain America is making dinner when he could have easily just told Friday to tell you or texted you himself.”
“He was just being polite,” Peter huffed, refusing to look anyone in the eye. “Besides, there’s no reason for him to like me anyway.”
There was a wounded noise from Jessica, and if Alex hadn’t seen it come from her, he would have thought it came from him. Peter looked so dejected as he toyed with the edges of his papers.
“The hell does that mean?” Tristan asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.
“I’m just- there’s nothing about me that should attract someone like Harley.”
“Kid, you’re an adorable, genius superhero with a heart of gold. I can’t see a reason why Harley wouldn’t like you.”
Jessica said it like she couldn’t believe the kid didn’t know.
Peter winced and finally looked up at them from under the hair that had flopped in front of his eyes.
“About that,” he started. “Harley doesn’t know that I’m Spiderman. I’m just Mr. Stark’s dork intern.”
“Why haven’t you told him?” Alex asked.
“You think I just go around and tell everyone I know that I’m Spiderman?”
Touché, kid. Touché.
“No, but you’ve known Harley for a while now. Mr. Stark trusts him, and you seem to like him. So, what’s the big deal?” he backtracked.
Peter groaned, dropping his head down onto the table with a dull thud.
“The big deal is that I don’t want Harley to only like me because I’m Spiderman. It’s also not an easy thing to bring up in normal conversation. It usually takes some time to lead up to,” he paused to lift his head and flash them a wiry smirk, “Or attempted kidnapping and murder in your case.”
Damian snorted.
Alex understood where Peter was coming from, however.
“Think what you want, Peter, but it’s obvious that Harley already likes you in some capacity, and you like him. I think that if it’s something that you’re seriously considering, you should find a way to tell him,” Kiara said.
He looked at her for a moment, as if he was considering her. In some way, Alex felt bad for the kid. From such a young age, he had so much responsibility and power shoved onto him that he couldn’t have a normal teenage life. Even something as simple as a crush made his life that much more complicated.
“I’ll think about it,” he finally responded. “Thanks guys.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go on, kid. Go eat dinner with your dads and lover boy. We’ll see you later,” Alex said with a smirk.
He shoved Peter lightly on the shoulder, and the kid couldn’t help but smile.
“They aren’t my dads, and he isn’t my lover boy.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Peter,” Jessica winked.
The days continued to pass as normal.
If normal meant an extra teenager popping into the lab every time Peter was there to drop off a sweater because the temperature dropped two degrees, a snack because Harley needed one so that obviously meant Peter needed one too, or Alex’s personal favorite, the mechanical pencil that Peter supposedly left on the kitchen counter and probably desperately needed despite being in a lab with a surplus of writing utensils.
It was honestly getting out of hand.
“We have got to tell Stark about this,” Tristan said, flopping down into one of the rolling chairs.
They had waited until they were sure that Peter was clear out of enhanced ear shot before talking about it.
“I’m sure he already knows,” Kiara countered.
“Well, yeah, but Mr. Stark knows Harley probably better than anyone else here. He’ll know if this is something that we should be encouraging or not.”
“What do you mean, Jess?” Alex asked, turning in his seat in question.
“What if Harley is some sort of fuck boy or something. I mean you heard Peter. He said that Harley is just naturally flirty. What if he’s just jerking Pete around for the fun of it?”
Alex opened his mouth to say something but faltered, considering that as an option for a moment. As much as it didn’t seem likely, they really didn’t know, and the last thing they wanted was to push the two boys together and it blow up in Peter’s face.
“Alright. That’s fair,” he conceded.
“So,” Tristan said, “Who wants to be the one to e-mail Stark?”
Damian blanched.
“It was your idea, dude! You should be the one to do it!”
Tristan violently shook his head.
“Absolutely not, man! No matter how much of a softie Peter says he is, that is still the same guy that has a multi-million-dollar suit of armor that could turn me into ash in less than a second.”
“Well I’m not doing it,” Jessica said, looking between the two men with a reproachful stare.
“You can count me the fuck out,” Alex snorted, folding his arms over his chest. There was no way he was getting involved with that.
Tristan threw his hands up in clear distress, and Kiara rolled her eyes.
“God, you guys are such babies. I’ll do it.”
Alex wasn’t sure who he was more scared of, Pepper Potts or Kiara.
It was definitely Pepper, but Kiara was a close second.
Less than thirty minutes after the e-mail was sent, Tony Stark came through the glass doors that led into their lab wearing his signature suit and tinted shades.
“I got the notification from Friday that you guys sent something about wanting to speak with me. She said it was urgent, but the e-mail didn’t seem to give off the same vibe,” he said by way of greeting.
“Y-Yes sir, Mr. Stark. We wanted to talk to you about Peter,” Tristan said, stepping forward.
Tony faltered for a moment and a flicker of worry flashed over his features. He pulled the sunglasses off and tucked them into the vee of his shirt.
Alex shifted, really wishing that he kept them on because the man’s eyes were piercing. It was like they were staring into his very soul.
“Everything okay? He’s not hurt, is he?”
Alex fought off a small, fond smile. It was obvious how much the billionaire cared for Peter.
Everyone shook their heads quickly. It wouldn’t be out of character for him to dart off to check for himself if he didn’t get an answer fast enough.
“No, sir. He’s okay. We actually wanted to ask you more about Harley,” Kiara replied.
Tony’s face twisted in confusion.
“Keener? That menace isn’t bothering you, is he?”
“No, sir. Not at all! We just- well, we wanted to know if Harley’s crush on Peter is genuine or,” Jessica trails off.
It wasn’t an easy question to phrase.
Understanding fell over the hero.
“You’ve seen it too, then?” Tony asked with a smirk.
“How could we not?” Damian blurted. They turned to look at him with raised brows, and it was like he suddenly remembered who he was in the room with. His swallow might as well have been audible as he took a few awkward steps back.
“Harley’s had his eyes on Peter since they met a year ago, and they’ve been dancing around each other ever since. I’m not blind. I know Pete’s into him too, and don’t get me wrong, Harley is a good kid. He has good intentions, but Peter’s a bit sensitive, and there’s the proverbial Spiderman themed elephant in the room.”
“Yeah, Peter mentioned that part,” Alex found himself saying.
Tony hummed before continuing.
“It’s not that I don’t want them together. They’re good for each other, honestly. You should see them together in my lab.”
He sighed and shot them a sheepish smile, one that reminded Alex so sharply of Peter that it nearly took his breath away.
“Maybe it’s the dad in me, but I’m just afraid he’s going to get hurt. As I’m sure you all know, first relationships are hard, and first break ups are even harder, especially when you’re like Pete. The kid doesn’t do anything in halves, and that includes his attachment to people.”
“He does kinda latch on quick, doesn’t he?” Tristan laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck.
Tony’s expression was the epitome of dad.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
An idea struck Alex, and he somehow gathered up the courage to force the words out of his mouth.
“What if we talk to Harley, sir? You could send him down when Peter’s not here, and we can talk to him and pick his brain a little just to see where his head’s at. Afterward, we can report back to you, or you can just ask Friday to show you the video or something.”
Tony looked surprised, but not in a bad way. It was like he hadn’t considered the idea before. The others were looking at him the same way.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Tony said slowly, staring off as he was thinking about it.
If that wasn’t a heady thing, Tony Stark saying that his idea wasn’t bad.
“Yeah! I mean, we care a lot about Peter too. He’s like family, and the last thing we want is to see him hurt,” Jessica chimed in, her face hopeful.
Noises of agreement soon came from Damian, Tristan, and Kiara.
After a few more seconds of silent deliberation, Tony nodded.
“Alright. I’ll bite. I’ll send the brat down later. Pete’s out for the day, but Keener doesn’t know that yet. Good thinking, Alex.”
With that, the man strode through the same doors he came from, and Alex was pretty sure he needed to sit down because Tony Stark actually did remember his name.
Roughly an hour later, Tony made good on his promise, and Harley Keener walked into the lab, already scanning the room for someone that he wouldn’t find.
Alex and the others immediately sprang into action.
“Hey Harley!” Jessica chirped, rising up from her chair.
Harley smiled and waved.
“Hey guys. Have y’all seen Pete? Tony’d said he’d be down here,” he said, expression falling into a slight pout.
Right then, Alex knew he was right. Harley was just as gone as Peter was. He could feel it in his gut.
Damian sucked a breath in through his teeth.
“Sorry, man. You just missed him.”
Harley’s face fell into a full-on frown at the news, and he turned to leave.
“Alright, well, sorry you bother y’all. I’ll just go see if I can find him.”
“Wait! Before you leave, we want to ask you something,” Tristan said, jogging to cut the blonde off before he left.
Harley tilted his head in question.
“What’s up?”
Tristan seemed to flounder for a moment, searching for the right words.
“What’s your intentions with Peter?” Kiara asked bluntly, her tone as flat as her expression. She didn’t even bother to get up from her chair.
Alex watched as Harley choked on the air in his lungs, and his ears started to turn pink. Leave it to Kiara to get straight to the point.
“I- uh, well- come again?”
The blonde’s voice was higher than it normally was, completely void of his charm as he was completely thrown for a loop.
“Are you planning on actually dating him, or is this a one and done kind of ordeal?” She asked again. “Because let me be the first to tell you that if you’re shooting for the latter of the two, I suggest you find someone else.”
Harley’s eyes went impossibly wide.
Alex kept his expression neutral just as everyone else did.
“No! That’s not- I- No. No. I’m not looking for like a fling if that’s what you’re asking,” he choked out.
“So, a relationship then?” Kiara pressed.
“Well, yeah,” he scoffed lightly, seeming to finally get his footing in the conversation again. “I wouldn’t do something like that to him.”
Kiara gave him a slow once over, a challenge, and Alex was equal parts terrified and impressed. Damian and Tristan even shared a look between them.
Harley ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
“Look, I like Peter a lot. I have since I first met him, and I’ve been dropping hints from the first day. I practically begged my mom to come up here after I graduate to work with Tony not only because that’s literally awesome, but I wanted to be closer to Peter in case he felt the same way.”
A frown settled onto the blonde’s face.
“I’m not so sure he does though.”
At least Alex had the decency to not laugh because the idea of Peter not returning Harley’s feelings was hilarious to him. It was so painfully obvious to anyone that saw it, but then again, he remembered what he was like at seventeen too.
“No, man. Peter absolutely feels the same way. I mean, have you seen the way his eyes light up every time you walk in a room,” he said.
“Not to mention he doesn’t shut up about you,” Damian snorted.
Harley’s eyes went wide as he looked to Damian.
“Really?”
“Dude, every time you leave, it’s always Harley this and Harley that. The kid is head over heels for you.”
The teen pulled a corner of his bottom lip between his teeth to hide his smile.
“If you’re serious about this,” Kiara said, “Then you need to be upfront with him about it. I love Peter to death, but he’s one of the densest people I have ever met. He thinks that you aren’t serious, and nothing short of you walking up to him and directly telling him that you want to date him isn’t going to get through.”
Understanding washed over the blonde’s face, and he nodded.
“That’s exactly what I’ll do then. The next time I see him, I’m going to tell him exactly how I feel.”
There was so much determination in Harley’s eyes that it tugged on Alex’s heart. Those boys were perfect for each other.
“If you haven’t already gotten the superpowered shovel talk from the people upstairs, it goes without saying that there are a lot of people that care about Peter a lot and don’t want to see him get hurt. Just remember that the Avengers aren’t the only ones you have to worry about.”
Kiara’s expression remained unimpressed and bored, but her words were an icy threat, enough that he saw Tristan shiver uncomfortably.
Harley blanched and gave another nod.
“Understood,” he said quickly.
The blonde turned to bolt out the door, likely in search of Peter, but hesitated and faced them again.
“Thanks guys, really.”
Damian shook his head and smiled.
“Don’t mention it, kid. Just no PDA where we can see it. That’s like our little brother you’re slobbering on.”
Harley’s blush rivaled some of Peter’s as he finally slipped out, and Alex couldn’t help but laugh.
He couldn’t wait to pick on the two of them when they finally got together.
Alex was just crawling into bed hours before sunrise when his phone buzzed on the nightstand.
He threw an offending glance at the device, wondering who would have been texting him that early in the morning. He knew it wasn’t any of his friends as they said their respective goodnights hours ago.
He pulled the covers up to his chin and resigned himself to checking whatever it was when he woke up, figuring it was likely just an e-mail.
Just as he was closing his eyes, there was another buzz.
He went to ignore it again, but there was something in the back of his head that was urging him to just look.
With a groan, he tossed the covers back and grabbed his phone.
In a new group chat with him, Tristan, Damian, Kiara, and Jessica, there were two messages from an unknown number.
Sorry for the blatant breech in privacy, but I pulled your numbers from Friday’s databanks. Peter got injured on patrol. He’s alive, but he’s pretty banged up. I know he’s like family to you, and I know that you would want to know. Feel free to swing by the tower. I know he’d be happy to see you when he wakes up.
It’s Tony by the way in case you hadn’t figured that out.
Alex read and reread the texts several times before they really set in. Once they did, it was like someone dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.
Peter was hurt. Peter was hurt so bad that Tony texted them to let them know. Peter was hurt so bad that he wasn’t even awake.
Before he could even text a shaky reply, Damian’s contact photo lit up his screen, and it took him a few seconds longer than he would like to admit to realize that his friend was calling him.
He answered it immediately.
”Dude what the fuck?” he said by way of greeting, voice just this side of frantic.
“I- I don’t know. I-“
”We’re going over there, right? Because I’m not just sitting here waiting for updates.”
Of course, Alex knew he was going over there. He would go as soon as he could remember how his feet worked.
There was rustling on the other end of the call and then a jingle of keys.
“Yeah. Yes. I’m going over there. I just can’t believe that Peter’s hurt.”
”I wonder what happened. I know he’s Spiderman and all, and I know he’s been hurt before, but never to the point where Stark had to text us.”
Alex didn’t answer. He couldn’t even think of anything to say because Damian was right. Peter had never been seriously injured since they knew him, and Alex realized that he had been just naively believing that the teen couldn’t get hurt. That wasn’t something that his brain could conjure.
It suddenly hit him that every time Peter said that he was going out on patrol or that he was leaving for a mission, that there was a chance that he wouldn’t make it back.
Sure, there was a silent understanding that whenever Peter was on the field, his safety was one of his team’s top priorities. Steve had told them as such one afternoon when he came into the lab to steal the teen back from them.
”Do you need me to come get you, or are you okay to drive?”
Damian’s voice pulled him back to the present and he shook his head in answer before he belatedly remembered that his friend couldn’t see him.
“No. I’m good. I’m getting ready to head that way now,” he answered, proud of the way that his voice didn’t shake.
”Alright, Lex. I’ll see you there. I’m gonna call the others and see what their plan is.”
“Bye, D. Drive safe.”
Damian hung up without another word, and Alex practically threw himself from his bed to get changed and get out the door.
Even with breaking several speed limits on the way, Alex managed to arrive at the tower and to his usual parking spot just as everyone else was pulling in.
Their cars were barely in park before they were all jumping out of them, and Tristan wasn’t even in a singular spot. He had somehow managed to park into three of them at once in his haste.
They all grouped up and half-jogged into the tower after brief greetings. Alex half expected to run into an issue with the doors being locked, but he silently thanked the tower’s AI when they slid open without a word.
It was only when they got to the elevator did they realize they had a problem.
“How are we supposed to get up?” Jessica asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
And where were they supposed to go?
They had never been to what Alex could only assume was the medical wing of the tower, and they would need clearance to get up anyway.
“If I may be of assistance,” Friday said, her sudden voice making everyone nearly start out of their skin. “Mr. Stark has informed me that you all would potentially be coming to visit Mr. Parker and that I should show you the way.”
“That- that would be great actually,” Alex said, looking around for cameras or speakers that he knew were there but he’d never seen.
A set of elevators that Alex had never been on opened with a cheery ding.
“Right this way, please.”
They all clambered onto the elevator, and once Damian stepped over the threshold, the doors slid shut and the machine started moving upward.
“I hope Peter’s okay,” Jessica said, wringing her hands. She looked seconds away from tears.
“I’m sure he’s alright, Jess. Stark would tell us if he wasn’t,” Damian said gently, dropping his arm over her shoulder in a one-sided hug.
Alex wanted to believe that so bad. He couldn’t imagine what they would do with the other outcome. He didn’t want to imagine it.
“He’ll be fine. Give him a few days and he’ll be back to his usual self,” Kiara shrugged.
There was a tightness to her voice that made him wonder if she was trying to convince Jessica or just herself.
Either way, a thick silence fell over them soon after. Even Tristan was quiet, and that part unnerved him more than anything else.
After what felt like an eternity later, the doors opened again to reveal a bright and open medbay. Everything was crisp, clean, and smelled identical to a hospital.
Alex was about to ask Friday where to go next when he saw Hawkeye and the Falcon coming down the hall. Both men looked exhausted.
Under different circumstances, he would have been excited.
“You guys here for the kid?” Clint asked, still coming toward them.
All they could do was nod.
Clint threw a thumb over his shoulder.
“Last room on the left. It’s a little crowded right now, but it’s starting to thin out now that Pete’s turned the corner.”
“So he’s okay?” Kiara blurted, eyes wide and searching.
The Avenger assessed her for just a brief second before nodding.
“He is now. He’ll be sore for a while, but he’ll be okay. Dr. Cho figures it won’t be long now before he wakes up.”
A weight that Alex didn’t realize he was carrying lifted off his shoulders.
“Oh, thank God,” Tristan breathed.
“I would tread carefully in there, however,” Sam said, stopping in front of them. The man glanced backward for a moment. “Harley’s in there, and he didn’t know about Peter’s part-time identity. He’s not taking it well to say in the least.”
Alex’s stomach lurched.
“He didn’t tell him yet?”
He figured that if Harley asked him out, that would be one of the first things they discussed considering how huge it is.
“Well, if the kid was planning on telling him today, it wouldn’t have happened considering he’s pretty much been out all day.”
It dawned on Alex that Peter must have went on patrol as soon as he left the lab that afternoon.
Oh no.
“Thank you, sirs. We’ll, uh, be seeing you around then,” Damian said.
The two heroes walked around them and to the open elevator.
“Let’s go,” Kiara said, already walking down the hall.
Alex and the others quickly followed, and when they reached the room, the sight behind the glass windows was one of the most heartbreaking scenes that he had ever seen.
Peter looked so small in the hospital bed, covered in a mountain of blankets, IV fluids running into two spots on his arm, and bruises and cuts covering his pale face.
Steve and Tony sat in chairs up by the bed. Bucky stood on the other side. Natasha leaned against the far wall, and Harley – God, poor Harley – took up a place by the door, looking just as pale as Peter.
They all filed into the room and five pairs of tired eyes met theirs.
“What- what happened?” Tristan asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
If anyone was surprised to see them there, they didn’t say anything. Tony must have told them that they might be coming.
The billionaire dropped Peter’s hand and shifted to look at them.
“He was out on patrol, and there was a trap. It looked like a typical hostage situation, one that Pete could handle, but they were trying to draw him out. They were some sort of weapons dealers, and it turned into an all-out fight. His suit got EMP-ed, and he got blasted into a nearby building shortly after. The kid damn near impaled himself on a steel support beam, but it just gave him a nasty gash in his side. He swung his way back to the tower and nearly collapsed from blood loss.”
Alex was going to throw up. He felt the bile rise in his throat, but he forced it back down.
A choked gasp came from Jessica, and Damian swore. He stole a glance at his other two friends, and he was sure Tristan and Kiara were going to pass out at any second.
“He’s alright now though. We were seriously worried there for a while. I-“
“You’re telling me that they knew too?” came Harley’s dark snarl, cutting Tony off.
Alex whirled to look at the teen, shocked by his tone. He saw purple circles under Harley’s furious eyes.
Steve pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded once.
Harley laughed, but the sound was humorless. It was so unlike the blonde that Alex had come to know that it scared him.
“How is it that I’m always the last person to know these things? Why do your employees get to know that Peter is Spiderman before I do? He’s my- my friend, and I thought that-“
Tony opened his mouth to speak, but Bucky beat him to it.
“Now you listen to me, Keener,” the ex-assassin snarled, rounding on the teen.
Alex recoiled back out of instinct, and he was instantly reminded that he was in the room with some of the deadliest individuals on the planet.
“Who Peter tells is none of your business, and maybe if you knew the whole story as to how they know, you wouldn’t be acting like such an ass. If you’re really his friend, you’d respect his decisions and stop throwing a tantrum. Now, unless you can learn to control yourself, you can leave.”
“Buck,” Steve said softly, but the other soldier just shook his head, not even bothering to turn and look.
“Fine,” Harley seethed, storming out the room, shoving past Tristan and Jessica and slamming the door closed for good measure.
Bucky glared at the spot where Harley left, and Alex felt the urge to follow him, to make sure that he was okay.
Tony just dropped his head into his hands, looking more drained than Alex had ever seen him. Steve placed a gentle hand on the man’s back and started rubbing circles there.
Natasha pushed off the wall and sighed. She made her way over to the bed and kissed Peter softly on the forehead.
“Well,” she said, standing up straight after brushing a few of Peter’s stray hairs back, “As much entertainment as that was, I’m going back upstairs. Someone call me if anything changes.”
“Will do, Nat. Goodnight,” Steve told her as she walked out.
“I need to go talk to the kid,” Tony mumbled into his hands.
“He’ll come around, doll. Just give him some time.”
“Steve, he’s upset for a good reason.”
“I know, but-“
“I’ll go talk to him,” Alex interrupted suddenly.
He tried to ignore how warm his face felt when every pair of eyes turned to him. The words slipped out before he could stop them.
“Sorry, I just- you and Mr. Rogers should stay with Peter in case he wakes up,” he explained.
“He doesn’t really seem to be in a talking mood,” Steve said slowly, glancing at the hallway as if Harley was still there.
“I know, but it just seems like the most logical choice right now.”
It absolutely did not sound like the most logical choice, and Alex wondered when he became the therapist for angsty teens. Maybe it was something else he could put on his resume.
Tony, Steve, and Bucky just stared at him for a moment, and he could feel the eyes of his friends on his back.
Tony sighed and let his head fall back for a moment.
“Friday, where did Harley run off to?”
“Mr. Keener is in the restroom down the hall.”
Alex wasn’t surprised the teen didn’t run off that far.
The man sighed and looked at him.
“Go on. Just don’t take anything he says personally right now. He’s been through the wringer today.”
“Want us to come with you?” Damian asked.
Alex turned to face them and shook his head.
“I think the less people there, the better. I don’t want to corner him.”
He figured that five adults that knew about Peter’s big secret before he did crowding around him in a bathroom wouldn’t go over well.
The others seemed to understand, and they moved so he could slip out of the door.
Friday lit the way for him, and the followed the lights down the hall until they stopped in front of a men’s restroom. Taking a deep breath, he slowly pushed the door open.
“Harley?” he ventured carefully.
There was only a wet sniff in reply.
He stepped further into the bathroom and saw the blonde sitting on the ground with his back to the wall and arms wrapped around his knees, giving him the fiercest glare of his life.
It was obvious Harley had been crying, but he didn’t want to point it out.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, curling his lip.
Alex let the door shut behind him and slowly made his way over to Harley, sliding down the wall to sit next to him. He shifted until he got comfortable before he spoke.
“I came to check on you.”
Harley snorted and turned his head away from him.
“Well you checked on me so, now you can leave.”
“And give you some explanations you deserve.”
He was met with silence. God, teenagers were difficult.
“Say whatever you want. I don’t care.”
Alex knew that was a lie. Harley cared too much but just refused to admit it.
“Let me start off by saying that the only reason we know about Peter is because we were forced into a situation where Peter had to reveal himself to save us, and if it wasn’t for that, I don’t think we would have ever found out if it were up to him.”
That seemed to get Harley’s attention. The blonde turned to eye him cautiously.
“That doesn’t explain why he couldn’t tell me. I thought we were close. I thought you said he liked me.”
Harley’s voice cracked on the words, and Alex was hurting for him.
“I can’t speak for Peter, not really, but I can tell you that we asked him the same thing. He told us that he was just worried that you would look at him differently if you knew. He wanted you to like him for Peter Parker, not for Spiderman. I know in the past, he’s told us that he’s hesitant to tell people not because he doesn’t trust them, but because that makes them a target. The less people that know about his identity, the less they can be used against him. That and he just didn’t know how to tell you,” Alex chuckled softly, “I mean, how do you walk up to someone and be like ‘hey, I’m Spiderman?’”
Harley watched him as he spoke, seemingly trying to take in everything he was saying. Something shifted in his face, and he fought back another wave of tears. It took him a few minutes to speak again.
“I was in the penthouse when he swung onto the landing, bleeding all over the place. It scared the life out of me when he stumbled in with that stupid suit and his mask off. Blood was dripping everywhere, and all I could do was just stare at him. He said my name, and. I couldn’t move. I guess Friday must have alerted Tony and Steve because they came rushing in, shoving me out of the way to get to him right as he collapsed on the living room floor. I- I thought he was dead.”
Alex felt his throat tighten with the image that his mind had conjured, and he had the sudden urge to pull Harley into a hug. He waited though.
“I thought he was dead, and I never got to tell him how I felt.”
It was then he realized that a lot of Harley’s anger came from fear. Sure, the kid was mad. Anyone would be, but it was different than just normal rage.
“He was going to tell you, you know? We talked to him the other day, and it was something he was going to talk to you about before you got into a relationship. He knew it wouldn’t be fair to you otherwise,” Alex found himself saying.
Harley cleared his throat and wiped at his eyes.
“I’m sorry I snapped at y’all. I just- I was so scared when I first saw him, and then I felt betrayed and angry,” he paused to gather his thoughts, “But I understand. I think.”
Alex nudged him lightly with his elbow.
“If it’s any consolation, I thought I was dreaming for a whole week after. Peter is such a sweetheart that I can’t imagine him as someone that can lift like ten tons and send someone flying through a wall.”
Harley cracked a small smile.
“Yeah. I can see it though. It fits him.”
He returned the smile.
“Yeah it does.”
They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment or two before Alex remembered that he is in fact not seventeen anymore and sitting on a tile floor is really bad for his back. He stood up, pointedly ignoring the way his joints cracked and extended a hand to the blonde.
“Alright, kid. Let’s go see if Pete’s still sleeping.”
Harley looked at his hand for a second as if debating. He saw it for the subtle peace offering that it was and after a bit of silence deliberation, he took it anyway.
Alex helped him to his feet and slung an arm around his shoulders.
“I hope you know that I expect pictures of your first date,” he teased.
Harley laughed for real, the sound bright and happy as he shoved Alex lightly.
“I still have to ask him out first.”
“I know. I’m just thinking ahead. That’s all,” he winked.
Harley laughed again.
He’s definitely putting teenager therapist on his resume.
All eyes on were them the second they made it back to the hospital room, including Peter’s. He felt the relief in his bones.
Harley gasped and darted forward, nearly knocking Bucky over to get to the side of the bed.
“Peter!”
“Harley,” Peter answered, his eyes full of so much emotion that Alex couldn’t narrow it down to a single one.
“How long has he been awake?” Alex asked.
“A few minutes now. I’m guessing everything went alright?” Tony said, his own eyes still watery as he gestured to the pair at the bedside.
Alex just nodded and smiled to himself. Damian clapped him on the shoulder, absolutely beaming at him.
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” Harley said fiercely but quietly.
He turned his attention to the two.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I-“
The blonde shushed him, running his fingers through Peter’s hair.
“No. Don’t apologize, angel. It’s fine. We’ll talk about that later.”
Alex suddenly felt like he was intruding on a private moment, but he couldn’t make himself look away.
“I swear I meant to tell you. I just didn’t know how.”
Peter looked like he would burst into tears at any second.
“I believe you. It’s okay.”
Peter shook his head. He went to say something, likely another apology, but Harley cut him off by pressing their lips together.
There was a choked noise from Tony. Jessica, Kiara, and Tristan laughed.
When Harley pulled back, Peter stared at him, eyes wider than Alex had ever seen them.
“Go out on a date with me,” Harley demanded. “Please.”
All Peter could do was nod, mouth falling open in shock.
“You know, when Kiara told you to be straight forward about it, I don’t think that’s what she meant,” Damian said.
Steve was hiding his smile behind his hand.
“At least this way, there’s no more room for misunderstanding,” Harley said, his voice back to the confident tone Alex was used to hearing.
Peter was just staring at him like he had never seen him before, and Alex was honestly wondering how many times the kid could make Alex’s heart melt.
“Well,” Tristan started with a grin as wide as his face, “I think we’ll be going, Pete, so you can rest some more.”
Alex nodded along with the others.
“Yeah, man. We’re really glad you’re okay. You gave us all a pretty good scare for a bit,” Damian added.
Peter’s gave them a small, guilty smile.
“Sorry about that. Occupational hazards and all.”
Tony made a noise of parental distress and thumped him lightly on the forehead.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“Occupational hazards? Really, kid? Don’t think we aren’t talking about this once you’re out of this hospital bed.”
Alex couldn’t help but grin as Tony Stark transitioned into complete Dad Mode. Even Steve was giving him a disapproving frown.
Harley dropped a kiss to his forehead and smirked.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”
Peter beamed even as Tony started protesting.
“Don’t you even start that, Keener!”
Bucky started laughing so hard he had to wipe tears from his eyes.
Alex and his friends slipped out of the room, careful not to disrupt the domestic scene.
Damian slung his arms around both his and Tristan’s shoulders and pulled them into his side as they walked to the elevators.
“That kid is going to be the death of us,” he said, even with a smile still splitting his face. “What’d you say to Harley anyway?”
Alex shrugged.
“Just the truth. I let him vent for a bit. He was more scared and jealous than angry.”
“I can’t say I blame him,” Tristan murmured.
Alex hummed in agreement and took one last look at the hospital room. He was glad Peter had that many people looking after him. The kid deserved a big family after everything he’d been through. He was just grateful to be considered a part of it.
Even if that meant being dragged out of bed at four in the morning and talking angry teenagers down on a bathroom floor.
He looked back at his friends, all basking in the relief that their collective little brother was okay and the happiness that they succeeded in getting the two boys together, and knew it was worth it.