Chapter Text
HARLEY KEENER wasn’t opposed to new experiences. He was very much an “adaptive” person. After all, he was the one to discover a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist in his garage. But when his mother explained to him that he’d be living somewhere else than his small, nosey town, he didn’t know how to feel. There was one side, where he wanted to be excited, his mentor that he hadn't seen in years invited him to be a paid intern for him and give him a place to stay in New York. But on the other hand, he hadn’t seen this man in years. New York was big, big and scary.
But he practically had no other choice. He couldn’t stay in Rose Hill, if he did, things would get worse. For him and the rest of his family. He knew his “status” would be more accepted in a big city like New York, but even when he got to New York he wasn’t sure if he wanted to let anyone know about it. Every time he would think about being open about himself he’d see his face. His disgusted expression as he backed away from Harley.
Harley shook the thought from his mind, opting to wait for the car that he was told would pick him up. He’d never been on a plane before, and he’d only been out of Rose Hill for robotics competitions, but now he was about nine-hundred miles from home. Waiting at a deserted area of Kennedy airport. Waiting for a black car to pick him up. He looked at his phone, it was new, Tony had got it for him. He accepted it with pride, or at least he tried to. He freaked when it came in the mail, along with his plane ticket. It was fancy, Harley bought a case for it online, it was a clear case. Cheapest thing he could find.
He opened it and went to Instagram, the algorithm wasn’t custom to Harley’s liking because it was a new account. He had to make a new one after kids at school got wind that he was leaving Rose Hill. All Harley wanted to do was escape the people of that town. He scrolled through a bit more posts before seeing a picture of Spider-Man. Harley realized New York was a hotspot for superheroes. He forgot to think about that at all. He for sure knew about Spider-Man. And he was sure that he would at least see him in person soon. The apartment Tony got for him was in Queen’s, Spider-Man’s hot spot. He’d be really surprised if he never saw him.
In the picture, Spider-Man was posing with a kid who had an Iron Man mask. It was cute, Harley thought it was good that Spider-Man took photos with the people. He’s heard many things about Spider-Man helping out the little guys. And he respected it. There really weren't the Avengers there to save you when you’re being mugged or hurt. So there was Spider-Man.
Harley was cut out of his own thoughts when he heard a car horn honk. He looked up and there was the black Audi he was told to wait for. Harley stood up and walked over to the window. The window rolled down smoothly and there he saw a man who had a bitter expression looking at him. “Are you Harley Keener?”
Harley smiled slightly, “That’s me!” He looked in the back and noticed that Tony wasn’t in the car at all. “Do you work for Tony?”
The man ignored Harley’s question. “Are those the only bags you brought?” The man motioned to the big luggage behind him and the backpack hanging from his shoulders. Harley nodded. The man started to open the door. Realizing what the man was about to do he stopped him.
“Uh- I’ve got it. Just pop the trunk and I’ll put it in.”
The man sighed in relief, shut his door, and pulled the trigger to open the trunk. “Thanks kid.”
Harley didn’t respond, but only rolled his luggage to the back of the car. The trunk opened up with ease and he carefully put the luggage. The backpack is what had all his clothes. His luggage had all his electronics and tools. He didn’t bring much clothes, despite his mothers advice. Harley shut the trunk and got in the car. “So what's your name sir.” Harley cringed slightly on how obvious his country accent was in that sentence.
“I’m Happy.” Happy replied as he took the car out of park.
Harley smirked, “Fits you perfectly.” He gave his statement a bit more snark than he’d usually put. In the mirror Harley could see Happy rolling his eyes. “Where are we going?”
“You’re going to the apartment Tony bought for you, the keys are in that envelope on the other seat. It’s got a letter in it too.”
“And where’s Tony?” Harley asked while grabbing the envelope. He opened and there it was, a few papers and keys.
“He’s working right now at Stark Tower.” Harley frowned slightly, he shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up of Tony himself picking him up. He’d probably see him later in the week.
“Oh.” Harley looked down at the letter and took it out of the envelope. He unfolded the letter and saw the slightly messy handwriting.
‘Hey Harley, your fridge is stocked up full of pre prepped meals and snacks. Let me know when you’re running low. Also theres cameras set up in there so don’t go crazy or I’ll make you live with Happy. The tenant rules are attached to this paper. I’ll call you at six PM today so answer.
-T.S.’
Harley lifted the tapped note to read the tenant rules.
City Garden Complex Resident rules and regulations:
-Do not block any exits in the building, Including but not limited to, windows, doors, and gates.
-No loud noises after 11PM
-Private balcony/patios are not intended for storage.
-The unit must be kept clean, sanitary and free from objectionable odors.
-No littering of papers, cigarette butts or trash is allowed.
-No trash or other materials may be accumulated which will cause a hazard or be in violation of any health, fire or safety ordinance or regulation.
-All doors must be locked during the absence of Tenant.
-Service requests should not be made to maintenance people or other such
personnel.
As Harley read on he realized that he’d most likely break most of these rules. Especially the one on the bottom of the paper “Children on the premises must be supervised by a responsible adult at all times. “ considering, legally he himself was a child. Harley was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a loud honk.
“Come on!” Happy shouted exasperatedly to the car in front. The break lights of the Toyota in front of them kept turning off and on, as if the operator was unsure. Harley’s eyes flickered to the rhombus shape sign on the window. ‘Student driver’
“Uh- Happy they’re a student driver.”
Despite Harley’s words, Happy stayed with his frustrated expression. “It’s Queens, he’ll be fine.” Harley then realized where he was.
Harley looked out the window and his eyes went wide. He’s never seen so many buildings in one place. This place definitely beats Nashville. There were so many screens and lights everywhere, it was almost overwhelming.
“Woah,” Harley let out softly. He was impressed by everything surrounding him. SO much technology, he was definitely not in Rose Hill any more.
When Harley locked the door behind him he began to really look at his apartment. The living room was the entrance and fully furnished. Further back of the apartment was the kitchen. It wasn’t big but it wasn’t small either. To the right, in between the Kitchen and Living room there was a hallway. He walked into the hallway and saw three doors and metal accordion doors at the end of the hallway. He looked in one and it was a bathroom, no shower or bath. Just a Toilet and sink. Then there was a bedroom that looked more like a big closet. There was another bedroom that was the Master, having a bathroom with a shower in there. Weirdly enough there was carpet in the Master bathroom which Harley would probably be taking out on his first paycheck.
He sat down on a stool that was set under one of the counters in the kitchen. He rubbed his temples. He barely got to his new place and he’s already homesick. The apartment was nothing like his home in Rose Hill. His house always had photos on the wall and drawings pinned hung on the fridge. And cheesy “live laugh love” signs around the kitchen. It made the yellow-white walls in his house feel more vibrant and happy. But he was sitting there, surrounded by blue-white dull walls. The master bedroom was the only one with a bed and dresser. The smaller room had a desk and that was all. Behind the metal doors was a small washer that looked to be left by the previous owners. They probably saved a lot of quarters by getting that thing.
Harley jumped from the stool when he heard a loud and uncomfortable buzz. He looked towards the source and saw his phone on the wooden coffee table in the living room. He walked over and picked it up before the annoying buzz could happen again. It was a call from Tony. He clicked to answer the phone.
“Hello?” Harley asked.
“Harley! How do you like the new place? Settling nicely?”
Harley smiled at the sound of his mentor. “Yeah sure.”
“Great to hear, so I wanted to talk to you about your internship, you’ll be working alongside another intern of mine but I’m sure you won’t clash too much, he’s rarely here.” Harley was about to ask a question but Tony continued. “I want you to come in tomorrow, I need to tell you about where you’ll be going to school and all that fun stuff.”
“Oh right.”
“No Dumb-E don’t touch that!” Harley laughed, he heard a little about Dumb-E before. “I’m gonna hang up now.”
“But then I’ll be all alone!” Harley jokingly pleaded.
“Oh I’m well aware, Mr. Keener.” He could practically hear Tony’s smirk.
“I’m hurt, Tony Stark.” He pouted.
“I can tell, you know how I can tell?”
“Don’t-” Harley tried
“Cause we’re connected.” And with that Tony Stark hung up on Harley Keener.
PETER PARKER was working in his lab when he noticed it. His lab only had a glass wall separating his from Mr. Stark’s. He looked towards Mr. Stark’s direction, his head was in his hands and he looked very upset.
Peter swallowed any fear he had (or at least he tried to) and made his way over to Mr. Stark’s lab. “Mr Stark?” He called.
The man looked up, leaving his hands with nothing. “Oh hey Pete, taking off early?”
Peter bit his lip. He thought about how he would ask what was wrong. He knew Mr. Stark would just brush it off with a sarcastic comment. “No I just uh,” He tried looking around for any ideas. He turned back to the glass wall, he glanced at his school text book on the floor. “I’ve just been needing a distraction from school.”
Tony gave him a look that said, ‘And?’
“And working on Spidey stuff didn’t help much. You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind so um, indulge me?” He didn’t intend to make his tone so unsure, but he couldn’t help it. He was never good at talking to other people about serious things, he always covered his hurt with jokes. Everyone except Aunt May. Aunt May would definitely know what to do in a situation like this.
Tony smirked and covered a paper on his mess of a desk, Peter saw only one of the top words: Accords. Was Tony stressed about the Accords? Peter remembered the Accords. He heard from an upperclassman that he’d learn about them briefly in his history class next semester. He knew a bit about them, he had fought on it’s behalf after all. He once asked Tony about them, wondering if the Accords applied to him. And if there was anything he had to worry about. But the older man just brushed him off, saying he didn’t have to worry about any of that, and he would handle it.
“Well, if you must know, I’ve got a terrible parasite attached to me now and I’m going to see it tomorrow.” Peter was smart enough to translate Tony’s words to “I have someone I’m responsible for and I meet with them tomorrow.”
Peter knew that if he didn’t answer soon the subject would change and he knew that Tony was telling a sliver of truth, and that was better than nothing. “Is this,” He paused, carefully constructing his sentence so Tony wouldn't get the wrong Idea. “Is this person someone I get to meet?”
Tony smiled. “Well actually why don’t you come with me tomorrow? I already planned on introducing you two, it feels only right.”
Peter anticipated several responses, this was not one of them. “Oh!” Peter gave a shaky nod. “Yeah okay. What time would this meeting be?”
“I don't know.” Tony couldn’t have sounded more like himself in that sentence.
Peter giggled softly. “Of course,” He let out softly. “I should better go home then, May will already be ticked that I’ve stayed this late.”
“Of course. I’m assuming if you swung here you’ll swing back. I’ll let you know when we go to that meeting.”
Peter smiled and nodded quickly collecting his stuff, missing a few papers but he didn’t notice. As he ran into the elevator he shouted “Thanks Mr. Stark!” And as he stepped into the elevator, he was happy. He knew he had impacted Mr. Stark’s day positively, and if he accomplished that, then he would be satisfied.