Chapter Text
It was one evening that Peter was out on patrol after finishing his homework for the day that he got a call from Harley.
“Incoming call,” Karen chirped helpfully.
“I can see that,” Peter chuckled and let go of the web strand he was swinging on. Spinning backwards once to break some of his momentum, Peter landed on the edge of a nearby building in a deft crouch. Some citizens below saw his landing and clapped at it, some true New Yorkers that knew how Spider-Man liked to play held up their hands for their ratings of it. Peter pointed down at a specific citizen. “There was no way that landing was a 7 and you know it!”
“Bad form!” the citizen yelled up with cupped hands around their mouth, laughing. Those around him laughed along as well.
“Everyone’s a critic,” Peter said loud enough that the citizen below heard it, making them laugh even louder. He waved at them one last time before hopping backwards onto his hands and walking away on them to the center of the rooftop. In the corner of the HUD, Peter could see that Harley’s incoming call was still ringing. “Karen, be a dear and answer the call.”
“Call connected,” Karen relayed.
“About time you answered,” Harley immediately said upon the call being connected. “What are you doing?”
“Hello to you, too, Harley,” Peter deadpanned. Pushing up hard once, Peter got enough air underneath of him to get his feet below him to land on. He stood with one hip cocked out with his arms crossed over his chest. “I’m doing just fine. Thank you for asking.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re doing as good as your shit luck allows,” Harley snarked.
“Now that’s just rude,” Peter grumbled. “…but true.”
“Listen, dude, I’m going to cut straight to the chase,” Harley said, making Peter raised his scarred eyebrow. “I need you to meet me at the docks.”
“Why?” Peter asked with a hint of a warning to the edge of his voice.
“Don’t ask and just come meet me here,” Harley said.
“Yeeeeah, I don’t like this at all,” Peter scoffed and changed his stance to the other side. “Do I need to call Mr. Stark?”
“Dude, no! Don’t be a narc!” Harley argued into the phone.
Peter winced at the volume and rubbed at the side of his head. “You aren’t helping your case here, Harl.”
“Just hurry up and get your web butt here,” Harley said and hung up the phone.
Peter looked at the corner of his HUD that showed the call ended. Sighing, he rubbed a hand down his masked face. “Karen, am I going to regret this?”
“Most likely,” Kare chirped.
Peter groaned and dropped his hand down, looking up at the afternoon sky. It was staying lighter later with each passing down as spring was nearly here and Peter was enjoying how the nights were at the right temperature to be comfortable.
“…Karen, activate ‘Snitches Get Stiches’ protocol,” Peter ordered.
“Are you sure, Peter?” Karen asked. “Mr. Stark is going to be quite mad if he finds out you activated this.”
“That’s if he does,” Peter corrected with a grimace. “And, yeah, I’m sure I am going to regret this later but activate it.”
Karen gave a noise of acknowledgement before a small black circle appeared in the corner of Peter’s HUD. “Snitches Get Stiches protocol: Activated.”
“Thanks, Kare Bear,” Peter sighed and stepped over to the edge of the building. “Though, to be safe, also keep the ‘Call the Calvary’ protocol activated in the background just in case whatever shit Harley is bringing me into goes south.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to call Mr. Stark before you do something you regret in the morning?” Karen asked.
“Harley didn’t want me to say anything so I guess I should see what he’s up to first,” Peter relented as he jumped up on the border wall of the rooftop. “I should just be happy that he called me before he actually did something stupid.”
“Better than your track record,” Karen giggled.
“Hey,” Peter pouted at his AI.
“I’m getting a ping of Harley’s location at the docks. I shall chart a course,” Karen said as a small GPS popped up in the bottom left hand corner of his Peter’s HUD.
Peter exhaled through his nose as he mentally prepared himself for whatever crap Harley was about to get him mixed in. He had a sinking feeling that he would actually regret this in the morning like Karen said but Peter couldn’t leave Harley hanging. Besides, what Harley had an actual concern that needed Peter’s expertise?
…then again, this was Harley that they were talking about.
Peter sighed and jumped off the roof, shooting a web to head into whatever trouble Harley was about to get him into.
Peter landed silently on the balls of his feet at the edge of the building near the docks. The sun was starting to set on the horizon and cast a grayish hue on everything – telling Peter that everything was now bathed in either a red, orange, or combination of the two. With a pang of annoyance, Peter mourned his ability to see the color red more.
Looking around, Peter narrowed his eyes as he tried to find the college student that he had the – unfortunate on some days – luck being somehow related to. He could hear a couple heartbeats nearby but they were too far away for Peter to tell exactly if it belonged to Harley or not. And, the fact that there was a second heartbeat when Harley didn’t mention anyone else, stopped Peter from jumping in headfirst.
“Spidey!” Harley’s voice called with a whistle. Looking to the side at the call, Peter could see Harley waving to him from the space between two buildings. Peter nodded to himself when Harley was indeed one of the heartbeats he had heard.
Standing up, Peter ran across the rooftop and jumped right off it. Harley’s head tracked his actions as Peter flew across the space between the buildings and landed on the opposite side feet first. Using his powers, Peter stuck to the side of the storage warehouse in a crouched position sideways with his forearms on his knees.
“You took your time swinging here,” Harley snorted as he held his fist up to Peter.
Peter rolled his eyes behind his mask. “I was on the other side of the city when you called,” Peter said and pumped his own fist against Harley’s knuckles.
Chuckling, Harley gestured to Peter to come down. “Come in. We can’t talk out in the open.”
Peter released his powers and dropped straight down on his feet. “Harl, gonna be honest here, I’m not feeling very confident in whatever you called me over for.”
Harley walked backwards into the open door a few feet away with a broad grin. “That’s because you haven’t heard how awesome it is yet.”
“I don’t need to,” Peter grumbled as he followed Harley through the door, making sure to close it after passing through. “Also, shouldn’t you be up in Massachusetts right now?”
“Spring break,” Harley answered.
Peter narrowed his eyes at his brother behind his mask. “We have the same spring break this year and it isn’t for another two weeks.”
“Spring break is extra-long for us this year,” Harley said smoothly and they both knew it was a bold-faced lie. He trotted over to a high-tech table that looked very closely to one of Tony’s with the person the second heartbeat belonged to standing on the other side of it. It was a dark-skinned boy that looked to be around the same age as Harley wearing an oversized hoodie and a pair of jeans with a gold chain around his neck.
“Who is ‘us’?” Peter asked hesitantly as he jerked his chin at the other boy.
“I want to introduce you to someone,” Harley grinned and gestured to the person that came around the table to stand next to Harley. The person regarded Peter with an appraising look of his suit.
“’sup man? I’m Elijah,” the new teenager introduced himself with a jerk of his chin, holding his hand out to Peter.
“Spider-Man,” Peter introduced himself as his superhero name as he didn’t trust this person yet with his identity.
Peter took Elijah’s hand and shook it. Elijah smirked at Peter and tightened his grip. Surprisingly, Peter felt a strength behind it that he didn’t often get from others. Feeling playful at the bold display of strength, Peter added a bit of his own power to his grip. Elijah’s eyes grew wide and he let go, signaling Peter to do the same. The two let go of their hands and Elijah took a step back.
Elijah whistled as he shook out his hand. “That’s a hell of a grip you got there, bug boy.”
“First, arachnids aren't bugs,” Peter corrected. Elijah just chuckled at it. “Second, you ain’t so bad yourself.”
“It’s what happens when you have super solider serum running through your blood,” Elijah smirked.
The lens of Peter’s mask widened in turn with the raising of his eyebrows. “How the heck did you get that?”
“Does it matter?” Elijah challenged with a raise of his eyebrow.
Feeling that he was treading on a rocky topic, Peter shook his head. “I’m fine if you don’t want to share.”
“Cool, then we cool,” Elijah said smoothly.
Peter looked over to Harley who looked all too happy. “Harl, why do you have me and a junior super soldier here? I know this ain’t no meet-and-greet for the hell of it.”
Harley smacked his hands together, the smack bouncing around the large space. In the corner of the room, a large storage case Peter didn’t notice at first opened up to reveal the V.2 Iron Lad suit. “I want you to help us,” Harley grinned, rubbing his hands together.
One of Peter’s large white lenses squinted shut as he shot Harley a look. He looked between Harley and Elijah, who looked nonplussed with his hands stuffed into the pocket of his jacket. “…am I going to get another villain added to my list?” Peter asked cautiously.
“Psssh, no,” Harley said, waving the concern away. “We just need your help stopping an illegal alien tech sale.”
Peter shot Harley a flat look through his mask. “Dude, you do know that’s how I got my first major villain, right? You know, The Vulture? Does that ring a bell?”
“Damn Spidey, how bad is your luck?” Elijah chuckled.
“The absolute worse,” Peter deadpanned at Elijah. “Stick around long enough and it’ll rub off onto you as well.”
Harley threw his arm around Peter’s shoulders and jostled him around, Peter letting it happen. “Don’t let him scare you away. I’ve been around plenty long and I’m still fine.”
“Fine is a broad term,” Peter drawled with a roll of his eyes. Pulling away from Harley, Peter pinched his nose bridge. “Before I agree to anything, I need to hear what you are planning on doing.”
“I’m glad you asked,” Harley winked at Peter and dragged him over to the holographic table. Smacking a hand to the side, Harley brought up a display showing a simple truck. “Me and Eli got word of an alien tech sale happening tonight right outside of the city.”
Peter looked at the truck and then at Harley. “Who did you hear it from?”
“A trusted source,” Elijah answered as he came to the side opposite Harley. His eyes reflected the holographic image. “These sales are getting people in my neighborhood mixed up in them and I want it to stop before it brings in a danger that doesn’t need to be there.”
Humming as he nodded his head, Peter pointed between the two of them. “I gotta ask. How do you two know each other?”
“We’re in the same robotics club at school,” Harley answered, leaning back with a hand on his hip. “We got to talking and found we have a lot in common.”
Peter felt like there was more to that conversation there but decided to let it slide. Turning his attention back to the table, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, so you want to bust the sale and get the alien tech before the buyer does?”
“Got it in one,” Harley laughed with a snap of his fingers at Peter.
Peter stared at Harley flatly. “…why me?”
“You’re Spider-Man, bro!” Harley beamed and smacked Peter on the back. Elijah rose an eyebrow. “If anyone has experience, it’s with you!”
“Harley, two out of three of my alien tech sales busts ended with Mr. Stark saving my butt,” Peter deadpanned.
“But the last and biggest one you did it all on your own,” Harley countered.
“After I crashed Mr. Stark’s plane on the beach of Cooney Island,” Peter scowled at Harley behind his mask.
“Are we crashing a plane?” Elijah asked.
“That was years ago and you’ve grown as a hero since then,” Harley pointed out in an effort to butter up his brother. “I mean, you went toe-to-toe with Thanos, the Mad Titan.”
Peter’s hackles raised at the mention of the alien. It was like the air was sucked out of the room with how Peter didn’t respond. Instead, he was remembering the large hand that encircled around his neck with a threat of snapping it. How Tony screamed at Thanos to let him go and how the two of them worked together to get the Infinity Gauntlet off of his giant arm only for Star Lord to aggravate Thanos enough for him to break out of Mantis’ powers.
Harley noticed how Peter seemed to get stuck in his head. Taking a hesitant step closer, Harley reached a hand out to Peter. “Spidey?”
Peter’s hand shot out to grab Harley’s wrist. He didn’t squeeze it hard enough to break any bones but the grip was strong enough that Harley winced in pain. “Yo dude, you’re hurting him,” Elijah said, stepping in. His hands twitched at his sides in preparation that he had to step in.
Noticing that he was holding Harley’s wrist too tight for someone not enhanced, Peter let go of Harley’s hand and shook his head. “Sorry. Had some bad memories come back there for a moment.”
“Don’t worry, that was my bad,” Harley said. He shook out his hand and put it behind his back to hide the dark bruise in the shape of a hand already forming. “I should have known better to mention him like that.”
Peter let the thought of that alien slide away, locking it away in a box of stuff he didn’t want to think about it. There were other things in there like how the Green Goblin almost killed him or the memories of Ben’s death. Michelle said it wasn’t healthy to lock all that stuff away but Peter had too many other things to worry about than talking to Sam about every little thing that was wrong with his life.
Bringing himself back to the previous topic at hand, Peter thought about Harley’s request. It was smart on his surrogate brother’s part. Harley wanted a chance to strike it out on his own but knew he couldn’t handle something this big on his own so he was calling in someone that had been on the scene for a while. If they were in opposite positions, Peter could say he probably would have done the same.
Sighing deeply and letting his shoulders sag, Peter looked to Harley. “If this goes sideways, I get to hold it over your head for the rest of our lives, got it?”
“You’ll do it?!” Harley beamed. Jumping up, he wrapped an arm around Peter’s and Elijah’s shoulder to pull them in for a group side hug. “This is the best! I already have the best team name for us,” Harley said as he unwrapped the arm from around Elijah’s shoulders to gesture generically in front of him. “The Argonauts.”
“You really thought this one over, didn’t ya?” Peter snorted and peeled away from Harley. Putting his hands on his hips, Peter shook his head. “I have a feeling that I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this and go get the actual Avengers on this.”
“You would be right about that,” Harley winked at Peter. “They have their hands full with the big stuff. I’m sure we can handle the little stuff without needing to call Tony or the others.”
Peter narrowed his eyes. “…why do I feel like I am getting some major déjà vu?”
“I believe this would be called karma,” Karen piped up.
“Thank you, Karen,” Peter said flatly.
“Always happy to help,” Karen chirped.
“We have about twenty minutes before we need to move out to the interception point,” Harley said as he let go of Elijah. He speed-walked over to where his suit was waiting with his hands moving around in the air. “Anything you need to do to prepare, do it now.”
Harley continued to talk out loud to himself as he readied himself. Shaking his head with a huff, Peter placed a hand on his hip. “I haven’t seen him this excited in a while. Makes me kind of worried.”
“Yeah?” Elijah smirked and looked at Peter, his hands buried in his pockets. “How come?”
“Because it usually leads to either one or both of us getting in trouble,” Peter chuckled. Peter looked at Elijah. “Has he told you about the volcano incident yet?”
“The what now?” Elijah laughed.
“I’ll tell you later,” Peter said with one last chuckle. Straightening himself, Peter cleared his throat. “Yo, Elijah, you got a hero name? I need something to call you when we’re out in the field.”
Elijah smirked and squared his shoulders. “Call me Patriot.”