|Towards the Endgame|

•Chapter 149• Poor Peter Parker

"What are you doing here?" He wanted to think about something else for a moment, even though he already knew that wouldn't work. Harley, still looking confused, considered what he was doing there. "I wanted to see if Tony was doing all right, and maybe I could get some stuff from Stark Industries. Fix them up. What's this about Y/n? I thought you were looking after her." She got taken? Just like that? "I was! We had a plan, and we failed. Okay? They outsmarted us, they outsmarted me! I get it!"
Peter told him the same thing he told Tony. Y/n went out to stop them, and then it all turned around. Beck popped up out of nowhere and knocked her out. What if he had injected her with something truly dangerous? She might actually be dead! What would Mysterio do to her? Harley listened attentively like a child in a classroom. "Are you gonna get her?" He asked once the story had settled in. "Of course I'm gonna get her. I'm not leaving her alone with them." Actually, he was glad he was here. He could make sure of at least one thing before swinging off again. "Listen... I need you to stay here with Tony."
"Stay here with... what? Stay here with Tony?" Was he a little kid who needed to be babysat? No. He's a grown man. Tony sees him coming. That annoying kid from the garage is going to tell him what's going to happen. Conspiring with his daughter's boyfriend, the same guys he's tried to mentor since they were kids. That will work out perfectly. But Harley understood. One shared thought. After Tony came back last time... Y/n would have thought it too. The only difference is that she is his daughter. Peter needed to choose his words very carefully in case Tony was listening in from somewhere where they could not see him. "I don't wanna.... He's not old. But he's not ready for this."

Tony Stark is no longer the man he was twenty years ago. All that combat and missions have drained him. And he wasn't the youngest person ever when he became Iron Man. He doesn't have the energy. He might be able to take on Toomes – but the Vulture is quick. Mysterio is something else. On tech knowledge, he might have found an equal, maybe, but not in combat. He'll lose, and God knows what Beck will do to the man who humiliated him and his invention, which sparked his hatred in the first place. No, Tony couldn't go. And these were not his villains to fight. Peter should do this. Spider-Man is going to do this.
Harley nodded along understandingly. He's been around the house a lot. "He's struggling to even walk to the kitchen at times." They both knew it. His body is tough on him. He has never fully recovered from being Iron Man full-time, and it has had its effects. "Exactly. I don't want to put lives on the line. Not again." There was some unspoken alignment formed between them. Actual friends or not. "I can try to keep them here. Natasha, too. But she hasn't been out of bed much anyway." Harley said to him. Peter was thankful for that. Keeping Tony here was also crucial now. He's fought them before, and he should be able to pull this off. Although he did have some help last time when he had to fight multiple villains at once.

"Have you checked Y/n's tablet by any chance? Her phone? Computer?" Harley could get in anywhere he needed to. Harley shook his head. "No. Why?" Peter sighed. "I was wondering if she may have gotten a message from Bucky. Maybe Yelena." It would have been nice to have a little extra backup. Harley pulled out his phone and pretended to read something off it. "Last time I checked, Yelena Belova went out of the country for an assignment." He said. Peter frowned at that. "Assignment? That doesn't sound suspicious at all." He said. Harley shrugged with a little smug smirk on his lips. "Top secret." He replied. "And how do you know about it?" That was a very good question. Harley put his phone down, revealing he hadn't even turned it on. Empty battery. "I may have overheard Natasha speak to her sister and then tell Y/n." He admitted. So, that was not an option. Amazing. "Barnes?" Peter asked. "Amongst us. Somewhere. But he's occupied with the whole congress thing that's going on." It's very easy to forget what else Bucky Barnes is keeping himself occupied with these days. He is all over the place. "How does he do that?" No Bucky, no Yelena, no Iron Man, no Black Widow. No other superheroes. Just like the old days. Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man against his own villains. Perhaps he should drop the neighborhood thing. "She's gonna be okay, right?" Harley blurted out the question without realizing the weight it came with. He wanted to do something, too. Be there for Y/n. Make sure she is all right. Peter looked at his own hands. He knew he had to pick up that mask again soon. The memory of why he wanted a mask replayed in his head. No one could see him or his emotions. He was terrified. "I don't know, Man. I don't... I don't know." He whispered.

Peter stood near the stairs. Tony hadn't come back down yet. Harley disappeared into the garage already. Peter held his mask in his hands. He almost ripped it apart earlier when he came in. If he had, then he wouldn't have to put it on again. Maybe he wanted them to see his face. See that he was scared. See his anger. His love was taken. He needs to get her back. Rescue her before it's too late. He could end up two ways. He could end up as the oldest Peter Parker, happy, with his girlfriend, and life going just right with a few ups and downs, maybe – good, nonetheless. Or like his other brother... broken, lost the love of his life, and never the same. His life was crumbling in front of his eyes. He's seen it. The hair at the back of his neck stood up again. Peter turned his head to see Natasha looking at him from the shadows. He didn't need to tell her. The look on her face said that she already knew. She was not in her gear, unlike what Peter had expected from her. She was too weak to fight. She accepted it, unlike Tony. She looked sad. Her brows pulled together. "Y/n." Peter nodded his head. Natasha had seen them. She looked scared, thinking back to it. It wasn't for her, but for her friend. These men are not easy. "They don't play fair." What villain ever does? "I might have some venom for you." Her whisper was so quiet that only Peter's super hearing picked it up.