All I Ask of You

Chapter Twenty-Three

 Throughout their whole life, Harper wasn't normally the type of person to worry. They knew that Annie would do something dumb, but would eventually get better. Only, they found themself pacing their bedroom the longer Peter took to call back. It wasn't like they could complain to Annie about it, that was the one person Harper couldn't seem to reach.

So when Harper's phone vibrated on their nightstand, Harper practically leapt across the room. Only to find that the number was unknown entirely. Still, they hit the answer button anyways.

"Harper Higgins, child to the CEO for Higgins' Fabrics Emporium. If you're calling to harass me because of some shit my parents pulled, I can tell you I'm just as tired of them as the next guy. If you're meaning to harass one of my siblings, press one. If you were meaning to call me, I can't understand why because no one should have my number," Harper greeted, their voice coming out in a monotonous tone.

The voice on the other line chuckled, "You remind me of myself, Harper. It's Tony Stark speaking."

"Oh shit! I mean, um... excuse my language. Can I ask why?" Harper questioned, starting ot pace and nearly trip over some leftover fabrics on the floor.

Tony sighed, "You were the last person Annika Hardwick contacted. I was figuring that you were a close friend of hers."

"That'd be true... is she okay?" Harper asked, sitting on their large bed.

"Yes, she's in a stable condition. I'm assuming you know of her powers."

"Oh... um, yes. Completely aware. I must say, I take credit for her suit."

"You wouldn't want to take credit for that right now. It's all singed up. Look, I'm gonna get to the point. Since you're Annika's friend and confidante, I trust you would be interested in knowing that an old villain of hers showed up today."

Harper's eyes widened, "Oh fuck... shit, sorry, jeez... you're kidding. I thought that dude was taken care of... wait, which one. Sorry, there were a few now that I think about it.

"Um... not sure. He kinda looked like a creepy clown guy, not sure what he does but I got him to run off, you know anything about that?" he questioned.

They got up, starting to pace around their room, "That'd be Carnival... I'm not a hero, just a designer, so I don't know what he does... not really. I just know he's one of the really bad guys 'cause Annie hated talking about him. So, this isn't some kind of joke?"

"Afraid not, this is looking like a serious situation. Now, how busy is your summer?" Tony asked, typing being audible on the line.

Harper thought a moment, "Just orientation in a couple weeks. I couldn't get it any earlier, but then I was gonna chill with Annie, honestly."

"Perfect. If I moved up your orientation date to... let's say... the day after tomorrow, could you get here and join us for a sort of retreat?"

They blinked, "If you could do that... I'm game. But why are you doing this? I know how rich people work. There's always a method or a catch or some dumb conditions."

"Just keeping your friend and who I think is her boyfriend out of trouble."

Harper laughed, "Oh, you mean Peter! I could've told you he was Spider-Man from the start and I don't even live over there. Not that that's important... but seriously, what's the catch?"

"Do you have any better suit ideas than the one I just saw?

"Well, yeah. Of course I do! It's just hard to make a decent superhero suit when you can't access all the really good fabric without turning heads. I could make something a million times better given the resources."