Getting Up, Giving In - Just Please Don't Give Up On Me

A Secret

WHOO! Who's ready for some Parksborn?

I am. I am ready for Parksborn. T.T

This ficlet is set in season 2, episode 8 "Carnage." It's a retelling of the episode and how different it could've gone if Peter actually told Harry that he is Spider-Man. And the amazing inclusion of a budding Parksborn, all nicely bundled with a bit of angst, pining, and daddy issues. :D (All the ingredients to cook up some good ol' Parksborn, right?)

Enjoy the mess that is one Peter Parker and Harry Osborn, followed with the exasperation of the team, and the all-around insanity and terribleness of Goblin.

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"Harry...there's something I need to tell you."

Eight words.

Peter Parker, the infamous Spider-Man—agent of SHIELD and hero who fought lunatics and villains as often as one went grocery-shopping—a boy who's worked with some of the greatest heroes on the planet, and all it took was eight simple words to make him want to kick down the door and run for his life.

It's crazy how a single sentence puts him in fight-or-flight mode more than facing down a gang of robber. With guns.

He knows he's not in any real danger—unless you considered the solidity of his friendship with Harry Osborn as dangerous, in which case, his spider-sense should be tingling up a storm. His and Harry's relationship has been on shaky terms ever since the team started going to Midtown and their fallout had been a long time coming. That doesn't mean it hurts any less.

Thankfully, for the sake of the brittle remains of their friendship, Peter is seat-belted into the limo and the doors are locked, so he can't escape. He doesn't even let himself think about busting open the door and diving into oncoming traffic, not just because it'd give Harry (and every driver on the road) a heart attack, but because he can't run from this anymore.

Just looking at Harry makes Peter's fingers wring in nervous guilt. The other boy was staring aimlessly out the window, head in hand, looking so dejected and exhausted Peter's insides wriggle and writhe like a fish out of water. It's a frightened, panicked feeling, because the very idea that he had a hand in making Harry look this way makes him want to flop and flail on the ground too.

Harry saw the damage to the Oscorp building the night the Goblin was born. Witnessed the horrifying acts of his transformed-father while being hunted by him. But he didn't know the circumstances that led to Norman Osborn becoming the Green Goblin. He didn't know that Peter had been there every step of the way, always ready to intervene on the Osborn's behalf. Or that Peter had been too deft and stupid to realize Norman was pulling the strings from the shadows all along. And he definitely didn't know that the serum that mutated Norman had Peter's DNA all over it.

Harry is in the dark about everything and he doesn't even know the half of it.

Maybe it's selfish, but Harry needs to know the truth so he finally understands why Peter's gone all the time. Why Norman looks like he should be working part-time as a building gargoyle.

Peter likes to believe his only motive to reveal himself is because it'll make protecting Harry easier, but he can't deny that the true reason he wants to stop lying to his friend is so he finally stop lying to his friend. So he doesn't have to tip-toe around one of the people closest to him to keep his masked life a secret.

But his chance for a peaceful confession is gone, because Harry hates Spider-Man. Hates him with a burning passion. Blamed the very existence of Goblin on Spider-Man, so how can Peter possibly tell him they're one and the same?