(A/N hi everyone! so I've decided that next chapter will be the last chapter of this book BUT I am going to do a sequel if you want me to. so if you do want me to do a sequel, comment so I can see! thank youuu!)
*HARLEY'S POV*
I was relieved to know that Peter was okay, even if he did have a wounded arm. It could have been much worse.
Now that it's over and I'm thinking back on it, I'm literally insane for stealing an Iron Man suit. I mean, technically I didn't steal it because Tony knew I was in his lab, he just didn't know why and he didn't have the time for me to explain. I don't feel bad about it one bit. I didn't damage it, I didn't get hurt, so what's the big deal? Tony was kind of upset that I put myself in harm's way but he wasn't mad that I took a suit, thankfully.
I got up from Peter's bed in the infirmary and straightened my shirt. "Love you," I pecked his cheek and he smiled, a cute little make-my-heart-go-crazy smile. "I love you too."
"Natasha, Rhodey, how are you two doing?" I asked the other two hospital occupants, who were trying not to look at us so they didn't disrupt our moment. "Oh, I'm okay," Natasha said with a nod. "Just a minor setback."
"I'm fine, too," Rhodey assured, "I fell off a pretty tall building but, fortunately, not tall enough to kill me."
"Wow," I said. I hadn't really gotten hurt except a few tiny scrapes. It's so scary to be a superhero.
"Well I'm glad you're all okay," I said. They thanked me and I nodded as I left the infirmary. I started my way down the hall when I heard laughing. Little kids laughing. At first, I was super creeped out because why the hell would there be little kids in the Avengers Tower? This is some horror movie shit.
Then I turned the corner and saw two little girls standing in front of Bucky, who was crouched down to meet their eye level. He was letting them touch his metal arm and they were laughing as he made jokes about how he got it. They had dry tear stains down their cheeks and their clothing was soaked in blood and dust. Their hair was all knotted up and messy. I was so focused on the smiles and laughs of the girls that I didn't hear Steve walk up behind me. He put his hand on my shoulder and I glanced at him.
"Who are they?" I asked him.
"We don't know. We're trying to find out."
He could tell I was confused so he continued, "Peter saved them from an alien that killed their mother. He was going to kill them too but Peter jumped in to save them and swung them to the nearest building. Tony had to go back for them since Peter was injured."
"Oh my God..." I sighed. "Those poor girls... their poor mother." I thought about them, how they would grow up without their mother, how their mother was killed, brutally, right in front of them... and Peter. "Is Peter okay? Is he, like... traumatized from it?"
"I don't know. We'll find out soon enough but he's acting fine right now." I frowned.
The girls just now noticed Steve and me standing there and they got shy and backed away slowly. Bucky stopped them and talked to them in a calm, soothing voice, saying that we were good and we would help them. They started taking tiny steps forward, the smaller girl following in her older sibling's lead, until they were right in front of us.
"Hi," I crouched down like Bucky to meet their eye level and held out my hand, "I'm Harley."
The bigger girl shook my head slowly. "I'm Liesel. This is my sister, Cambria."
I waved at Cambria, who was hiding behind her sister, and she giggled and waved back. "How old are you?" Steve asked.
"I'm 10, Cam is 5."
My heart broke even more. They were so young...
"Well, I promise we'll take good care of you, alright? You're safe here, nothing will hurt you." Steve said with a dad smile. They looked uneasy, but still accepted his words. He turned to walk away and I followed him, waving goodbye to the two girls who had such a tragic story. "What will happen to them?" I said, once we were out of earshot. Steve sighed, "I'm not sure. We'll have to figure some stuff out. You know, if there's a dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles, all that. If not, I guess we'll have to put them in an orphanage." I lowered my head and watched my feet. I didn't want to see them being put in an orphanage. I don't have any firsthand experience because I didn't grow up in one, but I've heard bad things about orphanages and I wanted those kids to grow up with parents.
But I guess there's not really much I can do. Sometimes the world is just cruel in that way.
"Harley," I heard my name being called from behind us. We both turned around to see Tony popped out from one of the rooms. "Can I see you for a minute?" I glanced nervously at Steve and he shrugged. "I don't know what it's about but you should probably go," he whispered and pushed me toward him. I took a deep breath.
He's going to yell at me, isn't he?
I walked toward Tony and he held the door open for me. "Have a seat," he nodded towards the dozens of chairs surrounding a rectangular conference table. I sat down. My heart was beating so fast and I was trying to keep my hands from shaking.
He shut the door and walked around the perimeter of the room, tapping a pencil against the palm of his hand. "What you did today," he started, "was completely irresponsible and careless. You could have been badly injured or even killed." He scoffed, "I mean you didn't even know how to work an Iron Man suit! And you think it's okay to break into my lab and steal a suit?" He sat down backwards in a chair and stared at me. It felt like he was searching my soul. "What would I have done if you had gotten hurt? Hm?" I didn't say anything. I just stared at the floor, then back up to him, then back down to the floor. His eyes were too intimidating.
"Talk to me, Keener."
"I'm sorry," I said, "I'm sorry that I went behind your back but I'm not sorry that I helped protect the people I love most."
He sighed. "I respect you, Harley. Hell, I admire you for doing what you did. But please, do not ever do it again. You almost gave me a heart attack when I saw you fly into the middle of that battle."
"Okay," I nodded. I know I had an annoyed tone in my voice but I wasn't trying to. "I promise I won't."
"Good," he said and stood from his chair. "In that case, I want to give you the suit you stole."
I whipped my head up and stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
"You showed courage and loyalty to the team. Even if you upset me, I can't deny that. I'm sorry I had to get through the whole 'you shouldn't have done that' rant before I got to the fun part, but yeah. I want to give you the suit and make you an official part of the team."
I literally could not believe it. Was he being serious? Or was this some sort of fucked up joke? I wouldn't put it past him...
"I- I- don't know what to say."
"Just say yes." He smiled at me and I could tell he was proud. Tears welled in my eyes. I had never really had a father, at least not a good one, so seeing Tony Stark in front of me, offering me a full time job as an Avenger, his eyes glinting with pride, made me so emotional I could barely contain it. "Y-yes," I sobbed. "Thank you, thank you so much."
I stood up and he wrapped his arms around me. He hugged me tight and I buried my head in his shoulder and let myself cry. I wasn't even going to try to hide it because it was pointless. "T-thank you," I stuttered and he patted my back. "You're welcome. I'm happy to have you. I've thought about this for a long time."
We pulled away and I wiped my eyes quickly with my sleeve. "Oh my God, I just... I can't wait to tell Peter. This is so crazy."
Wow. I'm really an Avenger! Is this true or is this just a dream? God I hope this isn't a dream.
Tony walked me out of the room and helped me get control of myself before we announced it to the rest of the team, excluding Peter, Rhodey, and Natasha since they were in the infirmary. Everyone was absolutely ecstatic. They clapped and hugged me and I felt so welcome. My heart was so warm and I was the happiest I had ever been.
I raced downstairs to tell the others. Peter's face lit up as I burst through the doors, beaming. "What is it?" Peter laughed. "Why are you so happy?"
"Peter, Peter, Peter!" I crouched down beside his bed and held his hand in mine. "I'm an Avenger now."
His eyes glistened. "What? Are you serious?"
"Yes! Tony offered me a position. I'm going to be a second Iron Man."
"Isn't that already my job?" Rhodey asked and we all laughed. "Okay, then I'll be a third Iron Man."
"Oh my God!" He threw his arms around me, as well as he could with his wounded arm, and laughed. "I'm so happy for you! This... this is such great news! Does this mean you're staying in New York?"
Oh no... I hadn't thought of that.
"Yeah... I guess so. I'm going to have to talk to my family but... yeah."
"Harley! This means we can stay together!"
"Yeah!" I exclaimed with joy, though the thought of not seeing my family for a long time haunted me. I loved my family too much to just leave them.
"I'm so happy for you, Harley," Natasha said. "Welcome to the team."
"Welcome to the team!" They all shouted in unison. I thanked them all, grinning and still in shock, but my mind was now elsewhere. How could I be an Avenger but leave my family in Tennessee?
It seems like everything good that happens to me has to have a con. I guess that's just part of life, too.
-4 HOURS LATER-
It was almost 11:00 P.M. and I was getting ready to go to bed in my new room at the tower when Peter popped his head in my room. "Hey Harls," he said. "Can I come in?"
"Of course," I said with a toothbrush in my mouth. I stopped renting the apartment I had been staying in and was almost completely moved in to my new room within a few short hours because all of the Avengers had helped. This was nothing short of paradise. I had a giant window that overlooked the biggest portion of the city, a king sized bed with tons of blankets and pillows, and all the gadgets and books I could ever need. The clothes I had packed with me from Tennessee didn't even fill half the storage space of my walk-in closet, but I was planning on going back down for the rest of my stuff when the summer ends.
Peter sat down on my bed and waited for me to get done brushing my teeth. He looked uncomfortable and definitely had something on his mind. "You okay?" I asked while drying my face off with a hand towel. "Yeah, are you?"
That caught me off guard. "Of course I'm okay," I laughed. "Today was one of the best days of my life." I threw the towel back into the bathroom, then walked over to the bed and held his hands in mine. "I get to be with you for more than just one summer. I get to live here, work here, and be with you. What could get better than that?"
"I don't know," he sighed, "I guess I'm being silly but you just sounded a little more dull and unsure after I mentioned moving up here. Like, you were still excited and everything just... not as much."
I lowered my head. "Yeah, you're right. That did put a little damper on the mood."
"I'm sorry-"
"You don't have to apologize. It was an inevitable question. I mean I'm not happy about leaving my family but this is the opportunity of a lifetime. I can't give it up. And I can finish school here, in a really good technology high school. I mean there's so many more opportunities. I think Mom and Riley will be supportive. Maybe sad, but supportive."
"Yeah," he agreed. "But you know what? Let's not think about that right now. We've both had a long day filled with highs and lows and I just want to not concentrate on anything."
"Okay," I said. "Me too." I laid down in my bed beside him and he scooted closer, then turned on his side to where he was facing me. I reached up and tucked a piece of his light brown hair behind his ear, then ran my hand down his face, stopping at his jaw, and pulled his face to mine for a kiss. We savored the kiss, knowing that we don't have to be quick about anything anymore, that we have all the time in the world. I ran my hand along a bruised part of his face and he flinched slightly but I kept my hand there, not letting go. "I don't want to give you anymore bruises..."
"Just do it," he said and pushed my head down onto his neck. I sucked on his neck a little, but not too hard, and I could tell he was getting impatient. I laughed to myself and he whined. "Harley..." "Sorry." I started leaving love marks all down his neck and I pulled his shirt off to start on his chest too. I could tell he was restraining moans and I smiled to myself as I got further and further down his chest.
I finally reached the waistband of his shorts and looked up at him as if to say "should I go on?" but I was interrupted by a knock at my door. I wanted to yell "go away, I'm about to have post-apocalyptic sex and don't want to be interrupted!" but instead I got up grudgingly and walked to the door. Peter fell on the floor as he tried to hide and there was a loud thud. I almost laughed.
I opened the door to find Tony and Steve. "Hey Harley," Tony said, "what was that noise?"
"I don't know. Something from upstairs maybe? Isn't Clint right above me?"
"That explains it." Tony rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm just checking in on you. Is everything okay in your new room?"
"Yeah, it's all good."
"Alright, well... we'll let you get some sleep now. Let us know if you need anything."
"Thanks, Tony."
He nodded and they both walked back down the hallway.
I thought Steve's room was in the other direction...
I kept watching and Steve put his arm around Tony. They both walked into Tony's room. I gasped and covered my mouth. "What?" Peter yelled from my floor. "Oh, you're never gonna believe this."
"WHAT?" He said again.
"I'm like 99% sure Steve and Tony are actually a thing now."
"Bulllllshit," Peter chuckled. "That could never happen, I refuse to believe it."
"Peter Benjamin Parker, I literally just saw them walk into Tony's room and Steve had his arm around Tony."
"Best friends do that all the time."
"It wasn't in a best friend 'you're my good ole pal' sort of way, though! And why would Steve be going into Tony's room so late at night?"
"I don't know! I still don't believe it though. They're sworn enemies."
"Not true, they're both on the same team."
He looked at me as if waiting for me to realize something. I kept staring at him and he sighed. "Do I have to remind you of the Civil War?"
"That was years ago. They've made up."
"Okay, Keener, whatever you say." He threw his hands up in defense. "I'll believe it when I see it. I'm going to bed."
"Me too. I love you so much," I kissed him on the forehead as we walked past each other, me on my way to my bed, him on his way to the door. He paused under the threshold. "Maybe tomorrow night we can pick up where we left off?"
"I'd love to," I winked at him and he shut the door.
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(A/N wow so A LOT happened in this chapter. does that make up for me going like 2 weeks without publishing? I'm sorry, I honestly just had so much going on with re-enrolling in public school and everything UGH. but it's all taken care of, thank GOD, so now I should be able to post regularly again. thank you guys so much for your continued support and don't forget to vote, comment, and follow me! love you all.)
bye for now✱
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