OOO

While Harry dressed Peter watched the officers carefully. They seemed annoyed at the wait and Peter felt increasingly ill at ease. He wished Harry would be back, he would know better than Peter how to deal with them. The clock on the wall sounded loud and he wanted to move, get something out of the fridge, sit, anything, but he felt as thought any movement would be pounced upon.

The clean, water-fresh scent of Harry hit his nose before he walked back through the doorway and Peter moved towards him eagerly.

"What do you want?" Harry asked in as level a voice as he could handle, Peter hovering at his side.

"Your father," the first one said. "Has he been here?"

"My father?" Harry's voice was low and terrified.

Peter turned so they wouldn't see the fear in his own expression.

"You might want to sit down for this," the second officer said in a tone that had a professionally sympathetic tone to it.

"I'll stand, thanks."

"Your father was involved in an incident. He was implicated in a crime and we have evidence linking him to the scene. Unfortunately, he fled before the police could arrive. Plus, our investigation has shown he has been working to empty out and divert whatever funds he can from all existing accounts under his name." The officer gazed at Harry. "You wouldn't know anything about this, would you?"

"Don't shelter him," the second officer added. "You realize that if you get involved with any crimes he might have committed you'll have to be charged too." She looked over at Peter. "And same goes for your roommate."

"He's not my roommate," Harry murmured. "He's my… he's… he's my boyfriend." Harry backed up and felt for Peter's hand. "And I have no idea where he went. My father and I aren't that close."

The officers exchanged glances; the boy was nearly cowering and had gone milk-white.

"Look, kid, if you don't tell us what you know we can't help you."

"I don't know anything!" Harry pleaded. "And I wouldn't help him."

"I don't think you're getting the message," the officer reiterated. "This isn't a traffic violation we're discussing. Your father is facing a number of very serious charges, including multiple counts of murder. You're better off if you come clean." He stepped closer. "We will find out if you've been involved and with him absent, you're going to be the one taking the fall."

"But I didn't… I don't have anything to do with this!" He looked from officer to office. "I'm not my father, I'm not hiding him. I didn't… I don't…"

"Harry didn't have anything to do with whatever his dad did," Peter joined in.

"Whatever his dad did?" The first moved forward aggressively. "You're telling me your father is a technological mass murderer and you had no idea? Don't give me that crap, you little punks!" He looked over at his partner, then back to Harry. "You know what I think? I think you were in on it. What'd you do, help daddy cover his tracks? Explain away his absences, help him move funds around, make your home into an arsenal…" He shook his head. "No way all that happens in your house and you don't know."

As Harry quailed Peter pushed himself between them. "This is where Harry lives and if you had anything solid, you would have arrested him," Peter said in a menacing whisper. "Get out."

"And we'll be right back if we get anything suggesting you knew the least little…"

"Out!" Peter's voice was startlingly forceful, foreign to even his own ears.

"You rethink this, you know where to find us," the other remarked. "And I'd visit the precinct, before we have to drag you down there."

The moment they crossed the threshold, Peter slammed the door shut.

"Harry? You alright?"

Harry shook his head. "No Pete. No… oh God. We need to get out of here." He began running his hands through his hair nervously. "How the fuck did he get away?"

"I'm sorry, I should have checked on him. I thought I had secured him… but he's on the run, Harry. The last thing he'll want is a confrontation with the two of us."

"If we stay, he'll know where we are and come back when he's ready." Harry shook his head again. "No, Pete, we're at risk as long as we stay here. Maybe he won't come back today or tomorrow – but he won't wait long, not when he's mad."

"Alright, alright, so we find a new place." Peter tried to reassure him and clasped his hands to still them. "We'll be alright, we'll find a place and we'll stay alert." He tightened his grip. "Maybe I handled the officers badly too. Maybe we should have told them. We still could, you know. They might catch him, put him away for good."

"I'll have to tell them everything. They'll find out." Harry sounded mortified. "You said you'd keep it a secret…"

"And I will." Peter leaned in and kissed him. "You can trust me. We'll do what we can and wait until they come to us, if they ever do. And Harry… you called me your boyfriend."

"Oh. Yeah. Well." He shrugged. "I thought that since, you know, we've slept together a couple times, live together… I mean, what else would you call it? And it's... I'd rather have things defined. That's all." He looked worried. "You're not… I mean, this won't make things weird, will it? Weirder. You're still my friend like you were?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Best friend, right?"

"Right." Harry went over to the window, as if looking to see his father on the horizon. "How do you think he broke free anyway?"

"I don't know." Peter sighed and put a hand on Harry's back. "Maybe the webbing job wasn't good enough. Maybe he was stronger than I expected. Maybe one of the bombs got close enough. Maybe… I don't know. And I don't know what he did escaping." He rubbed in circles. "But if they don't have any proof of our involvement… maybe he destroyed the evidence. Most of it was as incriminating to him as it was of us."

"I can't imagine even him thinking he could escape a conviction by blowing up half the house. Besides, he'd be more likely to pin it on us – make one of us out to be the Goblin."

"Well maybe he didn't want all his stuff falling into somebody else's hands. If he was running it isn't as though he could move it all and he couldn't hide it anymore. Blowing it up would be the only way to make sure he was the only user."

"That sounds more like him." Harry turned around. "But it still leaves us with a few big problems."

"I know him knowing our address isn't a good situation, but it's New York. Surely we can find something else."

"I'm not so sure. You heard what they said?"

"Who? The officers?"

"Yeah. According to them, my father grabbed whatever he could from his accounts. And I'm sure whatever he didn't take has been locked down for the investigation. The company too, probably – and I can only imagine the lawsuits that are going to come out when people discover that he was the Goblin. I'll be shocked if the company isn't filing for bankruptcy inside a month."

"You don't have anything in your name?"

"A trust fund. But it's on timed release – I can't just take all of the money out at once. And knowing my dad, well, if there was a way for him to get his hands on that too, he probably has."

"Oh. Well." Peter shook his head. "It will be fine. I can work, we'll find a place."

"Work?" Harry chuckled. "Pete, how do you expect to study and be Spider-Man and work on top of that? There's only so much that one person can do, only so many hours in the day."

"Well then what are we going to do, if your dad's left you with nothing…"

"I could work."

Peter was silent and Harry wondered if he was going to last. He only raised an eyebrow, taken aback. "Harry, you sure? I mean, I know you don't have a lot of experience…"

"I'm not going to ask you to do everything. And I'm not that great at college, it's not like I'll be losing out. Lots of people work. Lots of people have to get a job rather than take classes."

Peter chewed his lip. "I'll be honest; this sounds like a mistake Harry. I don't doubt you or your good intentions. But I'm not sure... let's not make a hasty decision anyway. I have some savings – not enough to keep us here but enough for the moment – and we can at least explore our options before we do anything rash."

Harry leaned against the sill. "So what do we... oh shit." He caught sight of a flash and looked out the window. "Hell. The news must have gotten a hold of our address." He pulled the curtains shut. "They're already down there, circling like vultures. Is the door locked?"

Dashing over, Peter jammed the deadbolt into place and twisted the handle to be sure. "It is now."

"Good. Things might get ugly enough now that they probably know we're home. Come on, we need to draw all the blinds and everything before anybody decides to go hunting with a long range lens."

"You think they have any information about what actually happened with the police and your father?" Peter went into his bedroom and pulled down the blinds.

"Probably more than we do," Harry answered from his own room. "I don't know what they'll be allowed to broadcast on the news but we should at least get a little information."

"I can't believe these people," Peter fumed, resisting the urge to peek out. "Doesn't it occur to them you might want privacy? I mean, I'll take pictures, sure, but of public events and mostly of myself – I'm not prying into somebody else's life, into their home."

"It pays well," Harry said. "Making money of the embarrassment and misery of others."

"Well if I ever start doing that to make money you have every right to break my jaw." Peter sat on the couch. "So what are we supposed to do while they're waiting out there?"

"Stay put. Anything else is giving them what they want. And I know it will probably bother you but – no Spidey for a bit, alright? Until this begins to die down or we move, so that it'll be less likely someone will see you."

"I don't want my identity know either. Don't worry. Still, the question holds. What do we do besides go crazy waiting to stick our heads outside?"

"Uh… well…"

"And not that. For now."

"Laundry?" Harry suggested brightly. "And there's a sink full of dishes that are getting fuzzy and starting to smell. That could probably use some attention."

"Alright then. Do you want to start sorting the clothes and I'll load up the dishwasher?"

"Sure. No problem. By colors, right?"

"Yeah. Especially with red. You really don't want to mix that in with anything light colored. I tossed my suit in once with my underwear…"

"I'd always wondered about that."

"Well now you know." Peter laughed as he arranged cups. "I bleached them twice but I don't think it helped much."

"Think this is enough for one load?" Harry pointed to a pile of shirts.

"Probably. Then just follow the directions on the back of the detergent bottle."

"See?" Harry winked. "I'm not so bad at this chores thing."

Peter turned on the washer then went to help him load. "Once we get this started it will be a while before it finishes and we have to toss this into the dryer. Until then, want to watch a movie?"

"Sure. Whatever you like." Harry measured and poured in the detergent. "It'll be nice to get a bit of a rest anyway. Clean up around here, maybe get some work done. Take a break."

"Yeah," Peter murmured as he sat down on the couch. "A break."

A moment later, Harry sat down next to him and slipped his arm around Peter's shoulders. The movie itself never quite made it into the DVD player nor the shirts into the dryer. Instead, Harry stretched out and Peter cuddled into Harry while outside an angry world waited.

OOO