A/N: Sorry for another late update but I am extremely bogged down with school and completely shattered. But hey Netflix finished filming the Shadow and Bone series today which makes me feel a little bit happier :)
Thanks to: that1laptop, Mogor, darkpegasuzz, Sojie204, Books-and-Cleverness-394, mlgwither, jh831, Useless100, selina-lightsky, Nina aspen wolf, H. L. Thorn, 1TheGame1, Kattglas, AMYisAWESOME610, Kbug1, Night-Nokori, mangamak, AlecLightwoodMagnusBane, RedFuryanDireWolf, MrsLutz5, AlishaAlanis, Crackers, Averagejoe81000, GothicPheonix, Shisui of the Body Flicker and kevin303401 for either leaving a review or following/favouriting on the last chapter. Your support is always ALWAYS appreciated and thank you for over 1,300 favourites, I love you!
"And I loved how the sky burned
Soaking now, we slip apart (soaking now, I'm falling apart)
Older now, I can't tell you and me apart (apart)
I just wanted to let you know"
When Steve woke up the next morning, he found a teenage boy sleeping on the couch in the living room. He had not heard Peter or Adara come back in yesterday night, nor had he heard Adara leave in the first place but he had a feeling it had been Peter who had insisted on sleeping on the sofa rather than Adara's room. He had faced Steve's wrath before when it came to these kinds of things.
Naturally, due to the boys heightened senses, he woke up suddenly and fell off the couch the moment Steve stepped on a floorboard that was slightly squeakier than the rest on his way to the kitchen.
"You okay?" Asked Steve as he began making himself a coffee.
"I– uh– yeah," the boy looked slightly frazzled from being woken so suddenly. "Sorry, I think I might have dented your floor."
"If it helps, Adara's thrown more knives through doors than I can count," he said. "And Sam's thrown the old shield at the wall at least once," he gestured to a big dent in the wall's plaster. "We're about one more violent incident away from being kicked out really."
It was only to be expected when you put two Avengers in an apartment together and bought in their also Avenger friends for a visit.
Then, Adara's bedroom door clattered open and she stumbled out, glancing around with a kind of wariness before she relaxed. As usual, she looked tired, her hair was back in a kind of bun, that was more of a ponytail as it fell out of its hair tie. She gave Peter a small wave before pushing Steve out of the way to make herself a cup of coffee.
"You alright, Adara?" Asked Peter.
"Yeah I just had a weird dream."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, I keep having it," she shrugged. "It always makes me feel a little weird when I wake up."
"What's the dream about?" Inquired Steve, reaching over Adara's head to get his own coffee mug.
"It's uh—" She paused for a second and then shrugged. "It's not even a dream really, it's more like…" She paused again and shrugged again. "More like— it doesn't matter. It's nothing, just a weird dream."
There was a pause and it was clear Adara didn't plan on elaborating.
"Are you putting any milk in that?" Steve asked, glancing at her coffee.
"Nope," she said, "it's a black coffee kind of day. I would eat raw coffee beans if I could."
"I mean," began Peter, "technically you can."
"Please don't eat raw coffee beans," said Steve, already pushing the packet of coffee beans on the counter out of her reach.
She smirked and sat down on the couch next to Peter, wrinkling her nose and then elbowing him which was her way of telling him to go take a shower. Sighing, he got up but not before glancing at the television as she turned it on. The news. There was tension between three of them in the room, but they relaxed when the story was about the President's trial in the senate, not about Peter or Spiderman. Confirmation that their appearance last night had been kept quiet.
As Peter went to use the shower, Adara continued flicking through channels.
"What life-threatening event is on the agenda today then?" Asked Steve.
"Get to the bottom of whatever Norman is up to," she said.
"Have you spoken to Harry?"
"I left him a voice note about what happened last night," she said, "he might hear it, he might not. He might just ignore it, that's what he's done with the rest of my texts and calls."
"He'll see reason."
"Reason usually dictates that your dad isn't a bad guy," she rested her head back against the couch armchair, looking at Steve upside down. "Harry never got on with his dad and I think, in my head, when MJ and Ned told me all those things they found in the basement and such… I just kind of equivilated it to what my own father was like. I knew he'd be upset but I didn't think he would be that angry. So I got angry."
"Adara, he'll come round," he said. "I know you trust MJ and Ned on what they had to say about Osborn, and Harry isn't blind, he's just upset."
"Yeah, I know," she sat up straight and rubbed her eye. "I got so used to talking with him everyday that us arguing, not bickering, arguing, it's weird."
"Maybe you should try and talk to him again."
She shrugged, "maybe."
He gave her a sympathetic smile, Steve was remarkably good at those and placed a hand on her shoulder for a second.
"I have to finish this," she said, "get Beck in jail, deal with Norman and…" She paused, what the hell did she do to O'Leary? Arrest him? Could you even arrest a man like him? "And stop O'Leary," she was certain she could do that.
"You won't get hurt," he asked.
"No more than I've already been hurt," she tapped the scar going down her face.
"You know I could try and ground you," he said.
"I don't think that's ever worked. All we end up doing is yelling at each other, and that works out even worse."
"True," he said, standing up. "I'm working down at the VA today. Try not to destroy Manhattan."
Adara smirked slightly, "no promises."
"Hey, Harry, it's me. Again. You haven't been responding, so I don't know if you're listening or just ignoring everything I say but I figured I'd give you an update anyway."
"In my previous message I told you that we'd found out the Faceless Man's identity- yada yada yada, I'll skip to the good bit. Had a face off with Beck, O'Leary was there too. Lost of cool fighting, emotional turmoil, the usual. But— uh— shit. Listen, I know you don't want to hear this, but I'm not going to point fingers."
"The drones Beck were using were a new model compared to the old ones. I managed to get a good look at one and it was branded with the, er, Oscorp logo. Like I said, I'm not pointing fingers. Your dad might not have anything to do with this, but Oscorp is involved, there's no denying it, and I need your help."
"Please, Harry, if you get this, please call me back. I'm sorry for everything I said… It's just… I've taken you for granted. You were always by my side through pretty much everything and not talking to you really fucking sucks. So.. yeah… Please just call me or text me, even if it's just to tell me to stop calling you or texting you."
"Sorry, Harry."
The voicemail ended there, Harry had already replayed it about three times already.
He had listened to all of Adara's calls and read all of her texts, how could he not have? Despite the fact that, maybe, as far as she was concerned, he was with the enemy, in Oscorp, she never stopped updating him. Every bit of information she found, every doubt she had about her next move, she informed him, just like they were still working together. More than once she had stressed how one-sided she felt and beat herself up for even trying, for not just leaving him alone.
But she hadn't stopped messaging Harry anyway, detailing all of her plans, her theories and, everytime, asking him to please message back and how sorry she was.
At this point, Harry just felt worse than before. He hadn't been getting any sleep, had been skipping school and was figuring out exactly what it was he should do.
I'm not pointing fingers. Your dad might not have anything to do with this, but Oscorp is involved, there's no denying it.
She was right. Probably. Besides, Harry was getting bored of being mad at people, not that he could help it. He was just on some teen angst bullshit, he was so used to the difficult decisions being made by other people that now he had to figure something out by himself.
He sat at his desk for a few more moments, staring into space before letting out a loud sigh and getting to his feet. Pinned to his wall were a few photos, a lot of them were of him and Adara just screwing around.
With a feeling of uncertainty, he left the comfort of his room. The apartment had felt a lot empty lately, it had become a bit of a hub of noise for a while and, even with Adara gone, usually had his friends bickering with one another or scheming against a bad guy or something. Now Harry didn't know what to do with himself except keep digging into the Faceless Man's organisation, in which he hadn't found much but had located a few areas in New York that he was linked to. But who could he relay the information to? No doubt Adara wanted to know, but he wasn't talking to her.
But now he was going to get this whole situation cleared up. With a deep breath he knocked on the door of his father's office.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Harry," he paused and then opened the door. "Dad, I just need to talk to you."
His dad wasn't sitting at his desk like he normally was, but was leaning against it, talking to a strange man who Harry had never seen before. Granted, it didn't look like there was anything special about him, he wore a lab coat, had greying, dark hair and was a little on the short side though. The only thing that could be said to be notable were his honey brown eyes, which glittered like gold in the sunlight that filtered through the window. He glanced at Harry from where he was leant casually against a wall, no one looked casual in his dad's office, not even his dad.
"What is it?" His dad didn't seem too amused to have been interrupted. "Is it important?"
"I— Uh—" Harry had been thrown off by the strange scientist, who watched him through interested, yet suspicious eyes.
"Don't waste my time, Harry," said Norman. "I'm in the middle of something. Can this wait?"
Harry met his eyes and straightened himself a little under his father's scrutiny.
"It's just…" How did he phrase this? "I just wanted to ask about something a friend mentioned the other day… About Oscorp."
Neither Norman nor the scientist looked happy with this. Harry noticed the small exchange they had with each other, where the scientist simply shook his head, as if giving a small, silent command to his father of all people. What was going on here?
"I don't care for gossip," snapped his father. "You know that. Ask me later in your own time when I'm not working if you're bothered so much."
"But—"
"Haven't you got homework to do? I noticed your grades for Chemistry were dropping."
It was a clear dismissal, which left Harry feeling rather resentful. Without bothering to respond, he shot a rueful glance at his father and slammed the door shut, ignoring the mutter about 'childish behaviour' he left behind.
Adara wanted to talk to him and he wouldn't respond, he wanted to talk to his father and he wouldn't talk back to him. Harry supposed that, in some way, it was karma.
But Harry still needed to get to the bottom of this. To clear his head, he headed out the building, not bothering to grab his coat. His annoyance at his dad had made him forget the strange scientist who he'd never seen before, despite the fact that he knew every scientist who worked in the tower at this point. All the same, that strange scientist, with the honey brown eyes, had not forgotten Harry, nor what he had wanted to talk to his father about.
"It's going to rain," said Peter.
Adara looked up to the sky and realised he was right. It had been boiling hot for a few days now, but not dry heat. The air had been humid this morning, to the point where it felt like it was choking her. Clouds were building in the distance now, hovering above Manhattan and travelling in the direction of Queens.
"Huh," she said and then looked back at him. "Pull the baseball hat down."
They were both walking down the middle of the road, on the way to Ned's house. Peter looked ridiculous, in an oversized baseball jacket (which Sam had bought her once at a Baseball game he had dragged her to, but accidentally got a small size), a pair of bikers shorts and sunglasses. It was his disguise and, surprisingly, it had worked. Despite the fact that Peter's face had been everywhere for a period, no one seemed to pay much attention to him, he blended in just fine.
He offered to simply swing over, but Adara had shut that down quickly. She wanted them to break into Oscorp tonight, and if Spiderman was spotted swinging around New York, it made give away the fact that they were planning on making a move.
The streets were quiet this time of day, and Ned didn't live in a busy neighbourhood. They rarely ever went to Ned's, but his house was the closest to Oscorp.
Well, technically Harry's was closest, but he was a whole other issue. Adara checked her phone, but Harry was still radio silent. It felt wrong to break into Oscorp tower, a place where she had lived for so long, her best friend's home, but they didn't have a choice. They needed to get to the bottom of Norman and Oscorp's involvement. While they had made progress with the identity of the Faceless Man and the location of Beck, the Green Goblin remained a worrying enigma.
"Do you have a plan?" Asked Peter.
"Not really," she shrugged. "The remnants of one. Do you?"
"No," he sighed. "Sneaking into Oscorp isn't easy. You'll need to use your abilities."
"But if O'Leary is there, he'll be able to recognise you."
"I know," he shrugged. "But I can't think of anything better. The scientists who work there would probably recognise you if you weren't shifted."
Adara sighed, "maybe MJ or Ned will have a better idea."
When they came into Ned's house, it was Ned's mom who opened the door and quickly hugged Peter and began rambling about how worried she was and how she knew he hadn't done anything wrong and you couldn't trust the media these days. Peter had stood there, smiling and nodding but looking slightly overwhelmed. Adara was amused, Ned's mom was very motherly, and cared a lot about Ned's friends, hence why she went on to fussing about Adara's scar which she "had definitely never seen before!" Adara brushed it off as a fight she had gotten into immediately after everyone returned from the snap, there had been enough chaos, confusion and riots during that time for Ned's mom to believe it.
She was such a kindly woman that it seemed a little cruel to be going out and doing such a dangerous thing behind her back. Adara would ensure that Ned and MJ were kept out of the crossfire (though that usually never worked out).
"Sorry about my mom," said Ned, a few minutes later in his room. "She can be a little overbearing."
"I think it's sweet," shrugged Adara, taking a Dorito from the bag Ned was holding.
"Does Steve know what you're doing?" Asked MJ, eyebrow raised.
She shrugged. "Not specifically, I don't really want to tell him I'm breaking into a multi-million dollar corporation. But he knows I'm doing something stupid, he just assumes it."
"We have to be subtle about this," said Peter. "We're just there to get information, nothing more. Sure, Dara, you can just shapeshift but if O'Leary is there, he'll recognise you anyway."
"Why not just do what you did at the Cicero palace?" Asked Ned. "Put on a load of makeup and hope no one recognises you."
"People at Oscorp tower know what I look like considering I lived there for so long. It wouldn't work either."
"O'Leary might not even be there," Peter reminded them, "or, if he is, there's no guarantee he'd be where Adara would be. Oscorp Tower is massive and we only need to investigate the basement."
"What if it all goes wrong then?" Asked Ned.
"Pete can be outside as backup," said Adara. "Hidden somewhere, I don't know where. We all have earcomms, if we all stay on the same channel we should be able to report what's going on to each other. If it all goes to shit, Pete helps me out."
"If it all goes to shit," MJ spoke up, for the first time in a while. "You're outnumbered. Not only against O'Leary, Beck and the Green Goblin, but against their army of drones."
"Then we'll have to hope it doesn't go to shit," said Adara with confidence she didn't really feel.
"What if it does?"
"Then we'll figure something out," her tone was sharper. "We always do. We always have to. We're just lucky."
"At some point, your luck will run out."
"Do you have to be so morbid, MJ?" Laughed Ned, but only to quell the rising tension.
MJ just shot him a look.
"Anyone got a better plan?" Asked Peter, shooting a cautionary glance at Adara. "I'm not sure if I like just being back up."
"Your face is too recognisable," said Adara simply. "And you can't shapeshift, nor can you break in. No one can break into Oscorp tower, that's why I'll have to shift. But the moment anything goes wrong, you've got to be quick."
"Of course, I will," said Peter, confidently nodding.
"Wait a few hours," said MJ, glancing out the window. "For the sun to set, or at least until it starts raining. Then go." Her gaze returned to Adara, deadly serious. "Remember, you're only there to get information, and maybe destroy the machine if you can find it. Don't try and attack them, not on purpose."
Adara swallowed down her anxiety, "I know what I'm doing."
She was pretty sure she did. And if things did go wrong, she would have to hope Harry didn't get caught in the crossfire.
Harry paced in his room, both his mind and his body going back and forth as he walked to and fro next to his large window. Going out to clear his head hadn't helped, in fact it had just given him time to think which only made him feel more anxious. He felt so blind in this building, especially without Adara, he had no idea what was going to happen next. And now after his dad has snapped at him, he was left even more confused.
He sat back on his bed, staring out the window. The sun was setting now as evening approached, and the clouds were on the verge of breaking, Harry could tell as they were darker and heavier than they were before. It cast a dark shadow on the city that not even the weak sun peaking in between the clouds could brighten. Running his hands through his hair, he contemplated his options.
He was at a breaking point in his isolation, he felt stupidly lonely, especially after avoiding school due to the influx of press trying to interview students there. He had to do something.
He had to go to the basement.
When he stood up with renewed determination, he heard a knock at the door and froze.
"Harry?" His dad's voice came through the door.
Harry relaxed but felt a little confused as he opened the door to, sure enough, see his dad standing there.
"Yeah?" He tried to keep the slightly annoyed tension from his voice, but he was still a little pissed after he snapped at him earlier.
"I just wanted to…" He trailed off with… Uncertainty? Harry couldn't quite tell what the emotion was. Then he cleared his throat and his serious, father mode returned. "I wanted to clear things up. Your friend– uh– Adara, I can't blame her for being suspicious. So I just want to clear things up."
Clear things up? Harry visibly brightened. If his dad wanted to show him what was going on, then surely it couldn't be too bad? Maybe Adara was right to suspect something, but maybe it was all innocent, maybe she, MJ and the others had just misread the situation.
"Right," Harry blinked and then side stepped out of the way, "do you wanna come in?"
"No, actually I need to show you," he said, eyes glittering, "down in the basement level."
"Oh, okay," he closed his bedroom door behind him. "What is it?"
He walked beside his dad as they made their way to the elevator.
"You mentioned something about your friends saying something," his dad said. "And I'm aware that there's been a bit of trouble with that Parker boy, obviously. And Adara too, I imagine is struggling." There was something behind those words there. "I'm sorry I haven't been more there for you like I said I would after you came back," he meant from the blip. "But I've just been wrapped up in something."
How good of an excuse was that? Was there any excuse for ignoring your son? Why was Harry even pondering that, his dad has been ignoring him his whole life, he should be grateful he was even bothering to speak to him now. But, as they got in the elevator, it was a different question on his mind.
"Someone mentioned something about you being… Sick or ill."
Norman looked up, confused, "ill?"
"Yeah… I don't know."
"I don't know either."
"Must've just been a confusion then," frowned Harry but he couldn't help but feel weird. He glanced out at the rest of the tower as they continued to head downwards in the glass elevator. "What was it you wanted to show me?"
"You'll see," said his dad.
When they got to the basement level, which wasn't quite as updated and modern as the rest of the tower, Harry noted the lack of scientists. This was where his father ran most of his top secret experiments, where was everyone?
As he was thinking about it, his dad suddenly stopped in front of him and Harry almost walked straight into him.
"The truth is, Harry, I'm dying."
Harry froze, "what?"
"What I've got," his dad continued, "its rare but it's terminal. A type of blood disease, there's no cure for it. Well, no cure aside from…"
He trailed off as he continued walking down the grey corridor to the door that led to the main room. Harry was still frozen to the spot, not quite sure if he had heard his father's sudden admission correctly.
"Aside from what?" Harry blinked and began scampering after him. "Dad? Dad?!"
"Enhanced blood, of course."
He opened the double doors to the main room of the basement.
"Peter's," Harry's voice broke when he said the name of his friend. "Dad, you do realise what enhanced blood has done to people in the past?"
His father simply shrugged and folded his arms over his chest, looking at the device in the centre of the room. No… Not a device.
"I can't remember the exact words MJ used," said Adara a few days ago when she had broke the news. "Something about an engine… The Engine to power drones."
At the centre of the room stood the said Engine, to power Beck's drones.
Oh, how ignorant had Harry been? He felt like he was going into some kind of shock as he stood there frozen.
"Dad…" He said, "why?"
He looked at Norman Osborn, in his suit that didn't quite look like his usual one. He was taking off his jacket, casually so, and pulling up his sleeves in his slightly loose fitting shirt. A tie hung around his neck, but it had been done with little concern for how neat it was. His father never wore suits like that, his father wore suits with the intent to look smart and professional. What was going on here?
"I want a cure," he said, "isn't it obvious? This blood disease is hereditary, Harry, I watched my own father die from it. You'll be next after me, and then your own son. And their son after that. But it could all end. If you just help me."
Harry glanced at him and then at the Engine. Every word that Adara had said had been true. His father was the Green Goblin, who had set fire to that building with all those people in it. He had helped to free Beck, despite the fact that Beck had tried to kill him and all his friends in London.
Harry couldn't even feel betrayed. When had his father even been there for him anyway?
"No…" He whispered to himself.
"Harry?" Frowned Norman. "I know I've never really been there for you but—"
"Stop it, just stop it!" Harry snapped suddenly. "First of all, why are you acting so weirdly? And, secondly, what the hell is wrong with you? You've never been there for me, Dad, never. Do you really think I'd betray my friends who had always been there for me for you? What would Mom say?"
Harry could always get a rise out of his Dad if he mentioned his Mom, a flinch at the very least. Instead, his father stared at him impassively.
And then it hit Harry like a freight train. Why he was acting so weirdly.
Be careful who you trust.
The man who wasn't Norman Osborn has honey-brown eyes that glittered like gold in the light coming from overhead. It was him, the Faceless Man.
"Where's my dad?" Asked Harry.
"Somewhere," he shrugged. "In the building. He's perfectly fine, by the way. Aside from the whole terminal illness thing."
His body shimmered in the same way Adara's would when she shifted, and suddenly an unfamiliar man was standing in front of him who looked far more comfortable in the loose suit and tie.
"Everything you just said… It's still true?"
"Of course it is, it would be a hell of a lie to make up," he eyed Harry closely. "I suppose you've made your decision then?"
Harry glanced at the Engine, and then back at the Faceless Man. Was there anyway he could destroy it?
"Of course," he snapped. "I'll stand by Adara and Peter until I die."
That was a bad choice of words.
"On your head be it," said the Faceless Man, pulling something from his back pocket.
A handgun, pointed right at Harry's head.
Harry stumbled back, but there was nowhere to run that wouldn't end in him being shot instantaneously. He had been shot before, by Hydra, that felt like such a long time ago. It had been his own stupidity last time too, and now he couldn't help but feel history was repeating itself as he had ignored Adara again. Except, this time, it would kill him.
"Killing the son of a colleague is never good for business relations," he said, shrugging his shoulders as this was a menial decision to make. "But, what the hell, Norman Osborn is gonna die soon anyway."
Closing his eyes, Harry braced himself for the gunshot.
Except, when the loud bang did resonate throughout the wide basement, no bullet pierced through his brains. At least, it didn't feel like anything did.
Harry opened his eyes just in time to hear something clatter to the floor followed by the thump of a figure landing gracefully in front of him.
"Adara," he breathed.
"Adara," the Faceless Man growled.
She kicked the gun out of the way with her heavy boots and it went skidding across the room. She was in her Bluebell get-up, the black nano-chameleon suit with a flurry of knives in her belt and two swords on her back. But her hair was down and its normal shade of dark brown.
She took a knife from her belt and raised it in front of her face. The Faceless Man watched her carefully, before pulling out his own dagger, ready to face her.
"Go, Harry," she said.
"Adara—"
He was cut off by one of them suddenly moving (in the confusion it was difficult to tell which one had instigated the fight), and they were very quickly on top of one another, kicking and punching, as well as attempting to get a good dig in with their knives.
Harry stumbled back just as the Faceless Man twisted the arm Adara was holding her knife in and attempted to use his strength to get her to drop it.
Adara just managed to gasp out, "Harry, for fucks sake, RUN!"
Then she was back in the fight, landing a swift elbow to her opponents face when Harry turned around and ran for his life.
A/N: The end approaches, quicker than I thought it would. The next fight should take up about two chapters. We're getting very close to the end now guys… Sorry about the late update, I'll try and get the next one out quicker. Anyway, incorrect quotes:
Adara: I have decided I want to be cremated.
Steve: When you die?
Adara: No, whenever. Surprise me.
I'm SO tired oh my God.
Peter: I hate when people say "if you think this is better than sex, you've clearly never had good sex", like no, maybe you've just never had good lasagna.
Also I forgot but I made a trailer for this story that took me a million years to edit.
Harry: You look tired.
Adara: Thanks, it's the depression.
It's bad but if people want to see it I will share it maybe.
Adara: So what kind of tea is this?
Harry: Oh I just boiled some Gatorade.
