"The present unhappy state of the family rendered any other excuse for the lowness of her spirits unnecessary; nothing, therefore, could be fairly conjectured from that, though Elizabeth, who was by this time tolerably well acquainted with her own feelings, was perfectly aware that, had she known nothing of Darcy, she could have borne the dread of Lydia's infamy somewhat better." - Pride and Prejudice, ch. 48

"I've been thinking―" Happy says, cutting himself off with a yawn. It's been silent in the car for over an hour and Peter, who was starting to doze off, jerks awake in the backseat. "―that Vision might be onto something."

"Like what?" Peter yawns back at him as he straightens up in his seat and stretches his arms over his head as high as the roof allows.

"Well, Liz Allan's taken a pretty bold step. It's not exactly kidnapping, but she's presumably encouraged Harley to leave Boston with her with certain implications for their..." His uncle takes a hand off the wheel to make a fluttering gesture. "...relationship. Even if she didn't consider the consequences when they ran off, she's smart enough to have started thinking things through. She'll have realized that we're coming to get our guy back and that her sketchy little tech company is no more of a match for Stark Industries than she is for Iron Man."

"Right," Peter agrees, rubbing his eye. He thinks for a second and accepts that he's too sleepy to draw conclusions. "So?"

"So her best move at that point is to sign the contract Vision was talking about, bringing her under the SI umbrella. Liz gains as much in protection as she loses in control, and SI doesn't irreversibly bury her company."

"That makes sense."

"Yes, it does," May says. She reaches over and rubs her husband's arm approvingly. "And if the tabloids find out about this, it'll have a completely innocuous angle. Instead of one of the Stark boys joyriding with a woman and paying her a large sum of money―we know how that looks―it's two young entrepreneurs meeting to discuss a new business partnership. I don't think Liz is foolish enough, or malicious enough, to actually try to hold Harley hostage in exchange for a bigger payout, do you, Peter?"

As he turns his head to stare out the window, he's picturing a hostage situation with Liz's car squealing to a halt on a highway, caught in the beam of two helicopter spotlights. Through the windshield, she holds a gun to Harley's temple... Of course, the worst Peter can picture is one of those Nerf guns May got them for Christmas. Doesn't matter that he's never been more frustrated at Harley than he is now―he can't bring himself to imagine serious harm being done to him. He also can't imagine Liz doing that serious harm. Maybe she's made some reckless decisions, but after seeing Michelle's portrait of her, he knows that, however she used her sweetness to make him feel closer to her, the sweetness itself isn't fake. Strip her of her most desperate, damaging choices and what remains? A woman who's calculatingly intelligent, unstoppably ambitious, irresponsibly innovative. Give a person with those traits two living, present, attentive parents and a billion-dollar backing and you have... Harley Stark.

Each of the privileges that have raised Harley to his comfort and status (and the confidence those things provide to allow him the ignorance of never expecting the situation he's currently in) corresponds to one of the disadvantages that have led Liz to attempt to extort money from him. Both of their fathers get into the weapons business; Liz's dad goes to jail while Harley's, thanks to his massive wealth, is allowed to verbally repent and rebrand. Both of their mothers survive the Snap; Liz's mom dies from a health complication that Harley's mom may have been able to survive if it had happened to her (depending on what it was and how quickly it happened), thanks to her resources. Liz is essentially alone; Harley has a large, supportive family.

Money matters, Peter recognizes, of course it does, but people matter more. That's what the Snap taught the whole world. He can't condone the things Liz has done, but he can trace them back to fear. Loneliness. Abandonment. The layers of protection she must have taken on since she was that teenage girl, smiling in the painting.

"No," he tells his aunt. "I don't think that's something she would do." He looks forward again, coming out of his thoughts. "I just wish we could find them and... and fix this."

The three of them spitball possible locations, directions Liz and Harley might be travelling in, or if they're still travelling at all. North or south? West? Trying to hide in the bustle of a large city or getting as far off the grid as possible on the outskirts of a small town? May pulls up a map on her phone and they find all the cities inside the reasonably tight radius that Vision speculated the pair would stay within. Springfield, Concord, Hartford, Providence, Newark? Philadelphia? Would they go that far? Eventually, Peter slumps back, confused and defeated.

"Maybe Harley'll just decide to come home," Happy says with a sigh. "Huh, Peter? Don't you think?"

He doesn't sound hopeful though, and Peter can't offer his uncle much reassurance.

"He could."

"Not likely, hmm?" May interprets, craning to look back at him.

"Harley's been restless for a really long time," Peter tells them in a measured tone as he twists his hands together in his lap. "He gets that Mom and Dad like having us close because we were Snapped, but I think he feels a little smothered. He found out about Liz and her work on social media and he just got too fixated on her because he didn't have enough other stuff going on. When he's at home, he shuts himself off a lot to work on his projects and when he's away, he drinks too much. I know he does. He's too independent for the isolated way he's been living since coming home from college."

"I don't think he's the only one," his aunt says with a gentle smile.

"We're all kind of disasters, I guess."

"No, honey." May shakes her head and Peter lets her grip his hand when she extends hers around the seat towards him. "You're growing up."

"It didn't sound like Vision was so resigned," Happy pipes up.

"Yeah, well, Vision's overly optimistic," Peter says. "It won't change Liz. He knows what she's done in the past. We can't trust her and we can't expect the best of her."

"Strong words."

"It's true. Remember," he urges, "I told you Liz wasn't really the innocent one in what went down between her and Michelle." Saying her name feels funny. "Besides, you saw how Liz talked about Michelle when you met her at the compound in January, and you saw the painting Michelle did of her. You gotta see how those things don't line up. There's more, but it's not really my place to talk about it. Liz gave me a totally false impression of what Monica Rambeau was gonna be like too. She lied about a lot of stuff."

"So then Harley knows about this stuff?" Happy asks.

"I never told him," Peter admits, looking down and pressing his forehead against the back of May's headrest. "I didn't know everything until I was staying in Tribeca with Ned and starting to see Michelle, um, around. The day Vision and I went home, Harley told me that Liz was leaving Albany, so I didn't think there was any point talking about her more. I thought we could all just forget about her. I should've said something to Harley before he left for Boston, but I just... I never thought either of them would take this so far."

"And Harley and Liz hadn't been flirting or anything before that?" May checks.

"I don't think so. He had a crush on her, but Liz never really seemed interested in him before." Because she was focused on me, he thinks.

At first, Peter's too groggy to check the exact time, but his stomach says it's breakfast time when he wakes from an unsatisfying snooze, feeling grouchy and gummy, to find they're pulling into the compound's long driveway. Home. He watches the large block of a building through his window like he's never seen it before.

They park and Happy the dog comes skipping up, standing with his front paws pressed to their legs as they climb out of the car. The little guy hardly knows Peter, but he dances around his feet and licks at his hand when he tries to scratch beneath the dog's chin. Morgan's not far behind. Proudly, she informs their aunt and uncle that she was giving Happy 'his morning plays' in the yard when they drove up. While the three of them retrieve their luggage, Morgan goes on about how much Dog-Happy ate and when, his favourite times of day to play and with what, and which of the movies they watched together he seemed to enjoy best. Peter grins at her and ruffles her hair. She's so big and responsible; she'll be eleven soon. Morgan swats his hand away, then lets him wrap it around her shoulders as they go inside. Peter feels good, thinking maybe she missed him, until anxiety creeps in. Part of her affection might be coming from how much she misses her regular partner in crime. He gives her little shoulder a squeeze and she ducks him, sprinting away down the hall with the dog clicking along behind her on its dainty feet. Peter goes to find Vision.

He's up in Pepper's office, which appears to have become something of a control room since Harley's disappearance. Peter looks around at the holographic screens, seeing maps, hypothetical routes, and the blinking dot where his brother abandoned his phone and car in Boston. Vision rises from the chair where their mom usually sits and Peter hugs him. It doesn't feel like much of a homecoming without Harley there to greet him too.

"Have you guys heard anything? My phone died in the car after I fell asleep."

"Unfortunately not, though Pepper has travelled to Boston."

"Mom went? What's happening? What's she doing?"

"She's canvassing the hotel Harley stayed at," Vision says, "and the bar where he met up with Liz. When she left, she was doubtful of discovering anything there, but she felt she may be able to enquire more thoroughly and more, hmm, persuasively in person."

That means an exchange of dollars for information, Peter knows. Well, his mom is an excellent negotiator. If there's any chance of that method working, Pepper'll be the one to pull it off.

"But no news?" Peter asks.

"No. She said she would not call until she'd found a new lead for us to investigate."

"How's Dad?"

His brother offers a cautious smile.

"Tony is, inevitably, Tony. He worries and feels useless. Morgan's been reminding him to continue taking his medications on schedule and Nebula confronts him if he forgets. As ever, logically, he accepts that he must sustain strong physical and mental health, though practically, he subsists rather too much on coffee. Would you like to go and see him now?"

"Tell me how you are first, man," Peter insists. "I know it has to be hard without Mom here. Just you and Dad and the girls, plus a dog."

"I am quite alright."

That's all he'll say, then they go back downstairs together so Vision can greet the Hogans, who Peter basically ditched the second they were home. Not on purpose. He listens while his brother apprises them of Pepper's movements and, when their little sister demands it, backs up Morgan's claims about what a great job she's done dog-sitting this week. Though there isn't much knowledge about Harley to go around, Peter thinks they all benefit from Vision's persistent optimism; he still anticipates a speedy and satisfying conclusion to this whole stupid mess.

The five of them (plus, again, the dog) go into the living room to find Tony looking a little rough. He's wearing a t-shirt and jeans, not pajamas, but Peter's suspicious of just how long his dad's been wearing that t-shirt. He'd never forgive Peter for bringing his personal hygiene up in front of his brother- and sister-in-law. Peter keeps his mouth shut and waits out the painful sights and sounds of his father in distress over his absent son. Mostly, Tony seems restless as hell, finally imitating Harley for all the times Peter's noticed Harley imitating him. He's also really fucking angry―not at his son, but at Liz Allan.

"I just keep thinking," Tony says to Happy, wheeling his chair up to his brother-in-law's end of the couch. "That we should've all gone to Boston together as a family. I would've been able to supervise Harley. It's what Morgan wanted."

"But that's not what Harley wanted," Peter says.

"I shoulda been there looking out for him."

"Dad," he cuts in again, "you couldn't have stopped him."

Tony waves him off and continues to lament to Happy.

"Why did we trust that friend of his? We barely know that kid and we let him and Harley run off to Boston to babysit each other?"

"Harley's a young man," May says before Peter can remind his dad that Harley's twenty-three. It's not like he let Morgan drive herself to Boston for a sleepover. Tony's just infantilizing Harley because he's sad.

"That's true," his dad allows, rubbing his forehead. "He knows better than that. If it hadn't been for his friend's bad influence..."

Peter rolls his eyes as Tony rants some more.

"And now Pep's gone," his dad concludes. He shrugs. "I need her."

"I'll drive out to Boston tomorrow," Happy says. May makes a sound of encouragement. "I'll find Pepper and we'll work together, and you can keep bossing us around from here. Or bossing me around, at least. I know my sister trained you out of trying to boss her around a long time ago."

He huffs a laugh and his wife shakes her head at him in mild annoyance.

"Maybe I should just go," Tony says.

May leans forward to speak to Peter's dad around her husband.

"Harley needs you here, Tony. Make your plans for what happens next. Keep considering the possibilities. Pepper could find Harley today, or Happy could find him tomorrow. You can have a contract sent to her electronically in a second." She snaps her fingers to demonstrate.

"Less than a second," Tony says petulantly, but Peter sees that his dad's listening.

"And then, boom," May goes on, "a brand new company right as you diversify Stark Industries."

"Won't be called Stark Industries anymore."

"Well, whatever," Peter's aunt says, pushing forward. "You know how to turn this situation to your advantage, Tony. That's what you're best at. You can make this work."

"Yep, that's me," he snarks. "Rumpelstiltskin; turning extortion into gold. Another day in the life."

But then he smiles a smug smile to himself and Peter rolls his eyes.

"Have you slept?" Happy demands point-blank.

"When?" Tony asks cagily.

"Recently."

"Recently? Hmm... Well. Recently. I guess not too recently, no. I'll sleep when Harley's back under this roof instead of stressing me out every hour of the day and night."

"I don't know if you should expect things to just go right back to normal," May says gently. "Finding Harley won't affect the reasons he took off in the first place."

"Just ease up a little," Happy suggests.

"You ease up," Tony grumbles. "I gotta go see if I can bribe Morgan into cleaning up her brother's room so it's ready for him when he gets back."

He wheels away and Peter glances from Vision's impassive face to the more obviously worried ones of his aunt and uncle.

"So, how healthy of a response do we think that was?" May asks the room.

Happy shrugs.

"Could've been worse."

After lunch the next day, May takes her dog for a walk in her husband's absence despite the dark clouds. Peter and Vision return to the living room. Morgan shows up and brings Nebula from wherever she's been hiding (or working―probably on something terrifying, but they mostly don't ask). Peter knows his little sister's usually busy with homework at this time of the day, but he assumes everyone's either forgotten about her scholastic responsibilities or decided to let her spend her time however makes her happy while they endure the turmoil of home without Harley. She doesn't mention their dad's plan to bribe her into housework, so Peter doesn't ask.

"I'm sorry your brother's such a jackass," is Nebula's first comment in her husky tone. So much for, 'Welcome home, Peter.'

He almost defends Harley against the description, but it's the same one Peter uses for him. Often. He doesn't want to be a hypocrite.

Instead, he replies, "He's your brother now too, so... sorry."

"I appreciate your condolences. At least we all have each other, or something."

Peter's surprised to hear Nebula extending words of comfort, even if she sounds a little uncertain and less than half-sincere. He can't think of how to respond. Luckily, she clearly feels she's on a roll.

"Harley should have taken the independence he wanted sooner," she states. "He isn't a child. He would learn faster if he was the one who had to bear the brunt of his actions' consequences. Were he master of his own enterprises, his missteps wouldn't influence the entire family and the reputation of Stark Industries in this way, causing so much chaos."

Harley'd have a word or two to say back to that if he were here, Peter knows. It would probably involve questioning where Nebula thinks she gets her authority on raising a kid to be independent; she was brought up by a warlord, servile and disenfranchised, until she broke away and caused a hell of a lot more collateral damage than Harley's done by getting in a car with Liz Allan. An explosive argument between Harley and Nebula is the one reason Peter has to be thankful that his brother's not present.

Fortunately, who they do have is Morgan.

"Yeah, but Harley's really fun though," she says in her brother's defense.

While Morgan starts teaching Nebula how to play cat's cradle with a length of something that looks like it could be a severed power tool cord―man, she's lucky she's the baby and will barely get in trouble when Tony finds out―Peter shifts closer to Vision and lowers his voice. Between the two of them, they brainstorm other avenues for their mom to try in Boston, other information Harley's friend might be able to give them that would be useful, places Harley might've mentioned wanting to visit in Massachusetts or the surround states. Really, any detail from Harley himself would help, the brothers agree. Harley's been such a secretive, withholding, little shit, not confiding in any of them. It makes Peter feel worse that he's kinda done the same by not speaking up about Liz. Vision reminds him that they did what they believed to be right at the time, but Peter sighs.

"You wanna see something?" Morgan asks.

Peter sighs again and turns to her, trying to prop a smile up on his face.

"I know how cat's cradle goes, bud."

"Oh, I can't show you that anyway. Neb took the string."

Of course she did. He doesn't even want to guess what that's going to turn into when she's stripped the coating off and peeled all the wires out like fucking string cheese.

"Ok, what's up?"

"Gimme your phone," his little sister instructs, palm out and up. Peter narrows his eyes slightly and Morgan loses patience. "Come on. I'm not gonna snoop."

He hands it over, glancing at Vision, who looks on with interest as Morgan opens and signs into Twitter.

"You do not have a Twitter account," Vision comments right as Peter's wondering about that.

"It's Harley's," she explains. "I know all his passwords."

Her gaze darts up as though she just knows Peter's expression is a mix of scandalized and confused. She gives him this look like the one accompanying Elle Woods's 'What, like it's hard?' in this really old movie, Legally Blonde.

"Generation Alpha," Peter marvels softly. Morgan's ignoring him again, clicking through to Harley's DMs. "Whoa, you might not wanna..."

He doesn't know what she'll find in there, but his sister doesn't hesitate to click on the thread under the name 'Liz Allan.'

"See?" Morgan says, graciously allowing Peter to hold his own phone again as she pushes the hair out of her face. "Harley's been talking to her."

"You read these?" Peter asks. He's doing his best not to, focusing on the timestamps instead. It's a long exchange, but everything seems to have been sent back and forth in the very short time before Harley left for Boston. "Son of a..."

He tilts the screen so Vision can take a look, but Morgan makes it a short one, prying the phone from his fingers.

"There's another thing," she says.

After less than a minute of navigating, she offers the phone to Peter. Vision inclines his head to see the screen. They're on TweetDeck now, viewing a Tweet Harley scheduled to post tomorrow.

"It was supposed to go up the other day," Morgan says. "I keep rescheduling it."

"Why didn't you show this to Mom and Dad?" Peter asks, just beginning to read Harley's Tweet. She doesn't respond, squirming guiltily, so he concentrates on reading.

Get ready for the most ambitious crossover event in history: Liz Allan Technology Evolution ( LATE) and Stark Industries ( starkind). Dad, if you're reading this, surprise! Everybody else, get ready for innovation & awe. Get ready for the FUTURE. Harley Stark x Liz Allan.

"He put it in a Tweet," Peter mumbles, stunned. "A Tweet."

"Maybe I?" Vision requests and, numbly, Peter hands him the phone.

The three of them look at each other, then Morgan books it out of the room. She probably knows she has a lot to answer for, keeping her brother's secrets. Peter can't worry about that yet.

"Harley had a plan anyway," he says. "He obviously thought they were going to make some kind of deal to merge the companies, besides whatever else he was hoping to get up to with Liz."

"I think we should examine their exchange," Vision suggests.

"Dude. Their DMs?"

"You said yourself that the most useful clues would be anything we could ascertain from Harley directly. Here is our opportunity. The violation of his privacy does make me uncomfortable, but we must weigh that against his future."

"Well, yeah, when you put it that way..."

Rather than continuing to peer at the phone screen together, Peter puts up a holographic projection right there in the living room and they begin to pore over Harley's messaging history with Liz. Peter's brother gets a little forward sometimes, but Liz walks a fine line of flirtation, never giving too much, always letting Harley be the one to come back to her. Basically, she might actually like him, but she also plays him like a fiddle―coaxing him into coming to Boston, arranging to meet him at the bar, planning to drive to Rhode Island...

"That's a lead!" Peter blurts, pointing it out to Vision. His brother's barely beginning to nod in recognition when he has his phone against his face, listening to it ring before Pepper picks up. "Mom! Rhode Island! Harley and Liz were going to Rhode Island!"

"Oh, thank god," Pepper sighs. "Finally."

Though it's not over yet, Peter smiles in satisfaction.

As they wait for more news from Pepper and Happy, May tries to distract and lightly parent the Stark kids; Tony makes Rhode Island his latest obsession and spends most of his time staring at screens. Whenever one of the rest of them checks on him or brings him food in his workshop or Pepper's office, they attempt to make him focus on them long enough to give his eyes a rest without pulling him so far out of his work that he starts considering donning an Iron Man suit and flying across state lines. It's the exact reverse of his and Harley's positions during the Battle of Earth, though Harley's just contending with Liz, not an alien army, while his dad remains safely but unhappily at home.

Tony knows what he's doing. It's the kind of fixated behaviour he always swears he's over, but there's nothing like a member of his family being in trouble to cause him to revert back to the frantic genius, the rambling technology wizard. Impotent wizard, Tony likes to add, since holding down the fort at the compound instead of being on the front lines of the problem has him petulant and depressed over his naturally aging body and abruptly altered health, thanks to Thanos. They're careful to stay on him about his medications as well.

In the meantime, it's possible that Peter doesn't sign out of Harley's Twitter account that Morgan left open on his phone. He's not doing anything disgusting, like invading his brother's privacy even further by checking out some of his other DM threads. Peter's more interested in digging into the accounts Harley followed for stories about Liz. It takes very little effort to find reports of her and, where before they were glowing and excited (Peter remembers because Harley used to fucking read them to him out loud, ever a Liz Allan fanboy), now there's a serious change. With Liz temporarily MIA, it's her tech these accounts are focusing on―specifically, the illegal weapons that are being discovered in smuggling raids and tip-offs after someone sees something strange. Fortunately, no one's been hurt or killed and the connection hasn't been proven, but there are similarities between these weapons and the tools Liz is known to design that have Harley's sources suspicious. Her reputation's changing.

Happy calls Tony when he, May, and Peter happen to be in Pepper's office together and says something vague like, if only they knew anyone who knows Liz and could pinpoint exactly where she'd go. Nobody would call Rhode Island huge, but if their two fugitives get restless, they could always take off again. It's imperative that they find them soon. Peter knows that his uncle made the comment for his sake, seeing as they both know that Peter knows Michelle and has the means to contact her. His ears ring at the thought of calling her, so he sends her a text instead, which is difficult enough after how miserable he was saying goodbye to her in Burlington.

Hey, he texts, figuring it's best to be brief so he won't leave himself room to get emotional or say something totally stupid and unwelcome. We found out Harley and Liz are in Rhode Island. Does that mean anything to you? Do you know where Liz would go?

Peter waits and waits, pacing down the hall to look out a window at the menacing grey sky and then back to the office. Michelle doesn't respond. He wasn't really sure she would, thinking she has plenty of reasons to ignore it―mention of Liz, Stark family drama, and Peter himself. It could be that, without him in front of her, she's cooled off to him once more. He understands and it hurts, but at least he knows he did something to try to help Harley that only he could do.

Vision comes into the office to check Pepper's emails. He was given the responsibility to read them in her stead years ago, for when she's expecting something important and not able to look for herself. Tony's pretty much allergic to seeing requests, questions, and invitations that involve him in any way. In Vision's brief perusal, he discovers an email sent that morning. It's from Flash Thompson. Rather than read it aloud, he motions Peter over. Peter scans over it and realizes why Vision decided it's not something their dad needs to hear.

He texted Ned about what was going on and Ned obviously told Flash. The guy starts his email out sorry enough to hear about Harley, but it quickly turns into very backhanded remorse; the message is pitted with remarks on Harley's flaws, which Flash must have catalogued along with all the cool shit in their home during his visits. God, Peter thinks as he reads, Harley should've been nicer to him, instead of the times he was sarcastic or dismissive, or when he idiotically cut off Flash's presentation to talk about his own plans to drive into Albany. The email gives him the sense that Flash has held an extremely petty grudge and feels justified in being smugly bitter now that Harley's messed up. Also, it's clear that Flash is freaking out over any possibility of Harley's actions affecting SI stock.

Peter glances sideways at Vision and deletes Flash's email. Twerp.

Pepper calls that evening and after talking a while with her brother and her husband, asks for Peter. He transfers the call from her office to his phone and walks back to his own room to talk to his mom in peace.

"You don't think they left the state, right?" he asks.

"I don't think so. Now that we're on alert, I doubt they'll slip past us." She sounds tired.

"Do you think they're in Providence or some other city?"

"Providence seems most likely. They've pinned themselves in here, so I think they'll at least be trying to disappear in a bigger place. Peter," she continues after a pause, "you were right."

"About Rhode Island? I didn't come up with that," Peter reminds her, "I read it in Harley's―"

"About being more careful about letting Harley go to Boston. It was too much independence at once after the way your dad and I have been hovering over you guys."

"I wouldn't say you're really hov―"

"I'm sorry. You were right. At least let me say it because you're not going to hear it from Dad."

They both laugh.

"I wish I wasn't right, you know?" Peter says softly.

"Mhmm, I know."

"We're all looking after Morgan," he says, so she won't worry so much. "She's not really doing her homework, but I think the dog's keeping her mind off Harley."

"Hey, as long as Morgan's not taking one of the cars and hightailing it to Boston, she can do almost anything she wants."

"She'll be thrilled to hear that."

"Peter," his mom says warningly.

He doesn't think she's actually worried that Morgan's going to get up to something, but she makes the approximately three-hour drive home that night, leaving Happy to continue closing the net around Harley and Liz. Unlike Tony, Pepper knows when she's in danger of burning herself out and now that things feel less futile, she's comfortable delegating to her brother. Though they're all glad to see her when she pulls up out front, her husband alters the most. It's like her presence recharges his batteries. Also, she forces him to finally leave his screens alone and get some sleep.

The clouds and the tension at the compound burst early the next morning. Peter doesn't know how long his mom's been up, but she greets him in the kitchen when he comes hunting for breakfast.

"I heard from Uncle Happy," she says.

She's holding a tall glass filled with a violently orange smoothie. Nebula's gotten pretty good at those and they're particularly drinkable when they actually taste like fruit instead of cheeseburgers, Peter finds; she made a huge batch and left it in the fridge. Weirdly, having the revitalizing cold freshness of a smoothie has been one of the biggest comforts over the past couple of days. He wonders if Nebula knows how much they appreciate the sneaky ways she cares for them. She probably suspects and makes herself scarce to avoid any potential outpouring of grateful emotion. Anyway, Pepper's holding it, but she's not drinking it and Peter wonders if that's a bad sign.

"What'd he say?" he asks his mom, abandoning the cereal box he was reaching for.

"Well, I left him with a couple of ideas of places to look. He found them in College Hill."

"He found them!" It's kinda more of a shout than a question. She lowers her glass to the counter and he watches with wary eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Harley's already given Liz some money," she sighs, "and he's been paying for their accommodation. They rented a room in one of the college residences because students have started moving out for the summer. That's not a big expense, but Happy hasn't been able to get Harley to fess up to how much he's already given Liz. There's a cheque, apparently."

"What about the contract?"

Finally, Pepper takes a drink of her smoothie.

"Happy grilled him about that and said it made Harley pretty defensive, big surprise. It doesn't sound like your brother had immediate plans to get something worked out in writing, but Happy's persuading him that sooner is better."

"With Liz there? She's not gonna like that," Peter guesses.

"I'm sure she doesn't, but your uncle isn't about to let her disappear with who knows how much money. He can't take it back, but he's going to make sure they make an arrangement. I had a contract prepared before and the three of them are going over it now."

"So that's why you can't sit down and have breakfast. You're too stressed."

His mom smiles like she's been caught.

"I've been debating driving back to Providence today, but being smothered by his mom is exactly what pushed Harley away in the first place. I think we have a better shot if I leave Happy to finalize things."

"You don't think Miss Allan will simply refuse?"

It's Vision and Peter spins to face him. He wonders if his brother hovered into the kitchen, or if he was so caught up in his relief about Harley that he blocked everything else out for a minute. Vision's question would've been odd before this week; he always assumes people will make good choices for the right reasons. The surfacing reports of the weapons Liz created for distribution are what've made him more cautious of her. Although Vision, too, was constructed in a lab from an amalgamation of technologies, he's still 100% Earthling―and an Earthling who saw the kind of damage alien weaponry could do when Wakanda was attacked a decade ago. His brother might be the least bloodthirsty person Peter knows. Ironic, considering how often he's been at the center of a conflict.

"It's possible that she hates us right now," Pepper speculates, "for not just letting her take what she wants and leave, but I think she'll see the benefit the deal will have in the long run and sign the contract."

She wanders out, taking her smoothie, and Peter gets a bowl for his cereal while his brother looks on. Vision appears contemplative, arms crossed. When Peter sits at the table, he joins him.

"It feels fucked up to be happy about this," Peter says. "That Liz gets her money and gets tied into Stark Industries."

He hopes she doesn't move back to Albany. So far, he hasn't gotten the distance between them that he expected and he'd really like to not have to see her too often.

"Ah, but she also gets Harley," Vision responds with a sly smile. "I doubt she would risk spurning his affections at this stage. We'll see how they like each other."

Peter snorts.

"That's true. You know, I was thinking, they might actually be pretty alike."

"Then I can only suggest that we avoid them as much as possible on their return. I do wonder..."

"What?"

"About Miss Allan's mercenary nature," Vision begins. "In fact, about whether her mercenary qualities are her nature. I really don't believe so."

"Dude, it's not even eight yet. Dumb it down for me a little."

"I expect that Miss Allan would require more than money alone to enter into this partnership."

Peter frowns.

"What else would she want? Oh, maybe our help in getting out of trouble for the illegal weapons they found?"

"Certainly that, but... I'm not sure," Vision confesses.

"I hope you're wrong. I don't know what else we could offer her."

They go upstairs when Peter's done eating and swing by Pepper's office. It's been headquarters lately, so even though Harley's been found, the contract's been sent, and there's not much to do at the moment, they head there automatically. They discover Morgan and Nebula in the hall just outside, the former trying to teach the latter to do a cartwheel while the latter insists that of course she can do one, she just won't be demonstrating. Peter's parents are in the office with Aunt May and it looks like they just missed Pepper breaking the news to Tony.

He's quiet for a minute, wheeling himself forward and back while his wife and sister-in-law observe him from their perches on Pepper's desk and Peter and Vision edge cautiously into the room. Abruptly, Tony grins.

"This is great!"

"Great?" Pepper repeats.

"It's a new, younger branch of Stark Industries. Harley can head it and bringing Liz's business into SI will be his first big project. Wow, he'll have so much to do. I wonder if they'll want to work from the compound or run it out of Boston. Maybe he can split his time as he does some training under you, Pep. Harley Stark, captain of industry. Taking after his old man. I'm going to look at Boston real estate and find him an office. Clear a path, people," he demands, wheeling out of the office. "I've got a whole goddamn business to set up. Pep, you think we should start announcing this?"

"Harley already did," Morgan says, waltzing in and pulling up Twitter on a holographic screen. There's the Tweet she showed Peter and Vision yesterday.

"You never rescheduled it?" Peter asks. The last they saw of it, it was sitting in TweetDeck.

"I was gonna reschedule it again, but I was waiting to see what happened," she tells him. "Why'd you think I was here?"

"To teach Nebula how to do a cartwheel?"

And his ten-year-old sister gives him the most dramatic, exasperated look he's ever seen. Peter thought it was him who was learning so much about business from their mom. Nope. There's Pepper's heir apparent, rolling her eyes at him.

Author's Note:

Morgan to the rescue! Next, Harley's responsible parent tidies up the logistics of the new deal and finally, after all the drama they've caused, Harley and Liz show their faces! While Peter endures Liz's presence in his home, another woman refuses to leave his mind.

To be continued...