Peter left the Stark's residence when the Helicarrier arrived to pick him up. "I'll save her" he said leaving Harley and a crying Pepper inside the house. Harley could not stand the moment and just wait for what will happen next. He sure would like to comfort Pepper but it was all too much for him. The loss, the worry, the tears—they all remind him of his mom's reaction when his dad never returned home. Screw that lottery ticket—he knows he fell out of love. He knows there was another woman. He knows that that bastard beats his mom whenever he becomes drunk. And still, his mom was so broken when he left.
Pepper went to her room and locked the door. Harley pretty much understood this. She needed space and time to be alone. So he paced back and forth in the living room until he finally decided to take a drive. In so doing, flashes of the past began to enter his mind.
"You really like skiing, huh?" a younger Peter asked him while they were drinking hot chocolate.
"Yes, when I feel the wind through my face, it er…It feels like flying. That's why I don't hold back" he reminisced himself answering while sipping from the mug.
"I also dream that" Peter gave that signature ear to ear grin he always gives when he's brimming with excitement coupled with the wide brown doe eyes he has.
"Don't worry, li'l bro,if I can invent a way to, I promise to take you with, Petey."
A promise he never got to fulfil for Peter.
"What?" his voiced was raised and he could not believe what he was hearing. "Peter was Spider-man all along?" he said shifting his gaze from Tony to Pepper and vice versa. His eyes were firm. He demands answers. He needs to hear what kind of reason does his adoptive parents have for keeping something like this from him.
"And you feel like you couldn't trust me with this information?" Tony looked startled. It's obvious that he cannot maintain his composure and is thinking of what he'll say.
"Harley, honey, calm down." Pepper tried to calm him.
"Calm down?" the teenager repeated, "I thought we were a family. Peter's my brother and you kept something as big as this from me?"
"Yes, this is big." Tony finally spoke. "It's huge and we don't know how to deal with it either." He continued as he moved closer to Harley. "We didn't want to tell you until we figure it out."
Harley took a deep breath and finally relaxed. "But I ask you, Harley. It's a rough time for Peter also. We don't want him in harm's way. Please, don't ever think that it's a competition between the two of you. We love you both equally."
Harley knew one thing and that is he doesn't know what else to say. He left the room with his heart still broken and mind still confused.
"I'll be fine."
A promise he never got to fulfill for himself.
"How could Boss be ever be proud of him? all he brought were trouble and headache especially for Ms. Potts." he overheard one of the employees from the other table in the cafeteria.
"Yeah," answered the other, "Maybe Mr. Stark regretted adopting him."
"Talk about major disappointment. At least Peter has a better chance of running this company."
"More good looking and well-mannered too. Thank goodness it was Peter who run this company."
"I'll prove them wrong." he whispered underneath his breath.
"People might look down on you, but never look down on yourself. You're a great kid, Harley. I knew that the first time we met. Don't let those disappointments and wrong turns hold you back. Promise me one thing, though. Please protect your siblings and Pep. I trust you." Tony's holograph disappeared. And once more, Harley felt alone after the snap.
"P…promise" and the tears began flooding from his eyes.
A promise he never got to fulfil for Tony.
"I just really wanted to meet him, even this once." said Morgan with a pout on her lips.
"You will." Harley assured as he kept fixing the model they just built.
"Promise."
The only remaining promise left to fulfil.
And now it's gone. It's gone along with his sister. Harley stopped on the side of the road, pounding on the stirring wheel and tearing up. He doesn't know what to do. What will happen to Morgan? His own sister is in trouble and he cannot do anything about it. The only sunshine in his life is abducted and he can't do anything to help. He broke every promise he has ever made and is a total disappointment even for himself.
"Useless! Useless, Harley!" he blamed himself and let his head rest on the steering wheel. He then was distracted by a strange sound from the night skies.
"What the he—" as he stared at the huge aircraft hovering over his car. He got down and saw for himself what's going on outside. He tried his best to identify the aircraft and within a split second, a familiar red and blue figure descended from the door of the aircraft and landed in front of him.
Peter removed his mask and said: "We found them."
Harley didn't really know how to respond. What will he say? I'll kill him?
"I can cooperate." Harley mindlessly responded.
"I don't need your cooperation…I need your help." Peter replied holding out his hand. Harley hesitated. What now does the web crawler have in mind?
"You never hold back, do you?" Peter added.
Harley just shook his head and held the hero's hand.
"But you seriously have to hold on. Tight" Peter shot a web to the helicarrier and pulled himself and Harley up.
"The other Avengers are already positioned to exits A, B and C" Peter explained as he pointed at the replica of a structure shown by the hologram. "The guy's a crazy neurologist who built a device to wipe memories and alter them producing a different person out of the victims. We don't know his reason yet but he appears to have built a larger version of the device he used against the previous cases and can cover almost half of the world if he does launch it."
"We can't risk raiding the place immediately since he has hostages including Morgan. The building is also filled with detectors here, here and here able to detect the slightest of movements. That's why Shuri and I volunteered to scan the devices, hack it using our system before the others engage to rescue the hostages."
"So you want me to be look out?" Harley asked.
"No, I need you as back up." his younger brother replied.
"We need another person capable of using our system to connect to the device since we theorize that if we position here, here and here, the hacking would be faster."
Harley felt his chest tightened as he realized where Peter was going with this, "Spider—"
"Keener, this is Morgan! She's in danger." Peter looked at him straight in the eye. He sure does know what he was saying. Harley never saw Peter this stark.
"I would really like to help but what'll I use to hack that device?"
"EDITH, now!" a shiny red and gold metal thing flew from one of the rooms of the carrier. Harley's eyes widened as he looked over and over the armor in front of him. A familiar red and gold suit with a helmet and a glowing circular light in the middle but the gold color is more prominent than the red one.
Harley's eyes widened. He knew what it was but he really had to ask. "This is?"
"Mark Legacy" the web crawler replied smiling at him.
"Pete—" Harley was about to protest and say how dumb the idea was but Peter cut him off.
"Save it for later." Peter said putting on his mask and getting ready for their landing to the site where the villain and the victims were. "Don't worry. I programmed Karen to connect with the suit. It'll be like a training wheels mode if in case you get confused over the controls which I highly doubt. I just need you to focus on the job, like seriously."
Harley finally relaxed but it didn't mean that he completely agreed with the idea but Peter was right. This is Morgan they're talking about. The suit assembled in Harley's body. He thought it'll feel awkward but no…it gave him a sense of dignity, of purpose. He took a deep breath and stared at the hero in front of him.
"No holding back?" Peter asked, a smile visible even though it was blocked by the mask.
"No holding back." Harley answered, a smile visible even though it was blocked by his own doubts.