July 21st, 2015
Harley groaned as someone shook him awake. His eyes hurt from staying up late, and, in his opinion, it was way too early to wake up, especially during summer vacation.
"Go away," he muttered, trying to push them off of him.
"Kid, wake up," said Tony softly. Harley reluctantly opened his eyes. His room was still pitch black, but Tony was sitting on the corner of his bed, wearing the under-armor of the Iron Man suit.
Harley sat up in his bed. "Dad? What… what's going on?"
"Emergency mission. We got a tip about the scepter. Gonna check it out."
"Oh, okay." Harley took a breath. "When are you gonna be back?"
"Today or tomorrow," Tony said. Harley ignored the secret if everything went well. "Will you two be fine by yourselves?"
"Yeah, Dad, we'll be fine." Harley slid back into bed, pulling his blanket over him. "See you then?"
Tony stood up and gave Harley a slight smile. "See you then, kid." Harley shut his eyes, but it took a while before he fell back asleep.
When Harley woke up again, the sun was shining into his room, and his watch read 12:03 PM. Turns out he might've overslept a little bit. He left his room to go downstairs, but instead, he changed courses and went to Peter's room. Peter was sitting on his desk, listening to music and doing what Harley assumed was homework.
"What do you want for lunch?" Harley asked. "We can just order the food now."
Peter didn't look up from the piece of paper. "I don't care. You can pick." Harley walked farther into the room, crossing his arms.
"You okay?"
"Hmmm?" Peter asked, looking up. He blinked quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Dad's gonna be fine, ya know. It's just a lead, not 'it's the end of the world' stuff. He'll be back tomorrow."
"Yeah, I know."
"And it ends soon, anyway. They'll find the scepter, and Dad's not gonna go on these 'middle of the night missions anymore."
"Yup," Peter said slowly. "It'll all be over soon." His voice was dull, but Harley decided not to bring that up.
"So, I'm thinking burgers?" Harley offered. Peter nodded.
—
Tony's eyes wouldn't leave the corpses and blood and death. The mission had been going relatively well. No serious injuries, explosions, or anything.
But as soon as Tony gripped the scepter, everything around him was… terrifying. That goddamn thing from New York—the Leviathan—flew around the room, and bodies were haphazardly strewn across the room like throw pillows. Nat. Clint. Bruce. Dead.
Tony found Steve and checked his pulse. Maybe-
Steve's eyes shot open, staring right into Tony's. "You could've saved us," Steve snarled as he paused with each word. Then, he fell back. "Why didn't you do more?"
Tony stumbled back, nearly tripping over something else. He turned around, noticing it was Peter.
No, no, no.
"Pete…" Tony whispered. Peter was bruised and broken, his limbs all pointed in odd positions. Layers of blood and dust matted his hair. Harley was next to him, bruising around his neck. His eyes were open, vacantly looking into the distance.
Shit, shit, shit.
Harley opened his mouth. "You let us die." Tony fell to his knees, and behind him, the black hole opened up.
—
July 22nd, 2015
In all the "Clint was kinda pretty badly injured" chaos, Tony forgot to tell Peter and Harley that he was, in fact, coming home. It explained why the living room was vacant and silent, but that didn't stop Tony from nearly descending into madness. They had to be fine. They had to be.
"Jar, tell them to come downstairs," Tony said. Jarvis complied, and Tony almost thanked the heavens that Peter and Harley were alive. The vision was fake.
"Dad!" Peter gave Tony a hug. Harley hung around behind for a little while before Tony pulled him in too.
"You're both alive? No fires?" That extracted two identical eye rolls out them, and Tony mentally congratulated himself for achieving his Eye Roll Requirement for the week. "We got the scepter, and Clint's not hurt too bad."
Harley elbowed Peter quickly, muttering, "I told you so."
Tony continued, "which means a party on Saturday, this being the last Avengers mission for a while and all."
"Are the Avengers going to be there?" Harley asked.
Tony crossed his arms. "Your own father is the best Avenger of all, and you still ask me these questions." He sighed. "Yeah, they're gonna be there."
"Got it."
—
July 25th, 2015
Harley spent the majority of the party just wandering around, going from person to person. He had heard Uncle Rhodey tell the same story about three different times. Eventually—when it was practically over, and most people had left—he went over to the Avengers, who were with his father and Peter, and sat down with them.
"But it's a trick!" said Clint while twirling a drumstick around.
"No. No. It's much more than that," Thor replied, taking a slow sip of his beer. A smile grew on his face.
"Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power." Clint waved his arms dramatically to prove his point, and the Avengers laughed. "Whatever, man, it's a trick."
Thor set Mjölnir down. "Be my guest."
"Really?" Clint asked, slightly dumbstruck. Tony chimed his support in rather unhelpfully.
"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful," said Rhodey. Clint exhaled slowly and stood up. He placed himself in front of the hammer.
"Clint, you've had a rough week," Tony said. "We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Harley snickered.
"You know I've seen this before?" He tried to lift Mjölnir up, which, obviously, didn't work, and the hammer stayed perfectly still. "I still don't know how you do it."
"You smell the silent judgment?"
Clint lifted his hands up, looking pointedly at Tony. "Please, Stark. By all means."
"Dad, you might as well give up now," said Harley, leaning back into the couch.
Tony scoffed, glancing over to Harley. "Et tu, Brute? My own son, I can't believe this. I see how it is. Fine. Never one to shrink from an honest challenge." Tony took a good look at the hammer. "It's physics."
Tony positioned himself in front of Mjölnir. "Right, so if I lift it, I'll be fit to rule Asgard?"
Thor nodded humorously. "Yes, of course."
"I will be reinstating prima nocta." Tony tugged at the hammer to no avail. It refused to budge. Tony let go of it. "I'll be right back."
He returned wearing the gauntlet of the Iron Man suit. Harley had to stifle a laugh. What the hell did he think that was gonna do?
After plan B was unsuccessful, Tony recruited Rhodey to help him, which, to no one's surprise, didn't do shit.
Bruce went next, turning a little green at the neck. He let go of it, practically roaring. Everyone seemed a little on edge, and Bruce's 'lightning-up' didn't really do anything.
Steve got up to take his turn.
"Go ahead, Cap, no pressure," said Tony. Steve strolled to the hammer, rolling up his sleeves. The Avengers cheered him on. Steve pulled at Mjölnir, and it shifted slightly. Thor's playful smile dropped in an instant, and they all stared quietly.
Steve pulled for a few more seconds, though. If Harley was honest, it looked like he was faking it (and not very well, mind you). Steve forfeited, sitting back down, and Thor was grinning again.
"And you, Widow?" Bruce said to Natasha. Nat shook her head, smiling.
"Oh, no, no. That's not a question I need answered." She nodded over to Peter and Harley. "You boys can give it a try."
Harley gave an awkward smile, pushing Peter forward. Better Peter than Harley. "You first."
"Fine." Peter moved to the hammer, tapping his foot as he got ready to pull it.
"Go on, малыш."
Peter wrapped his hand around the hammer. Finally, he pulled Mjölnir but instead of it staying still, the hammer went up with ease, nearly knocking Peter on the head.
"Holy shit," Tony muttered, smiling widely.
Peter's eyes widened as he stared in shock. "Wait, I'm worthy?" They didn't get a chance to reply because a loud whining sound quickly filled everyone's ears and stopped just as fast.
"Worthy." The source of the noise came staggering into the room. It was a robot—made of discarded Iron Legion pieces, barely holding itself together, wires exposed and everything. "No. How could you be worthy? You're all killers."
"Stark," Cap growled, glaring at the machine.
"Jarvis."
"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or I was a-dream."
"Robot Legionnaire OS," said Tony, "we got a buggy suit."
"There was this terrible noise. And I was tangled in… In… Strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."
"You killed someone?" Steve asked hesitantly.
"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we're faced with some ugly choices."
"Who sent you?"
A voice filtered in through the ceiling. Tony's. "I see a suit of armor around the world."
Bruce froze, staring at the robot. "Ultron."
"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not in this chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission." As the weird-ass mangled robot (or Ultron, as Bruce dubbed him) began monologuing like any classic villain (seriously, where had creativity gone), Tony caught Harley and Peter's gaze. He motioned for them to leave or hide or anything, really. Harley grabbed Peter's arm and brought him to behind one of the couches. There was no way Ultron didn't notice them, but Harley was gonna take the win.
"What mission?" Natasha asked.
"Peace in our time." Harley imagined that Ultron was smiling. As he finished the sentence, the (now controlled by Ultron) Iron Legion burst in, knocking down walls and marking the beginning of the fight.
Peter and Harley fared well enough at the back of the couch since the fight was more focused on the other side of the room. Until Ultron brought it up, of course.
He ventured to the other side, essentially parking himself in front of Peter and Harley. "You two are his… sons? Yes." They began scooting away in dead silence. "No. Don't be scared."
One of the Iron Legion suits flew to them in a matter of seconds, grabbing Harley by the throat and holding him up. Harley tried to fight it off, but there was no use.
Tony pointed one of the leftover guns at the suit, but Ultron held up a hand. "Don't. It… It won't work."
"Let him go!" Peter exclaimed, standing up. He didn't stop trembling. Ultron didn't respond becauseSteve threw his shield into the robot, and it collapsed on the floor. Harley fell, clutching his throat as tears swarmed in his eyes.
"Well, that was dramatic," said Ultron, pacing around the room. "I'm sorry. I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to evolve? With these? These puppets. There's only one path to peace. The Avenger's extinction."
Thor, very clearly enraged, threw his hammer into Ultron, who crumbled down. "I had strings, but now I'm free."
Tony ran to Harley, checking over him to see if the boy was all right.
"I'm fine," Harley croaked. Tony threw his arms around Harley, and Peter joined soon. They sat there for a while.
—
Harley knew it was late, but he absolutely could not sleep. His brain simply refused to turn off. What if Ultron came again? What if the other Iron Man suits went rogue and murdered them all? What if- Someone pushed his door open, tiptoeing into the room.
"Harley?" Peter whispered, shivering slightly.
"Yeah?" Harley whispered back. His voice came out scratchy and thin.
Peter waited a second. "Can I sleep here tonight? I don't… I don't wanna be alone. And I think Dad and Steve are still fighting."
Harley nodded as he moved over to the center of his bed, making room for Peter. He climbed in, clutching one of the pillows. "Were you… scared?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I don't know… Sorry. Good night, Harley."
"Night, Pete."
—
July 27th, 2015
Tony grumbled into his phone. He hadn't slept for approximately 48 hours, and his brain was entirely running on caffeine and sugar. "I don't know what to do, Pep."
"Tony, you could send them to the penthouse," said Pepper. "The Mandarin one. Or ask Ben and May to take care of them until this blows over. They've done it before."
"Ben and May are out of town. And it's not even safe for them." Tony let out a sigh. "Look, Ultron knows everything. Which means if he wants to get them, he can."
"I'll see what I can do. Good luck, Tony." She hung up the phone. Tony had to restrain himself from throwing the phone against the wall. Anger relief and all that. Footsteps came into the lab.
"Hey, Stark," said Clint, slowly going up to Tony.
Jesus Christ, this would be fun. "What do you want, Barton?"
"I know what to do about Peter and Harley. Sorry, I just heard you talking with Pepper." Clint didn't elaborate any further on the 'how' part. "Fury or Maria can help you out on that one. That's… That's what they did for me."
"What do you mean?"
Clint took a step back, crossing his arms. "Look, I have a family, okay? Wife, kids, the whole deal. The point is, SHIELD kept them a secret from everyone, and they can do the same for you, all right? It's off the books and all that shit."
"Sorry, let's backtrack here." Tony took a deep breath. "You have a family? How have I not heard about this? Are you sure they're not just mini-agents?"
"Yeah, Stark, I have kids."
"Who else knows?"
"Nat." In all honesty, Tony wasn't even surprised. "Just go talk to Maria."
"Okay," Tony replied. Clint began walking away. "Thanks, Barton."
—
Harley didn't really believe it when Tony told him. He was being sent away. Again. Yeah, he understood why. It made perfect sense. That didn't mean it didn't suck.
"Dad, that's so unfair!" Peter and Tony had been having an argument for the past five minutes.
Tony chuckled without any humor. "It's for your safety, Pete. I can and I will."
"What about your safety?" Peter shot back. "You're gonna get hurt because you're not listening to me!"
"Because I'm the goddamn adult, Peter. I know what I'm doing, and hell, I'm still here, aren't I?" Tony's voice went to a softer tone. "I promise I'll be safe, okay?"
Peter shook his head, backing away from Tony. "You don't know that! You always say that, but you don't know it! Afghanistan, the Arc Reactor, New York, the Mandarin! You always say you're fine, and you never are!"
Tony placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Bambino–"
"No! Dad, I want to stay here! With you!"
"That's not an option, Peter, and you know that."
"That's–"
"Both of you, go pack now. Seriously, you're leaving tomorrow, like it or not, because you are going to be safe. Got it?"
Peter ran upstairs without another word. Harley hung back a minute. "Dad, do you… know where we're going?"
"No idea," said Tony. "Nick never told me… You know I'm doing this to keep you safe, right? Not to imprison you?"
"Yeah. I know."
—
July 28th, 2015
They had been sitting in that car, going to wherever the hell Fury chose, for the past three hours. Peter was still grumpy about the situation, though he didn't say anything. Agent Connor, who had been assigned to them, was nice enough. Didn't stop the situation from being awkward.
Finally, when it was dark and quiet, Harley had had enough.
"Peter, you know that Dad is gonna be fine, right? You didn't have to get so mad at him."
"Harley, you don't get it," Peter murmured, hugging his legs. "Dad does this all the time. I already told you. And it never stops. I just… I miss it when he wouldn't 'send us off' whenever a bad guy tried to hurt him. Because if something happens, there's…" Peter trailed off, voice cracking. He sniffled. "If something bad happens, there's nothing I can do. Because I'll be useless."
Harley nudged Peter. "Don't say that. Not being able to help fight alien monsters doesn't make you useless. Most people can't fight alien monsters."
"Yeah, I know."
"Good. Are you finally done being mad?"
Peter took a moment. "Yeah. Sorry."
"It's fine."