Hey everybody! Sorry it took me a bit longer than usual to get this chapter out. I've been really busy. Plus, I was struggling with getting the tone exactly the way I wanted it. I think I've succeeded, for the most part, though I worry that I made Steve come off a bit harsh.

All the Avengers make cameos in this chapter! I figured it was the easiest way to introduce them, though I am hoping to write in some one-on-one bits between them and Harley individually. Just a quick FYI-the changes in names aren't discrepancies. I used their hero names in relation to Harley, because that's how he knows them. I used their *actual* names the rest of the time.

Hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

"Please can I, Tony?"

"No way."

"Come on!"

"I said no, Harley."

"Give me three good reasons."

"Yeah, huh, about that—I only need one. You ready? Because I said so. That's the reason. The end."

Harley stamped a foot, "To-ny!"

Harley was doing absolutely everything he could to convince Tony to let him come to the meeting Fury had called for the Avengers. He had to go—he just had to. How could Tony not get that?! Thor was going to be there! Thor! He was a demigod, for crying out loud! And Captain America, and Black Widow, and everybody! Tony was being so unfair.

Settling on his last resort, Harley made his eyes as wide as they'd go and pouted, "It'd just make me really happy, Tony. Don't you want me to be happy?

"Well, of course I want—wait, a second," Tony narrowed his eyes at Harley, "You're guilt-tripping me again, aren't you?"

Harley shook his head, "No, Tony! I just thought, since I've been through so much and all—"

Tony snorted, "Oh, yeah, definitely not guilt-tripping me. Absolutely not," he said sardonically.

Harley offered him an angelic smile, "I'd never do that."

Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Fine," he acquiesced huffily, "You win. You can come to the meeting—,"

Harley let out a whoop of triumph and fist pumped the air. Tony held up a hand to silence him before he continued his thought, "But there are three really, really, really important rules I need you to follow. Do you want to know what they are?"

"Do I have any other choice?" Harley shot back.

Tony ignored him, "Repeat after me: keep your mouth shut."

"Keep my mouth shut."

"Don't interrupt."

"Don't interrupt."

"And don't ask questions."

"Aw! Can't I ask, like, just a few?"

"What did I just say?"

"But what if Bruce is trying to explain something really complicated and I don't get it, but I want to because I want to learn something new?" Harley protested, "How am I supposed to learn if I can't ask questions?"

Tony rolled his eyes, "Fine! Fine, don't ask many questions."

"Okay," Harley nodded, "I can do that." Those rules seemed fair-ish, at least.

"Good to know," Tony said, "Because if you can't—three strikes, and you're out of there. Understood?"

"Understood."

"Good," Tony smiled, "Now, go brush your teeth. You and I both know you haven't done that yet. I can smell your breath from over here."

Harley gave a quick yelp and darted from the room. Tony gave him a quick swat with his towel as he ran by, "Yeah, that's what I thought!" he called after him.

Ten minutes later, Tony and Harley were both dressed (Harley didn't quite match, but Tony was not in the mood to press that particular point), brushed, washed, and headed to one of Stark Tower's board rooms. Harley was so excited he could skip, but he wisely decided that probably wouldn't fly with Tony just now. So, he just walked next to him—doing his best to look serious and important.

When they were just outside the board room, Tony paused and knelt down to Harley's level, "What were the three rules?" he asked.

Harley sighed, "Keep my mouth shut, don't interrupt anybody, and don't ask many questions."

"Perfect," Tony said, then paused for a moment, "I saved the most important one for last, though."

"Tony! More rules—?"

"Don't you want to hear what it is before you get all whiny on me?" Tony asked.

"I guess," Harley grumbled.

"Enjoy yourself."

"Huh?"

"That's the most important rule," Tony said, "Enjoy yourself."

With that bit of wisdom imparted, Tony threw open the door and walked into the room—owning it like only Tony Stark really could, "I'm sure you're wondering why I gathered all of you here today," he said, "Looks like the annual Superfriends meeting can officially come to order."

Natasha rolled her eyes without a hint of amusement, "Fury called us here, Stark. And you're late," she said.

"Nah, I'm never late," Tony retorted easily, "You guys are all just very early."

Fury walked into the room, "Trust me, Stark," he said dryly, "You're late."

Tony shrugged, "Whatever. We're getting all caught up in details," he paused before he continued, "I figured I could also take this as an opportunity to, ah, introduce you to someone."

He turned to the door, "Harley? Could you come in here?"

Harley poked his head in the doorway, before promptly disappearing again. Tony stared, "What—are you being shy? Why are you being shy all of the sudden? What's wrong with you?"

He turned to the others, "Gimme a second."

He walked out the door. The other Avengers all shared raised eyebrows at the brief, whispered battle that ensued.

"…Said you wanted—!"

"I didn't know they'd…."

"Harley, so help me I'll—!"

"Do what?"

Tony came marching back into the room, a grumpy-faced Harley in tow, "Everybody, Harley. Harley, everybody," he announced.

"Hi," Harley said quietly, before he ducked behind Tony's back.

Tony threw up his hands in a, "Don't ask me!" gesture. Harley peeked out a few seconds later and caught Bruce's eye. Bruce smiled slightly at him, "Hey, Harley."

Harley stepped fully out from behind Tony and offered the room an awkward little wave. The rest of the Avengers were studying him carefully—some clearly more pleased to see him than others.

Bruce was still smiling encouragingly, which made Harley feel a bit better. Thor and Hawkeye looked more bemused than anything else. Captain America kept looking from Harley to Tony and back again, like he hadn't believed Tony was serious about Harley until right this second. Black Widow was eying Harley suspiciously; Harley had a strange feeling that she didn't know all that much about kids. And Fury looked, well, furious. Though, Harley couldn't help but figure that maybe he looked that way most of the time.

After a few long beats of uncomfortable silence, Tony cleared his throat and said, "So, uh, let's get this party started."

Tony took a seat next to Bruce, and Harley sat down next to Tony. He looked up at Fury expectantly. Fury, in turn, glared suspiciously at Harley and said, "Right….Well, now that we've gotten that particular…formality out of the way…."

He began to talk. Harley found himself getting lost pretty quickly, which was actually just fine. It gave him the opportunity to examine everyone without their noticing. He decided Thor looked the nicest—next to Tony and Bruce, of course—then Hawkeye, Captain America, Black Widow, with Fury in last place. A lot of that had to do with the eye patch, though. Harley vaguely wondered if he was supposed to call them by their hero names, or by their actual names. He figured he could ask later.

Even though Black Widow looked kind of scary, Harley couldn't help but notice that she was really, really pretty. Pepper was pretty, too, but this was different. Pepper was pretty like a mom. Black Widow was pretty like a girl. He wondered what she smelled like. Vanilla, he decided. Vanilla and gunpowder.

Harley didn't realize just how hard he was staring, until Natasha shot a strange look in his direction and said, "What are you looking at?"

Harley must have jumped close to a foot in the air. Bruce and Tony shared sly grins because they knew exactly what Harley was looking at—or, more specifically, who Harley was looking at. Harley, his face a brilliant shade of crimson, shifted his stare to his lap and muttered, "Nothing."

Natasha shot a pointed glance at Harley, but didn't say anything in response. Bruce and Tony snickered. She turned her scowl on them, which only made them laugh harder. "Natasha," Bruce said between sniggers, "Lighten up."

"Natasha," Harley suddenly sighed, without realizing he'd spoken aloud.

It was Natasha's turn to blush while Tony tried to muffle his laughter in Bruce's shoulder. Fury, sensing that the meeting had descended into chaos, decided it was time to take a quick five minute break. "When we get back," he said, "Let's try and keep the bullshit to a minimum, shall we?"

His tone didn't leave any room for argument. Even Tony—who didn't seem like he ever listened to anybody—seemed to sense that. As Tony got up to leave, Harley pulled on his shirt, "Sorry I broke up the meeting and everything, Tony," he said.

Tony grinned, "Nah, it was okay. We'd only just gotten started, anyway. And don't worry about Natasha. She's not nearly as scary as she likes to pretend she is. But, hey," he began, more seriously, "You can't interrupt like that anymore, okay? It was funny that one time, but not again."

Harley, feeling chastised yet somehow still reassured, settled into his chair and waited for everyone to return.

When they readjourned, everyone—Tony included—was on their best behavior. Harley had a suspicion that Fury's warnings were actually threats in disguise, and you needed to take them to heart. Fury surveyed them all sternly as they took their seats, "I assume we're all ready to get some work done now, right?"

There were a handful of mumbled confirmations in response. "Good," Fury said.

Harley really wanted to watch Natasha (oh, Natasha) some more, but he didn't think that was the best idea, all things considered. So, he switched to watching Captain America instead. He looked really serious, Harley decided. Not like Tony, who always looked like he was about to laugh or say something funny.

Harley thought that maybe he could be nice, if he would just smile or relax or something. Harley wondered what hanging out with him would be like. He'd probably talk about battle strategies and plans and stuff a lot. Definitely not much fun.

Suddenly, Harley became aware that Tony was speaking, "Really, Rogers?" he sounded annoyed, "You're scolding me? That had absolutely nothing to do—"

"With you?" Captain America answered, "Stark, you have to be kidding me. If you hadn't been taking unnecessary risks—"

Were they fighting?

"Jesus Christ, you will never stop harping on that, will you?"

Okay, yeah, they were definitely fighting.

"You put everyone in danger—"

"Just leaveit! It won't happen again, Dad," Tony sneered.

"Watch it, Stark," Steve warned, "Maybe if you weren't such an arrogant bastard—"

Hey!

"Don't call him that!" Harley cried angrily.

Everyone turned to stare at him, but Harley was too riled up to care, "Don't you call him that!" he repeated.

"Harley—" Bruce warned quietly, but Harley ignored him.

"I think you're mean!" Harley yelled, near tears at this point, "And stupid, and—"

But Harley didn't get to name the third thing in his litany, because Tony grabbed him roughly by the arm and pulled him out of the room before he got the chance.

"What did I tell you about interrupting?" Tony said quietly—dangerously—once they were out in the hall.

"But, Tony—"

"What did I tell you?"

Harley sighed, "Not to do it. But Tony, he—"

"I don't want to hear it," Tony said angrily, "What you did in there was not acceptable. You embarrassed yourself, and you embarrassed me. I'm disappointed in you, Harley."

Harley began crying in earnest, "Tony—!"

"Save it," Tony said sharply, "You, my friend, are grounded."

Righteous anger at being punished by the person he'd been trying to defend began to course Harley, "No," he said hotly.

"Excuse me?" Tony hissed.

"No!" Harley repeated, "You can't make me! You can't make me do anything!"

"Do you want to test that statement?" Tony said.

"You're not my Dad!" Harley yelled before he burst into tears and sprinted away.

Well, shit.

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose to preempt the oncoming headache. He stuck his head into the board room, "I'll be back," he said shortly.

"Stark—" Fury said, a dangerous warning tone to his voice.

"I said I'll be back," Tony repeated tightly.

He was about to leave when Steve's voice stopped him, "Hey, Tony?"

Tony stiffened and turned around, "What?"

"I'm sorry," he said honestly, "I didn't mean to upset him."

Tony nodded curtly. He knew that, and he forgave Steve.

But he didn't need to let him know just yet.

One of the main benefits to Stark Tower was also one of its main drawbacks—it was huge. Tony sighed. Harley could be anywhere by now. "JARVIS," he called, "Any clue where Harley might've run off to?"

"I'm sorry, sir," the AI answered, "But I was given explicit instructions to not divulge his whereabouts."

Tony groaned, "JARVIS, I'm not messing around. Tell me where he is."

"I'm sorry, sir, but—"

"JARVIS, so help me, I will disconnect your circuits so fast—"

"He's on the roof, sir," JARVIS finally answered.

Of course he was on the roof; that was the first place he should've looked. Tony had a feeling Pepper would've thought of that right off the bat, and he wanted to punch himself in the neck for being so dumb.

The elevator ride to the roof was a long one, and it gave Tony ample opportunity to get very, very nervous. When the elevator got to the 20th story, Tony decided that maybe he'd been too hard on Harley. When it got to the 35th story, Tony wondered if maybe he should apologize. And, by the time it reached the top of the tower, Tony was filled to the brim with a deeply unfamiliar emotion—guilt.

Tony stepped outside, but he didn't spot Harley right away. He was about to yell at JARVIS for giving him a red herring, but then a few quiet sniffles caught his attention. He frowned, and followed their source. The source, he discovered, was a small blonde boy curled up in a far corner—crying quietly into his lap.

Harley glared up at Tony, "Go away," he sobbed, "I don't want to talk to you. Ever. You're awful and I hate you."

Tony sat down next to him, "Okay," he said softly, "I deserved that."

Harley stared angrily at the ground and didn't answer. Tony, for once in his life, kept quiet, too. Wisely, he sensed that Harley needed to be the one to initiate this particular conversation. They sat in a tense silence for—Tony counted—nine minutes and forty-seven seconds. Harley, finally, drew in a deep breath and said in a broken little voice, "I only wanted to help you."

Without thinking twice about whether or not he was doing the right thing, Tony drew Harley into his arms, "I know. And I'm sorry, Harley," he said.

Harley buried his face into Tony's chest and began to cry again. "Just keep crying, buddy," Tony murmured, "Until you don't need to anymore. It'll be okay. I'm here."

Harley's cries eventually slowed to hiccoughs, then sniffles, and finally stopped. He pulled his face up from Tony's shirt, "I'm sorry I yelled at you," he said miserably.

"Me, too," Tony said honestly, "But, I guess I deserved it. I wasn't exactly as patient with you as I could've been."

"Are you mad?" Harley asked.

Tony weighed his words carefully, "I'm not…mad," he finally said, "I'm disappointed in the way you behaved, and I'm unhappy that we fought. But I didn't handle the situation the way I should have. I think we both said things we're not proud of."

Harley nodded, "I think so, too."

"Let's make a deal," Tony said, "I promise not to lose my temper that quickly anymore, provided that you try and control yourself better. Deal?"

He held out his hand for a shake. Harley looked at it for a second, and then accepted the gesture, "Deal."

Tony ruffled his hair, "Good," he said, "Let's go back inside."

They walked backed towards the door—Tony's arm wrapped around Harley's shoulders.

"Hey, Tony?" Harley asked when they were waiting for the elevator.

"Yeah, pal?"

"Am I still grounded?"

"You bet you are."

"To-ny!"