Harley felt a little disoriented when he entered the workshop and found Peter and Tony at the same table. It wasn't exactly a cozy scene, with Peter looking a little tense, but at least no one was bleeding.

Peter waved a jelly-like gloved hand at him, adding even more weirdness to the tableau.

"Just how long was I asleep, anyway?" Harley muttered, his voice light but uncertain. He pulled out a chair and sat down next to Peter, his eyes flicking over the boy. "Are you okay? What exactly did I miss?"

Bruce came to stand next to them, disheveled and suspicious. "Tony, did you break the kid out from under my nose just to give me a heart attack?"

Tony shook his head, "Nah, the kid broke himself out. Good going, Mr. Security Guard. Don't quit your day job."

Harley glanced at Peter questioningly. He could totally see the kid breaking out of the Avenger's compound without breaking a sweat. He wouldn't doubt Peter's capability after seeing him in action last night. But somehow escaping just to end up in Tony's workshop struck him as a rather serendipitous failure.

"Did you really make a break for it?"

Peter nodded grimly, "You slept right through all the alarms and shooting."

Harley groaned, covering his face, "Please tell me you're joking. I could easily see that happening."

"Relax," Tony poked him in the ribs, "no shooting was necessary. The two of you are never going to let me live that down, are you?"

Harley swatted Tony's hand away, ready to give a snappy retort, but Tony continued, "Peter has been released into our care as a ward, not a prisoner. Your touching pleas for his freedom struck a chord in Fury's cold, dead heart."

Harley's eyes widened, "Really?"

"Well, no, if Fury's heart was ever struck with anything, it would just chip off little flinty bits."

Harley looked at Banner pleadingly and the physicist took pity on him. "What Tony meant to explain, is that we discovered Peter was drugged to wipe his memory. And SHIELD would prefer he remains under Tony's care while we figure things out."

"Oh," Harley looked at Peter again, this time with a mix of relief and lingering concern. "So… what happens to Peter after you figure things out?"

"Let's just take things one day at a time," Bruce shared a look with Tony. "Can I steal you for a minute, Tony?"

Tony groaned, rising from his seat. "Yeah, yeah. FRIDAY, you know the drill."

"Baby Engineer in the Playpen Protocol initiated."

"Good girl." Tony turned to Harley "I'll be right outside. Don't do anything interesting."

As soon as the doors closed, Harley looked Peter up and down, searching for signs of yesterday's injuries. The kid seemed perfectly fine. "I knew they would have to let you go in the end, but I didn't think it would be that fast. That Fury guy didn't seem all that convinced when I last saw him."

"You really pled my case to the director of SHIELD?" Peter stared at him.

"Well, yeah, I didn't want you disappearing into a top-secret prison somewhere." Harley shrugged like it was perfectly normal to defend your enhanced secret agent friend to the director of a major counter-terrorism agency. Harley shifted the conversation deftly and gestured to Peter's gloved hand. "What's with the futuristic Michael Jackson look? Oh, wait—" His eyes widened. "Is that what I think it is?"

Peter quirked a brow. "Do you think it's a haptic feedback glove embedded with stretchy, conductive polymer electrodes?"

"Yes, and it looks awesome." Harley's grin split wide as he made grabby hands. "I wanna try!"

Peter smiled and slid his hand out so Harley could put it on. "It's pretty cool. Mr. Stark said this was your project?"

Harley tried not to puff up with pride. It was true he had been working on ways to pair more realistic haptic feedback to VR gaming. His previous gloves were admittedly very cool, albeit humongous failures.

"I've built a few before, but they weren't exactly… user-friendly. Let's just say Tony got tired of getting zapped." He slipped the glove on and marveled at how natural it felt—like another layer of skin, conductive but weightless. "Man, what's this thing made of?"

Peter's voice took on a technical rhythm, like he was reciting straight from a textbook. "The electrodes are made of a polymer material Mr. Stark said he put together from the building blocks of PEDOT:PSS, and PPEGMEA, laser-cut into concentric spring shapes so they can target specific locations on the skin. The glove itself is another polymer mixed with silicone, that…"

Peter trailed off, suddenly interested in his own shoes. Harley realized he must have been looking at the kid strangely. "Um. Please go on."

But to Harley's disappointment, Peter clammed up and gave a little shrug.
The kid cleared his throat and blinked a little, looking uncomfortable. At first Harley thought he was just flustered, but there was a tightness around Peter's eyes and the kid was a little hunched in on himself. Harley wondered if he was still hurt. Was he in pain?

But Peter just shook himself a little and started tapping commands into the glove to make it send different pressure sensations and Harley was soon distracted by the new toy. He was going to have so much fun coming up with a VR simulation to pair with the glove. He started chattering away excitedly to Peter about all the possibilities and it was several minutes before he noticed Peter's discomfort again. The kid exhaled sharply and blinked hard, as if to clear his vision.

Harley watched him for a beat, frowning. Peter's shoulders curled inward, as though he were bracing for something.

"You okay?"

"Mmhm," Peter nodded sharply, though it looked more like a flinch than an answer.

"Are you still hurt? Tony mentioned you heal fast, but I doubt you could heal completely in just one night."

Peter gave the smallest shake of his head, like he was afraid to move too much. "Not hurt."

"Okay. But these are some awfully short answers you're giving me. Want me to get Bruce? He likes to say he's not that kind of doctor but he's several standard deviations better than the average urgent care physician."

Peter hesitated, and Harley knew something was up. "I'm just gonna get him real quick."

"No. It's fine. Just a little sick. Kind of dizzy," Peter exhaled slowly.

Sick and dizzy? Harley frowned, "When was the last time you ate?"

"Um. Those chips yesterday?"

Harley gaped, "Yesterday? You're kidding me! After everything that happened—you've been running on empty this whole time? After all that running? And then being attacked? Twice! And then a long night of healing from being every color of the bruise rainbow?" Harley's voice was getting progressively higher pitched as he became increasingly distressed.

He stood abruptly and knocked on the glass doors to the lab. Both men were still in the hall, in the middle of what looked like a serious discussion. They turned and frowned at Harley.

"Hey!" he shouted through the glass. "You forgot to feed your ward!"

Peter stood up and opened his mouth to protest, but his face paled suddenly, his balance wavering.

"Woah! Sit down!" He swayed dangerously and Harley lunged just in time to steady him. "Where do you think you're going?"

But then Peter crumpled and slid right through Harley's loose grip on his shoulders. Harley made a frantic grab and finally caught the boy by his shirt to slow his descent to the floor. "Tony? A little help!"

Tony was there in a flash, moving with surprising speed to help ease Peter onto the cold tile. "You're okay, kid. Just sit tight." He settled the boy on the ground, nervously checking he was still breathing before letting out a long breath himself. "Just passed out."

Bruce dashed back in moments later, armed with crackers and a can of soda. Tony glared at the man with an irritated look. "You didn't feed him last night?"

The physicist held up his hands, "I gave him an IV. Fluids and glucose. He was asleep after. What was I supposed to do? Run a feeding tube down his nose?" Bruce frowned. "And need I remind you I'm not even..."

"Not that kind of doctor. Yeah. We know." Tony groaned, running a hand through his hair, "No, no. It's my fault. He's been up since the ass crack of dawn with me and I didn't think to give him anything. You said he probably has a fast metabolism. I should've known better."

Harley hung back nervously and watched as Peter regained consciousness and Bruce got him to take little sips of the soda. The boy's face regained some color and he blinked dazedly up at him.

"Did I really just pass out?"

Harley grinned in relief, though his voice shook a little. "Dropped like you saw a ghost? Swooned like a Southern Belle? Collapsed like a fainting goat? Yes. You did" He shook his head and turned to the ceiling. "FRIDAY, can you remind these two geniuses to feed and water Peter? I don't think he'll survive once I go home."

"Will do," FRIDAY answered quickly. "Daily meal reminders noted."

Tony scowled, "Hey!"

But Bruce only shook his head and sighed, "Thanks, FRI. That would be helpful."