Archive of Our Own

Iron-Lad wasn’t really supposed to be out on this mission. Not originally, at least. But somehow Harley managed to convince Tony that he was good enough for this. And by that he meant that he blasted the hell out of all of the practice targets Tony had prepared for him. Usually Harley wasn’t the best when it came to taking aim in that practice room of theirs, but it’s just been too much.

Why there was even a day dedicated to soulmates was beyond him. Especially when the world already celebrated Valentines Day. Why did they have to add another day to the calendar? Why did they have to celebrate two days dedicated to the people who loved each other when Harley didn’t have it?

And maybe he never will, because his stupid soulmate wasn’t talking to him. He NEVER talked to him. The closest thing he ever got to a message from his soulmate was the number 202 written on his hand and he had absolutely no idea why his soulmate would want to write THIS particular number after years of receiving nothing.

And it was a one-time thing, too. His soulmate couldn’t even be bothered with writing anything other than a random number. No, they had to be cryptic. This number was probably personal anyway and had nothing to do with Harley in the first place. It was just convenient to write on his skin and not on a piece of paper, so Harley happened to see what was on his soulmate’s mind. 202. Thank you, dear cosmic soulmate. Very helpful.

So Harley took all of his frustration and used it in the training room, which meant the targets didn’t stand a chance. And the success made Tony change his mind about the mission, meaning Harley finally got to go with the Avengers on a mission towards a Hydra base. Which was, you know, awesome! He got to blast Hydra agents and the building they were in, happily causing more and more destruction the further he got.

The other team members were spread out, looking for information and trying to keep the agents from leaving. They wanted to find someone to interrogate in the hopes that maybe this time no one would actually die. But it was obviously nearly impossible. Every agent that realized the end was coming, swallowed a pill and dropped dead. Harley could never understand wanting to die for such an organization, but maybe he was just a hypocrite, willing to (maybe) die to save people. Okay, it was a pretty big maybe, but it was still something.

Things started to turn when Harley came across a locked door. Well, Harley didn’t find the door – Tony did. They used their repulsors together to blast the door open and then stepped inside, cautious. The room could be filled with traps or alarms. Maybe there was a bomb inside and they would just get blasted to bits before they knew what hit them? But nothing happened.

It was actually… strange. The room had a small bed inside of it, pressed against the wall and hiding in the corner. There was a closet with identical, gray clothes and a pair of shoes that looked worn-out. The floor was bare and littered with cracks that formed in different points of impact, though Harley had no idea what even caused it in the first place. There was a single light bulb in the room, casting a bright florescent light on the walls and furniture. It looked so… empty.

And then there were the few spots of blood. Stains on the walls and the floor. A large one on the bedsheets. Harley walked towards it hesitantly and touched it with his armored hand. The blood stained the metal and he frowned and showed it to Tony. The man’s expression was hidden behind his faceplate, but he seemed to understand and left to try and look for whoever was in the room. They were clearly hurt, and Harley had the feeling this wasn’t a guest of honor but a prisoner.

His mind worked extra hours to try and understand how the person in the room could escape while injured AND locked inside. After all, Tony and Harley needed to join forces to open it. So how could someone with a bleeding wound run away without opening the door? His eyes fell to the ground and he watched as a single drop of blood hit it, falling from above him. Harley blinked and then looked up.

There was a person… on the ceiling. Well, more like a teenager. He seemed to be about Harley’s age, though it was pretty obvious he was smaller. His hair was a complete mess of brown curls and his eyes wide and panicked. In general, the look on his face and his tense posture were so wild, Harley felt like he was looking at a caged animal, which was basically true. The teen was wearing those gray clothes that were in the closet, though he didn’t have any shoes and there was a tear in his shirt, blood sipping through it – probably from an injury in his abdomen.

A wave of panic hit Harley at once, his mind flooded with thoughts that were too fast and chaotic to follow. It was like every time he felt or thought about something, it slipped away and he couldn’t hold onto anything. His breaths began to speed up and his vision clouded a little before he realized something. There was a large part of his mind that was curious. Not scared or alarmed but intrigued and considerably calm. And it was almost detached from the mess that was in his mind.

Those feelings… those thoughts… they didn’t belong to him.

They belonged to this teen that was sticking to the ceiling with his freaking fingers.

“Holy shit.” Harley’s faceplate lifted and he blinked owlishly up at the teenager that pressed further into the ceiling, his eyes widening even more, though Harley didn’t even know that was possible. The terror in him grew, meaning the boy was becoming more and more scared. Harley needed to calm him down somehow. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s okay, I won’t hurt you. I promise.” He said.

Run. Hide. Help. Escape. Danger. Danger. Danger.

The words cut through Harley’s brain with a voice that didn’t belong to him. It was young and almost… familiar. It felt like Harley’s heard the voice in a dream. Something he couldn’t remember. It brought this sense of déjà vu with it that Harley couldn’t shake.

The fact that his soulmate – because this had to be what this meant. He heard the teen’s thoughts and felt his panic because they were connected! – could actually send his thoughts and emotions over to Harley was extraordinary. Most soulmates could only write to each other on their skin. A few could share feelings from time to time, but it was extremely hard. And only a select few – Harley could count them on his fingers – could send abstract thoughts to one another. It depended on the connection. The deeper the connection, the better you can use it.

But it made close to zero sense. Up to this moment, Harley was certain his soulmate didn’t even want him around. Now he found out that the guy was trapped in a Hydra base, could stick to the ceiling and he felt, somehow, so connected to Harley that he could actually send his thoughts to Harley’s mind. By accident, Harley was certain. Even the soulmates Harley knew of that could use this ability had to concentrate hard to do this. So how could his soulmate, after years of radio silence, feel this deeply connected to Harley?

It wasn’t important right now. Harley watched as the teen tensed even more at Harley’s stillness. He looked like he was about to bolt at any minute now and Harley couldn’t let that happen. So he took in a deep breath and forced himself to focus hard on pushing the fear away from his mind and replace it with reassurance and the feeling of safety. It felt… weird. Harley always tried to imagine what it must feel like to share your feelings with your soulmates, but doing it? It was so… incredible, in a way. He felt like he was opening a gateway between their shared souls. He felt like he was finally a little more complete.

On the ceiling, the sticky teen’s muscles relaxed by a fraction. He locked his eyes with Harley and the spark of hope in them made Harley’s emotions to flow more swiftly between them. “It’s okay.” Harley said, moving his hands carefully and slowly to make sure he didn’t startle his soulmate. The teen just looked at him. He was still ready to run away at a moment’s notice, but he wasn’t doing it. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I swear I won’t. And I won’t let anyone else hurt you again, either.”

Run. Stay. Hurt. Pain. Danger. Safe. Friend. Soulmate.

“Yes.” Harley put on a smile that he hoped wasn’t threatening because the last thing he needed was for the boy to fear him again. “Yes, we’re soulmates.” There were feelings of hope and doubt and fright and regret swirling inside him, but they weren’t his own. His eyes stung a bit as tears gathered in them, threatening to slip out. “I’m so sorry you’ve been stuck here. I would have come a lot sooner.”

Safe. Blood. Pain. Soulmate. Soulmate. SOS, SOS, SOS. Run. Escape. Flee. Away, away, away!

Harley closed his eyes and listened to the fleeting thoughts for a moment before he shook his head and looked back at the teenager above him. “Don’t run away. Please, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

Run. Soulmate. Danger.

Shaking his head, Harley looked quizzically up at the teen, not understanding. Why would the teenager keep on thinking that if he wasn’t going to actually run away?? He just stayed there, looking distressed. “You keep thinking that but you’re not actually… running… away…” His voice trailed off as more thoughts flooded his brain.

Danger. Soulmate. Spider-sense. Run. Run. RUN!

He yelped in surprise when the teen pulled his hands away from the ceiling. The upper part of his body bent down while his legs kept on sticking to the ceiling and Harley was embarrassed by the alarmed noise that came out of his mouth when the boy picked him up as if he was no heavier than a feather and pulled him up and towards the ceiling a moment before lasers sprang to life on the floor, cutting through everything. Harley gaped at the floor with the lasers and then turned to look at his soulmate whose brown eyes were already looking intently at him.

Harley chuckled breathlessly. “Thanks.” He muttered and his soulmate actually cracked a crooked smile before his expression changed again and his emotions hit him again. There was still fear there, but not as strong as earlier. Now he was more cautious than afraid. Though the feelings he had towards Harley were torn between that and curiosity. “Umm, you can let go. My suit can fly.”

The hand holding him let go after a moment of hesitation and Harley activated his blasters to keep himself elevated over the lasers. This was not ideal. Not at all. He looked at the busted door and then back at the teenager. His soulmate. The soulmate that didn’t know him but still felt connected to Harley in a way he didn’t think was possible. The soulmate that just saved him wordlessly from being cut by those lasers that were clearly a trap set for whoever it was that was gonna come and try and save this teen.

“We need to get out of here.” Harley said and then repeated it when his soulmate’s reaction was to furrow his brows. “We need to get out of here. Right now. And you’re coming with me so I can get you as far away from those monsters. Plus,” He looked at the bleeding gush in the boy’s side. “You need medical attention and the others will help.”

The boy shook his head frantically, looking haunted.

Harley put his hand against his chest. “Listen, I don’t know how long you’ve been in captivity here, and I get that after something like that it must be hard to trust others. But the Avengers and me? We’re here to help. We’re good people and we’re trying to take Hydra down.” He saw the way the boy’s eyes sparkled a little with hope. “And I’m not leaving you here. Do you know anything at all about soulmates?”

Soulmate. Trust. Care. Safe. Help.

“Exactly.” Harley nodded encouragingly. “Soulmates help each other. They care about each other and they complete each other’s souls. And that means that even if you can’t trust anyone else, you can trust me. You’ll always be able to trust me.” He held his hand out for the teen who flinched away, just a little. He looked scared again, but with the whirlwind of thoughts and feelings flowing from him, Harley didn’t know what the boy would choose to do. “Please, let me help you.”

His soulmate looked from his face to his offered hand and then down at the lasers and the door. There was a touch of fear still lingering in his eyes, but Harley smiled in relief at the sight of the boy crawling across the ceiling and towards the door. Once he was right above it, he turned to look at Harley questioningly, as if confused as to why Harley wasn’t moving yet.

So without a word Harley flew over the lasers towards the door. He passed through the opening to the hall and landed there safely a moment before he heard the quiet thud behind him. When he turned around the teenager was standing awkwardly next to the door, looking around like he was expecting someone to show up and shove him back inside.

Taking his hand, Harley ignored the way the boy flinched and almost jumped out of his skin at the unexpected touch and instead just sent the boy a reassuring smile. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” He observed the injured teen for a moment. He was shorter than him – almost a head shorter – and he was really pale, probably from the blood loss. “I’ll carry you.” When the teen tried to push away, Harley just picked him up easily, bridal style. The teen was as stiff as stone in his grasp. “Relax. Trust me. Just… just trust me.”

Pleading, worried eyes looked up at him. Trust, trust, trust. The thoughts echoed in his mind repeatedly and Harley smiled and ran through the halls with the boy in his arms.

It was a bedroom. The walls were bare and the bed and the desk the only things inside. Peter was sitting on the bed, legs crossed and eyes downcast to stare at the floor. In front of him, standing with expressions filled with regret and sorrow, were his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. He tried to shut their voices out as they told him that his parents were gone – dead after their plane crashed.

Impossible. It was impossible. Their plane should have made it safely. They should have ended up safe. They should have gone on their trip and then come back for him, because May and Ben weren’t supposed to look after him forever. They were only his babysitters. They were supposed to let him go back home to his parents eventually! He wanted his parents! He wanted his parents! He wanted his parents!!!

“I’m sorry, Peter. I’m so, so sorry.”

“It will be okay, kiddo. We’ll take care of you, I swear.”

“We won’t leave you.”

“Just say the word and we’ll come in to make sure you’re alright, okay?”

“Peter, sweetie… say something. Please, say something. Ben, he’s so quiet…”

“Relax. He’s just in shock.”

Shock? Peter blinked slowly, his hands balling into fists. I’m not shocked. I’m just stating the facts – THEY CAN’T BE DEAD! But they were. And he knew it. So he desperately closed his eyes and wished he could just run away from all of this and escape this reality where his parents were both gone. He was just a kid! How could they leave him like that?!

The next time he opened his eyes, he was no longer in his new and empty room. Now it was an open field in a place that looked nothing like New York. Peter blinked in confusion and looked around. There was a tree behind him, his back leaning on it calmly. And next to him was a blond woman he didn’t know. She had a baby rocking back and forth in her arms and she smiled softly down at it. Her. A baby girl, if the pink clothes were anything to go by. Peter listened as she sang.

“Hush, little baby, don’t say a word

Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird;

If that mockingbird won’t sing

Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring;

If that diamond ring turns brass

Mama’s gonna buy you a looking glass;

If that looking glass gets broke

Mama’s gonna buy you a billy goat;

If that billy goat won’t pull

Mama’s gonna buy you a cart and bull;

If that cart and bull turn over

Mama’s gonna buy you a dog named Rover;

If that dog named Rover won’t bark

Mama’s gonna buy you a horse and cart;

If that horse and cart fall down

You’ll still be the sweetest little boy in town;

So hush, little baby, don’t you cry

Daddy loves you and so do I.”

Peter furrowed his brows but as the song went along, he relaxed and found himself leaning back against the bark of the tree, his eyes closing as a smile crept onto his face. He hummed the melody along with the woman to himself and he kept on going even after his eyes opened again and he found himself back in his room, May and Ben sitting on the mattress next to him, their hands cradling his head and brushing his hair back in a loving manner.

At some point the boy passed out. It was probably from the pain, but Harley liked to think that the teen actually trusted him enough to let his guard down and finally give in to the pain. He felt like he had to make sure this trust wasn’t in vain. Meaning he didn’t leave his side – not even when he arrived back at the aircraft and let Bruce take care of the nasty gush in the boy’s side. Bruce said it was a clean cut – probably caused by a knife slashing through the teen’s skin. His soulmate didn’t even flinch when Bruce sewed the wound.

The weird thing was that while the guy was asleep, his wound healed. As in, completely healed in less than three hours. Harley was the one to notice it, refusing to leave his soulmate’s side in the medbay, and the moment he realized something was up, he called Bruce and the man gaped at the healing wound before quickly pulling out the thread, before it got stuck in the skin.

It was some kind of miracle. Or at least, that’s what Harley saw it as. Because how could anyone heal this fast? He knew Steve healed pretty quickly. Like Bucky. But this was… this was even more than that. Steve and Bucky would have taken about a day to heal. Harley’s soulmate took under three hours. It was impressive and intriguing and he had the feeling people would want to study this, but his soulmate wouldn’t like it. Harley wouldn’t have liked being probed like that after being stuck with Hydra for God knows how long.

And the thing is – they really had no idea how long this guy has been in captivity. They found a few files about him in the Hydra base before leaving. They called him Insect. Bruce said that the data from the files claimed his DNA was somehow altered – tempered with. And there were traces of inhuman DNA in his body, bonded to his own. Arachnid DNA. As in, spider DNA. But when Harley looked at the boy – the passed out boy who was so afraid and unsure, even in his sleep Harley could feel his swirling emotions – he couldn’t imagine anyone powerful. He only saw a kid who’s been taken to a cell to get tortured by mad scientists. He was a victim.

A knock on the door made Harley look up and he found Tony leaning against the doorframe of the medbay, looking at the bed and its occupant before nodding at Harley. “Hey, kid. How are you doing?”

“Fine.” Harley sighed and pulled his hand away from where it’s been resting next to the boy’s one. His eyes lingered on the boy’s peaceful face – sleep did that to people – before he turned to face Tony again. “But I’m not the one who’s been locked up and experimented on.” He drew his eyebrows together. “How could anyone do something like that to a kid? I mean, he’s around my age and the earliest file about him we could find is from three years ago. He’s been there since he was around twelve, maybe earlier.” He shook his head and looked back down at his soulmate. “Those people are just heartless.”

Tony sniffed and sat on the chair next to Harley. He looked at the boy again, his eyes taking in the flushed cheeks and the skinny form of his body. He seemed to notice the way the boy’s eyes fluttered ever so slightly – probably since he was dreaming. Harley’s soulmate’s lips thinned a little, his peaceful expression replaced with a small amount of distress. It wasn’t the first time it happened since he fell asleep. Harley just focused once again on positive thoughts until his soulmate relaxed.

Once the boy was calm once again, Tony turned to face Harley fully. “So you finally found your soulmate, huh?” He asked. “Gotta say, I never expected him to be found like that, but… at least we know he actually exists now.” He smirked. “I guess you’re gonna give him hell once he’s recovered?”

“No.” Harley shook his head with a frown on his face. “I’m not. He’s been through… so much already, and I had absolutely no idea.” He rubbed his arm a little self-consciously and noticed the way the boy on the bed twitched ever so slightly, one of his hand flicking a little, like he could feel Harley’s movement. Harley stopped. “He found one chance of trying to tell me he needed help, though.”

“He did?”

Harley nodded. “He wrote ‘202’. I thought he was just trying to… I don’t know. I thought it was a joke or had nothing to do with me. But I think he tried to write SOS. I guess he couldn’t let it be too obvious since then those Hydra agents would have seen it and understood what he was doing.” He bowed his head and ran his fingers through the dirty-blond hair, feeling useless. “I should have seen this. I should have been able to tell what he was trying to say.” He looked back up at Tony, eyes wide and pleading. “He tried to get me to help him and instead just got even more upset with him.”

With a dismissive wave of his hand, Tony snorted. “You can’t blame yourself for that.” He said and when Harley opened his mouth to object, Tony just kept on talking. “You had no idea your soulmate was held hostage like that. All you knew was that your soulmate never contacted you. You shouldn’t just assume people are being held by an evil organization, so there was no reason for you to think otherwise. Your soulmate could have been anyone.”

“But with my luck…”

“With your luck, it ended up being someone you seem to understand a lot better than I thought was possible.” Tony lifted an eyebrow, as if challenging Harley to disagree with him. “I don’t know how far your connection goes, but this kid has been through hell, and he still trusted you enough. You said he saved you from those lasers back there.” Tony nudged his leg with his. “With your luck, your soulmate ended up being someone you met in a way that fits your life, Keener.”

Harley levelled him with a dry glare. “A crazy way?”

He probably deserved the eyeroll from Tony. “The unique and dangerous one. You have a pattern, kid.” He patted Harley’s shoulder lightly and then got up. Harley looked back at his soulmate before he heard the sound of Tony opening the door only to stop and turn to look at him again. “By the way, Hydra erased everything there was about this kid. We don’t even know his name, yet. When he wakes up, we should probably look into that – see if he has any family left.”

Peter was running. He knew he was supposed to be brave and that with his powers he could stand up for himself, no problem. But he just saw Flash and his jerky friends chasing him and his heart sank. He couldn’t stand up to them! He couldn’t face them when he could barely keep his legs from shaking! And his warning sense kept on alerting him to their group, always keeping him in their eyesight. It was a nightmare.

He couldn’t run away from them forever. He could almost hear Ben’s voice urging him to stop running and face them head on. His uncle was so brave, but Peter wasn’t. He was scared of being hurt, but most of all… he was afraid of hurting somebody else. As much as he didn’t like those bullies, he couldn’t stand the thought of harming them in any way. They didn’t deserve that. And he could actually severely injure them if he let his powers go unchecked.

“Where are you going, Parker?”

“Running to your parents? Oh, wait. You can’t!”

“You can’t outrun us forever, smarty-pants!”

“Teacher’s pet!”

“Four eyes!”

Peter shut his eyes and kept on running, trusting his instincts to save him in case something was in his path. Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP! His mind kept on repeating the words like a mantra until he suddenly felt the absence of his warning sense. His eyes opened just in time for him to see the brick wall he was running towards, face first. He hit it with a loud thud and groaned when his body hit the floor and his hand came up to rub at his forehead.

Where the heck did this come from?!

He looked around and realized he was no longer outdoors, but inside a small bedroom that wasn’t much larger than his own. Only this one had two beds and two nightstands in it. Posters were plastered all over the walls and Peter gawked at the Tony Stark one, his aching head momentarily forgetting its agony in favor of paying attention to his idol.

He finally tore his eyes away from the poster and found a picture on the nightstand. The picture-frame was boring and uninteresting, but the photo inside belonged to the blond woman he’s only seen once before. She was hugging a bright and happy little girl with both her arms, beaming at the camera. Also hugging the girl, was a boy with the same dirty-blond hair as the woman’s. His blue eyes seemed to cut right through Peter’s chest.

“What the heck?” His voice was different. Peter wasn’t sure how, but his accent also… changed. He sounded like he had a southern accent, which was so random and so weird because he didn’t know how to fake accents. Peter picked up the photo and stared at it for a moment longer before he heard a snort coming from the door behind him. He turned around and found the girl from the picture standing there, her arms crossed and her brows furrowed. “Uh… hey?”

The girl narrowed her eyes. “What are you doing?” She demanded. She had a Dora the Explorer watch on her right wrist. For some reason, Peter stared at it for a moment too long.

Spluttering, Peter rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. For some reason, it felt different. “I’m not… I’m not really sure.” He replied sheepishly. The girl didn’t look amused. Then again, she didn’t look at him like he wasn’t supposed to be there, either. Peter squinted his eyes at her. “You, um, need something?”

She was definitely suspicious of him. Or pretty annoyed. “Relax. I’m not gonna tell Ma about you skipping school.” She said with a wave of her hand that made Peter tilt his head to the side. School? Skipping school? Peter never skipped school! Then again, he also had no idea who this girl or the woman in the picture were, so… this whole thing was pretty confusing. “But if you really wanna help, maybe…” She shuffled her feet awkwardly and then peeked up at him. “Help me with my homework?”

“Eh…” Peter looked around helplessly when the girl – who acted like she knew him. Like they were… siblings, maybe? – pulled out of a pink, sparkly backpack a math book. It was filled with the simplest equations in the world. As in, summing singular numbers. It was ridiculously easy. “Sure?” Peter shrugged and let her lead him to a desk in the corner of the room. And so they sat together and Peter did his best to help that strange girl with her homework. It was easy, but she sent him weird looks every now and then, as if she was seeing him for the first time. Which was basically true.

After a while she leaned back and shamelessly stared at him. “You’re weird today.” She stated. When Peter asked her what was so weird, she hummed thoughtfully. “You’re nicer.” She said eventually and then turned back to her homework, missing the way Peter observed her silently.

They kept on working until there was a knock on the door of the bedroom and they both looked up to see a tired looking woman. The same one from the previous weird memory and the picture. She smiled at them both, looking a little surprised. But she was also pleased. She had the kind of clothes waitresses in diners wore. Peter took her in once again before settling on her warm smile. She was like a living sunshine. It was the prettiest view he’s ever seen.

“Harley, how was your day?”

Peter waited for the little girl to answer btu then he realized the woman was staring at him, waiting for HIS reply. What the heck? “Uh…” His name wasn’t Harley. It was Peter. Why were these people so nice to him? Why were they treating him like he was someone they both knew? “It was… good? Yeah, it was really good.” By the looks of it, that was not the answer those girls were expecting from him. “…compared to yesterday?”

That did it. The woman – which was clearly the girl’s mother and his… parent(?) – smiled at him a little wider. “That’s great, honey! I’m glad you finally manage to focus on some of the good things.” She said and the little girl next to him eyed him warily. Peter shifted uncomfortably in his seat until the woman finally turned to the girl – Abby, according to her – and asked her about her day, which meant Abby started blabbering about how hard first grade was. Peter smiled at the two of them.

And then he blinked and he was back in New York, lying on the dirty ground next to his school. That was the last place he remembered before he reached that other place with the strange people. When he looked around he realized Flash and his friends were no longer in sight and that he had a bruise under his eyes and one on his elbow – probably from falling down randomly.

Slowly and unsurely, he got back up, looked both ways and then began to walk back towards the apartment, his thoughts racing.

Harley fell asleep. There wasn’t much to do while sitting next to a person that was unconscious for hours, okay? And he was tired after the mission and the mentally tasking mission of getting his soulmate to calm down and trust him enough to shut his eyes and let Harley do whatever. It didn’t take long, but he still felt like he needed a few hours of sleep to catch up on.

Unfortunately, he had a brutal wake up call when his soulmate woke up. Honestly, he should have seen this coming. His soulmate was in a different, unfamiliar environment. He was bound to wake up and panic. Which was exactly what happened. One moment Harley was peacefully asleep, and the next he was brutally shoved against the wall, his legs flailing helplessly above the ground. There was a firm hand on his neck, holding him up and choking him.

When his eyes opened it took him a moment to realize the person threatening to kill him was none other than his soulmate. The boy was up on his legs, his brown eyes wide with alarm and confusion as he looked around the medbay. Harley’s hands quickly came up to the hand holding him suspended in the air and he spluttered something that wasn’t really words.

But it drew the boy’s attention to him. For one second the soulmate just looked at him, lips twisted in confusion. But then he seemed to snap out of it. His hand let Harley go and the teen fell to the ground and rubbed at his sore neck, coughing heavily as fresh air made his way to his lungs. His head was swirling as he blinked back tears to look up at his soulmate. The guy was crouching in front of him, looking worried and guilty.

“It’s okay.” Harley muttered, voice hoarse. His soulmate didn’t look reassured. “Hey, I’m okay. It’s fine.” He smiled weakly at his soulmate and then shrugged. “Besides, I’ve been through worse. Probably.” He looked around at the empty medbay and then gave the boy a funny look. “You’re a lot stronger than you look.”

A small smile appeared on the boy’s face at that and his hand flew up to rub at the back of his neck. It looked like… a nervous tick. Why did it feel like Harley knew this tick already? Something about his soulmate… it was like Harley knew him already despite only meeting him now for the first time. He had no idea why he felt this way or how their connection was already so deep, but right now it didn’t bother him too much. Just this thought that kept on bugging him every once in a while.

His eyes fell on the IV that was attached to the boy’s arm. He frowned at the sight of blood sipping through the crack in his skin and down to his palm. “Hey, come on. Get up.” He said and ignored the pain he felt in favor of helping his soulmate back onto his feet. “You need to let Bruce take this out and make sure you’re alright, okay?” When his soulmate seemed to tense at that, Harley shook his head. “Hey, it’s alright. Remember? You can trust me, so just… believe me when I tell you that Bruce won’t hurt you.”

Bruce. Hulk. Avengers. Heroes.

“Exactly!” Harley beamed and let the boy sit back on the bed. “The Avengers. You know about them?”

Hulk. Captain America. Iron-Man. Black Widow. Hawkeye. Winter Soldier. Falcon.

Okay, that was impressive. “Don’t forget Iron-Lad.” Harley said with a smirk and at the boy’s confusion, his smile widened. His soulmate tilted his head, as if asking him to explain. “Iron-Lad. Harley Keener – though people don’t know who he really is, so maybe keep that to yourself, okay?”

Iron-Lad. Harley Keener. The boy thought and then his eyes sparked. You. Harley smiled, a little taken aback by how fast his soulmate put it together. He figured the guy would need at least one more clue before realizing Harley was talking about himself. But apparently he was smarter than that. Peter Parker.

Harley stilled for a moment and then smiled uncertainly at his soulmate. “Peter Parker?” He repeated and the boy’s small smile widened. “That’s your name? Peter Parker?” He snorted a little. “It sounds fake, you know. I mean, PP? Seriously?” He avoided the weak slap Peter sent his way and laughed. “Wait, this is good. So you remember who you are. Do you remember anything else about your family? Where we can find them?”

The smile slipped off of Peter’s face and the boy seemed to curl into himself at once. His hands came up to wrap around his body in a comforting way. Harley furrowed his brows in concern. A wave of grief washed over him at once, overwhelming Harley completely. It was like everyone he loved just died, leaving him alone and empty. Harley blinked tears away from his eyes and locked eyes with Peter. The boy looked just as broken as he felt.

“They’re all dead?” Harley muttered, voice quiet. He wanted to ask what happened but something in him told him not to ask. It was probably the part that was connected to Peter in the first place, urging Harley not to mess with this subject. Not yet. Not now. He wasn’t ready for this. So Harley let it go and instead put on a look of determination. “Don’t worry – I’m not going anywhere.”

Parker Luck.

The words cut into his mind but they meant absolutely nothing. “What’s that?” He asked and Peter seemed to try and form words in his brain only for them to drift away and disappear. All of his thoughts were chased away by other thoughts, never staying long enough. His head was a complete mess. So Harley quickly picked up a pen from a nearby table and handed it over to Peter.

After a slight hesitation, the boy accepted the pen and began to write lightly and messily on his arm. The tingle running down Harley’s own arm was so unfamiliar and yet so welcome… it was thrilling and calming all at once. Parker luck is basically the bad luck of my family. It’s like a curse we all have. That’s why they all died and then I ended up in that hydra base. We all end up with terrible luck. You’ll see – no one can escape this. Peter wrote.

Harley let the words sink in for a few moments and then smiled up at Peter. “I’m pretty sure you just escaped.” He said and Peter nodded, looking a little bashful and relieved. “Okay, I’m gonna go and get Bruce here,” He said and Peter pursed his lips but didn’t object. “And find you something else to wear. Though I’ve gotta warn you, my clothes are probably going to be a little baggy.”

Cozy.

“Yeah, I guess that’s another way of seeing it.”

“Okay, this looks pretty nasty, dude.” Ned said with a grimace on his face. Peter just exhaled threw his mouth, shuddering at the pain coming from his stomach that was painfully weaving itself back together. Ned’s face was pale as he inspected Peter. “A-are you sure we shouldn’t be more concerned about this? I-I mean, you’re bleeding an awful lot… and my mom would be really upset if she found out about this.”

“I’m sure.” Peter said and then gasped a little when the pain intensified. He clenched his teeth and tried to concentrate on breathing and nothing more. He didn’t need to panic. His healing was doing its job and it was going to be alright. “I’ve been through worse, before. This is nothing. I swear.”

Well, it wasn’t a complete lie. He didn’t remember much about gaining those powers – it had something to do with his parents – but he did know for sure that he was sick before they settled down in his body and he remembered how horrible it made him feel. Like his entire body was tearing itself apart to accommodate to these new powers. He hated every moment of it, but it didn’t linger behind for longer than a day, so at least that went away quickly.

And this wound in his stomach was going to disappear quickly, too. He knew that. It was an honest mistake on his part – he just wanted to show off his powers to Ned and they were playing around with Peter sticking to the walls and crawling all over Ned’s bedroom, to his friend’s enthusiasm and awe… And then Peter was startled by the sight of a cockroach lurking in the corner of the room and his sticky fingers slipped from his surprise.

Fortunately, Peter didn’t mind falling anymore since he’s gotten used to it over time. Unfortunately, he was sticking to the ceiling right over the head of Ned’s bed that had metallic, sharp poles sticking from it. Normally, Peter couldn’t care less about it because it was just a part of the bed and what it looked like. But now… well, he fell down and the metal cut sharply through his stomach, basically piercing him.

Ned’s screams of alarm would have alerted his parents – had they actually been there. Luckily, they were outside, shopping in order to have everything needed to make dinner for the boys. So, Peter had to calm Ned down on his own, in between waves of agonizing pain. He pulled himself from his spot on top of the bed and ended up on the cold floor, gulping in air quickly and hoping it would all pass quickly since he needed to get a grip and he didn’t want to make Ned freak out for too long.

And now here they were, with Ned panicking and looking from Peter’s face to his wound and with Peter holding a towel against his stomach to try and stop the blood that started coming to a stop as his injury worked on healing itself quickly. The sight of the wound getting better was actually the only reason Ned agreed to stop screaming his lungs out.

It didn’t make the pain any less real, though. And Peter closed his eyes and begged to whatever God was up there, watching him, to just make it as painless as possible because every gasp he let out registered in Ned’s brain and made his friend panic even more. All Peter needed was to keep calm, but the pain was almost too much to handle. He wanted to whimper and curl into himself but he couldn’t because Ned was watching him and the boy looked like he would completely melt down if Peter showed any sign of weakness.

And then Peter blinked his eyes and found himself someplace else. He was sitting on a stool next to a bar in a diner. The woman – Harley and Abby’s mother – was standing across the counter, wearing her uniform and chatting lightly with another woman who laughed a little and sipped coffee from a white mug. Peter moved his eyes around to find out that there were other people around, all of them with that southern accent Harley seemed to have.

The pain was gone, Peter noted. He could no longer feel the gaping hole in his belly and his brain’s worst pain came from how empty he felt – he was hungry. Or rather, Harley was hungry. Peter stared at the hands that didn’t belong to him and then tugged at his hair just to be sure. The lighter shade of brown met his eyes and he exhaled. Yup, he was in Harley’s body again.

“Sweetie,” The woman – Harley’s mom – turned to face him, mouth pursed like she was building up for a fight or an argument. “You know what you want yet? Or are you still sulking?”

“Sulking?” Peter blinked at her and then shook his head and lowered his head until he found the menu of the diner staring back at him. He let his eyes rove over everything he could order and then his attention zeroed in on something he knew was probably a bad idea. “C-can I get the pancakes?” He asked.

The woman rolled her eyes at him, though a fond – slightly confused – smile appeared on her face. “They’ll be right up. Honestly, I asked Greg to start making them a few minutes ago – you always order them when you don’t want to eat.” She said it like it was a chastise combined with fondness but Peter could only stare at her in wonder. “They’ll be right up, honey.”

“T-thanks…?” Peter said weakly.

She put a finger under his chin and her eyes softened. “Hey, cheer up, okay? I’m proud of you for feeling so protective of your sister, and I know you meant well, but hurting the people who’d hurt her was just not the right thing to do. I’m not mad – just try and find a better way to deal with bullies than that. What do you do if someone comes after you?”

Peter opened and closed his mouth a few times, confused and baffled by this conversation. He tried to think about what Harley would say in this conversation, but apparently they were VERY different in their approaches. So Peter just gave up and decided to answer the way he would have had this woman been talking to him rather than her son.

“I guess… I’d run away?” He grimaced. “But it’s not very helpful.”

The woman with the light hair sighed and ruffled his hair before turning around. “I know. I’m going to have another conversation with your principal to try and get the bullying to stop. I can’t believe they just let it go on like this.” She shook her head and then turned around at the sound of a ding coming from over her shoulder. A moment later, she came back with a stack of pancakes and maple syrup. “There you go – stuff your face until you feel better.”

That was a weird way of cheering someone up, but Peter didn’t mind. He just thanked her gratefully and went to grab a fork when he blinked his eyes and found himself back in Ned’s room, his friend staring at him with wide, terrified eyes from way too close.

“Gah!” Peter flinched away from Ned and then cringed at the feeling of his wound being agitated by the sharp, uncalled-for movement. Ned leaned back bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck. “What-what the heck are you doing?”

“You passed out!” Ned exclaimed. “I didn’t know what to do. Like, I tried slapping you a few times but it didn’t do anything and then I thought about calling my parents but you stirred a little and I ran over to see if you were waking up.” He glared fearfully at Peter. “You can’t just go and lose consciousness with a hole in your body, dude!”

Glancing down, Peter found that there was no longer a hole in his stomach, but rather a deep wound that kept on stitching itself back together. He sighed in relief and leaned his back against Ned’s bed. He probably needed to tell Ned about what happened. If anyone would accept Peter’s explanation without thinking he was completely nuts, it was Ned.

He winced as he shifted a little and the pain sharply coursed through his body again. Right. Healing first – explanations later.

Peter Parker was adapting. Kinda. It just took him a long time. Harley and the rest of the team were all prepared for that. Especially after Peter revealed that he’s been trapped in that base for nearly five years. He was used to being experimented on by those people – every day, all the time. And if they did give him a break, it was always to check something else. How fast he healed, what he could heal from, why he reacted to certain things differently.

It was horrible to hear.

Or rather, read.

Peter didn’t speak. He never – not even once – used his voice to verbally say anything to the team, so instead he used pen and paper to write everything down when they asked him questions or when he had something to say. With time, he got better at keeping his thoughts intact, until he could share them with Harley in a more efficient way that didn’t involve one word at a time. So when Peter had something to say and Harley was around, he just told Harley what to say.

Frankly, Harley expected Peter to fear just about everything and keep being anxious around others, but it seemed like he was wrong. Peter was such a social person, it was scary. When he told Harley a little about what he remember from his life before Hydra, it was hard to imagine Peter as the energetic, happy kid in the stories. But then he saw the way Peter seemed to see the best in people – even after these last couple of years – and it just blew his mind.

The moment Peter was introduced to Tony’s lab, his eyes sparkled and he set to work, building things without a problem. It was like the plans were stuck in his mind on a loop for years, waiting for a chance to come out. Harley was awestruck by the sight, feeling the excitement flowing from Peter as it coursed through his own body. Tony, on his part, just sort of stood there, gaping, at the kid that moved quickly from one spot to the next, using tools like he was born to do just that.

Later on, after Peter seemed to relax around people and trust them again despite all that he’s been through, Harley took him out of Avengers Tower to show him New York and Manhattan. It was just another normal day, with rude people walking outside and a weather that made you want to just stay home because it was just too warm. Peter seemed to enjoy this, strolling down with Harley with a skip in his steps.

But then he stopped, his eyes locked on the distant borough of Queens. There was a haunted look in his eyes, his constant smile vanishing. Harley furrowed his brows and looked at him curiously. “What happened? Why’d you stop?”

Peter didn’t respond for a few moments and then blinked his eyes twice. He looked at Harley as if he just remembered he was still there. Can we please go to Queens? He asked timidly, his eyes snapping back towards the borough once more. I need to check something.

So they went to Queens. Harley complained about how much they had to walk but Peter just waved it off and kept on moving forward. When Harley was seriously starting to doubt this entire thing, Peter grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him behind him. Which made Harley feel both ridiculous and relieved, because with Peter’s freakish strength, it was much easier to carry on.

He had no idea what Peter was looking for, but eventually they reached Forest Hills and Peter stopped in his tracks, his head facing an apartment building that didn’t look much different compared to the others around. People walked around them, unbothered, and an old lady actually bumped into them before receiving a dazed, apologetic smile from Peter and a verbal one from Harley. She just walked away.

“What’s in here, Pete?”

Feelings of sorrow and loss and pure love flowed into his body from Peter and Harley had to suppress a cringe at the amount of grief coming from his soulmate. This is where I grew up. The boy’s voice whispered in his mind. After my parents died, my aunt and uncle took me in and we lived here – seventh floor. I don’t remember which apartment. His eyes filled with tears and he sniffed. I miss them.

Harley squeezed his hand and Peter turned to look at him, as if waiting to see what Harley would do to cheer him up. “I’m sorry.” He said as gently as possible. Peter’s lips quirked up. “I wish I’d been there for you when you needed me.”

There was a strange flicker on Peter’s face – an emotion Harley couldn’t decipher. Peter looked away. You have. Then he seemed to think about it for a moment longer before he gave Harley an assessing look. But you don’t know about it? That’s impossible.

“Know what?”

Peter just stared at him.

“NO!” Peter felt like his insides were coiling over and over and the sight of Uncle Ben and Aunt May just lying there. The kitchen floor was stained with blood and his clothes were covered in it, too. His aunt and uncle were both in the middle of it all, eyes unblinking and limbs limp and lifeless. Peter didn’t need to be a genius to know what it meant. “No, please. Please, you have to wake up.” He begged them desperately, his hands shaking their bodies in a last attempt at trying to prove to himself that they weren’t dead. Because they couldn’t be. They couldn’t be dead, too! “Please…”

His head fell when they didn’t even stir. They were definitely gone, but he just couldn’t… he didn’t want to believe it, even though they were right there, proving this fact as the truth. As his new reality. What now? Will he really have nowhere else to go? What’s going to happen to him? Will he end up in CPS? He’s heard stories about children that were in the system. It wasn’t pretty.

His eyes focused on his uncle and he shuddered. He didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to live in this moment! And it looked like his world changed as a reaction to his strong emotions, because he was suddenly in a classroom that wasn’t his own. The students were all strangers to him and the teacher at the front of the class, sitting and reading a book casually, was someone Peter’s never seen before.

After a moment of confusion, he looked down at his hands. They weren’t his hands. He would have recognized his hands in a heartbeat. Those hands were someone else’s. His eyes looked up as his strange hand tugged down a strand of light hair. He was there again, right? In that Harley’s body. His life. And it looked like the boy was just in the middle of a science test, if the sheet of paper on the table in front of him was anything to go by.

Everyone was quiet around him, focused on the task at hand. Peter sniffed quietly. He was no longer with his dead family, but in someone’s body. And he needed to answer the questions in the test. His eyes fell on the name that was written at the top corner of the page. Harley Keener. He stared at it and then at the title written on the paper. It was a science test for the grade below Peter. And since the questions in the tests he got were always easy, Peter knew he wouldn’t have trouble with these ones.

But then he started reading the questions and the answers Harley’s already began to write and his lips quirked up in a smile. It looked like whoever this Harley Keener was, he didn’t know the answers, so he just scribbled down random sentences. Like quotes from movies or facts about giraffes of all things. Peter read the boy’s notes, muffling his giggles, and noticed a couple of sketches there, mostly of faceless characters. Then he noticed one that looked a lot like his outline, so Peter carefully drew, for the best of his abilities, his own face on the sketch.

Once he was satisfied with that, he moved on to actually answer the questions of the test correctly. Harley would thank him later, if he was even a real person and not Peter’s brain’s way of dealing with bad experiences. He pushed the thought and the grief away from his mind and set to work. The answers came to him easily and he write down the answers so fast, his hand ached a little. But then he was finally done. He got up and prepared to go and hand the test to the teacher who looked at him with wide surprise. Peter smiled apologetically at her before he blinked and found himself lying next to his aunt and uncle, his body drenched in their blood.

He was back again. His eyes were wet from crying and he brought his hand up to examine the familiar lines on his palm. He was really back to his own life, again. Something in him told him that he wasn’t going to like it any time soon. If only he could stay in Harley Keener’s life for a little longer…

Harley tossed and turned in his bed, unable to calm himself down enough to actually fall asleep. His heart was racing. He knew it was stupid to think those thoughts were anything but just that – thoughts – but he couldn’t help it.

How could anyone see their soulmate and not feel violated or weirded out at the thought of them LIVING in their bodies partially. Why was Peter so okay with just stating this so casually? It was anything BUT casual! Peter told him that sometimes he got sort of… transported into Harley’s body. It happened mostly in times when Peter was distressed and probably felt like running away from his own life. So he ended up sharing more than just his thoughts with Harley – he actually lived FOR Harley. As in, full moments that Harley couldn’t even remember.

He always found it weird, that he just woke up from what felt like a sudden slumber and not understand why things were so… different. There was the time Abby acted like Harley was out of his mind, but very, very nice. And then the time he cracked his brain over a test only to wake up and find himself on his way to his teacher, the test in his hand already completed with answers that were actually true. Plus, one of his doodle now had a face that he must have drawn at some point. It was freaky, but he never told anyone about it and he never felt like studying it. He just shoved those moments to the back of his head.

And it also happened when Harley finally managed to deal with all of the practice targets before the Avengers’ last mission. At first he thought it was the adrenaline that made him live the moment and forget it completely afterwards but knowing that Peter actually used his body from time to time to escape… now Harley wasn’t so sure about what happened back there. Was it really his doing? The success in that training session? Or was it Peter fighting for him?

On the other bed in the room that Tony brought inside after realizing Peter preferred staying in the same room as Harley, Harley could see Peter laying with his eyes open and his head facing the ceiling. It was too dark to see what expression he had on his face, but there were still faint emotions coming from the boy, like he was trying to tone it down to let Harley sleep. Well, this was definitely not working.

“So… you just…” Harley broke the silence and Peter’s eyes snapped to him. He looked tired. “Took over my body? You… what? Possessed me? To pass the time and ignore your problems?”

Peter looked away as the feelings of shame and guilt warren inside of him. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know what I was doing at first. It took me a while to realize what was happening. He thought urgently, his mind almost attacking Harley in order for the younger boy to understand. I’m sorry. I never meant to intervene with your life, Harley.

“Yeah, well…” Harley huffed in annoyance and saw the way Peter cringed, his body twisting away from Harley in the darkness of the room. Sometimes Harley forgot that his emotions could be reflected right back to Peter, especially when they were strong. But the reactions he got at random from the boy sort of made that point clear. “Forget about it.” He sighed eventually.

I can’t. Peter objected and curled around himself. Harley wanted to tell him it was finally his turn to feel bad and not Peter’s, but he didn’t have to tell something like that to a person that has been through so much. And neither can you. Just be mad at me – I deserve it. I know that much.

Yeah, you do! Harley blinked in surprise when the thoughts echoed around in his head, like they were being broadcasted to everyone around him. And then it hit him – that was what it felt like when his thoughts were shared with Peter. He never tried to do the same with his soulmate since he didn’t really feel like he needed it. But now it just happened out of his control because the thoughts were basically SCREAMING in his mind. Peter shivered. “Peter, I get that your life’s been tough and you wanted to get away, but this is a whole different thing. You can’t go… live in someone else’s place!”

Peter didn’t answer and his feelings were so weak, Harley knew he was trying to keep them to himself. He wondered whether or not it was because he didn’t want to hurt Harley further with them, or just because he didn’t want Harley to feel what he felt since it was something he didn’t deserve to feel. Whatever the reason was, Harley was glad, for once, for the fact that he could actually focus on his own feelings and emotions and no one else’s. He nearly forgot what it was like to have his mind only to himself.

Though, as it turns out, Harley never did live his life without someone popping in every once in a while.

He was locked in a van, his hands handcuffed together with some kind of metal that was too strong for him to break, even with his enhanced abilities. It was so frustrating and so scary and honestly, Peter just didn’t know what to do. He was so afraid of what was going to happen to him and he couldn’t do anything to set himself free. All he could do was scream for someone – anyone – to rescue him and get him out of there and back to his average group home.

But the only people who could hear him were the ones who kidnapped him in the first place. They had masks on their faces and their clothes were all black, with a few lines of red here and there. They made him feel uncomfortable from the moment he noticed them out of his school, but he couldn’t escape them, so they had him. And now he had no idea what he was going to do. How could he possibly escape these people??

“Yell all you want, kid. You ain’t never getting out of this.”

“Lean back and relax. You’ve got your whole life to dedicate to our cause.”

“Trying to escape is fruitless.”

“We’ll always find you.”

“And if you ever try and get away,”

“We will kill anyone standing in our path. Capiche?”

This was a nightmare. Peter tugged uselessly at the cuffs but they just wouldn’t budge. He always knew he was stronger than others thanks to his parents’ formula, but now he was nothing more than a kid fighting to try and run away from the people that abducted him. He’d never felt more useless in his life and it was a strange and unpleasant feeling he never wanted to experience again. He just wanted to escape! He wanted back to the group home and the warm meals and the other kids that he got well with, somewhat. At least they didn’t starve him like in the horror stories he’s heard about the system.

But these people… they said they were the ones who murdered his aunt and uncle. They were the ones responsible for his parents’ deaths – he was willing to bet his life on it. And now they were after him. Were they going to kill him? It didn’t make sense. They just said he was going to stay with them until he died, so maybe they wanted something from him? But WHAT? What could they possibly want??

His scenery changed. The van he was shoved into was gone and instead Peter was in a familiar bedroom. Not his bedroom, no. It was Abby’s bedroom. And Harley’s – whoever they were. Peter furrowed his brows and then looked around. Abby was nowhere in sight and it sounded like Harley’s mother wasn’t around, either. From what it looked like, Harley was busy playing some online game on his PC. Peter’s fingers itched to play it, too, because he had no idea when he will ever get to play a video game ever again, if he ever would, that is.

No. He thought to himself and shook his head. Instead he exited the game and opened a google search. His topic was soulmates. He knew about the concept, of course. Everyone did. But he never paid it too much attention. Usually people only started writing to their soulmates at the age of ten, and so he had no reason to really rush. But now he was being abducted and he wanted to see whether this Harley kid… whether he was his soulmate, somehow, or not.

So he read everything he could find about soulmates online. The connections, the way it worked, how some people had such a strong connection that it was actually dangerous… it was a lot of information all at once. He thought he’d have more time to learn about soulmates, but for some reason he ended up learning everything possible on the spot and under a lot of pressure.

What was happening to him, though… it was unlike anything documented about soulmates. Peter knew, deep down, that no matter what these articles had to say, Harley was his soulmate. The boy with the dirty-blond hair and the freckles and southern accent? He was the person he was meant to meet one day. Someone he would love with all his heart, platonically or romantically. It didn’t matter – they would be a force to be reckoned with. And so far, Peter really liked Harley, even if he didn’t know a thing about science. At least according to the last time he’s shared his body.

Harley was his soulmate. Their connection was just… different. It was deeper than Peter ever expected it to be if he could actually live in Harley’s body for a while every now and then. It was unheard of, and therefor unpredictable. He furrowed his brows in concentration and exited those tabs before opening Word. He needed to write a message to Harley, somehow. And he didn’t have a pen on his body. Plus, he didn’t think his new imprisoners would be thrilled to give him a way of contacting his soulmate anytime soon. The only thing he could count on was that they wouldn’t be able to figure out what was happening to him during his blackouts. Because if it was something that’s never happened before, they shouldn’t be able to reach this conclusion.

Hello, He wrote down and took in a deep breath before closing his eyes for a moment and collecting all of his thoughts. I know this is going to really confuse you, but you have to hear me out. There are people here who murdered my family and kidnapped me. I’m trapped and can’t escape and the only one I can contact right now is you. They don’t know I can do it, which is probably a good thing. He heaved out a shuddering breath and then squinted at the screen. Please… help me. Come for me, somehow. Find me and get me out of here. Maybe you won’t recognize my name, but it’s Peter Parker, and I’m –

He didn’t get to finish the message before he was back in that van with the people who kidnapped him. They looked at him warily, like they were both worried about him and annoyed with his blackout. Peter straightened up a bit. He didn’t finish the message, true, but he left something behind for Harley to find. Now it was only a matter of time before his soulmate contacted someone and tried to get him to safety.

Right?

Harley’s hands were wrapped around the warm cup of chocolate milk he made for himself what felt like hours ago. In truth, it’s only been a couple of minutes, but the way his thoughts jumped from one thing to another at the speed of light… well, it was disorienting to the point where he felt like it’s been ages. How could he not?

It’s been two weeks since Peter told him the truth about how he used to enter his body, override his mind and take control of him. He told him that he used Harley like a puppet more than once. How could anybody stomach that? So Harley pulled away, even though it hurt him in his very core. It was like his soul was aching to be closer to Peter again, but Harley wouldn’t listen to it. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Not after the first time revealed how bad of an idea that was.

If Peter could control him like that before even meeting him face to face or talking to him at all, how could Harley know for sure that spending more time with him made it even easier for Peter? And it wasn’t like soulmates couldn’t take advantage of each other. In fact, there were enough stories going around about soulmates that danced around the line between hatred and love. And they were always so confusing to Harley, because how could a part of who you are betray you like this? But now he got it. Now it was so clear, because Peter did it to him. He USED Harley.

And Harley could never forget that.

So Harley stayed away and Peter, probably able to feel the resentment towards him from Harley, kept his distance and spent most of his time in Tony’s lab. Which was actually kind of annoying, because Harley wanted to work there from time to time, too. When he did go up there to try and build something in order to get some of his frustration out, Peter avoided his eyes and left before Harley could even ask him to. Right, because with them sharing feelings and thoughts, Harley didn’t actually need to utter a single word in order for Peter to know everything he needed to know.

But it hurt. It hurt Harley so much to think that he missed such a big thing. He had no idea how Peter was capable of entering his mind like that, in such an efficient way, without getting to know each other first. Their connection should have been weak at the start. But with their connection this strong, Harley should have sensed something off about Peter. He should have been able to feel something was wrong. Something was… bad. That Peter was up to no good. Yet he didn’t feel anything like that. All he could feel was Peter’s fear and gratitude. His enthusiasm and optimism. He didn’t feel dangerous at all.

Then again, it did look like Peter’s side of the connection was stronger. He was the one who could control the other’s body. He was the one to naturally send his thoughts straight into Harley’s mind. He was the one who sent his feelings over so strongly almost all the time, unless he seemed to TRY and keep them at bay. He should have known Peter could keep secrets from him with his level of control over what he sent over. He was just too trusting to see it.

“Sulking, I see.” Tony seemed to pop out of thin air next to Harley. The teen blinked his eyes a few times and then looked at him, his lips twisting downwards in displeasure. Tony didn’t seem to mind and just sat down next to him. “Let me guess, it’s about… your PC isn’t as strong as it should be. No, you’re frustrated because your favorite show got canceled.” He tsked with his tongue when Harley opened his mouth to speak and brought up one finger to signal for Harley to keep quiet. “Oh, yeah, now I remember – you and your soulmate are having your first ever fight. Isn’t this adorable?”

Harley frowned and turned back to his steaming cup. Or, well, it used to be steaming. Now it was just lukewarm. “This is anything but adorable.” He stated coldly. “And I don’t even care if he’s my soulmate or not. Peter is a liar and he’s a terrible person that we should have just sent to CPS the moment we rescued him and made sure all of his vitals were normal.”

Sniffing, Tony tilted his hand from side to side. “Relatively normal.” He noted and Harley rolled his eyes.

Yes, Peter wasn’t normal, which was probably why Hydra wanted him. The spider parts of his DNA was put there purposefully. By his own parents. They were both scientists and they created a formula that was meant to enhance the human body to get it to cure illnesses that modern medicine couldn’t heal. Unfortunately, before they could move forward with their research, people came after them – Hydra. So his parents, in an attempt to hide and keep the formula from Hydra, injected it into Peter when he was still too young to realize what was going on.

On any other person, the formula would have done nothing, or hurt them. Fortunately, Peter’s parents created the formula and based their research on their son’s blood. Therefore, when his body was introduced to the formula, it bonded with it rather than trying to attack it. And it seemed to work. Peter had plenty of powers. Enhanced strength, enhanced healing, enhanced senses, the ability to stick to every surface. He even told them all that he had a sense that alerted him to danger. Peter called it his spider-sense.

Tony gave Harley a long look. “Oh, and just so you know, this terrible person you’re talking about? He is now the vigilante that swings around New York to keep everyone safe.” He widened his eyes mockingly. “Ah, the terrible way he keeps men and women from being mugged and assaulted – it sickens me. Especially his tendency to make sure children don’t get kidnapped the same way he did. It’s just such a horrible thing to do, isn’t it?”

He opened his mouth to tell Tony off for being such a jerk about it, but then the words sunk in and he straightened up in his seat, his eyes finally looking away from his cup to take in Tony’s smug grin. “He what?”

“Yeah, they call him Spider-man because of the spider emblem on his chest – which was definitely my idea, even I was only joking.” He said and pulled out his phone to show Harley a blurry, shaky video of someone in spandex swinging from some sort of white substance to land in front of a speeding car that was about to hit a bus. Harley’s breath caught in his throat when the figure caught the car with his bare hands, stopping it in its tracks. And then he swung away again and the video ended. It was so fast, Harley felt like it shouldn’t have contained this much information, but it did. “He came up with the idea and showed me those webs he created. They were off the charts – you’d love them. And then he used some kind of a device to shoot them out, used my help to create a suit and voila – New York’s new vigilante.”

Harley shook his head at the paused video on the screen of Tony’s phone. “You let him do this?” He asked, voice airy from the disbelief he was feeling. Peter just got out of captivity not too long ago. He was sixteen – less than a year older than Harley himself. So how could Tony – the supposed responsible adult – let him risk his life like that?! “Tony, this is dangerous! You can’t be serious. He can’t go out there and save people. What if he gets hurt? Or if something happens to him??”

The deadpan glare he received from Tony shut him up. For now. “Okay, first of all, I’m insulted that you dare even think I just sent a kid out there to fight criminals without being connected to his suit in order to monitor his vitals and know when things go wrong.” He said and Harley twisted his lips a little, knowing that was truly something he should have counted on Tony to do. “And second of all, I promised your mother I’d keep you safe while you stayed in New York. I didn’t promise the same thing about the kid. Do I look out for him? Yes, I do. Do I have to make sure he never leaves to fight off criminals behind someone’s back? Not so much. If he wants to make the world a better place, he can do it. In fact, he’s all over it already. And he’s good. You’ve seen him – he doesn’t need me to try and protect him. He can take care of himself.”

Snatching the phone from Tony’s hand, Harley quickly tapped the screen until he finally got to a map of the city that showed him Peter’s location. He threw the phone back at Tony and got up, forgetting about his full cup of chocolate milk. “Yeah, well, I beg the differ.” And he stormed off.

“Hush, little baby, don’t say a word; mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird; if that mockingbird won’t sing; mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring…”

“Quiet, kid.” The man forcing Peter to move forward scolded and pushed Peter forcefully, making Peter stumble a little with his tied hands and legs. He was already used to captivity. Three years would do that to a person. He didn’t like it, though. And he gave up hope Harley Keener would ever come to try and find him. If his message didn’t mean anything to his soulmate then… there was probably no more hope left to hold on to.

The only thing Peter could do, was to try and be as annoying as possible. Even if that meant they kept on punishing him, at least he made their days a little bit rougher. They deserved it. Plus, Peter’s healing took care of him fast enough so he didn’t need to worry too much. And they wanted him alive, so they weren’t going to kill him or hurt him too badly. He was the answer to some question they had. Some kind of problem. As long as they needed him, he could be as annoying as possible and it wouldn’t matter.

So he kept blabbering on and on about nothing at all. Of course, he didn’t know the answers to whatever it was they were trying to get out of him. He knew it had to do with the spider DNA in his body and he knew it was because of his parents’ work, but he didn’t know the details. He was too young back then to really understand what his parents were working on. And now that the formula was inside his body, it was a lot harder to figure it all out. Which was probably some kind of miracle, because Peter was pretty sure that Hydra with soldiers capable of doing everything he could do… it wouldn’t end well.

So despite being told to be quiet, Peter kept on commenting about the nice weather (he knew nothing about the weather outside, being stuck in this base constantly) and his bursting joy (lies, lies, lies) and the lovely day he knew he was going to have (torture after torture after torture. At least they were predictable). And when he finally was led into the room they wanted him in and was strapped down to a chair, making it impossible to move, Peter asked them what they wanted to do to him this time.

The answer made his skin crawl.

He’s heard stories of the Winter Soldier – an assassin that was once an asset of Hydra but was released by Captain America. And he wasn’t really on their side. The Winter Soldier was just mind controlled to help the organization. He did a lot of terrible things under this influence. And now they wanted to do the same thing to Peter! He fought against the straps, his mouth finally shut and his body straining to run, run, RUN!

They just laughed at him, though, mocking him for his futile attempts at escaping. Peter ignored them. He couldn’t let them brain wash him! He couldn’t let them make him kill people or hurt anyone. His parents and his aunt and uncle always taught him to help others instead of hurting them. He didn’t want to be forced to ignore those words of theirs. It meant too much.

And then everything changed. One moment he was fighting to set himself free, and the next he was bending down and hitting his head against a wooden table that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Peter groaned and his hands – that were free again – came up to his head. Only… what touched him wasn’t flesh, but metal. Peter pushed the pain away to focus on himself. He was sitting in a chair that seemed to be in some kind of conference room. There were no other people around, but that didn’t matter. What did matter was the fact that for some reason… there was a strange red and silver armor around his body, excluding his head.

“What the – “ He cut himself short at the sound of the voice. He’d recognize Harley’s voice anywhere, at this point. The accent, the tone… it was all Harley. Peter closed his eyes for a moment. He ended up in Harley’s body again, somehow. What did it mean about the brain washing process? Was it still possible to do with Peter being unconscious? Was it even easier that way? Will Peter be stuck in Harley’s body forever?? “Where are you, Harls…?”

Getting up slowly, Peter began to walk around, though it was a little disorienting. First, he was so used to being walked around by others in narrow corridors and dark rooms that he was nearly tempted to just stand in place and never move again. Second, Harley seemed to be gaining height over Peter because when he walked around, Peter felt like the ground was a lot further down than he remembered. But he ignored all of that in favor of trying to piece as many things together as possible.

“Harley, your heartrate has elevated.” A formless voice came from the walls and scared the living heck out of Peter. He jumped and looked around to try and spot the woman who talked to him, but there was no one in sight. “Would you like me to alert Mr. Stark?”

Peter stared at the walls. “What the heck…” He shook his head. “Umm… who are you?” He asked and then quickly added, “Just a reminder, ‘cause I’m a little disoriented. It’s nothing, really. Just… entertain me. Please?”

There was a moment of silence, and then the disembodied voice echoed around him again. “I am FRIDAY, Mr. Stark’s personal AI.” She said calmly and Peter’s eyes lit up. An AI? That was so cool! And it was talking to him of all people! Well, it was talking to Harley, but right now he was Harley. “You appear to be a little confused. Would you like me to call Mr. Stark?”

“Mr. Stark…? As in…”

“Tony Stark.”

Peter must have died because there was no way Tony freaking Stark was somehow connected to his soulmate. There was just NO WAY! It was too good to be true. Tony Stark was a genius who happened to also be an Avenger! Even if Peter was disconnected from everything to do with the outside world for the last couple of years, he knew that Tony Stark was a hero. And if Harley really did know him… well, shit.

Looking back down at himself, Peter took in the red and silver armor he was wearing and he gasped. Harley was around his age – probably a year below him, to be accurate. So to think that maybe… maybe he was helping the Avengers… it was unreal. It was amazing and awesome and Peter just wanted to really meet this person SO MUCH!

But then it hit him. Harley was probably a part of the Avengers, if only appearing with them from time to time – since he was still a teenager and not an actual adult, after all – which meant he could get them to come to the base. Right? He could drop clues about it to not let it seem suspicious and eventually they’d get to him and, hopefully, will rescue him. He wasn’t sure this would work and a part of him told him to just try and explain to Mr. Stark that he wasn’t really Harley, but he had to have some hope if he ever wanted to get out of there. And to tell a person that he wasn’t Harley… well, he figured they’d just lock Harley somewhere to keep him safe from himself. Peter didn’t feel like messing up the guy’s life.

So, his mind set on a plan, Peter started going around the room. He used FRIDAY to find everything he needed to leave clues about where he was. He hoped they’d find them and actually follow up on all of this and that it wouldn’t look too suspicious to them. He just wanted to get out of here and that meant being careful.

He was just about to try and get FRIDAY to call Mr. Stark to the room to pretend to show him the new evidence when his world snapped back to his secluded room in the Hydra base. His breath hitched and he looked around. He was back? And no longer strapped to a stupid chair with people who wanted to control him all around? Did the mind control work? Was he back from some kind of horrific mission or was his hands still clean?

“Hey!” He called and banged his hands on the locked door keeping him trapped. “Hey, what happened?! What’s happened to trying to control me like a voodoo doll, guys??” He asked but the only answer he received was that he should shut his mouth.

A week later he realized what happened. The agents thought his powers somehow blocked the mind control, making him immune to it. They had no idea he just appeared in someone else’s body instead of being present in the room where they were going to turn him into a weapon. And he wasn’t going to correct them, either. He was just glad that for now he didn’t need to worry about them trying this method on him again.

That was strange. Harley stared at the open window in front of him and furrowed his brows behind the faceplate of his suit. According to Tony’s phone, Peter’s been here not too long ago, but why would he be in some stranger’s house? Was he breaking into someone’s house? Nah. As upset as Harley was with Peter, he didn’t think the other boy would really trespass like this. Not without a good reason, at least.

Flying closer to the window, Harley peeked in and saw a boy he recognized from his Decathlon team. Ned Leeds. He was a year older and was one of the most brilliant minds Harley’s met so far. Plus, he was really talkative, always ready to chat about the things he was passionate about. They had a few chats here and there during the practice sessions of the team, but they never really got close enough to be considered friends.

Harley stiffened a little when Ned looked up and noticed him. His dark eyes seemed to go large, to the point where he looked like they were about to burst out of their sockets. Harley prepared himself to fly away and put some distance between the two of them, because clearly, Tony’s tracker was damaged or tampered with. But before he got the chance to move, Ned beamed and opened his window, urging Harley to fly into his bedroom. That was weird, right? Then again, Iron-Lad was a known Avenger, if the newest member of the team. And people trusted and admired the Avengers. Ned was obsessed with them, too.

So with a little hesitation, Harley flew through the window into the room. It wasn’t as big as his room in the tower, but it was still nice. And it definitely suited Ned’s personality. The geeky posters, the Lego sets, the Avengers bed sheets. It was all so… fitting. And Ned, bouncing next to him with this adoration sparkling wildly in his eyes. That fit in as well.

“Holy shit.” Ned gaped at Harley like he couldn’t believe Iron-Lad was in his room. Frankly, Harley could sympathize. He felt the same way when Tony crashed his garage, though back then Harley played it cool. As cool as a little boy could, at least. “You’re Iron-Lad! And you’re in my room! What are you doing here? Are you after someone? Do you need help? Are you here because you know I’m the biggest fan of the Avengers in the whole wide world? Can you sign my poster??”

Harley was glad for the faceplate he had over his face, because he didn’t need Ned to see the way he grimaced a little at the adoration of the boy towards him. It wasn’t that Harley disliked the attention he got as Iron-Lad. It’s just that… he didn’t want someone he personally knew to fawn over him like that. But he couldn’t tell that to Ned, so instead he leaned against the wall next to the window and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’m looking for Spider-man.” He said, the name slipping through his lips like it was always meant to be said by him. Spider-man. It was like destiny wanted Peter to become this vigilante guy. And Harley could feel it in every vein in his body. “And according to the tracker in his suit, he was here. Have you seen him?”

Eyes widening, Ned looked everywhere but at Harley. Poker face – not so much. “Me? Spidey? Here?” He laughed forcefully and Harley tilted his head to the side at the panic that seemed to consume Ned all of a sudden. “No way. I wish. I mean, he’s so cool. I mean, obviously you’d know that, but just…” He coughed into his palm and then gave Harley a curious and cautious look. “So… just to satisfy my curiosity – no other reason – why are you tracking him down?”

For a moment Harley remained quiet, unable to come up with an answer that would explain this sudden need to see his soulmate after those two weeks. “I need to talk to him.” He said eventually, tone measured. “About… superhero stuff…” He pursed his lips for a moment. “It’s, uh, classified. So I can’t really say anything else about it.”

There was clear disbelief in Ned’s eyes. “Oh.” He was quiet for a few moments, just standing there and looking at Harley like he wanted him to tell him the truth. Harley wasn’t even sure what the truth was anymore. “See, Spidey was here earlier.” He admitted, but the suspicious look he gave Harley made the younger teen a tiny bit nervous. “But he also said that you and he don’t really get along too well lately.” He shifted in his place.

Harley frowned and took a step towards Ned, his voice becoming a little more urgent than before. “Look, I’m upset with the guy under the mask, okay? But it doesn’t change the fact that I need to speak to him. I just… I have to.” He said and Ned looked around his room, lips pressed together tightly. “I’m not going to hurt him or anything. Just… tell me where I could find him if you know. Please.”

Ned sighed. “I know who Spider-man is, too.” He revealed and Harley’s mouth dropped open. “We, uh, used to be friends before he… disappeared. Actually, we were best friends. And he told me about you when he came back and explained everything that’s happened.” He continued and Harley’s breath caught in his throat. “Not who you are – he wouldn’t do that,” Harley heaved in relief. “But he told me that you’re his soulmate. And that you’re really upset with him right now.”

“I am.” Harley said sternly.

Raising his arms in surrender, Ned nodded. “Yeah, I get that. I do. And I know what he did, too. He mentioned it happening once in the past.” He locked his eyes with Harley and the teen found there was genuine concern shining in them. Ned and Peter used to be friends. Peter visited Ned. He told him Harley was his soulmate! “Look, I know that you must feel really bad because he basically used your body a few times. But when he told me about it the first time, he described it like it was an accident. He couldn’t control it. It just happened to him and then he did his best to help.”

Harley shook his head. “He used me.”

“He was taken away from his life and put in your shoes. It wasn’t his choice – it probably never was. He sounded confused when he talked about it, like he didn’t even know how to explain all of it.” Ned bit his lip and chewed on it for a few moments before sighing. “He never meant to hurt you. If anything, when we were kids he always said he’d do anything for his soulmate if he only could.” He looked down. “He’s probably visiting his uncle and aunt’s place right now. That’s where he goes when he’s upset.” He shrugged and gave Harley a sad smile. “Just think about it from his perspective, alright?”

Looking at Ned’s genuine posture, Harley nodded. “Fine.”

They brought in an expert. Someone that would finally be able to understand how Peter’s powers worked and how to replicate them. And once he was done with him, they’d get rid of Peter. They teased him with those facts, smirking cruelly at Peter to try and break him. And they did it. He had no idea how he was ever going to escape this.

The Avengers never did come. For some reason the base was still peacefully untouched by anyone by Hydra. Meaning he was going to die here in a few days and he had no idea what to do to save himself this time. Was he going to really find his end in a Hydra base? Was he going to make it possible for them to take over? Was he the key to get these bad people their win? He didn’t want to think about it, but what else COULD he think about when his days were numbered?

He always knew he wouldn’t stay in the base forever. But after five years… Peter almost expected the agents to keep him around forever, after all. So much for that pipe dream. He was never going to make it out of here. He was never going to escape and he was never going to get his life back. No, he was going to die here, surrounded by the worst people imaginable. And there was nothing he could do.

Except for one thing.

“I have to do it.” Peter mumbled to himself, his hands tugging at his hair. He was in his cell, pacing back and forth. They were finally leaving him in peace for long period of times since they just had to wait for the man who was going to crack him open and study his secrets. They had nothing else to do with Peter now. “I have to, I have to.”

“But I can’t!” He turned and walked to the other side, his fingers getting his messy hair to become even messier. He needed a haircut. Maybe not too short, but still… more than it was now. Because now it was getting into his eyes and he couldn’t see. “I can’t just waltz into someone else’s mind like that. I’d never want someone to control me. Harley wouldn’t, either. I can’t do this to him.”

He frowned. “But would I rather let his soulmate die? Would I rather let him suffer for the rest of his life when I can do something right here, right now and try and help? I’m not being selfish here – I’m looking out for Harley.” He began to nod to himself. “Losing a soulmate is painful to everyone. Harley would suffer from this. I can stop it now.”

Peter threw his hands in the air. “But at what cost?!” He snapped. There were murmurs from the people keeping an eye on him outside. They couldn’t hear everything he said, but if he yelled, they could make out his words. So he lowered his voice at once. “Controlling my soulmate means crossing a line I’m not ready to cross. When it’s by accident it’s not as bad, but now…” He looked around his cell, his hands shakily tugging at his sleeves. “Now I wanna do it by choice. I’m not sure I can.”

“Time to find out.”

He stopped in the middle of the room and stood there, completely still. His eyes closed and he concentrated on Harley and on the connection he could feel pulsing through him. He had to try. How would he ever forgive himself if he didn’t? So he trained all of his thoughts on Harley and tried to will his consciousness to transfer to him. Please work, His thoughts whispered and his hands balled into fists. Get me to Harley. Let it work this time, please. I have to try again.

When he opened his eyes again, he wasn’t in his cell, but out of what seemed to be a training room. He was in Harley’s body again, but this time it felt different. Instead of controlling the body, he was just aware of what was happening. As if the body was acting on its own. There were thoughts in his head that didn’t belong to him. They were angry and upset and filled with so much… anger.

After Peter let himself listen to them for a little bit, he realized they were all about him. The thoughts clearly belonged to Harley – the real Harley – and he didn’t mention Peter by name, but his thoughts were enough to let Peter know it was him that Harley was focusing on. And not in a good light. Harley was upset at his soulmate for never contacting him. For ignoring him. For not acknowledging and wanting him.

That’s not true. Peter thought desperately, trying to get Harley to hear it. But it didn’t feel like Harley could hear Peter. So instead of calming down, Harley entered the training room. He muttered something under his breath about Tony – Mr. Stark – not letting him join the next mission. When Peter prodded a little he found the information Harley had on the mission. Raiding a Hydra base. The one Peter was stuck in. And it was going to be soon. You have to go with them! Harley, please, you’ve gotta find me!

Again, Harley didn’t seem to notice Peter’s urgent thoughts, but his movements as he attacked the targets in the room became more furious and more lethal. He gave all he had to try and take down the targets and when Peter listened to his thoughts, he realized why. Mr. Stark told Harley he could join if he could finally deal with all of the targets without getting injured. Now he was trying to prove himself, and the thing that drove him was his anger on his soulmate. On Peter.

It felt wrong, but Peter was desperate. So instead of trying to calm Harley down, he flared that anger with his own. Life always seemed to take, take, take from him. It never gave him anything that stayed for more than a few years. And now life itself was about to get taken away from Peter. He was more than allowed to be angry at just about everything. And he was. He was fuming with enough anger to make people without powers crawl up walls successfully. He was angry enough to push through these last couple of years and survive captivity.

So he was angry enough to fuel Harley’s motivation and get him to get through the session successfully.

Harley’s movements were nothing like Peter’s. He was slower and burdened by the weight of the armor on his body. But he didn’t have the same abilities as Peter, so he managed with those limitations just fine. Yet… somehow Peter managed to make his movements just a little more accurate. His spider-sense – that never came to life when he was harboring Harley’s body before – warned him every single time Harley needed to move, and Peter transferred the feeling of danger to his soulmate to make him move in time to avoid getting hit.

Somehow, even with Harley clearly unaware of Peter’s help, they managed to finish the training session with no more targets left to fire at. Harley did it. Peter and Harley looked around the training room and Peter could feel Harley’s astonishment and eagerness. He was proud of himself for fighting so well. And Peter felt the way his own consciousness was trying to get out and back to his own life and body, so he could only hope this was enough to get Harley to come to the mission.

Once he was back in his cell, Peter sat down on the floor with his back against his cruddy bed and closed his eyes. “And now we wait.”

“You can’t be serious!” Harley yelled the moment he spotted Spider-man sitting on top of the apartment building Peter’s shown him, his head swinging over the edge and his head bowed a little as he inspected the street below with his white, wide eyes. He looked like a freaking superhero and Harley didn’t WANT him to look like one.

At the sound of his sharp – slightly metallic because of the suit – voice, Spider-man straightened up, his shoulders tenser than they were before. He didn’t turn to look at Harley, but he knew the boy was now perfectly aware of his presence. Harley decided to stay in the air instead of landing next to his soulmate. He didn’t feel like sharing too much of the same space as him, even with Ned’s words still ringing loudly in his ears.

Seeing as Peter wasn’t about to say anything, Harley went on talking again. “Seriously, this is the dumbest idea you’ve had YET. And that’s saying something considering you tried to get Dum-E to make us all breakfast and nearly blew up the top of the building.” He frowned under his faceplate and Peter shifted in his place. But when Harley focused no the emotions coming from his soulmate, he felt annoyance and irritation rather than guilt or shame. “What’s wrong with you?!”

Peter turned his masked face to Harley, expression hidden behind the red fabric of his suit. Despite his anger, Harley had to admit that the suit and the spider-motif was kinda awesome. He tried to hide those emotions and thoughts, though. The last thing he needed right now was for Peter to know he was impressed.

Why do you care? Peter seemed to almost SHOVE his thoughts into Harley’s brain, as if he was trying to keep them as flat and intruding as possible. If in the past he used this ability with care and gentleness that Harley wanted to copy, now he did the opposite. Had Peter been actually using his mouth to talk, the words would have been spat out in Harley’s face.

He landed on the roof, finally and then, once he was balanced on the concrete, threw his arms in the air. “We JUST got you out of captivity, you muttonhead!” He reminded Peter, because apparently his soulmate was too dense to remember this fact. Peter didn’t even flinch. “And the first thing you choose to do with your spare time is to risk your life all over again? Are you kidding me?!” He huffed out an unamused laugh. “Next time you might not be as lucky, you know!”

Emotions fought over the controls in Peter’s mind and it was so loud and chaotic that Harley could feel it. He nearly drowned in it, actually. But then Peter balled his hands into fists and looked at the horizon. This has nothing to do with luck, Harley. The voice in his head was calm and collected. It was seemingly cool and unnerved. But the emotion hidden behind it was one of suppressed fear and anger and frustration. Mainly frustration. It never did. I just did whatever I could to survive.

Harley squinted his eyes at him. “What does that mean?”

“It means I left clues for where to find me through you!” Peter said and his voice rang around the rooftop and Harley’s head. It was so surreal to hear his voice that Harley nearly stumbled off the roof and pummeled to his death. His faceplate lifted over his face and Harley gawked at Peter. The boy didn’t look back. “I didn’t mean to take over your body like that. I really didn’t. It was always an accident. Something would happen that would make me freak out and I’d blink and find myself in your life, living through you.

“The first and second time I treated it mostly like a dream and didn’t really do much. I just took it as a blessing since I could get away from whatever was happening in my own life. But then I realized it was probably real and that you must be my soulmate for me to suddenly… become you.” He sniffed and shifted a bit. Harley took a step forward, though his shoulders were still tense and his body was ready to bolt. “When I got taken I found myself in your body again and I left you a message. I guess you didn’t pay it any mind, though.”

Eyebrows furrowing, Harley thought back to that day he woke up in front of his computer after falling asleep while playing a video game, which was weird but not alerting in the least. When he woke up he saw what looked like someone else’s words written on the screen. He blamed Abby for it, thinking she was pranking him somehow and ignored it completely. His heart beat faster in his chest. Did Peter really try and call for help only for Harley to dismiss it like it was nothing?

Slowly – agonizingly slowly – Harley made his way to the space next to Peter. The boy didn’t even twitch when Harley stopped next to him.

“They never let me get near pens because they knew I might write something to you and give my locations away, so the one time I did find myself with an available pen, I tried to write something that wouldn’t look too suspicious.”

Harley thought back to that one, single message. 202. That’s all. But if he stood in front of a mirror… 505 looked suspiciously like SOS. His head was getting lighter and lighter. Foggier and foggier. He needed to sit down, so he took the spot next to Peter. The boy finally turned to him and pulled his mask off his face. He looked desperately at Harley, silently begging for the younger teen to believe him.

Honestly, he couldn’t not believe him. The words rang true and his gut feeling was that Peter was being genuine. Plus, something deep inside of him – probably Harley’s soul – was pounding steadily inside him, whispering in his mind that it was true. It was all true, true, true. And Harley was just too dumb to understand what was happening, wasn’t he? No, he thought his soulmate wanted nothing to do with him this entire time when in actuality, his soulmate was begging for his help in the only ways he could.

Licking his lips, Peter looked uncertain and his fingers began to fidget. “The last time… I did do it on purpose. I’m sorry.” He whispered the words out, like he was afraid of Harley’s reaction to them. Ned’s voice rang in Harley’s mind again. “He always said he’d do anything for his soulmate if he only could.” Those were Ned’s words and finally Harley let them really sing in. “They said that this guy was about to come and finally figure out how to replicate what my parents’ done to me and that after that they were going to kill me.

“I didn’t know what to do and I knew my days were numbered. But I also knew that if I were in your shoes, I’d hate being taken over like this so many times. It’s just that I didn’t have any other way of getting anyone’s attention, so I willed myself to do it again and be you long enough for me to get you or the other Avengers to know that you needed to show up and fast,” He said and Harley bent his knee to be able to face the boy fully. “But instead of being in control I was just inside your head. You were in control and you couldn’t even hear me.

“The Avengers were already going to go on that mission to bust the Hydra base but you weren’t going to join them because Mr. Stark didn’t want you to.” He pressed his lips tightly together and then let out a slow breath. “I could hear your thoughts. You were so angry at me for never contacting you and at the Avengers for not letting you come along, so… I combined my fear and frustration with yours and helped you train to make Mr. Stark take you, too.”

Harley opened and closed his mouth for a moment and then gulped. “So that was really all me?”

A soft, understanding smile appeared on Peter’s face and he nodded. “You were amazing. I just egged you on.” He tilted his head to the side as if trying to remember something else. “Ah, and used my spider-sense to alert you a couple of times.” His smile disappeared. I was so sure you already knew about this, though. I didn’t even think you were oblivious to all of this. And I never meant to hurt you by doing this. I didn’t even control it.” He locked eyes with Harley. “I’m sorry.”

They broke eye contact and Harley found himself looking over the view of the city along with Peter, feeling like he was at war with himself. A part of him still wanted to blame Peter for entering his mind like that and using him like a puppet. But he believed him. Peter couldn’t control it the first few times, and the one time he did initiate it, he didn’t even control Harley – he just helped him. And it was to try and save himself from Hydra. It wasn’t even for the sake of it – it was a life or death situation, and Harley would have said yes had he been asked to do it in advance. It’s just that… well… Peter couldn’t ask for his permission while being locked in a jail cell of an evil organization, could he?

Another part of him – a larger, more prominent part – knew that Peter was telling the truth and that he didn’t mean to make Harley feel bad. He just did what he had to or rolled with what happened to him without making a fuss. Honestly, Peter could have probably done something that would have sent Harley straight into a mad house for life. At least he was discreet. Plus, there was this one time he was pretty sure Peter just completed Harley’s test for him. He tried to help.

Biting his bottom lip thoughtfully, Harley drew his brows together. “All of this doesn’t make it right for you to go out and put your life in danger all over again.” He said sternly, his voice only wavering a little bit. Peter’s eyes widened as if he’s forgotten what Harley was even there for in the first place. Harley sighed. “I get that you’re a good person and want to help, Pete,” The use of the nickname made Peter’s lips quirk up. “But I don’t want you to end up in trouble again. Not after I finally found you.”

Nothing’s gonna happen to me. Peter’s thoughts said, gentle and soft again. When Harley’s skepticism flowed over to him, the older boy chuckled and turned to face Harley again. “You can always join me when I go out, you know. Then you’ll be there to see if I need any help. Plus,” His pale cheeks gained a bit of color. “It could be fun to hang out together again.”

Harley shifted his weight from side to side, thinking this over. “I guess I could keep an eye on you.” He mumbled and Peter grinned. Harley had to fight his own muscles to keep his lips in a flat line. “And it might, you know, be a little nice to hang out. A little.” His gaze hardened as he locked eyes with Peter. “But you have to promise me you won’t do anything too crazy because I CAN’T let anything happen to you again.”

There was a bright twinkle in Peter’s eyes. “All I wanna do is come running home to you.” He belted softly, voice cracking a little. He was definitely not a singer.

“Are you seriously quoting The Flash at me?” Harley deadpanned.

“Technically, I’m quoting Grant Gustin.” Peter replied cheekily.

Harley scoffed. “I can forgive you for taking over my body unwillingly, but if you actually like this series, I’m gonna dump you right here, right now, darling.” He stated and Peter’s eyes twinkled before he leaned his head on Harley’s shoulder, a ringing kind of laughter coming out of his mouth and filling the air between them with the best sound Harley’s ever heard before.

And he knew they would be fine.