~Iron Family~

Guest Starring Happy Hogan

Tony fell asleep inside the fort-tent while he waited on Harley to come home.

When he finally did, it sure woke him up.

The door banged open and Harley stormed in, throwing his athletic bag to the floor. Tony jolted awake, rolling over and taking the tent with him. He grappled for the entrance while Harley threw down what was probably his bat, but he couldn't see anything through the blue fabric.

When he finally emerged, Harley was standing by the tent, fuming. He was covered in dirt, the eye-black on his face was smeared, and his helmet was tucked under his arm.

"Ahi," Tony said, struggling to untangle his legs from the tent. Hopefully he could set it back up by the time Morgan came out for second-dinner, as she called it.

"How was conditioning?" he asked as he pulled a stuffed animal out from under him. Harley balled his fist and gritted his teeth.

"I'm done with baseball," he seethed. "It's so stupid! I don't know why you made me do it in the first place!"

He tried to storm off, but Tony pulled himself up off the ground and grabbed his arm.

"Hey, Tiger, slow down! We didn't make you do baseball. I just said you should find an activity or a sport or something. You didn't have to do baseball, you could've done robotics lab. At least I could help you with that one."

Harley yanked his arm out of Tony's grasp, tears forming in his eyes. "I just--" his voice broke and Tony leaned down to be eye-level with him.

"What happened?" he asked gently.

Harley took in a shaky breath, looking down at Tony with tear-filled eyes. "They called me an orphan," he whispered.

"No," Tony hugged him. "Harley, don't listen to them. They're just big dumb idiots who can't tie their shoes. Worse than Jar Jar Binks."

"But everyone listens to them!" Harley cried, stepping away from Tony. He clenched his helmet in anger, as if he could somehow bend it and make it pay.

"Hey, kid," Tony said gently, "I understand bullying. You know how many times I got kicked around in--"

"Bet no one ever called you an orphan, did they?" he spat.

"Actually, I am technically in orphan," Tony sighed. "I'm just over the age of eighteen."

"Exactly!" Harley yelled, tears streaming down his face, taking the eye black with them. He was slowly backing away from Tony. "You've always had it all! A caring father, mother, and family there for you!"

"My father was not caring," Tony interrupted sternly. "Now, I can go kick those bullies' butts, or we can sit and talk about it."

Harley suddenly threw his helmet down on the floor, turned around, and dashed upstairs into his room. Tony heard the door slam, which created a few cracks in his heart.

***

I'm going to change it up because this chapter needs to be a bit longer. Here is a bit from Happy's POV >:) Enjoy!

(Also just fyi this is the same day he took Peter out for ice cream)

Happy Hogan was frustrated.

Everyone around him was going so slow, as if they didn't know how this business operated! The aggravation it brought him was immeasurable.

He was briskly walking down a hallway, his polished black shoes echoing as he marched. He had places to go and things to do, and that little 'check-up' with the Parker kid had cost him a lot of time. He would have to make up for it this weekend, he was sure of that.

He didn't know what came over him when he took him for ice cream and to get his hair cut--he had felt an unfamiliar emotion stirring in him, one that he would preferably lock away and let Tony take care of.

He decided that before he had another cup of coffee and started on his 'Forehead of Security Business,' he needed to make a quick stop in the bathroom to wash his hands. Who knew what kind of things the Parker kid had touched?

When he went up to the sink to wash his hands, grumbling about the quality of the soap, something glinting in the garbage can caught his attention. He tore off a paper towel and, as he dried his hands, peered down into the bin.

He slowly reached down, using the paper towel as a glove, and pulled it out.

It was a small vile, not unlike the ones he had seen Dr. Banner use.

There was a drop or two of dark red liquid at the bottom, with the same red residue on the side.