|Towards the Endgame|

•Chapter 78• Jealousy Jealousy

Harley's eyes widened – further than he thought they could reach – when he spotted Tony stepping out of the car with Y/n. He waited patiently for her to come inside with her father, feeling his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Tony Stark was here! He could feel the little kid inside of him jumping up and down excitedly. Tony Stark.
"Keener?" Tony pointed at him and made a face as if he tried to remember him. Did he not remember him? "Uh yeah. H-hi, mister Stark." Harley waved awkwardly. "Long time no see." So he did remember him. But clearly not from the last time they'd run into each other. "Actually we saw each other before. When you got out of the machine and... Y/n almost blew up?" It might not have been the best idea to bring that up. Did he really not remember that or was he making a joke? "Oh, so you did help my daughter with that."
"Uh, well, I- I tried to stop her." Harley found himself lost for words for a split second. Was Tony mad at him? Tony couldn't be mad at him. Fortunately, Y/n stepped in. "Dad, don't be mean. Lee, my dad wanted to see the facility and what we're working on. You look tired... I thought I told you to sleep in?" Harley was still tired. He had dark circles under his eyes – nothing too bad – and he'd yawned three times already since they came in. He was a little pale but Harley was always pale. "Yeah, I woke up and I couldn't go back to sleep. Thought you'd be gone a little longer." He caught Tony shooting a glare at his daughter. "Separate rooms, Dad."
"Just making sure," Tony said and turned back to Harley with a nod and... a smile? Could you call it a smile? "Lee, we're taking it easy today, remember?" He looked at Y/n again. Her tone was a bit like a mother talking to a child as softly as possible. "Yeah, I just wanted to get out of bed. I just checked on the- the things. They're all still in place." He wasn't certain if he could mention the drones in front of Tony. Y/n wanted to keep most people out, including her father. "The things?"
"We're working with drones. We altered their code a bit so they have a mind of their own, in a way, and protect the city better. They are able to detect threats through buildings, even scan underground, without invading anyone's privacy." She explained to her father. That wasn't a complete lie. They did have to make some adjustments to the codes and drones themselves to upgrade them to this level of scanning. They are programmed to look for certain things – say a villain or a threat – through anything in a specific area.

Tony nodded along as he listened to his daughter's explanation. "That is pretty amazing. But altering my code and drones?" There it was. Never liked it when someone tempered with his toys. "Technically speaking, they're my drones. And they've already been changed twice. Once by Quinten Beck, once by me to undo all the changes he made." Harley had forgotten about Mysterio. Y/n clearly still remembered. Could she still be planning on doing something – an act of revenge – to him? With Y/n you never know. Tony pointed at Y/n. "You need to find new friends. They somehow always mess with my tech." He said. Harley scratched his neck awkwardly and bit down on his bottom lip. "Beck was not my friend. He was Peter's friend. Oh, and Nick Fury's friend, Dad. Which, he still claims he knew, by the way." She addressed and looked at Harley. "He still doesn't own up to it?" Harley questioned. Y/n had told him all about Nick Fury. Including whenever he made a mistake and failed to own up to it. "Not a chance." She laughed, "I'm going to show my dad around. I'll make you two some coffee in the kitchen."
"I'll finish this up and meet you there," Harley said as he made his way over to the desk where the Edith glasses were hidden. Luckily, Tony hadn't seen them. Y/n would have his head for that. "Sounds good. Don't overwork yourself, please. Dad? Follow me." Harley watched as the Starks left for a trip around the facility. He was happy that Tony was here. He would have a chance to talk with him again. An actual conversation. He wondered what Tony would think of the facility. With his daughter in charge, he must be proud.

She showed him every square inch of the facility. The bedrooms, the training area, bathrooms, you name it. Even a small garden that was hidden from everything else. She rebuilt that from the original blueprints. Natasha asked for it, apparently. Overall, Tony seemed to approve of what she'd done with the place. When they passed through the hallways again with the bedrooms, Tony turned around and walked backward so he could look at Y/n as he spoke. "See you've changed some of the layout." There were fewer bedrooms now. Peter mentioned it as well when he got the first tour. "Yeah. I figured that we're with a lot fewer people now... might as well make some areas bigger. Bigger bedrooms for more privacy and space to live in. A place to retreat. I know Wanda enjoyed her time in her bedroom and that's why we gave her a slightly bigger room compared to Clint's." Everyone wanted to be comfortable around here. It was harder for Wanda. Tony nodded along. He remembered very clearly that Wanda didn't ask for anything but she needed it. Steve reached her most of the time. Natasha maybe even more. Anything to make her more comfortable even if she wouldn't tell him what made her comfortable. He'd find out one way or another. "Looks pretty good, kid." He complimented Y/n. The whole building looked more like home than it did before. Little things such as change of color on the wall, or more natural light, more plants. It didn't feel like a training center. She did a good job. "Parker got a room?"
"Mostly sleeps in mine. Sure you'd love to hear that, Dad." Y/n wiggled her eyebrows playfully at her father to tease him. "Yeah, no. Let's say he uses his room all the time, okay? Yeah, okay. Sounds good." He wanted to walk away and wipe this conversation from the earth's surface. He did not want to get images in his mind. Y/n laughed at him. "He has a room. I've been thinking about testing some of the Spider-Man abilities. His room is made to keep him inside and others out with a press of a button. It's all for safety." Peter was not a huge fan of tests. He refused to let anyone test his abilities like they did with Captain America, The Hulk, Wanda Maximoff, and even Tony himself. "Even with spider strength?" Peter questioned. "Even with Spider strength. Enforced the walls, windows, and everything. It would be safe to keep him in there in case something goes wrong."
"Probably the best option. Good job. How did you find out if the material was strong enough?" He wondered how she'd managed to find something that strong. "I let him smash through some prototypes. He almost broke them all, though, so it was difficult. The kid's stronger than you think. We used other things too. Barnes' metal arm, for example-" Tony nodded along. "Vibranium." He cut her off. "Strongest metal on Earth. But Pete's spider ability makes him just a tad stronger. Remember, in Germany, he was able to stop Barnes' attack with one hand?"