If Souls Return (Then Tell Them I Say Hi) - Tony Stark's Daughter in Gotham

Chapter 6: Starting On the Wrong Foot

Amberly sat in a small group with the classmates around her. They were supposed to be talking about recent political tensions that the Justice League were involved in, but she couldn't pay attention.

Her sole focus was on Harley across the room. He'd meet her eyes every few seconds. She desperately wanted to speak with him.

Amberly needed to know if he had arrived in Gotham at the same time she did and if so, where had he been? Maybe Harley would have an idea of how to get them home. He'd known Tony years longer than her, that had to count for something.

The bell finally rang, and Amberly waited in the hallway for Harley. It felt like forever as she stood by the door. He was one of the last students out of the room.

Harley found Amberly and immediately hugged her. "I can't believe I found you," he said.

"You're really here," is all Amberly managed to say as tears bubbled at the side of her eyes. She tried to take him in, giggling at Harley in the ridiculous preppy uniforms they were wearing. It was something she thought he'd never be caught dead in back in New York.

"I'm here," he confirmed. "I didn't think I'd find you. I wasn't sure if you had. . . I'm glad you're okay."

"You were looking for me?" Amber questioned.

The pair somewhat separated as students were giving them weird looks in the hall. Harley looked uncomfortable by the stares too and pulled her along to walk with him.

He leaned down when he spoke to her. "I tried when I could, but there wasn't much to go off of. I saw you get swept away before me and was hoping that we ended up in the same place."

Amberly looked down at the walking boot protecting Harley's foot and remembered how she'd landed in Gotham. "Were you injured when you got here?"

Harley stuck out his foot to look at it himself. "Yeah, spawned just above a playground. My foot hit some of the metal monkey bars on the way down. I don't have a great memory of the incident, but I remember looking up at them when I came to. Wasn't my best moment."

"Gosh Harley," she sighed. He didn't seem too upset about it, actually having the nerve to joke about the foggy memory. If anything, that made her feel worse.

She was so happy to have Harley with her, and it made Amberly think. If Harley traveled with her did that mean anyone else could have been pulled through too? The only other person close enough to get sucked in would have been maybe Peter. Harley had a grip on her arm, but Peter was only breaths away.

"Do you think we're the only ones?"

"No clue," Harley said looking away and biting his lip.

That was when she noticed how truly affected, he must have been by everything. Harley would put on a strong front for her sake, but the bags under his eyes told a different story. The private school was strict with their policies, and if Harley hadn't started until the second week, that might mean he needed extra time to physically recover. She was sure there was more than what he was sharing with her.

Amberly didn't want to push him when he probably didn't know more than she did about their current situation. Leaving him to go to her next class was going to break her heart, but she didn't have a choice as the warning bell sounded.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "We can talk more at lunch. I'll save you a seat."

Harley looked up and faintly smiled.

Getting from her class to the cafeteria was torture. Once out of sight of any teachers who might scold her from running in the halls, Amberly broke out into a jog. She didn't even care about getting food, making a beeline for her normal table.