The End Game | MCU FanFiction

Chapter 25

Tony eyed the teenager as he strolled through the living space, looking at everything as if it would jump up any moment and do something hi-tech.

"So, what are you going to do with him now?" Steve asked, also looking at the teenager. Tony sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean, I'd send him home, but I don't think that's possible." Steve looked at his friend, confused.

"What do you mean?" he questioned. Tony looked up at him.

"Well, if he could just be home, he wouldn't be here. Right?" He explained. Steve let that sink in while watching the kid.

"Alright, so what if he stays. What are you planning to do with him?" He said after a moment. "I mean, with school and all, he can't just stay here and do nothing. And if what you say is true, then he can't go back either." Tony sighed.

"I know, I- um, I haven't really gotten that far." He said rubbing his forehead. The past, what, month? had been extremely stressful, and he was exhausted. Steve noticed, and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Hey, why don't you get some rest? We can discuss all of this tomorrow." Tony looked ready to protest, but Steve cut him off. "Don't worry, we'll get the kid a room. Tomorrow, you can go talk to him, discuss this further with him." Tony simply nodded, not being able to find the strength to argue any further. He stood up from where he had been seated at the kitchen island and dragged himself to his room.

Harley looked up when he saw Tony walk out. He was ready to sprint after him, when a hand stopped him. He looked up to see Steve smiling at him.

"Where is he going?" The teen asked looking as the mechanic disappeared out of sight.

"Tony's going to bed, he's had a lot on his mind lately, he needs some rest. We'll give you a room close to his, okay?" he said, his smile never faltering. "Now, it's late. Why don't we all just go to sleep and talk about this tomorrow?"

Harley looked at the spot Iron Man had just disappeared around a corner, and nodded. Steve waved at Rhodey, who was cleaning the cups of coffee, and walked the kids towards Peter's room, since that was empty now that Peter was with May.

Harley found it strange that there was a kid's room, but didn't think about it much. He too was tired as it was well past midnight and a lot of things had happened that night. Add to that the long trip from Tennessee to New York, he was really tired. It was quite obvious because of the fact that he was being brought to bed by Captain America and he didn't even fangirl about it.

Just before Cap could walk out of the room to get to bed himself, he was stopped by the small voice of Harley, who was sitting straight in his bed.

"Wait," Cap turned around, patiently looking at the teenager on the bed. "Where does Tony sleep?" Harley asked with a small voice, looking way younger than 17. Cap smiled at him, pointing into the big hallway.

"Just walk to the left, the first door on your right." he said. "If you need to, just come to him. I'm sure he won't mind. He seemed quite fond of you." he said with a wink, earning a small smile.

Just before he closed the door, he heard a sleepy "thank you" coming from the now dark room. He smiled. Tony could really find the sweetest kids...

--

Tony woke up with a start. He sat up straight in his bed, stretching his body. He saw the time and fell back with a grunt. 7.00 AM was way too early... He couldn't catch a normal amount of sleep these days, but this was just annoying. It had been too late last night to be up so early.

He noticed the presence of someone else in the room, and his eyes shot open again. He turned his head to the door, and saw Harley standing in the doorway, wearing Peter's pajamas. He immediately sat up straight again and turned to be sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Sorry for waking you up..." Harley said in a small voice. He did't sound like the sassy kid Tony had met in Tennessee, threatening him with a home-made potato gun. He immediately grew worried.

"Harley, what happened?" he asked, concern lacing his voice. Harley looked down, hesitating in the doorway. He fiddled a bit with his fingers, rocking on the balls of his feet, not answering Tony's question.

Tony sighed, motioning with his hand for the kid to come over.

"Come here, kid."

Harley hesitated, but walked towards the bed, not bothering to close the door behind him. Tony patted the space next to him on the bed, the boy carefully sitting down.

"Start talking, kid." Tony said, not unfriendly. Harley swallowed, still not looking up at the mechanic.

"Two days ago, I woke up to an empty house. I thought they my mom was just taking my sister somewhere, but I couldn't find a note. I searched the whole house, but found nothing. I waited a couple hours, but they didn't come back." He swallowed audibly, before continuing his story.

"It had been about 5 hours, when someone knocked on the door. I found it a bit strange for my mom to knock, because she had keys herself. But before I could open the door, I heard a crashing sound from outside. I looked out the window, and- and-" he stopped for a second, taking a shaky breath. Tony put a hand on his back, rubbing small circles. He'd noticed it calmed Peter down, so why wouldn't it work on Harley? It seemed to calm the boy down enough for him to continue.

"I head a sound from outside." He repeated. "When I looked out the window, I saw that they had destroyed the shed, and all my stuff in it. The knocking became louder, and I started to get scared. So I ran upstairs and grabbed my backpack, taking necessary stuff and my potato gun-"

"You still have the potato gun?" Tony interrupted.

"Upgraded potato gun," Harley said, not quite managing to keep the pride out of his composure. His smile fell, however, when he continued the story. "I climbed through the secret door in my room so that I was in between the walls. That's how I escaped. I took a few buses and trains to get to New York, because you were only one I thought I could reach."

"And then you saw the robbery." Tony guessed.

"Then I saw the robbery." Harley confirmed with a nod. "I wanted to just keep walking, but they seemed bad. So I grabbed my gun out of my bag and followed them. But once I realized they had very good tech, it was already too late to go back. I shot a few in the legs, but that seemed to only piss them off. So they broke my gun and held me hostage while they robbed the bank. That was until you guys came." he smiled, remembering how hopeful he'd felt when he'd seen the small group come for him. But again, his smile fell once he continued. "I hoped you'd help me find my family..." he said, finally looking up at Tony, who's heart broke at the look in the usually so excited eyes. He gave a sad smile.

"I will do everything I can." he said, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Now, why don't you get dressed, and we'll talk about this after breakfast, alright?" Harley nodded, and slowly walked over to the still open door. But before he was halfway, he turned around to thank Tony with a more hopeful smile, giving Steve a chance to silently slip away.

--

Harley walked back to the room he stayed in for now, grabbing his backpack. He pulled out some spare clothes he'd brought with him from home. He quickly put it on, not wanting to be alone for any longer. He wanted to feel the safety of someone he knew and trusted being around him.

He stopped midway through putting on his shirt when he heard the sound of someone quickly walking over to his room. The footsteps seemed rushed, and too fast to be Tony or Steve. No, these footsteps sounded like one of a kid. He'd just slipped the shirt all the way down, when the door opened. He turned around, staring at the person it the doorway.

"Who the hell are you?!" Peter yelled in surprise.