Hold Onto Me 'Cause I'm a Little Unsteady

Chapter Sixteen

Harley makes it all of three miles down the road before he's forced to pull over, tears blurring his vision to the point of being unable to see the road ahead of him.

Peter's passed out in passenger seat. Harley grabs one of Ned's sweaters from his backpack and carefully pulls it over Peter's body before he straps his watch onto Peter's small wrist so he can track his heartrate.

His phone is dead, and Peter obviously doesn't have one so his only option is to drive straight until he makes it to a gas station or a pay phone or something so he can call home.

Peter doesn't move, but he finally does stop shivering as bad once the hoodie is tucked around his body and the heating of the car is on. His face falls into one of relief as though he's been shivering for a very long time.

It takes a good ten, fifteen minutes, before Harley's calmed down enough to continue driving, tears still blurring his vision, but not as bad as before, and breaths a little less shaky now that Peter has the watch tracking his vitals.

It's another hour before Harley finally spots a gas station ahead and he pulls haphazardly into the empty lot. There's an old payphone by the building and Harley fishes some miscellaneous change out of his worn wallet, hoping more than anything that Peter will be fine in the car while he makes the call.

It rings and rings and rings and then-

"Hello?" It's Morgan answering Steve's cell which seems vaguely weird, but it still makes Harley sob in relief that someone's there and they'll help him.

"I found Peter," Harley says, jumping straight into it. "I found- I found him. He's in the car and I- I don't know what to do."

"Oh my-" She cuts herself off and her voice is farther away from the phone when she shouts, "Papa!"

There are a few long seconds of silence that feel like an eternity for Harley whose shoulders are shaking with his sobs.

"Harley? What's wrong?" Steve demands. "Is everything okay?"

"I found him," Harley cries, knees trembling with the weight of holding himself up. "I found him and I- I don't know what to do. Please. I need- I need help."

"You found him?" the super soldier asks, suddenly on high alert.

"I was in Virginia," Harley chokes out, needing to explain it. "Layover. And she was there. Elodie was there. She took me back and Peter was there, and she helped us get out. I just- I need help. He's hurt, I think. I don't- I don't know. I need help."

"You're in Virginia?"

"Tennessee." Harley's legs nearly give out and he has to grab onto the edge of the pay phone to stop himself from falling to the concrete.

Steve takes a deep breath. "Take him back to your house. I'm going to call your dad and we'll be there as soon as we possibly can. I'm sorry for putting you in a position like this, but I need you to be strong for a few hours and remember your first aid training. Try your best to keep him comfy and relaxed and if the worst of the wounds, you need to fix them up."

"I'm sorry," Harley whimpers. He hates himself for being so weak, but he can fix this. He can fix this. "I shouldn't have said those things to you or to Dad. I'm sorry. I love you, guys, I really do. And I'm sorry I left."

"No, honey, no. This is not your fault. You don't need to apologize for any of it," Steve says. "Everything's going to be okay, okay? We love you."

"Love you too, Pops."

*

"You need to get home right now," Steve says, desperation coloring his voice. He's already got Sam on his way from Brooklyn and a quinjet ready to go. "Like right now, right now."