Do you really know Harley Keener?
[•Major angst towards the end]
Everyone always thought they knew exactly who Harley Keener was, everyone thought they knew exactly what type of person Harley was. He was an engineer and graduated from Midtown High last year. He was a natural brunette, tall and straight, was he not? Everyone thought they knew the boy who grew up in Tennessee, the boy who’s father left when he was younger, the boy who cared for his younger sister, the boy who met Tony Stark when he was younger. You may also think you know this boy, but ask yourself again, do you really know Harley Keener?
There were only two people who felt like they truly knew Harley Keener, said people going by the names Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. They had immediately taken a liking to the kid’s confidence when they met him 4 years ago, Harley was confident yet quite kept to himself, exactly the type of person S.H.I.E.L.D was looking for.
It had started with Harley doing simple paper work, which evolved into Harley helping with mission reports to eventually moving his way up the ranks to join Nat and Clint as one of S.H.I.E.L.D’s best spies, but before we go down that route, let’s take a look back shall we?
“Harley, I’m sorry- I love you.” Those were the last words Harley heard from his sister, Abbie, before he left for New York. He was originally going to live with Tony Stark in the Avengers Tower and well, that plan backfired? Harley would just live out on the streets because there was no way he was going back to Tennessee, especially not back to his mum and his traitor of a sister.
It took a few hours but eventually, Harley was sitting in the back of a car squashed between two other people, a blond guy with a black and purple suit on sitting on his left and on his right was a red haired woman, also in a black and purple suit. Harley didn’t know who they were, all he knew was that Tony was close to tears when he sent him into the car with the three strangers. Driving the car was a guy with an eyepatch, Harley was fairly sure he had seen him before but alas, he couldn’t remember.
It seemed to take forever but Harley now found himself following the two strangers who were laughing away and kept looking at him with swift glances over their shoulders. Harley hadn’t ever really felt judged in his life, but he was guessing this is what was happening currently. When the two came to a quick stop, Harley was slightly startled but tried to keep his cool as they turned to look at him.
“So, Keener.” The red headed woman’s tone was dark, almost threatening. Despite her clearly trying to make him anxious, Harley tried to keep his cool and after a few moments, the red headed woman let a smile appear on her face and stuck her hand out in a hand shake, which Harley gracefully excepted. “I’m Agent Romanoff and this here is Agent Barton, welcome to the team”
“Hey Stark? Did you miss us?” Natasha spoke with a hint of laughter playing through her tone, she was flanked by Clint and Harley either side of her as they walked into the tower’s penthouse. Tony popped his head out from where he was in the kitchen, a wide smile on his face. “Romanoff! Barton! It’s been a while, how have you guys been?”
Tony hadn’t noticed the taller blond standing behind Nat but the moment his eyes landed on the blond a shatter of a mug could be heard. “H-Harley?” Tony asked, he hadn’t seen his kid in what felt like decades, even if it had only been a year or two.
Harley smiled brightly as he made his way to Tony, immediately pulling his father figure into a hug. “Looking older than I remember” Harley spoke, trying to remain calm as he didn’t want his dad to see him cry. Tony didn’t mind letting the others see him cry, well, if he did it sure wasn’t stopping him from full on crying right there. “I see you still haven’t grown up” Tony smiled softly, pulling Harley even closer to him, as if Harley was going to slip away from him again. “I’m not going anywhere any time soon, old man”
“Keener- lay low, try not to get injured any more than you are now, okay? I trust you-“ Clint spoke softly the blond before following Natasha off into the dark, leaving a slightly panicking Harley behind. He bit down on his lift, shifting ever so slightly which caused him extreme pain. Harley had fallen trying to escape the enemies, which he had decided left him with either bruised or broken ribs.
Harley let out a whimper of complete and utter pain, he knew he shouldn’t have came on this mission, after all he wasn’t long out of the training scheme. He should have just listened to Clint, who was pretty much like a dad to him now, after all Clint was usually always right.
“Hey Tony? Can you pass me my Apple juice please?” Harley asked as he lay on the couch, his eyes half shut and his torso bandaged tightly. He let out a slightly wheezy breath before taking a sip of his apple juice and smiling up at Tony. “Thanks for looking after me- I could have just stayed with Fury, you didn’t have to do this.” Harley furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Tony.
“It’s alright kid, your lucky Peter hasn’t found you yet, he’s all for helping people... especially you, Kid” Tony ran a hand through Harley’s hair before being interrupted by the sound of books crashing to the floor and a high pitched squeak. Tony looked towards the figure, a smile resting on his face before standing up. “I’ll leave you two alone.”, and with that, Tony was seen no more.
“Harley- oh my gosh- what happened? You’re drinking apple juice- that means-“ The figure, who Harley had now successfully realised was Peter Parker, who carefully caressed his cheek before planting a soft kiss to his forehead. “What happened Harls? Are you alright?” Harley let out a small whimper noise as he leaned into Peter’s touch. “I- I got hurt Peter, my ribs are broken, I think, Tony wouldn’t tell me- he only told me to relax- it- it hurts a lot..” Harley whimpered even more, relaxing the moment Peter started to gently massage his scalp.
“Oh Harls, what are you like...” Peter whispered softly as he gently sat on the couch and pulling Harley’s head into his lap, his eyes closed as he just enjoyed having Harley back, he had missed him a lot.
“Agent Coulson! Be careful- please-“ Harley shouted out just before Coulson had gotten shot. He let out a silent string of curse words as he raced over to his partner. “Hey- Hey- Phil, you’re alright- I’ve got you- it’s okay, I’m proud of you, j-just stay with me, okay?” Harley whispered to the agent, applying pressure to the wound in his shoulder, trying to keep it from bleeding out and effectively killing Coulson. “Agent #02648 is down, I repeat Agent “02648 is down, I need an ambulance or at least a medical kit.” Harley pretty much yelled down his com, praying that someone had the medical kit with them.
“Kid, try to remain calm, we’re on our way.” Clint answered, and within a couple of minutes, Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton were by his side. Harley was panicking, completely panicking. No one had ever gotten shot before, well not since he was part of the team. He felt sick to the stomach, he didn’t want to look at his partner but he had to, he had to make sure Coulson stayed with them, they couldn’t loose him, not after what he had done for Harley. To keep him safe.
“Harley! Don’t hit me with that bullshit! That could have been you! I- I can’t deal with you constantly being in danger- what is you died Harley? What if you died out there and I wasn’t by your side-“ Peter was crying, he wouldn’t look at Harley too scared to see his other half beaten up and covered in blood. Agent Coulson’s blood. The thought of how Harley would look made Peter want to be sick, he wanted to run away and hide. When he was told one of the agents on the mission got shot? He thought it was Harley trying to be all heroic again. He couldn’t think about having to live on without Harley at his side. What was he supposed to do? What if Harley got hurt next time?
“Peter- please just at least look at me. I’m okay and I’ll never leave you again. I- I love you Peter” Those last 4 words had Peter’s head snap up in an instant, Harley had been the first to say ‘I love you’. Peter glances up at Harley, the streams of tears only getting worse but he immediately pulled Harley into a hug, almost strangling him with the amount of pressure that he was using. He didn’t want to leave Harley. Not in a couple hours, not in a few days, not in a decade. He wanted Harley to always be there, but would he be?
There was smoke. Too much smoke. They knew he was there. There was no where to go. He was trapped. Harley took a deep breath and he pushed an injured person behind him, taking another deep breath before launching himself at the attacker, knocking them out.
His whole body went cold, a pulsing pain in his side. He couldn’t move, all of his breath getting trapped in his throat as he tried to register what had just happened. His vision was getting darker, he was swaying, or was he falling? He didn’t know. His head hit against the concrete floor, darkness washing over him in one quick movement.
“What do you mean he’s dying?” Peter stared at Tony with wide eyes, tears streaming down his face, his voice croaky and gross sounding from not using it. He crumbled into Tony’s arms. “He promised me he’d be careful! I- I have to go see him-“ Peter pulled away from Tony, despite his father figure’s words of wisdom, he ran out of the lab, not stopping until he got to the med bay, walking into the room where Tony told him Harley was.
Peter almost passed out when he saw the numerous amounts of machines Harley was hooked up to, listening to the sound of the heart monitor instead of focusing on Harley’s barely beating heart. Peter almost passed out when Harley’s heart stopped beating, he let out a loud choked up noise, not wanting to cry as he watched doctors and nurses rush in and start to preform CPR. Peter almost passed out when it took 2 minutes too many to bring Harley back. Peter almost passed out when he realised that he may never have Harley back.
Harley’s eyes hurt, his eyelids felt heavy and he wanted to go back to sleep. If it wasn’t for the little squeezes of his hand he may have gone back to sleep, he gently squeezed the hand, which he knew belonged to his husband, which was holding his. He let out a small groan, forcing his eyes open even in the slightest bit.
“Harley? Omg- Harley- you’re awake- I- I can’t- oh my god-“ Peter started to babble, tears streaming down his face as his free hand was placed against his mouth in a form of gasp. He moved his hand from his mouth, placing it in Harley’s hair. “I- I can’t believe you.” Peter muttered softly, not wanting to wake Tony or disturb Harley too much.
Harley tried his best to lean into Peter’s touch, closing his eyes again. “I’m sorry, I- I love you.” He whispered, trying his best to move over a bit, pulling Peter into the spot next to him by the best of his ability. “I love you so much Pete, I’m so sorry.”
Peter only wrapped his arms around his husband, trying not to touch his stomach or side. “I love you too Harls, now get some sleep and we can talk about this later.” Peter said, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Harley’s head, playing with the blond’s hair until said blond fell asleep. “I’m never letting you leave again...”
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