parker au where harley forgets peter, too.
He feels like he just moved, too. But New York City is too big and flashy, and he was already doing so well Upstate. He just couldn't be there after what happened with Tony, but it's been almost a year now. Abby is asking when heâll be back, and honestly he doesn't have a reason to even be in the city.
He needs to get off his ass and fix things. He has a degree in biomechanics and could build his own Iron man suit by fourteen, and the last year has just been lolligaging. He thought he could get more work done in the city, and no longer can he find that sentiment.
When he was snapped back to reality, the worst feeling of his atoms rearranging themselves in the matter of moments after being scattered across the universe, he barely had a moment. He had been in his M.I.T. dorm, nearly done with the year, and all of a sudden people where /surrounding/ him. In his bed that didn't quite look like his bed anymore.
And it wasn't just him. In a matter of moments, the entire campus was in chaos. People coming back in bucketfulls, not knowing what was happening. Haphazardly he was explained that he was gone and now he was here, legally dead for /five years/. And when he found out about it he dialed Tony first. Somehow he knew Tony would know all the details Tony would've been the reason it was fixed, he was just so sure.
But when Tony didn't answer, he called his Ma. She also didn't answer, so he called Abby. Abby answered. Abby was also possibly much older than the last time he saw her, and somehow that didn't click when he first dialed her number. He didn't expect the fully grown voice from the other line, when it picked up.
While he explained, he only focused on a handful of things -- especially given her explanation was a little slow, with disbelief. One, he focused on the odd fact how his phone still worked ( Had a working number? ) came to the easy conclusion that it was the fact he had F.R.I.D.A.Y. connected. Two, the simple fact of how the world would work now. Would people just go in for new IDs? Where people in planes falling from the sky? What about cars? Busses?
And Harley really should've been listening a little more because he was too caught up and completely caught off guard when his sister told him world-changing news.
âHarls, mom is gone.â
Heâd stopped everything, and it echoed in his head as he was taken to a temporary area on campus, until they âknew what was happeningâ. It echoed as after the fight -- the fight that was second to nationwide news -- a car sent for him. Abby said sheâd been living with Pepper and Tony for a while, said that they took them in. Which was crazy, somehow, but he felt numb hearing it. His mom was dead. Heâd been gone for five years. His mom was /dead./
And then Tony was in a coma. A long, life ending, coma where if Pepper wasn't genuinely the richest woman in the world he wouldn't have still been hooked up to machines. In their own home. They didn't have a funeral, but the Avengers stayed around the compound for a day or so with flowers in his room and offering condolences. Because even though physically he wasn't dead, he might've well been. No brain activity. A half-charred arm. Harley couldn't even thank him for taking care of Abby all these years.
Steve fucking Rogers of all people came to tell him he was sorry. He didn't say for what, and despite Harleyâs jaw clenching -- knowing what he did to Tony before -- it was obviously meant for a catch-all. An, âIâm sorry for everythingâ. Everything he might've been feeling in a world that wasn't how he left it. His momâs death that somehow he assumed Rogers somehow knew about -- since he seemed all buddy-buddy with even Rhodey now. Tonyâs⊠/state./
Harley, not knowing what else really to do, stayed by Tonyâs side for those few days. Didn't leave the room often. Didn't accept Abbyâs requests to talk. She was a whole different person that Harley could only look at and see the spitting image of their mother. Their dead mother. He didn't often accept the food Pepper gave him, unless she looked really sad about it and he relented, for the fact this was her /husband/ he was beside. He sometimes listened to Morgan read her books to Tony. She looked so much like Tony and Pepper, it was sweet until it reminded him of Abby. And reminded him of his mom. And then he was at square one.
Sometime after that he decided to move to the City, despite commandeering a room at Pepper and Tonyâs home. M.I.T. was newly allowing students to take a their final exams if they felt ready enough, or take the year over for the students who 'blippedâ, and he was quick to be over with it all. He took his car -- which Tony had apparently kept in his garage -- and drove back to Massachusetts to get a feel for what he wanted to do, and on the way back had it all planned out. Heâd go to New York City.
Stark Industries no longer owned the huge building in the centre, but Research and Development was still running in the lasts at the Stark Expo. Exactly what he needed. Since the Expo was in Queens, he moved into a little apartment nearby and went everyday to figure out what he could do. Tony once told him Asgaurdian âmagic' was their science, and that spurred him into thinking his abilities were limitless. Not to mention, if someone could compleatly cure a persons ailments and give them super-healing and other super-ness with a cup of serum and a handful of rays, Tony could definitely be saved.
He thought of everything. Super-serum, mutant blood transfusion. x-genes, and even touched on pure magic by talking to âthe Sourcerer Suprimeâ, but nothing. Nothing would work. F.R.I.D.A.Y. would run the simulation and it'd only half work at most.
Now, he realized heâd tried everything he could think of. He needed a fresh set of eyes, and Abby was about as smart as him. He should be implementing things, asking Pepper about his ideas. Anything that wasn't sitting in New York City with nothing there for him.
God, he felt how much being there physically drained him. He felt like heâd run a marathon, the morning after deciding he wanted to move back. He had to tell Pepper. Tell Abby. Pack his things. What not.
When looking in the mirror, he even had a random cut on his lip he didn't remember getting. Deep, too. Would probably scar, which would either look really cool or really ugly but it wasn't far along enough to tell. Plus, deep bags under his eyes. He hadn't slept well for the last few days, and it /showed./
He still showered and dressed, knowing he still would have to go to the lab, and messaged Happy if he was in the area.
Harley and Peter had been together during the events of No way home. Harley is planning on going back to upstate new york with Pepper and Abby, before he sees someone new in the lab. they're fidgeting and kind of look like they don't belong, so Harley -- technically speaking being one of the lab techs -- approaches him and asks if he's new. he says no, more fidgety, and Harley having never seen him, asks for his badge just in case .
he gives it over, and to his surprise he's high ranking as well. the person the stammers that they're from a different decision, and Harley gets deja vu about the whole situation. the same man, stammering and obviously lying about where he's from and where he's supposed to go, but all of his information being stupidly truthful and legit.
harley let's him off, but with how tired he's feeling he asks for the personâs help closing out a lab station.
he asks why, but helps. harley tells him he's leaving the city. doesn't explain further but somehow knows the person wouldn't mind if he did.
while they're shutting things down, printing forms and friday is taking inventory on everything, it comes to harley. he's shutting down his files when he sees the first one. Mark ii of the potato gun, the first file. Imbedded in the design ins the flash grenade tony gave him all those years ago that he used on an AIM guy.
And the he's thinking about Aim and Extremis and he has to physically pause everything because holy shit extremis is the key.
he knows it must be somewhere in Fridayâs files, because if they cured pepper from having it then they had a base to work off of.
the person he's with is just as shocked as id he knows what harley will use it for, or who harley is -- even though he didn't seem to -- but harley doesn't focus on that. Harley calls pepper immediately, despite having called her in the morning about the move.
she's apprehensive, and tells him theyâll have to fix it a little so it isn't as much, but she isn't opposed to trying as long as it can heal him and they can take it away after.
he stays in new york for a few weeks while trying to remake it, and the person he sees from across the lab all the time but they don't make another move to talk to him despite glancing over all the time, and when he's finally done with the vile and the antiserum. he says goodbye to the few friends he made there, Mj and Ned, visits happy one last time since he seems sad about a woman he knew that had passed, and leaves finally.
when he gets to update new york, he waists no time and within a day, two after he arrived, Tony is fully serumed-up.
he wakes up, and it's such an occasion, till he asks pepper if she can call Peter.
peter. he insists the person's name was peter. harley doesn't know a peter. actually, he thinks the only peter he knows is the guy from the lab but tony def is not talking about him he's just a random SI scientist.
he insists on peter, and when that doesn't land he finally doubles down on âSpider-manâ.
harley is a little weary, but tells him what all happened to spider-man. how he was wanted and killed some guy named quintin beck, and a woman that he couldn't quite remember the name of. Tony seems confused and almost horrified at this, and asks pepper to call happy and ask about peter.
happy doesn't know who peter is, either. then tony asks about a âmay parkerâ and apparently happy knows about her. or knew about her. she's dead, died in an accident with spider-man.
Tony gets up, since he's pretty much all well now despite how pepper insists he should rest a bit, and leaves to a storage room in the cabin until he finds a box of things. peterâs things, apparently. he finds a photo, finally, and harley is shocked to see tony and the person he met at SI. he tells him he met him at SI, honestly, but he didn't know that was the peter tony was talking about. tony imedeatly suspects magic or something, so he calls strange and strange knows nothing.
tony insists he make a portal to the sanctum right that instant, and strange is like âim not ur fucking servantâ but does it anyway since he does remember spider-man in his sanctum a few weeks back.
tony feels nothing but dread, as he insists he also makes a portal to peter, eventually, and finds the teen sheepish in a too small apartment eating very sad and soggy looking cereal. At ten at night.
he can't stop looking between strange and harley as he says hi to tony in a definite âso dont get madâ tone. glances at harley once more before asking if he can speak to tony in private. tony somehow relents, but comes back only a few minutes later seathing and yelling at strange for âyou let a kid take the fall for your fuck up??â and harley gets the story pretty quick from his angry tirade. he's just kind of standing there though. peter parker. spider-man. made everyone forget about him to save the world after stephen strange fucked yo a spell for something stupid insead of just saying no. or, like, contacting pepper. she would've known what to do after spider-man's identity got leaked. she's pepper potts. it all sounds a little out there though, and harley thinks back to the moments of him talking to peter in his lab, meeting him for the first time, before something clicks.
he asks, âWait, had we known each other?â he's curious, because sometimes peter knew a little too much it seemed and also was the first person who didn't actively engage with him in the lab after that first day when harley approached first. he remembers, too, the deja vu, and somehow the look on peterâs face says everything.
âWe did, didn't we?â Harley is sad in a detached sort of way. he doesn't remember at all.
peter says he knew ned and mj too, and it breaks harley's heart a little more with the smaller new perspective. imagine having everyone you knew forget about you.
and then it gets worse when, just for the sake of making it all real, he asks peter if he has a photo. he does. he has one of two other peter parkers apparently, ned, mj, himself, and harley and it's clear it was taken by ned while no one was looking. harley takes in the image, copying every aspect to memory because even though he can see himself laughing at something he doesn't remember it and it's an out of body experience. he doesn't like the feeling. to not remember. he's standing beside peter, the first peter, and harley notices something about the picture with that shot of them. they're standing pretty close, eating something at nedâs -- his mom probably made them eat something before whatever happened that was so big enough to cause this, knowing her -- and there's a familiar chain around Peterâs neck. Somehow, Harley hadn't thought about it in the last few weeks, but thinking about it now he hasn't seen it anywhere. he was so busy, he missed it.
it's a long silver chain, with a silver wedding band and rose charm on it. A necklace Harley wore after knowing his mother died. it was her ring on a chain. not a wedding ring, she didn't wear that after their dad up and left, but it was something sheâd found on a beach the single time they visited a beach at all. North Carolina, Kitty hawk. She had been digging, helping Abby make a sand castle, and found a silver ring. tarnished, but she cleaned it up and wore it around for the longest time. she took it off, though, eventually. put it on a chain as a reminder, but she wore necklaces barely ever so she didn't wear it after that. Harley took that necklace when he found out his mom died. Abby hadn't worn it, and a lot of their mom's keepsakes like that Tony and Pepper still had. Harley had worn that for a while, and sometime though the year held just stopped. Harley honestly thought ge put it in a drawer somewhere. maybe in his nightstand for safe keeping.
In the picture, Peter was wearing it. He was wearing it and standing next to Harley too close and Harleyâs face fell as he looked up to see any signs of it on the peter before him. A chain sat under his shirt, but part of it was visible.
âI gave you her necklace.â he realizes what happened far too quickly. hes one of the smartest people in the united states. He even rivals Tonyâs genus, the man has said himself, and yet⊠this is baffling.
He knows the answer, but he can't solve the problem. it's supposed to be simple math. it isn't.
peter seems to have not understood how he got that, judging facial expressions, but he lowers the phone and untucks the chain.
âYeah.â he says, sounding wrecked in the worst possible way. âYou did.â he's almost holding back tears, but one slips out before he very quickly wipes it away and takes off the chain in one quick motion.
he tries offering it back, and harley notices the other two looking at them now. tony has stopped yelling at strange and they're watching everything unfold. they're slow to catch on but they do eventually.
âWe whereâŠ?â Harley asks, because he can't even think of saying the name. he doesn't remember and it's driving him insane. Peter nods. Spider-man nods. his heart is racing with anxiety. what does he do with this.
he asks peter how long. peter says they met after the fight with thanos. he sounds painfully reminiscent when he says they spent a lot of time together in tonyâs room. peter tells him that harley had the thought to go to the SI labs because Peter had to go back and two minds was better than one, otherwise he would've stayed back Upstate. Harley feels the sinking sort of something when he realizes it must've been why after forgetting him, he planned to go back.
Harley feels a little ill.
Tony cuts in, after a beat of very uncomfortable silence accompanied by festering nagging thoughts, if there's a way to fix this. Strange says he doesn't think so, but after a glare from Tony he says he can look into restoring select memories but he can't reverse the spell.
it makes harley realize his current memories are simply all false, and wonders if theyâll change how he feels about Peter Parker. if heâll fall headfirst back into a relationship with someone who, currently, he feels like he doesn't even know. if their relationship was that strong enough to override current thoughts.
if /i/ wrote this, iâd probably end it there. open ended something. but if i did further thatâd probably be a chapter end at the very least ( like a two chapter thing. )
the second ending would've been them talking. harley thinking on the information, talking to ned and mj -- despite them deserving to know, also waiting for a possible memory renewal thing from strange to even think of doing it himself.
he wonders a lot about his relationship with peter. he wonders through his apartment thinking of peter was ever sitting in âthat chairâ or used âthat <insert item>â and it gets to him. he invites peter over and they talk some more, and harley doesn't know if it's his old self seeping though via feeling or if talking to peter is /just that easy/ because over the next few weeks he finds himself falling for peter.
falling, falling, until they kiss. something chaste that brings tears to peter's eyes as he tells harley he 'doesn't have to do that just because they were in loveâ, and harley has the honour of telling him that he wasn't.
and they kiss and kiss a few more times, until the feel of peterâs lips feel familiar again, and slowly while they're kissing Harleyâs memories come back in bursts.
and Harley suddenly remembers.
harley, incredulous âdid you just âtrue loveâs kissâ me?â and then slightly narrating him for not just /telling/ harley. harley would've probably belived it and in that case the kiss would've worked a whole lot sooner. within the next moments of hugging and kissing in joy and sadness, harley knowing how peter was alone over these last few weeks without may, strange intrepid them by portaling into the apartment.
he says he meant to come tell peter he fixed the spell, and peter and harley are like âoh so not true loveâs kiss thenâ and wetly laugh despite the situation.
they're laughing and within minutes also get calls from ned and mj. and everything is somehow sitting right on its axis again. the world keeps spinning like it always does. and harley finds the awsner to his earlier questions are resounding yesses. he would've loved peter no matter what. their love was in fact that strong. and even if it was very confidently timed, he likes to believe with how his memories came back, it /was/ the kiss.
the end. that is all i hope you all enjoyed. again will not be writing this ( probably ) and if i do it wont be until much later ( i just posted chapter seven of âyour sweet face is turning coldâ my parkner vamp au and need to work on chap 8 BADLY so this is just a silly idea for now. so if you wanna write it, please send it to me id love to see this come to life . toodles ! :D<
edit: oh my god i didn't realize this was 3.5k words... my bad