Free From HYDRA

Chapter 17

"HARLEY?" STEVE, ALSO KNOWN AS CAPTAIN AMERICA, looked at him in shock. "When did you...we were still trying to find you!"

Harley turned from his chair, his mouth full of cereal. "Um, yeah. Well, we escaped and ran here...for, like, an hour."

"We?" Uncle Steve went around the counter, reaching for a glass.

"Yeah, me and my long-lost brother," Harley agreed, thinking that his dad had already told Steve that he had found Peter after his chat with Harley's friends.

Clink. Crash.

Harley glanced up as Steve stared at him, glass pieces littering the floor.

"Uncle Steve?" Harley asked worriedly.

"Peter?" he demanded.

"Yeah, Peter Parker Stark." Harley shrugged. "Dad didn't tell you?"

"No he didn't!" Steve exclaimed. "Peter's here? At the tower? Where is he?"

"Infirmary," Harley said. "He got shot." He tilted his head. "Dad seriously didn't tell you?"

"No. He didn't," Steve said almost angrily. He stormed out of the kitchen, heading for the infirmary. Harley slipped out of his seat, concerned, and followed his uncle, spoon still in hand.

They made it to the infirmary in a matter of minutes, where Harley's dad stood outside of, talking to a strawberry-blonde woman.

"Mom?" Harley asked, a smile present on his face.

She looked over Tony's shoulder and her eyes welled up with tears. Having been in three conference meetings that were back-to-back, all in different places around the world, she had skipped her last one to come home to see Harley.

"Harley," she said, moving to him briskly. She engulfed him into a hug, bringing him tightly against her. "I'm so, so glad you're back. I wanted to come home days ago, but they wouldn't let me leave-they didn't know I had a son that had gone missing..."

She rambled, and Harley smiled against his mom's shoulder, wrapping his arms around her. But then he frowned at her singular use of 'son'.

"Son?" he asked, meeting his dad's eyes.

Tony winced.

Pepper pulled back, confused. "What?" she asked, looking between Tony and Harley.

"Pep," Tony started awkwardly, glancing at Steve who looked at him without sympathy, "um, there's something you need to see."

"Tony, you're scaring me." Pepper looked down at her son. "Harley. What's going on?"

"Pepper," Tony grasped his wife's arm. "Come on."

He dragged her into the infirmary and Harley quietly followed, knowing that Steve was right behind him. He watched as his mom stopped in front of Peter's bed, and she glanced at Tony in confusion.

"Tony...what...?"

"Look at him, Pep. Look at him."

Pepper did, and Harley could see her gaze travelling over Peter; she stared at his brown hair, his closed eyes, his jaw and his facial features. Recognition flared in her eyes and she closed them, like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

A tear traced down her cheek and she opened her eyes.

"It can't be," she whispered. "Peter?"

"Yeah," Tony said quietly. "It's him. Peter Parker Stark."

Pepper shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks. "My baby," she whispered hoarsely, a hand reaching out for her youngest son that she hadn't seen in twelve years. "He's...he's grown."

Her fingers curled around Peter's hand, and after a couple seconds, his hand shifted to fit into hers. Pepper cried harder when she felt it, and Harley went over to give his mom a hug.

"I can't-I can't believe it," Pepper said softly. "This...this is him, right?"

"Yeah, Mom," Harley said, smiling. "We found him."

"No," Tony chortled. "Crazily enough, he's the one who found us."

"How?" Pepper asked.

Tony shrugged. "Kid won't tell us," he said, pointing at Harley. "Says it's Peter's story to tell."

"When will he wake up?" Pepper questioned.

"Cho said in a couple hours," Tony replied. "And that was around two hours ago."

"I can wait a couple hours," Pepper said softly, looking at Peter lovingly. "He's back...after so long, he came back..."

~ Lyn

Words: 650

I don't know about you guys, but I found this a little wholesome. Now, the real story starts!

I'm not entirely sure about updates, since they're very irregular, but I'll try my best to publish my chapters as soon as I can.

Please remember to vote/comment/share!

Love y'all lots! <3