If I Could Say I Love You

Twenty Third Chapter

"I got Harley to start eating a few days ago, he's starting to get better, healthier. So now it's your turn," Steve said, looking inbetween Tony and Natasha in the lab, as they poured all their attention to pieces of paper and their holographic computers. They hadn't ate in a week at least, and nothing Steve could do was going to convince them they should.

"Steve, I had a theory a few days ago, and now we're working on it, we are so damn close to a breakthrough," Natasha said, waving away Steve with her hand as she pointed towards something on Tony's screen.

"And what could this theory be?" Steve asked, genuinely curious what would take up so much of their time. Steve picked up the two plates he had brought in earlier, throwing them away in the trash can.

"That Peter was kidnapped, and he knew he would be. Now, that sounds weird and unbelievable, but Natasha has found some solid evidence that had me convinced," Tony said with a shrug, not even looking up as he scribbled some numbers on a page with a pencil. He muttered something to Natasha who nodded, inputting whatever to her own computer.

"It's been a month and a half since Peter left, and your still worked up on this? Look, what if Peter just doesn't like Harley anymore, what if that's just the case. You're getting worked up over something that may not even be right, and your killing yourselves by doing so," Steve shook his head, trying to force feed Tony the food. Tony was waved Steve away, momentarily giving him a weird look before working again.

"But what if Peter has been kidnapped? That's a month and a half that he hasn't gotten food. We spent an entire week with him, we know about his quickened metabolism," Natasha pointed out quietly, not wanting to think like that. But even still, she subconsciously reached for her food, a ham and cheese sandwich, taking slow bites out of it.

"One down, one to go," Steve muttered under his breath as he stared at them working. They looked so focused, so hyperactive with an energy dedicated to Peter. Steve hoped that their energy wasn't going to waste, that they wouldn't fall off the bar they had set to high.

"Tony, please, eat something. I'm not asking you to stop working, I'm asking you to multitask," Steve said, pushing the plate towards Tony, who barely even looked at, busy typing away at whatever was in front of him.

"Anthony Stark, I will tie you to a chair and force feed you myself!" Pepper yelled standing at the doorway. Steve jumped in surprise, but Tony and Natasha didn't even flinch. Tony grabbed the sandwich, eating it slowly but surely, indicating that he heard his wife.

"Thanks, Pepper," Steve said with a sigh, thankful that Tony and Natasha were finally eating. They weren't recovering any time soon, but they would definitely get there. Harley would also get there, probably sooner than the two adults.

Steve couldn't say that he didn't miss Peter. After the dragon battle, Peter had stayed a whole week at the tower, letting everyone see him for who he was. Steve genuinely liked Peter, finding him to be a good person, one that would definitely take care of Harley.

And Steve couldn't say that some part of him didn't want to believe that Peter had a solid reason for leaving. That he still loved Harley, wherever Peter was at the moment, and that Peter would come back.

But Steve saw the effect Peter had on all of them, and Steve knew that if Natasha and Tony ended up being wrong, that Peter just didn't love Harley anymore, than their entire lives might shatter beneath them. That they had hope to large for their own good, but Steve knew that he was going to be there to help pick up the pieces, whoever they weres and wherever they landed.

Pepper just wanted her husband and son back. Yes, she had been just as broken at first as them both. But she had to pull herself together for Stark Industries, to pull herself together for her family and friends. But she hoped that they wouldn't crack again, Pepper hoped that everything was going to be alright.

But it was a lose-lose situation. If they were wrong, they would shatter and Harley would still be heartbroken and scarred from his first love. But if they were right, and Peter was kidnapped, who knew what he would be like now? What the kidnappers would have done to him? There was a chance Peter would never love again, and that would break Harley even more.

Pepper and Steve didn't know which one to hope for, Natasha and Tony hadn't thought about the consequences, and Harley wasn't sure what was happening, just that he missed his Peter.