Tragedy in Tennessee - A Parley/Parkner Story

Chapter 8

Peter's POV- 

-6 weeks later-

Peter knew being with Harley was like a dream. Everything was going well. They spent all their free time together and whenever he went on patrol, Harley was always there to greet him when he got back, no matter how late he was. 

He should have known Parker Luck would catch up to him.

Peter swung into his room after patrol, expecting to see Harley waiting for him, but instead there was a note with one sentence.

"You know where to go, Pedro."

That nickname made Peter's blood run cold. He growled and swung out the window towards the collapsed and abandoned warehouse he'd been trapped under at Homecoming. He landed in the middle of the rubble to see his boyfriend, collapsed in the center with blood running down his temple.

"There you are, Pedro." Toomes said from behind him. Peter's breath sped up at the name. "I was wondering if you'd never come for your precious boy toy." he spun. 

"He is not a toy. What did you do to him?" He sneered.

"Oh, just a couple cuts with a knife coated in arsenic." Toomes said with a deadly smirk. Peter tensed and immediately ran to Harley, checking for a pulse and pulling him up into his arms.

"You bastard." He hissed. Toomes grinned and lifted a pistol.

"Say goodnight." He laughed and fired at Harley's barely breathing form. Peter moved at lightning speed, shielding him with his own body. He cried out as the bullet tore through him and shattered as it hit his rib. He gasped in pain as the metal shrapnel dug into his arteries. He growled and webbed a piece of rubble, spinning and crushing Toomes under it without a second thought. He hoisted Harley up, securing him against his side before swinging home through the pain. He swung straight to Tony's lab and stumbled to one of the tables as Tony looked up.

"Oh my- What happened?!" He yelled, standing and rushing to them. 

"Toomes- Arsenic poisoning- h-help him." he choked out before collapsing.

-Time skip-

When Peter woke up, he felt a familiar hand holding his. His eyes fluttered open and he turned his head to see a pale and bandaged Harley asleep in a chair beside his bed, hand locked into Peter's. But his gaze was quickly pulled away from Harley when he saw blue glow coming from his chest. His breath quickened and he lifted a free hand to push the hospital blanket down. He choked on tears as he saw what gave the glow.

There, in the center of his sternum, sat an arc reactor.

"Hey, hey, it's ok." He heard Harley say.

"W-what happened?" Peter whispered.

"Y-you took a bullet for me. It shattered against one of your ribs and..."

"Sent shrapnel into my arteries..." Peter finished.

"Yeah." Harley whispered. "Extracting it was too risky, as your healing factor was acting too quickly and we don't have a way to safely dampen it, so... this is what we had to do." 

Peter took a slow breath and closed his eyes. His right hand ran over the curves of the reactor as he heard Tony step into the room.

"Hey, kid." Peter opened his eyes at that. Tony smiled slightly. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I have a giant hole in my chest." He joked weakly. Tony chuckled.

"You saved my life, Peter." Harley whispered, eyes trained on the ground. Peter looked at him. "W-why?"

"Because I love you, Harley." He said, not even thinking about the words that he was saying.

All he knew was that they were true.

"I-I love you." He laughed slightly. "I-I love you more than anything, Harley. I-I saw you hurt and... nothing else mattered except keeping you safe. No matter the cost, I was making sure you got out of there alive." 

Harley was looking at him, shocked with tears swimming in his eyes.  He sniffled then moved forward and kissed Peter softly. When he pulled back, Peter smiled. 

It didn't last long.

"o-oh my god... I-I killed him." He whispered.

"No, you didn't. He's alive... Injured, but alive and in the hospital restrained until he can be sent back to prison." Tony said. Peter breathed out in relief and closed his eyes, reclining back. 

-time skip-

Peter healed over the weekend, then sighed as he got ready for school on Monday, staring at the blue circle of light that shone through his shirt in the mirror. He felt Harley's arms come around his waist and he relaxed, smiling slightly. Harley smiled at him through the mirror.

"We need to leave in 5 minutes, love." He whispered. Peter nodded and grabbed a flannel, slipping it on. He glanced at the reactor through his shirt again. "It'll be fine, love." 

Happy drove them to school, and like normal, the crowd's parted to let Peter and Harley through. Ned waved then froze.

"Dude, w-what? What the hell happened over the weekend?!" He whisper-yelled when he saw the arc reactor. Peter smiled.

"Toomes." He said. Ned frowned. "He got out of prison and managed to kidnap Harls. I met him at the old warehouse he collapsed and..." He took a slow breath as Harley hugged him. "He'd poisoned Harley with arsenic... Harley was close to dying, and... Toomes tried to shoot him so I took the bullet. It shattered against my ribs and sent shrapnel into my arteries... It was too risky to do surgery, so..." He motioned to the reactor. 

"Geez, dude..." Ned said softly. "You can't catch a break, can you?"

"Parker luck." Peter said, shrugging.