disclaimer: I don't know anything about regenerative engineering or genetic biology all of this is based on like five minutes of googling lol

➶

"Okay, how about this? Flight or invisibility?"

Robin scrunched up her nose in mild distaste at the question. Harry had shown up at her door an hour earlier, his eyes puffed and red, and goaded her into leaving the comfort of her blanket-burrito with the promise of ice cream.

Of course, she would have come either way due to the state of disarray her best friend seemed to be in, but it was a little troubling that she could be convinced to do almost anything for ice cream.

"That's, like, the most basic 'would you rather' question of all time," she admonished, taking a lick of her strawberry cone.

Harry scoffed, shifting slightly from where he sat beside her on the metal bench outside of the ice cream parlor they frequented and brandishing his own salted caramel ice cream dramatically.

"Clichés are popular for a reason," he defended, "Just answer the question, little bird."

Robin tilted her head to the side in thought, debating the pros and cons of each option.

"I don't think I'd like flying very much," she pondered, "I hate heights."

"Says the girl obsessed with birds," Harry mocked her fondly.

"You can admire something and be different from it," she looked up at him, smiling, "That's why we work so well, isn't it?"

Harry's eyes softened exponentially at that answer, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders casually.

They fell into a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Robin smiled softly at a pigeon across the street, watching as it bobbed along haphazardly.

"Did you know that pigeons keep their young in the nest for two months before sending them into the world?" she babbled, "It makes their survival rates much higher than most birds."

"No, why would I have known that?" Harry laughed.

"Maybe because we live in New York?" Robin chastised him, elbowing his side softly.

"Guess that makes them better parents than some humans," the boy mumbled darkly.

Robin glanced at him chastely, trying to analyze his features. She had guessed her friend's sour mood had arisen from another altercation with his father, but approaching that particular topic was always a balancing act.

"We have that field trip tomorrow," she tested the waters precariously, "I wonder if Norman's gonna make an appearance."

Almost immediately, Harry retrieved his arm from around her shoulders. He attempted to mask the knee-jerk reaction by getting up and tossing his ice cream in the trash, but Robin analyzed the way his jaw clenched tightly and made a note to breach the subject later on when things had settled more.

"I still don't understand why you always insist on eating ice cream outside, even in October," Harry muttered grumpily after he returned to his seat beside her.

Her lips threatened to break into amused smile as he burrowed into his bomber jacket, the tip of his nose an adorable pink.

"I like the cold," she explained, "It's familiar."

She blinked in confusion after she said it, her brain clouding over in a hazy mist that she desperately tried to push through.

Even after years of adjusting, Robin had not been able to tell anyone where she came from or what had happened to her.

Due to the state she had been in when her adoptive mom had found her at the hospital and the lack of a head wound, countless doctors had chalked her amnesia up to trauma. They insisted it was her brain's way of protecting her and that she would remember when she was ready.

However, to the girl, the block felt more corporeal than mental.

She recalled confusing fragments of memories, usually through dreams, but any time she tried to sequence them together she would get horrible migraines.

Harry knew of his friend's frustrations well, often being on the receiving ends of calls in the middle of the night detailing bizarre happenstances the girl remembered.

"Maybe you're from Finland," he offered, "It gets freezing there, you'd fit right in."

"Maybe," she smiled at him tiredly, though it sounded completely wrong when she toyed with the idea.

"I'll take you there someday," he insisted, his eyes sparkling, "We can see if anything jumps out to you in person. Even if it doesn't, the hiking trails there are incredible. I'll add it to the list."

Harry kept a long list of things for the two to eventually do together, and he was constantly adding things with little regard for practically. It had started the first day they met, when he promised to take her ice skating at Rockefeller center when she had insecurely admitted that she had never been.

Robin's heart twinged at the determined look on his face.

"I'm not going anywhere, you know," she said gently.

"What?" her best friend looked at her in confusion.

"You're always adding things to that list of yours, like you're afraid if you ever run out that I'll stop being your friend," she looked into his eyes, "But I'm not leaving you. Not ever."

Harry's shoulders were stiff, as though she had delved into all his insecurities at once. His eyes glistened slightly as he delved forward, pulling her into an encompassing embrace.

Robin smiled against his chest, wrapping her arms around his torso in turn.

"They say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day," she cooed teasingly against him.

Harry scoffed, but only tightened his hold.

"Shut up, dork."

➶

"I wanna go back inside."

The six-year-old looked pleadingly at a man who regarded her with little expression besides a hint of annoyance.

They stood atop a tall building, perched dangerously close to the ledge. Soft flurries of snow clung to her dark hair, and she shivered violently against the cold. Despite the frigid temperature, her torso was clad only in a thin shirt with two vertical dashes in the back.

"All you ever do in your room is stare at that inane bird," the intimidating man bit out, "The fresh air is doing you some good."

"But I'm cold," she chattered out, her arms encircling her waist as though it would provide her some warmth.

A spark of fury flashed in her handler's eyes, but he masked it just as quickly and knelt beside her.

"It's only for a few minutes, Robin," the name the man spoke still seemed wrong to the girl, that wasn't her name it's not her name this was not her home, but she knew better than to protest at this point, "The sooner you cooperate, the sooner we can go inside."

He had, at least, made a small effort to come across as placating or concerned. While it hadn't worked, it did relax the girl slightly when she realized he wasn't resorting to the same methods as some of the crueler guards in the facility she had been in for the past three years.

She nodded hesitantly, prompting a wicked smile from the man with the strange symbol on his chest.

"Finally," he drawled, before reaching out and pushing her off the side of the building.

➶

Robin shot up from her bed, adrenaline coursing through her system as she adjusted to reality, her body still feeling as though it were plummeting into darkness.

A whimper tore through her lips as the scars on her back seared with a white-hot pain, much more prominent than it had been last time.

She stumbled into her bathroom, barely pausing to strip out of her clothes before getting into the shower and allowing freezing water to pour over her back.

Her heart stopped beating so rapidly as the burning sensation began to alleviate slightly. The girl let out an annoyed groan, resting her pounding head heavily against the tiled wall of her shower.

There was no way she was getting back to sleep after that.

➶

Robin stumbled clumsily onto the yellow bus filled with her fellow students, smiling apologetically at the chaperone who glared at her reproachfully.

Her sigh of relief was short-lived, transitioning into panic at the sight of Harry glaring venomously at the boy who had sat beside him.

He turned to look at her, shrugging apologetically. Silently, using his best friend telepathy, he asked her if she wanted him to shove the red-headed boy into the aisle to make room for her.

Her lips twitched slightly, but she shook her head and began scanning the aisles for an empty seat.

Mary Jane and Gwen were huddled together over a phone screen, and Michelle seemed to be the unwilling seatmate of a blonde girl who was rambling to her about something.

Her eyes landed on Peter, who was typing away furiously at his phone screen but was, thankfully, alone.

"Mind if I sit here?" she asked hopefully after ambling over to him.

Peter's head shot up at the sound of her voice, his eyes widening comically.

"Y-yeah, of course, uh, make yourself at home," he quickly retrieved his backpack from the seat next to him and put it between his legs to make room for her.

"Where's Ned?" Robin asked curiously.

She hadn't been around long, but it was easy to see that the two were inseparable.

"He has food poisoning, allegedly," Peter huffed, his nerves giving way to his annoyance at the prospect of his best friend abandoning him.

"Is he okay?" she asked, looking at him with concern.

"Oh, he's fine," Peter ranted, his hands flailing about, "He just didn't want to get out bed this early in the morning."

"Well, lucky for me I guess," Robin smiled softly, leaning her head back against the seat and closing her eyes in exhaustion.

She missed the vibrant blush that took over Peter's face.

He quickly took in her messy plaits and makeup-free face. He first admired the fact that she looked beautiful even in her state of disarray, and then took in the light purple underneath her eyes with a pang of concern.

"Did- did you get enough sleep last night?" he asked, a little worried.

"Is that your sweet way of telling me I look tired?" Robin asked, a smile threatening to make an appearance.

She was too tired to feel embarrassed that the guy she kind of, sort of, maybe thought was cute was seeing her so disheveled.

"N-no! Not at all!" Peter panicked, he knew from his Aunt May that telling a girl she looked tired was blacklisted, "You look, uh, you're the picture of health. I like your... pigtails."

This was not his morning.

"Thanks, Pete," she laughed slightly, pulling out her phone and some headphones, "Wanna listen?"

She offered him an earbud and he took it with only a small blush this time. He recognized the familiar notes of Bennie and the Jets by Elton John. It wasn't his usual genre of music, but the song was smooth and relaxing.

As it turned out, Robin was not only too tired to be embarrassed, but she also seemed to be careless enough to rest her head gently against Peter's shoulder and close her eyes.

Suddenly, Peter was thanking every deity he could think of that his best friend was not a morning person.

➶

Robin hadn't remembered her pillow being so warm.

And so... fidgety?

She blinked blearily as she came to her senses, before her eyes widened in horror as she realized she had fallen asleep on Peter Parker's shoulder.

With her energy restored, she now had the decency to feel properly mortified.

"I am so, so sorry Peter," she stuttered out, turning an alarming shade of pink, "Wow, that's so embarrassing."

"No, it's okay!" Peter hurried to reassure her, "I don't mind at all. I mean, I'm glad you got some rest."

Robin was hardly paying attention, rambling to herself and digging through her bag.

She retrieved a cookie from her lunchbox and held it up to Peter like a trophy.

"Here, for your trouble," she held it out to him.

"Oh, you don't have to-,"

"Please," Robin insisted, "I made a bunch of them at three a.m. last night. Really, I have way too many."

Peter awkwardly took the cookie, partly because it looked really good, but mostly because Robin looked like she was about to cry.

"Well, thanks," he showed off the cookie, "but really, you having nothing to be sorry for."

"Uh, did you know that ducks sometimes sleep with one eye open?" she babbled.

Robin almost cried with relief when she felt Harry's hand on her shoulder.

With a jolt, she realized the bus had come to a stop and most of the other students had filed into the parking lot.

"Come on, Tweety," Harry was eyeing Peter suspiciously, "Sorry I made you sit with some random guy."

Peter frowned, looking away in embarrassment.

"No, I liked sitting with Peter!" Robin refuted, "I mean, he probably didn't like sitting with me, all things considered. Again, really sorry Peter."

She gave him one last apologetic look before following her tall companion off the bus.

Once they reached solid ground, Robin let out an embarrassed whine and leaned her head against Harry's back.

"Throw me off the Empire State Building," she mumbled into his soft shirt.

Harry only laughed, turning around to wrap his arm around her before steering her over to where Mary Jane and Gwen were standing.

"It wasn't that bad," he tried.

Robin shot him an exasperated look.

"Okay fine, you were drooling a little," he admitted.

"Oh my God," Robin buried her face in her hands, "He's so sweet, too. He didn't even say anything. I bet he hates me now."

"It's probably for the best," Harry sighed playfully, "My shoulder was getting a little jealous."

"You're a horrible person."

"You know, sometimes I find it hard to believe you guys aren't dating," Gwen pointed out how close the two were in amusement.

This prompted an exaggerated eye roll from Harry and an amused laugh from Robin.

"Not at all," she shook her head in denial, "Flirting's just fun when there aren't any stakes."

"Flirting's fun all the time, little bird," Harry grinned.

"That it is," Mary Jane peered up at him through her lashes with a sly grin.

The two went on ahead, teasing each other playfully and leaving Gwen and Robin to look after them in equal parts exasperation and amusement.

"Why did you even come on this trip?" Robin asked curiously, linking arms with the blonde girl as they followed their friends to the massive Oscorp building, "You work here."

"There's always more opportunity to learn, Ro," Gwen declared.

Robin tilted her head to the side, looking at her friend.

"And if it just so happens that I get to spend more time with MJ, well, that's an added bonus," Gwen relented, blushing delicately.

➶

"With our research in regeneration sequences, we hope to revolutionize the world of prosthetics. As in, making them entirely obsolete," Oscorp's head genetic biologist, Doctor Connors, was speaking to the group of teens with thinly veiled excitement.

Robin wanted to pay attention. In fact, she was a big fan of Connors' work with regeneration regarding human tissue. However, she was finding it hard to focus on anything besides the fact that she couldn't spot Peter Parker's curly head of hair anywhere.

She was sure he had just gone to the restroom, but a small part of her anxiety brain was terrified that she had embarrassed him so thoroughly that he had fled the premises altogether.

"Do you see Peter anywhere?" she whispered to Harry, "I don't see him."

"Who cares?" Harry scoffed, his tone uncharacteristically bitter.

Robin regarded him suspiciously.

"What is your problem with him, anyways?" she whisper-hissed, "What happened between you two?"

"Nothing," Harry's jaw twitched, the way it always did when he was lying, "I just don't like the guy."

"For absolutely no reason whatsoever?" she asked in disbelief.

"You hate Adam Sandler for no reason," Harry pointed out childishly.

Robin narrowed her eyes, going to respond when an amused voice brought them out of their mini-argument.

"I'm sorry, am I boring you Ms...?" Doctor Connors looked at her expectantly.

Robin blushed furiously as the whole class's eyes turned to look at them.

"Uh, Reynolds, sir. Robin Reynolds. And not at all, Doctor Connors!" Robin assured him, substantially flustered, "In fact, I really admire a lot of the steps you're taking with your initiative."

"But not all of them?" the biologist leaned forward in interest.

He was, for the most part, an easy-going and charismatic man, but at his core he was still a scientist. A natural curiosity preceded the title, and he was always eager to hear differing opinions.

"Well, I mean," Robin cleared her throat, uncomfortable with all of the attention she was getting, "the progress you've made when it comes to tissue regeneration in humans is extraordinary, but I can't help but to be skeptical when it comes to some of your more... radical ideas."

"As in full limb regrowth?" he clarified, earning a nod from the young girl, "Ms. Reynolds, some would say that skepticism is the biggest inhibitor of progress."

"And I would argue that a healthy dose of it could mean the difference between chasing an impossible dream and making the world a better place," Robin quickly lost herself in the debate, forgetting the numerous gazes on her, "I mean, if you focused on tissue engineering instead, you could do wonders for the medical community. You could find ways to make the process more accessible to the public, or figure out how to revitalize damaged lungs, or even find a way to create functioning organs out of wasted tissue if you're dead-set on creating something out of nothing."

"You seem quite passionate about the subject," Connors seemed quite impressed with her enthusiasm in the midst of so many dreary-eyed teenagers, "Have you thought about submitting a proposal to the division. We're always looking for input."

"Is that a Komodo Dragon?" Flash Thompson interrupted, looking at one of the glass displays in excitement.

Whatever awkward trance the rest of the students had been under as they observed the back-and-forth between the two was broken as they all rushed forward to look at the large reptile.

"I'm not being facetious about the proposal, Ms. Reynolds," Doctor Connors approached her, reaching his remaining hand out to shake her own, "I'd be interested to see a more in-depth explanation of your ideas. Perhaps I could even attempt to persuade you of my point of view."

"Thank you for the suggestion," she smiled at the man warmly, "I'll keep it in mind."

With that, the blond ambled away towards the other students to discuss the animals.

"Robin," Gwen hurried over, looking excited, "I've never seen him take an interest in a student like that!"

"Doesn't matter," Harry scowled, "Robin's going to take her incredible genius brain and work for a company that actually deserves her."

"What lab has better resources than this one?" Gwen was quick to defend the corporation she interned for.

"I don't know," Harry shrugged, "She could work for Stark Industries."

"No," Robin interjected, an unwarranted feeling of distaste surfacing at the name, "Not for Stark Industries."

"Why not?" Harry eyed her weirdly.

"I- I don't know," Robin blinked in confusion, "I'm not sure why I said that."

Harry looked at her in concern, but the girl's attention was drawn away as Peter hurried into the lab.

"Peter?" she looked at him confusion, "Where did you go?"

"Uh- nowhere," Peter's eyes darted around behind his thick glasses, not meeting her gaze, "Just went to call Aunt May. She gets worried sometimes."

"Oh, okay," Robin blinked, before smiling at him, "Well, wanna sit with us for lunch?"

Harry opened his mouth to protest, so Robin stepped on his foot.

"Yeah, sure," Peter grinned excitedly, "I'd love- ow!"

The boy suddenly winced, grabbing at the back of his neck in a panic.

"Are you okay?" Robin stepped forward with concern.

"Yes, uh yeah!" Peter held out a hand to stop her, the other still clutching his neck, "I'm just gonna, um, head to the bathroom. I'll see you at lunch though, so yeah! Goodbye!"

With that, Peter spun on his heel and hurried out of the room yet again, leaving a confused group of teens behind.

"What a weird kid," Mary Jane observed, "Cute butt, though."

➶➶➶

ive posted chapters for two stories this month omg thats like,,, half of my quota for a whole year lol

i'm rly just blending in canon from all three spidey franchises along with the comics along with my own little brain

anyways lots of blushing babies and also tons of harry/robin friendship bc i rly do love some character foils. feeds my soul.

for the most part this is all fluff so far, im very excited to burn it all to the ground hahahha

im so sleep deprived okay love you guys so so much n' stay hydrated,

-belle xx