I don't own anything except any original character and/or any original plot.

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Chapter Twenty-Four: The Break

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The walls were covered in pictures. Press pictures of me and Peter, of us in our civilians forms, of Norman, and of blueprints for the Green Goblin suit. What made my heart stop was the realization that every picture of Peter was somehow adjusted. Marks over his face, a red x, scratched out by a knife.

"There's a hidden doorway behind the bookshelf, push it out of the way to enter."

Following Misty's instructions and map laid out on my screens, I easily pushed the bookshelf out of the way. It was on wheels. Waving Peter over, he followed behind me as we walked through the pitch-black hall and emerged in a lab only comparable to that of Dr. Frankenstein. Never had I seen anything quite so ominous, and that was hard to do considering my line of work.

And in the middle of all the equipment, papers, and discarded metals, was Harry. But it wasn't the clean-cut Harry Peter and I were used to. He was dressed in a suit similar to that of Green Goblin's in almost every way. But - and I hated to say it - it was more Harry. More his style, his own design. He created that suit himself, for what reason I didn't want to imagine.

"Harry?" I shoved Peter back toward the hallway, jerking my head in a frantic motion so he would understand. He nodded, and hurried back, closing the door behind him. Peter would set him off long before I would. We needed him calm so we could talk things through.

Peter got back into the hallway just in the nick of time, too. Harry spun around, greeting me with a half-smile and bloodshot eyes. From lack of sleep or crying I wasn't sure. Perhaps it was both.

"Where were you?" He asked, a dangerous edge to his voice when he finally addressed my presence.

"Space," I answered quickly, knowing that any hesitation would make him think I was lying, "That's why I didn't get your calls. I'm sorry, Harry. I would have been here sooner if I could have."

"You're here now," Harry rushed forward, and I flinched when he grabbed my arm, relaxing when I realized he was just leading me somewhere, "I have so many things to show you."

"Harry, what's going on? You sounded upset on your call, and when we- I got here, you were dressed up like the Green Goblin."

Stopping, Harry's grip on my arm tightened, "My head stopped splitting when I put it on. It's not better, but it's not worse. I can think for myself."

"Why was your head splitting? Harry you need to talk to me."

Harry gave me an award-winning smile in response and sat me down on a bench facing an open window. He moved to stand behind me, both of his hands on my shoulders. He was keeping me from running away. He knew exactly what he was doing.

"I understand now. You want a man with power. That's what I've been missing. But I have it now."

"Harry-"

"So I fixed my father's things. I made them better. I've created tech that can track and eliminate people easily using Beck's drones and Hydra's formulas from when they took down SHIELD."

As he explained the process, my chest tightened as said drones rose up to the window. There were only three, but something told me that more were hiding somewhere. They were small, circular robots, obviously high-tech.

"Harry-"

"Now you can stop being Riptide and stop dating Peter, and we can be together again. Just like we were back then. Don't you remember how happy we were? Before he got in the way?"

My stomach dropped when I realized- "So... everything you've done is because of me? The anger, Beck, this, is because of me?"

My suspicions about the trail made sense. Beck didn't reveal my name because he was working for Harry, and Harry didn't want me hurt. Although Beck had no problems with trying to kill me. Likely, another member of his team made the video with the tech, and they were more inclined to follow their boss's wishes with the hope that they would be rewarded when all was said and done.

Scowling, Harry's mood darkened dramatically, "Beck was never supposed to hurt you, but it's been taken care of. His entire team has been dealt with. I brought them together to show the world that Spider-Man is nothing but a false hero who murdered my father."

"That's why you're so upset he was acquitted," I whispered in realization. He wanted Peter to rot, because being put away for Beck would be justice for his father as well. When he was acquitted, it was like his father's killer had walked free- not only that, but Peter and I were hailed as public heroes now. Real heroes, not vigilantes.

"He has to pay," Harry roared, calming when I jumped, "Just... be mine, (Y/n). You aren't tied to him as a hero anymore."

"Our relationship isn't based on Spider-Man and Riptide, Harry, I thought you knew that. It's based on trust, and respect, and love. This right here, it's toxic. You're scaring me."

Laughing maniacally, Harry's gaze hardened, "I'm scaring you? Rich coming from someone with your history. All I wanted to do was have you accept me!"

Harry stood and paced frantically. Nervous with how things had gone downhill, I tried to appease him.

"I love you Harry, and you need help-"

"I'm fine," Harry's eyes settled on the empty spot next to me, "Shut up. Shut up! Shut up! You told me this would work! You've always been wrong!"

"Harry," my voice trembled in fear, "Please."

"Make him stop," Harry knelt down in front of me, clutching my hands like a lifeline, "Please! He's dead, he should be dead, but he won't leave me alone. I just want to be left alone..."

"Who?"

"My father!"

My heart stopped. He was seeing his father? That's why he was so conflicted the past two years. His head had been splitting. His complicated relationship with his father didn't help either. He literally had a devil on his shoulder. That was him looking over my shoulder, whispering to himself, and gathering Beck to take down Peter.

"Harry," I stood and approached him as if he was a wounded animal, "I can help you. If you would just come with me."

Lurching back when a gloved hand snatched up my wrist, I swallowed my nerves. I'd been through worse situations, and I'd emerged with my head held high. But Harry wasn't Thanos, or Beck, or even his father. He was our friend, a genius, and undeniably unstable. A dangerous concoction that was affecting judgment and base "no weakness" instincts."

"Just- just," Harry stumbled over his words, pausing so he could find them, "Why?"

I couldn't answer. Mostly because I wasn't sure what he wanted an answer for. Not only that, but I wouldn't have a good answer even if I knew.

"We can help you, Harry. I know someone. She helped age me back. Her mutation has to deal with the mind. She can help you."

"I'm sorry. You're allowed to move on. I shouldn't be doing this- stop! You've been whispering in my ear for two years and I'm sick of it!"

Grabbing his face to keep his eyes on me, I slapped on a mask of calm, hoping it would carry over. It was useless. He was still switching between anger at Peter, his father, the world, and sadness over the exact same things.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. We'll figure this out together."

"I don't want to be what he was," Harry whispered, eyes full of tears. It was such a bipolar episode that I wasn't sure how I was keeping up.

"You don't have to-"

"Get down!" Harry shoved me out of the way as one of the drones flew into the room and shot out a small explosive.

Spinning around, I gasped when I saw Peter dive out of the way of the touch activated grenade. When it hit the ground, it went off with a deafening boom, setting off fires and destroying the far side of the room.

"What? Were you trying to ambush me?" Harry screamed angrily, switching away from his sadness, "Getting my guard down so I wouldn't notice? This was all a ploy so you could lock me up, wasn't it?"

Petrified, I jumped to defend myself, desperate to diffuse the situation and salvage his sanity, "No of course not! I would never do that-"

"That bastard killed my father. An eye for an eye, isn't that how you heal? Isn't that how this works?"

Instead of gearing up for another attack, Harry summoned his literal hoverboard and flew out the window, gone into the night. Both of us knew that it wasn't the end, however, he'd be back. For Peter, for me, for both of us- the answer was unclear. But in every scenario, he came back.

"I'm so sorry! Karen told me that Misty said your heart rate and blood pressure were going up so I assumed he hurt you or someone."

"It's okay. Something tells me we wouldn't have been able to get him to Xavier's anyway. Let's go home and get some sleep. I doubt he'll do anything tonight... MJ's dating the police commissioner's daughter, right? Talk to her about getting an APB out for a copycat Green Goblin."

"Sure. What are you gonna do?"

"Text Jean. I don't know how her powers work with mental illnesses, but she should be able to do something. I can't wait to tell my parents about everything that's happened."

"Yeah, May's gonna freak. I'll take you home."

Peter and I kept an eye out for Harry, but he was nowhere to be seen. He'd vanished. We grabbed our bags from the Wakandan quinjet and set the coordinates for Shuri's lab, trusting the autopilot to take it back. Kissing Peter goodnight, I prayed that Harry would hold off attacking the city for at least another eight hours.

"How was Wakanda?" My mom asked when I stepped through the front door.

"We went to space so I could have closure with Thanos. Then Harry snapped and on our way to see if he was okay we got sucked into another dimension where we were stuck for three days. When we got back, Harry became the new Green Goblin and tried to kill Peter."

Blinking one, twice, my mother was speechless. My dad took it upon himself to speak from the living room.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"After a shower. I feel disgusting."

Making my way to the bathroom, my suit condensed into a bracelet. Stripping off my clothes, I sighed when I was hit with a hot stream of water. In the other dimension I'd been able to shower, but it wasn't the same as being home and doing so. Under the water, I had the time to process everything that had happened. Closing the door on Thanos- allowing me to shower without zeroing in on my modifications- getting sucked into another dimension- where we learned from them and they learned from us- and Harry finally breaking from the pressure that he'd placed on himself.

Overwhelmed by everything that had taken place, tears pulled up in my eyes. I ran my hand over my face every time they were too close to spilling.

When I was finished, I discarded my dirty clothes and settled in my room in my most comfortable pajamas. Five minutes later, my parents knocked on the door. Calling them in, they sat on my bed- cautious, concerned.

"We know you want to sleep, but talking things out first would be nice."

"No pressure. We're here no matter what you do or don't say."

In response, I promptly broke down in their arms.