"peter have you been meeting the king?"

All went silent, how could have Harley known, it didn't make sense.

"What?" peter asked making sure he didn't misheard

"that pin, peter, it's the royal symbol. And the only royal there is, is the king" Harley explained.

How could Peter had been so stupid, of course that what it meant, but if the pin had that meaning it didn't explain why Mr. Stark had given it to him. Peter wasn't a royal.

"Oh my God, that is why you're always disappearing. I can't believe you were chosen"

"wait, what do you mean chosen?" peter asked confused

"oh, you know... " Harley said gesturing with his hands like it explained everything

"no, I don't know" peter said

Harley sighed "peter, where do you think we go after we get out of here?"

Peter shrugged his shoulders, how could he know. It has been a mystery since the selection began, no one knew what happen next, so how could Harley speak of the matter like it was public knowledge

"you get sent off to important families, Peter. They adopt you" Harley revealed

"what? No, how could you even know that? " Peter asked in disbelief

"how could you not know that?" Harley asked confused, but with Peter silence he continued "the first day you get here, they explain what will happen, they explained the whole process. Two years here, and then they will match you with a family that it's the most compatible"

"I didn't arrive with everyone, no one told me" peter almost whispers

"right" Harley murmured like he had forgotten that detail

"Harley, I can't do that, I already have a family, my aunt, she's all I have" peter pleaded like Harley had any say in the matter

"peter, you don't have a choice, we don't have a choice. Don't you get it? From the very first day you stepped on this building, they have been preparing you for the change. Don't you notice that nobody uses our surname?"

"It's parker" peter say after realizing that he never said it

Harley laughed "it doesn't matter, it's about to change anyway. It looks like yours already have"

"How can you be so OK with this?"

Harley shrugged his shoulders with indifference "my family wasn't great, I was starving most of the time. I work my ass off to be selected. I wanted to be here"

Peter was horrified, how could he never have thought about what would happen next. It all made sense now. That boy comments, Flash, 'looking for a mommy and daddy' he remembered.

"I have to go" peter said turning his back to Harley running back to his room, no not his room. His room was back in aunt may flat, not here. Nowhere near here.

How could he have been so blind, all this time he had been played. It was obvious that the king of all people wouldn't have shown that much interest in someone without second intentions. He wouldn't have invited some kid into his own home without a reason.

Peter took deep breaths, he had to think. He refused to stay here, he wouldn't let go of his name, change who he was. He wouldn't let go of his family for a life of luxury, not even for the king.

He looked around the room his eyes stopping on the window. He opens it, thankfully the room was on the first floor, it was not a big fall. Peter had made his decision. He took out his jacket exchanging for a warm sweatshirt. He looked once again to the room that had been his house for the last months his gaze last fallen on the pin still attached to the jacked abandoned on the bed.

Finally, he jumped.

He instantly got soaked, it was raining heavily. It would help hiding him, but he was freezing already, the extra layer of clothing did nothing against the pouring rain.

He didn't waste time, he had to put as much distance as he could before someone would notice. Hopefully nobody would notice for a few hours.

Peter quickly ran to the fence climbing over it. It wasn't that high nor did it have barbed wire on top of it, the only purpose it serve was to keep wild life outside the grounds.

Just like that peter was on the other side, leaving the carefully trimmed grass for the wild forest.

He ran through the trees quickly finding the road that he drove by so many times. It was the only road leading from the academy, he knew if he wanted to get somewhere he would have to follow it.

Peter planned to get to the station, he didn't know if they used it aside from the selection time. But peter remember a couple of times he saw people from section one, being in charge of some projects back home.

He didn't know if a train would leave any time soon, but it was his only option. He didn't even know if he or how he would sneak into the train without being seen, and where he would hide when he was inside.

For now is only goal was to get to the train station, if he had to he would walk back home, following the tracks.

He stayed in the woods while keeping is eyes on the road always in the look-out if a car passed by. He was pretty deep, but he wouldn't risk being seen.

Thankfully no car passed by.

Harley felt guilty about his conversation with Peter. He didn't know that the boy didn't know the purpose of the academy. They told everyone in the first day here. They gather them all on a classroom showing a video about the problems they are facing. The lack of fertility and the risk of section one disappear.

Sure there were some outrage from some of them, others like Harley didn't care, and we're just happy to be away from the poverty with their stomachs full.

Of course someone would set them down and talk calmly with them. Explaining all, saying all the advantages, saying all they could do when they fall into their new roles, that they could even change the situation of section two with the right influence.

Nobody explained that to Peter. Harley made a terrible job of revealing that to him, in his defense he thought the boy knew.

Harley knew that Peter didn't even think of all he could do, all he could change if the king truly chose him. Being the prince only the king would be above him. But he would open Peter's eyes.

After Harley was done with his meal, he went down to Peter's room, hoping that the boy would have calmed down by now.

He knocks on the door, but nobody answered. There was a grate possibility that peter had merely fallen asleep, or he could be ignoring him.

Slowly opening the door Harley popped his head in "hey Peter-" he began stopping right after when he notices nobody was in the room. Harley fully open the door his eyes widening when they fell on the open window. The room was freezing and a puddle was forming near the open window.

Harley made his decision running out of the room. He ran down the hallway only stopping in front of the faculty room.

Without knocking, he abruptly opened the door startling everyone inside

"Harley what is the meaning of this" a teacher asked

"it's Peter" Harley said breathless. This time Barton stood alert upon hearing the name

"what happen? " He asked alarmed

"he is not in his room, his window his open. I think he ran away" Harley explained shortly

"are you sure he isn't in someone room?"

Harley shake his head "no, he didn't have the first day introduction, he was pretty upset when he found out"

Barton was the first out of the room, running to Peter's room.

He looked around in the false hope that the boy would be hidden under the desk, before making his way to the window.

Someone had turned on the lights outside, lighting up the grounds. As expected peter was nowhere to be found, the only thing left behind was the set of fading footprints left in the mud. The boy had escape, it was time to call the king.

Tony was in the lab when the call went through. It was a weird felling being in the lab alone when he had become so used to being in the company of Peter.

Without him there was no joy, no voice chattering while they worked, it was lonely.

That is why when he picked up the call his heart sank. He knew it had to be bad news when he saw that it was Clint Barton calling him, the man that he had assigned to keep watch on peter in the academy.

But now the boy wasn't in the academy safe and sound getting ready for bed. No, instead he was in the cold harsh rain outside. Who knows what could happen to him, he could get lost in the forest, he could be harmed by the wild life.

They had to find him, and they had to find him fast. Tony only knew that once the boy was safe, Tony wouldn't let him out of his sight.

Peter was freezing, his clothes were completely soaked, heavy with the cold water. Part of him wanted to go back to the warm bed, and try for another day that preferably wasn't raining, but he knew that it wasn't possible he just had to push through. He could do this, for May, for Ned, for himself.

The seemly endless forest was finally coming to an end, he could see the lights and buildings in the distance, but now he didn't have the trees to provide him cover.

He pushed his hoodie to cover his head, soaking his hair even more, but it was the only cover that he had. Now that he was in the city it would be easier to find the station, or so he hoped.

Unfortunately it wasn't easy at all, it was raining too much, so much that he could barely see what was in front of him, plus the occasional thunder, so strong that it shook the ground didn't help either.

His plan was to walk in the direction of the light, a train station would have a lot of light, at least he thought.

It had been a few hours since Peter went missing, and it drove Tony mad with worry. Everyone around him was acting like there was glass on the floor. Nobody dared to say anything.

All the royal guards were scattered all over the forest trying to locate the boy, at first they tried to follow the footsteps left behind, but they were long gone by now, the heavy rain erasing them.

"Nothing yet?" Tony asked breaking the heavy silence.

"No, your majesty, we have people scattering all over the city" someone replied

"He is a child, how incompetent can you be if you can't locate a single child in a city that he doesn't even know. The king yelled "it's freezing outside, he's been out there for hours."

"I'm sorry, we will find him"

Peter was walking on the edge of the city, he was trying to remain unseen by sticking to places that nobody walked on. He was starting to lose hope, he had been out in the rain for hours, he was shivering uncontrollably and could barely feel his feet, but he had to keep going.

But then he saw it, in all its glory, there it was, the train station.

There would be no denying that it was what he was looking for. Peter smiled, he was one step closer to going home.

He was so lost in his thoughts, in his delusions that he didn't even see it. If anyone asked peter, it had come out of nothing. But between the heavy rain, the loud thunder, and the boy not being careful, there was nothing that could have been done.

Peter only felt it, the sound of a horn reach his hears too late, he was on the ground before he could comprehend what had happened, his head hit the ground, his eyes closed.

He had been so close, yet so far.