บท 90: Chapter 90: Suits & New Friends
"Hmm… I don't like this one either. Here, try this one on."
Haley held a dark blue three-piece suit in front of her. Harvey looked at Haley with full, tired eyes and remained still, a grey suit on his body. Haley huffed and shoved the suit into his arms.
"Go! Put it on!" Haley pushed him into the changing room and closed the door behind him. "If you don't hurry, we'll be here all day."
"Haley." Harvey said from behind the door. Sounds of clothes ruffling and a belt being undone could be heard. "We've been here… for two hours! I told you I'd never go shopping with you again! How am I here!"
"We're here because you don't have a suit to wear for Uncle Mitchell and Cam's wedding!" Haley said as she waited patiently for Harvey to finish.
Haley looked around the store they were in. It was a men's suit store. Several different colored suits lined dozens of racks, and a large tie section spotted different colors and patterns. A few other customers were in the store perusing the racks, and one man was being measured by one of the store's employees. Haley would have preferred Harvey to get a custom suit, but they didn't have enough time. The wedding was in a few short days.
"Ah, that's right." Harvey said in a monotone. The door swung open, and he walked out wearing a dark blue suit. "How's this? Please say this is the one."
Haley made a twirling motion with her finger, and Harvey obediently spun around slowly. He had long since given up on fighting her on the subject. Haley hummed and then raised a black suit. "Mm, no. Here, let's try this black one again."
"Is… is that the second suit I tried?" Harvey felt his left eye twitch and grabbed the suit with shaking hands. The temptation to burn the store down grew large.
"It grew on me. Now go on. Put it on!" Haley shooed him away, and he walked robotically into the changing room.
After a few minutes, he stepped out in the black suit and repeated the spin and pose routine in front of Haley. Haley smiled and nodded in satisfaction. "That's the one!"
Harvey nodded and felt a wave of relief wash over him. He quickly jumped into the changing room and returned to the clothes he walked into the store with. Harvey didn't want to give Haley a chance to change her mind. Popping out of the room, Harvey held the three-piece suit in his left hand and grabbed Haley's hand with his free one. Dragging her to the register.
"Okay! Let's pay the store and get out of here!" Harvey said quickly and placed the suit in front of the store clerk. She smiled apologetically at him and began scanning the clothes. After all, he became well aware of the pitiful stares from the store's employees.
"That'll be four hundred and sixty dollars." The store clerk said, and Harvey handed her six hundred.
"Here, the extra is a tip for being here so long and the pile of suits we made." Harvey grabbed the paper bag his suit was placed in and started walking out with a chucking Haley.
"Have a nice day!" The store clerk said and waved goodbye to them.
Harvey and Haley stepped outside, and he took a deep breath. Smiling, he stretched his arms and looked up at the blue sky. Haley shook her head at his exaggerated actions.
"Fresh air!" Harvey said and dropped his arms. Haley walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his right arm. He looked down at her questioningly, but his eyes grew wide in horror. "Oh no…"
"It seems you remembered we still need to choose a present." Haley grinned and began pulling him through the Santa Monica Place shopping center. "Now, where to go? Oh! I know just the place that sells some very cute things that I know Uncle Mitchell will love! Let's go!"
Harvey had no more strength to fight against Haley and allowed himself to be pulled along. Several other shoppers looked at him in confusion due to his expression. Harvey appeared like a man on death row. Which was odd because attached to his arm was a very beautiful woman smiling happily.
"I'd rather be fighting demons in hell…" Harvey whispered and looked down at his shoes.
"What was that?" Haley smiled dangerously and leaned in.
"Nothing."
•••
"Here, I think you've earned this."
Harvey saw Haley holding a large cup of ice cold strawberry lemonade. Smiling weakly, Harvey accepted the drink and thanked her. Haley chuckled and sat next to him on the bench he was on.
In front of them was the intersection of Broadway and Second Street; traffic was a bit slow at this time of day, so only a few cars moved along the streets. Pedestrians walked along the sidewalk and through the intersection's crosswalk.
"Now that the suit and gift are secured, we can go home." Haley said as she pulled out her phone and messaged Wanda, letting her know that today's mission was complete. Wanda replied with a message that showed a laughing emoji and a thumbs-up. "But… I had fun today. It was nice spending the day with you."
Harvey looked up from his drink and smiled. "I had fun, too. Besides the hours of torture and agony, I enjoyed being with you today."
Harvey chuckled when Haley slapped his shoulder, and the two leaned back and enjoyed the sights of the lively streets. They would rest a few more minutes before finally getting up to leave.
Haley was scrolling through her phone but looked up at the sounds of a laughing little girl. She was running around and playing pretend by herself. The girl's mother was busy talking on the phone and was oblivious to her child's actions.
A bus was driving down the street and headed down towards the intersection. The girl then turned her head and saw the large white lines of the crosswalk. A wide beaming smile grew on the girl's face, and she began hopping across the lines like an impromptu game of hopscotch. She was utterly oblivious to the incoming bus.
Haley turned her head at the sound of screeching brakes. Her eyes grew in horror as she turned and saw a little girl looking straight at the bus. The girl was frozen in place like a deer caught in bright yellow headlights. The loud blaring honk of the bus drowned out Haley's scream.
Haley closed her eyes and looked away as the bus brakes finally skidded to a stop several feet down the road. Slowly, she looked up and expected to find a horrifying sight of a bloodied and broken little girl, but she found the street clean. Everyone on the street looked around in confusion as well. They, too, were expecting a grizzly sight. Haley scanned the street for any sign of the girl, but then a voice spoke to her side.
"Wow!" A little girl with her hair done in pigtails said in amazement. She was sitting on Harvey's lap as he smiled down at her. His eyes were glowing gold but soon dimmed. "How did I get over here?!"
"Who knows?" Harvey said with a grin and set her down on the floor. "Now go on to your mommy! Make sure you hold her hand so she doesn't get lost, okay?"
"Oh, okay!" The little girl nodded and waved goodbye at Harvey. She then ran up to her almost catatonic state mother and pulled her dress. The mother turned to look at her daughter and brought her into a bone-crushing hug. The mother's loud sobs could be heard from within the girl's hair.
"It's okay, Haley." Harvey said calmly and held her slightly shaking hand. "She's safe. Not a scratch on her."
Haley nodded and watched him stand up. He pulled her to her feet, and he grabbed his shopping bags. "Let's go home, okay?"
"R-Right." Haley nodded and smiled weakly. She was still slightly shaken by what almost happened.
The two walked down the street and avoided the slowly growing crowd. Once they turned the corner, Haley began to speak.
"Were you always that fast?" Haley asked as they walked hand in hand. "I didn't even see you move."
"I've picked up a trick or two." Harvey said with a grin. "I learned to teleport short distances using positive and negative energy together. I guess the best way I can explain it is that I used my portal ability and refined it with positive energy to be able to teleport instantly. But unlike how I open portals with my chain, I can only travel within a hundred feet. It's not practical for long-distance travel but has its uses."
Haley looked on, stunned, as he explained. How could Harvey talk about something that extraordinary, like it was nothing? Slowly, a smile grew on her face, and she hugged his arm tightly. Harvey looked down at her questioningly.
"You're amazing, you know?" Haley said with a grin.
"I am, aren't I?" Harvey said jokingly.
"Never mind, I take it back."
•••
…New York…
"Alright, baby, show me something."
Tony Stark snapped his fingers and waited for his calculations to finish. After a few more seconds, several floating digital windows full of promising data slid into view above his work table. Tony smirked and saw that the new arc reactor he built for his newly bought tower in New York would be able to sustain itself.
"We'll be able to knock self-sustaining clean energy off my to-do list pretty soon." Tony said and waved his hand, dismissing the windows.
"I'd hate to interrupt, sir. But you have a visitor." Jarvis abruptly said. Tony shook his head, walked to his large bar area, and poured himself a cup of whiskey.
"Send them away, Jarvis. I don't take appointments after four o clock." Tony said and headed to his work table. He placed the cup down and began working on possible top energy projections the arc reactor could emit.
"It's Mr. Miller, sir." Jarvis said, causing Tony to stop typing. Tony nodded and closed his worksheet.
"Alright, send the boneheaded up." Tony said, walking out of his workroom and entering the equally large but still relatively empty floor.
A curving ladder ran up alongside the curved back wall, and several lights illuminated the room. To the far right was a massive glass wall showing off the broad and spanning city. Thousands of lights filled the night, bathing the city in an orange-yellow glow.
Tony watched as the elevator doors opened, and Harvey Miller walked out, looking around the impressive room with impressed eyes. But Harvey quickly got over it and walked over to him. Tony noticed that Harvey's eyes were a different color but decided not to comment.
"Stark." Harvey said and raised his hand. Tony shook it. "Nice place, although a bit empty."
"Not for long." Tony grinned and waved around the room. "I just bought the place, and I'm still waiting for the furniture to be delivered."
"Did you order your furniture before or after you put up your name on the tower?" Harvey said and followed behind him. Tony never liked staying still, so he decided to show the kid around.
Suddenly, the memory of a large explosion out at sea popped into his mind, causing the grin on Tony's face to falter. However, Harvey didn't see it because he walked behind Tony.
"So, what can I do for you, Miller?" Tony asked as they stopped in front of the glass wall. Tony looked away from the city and turned to Harvey with an amused grin. "Unless you traveled across the country just to say hello to little old me?"
Harvey smiled and looked out at the city. "You know Stark… I've misjudged you. I thought you were an egotistical and uncaring man who did everything for his best interest. But I was wrong."
Tony felt a pang of annoyance pop in the background of his head but said nothing. Harvey continued and turned to him.
"You're a good man. Thank you for all your help in the past. I would have also brought you a gift, but what can you give a billionaire?" Harvey said and motioned at the space around them. He then raised a hand and held it out. "So, in return, I want to offer my help. Whenever you need it, I'll be there."
Tony looked at Harvey in surprise. From all of the things that could have occurred tonight with his presence, he sure wasn't expecting this. Looking down at Harvey's open hand, Tony recalled their first meeting. The way his glowing orange eyes stared into his soul and how he was forced to acknowledge everything he's done.
But instead of looking back at that experience in a negative light. Tony decided to use it to be able to move forward. Oddly, facing all your life's sins and wrongdoings could be a great help. Now, he could focus on ways to help those in need and start making things right with those he wronged in the past. The arc reactor was a great start to helping the world produce renewable, clean energy. Millions would be able to benefit from it. And from there, he had several more ideas on how to help.
Toney grasped Harvey's hand and smiled. He may not have liked the kid too well at the start, but Tony has learned that he was one of the good ones. Harvey was like him, doing everything in his power to help people. With the incident back in Los Angeles, Harvey earned his respect for his major sacrifice. It was hard not to like him after that. Plus, the kid was enjoyable to talk to.
"Thank you, Harvey." Tony smiled and let go of Harvey's hand. "I'll keep that in mind."
At the sound of the elevator opening, both men turned to see a woman with vibrant orange hair walk toward them. She wore a white dress shirt, tight black jeans, and heels.
"Oh, we have company." Pepper Pots said surprisingly.
"Ah, Pepper. This here is Harvey Miller. You might also know him as the guy who saved Los Angeles a while back." Tony walked closer to Pepper and motioned to Harvey. "Harvey, meet Pepper Pots. My girlfriend and right-hand woman."
"The CEO of Stark Industries." Harvey nodded and offered a hand in greeting. Pepper shook it. "It's nice to meet you, ma'am."
"Call me Pepper. I'm not old enough to be called ma'am." Pepper said with a pleasant smile. "You should join us for dinner! I'd love to talk to you about a few things. That is, of course, if you don't have any plans."
"Uh, sure." Harvey said and looked over to Tony. "That's if you don't mind."
"We don't." Pepper said quickly before Tony could speak. The billionaire frowned but quickly smiled.
"That's that, then, the motion has been carried." Tony said and motioned to the elevator. "There's this lobster dish you have got to try. Trust me, you'll love it."
"Oh, you mean the one at Le Bernardin?" Pepper said with an excited tone.
"That's the one." Tony nodded, and they all walked into the elevator.
Harvey looked nervous when he heard the name; it sounded like a fancy and upscale-sounding restaurant. The weight of his wallet grew light, almost as if it weren't there at all.
"That sounds a little expensive…" Harvey muttered, and the elevator began to move. Tony and Pepper chuckled at his comment. 'Maybe I shouldn't have agreed.'
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