Day 13.
Peter was growing concerned. He had found his mentor knocked out on the front porch of their beach house, a note firmly taped to his clothes. It was handwritten by Nick Fury himself, giving the context of what happened. The kid sighed. Mr. Stark must have attempted to get Beck back, again. Though it was getting annoying, Peter couldn't blame the man, after all, he'd do the exact same thing.
Tony hasn't said a thing since he woke up. The overwhelming crush of defeat must have finally caught up to him. Chris had come to visit, try to spark some small talk to take his mind off the situation, but it didn't work. The genius was surely in a non-verbal position. Poor thing.
The rest of Quentin's children weren't doing so hot either. Ravencroft was still lurking on the property, trying to scope out their missing goblin. Cricket was probably the one to cry the most. Though he had his brothers, he still felt lonely. He missed Jack, Forrest and the other people he used to live with... now with Quentin being gone and all signs looking like it'll remain that way? It wasn't good.
Lucien was always quiet, but even everybody else could sense that his energy was off. His face stayed neutral, but his body language showed signs of discomfort and even stress. His leg would bounce from time to time as he frantically would turn pages in his novel. Jason attempted to check on him, have a small chat to make sure he was okay, but to everybody's surprise the loudest beeping noise went off and did not stop until he stepped back. It was recognized as the gift Quentin had given the poet for Christmas, a device that allows the blonde to set distant boundaries. When they entered space is crossed, an alarm goes off unless they back up. He truly did not want to be bothered.
Harry was quiet too, he spent most of his time huddled to Peter or pacing the room. Threat didn't come to visit much anymore either. The theory is that he's scared, but it has been hinted at that he just doesn't have the energy to switch places with the emo. Without Quentin, or as the other calls him, Fishbowl, there was no sense of happiness. Even Peter couldn't help the dog like character. Thankfully, he could help Osborn.
Chris and Jason didn't know Quentin as long as the others. They had really only known him for a week or two to be exact. Even with such short time, the man did already make an impact on their lives. Without Beck, Chris would still be dying from Huntington's disease. Jason might of still been living his life on the streets. After finding the truth about his birth dad, he was too mad at his mom to return home. He purchased a motorcycle and left the city... but he didn't get very far afterward. In fact, he didn't want to know what happened if he wasn't rescued from the institute.
And lastly, Andrew and Jesse. Those two were the youngest of the bunch, and they also had this same thing in common. They felt lonely. Apart from being in a crowded room due to the circumstances... they felt alone. Detmer hadn't felt this by himself since the Seattle incident. After being taken by Mysterio and Iron Man from his Target terrorization, he was starting to feel just a bit better... now it was gone.
Steve, Andrew's friend... who he sort of wished was more, had introduced the shaggy blonde to Anime. He wasn't exactly a weeb, but he did enjoy the shows that he had been shown. The three main ones were Jusutsu Kaisen, Bungo Stray Dogs and Steve's favorite, Attack On Titan. He tried to take his mind off the situation, but they just didn't make him happy like they used to.
Peter made Tony some pancakes using Beck's small kitchen area. Well, he made everybody pancakes and offered Stark some. Tony still hadn't said a word, in fact, only his eyes seemed to be present as they stared up at the young boy. Tears forming in those doe eyes of his, but he manages to take small and quiet bites. The kid makes the best pancakes. It's cause his spider sense tells him when to flip, they're quite literally perfect. But even delicious food couldn't heal open wounds.
Tony couldn't help but think of 2016, when he had fired his best friend. His mind wandered about what Quentin must have gone through... unlike him, Quentin had nothing but Tony, so when he was fired... everything was practically ripped from him. Was this what he felt?
No... he must have felt worse. Tony had people back then, and he had people now... but Quentin was special, he was different. If this was how Beck had felt way back then... he'd never let it happen again. He already hadn't forgiven himself, but this was a promise if this is what he caused the man to feel over something so stupid.
Peter could hear the rise in his father figure's heart rate as he poked around the remaining of his pancakes. Parker had been using his time taking over Tony's work, trying to come up with such a foolproof plan that even Fury won't see it coming. But he saw now what he should have been doing. In a quick second, the kid made his way over to the man and wrapped his arms around his waist. The spider strength kept Tony firmly in place, trapped in this hug, but it was so needed.
He hesitated to settle in, making a sound of discomfort and attempting to scoot back... but he soon embraced it. He light rumble coming from his Arc Reactor as he slowly returned the favor of wrapping his arms back. Peter's soft purring was the only other thing the older Avenger could hear. His facial hair scraping against the kid's cheek as his face plants itself in the younger heroes shoulder. Almost instantly, he lets it all out.
This is what Peter was expecting.
Parker closed his eyes and rubbed the man's back calmly and slowly in comforting circles. Stark had been holding that in for at least months. As cruel as it was, those emotion trapped bottles had to break. Speaking from experience, Tony would feel a lot better after this meltdown.
The remaining of the day was once more spent mourning.
Even if Fury could see the hold that Quentin Beck had on this group of people...
He still wouldn't release him.