Tony
Tony raises his hand, trying to ignore the nerves he’s feeling, and gives a few firm knocks on the front door to the apartment. He quickly wipes his palms on his pants, suddenly aware of how sweaty he’s getting. Luckily, he can hear someone walking towards the door from the other side after just a few seconds, so he doesn’t have much time to overthink.
A woman opens the door that Tony recognizes as Diane from the first time he came over. He flashes her a well practiced smile as he puts all his willpower into not making this woman pay for what he’s suspecting she’s done to his kid. He needs to handle this civilly until he gets Peter safe, then he can deal with these monsters.
“Mr. Stark.” She says with a strained smile. “What a nice surprise.”
If Tony hadn’t been paying attention, he might’ve missed the look of panic she flashes behind the cracked door, presumably to Bill, who comes up behind her.
“Mr. Stark, is there something we can do for you?” The man asks him, reaching out a hand which Tony poignantly ignores.
“Yes, actually.” Tony says calmly. “I was looking for Peter. Is he around?” He tries to glance into the apartment, but they’re very obviously blocking the door and keeping the door cracked open only as much as they have to.
A look of irritatingly false concern appears on both of their faces.
“Peter left a while ago for his internship with you. Did he never make it there?”
“No, he didn’t.” Tony replies, maintaining the facade. “Do you happen to know how long ago he left?”
They share a look before Bill looks back over to Tony. “Probably about an hour ago. Right, honey?”
Diane nods her agreement a little too enthusiastically.
“Maybe he’s skipping out on work today.” Bill suggests. “You know how teenagers can be sometimes. He’s probably ditching to hang out with his friends. I’ll make some calls and see if I can find him.”
“Well in that case, would you mind if I grabbed something from his room really quick? He took a project with him last time to work on, and he was supposed to be bringing it back today.” He says the prepared lie with ease. It makes them both look a little nervous.
“I don’t think I saw anything like that in Peter’s room today. He probably took it with him when he left. You might want to check in with him next time he comes to see you.” The man explains, but Tony sees straight through the bad lie. After years of leading the business world, he’s well practiced in the art of reading scumbags. Bill is nervous, and he’s trying to keep Tony out. He clearly doesn’t know yet that Tony Stark always gets what he wants.
“It’s a pretty small project.” Tony insists. “Not something you would’ve seen without looking for it. If you wouldn’t mind.” He gestures inside the house, making it clear he was coming in. Diane disappears behind the door and Bill closes it slightly more.
“Actually, now really isn’t a good time. Diane and I are right in the middle of something-“
“Please, I’ll only be a moment.” He interrupts. “It’s incredibly important that I have this project today. Top secret stuff, you understand I’m sure.”
Bill hesitates, clearly not sure how he can keep arguing against Tony coming in. “Uh…I guess if you insist.” He steps out of the way and opens the door further, inviting Tony in.
“I do.” Tony says with a nod as he passes into the apartment. He remembers the way to Peter’s room, so he turns towards the familiar hallway to go see what he can find. The man wouldn’t have let him in if Peter was in his room already, but he was very nervous about Tony coming into the apartment. There must be some kind of evidence around here that Bill doesn’t want Tony to see that he’ll be able to use against him. He just has to find it fast.
He’s jolted out of his thoughts by a loud thud.
What was that?
All of a sudden, Bill is behind him, ushering him forwards towards Peter’s room. Tony doesn’t let himself be moved.
*thump*
There’s that sound again.
“Something going on next door?” Tony asks, keeping the suspicion from his voice.
“Oh just some new neighbors moving in.” Bill says with a very nervous chuckle. “They’ve been banging around all morning. Apartments, you know? No peace and quiet in these places.”
Diane joins them again and gives Bill a look that definitely doesn’t go past Tony.
“Here let me just show you to Peter’s room and Diane here will go tell those noisy neighbors to try to keep it down-“
“Don’t touch me.” Tony says firmly as Bill goes to grab his arm, presumably to drag him to Peter’s room and away from whatever is making that noise. Very suspicious.
The man flinches backwards at Tony’s fierce tone. Tony keeps his hand up between him and Peter’s abuser. Diane is frozen at the other end of the hall.
“Peter?” Tony calls out, very worried about where this is going to lead him.
*thump*
Another loud noise is all he gets in response. He looks towards the couple to see all the blood drained from their faces. Bill has already been backing away from him towards the front door.
Tony doesn’t know what these assholes have done to his kid, but he knows it can’t be good. They’ve clearly locked him away somewhere in the apartment. Tony is absolutely livid. There’s no hiding it anymore. He hits a button on his watch to alert Rhodey and call a suit to his location. He also triggers a repulser to form on his hand, which he promptly points at Peter’s abusers.
“Both of you in the corner of the living room now. The one farthest from the door.” He commands, threatening him with the weapon in his hand. He needs to get them away from where they can do any more damage.
They both hurry away without arguing, knowing Tony is serious about what will happen to them if they don’t listen. His sentry suit bursts through the door a second later and goes straight to them, arms up and weapons charging threateningly.
“If either of you moves a muscle this thing won’t hesitate to blast you to pieces.” Tony growls out at them, absolutely disgusted with these two things in front of him that he doesn’t even want to call human. Diane starts sobbing, and Tony can only feel a cruel satisfaction. They’re both fighting to get further into the corner and have the other closer to the threat.
He’s not even paying any attention to them after the suit flies in. He’s already turned back to his number one priority: finding his son and getting him the hell out of this nightmare.
“Peter?” He calls out again. “I’m going to get you out of here, bud.”
He hears a few more of the sounds, one after another, and he follows where he can hear them coming from. He ends up outside of a door that he assumed was the hall closet, but as soon as he sees the door he knows exactly what’s going on. No closet needs a lock from the outside.
A pit of dreads pools in his stomach as he rushes to unlock the door and throw it open. He thinks for a second that he might genuinely vomit. It’s so much worse than he could’ve ever imagined.
The smell hits him first. Urine and body odor and blood.
Peter is laying on the ground in just a pair of too small, ratty, old underwear. He’s outstretched so his feet could reach the door because his hands are cuffed to a pipe on the opposite wall. His whole body is covered in dark purple bruises and belt marks are covering from the top of his back to the bottom of his thighs. He’s so thin that Tony can see every rib. His hair is greasy and knotted and they’ve gagged him so he couldn’t yell. There’s a steady stream of tears running down his face, and he looks like he’s breathing heavily, but when Tony makes eye contact, his gaze is as defiant as ever.
Tony can hardly believe his eyes. He wants to scream, put his fist through the wall, absolutely pulverize the two that did this to his kid, his son. But he doesn’t do any of that. That’s not what Peter needs. Peter needs him to be calm and collected and to get him the fuck out and to the tower where he belongs.
He stumbles forward and drops to his knees by Peter’s head, both to get to the boy and because he doesn’t feel like he can keep himself standing upright for any longer without just collapsing. He reaches out to pull out Peter’s gag, trying not to let the sadness show on his face when Peter flinches violently away from him.
“Dad, dad.” Peter cries out once Tony gets the fabric out of his mouth. Tony shuffles forward and runs a hand through Peter’s greasy, tangled hair, trying to ignore the pangs of guilt that hit him like a knife through his side when Peter calls him Dad. He doesn’t deserve that title. Not after what he’s done. It’s his fault Peter is here in this horrible place.
“Everything is going to be okay now, kiddo.” Tony reassures.
“I’m sorry.” Peter sobs, tears streaming down his face. “I’m sorry, dad, I’m so sorry.” His voice is raspy from disuse as he tries to talk through the sobs. Every word Peter says Tony is just more and more disgusted with himself. Peter is apologizing like any of this is his fault. Those people have probably been convincing him that it is since he came to live here.
“Shh none of that.” Tony shushes him quietly, wiping some tears of Peter’s cheeks with his thumbs. Peter looks up at him, eyes wide with fear. “You did nothing wrong. I’m getting you out of here, okay?”
Peter nods frantically agains Tony’s hands.
“Do you know where the keys are to those?” Tony asks gently, nodding towards the cuffs.
“They’re, um, he keeps them on the hook by the door.” Peter practically whispers. His throat probably hurts from being gagged for however long.
Tony nods, still running his fingers gently through Peter’s hair and over his face comfortingly. “Okay, good. That’s good work, Pete.” He tried to reassure the boy. “I’m going to go get them now, and we’ll get you out of here. I’ll be right back, I promise.”
Peter nods his agreement and Tony carefully backs away. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t be letting Peter out of his sight ever again, but he knows he needs to do this to take Peter home.
They both flinch when the front door slams open once again.
“Tony? Peter?” Rhodey calls out as he enters the apartment. Tony gives his kid one more reassuring glance before standing back up and rushing to the front door.
“Rhodey, hey.” Tony calls as he approaches. Rhodey looks over at him, the concern evident on his face. The man glances to Peter’s two piece of shit guardians still huddled in the corner in fear of Tony’s wrath.
“Did you find him?” Rhodey asks.
“Yeah, I did.” He responds solemnly. Rhodey’s face falls at his voice. “Is he okay?”
“No, he’s really not.” Tony has to struggle to keep his voice from cracking with emotion. “But I’ll take care of him. Can you get these two out of my sight?” He asks angrily, nodding towards the living room. “I’m worried about what I’ll do if I get my hands on them. Something I’m sure Peter wouldn’t approve of.”
Rhodey’s face hardens with determination now that he’s been given a job. He reaches out and squeezes Tony’s upper arm to show his support. “Of course. I’ll take care of everything. Happy is waiting downstairs for you two.”
Tony nods his thanks as Rhodey walks away. His focus immediately returns to his mission and he spots the keys on the hook by the door, just like Peter said. He snatches them off and gets back to the closet as fast as he can.
The sight that awaits him doesn’t get any less upsetting the second time. He still has to swallow down some bile coming up the back of his throat as he approaches. He drops back down to his knees and starts trying keys in the handcuffs. Peter watches him wide eyed the whole time until he finds the right key and the cuffs pop open. Peter just lets his arms fall to the ground with a whimper like he doesn’t have any energy left to hold them up.
The sound of Peter in pain springs Tony into action.
“I’m going to help you sit up first, okay, kiddo?”
Peter nods his approval and tries to reach out a hand towards Tony. It doesn’t look like Peter is going to be much help here, but Tony takes his hand anyway. He wraps his other arm around Peter’s shoulders and lifts him up into a seated position, heart breaking at the pained winces he sees on the kid’s face.
Tony sits down and positions Peter in between his legs, pulling the boy in sideways to lean his shoulder on Tony’s chest so his injured back isn’t touching anything. Peter goes willingly, not possessing even the energy to keep himself upright. Tony can feel him breathing heavier just from the effort of sitting up.
Peter drops his head onto Tony’s shoulder and Tony gives himself a moment of selfishness to sit his chin on top of his kid’s head and relish in the fact that he has Peter here in his arms. He loves this kid. He has for a long time, way longer than he’s known that Peter is his biological son. Now that he’s decided he’s going to step up and actually be a father, he can finally admit that. He’s forever finished trying to keep his distance to protect them both. That part of him is gone. He knows that he needs to work his ass off to earn Peter’s forgiveness first, though, before he should really start acting like a father. He needs to be sure that Peter still wants him.
“Do you think you’ll be able to walk, bud?” Tony mutters into Peter’s hair, begrudgingly breaking the silence.
Peter hesitates for a moment before nodding. Tony holds Peter upright with his arms as he gets himself to his feet before looping his arms under Peter’s and hoisting him up to his feet. Peter is worryingly easy to lift. He sways a bit on his feet, but remains standing.
Peter attempts to take one step before stumbling and almost falling. Tony catches his arms before he can and wraps one around his own shoulders. Peter leans into him heavily as they walk together out the closet door.
Tony leads the kid down the hall to his bedroom, ignoring all the noises coming from the other direction where Rhodey is taking care of Bill and Diane.
He sits Peter down gently on the side of the bed and makes sure he’s stable before walking over to the dresser.
Let’s just get you dressed and then we can go. Okay?” He glances back at Peter. The boy nods, but he wraps his arms around his body like he just remembered he was mostly naked and is getting embarrassed.
Tony looks away again to give him some kind of privacy, and keeps digging through drawers. “Where are all your things, Pete?” Tony wonders aloud, looking at the barren dresser. He sees a couple pairs of old briefs like the ones Peter is wearing, some socks so covered in holes they look almost unusable, and a pair of jeans that will in no way be comfortable on all of Peter’s injuries.
“Don’t you have like some sweat pants and T-shirts or something?” He glances back at Peter again, who is still trying to shield himself with his arms. He looks even more embarrassed now then he did a few seconds ago. Did Tony said something?
Peter shrugs shyly and quietly answers. “I’m sorry, sir…that’s all I have. I have a few dirty shirts that I was going to wash this weekend, but…” Peter shrugs again.
Once again, Tony feels like an complete idiot and an asshole. He’s seen what peter wears every day to the tower. Its the same three things over and over again. Tony just assumed that Peter had other clothes that he didn’t like or didn’t want to mess up, but now that he knows the whole story, it’s obvious that no one has offered to buy the kid any new clothes probably since he got placed in foster care.
“Um, I have the clothes you let me wear a few months ago.” Peter tells him nervously. “They’re under the bed. I didn’t want Bill or Diane to find them and ask where they came from.”
Tony’s heart pangs again with the knowledge that Peter had to hide everything he was doing from these people just to protect himself, even something as simple as a pair of clothes.
“That’s perfect, Pete. I’ll grab them.”
Tony’s knees complain as he gets back down onto the floor to reach under the bed for the clothes, but he’s happy to do it.
“I, um, I’m really sorry I never gave them back, sir, I just-“
“It’s okay, kiddo.” Tony insists. “If I wanted them back, I would’ve asked for them. They don’t even fit me anymore.”
He grabs the MIT T-shirt’s off the top and helps guide Peter’s arms in, pulling it over the kid’s head.
“And don’t call me sir, remember? Makes me feel old.” Peter tries to smile as his joke, but it doesn’t look real.
Tony hands him the pair of underwear he grabbed from the dresser drawer.
“Okay, I’m assuming you want to get these on by yourself, so I’m just going to turn around for a minute to give you some privacy, okay?”
Peter takes the briefs and waits for Tony to turn around before trying to change. Tony doesn’t go far just in case Peter has any trouble.
“Mr. Stark?” Peter asks from behind him. Tony turns around, trying not to let the disappointment show on his face. Peter can call him whatever he wants. He knows he’s undeserving of the dad title. It’s not the time or place to have that conversation.
Peter successfully got the clean underwear on, but the sweatpants are on the floor. Peter probably dropped them trying to get them on his legs.
“Let me help you with those, Pete.”
Tony squats down and puts Peter’s feet through the pant legs. He takes Peter’s hands and puts them on his shoulders, motioning for the kid to use him as support to stand up. He helps Peter stand before getting the pants pulled up and the drawstrings tied as tight as they can go. He hates how thin Peter has gotten. He’s going to make sure Peter never has to go hungry again.
Tony sits him back down and grabs Peter’s backpack off the floor. “Do you have anything in here you want to take with you, kid? We’re not coming back.”
Peter shakes his head. “Everything important I keep with me in my backpack.”
Tony tries not to let the guilt he’s feeling show. He’s reminded once again at all the signs Peter was showing of abuse and Tony didn’t notice one single thing. He should’ve noticed that Peter didn’t have any clothes that fit, or that his room was bare and empty. It was so obvious that he wasn’t being properly taken care of and Tony was completely oblivious.
He slings the backpack strap over his shoulder before helping Peter off the bed. The kid seems a little more stable now that he’s been able to stretch his legs. Tony’s sure he must’ve been stiff after being trapped in that little room for so long.
There’s no one else in the apartment when they leave. Rhodey must’ve left already, hopefully headed to a police station. It takes them a lot longer than usual, but eventually they make it downstairs and out of the building. Happy is patiently waiting for them at the curb.
The other man’s eyes widen for a second when he sees how bad Peter looks, and most of his injuries are hidden underneath his clothes. Luckily Rhodey gave him a quick debrief and Happy is a professional, because the look only lasted for half a second before his face returned back to its normal stoicism. He greets Tony with a nod and open the door to the backseat like usual.
Tony helps Peter inside before sitting down himself. Happy closes their door and gets into the driver’s seat. He gives Tony a concerned look in the rearview mirror before rolling up the privacy screen and pulling out into the street.
Peter immediately scrunches himself all the way on the far side of the car, as close to the door as he could get. He wraps his arms around his midsection protectively and focuses his eyes out the window. Tony still notices the winces at every little bump in the road, though, and he wasn’t going to let his kid be in any more pain ever after what he had just gone through.
He scoots himself a little closer to Peter and holds out his hand on the seat between them, palm up. Peter hesitates at first, but after a second he takes Tony’s offered hand and entwines their fingers together, visibly relaxing a bit.
“What hurts, kiddo?” Tony asks the next time Peter winces when they went over a small pothole.
He glances over at Tony and shrugs. “Everything I guess. Right now it’s mostly my butt and my thighs. Sitting hurts.”
Tony remembers the belt marks. He doesn’t think that image will ever be something he can get out of his mind.
“Here, why don’t you lie down for the drive then?” He suggests. Peter hesitates for a second before nodding his agreement. Tony puts a hand on Peter’s shoulder and gently pulls him down until he’s laying across the cushions. He positions Peter’s head on his thigh, and started untangling Peter’s curly brown hair with his fingers. Just like earlier, Peter seems really tense for a few seconds before relaxing and letting Tony take care of him. Tony isn’t sure if its because he’s been so horrible to Peter recently, or another response from the abuse. Either way, Tony is going to fix things.
He keeps playing with Peter’s hair the whole way to the tower, with Peter occasionally letting out content little sighs. Tony is almost disappointed when they make it to the tower so quickly. They had a little moment of peace in the car that has to be broken to get inside. Tony doesn’t let Happy come up with them for Peter’s sake, even though he knows the man wants to be there. Peter needs some privacy right now. And he selfishly wants some time alone with Peter as well. They have some things they need to talk about.
Peter makes it to into elevator with just a little help from Tony and the doors close behind them.
“Medbay, please, Friday.”
Peter immediately whips his head around towards Tony, eyes wide with fear that Tony never wants to see.
“What? No, no medbay.” He says frantically. “I don’t…No doctors. Please.”
Seeing how upset Peter is almost makes Tony change his mind, but he knows they have to.
“I’m really sorry, kiddo, but this is one thing I have to insist on.” He says firmly.
“Please.” Peter begs. “I’m really okay. I know I am.”
Tony shakes his head. “We’re going, Pete. I promise everything else that happens after this, you can have complete control over, but we need to get you checked out by a doctor.”
Peter turns his head away, pouting. Tony really doesn’t want to give Peter any more reason to be upset with him, but he also wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he didn’t get Peter seen by a doctor and the kid is seriously injured.
The elevator doors open and the two step out into the white hallway. One of the nurses that Tony is familiar with immediately sees them and comes hustling down the hall.
“Mr. Stark!” She says cheerily. “What can we do for you today?”
“Hey, Liz.” Tony greets her kindly. She’s one of his favorite nurses, and that’s saying something because very much like his son, he hates going to the medbay.
“I was wondering if we could get Peter here checked out, preferably by Dr. Rodríguez if he’s around.”
“Yeah, of course.” She responds, smiling at Peter who is stubbornly frowning next to them. “Dr. Rodríguez is actually here today, so I’ll get you guys set up in a room and I’ll go let him know.”
She leads them into one of the rooms. It’s like any other doctors office exam room except a little nicer. Tony made sure everywhere in his tower only had the best equipment. Liz pats the exam table with her hand and helps Peter climb up to take a seat on it.
“Okay, you two wait here and I’ll be right back.” The nurse says before slipping out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
Tony stands right next to Peter and keeps his hand on the boy’s arm comfortingly. Peter keeps flinching involuntarily at every noise he hears outside. They’re only waiting a minute before the door opens again and the doctor comes in, followed closely behind by nurse Liz.
The doctor stops in the doorway for a second in surprise before regaining his composure and coming all the way in. “So you’re Peter.” He says knowingly. “I’ve been wondering if I’d see you here again.”
Peter scrunches his forehead in confusion. “Have we met before, sir?”
The doctor smiles a sad smile. “Yes, though you wouldn’t remember. I took care of you just few days ago after you saved all those people in that apartment fire.”
Peter just hums in thought. “Thank you, sir.” He tells the man.
“So what are you here for today?” The doctor asks, glancing between Peter and Tony. “Has everything been healing okay from the fire? Your lungs feel okay?” Tony glances down at Peter next to him, but Peter is still stubbornly looking away, arms crossed over his chest.
“We’re not here about those injuries.” Tony explains. “We’re here about what you and I discussed the other day, afterwards.”
The doctor purses his lips and nods knowingly. “I see.” He turns to the nurse behind him. “Liz, I can handle this. You can go.”
She quickly slips back out into the hallway, closing the door so they can have some privacy. He pulls up a desk chair from the computer in the corner and sits down across from Peter so he’s at eye level.
“Do you want Mr. Stark to step outside for some privacy while we talk?” The doctor asks Peter kindly.
“No thank you, sir.” Peter mumbles, refusing to make eye contact with the man. He seems very embarrassed about being here.
“Okay, you got it.” The doctor replies with a nod. “Just so you both know, everything here is completely confidential, and I’m not going to do anything without your permission, okay Peter?”
“Yes, sir.” Peter responds with a nod.
“Good. Now, Peter you wouldn’t know this unless Mr. Stark explained, but the other day my team and I found some markings on your body that, well, they didn’t look to me like they came from superheroing, that’s for sure.”
Peter just nods again, looking away.
“Do you think either of you might be able to give me any more details?” He prompts, looking back and forth from Peter to Tony.
Peter just shrugs. “My foster family beat the shit out of me. What else is there to say?”
The doctor doesn’t looked phased whatsoever by what Peter said. “Can I take a look at any injuries?” He asks, standing up.
Peter nods and starts trying to pull of his shirt, but he’s still pretty weak so Tony steps in and helps him. It still looks just as bad as Tony remembers, maybe even worse. He’s glad he hired such good doctors, because this man doesn’t show any emotion on his face as he walks around to look at Peter’s back.
“Can you tell me what these are from?” He asks, pointing to the marks.
“Belt.” Peter says defiantly.
“When did all this happen?” The doctor asks.
“Thursday night.” Peter responds stoically. “They got pissed because a CPS lady came to the house to question them about beating me, but I convinced her they weren’t. Then Bill tried to strangle me. I kind of thought he might actually try to kill me so I ran away to the tower, but Mr. Stark-“
Peter cuts himself off mid sentence to look up at Tony, who is just trying to keep himself together while hearing his kid explain all this so nonchalantly.
“Mr. Stark, uh, had company over, so I decided not to say anything and I left again.” Peter continues. “I was going to go back to the apartment to get my backpack and then go stay at a friend’s house, but Bill found my Spider-Man suit and threatened to tell everyone my secret if I didn’t do what he said. Then he hit me with his belt and kicked me until I passed out, then he locked me in the closet until Mr. Stark found me just a little while ago.”
Tony lays a hand on Peter’s arm. “I’ll handle the Spider-Man thing, okay? Rhodey and I will make sure he never tells anyone.” He reassures the kid. Peter looks up at him gratefully and gives him a small, thankful smile.
Tony’s just thinking about how they won’t be able to talk if they’re dead.
The doctor looks around at Peter’s back and sides a bit before sitting back down. Tony helps Peter back into his shirt before they continue.
“About how long has this kind of thing been going on?” The doctor asks next.
Peter shrugs again. “About as long as I’ve lived there. Maybe a little less than a year?”
“Can you tell me a little bit about what you’ve been through?” Dr. Rodríguez questions. “If Im going to file a report against them, which I’m assuming you two want for the police report, then I need all the details. Like what kinds of things were pretty typical for them, how often, if they did anything besides the physical stuff.”
Peter thinks for a moment. “Can I, uh, have a little water first?” Tony almost groans in frustration. They kept the kid locked up for two days and Tony completely forgot to even get him any water. He’s so bad at this already. Luckily the doctor is prepared. He reaches in a cabinet on one side of the room and pulls out a water bottle that Peter promptly chugs until it’s empty.
“Thanks.” He says, voice sounding much lest raspy and unused already, before continuing answering the question.
“Well, if I behave then I don’t get punished as much. They always shove me around and pull my hair and call me names and stuff, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. If I make them angry the usually Bill will hit me or get me with his belt. That’s not super often. Maybe like every couple weeks. If I do something really bad, then I get locked in a closet for a few days, or until something comes up that would look suspicious if I missed. Like my internship with Mr. Stark or school.”
The doctor is nodding along, making sure Peter knows he’s listening. Tony meanwhile is trying not to throw up at all the horrible things his kid has had to go through. He got whipped with a belt twice a month? For a year?! Tony can’t even imagine. He never knew.
The doctor wasn’t finished. “Did they ever withhold food as a punishment? Or try to isolate you from friends?”
Peter nods. “Yeah, all the time. They almost never gave me food there. Sometimes if I was really good, they would let me have what was leftover from dinner, but I got all my food from school until Mr. Stark started giving me money for food. He thought he was just paying for extra food because of my enhanced metabolism though. And I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere except for school. I had to be back at their apartment every day immediately after school or I’d get in trouble. The only reason they let me come to the tower is because they were taking the money Mr. Stark was paying me.”
Mental reminder: set Peter up with a bank account and put in at least double the amount he should’ve made by now.
“Now, Peter, I know I’ve been asking some difficult questions, and we’re almost done, but I always have to ask. Did you ever experience any kind of sexual abuse or assault while you were with this foster family?” The doctor asks.
“Uh, no sir. Not them.” Peter replies. Tony’s eyes widen in shock and he feels like he’s going to pass out. Not them? Someone else?! He’s definitely about to throw up, or keel over, or something. Peter must see the look on his face because he quickly puts out a reassuring hand.
“No, sorry, I didn’t mean. No one’s ever…I mean, people have tried, but I haven’t let anybody do anything like that.” Peter frantically explains to Tony. Tony can’t do anything but nod, eyes still wide in shock. This is all becoming a little too much for him to handle, but Peter wanted him to stay, so he’ll stay. He definitely moves in a little closer to the kid though.
“That’s part of the reason I’ve been moved around so many places.” Peter explains. “I’ve always called my case worker when things got too bad. I could handle what was happening at the Pattersons. At least it wasn’t that.”
“Was there anything else going on that you’d like to talk about, Peter?” The doctor asks through Tony’s crisis that he was having.
“No, sir.” Peter replies with a shake of his head. “Can I go soon? I’m pretty tired.”
The doctor thinks for a moment. “I want to get a quick scan of your chest and abdomen just to make sure nothing is broken, and then from my standpoint there’s nothing really keeping you here medically. I’ll have to call your representative with foster care to come get you.”
Peter looks up at Tony in a panic for one second before he steps in. “Actually, doc, Peter is staying with me for the time being. I’ll handle everything with his social worker.”
The doctor looks a little concerned, but he knows better than to argue with Tony Stark. “Oh, uh, okay Mr. Stark. It’s certainly unconventional, but if Peter is okay with it then I won’t stop you.”
“I am, sir.” Peter says immediately.
“Okay, then let’s get you to the X-ray.”
The X-ray doesn’t take long at all, and luckily, all bones are still intact.
“Just keep all the wounds clean and dry, and make sure you get lots of food and rest.” The doctor instructs on their way out the door. Tony nods that he would and leads Peter back to the elevator then up to the penthouse.
“Do you want something to eat?” Tony asks as they walk in. “That was stupid. Of course you want something to eat. You haven’t eaten in days. Any preferences?” Tony knows he’s rambling, but he can’t help it. He’s so nervous now that they’re in the penthouse and alone. What if Peter says he hates him and doesn’t want to live here? He knows he would deserve it, but he doesn’t know if he could bare it after all they’ve been through.
“Actually, I was wondering if I could take a shower?” Peter asks, looking nervous again.
“Of course you can, bud.” Tony responds, probably a little too enthusiastically. “Let’s go to your room.”
He takes Peter down the hall to the guest bedroom right next to his room. That’ll be Peter’s bedroom of course, in case he needs Tony for something.
He drops the backpack that he’s been lugging around on the ground next to the bed before opening the bathroom door and turning on the shower. He has Peter sit on the toilet seat while he helps him out of his shirt again.
“You got it from here?” Tony asks the kid, trying not to stare at all the dark purple bruises marring his torso.
“Yeah, I got it. Thanks.” Peter replies, using the counter top to stand up.
Tony makes his leave, but he leaves the door cracked just in case. He goes into his room for another set of clothes and sets them on Peter’s bathroom counter. Then, he heads back into the kitchen intending on making Peter some food, but as soon as he’s alone, he practically collapses onto the couch. He knows he hasn’t been through anything compared to what his poor kid has, but he’s completely freaking out on the inside. He’s trying to keep it together for Peter’s sake, but this has all been a lot to take in.
He gives himself a few minutes to freak out on the couch before he pulls it together again to get up to the kitchen. Peter needs him. Peter needs him. That’s his mantra as he goes around the kitchen. His kid needs him, and he’s going to be there.