Chapter 19
The elevator ride, much like the car, was silent, with Tony constantly shooting Peter anxious glances as he curls into himself. With a ding the doors slide open and Peter bolts out and down the hall.
“Peter,” Tony moved to follow him.
“Leave me alone!” He screamed as the door to his bedroom slammed shut, rattling the carefully curated art that hung in the hall.
Harley still sat at the kitchen table watch, but now alone, MJ and Ned having disappeared before Tony and Peter arrived. “Everything ok?” He asked his dad softly.
Tony sighed and sat beside his son. “No. In fact, I don’t think anything is ever ok when it comes to Peter.”
They sat together in companionable quiet as the clock in the kitchen kept track of the passing minutes with steady ticks. The temporary peace was broken by FRIDAY’s voice announcing a visitor from the speaker above them.
“Who is it Fri?” Tony asks.
“Ms. Skyler Evans.”
“Send her up.” Tony replied immediately. He stands and greets her at the elevator. Harley is slightly taken back by her appearance. Every time he had seen her, whether at school or with Peter, she was always in total control of how she was perceived. Every thing about her down to her shoe laces was a choice, an armor. But looking at her now, Harley could see the cracks. Her watery eyes were rimmed red, with black smudges of mascara blending into the dark bags that were just beginning to form. Her usual carefully planned outfits had been replaced with sweatpants and an oversized hoodie that Harley would bet his life on belonged to Peter.
“I need to talk to Peter.”
“Skyler, I’m not sure this is the best time. He… he wants to be alone right now.” Tony said, though it was obvious he was unsure that was the right thing to do.
“I’m he does. But I need to see him. We fought and-“ She sniffed. “I’m still mad at him, but today has been a really bad day for him. And I should apologize.”
“It’s been worse than you know. He ran into one of his old foster fathers, Skip Westcott, and-“
“What?” Skyler’s interruption was fueled with icy fear and a chill ran down Harley’s spine even though he wasn’t sure why.
“You know about Westcott?”
“Yeah, and judging by the fact that you are in here and not in a holding cell, I’m gonna guess I know a lot more about him than you.” Skyler pushed past him and head down to Peter’s room, Tony on her heels.
She knocks once but doesn’t wait for a response. Flinging the door open, she beelines towards Peter, who’s crammed himself under his desk. He flinches when her knees hit the room and scoots closer to the wall.
“Babe, it’s me. It’s ok.”
“Leave me alone Sky. I don’t want you here.” He mutters.
“Well, I’m not leaving you alone, so you can pick between me and Tony.”
“Tony.”
Skyler leans back, shock slapping itself across her face. “Peter I’m not mad about the fight anymore-“
“Please just, go.”
She sighs, “Fine. I’ll hang out with Harley.” She stands and whispers to Tony, “Please try to get him to talk about what happened. And please don’t be angry.” She slipped out of the room, pulling the door with her to give them some privacy but doesn’t let it click shut.
Tony lowered himself to the floor and sat across from Peter. “Hey Buddy. Can I get you anything? Water? A pillow?”
Peter shook his head. “You don’t need to be here. Skyler can’t tell us what to do.”
Tony smiled softly. “You wanna tell her that? You know, she reminds of Pepper. A force of nature.”
One side of Peter’s mouth tilted up, “Yeah, I can see that.”
“She cares about you a lot. I know she’s worried about you. Do you want to tell me why she’s so worried?”
Peter shrugged, “She knows about Skip.”
“What does she know about him?” Tony prods gently.
“What he did to me. I didn’t mean to tell her but I had a nightmare once with her and-“ He took a shuttering breath. “I shouldn’t have told her. I wasn’t supposed to. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”
“Did Skip tell you not to tell anyone?” Tony already knew the answer but he still asked, hoping it would lead to Peter opening up.
“Yeah. He said that if she knew she’d hate me, that everyone would hate me.”
“But she knows and she clearly doesn’t hate you, so Skip was lying.”
“I guess.” Peter rubbed his eyes. “I don’t need to be told that Skip is a bad man Tony. I know what he did was wrong. I know- I know he shouldn’t have done what he did.”
“Peter-“
“I had met monsters before.” Peter interrupted, eyes squeezed shut. “Beasts with gleaming eyes and sharp teeth. The kind of men that make you choose to cross the street rather than having to pass them. Skip was not a monster. He was the devil himself.” Peter’s eyes opened and they were cold and distant, as if he wasn’t even there with Tony anymore.
“He could fool anyone into thinking he was an angel. With his clear blue eyes, perfect white smile, and clean shaven face. But underneath the crisp polos and pressed kakis lied a cruel and twisted demon, with more skeletons than cardigans in his closet.” Peter took a deep breath. “At first, Skip was the perfect foster parent. He was young and cool and he never shouted. He feed me and gave me my own room. I had never lived in a home where I was the only kid and it was awesome. He felt more like a friend than a parent. We used to go to the library and get all these science books. We’d recreate the experiments in them in the kitchen. I thought it was so cool.” Peter voice fell to a whisper. Tony desperately wanted to interrupt. To hold him and tell him that it was ok, he didn’t need to say anything he didn’t want to. But Tony knew that he needed to know what happened to help Peter. And maybe Peter needed this too.
“One day, he said he wanted to try a different kind of experiment. He showed me these magazines and videos. The-“ Peter made several awkward gestures with his hands and Tony nodded, “Yeah, those kinds. Then he made me do what the people were doing in them. I didn’t want to. It hurt and it made me feel sick, but Skip told me that if I didn’t listen to him, he’d send me back. And, look, I know, I know, I should have fought him, but I couldn’t go back to the homes. I had a life with Skip. A perfect life, expect for one small part. So I let him.”
Tony had assumed Skip had hurt Peter in a brutal way, but he had hoped and prayed that it wasn’t this. His blood curdled and he had never regretted anything more than not killing Westcott when he had the chance this afternoon. Well. There was one thing he regretted more.
Peter continued talking, proving once again just how strong he was. “But one day, I just, couldn’t. I shoved him away. I shout at him. Said I was going to tell my social worker. And he just stood there with that stupid, perfect smile. He said that if I didn’t want to help him anymore, that was fine. That-“ Peter’s voice faltered, “that he knew Skyler’s dad and he could always just offer to watch her after school instead. I lost it on him. That’s what landed me in juvie and him in the ER.” Peter chewed at his lip. “I never told anyone that was why. I didn’t want Sky to know he threatened her. She would have just blamed herself.”
Words failed Tony as his heart tore and burned and broke for his son, his baby, who he had abandoned. Had given away to be raised by wolves and monsters. Overwhelmed with grief, he did the only thing he could. Leaning forward, he wrapped Peter into his arms, pulling him close to his chest. Sobs shook Peter as they bubbled up from deep within his lungs. Tony rocked him, one hand carding through his hair, the other rubbing circles between his shoulder blades.
They stayed like that until Peter had run out of tears and his sobs had melted into soft sniffs. Eventually Peter pulled his head away from Tony and he wiped at his eyes. “Skip’s still getting foster placements. Sky and Cam think I need to tell someone so he can’t have kids stay with him anymore. And I know it’s the right thing to do, but I just…”
Tony used his thumb to erase a tear that Peter had missed. “Hey, don’t you worry about that, ok? I’m going to take care of it. You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to. Westcott isn’t going to ever be able to hurt another child again. I promise.”
“Really?” Peter asked in a small voice.
“Really. Consider him gone.”
Peter nodded, still somewhat unsure. “Can, can you go get Sky?”
“Of course. I’ll have her bring you some water too. Are you hungry?”
Peter shook his head.
“Alright, that’s fine. But you need to eat something at dinner ok?”
Peter offered him a slight smile, “So long as it’s not lasagna.”
“Hey, what’s wrong with my lasagna?” Tony feigned offense.
“You make it at least once a week. It’s overkill.”
“Fine. Have it your way. Any requests?”
Peter shook his head and Tony stood, wincing as his knees cracked. “OK kid, I’ll think of something.”
When Tony reappears in the kitchen, Harley and Skyler are no where to be found, but he can hear voices coming from the other room. Grabbing a bottle of water, he heads towards the living room and finds them both on the floor with a sleeping Morgan between them and Frozen playing on the tv in the background.
“Hey Sky,” He calls, “mind bring Peter some water?” Before he’s even finished his sentence, she’s snagged the water bottle and is heading down the hall.
“Do you think it’d be ok if I check on him too?” Harley asks hesitantly as he rises to his feet.
Tony smiles, “You can try. He might want to be alone with Skyler but there’s no harm in asking.”
Harley nods then takes off after Skyler. Tony waits until he’s down the hall before pulling out his phone. He scrolls through his contacts until he finds what he was looking for. The call rings three times before it’s picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hey Barnes. I need a favor.”