On Our Way To Nowhere

Tony sat on the beach as he watched Peter build sandcastles in the sand then watched the waves crash into them. 

A month ago, Tony was wishing he could be on a private beach somewhere with Peter and Pepper and be in this exact position only now, he wanted to be anywhere but the goddamn beach and the jungle. 

He wanted to go back home to civilization and a proper bed with a working shower and running water. 

It’s been five days. 

No ones coming. 

Tony knew this wasn’t normal. A day or two sure, maybe three but that’s pushing it. It’s been five days, going on six in just a few hours and no sign of rescue. 

Tony was getting really worried now but he tried not to show it in front of Peter. 

He put on a brave face in front of his kid. 

Peter was running into the ocean and throwing himself into the waves, Tony could hear his giggles all the way up the beach and tried to save the sound in his mind. 

Tony stood up, brushing the sand off his butt and making his way towards Peter. They didn’t end up finding the sunscreen so Tony was trying to limit Peter’s time in the sun as much as possible although it was next to impossible when they currently lived on the beach. 

Something Tony learned when Peter was a toddler and they forgot sunscreen at the beach once was to rub sand all over his body, so he’s been doing that the past few days. 

Although now all the sand washed off of Peter since he was splashing in the ocean. 

“You having fun?” Tony asked, standing knee deep in the water. 

Peter nodded. “Yeah! Play with me.” 

“How about tomorrow we play in the ocean together. You’ve been in the sun for a while and it’s a lot stronger than you think so quick bath and then we’ll go get dinner.” It was weird. It sounded like things were normal but they were far from normal. 

Peter sighed and flopped into the water. “But I don’t want to. You said it’s bad to put soap in the ocean anyways.” 

Tony grabbed the mini bottle he found in the jungle from their plane and shrugged. They were gonna run out eventually. “We don’t have any other choices.” 

Peter missed his bubble baths at home. He sighed but stripped from his clothes and held his hand out for a bit of soap. “It’s funny because I always have to shower to get the sand off me but now I’m showering in the sand.” 

Tony was glad Peter found that funny. He’s glad Peter found something about this funny. “I guess. Let me do your hair.” 

He began doing Peter’s hair the best he could with the little soap they had and no comb or freshwater. 

“Maybe tomorrow rescue will come.” Peter thought out loud, hopping from foot to foot as his dad did his hair. “Then we can go home. I miss my room.” 

“Me too, baby. Soon. I hope. Let’s just focus on getting your hair shiny and new.” He leaned down to rinse his hands in the water and gestured for Peter to lie down so he could ever so carefully rinse his hair out, making sure not to get any water in his eyes. 

Peter squeezed his eyes tightly closed and held his breath. He trusted his dad not to put his head under so he didn’t know why he felt the need to do that. 

Once they were done, Tony held one of his shirts out to wrap Peter in. “Let’s just shake the sand out.” Both of them laughed while Tony aggressively shook his shirt. 

They were making the best of the situation. 

He wrapped Peter in his shirt after and lifted his kid into his arms to carry him across the beach. It was still bright out but the sun was going to set in about an hour or so. Just enough time for them to go into the jungle to find some dinner. 

Peter laid his head on his dad’s shoulder. “Can you just hold me? I don’t wanna move from your arms.” He wrapped his tiny arms around his dad’s neck. “You’re comfy.” 

Tony wasn’t going to say no to that. He hoisted Peter up higher and turned so he was facing the ocean to watch the sun go down over it for a few minutes. He rocked his baby side to side, remembering a time he did this exact thing every night to get Peter to fall asleep. 

He no longer did that since every time he tried, Peter always pushed him away, telling him he was a big boy and didn’t want to be rocked like a baby. Now, Peter was back in his arms but Tony wasn’t going to comment on it. Just enjoy the moment. 

After a few minutes, Peter was yawning and rubbing at his eyes and Tony didn’t want Peter to fall asleep right now. It was too early. He didn’t know the time so the sun was currently how he managed their schedule but it was still too early for Peter to fall asleep. 

“Wake up. It’s not time to sleep yet.” Tony placed Peter on his feet but Peter clung on tighter. “Pete, stop being an octopus and let go.” 

Peter whined. “I wanna stay with you in your arms. Don’t let me go.” 

Tony didn’t want to let Peter go but he also knew if he let Peter stay in his arms, he would fall asleep in just a matter of minutes. “After we go find some dinner, then we can cuddle.” 

Peter liked that idea. He straightened his legs and walked over to his suitcase to find some clothes to change into. He had no idea what he wore already and what was dirty since he couldn’t really remember but as long as it wasn’t wet or had any stains on it, it was clean to him. 

He put on some underwear, blue shorts and a white shirt with his velcro shoes. “Look. I made sure I match.” 

Tony smiled down at his boy. “Looking handsome, my baby. I’m sure all the girl animals are gonna be so impressed.” 

Peter made a gagging sound and scrunched his face up. “Ew! That’s gross. All girls are nasty. Unless it’s Pepper. I love Pepper.” 

“Stay this young forever.” Tony pulled Peter against his side as they began walking into the jungle. He wished Peter never lost his innocence and stayed how he was forever. Tony knew that was impossible so he just had to enjoy every moment with Peter. 

Peter was soon running off ahead but kept looking back every so often to make sure he could still see his dad. 

Tony kept a close eye on Peter and watched him like a hawk while also looking at their surroundings. The jungle was so thick in some parts, they had to find a different way around some of the plants and trees. Another sign no one lived on the island, at least not near them. 

As each day passed, Tony felt a little bit better about not being attacked by locals. If there was anyone on the island, they surely would have paid them a visit on the first few nights. They were going on their sixth night. 

Peter ran up ahead through some thick vines and jumped off a rock, leaving his dads sight unintentionally. He didn’t realize his dad wasn’t behind him anymore so he continued walking ahead, unaware of the dangers around him. 

“Peter? Stop moving.” Tony called out as he ran after Peter. He pushed through the thick vines and immediately relaxed once he saw Peter walking ahead. “Peter? Stop. Didn’t you hear me calling you?” 

Peter turned around to face his dad and walk back towards him. “Yeah. I was just-” 

“Stop!” Tony yelled, his heart dropping in his stomach once he saw where Peter was about to step. 

Peter was too confused to stop. He stepped down on something hard that made a clicking sound. He looked down confused, seeing a weird looking metal device. 

“No no no! Don’t move. Don’t move, Peter. Oh god.” Tony ran over to Peter, making sure not to step on anything either. 

Peter freaked out. “What? What is it, daddy? Daddy?!”

Tony leaned down to examine the device. “It’s a booby trap of some kind.” 

“What’s that? I’m scared, daddy!” Peter covered his hands over his eyes and tried to remain as still as possible but it was hard. 

Tony followed the line attached to the trap across the ground. He had no idea what was going to happen when Peter steps off that thing and he needs to get ready for it. He looked back at Peter, pointing a finger at him. “Do not move.” 

Peter nodded, tears streaming down his face. 

Tony followed the line that was built out of twigs and vines over to a tree. He followed it with his eyes and spotted a homemade bone arrow. He felt like the life had been knocked out of him. 

This felt like a bigger shock to him than actually waking up after the plane crash, realizing they had been in a plane crash because now he knew for sure that there were other people on this island. 

He also knew that he couldn’t put himself in front of the arrow to sacrifice his life for Peter’s since Peter wouldn’t be able to survive on the island without him. He wasn’t going to let Peter witness his death and fend for himself for who knows how long so he had to figure this out. 

“Daddy. Please! I’m scared.” Peter cried out, unable to turn around to even see what his dad was doing. 

“Wait, Peter. Just… let me think.” Tony tried to follow the line to see if it was connected to any other arrows that would potentially kill him or Peter if he detached the first one. 

When he saw none, he looked back at Peter. He didn’t know how to do this. “Fuck.” 

Peter cried harder. “You-you said a no no word.” 

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m just… daddy’s just a bit confused right now, baby.” Tony wiped at the sweat pouring down his face. He wanted to cry. There was no way around this. 

Peter cried harder. “What-what if I just… step off?” 

“No! No no, don’t do that.” Tony jumped onto the ground and stood in front of Peter, steadying him by his shoulders and leaning down to be at his height level. 

“I’m s-scared. I’m scared, daddy. I wanna go home!” Peter cried out desperately. He missed Pepper and he just wanted to go home and not be so scared. 

Tony nodded. “It’s okay to be scared. Fear tells us that we’re alive and we’re surviving so let’s just…” Tony looked around for an idea. “let’s just-we’re gonna move on the count of three.” 

Tony had no idea if it would work. He looked at the arrow aiming right at Peter and braced himself. “One. Two… three!” 

As quickly as he could, he honestly had no idea he could move so fast, he grabbed Peter and threw himself onto the ground, bringing Peter with him. The arrow landed over their heads and Tony wanted to vomit. 

Once Peter saw that he was okay and his dad was okay, he began full on sobbing, now that he could actually move his body. 

Tony rubbed his back. “It’s okay. We’re okay, baby. Everything’s okay.” 

Peter tried to say something but he couldn’t speak so he buried his head into his dad’s neck and tried to find comfort there for a few minutes. 

No one felt it until Peter moved. He sat up and looked down at his pants, seeing the front of them were wet. He cried harder. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I-I was scared. I-I-I didn’ mean to pee!” 

Tony stood up, pulling Peter to his feet with him. “Hey, it’s okay. It was an accident. I know you were scared and so was I. It’s okay.” 

Peter nodded. He was still too riddled with fear to care that much. 

They continued walking but back in the direction they came from. Tony was going to make sure they stayed as far away from this place as possible because if there was one booby trap, there was more. 

He didn’t know if it was only in that area, possibly protecting something, or if the whole island was covered with them. He hoped not. God, he hoped not. 

He was going to be watching where they both stepped now. 

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Peter sniffling every so often, he eventually calmed down and let go of his dad’s hand, gaining enough courage to walk up ahead. 

“Do you think there are more… boobies traps?” Peter asked, stopping to wait for his dad to catch up. 

Tony bursted out laughing. “Not boobies traps, a booby trap. It’s a trap someone makes with the intention to kill or hurt someone. That’s why we have to be careful.” 

Peter nodded. “So that means other people are here too! Maybe the pilots made it. Or-or the people from the plane we saw in the trees on the cliff!” 

Now that they were going to be on the island for a lot longer than Tony first thought, he didn’t want to lie to Peter about certain things anymore. It was important that he knew this was serious and not a fun mini vacation on the beach and some extravagant camping. 

“Well, remember how I told you the plane had been up there for most likely a really long time?” Peter nodded, eyes wide. “That means that the people who came on the pane are probably dead or rescued by now.” 

Peter gasped and his eyes went impossibly wider. “Dead? So if we stay here long enough then we’ll die too?” 

“No. That’s not what I meant, Peter. We’re gonna get rescued. Our plane is bigger and better equipped to deal with these things, it’s gonna be okay.” Tony didn’t mean to scare Peter. He also didn’t want to give Peter any false hope either. 

Peter skipped over a log. “What about the pilots? Are they dead too?” 

Tony wanted to say no but that wasn’t the truth. “Yeah. There’s just no way they could have survived the crash, buddy.” 

“But-but we did. We’re alive!” Peter tried to argue, not liking the fact that people were dying. 

Tony understood how hard this was for Peter. “We were lucky. We were in a different part of the plane when it went down and we’re really really lucky to be alive.” 

Peter grabbed onto his dad’s hand again. “Do you think Pepper will come to the island to get us?” 

Tony hoped not. He didn’t want anyone else he loved on this island. “No but I know she will be waiting for us at the closest airport, waiting to hug us.” 

Peter giggled. He liked the sounds of that. 

The two of them continued walking through the jungle, avoiding the big rocks and any potential metal traps on the ground. Tony didn’t know where they were going at this point. 

They were heading in the opposite direction of the beach where all their stuff was but as long as they stayed on a straight path or somewhat of a straight path, it was safe. Tony could find their way back before nightfall. 

He looked up through the trees and noticed that it was in fact going to be nighttime soon and that the sun was setting faster than it seemed normal. “Pete, let’s turn around and head back. We’ll pick some fruits off the trees on our way back.” 

Peter sighed. He wanted to keep going and keep exploring. “Let’s just go for a little bit longer.” 

“No.” 

“Please, daddy.” 

“No because I can’t find our way back to the beach in the dark and it’ll be too dangerous.” Tony looked up at the sky through the trees. They had been walking for about forty minutes and would probably still end up walking a bit through the jungle in the dark. At least they would be closer to the beach then. “Let’s go, Peter. Now.” 

Peter whined as he picked up a stick and threw it but when it landed, it hit metal, making a loud echo. Tony and him snapped their heads in that direction and froze. Tony really didn’t want to deal with another booby trap. 

“Maybe it’s part of the plane.” Peter said and began walking closer to the sound out of curiosity. 

“We’re too far out. It can’t be.” Tony didn’t exactly know where Peter’s side of the plane landed but it had to have been close to his side since Peter said he didn’t walk across the jungle. Maybe Peter was wrong, either way, it couldn’t be part of their plane. 

Tony walked in front of Peter and cautiously over to the sound. There were leaves, vines and branches covering the top so as Tony moved it away, he could make out two metal doors lying diagonally. 

“Woah. What’s that? Is it… maybe someone lives inside.” Peter skipped to his dad’s side and began helping him clear the doors. “What’s that say?” 

Tony brushed the mud and dirt off the symbol on the center of the doors. “Hydra. I don’t know what that means.” 

Peter shrugged. “Maybe it’s like a secret code for something else.” 

“I don’t know.” Tony grabbed ahold of the handles and began pulling it, trying to get it open to see what was inside. It didn’t look like anyone had been there for months, possibly years so he wanted to see if he could find something to contact home with or to call for help. 

He managed to get it opened and looked down. It was dark and damp down there. It was some kind of underground bunker. There were about ten steps leading down to a longer hallway with a flickering light. 

Tony tried to listen for voices or any kind of movement but there was nothing. All he could hear was the water dropping and the lights flickering down the hallway. 

“Hold my hand. I’m gonna climb in and help you down. Careful cause there’s some kind of ramp here.” Tony jumped down, landing on the steps and held his arms out for Peter but Peter backed away. “Come.” 

“No. I’m scared and it’s dark down there.” Peter wrapped his arms around his stomach at a poor attempt to self comfort. 

“I’ll be here. I need to see if there’s anything we can use down here.” Tony ushered Peter to walk towards him but he continued to slowly back away. “Peter, come.” 

“No! I wanna go back to the beach now. What-what if someone’s down there? Like the person who tried to hurt us!” There was no way Peter was going down there. 

Tony sighed. They didn’t have much time. “I can't leave you out here by yourself. Take my hand.” 

Peter reluctantly grabbed onto his dad's hand and was lifted into the dark room. He held tightly onto Tony’s hand as they walked down the steps, leading to the long hallway. 

“It’s dark.” Peter observed. Tony moved to a box on the wall and opened it, spotting three flashlights so he grabbed on, brushed the dust off and turned it on. “Can I hold it?” 

Tony handed it to Peter to make him feel better then turned the corner, peeking his head around to make sure the coast was clear. 

The hallway looked like that of an old hospital that was severely water damaged, there was rust against the walls like it dripped down. He didn’t think they were going to have much luck here. “Keep your eye out for anything we can use to call for help or get a signal. Like a phone or a computer… or a walkie talkie.” 

Peter let go of his dad’s hand and walked into a room at the end of the long hallway. It looked like a hospital room with old broken monitors and a hospital bed in the middle. Peter frowned. He hated hospitals or doctors offices. 

Tony went to open a cabinet that looked like it had medicine inside, just in case they might need it, but it was locked “pass me the flashlight for a sec. And cover your eyes.” 

Once Peter was covered, Tony smacked the flashlight against the glass, shattering it. He found a few needles and glass bottles with medicine, having no idea what any of it was and no time to read the labels, Tony grabbed everything that he could and shoved it into his backpack. 

Peter was poking at one of the machines. “There’s a red blinking light, daddy. Look.” 

Tony walked over to Peter’s side but it wasn’t anything that could help them. “Let’s keep looking.” 

On the opposite end of the hallway, there was another room so they walked down there. Tony carefully kicked the ajar door open fully but what he saw was not what he was expecting at all. It was actually eerie to see. 

There were three kids beds in the room. All boys beds judging by the dark blue bedding and the soccer balls covering it. They were small beds too, the size of bed Peter had at home. 

“Kids live here?” Peter pushed past his dad to look inside. 

Tony didn’t know why the hell there were kids beds in this place. He tried to think of all the reasons like the boys being sick and having to live there but that didn’t seem right. “I don’t know. Let’s just quickly look around and then we’ll go.” 

He wanted to get the hell out of there. 

Peter opened up the dresser in the room, looking for some toys he could play with. He found some weird board so he opened it up, inside was one white rock and one black rock. 

He closed it and tucked it under his arm. “Daddy? Can we go now? It’s scary down here.” 

Tony was digging through anything he could find but there was nothing there. “Yeah…” Tony opened up one last cabinet and inside were tiny clothes on hangers but the clothes looked like they were deteriorating. The pants were all ripped up and frailed at the bottom. Same with the tops. 

There was a box at the bottom so he opened it up. Inside was a walkie talkie and a portable radio that must have been years old. Tony grabbed both items and put them in his bag. 

“Let’s go.” Tony grabbed Peter’s hand and led him out of the room and back up the steps. He put the flashlight in his bag and lifted Peter out of the bunker then climbed out himself, shutting the doors behind them. 

It was dark out. The sun hadn’t fully set but Tony wanted to get back as soon as possible. 

It was scary for the both of them once the sun went down and the moon came out. It was next to pitch black out so Tony pulled the flashlight out of his backpack and turned it on for at least some light. 

Peter whimpered. “Daddddyy. I’m tired. I wanna go to sleep.” 

Tony held onto Peter’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “We’ll be back to the beach soon.” 

He just had to hope they didn’t bump into any monster like creatures or booby traps on their way.