Is it over yet?
Peter woke up somewhere cold and dark.
He sat up and brought a hand up to rub at his eyes. The last thing he remembered was being taken away from his dad and screaming for him until he couldn’t scream anymore and then he was brought back to the island and someone poked his arm with a needle.
Now, he was awake and alone and he wanted his dad.
Peter stood on his feet, trying to find his balance a bit while he stumbled.
He was in a dark room. There were chains hanging from the ceiling and a table in the middle of the room with metal bars under it, holding it up. The room looked like it had been built a hundred years ago and spent half that time underwater since it was damp and water dripped from the ceiling.
“Daddy?! Daddy?! Where are you?! I’m scared.” Peter sat on the floor and curled in on himself. He put his head in his hands and cried. He wanted his daddy.
There was a loud bang which had Peter snapping his head up to look towards the door. When it opened, Peter whimpered. He really didn’t want it to be the scary old men who took him from his dad because they didn’t give him a good feeling.
A woman walked into the room, holding a cup and a plate. Peter watched her with wide eyes. She had brown hair and looked nice. Her clothes looked worn, like she hadn’t changed in a long time from the dirt on them.
“Hello. My name is May.” She said, setting the food down on the table in the middle of the room. She turned to Peter with a warm smile.
Peter wanted comfort from her. He was so scared and was so desperate to feel safe and protected. He whimpered. “Where’s my daddy?”
“We had to give you a needle to make you sleepy so pretty soon, your head’s gonna start to hurt you so you need to put some food in your tummy.” May explained slowly. “I brought you some grilled cheese with some juice.”
Peter frowned. That didn’t make any sense. “I want daddy!”
May sighed. She walked closer to Peter and looked him over. “How old are you, Peter?”
Peter pulled his legs closer to himself. “H-how do you know my name? I-I didn’t even say it to you.”
“We got your name from the men who brought you to us. So, how old are you?”
Peter looked away. “Eight and a half.”
“How did you get to the island, Peter?”
Peter thought back to the day they first got there and how scared he was to be without his dad. He didn’t want to ever feel that scared again but now, he was terrified. “Our plane broke apart and we crashed down on the island.”
“Do you remember how long ago that was?”
Peter didn’t know. It felt like years. “A long time ago. Like… lots of days and weeks.”
May nodded then stood back up to grab the plate. “Please eat something. You don’t wanna get sick.”
Peter was hungry and the food looked good. Pepper used to make him the same lunch but she always cut the crust off. He didn’t like the crust. He took the plate from May. “Thank you.” He said quietly and began eating it.
She smiled at him and walked towards the door. Peter immediately stopped eating and looked at her with wide eyes. “Wait! Where’re you goin’?”
“I’ll be back soon.” She said and then left.
Peter felt like crying and so he did. He ate his food in between sobs.
The next time the door was being opened, Peter felt like hours had passed. A man walked in so Peter whimpered and backed up against the wall. He wanted May to come back.
The man walked towards him and kneeled down about a foot away. Peter peeked an eye out at him. He had brown hair like May but his was darker. His facial hair looked scratchy like his dads. “Hi Peter. How are you doing?”
Peter didn’t take his eyes off the man. “I want daddy.”
The man didn’t respond to his request just like May. “I’m very happy that you’re here. You have no idea.”
Peter didn’t understand what that meant. He didn’t say anything.
“Can you come with us? We’re gonna have you do a test, like in school.” Ben stood up but Peter didn’t move. The man sighed. “I’m Ben. I hope we can be friends since you’re going to be with us for the next little while.”
“I want my daddy.” He said again, more demanding this time.
Ben sighed. “Your daddy is busy. He can’t see you. Let’s go.”
Peter refused to go anywhere with that man. He curled up into the corner more but then May, the kind woman from before was walking into the room. She held her hand out for Peter. “Come. Let’s walk there together.”
Peter hesitated but he got up and ran to May, grabbing into her hand. He knew he had to listen to them or he was going to get in big trouble and he didn’t want to see how they would punish him. So, he’d rather go with May then the man.
“He listens to you, good to know.” The man said as he walked past them and out the door. Peter squeezed May’s hand as she began walking too, out of the room and into the hallway that also looked much like the room he was in.
Peter looked around with wide, curious eyes. He knew his daddy wasn’t there but that still didn’t stop him from trying to search for him.
The hallway was long.
It looked more like a tunnel rather than a hallway. On each of the doors, there was a symbol of a dolphin and a shark. Peter tugged on May’s hand, whispering, “Is this an aquarium?”
May looked surprised. Peter knew that look. He was smart, he got it from his daddy but he sometimes amazed adults with how smart he was. “Yes, it is. You’re a clever boy, Peter.”
Peter grinned at the praise and then they walked into a white room. He couldn’t read what it said on the door since it was a big word and he wasn’t as good at reading and writing like he was with math and science.
Inside the room was an examining table like in a doctor’s office with cabinets around the walls. There were two doctors in the room and Peter immediately wanted out. He turned to leave but May didn’t let him. He hugged her waist, scared of the doctors. “I want my daddy.”
May grabbed his hands and kneeled down in front of him. “These doctors are just gonna ask you some questions about you,” She tapped him on the nose but he was too scared and sad to laugh. “then they will take a tiny bit of blood and we’ll leave.”
Peter blinked away his tears. “Leave to go see daddy?”
May didn’t respond. The man from before picked him up and lifted him into the table, pushing him so he was lying down. Peter whimpered. He looked towards May for comfort and felt a little bit better when she appeared at his side.
“It’s been so long since we’ve worked on a child.” One of the doctors said. Peter turned to look at him. He didn’t like him. “So, Peter, can you tell me how old you are?”
Peter looked towards May before answering. “Eight.”
“When’s your birthday?”
“Um… August tenth.”
“Do you know what year you were born?”
Peter tried to remember his dad telling him but he couldn’t think. “I don’t know. Maybe… maybe when I was born.”
They nodded and wrote some stuff down. “Do you have any allergies?” Peter shook his head. “Do you know if you take any medication or any vitamins maybe?”
Peter remembered eating half a jar of gummy bear vitamins and then his dad took them away from him. “Um… gummy bears. And I have asthma.”
They quickly scribbled something down. “How long have you had it for?”
Peter shrugged. “Maybe eight years. I dunno.”
“Have you ever had any illnesses growing up?”
Peter shrugged again. “When-when I throw up my daddy helps me after. I don’t like when I throw up.” He missed his dad. He didn’t know how long he was there for but it felt like so long and he just wanted his daddy.
The other doctor grabbed a needle and held it up, Peter turned away and whimpered. “No. I don’t like it. Noooo.”
“It’ll be over soon. Hold May’s hand if you want.” The doctor cleaned off his arm and put the needle in, taking some blood.
Peter screamed. “Nooooo! Ahhhhhhh!” Once the needle was out, he sobbed. “I want daddy!”
He didn’t want to be in this place anymore. He hated it.
.
.
.
Tony was trying to fall asleep but he couldn’t. Just like the last five nights since Peter had been taken from him.
He tried to find Peter but there were no tracks and nowhere to look. They didn’t even have any clues to go off of since supposedly Hydra moved locations over the last three years.
They were all out looking for Peter everyday and almost every night but nothing.
Tony was in his tent, feeling incredibly alone, terrified and anxious, the constant three things he felt at all times without Peter. He heard some movement outside his tent but it wasn’t unusual at this time so he ignored it.
“Where’s the doctor?! Get the doctor!” Bucky yelled and then there were loud gasps from the camp.
“Oh god, where’d you find him?” Another voice said.
“Where’s Steve?! We need the doctor right now!”
Tony had no idea what was going on. He got out of his tent and looked towards where everyone was crowded around. He saw Bucky run across the campgrounds with something small in his arms. A kid.
Peter.
Tony ran towards the group and pushed past everyone to see Peter’s lifeless body in Bucky's arms. “Oh god. Peter? Peter? That’s my kid. He’s my son! Oh my god.”
Steve ran out and pushed past everyone. “What happened, Bucky? Where’d he come from?” Steve carefully took Peter’s small body from Bucky's arms and carried him to a makeshift dining table that was now covered in a blanket.
Tony didn’t know if this was real or not. He was scared to touch Peter or even go near him.
“I don’t know. We were just out in the jungle and he wandered out of the bushes.” Bucky explained, watching the doctor work over Peter.
“He collapsed in Bucky's arms.” Natasha said, worry in her voice.
Tony turned to them. “He was awake?”
“Yeah, before he went unconscious.” Answered Natasha.
“Peter, hey, can you hear me?” Steve asked, opening Peter’s eyelid to check his eyes to see if he was alert at all. “Can you hear me, Peter?”
Tony looked down at his baby’s unconscious body. He was wearing different clothes from when they left and was covered in dirt. He noticed three scratch marks on Peter’s upper arm as well. “Peter, I’m here, buddy. Wake up.”
Everyone around them was watching on closely. Both from the surprise at seeing Tony’s kid but also because the people on the island weren’t used to seeing kids alive.
Steve waved them off. “Give us some space, guys. He needs air.” Everyone backed up but Steve and Tony. Steve gently shook Peter and checked for his pulse just as Peter started to slowly shake his head and let out a whimper. “Hey. Hi, Peter. Wake up.”
Peter snapped his eyes open and screamed, immediately sitting up and crawling away from Steve but there were still a bunch of strange people around him so he screamed louder.
Since Peter’s back was to Tony, he didn’t know his dad was right behind him until Tony spoke. “Peter. I’m here.”
Peter slowly turned to face the voice he had been aching to hear for days. Once he saw who was standing just a few feet away from him, he began crying out of relief. “Daddy? Daddy.”
“I’m here, baby. Come.” Peter didn’t hesitate to crawl across the table and into his dad’s arms. Tony picked him up, holding him tightly against his chest and turning away from everyone to just be in the moment with his baby that he missed for five long and excruciating days.
Peter was in his arms now. He was safe.
Peter nuzzled into him more, trying to be as close as possible. “I-I- daddy.”
“Shh, baby boy. I’m here. Daddy’s here, baby.” Tony pressed a kiss to the side of Peter’s face and rocked him side to side, trying to comfort his kid.
He held Peter for a long time, not paying attention to anyone else at the campsite because having Peter back in his arms was all that mattered at that moment.
After a while of reassuring Peter, he walked into the camp’s kitchen and grabbed a mango and some water for Peter. “Here, baby. Are you hungry?”
Peter held onto his dad tighter, whimpering into his neck. “They-they made me do tests. And-and they a-asked me lots of questions. I was s-so scared, daddy.”
Tony rubbed his back. Peter had five days of his life with strange people and Tony had no idea what happened to him during those five days. He didn’t know why Peter was back and how he just happened to wander to the camp he’s at.
“What kind of tests, baby?”
Steve, Bucky and Natasha were at the table and listened to the conversation. Peter went to grab onto his dad’s necklace but it wasn’t there. He pulled down the front of his dad’s shirt and looked down. “Where’s Peppy?”
“I lost it. It fell off when we were in the water.” Tony explained, referring to the necklace Pepper brought him and had the other half to it.
Peter frowned. “Where’s blankie and teddy?” He kinda already knew the answer but he was still upset about it.
Tony did look for it when he was in the water but it was gone. Blown up. “They’re with my necklace, buddy. It’s in the ocean.” Peter hugged his dad again, whimpering into his neck. “It’s okay. They’re gonna be swimming with all the fishes now.” Peter wiped at his watery eyes. “Do you remember what kind of tests they did on you? Did they hurt you?”
Peter wiped his nose on his dad’s shoulder. “Mmm… yeah, they took lots of needles and I cried but May let me eat cheeseburgers and-and grilled cheese.”
Cheeseburgers and grilled cheese? Who were these people? “I’m sorry you had to go through that. How did you come here, Petey?”
Tony didn’t think he could get away. Peter was an eight year old child and the people who took him were adults, three of them men and there were definitely more than three men too. He also didn’t think they let him go. Why go through all that trouble of taking Peter from him just to return him five days later.
“I ran away. I-I-Ben took me for a walk and I ran away from him till I get lost and then I just come here.” Peter turned his head to look at Bucky and Natasha. “Then I seed them in the jungle.”
“So that means they’re close.” Steve said. “If Peter got away, that means they’re close and they’re gonna come back for him.”
Upon hearing that they were going to come back for him, Peter grabbed onto his dad and whimpered. “No. I don’t want them to.”
“They won’t. I promise you, baby.”
“Not necessarily. Peter was exhausted when we found him.” Natasha said. “He could have been walking for hours. I doubt they’re going to break our agreement and come take him.”
“What agreement?” Tony asked, if there was some kind of agreement that was going to stop these people from taking his kid again then he had the right to know.
The three of them shared looks with each other before Steve spoke. “When we left, we basically went to war with Hydra. We eventually made a peace offering, an agreement, that we won’t pass the line and they don’t send their security system after us on our side of the island.”
“Security system?” Tony didn’t understand. A security system on the island.
“Yeah. A security system. I’m sure you’ve heard it. Maybe you’ve seen it too but if it didn’t want you here, it’d kill you.” Bucky explained and Tony felt a shiver run up his spine.
Peter tapped his shoulder. “The dinosaur, daddy. The dinosaur in the jungle that tried to eat us.”
Tony couldn’t believe it. That thing chasing them before was the security system for the island. “That’s right, Peter.” He turned to Bucky. “What does it protect?”
“The island.”
“Why? It’s just an island.”
All three of them laughed. Tony sighed in annoyance. “What?”
“It’s not just an island. Why do you think you haven’t gone home yet? Why no ones came to rescue you? It’s because no one knows where to look. The island… it's invisible to the rest of the world. No one can see us.”
Tony felt sick at Steve’s words. He thought it had been the airplane's black box this whole time because of course he didn’t think it was the freaking invisible island. “How the hell do we get off this goddamn rock then?”
No one said anything. Tony picked Peter up along with the mango and water then walked back to his tent. He wanted to be with his kid and his kid only.
Tony walked in and put Peter on his feet. “Tomorrow, when the sun comes up, we’ll walk to the ocean for a few hours so you can wash off.”
Peter nodded. “But we can’t go now because it’s too late.”
“Exactly.” Tony smiled. He had Peter back now. He tried to focus on that but knowing everything he now knew was terrifying.
He wasn’t going to let anyone take Peter away from him again.