Just Hang On
Tony woke from a fitful sleep. Pepper was still blissfully asleep next to him, and he envied her. He hadn't been able to put Spider-Man out of his mind completely, and his night had been spent mostly worrying about whether or not they'd find him.
There was no guarantee the kid would put on the suit and lead them to him. He could only pray. Walking into the common room to see the bruises on Wanda and Pietro's faces had done nothing to settle the anxiety he'd developed since finding out about their unusual link.
Spider-Man had always seemed so upbeat and happy. He had never had any indication the kid's life out of the suit was anything but good. To find out it wasn't unsettled him. He had taken Spider-Man under his wing in a sense, and couldn't even see through a false persona.
Tony always thought he had a pretty good grip of recognizing false personas.
Looking back at Pepper, he wished he had introduced her to the kid. If there was one thing in the world that no one could top her at, it was her intuition of people. Pepper would have seen through the act immediately. Maybe that was why she could so easily accept the idea of bringing Spider-Man into their home and family.
"It's because of how you look and act when you talk about him." Pepper mumbled sleepily, causing Tony to jump.
"What?"
"You." she yawned, rolling over to look at him. "Whenever you talk about him, you get this look on your face. It's a proud one. You talk about how good a person he is. You're also very protective. Anytime any of the team have mentioned something about him, you get all defensive, no matter what the actual comment is. You're not like that about just anyone, Tony."
"How did you-"
"I know how you work." she rolled her eyes with a smile. "Not to mention you spent an entire night making a suit that would track his location because you found out he was in trouble."
"Well, he is the soulmate of the twi-"
"Don't put it all on them, Tony. You're worried about him too."
"You didn't see her back, or the bruises on their faces, Pep." Tony sighed. "It was awful to look at. I can't get it out of my head."
"And that is why we're going to find him and bring him here. He may be enhanced, but no one can handle constant abuse. If he's being beaten Tony, there's probably other abuse as well."
Tony squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to admit he had already thought about that very thing.
"I'm realizing just how little I do know about him. I mean, he's smart. I've gathered that during our time together, but I can't help but wonder what else he's hiding."
Pepper just looked at him, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't she pressed on.
"Are you worried he may not be the hero you think he is? Is that what you're saying?" She asked, sitting up.
"I don't know. I've seen him do so much good that I would be extremely surprised if he wasn't, but people can only be pushed so far. What if he's close to breaking, or secretly has and we've just never caught it?"
"I think it'd be pretty hard for him to hide anything like that." she huffed. "Ever since the Accords, Fury has been keeping tabs on anyone enhanced to keep them safe. You'd already know if something was up. Don't use your falsely place guilt over not knowing what was happening to make you feel even worse by questioning him. You know him well enough to know he wouldn't do anything bad."
"I'm just....I'm supposed to be better than this Pep. It's my job to protect people and I couldn't even protect one of my own."
"You can't protect everyone, Tony. It doesn't sound to me like he wanted anyone to know." Pepper said softly.
"But, why?"
"There could be a lot of reasons. Maybe he's close to being able to leave. You already said you don't know his actual age, just that he's young. You also said you mentioned returning home to his parents and he agreed. Maybe he thinks he can just hang on and get out and leave his situation behind. Or maybe it's a case that, despite the abuse, he doesn't want to turn his family in. A lot of kids deal with abuse because they want their parent's love and have hope they'll get it. Maybe he's worried about going into foster care if he doesn't have any living relatives. Maybe he's scared no one will believe him. You already told me the marks on Wanda and Pietro disappeared pretty quickly. He may not have any proof on him."
"I would have believed him!" Tony shouted, looking at Pepper with wide eyes.
"That doesn't matter, Tony." she said in a calm tone. "He sees you as a mentor figure to him, he may not have wanted to burden you with his problems. To him, you don't owe him that."
Tony didn't respond, looking anywhere except at Pepper.
"I'm worried about the suit."
"Why?"
"He acted like he didn't want it. I didn't tell Wanda and Pietro because I didn't want them to worry. I want to keep up the hope he'll use it and we'll find him. It won't do us any good to try to find out anything if we see him at a fight. The kid has a sixth sense. He'd know we were following him and I doubt he'd lead us home."
"He'll try it on at least once, Tony." Pepper smiled.
"How do you know?"
"Please," Pepper scoffed. "Tony Stark makes you a new and better suit, you're gonna try it on."
Tony chuckled as Pepper pulled him back down and he drifted off into a little better sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You're going to go crazy if you keep sitting there watching." Pietro said as he ran his fingers through Wanda's hair.
"I know." she sighed. "I just.....what if he doesn't put it on?"
"He will. If not tonight, maybe tomorrow. Regardless of when, we'll go get him when he does. So, go get some sleep."
Wanda gave a small smile as she looked up at the determined face of her brother. They had experienced so much during their lives, yet they had always had each other. Who had Spider-Man had? He had at least been happy for a time, they knew. What had changed for their mate?
"You'll get wrinkles if you keep thinking so hard." Pietro chuckled, running the pad of his thumb between her furrowed brows.
"One of us has to." Wanda smirked, rolling her eyes.
"Come on, brat." Pietro said, pulling her towards the bed with a smile. "Friday is on watch. As soon as something happens, we'll know."
"I don't know how you can be so calm." Wanda huffed, letting her brother pull her on the bed and tuck her into his side.
"Because he'll need us to be at our best when we find him, and we will find him."
Wanda hugged her brother tightly, slipping into an uneasy sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning was slow going for Tony and the twins.
After Clint had seen the twins bruise, the rest of the team had been informed of the unique connection they had to their soulmate. He had been less than pleased to find out Natasha had known and hadn't said anything to him. She had simply responded to him with the fact that it wasn't her secret to tell. She had found out by accident, and while she didn't exactly understand why they didn't want anyone to know, she had accepted it for what it was. Begrudgingly, Clint had agreed and hugged the twins closely while promising he'd do what he could to help Spider-Man.
Everyone had access to the map of the city as they all waited anxiously for a sign that Spider-Man was online.
As the day went on, the twins became quieter. Everyone tried to distract them and keep their spirits up.
"It's still early, you know." Steve smiled. "He may just not be ready for patrol yet."
"Yeah, just give it time." Rhodey said, patting Pietro on the shoulder as he passed.
Wanda sighed as she sat on the couch and cuddled up into Natasha's side. She smiled as she felt fingers run through her hair in a soothing manner. She linked her fingers with her brother's as he sat down beside her.
Pepper frowned as she walked into the common room to see everyone's tense faces. Catching sight of Tony, she moved to go over when Steve stepped next to her.
"He's just as down as the twins." the man frowned. "He keeps looking over at the map. Wanda and Pietro won't look anywhere else."
"Tony's worried Spider-Man won't try the new suit on." Pepper said, eyes on Tony.
"Don't get me wrong Pepper," Steve pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing. "Tony's doing a good thing by trying to find Spider-Man and take him out of what is clearly a bad situation, but I do wish he hadn't told Wanda and Pietro his plan."
"I know. Up until giving him the suit though, Tony wasn't worried that it might not work out how he wanted. He said Spider-Man didn't seem like he wanted to take it."
"I hope he does, for their sake, as well as his own."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was getting late into the afternoon when the anxiety began to really creep in. It was normal to hear about Spider-Man out at night, causing the attention to the map to increase.
"You have to calm down." Natasha said, pulling Clint out of the room. "You're not helping with your pacing."
"I can't help it." he sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "I was with them, Nat. I was with them as they nearly lost each other in Sokovia. I just, I want to see something good happen to them."
"That sounds like your dad tone." Natasha smirked.
"They're our youngest members. I think we've all adopted them. Don't think I haven't noticed your particular attitude towards them."
Natasha just shrugged before her upcoming reply was cut off by an uproar from the adjoining room.
Rushing back in, the two looked as Wanda and Pietro leapt up from the couch, running to Tony who was gearing up to activate his suit. Looking over, the map was still projected with the only difference being the blinking red dot.
"You're taking the suit?" Pepper asked, furrowing her brows. "If Spider-Man's living situation is as bad as it seems, wouldn't the suit draw a lot of attention? Also, why would Iron Man being showing up at some random house? The press would be all over it. They'd want to know all about the kid and why he is such a big deal."
Tony frowned as he took in Pepper's words. The suit definitely would make a scene plus, how would he explain his reason for being there? Having seen how quickly marks on Wanda and Pietro faded, it was unlikely Spider-Man would bear any lasting evidence of abuse.
"Alright. Pep, grab whatever you need. You're coming with me and the wonder twins. I'm sure you can figure out a reason for us to show up on some rando's doorstep."
Pepper rolled her eyes as she pointed to a manilla envelope on the coffee table.
"I already have a reason prepared."
The room's occupants looked between Pepper and the envelope in surprise.
"If you had been listening before stumbling out of the bedroom this morning, you would have heard me tell you that."
Shrugging sheepishly, Tony moved to pick up the folder, pulling out the paperwork within.
"An internship?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. What better reason for Tony Stark and Pepper Potts to show up than to announce an internship by recommendation? It gives him a reason to come to the compound where we can learn more about him and figure out how to get him out of wherever he is."
"No wonder you made her CEO." Clint whistled.
"So, we need to go ahead. It's getting later in the afternoon and we need to move quickly."
"We'll get re-"
"No." Pepper said, cutting off Steve. "Tony, Wanda, Pietro and I will go. The more people the stranger it will seem. The only reason I'm agreeing to take those two is because I think it will do them good to see him in the flesh."
Everyone nodded begrudgingly. No one had wanted to be left behind. Ever since finding out Spider-Man was connected to Wanda and Pietro, followed by the discovery of his abuse, the team had developed a serious protective attitude towards the young vigilante.
"Just.....just keep us in the loop." Steve said, looking sympathetically at the departing twins.
"Don't worry Captain Softie," Tony grinned. "You'll be meeting Spider-Baby soon enough."
At least, Tony prayed they would be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter looked down at his covered hands, taking in the way the suit fit him so well.
"How do you like the new suit Peter?" Karen asked.
"It's great, Karen, but you know I have to return it." Peter sighed.
"May I ask why, Peter?"
"Because I don't deserve it." Peter sniffed. "I don't deserve it and I can't be involved with the Avengers anymore."
"Of course you can. You do deserve the suit. Mr. Stark doesn't just make things for anyone, Peter. He thinks you're worth it."
"Thinks is the keyword, Karen. He doesn't know me outside the mask. He sees Spider-Man, a hero. He doesn't know Peter Parker." Peter sighed.
"Karen?"
"Yes Peter?"
"I'm going to need you to delete everything you've learned about me since I got you." Peter said, his eyes stinging. "I can't have anything you've learned about me getting back to Mr. Stark."
Karen was silent as Peter sat down on the bed.
"Are you sure about that, Peter? Mr. Stark programed me to protect and obey you, but my protection protocol overrides my protocol to follows your orders."
"What?" Peter said, surprised by Karen's words. "What do you mean?"
"I could do as you ask and delete my internal memory, but based on my calculations, I would better protect you by refusing to do so."
Peter sat, stunned by what was happening. Would Karen really make him return her with all her files intact? She had learned so much about him during their time together. She knew his name, where he lived, and his entire situation. He had never considered she could make her own choices.
"K-Karen. You can't let them know. They don't need to know. I'm just an orphan who's decided to own up to the fact he should have given you back immediately. I should never have had you to begin with." A tear slipped down his face, the mask soaking it up.
"That's not true Peter. You are very special. You are a good person and I am glad to be with you."
Her kind words sent a strange feeling through him. He hadn't heard anything positive about Peter Parker in a long time. Sure, Spider-Man got praise, but never him.
Looking over at the clock, he sighed.
"I need to disengage for a bit Karen. Kathy and Kent will be back soon."
"Do you plan to go out tonight, Peter?"
"Not much choice. They're going to kick me out. I'm....I'm not good company."
"I enjoy your company."
Peter sniffled as he struggled to take in Karen's words. Did it count if the one offering you praise was an AI? Wasn't she programed to care for him?
"Karen?"
"Yes Peter?"
"How-"
A shrill yell from downstairs had Peter panicking and ripped off his mask. He rushed to shuck off the suit and throw it back into it's case before shoving it under the bed. He quickly put his clothes on before rushing down the steps to see Kathy and Kent glaring at him.
"Where were you?" Kent hissed. "I know you heard us come in you little brat!"
"I-I was getting dressed." he stammered.
"Of course you were." Kathy scoffed. "Never where you're supposed to be and never on time. What good are you when you can't follow simple directions?"
Peter winced as she grabbed and yanked on his hair, her sharp nails digging into his scalp.
"We're going to go over every inch of this house. If anything is out of place or not spotless, you'll regret it. It won't surprise me though if I have to back behind you. You can't do anything right around here. The only reason you haven't been shipped off to other houses to clean is because you can't even clean this one properly! We could be making extra money if you weren't so useless."
Peter felt tears prick at his eyes as Kathy led him through the house by his hair. Her face twisted in disgust as she looked over every inch for imperfections.
"Why haven't our clothes been taken out the dryer?" Kent called from the laundry room with a petulant tone.
With a glare, Kathy shoved him into the laundry room, causing him to stumbled and hit his head against the machine as he fell.
"Get those clothes out and get them folded." the woman hissed. "When you've done that, get out. I can't stand to look at your pathetic face. No wonder no one wants you. Your parents obviously couldn't stand you. If they could, they wouldn't be dead now would they? Not just them, your aunt and uncle couldn't stand you either. The stupid bastard went and got himself shot and then your piece of shit aunt goes and dies and now everyone else is stuck with you."
Peter felt anger and panic rise in him. She had no right to talk about people they never knew. He didn't remember much about his parents, but May and Ben were good people. They didn't deserve what happened to them. They didn't deserve to have been stuck with him and the bad things he brought, because he did. To be with him was to be burdened by misery. Ben had grieved his only brother's death, and then May had grieved for her husband. Ben and May had both lost people and the only connection was Peter.
"You should be grateful you came to us, brat." Kent huffed. "You've been through how many homes now? I see why honestly. You're not good for anything. You're lucky we agreed to take you in and keep you with all your troubles. We could put you out on the streets. The orphanage is full, not that they'd want you anyway. They have kids there that actually will get adopted. If they took you, they know they'd have to keep you until they could kick you out."
Peter felt his anger slip away. Maybe he did deserve to have to permanently live on the streets and deal with the dangers there.
A hard slap to the face had him focusing back on the world around him as Kent left the laundry room and Kathy glared.
"Get the clothes and go!"
For brief moment, Peter could picture himself reaching out, grabbing the woman by the throat. He could see her eyes bulge as he strangled the life out of her. Then he would hunt down Kent...
With a jolt, Peter shook off the vision, nodded towards Kathy, and quickly gathered the dry clothes and rushed upstairs.
His blood pounded in his ears as he made quick work of putting away Kathy and Kent's clothes and rushing to his room.
Closing his eyes, Peter fell to his knees clutching his head.
What was that? It had felt so real, so easy an idea. What if he had done it? He had already caused the deaths of his parents, Ben, and May.
Maybe killing someone was just the inevitable next step for someone as disgusting as Peter Parker.
Another reason he couldn't continue to associate with the Avengers. Another reason he couldn't be with his soulmates.
He could feel his breathing quickening. His skin prickled. The lights were to bright behind his lids. The sounds around him were becoming unbearably loud.
He was panicking. His senses were overloading.
Struggling, he managed to suck in gulps of air, willing himself to calm down. He couldn't afford to be caught in such a state.
Getting himself together, Peter pushed himself to his feet shakily. Stumbling to the closet, he pulled out a small bag and packed what he'd need to survive the hours he'd have to be away. He paused though as he thought about the silver case under his bed.
It's very presence mocked him.
He sat down heavily on the bed. He would miss Karen once she was gone. He had grown to love her and wished she had been an actual person. Well, he wished it until he remembered that she wouldn't feel the same way if she was real. She only liked him now because she was programmed to.
He jumped at the sound of the doorbell, looking over at his clock with a frown. It was to early for any of Kathy and Kent's guests to arrive. Moving slowly, he crept out the room and moved down the hall. He heard Kent make his way to the door with a grumble about who would come this early.
"You should have called fir-Tony Stark!"
Peter's eyes widened at Kent's voice. What was Tony Stark doing here? What business could he possibly have with the Matthews? It couldn't have anything to do with him. He had been adamant Tony know nothing about his life outside the suit.
As ridiculous as sounded, Peter couldn't stop the fear that somehow, Tony knew about his earlier thought of killing Kathy.
"Don't just stand there, Kent!" Kathy fussed, moving Kent out the way. "Please come in! Can I offer you anything to drink? Miss Potts! It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm afraid I don't know these two, lovely people with you."
"Actually," Tony said, cutting off Kathy and Kent's fumbled attempts to impress. "We're here about your son."
"Son? You mean Peter?" Kent said, raising an eyebrow and frowning.
"What has he done this time?" Kathy huffed in annoyance. "He's a troublemaker. We took him in to hopefully get him on the right track but nothing we do seems to work."
"If he's caused you any trouble Mr. Stark, we'll make sure he's properly punished for it."
"Actually, Mr. and Mrs. Matthews," Pepper spoke up, before Tony or the twins could speak. "We're here to offer Peter an internship. He was recommended to us by a trusted friend. We were unaware of him not being your biological child."
"Yeah. His last name is Parker." Kent replied, completely overlooking the fact he had had to tell them Peter's last name. "I think you might want to reconsider your choice thou-"
"I'm Tony Stark." Tony cut him off, removing his glasses and narrowing his eyes. "I know who I'm looking for."
"I'm sure there's someone out there better qualified than Peter." Kathy jumped in. "The school he attends is full of bright children who deserve an opportunity like this. I don't think Peter's a good fit."
"Are you telling me no?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We...we just know Peter." Kent stated.
"I want to see him in person." Tony said, making eye contact with both Kent and Kathy.
"I'll go get him." Kathy said, standing up and making her way up the steps.
Peter rushed back down the hall and into his room. He didn't want to be found listening in on the conversation down stairs. He could hear Kathy's footsteps coming down the hall and his anxiety spiked as the door opened.
Kathy glared at him as she stalked into the room.
"I don't know what you did to bring Tony Stark to our door, but make no mistake you'll be punished for it greatly. Now, you're going to go down there and turn down whatever he offers you. It's not like you deserve it anyway. There are far better kids out there he could pick. You should have been at the bottom of the list."
Peter swallowed hard as she moved closer and yanked him up by his arm.
"You're such a nuisance. How would it look to everyone if you started an internship at Stark Industries? Everyone knows you're a screw up! They'll want to know what you did to get the offer." She paused, her eyes narrowing. "What did you do?"
Peter's mouth dropped. He hadn't done anything, especially anything her tone seemed to imply. He had no idea why Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were here.
There was a flare of anger in Peter, quickly snuffed out by more pressing thoughts.
"It doesn't matter anyway. It wouldn't surprise me if you did do something disgusting. Still, you wasted your time. You're going to turn down his offer. I just realized this is the perfect opportunity to get an in with Linda Preston. Her husband owns the company Kent works for. Sending Stark to offer the job to her daughter Ashley instead, will ensure a promotion for Kent." she grinned.
"Now, be useful for once and get down there and turn down the offer."
Peter made his way down the hall, dread filling him up. He didn't want to meet Tony Stark outside the suit. He didn't want to meet any of the Avengers outside the suit. What could they possibly be here for?
"Go have a seat, Peter." Kathy instructed.
Peter sat down on the couch, squished between Kathy and Kent, and looked up into the four surprised faces before him.