Progress and Pain
Kathy groaned as she cracked her eyes open. Her cheek was pressed against the rough carpet and her head was pounding.
"Kent?" she croaked out, moving to sit up.
She froze when she realized she couldn't move her arms. Glancing down, she was surprised to find they weren't bound, but she was unable to make them move.
"It's a very mild paralysis." a female voice spoke from behind her. "Don't bother trying to move. Other than being able to speak, you're no longer in control."
"What do you want?" Kathy asked, panic creeping into her voice.
"Don't you worry. As soon as good 'ole Kent comes around, we'll be glad to fill you in." Another voice, male this time, answered.
Kathy lay, completely immobile on the ground and at the mercy of whoever had broken into her home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is a nightmare. There's so much here! God, Tony. Peter was living with them." Pepper fumed, looking over the evidence Natasha and Clint had provided.
"This is going to turn into a circus. This isn't just an abuse case anymore, Tony. This is a prostitution ring. The media will be all over it."
"Peter and the twins will never know about this. I'm going to have Friday filtering the news. With this though, we don't even have to put Peter in the position to make a case against them for the abuse. As much as I want to see them pay for that, I don't know if the kid could handle it." Tony said, watching Pepper's keen eyes taking in everything.
She had come to collect everyone after she and Sam had finished making lunch. The twins had been happy to pull Peter out the office, eager to make sure he had a good meal. Their departure had led to Pepper noticing the large file on his desk and catching sight of a picture of a bruised young woman sticking out.
"Tony, they'll want to question him about his treatment in the house. Whether they abused him or not, he was living there." Pepper sighed, looking up. "Maybe we should have planned this out better. It's going to be hard to push through an adoption with this hanging over it. These are serious charges and Peter will be tied up in the middle."
"Well, I already have my lawyers filing the paperwork for Peter's adoption, so it'll be noted the process was started before the charges were filed. That's going to be in our favor."
"Or look suspicious." Pepper said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, there's no proof we knew anything when the adoption process started." Tony shrugged with a grin. "No one's handed any evidence over to the police yet. We've got the rest of the day. We let the paperwork sit for a bit, then we drop the bomb. To be perfectly honest, and as bad as it sounds, the police will put Peter on the backburner while they take those pieces of human garbage in. They'll know where he's at and that will be good enough until they can make other arrangements."
"Who's turning this evidence in?" Pepper asked, her eyes narrowed as Tony looked at her innocently.
"You'd never believe it, Pep! Some responsible, blonde haired woman dropped off a folder at the station anonymously, then got into the passenger side of a blue car before leaving."
The two stared at each other before Tony's phone pinged. Turing his eyes to his phone, he chuckled.
"That SHIELD. So pushy. Always wanting to issue mandatory car repaints to keep them looking nice."
"Let me guess, that old blue car buried in the back of the garage needs an upgrade."
"That's why I leave the decorating to you, Pep. You always know what doesn't look good."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter was ushered into the kitchen and to the bar as Wanda flittered around, making sure to fill Peter's plate with extra pasta. Peter watched her, taking in her fluid movements and smile as she turned to look at him.
"Eat up." she said, placing the plate in front of him.
"What about mine?" Pietro pouted.
"You can make your own." she grinned before sticking her tongue out at him.
"Harsh."
"You'll live."
Peter felt a warmth inside him as he watched his soulmates bicker good naturedly. He shouldn't be allowing himself to get attached to the feeling, it wasn't going to be around much longer.
"Must be good, huh Pete?"
Peter looked up at Pietro slid onto the stool next to him, motioning to Peter's already half finished plate.
"Uh, yeah. It is."
"Finish that plate and I'll get you some more." Wanda smiled, leaning on the counter.
Peter nodded, looking back down at his plate. No one had ever encouraged him to eat and then promise to give him more. He was so used to experiencing the opposite that he really wasn't sure what to think. Was she being serious? Could he really have more? He couldn't remember the last time he was really and truly full.
"So, do you have any friends?" Pietro asked, shoveling another forkful into his mouth.
"You're an atrocious eater." Wanda crinkled her nose.
Pietro grinned around his mouthful of pasta.
"Anyway, do you? We'd love to meet them."
"Um......no." Peter answered, his voice quiet. "I....I don't have any."
There was silence for a moment as Peter moved some food around his plate.
"Any hobbies?" Pietro asked, quick to move on.
"Not....not really. I don't.....I don't....I've never really had a chance to get any."
"What made you want to be Spider-Man?"
"My.....my uncle was....was killed by a robber. I....I wasn't able to save him. It was just me...and my aunt then."
This was turning into a disaster!
"Um.....what's it like being an Avenger?" Peter asked, unsure why he was choosing to get invested.
"It's pretty exciting-"
"But also boring!" Pietro huffed, cutting his twin off. "There are times we're just sitting around for weeks! You see way more action than we do."
"Some times it's pretty quiet. Helping little old ladies across the street, or getting cats out of trees, maybe help a lost child find their parents."
"That's still more than us, and those things are just as important!" Wanda smiled widely. "Especially the children. I know it's scary for them."
"Yeah....I, I like doing it."
He did. It was hard sometimes, but those kids deserved to go home. It was always obvious he had done the right thing when he saw grateful moms and dads hug and kiss and cuddle their once lost child. The parents were always quick to thank him and some even gave him hugs as well. Based on the reactions, he must have been returning home some really good kids.
"What about school?" Pietro asked, moving to refill his own plate. "Favorite subject?"
"I like science class."
"I was always best at gym."
"I loved literature." Wanda answered happily. "Any favorite books?"
"I...I like The Hobbit. Uncle..." Peter paused, taking a deep breath and pushing back tears. "My Uncle Ben read it to me. It was the last book we read before....before he passed away. Aunt May read it to me again...."
Before she died.
Maybe he shouldn't like it. Maybe he should never read it again. He surely shouldn't let anyone he thought was a good person read it. If they were in any way connected to him, it was an automatic death sentence apparently.
"Do...do you have a favorite book?"
"I don't think I could name just one honestly."
"She's such a book nerd. You should see her shelves. Books are practically falling off the shelves."
Peter did want to see them.
"At least I can read." Wanda rolled her eyes.
"I'm so hurt." Pietro mocked her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Trigger Warning For Violence~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kent groaned, his head was killing him and his body felt heavy.
"Ka-Kathy...." he called out. "What the hell did we-"
He cut off as it finally sank in that he couldn't move. He could feel the cuffs chaffing his wrists.
"What the hell is this?" he shouted, looking over to see Kathy's tear stained face looking at him.
"Kent! I don't know what's happening!"
"And that just sucks doesn't it?" A males voice spoke from out of their eyesight.
"Who are you?" Kent growled, trying to move to see who was talking.
"Does it matter? I didn't think names were a big deal to you. They sure didn't matter to all those girls and boys you handed over to nameless creeps." A female answered.
Kathy paled as she whimpered.
"Wha...what are you talking about?"
"Oh, I think you know exactly what we're talking about." The male again.
"No we do-" Kent grunted as he was cut off by a swift kick in the back by a stiletto heel.
"I'd think very carefully about what you say." The female warned. "I can assure you that I'm in no playing mood, and my friend is in even less of one."
"We haven't done anything!" Kathy cried, desperately trying to wiggle before being yanked back by her hair to look into the face of a man with long dark hair and blue eyes.
"Oh, I'm gonna have fun with you. Liars make the job even better. It's going to be so sweet to hear you beg." The man grinned, a sadistic glint in his eyes.
"Let her go!" Kent yelled, glaring at the man.
"No one told you to speak, dog!"
Kent choked as he was pulled up and a ball gag was shoved into his mouth and tightened.
"You should be pretty comfortable in this, shouldn't you?"
The woman moved in front of him. Her blonde hair was tied up in a braid and her green eyes were hard and unforgiving.
"How do you want to do this? Should we show them the picture of their victims before each strike, or all at once?"
The man threw a folder down on the floor.
"Let's spread them. They can look at the faces of the children who lives they destroyed."
The woman quickly laid out all the pictures so that every face was clearly visible.
"These faces are going to be burned into your memory by the time we're done with you."
Kent tried to speak around his gag as he glared at the two intruders.
"Did you not hear me the first time, little pony?"
Kent froze as the woman sneered with glee at him.
"Should I get you a nice little tail? Maybe a saddle?"
"Oh, I bet he's be much more comfortable in his costume." The man laughed.
Kathy looked between the man, woman and Kent.
"Oh, that's right, you don't know about your dear Kent's after hours office fun." The man yanked her hard by her hair again.
"He makes such a good pony." The woman cooed. "Letting his boss ride him around the office. Getting spanked by a riding crop and getting plugged in more ways than one.. Your husbands not as loyal as you'd like to think."
"K-Kent?"
Kent tried to speak around his gag before the woman's hand came down across his face, hard.
"Again, no one told you to speak!"
"Here's how it's going to go." The man started gleefully. "We're going to make you feel the same way you made all your foster kids feel. By the time we're done, you'll be begging for jail."
"You can't do-" Kathy cried out as she was flung to the side by her hair, thick chunks left in the man's hand.
"Gross. You left your disgusting hair behind. It could use a wash." The man scoffed, throwing the hair down and wiping his hand on his pants. "Pure trash."
"Maybe we should shave her. Then we can just solve the problem completely."
Kathy gasped as the woman walked to a bag and pulled out an electric shaver. The man raised an eyebrow as the blonde walked backed to them.
"What? One should always be prepared for anything." She smiled, walking over to Kathy's prone form. "Now, let's see how nice a head shape you have."
"No! Please!" Kathy pleaded as the woman shoved her face into the floor.
She could feel and hear the buzz of the razor as it drug across her head. She could see the strands falling around her and a coolness to her skin.
"Just as I suspected. Your head shape is hideous."
Kent screamed around the gag in his mouth, only to grunt as the long haired man kicked him in the chin, sending his head snapping back.
"You know what, Ro?" The man asked, looking over at the blonde.
"What?"
"Kenty here has a pretty set of teeth behind this gag. Maybe we should relieve him of them."
"I think you're on to something. Let me finish up with our friend Kat and I'll give you a hand."
The blonde gave Kathy's face one more good shove into the floor as she finished up for cut.
"Ugly inside and out, arn't you?" she whispered into Kathy's ear.
"Wow, you really did come prepared." The man laughed as he pulled a pair of pliers out the bag and turned back to Kent.
"If you weren't going to jail, your boss would have been very happy without your teeth to worry about."
"What...what are you talking about?" Kathy's small voice called from the floor.
"Your husband has been having a nice time with his boss. So nice in fact, they had been secreted away a nice little stash of money to disappear together."
The woman laughed heartlessly at Kathy's stunned expression.
"How does it feel to be disgusting and worthless, Kathy?"
Kathy didn't respond as she looked at the man that was her husband. Tears swelled in her eyes.
"No time for water works now," The man tisked. "You're way to late for sympathy. Now, let's see those chopper's, Kentty Boy."
Kent gasped as the gag was loosened and toss to the side.
"You're going to regret this!" he shouted.
"Oh? You seem awfully sure about that. Tell me, Kent, who's going to save you? We have an abundance of proof as to your involvement in embezzlement as well as your little side job of forcing foster kids into prostitution and slave trade. The boys in prison are gonna love you."
"How would you like to do this?" The woman asked, moving to look down at Kent. "Personally, I'd prefer it to be as painful as possible. Really make him bleed."
"I love the way you think."
"I'm not just gonna-" Kent grunted as the woman's shoe hit his chest, knocking him back to the floor.
"Open wide little pony."
Kent's eyes widened as the woman shoved a leather strap in his mouth and behind his teeth, pulling it tight and pressing down harshly. The strap chaffed against his skin as the woman continued to press down.
"I'm going to enjoy this."
Kent tried to struggle against his binds but found it useless as the pliers entered his mouth, latching on to his front tooth. The man grinned widely before yanking down fast and hard.
The tooth flew out of Kent's mouth in a bloody mess as he tried to scream around the strap in his mouth.
"Look at it this way, you'll either go numb or pass out before he's finished."
The man chuckled darkly before diving back in.
Kathy watched in horror as blood poured out of Kent's mouth. His teeth gathered in a small pile. His cries had tapered off to whimpers, then stopped completely as he went limp.
"Passed out first." The woman noted as the last tooth was pulled.
"Damn. I really wanted him to make it all the way through." The man grunted.
"We still have her."
The two turned simultaneously to look at Kathy, who had started crying again.
"You poor thing."
Kathy flinched as the blonde woman ran her sharp nails down her face.
"You're so innocent arn't you. You don't deserve this, do you?"
Kathy looked between the two, her lip quivering.
"Do you think they deserved what they got?" The man asked, pointing to the pictures. "Do you?"
"N-no." Kathy whispered before she was punched across the cheek.
"I couldn't hear you, you piece of shit!"
"No!" Kathy screamed.
"Look at her tears!" The woman grinned. "Arn't they pretty?"
"Very. I want to see more."
"Sit her up. I want to see the hands that have inflicted pain on those children."
The man nodded, lifting Kathy up so her bound hands were visible behind her back.
"Look at these long and slender fingers. These are piano player fingers. It would be a shame for something to happen to them."
Kathy screamed out as her pinky finger snapped.
"I don't think a finger is supposed to look like that." The man laughed.
"I don't think this one is either."
Another snap and a scream.
"I don't think its a good look for only a few to look that way. She's needs a matching set of ten."
"I agree." The woman nodded, setting to break the rest of Kathy's fingers.
"You better not pass out like your bastard husband over there. I'd be tempted to pull out all your teeth as well."
Kathy was gasping heavily as the woman moved from behind her after finishing her fingers.
"Hmm....I don't think they've learned their lessons though, B."
"I don't either, Ro. I think I have an idea though."
"Really? What's that?"
"Well, the way I see it, their victims couldn't run so I don't think they should be able to either."
Kathy watched through watery eyes as the man, B, rummaged through the bag again, pulling out a steel bat.
"Maybe some busted knee caps?"
"I think thats fine for Kent, but this one needs something different. You know, I've always been a fan of the book, Misery." A wicked grin spread across the pretty woman's face.
"I'm gonna go see if there's anything to help me reenact the ankle breaking scene. Don't start the fun without me."
"Wouldn't dream of it!"
The man took a few practice swings with the bat before the woman returned with one of the conder blocks they had sitting outside the back door.
For the first time ever, Kathy wondered why they even had it.
The woman loosened the binds on her feet just enough to separate them and fit the block between them.
"Who goes first?" The man asked.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" the woman shurgged, as though the pain they were inflicting was a game.
"Rock, paper, scissors shoot!"
"Looks like you're up first Kitty Kat."
The two laughed darkly as the woman took the bat from her accomplice and stood over Kathy's feet.
"This won't hurt....." she tapered off as she swung the bat down hard.
The sound of bone shattering and screams of agony rang through the house.
"Guess I lied."
The man laughed as the woman got in position to repeat the action on the other ankle.
Kathy passed out.
"They're really no fun." Clint sighed.
"Smash his knee caps. They've made a lot of noise so we need to move out soon and drop off that paperwork." Natasha said, picking up the folder and placing the pictures back inside.
"With pleasure." Clint grinned, bringing the bat up and swinging down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~Trigger Warning Ends~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pepper smiled as she walked into the kitchen, finding Peter and the twins making small talk.
It wasn't anything deep, but it was better than nothing.
"So, I was thinking we could all move into the common area and watch a movie. Relax a little after everything?"
Wanda and Pietro looked up at her gratefully. They felt like they had made some progress with Peter, and were eager to keep him in a mood that could provoke more talking.
"That sounds great!" Wanda smiled. "Peter?"
Peter winced as the three turned to look at him.
"Y-yeah. That sounds ok."
"Wonderful!" Pepper said, clapping her hands together. "Let's see who else we can get to join us."
Peter swallowed hard as he followed them to the common area. There were couches and chairs all set up to face the large TV in the room. He didn't know where he should sit. He knew where he wanted to sit, but he knew he had already given away more than he should already.
He could feel the attachment growing.
It made him feel sick.
He watched as Wanda and Pietro settled in on the couch, both looking at him imploring.
Peter couldn't bring himself to sit with them, instead he rushed to sit down in one of the overstuffed chairs.
The twins faces fell, but Pepper gave them a comforting look. Peter needed his space. They had made a dent in his armor, he needed time.
Accepting Pepper's reassuring look, the two tried to pretend it didn't upset them that Peter had chosen not to sit with them.
"FRIDAY," Pepper called. "Please let everyone know we'll be watching a movie in the common room if they'd like to join us."
"Ms. Romanoff and Mr. Barton are currently off site. Captain Rogers, Mr. Wilson, and Boss are on their way."
"So, why don't you pick what we watch, Peter."
Peter's head shot up to look at Pepper with wide eyes. He never got to pick a movie. Everyone was better for it anyway. He never picked good movies. That was why he never got to.
"I...I don't know any good movies." Peter said, lowering his head. "I'm...I'm not good at picking them out."
Pepper frowned as Peter brought his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.
"Well, I think you'd do a great job." she said, nodding her head.
"I really don't.....I don't think I should, Ms. Potts."
"Please, call me Pepper."
Peter glanced over at her quickly before lowering his eyes.
"Just....just let someone else pick. They'll do a good job."
Pepper shared a look with the twins before taking a breath and looking at Peter's miserable form.
"It's ok, Peter." Pepper soothed. "I'm sure it's just your nerves. This has been a lot for you to take in today. You can pick next time."
Peter nodded, already knowing there wasn't going to be a next time.