(Unfortunate) - Please Don't Let Go
Peter woke up to a slamming noise in the room. His entire body jerked in response to the light and the noise filling the room suddenly. He heard someone yelling his name as he just burrowed further into the cot he was on.
There was something… wrong. Aside from the pain that was radiating from every single inch of his body, Peter couldn’t move his arms at all. He heard someone continue to yell his name, as he rolled his head from side to side.
“Peter, come on, kid! Wake up, please!”
He knew that voice. He knew that voice. Peter peeled his eyes open slowly, using every ounce of strength that he had left. He blinked slowly to clear his vision, the walls of the room continuing to swim with the drugs.
Someone was sitting against the wall opposite of him. Someone who looked too terrified to be there to hurt him. Peter blinked once more and found himself unable to re-open his eyes.
___
“Kid, come on. God - someone untie me now!” Peter winced at the volume of the voice as he peeled his eyes apart. The drowsiness of the drugs being gone meant that Peter was feeling the pain once again, and he gasped. It was too much.
“Pete? Hey, hey you with me?” Peter knew he should respond, but his arms were absolutely screaming in pain. He knew they were still out of socket and there was nothing that he could do about it. “Kid, come on, you have to give me something!”
That sounded like Tony. But why would Tony be here - why was Tony - where? Peter closed his eyes again, the strain of keeping them open in the dim light too much.
“Hey, stay awake! Peter!” Tony.
Peter opened his eyes once more, turning his neck to see Tony. The man was sitting against the wall opposite of Peter, two manacles on his wrists, keeping him in place. Peter furrowed his brows as the man looked at him with eyes full of worry.
“T’ny?” His voice was scratched and broken from the screaming, but he saw the relief in his mentor’s face.
“Hey - hey, Peter. I’m going to get you out of here, okay? I swear to you, I am going to get you out of here.” Tony’s voice cracked on the last word.
“I need h’lp.” He whispered. “M’ arms.” Tony looked at Peter with more intense worry than he already had been.
“Ok- yeah. I know, bud, they’ve got you a little tied up, but I’m here. Okay, I’m here. Gimme a sec.” The exhaustion took over and Peter let his head rest on the pillow under his head. “Hammer! Get in here!” Tony called out.
There was no response. Peter went to move his hands, but stopped, when his arms remained… latched around him? Peter’s heart rate began to accelerate as he realized that he had been put in a straight jacket.
Peter and Tony had talked many times about the claustrophobia that so obviously bothered Peter. Peter had thought he was getting better with it, but being unable to move his arms had his breaths coming in short and choppy gasps as his chest seemed to tighten drastically.
“Tony - Tony - get it off - get it off!” Peter cried, as he fought against the pain that moving around caused. His shoulders screamed in pain, but the panic in his chest kept him from being still.
“Pete, you’ve got to calm down! Dammit, someone let me out!” Tony cried from across the room. Peter just shook his head, tears pouring down his face.
The opening of the door had both of them stopping to look up. Hammer stepped into the room with a new look on his face. It was one of pride and a sickly twisted joy as he looked between the two.
“Now, Stark, you don’t need to be causing so much ruckus. The kid, his ears have to be tired - I mean if I had to listen to myself screaming for twenty-four hours then I know I wouldn’t want to hear someone screaming.” Peter watched as Hammer walked over to Tony with a strange look of glee on his face. “You know, I spent so many years in prison, Stark. I hated everything about it, but do you know what kept me going?” Hammer turned this time, walking over to where Peter was still writhing on the bed. Peter’s movements were cut off when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder. He was hauled into a sitting position as Hammer moved around him.
“Leave him alone!” Tony cried out bitterly.
He screamed. So loud and choked off as he heard a fresh crack from his right shoulder. Stars dancing across his vision as he went boneless. Hammer let Peter collapse back on the bed as he stepped back to observe his handi-work.
“I just helped him, Stark. That shoulder has been out of place for two days now. Definitely some tendon damage, maybe cracked bones - should probably pop it back into place, but it looks like I’ve run out of time.”
“Tell you what, you go ahead and give me the key, and I’ll take care of his other shoulder myself.” Tony quipped. Hammer looked at him, tilting his head.
“Hm, here’s the thing. I’ll give Peter here this key. If he can get it to you then you can be let loose in here.” Peter felt something small with a tiny amount of weight be dropped onto his tender stomach and he grunted.
“You and I both know he can’t move!” Tony cried out indignantly.
“Well, if he wants your help then he will have to. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go have myself some lunch.”
Peter’s stomach rolled at the thought of food, knowing his plate was still on the ground, and he knew he couldn’t get to it. The door shut behind Hammer with a final bang, and Peter winced once more at the noise.
“Okay, Pete, I know you want to sleep, but I need you to get that key to me. I need to be able to take care of you, and I can’t do that until I’m loose.” Peter wanted to cry, he wanted to scream and throw a tantrum because he couldn’t handle that right now. But the relief that he was feeling from where Hammer had popped his shoulder back in place was enough for him to know that he needed help with his left one.
“Okay, I don’t know how.” Peter murmured as he lay there, locking his eyes with Tony’s.
“Ok, I know you can’t use your arms, but could you get it on the top of your foot and kick it over to me?” Tony asked gently, knowing that any inch of movement would cause great amounts of pain in the kid. There wasn’t an inch of Peter’s body that wasn’t covered in scrapes, bruises, or blood. He could see it in the way the kid’s breath caught if he inhaled too deeply, or the way that Peter hadn’t tried to move an inch when he saw Tony for the first time. He hated to ask this of Peter, but he needed to be able to feed the kid, get him in a more comfortable position. Hug him.
“I don’t- I can - um - I can try.” Peter said, stuttering over his words as he tried to think of how to do this without passing out.
“Okay, so can you get into a sitting position?” Tony asked as Peter blinked up at the ceiling, trying to prepare himself.
“Mm-hm.” Peter took a deep breath, before he rolled to his right, hearing the key clank down onto the metal cot. He grunted against the pain, but thanked Hammer for popping that shoulder back in place. If he hadn’t, Peter is certain he never would have gotten this far.
Holding his breath and gritting his teeth, Peter sat up suddenly. He cried out, and blinked as stars filled his vision. His energy gave out, and Peter crashed into the wall on his left, vision going black as his still-dislocated shoulder hit the cinderblock.
Peter opened his eyes to see Tony watching him with worry. “M’ okay.” He whispered, knowing that neither of them were convinced.
“Okay, let’s move a little slower kid, how about it?” Tony’s voice was laced with concern.
“Yeah - yeah. Good idea.” The kid muttered. He turned then, putting his right foot against the ground, and bringing his left one around to find the key, he nudged the tiny metal piece to the edge of the cot, then tried to bring his right foot up, but a cramp in his bruised ribs had him gasping, and kicking his left foot out to find his balance.
“You’re okay, you’re okay, just breath kid.” Tony encouraged, wincing as the key fell by Peter’s foot. The kid, now indignant from the fact that he dropped the key, took a breath and held it, as he found the key with his right foot.
“I’m just gonna kick it to you.” Peter tried to sound angry, but his voice was just getting weaker and weaker. His bare foot found the key, and with one final push of exertion he kicked the key across the room to Tony.
With the last of his energy used, Peter slumped down, folded over himself in an awkward and painful way, but unable to do anything about it.
“Hang on bud, hang on. I’m coming.” Tony muttered, leaning to the end of the chain and using his own foot to drag the key closer to him. When he grabbed it, he fumbled quickly with it before freeing his wrists and pushing himself up.
With a rush, Tony was at Peter’s side, running his hands through the kid’s hair and wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Okay, bud, I’m going to get you on here more comfortably after I get the straight-jacket off, then we will go from there.” Tony said, knowing that Peter hadn’t been given any information or choices for the past ten days, and wanting nothing more than to give the kid some semblance of home. Tony fumbled with the straps on the back of the jacket, and within moments he was sliding the disgusting thing from his kid and tossing it across the room. Peter began to cry from the relief and Tony sat him up gently, completely supporting the kid’s weight.
“Alright buddy, I need to get that other shoulder back in place, right? I’m not going to lie, it won’t feel good in the moment, but I promise you will feel better after.” Tony reassured, as Peter grunted, the kid didn’t sound like he was completely present, and Tony hoped that would help with lessening the pain.
“On three, okay bud?” Peter grunted again as Tony braced his arms. “One, two, three.” There was an audible crack that had Tony sick to his stomach, as he lowered a crying Peter down comfortably onto the pillows. Tony pulled the blankets up, tucking them under the kid’s arms as he bent forward and rested the kid’s head against his chest, running his fingers gently through Peter’s hair.
“You’re okay, I’ve got you. I’m here now, alright bud. I’m going to get you out of here. You’ve done so good, kiddo, you’ve done so good.” Tony swallowed around the lump in his
throat. Thinking of Morgan, of how she came to them unharmed and completely safe. How she had handed Tony the drawing Peter had made her do. How he had read the more code so easily, smiling at how much of a genius his kid was. Wanting to strangle the kid for telling Tony “I love you. Don’t worry about me.” Like Tony wouldn’t be worried out of his mind. Like Tony would possibly think about leaving Peter with that psychopath. “Morgan is safe because of you. The team is going to find us, alright? They’re going to find us really soon.” Tony held Peter until he slept, or maybe he passed out, but at least he was somewhere without pain for at least a little while.