Our Underlying Darkness

Cornered Little Spider

Kiora steps out of her bathroom in the same clothes she came in with. Sitting at the edge of her bed, waiting patiently, is Peter. He looks tired, not the kind a good nights' rest can cure. The boy looks up at Kiora and smiles. She hoists herself onto her dresser and brings one leg up so that she can rest an arm on her knee as she sits.

"I wanted to talk about your fight with Doc Oc." She hesitates before going further, debating what to say. The woman knows this conversation is going to be tricky and that she needs to lead the teenager into it lightly. So instead of asking what she wants to know directly, she simply says, "Your powers are really impressive."

Peter blushes. "They're pretty cool but they have their downsides." Peter looks up, slightly raising an arm. "Yours are really amazing too! You could have probably taken Octavius out with one hit!"

Kiora chuckles lightly. "Like yours, my powers aren't all they're cracked up to be."

Peter tilts his head. "What do you mean?"

Kiora looks down at her hands and sighs softly. "Let's just say there's a reason I went into isolation."

Looking up, she sees the kid's bright eyes shining with curiosity. He's so young and naive. It makes Kiora really wish she's wrong about her guess. She clears her throat.

"From what I hear about your strength and agility, you should have been able to beat him easily too." Peter scratches the nape of his neck. "Your moves were sloppy, you were slower and treading more carefully," Kiora draws out. "Almost like you were priorly injured." Peter looks away, his eyes dance around the room in every direction but Kiora's. She continues.

"When you met us outside your apartment building, your darkness was more prevalent than it was before. Meaning, something happened between the time that we left you to get dressed and when you met us outside." The teenager is sweating now. He wants to run, get away from this conversation but he's frozen to the spot. "Look at me, Peter." His eyes dart up and Kiora leans forward from her seat on the dresser. "Wanna tell me what happened in that time?"

The teen visibly gulps. He opens his mouth to tell a lie but no words come out. His heartbeat pulses in his ear like a speaker on full blast. He swallows, hard.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong Kiora." His words sound foreign to his own ears, orchestrated. Peter prays that Kiora doesn't hear them the same way. She does.

The woman jumps from the dresser. She's wearing the boots she came here with, there loud as they hit the floor. The sudden sound makes Peter jump. His hands shake, he looks down at them, as if his gaze can will them to stand still.

Kiora crouches down. She looks at Peter and sees his fear, feels it. His darkness is growing larger by the minute. She wants to back away from it but she knows she can help. Slowly, she grabs the boys' shaking hands with her own.

"Peter, I'm not going to hurt you." She pronounces each word slowly, sincerely. She wants to make sure he understands this before he hears what she has to say next. The woman takes a breath. "But if you won't talk to me, I'm going to be forced to look in your head."

His head snaps forward. Terror streaks his eyes. He flails his arms, and moves back on the bed, away from Kiora, until he falls on the ground. Quickly he gets to his feet.

"Jarvis, get Mr. Stark!"

"Right away Peter."

Kiora extends her hand, a ribbon of darkness floats out of her palm and towards the boy. Peter looks at it in horror and for a moment, Kiora sees Loki in his place. She shouldn't have looked into Loki's head, it was his choice to share his past. But this, with Peter, it's not something after the fact. The boy is hurting, getting hurt, in the present. Kiora knows the signs and won't allow what's happening any longer. The darkness floats closer.

Tony Stark bursts into the room. He's panicked already, and seeing an unknown source of power float towards Peter is sending him over the edge. It looks as if Kiora is trying to harm him.

"Hey! Get away from him!" Tony's watch transforms around his wrist and hand into a blaster as it did earlier. He takes a shot at Kiora, she blocks it easily with her left hand and sends it flying back at Tony. It hits him square in the chest and sends him tumbling into the wall, leaving a dent.

Peter watches as Kiora's darkness spirals out towards him. He wants to run, wants to jump, and swing out of the room. But his legs just won't move. He looks over at Tony, his mentor. He doesn't want him to know, doesn't want him to see him weak. But he also wants out, wants the pain to stop. So with the darkness a centimeter away from his face, he speaks.

"Wait!"

The woman stops and Tony stands. They both watch as the boy grabs the rim of his shirt and pulls up.

Silence.

There are scattered bruises and cuts all across his torso. Some old, some new. He turns around. Tony gasps and the salty tears start to flow.

Multiple, foot-long gashes sear across Peters's back. Some are deep red from repetitive force, others infected from lack of proper care.

Wet trails creep down the side of Kiora's face. Her steps are slow at first, then in haste. She grabs Peter's shoulders softly. He's taller than her but he still flinches so hard.

She turns him around and takes his face in her hands. "That woman is never going to hurt you again."

That's all it takes for Peter to fall into Kiora's arms. He sobs into her shoulder and wraps his arms around her stomach. She cradles his head with one hand since the other moves to brace his shoulder as they both sink to the floor.

Tony walks forward and looks to Kiora for answers. He doesn't say anything, can't get his mouth to move he's so distraught, but she knows what he's asking.

"His aunt abuses him, Stark." Her voice is steady, the tears coming to a stop.

Tony collapses to his knees beside the two. He puts his hand on Pete's shoulder, the kid looks up. Never before has he even imagined his mentor crying, yet here Tony is, struggling to get words out between sobs.

"I'm sorry kid, I'm sorry I didn't see it, I'm so sorry." Peter crushes him in a hug and Kiora watches as the two men sob together.

—-

It was decided that Kiora would stay with Peter. He ended up crying himself to sleep, the tears carrying exhaustion. The two adults tended to the boy's injuries as he slept, not trading any words. Tony wanted to stay, not trusting anyone to take care of the child anymore. But Kiora told him that he had to deal with May, and so he left.

Thankfully, Steve picked up on Tony's rage as he passed the living room on his way out. The super soldier went with him to Peter's apartment. He asked Jarvis before he left about the situation, then to alert the team. It was good that he went, he wasn't sure how far Tony would have gone if he didn't. Nevertheless, the two avengers got May Parker arrested that night.

Now all of the avengers sit in the living room in silence. Every one of them feels for the boy. His light-hearted cheeriness has touched them all in one way or another.

"How could we have missed it?" Steve asks in a hushed tone.

"If Kiora wasn't here..." Bucky brings up.

Tony shakes his head and puts his face in his hands. He doesn't want to think about it.

The metal-armed soldier hasn't met the girl properly yet, but he's thankful that she was able to see what they all couldn't. Peter was one of the only people that treated him normally and with kindness.

Thor's normally booming voice is now soft and sincere. "The man of spiders is strong, he will get through this." The rest of the team nods, hoping Thor's words are true.