You can trust now, Peter darling

27

Peter stumbled out of the elevator and fell on his knees. He still needed to catch his breath from all the running, which was hard considering he was sobbing at the same time.

"Hello, Peter. You seem to be in distress. Would you like me to contact Mr. Stark? He is in his lab." FRIDAY's voice made the boy jump and he looked at the ceiling. He wanted to say no, but his voice was gone. Why couldn't he speak?

"Boss is on his way." FRIDAY spoke again after Peter didn't.

The boy cried more as he wrapped his arms around his stomach and placed his forehead on the cold floor. He felt like he was dying, mentally and physically.

Then suddenly, hands were on his back and then his shoulders. They pulled him upwards so his face wasn't on the ground anymore and Peter came face to face with Tony.

He saw Tony's mouth moving, but he couldn't hear him.

"Kid, can you hear me? Work with me here, tell me what's wrong." Tony said as he leant Peter against the wall and knelt down next to him.

Peter opened his mouth, but nothing came out. So he shut it again.

Tony's stomach dropped.

"No, no, no. Not again. Please not again. Peter! Talk to me, please!" Tony said frantically as he held the boy's face up.

Peter cried even more, knowing that his voice was gone again.

'I can't.' He signed. He was surprised he could even do that.

Tony immediately grabbed Peter's hands.

"No, no signing. Please talk to me, please." Tony was starting to panic and Peter could see tears building up in his eyes.

Peter let out another sob and shook his head. Tony swore under his breath and turned his head to see Bucky rushing down the corridor.

"What's going on?" Bucky said in panic as he also knelt down on the floor.

"He's stopped talking again, Bucky." Tony muttered to him. "Fuck, I don't want to do. I-I don't even know what happened."

"Shit...u-uh, okay just calm down Tony." Bucky said, not really knowing what to do in this situation.

"Peter, you need to calm down as well, okay? Just breathe for a second and tell us what happened." Bucky said as he turned back to the boy. Peter shook his head again, Tony was still holding onto his hands so he couldn't try to sign anything. He managed to wiggle is way out of the man's grip and stood up, causing the other two to stand up also.

Before they could say anything else to him, he rushed to his room. He slammed the door shut just when Tony was about to enter as well. He knocked on the door frantically.

"Kid, please! Please talk to me..." He said, his voice drifting off towards the end. Peter slid his back against the door until he was sat on the ground once again. He covered his hands with his ears and continued to sob.

"Tony." Bucky said from behind the man. "Just give him some time. He'll probably open up to you tomorrow. Let's go get a drink." He offered.

Tony was hesitant to leave the door, but he agreed that he needed to give Peter some space. So he reluctantly walked away with Bucky.

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A few hours passed, and Peter still hadn't come out of his room. Tony tried to give him space, but he couldn't take it anymore. He stood up from his seat in the living room and walked up Peter's bedroom.

He knocked on the door. Once, then twice. He opened it after getting no response and saw Peter curled into a ball, covered by his duvet. Peter hadn't slept fully under his duvet in months, he stopped that habit because he felt safe again. So seeing him do it again made Tony's heart break.

He shut the door behind him and walked over to Peter, sitting on the edge of the bed. He slowly uncovered him from his sheets and saw that the boy was still awake, his eyes bloodshot and heavy. He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before speaking.

"Are you okay now? Can you tell me what happened?" He asked. Peter looked at him before shaking his head. Tony felt a pang in his heart.

"It took so long to get you talking, kid. I can't go through that again. Please, just talk to me. I can help you." Tony said, feeling hot tears swarm his eyes.

Peter thought to himself. He thought back to when his mother died. He stopped talking. He started talking again, then his uncle died. He stopped talking. He started talking again, and he was taken. He stopped talking. He started talking again, and his father came back, only to stab him in the heart. Every time he spoke, something bad would happen. So he decided it was best if he just never spoke again. Besides, he didn't want anything bad to happen to Tony.

"Do you not feel safe anymore? Did something bad happen?" Tony asked and Peter's face scrunched up. He tried not to start sobbing again as he nodded his head. Before Tony could ask what happened, Peter started signing.

'Richard'

Tony's heart started racing and he thought about the many possibilities that could've happened. He suddenly felt angry. Call it his parental instincts, but when Peter told the story of his father's return, he knew something was wrong with the whole thing.

"What did he do?" Tony asked, trying to stay calm.

'Everything' Peter's signing was sloppy from exhaustion and the continuous crying, but Tony knew what he was trying to say.

"Everything?" Tony said as he ran his fingers through the boy's hair. Peter nodded sadly.

'He gave me to HYDRA. He made me get bit by that spider. Everything'

Tony's hand came to an immediate stop.

"What?" He said as he pulled his hand away. He knew something was wrong. But he didn't expect this.

'He slipped up. He was going to take me back but I ran away before he could' the boy signed before sobbing again. Tony instantly took Peter in his arms, running a hand up and down his back.

Tony tried to control his anger, but he couldn't. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath, he definitely needed to calm down. He was so relieved that the boy told about his father's return the night before, otherwise if he succeeded in taking him back, Tony would have no leads. He couldn't believe that Peter's own, biological, father was the cause of all his trauma, AND intended to take him back there.

One thing was for certain, he was going to murder Richard.