Peter Stark

Chapter 21 - No Longer Welcome

Clint’s POV

Peter was the one who tortured Tasha. Peter.

I watched Salus walk away with my nephew in his arms. The car continued to move again and I texted Tasha to tell her I needed to talk with her. She responded back immediately, saying she was in the training room and that Peter had promised to spar with her, so I might have to wait.

As soon as I got to the tower, I stormed in and went towards the training room.

“Where’s Pete?” I heard a voice ask, making me stop. “Weren’t you picking him up from school?”

I turned to face Loki. “That torturing liar is with his partner in crime, Salus.”

He tilted his head. “Explain,” he demanded sternly. He was close with Peter and I could see how angry he was at my words.

I didn’t care. The truth had to come out. “Peter,” I spat the name, “was responsible for Tasha’s torture in Berlin. He’s an evil maniac if he could do that.”

Loki frowned at me. “You forget, Barton,” he said angrily, “that my brother is worthy. Only those with a worthy heart can wield Thor’s hammer. If he did this act, it was not of his own free will.”

I glared at him. “Of course, you would say that,” I snarled. “You’re just the same aren’t you?”

My words didn’t faze him. “You drove away the one person that everyone in this family loves for something that’s not his fault. You will realize your mistake eventually, but it is too late. You are blinded by your anger.”

I scoffed and continued to where Tasha was sure to be, but I got stopped once again by Tony. “You dare to blame my son for what he did under Hydra’s control,” he growled.

“He wasn’t brainwashed like Bucky,” I defended. “He chose to torture Nat.”

I pushed past him and had almost made it to the gym when Bucky and Steve stopped me. “Friday told us too,” Bucky said, eyes blazing. “The whole team knows, except for Natasha and Thor. You can tell her, but your place on this team is gone.”

Steve nodded. “You lost our trust.”

I kept walking. I opened the door to the training gym and saw Natasha sparring with Thor. When they saw me, they slowed to a halt and walked over.

“What did you want to talk about?” Tasha asked.

I told her everything.

When I had finished, she didn’t look at all surprised. She did, however, look furious. “You drove him away?” she said, her voice deathly calm.

I nodded.

While she fumed, Thor looked troubled. “Peter is not like you are describing him,” he said.

“He’s been lying to us this whole time. You saw what he wanted you to see.”

Suddenly, Natasha lunged at me, only to be held back by Thor. She calmed, but then said in a deadly tone, “Get out. I never want to see you again. You have taken my son from me.”

I was shocked. “He tortured you!”

“I knew!” she shouted back. “The moment he mentioned Salus, I knew! I also knew that he didn’t have a choice! Just like I didn’t have a choice! You saved me, but who saved him? He had no one!”

I shook my head and walked out. Why wouldn’t they just see reason?

On my way, I was stopped by Wanda and Pietro. “You forgave us,” was all Wanda said, but it struck me to the core.

“You forgave us without any hesitation,” Pietro agreed, equally as quiet. “You gave us support, even though Wanda had sent your whole team back to their worst nightmares. Even though I almost killed you.”

“We weren’t under any mind control. We weren’t forced to in any way. I saw into Peter’s mind. I saw how they used his love for Salus to force him to obey. I saw how he rebelled until he had no choice,” Wanda’s whispered words were like a punch to the gut.

“But you shunned him,” Pietro said. “You refused to give him a chance for forgiveness. He trusted you and you cast him out.”

As the teenagers I thought of as my children walked away, I realized just how wrong I was. Peter was the sweetest and most selfless person I had ever met, and I had hurt him. I hurried out of the tower, knowing I was no longer welcome.

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Once again, a short chapter. 😕
I'll try to make it up to y'all next chapter.

Thoughts?