Tattered Wings

You deserve this

The flight home took longer than it did for Tony to get there, because he couldn't fly too fast in case he somehow startled Max; she was already in a fragile state, and he didn't want to put anything in jeopardy, especially since she had barely agreed to coming home to him in the first place. After silently communicating with JARVIS to alert Bruce that he may be needed and to let Steve know that they were both safe, and to keep him and Peter from worrying. Apart from that, there wasn't much else to be done apart from get Max, who had fallen into a depressing silence as she flew next to him, home.

It wasn't often that Peter got worried. He didn't even worry about exams all that often, or at least, he tried not to. But right now, he was definitely worried about Max, and her whereabouts, and why the fuck he had let Dylan get into his head and make him doubt that Max was a good person, made him doubt that she was there with an ulterior motive when he had first hand seen the devastation on her face when her flock had been murdered, and when Fang had come back and died again, it wasn't fair. She deserved more than this, she deserved a brother that didn't doubt her, and made her feel like she was still welcome, because despite what Pops said, Peter was the reason Max left, and he knew it. He just needed to wait to apologise, but the more he waited, the more worried and anxious he became, even though JARVIS had told both him and Pops that Dad was on his way home with her in tow. That piece of information did give him a slight bit of relief because it meant that Max was on her way home, she hadn't run away together, and she hadn't done anything stupid. Now to get his apology sorted.

Half way home, Max had started to flag, so Tony had moved over to pick her up in the sky to fly her the rest of the way home leaving Max to fall into a fit-full sleep and at least get some of her energy back. She was a lot warmer now anyway, which Tony took as a good sign, but she was still colder than she should be. With Max asleep, Tony was able to speed up, and soon, they were back at the tower, Steve taking a hold of Max when Tony landed so that Tony could go down the walkway and have his suit removed by the machined he built before they both went inside to where Bruce was waiting in the medical room, equipment already ready. Bruce gave Max a sedative to make sure she stayed asleep whilst he made other checks to make sure that there was no serious damage done. Despite Tony finding her freezing cold, Max had luckily escaped any form of hypothermia, and Bruce just prescribed wrapping her in blankets and giving her some aspirin when she woke up, for the headache that she would most likely have, but as Tony went to leave with Steve to take her to her room, Bruce caught his arm for him to stay back for a few moments.
"Tony, I know I don't have to mention, but she's been through some serious trauma, she isn't going to be right for some time. She needs to take it easy. School is going to have to take a back seat, and I think....she's going to need to go to counselling."
"Bruce.....I know this stuff. I'll home school her for a while when she's feeling up to it so that she doesn't fall behind, but that isn't important right now. She won't talk to a counsellor Bruce, you know this, she barely talks to a stranger."
"Then...She can come talk to me. She talks to me, and I may not be that kind of doctor, but if I can help, I'll do it."
"That...that means a lot to us Bruce. Thank you."
"Any time, Tony. Max is as much a part of my family as you are."

Though Peter had pretty much found out straight away when Max got home, he had been told that he was restricted from seeing her until the next morning so that she could get some sleep, which was how he came to find himself sitting in the kitchen around 2AM, because he was too worried about her to sleep; the last thing he expected was to see Max stumble into the kitchen and attempt to fix herself a cup of coffee, seemingly oblivious to his presence until he cleared his throat, making her jump and fall back into a defensive stance.
"Easy there. It's just me."
Max blinked slowly and dropped her stance, lowering her gaze as she hunched in on herself, clutching her empty cup tightly.
"Hi Pete..." She whispered quietly, shifting from foot to foot. "I just...I came for coffee....but if I'm in your way, or you don't me here, I can leave, I'll just....I'll go." By the time her words reached Peter's ears, Max had already turned around and was heading for the door, but Peter was quick to stop her.
"No, Max, don't go, stay. I need....I want to apologise." The confusion that flitted across Max's face just made the guilt settle in deeper, because she shouldn't be confused as to why Peter was apologising to her.
"What for? You haven't done anything."
"I have. I doubted you when I shouldn't have done. I believed the bastard and that put you at risk, so for that, I'm sorry."
"But....it's okay. No one ever believes me, not really. My mum and sister didn't. They couldn't wait to get rid of me. And I lost the flock. I don't deserve a family. Anyone I call family dies, I can't put you guys at risk like that. The world needs the Avengers, dad and pops need you. I'm....expendable."
"No," Peter's defiant response came out so harshly that Max flinched backwards when he hit his fist on the table. "None of that shit is true, do you hear me Max? Dylan was a psycho that killed your family, your mum and sister are idiots for believing him over you, and above all, you deserve this. You deserve a family, you deserve friends, you deserve to have people that care about you."
"Pete....." Max sniffed a little before placing down her mug and reaching her arms towards her brother to envelope him into a hug, trying not to cry. She was running out of fingers to count on for how many times she cried.
"It's okay Max. We have you. We care. I promise."