clutter | rogers

NINE

"If there's more, we can talk later," Tony said as he returned to his couch. She had a box of his tissues beside her now, and she had one crumpled up in her hand.

"No, I don't want to cry again later." She smiled through her red nose and eyes.

"Okay." His eyebrows drew close sympathetically.

She took a shuddering breath and finished her tale: "He came home late one night. I was in bed, sleeping or pretending to be. He wobbled in and fell on top of me and..." she trailed off.

Tony nodded. She didn't need to finish for him to understand that Aris had sexually assaulted her.

"It happened less than the physical abuse, but it still happened, you know? God, he's an asshole."

"We're going to get him, Vee. I promise you that."

"I hope so," she said. Tony had put his notebook away.

"The phone call was enough evidence for us to believe Aris is the source of these episodes. Besides, no one pours a story out like you did and lies about it. We need to figure out how he is getting the attackers to attack and we need to shut him down from there. Do you know about any special abilities, statuses, or circumstances Aris has?"

She shook her head. "He never talked about his friends or colleagues, or any abilities as you call them. Is it normal for people to just have powers?"

"I'm not the best advocate for 'normal'," Tony stated. "Though I'm not the worse. You should talk with Bruce some time, he's the epitome of 'normal,'" Tony jabbed sarcastically.

He stood and led her to the elevator. They got in and began the decent to the commons. "Have you met the others, yet?"

"I've met Natasha and Vision. Steve abducted me last night, as I'm sure you know. And you. How many Avengers are there?"

"Countless. There's only a few of us living here at the tower, at least right now. You've met Steve, Natasha, and Vision. Bruce is teaching at NYU during the day, but he lives here too." He paused. "I'm forgetting some," he stated. "Wanda's on a service trip and Thor's on leave... Hm... Peter technically doesn't live here, but he's working with us."

"Peter Parker?"

"Yeah, have you met him? Hell of a kid."

"He works at the Bugle."

"So you've met him? Good kid." The elevator door opened.

"Yeah, he is—" She stopped speaking when she saw Peter, suited in the blue and red garb of Spider-Man, speaking with Natasha. He looked Vee dead in the face and stopped speaking. Silence suffocated the two, and he wrung his mask in his hands.

"Heh, hey Vee."

"That's why you disappeared at the park, you little..." Vee and Tony stepped out of the elevator.

"Before you get too mad," he laughed nervously. Natasha moved slightly so they could see each other better.

"Peter," Tony warned. Vee shot him a glance.