Sticks and Stones

12

A few days later, Steve, Tony, and Peter moved back into Stark Tower. Peter had gotten his stitches out and was much happier, but he still looked horrible. The bruises wouldn't be going away any time soon.

The day after, Peter returned to school.

Apparently, no one had called in and said he wouldn't be there, and he got in trouble. The teacher made him stand in front of the class and tell why he wasn't there.

"Don't want to," he protested.

"That's the rule, Peter. Your mommy or daddy should have called in and said you wouldn't be here."

"I don't have a mom!"

"Well, it's your father's fault for pushing her away."

"I got two daddies."

The teacher grabbed him by the upper arm and dragged him into the hallway, despite him protesting and crying.

"You're a fucking faggot, you and your whole family. You're going to rot in hell." She scowled. "But not before HYDRA is done with you."

Peter screamed, and she slapped her hand over his mouth. Teachers came out into the hallway and saw her kidnapping Peter.

Everything was a blur. "Hail HYDRA." The teacher hissed in his ear before stabbing him in the gut.

She sprinted away as Peter screamed and wailed.

—

"I'm going to kill her! I swear, she's going to die!" Steve growled, pacing the hallway of the hospital angrily.

"We're not killing anyone just yet, Steve." Tony said. "Believe me, I'm pissed, too. We all are. And she will pay for this. Just not yet."

"Tony! She literally stabbed our kid!"

"I'm fully aware of that, Steve. But we can't leave Peter."

He sighed. "I know."

"We have Natasha, Barton, Sam, Wanda, Vision T'Challa, and Happy all looking for her."

"T'Challa is helping us find the lady who stabbed Peter?"

"Yep."

"That was nice of him to do."

—

Steve leaned against the wall of the hospital room, and Tony sat next to the bed. Peter had been in the hospital for two days, and hadn't woken up once. He had thick bandages wrapped around his midsection and an IV in his arm.

A heart monitor beeped steadily next to him.

It reminded them all too much of their first meeting.

Peter stirred awake, and rubbed his eyes. "Hi," He greeted them.

"Hey, buddy." Tony said gently. "How you feeling?"

He shrugged sleepily, and yawned.

"You hungry?" Steve asked.

"Strawberries," he whispered.

Tony and Steve chuckled. "I'll have Natasha get some on her way up."

"Auntie's here? Both of 'em?"

"Wanda's coming up in a few hours. Also one of my new friends. I think you'll like them."

Peter nodded, and looked like he was about to fall back asleep for a moment, then blinked back awake. "You can go back to sleep, honey." Steve assured him.

"No, not sleepy." He protested, rubbing his eyes.

Natasha knocked on the doorframe. "How's my favorite nephew?"

He grinned. "Hi, auntie. You get strawberries?"

She set the container down on the small table. "Have at it, kid."

"Daddy, you open it?" He pushed it towards Tony, and he pulled the top off for him.

The three adults talked for a bit while Peter ate.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Hello, Steve, Tony, Natasha." T'Challa greeted. "You must be Peter?"

He nodded.

"I am T'Challa, and this is my sister, Shuri."

Peter waved shyly- he'd grown wary of meeting new people. "Hi." He said quietly.

"Peter, I promise these guys are good guys." Tony said.

He just nodded.

"Shuri, would you sit with Peter for a moment? I need to talk to these three for a moment," Steve said, and they left the room before she could answer.

Shuri sat in the chair next to him. "Nice to meet you, Peter."

"Mhm."

"I hear you are very smart for your age."

He shrugged. "Guess so..."

"Do you know about kinetic energy?"

"When energy is stored for later?"

"Yes. Do you want to see a video of my brother learning about the consequences of it?"

A grin broke out on Peters face. "Yeah."

She showed him the video of T'Challa hitting the suit and getting thrown across the room. He giggled, and T'Challa stuck his head in. "I told you to delete that!"

"I am using it to teach Peter about kinetic energy!" She protested, and he rolled his eyes.