Long Days

Chapter 14

The next morning, the sun was shining despite the low temperature, melting some of the slushy snow that clung to the sides of the city streets. This sun, welcomed by the local weather stations, was very un-welcomed by Peter who was woken by its light.

After initially cracking open his eyes, Peter quickly squeezed them shut again. He had a small headache, and it felt like he hadn't slept at all. Rolling away from the large windows to avoid the glaring sunlight, he tried opening his eyes once again and found a glass of water sitting on the bedside table. Not questioning its origin, the teen immediately propped himself up on his elbow and chugged the entire glass. When he finished, he was coherent enough to catch the scent of bacon and the sounds of clinking dishes and chattering people.

Eventually, Peter gathered enough energy to stand. After a quick stop in the bathroom, he walked out to the rest of the apartment. Tony's apartment.

"Peter!" May exclaimed from her seat at the small kitchen table. Instantly, she was standing and wrapping her arms around her nephew. "Oh my god, are you okay? I've missed you so much." She pressed her face into his shoulder and whispered, "I'm so sorry."

Of course, Peter returned the hug with equal strength. "It's okay. I'm okay. I've missed you, too."

Just when it looked like May would start crying, Tony stepped out from around the counter, wielding a spatula and a plate of freshly-cooked bacon. "Hey, now, let's keep the tears to a minimum for breakfast, alright?"

"Peter, coffee or tea?" Pepper asked, appearing next to Tony.

The teen pulled away from Aunt May. "Coffee, please. And water?" He was grateful that Tony and Pepper directed the conversation away from himself. The events of the previous night were a little blurry, and he wasn't ready to remember all the gritty details just yet.

Therefore, for the next hour or so, the four talked about anything except Peter's situation. However, it couldn't be avoided forever, and when the conversation lulled, May couldn't resist. She reached forward to hold Peter's hand with her own. "Hun, what happened last night?"

Peter dropped his gaze to the tiled floor, trying to find the right words for his memories. What did happen? What could he say? How could he look at his aunt and tell her 'I stole some kind of drugs because some kids told me to' or 'I got so drunk that I think I passed out,' let alone saying something like, 'One of the workers tried to grope me while I was practically unconscious'? It was too much to think about. It was too many things to put into words. Too much happened, and too many things went wrong, and‒

"Pete!" Tony was kneeling in front of Peter, gripping the kid's shoulders as he commanded, "Breathe, kid. Deep breaths. In and out, in and out." Acting as a model, Tony exaggerated his own breathing. Outwardly, the mentor kept himself steady, but inwardly, his heart ached. Having experienced them himself, Tony knew a panic attack when he saw one, and whatever happened to this kid was so horrible that the memory of it alone was enough to trigger one. "Hey, listen to me: you don't have to talk about it right now. You're safe."

When his breathing returned to normal, Peter said, "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Tony reminded him.

With Stark in front of him, Peter could pretend that it was just the two of them. Avoiding eye-contact by staring at the Stark Industries logo on Tony's t-shirt, Peter whispered, "One of the staff members tried to touch me. But I was really drunk. Really tired. It was my fault for not being‒"

The boy was cut off by Tony pulling him off the chair and into his arms on the kitchen floor. He did this to comfort Peter but also to prevent the kid from catching a glimpse of the emotions in his mentor's eyes. The initial horror was swiftly replaced by sadness, and now that was being washed away by rage.

Pepper must have noticed the murderous look in his eyes because she moved from embracing May in order to pull Peter from Tony. She suggested a few minutes of escape to Tony, "Why don't you put on another pot of coffee? The rest of us will move to the couch where we can work through this together, okay?"

Numbly and wordlessly, Tony rose from the ground and turned back to the kitchen. After running his hands through his hair and taking a few more deep breaths, he focused on the physical task of scooping coffee grounds.

Meanwhile, Pepper guided Peter back to the living area with May following. Immediately upon taking the teen under her arm, Pepper was softly saying, "It's not your fault. We believe you. It's going to be okay. It's not your fault."

By the time Tony had calmed down enough to return with fresh mugs, Peter was saying, "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I just want things to go back to normal." Tony instinctively sat next to the boy who had pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his head into his arms.

"I won't let you go back there," May said. "We'll report this, and if nothing else, they can move you. Right?" She looked to Pepper and Tony.

Tony scoffed. "It's been over a week since he was placed and they still haven't contacted you with a phone number for the house he's in. I bet they don't even have him correctly recorded in the system yet."

"The decision to report this should be up to Peter," Pepper responded calmly.

Peter mumbled into his arms when he answered, "I don't want to report him. I don't want to start anything like that. They wouldn't care anyway. No one cares there."

"A report would take too long to be filed and taken care of anyway," Tony grumbled. He shook his head.

Before she could stop them, tears welled up in May's eyes, and her voice broke as she said, "Then I don't know what to do. I can't do anything faster than what we're already doing!"

Pepper rushed to calm her. "Forget the other applications. Stark Industries can hire you, I promise. That way‒"

"It'll still be too slow!" May practically yelled, reaching the end of her patience for the legalities and for the entire situation. Her nephew was hurting and trapped, and there was nothing she could do. "I'd still have to work for a minimum number of days and submit the paperwork to prove my employment! And who knows how long it would take to get someone back out to re-inspect the apartment!" She was standing now, furiously pacing the area in front of the sofa.

"Mr. Stark," Peter whispered, moving his shaking hand to squeeze Tony's arm. "Please."

The boy didn't need to finish his beg to move Tony to parent-like action. With one forceful command, he stopped May in her tracks: "Enough!"

"Tony, do you have any ideas?" Pepper asked, hesitantly.

Without thinking it through, Tony looked up at the women and offered the opinion that had been at the back of his mind for the past few days. "To get a kid out of foster care, they need a guardian who can provide adequate shelter and food, right? You know, I have those things. Just sign over your guardianship of Peter to me. We'll get it notarized, take it to whatever office, and then Pete can come home with me. There, problem solved."