The Trust Experiment

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"Are you sure about this, Peter?" Wanda asked wearily.

"Yeah," Peter said. "I'll be fine. My trauma is probably not as bad as everyone else's, so it's okay."

"Trauma is trauma, Peter." Tony shifts in his seat, not comfortable with letting this happen but sitting through it for moral support on Peter's part.

The rest of the Avengers move closer as Wanda's hands erupt with red energy, swirling around in the air.

"Okay, just breathe," Wanda says, and Peter nods, closing his eyes.

The Avengers put a hand on Wanda while Tony puts his hand on Peter's shoulder, and then Wanda directs her magic towards Peter.

Their vision goes black, and then bright white as they all appear on the scene of Peter Parker's first traumatic memory.

A small Peter Parker runs downstairs to the garage, where a man sits in front of a computer. The man turns and picks Peter up, setting him on his lap. Peter gives a cheeky grin to the man. "Hi, dad."

Tony watches the scene and immediately looks at Peter, who looks at the interaction with wide eyes. He goes to put a hand on Peter's shoulder but decides against it.

The man smiles. "Hey, Peter. What are you doing?"

"Oh, I was just playing with my blocks, but I wanted to come and hang out with you," Peter says excitedly. "Can we do some science?"

Tony has a pain in his heart, wanting to comfort Peter desperately. However, Peter just stares at the scene.

Peter's dad goes to say something, but is cut off by an alarm. "Contents Intercepted," the laptop repeats. Peter's dad curses and gets up, placing Peter on the floor to start stuffing things into a duffle bag.

"Dad? What are you doing? Dad?" Peter repeats.

"Peter, tell your mother to pack her stuff and that dad needs her right now. Run, go!" He shouts.

Peter panics and runs up the stairs, and the Peter next to Tony looks at his counterpart sadly.

A few seconds later, a woman who looks extremely like Peter runs down the stairs with suitcase. "Richard, did he get the files?"

"What files? Dad, where are we going?" Small Peter asks in a hurry.

"Peter, stop asking questions and call get the suitcase under you bed. Bring a toy and get in the car," Peter's mother answers in a quick, frazzled voice.

Peter runs upstairs and grabs his suitcase and a fake IronMan mask, and Tony lets out a breathless laugh as he watches him run down the stairs. Peter playfully hits Tony's shoulder, but it comes out a lot weaker than he wants it to. Tony puts a hand on Peter's shoulder for support.

The other Avengers watch with sympathy as the scene goes down, but doesn't offer any support. Tony gives them a weak glare.

Even when they see current Peter frown deeply with tears in his eyes, muttering a soft "no" when a tiny Peter refuses to hug his parents as they leave him with his aunt and uncle, they stay silent. Tony runs a hand through Peter's hair, keeping him calm.

The scene shifts. Peter is hunched over a toilet, with two swollen red marks on his neck. He vomits, sobbing at the same time.

Tony clicks his tongue in understanding, knowing what this one is. He'd been told about it months before. Current Peter curls in on himself slightly.

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