Finding Their Way Home

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Peter?" Tony said softly kneeling down in front of him. "Peter did you recognize him?"

Peter nodded, his mouth glued firmly shut. He needed to tell Tony who it was but every time he tried to open his mouth his heart would try to jump out of his chest and fear would trickle down his back.

He wasn't allowed to speak unless given a direct order.

"Can you tell us who he was?" Natasha asked, her mouth set in a firm line.

That was a direct order. Peter opened his mouth to tell them exactly who it was when his throat closed in on itself. He made a choking noise, his hands coming up to remove the hands that were choking him but there was nothing there.

"Peter? Peter! What is it? Are you okay?" Tony cried, his eyes scanning Peter for sign of an injury.

"Can you tell us who it was?" Natasha asked again, leaning forward.

Peter felt tears prickle his eyes as the fear overtake him. He felt humiliation wash over him as he struggled to say two words. He couldn't get it out and his heart was pounding and Peter could hear the blood rushing through his ears and he suddenly felt very light-headed. Peter felt himself sway.

"Peter!" Tony cried, his heart racing as he watched Peter begin to pass out and he pulled him into his chest.

"It's okay Peter," Natasha said. "You don't have to tell us who it was. You're okay."

Peter felt relief so strong crash over him that he was overtaken by it. Suddenly his throat was open and he sucked in a greedy breath of air as the tears spilled over. He was overwhelmed by the drastic change of emotions. He shook in Tony's arms and he buried himself further into Tony's arms in search of comfort.

"What was that?" Tony cried, looking at Natasha with fear.

"That was conditioning." Natasha said grimly. Tony sucked in a harsh breath as Bucky's words washed over him.

"Any conditioning that's still there, I imagine it's going to make its way back to the surface."

"Peter shake your head yes or no to answer, okay?" Natasha said. Peter nodded his head against Tony's chest. "Can you speak?"

Peter paused, his head automatically saying yes but a small part of him screamed no. Peter had never had this problem before and he had no idea how to proceed. It was like his body was betraying him. Logically Peter knew that he could speak but he was terrified of a punishment.

Peter wanted to be brave, though. He nodded.

"That's good." Natasha said warmly. "Okay Peter, can you speak your answers now?"

Peter sucked in a shaky breath and let out a hoarse, "Yes."

"Good job Peter." Natasha said. Peter felt like it was dumb to be praised for something as simple as speaking but he was also grateful. It meant that he wasn't doing anything wrong. "Okay Peter, can you tell me where you are right now?"

Peter knew that one. "The tower." he said. "I'm home."

"That's right," Natasha said. "Peter I need you to tell me right now, are you safe?"

That was a loaded question. Was he safe? He could speak and no one was punishing him. Was he in danger? If he was in danger than the arms around him would be tighter---they'd be choking the life out of him. If he was in danger the spidey-sense would be pricking the back of his neck, warning to run.