Pride Is Not The Word I'm Looking For

Chapter 4

Oml y'all, 100 ReAdS?!?!? How the fricking frick guys.

Thank you all so much!!

Also, on a different note, this chapter is a little longer and if your wondering why some characters are acting a little...dismissive, it's for a reason. So just keep that in mind.

***
-+*+-Natasha-+*+-

" I don't want to hear it." Tony waved off Natasha as if she were just some annoying bug following him, "There's no way the kid's being abused. I asked him about his family, and sure he seemed sad, but why wouldn't he? They're all dead. He said his aunt was pretty caring. What makes you think you know better?"

Natasha sighed, frustrated.

Tony was walking to his lab where he would wait for the kid. He still had a couple of hours until the young intern arrived but Natasha wanted to speak to Tony before he came. The kid worried her. He showed obvious signs of physical and verbal/emotional abuse. She didn't really know why or how she came to become so protective of the kid she had just met. It confused her.

"Tony, he asked if he was allowed to sit down. No one does that. Not to mention he obviously thought I was going to hit him when he spilled the cereal."

"So?" Tony retorted, " The kid's just nice, and it's not my fault you look angry all the time. You should try smiling more."

Tony flashed one of his award winning smiles as if he was trying to teach her something.

She rolled her eyes in response and crossed her arms.

They both stopped walking and turned to face each other.

"I don't care what you do," she said, " Just don't ask him about it. He'll tell us on his own."

"If it's even true," The billionaire mumbled with an eye roll.

Natasha turned around to retreat back to her room. There was no mistaking the signs. She could only pray that Tony wouldn't screw up and let something slip that would trigger the teenager.

"And since when do you care about a kid?" Tony called after her with sudden confidence, "If I didn't know any better, I would say you've gone soft."

Natasha let out another sigh as she walked back to her area of the tower.

This kid was going to be the death of them both, she could already tell.

***

-+*+-Peter-+*+-

Peter opened his eyes slowly. Light shone through the window and he blinked several times trying to adjust.

He slowly got out of bed before falling back down hissing in pain. It came back to him like a wave.

He walked through the door last night after his internship to receive one of the worst beatings he had ever gotten from May. She was drunk, and absolutely livid that Peter had stayed out later than she let him.

It wasn't his fault that the subway was delayed.

He tried getting back up, slower this time. He succeeded and slowly made his way to the bathroom.

He covered his mouth in shock at the view before him.

He had slept with his shirt off so the bruises around his torso were clearly visible. They were purple and black with a ring of greenish-yellow around them. He winced as he pressed a hand to his chest.

Fractured ribs, he thought.

He had a black eye that was beginning to purple, as well as a couple of small cuts around the corner of his eyebrow.