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Unwilling Tales

Sorry I forgot to put a trigger warning here, originally.

T/W: mentions of trauma

As Tony made his way back to Peter he wondered if he ever should have really left the boy alone after having such a conversation as they had.

He entered the lab again, only to see no one there. He sighed to himself. 'Of coarse he wouldn't still be in here it's been close to an hour.' He thought.

He left the lab, locking the door behind him and heading toward Peter's room instead. On his way he bumped into a small figure.

"Oh shoot-Maya, are you okay?" Tony asked, his parental senses kicking in at the thought of hurting his daughter.

"I'm fine! Where're you going?" Maya asked, curiously. She fiddled with her fingers as she waited for Tony to answer.

"Looking for Peter, any idea where he's at?" Tony asked, meeting Maya's chocolate colored, innocent tinted, eyes.

"I don't know." Maya shrugged. "I've been with Uncle Loki."

"Alright then. Stay safe." Tony said, moving past the small child and continue on to Peter's room.

He knocked on the door before entering, hoping he wasn't waking in on Peter having another attack. He wasn't. Peter sat there on the edge of his bed, scrolling through his phone.

"Hey, kid. Whatcha doing?" Tony asked, walking up to the bed.

"Nothing." Peter mumbled, at first not looking up from his phone but soon meeting Tony's gaze.

As Tony looked at the young boy in front of him, his brown curls, his doe eyes, his calm yet awkward personality he thought,'How could anyone hurt him?'

"Fun." Tony said, not knowing what else to say other then what he came here to ask. Peter knew, seeing how long it would take for him to spit it out.

Tony moved to sit beside Peter. He hasn't noticed until recently the way the boy tensed when people sat beside him. It was sad, truly. It was as if everything sent a panic to the child's mind.

The awkward tension filled the room. Tony was about to put his hand on Peter's shoulder when he stopped himself, remembering Peter doesn't like physical contact.

Well, that's what Tony thought. In reality Peter loved things like that. Hugs, hand shakes, comforting shoulder grabs. What he doesn't like is when it's out of nowhere. Or when it's from someone he doesn't like.

"So..." Tony began. "I talked with Steve..."

Peter bit the inner part of his lip, remaining silent.

"And we still have a couple questions. But we can answer your questions first." Tony said, proud of his last statement. 'Maybe Steve's parenting magazines actually are doing something.' He thought.

"Uh...does Steve-" Peter hesitated. "-does he hate me now?" He asked, hating how 'pathetic' he sounded.

Tony was taken aback. "No, he could never hate you. Even if he tried, he could never hate you." He said, immediately. "Why would you think he'd hate you?"

"Because I didn't say anything, because I let him-well, I didn't let him b-but I mean..I don't know..." Peter let his sentence fade out, not wanting to say what he really thought.

Tony slowly moved his hand onto Peter's shoulder. Regardless Peter flinched. "Peter, you were a kid. It wasn't your fault. Even when it happens to older teens, young adults, adults, any age, really, it's never their fault." Tony comforted.