Spiders and Seas

Chapter 3: A Secret Revealed (And a Boy Saved)

A/N: Hi there! This story is coming to me pretty easily so far, but the next chapter is going to feature a lot more personal interactions, so we'll see how that goes lol. Regardless, enjoy this chapter and interact with the story! 

Disclaimer: I'm a child, and as such own neither of these properties :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next month progressed largely the same as the first two days - Peter continued to learn sign language, and Perseus continued to push away any attempts at closeness. However, the latter was slowly caving. (Peter had always been persistent, and his instincts told him that

getting to know Perseus was going to be the best for both of them.)

As he spent more time with Perseus, he learned some things: Perseus preferred to be called Percy (Peter had been learning some sign language, he now knew the alphabet, and could understand when Percy told him that.), he didn't like to be touched, his favorite color was blue, he was afraid of adults (other than the teacher, who Percy seemed to love), he had eyes that seemed to glow, and there was something off about how he interacted with people, and occasionally, he came into school with bruises.

Something about the way this came together bothered Peter, but he couldn't put his finger on why that was. His first thought was to ask Tony, but he was stubborn, and wanted to figure this out on his one. (He also didn't want to bother the father figure when it may not have been that big of a deal.) That was why it took until the day everyone came back from Christmas break for Peter to figure it out. Previous to that, the clues came together slowly, and Peter began suspecting it around Thanksgiving, but what happened in January changed everything.

It started when Percy came into school in a wheelchair. There had never even been a broken pinky previous to this (there had, and Percy's fingers were crooked enough to serve as proof, but those kinds of breaks could be healed by water), but now, Percy had a broken leg, arm, and clavicle. In addition, he was covered in bruises and cuts. Overall, he looked like a mess. All of those could be explained away with the car accident that Percy claimed to have been it - and then, not a week later, he came into the school with a hand-shaped bruise winding around his neck.

Peter told his dad that afternoon, and the next day CPS showed up to the school building. Peter watched Percy closely - the spark of fear in his eyes when he saw the caseworker quelled any remaining doubt in Peter's mind. It didn't take long (only a few days really - apparently it was patently obvious that there was something wrong. Peter heard hushed whispers between his dad and the caseworker on the phone, so he didn't know what.)

Days after that, Tony sat Peter down to talk after dinner. "Hey, Pete. Does Percy have any family he told you about?"

Peter shook his head. "Nope. Why?"

Tony sighed. "Well, the people who've been helping him out couldn't find anyone either. If he had told you, then Percy would be able to live with them."

"So, where's Percy gonna go then?"

"I don't know kid, but I'll figure it out. Don't worry."

Peter nodded, then had an idea. "Could he live with us?"

Tony frowned. "Oh, I don't think that's a good idea buddy. He-"

Peter interrupted him, determined to convince Tony to let his friend stay with them. (Yes, they hadn't really known each other for long, and Peter hardly knew him because Percy still wouldn't talk, but Peter was eight and easily attached. Besides, even with his cold attitude, Percy was a hard person not to love.) "He won't tell anyone anything - he doesn't even talk, remember? And he doesn't cause a whole lot of trouble in school, and he's nice and-"

Tony cut Peter off. "Look, I'll look into it alright? But I can't promise anything. Now go put on your pajamas and we can watch Star Wars."

That was enough to distract Peter, and it wasn't much longer before he was sound asleep on the couch The Empire Strikes Back playing in the background.

Three weeks later, Percy was moving into the tower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Percy didn't like his new house, or tower, or whatever it was. Don't misunderstand, he was eternally grateful to be away from Smelly Gabe, and the pretty but far too quiet foster home he had been in before (to be away from the uncertainty of when he was going to be forced to leave), but it was too much there, the voice from the ceiling and walls was always too loud, the lights to bright, the movie nights to crowded, and Tony Stark terrified him.

It wasn't really that Percy thought the billionaire would hurt him - he had shown nothing but kindness, and Peter clearly looked up to him. No, it was the constant drinking that triggered the response he had to the man. He tried to hide it, but Percy had a nose for alcohol, and an inability to leave rooms on his own. So, he was stuck in a tower (he hated heights and every pass by a window terrified him) with an alcoholic and the Avengers.

There was press outside his door constantly, he couldn't actually tell anyone about who was living with (not that he had anyone to tell), and he just wanted to go home. (He had no home, not really, but he avoided that train of thought whenever he could. It just made him cry, and crying had always meant pain for him.)

The worst part was probably the therapist they were making him see - no, he didn't want to talk about his problems, no, he didn't want to talk at all. He wasn't sure why he was seeing one and no one else there was however. Just from looking around it was immediately obvious that most, if not all, of the people he was living with had some kind of potent trauma. It wasn't fair that he was the only one who had to relive it once a week in a room with the ticking of a clock bothering him the whole time.

The only part of this that really brought a smile to Percy's face was Peter. He was Percy's best (only, first) friend, and while he had been angry at Peter for telling what had happened at first (Angry may be the wrong word - Percy had been scared to be thrust into a new environment. It wasn't safe with Gabe, but it was familiar and he was terrified that the new environment would be dangerous in a much different way.), but Peter had looked so happy to see him, and was so nice, and tried so hard to make Percy feel welcome. It didn't take Percy long to cave into the demands of the young boy.

(There was also the fact that he was living with THE Captain America. He had been Percy's favorite since he was little. The fact that he had once been nearly as tiny as Percy was only added to the love that Percy felt for the blonde nazi-fighting hero. It was a fine replacement for the tattered poster Percy had been forced to leave behind. Really, if the Captain asked Percy to talk personally, he'd be tempted.)

But, those two things weren't enough for Percy to enjoy living in the massive display of opulence that was Stark Tower, and really he just wanted to go home. Especially considering how much he had to hide. (He had been making a careful effort to avoid water when he was near one of the Avengers - they worked for the government, and the government wasn't exactly fond of people like him.)

So yeah, Percy was miserable, and didn't see it getting better any time soon. (Despite that, he still found himself smiling, a warm feeling sitting in his chest, when he went to bed in his blue room each night, to a soft smile from one of the Avengers and a knowledge that he would be safe in his bed.)