Conditioning

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Hiiiiiiiiiiii I'm alive (barely lol) I spent all day yesterday bent over a toilet BUT the good news is I wasn't allowed to leave my room today until like ten minutes ago and so I got the mini TV in my room (our family has a thing where if one of us gets so sick we can't leave our rooms we get the small TV to ourselves) so I am watching Iron Man while I type lol cause why not.

Um idk how this one will turn out but I will try............. Also this one is all Tonys' pov.

I've also completely given up with word counts so I'll just say if its longer or shorter. This one is a bit longer.

TW mentions of abuse

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Tony sighed as his alarm went off and FRIDAY started telling him all the things he needed to do that day. Granted, there wasn't a lot to do, just a couple press meetings, but he still didn't want to do them. So naturally he told FRIDAY to postpone them to tomorrow before getting out of bed and heading out to make coffee. He wasn't surprised when he saw Peter in the kitchen, already making coffee even though it was only six in the morning.

Peter had moved in after being adopted by Tony two years ago. Tony had found Peter through the tests he sent out to schools every year for internships. Most of the time, they were sent as a joke, as Tony knew that the questions were impossible for most people to solve. He even threw in some questions that he couldn't solve, even when he and Banner had worked together. Yet low and behold, he received an alert from FRIDAY about a test that seemed to have been scored 10/10. Tony hadn't believed it and had demanded to see the test himself. He had stared at the test for a good fifteen minutes, trying to take in the fact that a high schooler that was only 15 had solved the problem that he and Banner couldn't. He had practically ran to Bruce's lab, shouting with excitement that someone had solved the problem.

Tony had the kid on a payed internship that day and scheduled the kid to show up two days later, a Friday, for his first day.

Yet the kid who showed up was something that Tony would never have expected. The kid, Peter Parker, was skinny, and he seemed to jump at every move. And even more unexpected, he was silent. The kid didn't talk, and no noises left his mouth either. The kid had signed to him, but Tony had only responded by telling the kid that he didn't know sign language. Tony had been so disappointed, because he had really been looking forward to working with this kid and now he couldn't because he couldn't work with someone he can't understand. But it seemed that the kid had no shortage of surprises as he pulled a watch out of his pocket, placed it on his wrist, and began to sign once more. This time, however, a female voice spoke up, translating what he was signing. Tony had been blown away and had asked, practically jumping with excitement, what the watch was. Peter had signed back that the watch actually had an AI built into it, an AI that he had built himself. Her name was Karen, and she was basically, from what Tony observed, a mini FRIDAY.

Over the two years that Tony and Peter knew each other before the adoption, Tony learned some things about the kid. Peter had built Karen himself, the kid hated mint, and he was a fairly curious child. And he could talk. Not that the kid ever talked, but he was capable. Tony knew because of the laugh that had sounded through the lab one day after a fairly bad dad joke on his end. And god, Tony loved that laugh the way any parent would love their kids laugh. Yet Peter seemed terrified at the noise, slapping a hand over his mouth and pausing what he was doing. After a while of silence, Peter seemed to relax, his shoulders coming down from the tense position they were in before. 

And, Tony figured out, the kid was being abused. Tony had found out and had immediately gotten Peter out of the house he had been living in, taking him to the tower and adopting him, and over the years Peter had been slowly integrated into the whole Avengers family. Tony had made sure that Peter had felt safe, as safe as safe could be, and slowly, Peter began talking again. Tony still had to hold back tears when he thought of the first time Peter had talked. It had been just him and Peter that night, and they were heading to the living room to watch a movie. Tony had asked Peter if he wanted to pick, expecting Peter to nod and take the remote as he usually did. But Peter had taken a deep breath, looked Tony in the eyes, and said, "Can we watch The Lion King?" Tony had been so shocked that Peter had spoken, actually spoken, that he had just stared, slack jawed. Peter had started apologizing instantly, his hands a flurry as he signed so fast that Karen could just barely make out what Peter wanted to say. Tony had shook his head, reaching out slowly for Peters arms so stop the rapid apologies.

"Hey, no need to be sorry," he had said, "Of course we can watch The Lion King. I'm sorry I didn't answer, I was just a little shocked. Hell yeah we can watch The Lion King! Is that your favorite?"

"No," was all Peter said, so softly that Peter almost missed it. Tony didn't push it, knowing that it was a miracle in itself that Peter had spoken in the first place.

Once Peter started living with Tony, Tony started to observe the things that Peter would do. Peter always did the dishes and had always cooked dinner, had always waited to be told he could sit to eat and had eaten hesitantly, like he thought someone would take his food away from right in front of his face. Peter had days where he wouldn't talk or make nay noises. He never went to bed unless everyone else was asleep or unless someone told him he could go to bed. Tony had slowly learned what to say when so that Peter knew that he had choices, so that Peter knew he was safe and that no one would hurt him. 

Tony was convinced that the Avengers had taken one look at Peter and had fallen in love immediately. They basically babied him, making sure he was okay all the time. Nat and Clint had even went to his school once and almost beat a kid up once they found out that Peter was being bullied, Hell, Tony almost beat the kid up when he found out that Peter was being bullied. They all did everything to make sure Peter knew he was safe, but some habits were tough to break. 

So no, Tony wan't surprised that Peter was in the kitchen already, making him coffee. He knew that sometimes Peter asked FRIDAY to wake him up when Tony got up just so he could make coffee and breakfast.

"Morning, Peter. How are you doing today?"

"I'm okay, Mr. Stark. How are you?" he responded softly and he poured the coffee into a cup.

"I'm doing good, thank you for asking. I'm going to stay home all day and relax. Sounds great, doesn't it?"

Peter laughed softly. "Yeah, sounds like fun." Peter set the cup down in front of Tony. "I have to get ready for school."

"Hey, how about you take the day off, hang out with me? Ya know, father-son bonding?"

Peter hesitated, his face twisted in contemplation. Tony leaned forward on the counter, putting his face in a pout. "Pleeeaaassseee? I need help in the lab. My suit if being shitty again."

Peter laughed again, and Tony smiled, knowing that he had won and Peter was going to stay.

"Yeah, okay. I'll stay."

"Perfect!"

The day went by fine, and it was easy for Tony to forget about why Peter lived with him in the first place on days like these. But he was always reminded when Peter would insist on taking the dishes and washing them.

Dishes were almost terrifying for Tony. One time, Peter had taken the dishes and went to wash them. Tony had heard a crash and had run to the kitchen to see what had happened, only to find Peter on his knees, trying to pick up the pieces of a dish that had fallen and shattered on the floor. Tony had taken one look at the blood that was leaking from Peters knees and hands before running over to him , telling him to stop, that he was only going to hurt himself more. Peter had been in such a state of panic that he had started apologizing, thinking that he was going to be hit for dropping the plate. Tony still had nightmares about Peter, blood covered knees to his chest with his hands in front of his face, the blood leaking down his arms and he had murmured sorry again and again and again, crying and trying to make as little noise as possible beyond the sorry's.

That was only a month ago, and Peter had had many incidents since then similar to that one, but every time, it was easier to calm Peter down.

Peter still had days where he could wake up, make food for every meal before disappearing to his room. But he was getting better at knowing that Tony would not hurt him. He even told Tony once, "I know you won't hurt me, but sometimes it's just hard to see past the times I have been hurt." That had nearly broke Tonys' heart, but he understood.

And Tony understood that Peter might never be at the point where he could pretend that he was never in an abusive household, but Tony also knew that he would make sure Peter felt safe no matter what happened.

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That wasn't the greatest and I am not super proud of it, but it was something. I almost fell asleep in the middle of it.

Anyways, hope you guys, gals, and enby pals are doing good!

Peace out,

-person

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