Spiders and Seas

Chapter 4: Tony Has a Problem

AN: I lied about more personal interaction in this chapter - although that wasn't on purpose. I had an idea and ran with it, which led to exactly zero dialogue. My bad. Anyways, enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with this work - its for fun and profit minus the profit.

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Tony didn't know why he had taken Percy in. Peter hardly knew him, really, and whether he meant to or not he was going to bring trouble into the tower. Percy was a good kid at heart, Tony could tell, but it was hard to predict what a traumatized eight-year old was going to do at any given moment - especially one with a record like what Percy had. (It's not his fault Tony reminded himself not only does he have ADHD, he was stuck in that god awful situation.) Not to mention the accommodations he was being forced to make (the ones he always should have had, really. Ones he'd find himself grateful for in the not too far off future.) The tower wasn't built to handle someone stuck in a wheelchair. It had elevators sure, but that was it, and there needed to be more - for one, if there was a fire and the elevators shut down, anyone who couldn't take the stairs would be stuck.

Still, Percy was there now, and Tony was at a loss for how to help him - he couldn't even understand the boy. He had tried to stop drinking for the kid, but he found that he just couldn't. That was the only thing that he had to keep him sane, the only way for him to not lose his mind after everything he had been through - he was too old for therapy at this point. (A/N: This is NOT how I think - if you want, seek therapy at any time for any reason. Your struggle is valid.) So, he tried to slow it down, which was hard enough in and of itself. He found himself reaching for a drink every night and most afternoons, and often had to push the thought out of his mind. (And ignore the shaking in his hands.) Still, he found himself reaching for a drink a not insignificant amount of time - and while nine and a third amount of times Percy wasn't in the room, the kid was quiet and wheelchair bound with no available arms - if someone had brought him into the kitchen and had to leave him for any reason, he was stuck there and as a result there were times when he had already poured himself a drink before he saw the poor kid - usually staring up at him with big doe eyes and a trembling body.

Not everyone in the tower had that problem however - making him sure he couldn't ever go through with his plan of truly moving to Malibu - Peter would never leave Percy, the rest of the team wouldn't leave New York, and Percy needed the rest of the team. More than that- Steve and Natasha.

The rest of the team was in a similar situation to Tony. Bruce was kind, but Percy was afraid of doctors, and the fact that Bruce served as one to the team, and now Percy, left him in an awkward situation - not to mention the fact Percy's situation sent Bruce closer to being the Hulk then he had been since the Chitarui. Clint was generally great with kids, but not only wasn't there most of the time, he seemed to get an especially sad look in his eyes whenever he saw Percy, (He had been outright murderous when he was told what had happened to the kid - Tony hadn't let him leave the tower for fear of what he would do.) and Thor was too loud for the kid - not to mention the weird looks he shot his way - and he wasn't at the tower very often.

But the other two were saving graces for the boy. He wasn't sure how Steve had done it - he clearly had just as hard of a time dealing with Percy's trauma as anyone else in the tower - but Percy looked at him with such adoration that Steve was the one helping with panic attacks most of the time. He was slowly helping the traumatized child out of his shell - not to mention his bed (Steve was the only one Percy would let pick him up to get in and out of his wheelchair - he screamed and sobbed with anyone else - which told them all that Percy not talking was yet another sign of how far he had to go. Other than the obvious hero-worship Percy had for Steve, there was the fact that Steve was able to be calm and gentle and didn't push on Percy too much - he'd encourage him to talk when needed and would bring him to therapy when no one else could - which was more often than not. (It wasn't that the rest of the team was ridiculously busy; it was that Percy had been in the tower for less than a month and had already pitched himself out of his wheelchair twice in an attempt to get out of it.)

Natasha on the other hand, seemed like the opposite of what Percy would've been drawn to. She was cold and calculating, and hadn't exactly been warm with Percy either. She was kind sure, and made sure that Percy felt safe, but she wasn't there for him in an emotional way. Despite that, Percy took to her instantly. (Because of this maybe - she hadn't been one of the people who were pushing him to talk at all.) As a result of that and her being one of three total people in the tower who knew sign language she was the one Percy would go to when he needed something. (Although, by the time Percy was willing to ask, it was patently obvious to those around him - communication of any sort seemed to be something the boy dreaded.)

Basically, Tony was starting to regret ever letting Percy stay in the tower - mostly due to his own fears of inadequacy - but at this point couldn't bring himself to send him away.

(In the end, this would be one of the most crucial parts of Percy's recovery.)