Hey y'all. This is the last chapter!!
It's kinda funny; I accidentally made this chapter way longer than every other chapter. Whoops...
TW - mention of rape
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After Peter rushed to his room, everyone turned to Natasha.
"So what happened?" Tony bluntly questioned, albeit worried for the answer.
Nat sighed before replying, "Peter should probably tell you. I don't think he'd appreciate it if I told you guys without asking him first. But it was bad."
She sent a glance towards Loki and Harley. To anyone else, it was normal, but to them it was like they were having a silent conversation, saying that they were right. Nat was confirming their earlier suspicions.
At this Loki, had his familiar look of rage, but there was a hint of sadness in there too, reserved for Peter. Harley looked the same.
What she said did nothing to ease anyone's worry. If anything, it did the opposite. Everyone sat there, lost in thought until Nat suddenly stood.
"Where are you going now?" Thor wondered.
"Bringing him back." They looked a little confused, so she shortly added, "The one that did this." She clarified while adjusting her weapons.
"Don't kill him. We should talk to him first," Steve suggested.
"Okay," is all Natasha replied with. "Anyone wanna come?"
Instantly, Loki and Bucky stood up. It made sense; they were considered the violent ones.
That made Clint stand up too. "I'll make sure they don't kill him."
"Oh, and give Peter a little time to calm down before you all go bang on his door," Nat told them, before leaving.
The other three walked out promptly after and went down to the parking garage. They got in one of Natasha's cars. Clint was the last one in the car and as soon as his door closed, she stepped on the gas.
The entire way to Skip's apartment, she sped. There was a tense silence throughout the car. Nat's knuckles were white around the wheel. Loki was playing with his magic and a dagger. Bucky was tapping his fingers across his leg with one hand, his other in a white-knuckles fist. Clint just looked out the window anxiously.
The silence was broken as Nat spoke up. "Don't ask any questions. Peter will explain everything when he's ready too, and I'm not going to out him before then."
Loki agreed easily since he already had a pretty good idea of what had happened. Bucky and Clint nodded too, just a little more reluctantly.
Less than a minute later, they pulled up outside the run-down building. Nat wordlessly led them inside and up the stairs.
For a few seconds, she put her ear to the door to hear any movement. She could hear hard footsteps hammering the ground. She waited for a minute or two until she heard a door open and close, the footsteps softening.
She put a finger to her lips, and carefully opened the door, glad it didn't creak. Everyone else followed quietly, eyeing the trashy apartment. It opened up to a living room and kitchen, but they were hardly furnished and disgusting.
If it was even possible for them to be angrier, they were after seeing the place. It got worse once they entered the room she'd found Peter in.
Inside the bad excuse for a bedroom, they saw the dirty mattress and cot with the worn rope on top, dotted with a little blood. Trash around the edges of the room, including many beer bottles. Worst of all, Skip.
When they entered the room, he spun around, anger appearing on his face. Before he could get a word in though, Bucky punched him straight in the jaw.
He stumbled back but managed to keep his footing. That was before Clint kicked him in the chest and he fell to the ground, though.
They tried to control themselves, but all ended up getting a few hard hits in before Skip fell unconscious. Loki got one more in after that for "good measure".
Clint did as he said and stopped them from killing him, even though he wanted to. After seeing everything, Bucky and Clint had an idea of what might've happened too. It wasn't hard to put the pieces together.
Once he passed out, Bucky, Loki, and Clint took him back to the car and threw him in the trunk. They hadn't really thought this far ahead, and no one wanted to sit next to him.
While they did that, Nat searched the rest of the apartment. All she found was an empty room with an attached closet, also empty, and a bathroom. Once she had confirmed there was nothing or no one else there, she joined everyone in the car.
When they got back to the tower, luckily no one was in the parking garage. They took Skip out of the trunk and brought him into their private elevator.
After dropping him off in one of the containment rooms, which they were now glad Tony built, even though before they were confused about why he had them, they went up to their floor.
Everyone looked at them with looks of either fear, curiosity, or surprise when the blood on all of their clothes was seen. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to spark questions, all of which they ignored until after they changed and got comfortable.
Once they sat down in the living room, they answered a few questions, mostly Bucky and Clint.
They were pretty vague as not to give anything away. Nat and Loki knew what had happened, and Bucky and Clint almost knew what it was. They now understood why Nat didn't want to tell anyone and they didn't either unless Peter said so.
After about half an hour, everyone was done asking questions. Nat and Bucky went down to the gym, Tony went to his lab, and everyone else stayed in either the living room or kitchen. After only a few minutes, Harley left too but went to Peter's room.
Peter heard him knock on the door and ask to come in, but he didn't reply. He couldn't rely on his voice not to break or be scratchy from crying. Even if he did reply, it would be a no anyway, so it would have the same effect.
Harley said he'd be waiting until Peter was ready to talk, but he had no idea how long it would be until then.
Most of the other Avengers came by too, hoping to talk or at least to check on him. He didn't respond to most of them, except one person.
Nat came by a few hours later. She was the only person who he couldn't avoid since she already knew what happened.
So rather than ignoring her like everyone else, he sat up a little, and murmured a small "come in".
The door creaked open and she gingerly stepped inside before closing the door. "Hey, маленький паук."
"Hey," he muttered.
She sat down on the bed next to him. "How're you doin'? Be honest." She put a hand on his shoulder.
"Bad."
Nat sighed. "I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but I need to know how far it went." She took a deep breath. Even just this was hard for her, and she was supposed to be the emotionless, detached spy. She couldn't imagine how hard it was for Peter. "Did he rape you?"
Peter leaned back against the wall and hugged his knees to his chest. He took a deep breath, but couldn't stop himself from crying. It felt like that was all he did lately, was cry. Just thinking about it was enough to make him cry, but actually talking about it? He wasn't sure he could do it.
Part of him wanted to lie. He couldn't tell if it was because that's what he was used to, or because he was embarrassed. But he couldn't. After the way he reacted, Nat probably already knew the answer. Plus he was tired of lying and pretending he was okay, especially now when it was pointless.
So he nodded. Nat immediately sat back against the wall next to him and pulled him into a hug. It was enough to make him start sobbing.
It was weird like that. That a person is able to hold in all their emotion and pretend they're okay until they're confronted with a small gesture like this. Someone asking if they're okay or a hug.
He wasn't sure exactly why he was crying. It was a good thing that they found out and saved him from having to see Skip ever again. But it didn't feel like a good thing. He didn't feel happy.
Either Natasha just didn't know what to say, or didn't have anything to say, because for about ten minutes she just hugged him. She didn't bother saying comforting words because there were none to say.
Although eventually, she did speak again. "Why'd you keep going over there? You could've taken him down easily or we could've helped you."
Peter sniffed and took a deep breath. "I couldn't. He threatened my friends and I couldn't just... just let him get t-to them... and I knew he could–" he choked out, sobbing between every few words before Nat cut him off.
"It's okay, Peter. I get it," she comforted. "You don't have to, but do you want to talk about it?"
He shook his head, and Nat just nodded, continuing to hug him. They stayed like that for a while, before he stopped crying.
Natasha stayed with him after he calmed down though, talking to him and watching TV. She also brought him dinner, since he wouldn't really leave his room to get any.
After a few hours, she had to go. He didn't really mind; he wanted to be alone anyway. For the rest of the night, he stayed in his room. For a few hours, he had the TV on. He turned on music at some point and turned off the TV, but it was just background noise. He was too busy thinking to really pay attention to it.
Sometime that night, as thoughts endlessly ran through his head, he managed to fall into an uneasy sleep.
All he felt like doing the next day was sleeping. There was no chance of him going back to school at all this week, which he was definitely grateful for, but left him with nothing to do.
Sunlight streamed in through the windows and his bed felt warm. Safe. The last thing he wanted to do was leave his bed and go face everyone at breakfast. The only times he got up was to go to the bathroom and to put on Harley's hoodie.
He stayed wrapped up in his blankets and got on his phone instead. It had been about an hour before someone knocked on his door.
"Peter, can I come in?" Harley asked hesitantly. Peter had half a mind to just say nothing and stay by himself all day, but he did want to talk to Harley.
So after muttering a small "yeah", Harley came in with a plate and set it on his desk, then went to sit on Peter's bed. Peter sat up to give him room to sit, only to immediately lay back down on his side after, with his head facing outward on Harley's lap.
"Hi," Peter said, still tired after waking up.
"Hey, darlin'. How are you doing?" Harley played with his hair.
Peter just shrugged. He didn't know exactly how he felt or how he was supposed to feel.
"I brought you breakfast. Steve made pancakes."
"Thanks," Peter mumbled quietly, before turning face up so that he could look at Harley and Harley's gaze met his own.
"What happened? Or I guess... do you want to talk about it?" Harley asked, sadness painting his features.
Peter felt tears well up in his own eyes while he shook his head.
Harley sighed. "Alright. Can I just ask... does it have to do with what happened a few days ago when we were kissing? And is this where all the bruises came from and stuff?" He seemed hesitant. Scared of the answer, even though he already knew it.
A lump formed in his throat and he could feel his face heat up as tears started escaping his eyes. His voice cracked when he replied, "yeah."
A lump formed in Peter's throat, but he pushed it down. He didn't want to start crying again.
Harley pulled him up into a hug, which Peter didn't hesitate to return. It was one of those times in which Peter's insecurities came back and he wondered why Harley was with him.
His voice was small and shaky, as though he might start crying at any second, as he spoke while still hugging Harley. "Harley? Why are you with me, of all people? I'm–" he hesitated, taking a deep, shaky breath, "I'm a mess and I don't know what I did to deserve you. Even the last few weeks when I've been pushing you away, you've been here for me and I'm sorry and... and I–"
Harley cut him off this time. He pulled back from the hug slightly so that he could look at Peter, whose face was red and tears pooled in his eyes but had yet to fall. "Stop that, Peter. I've told you before that I love you just how you are. You're not a mess and I understand why you pushed me away. It's okay. You have nothing to apologize for. If anything I don't deserve you."
A couple stray tears fell from his eyes despite his efforts to stop them. Harley pulled his hoodie over his hand and wiped them away before he wrapped his arms back around Peter tightly.
"You don't have to push me away though, darlin'. I'm here for you and I can help."
Harley's words were comforting and only succeeded in making him cry more. The whole time, Harley just held him securely.
Peter hated that he'd cried so much lately; it felt like all he did anymore, but he couldn't help it. He didn't know what else to do.
Once Peter had stopped crying, Harley made him eat breakfast, knowing there was no chance of getting him to eat it on his own. Peter reluctantly ate it. It was good but he wasn't hungry.
They stayed cuddled up under Peter's blanket for a while, Peter leaning heavily on Harley, while they watched a few movies.
During one of the movies, Tony came in and sat at the desk across from them. He looked nervous and somewhat disheveled. There was anger in his eyes, but it vanished when he looked at Peter, and instead, he looked sad.
They just sat there for a second in silence, while it looked like Tony was thinking of what to say. Eventually, he sighed and spoke. "Look, I don't really want to beat around the bush, so I'll just tell you. Natasha and a few others went back to go get him and they brought him back to one of the containment rooms here. She's only letting a few people talk to him though.
"We just wanted to tell you so you didn't think we were hiding anything or found out on your own. We've already talked to him a bit and currently, he's unconscious after Nat's visit."
Peter sucked in a breath when he said they brought him back here and held it. "So he's... he's here?"
Tony slowly nodded but quickly added that he was in one of the containment rooms and couldn't get out.
Even though he knew Tony was right, he still didn't like that he was here in the tower. Thoughts about what could happen raced through his mind, despite the fact he knew they couldn't possibly happen.
He thought about what Tony said too, that a few others went with Nat to get him and that they talked to him. Would they put together what happened? For whatever reason, maybe he was embarrassed or scared, he didn't want everyone to know. Not yet at least.
It made him a little hopeful that he said Nat only let some people talk to him–maybe she knew he wouldn't want everyone finding out right now?–but he still couldn't help but worry.
His breathing picked up a bit. What if Skip managed to get out and found Peter again? Or he could find Harley. If Skip got out he would most definitely go after Ned and MJ like he'd threatened to do so many times. He couldn't let that happen to his friends.
He was too lost in his own head to register that he was shaking and breathing hard or that his vision was swimming. It felt uncomfortably warm under the blanket, but he couldn't make himself move.
What would happen anyway? If Peter told everyone what happened and they went to court against Skip, he would probably go to jail. He had most of the Avengers on his side to be fair.
But what if he somehow managed to do the impossible and get off the hook? The thought of having to see Skip again made him want to throw up. Tears rolled down his face.
Either way, the court case would involve the Avengers, so surely it would be all over the news. Everyone would know and that was the last thing he wanted.
Harley grabbed his shoulders more sternly, but not painfully so that he got Peter's attention. "Peter, it's okay. He can't hurt you, it's okay."
Peter heard the words, but right now they had no meaning as thoughts kept flooding his mind. It took almost ten minutes for Tony and Harley to actually calm him down and convince him that it was okay.
Tony asked if he wanted to go down and work in the lab, but Peter declined, knowing he wouldn't be able to focus for very long anyway. So Tony left them to go work, and they continued with their movie.
Harley got them both lunch and they hung out together all day. For most of the day, Peter practically clung to Harley, but he didn't mind. At some point, Nat came in to talk to them and told them they were going to watch movies out in the living room.
Somehow, Harley managed to convince Peter to go out and watch movies with them. When they walked into the living room, Peter's hand in Harley's, everyone glanced at them and said hi, but none of them asked anything or treated him any differently than normal.
It was kind of nice. He wouldn't know what to do if he walked in and they started asking him what happened or if he was okay or treated him super cautiously.
They sat down on the end of one couch and let Peter choose the movie. He chose one of the newer Disney movies no one's seen and they all settled in. After isolating himself for so long, he forgot about the Avenger's ability to cheer him up.
When the first movie ended, they got up to have dinner. They started talking about the movie, and to say the least, it didn't go well.
Thor thought it was really good, but Sam and Bucky thought it sucked. Then Sam and Bucky started arguing because they didn't like how they both thought the same thing and thought they were just mocking each other. Clint joined the argument on Thor's side, saying the movie was good.
Then, to add to the chaos, Nat started messing with Clint, taking his food when he wasn't looking. Loki and Wanda joined in too, using their magic to mess with other people while they were distracted. Harley was talking to Peter while Steve, Tony, Vision, and Bruce watched everything amused.
Needless to say, it almost turned into a food fight. Clint was about to throw what little food he had left at Sam before Steve stopped them so they didn't make a huge mess.
They watched a few more movies before everyone went to bed. Harley came and laid with Peter. It felt normal, and it was nice after the past few weeks.
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It had been three weeks since then. Everything had been going well.
When he got back to school, after missing two weeks, everyone looked at him weirdly. He wasn't sure if it was because the last time they saw him, Harley had just beat up Flash, or because he'd been gone for so long. Probably both.
But Flash stopped bullying him. In fact, Flash avoided him all around. Even when they were just passing in the hallway, Flash seemed to avoid eye contact. Not that Peter was complaining.
Ned and MJ practically tackled him in a hug when they first saw him. They asked why he was gone but he didn't tell them. He still wasn't ready to tell anyone yet.
By now, just about all of the Avengers and May knew part of what had happened but there were only a few people that he actually talked about it with.
It was easy to open up to Harley and Nat since they already knew what happened. He also talked to Tony a little. Even though both Tony and Steve were technically his guardians, he was a lot closer to Tony. The only other person he even said anything to was Wanda.
May visited for a few days and got to hang out with him. They hardly spent a minute apart while she was here.
Tony and Nat convinced him to take it to court. He was reluctant, but Tony pulled a few strings. He made it so that there would be no news coverage of it or anything relating to it. Somehow, Tony also managed to get Skip in jail within a week. When Peter heard the news that he was in jail, it was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Granted, he still had nightmares most nights and panic attacks, but usually, Harley was there to help him.
Despite Peter telling him multiple times that he could sleep in his own room if he wanted so that Peter wouldn't wake him up, Harley stayed. Whenever Peter had a nightmare, Harley would get woken up and would wake Peter up. Harley would hold Peter until he fell back asleep.
Peter felt bad for waking Harley up so often, but Harley insisted that it was okay. He said he'd rather be woken up so that he could be there for him. Eventually, nightmares came more sporadically rather than every night.
He had a nightmare that night though.
Peter's eyes shot open and he quickly sat up breathing heavily. When he looked over, Harley was already awake next to him with a hand on his shoulder.
Peter hugged him the second his eyes focused on him and Harley didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around him.
"I'm sorry," Peter apologized. He did almost every time he woke Harley up and like every time, Harley reassured him.
"It's okay, darlin'. You've nothing to be sorry for," Harley said, his voice gravelly or husky from sleep.
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather sleep in your room so I don't wake you up?" Peter asked, ignoring what he said for the most part.
"Nope. I'd rather sleep right here next to you."
Peter smiled and pulled away from the hug only enough so that he could kiss Harley. It was sweet, but still somewhat short.
Peter pulled away and they laid back down. "I love you," Peter quietly said, his head on Harley's chest again.
"I love you too."
Peter smiled. No matter how many times he heard it, he would never get over how much he loved hearing Harley say it with his country accent. It would never fail to make his heart skip a beat.
He fell asleep still smiling, while Harley held him securely, one hand in his hair. He felt comfortable and safe here with Harley, and there was nothing he would trade for that feeling.
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I loved getting to write this and thank y'all for reading it all the way until the end!! It makes my day to get to see votes, comments, etc.
If you haven't already (shameless plug) read my first book Stronger, and my newest one Permanent!!
Until next time, bye y'allll :)