Any chance we could get a little snippet of INKIWB cuz I’m going through withdrawal it’s so dam good
Ahhhh I’m so sorry it’s taking so long but thank you for being so patient! Here’s a lil’ sneak peak of some of what I’ve got for Chapter 15 of I Never Knew I Was Broken so far:
(Also, here’s a link to the fic if anyone’s curious)
Enjoy!
Eventually, Pepper left to sleep. She was jet lagged and it was late and Tony kissed her goodnight and muttered a soft thank you before she left, but he didn’t follow. He couldn’t. Someone had to stay and watch Peter through the night and although the others came down and offered to stay up, Tony always refused, and the others didn’t push him. They knew just as well as Pepper that he wouldn’t leave the kid’s side for anything, not until he was okay.
Funnily enough though, Peter did look okay.
All curled up on his bed, face and body posture lax as his chest rose and fell with steady breaths. He looked peaceful, kind of like when they had unmasked him at the Gala.
Peter still looked young. Too young to be thrust into the world and the life he lived in.
Throughout the night, Tony hoped – wished – that Peter would wake with a start and be back to business. He’d lock eyes with Tony, say “What the hell are you doing here?” and then make a joke about having no schedule. Tony would say something terrifyingly honest back like, “I was worried about you kid, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay” and Peter would struggle to hide the swell of emotions inside him and reply with a simple, fragile, “Oh.”
When he did wake up though, around nine in the morning, none of that happened.
His eyes blinked to life and before Tony could get a word out, the kid slid off his bed, onto the floor, and knelt. Hands on lap, head down. Nothing.
Damn.
Damn, damn, damn.
Tony downed the rest of his coffee as if it were a shot of vodka and licked his chapped lips.
This wasn’t Peter. Tony knew that. There was no way Peter would kneel like this without shame and be so silent for so long. His fight and humour and forced apathy and poorly concealed empathy wasn’t on display.
This wasn’t Peter. Peter wasn’t here right now. Tony knew that.
And yet…
“Kid?”
Nothing.
“Kid… Pete, h-how are you doing?”
Nothing. Nothing.
“Peter – Parker, bud, did you sleep well?”
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
Tony sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face.
He didn’t want to call the kid ‘boy’ or ‘White Spider’ or give orders unless absolutely necessary. Tony knew how susceptible Peter was right now. He knew that any habits, any personality traits or relationship boundaries he tried to impose on the kid would stick because that’s just what this stage of the words was meant for. Re-shaping Peter. A new personality, a new sense of morality and… obedience. A new everything.
“You know…” Tony said after a while, knowing fully well Peter couldn’t care about what he was saying, “If I wanted to, I could convince you that HYDRA is evil and that the outside world, the Avengers, me… aren’t. I could order you to think that right now and you’d agree. Sure, it would make this whole rehabilitation thing a hell of a lot easier, but…” Tony huffed a pathetically wet laugh. “I can’t force that on you, kid. Tampering with your skewed morals and misplaced loyalty’s – even if it’s for your best interests – isn’t something I can bring myself to do.
“Because…” Tony looked at Peter, kneeling with his head down and facing the far wall, seemingly oblivious to the world around him, “It isn’t right to change your mind without your input. HYDRA did that and I’m… I’m better than HYDRA. I am. Kid, doing that to you would be like breaking your trust, and to be honest, I’m not even sure you trust me yet.
“I don’t know if you’ll remember me saying any of this… or if it makes any sense to you right now honestly, but Peter, kid. I- I care about you. A lot. As soon as we get you back, as soon as you’re up and shouting and insulting me like it’s your life long mission again…I’ll still be here. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t any different, or if you are. I’ll still be here to support you and help you and make sure you get out of this damn room and have a life and legacy of your own. I won’t force you to do anything. You’ll get to choose whatever you want and I’ll be right by your side if you want me to be.”
Tony swallowed his nerves, “Kid… I— ”
The door to Peter’s room swung open and hit the wall with bang. Tony jolted in surprise, shaken from his stream of thought as he turned to see who it was.
Sam was breathing heavily and he held the door in place with one hand.
“Wilson?” Tony asked cautiously, “What’s going on?”
Tony didn’t receive an answer immediately, watching as Sam caught his breath and moved forward to shut the door behind him.
Okay, now Tony was worried.
“What’s going on?” he demanded as he slowly rose from his chair, “Is something wrong? Did Ro— ”
“Chill Tony,” Sam said, “No it’s nothing like that. It’s… well, before I tell you, you have to listen to me say some other things and agree to doing one thing. Can you do that?”
Tony raised a weary eyebrow, “I’m not really sure if this whole cryptic business suits you, Wilson. Maybe you should consider another career?”
Sam sighed in exasperation, “Just say you’ll listen and say yes? Please? I don’t want to drag this out.”
“Is any of this stuff going to hurt Peter?”
Sam noticeably stiffened and shook his head, “Of course not,” he promised, “He’s safe Stark, we won’t let anything happen to him… again.”
Tony glanced over to Peter. Still stoic. Still silent. But, still stable. Kind of. He looked back over to Sam’s sincere, concerned and determined expression. Out of everybody on the team, Tony knew him the least. It wasn’t that they didn’t like it each other, it’s just that he’d always been Steve’s friend, and after the whole Accords thing… there was still an unspoken rift between them all. They were working on closing that rift. It was taking a while, but they were working on it.
So this seemed like a perfect opportunity to shrink the rift and pull the seams closer together. By trusting Sam with something he’d mindlessly trust Rhodey with. By saying yes.
Tony nodded and sat back down, loosely gesturing to the seat beside him.
“Fine. Speak now, or forever hold your peace.”
There you go! Hopefully that wasn’t too bad and one again thank you for being so patient and lovely, it really means the world xxx










