You can trust now, Peter darling

2

The boy was severely injured, but Bruce patched him up the best he could. He cleaned up all the blood, bandaged him up, and gave him some painkillers. He also had a sprained ankle so an ice pack was placed on it. He had a broken collar bone and a few cracked ribs, but they could only be treated when they were back at the compound.

The boy didn't have a t-shirt on, so Tony got one of his spare AC/DC shirts and gave it to him. It was baggy on him, since he obviously wasn't fed properly and was extremely skinny. But it was better than nothing.

None of the Avengers knew exactly what happened to the boy, because he wouldn't talk. They just all assumed he was tortured. But for how long? And why?

They flew back to the compound. They didn't want to just send the boy off to the hospital, they at least wanted to figure out some stuff on their own first.

Tony sat with the young boy, trying to get at least one word out of him.

"Don't worry, kid. We're gonna take you back to our headquarters, and you'll be safe. Okay?" He said to the boy.

And not to Tony's surprise, he didn't answer.

"So...how old are you?" Tony asked, he knew the kid was probably not gonna say anything, but he thought he may as well try.

No response. Tony just nodded to himself. The boy stared at his feet, still holding the ice pack to his left ankle, tears still remained in his eyes.

"I'm 41 myself. I know what you're thinking, 'wow that guy is old'. But I'm awesome. Don't you worry." Tony said. He was pretty much talking to himself at this point, but he didn't care. He actually enjoyed talking to the silent kid, and the kid enjoyed listening where he didn't have to worry about answering.

"I'll be right back." Tony said, standing up and walking over to the rest of the Avengers.

"He's still not talking." He muttered to them.

"I'm not surprised. Just give him some time, he's probably not talking because of all the trauma from that horrible place." Nat muttered back. They were trying to be quiet but the boy was listening to their every word. "And yes, he's away from that place now but he's still scared. Terrified, even. Especially because he's just been taken, again, from people he probably doesn't even know."

"What if he never talks? What if he's mute? How are we gonna get any information out of him?" Steve asks.

"Keep your voice down, geez." Clint exclaimed.

"We'll figure everything out when we get back. Besides, he still has severe injuries that need attention. So we may not get to the whole...torture and HYDRA part till later, okay?" Bruce said, ending the conversation.

The boy's breathing hitched at the mention of HYDRA. He was tortured. He didn't know the date, so he didn't know how long he was there. But he knew it was a long time. Years maybe? He didn't know. Time didn't exist there.

Tony noticed the boy's panicked expression and walked back over to him, sitting down.

"You okay?" He asked him. The boy shook his head, a single tear falling down his cheek. Tony sighed and tried to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he flinched. So Tony backed away, understandingly.

"It's alright, you're okay." He said. The boy let out a deep, apologetic breath.

Part of the boy wanted to talk. He wanted to explain everything, and tell his story. But he just couldn't speak. He felt like his lungs and windpipes were being crushed every time he wanted to get a word out. It was like his body was refusing his right to talk. Maybe that assassin lady was right, it was trauma. From that...place.

They wouldn't stop cutting.

They wouldn't stop electrocuting.

They wouldn't stop hitting, and kicking, and punching, and drowning.

The boy didn't even realize he was now hunched over his seat, letting out wheezing breaths. The man who had saved him had a hand placed on his back.

"Just breathe, kid. You're alright." The man said. The boy nodded his head and sat up again, taking deep breaths.

Tony tried to think of something to say which would comfort the boy. "Y'know, I went through something similar to you. I was taken, a few years ago. That's why I want to help you, kid. Because I know what it's like. I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm gonna help you."

The boy stared into space for a few seconds before turning his gaze back to the man. He nodded slightly and calmed down, and Tony sent him a relieved smile. The boy knew he had to communicate with the man somehow. He needed to give him at least some information.

So he held up 10 fingers, and then 4.

14.

Tony looked at the boy as he held up his hands. 14? He realized that boy was answering the question that Tony asked earlier.

"You're 14 years old?" Tony asked. The boy nodded. Tony felt sick again. The kid was so young, and he's already been through something that no one should.

The boy stared at the man. He recognized him, but he didn't know why, or from where. And then it clicked. He was Tony Stark, he was Iron Man. The boy remembered seeing him on the news a bunch of times. That was when he finally relaxed more, because he knew that Tony wouldn't hurt him. He's Iron Man, and Iron Man saves people. Right?

Then, the Quinjet landed. People started filing out one by one and Tony, Nat and Bruce stayed behind to help the boy out of the jet.

They were careful not to touch him unless he nodded to say it was okay. So Nat and Tony held an arm each and helped him out of the jet and into the compound. Bruce was walking with them in case of a medical emergency.

They eventually got him inside, and Bruce instructed them to place him in the medical wing. So they did.

The boy sat patiently on one of the beds in a medical room while Bruce got his equipment.

"Okay kid, I'm gonna take your shirt off now so I can look at your collar bone and your ribs. Is that okay?" Bruce asked. Tony and Nat were both still with him. The boy looked at all of them before looking back at Bruce and hesitatingly nodding.

"Good, lift your arms up for me?" Bruce said. The boy slowly lifted his arms up and Bruce carefully took his shirt off, pulling it over his head.

He inspected the boy's wounds. Soon, he had an arm sling on for his collar bone.

"There's not much I can do for the cracked ribs because the damage isn't extreme. So rest a lot, maybe place an ice pack on your torso from time to time. But the main thing is, try not to move around a lot." Bruce said.

The boy was staring at his laps, but he was still listening. Tony nodded and walked closer to the two.

"Thanks Bruce." Tony said, patting Bruce's shoulder. Bruce smiled and walked off, Nat walking with him. Tony and the boy were left alone.

"Alright kid." Tony sighed. "What do we do now?"