You can trust now, Peter darling

3

Tony thought to himself. As much as he didn't want to ask the boy personal questions, he had to. He had to try. Otherwise, they wouldn't get anywhere with their HYDRA situation, and he also needed to know what to do with the boy. He couldn't just send him off somewhere, not knowing anything about him. He would hate himself if he did that, especially with the boy's trauma.

"Kid, I don't want you to freak out and I don't want to scare you because that's not my intention, not at all. But I need to ask you a few things and I need you to give me some sort of answer. Alright?" Tony asked. The boy looked up at him before hesitatingly nodding.

"Okay...how long do you think you were with...them?" Tony asked, trying not to say certain words in case they would be triggering.

The boy's face turned blank before he stared back at his lap. The boy then shrugged before looking back up at Tony.

Tony sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Has it been...a long time?" Tony asked.

The boy internally flinched at the thought of being there again. He shook the thoughts away and nodded.

"Okay." Tony sat down next to him. "What about your name? I know it's gonna be hard to tell me it, but can you at least try?"

The boy shuffled uneasily, opening and closing his mouth, trying to talk. But nothing came out. Did he even remember his name? The people at the bad place gave him a different one so he wasn't even sure if the name he was thinking of was the right one.

"Get up Vex. It's time for experiment 32."

He blinked before shrugging. The thought of not knowing his own name brought tears to his eyes. Tony's heart wanted to break for him.

He stood up, he knew this wasn't going to work. So he got FRIDAY to run facial recognition and to bring up files. It took a few minutes but he finally had something.

The problem was, the only thing he had was a birth certificate and a missing person's article. But it was something, and that was all that mattered.

He read the birth certificate first.

Peter Benjamin Parker
Sex: Male
Born at Forest Hills Hospital, Queens on August 10, 2001.
Acquired United States citizenship at birth as established by documentary evidence presented to the Consular Service of the United States at New York, Queens on September 3, 2000.

Parents
Father: Richard Laurence Parker
Mother: Mary Teresa Parker

Tony smirked in triumph. He now knew the boy's name and parents names. He glanced back over to the boy, who was staring at his feet as he swung them back and forth. He walked back over to him, standing in front of him.

"Does the name...Peter...sound familiar?" He asked him. The boy visibly froze before looking up at Tony. He gulped, but there was recognition in his eyes. The boy nodded.

"Okay Peter." The boy - Peter - smiled slightly. He was right, he knew his name was Peter, but he wasn't certain. They called him something else...Vex.

Tony walked back over to the files and started reading the missing person's article.

Peter Parker, a 10 year old boy from Queens, was reported 'missing' on Friday, September 3rd, 2011. Detectives asked his guardian, May Reilly Parker, some questions. This is her statement:
"I dropped him off at school, then 7 hours later I went to go pick him up, as normal. But he never walked out. I went inside to look for him but his teachers said he wasn't at school at all that day. I went straight to the police but they couldn't do much because of the 24 hour rule. It's been 3 days now and he's still missing, I just want my nephew back."
Peter was said to be wearing a white shirt with a blue jacket on the day of his disappearance. Police are still on the look out for the 10 year old, brunette boy. If you are from the Forest Hills area, make sure you keep an eye on your kids.

Once Tony stopped reading, a million questions flooded his mind. Like, why was his Aunt's statement there? Why was she Peter's guardian and not his parents? What happened to him that day?

One thing Tony understood after reading the article was that Peter had been kept at HYDRA for 4 years. It broke his heart more.

He walked back over to Peter and sat opposite him.

Maybe Peter would feel more comfortable if he properly got to know Tony.

"I'm Tony Stark, by the way." He said. Peter glanced at him and nodded in understanding. Tony gave him a confused look.

"Wait, do you know me? You know who I am?" He asked, unsure. But the boy nodded again with a smile on his face. His smile was contagious, so Tony smiled back at him.

Tony couldn't help but realize that there were no medical files on Peter. Meaning there was no explanation as to why he wouldn't talk. Which meant Nat was right, he wasn't talking because of trauma.

Selective mutism.

That means there was hope. Because the boy would talk eventually, but only if he felt safe enough to do so.

"You're probably tired, kid. How about you stay here for the night? Does that sound good?" Tony asked the boy as he stood up. Peter smiled and nodded as Tony helped him up and walked him out of the room.