Always Silent, Peter Darling

Chapter 24

Peter looked up with wide eyes, he didn't waste a second before he ran to the edge of the roof to jump to the next.

Mr. Thomas must have hired someone to find him, he knew he should have been more careful.

He could hear the figure follow as it effortlessly jumped the gap between buildings.

On foot Peter didn't think he had much of a change against them, he really did miss his webshooters.

His only option of escaping them was fighting them off, but he'd need to go somewhere he had the the advantage. Judging on how they relied on the legs, a small space would be preferable, the legs would be more of a hindrance at that point than a help.

Peter jumped back on the streets with a rolling land as he darted into the entrance of a drainage system.

He could hear them follow behind, but he didn't realize how close they were until he was grabbed by the leg. He was lifted off the ground before he could face plant into the concrete.

One of the slim legs coiled itself around Peter's chest and arms like a snake, somehow creating and dismantling joints when needed.

He looked down at the leg very confused, it reminded him of the nanoparticles Mr. Stark was developing, but that was impossible, everyone else in the world was decades away from that tech... unless.

A set of hands on his shoulders snapped him out of though, with him standing on his feet, his assailant standing in front of him. The mask quickly retracted on the man's face as the spider arm that was restraining Peter suddenly pulled away.

Peter took an unsteady step back, he backed into the wall behind him as he stared in disbelief.

Mr. Stark pulled his hands away as he held them up in surrender. "Hey, it's okay Peter. It's just me," He said gently, "Sorry about the scare, I wasn't sure it was yo- oof!"

Peter slung himself at the billionaire, practically attacking him with a hug.

Mr. Stark didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around the teen in return, he must have notice Peter's body shake and the small sobs escape, "It's alright kid," he muttered quietly.

"I'm sorry," Peter choked out.

"Huh?" Mr. Stark sounded surprised at the fact Peter actually spoke, but who could blame him? Peter hadn't said anything to anyone for nearly ten years.

He pulled away to look Peter in the face, of course his eyes were immediately drawn to the scars on the side of Peter's face. Peter could see the worry in Mr. Stark's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I-... I didn't want to leave," Peter's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Pete," he looked Peter over before pulling him back into a hug. "God, I can't imagine what you've been through," He said quietly, "But we need to get you home first."

Peter tensed at the word 'home,' he didn't really have anywhere to go. Sure Mr. Stark was going to help him deal with Aunt May but what about after all that? He had nowhere.

'Where is home...' it was less than a question and more of a grim statement.

It turned out Mr. Stark was supposed to technically be in London, he was there on SI business and had snuck over to Russia using a quinjet he borrowed from the Avenger's compound.

The walk (more like a run really since they lept from building to building) to the quinjet was mostly quiet.

Peter had to admit none of this felt real.

In all honesty, he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

That all this was just a cruel dream he would wake up from at any moment, but after an hour of silence during the flight to London nothing changed.