Orphan Spiderlings

The Touching Incident

"Via, what did Flash mean when he said, just like the last time?" 

All eyes were on me, waiting for me to answer.

I swallowed as I prepared to tell my new family about what my brothers and I had dubbed, the Touching Incident.

"It all started when these two" I gestured to Peter and Harley. "and I were eight and six respectively. It was just another day at the orphanage. Do chores, go to school, come back, more chores, beatings if we 'misbehaved', then bed. That day, the entire routine got flipped. Levy ended finding a new boyfriend while at a bar or something the previous night. His name was Aaron, and at the time, us being so young and dare I say stupid, we thought he was the best person on earth. He gained our trust pretty quickly. He would make sure we actually ate, protect us from Levy when she was drunk, and he'd take us out for fun days when Levy was at her worst. For the few weeks he was there, our lives were the best they could've been with conditions we had been living in. Then, one night, about a month after he first got with Levy, he came up to our room and closed the door. He told me that he was leaving tomorrow for a work trip and that he wanted to do something fun with me and my brothers before he left. I asked him what he was gonna do with us and he said he had something special planned for each of us separately, and that I was the first one to receive my 'gift'. Harley and Peter were still doing chores so I was alone. Again, us being so young, I didn't realize what he meant by 'gift'. He shut all the blinds and locked the bedroom door so I couldn't escape. He stuffed this gag in my mouth so no one would hear me scream. He ripped off my clothes, and that's when the touching began." By this point I was in tears remembering how terrifying it was. I looked up to see faces of anger and sadness. I continued my story.

"He left during the night once I had passed out, I had never felt so dirty, so violated in my entire life. I ended up developing a severe fear of human touch, I wouldn't let anyone touch me with the exception of these two since I knew they wouldn't hurt me. Six years later, Peter and I are starting high school. Peter starts getting bullied by Flash, while at the same time, Flash kept giving me the goo-goo eyes." I said, trying to add a little humor to the sad story. "It was painfully obvious he had a crush on me, but didn't have the courage to ask me out. One day he did. He came to me and asked if I would be interested in going on a date with him. I told him to leave Peter alone first and then I'd consider. No offence Pete, but the reason I had said that wasn't only because I wanted him to leave you alone. It was because I was scared, scared of being touched by anyone who wasn't my direct family. Flash went up to Peter, apologized, and I guess he figured out that I had more than one reason to say that. He seemed to notice how I didn't like anyone except my brother touching me, and knew something was up. He asked Peter about it. Peter told him what happened six years ago and how he had never been caught, and then Flash decided to do something about that. He told his family that the girl he liked had been, raped, and that the perpetrator had never been caught. His family, understood why Flash wanted to do something about it since it turns out his mom went through something similar. The Thompson's sent out the best detectives and lawyers they could get to track Aaron down. They came to the orphanage, questioned me about his name, looks, vehicle, anything that may lead them to where he was. I gave them all the information I knew. He was found a month later in L.A, and he was arrested and convicted of 43 counts of child sexual abuse. We all had to go to court, Flash and his family came as support. Aaron was punished with a lifetime sentence in jail for all the assaults he committed. The judge also agreed to provide free therapy for the victims. Once I realized how much Flash cared for me and wanted me to be happy, I put my trust in him and we started dating, and I grew out of my touching fear." I finished my story. The team and my brothers were showing faces of remorse, hatred, relief and sadness all at once. Tony and Steve came and sat beside me and started rubbing small circles on my back as I cried remembering everything. Tony looked at me somberly. 

"Via" he spoke calmly and quietly. "is this what the nightmare was about the first night? The reason we couldn't get you to wake up?" I simply nodded and Tony pulled me in for a long hug. Soon Steve, my brothers, Natasha, Wanda, Pepper and everyone there joined in one somber group hug.

"I'm gonna go take a quick shower if that's alright." Tony nodded. I walked away to my bedroom and had a hot long shower to relieve the stress. 

TONY'S POV

Dear god, that girl has been through hell and back, literally. I looked to Steve and we had a silent conversation that said we needed to do something for Via, show her that we're all here for her when she needs us to be. I asked the boys what her favourite foods were and they told me cheese pizza and cookies and cream ice cream. I got FRIDAY to order all the things for delivery and then Steve asked about her favourite movie, they said the Harry Potter movies. I got FRIDAY to play the movie when Via returned and the food was here. Steve went down to get the food and came back and set it all on the table. Harley and Peter went to their rooms and brought back a bunch of blankets and pillows, and the others did the same. By the time Via returned, we had a full family 'sleepover' ready and the first Harry Potter on cue. Via came back and was shocked by everything and couldn't help but smile. She walked up to Steve and I and hugged us as a way to say thank you. I ruffled the boys hair and pulled Via close to me as the movie started. I knew after this, I would do anything to protect these kids, and I knew Steve would too.