"Give me everything you have on a Peter Parker." Tony turned to his assistant, Pepper Potts as they stood outside the hospital room, waiting for the doctor to finish running tests.
"He's, uh, 5 years old. Never been to a daycare. He's been jumping from foster home to foster home ever since he was a year old. His parents were murdered, but it was never figured out who did it. The case went cold... He has an aunt and uncle in the city but they refused to take him, they were expecting a baby at the time and didn't have the financial means to take on Peter as well." She read off on her tablet.
Tony's eyes scanned the bright white walls. So all Peter had ever known was the life he was living. He was about to ask Pepper to pull up previous medical records, when the doctor stepped out.
"Are you here for Peter Parker?" The doctor asked looking up from his sheet. He could feel Pepper's eyes burning into him as he responded.
"Yeah. How is he? He's not bad is he?" He demanded as he leapt to his feet. The doctor sighed.
"Luckily, he doesn't have much physical damage at all. Everything is perfectly intact. He hit his head on something a few months ago and he had a mild concussion, but it appears that's healing nicely. As for his psychological damage, it's hard to say. He's skittish, quiet.. He doesn't like when males touch him, so I had a nurse do the evaluations. He refused to answer any of my questions and when I asked him why he began to cry... His social worker will be here tomorrow and they're going to find him a new home." As the doctor concluded all his findings, Tony wanted to punch the wall.
"Can I see him?" He asked and the doctor shrugged.
"I guess, I doubt he'll respond but you can check on him if you feel so inclined. I'll be down at the nurses station if you need me." He smiled softly, turning to walk down the hallway.
Tony wasted no time in making his way into the room, Pepper hurrying to follow.
Peters head raised as he heard footsteps coming back into his room. His eyes lit up when he saw it wasn't in fact the doctor, but Tony. "Mr. Stark!" He smiled shyly, crawling over to greet the man.
"Hey, kiddo. You're looking better.. They give you a shower?" He asked, sitting at the end of the bed to give Peter some space. The child shrugged, fidgeting slightly.
"Ice cream?" He asked, hopefully and Tony sighed. This was the part he knew from the beginning he'd hate. Telling Peter what was going to happen to him.
"Yeah, buddy. I'm going to buy you ice cream and then you're really nice social worker... She's the lady who makes sure you're safe... Uh, she's going to take you to your new family." He shifted uncomfortably.
Peter felt his stomach drop. He knew the nice man wouldn't want him, he was dumb to think he'd get that lucky. They were going to send him far away, probably to an even worse home, the houses always got worse. He looked down at his feet, not being able to stop the tear that fell from his eye. He'd just met the man, of course he wouldn't want him.
Tony watched the boy hang his head in defeat. His head turned to look at Pepper, who was clearly trying her best to pretend like she wasn't paying attention to the conversation.
"Are you alright, Peter?" He reached gently out for the boy but he jerked away.
"Don't touch!" He whined, rubbing at his eyes. "Don't want new family. Please don't make me, Mr. Stark. I'll do anything.... Be good." His teary eyes rose to meet Tony's.
Fuck. How could Tony say no to that? He was obviously terrified and after what he'd seen, Tony couldn't blame him. The only problem was Tony couldn't raise a kid. He could barely care for himself, let alone another human being with such fragile needs.
"Peter a family out there is going to love you and-"
"No! No!" The young boy curled in on himself, closing his eyes tightly.
"Look what you did, Tony. He's having a panic attack now." Pepper snapped, gesturing to the scared boy. Tony sighed.
"How long does it take to get approval for adoption, Pepper? Can we speed the process up with money?"
Pepper stared at him in disbelief, not expecting that response.
"I-I don't know...." She began and Tony cut her off.
"Figure it out. I want it mostly done before the social worker gets here tomorrow. Peter's staying at Stark Tower tonight."