Saved (part 2)

                                    

                                          


                          
In the morning Tony woke up at first surprised that he was on the ground, but then the events of last night came back. He immediately got up looking for the boy. Peter wasn't sleeping just laying perfectly still whit his eyes opened, but as soon as he heard Tony get up he shut is eyes. The man saw this but pretended not to.
                          
"Good morning, kiddo!" He whispered, "How did you sleep?"
                          
"Good, Mr. Stark," His voice sounded a bit more confident than last night and that made Tony smile.
                          
"You can call me Tony." He said.
                          
"Okey, Mr. Stark" Well worth the shot, the man thought.
                          
"Let's get something to eat" Peter wasn't delighted about the idea of food, he still was full from last night.
                          
When they got in the kitchen Tony opened the fridge hoping to find something more than there was yesterday. No such luck. He grabbed a carton with three eggs in it and grabbed a pan while begging that he wouldn't burn the eggs. Luckily he didn't. or almost didn't. Peter got the two less burned ones, but he didn't eat even a full egg. 
                          
"That's great," Tony said encouragingly,  "you almost ate a whole egg!"
                          
The boy smiled a bit at the compliment but didn't say anything.
                          
"Oh, Jarvis, could you get some groceries delivered to here as well as clothes for Peter?"
                          
"Of course, sir"
                          
"Who is the voice, you're talking to, Mr. Stark?" Asked Peter fearfully as if not sure whether he could ask questions.
                          
"Oh that is Jarvis," Tony thought about how to explain an AI to a kid, "He is a very smart machine whit a voice, he helps me take care of everything in this tower."
                          
Tony liked the way Peter's eyes sparkled at the new information: "That's so cool!"
                          
His voice was loud and happy, but right after that, he looked terrified again.
                          
"It's okey to ask questions," The man softly said.
                          
"Mmm, I don't want to be rude or ungrateful, Mr. Stark, but why are you doing everything for me?" Despite Tony's last comment, his voice was back to quiet.
                          
The man hadn't thought about it, but he generally cared about the boy, he had met only yesterday. Somehow Peter had already got the Tony Stark to care for him. In fact, Tony was ready to do anything to keep the kid safe.
                          
"I guess I just care about you," 
                          
Any signs of confidence from before were gone. His legs started trembling, but he still tried to walk backward.
                          
"No, no, no, I knew it, I should have known it, I should have known, why, why, why would this happen? I thought it would finally be ok, but why does it have to be like that?"
                          
The boy reached the wall around the same time as he tripped over his own feet and fell on the ground he curled up into himself and waited. Waited for the pain to come. But it didn't. Instead, he felt a gentle arm pulling him into a hug. He didn't relax one bit, but after a while, Tony felt the small body in his hands starting to shake.
                          
"It's okey," He patted the crying child, "I don't know what happened to you, but what I meant was – I want to make sure you're safe, I want to make sure you can sleep at nights, I want to make sure you don't have to be afraid." 
                          
He wasn't sure if he was helping, but he decided to keep talking.
                          
"Caring for someone means cherishing them, it means making sure they aren't alone when they need somebody, It means finding the time to be with them, It means understanding them, It means hugs, and It means trust, it means softness and it means warmth." Now there were only quiet sobs escaping Peter's mouth. 
                          
Tony didn't know what else to add so he fully put his arms around the kid. " It's okey, It's okey, It's gonna be okey," He whispered over and over until he felt the breath on his wet shirt become deeper and calmer.
                          
Now Tony was in front of a dilemma. He knew he needed to find out who hurt Peter and make sure that they never see him or any other child ever again. But on the other hand, he knew asking Peter would trigger him again and he wanted to avoid that as much as possible. 
                          
"Hey, kiddo, I know you don't want to think about it, but could you please tell me who hurt you? You don't have to tell me now if you don't want to, but when you're ready, I want to make sure they never hurt anybody ever again." Peter tensed up again, but not like before when he was waiting for something bad to happen. This time he tried to get as close to Tony as possible.
                          
"Aunt May" Tony hated himself for making Peter cry again.
                          
"I'm sorry, Pete, I just don't want anybody else to get hurt, I'm sorry," He whispered.
                          
Peter tried to stop crying and wiped off his tears: "It's okey. Mr. Stark, I don't want anybody else to get hurt either."
                          
"How about we go brush our teeth now?"
                          
Tony let peter clean up by himself.
                          
"Jarvis, could you tell me if Peter has any relatives?" He asked.
                          
"Yes, his aunt - May Parker is alive and he is in her custody."
                          
"Call the police."
                          
"Calling, sir."
                          
When the police picked up the phone he explained what was going on and told them to contact him as soon as she was captured.
                          
When Peter came out, they walked back to the kitchen. The food had arrived. And when Tony had said groceries Jarvis had understood that half of it will be sweets. Peter still didn't eat a lot, but he loved ice cream and chocolate. So they spent their time, Tony telling him some stories he had heard as a child and some he just came up along the way. 
                          
The happiest moment for Tony was when Peter finally laughed, truthfully and freely with no fear. Tony had never felt his heart warm up so much. He didn't remember when he himself was this happy.