Work Text:
Six months. Their son was missing for six months before they found where he was being held. Tony hated himself for every moment he was gone because he was a leader of the Avengers-- both of his fathers were the leaders of the Avengers-- and they took half of a year to find him.
When they did, he hadn’t been recognizable but not physically. Sure, his hair was thinner and his skin was tight around his bones from the weight he’d lost, but he still looked like their teenage son. It was his personality that was unrecognizable.
Tony will never forget the moment that they busted down the door of the little cell Peter was locked in-- the door had a little grate that slid open, probably to give Peter food-- and that was it. Inside, there were no windows. It was four cement walls, a mattress on the floor, and a toilet. Peter had been sitting on the mattress, curled up in a tight ball.
At the time, Tony hadn't known that this was the first time the door had been opened in six months. He had rushed forward to pull his son into a hug, only to pull away when Peter started screaming as if Tony was torturing him.
They hadn’t been able to get him out of that room until Nat showed up twenty minutes later with a syringe to sedate him. Then Steve carried him out, cradling him close to his chest while he unconscious.
It hadn’t been until the doctors looked him over that Tony and Steve had learned their son had been locked in that room with no human interaction for months. The grate in the door was slid open for the bare minimum of water and food necessary to keep him alive, and probably a hose to wash him down every now and then. He was dirty and smelled, but it wasn’t six months worth of stench and dirt.
There had been bruises on his arms and legs that confused Tony at first because if he hadn’t had any interactions with a human than how were they left there? The doctor had told them that the fingerprint bruises were Peter’s size. He had done it to himself just to feel someone touching him.
It had taken all of Tony’s control not to pull him into a hug because that would overwhelm Peter too much, they had been told. It was why he screamed when Tony had hugged him. Everything was too overwhelming.
He had to be given special earplugs and sunglasses to limit the sound and lights, especially with his enhanced senses. They started by giving him alight blanket and then gave him more thicker ones as the days passed.
A week after being found, Steve gave him a large but soft teddy bear to snuggle with during the nighttime. Peter had taken it with hesitation, and Tony could still remember how relieved he had been when he walked in his room a few nights later and saw him sleeping, squeezing the bear to his chest tightly. It was better than squeezing himself.
It took a long time for him to get used to life outside of a cell, but Steve and Tony were nothing but patient with him. Even if it killed Tony that they finally had their baby back, and he still hadn’t been able to hug him.
Their therapist had told them it would take time for Peter to be ready not only physically for it but mentally too.
As the weeks post rescue passed, Tony noticed him grow more and more restless when he was around them. Peter had always been clingy. He loved to be held and hugged, so those six months were literal hell for him, but now, he was still starving for human touch but couldn’t get any. Instead, he walked around with the teddy bear in his hands to hold and squeeze to try and curb his hunger.
Tony and Steve never pushed because they knew they’d be there for him when he was ready. Their therapist had made a plan to start with little touches like holding hands before building up to a hug, and the both of them had been ready to sit and take as long as Peter needed to get used to even hand holding again.
But Peter had surprised them both, a little over a month after he was rescued. It was late into the night, almost midnight, and Steve and Tony were in bed but not asleep yet. Peter had gone to bed a few hours ago after taking a hot shower, and there was no sounds from the baby monitor (it was for Tony and Steve’s peace of mind) on their dresser, so they assumed he was asleep. So when there was a knock at their door, it made them both jump.
“Come in,” Steve said, sitting up in bed with Tony.
The door opened slowly and Peter poked his head inside. His hair was still damp on his head from the shower. “Hi…”
“Hey, bud,” Steve said with a warm voice and a warmer smile.
Peter walked inside, his bear in his arms weakly. “I was hoping for a favor.”
“Whatever you need,” Tony reassured him immediately. “Come sit.”
He walked over and took a seat on the foot of the bed, looking down at the bear in his arms. “I can’t fall asleep.”
“Do you want one of us to sit with you until you do?” Tony asked, and it wouldn’t be the first time they had to sit by his side to help him fall asleep. Peter had grown a fear of being alone, especially to fall asleep in the dark. They tried not to be next to him for things he needed to learn to do on his own unless it was necessary.
“No, thank you,” he said, still looking down at his bear. “I had another idea.”
Tony hated how timid Peter had become with them. Before this mess, Peter would have shoved open their door without knocking and jumped on their bed, not caring if he landed on the mattress between them or on top of one of them. In fact, Tony thought he aimed for one of them sometimes. Tony would give anything to get that giggling little shit back.
“What is it, bear?” Steve asked, keeping his voice even. He was good at not overwhelming Peter, despite his fears originally of being too big and hurting him. Of course, he was good with Peter. He was always good with Peter.
“I--.” Peter started before taking a breath. His voice sounded choked up. “I miss-- I want-- I--.”
Tony saw a breakdown coming soon. They always tried their best to stop those before Peter lost control. “Do you want to touch, Peter?”
Peter nodded his head, letting out a little gasp as he tried to settle his breathing. “Please.”
Tony held out his hand. “Come over here, baby.”
Peter scrambled over, almost losing his balance due to his excitement. He reached out for Tony's hand, and Tony held his breath as he watched Peter's hand hover over his. It seemed like an eternity before he lowered it to Tony's.
Tony wanted to cry when he felt Peter's soft skin touch his calloused hand. It had been months since he last felt this, and Tony was feeling just as emotional as Peter was about it.
Peter stared down at their hands as he stretched his fingers and turned his hand a little more sideways until he could hold it in a comfortable position, wrapping his fingers around Tony's hand.
Peter let out a small breath as he did so, taking in another shakey one.
"You're doing it, bambino. I'm so proud of you," Tony praised.
A tear fell from Peter's eye, slipping down his face before landing on his hand. He quickly wiped his eyes with his free hand. "I'm sorry--."
Tony cut him off with a gentle hush before covering Peter's hand with his other. He caressed the top of his hand gently with a steady soothing hush. "Shhh, it's alright, baby. Shhh."
Peter struggled for a few minutes to stop crying while Tony soothed him. He squirmed and rubbed his eyes, staring at their hands, but he never pulled away.
It took a long time before Peter pulled his gaze away from their hands, and he looked up at Tony, then at Steve, and then at Tony again. "Can I…?"
Tony smiled softly and nodded his head. "Your spot's still here, kiddo. You wanna lay down?"
Peter nodded his head feverishly, and Tony scooted away from Steve to allow Peter some room to get comfortable. He didn't want to overwhelm him just because he had done alright with the hand holding. The therapist had suggested starting with hand holding before moving on to more touch. But despite all of their weeks with her, Tony knew his son best. He needed more than a hand hold tonight.
Still, he waited.
It took nearly twenty minutes of soothing encouragement before Peter finally crawled forward, laying down on the mattress. It took another ten minutes for him to scoot closer to Steve and take his arm and hug it close to his chest.
This was the start of their usual position together when Peter wanted to snuggle between them. Truthfully, they hadn't done it in a few years besides for the nights Peter had nightmares. Once upon a time, this had been a nightly occurrence.
Steve's arm twitched, and Tony knew he always pulled him close against his chest the moment he was near. Between that instinct and not holding him in half a year, Tony didn't have to imagine how hard it was for Steve not to pull him against his chest.
"Hey, baby bear...I missed you snuggling up to me," Steve whispered, looking down at Peter.
"I missed you too," Peter whispered quietly, twitching in his arms. He wanted Steve to hold him just as much as Steve wanted to hold him.
Steve lifted his hand and brought it closer to Peter's hair. Tony held his breath, waiting for Peter's reaction. Peter's eyes tracked his hand hungerly until finally Steve used delicate fingers to brush some long curls off his forehead.
Peter didn't flinch. That was a plus.
"We should get you a haircut soon, bud. Those curls of yours are covering those big brown eyes too much," Steve said softly. He was right though. Peter's hair obviously hadn't been cut once in captivity, and they were too nervous to have someone cut it since being rescued because that involved a lot of touching his head.
"Can...can you or Dad do it?" He asked, despite the fact he knew they had no experience with haircuts.
Steve answered without hesitation anyway, "Of course, little guy."
"Thank you," he mumbled.
Steve turned on his side and began to rub his arm softly. Peter let out a little whimper, though not in pain. Steve's hand pulled up his t-shirt sleeve and then pulled it back down as he rubbed his arm.
Tony couldn't take his eyes off of the bruises on his biceps. It broke his heart knowing Peter gave them to himself.
"Is this too much?" Steve asked, tearing Tony's eyes off of Peter's arm. "I can back off."
"No!" Peter said immediately. "Please…I...I missed this."
"Missed cuddling?"
"Yeah," he whispered and then after a moment of hesitation, he continued, "I just miss… feeling touch."
"You can always ask for a hug, Petey," Tony told him. "I'd wish you'd do that instead of hurting yourself."
Peter shrunk in on himself and his voice started to shake. "I don't...I tried to stop. I just-- it was all I had."
Tony wanted to move in closer to Peter, but he was terrified of overwhelming him. They were actually making progress with him. Tony didn't want to ruin that.
"Now you have so much more. You've got Dad and I." Steve's thumb settled over the darkest bruise and he brushed his thumb against it softly.
Peter glanced back at Tony with a little bit of expectancy and a lot of hesitancy. Tony didn't need to be asked twice. He moved closer and curled against Peter. He shifted on his back to make himself more comfortable.
He tested his luck by pressing a kiss to Peter's temple. He thought he ruined everything when Peter started sobbing.
"I'm sor--." Tony started to say before Steve shook his head. Tony frowned at him with a furrowed brow.
"He needs to let it out," Steve whispered and Peter wouldn't hear him over his own tears. "Just let him cry."
Tony hated listening to him cry without being able to dry his tears immediately, but he hated the thought of Peter doing this alone in that cell even more.
Now at least, he had them to comfort him. Tony wouldn't let him forget that. "It's alright, bubba. Papa and I won't let you go again."
"What if-- what if I get used to having you again only to-- only to lose you?" Peter finally asked after he was finally able to speak again.
"You won't lose us, sweetie," Steve reassured him. "We promise."
"We will cuddle you every day for the rest of your life," Tony added. "We never get tired of cuddles from our baby boy."
"What if--?"
"No more 'what it's. Just lay down and let Dad and I hold you."
"I hate silence," Peter admitted. "It was always so quiet, and it made me-- it was so scary."
Of course… of course, he'd hate silence. That was the only thing he had for six months.
"Then we'll talk," Tony said. "Pops and I can talk until you fall asleep."
"Can you tell me stories about you guys? Ones that I've missed…" Peter's voice was quiet but calmer.
Chuckling softly, Steve said, "We haven't been doing much other than miss you. And try to find you."
"Please?" He asked again.
There weren't many good stories of the six months Peter was gone, but they could scrounge some up for Peter's sake.
So they did.
Steve and Tony took turns telling him stories he'd missed-- some simple and some not so simple. Peter listened to every single one intently as Steve rubbed his arm and Tony played with his hair.
Even after his breathing even out and he relaxed in sleep between them, Steve and Tony continued telling stories. Though they went much earlier than those six months without Peter and reminisced on having Peter as their son, even before he became Spider-Man.
Peter stayed tucked between them the entire time, and for the first time since coming home, he didn't have one nightmare.