Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/564034. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage Category: M/M, F/M Fandom: Iron_Man_(Movies), Captain_America, The_Avengers_(2012), Deadpool_ (Comics), Hawkeye_(Comics), Black_Widow_(Comics), Incredible_Hulk_-_All Media_Types Relationship: Steve_Rogers/Tony_Stark, Peter_Parker/Wade_Wilson, Clint_Barton/Natasha Romanov Character: Steve_Rogers, Tony_Stark, Wade_Wilson, Clint_Barton, Natasha_Romanov, Bruce_Banner, Peter_Parker, Gwen_Stacy, Harry_Osborn Additional Tags: this_physically_pained_me_to_write, ugly_sobs, talks_of_suicide Stats: Published: 2012-11-15 Words: 1581 ****** Sleep. ****** by yoursourwolfisshowing Summary “Just shut your eyes, say goodbye, and just sleep,” the words on Peter Parker’s ceiling screamed at him tauntingly. He wrote those words on the ceiling to tell himself that he could sleep every night, that he could beat his insomnia… but now it was beating him. Pete had medication, he used it every night even if it didn’t help, but absolutely nothing could keep the terrors away. “Just shut your eyes, say goodbye, and just sleep,” the words on Peter Parker’s ceiling screamed at him tauntingly. He wrote those words on the ceiling to tell himself that he could sleep every night, that he could beat his insomnia… but now it was beating him. Pete had medication, he used it every night even if it didn’t help, but absolutely nothing could keep the terrors away. It started out as an innocent relationship. Wade, no, Deadpool, asked him for his autograph one day after beating a few goons at a bank robbery. Pete obliged and they seemed to strike up a mutual “friend”ship based on a love of tacos and kicking ass. A month passed and Wade had kissed Peter and Peter kissed back. After all, not many people seemed genuinely interested in him; out of costume, it was all because he was Tony Stark and Steve Roger’s son. Another month came and went and it was a whirlwind. Peter thought he was in love. Thinking back on it, Peter thought to himself bitterly, it’s impossible to love an assassin and praised Natasha and Clint for sticking with each other. Wade was a perfect gentleman in front of Peter’s parents, but once Peter was alone at Wade’s apartment everything changed. Wade was forceful, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. There were plenty of times Peter had to lie to his dads about the marks on his body. “Spiderman business, Dads.” This week Peter had a break as Wade was out of town on a mission. He could be normal again, except he didn’t think he would ever be “normal” again. Wade was fucking him up just as much as he was, physically and mentally. A soft knock sounded at Peter’s door and Peter hastily pulled on a sweatshirt to cover his most recent “battle” scars. “Come in.” Steve and Tony both were at the door and walked in and sat on Peter’s bed. Steven began slowly, “Pete, we’re worried about you. You... you haven’t been yourself lately.” Tony chimed in, “Yeah. You haven’t. You don’t even want to come down to the workshop and work with me all night anymore.” “I’m just busy…” Tony laughed and scooted up beside Peter and threw his arm over his shoulders, “Yeah, okay, Mr. I-Have-a-Boyfriend-I-Can’t-Spend-Time-With-My-Dads.” Peter stiffened when his dad put his arm on him. He despised himself for not being able to even stand the touch of his own dads. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I just haven’t been feeling too well lately.” At that, Steve spoke up. “Does Bruce need to come in and look at you? Because he can. He knows you have trouble sleeping, but considering you’re just like Tony, it’s expected.” “Yeah… expected.” Tony pushed himself off Peter’s bed. “Look Pete, all your Pops and I wanted to do was make sure you’re okay. We didn’t come in here to force anything out of you or get treated like shit.” “I’m not treating you like shit!” said Peter standing up also. “I just can’t help I haven’t slept in the past four days or that when I try to sleep I have nightmares!” Shit… I shouldn’t have said that. Shouldn’t have said that at all. Steve glanced up from where he was picking lint off of Peter’s bedspread. “You have nightmares? What about? Do you need some stronger medicine?” “That isn’t important, Pops. I don’t need any stronger medicine. It’s not going to work anyways. Unless you knock me out, I won’t be able to sleep.” Tony crossed the room to where Peter was standing on the other side of the bed. “C’mon Petey, you can tell us what they’re about. We won’t judge you. Your Pops and I get nightmares all the time.” Peter tensed, “Don’t ever call me Petey again. Please don’t. For the love of all things spandex, please don’t call me that.” Steve was busy piecing what Peter was saying together. He noticed that Peter tensed when Tony had touched him and called him Petey. The only person who ever called Pete that besides them was… Wade. Before Pete had met Wade, the amount of injuries in the house wasn’t as prominent either. Cautiously approaching his son, Steve asked, “Son, is Wade abusing you?” “W-what?! No! Why would you think s-something like that?!” Tony glanced at Peter when he answered Steve’s question. He was lying. He wouldn’t meet Steve’s eyes and was stuttering. It’s what Peter had done since he was a child. “Pete… Wade has been doing stuff to you hasn’t he? Take off your sweatshirt.” “I’m naked under it.” “Well what else should we expect to be under it? A bra? If you cross-dress it’s fine, but now is not the time to be modest. Prove me wrong and I’ll stop.” “GOD DAMMIT, DAD. YOU JUST, YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND,” Peter screamed. Steve made a move to Peter and Peter backed up against his wall sinking into a fetal position. “Don’t touch me, Pop, please don’t touch me. I’ll do anything, just… just don’t touch me.” Steve’s eyes widened. Wade had truly messed with Peter and made the caring child that he once knew into an unstable heap. Steve spoke softly, “Pete, we just want to help.” “You could have helped me a month ago when I first came into the house with those welts on my neck! Don’t you see? I can’t stop. He won’t stop. I’m his new obsession and he won’t throw me away even if I’m broken.” A broken sob escaped Peter and he wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his head in them. Tony crouched down beside Peter and softly touched his arm. “Look, I know you don’t want to be touched, but please… I can’t just sit here and watch you break before my eyes like this.” Steve joined them on the floor and grabbed Peter’s hand. “If we can’t see, can you at least tell us what happened?” Wiping his eyes and taking a deep breath Peter said, “He does things… he makes me feel like it’s my fault that he does them, but I know it’s not. I know it’s his fault. I just… I can’t bring myself to tell him it’s over because he has the power to make you two not exist. He’s cruel, he beats me sometimes… forces himself on me. I can’t stand it, but every night I stand up to him even though I know it’ll make it worse on myself because I won’t allow myself to be broken.” Peter saw the proud and shocked looks in his parents eyes when he said that and he almost wanted to smile, but he hadn’t in so long…Laughing harshly Peter continued, “Guess it doesn’t matter anymore because I’m broken as they come, Dads. Nobody wants me, not even Gwen or Harry. They think I’m avoiding them because I’m better than them or something, but Wade said he would kill them if I went near them outside of school. I’m alone. Tonight, I was going to kill myself, before Wade got back. I was going to leave you guys a note or something, I don’t know… Sometimes I think it’s easier to die than be alive and live in this hell where I’m hurting you guys by barely allowing you to touch me.” Tony pulled out his phone, “Say the word Peter and I’ll have it so Wade doesn’t exist, so that he’ll never be able to find you.” “Dad, I’m Spiderman. Even if I dropped off the face of the planet you guys would still be here and I’m not going to put you in danger.” Steve snapped at that point. How dare Wade think his son was a plaything, something to break and use. How dare Wade make his own son scared of the two people who would never hurt him. “We’ll figure it out Peter. We’ll all go off the face of the planet, write fake obituaries or something if that’s what it’ll take. I’ll convince Thor to let us stay in Asgard for a while. I don’t care about what happens to us, I just want you to be safe and Wade out of your life. We love you, Peter.” Tony smiled solemnly and leaned against Steve’s side. “We love you, Pete. Always will and we’re going to make sure that son of a bitch pays for hurting you.” They understand… They want me safe. They still care about me even though I’m broken and worthless… They still love me. Another wave of tears flooded his vision as he lunged at his dads, ignoring the screaming in his head that they were going to hurt him. They would never do that. He hugged them fiercely, sobbing into Steve’s chest. “I love you guys too.” Within minutes, Peter had fallen asleep on top of them for the first time in days. There wouldn’t be any nightmares tonight because for the first time in a while, he was safe. Tony and Steve shared a small smile and sat there on the floor with their son. Their family was small and broken, but it was all they needed. Glancing at his phone before dozing off on his husband Tony smirked. Clint and Natasha had found the bastard already. The next couple of days were going to be tough, but at the end of it all, Wade Wilson would never have a role in his son’s life again. Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!