Chapter Ten:
"I'm gonna kill whoever did this," Tony growled. He was pacing in front of the rest of the Avengers, excluding Bruce.
"We need to find who did it first, Tony," Natasha chided, her arms folded on the couch. "Stop that, or you'll burn holes in the floor." Tony gave her a half-hearted glare, but sat anxiously. His leg bounced under him, but no one said anything about it.
"We know the man's name — it's Baron," Steve spoke, to no one in particular.
"He's a crime lord in east Brooklyn," Tony supplied, having previously researched the man in curiosity. "Responsible for several murders, and a major drug dealer. Why Tyron had any kind of connection to him, I don't know."
"What do you mean?" Clint asked, leaning forwards.
"This is the kind of man that would shoot a man's child in front of them, or even have the child shoot the father themselves. He's apparently hired a lot of people with the X-gene, which adds to fire power on his side. We don't know everyone's for sure, and a few we can tell you by seeing them."
"Do you think they tortured him?" Natasha asked, skeptically.
"I don't know," Steve shrugged. "Maybe they found out that he was staying here and—" Bruce ran in the room, his eyes wide, hair slightly disheveled. It took him a second to get his bearings straight, before he looked at Natasha.
"I need you, Nat," Bruce said, almost frantically.
"What for?" She asked, standing.
"Is something going on?" Tony demanded, "Why only Nat? I—"
"Just–Just trust me on this one," Bruce said, waving Natasha over. Hesitantly, she fell in line with him. The room in a hushed quiet as they left.
Clint was the one who broke it, "How did he get tangled up in all this...?" He mumbled, rubbing his face tiredly.
"Dunno," Tony grumbled.
"What we do know," Steve began, "Is that he's safe now. He needs to know that, when Bruce is finally done with him. Let this be a safe environment, that way, he won't freak out anymore." There were nods of agreement from the other two men. Tony stood again, pacing, and Steve let out a sigh.
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Bruce led Natasha to the hallway outside of the Infirmary. "What's going on?" She asked, but Bruce shushed her, glancing in the room. Tyron was still, since he had been sedated heavily upon arriving at the tower.
"I–I was trying to find what causing him to be this way — mentally — and I found this," Bruce moved to the side of the room, picking off a few photos and handed one to her. Natasha looked over it, her eyebrow quirking as she handed it back to him.
"Bruises?" She asked, confused.
"All over his body, but mostly on his leg — between his legs." Natasha looked taken back in realization.
"Oh, my god, you don't mean—"
"He was raped. Repeatedly. There's rope burns on his wrists and ankles suggesting he was tied up." Bruce removed his glasses in order to rub the bridge of his nose.
Natasha was quiet for several moments, "We should tell the others."
"No," Bruce denied instantly.
"Why not? This is serious, Bruce. He's not in the right mind space right now, he needs to go see someone about this!"
"I don't think he'd want us to," Bruce said, choosing his words carefully. "Look at how secretive this is. We talk to him first, tell him we know, then see what he'd want. We need to gain his trust."
Natasha looked at the doctor, then down at the picture. She ran her hands through her hair and sighed, "You're right." Bruce nodded, and glanced in the hospital room. Tyron was shifting in his sleep, starting to finally wake up.
"And, there's another thing," Bruce said, not looking Natasha. "When he does wake up, I want you to be the one to greet him." Natasha opened her mouth to speak, but Bruce cut her off. "If he has been raped, then that's probably why he's so anxious around men. Remember when we first met him? At breakfast? He was scared because there were too many men in the room — he felt outnumbered and it must have triggered something. He wasn't scared when you approached him though, and when Steve said that he went to that café, he wasn't scared when that woman approached him. He knows you Nat, even though he might not show it. He's more likely to not panic again if he sees you opposed to seeing us."
"Okay, okay," Natasha said, "You're right. I'll do it."
"Thank you," Bruce gave the woman a small smile, which, surprisingly, she returned. "I'll call you when he actually starting to wake up. Will be any minute now."
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Tyron's eyes were heavy when he finally woke up. His body felt weighed down, his senses dulled. He slowly looked around, it was bright and the room smelled like... Rubbing alcohol. There were a few machines running on the sides of the bed he was on, and a table with a stack of papers behind it.
A door on the left side of the room opened, Tyron turned and tensed. A woman stepped through, giving him a kind smile, "Hey, Tyron," She greeted him gently, pulling up a chair to sit beside his bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Where..." He gasped, his throat was sore, probably from the... Screaming. Screaming? Why was he—
They dragged his body from the bed, the ropes digging into his skin as he limply fell from him. The men around him laughed heartily, some of them were smoking and pushed their half lit buds in his skin. He winced, but otherwise didn't react.
They looped him on a hook in the ceiling, letting him hang down, his body bare and he shivered. The men around him began to undress boasting about the great fun they were going to have with him. One of them had already finished and began to start, digging his fingers in his—
"Tyron?" He jumped, moving away, his entire body trembling. "Hey, hey, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Stop... Stop...!" He clenched his head, his body trembling, "Please, don't let 'em—"
Natasha shushed him gently, speaking soothing words to him, but he couldn't understand her anymore. All he could remember were his screams.
"Stop!!" He begged, struggling on the ropes on his arms, which only made him look like a fish out of water. The men laughed around him, one of them grabbed a chair, trying to stick it down his—
"I know you're scared, Tyron, I understand," Natasha spoke calmly. "It's okay, I know what happened, I know what they did to you." Tyron turned at this, surprised.
"You—?"
"They raped you, didn't they?" Tyron's face twisted as tears began to run down them. He let out a choked sob, and Natasha allowed him to come to her, crying into his arms.
Natasha held him for several minutes, speaking soothing words as he sobbed. He hated crying, he vaguely realized. It made him seem weak, something he hated for people to think of him as. At the same time, he... Hadn't had the chance express himself like this in years. When he was younger, he'd go to his brother, but after his brother died, it was just him. Nobody would take him seriously if he cried at everything. They'd think he was a girl — it made him feel like a girl.
Tyron pulled away, and looked down. Natasha was watching him, but hadn't said anything. After several minutes of uneasy silence, he finally spoke, "Thanks..." He murmured, feeling exceedingly uncomfortable.
"You're welcome. Do you need anything else?" Natasha asked.
"Can I — Can I shower?" He asked hesitantly.
"Of course."
"And... Somethin' to eat..." The thought of food made his stomach twist painfully. "I–I haven't eaten in a while..."
"Definitely. I'll talk to Tony. Is that all?"
"Clothes?" He squirmed, he did not like asking for stuff. "A–A hoodie an' jeans are fine..."
"I'll talk to Tony. Come on," she gave him a hand, helping him out of the bed and led him out of the room.
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Tyron stared in the mirror before him, expressionless. He didn't recognize who stared back. Their eyes were so dark, bags hanging under them. Small scars from past skirmishes littered his cheekbones. He drew his brow and the image before him creased his as well. His forehead wrinkled, and the image looked five times older. Five times more worn.
The eyes, they were the oddest part. They were cold. They were the eyes of a soldier coming home from war, after seeing the horrors it could bring. He didn't like the eyes, he didn't like how it burrowed into his head. He half expected to see burning holes in his flesh, but none appeared.
A rapping on the door made him jump. He slipped on a towel on the floor and hit his head on the marble tub. "Tyron? Is everything okay?" He groaned, holding his head in pain. He could feel a warm substance coating his hands. "Tyron?! I'm coming in, okay?"
He remembered that he was naked and screamed, "No!" Natasha stopped, and he was panting, "No, m'fine. You jus' scared m'and I slipped. Sorry."
"That's okay. I'm have your clothes, I'm going to set them outside the door, alright?"
"M'kay," he groaned, trying to sit up, and hissed in pain.
"I suggest bringing in a first-aid kit," JARVIS' voice rang through the hall. "Mr. Tyron requires medical assistance."
"'Medical assistance'?" Natasha repeated outside the door, "What happened? Are you bleeding!?"
"M'fine! M'fine! Lemme get dressed," he assured in a panic.
Natasha was silent for a beat but sighed, "Fine. Hurry up."
"M'kay." He heard her footsteps leaving, and sighed, going to the door and grabbing his clothes. While he dressed himself in the warm clothes, he commented, "Fuck you, JARVIS."
"I'm afraid that isn't quite possible, for I am not a sentient being," Tyron rolled his eyes, and hurried to finish getting dressed.
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"Ow!" He complained as Natasha dabbed the cut with rubbing alcohol.
"Stop complaining," she chided, dabbing more, and wiping a bit at the blood.
"It wasn't that bad—ow!" Tyron reached to stop her, but she swatted at his hand.
"It was that bad," she muttered. "I'm almost done." Tyron grumbled, but allowed her to finish cleaning up the rest and then she stuck a bandage on it. "There. Done."
"Thanks." Natasha hummed her reply as the elevator opened and Tony stepped out.
"Hey, kid," Tony smirked as Natasha moved to the kitchenette, searching through the fridge. "How're you feeling?"
"Better," Tyron replied. "Thanks for..." Tyron hesitated, "Findin' me."
"No problem," Tony shrugged, deciding to sit on the couch.
"I'll leave soon, if ya want," Tyron spoke. Tony rose an eyebrow at the teenager. "I'm sure I can find somewhere else to go. There's another 'Yard down in Bronx, I can go there."
"Really?" Tyron nodded, "That's a shame, 'cause, I found a great place for you." Tyron rose an eyebrow, "Really! Here me out. I talked to the people who run it, and they don't mind mutants, or strange teenage boys. They don't care what you do, as long as it's legal. They'll feed you, give you money if and when you need it. They even want you to go back to school."
Tyron rose an eyebrow, "Really?"
"Yep. They said you can come in today, they've already got everything set up."
"Oh..." Tyron was at a loss for words. "Thanks... I... Where is this place...?"
"Exactly one floor underneath this one," Tony gave a cheeky grin. "I talked to the people who run it and... Yeah, they're pretty fine with you staying, kid."
Tyron scoffed, "Ya such an asshole," he muttered.
"If I had a nickel for every time someone told me that... I'd be able to buy another Tower." Tyron snorted, and even Natasha chuckled from the kitchen. "Anyways, what do you think? 'Cause I think it's one of the best offers ya got."
"Hm... I'll have to think about it an' git back to ya," Tyron said, making a face. "Yes, I believe ya right. I s'pose I'll have to take it."
Tony grinned, "Good choice."
"It was a good offer," Tony laughed. "Thank ya," Tyron said, his tone serious. "Really. Thanks."
"It's the least I can do," Tony shrugged, "'Sides, I'm pretty sure I can squeeze you somewhere." Tyron laughed, rolling his eyes and hitting the man in the arm.
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For once, I give my baby's a happy ending — for now.
We'll be moving into the AoU arc soon~! I can't wait! What do ya'll think of Tyron, and his background? I tried to 'censor' it as much as possible, not using key words, referring to things as 'it'. I changed the warnings to Mature instead of whatever the other one is, just to be safe.
I know, a lot of my other stories have reference to sexual abuse/harassment, but since it's not as explicit as there isn't as much strong language in those as there is in this one, it felt fitting.
Welp, that's all for now! I'll see y'all next time, and remember...
Don't melt~!
~Happyritas OOO