Filling prompt 8 for Whumptober: Where did everybody go? and Isolation.

Winter, 2017. Hours into kidnapping.

Tony clapped him and Peter's vision tunneled. His eyes zeroed in on the man's wrist. On what wasn't on his skin.

His skin was smooth but Peter remembered the clinking shackles in the cell. The cold metal digging into his skin for days. When had he had the time to take them off? Why didn't he have scars like Peter did? His mind turned for a justification or explanation. Why was he so hurt by it?

Peter thought about everything he'd been through in the last couple of hours. The small metal machine that disconnected his tracker Tony already had in his cell. The alarms shrieking but only a preliminary wave of guards showing up. The fact Peter was in his particular cell to begin with. Even the strange way the man spoke. It was as if he knew certain things about Peter and that place. Somehow Tony had planned it all.

He watched how the man's smile faded at Peter's expression.

"Was this… Did you plan this the whole time?"

Tony's eyes widened and the bags he was holding dropped. "What do you mean, kiddo?"

"Don't call me that!" His heart pounded. The blood pooled and heated into his shaking limbs. "What the fuck. You kidnapped me. You're a psycho. Is that what it is? I-"

"No, you're misunderstanding."

" - knew it. You take me back. Right now."

He was breathing too fast and his face was on fire. In the back of his mind he wondered if stomping a foot was too dramatic but he ignored it. Tony walked over, his hands raised in surrender.

"Let's just talk. Okay? I will explain."

Peter jerked a nod. They ended up standing in the kitchen after he refused to sit on the couch. His legs hadn't stopped shaking so he hid it by pacing back and forth.

"So Rhodey is out, uh, ditching the car we took so yell all you want. I can handle it. But first let me talk. Deal?" Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "So, look I can't tell you everything because, well, I just can't but I didn't know you would be there at that time. Hell, I didn't even know it was you dropping my meals off until today. But I'm glad we found you… And the kidnapping thing wasn't the best idea but I've had worse, trust me. It also had the advantage of getting you out of that hell hole." He laughed missing Peter's cringe.

"But you were planning on your escape for a while? The trackers implanted didn't go off after all."

Tony's shoulders loosened at this line of thought.

"Yeah, I'd given up hope trying to find what I was looking for and decided to go out. Me and Rhodey had everything planned and you were there with perfect timing."

How could he sit there and laugh at this situation? Peter's life was forever changed by their actions. And Tony's excuse was he had perfect timing. What bullshit.

"I didn't come along. You kidnapped me, remember? I want to go ba-"

"Back?" Tony said with a snort. "No, you don't, Peter. You don't want that."

Peter stepped backward. The blood rushing through his body must have stopped and drained away from his brain. He wasn't possible hearing right and had to lean against the counter to stand up straight.

"Shut up." He said when Tony stepped toward him. "Shut your damn mouth. You don't know me. You don't know what I want. I need to be back there. You have to take me back."

All he got was a sadly masked expression of pity. It made Peter want to scream and shout and pound his fists into the wall. The man didn't even have the decency to look sorry.

"I can't do that."

"Yes, you could. Take me back!" Peter screamed, clenching his fists.

Tony's eyes lost their sparkle but he didn't move. Peter changed tactics and rushed forward grabbing Tony's t-shirt.

"Please," He begged. "Please take me back. I deserve it, I need it. I'll…" He swallowed. "I'll forget it I leave, I'll forget May if I don't go back there."

Cautious hands grabbed his and Tony peeled him off of his person without a word. Peter stumbled backward, hitting the cupboards. He slid down until his legs were splayed in front of him.

He was so empty now that hope was gone. It was like all the blood, all the life, that was rushing before had drained out of him, but when he looked there was nothing on the floor. He couldn't even muster the strength to curl his hands in a fist. Peter was alone for months at that place. He'd eaten alone, slept alone, and survived alone. But sitting against the wall in this stranger's apartment he'd never been so defeated.

Tony sat next to him on the ground. Peter grabbed the material of his pants and refused to look up. Tony didn't seem to mind his anger or early outburst because he began talking.

"I know this isn't easy, Peter, and I know how hard it can be to open up after so much hardship and hurt. The pain infects everyday of our lives until we think it's normal, until we start believing we deserve it. And time slows when that happens. It loses meaning when we're in this endless cycle. It's not until somehow, someway, it's broken that we can see past our hurt and start to heal. That can only be done by someone who cares enough about you to love you, pain and all. I know it's crazy and doesn't make sense but I'm asking you, for now, to trust me and Rhodey. Trust us to not bring any pain and if you can do that. Well, we can work with that."

Peter wanted to hate him for everything but he could hear the truth residing in each word. The man was trying to build a bridge between them. He was asking Peter to set aside the anger and hate. But Peter couldn't abide by it. He wouldn't do what was asked of him. The pain seeded through his body was too precious and had been growing too long to just give it up, to risk it being taken away.

He had comforted May after Ben died. Her tears soaked into the pillow as she wept for her husband's life and her future life with him that was ripped away. Peter sat by her begging someone to take her pain away. He wished and wished and wished she stopped hurting. At first, she didn't hear his cries but gradually as the months progressed her tears stopped and she understood. May grabbed his hands, her fingers crushing his.

She said, "Don't ask for that, Sweetheart. Never that. Our love was real and it was true. If this is the result of that I will cherish this until I'm buried beside our Ben. It will not be as harsh as it is now and even though the sands of time soften the grief, I will relish the feeling because I know what it means. You know what it means."

May stroked his cheek before tucking his head against her shoulder as they wept together. She was right. She was always right. He could cherish this pain as his own. It was his and no one could take it away. He wouldn't let Tony or even time steal it from him no matter the longing in his chest for some ease.

Tony's shoulder was less than an inch away from his but Peter knew they were times apart. He couldn't do what Tony asked of him. He rejected the strength of the strong hand that had guided him. Time slowed as they waited for one another to give in.

In the end everybody left him. The only way he could remember them, to keep them close, was to feel hallow pit inside him. Peter basked in the heavy absence in his chest. For Ben. For his parents. For May.

Where did everybody always go?

And why did Peter wish to be with them so dearly?

Title references the amazing book, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Thank you for reading.

Let me know what you think.