Chapter Eleven:
Steve was getting ready for a run when he stopped in front of the Tower door. He had been staying there since Tyron had came in, deciding that it would be best to have familiar people around to help get him settled.
Tyron hadn't been doing well, either. For one, he hasn't been sleeping at all, and when he did, someone — mostly Nat or Bruce — were called into his room to calm him down before he could hurt himself. He also hasn't been eating as much too, keeping himself locked in the room that Tony gave him.
Steve wanted to help, but didn't quite know how. He was considering taking Tyron on his runs. It could help grow both of their relationships with each other, and hopefully make him a bit more sociable.
"JARVIS, is Tyron awake?" Steve asked the AI. He didn't want to bother him if he was sleeping.
"Yes, but," The AI hesitated. "The situation seems a bit delicate at the moment."
"What do you mean?" Steve asked with a frown.
"He is wielding a kitchen knife, and seems rather agitated. I would suggest keeping him calm if you are to make contact with Mr. Tyron."
"Ah," was all he was able to manage. He pushed the button on the elevator for his floor. In the meantime, he was trying to think of something that might be reasonable enough to say. "Silent mode, please," Steve requested and instantly the 'Silent Elevator' mode was initiated.
As the machine slowed to a stop and the door opened, Steve carefully reviewed the scene. He was sitting at a counter, a kitchen blade in his hand, his arm pressed against the other. The knife was sawing against his hand and Steve nearly interjected when he realized the significant lack of blood. He was absorbing it.
"Come on! Cut! Kill me already, damnit!" He hissed at the knife, "What the fuck is wrong with it!? Why won't it kill me!? Why—" his voice broke off in a sob. "Please. I don'—!" His shoulders shook with his sobs in pain, "God it hurts! I don' wanna see 'im anymore! I don' wanna feel 'im anymore!!" As if his words were creating the exact contrary, he shuddered, more tears spilling out.
Tyron's fingers gripped the knife, stabbing it into his hand, but the metal merely sank into his skin, completely absorbed. "Stop it!" He screamed, turning the knife to his chest, his throat, his legs, his heart, but nothing penetrated. Metal couldn't cut him. Soon, it was reduce to a mere handle, nothing to try to cut himself with.
Tyron leaned over the counter, and cried. Steve decided it would be best to leave the boy alone, stepping back in the elevator and moving as fast away as fast as he could.
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"So," Natasha spoke as Tyron laid on the couch, tossing a ball in the air. "When do you plan on going back to school?"
"I dunno," Tyron replied honestly. "I left school in seventh grade. I hardly remember any of the shit they taught, I don't know if I can even place into anywhere. I think it'll jus' be best if I stay 'ere."
"You told Tony you'd go," Natasha reminded, pulling up a chair. She was eating a bowl of popcorn, and offered him a box of loose screws. Tyron thanked her, popping a few in his mouth.
"I know but," Tyron sighed, cutting himself off. "Don't'cha think it'll be easier I stay 'ere? I–I mean..." Tyron trailed off.
"Are you scared, Tyron?" Natasha asked, and the boy flinched.
"No!" He lied, turning away. "M'not scared! It's jus'... I haven't been to a school in years! I don't think I could do... Anythin' that'll get m'caught up to whatever the hell they're doin' right now..."
"We can tutor you to get to that point, you know," Natasha said, smiling. "Don't worry. We'll be right there, and if you need help, or if you think you can't handle it, we can move you somewhere else. We just think that it'll be good for you to be around kids your age." And, it should help rehabilitate him, Natasha thought. If he makes some friends, then he might be more open and expressive opposed to how shut off and scared he is now.
"M'kay," Tyron agreed, putting the box of screws on the coffee table. He didn't want to tell her what happened last time, how the kids were horrible to him. Humiliating him in front of the whole school, some had even tried to get close with him, touching him in inappropriate places, laughing when he told them to stop.
They kept the gym teacher out of the locker room while the other boys harassed him, pushing him around, groping his chest, slapping him. Tyron felt small, he hated it. He wanted them to stop, he tried to, then one pushed him on the ground, allowing them to kick and stomp him repeatedly. Tyron screamed at them, but they didn't stop. He swore and tried to fight back, but when he did, they only hit harder.
They laughed at him, mocked him, teased him, just like Baron would. He could hear the man chuckling as he handed him over to another renter, as if he were a toy, allowing other people to borrow him. He was a toy. He was a pet. He was a bad pet, a bed pet, a bad pet, a bad—
"Hey, Tyron, shh," Natasha said, embracing him. He was shaking, but realized that he drifted off. Shaking his head, he turned to Natasha, who was just letting go. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I..." He hesitated, "I jus' got lost in thought. That's all."
Natasha gave him a wary look. "If you say so... Well, when do you want to start?"
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Tyron had been studying with Bruce and Tony for a few months now. They allowed him to go at his own pace, explaining things when he really didn't understand it. At first it was hard and a bit overwhelming, since he hadn't been in a 'school' environment for nearly three or four years, but he quickly adjusted to it.
His easiest subject was surprisingly math. He remembered being shit at it before he left but, he guessed after all the drugs he sold, he learned to use it pretty well. He was also good at science — mainly biology and human anatomy, for... Obvious reasons. He wasn't so good at history. It was a lot of memorization, so it sometimes tripped him up. English was fine, but he did need to work on it more.
All in all, he was rather surprised at how quickly he learned and even more so when Bruce and Tony revealed that he could go to public school.
"We think you're about ready," Tony grinned.
"Are–Are ya sure?" Tyron asked, hesitantly.
"Yeah," Bruce agreed. "You're doing much better than we thought you would, to be honest. You really should be more than capable to join public school."
"Besides, if you find it too hard, we can still pull you out and tutor you here," Tony assured. "I gotta head out, so Brucie can help explain stuff to you, right?"
Bruce nodded, "Where are you heading?"
"Meeting. I'll tell you more about that later." Bruce nodded and Tony grinned, waving at the two before leaving the room.
Tyron sighed, running a hand down his face. "You don't have to do this," Bruce spoke up. "If–If you feel uncomfortable, then—"
"No," Tyron mumbled, "I wanna do this. It's jus'... Is it okay if I don't go to school 'ere? In the city? What if I went down to, uhm, Queens?"
"Queens?" Tyron gave a hesitant nod. "I mean, sure, I guess. I'll have to talk to Tony about it, there's bound to be a few public schools in that area. I don't know about transportation though—"
"I can take the Sub," Tyron assured, and Bruce nodded, agreeing.
"Okay then," Bruce said, standing, "I'll arrange it with Tony."
Tyron nodded, standing, "Thanks," he said, relieved. "For everythin'."
"You're welcome," Bruce replied, smiling. "Ill be right back, I gotta grab something. Why don't you look through your History stuff while I'm gone?"
"M'kay," Tyron nodded, moving to sit at the couch. As soon as Bruce left, Tyron let out a shuddering sigh. He wanted to believe that Baron wouldn't be able to get him in the city, but he couldn't. It was too close to the 'Yard, and he had far too many connections. Queens was far, far enough for him not to look for him. Besides, the last place Baron would believe he'd be was back in school. He had the element of surprise on his side, all he had to do was keep the attention drawn away from hisself.
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Tyron stepped into the classroom awkwardly. Behind him was the school's guidance counselor, who was giving him a tour of the school. He tried not to seem nervous as the eye of nearly thirty teenagers turned his way. A student, who was laughing with one of his friends walked towards the door, nearly shoving past him to get out, causing Tyron to stumble away.
The teacher, a rather young woman, probably in her early thirties stepped forward. She had long, rusty red hair and freckles displayed across her nose.
The guidance counselor placed a hand on Tyron's shoulder and he barely stopped himself from jumping. "This is Tyron, he'll be joining you class," the woman told the teacher. "He has his schedule, but it'd be good have a student with him so he can learn his way around."
"Okay," the teacher smiled, then turned to Tyron. "Hello, I'm Ms. Dunes. Right now, we're working on a group project, you're welcome to join any group you want, they can explain what they're doing." Tyron nodded and began to stalk off, but the guidance counselor held onto his arm. Tyron visibly flinched, yanking his arm away, but the guidance counselor didn't seem to notice. Ms. Dunes was giving him an odd look, though.
"Your... Guardian called in earlier and told me to remind you to come straight home, or call if you need a ride. The last thing I want in this school is a big disturbance if he lands in the middle of the school parking lot in his big metal suit. So, when dismissal rolls around, please inform him that in order to keep the peace, he should leave the suit at home, or... Wherever he keeps it."
"Oh... Uhm... Yeah, okay," Tyron said, rubbing his arm.
"Good," the woman walked off. Tyron began to walk towards the different tables, going to the nearest one available. There was a boy with brown hair and a pudgy Hispanic kid, with greasy hair.
"Can I sit here?" Tyron asked, and the two shrugged.
"Yeah, sure," the brown haired boy said, moving. Tyron went to a nearby empty desk and pulled a chair from it. "I'm Peter," he said, holding out his hand for Tyron to shake.
"Tyron," Tyron replied, shaking his hand. "What're ya workin' on?"
"English project," the Hispanic boy replied, "Basically, we read To Kill A Mockingbird in class, and we have to make a presentation for it. We're nearly done, actually, we just need to finish the drawings, and we should be good. I'm Ned, by the way, Ned Leeds." Tyron nodded at the introduction, shaking his hand too.
"Except, we're both pretty bad artists," Peter chuckled. "We'll probably look online for a picture or something."
"Oh," Tyron replied, glancing over at the laptop that they were using. "I could do it," he suggested, a bit shyly.
"What?" Peter asked, confused.
"The–The drawin's, I could draw 'em for ya if ya want," he shrugged. The door opened and Tyron turned around. It was the student from earlier. A guy with a heavy red and white varsity jacket on. He looked over at one of the desks and frowned.
"Wow, really?" Peter continued, surprised.
"Yeah, sure, I—" a hand clenched his shoulder and a voice growled above him. Tyron froze, tensing up.
"Did you take my fucking chair?" A male voice growled at him. Before he could say a word, e grabbed the legs of the chair out from underneath him, and yanked. Tyron fell on the ground with a surprised gasp, and the rest of the class responded in an uproar of laughter. Mrs. Dunes shushed the class, scolding the student who simply shrugged the woman off.
Peter rose, coming to Tyron's side, helping him up, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'll live," Tyron grumbled. Peter, Ned and Tyron continued to work, and Tyron grabbed a sheet of paper, hurriedly sketching on it while the two other boys described the characters to him. The bell rang and Ms. Dunes called the end of class, and they went to their next period.
"Your next period?" Peter asked as they packed up the rest of their stuff.
"... Science," Tyron replied, "With J. Glades?"
"Jenifier," Ned clarified, "That's good though — that's our next class too." Tyron followed the two as they walked down the hall to their next class.
"An' after that, it's lunch, right?" Tyron asked and the two nodded. "If ya write the descriptions of the characters, I can draw 'em during lunch."
"Sounds good," Peter agreed as the duo entered the classroom.
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Lunch had finally came, and Tyron's grade went to the lunchroom, or outside, if they perferred. Tyron, however, found the library, and began to finish the drawings Peter needed there. Due to the nature of the setting, it was very quiet, allowing Tyron to be with his thoughts.
The guy that pulled Tyron's chair earlier was definitely a jackass, and after several times it had definitely been tried and true. Luckily, he would probably be in the lunchroom at the moment, so Tyron didn't need to worry about them.
As he sketched out the characters, and used the computers to look up references, he was a bit surprised that the last time he had had the chance to draw, was nearly a two months ago, while he was with Baron, on a napkin in Central Park. So much has happened since then, and he could barely manage to remember it all too.
He chuckled at the absurdity of it all. Who would've thought that someone like him could meet someone like Tony or Natasha? He was grateful, definitely, they saved his life, to the point that there would be no way for him to properly thank them.
Tyron continued to draw, deciding that in doing well here, at school, he could show his thanks to them. He smirked a little, starting on the next one.
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Sorry, shortish chapter, I was going to write more, but I thought that was a good place to end it.
And, yes, Peter will be playing a pretty big role in this story — and possible love interest. I know, I know, I don't usually write romance, but, damn it, my bby needs to love someone, it's gonna drive him mad, lol.
Anyways, I've reviewed the trailers that are out for Spider-Man: Homecoming — literally can't wait — and I'm pretty sure this will be correct, if not I'll have to go back to change it. Also, I noticed in the trailer that Michelle — the one Zendaya plays — doesn't, or really, hasn't interacted with Peter and Ned. This lead me to believe that they don't really become friends until later in the story. And, since I am still at AoU and not at the end of CA:CW, their relationship hasn't developed yet. Maybe she's new, or maybe they don't become friends until shit hits Spidey's fan, whatever.
So, I haven't put her in the story. Maybe I'll add her later, as more trailers come out, or when I actually watch the movie, whichever comes first, but until then, sorry, mom will have to be on the sidelines.
I hope that explanation makes sense, sorry for the confusion! I'll see y'all next time, and remember...
Don't melt~!
~ Happyritas OOO