Bless The Broken Road

My Peter, Your Peter

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"We found Peter."

The words were so blunt that it made Tony feel guilty. Maybe he should've eased Peggy into that statement a little more? Should he have made it more gentle rather than just forthright tell her the truth about her missing son's reappearance?

Judging by the way Peggy looked as if she'd been slapped in the face, her mouth parting slightly like she was trying to form words that just weren't there, Tony guessed he'd messed up. Tears formed in Peggy's eyes similar to the way Peter did when he got worried.

"I'm sorry," Tony shook his head, the guilt overtaking him. He looked down at his hands and swallowed. God, what he would give for a drink right now (pushed that thought away the second it entered his mind). "I should've been more sensitive; i didn't know how else to tell you."

Aunt Peggy's cold and wrinkled hands reached out to wrap around Tony's. Her voice was soft as she spoke. "Anthony, what are you talking about?"

"We found him," the words were low, half whispered. He raised his head to meet Peggy's eyes, seeing the flicker of hope that burned there. "He's back."

"Who is 'we'?"

Tony cleared his throat. "Um, SHIELD. Technically speaking, they found Peter but i was the one who worked out who he was."

Peggy took in a sharp breath, retracting her hands and shaking her head. "This isn't possible. I looked for decades and there was no trace! How . . . Where could they—" she trailed off, her lips wobbling.

"I believe the Director of SHIELD said something about finding him in the middle of nowhere in Russia, Peggy."

"Russia?" Peggy leaned back, swallowing hard. Her hands were shaking and her jaw was clenched so tightly that Tony almost told her to relax before it broke.

"This is true?" Peggy stated suddenly, eyes snapping up to meet her Godson's with a burning passion. "You aren't pulling any tricks, Anthony?"

He couldn't even blame her for thinking the worst, he was notoriously known for stirring shit. His inability to not cause trouble had driven Howard mad. But he would never lie about such things— not to Peggy.

"Never," he whispered.

"How is he?" Peggy's voice sounded choked. Her eyes were swimming in tears and her lips wobbled in a rhythmic movement as she continued to stare at Tony. "Is he well? Have you spoken to him? What does he look like now? You found him— he's not . . . is he?" She couldn't bring herself to say the dreaded word.

"He's alive," Tony promised, nodding encouragingly. "And safe, currently. He's a great kid, Aunt Peggy, you should be proud."

His words made Peggy pause, a frown on her face as she watched him. "A kid? Anthony, Peter will now be 59 years old. He hardly qualifies as a 'kid' as i'm sure you're aware. Have you met him? Have you spoken? What does his voice sound like?"

Tony decided right there in that moment that this part of the conversation was going to be the hardest. Telling a mother her missing child of 55 years had been found was the simple part. Telling said mother that her missing child was still 4 years old rather than the 59 he was meant to be was definitely trickier.

Tony cleared his throat, his clothes feeling too tight for a second. The air seemed to be thinning and just looking at Peggy's awaiting face was making him want to be sick. He couldn't do it. He couldn't tell her truth. He'd just say that Peter was his son or something—

Thinking about Peter made Tony's invisible heart constrict. He thought about the poor kid sitting in the car outside in the rain, waiting to see his mother again after what had been only several days to him but 55 years to Peggy. He thought about how happy Peter had been at the prospect to see his mom and how all the kid wanted was the woman in front of him right now.