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Peggy sighed as her office phone rang for what must've been the fifth time that morning. It was grating on her nerves and she was sure she would hear that thing in her nightmares. She considered letting it go to voicemail but was expecting a call from Coulson who was in Europe to handle a matter with the UK Shield agency.
"Carter speaking."
"Hey, Auntie." Her godson always knew how to brighten her day. "Are you busy? I wanted to talk."
It wasn't odd to have Anthony around the office or her home, nor to spend every waking second that he could with her when he wasn't in school or involved in another project. She always welcomed him and Steve packed an extra lunch for him.
She sat back in her chair, groaning as her back protested the new position after being bent over the desk for so long. She should have taken a break and suggested lunch, but time-sensitive documents demanded her attention.
Lunch would have to wait.
"I'm afraid so, darling," Peggy apologized sincerely. "If your father hadn't saddled me with the Flash Documents, then I'd be singing a different tune."
Tony's laugh sounded almost hollow at the mention of his father. She got it, Howard was a nightmare to deal with as of late. "Yeah, Howard loves pushing his responsibilities off on others. That's alright, Auntie, how about I stop by later with some lunch and we can chat then?"
She'd barely got to say 'that would be swell' before Tony hung up on her, leaving her to wonder what that phone call was about.
When the hospital's number appeared on her screen, Peggy felt herself freeze. She couldn't reach for the phone at first, afraid of who might be on the other end. She went through a mental list of where everyone was, her anxiety spiking.
Steve was just in the kitchen, cleaning up from a failed baking experiment. She could hear him muttering over the matter, so he was safe. That left Howard who was...was somewhere and Tony, who-
She snatched the phone before it fell from the desk, her movements feeling jerky and not on her own actions as she answered the call. Everything in her screamed not to, the anxiety swelling in her throat.
"Hello. This is Director Carter speaking."
"Mrs. Carter, this is Brooklyn Hospital. You were listed as an emergency contact for Anthony Edward Stark. Do you know him?"
Peggy's heart dropped to her gut, a chill washing over her. She had to grasp the desk to keep stable, reminding herself to breathe. She couldn't risk passing out.
"That - yes, yes I do. I'm his godmother. Is he okay? What happened?"
There was a pause and if she listened hard enough, Peggy could hear papers being shifted around. She needed to move, she needed to grab her keys, she needed to get there. Steve. Steve, yeah, she needed to inform him.
As if he could read her thoughts, Steve knocked lightly on the doorframe to get her attention. He must've heard the panic rising in her voice and came to investigate. He raised his brow, nodding towards the phone. Concern was written on his expression and it wasn't being helped as she weaved in the spot.
"He is stable," the nurse said calmly. It was meant to keep her from panicking but the fact that she was being called at all didn't help her anxiety. "Anthony was driving while drunk and wrapped the vehicle around a tree. He was found just in time with a dangerous blood alcohol level, we are treating him for alcohol poisoning. We have some questions, as we couldn't get ahold of his father."
Drunk? Driving? Tony was only 13, he should've known better. He wouldn't have turned to this destructive route unless he felt as if he had no choice. Or so, Peggy was telling herself. She replayed their last conversation in her mind again but nothing seemed off.
And Howard? Not being able to get ahold of him was nothing new but he should've at least gotten news by now about his son.
Tony being underage in both driving recklessly and drinking, it was amazing that he was still alive.
"I-I can be there. I'll be there. Thank you."
She didn't even feel the phone falling from her hand, just hearing it clatter on the table below. She felt cold, felt her heart in her throat. Her chest hurt, the world wasn't slowing down. Everything was coming at her.
Tony was hurt, Tony was in the hospital. He'd tried to kill himself and she felt the guilt rising to her throat. She should've agreed to talk, to give her godson anything he wanted. He was so lost in this world and now he felt like he had no one.
Peggy didn't see Steve move, just felt his arms wrapping around her. Felt his arms tighten to take the weight of the world from her shoulders. She didn't deserve this man.
"Breathe, breathe," he told her in a soothing tone, his fingers rubbing the small of her back. "Just breathe, Peggy. You're going to pass out if you don't."
Her chest ached as she forced herself to mimic Steve's breathing, feeling like she couldn't get enough breath in her lungs. She clung to his shirt, staining it with her tears.
"Hospital - Tony - we - we need to go." It was words she could barely get out, having to force herself to speak instead of running straight for her keys. "We - I need to see him. He's a-alone. Howard isn't - they can't - they can't get a hold..."
Steve's eyes widened as the seriousness of the situation dawned on him. He still didn't let her go, not right away. Not until she was at least breathing normally. When he finally let go, she took a moment to collect herself, shoving every negative emotion and thought behind a wall. She could deal with the fallout later. Right now, she didn't need to be falling apart.
No one needed to see her fall apart.
"I'll drive," Steve announced, snatching the keys from where she'd discarded them late last night. "You're in no condition to drive."
Peggy didn't argue, the faster they got to the hospital, the better.
Anthony looked so fragile laying in the bed of wires and tubes. He had more tubes and wires then man and despite the staff insisting that he'd be okay and there were no major injuries, she worried. It hurt to look at him like this. Part of her heart laid on that bed.
"Okay," Steve sighed as he lowered himself into the chair beside Peggy. He leaned over to brush Tony's hair back, smiling sadly down at the teenager. "I finally got a hold of Howard. He's...He's not on the way back. He says he's dealing with the fall out of Tony's 'stunt' and how it negatively affects Stark Industries."
It was clear by how much he was fighting himself and having to doctor his words, Howard had said much more. Steve was right to keep her from knowing, her blood was already boiling from the little she knew.
"He doesn't even know why Tony did this!" Peggy hissed, looking down at her god son's face, pale and a line of stitches across his cheek. "I don't care what the staff says about Tony being 'bored' and deciding to drive Howard's car. He knows better."
It wasn't just her trust in Tony that led her to this conclusion. Tony wasn't so reckless, not without reason, not without being pushed, and if Howard was reacting in such a manner, then she had to guess that her once best friend was to blame.
"I know, I know," Steve soothed, rubbing at her arm. "Darling, I know. We both know that Tony knows better but -" He sighed and looked away from them, clearing his throat. He wasn't going to like saying this and Peggy was not going to like hearing it. "Peggy, Howard was talking about abandoning Tony, to give up his rights as a father. He was - y'know how Howard gets, rambling about. I don't know if he means what he says but I'm terrified to know, I-"
"I'll fight him on it," Peggy said in a calm voice that caused Steve to stop his rambling. "I don't care what it takes, I'll make sure that Tony is in our care. He's not going back to Howard."
Tony practically lived with them anyway, his presence wouldn't cause an interruption to their daily life. They'd accommodate in any way that they would.
"With how he was going on, I don't think Howard is going to give us any fight."
The disappointment that rang from Steve was clear, Peggy noted. How far had their friend fallen from grace?
Tony woke up when she'd gone to get a coffee, needing to stretch her legs after napping on and off for the past few hours. Steve had fallen asleep on the couch, his snoring joining the melody of the machinery noises.
She came back to find him sitting up, looking confused. When he spotted her, his eyes widened and a look of shame washed over him. Her heart jumped straight to her throat as she rushed over to him, taking his hands into hers.
Steve grunted as she nudged him with her foot, waking him up in the process. He was by Tony's side in a second, helping him adjust to sitting up and his pillows were fluffed. He had a hand on Tony's arm, just resting there, much like she was. A constant touch to allow himself to know that Tony was alive.
"Tony, darling, hi. How are you feeling? Don't try to move too much," Peggy was frantic over him, trying to adjust the way the wires laid around him. "Do you know where you are?"
Tony groaned in response at first, blinking wearily at his godparents. He raised a hand to run it through his hair, stopping as he caught sight of the band around his wrist. He grunted, pain coursing through him. The worst was his head was throbbing and he had a sickening taste in the back of his throat.
It hurt to breathe like a weight was on his chest. Hurt to even blink. He looked around the room, thankful when Uncle Steve had dimmed the lights for him. It helped with his headache.
"Brooklyn Hospital," he quoted in a broken tone. "I-I'm in Brooklyn Hospital, yeah? And I feel like dog-shit." His cheeks flushed, glancing up at his AUntie when he cursed. "Sor-sorry."
Peggy laughed weakly, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I think - I think we can let your cursing pass this time, darling. I'll talk to the nurses about getting you some pain meds in a moment. Do you remember why you're here?"
Tony sighed and laid his head back on the pillow, hating how it /squished/ under him. He squeezed his eyes shut like he wanted to wish the world away. He wanted the world to stop, for everything to stop hurting.
He heard Steve muttering about going to get a nurse, to give them a moment alone. He appreciated it. It's not like he didn't trust Uncle Steve, it's just his Auntie got him on a level that no one else did. He waited until he heard the door shut before he looked at her.
"I do," he whispered, squeezing her hand hard. It hurt to move his fingers, he was lucky that no fingers were broken. "I don't...I don't want to talk about it."
"Darling." Peggy's heart broke at how his face crumpled, his hand trembling on her own. She wouldn't press unless it were vital. She pressed a kiss to his bruised knuckles and sighed. "What did Howard do this time?"
She knew him so well, and knew his father just as well. Knew the monster Howard could be behind closed doors, knew just how much Howard could press his buttons. Pushing his son away, at the same moment telling him what a disappointment he was and pulling him back in to use him as a prop for the media.
It was sickening and there was only so much that anyone could take.
"He wanted -" Tony stopped, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. "He wanted to send me away to boarding school in the UK, as far away as possible from him. He wanted to keep me there until I finished high school. It wasn't just him, Auntie. Ma' agreed. I could hear her in the background. She said that it was the best choice for my future."
Tears burned his eyes, rolling down his cheek. He tried to fight the sob building in his chest. He didn't want to sob, didn't want the pain but his body did not care. He sobbed, hiccuping heavily. His heart was broken into two. He knew Howard had disliked him, had considered him a burden, and wanted others to care for him while he just got to claim the title of father, but his mother too?
It truly broke his heart. He was closer to his mother, but now it felt like he had no one in his corner any longer. He was abandoned.
"I-I don't know what I even did to have them hate me. I wasn't - I haven't even-" Tony slowly started to spiral into blubbering sobs, his chest heaving with each one.
Peggy's heart broke as she held his hand before climbing up to lay in the bed next to him, wrapping her arms around him. She let him cling to her, burying his face into her neck, her hand rubbing at his arm.
"I'm here," she told him in a soft voice. "I'm right here, Tony. I'm not going away. Nor is your Uncle Steve. We're right here, in your corner. You're not going to be alone, we'll be right here."
Tony's blubbering sob only caused him to sob harder and cling to her. He knew that his godparents would always be in his corner, would always love him. They were the ones that were practically raised, that were there for his first steps, his first words, his first memories.
"I wanted - wanted to give them a reason to hate me. I drank Howard's most prized whiskey, I drove his most prized vehicle. I knew what I was doing and I didn't care if I was hurt in the process. I made sure no one else was involved."
Through his sobbing explanation, Peggy could read the unspoken words. He wanted to hurt, he wanted to feel the physical pain that his parents delivered to him. He was self-destructive and everything hurt.
Lectures of his behavior and the consequences would come later, right now Tony was suffering and would be suffering for a while. He just needed someone in his corner, to help him heal and that was going to be them.
"You're safe with us," she promised him, pressing a kiss to his temple. "You'll live with your Uncle Steve and I. We won't ever abandon you. You know how much we love you, Tones. It's not okay now, but we'll make it okay, I promise. You'll have a happier life with us. Just rest for now, we will handle everything else."