To Build A Home

Peter looked out the passenger seat window and watched the rain droplets race each other down the glass.

He looked into the front seat at his dad as they pulled up to the school and gave him a weak smile.

“I’ll pick you up after school, bear.” Steve said, putting the car in park and turning around to give him his full attention. “Be good on your school trip and know that I love you to the moon and back.”

Peter smiled a little harder and took off his seatbelt to lean over in the seat to give his dad a tight hug like they always did before they parted ways. “I love you to the moon and back, dad. See you soon.”

Steve pulled away from his kid and rubbed a thumb across his cheek. “Be good for your teachers my little man.”

The ten year old playfully pushed his father's hands away and rolled his eyes. “I always am.” He then reached over to grab his backpack and got out of the car. “Bye, dad.”

With a shut of the door, Peter had no idea that this was going to be the last time his life would ever be the same.

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Peter let out a yawn and looked over at his best friend who was sitting next to him on the school bus on the way back to their school after their trip to the science museum.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time. It was 2:45pm and they were supposed to get back at 3:00pm yet they weren’t even close to the school. He didn’t want his dad worrying about where he was so he sent him a quick text.

Peter: Hiii dad! we aren’t even close to the school yet:/ sorry I’ll see you soon!

Peter held his phone in his hand as he waited for a text.

Beside him, Ned groaned. “I’m so hungry and tired. I just want to go home and stuff my face with my mom's Mac and cheese.”

At the thought of his best friend’s mom’s Mac and cheese, Peter’s mouth started to water. “Please don’t talk about her food. It’s so good.”

Peter loved his dad’s cooking the best, it’s what he grew up with and what he was used to so of course he loved it but he also really loved Ned’s moms cooking.

“Sorry. I just want to get home.” Ned said then stood up on his seat to try and see what the hold up was.

“Me too.” Peter replied and looked down at his phone but he found no text from his dad yet. He tried not to worry about it since his dad always texted him back right away and he knew the man was waiting for him in his school parking lot already so Peter’s anxiety started to make itself known.

“Ned, please sit down in your seat.” Mr. Paul told him so Ned immediately sat back down with another groan.

Peter went to say something to Ned when suddenly there was a loud pop and the bus started to swerve around which caused everyone inside to start screaming.

Peter grabbed onto Ned’s arm and felt his heart start to pound in his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut until the bus came to a stop and the kids stopped screaming.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw that they were in the ditch on the side of the highway. Peter immediately looked down at his phone which had fallen onto the floor of the bus.

When he went to go reach for it, Ned was grabbing onto his arm and pulling him to his feet. “Come on, Peter. We gotta go.”

Peter tried to yank his arm away from Ned since he was so close to reaching for his phone and his only way to keep in contact with his dad but Ned was pulling him along so he had to leave it behind.

They were rushed off the bus by the teachers and were lined up along the fence to do a headcount. Peter shivered from the dampness in the air and wrapped his arms around himself to try and keep the heat in but failing in the process.

“What’s happening?” Peter whispered to Ned and then looked to his left to the sound of fire trucks coming. He just wanted to get back to the school so he could see his dad.

“Listen up everyone!” The teacher yelled to get everyone’s attention. “I want everyone’s attention on me please. Once the situation is under control, we will be calling your parents and having them come to pick you up.”

Peter practically sighed in relief. He didn’t know how long that was going to take but he hoped it wasn’t too long.

He stood by the fence as a fire truck arrived as well as a few police cars and an ambulance to check everyone over. Peter watched as his classmates left one by one as their parents came to pick everyone up.

Peter wasn’t sure where his dad was or why the man was taking so long to come and pick him up but he had to come any minute now so Peter kept an eye out.

Ned’s mom pulled up in her red car that Peter had been in countless times. Ned gave him a half hug and a weak smile. “I’ll see you later. Don’t worry, your dad will be here soon.”

Peter tried to let those words calm him down but he didn’t know why it was so hard to hear. Something had to be wrong because his dad just wouldn’t show up like this. If only he had his phone.

There were only two other kids left so Peter walked up to one of the fire fighters and tapped on his arm. “Uh… excuse me? But my um, is my dad gonna be here soon?”

The man turned around and looked down at him. “Sorry kid, but I’m not sure.”

Peter frowned. He turned around and looked at the group of police officers and two of his teachers talking to them. One of the police looked over at him and then started to make her way towards him.

“Hi Peter. My name is officer Kate. Can you come over here with me?” She spoke slowly to him but all Peter wanted was answers so he nodded his head and followed her over to one of the ambulances where he was lifted inside by one of the paramedics and sat into a chair. A blanket was placed over his shoulders so he grabbed onto it and rubbed his thumb over the soft material.

“Can you please tell me your full name, sweetie?” The police officer asked but Peter didn’t understand why she was asking. No one else got asked these questions.

He looked up and saw that the two girls were leaving in a car and talking to his teacher and another officer. “Where’s my dad? He should have been here by now.”

The officer nodded her head slowly. “We just need to ask you a few questions so can you answer them for us please?”

“I-okay.” Peter felt his eyes start to burn and he could feel the tears starting because he had no idea what was going on but whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

“Can you tell me your full name?”

“Peter Rogers.”

“And how old are you, Peter? When is your birthday?”

Peter looked over at everyone who was watching him so he looked down at his lap. “Um, I’m ten. I just turned ten. I was born on um, August tenth.”

“Alright. And do you know where you were born?”

Peter shut his eyes and tried to think about where he was born. “I don’t-I don’t know. Me and my dad moved to Queens after my mom died when I was um, three I think but I don’t remember.”

He looked up at the officer who had a sad look on her face. She rubbed at Peter’s knee and looked towards the other people in uniforms standing around them and spoke to Peter’s teachers. “We’re going to take it from here now.”

Peter sat up straighter as he watched his teachers gave him a regretful look and then turned to leave into an awaiting car. “W-where are they going? Why can’t I see my dad?”

“It’s going to be okay. You’re going to come with us.” Officer Kate said but Peter shook his head and started to panic. Everyone had left but him and he didn’t know what was going on.

A man walked up to him and lifted him off the ambulance but Peter started to hit his chest weakly and cry out. “No! Where’s my dad?! I want my dad!”

“You have to come with us first.”

Peter was led into the back of a police car with two strange cops that he didn’t know. The whole way to the police station that he was being brought to, he kept thinking about his dad and how worried he must be right now, having not showed up at the school when he was supposed to.

The reassurance by the policeman sitting next to him went unnoticed because Peter didn’t care about being comforted by a strange man right now when all he wanted was the only person he had left in his life, his dad.

The walk into the police station was a complete blur. All Peter remembers is being led into a room that looked like it belonged in a daycare. He was led over to a corner with a desk and two chairs so he sat down in one of them and put his hands in his lap.

After that, everyone left the room, leaving him by himself and Peter hated nothing more than being left by himself.

He looked around the room at all the bright colours but they did help to calm him down and make him feel relaxed.

The next time the door was being opened, Peter looked up to see that another woman was walking towards him, someone he had never seen before.

She placed a brown folder on the desk in front of herself then sat down. Peter watched her carefully.

“Hello Peter. My name is Natasha and I’m a social worker. I know you must be extremely scared and confused right now but I promise you that everything will be explained shortly.” She explained and then turned around to the door being opened and two people walking out wearing white lab coats. “They just need to take a blood sample and a mouth swab from you. It won’t hurt and it’ll be over very quickly.”

Peter unconsciously turned in on himself and watched the two women make their way over to him and set a case on the table. “Hi Peter. I’ll be gentle but I need a mouth swab so can you please open your mouth?”

Peter looked over at the social worker then opened his mouth, wanting this to be over as soon as possible.

Next was the blood sample. His dad always held his hand when he went to the doctors so to not have his dad with him was killing him. He flinched when the needle went in and shut his eyes tightly until it was over.

Just as quickly as it began, it was over and the lab coated people left, leaving Peter alone with Natasha.

“I’m going to explain some stuff to you that you may not understand right now.” She began and then opened up the folder. Peter saw a lot of long worded documents and some pictures. “What I’m about to say will be hard for you to hear.”

Peter nodded his head but he didn’t know why because he didn’t want to hear it.

She began. “Peter, your name isn’t Peter Roger’s because Steve isn’t your father.”

Peter felt his face pale and his heart sped up. “W-what? He is my dad.”

She shook her head sadly, like his teachers had done to him. “He is your kidnapper.”

“No. Steve’s my dad. What are you talking about?” Peter went to stand up but his legs didn’t work so he slumped back down and wiped at the tears falling down his cheeks.

Natasha pulled a picture from the file and placed it in front of him. He wiped at his eyes more and looked down at it. It was a photo of a smiling toddler who must have been at least two or three years old.

“Why are you showing me this?” Peter asked, looking up from the picture.

“This is you. This was taken a week before you went missing just over seven years ago.” The social worker explained but Peter shook his head again in denial.

“No. All-all my baby pictures burned in a house fire when-when my mom died.” Peter explained from what he was told all his life by his dad. Every single picture from the time he was born until he was three were nonexistent because the fire took everything from them.

“Is that what you were told? It explains why you didn't recognize yourself when you were a baby.” She said and Peter pulled the picture back to himself to look at it.

The baby in the picture did look like him. He had big brown eyes and curly chocolate brown hair. He still didn’t want to believe it though. It wasn’t true.

“You’re lying. I want my dad. Please let me see my dad.” Peter felt the tears return so he started wiping them and begging the woman sitting in front of him to let him go back to his dad.

“I’m sorry, Peter. We don’t know where he is.” She told him which had Peter breaking down.

His dad would never just leave him like that. They were all each other had and always promised each other that they would never leave.

“Then-then where am I supposed to-to go?!” Peter asked, brokenky. He had just been told that his whole life was a lie and just dad had kidnapped him.

“When Steve Rogers kidnapped you, you were only three years old so you most likely won’t remember but you have a family that misses you and loves you so much.” Natasha explained slowly to him but Peter was shaking his head. That couldn’t be true.

“No. Stop it.” He weakly begged her.

She didn’t stop. “You have a mother who is a beautiful, loving and intelligent woman whose world ended the day you were ripped away from their lives. You also have an older brother who is six years older than you and a little sister who you've never met before but she wants to meet you.” She paused and looked at him more intently. “You also have a father. Your real father who never stopped searching for you and he’s going to be so happy when he finds out you’re still alive.”

Peter stood up and let out a sob. He walked over to a corner and pushed himself up against the wall, curling into a ball.

The social worker stood up and sat in front of him after a few seconds. “Peter. I’m telling you this because you were lied to your whole life and now you deserve to know the truth.”

“No! You’re lying to me.” Peter cried out and tried to suck in a breath of air.

“Seven years ago, I was put on your case. I got the call saying that you were playing at the park with your parents and older brother and were taken away from them. There were very little leads to go off of and they were all dead ends. Your dad and I stayed up all hours of the night searching for you. Going over old and new leads but nothing. Until now.” Natasha spoke softly to him and even though Peter didn’t want to listen, he couldn’t stop himself.

He stayed silent so she spoke. “I’ve worked for seven years to bring you back to your family and today, I finally get to do that.”

Peter turned away from her so his back was facing her. He laid down and traced the monkey sticker on the wall. “I don’t believe you.”

She didn’t respond. Peter listened as she got up, grabbed some papers and sat back down so she was sitting next to him. “I have some pictures of your family if you want to see them.”

Peter shook his head. “I don’t even know their names.”

“Well… your mother’s name is Pepper. Would you like to see a picture of her?”

As much as Peter didn’t want to, his curiosity got the better of him so he sat up a bit and held his hand out for the picture that was placed on his lap. He looked at it. He tried to remember each and every detail to see if he could gain any memories of her but he couldn’t.

She was really pretty but he didn’t see any resemblance. He traced his finger over her face carefully. “She doesn’t even look like me.”

“Well, that’s because you look exactly like your father. You got everything from him.” Natasha said with a smile. She grabbed a picture out of the file and held it face down. “Would you like to see him?”

Peter nodded his head before he could even think about it. The picture was handed to him so he flipped it over and saw a face that brought a sudden wave of emotions. He started crying and tried to see the man’s face through his tears. “Tony.”

Beside him, Natasha gasped slightly. “Yeah. That’s his name.”

Peter let the picture fall down onto his lap. He didn’t want to see the resemblance but he did. Tony had brown hair with a bit of waves in it as well as the same brown eyes that were a mirroring resemblance. He flipped the picture over.

Natasha slowly grabbed it off of his lap and held one more picture in her hand. “This is a photo of your older brother and younger sister. Although you wouldn’t remember her because you never met her before.”

Brother and sister. The thought ran through his mind again and again. He was an only child. He didn’t have a mom or a brother or sister. It was just him and his dad.

“I don’t want to see it. I just want my dad. Please.” Peter turned his head to look over at Natasha. He didn’t understand why she couldn’t just take him to his dad.

“I’m sorry, Peter. Your dad isn’t going to be seeing you anytime soon.” Natasha told him and Peter let out yet another sob. He tossed the pictures off of his lap and turned back onto his side, facing the wall.

Natasha picked the pictures up and placed them back in the file. She then stood up and left the room, leaving Peter alone with his world shattering all around him.

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Tony placed the grocery bags onto the kitchen island and looked around for Morgan who was carrying the eggs. “Morgan, bring those to me before they break.”

“Eggs! Coming through!” The six year old yelled then placed the eggs into her dad’s hands.

“Thank you, little miss.” Tony placed the eggs on the counter and looked over at Harley and Pepper who were walking in with the rest of the groceries. “I see you two are taking your time.”

Pepper rolled her eyes playfully at him and walked past the phone that was lighting up with missed messages. “Can you check the messages, Tony, while I go to the bathroom.”

Tony went to go over to the phone and press the messages but then Morgan was calling him from the hallway.

“Daddy! There’s two policemen at the door!” Morgan yelled and his heart dropped. No. Nononononono. He didn’t want to hear what they had to say. When two policemen came to your door unexpectedly, that meant no good news was about to follow and his kid that was currently missing might be… no. No.

He walked towards the front door and stopped just beside the hallway. He could see the two police officers standing there but he didn’t want to hear what they had to say.

He shut his eyes and tried to wish that this wasn’t happening. That they could live a life with even the tiniest bit of hope that Peter was still alive and that they would have a chance at seeing his kid again in this lifetime.

Pepper walked down the stairs and stopped once she saw the cops there. “No. Please no.”

“Mr and Mrs. Stark. May we come in and talk to you?” One of the men asked and Tony wanted to slam the door in their faces and tell them to fuck off but he had to know. He knew it was about his kid.

He didn’t say anything but walked over to the door and looked back at Harley who was standing there with a terrified look in his face at the thought that his little brother might possibly be dead. “Harley, take Morgan upstairs.”

Harley did as he was told and then the police walked into the house and shut the door behind them.

Tony couldn’t breathe. He didn’t want to hear it.

“We found your son.” One of the men said and Tony couldn’t move. Pepper fell to the floor and started crying, not knowing if Peter was found dead or alive.

The seconds that passed in between were the longest seconds of their lives. “He’s alive and healthy.”

It was Tony’s turn to break. He covered his face with his hands and cried into them. The thing that had kept them going for the past seven years, praying and hoping for Peter to come back to them one day was finally happening.

“Oh my god.” Tony whispered in disbelief and wiped at his cheeks. “Where- oh my god, where is he?”

“He was living with his kidnapper for seven years. His kidnapper raised him as his own child and that is all we can tell you right now.” The other police officer explained to them.

Pepper stood up and walked over to Tony to cry against him. “How- where was he? How did you find him?”

“He was on a school trip when the bus broke down and everyone’s parents were being called but his.” The officer explained and Tony felt something break inside of him.

Peter was at school. His kid was living a whole life with his kidnapper and he probably had no idea.

“I want to see him now. Take us to him.” Tony demanded because he went seven years without his baby boy and it was time to see him now.