Chapter Text
"Uncle Jack!" Spencer screamed, and as soon as he walked in the boy was on him, hugging him happily. "I thought you were coming tomorrow!" He exclaimed.
"Can't I come today too?" Jack answered with a smile ruffling his hair, and Spencer nodded excited. "You can come every day you want!"
They were going to spend the next day together like every other Saturday, Jack wanting to give Tony a break from parenting and Spencer a day where he could be happy and forget about everything else. But first he had to get Tony's approval for what he had planned.
"Spencer, why don't you go outside for a moment?" Jack asked, and Spencer's smile fell. "Why can't I stay in here with you?"
Jack smiled. "Because we want to talk about what you and I are going to do tomorrow, and since it's a surprise you can't hear about it." He confessed.
"Oh." Spencer nodded. "Okay!"
Tony sighed relieved when he ran outside and went playing in the backyard. He was glad his son could do as he was told, hadn't inherited his own stubbornness.
"Hey Jack." He finally greeted his friend, half smiling as Jack wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "How are you holding up today?" Jack asked, and Tony sighed. "Well you know, it's been hard, but we're both doing our best." Jack nodded, and for a moment there was silence between them.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Tony asked after a moment, and Jack's face lit up again at the thought of what he had planned for the day after.
"It's about tomorrow, the place where I wanted to take Spencer. I know we said no weapons, but..." Jack started, and Tony glared at him. He had set that rule up even before his son was born, determined to keep him away from toy guns and stuff like that. It might have seemed a little overly protective, but Tony didn't want his son to develop a dangerous fascination for violence, wanted him to stay as far away from it as possible.
"What is it?" He asked warily. "Laser tag?" He tried to guess, and didn't know whether or not to be relieved when Jack shook his head.
"It's archery." He confessed. "There's this high rope adventure park that also has an area where someone, professionals I assure you, will show us how to hit a target and then we'll try on our own, and I swear to you it's completely safe."
"I just thought it'd be fun." He finished, looking at his friend almost apologetic.
Tony nodded, his mind suddenly elsewhere. "You know, Michelle used to do archery." He told Jack, a nostalgic smile back on his face.
"Oh," Jack said, surprised, "I didn't know." He would have said nothing otherwise.
Tony nodded. "I didn't expect you to, she never really talked about it much."
He remembered the day he had found out, how much of a surprise it had been. They were finally moving in together, and as he was helping Michelle decide what to keep and what to throw away he had found a carton box in a cupboard. "Michelle?" He had called out, curious. "What's in there?"
"Oh, that's just a bunch of stuff from when I moved out of my parents' house that I never found a spot for." She had confessed with a smile, and oh how Tony missed that smile. "Go ahead and take a look if you want to, I don't mind."
He had done that, and between books, souvenirs, and some old photo albums, he had found three little brass trophies. "What were these for?" He had asked turning to her, and Michelle had blushed. "Oh, those. They're from a local archery club I used to go to when I was young." She had confessed.
"Here, let me show you." She had said, leafing through one of those albums until she found what she had been searching for.
She mustn't have been older than 11 in the photos she had been showing him, and Tony had smiled at seeing her holding a bow and arrows, smiling happily under her frizzy curls.
"Show me something more." He had pleaded after having seen some more photos, and Michelle had agreed less reluctantly than he had expected her to. They had moved to the couch then, boxes still all over the place, some fuller than others, and they had taken a break from the stressful moving to go through Michelle's childhood photos.
"Fuck, I miss her so much." He confessed out loud, and Jack sighed, not sure about what to say to comfort him.
"Hey, come here now." He said in the end, holding his trembling and almost sobbing friend in his arms. "I'm sure she's fine. She'll be back, Tony." He tried to reassure him, but Tony wasn't having it. "You can't know that..." He pointed out, but Jack shook his head. "I can. She's a great agent, and she'll come back without a scratch, and she'll come back soon."
Michelle had left on a CTU mission almost a month before, one last mission she had assured Tony. They nearly had a fight over it.
"You're never going to stop!" He had accused her, finally breaking down after having argued for so long, and admitting his greatest fear. "It will always be for a good cause for you, and good cause after good cause one day we're going to lose you to the job!"
Michelle had understood his fear, but had shaken her head, still been determined to go through with it. "Matti is just a boy." She had reminded Tony, talking about the son of a European diplomat that had been captured by a terrorist group that they would have to find and rescue in said mission. "What if it was Spencer? What if it was our son in the hands of those people?"
"Then promise me, Michelle." Tony had pleaded, begged. "The last mission."
Michelle had nodded then, sighing. They had been talking about leaving CTU for a while by then, and it was something they had realized they both wanted, they both needed. "After this I'll quit too, I promise."
Tony had sighed, resigned. "Alright then."
Michelle had seen the sadness in his eyes and had tried her best to reassure him. "I'll call as much as I can."
Tony had nodded, but he had been in field operations in the past and he knew it wouldn't have been often, wouldn't have been enough for him and their son.
As he had predicted it had been nine days since their last rushed phone call, and three without receiving any update.
Tony worried tremendously, and never knew what to tell Spencer when he asked why he couldn't call mommy to tell her about her day.
It had taken a toll on both of them, and Tony was sure they would have been doing even worse if it hadn't been for Jack.
"Thanks." He told his friend as they let go of each other, and there was no need for other words, the emotion in Tony's voice enough to let Jack know all the gratitude behind it.
After having assured Jack that his plan for the next day was fine and thanking him once again for spending time with Spencer, they joined the boy in the backyard and Tony loved seeing a smile on his son's face as they played with him, the sight almost making him forget all his fears.
That evening Jack stayed for dinner and he made his son his favorite food -a tuna sandwich and a lemon popsicle afterward- and on Spencer's request they watched the national geographic channel while they ate on the couch, and it was a nice evening.
Jack had left soon after insisting to wash the dishes, and when he finally went to his room after having tucked Spencer in and having kissed him goodnight, Tony was alone with his thoughts and worries, and his face turned to the picture of their wedding day he kept on his nightstand.
"You better come back soon." He said as he caressed Michelle's image. "Cause I'm no good at this whole single parent thing, and I don't want to learn how to live without you."
"Daddy?" Suddenly came Spencer's voice from the side of his bed, and Tony tried to compose himself but there was no fooling his son. "Are you crying?"
Tony sighed. "Yeah." He admitted, and made some space beside him so that Spencer could join him on the bed.
"Why are you sad?" He asked once he was sitting beside him, and Tony sighed, not knowing how to explain it to his son without scaring him.
"I miss mommy." He decided to say in the end, and Spencer nodded. "I miss her too." He admitted, his voice saddening. "But she'll be back soon, right?" He asked, and the hint of doubt in his voice nearly broke Tony's heart.
"Yes, she will. Just like she promised." Tony told him, and he wished he could believe himself.
After having smiled reassured, Spencer yawned, his eyes closing and his hand in front of his mouth. "Can I sleep here with you, daddy?" He pleaded, and Tony smiled in a lately rare moment of genuine happiness. "Of course." He replied, and Spencer curled up against his chest.
"Love you daddy." He mumbled sleepily and Tony felt his heart warming up, holding on tighter to the little body pressed against his.
"I love you too."