Hero

Tony stripped off his t-shirt to get ready for his son's kindergarten graduation. Apparently it was supposed to be a nice event, and t-shirt and jeans wouldn't cut it. He peered into his closet, trying to choose a button-down shirt to wear when his little graduate bounced into the room.

"Daddy!" Anthony—wearing nothing but the smell of clean and a pair of Scooby Doo underwear as a result of freshly emerging from the shower—jumped into his father's arms. "Are you getting something to wear for my graduation tonight?"

"Sure am, buddy. Trying to pick out what I should wear."

Anthony nodded in understanding. "Mommy's picking out my clothes for me."

As Tony held the kid on his hip while shuffling through his wardrobe, Anthony began running his little fingers gingerly over a few of the scars on Tony's bear chest. After a couple minutes of silent scrutiny, the six-year-old asked curiously, "Daddy, where did you get all these scars?" He moved his fingers to the one on his neck, and as he made contact, Tony felt a slight tightness in his chest. "Like this one. What happened?"

Tony and Michelle had told their son before that his dad had been a Marine at one point and that he'd gained a few marks from his service. They used that to explain the scars when he'd asked. It had settled him mostly... until recently. Their curious little boy had taken to asking more and more questions about Tony's scars and time as a Marine. They both knew it was only a matter of time before vague answers wouldn't satisfy his cravings for insight anymore. But Tony offered one of those simple answers anyway.

"They're from when I was in the Marines. Remember, Anth? When I did military stuff?"

The child continued to press, "I know, but what happened? What made the scar?" He touched Tony's neck again before moving back down to the chest blemishes. "And these... How did it happen? Weren't you wearing a vest?"

Tony looked at his son whose brown eyes had expanded slightly and were penetrating his own. "And you limp when you walk, too. Is that from the Marines, too?" He glanced down at Tony's legs, again at his chest, and then back up at him. "You have a lot of owies, Daddy."

The look on Anthony's face killed Tony. It was like he was suddenly realizing that his dad was covered in injuries, damaged. And that fact seemed to deeply concern him.

Tony set the little one on his bed and sat beside him. "Anth, I told you about it before. I got some hurts when I did training, missions, all that stuff..."

Anthony appeared to contemplate the idea for a minute. Suddenly his face changed, and he looked up at Tony again intently. "B-but, Dad, Mommy has some scars, too. I've seen 'em. They're not so big like yours, though. But where did she get them from?"

Tony sighed and furrowed his brow. He realized this was probably a good time to explain some things—vaguely—about their past. He took a second to map out in his head what exactly he would say and then kissed his son's dark, curly head before starting. "Sweetheart, remember how we told you that me and Mommy worked together a long time ago? before you were born?"

"Mhmm." Anthony nodded his head assuredly. "Mom said you guys did stuff on computers. That's why I'm so good at math, 'cause I have a smart dad." He smiled and poked Tony's chest as he made the comment.

Tony chuckled and scratched his forehead. "Well, you have a very smart mom, too. But working on computers isn't all we did." Anthony continued gazing at him in complete interest. "Your mom and I... We worked for this country to protect people."

The child's face grew even more interested as he took in the information. "Like how? What did you do?"

"Well..." Tony began uncertainly, "We stopped bad guys."

"Oh, like cops?" Anthony's tone lifted.

"Yeah, kind of like that. But we were more like FBI agents."

Anthony's eyes grew wide. "Whoa! Even Mom was one?"

Tony snorted at Anthony's disbelief in the idea that his sweet mother could be involved in law enforcement. Oh, if the kid only knew that his mom was the strongest, most kickass government agent he'd ever known. "Yes, Mom was."

His son's mouth hung open. "Did you have a gun? And catch the bad guys?"

"Sometimes."

"Did ya shoot anybody?" Anthony appeared quite intrigued by the prospect, and he sat up on his knees in the heat of the enthusiasm.

"Well, yeah." Tony tried to find a way to sugarcoat the answer to that, but there was no way around just answering truthfully. "Sometimes we had to shoot the bad guys so they wouldn't do anything bad or hurt anybody."

Anthony gaped in awe. The news didn't seem to bother him, but he was definitely soaking it all in with fascination. "So that's how you got all the scars?"

Tony nodded.

"Did you save people then? Did you save people's lives, Daddy?"

"Yeah," he nodded again, "yeah we did."

"A lot of people?"

"I guess so." Tony scratched his cheek and continued, "I think your mom probably saved more people than I did, though."

The little boy, still grasping all the information, pondered the statement for a minute then spoke again. "But you saved Mommy's life."

Tony's heartbeat stopped for a moment before beginning to pound harder. Where did he get that from? He crinkled his forehead and asked, "What do you mean, buddy? What makes you say that?"

Anthony gazed into his eyes innocently. "I heard her say it before. I heard her say that you saved her life. And she said you're the bravest man in the whole world."

Tony's breath caught in his throat, and tears threatened his eyes. Michelle had said that before? And in front of their kid? They rarely talked about those things in their past, and he never would've expected her to bring it up. But the fact that she had...

The fact engulfed him in emotion. And as he heard the small voice produce his name—the name 'Daddy', no less—again, he realized everything that they almost didn't have. But did.

He relived the day he forsook the rest of the country and saved his wife. He almost lost Michelle that day. Twice. But he got her back safe and perfect. Though he spent months in misery away from her, he never regretted the decision he made to go against protocol to save her—not once. The only thing he regretted was how he had let his life fall apart after that. When he let the country's judgment against him dictate his life and view of himself, he hurt Michelle, and he despised himself for that. Then they almost lost each other by their own stupid choices, but they found each other and re-filled the holes that had been made by life's bullets. And finally they were able to be whole once again, but not before he almost lost her yet another time when he was held hostage and presumed dead. So much they had been through, and they almost didn't make it out; but, they never stopped loving and fighting, and here he was now, explaining to his son how he saved Michelle's life. The whole thing was overwhelming.

"Dad?" He heard the voice say his name again. "So did you, Daddy? Did you really save Mama?"

Tony simply nodded until words finally came. "Yeah... Yeah, honey, I did."

An easy, gentle smile came across Anthony's face, and Tony kissed his forehead. "You're a hero, Dad. Like a real hero!"

Tony was just speechless now. And it took all he had not to cry in front of Anthony. He pressed his lips together and bit the inside of his bottom one in an effort to keep the tears from coming. All those years of doubting himself, those months in prison he was looked down on and considered a traitor to his country, all the torment that came from the decisions he made... All of that and his son saw him as a hero. His little boy called him a hero.

Tony wrapped Anthony in a hug, and the child reciprocated earnestly. "I love you so much, Anth."

"I love you, too," Anthony replied before planting a gentle kiss on Tony's neck scar. "It doesn't hurt anymore, right?"

"No, baby, it doesn't hurt anymore." Tony nuzzled Anthony's head—still choked up—before letting him loose from his arms.

"Good. So what is that one from?"

Tony didn't want to scare the boy, but he took the chance that he'd be brave enough to handle the truth. He was his and Michelle's son, after all. A Dessler-Almeida kid could take anything. "It's from a gunshot."

"Whoa." Anthony's voice remained level, but his mouth dropped for the hundredth time since the conversation started. "That's scary. We're you scared?"

Tony shrugged. "Nah, I was mostly scared that your mom would get too worried."

"Oh. 'Cause you're really brave, huh?" Anthony continued gawking with amazement at the new discoveries. "Later can you tell me some stories about when you got it? And when you got the bad guys and saved Mommy?"

Tony grinned, endeared and relieved that he was fascinated, not freaked out. "Yeah, I'll tell ya about it sometime, sweetheart."

Anthony grew an ear-to-ear smile just as Michelle entered the bedroom. "There ya are, Anth. Here," she flung a pair of khaki pants and a white button-down shirt at him, "put this on."

Anthony spoke as he began slipping on the garments, "Dad told me about when you and him were cops, Mom!"

Michelle looked at Tony with a confused stare, tons of questions flashing across her eyes. "He did?"

Tony nodded to Michelle and approached her with words only she could hear, "We had a little talk. I'll fill you in later."

She looked somewhat unsure, but nodded in agreement. "All right, well, can I leave you two to get ready while I fix my hair?"

"You always have to fix your hair, Mom," Anthony retorted, cackling and rolling his eyes.

Michelle chuckled humorlessly. "Have you seen what my hair looks like in the morning when I don't fix it, Anth?"

Their son nodded.

"Do you want me to go to your graduation like that?"

An overly-exasperated look came over his face, and he shook his head fiercely, provoking amused giggles from both his parents.

"That's what I thought." She disappeared into the bathroom as Tony buttoned his last shirt button.

Anthony turned to him, mostly dressed and holding a miniature tie in his hand. "Can you help me, Dad?"

Tony bent down onto the kid's level and buttoned Anthony's shirt then took the maroon tie from him. "Let me show you how to tie that, little guy." He began tying it around his neck, explaining the steps along the way.

Anthony watched intently, "How did you learn how to do it?"

"Mmm, your mommy taught me how, I think," Tony responded. Though he'd worn ties before he met Michelle, he had never actually known how to tie it himself before she showed him. "Girls are the best at this kind of stuff.

"And the best at hugs," Anthony added. "Mommy gives the best hugs."

Tony giggled and finished the tie job as Michelle re-entered the room. "Yeah, Mommy certainly gives the best hugs." He beamed and winked at Michelle who blushed and smiled at them.

She leaned down and gave Anthony one of her apparently famous hugs. "I love my boys."

Anthony, grinning hugely, squeezed her back as she kissed his cheek. When she stood up and turned her focus elsewhere, Anthony wrapped his arms around Tony's neck and whispered in his ear, "Thank you for saving Mommy."