A Time-Travel Idea I Can't Get Out Of My Head

A Time-Travel idea I can't get out of my head

Before he can think more on it, before he can open his mouth to ask Carol what she would do if she woke up four decades younger-- a tiny voice calls out, clear and eager.

“Unc’a Mav!”

Pete’s heart stops in his chest, his breath catching painfully in his throat. A small form appears at the end of the hallway, sleepy and stumbling, but instantly recognizable. A toddler in his pajamas, with sleepy eyes that snap wide awake when they land on Pete.

Bradley.

Without thinking, Pete’s legs give out beneath him. He falls to his knees in an instant, his hands reaching out, and without hesitation, Bradley throws himself at him. The weight of the little boy in his arms is like a spark to his soul. The way Bradley clings to him, his small arms wrapping around Pete’s neck, is so familiar it nearly knocks the breath out of him.

“Oh, Baby Goose,” Pete chokes out, his voice raw with emotion he hasn’t felt in a long time. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Bradley’s small body wiggles in his embrace, giggling.

Pete holds him so tightly, afraid that if he lets go, this moment will slip away, that this little boy—the one who’s still innocent, still whole—will disappear.

This is a Bradley who he didn’t lose. A Bradley who hadn’t stopped talking to him at 18, who hadn’t shut him out as he grew older. A Bradley who didn’t grow up without him.

Pete kisses the top of his head, his tears wetting the little boy’s messy hair, and he pulls him closer. Bradley doesn’t even notice the tears in his eyes, too busy wrapping his arms tighter around Pete’s neck.

This was it. The one thing he never thought he could have again. The one thing that had slipped through his fingers so painfully—but now, now it’s here. And Pete can’t let it go.

“I’m here, Baby Goose,” Pete whispers, his voice shaking.

Damn it I'm going to write an entire fic on this, aren't I