TONY DIDN'T REALIZE KIDS COULD BE SO TALKATIVE. He stared down at the boy—he couldn't tell if he was five or fifteen, he seemed to be in the middle of that somewhere—who was still holding his hand in the middle of the sidewalk, talking faster than even he could.

"Kid, where's your mom?" Tony interrupted, holding up his free hand, still unsure why he wasn't pulling away; maybe it was the fact that the kid was out and about on his own and he didn't want to be responsible for something bad happening to him.

The boy—Remy, he had called himself—rolled his eyes, sighing. "Like I just said, she's sleeping right now, she's a lawyer. My babysitter is supposed to pick me up and take me home, but she's gone, so can you take me home?"

"Why did your babysitter leave?" Tony asked, frowning down at the boy, trying to understand why he had just approached a random stranger, asking them to walk him home.

"I told her my mom was picking me up," he said, shrugging, and it immediately occurred to Tony that maybe this boy wasn't as naive as he expected him to be.

"When did you tell her that?" he asked slowly, now more unnerved by the kid than he had been originally.

"When I saw you walking by," he replied, "Now, c'mon, I wanna get my homework done." With a sharp tug, he began to walk, Tony having no choice but to accompany him, wondering if he still had the chance to call Happy while on the move.

"So how old are you?" Remy asked, never letting go of his hand, pausing at the crosswalk, despite the people next to them who just continued to walk, paying them no mind.

"How old are you?" Tony countered, barely waiting a moment to start walking once the light turned, now his turn to tug the boy forward, wanting to be rid of the problem as soon as possible.

"I'm eleven," he answered smoothly, though he didn't seem too pleased with the attention being placed on him, "Now, how old are you?"

Before Tony could answer, there was a sharp shout of, "Remy!" which caused the young boy to sigh and let go of Tony's hand, turning on his heel to cross his arms up at the girl who was barreling towards them.

"Your mom just called me to make sure I was picking you up, what were you thinking?" she hissed, tugging him away from Tony, pausing briefly when she realized who he was.

"I won't tell her that you just believed me if you don't tell her about this," Remy said quickly, grabbing her arm, forcing her to look at him. It was almost comical, the way the young boy had such a commanding presence, despite being so small.

The babysitter chewed on her lip, glancing between Remy and Tony, finally deciding that she didn't want to get on the bad side of Iron Man when she said, "Okay. Fine. But you're going to suggest that she give me a raise."

Remy sighed as she pulled him away, looking over his shoulder and waving with his free hand. "See you, later!"

Tony raised a hand in goodbye, glancing at it before stuffing it into his pocket, wondering what he had just been coerced into.

Stiffly he pulled out his phone, texting Happy to come pick him up.

To say that encounter was strange was an understatement. Brief, but strange.

º º º

If Remy's feet could touch the ground, he would be tapping his foot. He was chewing on his pen, a habit that everyone and their mother had tried and failed to stop. He knew he should have, as it seemed to get him too upset, gnawing until his teeth hurt, but it was impossible to stop.

He kept glancing towards the clock, waiting for it to hit three o'clock and let him leave. It Thursday and his mother was supposed to pick him up, which was a small bump in his plans.

He refrained from pulling out the plan which he had practically memorized by that point. He wasn't sure how accurate it even was, last time could have been a fluke.

But the man had been consistent in his visits to that one building for a good week, so maybe he wouldn't change.

"Remy, please focus," his teacher called out, grabbing his attention.

He nodded simply and tapped his fingers against the table, wishing that he hadn't thrown away his medicine instead of taking it; he just hated having to swallow his pills.

By the time the bell finally rang, Remy was practically vibrating in his seat, his pen ruined and his teeth hurting. He would have been the first to leave if it hadn't been for his teacher stopping him.

"Yes, Ms. Kimberly?" he asked, trudging up to her desk, trying not to seem too antsy.

"Remy, do I need to have another talk with your mother?" she asked, looking at him concerned, "Because you've had some trouble focusing and maybe we can talk to the counselor about switching you to—"

"I don't need different classes," he interrupted, frowning, "I'm fine, I just forgot to take my medicine today, don't call my mom."

"I'm worried about you is all," she said, wincing at the mention of his pills; she wasn't supposed to know anything about his diagnosis, as there was no need for the school to know anything other than he has something, but he and his mother figured that it would be easier to explain since Remy vehemently opposed any accommodations.

"Well, thanks, but I'm fine. See you tomorrow." With that, he turned on his heel and ran out of the school, hoping that he wouldn't be too late.

As he skidded into the front of the school, he caught sight of the man passing by the fence, glancing into the school curiously, as if looking for someone.

Remy's heart leapt at the idea that maybe he was looking for him. Maybe he was right.

He looked around, grinning when he saw the yard person still held up at her usual position, not paying any attention; he still had a chance. Running as fast as he could, he slipped out of the gate, barreling towards the man much like how he had two days before.

Instead of crashing him again, though, he was caught at the last second, the man catching his footing and steadying the both of them. 

"Rain, again?" Tony asked, and Remy couldn't help but grin up at him.

"Yup!" he chirped, reaching for hand to tug him away, but the man held it away.

"What're you playing, kid?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, and Remy frowned; this wasn't how it was supposed to go.

"Look, I already broke the rules by running out here, so could you at least pretend to walk me home?" he asked, holding out his hand and wiggling his fingers, unwilling to take no for an answer.

"Fine," Tony grumbled, but if he was being honest, he wanted to see what this kid had up his sleeves; it was no doubt he planned everything, and it had worked twice now.

"So you're probably not a virgin, right?"

Remy watched as the man tripped over a shift in the sidewalk, raising an eyebrow. Still holding onto his hand, he continued to walk, barely letting him breathe and process the question.

"I'll take that as a yes. Okay, approximately how many women have you slept with and were any around late December to early January?"

Tony came to a sharp halt, glaring down at the boy. "Okay, kid, what are you trying to pull?"

"I'm just asking," Remy said, never letting go of the man's hand, frowning when he tried to pull away, "Hey, I'm small, you can't just let go of me."

"Yes, I can," Tony said, "I'm gonna let you go and take you back to your school, okay?"

Remy frowned, scratching the back of his neck; this wasn't how this was supposed to go. "Can you just take me the long way round?"

Tony scoffed, shaking his head as he tugged him back the way they came. "No."

"Please!" Remy cried, scratching his neck so harshly that he left harsh red lines on his tan skin.

Tony paused, turning to look at him, confused and dismissive, at first, but his expression quickly formed into one of concern. The kid looked more upset than he was expecting; not tantrum upset, but desperate, breakdown upset.

"Fine," he said, sighing as he held out his hand, letting the boy take it and pull him in the opposite direction.

To his surprise, he wasn't bombarded by another question, not at first at least.

Glancing out of his peripheral vision, Tony saw that he was just walking, taking deep breaths to calm himself down, looking almost ashamed of himself.

"You get in trouble with your mom, kid?" Tony asked, inwardly sighing when he saw the boy's lower lip tremble.

Remy shook his head, rolling back his shoulders. "No. Stacy's kinda desperate for money, so I told her I'd mention something to my mom and she shut up."

Tony raised an eyebrow at the boy's attitude. "You got a lot of money?"

Remy scoffed. "No, not really. Not since Mark left us to live on a single income and—" he stopped himself, feet ceasing their steady rhythm; he wasn't supposed to be the one talking.

He looked up at Tony, shaking his head. "Where were you on December of 2004?"

Tony shrugged, barely even thinking. "Somewhere."

Remy sighed; this man was not as cooperative as he had hoped. "Okay, well...are you seeing anyone?"

Tony rolled his eyes, but answered, "No, I'm not."

Remy didn't know how to respond to that, but at least he had gotten a response. "Do you only come here on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays?"

Tony pulled his hand out of the boy's grip and stared down at him, suspicious and on edge. "How did—?"

"I notice things," Remy interrupted, reaching for his hand, jumping when he pulled it out of his reach, above his head. "Come on..." he whined, trying to jump, but much too small.

"Not until you tell me what you want," Tony said, firm and commanding as he shoved his hands into his pockets, effectively keeping them from the boy's reach.

Remy puffed out his cheeks in annoyance, hands on his hips. "I can't tell you yet."

Tony raised an eyebrow, looking around. "Did someone send you—"

"Why would someone send me?" Remy demanded, motioning to his small frame, "I'm practically useless. I mean, I guess that could be used as a way for me to seem vulnerable, but would someone want to risk that? Well, maybe, and it would be pretty smart..."

As the small boy mumbled to himself, Tony looked around. They were at the corner of the school, in view of the other students being picked up, and he futilely hoped that his parent would find him and take him away. But there was something about the kid that was just too eccentric and unpredictable to be bait, so he relaxed, but only partly.

"—you're pretty short, does that affect your day to day as a respected man in society?"

Tony broke out of his reverie to find the boy standing on his tiptoes, sizing him up; that wasn't the most surprising thing that had happened that day, unfortunately.

"It could, but I'm rich and don't go out a lot," Tony said, almost jumping back at the boy's laugh.

It was a harsh sound, almost forced, loud and powerful for someone of his size. But there seemed to be a heart to it, even if it sounded unused. It was alarming, but not the strangest thing he'd ever heard.

"So anyways," Remy said, reaching out to grab Tony's hand again, "Do you think that—"

Before the boy could finish, there was the sound of the boy's name being called from the front of the school. Hissing the middle school equivalent of a curse, Remy shoved Tony backwards, hiding him behind the corner, running towards his mother who was staring at him with a mix of shock and relief.

"I'll see you later!" the boy called over his shoulder, making sure Tony heard before hugging his mother, tugging her away quickly before she could see the man stumble back towards the corner.

"What's going on, why were you outside?" Birdie demanded, trying to see what her son had pushed away, yelping as he dragged her to their car, his desperation giving him the strength he needed.

"I was doing stuff," he replied flippantly, throwing himself into the front seat which he was barely allowed to sit in. "Let's go, Aunt Jayne's coming from dinner, right?"

"Yes," Birdie said, buckling up but not pulling out her keys, "But we aren't moving until you tell me why you decided to sneak out of the school."

"I wasn't sneaking out, I just made it easier for you," he argued, crossing his arms, trying to keep his tone as light as possible.

She pursed her lips, tapping her fingers against the wheel. "Remy, are you trying to make life harder for me?"

"No!" he cried, kicking the dashboard as he turned to stare at her, scratching at his neck, more upset at her accusation than her prying, "Who do you think I—What makes you think I would—I'm trying to make your life easier!"

"Yeah, how is that?" she asked, as calm as always, which always succeeded in winning her every battle against her son.

"Because I'm trying to find my real dad!"

Birdie's entire body went cold. Her bones froze and her blood turned to ice as she stared at the street in front of her, hands shaking as she struggled to stay strong in front of the only thing she had that kept her going. She tried to breathe, but her lungs had withered from the frost quickly spreading throughout her worn, tired frame.

It was then that Birdie Walsh knew her life was over.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

EDIT JULY 16, 2018: This chapter was originally posted on January 2, 2018, but I updated this for timeline errors

What was this ending even, Tisha, I mean come on. But whatever, here is Remy and Tony awkward bonding time featuring Birdie who needs a break. Which she will be getting next chapter, to some extent, it's gonna be wild. Jayne will be in that chapter, so we get to see cool aunt again.

I know this was kind of an odd and rushed jumping in point to Remy and Tony's relationship, but really it hasn't even started yet, this was just Remy trying to see if his plan would work. The boy is pretty smart, this'll be interesting.

That's all I have to say so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!