REMY DECIDED TO GO OFF ON HIS OWN FOR THE DAY. He was sick again, and had too much work to do, but he figured that he'd do something somewhat illegal to try and raise his spirits. He toyed with the thought of inviting Marc, but figured that it wouldn't be in either of their best interests.

He had missed being alone, at least to some extent.

He had talked it over with BUDDY and the two agreed that going back to M&M's World was tacky and repetitive, so he opted to do something a bit more dangerous, while still remaining safe; he didn't want his mom to have to bail him out of jail, that wouldn't be fun.

So he decided to make his way to the museum and mess with some people there. Of course, he wouldn't mess with the exhibits, he wasn't cruel, but generally causing mischief with no real attack on anyone is the kind of mischief he liked to create.

In his mind, pranks were only fun if they were short and did no personal damage to people he didn't know. There were lines no one should cross if they wanted to stay a good person.

He had learned that BUDDY could actually talk to him in a smaller form, in his enclosed space but not in sleep mode, and he decided to take him with him for the first time, test it out and see how it would go.

"Don't do anything dramatic," BUDDY warned as Remy slid into the museum, slipping past the taller people and the too tall security guards.

"Since when am I ever dramatic?" Remy drawled, immediately heading over towards the space exhibits.

BUDDY paused. Then, "Do you actually want a response, I'm not used to rhetorical questions just yet."

"No, I don't," Remy clarified, slipping in and out of certain groups, looking around for something he could use, "Hey, can you, you know, see right now?"

"No," BUDDY replied, "I'm not expanded. You can describe what you see, though."

Remy hummed, looking around. "Well, it's dark, 'cause I'm in the space exhibit. It's kinda cool, I guess, but I think it's mostly just, you know, someone's gonna be talking later on, so...wait. Wait, I have an idea."

"I know what you're thinking, don't do it," BUDDY warned, but the boy was already looking around, looking for a security only door, his heart racing with anticipation.

"Did Tony give you the ability to hack into things?" he asked, weaving in and out of people, grinning madly at the prospects.

"That wasn't his intended purpose, but I do know how, as I was equipped with the ability to download information or distribute it. If you wanted to download music, or if you had dictated an essay to me, I can transfer it onto a document. I've evolved past it, but I don't see the point in being menacing," BUDDY explained, and it truly sounded like he was sighing at this point; with the way he was speaking, Remy had forgotten he was speaking to a robot instead of an actual Australian man.

"This is gonna be fun," Remy said, looking around, "If I could just find the place where they hide the...hey, can you pull up the map of this place and find where they have all the controls and do all the, you know, stuff?"

BUDDY sighed. "I know exactly what you're talking about, and I'm sure I can find it. Do you want me to find you some ways to distract people without hurting them or causing any real damage?"

Remy grinned. "I'm glad we're on the same page, BUDDY."

The robot sighed again. "The feeling isn't mutual."

º º º

"Did you know that someone told Harry to report me because they heard that he, my former patient, and I are friends?"

Tony raised his eyebrow. "That's strange. You know, I looked it up, because I like to think we're friends, and saw that most people see it as unethical, but also it just naturally happens and if it's not harmful then there's no problem."

"Yeah, exactly," Nicky said, "And I never offered my services towards someone I'm friends with, I became friends afterwards, and I don't even really count myself as a friend to say, Diana, because I'm more of a caretaker. We laugh and joke, but primarily I take care of her, and I know of a lot more psychologists and therapists who, without being friends, do more long lasting damage."

"And this connects to me and my relationships how?" Tony asked, and Nicky nodded.

"Yeah, so it connects because you told me you feel as though you can't really trust new people because you're Tony Stark and there's always a catch," Nicky explained, "And there's almost like a code telling you that you can't get close to people because they'll want something from you or you could bring them more harm than good."

"Yeah, that tends to be a problem," he said, thinking to Pepper and why she had wanted to take a break.

"But that shouldn't stop you from letting a natural relationship form," Nicky explained, "And I'm really focused on you specifically at this point. Because you do everything for everyone else—you risk your life, forget your own personal need to help people—so you deserve to form healthy bonds like everyone else."

Tony licked his lips. "But what if it does more harm than good?"

Nicky raised his eyebrow. "But what if it doesn't?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Don't be difficult."

"I'm not," Nicky countered, "Answer me, why should you avoid it entirely just because something bad might happen. You could get sick eating food, do you just stop eating entirely? No. Because good can come out of it. It's all a matter of hoping for the best."

Tony rubbed his temples. "Is life just hoping for the best? 'Cause you have no idea the pressure I have. I can't just hope for the best."

"I know," Nicky said, "That's why I want you to try with this part of your life. When it comes to being an Avenger and Iron Man, you do what you need to. But try to let go, relax, when it comes to this part of your life. Just let it happen, don't micromanage so much that you forget to enjoy your life."

Tony gave him a tight smile. "I'll try."

Nicky nodded. "That's all anyone should ask from you. Because you deserve better, Tony. You really do."

º º º

Birdie was chatting with some of the other attorneys at her firm, all of them sipping coffee and chatting about the engagement of one of the younger men, all of them congratulating him and listening intently to the story of how his wife proposed at their favorite restaurant.

"That is so cute," Jayne gushed, ruffling his hair, "Look at you young people, so cute."

"You and your husband are honestly what I aspire to become," the man said, turning towards the blond, "Truly, you two are still so in love and it's beautiful."

Jayne blushed, pleased and flustered by the comment. "Aw, thank you! That's really sweet of you to say."

The man turned to Birdie, and she panicked, hoping he wouldn't ask her about her relationships or anything related to her previous marriage or Tony, but he must have seen her panic, because he merely smiled before turning to speak to someone else.

Finally, a lawyer with some concept of respect.

But he was one in a million.

"So how's it going with Tony Stark?" another man asked, "Are you two in a relationship, or are you just good friends with him?"

She opened and closed her mouth. "I don't...know? I think we're more than good friends, but we've never truly done anything physical in the past...eleven-twelve years?"

"Didn't you kiss at my New Year's Eve party?" Jayne asked, taking a long sip of her coffee afterwards.

Birdie stammered, then shrugged. "If I'm being completely honest, I'm not sure what that kiss meant, but it wasn't as romantically fueled as it sounds."

The others all scoffed and hemmed and hawed, making fun of her in a light teasing way, and she tried to shake them off, trying to argue only for them to raise their voices, all of them laughing. It was an easy conversation, and she appreciated that; she hadn't been able to have much of those in the time she was here.

Before she could say anything else, her phone rang and she frowned when she saw a call from Captain Stacy. "What's wrong?"

"Hey, Elizabeth," the man said, "I have your son with me down at the station, he got into a bit of trouble at the museum, accidentally knocked out a security guard and messed with some of the equipment. He's smart to have mentioned your name to one of my officers, but you're going to need to come down and sort this out."

Birdie cursed furiously, starting for her office. "I'll be right there. Jayne!"

"Yeah?" the blonde called, watching her run.

"Cover for me, Remy's been arrested," she sighed, coming back out of her office with her purse, rummaging for her keys as she made her way towards the exit.

"What?" Jayne exclaimed, the others all assenting, "Remy?"

Birdie sighed, turning to look at her. "I want to say I told you so."

º º º

Tony and Birdie stared down at Remy with varying looks of disappointment. Tony, surprisingly, looked incredibly disappointed, especially for a man who had hacked into the Pentagon as a teenager on a dare from one of his college friends.

"They have BUDDY," was the first thing Remy said, and was most likely the main reason why his eyes were red and cheeks tear stained.

Tony sighed, looking over at the officers. "I'll see what I can do. Talk to your mother. Officers, hi—"

As Tony went to go save BUDDY from evidence, Birdie gave Remy an even stronger stare, too shocked and upset to actually find it within herself to try and speak, her mind having gone blank the minute she found him sitting there.

"I didn't mean to hurt him, mom, I swear," Remy sniffed, "I just wanted to have some fun, I don't like hurting people, I just wanted to play that one song instead of the presentation they have set up, I wasn't gonna hurt anyone."

Birdie sighed, rubbing her temples. "You can't keep being this impulsive, Remy. I know you tend to think things through and you want to be in control of the situation, I'm the same way, but you also talk back and do things without really thinking. Truly thinking. You need to work on that."

"I just wanted to have some fun, I wasn't planning on hurting anyone," Remy mumbled, staring at his hands.

"I know, but the fact of the matter is, you did, and you need to really think about how that happened," Birdie said, and she was dealing with this much better than she had expected.

"Are you mad?" Remy asked, finally looking up at her.

She sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No...I'm just—I'm scared."

He frowned. "Of me?" She opened her mouth to disagree, but he shook his head. "I know you're scared of me, mom, I'm not stupid."

She opened her mouth, but closed it, just choosing to nod. "Of course you're not stupid."

After a few minutes of silence, Remy spoke, "I'll work on this impulse control thing, or whatever, if you quit being so scared of me. I'm eleven, I'm not that scary."

She laughed at that, shaking her head and pulling him into a hug, still standing, Remy resting his head against her stomach as she smoothed down his hair. "Okay, baby. Okay."

"Okay," Tony said, returning to them, carrying all of Remy's things, "So we're all sorted out, Remy you're off with a warning, though this is going on your record, but it's nothing major. Birdie, what's the verdict, is he grounded?"

She looked down at him, pursing her lips. "One week, no video games, and you're not allowed to use BUDDY outside until you can prove that you won't abuse the power."

"That sounds good to me," Remy said, jumping to his feet and grabbing his things from Tony, racing off towards the car parked outside, calling a goodbye to the officers who had taken him in, sticking his middle finger out to them as he went.

"Remy!" Birdie shouted, but he was already out of the precinct by the time she called. She shook her head, turning to look at Tony. "What do we do with him?"

The man shrugged, giving her a sympathetic smile. "We just hope for the best."

She rolled her eyes, the two making their way to the car where Remy was already inside, BUDDY sitting next to him. "My son is a good boy, not a criminal."

"Of course he is," Tony said, climbing into the passenger seat, which was a feat in itself for him, "He's your kid."

"Oh, so when I screw up, I'm her kid, but if I do something smart, I'm your kid," Remy drawled, "You don't get to choose, Tony, I'm either your kid or I'm not, you take everything, you don't get to choose."

Tony turned around to look at him. "You're her kid."

Everyone burst out laughing, from Tony to the BUDDY, the whole family just laughed, laughed at the absurdity of the circumstances, of their day, of their lives. Laughed, because there wasn't really much else they could do.

Laughed because they could just hope for the best.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Before I even say anything else, please give me some ideas for the deleted scenes. I have some ideas already, but I'd like a few more, I can't guarantee that I'll write it, but I will keep them in mind.

So that conversation about ethics between Tony and Nicky was literally me venting about how my counselor wanted me to report my psychologist because he tried to explain his situation when he had to go on leave, so I'm sorry if it confused you, but I googled it all and a lot of sources say it's unethical, but for reasons that don't pertain to Nicky really, so we're all Gucci.

Also, if you look REALLY CLOSELY, you'll see a lot of development. Like, just look really close. You'll catch it.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!