IT WAS LIKE A TWISTED HALLMARK MOVIE. By the time they had ushered themselves inside and were free from prying eyes, Birdie had put up a carefully placed facade. She turned and she was smiling; not a real smile, but a pleasant one. In a too sweet voice she insisted that Tony stay for dinner so that they would all be able to catch up, as long as he didn't have any other set affairs.

He had none and her tone made it so he didn't think to fake one. He had to see this through, if only to ease his own conscience.

Remy had waited patiently in the living room, hiding on the couch and peering over the top of it, too afraid to speak out. When the two adults turned to look at him, he ducked down, cursing himself for not planning on Stacey noticing he was gone and for her to get the email about the ticket so early; he should have deleted it, but there wasn't enough time.

"Remy, why don't you take, um, Mr. Stark to your room," Birdie said softly, her eyes only leaving the man in front of her for a second, as if looking away for too long would cause him to disappear, "I'll get started on dinner. I'm sure you have a lot you want to show him."

Tony was vaguely aware of the boy standing up from the couch, carefully making his way over and taking his hand, his touch feather light, leading him towards the hallway. His eyes never did leave Birdie, his mind searching for how he knew her; there was something that seemed so familiar and yet so different.

"I'm sorry I brought you here," Remy mumbled, stepping to the side to let the man in, holding the door open before closing it softly, "That really wasn't the plan."

"What was the plan?" Tony asked, moving to sit down on his small bed, pointing towards the window, "You gonna fix that?"

"Oh, yeah," Remy said softly, moving towards the window, frowning as he picked up all the pieces. "Hi, BUDDY, I'm back."

"Welcome home, Remy, did you have fun sneaking out?" the Australian voice asked, causing Tony to snort.

"Yeah, BUDDY, it was alright, thanks," Remy replied, before turning to Tony, his voice soft, "What's so funny?"

The man shrugged, still smiling. "You didn't like the default voice?"

Remy laughed shortly, shrugging as well. "I mean, mom set it up for her originally, so we had to choose one already. But we looked at your default kid one when she gave him to me and...I don't know, it sounds weird talking to a kid."

"I had designed that so you'd feel more comfortable talking to him. Guess it doesn't work for everyone," Tony explained, and Remy shook his head, eyes wide.

"No, it's not that, it's just I don't have friends, so talking to a kid made me feel really weird. Like I had to talk to a robot who pretended to be my classmate," he sighed, frowning as he went about gathering all the pieces of his window, asking BUDDY to pull up the old website they had looked at before he left.

"Wow, you're probably the only person I've met that uses BUDDY like this," Tony commented, surprised by the conversation-like rapport the AI and the boy had, "It usually takes a few months before BUDDY is able to pick up linguistic mannerisms and have full on conversations."

"We're friends, Mr. Stark," BUDDY said, and Tony was terrified.

"I forgot that I programmed them to recognize me," the man sighed, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling, taking deep breaths, "That was terrifying."

Remy giggled as he screwed in the bolts back into place. "Is the teenage default a teenage voice? Whose voice did you even use?"

"Mine," he replied, sitting up again, "I don't want to bore you with the details, but they're all my voices. Pretty great, right?"

"Yeah!" the boy exclaimed, calming down a moment later, "Yeah, it's really great. Hey, BUDDY, can you pull up mom's search history?"

There was a short pause before the AI spoke, in the same Australian accent that had Tony snickering. "Sorry, Remy, I don't think I should show you mom's search history, that's a breach of information."

The boy sighed, but nodded. "I get it. I guess." He sighed as he finished up his work on the window. "Do you want a snack or something?" He asked that to Tony, turning around to look at him, fiddling with the screwdriver in his hand.

"No, your mom is making dinner," he replied, motioning towards the door, "Are you okay, kid?"

Remy shrugged, looking much smaller than Tony had ever seen him. His height didn't change, but his demeanor did, he wasn't as commanding as before. If anything, he was passive, almost afraid, embarrassed. Whatever had gotten Birdie to calm down had also changed Remy, and it wasn't something Tony had expected.

"Are you okay?" Tony repeated, patting the space next to him, despite it being the boy's bed.

Remy hopped down from his desk and made his way over to the bed, sitting down with his hands in his lap, folding in on himself. Tony leaned back on his hands, just sitting next to him, waiting until the boy would speak; if he had gathered anything from the few times he'd met him, it was that the boy didn't take silence very well.

"I don't like my mom getting mad," he finally said with a sigh. Tony turned his head to look at him, patiently waiting. Remy went on, "She doesn't get mad at me a lot, but she's really sad. All the time. Aunt Jayne knows it too, but they work together and mom doesn't think she's good enough for the work. She used to tell Mark that all the time."

"Is Mark your dad?" Tony asked, and Remy stiffened, eyes darting around the room as he thought.

"No..." he said carefully, "Not anymore. Not ever. Well, the lady my mom made me see when he first left us tried to tell me that he's still my dad, but he's not, because if he was, he'd actually still want to see me."

"He just left you and your mom?" Tony asked, frowning, "Just left the city?"

"No, he's still here," Remy huffed, "He's the reason why we can't find a cheaper place to stay, he wants us to keep living in Manhattan. He kicked us out of our brownstone, he was supposed to help pay for us to stay there, but he just stopped caring. Didn't even come to my birthday party."

"You had a party?" Tony asked, shifting the topic, hoping the boy would smile, "What did you do?"

"Well, mom let my real aunt take me and my cousin to Disneyworld, but we celebrated with my grandparents over at their place," he explained, "We didn't do much then, not a lot of our family lives here and I don't have any friends, but it was still fun. Disney was fun too, Ethan with was me."

Tony nodded, pointing over towards one of his shelves where a series of LEGO sets were sitting, displayed in a row. "Did you build those?"

Remy nodded, standing up and walking over towards them. "Uh-huh. I built some with Aunt Jayne, but really I just like working on them alone, everyone else always tries to do it different. I like following the instructions, but Mark hated instructions, he was really annoying like that, Mom always complained about it. I never got it because I'm no good at building stuff myself, I'm not smart like that."

"Following instructions doesn't mean you're not smart," Tony said, standing up and grabbing the coloring book he caught sight of on the shelf below the displays, "Like a coloring book, you know? You color inside the lines or else it doesn't look right. You're not stupid for doing that."

"Yeah, but that's because you already know what to do. Building stuff is different," Remy argued, taking the book from him and opening to a new page, "I thought this would be fun, but it's not, there's way too much to do, I can't even finish a picture."

"I can help you," Tony offered, moving to sit on the ground, stretching out his legs.

Remy eyed him warily, not daring to look too excited. "Really?"

Tony nodded, looking around as nonchalantly as possible. "Yeah, if you have anything to color with. I might be Tony Stark, but I don't just have crayons lying around."

Remy walked towards his desk and pulled out a box filled with well kept colored pencils. "Crayons are harder to color with, they don't look as nice. I don't like coloring them hard. I also like to outline the section before I color it."

Tony nodded solemnly, grabbing a red colored pencil. "Just tell me if I'm doing something wrong." He bent his head and started to work, so focused on making sure he colored the section correctly that he didn't notice the way the boy was smiling at him, looking at him as if he hung the moon.

º º º

Dinner was a quiet affair. Birdie had called them into the dining room around six, knocking on Remy's door before opening it, shocked to find her son nearly finished with one of the larger spreads in the coloring book she had gotten for him, Tony Stark helping him along the way; her son never let people help him with his coloring, he always complained that it looked uneven by the end of it.

"Dinner's ready," she had said softly, too shocked to raise her voice any more than that. She gave Tony a polite smile when he raised his head to look at her, and forced herself not to look away when he sent her one back.

They had taken their seats easily, Tony pausing briefly, unsure of where to sit, before Remy tugged out the chair at the head of the table, patting the seat. He smiled at him, before smiling at Birdie, thanking her for letting him stay for dinner and making the food, to which she had shrugged and said it was no problem at all and not to thank her.

"So, what have you been up to recently, Mr. Stark?" Birdie asked, looking up from her food, never stopping her movements, "A busy man like yourself, I'm sure you get up to a lot."

Remy ducked his head, cutting up his food with more force, looking as guilty as he had when he first led Tony to his room. Tony glanced at him briefly, before turning back to Birdie, thinking for a moment. "I'm just trying to take it slow. You know, after all that's happened, I'm just trying to figure out what's most important."

"I heard you recently got engaged to Pepper Potts, congratulations," she said, nodding and smiling, "That was right after the incident at Coney Island, yes? My firm worked with some people."

He cleared his throat, shaking his head, but Remy spoke up before he could. "That was just a cover, mom. They came out with an announcement later, that was just for publicity."

"Oh," she said, frowning slightly, "I'm sorry, I haven't had a chance to really keep up with much news."

"It's alright," he said, forcing himself to smile, "No harm done. No, Pepper is too busy running Stark Industries, she just wants to focus on herself for right now."

"I'm sure it'll all work itself out," Birdie said, turning back to her food, "Time always sorts everything out."

They descended back into silence, the only sounds being the cutlery hitting the plates, but then Tony spoke after Remy's fidgeting began to shake the table. "So, Remy here tells me you're a lawyer, and you mentioned something about a firm, where did you go to school?"

She took a sip of water, clearing her throat. "I got my degree online at Heritage eight years ago," she explained, "I had quit my job as a nurse and I had to take care of Remy, but I made it. Did the mandatory three years of law school, got my BA in two years, and I've been working for three."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "That's very impressive, all while taking care of him." He turned and made a face towards Remy who laughed into his drink, coughing to try and hide it.

Birdie let herself smile then. A real smile, watching the scene with a warmed heart, catching herself the minute Tony looked back at her. She cleared her throat and went back to her food, the rest of the time spent for them finishing, Remy now much more relaxed than he had been.

Just as the boy finished and was about to speak, she stepped in. "Remy, can you go to your room for a bit, I need to talk to Mr. Stark for just a moment."

He frowned, standing up. "Why can't I stay?"

She pursed her lips, silently signaling for him to just follow her directions. "Adult talk, Remy. Please."

He sighed, but went without much fuss. Tony called out after him that he'd be in soon to finish coloring, which appeased the child to some degree, the sound of his door clicking closed following his retreating footsteps. The two were plunged into a tense silence, just finishing up their food.

"I never got to ask, Ms. Walsh, what's your name?" Tony asked, looking up.

She laughed, a hand going up to her left ring finger, as if looking for a ring that wasn't there. "Um, I was just about to tell you. Call me Birdie."

He nodded slowly. "How do you get Birdie from Elizabeth?" He asked it not as a question, but rather the full phrase as a question of its own, checking to see if he had gotten something correct.

She sighed, leaning back in her seat, shaking her head. "You can get a lot from Birdie, it just depends on what you're asking." She said it like a woman resigned to her fate, reciting it with no real meaning.

"New Year's Eve, 2006?" he ventured, before motioning towards the hallway, "He asked me where I was then."

Birdie raised a hand to her mouth, memories flooding back as she closed her eyes, shaking ever so slightly. "Jayne must have told him when she was drunk, she probably didn't remember, she—" she took a deep breath, shaking her head, "I'm so sorry he followed you."

"He's a very smart kid," he commented, not quite responding to her statement, "He had to just watch me for a week to figure out when I would pass by and the best time to grab me."

She sniffed, fighting back tears. "You make him sound like a criminal."

He grimaced at that, sighing. "I didn't mean to make it out like that, I'm just saying that he's a very driven boy. He probably takes it from you, what with you taking up law and getting somewhere with it, all while taking care of him."

She wiped at her eyes, clasping her hands together and nodding for almost no reason. "Well, thank you. He's a good boy, he just—he's so fixated on finding his—" she stopped, eyeing him warily, as if unsure how much Remy told him.

"I'm guessing Mark isn't really his dad now because he never was his real dad?" Tony ventured carefully, tilting his head, "And I'm guessing he was led to believe that I'm his..."

"I don't know if you are," Birdie said, tapping her hands on the table, "I really don't and," she took a deep breath, "As of now, I don't want to know. I don't. You can find out for yourself, but don't tell me, I," she gasped for breath, shaking her head, "I can't know, not now, I'm not ready. But he's got it in his head that you're his father and I just..."

"You know," Tony began, looking around the room, "Remy told me that Mark stopped helping you pay for your brownstone. If you want I—"

"I don't want your money, we don't need it," she snapped, turning her head to look him dead in the eye, "I have taken care of my son this far, I don't need—" she shook her head again, something she must do regularly when upset, "Mark hasn't helped us out since he left, it's always my parents, but we don't want Remy to know that. I want him to still love Mark, he's his father, but he's still upset. And now that he thinks he has you, that will never happen."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Tony asked, because in front of him was a crying mother and the last time he had seen a crying mother he had been utterly helpless. But now, he had a chance to make things right. "Anything at all, if not money, something."

"Why do you even believe him?" she asked, lifting her head from her hands, "Why did you—How—?"

He kept himself from taking her hand, knowing it wasn't his place. "I remember waking up in a penthouse that wasn't mine, wondering where you had gone. I remember asking how you got your nickname and just before we fell asleep, you explained to me how it was a nickname in the first place, then told me the story about how your teacher had been the one who gave it to you and you were so confused that it just stuck."

She laughed at that, pushing her hair back. "I forgot that I told you that." She cleared her throat, sighing. "Um...look, I can't ask anything from you, it's not right, but Remy he's so fixated, he's so..." she sobbed, her shoulders shaking, "He's so lonely. The closest thing he has to a friend is that BUDDY AI. I told him that he could have it because he had been holding up so well after what happened with Mark and that he still got good grades, but really it was because I could always hear him talking with it anyways and it just hurt to hear."

She took a deep breath, looking at him dead in the eye. "He let you color with him. Please don't take that away."

Tony carefully reached out and took her hand, holding it in his own. "I won't. I promise."

She looked away, sighing and placing a hand on her forehead. "God, what am I saying, I can't ask this from you, you're Tony Stark—"

"If there's a chance that I can help you, I will," he interrupted, more forceful than he had expected. Quieting, he continued, "If there's a chance I can make this right, I will. Okay? Just let me do that."

She sniffed, wiping her eyes. "Why do you care?"

He looked down the hallway, where the boy was no doubt either pressing his ear against the door to hear or talking to his BUDDY AI waiting for him to come. Waiting for him to color with him and listen to all the stories he had and smile whenever he said anything, show an interest in things that he wanted. Dare he say it, be a father to him.

"I don't know yet, but I do, that's all that matters now, isn't it?" He squeezed her hand, pulling away slowly. "It might even be a selfish reason, but I care."

She nodded finally, placing her hands in her lap. "Okay." She nodded again to herself, pursing her lips. "Okay. So, you'll do this? You'll be his..." she trailed off, not wanting to say the word, "You'll be there for him, right? Please, he's been let down so many times, please be there."

"I will," he promised.

He cleared his throat, looking down at his plates. "Now, uh, let's get this cleaned up, don't want to keep him waiting too long."

"Yes, of course, here, no I got it," she said, reaching for the plate which he held just out of her reach. She sighed and took her own plates, following him towards the sink. "I'll wash them, just go and talk to him, let him know what's going on. Within reason."

"Yes. Right," he said, nodding and motioning down the hallway, making sure she had it handled one last time before stiffly walking down towards the hall, much faster than was intended.

He knocked on the door, calling from outside. "Hey, kid, you wanna finish coloring?"

The door swung open to reveal Remy, already dressed for bed, staring up at him with wide eyes. "You-you're staying?"

Tony nodded, shrugging. "I mean, I can't stay the night, but we gotta finish the picture, it's almost done. And if you want, I can swing by tomorrow, we can do whatever you want, I'm sure BUDDY can come up with some fun things to do."

"That I can," the AI called out, scaring Tony again.

"Still creepy," he shuddered, stepping inside and letting Remy close the door behind him, "Yeah, okay, so I'll color the flowers and you can finish the car. Sound like a plan?"

He groaned in shock when a small body crashed into him, pulling him into a fierce hug, short arms squeezing his stomach as a face was buried into his shirt. He smiled, patting the boy's head and rubbing his back.

"Thank you," Remy whispered, hugging him even tighter, "Thank you."

"It's no problem, kid. No problem, at all."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

It begins. I hope this was an alright start, I'm not so sure how I feel about writing Tony, I'm not super comfortable yet, but I hope this is something he would probably do? I mean, there's still some guilt, so I like to think he'd jump on an opportunity to make things right, especially when he could be the father figure for a boy who doesn't have one in the picture, or one that's pretty neglectful, ya feel? I hope this was alright.

Okay, so as far as I know, the university Birdie mentioned doesn't exist, but I made it up because she got her degree online. Also most law schools have a mandatory three years before you can get your BA and I had it so she got hers in two years and not three, because I have a friend whose brother graduated in two years with three degrees, so I think Birdie could do it.

Thanks SinnofKnowledge for the bit about the BUDDY AI having Tony's kid and teen voice as the default for the BUDDY's if they were going to kids or teenagers.

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