AFTER JAYNE DROPPED REMY AT HER HOUSE, TONY TOOK HIM TO THE FACILITY. It had taken some deliberation with Brad, who didn't feel right about just dumping Remy off to the first set of hands that were available—"as his godfather, I would like to take care of him and make sure he's okay"—but in the end he was able to take him, deciding to just buy the kid some new clothes if he was going to have to end up reusing the ones Jayne had packed for him in his suitcase when he was to sleep over at her place.

"Why are you called Happy if you're so grumpy?" Remy asked from the backseat, and Happy just sighed heavily, ignoring the question entirely.

Tony laughed from where he was seated, hoping that the boy's good mood would stay, because he had absolutely no idea what to do if he started to cry. All the times he had been there at Jayne's when he cried, Brad had been the one to comfort him. The man being a school guidance counselor, he knew a thing or two about comforting children, but Tony had no clue. He just sat there or just rested his hand on the boy's shoulder, wishing he could do more, but not quite knowing how.

He wasn't even so sure if the boy even was in a good mood.

Nevertheless, he tried to pretend that everything was fine as they pulled up to the facility, Remy making a sound of shock and approval, stepping out of the car and gawking at it for a few moments while Happy pulled out his suitcase.

"Reminds me of the kid. The other one," Happy said, jerking his head towards Remy before making his way up, bringing him up to one of the various empty rooms.

"Why'd you sell the tower?" Remy finally asked, turning to look at Tony over his shoulder.

Tony smiled sadly, glad that the boy had turned back to admiring the facility. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he looked up at it as well, sighing, "I mean, I'd been staying at the old compound before, but it just didn't feel right to have the tower anymore either. I think it was best that we all went somewhere else."

Remy looked back up at him. "I'm sorry."

Tony sighed, smiling down at him. The kid was more observant than anyone gave him credit for; or, rather, more than anyone wanted to admit. There was no keeping anything from him, so it was best that he just not.

"We're okay, kid," he sighed, walking over and placing a hand on his shoulder, guiding him inside, "Now, c'mon, I'll take you on a tour. The inside's cooler anyways."

º º º

Remy missed his mom. A lot. He had just settled into his room which was nearly as big as his actual home, his bed large enough to take up half the space in his room back home. It was like being in a hotel, everything was much more new and exciting.

"How's it going, kid?" Tony asked, opening the door and peeking in for a moment, "Also, there's someone who wants to meet you. Are you up for it?"

Remy sat up from where he was sprawled out across the large bed, propping himself up onto his hands. "I'm good. And, yeah, okay."

Tony smiled, pulling out his phone and pressing record, a holograph appearing and showing a video of Remy. Nodding to whomever was behind the door, Tony stepped aside and let them pass, grinning as the young boy gasped loudly, eyes like saucers.

Vision smiled politely as he floated into the room, coming to pause a foot or so away from the bed, so as not to overwhelm the boy. "It's wonderful to finally meet you, Remy. How are you doing?"

Remy stammered for a response, glancing over to Tony who was grinning like a madman, still recording. "I-I'm good. How-how are you? Do you even feel anything, are you a robot, or...?"

"I prefer the term synthezoid, though I do I have to question its merits, but it's stuck long enough," Vision replied, glancing over to Tony who just nodded his head, clearly in no rush to end the interaction, "And I do, in fact, feel emotion."

Remy grinned. "That's so cool. Now I know a real robot, not just BUDDY."

Tony spoke up then, perking up at the mention of the AI. "That reminds me. Uh, if you look towards the corner over there..." He raised a hand, pointing towards the desk pressed up against the wall where a small black circle was resting.

Remy gasped with pure delight, shocking Vision as he jumped up onto the bed. "Hey, BUDDY, why didn't you tell me he brought you here?"

There was the sound of something rebooting before the familiar Australian accent replied, "Well, I didn't know we moved at first, he just connected me here. I don't have eyes, Remy."

"You know I don't believe that," the boy replied, completely serious, and Tony laughed awkwardly, looking around the facility, as if he was going to see hidden cameras appear out of nowhere.

"So you're still connected to the house?" Remy asked, smile dropping and slight bouncing coming to an abrupt halt.

"Yes," BUDDY replied smoothly, "Why?"

He paused for a moment. Then, "How's mom doing?"

Tony's breath caught, he and Remy both waiting for the response in tense silence. After over a minute of waiting, BUDDY finally replied with, "Mom is getting better. She just needs her time."

Remy sighed heavily, glancing down at his feet, hands on his hips. "Okay. Cool."

"She'll be fine, Remy, don't worry," BUDDY said, and Tony wondered just how advanced this AI had gotten.

He also couldn't help but think of JARVIS.

Unable to stop himself, his eyes drifted towards Vision, as they often did whenever he thought of JARVIS. The synthezoid was watching the scene before him with calculating eyes, seemingly trying to understand what was happening while respectfully understanding that whatever was occurring didn't concern him, so he wasn't going to interject.

Feeling his eyes on him, Vision glanced over at Tony. Giving him a small smile, he said, "You have a meeting with Lieutenant Rhodes later today."

Tony took a steadying breath, feeling tears prick at the corners of his eyes, hating himself for it. Maybe two years ago the reaction would have made sense, but now it was just silly. He had mourned the complete loss of JARVIS, he was gone now, that was okay, he was fine.

But damn, if that didn't hurt. He appreciated it, of course, Vision understanding exactly what JARVIS had meant to him, but that, coupled with the stress of the past few days, the very thought of the full loss of JARVIS had Tony close to breaking.

He needed to see Nicky again, the man would be happy to see Tony crying.

"Hey, kid," he said, clearing his throat, "Wanna order in pizza for dinner?"

Remy brightened, nodding eagerly. "Hell yeah, do it!"

Laughing at the slight curse, Tony nodded and headed out the door, tapping Vision on the shoulder. "I'm gonna be out for a while, so just make sure he's okay, alright? I'd ask Happy, but he's busy."

Vision nodded as he passed. "Of course. Remy, please stop doing flips, you're going to break your neck that way."

º º º

"So you had a very close connection with your butler is what you're saying," Nicky said, searching Tony's face for a response.

Having missed some of their sessions due to conflicting schedules, Tony had called Nicky as he headed out, figuring he could pick up the pizza after if the man could accommodate him. Of course, Nicky could, as his patient scheduling was rather eclectic, and Tony greatly appreciated it.

"He practically raised me," Tony explained, nodding, "It just—It just sucks. It sucks, is what it is. I mean, I appreciate having Vision with us, he's a real asset to the team, but JARVIS is dead. Really, actually dead."

"You didn't have a back copy of him saved in the event of system failure?" Nicky asked, as kindly as he could, knowing already what Tony's answer would be, but trying to see his response.

"He was always part of the reboot," Tony sighed, immediately agitated by the question, "And he wasn't just one of my AI's I kept on the backburner, he was my—" he paused, unable to get out the word. Swallowing, he forced himself to say it, "He was my friend. I couldn't just reinstall him, it just, it doesn't seem right."

Nicky nodded slowly, not needing to say anything else; Tony knew he understood, there was that understanding between the two of them that had been cultivated when their sessions first started.

Then he said, "This might be the first time you were able to tell me exactly what your thought process was for something and actually mean it."

Tony gave him a mirthless smile. "So, what, I'm healing? I'm cured now, I'm getting better?"

Nicky frowned, shaking his head. "No, I'm just saying we're making progress. And you're telling me more about your childhood, I didn't know that Jarvis was so important to you, at least not to this great of an extent, you only told me that he was your father's butler and practically raised you, I didn't think he affected you that much."

Tony scoffed. "Yeah, you did."

Nicky shrugged. "In this work, you can't just assume things, there's a reason why it's highly investigative work, I need to be clear on exactly what this is. Sure, I might already have a hunch, but I'm not a telepath."

"Thank God for that," Tony muttered, and Nicky raised an eyebrow, giving him a quizzical smile.

"Do you have something you want to share with the class?" he joked, raising his voice as Tony groaned loudly, "Because while I'm flattered by your interest Tony, you're a little too old for me, though I'm not above being a gold digger—"

"Okay, nice talk, kid, I gotta go," Tony shouted, heaving himself out of the chair and towards the door.

"I'm done, I'm done, come back," Nicky said in a quick drawl, standing up and grabbing Tony by the arm and pulling him back towards his chair, "Hide your feelings, it's my job to get them out anyways."

"I worry about you," Tony said, settling back in the chair and rolling his eyes.

Nicky grinned. "I like to think that, in parallel universe, we fall in love. And, in another, you're my sugar daddy."

Tony blinked. "Yeah, no, I'm definitely leaving."

Nicky burst out laughing, doubled over in his seat, unable to run after Tony who stepped out into the hallway, headed towards the door. Of course, he didn't leave, instead choosing to sit in the waiting room of the general building, waiting until the younger man ran out to meet him.

As he waited, he took a deep breath. He felt so much lighter, in an inexplicable way, as if there had been a weight on his chest for so long that he didn't realize it was there, but now that it was gone, it was a wonder how he had been able to live with it there. He felt better.

"I didn't run you out," Nicky said, standing towards the mouth of the hallway, grinning, "Sorry about that."

Tony snorted, trying not to react. "It's alright, Nick, I've heard a lot worse."

Nicky took a seat right next to him, crossing his ams and sighing, stretching out his legs. "How are you doing, Tony? Besides now having a child running around your facility and his mother dealing with some—hey, can you give her my contact info, I'd like to talk to her if she's up for it."

Tony frowned. "I can't tell her to go see a psychologist, I have no right to."

Nicky nodded. "No, I know, but...I don't know, you're right, but if she mentions it, give her my contact info. I give discounts in the event money is tight, I take insurance. I just think she should be seeing someone from what you've told me."

"What do you think is going on?" Tony asked, perking up, "Because no one has any idea, except maybe her sister."

Nicky gave him an apologetic smile. "I can't in good conscience tell you when I don't have anything definitive, that'll do more harm than good. All I can say is be supportive when she recovers, but don't walk on eggshells either."

Tony sighed. "I don't know what I'm doing, Nick. Seriously, how am I supposed to take care of the kid? I mean, I promised to be in his life, but I didn't think this was what she meant."

Nicky shrugged. "I don't think it's what she meant either, but you're here now, and I think you're just gonna have to learn. This is a process for all of you, I think. But if you need help, ask for it. Don't go through things alone."

"I should watch YouTube videos," the older man mumbled to himself, "I'm sure there are videos on proper parenting, right? I mean, there's gotta be parents out there who know what they're doing."

Nicky laughed at that, sounding much too old for a man of his age. "I'm gonna let you in on a secret. No parent knows what they're doing."

º º º

Tony didn't know what he was doing. It was two days later and Remy had started growing bored of the facility. Sure, he had fun snooping around and going around the lab and messing with Vision and nearly driving Happy to quit his job, but the magic was slowly disappearing.

"Tony," he said, padding out in his sweatpants and sweatshirt, hair still wet from the shower, "Can we watch a movie?"

"Sure, kid, go to the movie room," the man said, looking up from where he was building Nicky a robot secretary, "What movie do you want to rent?"

"I can just use my Netflix account," the boy replied, and Tony had to wonder what movie was he thinking of; what good movies did Netflix have?

Standing up a few minutes later, Tony headed towards one of the common rooms. While it wasn't a screening room, the TV was more than nice and the audio was better than most theaters.

He found Remy sitting on one of the middle couches, a large bowl of popcorn in his lap and the remote in his hand. Flipping off the lights, he took a seat next to boy raising an eyebrow at the screen.

"Lilo and Stitch?" he read out, glancing down towards him.

"It's my favorite movie, I only watch it with Mom, though," he said, and Tony wondered what it meant that he was watching with him.

Pushing the thoughts away, he just settled into the couch and watched the movie, Remy sitting alert beside him.

It was a cute movie, as far as Disney went, and Tony found himself laughing at some of the dialogue and Lilo's antics, glancing down to Remy who smiled at all the funny points, eyes wide.

It was only the beginning, but the man couldn't help but see how similar the boy was with one of the titular characters, Lilo and Remy both having the fiery nature and aggressive independence, as well as the tendency to speak without thinking.

It stopped being a cute coincidence when Lilo started to pray.

Tony glanced down at Remy as Lilo prayed for a friend, Nani listening in. The boy was watching with wide eyes, his hands never once having reached for the popcorn. Tony had to wonder if Remy had ever done this, in the hopes of getting a friend or a new father.

Clearing his throat, he turned back to the movie, trying to fall back into his casual watching. It was fairly easy, as Stitch appeared a few minutes later, throwing the movie into the fun montage part. Remy had explained to him the general set up of movies divided into general parts during one of his lesser favorite parts, and Tony had to admit, it was interesting.

He laughed at Lilo's planning to make Stitch a civilized, respectable citizen, unable to stop himself from seeing Remy and his constant planning. Lilo was younger than him, so he wouldn't be surprised if he was told that, at that age, his planning was similar to hers.

"You know the song?" Tony asked, glancing down to Remy who was humming along with the music.

"It's my favorite movie," the boy replied, scoffing at Tony's question, and the man just laughed and continued to watch, though he couldn't help but notice the way the boy's demeanor shifted the moment the happy montage scenes were over.

Tony's attention turned to the boy as he pressed himself against his side, near covering his eyes and ears, pulled in on himself as he watched all the good things crashing down; while he had expected it, that didn't mean he wanted to see it happen.

Tony watched the screen with a newfound sense of fear and sadness, glancing over to Remy whose eyes were glued to the screen, hugging himself as he watched the chaos, wondering just what about the movie had the boy so attached. But then it all made sense.

"'Ohana means 'family.' 'Family' means 'no one gets left behind.' But if you want to leave, you can. I'll remember you, though. I remember everyone that leaves."

Tony stared at the screen, watching as Stitch ran off, Lilo pulling out the picture of her parents from under her pillow. Glancing down, Tony found Remy sitting perfectly still, the only sign of life being his hands which were clasped together, his nails digging into his soft skin to keep himself from crying.

"Okay, kid, c'mon, don't-don't do this to yourself," he sighed, turning to pick up the boy and carry him out.

Remy tried to protest, but wound up just softly crying into Tony's shirt, allowing himself to be carried to his room, Tony sitting on the bed and just rubbing his back, unsure of what else he should do.

"I'm sorry, kid," he whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Don't leave," Remy begged, gripping his shirt, "Please."

"I'm not going anywhere, kid. I'm not going anywhere."

º º º

Remy fell asleep a few minutes later, too exhausted to stay awake any longer. Prying him loose, Tony tucked him in, asking BUDDY for an update on Birdie, the AI giving him a comprehensive explanation on how much Birdie had slept, if she had eaten, and if she was making any progress.

"Don't tell Remy," BUDDY finished.

Tony couldn't help but smile; he had really outdone himself with this AI. "Don't worry, I won't."

Making his way back to the common room, he stepped inside to turn off the TV. From the looks of it, it was nearing the end of the movie. After watching for a few moments, he shut off the TV, heading up to his room, the last line he heard echoing in his mind, singing him to sleep.

"This is my family. I found it, all on my own. Is little, and broken, but still good."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I'm actually really proud of this chapter, because I just wanted to solidify that while Tony doesn't know what he's doing and often falls short, he tries his best, and he's gonna get better. Also, I've also shown some of Tony's deeper seated feelings, as well as Remy's abandonment issues, so I'm really proud of all this chapter touched on.

Do we see all the different parallels between Lilo and Stitch and this chapter? Like, even when Nicky says parents don't know what they're doing, it's like how Nani doesn't know how to raise Lilo, but she's still trying? Jarvis raised Tony even though he wasn't his father, similar to Nani and Lilo. Tony is both Nani and Stitch to Remy? Nicky was like David to Tony's Nani, kind of? Vision and BUDDY were Dr. Nefario and Pleakly, though that's stretching it, but still? Look, I love this movie so much, but it's not on Netflix anymore, and I hate it.

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