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Tony took a sip of his coffee, grimacing slightly at the watery taste of it, and tightening his leather jacket tighter around him. It was a bitterly chilly autumn in New York, and his shitty coffee from a cafe he'd forced Obie to pop in--much to his older friend's annoyance--was his only real defense against the cold. And Obadiah's harsh stare certainly wasn't making him any warmer.
"I don't understand what's wrong with you, Tony!" Obie nagged as they walked down the street, nobody paying them any mind, despite the yelling. New York was truly a gift, "We have shipments due in barely two months--shipments we promised the government would make the deadline--and you've barely started! And now--now you're just strolling around New York like some homeless person with nothing to do!"
"You stress too much," Tony responded, sidestepping around a stranger staring at something in their bag so intently that they didn't see the men coming, "They'll be ready when they're ready. What? Is the government going to turn to Hammer? Everyone knows his shit stinks."
"At least he'd consistent. He's got new weapons out every six months! And I must say, they look more appealing than the nothing you're producing while I'm reduced to babysitting you."
"I need inspiration."
"In New York?"
"What can I say? Art's sub--"
What Tony had been about to say while staring smugly at Obie was cut off by something barreling into his legs. He dropped his coffee as he acked! in surprise, barely managing to keep his balance, waving out his arms stupidly in a attempt to not fall on his ass. Barely on the edge of not dropping to the ground, he looked down to see a bundle of bouncy brown hair mopped on top of brown eyes shining with tears amplified by ridiculously thick glasses.
"What the fuck?" Tony exclaimed, looking down at the kid. He wasn't super familiar with children, but if he had to guess, she looked around six, at the oldest. She was small, barely past his knees, and she was crying. Hard. Really hard. Oh no.
Obadiah recovered before he could, snapping out of his shock to look at the kid in agitation and confusion, "Who are you? What are you doing?"
The girl sniffed before crying, "I can't find my uncle. And--and--there was--and I'm lost!!"
Whatever she'd been trying to say was lost to hiccupped sobs, and his heart tugged for the lost girl, and he shot Obie annoyed look. A little confused, he pried the girl off of where she'd been clinging to his knees, kneeling down to her level. That was what you did with kids right? Get on their level? He hoped so.
"Alright, we'll go find them, kiddo," he assured, and Obie gawked in exasperation.
"Where do you live?" Obadiah demanded, and Tony stared at him as Penny tried to tremble out an answer, but stopped short.
"She's like, five, Obie. She doesn't know!"
"If she did, we could just call her a cab."
"And leave her by herself!?"
"No! She'd be with the cab driver."
Now Tony was getting annoyed. This was a kid! A kid, lost, in New York City. And they were adults (technically), and Tony wasn't heartless. He was going to help this kid find her uncle.
"I'm...I'm six and a half," the girl stuttered, "And, um, my name's Penny."
Shooting Obadiah another pissed off look, he turned back to the kid--Penny--and held out a hand for her to shake, which she did hesitantly. He was glad to see her crying calming down.
"Hi, Penny. I'm Tony."
She stared at him for a moment, "Like Tony Stark?"
He blinked. Not what he'd expected from a six year-old.
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"I wanna be a scientist," she admitted, and he smiled.
"Well, that's pretty cool, Penny. Why don't you tell me about what science you like while I help you find your uncle, okay?"
"Okay," Penny responded. With a smile, Tony stood up and took her hand, waving at Obadiah as he left. He'd never hear the end of this, he was sure.
"Where were you with your Uncle?" he asked once they'd started moving, squinting around for anyone that looked like her, or a seemingly worried uncle.
"We were, uh, we were at the candy store," she answered a little quietly, sniffling as she stared at the ground, "We go every Saturday."
"Yeah? Sounds like you've got a nice Uncle. Do you know which candy store?"
Penny shrugged, "No. I'm sorry. But there's this nice lady who always gives me a free lollipop."
Tony hummed, and they continued walking. He kept up a running stream of questions from Penny as they made their way through the city. Turns out, she was chatty, though it took her a moment to really start talking.
She was from Queens. She was turning seven soon. Her best friend's name was Edward (which she had excitedly pointed out was his middle name). She lived with her Aunt May and Uncle Ben after her parents had died a couple of years ago. All said with a cheery smile and chipper attitude, though she quieted down when she'd said she missed her parents.
After about ten minutes of walking, Penny loudly declared, "My legs hurt."
"We haven't been walking long," he responded, taking a moment to stop and once again look around for her uncle. Nothing.
"But they hurt!"
He sighed, kneeling down, "Fine. Climb on, we'll do a piggyback, okay?"
Penny immediately clambered on, wrapping her tiny legs over his shoulders and gripping to his head, plopping her chin into his hair. They began on their way again, and Tony began making his way to every candy store or place that looked like it was for children looking for the kid's uncle. The first three places were unsuccessful, but the fourth one he stepped into had promise.
It was homey and local, and two people at the counter were talking in frantic voices, saying something he couldn't make out but he could tell they were undeniably frustrated and scared. Penny immediately perked up when they walked into the store, and the motion made him think the dark skinned man at the counter was her uncle.
"Uncle Ben!" Penny called, and the man turned around abruptly, his panic vanishing as he took in the sight of his niece.
Immediately he was rushing over to where Tony was trying to get a struggling Penny off of his back without accidentally dropping her. Thankfully, Ben scooped the kid up, pressing a kiss to her forehead and giving the girl a big hug.
"Do not ever run off like that again! Where did you go? You know you're not supposed to wander off!" the man scolded, but he was smiling as he did. When he was finally done giving Penny a rather calm lecture if he was being honest, he turned to Tony, holding out a hand that he shook, "Thank you for bringing her here."
"No problem at all," Tony said, waving him off. Then Ben squinted at him.
"Are you Tony Stark?"
"That's me," he confirmed, "You must be a big fan or something, because I don't often meet six year-olds that are fans of my work."
Ben shook his head, "No, that's all her. She runs circles around me with math and science already, so I printed out a few of your research papers and gave them to her. You've been all she's talked about since."
Tony blinked, then smiled at the kid who was now staring at him shyly, "Well, I look forward to seeing you at Stark Industries."
And when Tony walked out the door, he thought that maybe the kid would end up at his company, but he definitely hadn't been prepared for everything else.