'Take Your Kid To Work' Day

By Iland Girl

'For those that need the journey more than the destination.'

Parental! Tony x OC

Steve Rogers x OC

Encounters

June 5th, 1995

It was late, late enough for the nightlife to settle in.

The cold rain pelted the grounds and any bodies that took a chance to go meandering at such a late hour. Most of the people were heading to the bar, either as a first timer for many to come or as a seasoned veteran who didn't want to admit they started drinking before ten o'clock.

Except he was neither. He was clearly drunk from his slippery steps and wavering balance, coming from a bar too considering the vodka that was staining his shirt and hoodie. He wasn't a bar hopper though because he had zero desire to go to another bar. He drank until the bar tender cut him off and then yelled and cursed until he was kicked out and banned from the club. Only he could get kicked out a 9:30 on a Tuesday.

So now he was trying to think of somewhere else he could get more liqour. Or any substance that would keep him from thinking too much. It didn't matter though, because as he tried to cut through a back alley where he was thinking a liqour store would be he tripped over a rut in the ground and fell face first into it.

Little pieces of gravel cut at his skin as he tried to remember how to sit up. He laid there for a ssolid minute before sitting up clumsily. He just sat there, in the middle of the alleyway, in dead silence. A woman who looked like a cheap escort and a greasy man walked by and paid him no notice. Digging into his pockets, he found what he was looking for. A dozen or so small tablets all sitting pretty in his dirty palms.

He snorted.

He'd finally hit rock bottom.

He closed his eyes and began to slowly, albeit clumsily, raise the pills to his mouth.

"Excuse me Mister."

He paused when he heard it; the tiniest of tiny voices. He opened his eyes and peered each way down the alley. His vision spun but he did manage to gaze upon a tiny figure standing not too far from him. From the voice he would say it was a she, but from the oversized hoodie that swallowed her frame she looked more like a drowned rat. She was wet from the rain, with her dark hair drenched to her pale face.

"Are you okay?" She asked again in a slightly braver voice. He stared at her silently for a while before she came closer. She paused a few feet from him and peered with curious eyes as he stared back with a more lucid stare. When he didn't move again her eyes flickered from his to around his face.

"You're bleeding Mister." She said with a tiny bit of worry tinging her voice. He was still trying to figrue out how old she was. No way she was older than eight. She was probably closer to five she was so tiny.

Through his musings the little girl had fished through her pocket to retrieve what looked like Captain America bandaids. He wanted to cringe at the look but couldn't find it in himself to even speak let alone move. She didn't hesitate as she move towards him, her tongue stuck out and her eyes narrowed in concentration as she pasted the bandaid over his apparent wound.

She stuck a few more on him at various angles before taking a step be and admiring her work. She nodded once before staring into his eyes again. She stared for another moment before her eyes lowered to the pills still sitting in his hand. They were falling apart from the rain dripping onto them, but they still had their basic shape.

"What are those for?" She asked. He stared for a moment, still feeling odd with not quite being able to feel the bandaids on her face.

"I'm... Sick." He managed. His voice still hoarse from yelling earlier. She stared at him before frowning.

"Sick? Like... Like a cold?" She asked with a confused look. She looked up into the rain for a moment before looking back at him. "You should be inside then Mister."

'Shouldn't you?' He mused silently.

"Not that kind of sick." He blurted out in reply. It was like he had poked her with a really sharp stick then, her eyes widened before they closed slightly. They were heaped with sadness as she dragged her toe through the dirt.

"Oh." She said as she continued to look at the ground. There was silence and he was kind of hoping she would leave. He was half debating taking them in front of her; should've said they were vitamins.

"My daddy was sick too, he took lots of pills," she said before looking up to him with ttroubled eyes. "But they don't work Mister, they only make you worse."

She walked up to him and, before she could even acknowledge she moved, swiped the pills off his hands and made them scatter to the ground. 'Idiot,' he thought, 'I can still get more.' However her tiny hands returned to his and grasped it tightly. He looked at her, the deep blue of her eyes visible from her being to close.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of you Mister." She said.

He let out a snort. How in the Hell was this pipsqueak going to 'take care' of him. It sounded like a really bad joke. Yet even as he tore down her ludicrous idea that she even could help him he found the tiniest, tiniest part of him wanting to let this muse flow.

"What's your name, kid?" He asked after a few beats.

"Julianne, but I like Anna!" She said with so much warmth. He was really curious how this little brat managed to be on the street, but her lonesome. Where was her parents? Sounded like her dad bit the dust, but where was her mom?

"What's your name Mister?" She asked.

He paused for a moment before quirking his lips slightly. Finally he had regained a little bit of feeling in his face. Sadly that also meant kind of feeling the little things stuck to it.

"Anthony, but I prefer Tony."

Hey guys! Yeah, So I have yet to see Civil War, but I had already thought of a totally cool part to it from my dear OC's perspective. So this story was originally going to be a lot longer, however I realized most of it was almost fillery content and decided that instead of just ditching everything I'm going to just have it a bit... Different.

Pay close attention to dates at the top of chapters! That way you know when something is in the past or in the present! Thsi will hopefully have one sequel that will be a lot shorter but really tie up all the loose ends!

For those whoa re wondering: like Steve having PTSD, I always thought Tony was more than just a 'bit of a loose canon' when he was younger. I'm pretty sure Pepper was the only reason he didn't off himself. I mean the guy just screamedd lonely in the first Iron Man. Don't you think?

Where is Anna's mom?

Leave a review and tell me what you think!

Cheers!

Iland Girl