Out of time

[msrogers]

She was getting scared. She was supposed to be back at the orphanage hours ago but a weird thunderstorm kicked up. Lightning streaked across the sky as the eight year old girl tried to make a run for it. Rain hadn't come down yet. But the winds were blowing every which way and she heard the rumble. She really hoped she made it back home before it

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[spark_of_power]

And out of the rumble, with a crash and a painful landing, came the frightened form of ten year old Tony Stark, who was, truthfully, about at his limit of how much craziness he could handle. As he picked himself off of the ground, he spotted Steph and... almost kind of... but it couldn't be... recognition and logic battled it out on his face. God, this was awkward.

"Uh, hi."

[msrogers]

She jumped and screamed when she heard the loud crash into a pile of trash cans. Steph cautiously walked over and peered at the kid who seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Hey, are you all right?" she called out.

[spark_of_power]

"I... I have no idea. Ow. Ow." He winced, rotating his right ankle, which he had landed on. "What just even happened? God, I hope this isn't broken, that's all I need right now... Sorry I scared you. Not intentional, trust me."

[msrogers]

"Here, lemme help you." She offered her hand to him and winced in sympathy. "I don't know. But it sounds like you're really hurt. I'm sure Sister Agnes could bandage it up for you."

[spark_of_power]

"Thanks," he muttered, taking her hand gingerly. He immediately proceeded to check his pocket for his cellphone and it is, of course, missing. "Well, crap. I think I'm going to have to take you up on that offer until I figure out what happened. I just hope you don't think this is creepy or anything."

[msrogers]

"You're welcome," she replied with a toothy grin. "And you're not creepy. You're just a kid like me! I'm Stephanie by the way. What's your name?"

[spark_of_power]

"I'm Anthony. But everybody calls me Tony." He tried to run the odds on how many blondes named Stephanie there were. Probably a lot. There was no reason yet to assume his time travel stunt had worked, because that would mean he was so, so screwed. "Well, except my mom. She used to call me Toto... it's a Filipino thing." For a second, his expression turned wistful and somber. He'd been hoping to time travel back into seeing her, not some random kid.

[msrogers]

"What's Filipino mean?" she asked. Steph could see the sadness in his eyes. "Oh...you lost your mom too?"

[spark_of_power]

"It means my mom was from Philippine Islands, not America. She moved here after she fell in love with my dad." He swallowed thickly and nodded. "Yeah. Car crash. Both my parents... well. I try to keep in mind that it was probably pretty sudden and not agonizing, but..." Crap. He tries to pull it together. "So, your mom...?" He doesn't want to say 'died', but it's implied in the tone. His gaze softens.

[msrogers]

"She was a nurse." Steph started walking. "She worked in the tuberculosis ward. She got really sick." Her voice was quiet in the last few words. She still had nightmares sometimes about not being able to see her mom.

[spark_of_power]

"Hey. Your mom sacrificed herself for other people. That's amazing. Try to remember the good side of that, if you can... okay?" He follows, wincing at his badly strained ankle, but grateful for a guide while he tried to put together what happened. "She sounds like she was a really noble person."

[msrogers]

"Here, let me help." She moved around him and ducked under his arm to support him and keep the weight off his injured ankle."My mom was the greatest. My dad too. He was in the 107th. So was Bucky's dad. Bucky's my best friend, you know."

[spark_of_power]

"Thanks, but I'll be okay, really," he protested weakly, seeing the stubbornness in her gaze that told him it was useless. "It must be nice to have a friend. I don't have any. I haven't in a long time." Not his own age, anyway. But Bucky - that was the slamming confirmation this was indeed the past and this was indeed Stephanie Rogers and - his head spun, and for a moment his vision danced with black dots. There was always a risk in time travel of accidentally altering things and making yourself unexist. Fortunately, after a few moments of seeing nothing but black, he blinked and Stephanie's face came back into view. "...sorry."

[msrogers]

There was familiar look of concern across her young features. "You don't look so good. Don't worry, though. Sister Agnes is a nurse too and she's kind of mean but she'll make sure you get better faster. So how'd you end up in the trash cans, Tony? And where did you get the nice clothes?"

[spark_of_power]

Time to start fiddling with the truth. "I have no idea how I got into the trash cans. That was an accident of the weirdest kind. The clothes, though, I can only guess made sense at the time? I think I may have hit my head back there. This day is kind of awful all around except for the parts with you in it."

[msrogers]

She giggled and helped him up the steps to the brownstone orphanage. "Sister Agnes! Sister Agnes!" she shouted. Steph guided Tony until he could sit down on a bench. "Wait here, okay?" With a smile, she ran off to find the sister, only skidding when she saw Bucky.

"Steph, where've you been? I was worried sick! What if you had one of those...things where you can't breathe?" he flustered. "Have you been carrying something?" The brown haired boy peered into the lobby. "Who's that?"

Steph began to explain as a very stern looking woman approached Tony.