The Trouble With Babysitting

Serena had been quite content to just lie in Peter’s arms. She was completely in love with him and could just remain with him happily all day. She had been awake for a little while but didn’t move from his arms. However, after a time she felt Peter stir and shift and then get up. She made no move to get up though. She rolled over onto her back and looked at him. She could smell the food and it did smell good, but she wanted something else right then. She grinned at Peter and pulled him back down into her arms and kissed him.

Kate took a sip of her coffee as she sat next to Steve. They had both enjoyed getting out last night. However, it was clear to her that something had happened.

“What do you think happened?” she asked Steve as she glanced at William in his high chair.

Steve looked over at his son as he flailed his arms happily. He had drool on his chin and his mouth nearly split his face in a smile.

“He’s just a baby, I don’t know what could have happened,” Steve said. Tony looked at Kate though. They all knew what Charles Xavier had said about the boy and he could only assume it had to do with that.

“What if his powers manifest on their own?” Tony asked. “Well that’s not a very pleasant thought,” Steve said and looked at his boy again.

After a while Logan and Natalya finally emerged from her room and they walked out into the kitchen. Kate waited for them to get some coffee and some food and sit down first before asking them about what had happened the night before. Natalya sighed and told them all that had happened. Kate was wide eyed by the end. She looked at William and then at Steve. She then looked back at Natalya.

“Why didn’t you call us?”

Natalya gave a little shrug. “We didn’t want to bother you. If we hadn’t been able to figure it out we would have called.”

“I was...concerned that if the boy solidified inside the floor...” Logan said in an irritated rasp and shrugged. He was not himself. Either by lack of sleep of almost watching a child die Logan was far from alright about it.

“But he didn’t so lets not add in what ifs to last night Logan,” Pharoah said calmly. “What we need to do now is think of how we can protect him from himself. He is an infant without any understanding of how or why his body does what it does. Kate, I know you don’t want to think of him as an experiment. He is far from that but the next time he may well cause great harm to himself or someone else. We must solve this or I’m afraid we may need to...consult with someone who may be able to help us,” he said though it was clear what he meant, SHIELD.

Kate felt torn about what Pharaoh was saying. She knew he was referring to SHIELD perhaps helping them and her first instinct was to shout "No!" However, William was her child and she did want what was best for him and the people around him. She would have to put her own feelings aside for him. She hoped, though, that perhaps they might be able to solve this on their own.

"Well, does anyone have any thoughts? Tony?"

Tony did ofcourse but he knew she wasn’t going to like it. Before he could say anything however. Peter and Serena had come out of their room. Peter pointedly didn’t look at William. He wasn;t certain what was said and what wasn’t. And he certainly didn’t want to be in the middle of any kind of trouble. “Morning all, how did the event go?” He asked.

“From past experiences with ‘The Vision’ An energy field might be one answer. I’d have to install emitters in the ceiling, floors and walls though in every place in the tower William could go,” Tony said. The cost didn’t matter a whit, it was the work that would go into such a project and he didn’t like giving anyone access to their home.

“Until then I think we will need to create a smaller space for him,” He said.

“I won't allow my son to be put in a cage Tony,” Steve said forcefully. “Not a cage Steve, just a safe space,” Tony said. “You will wish for a cage Steve if he dies phasing into the floor or drops hundreds of feet to his death,” Pharaoh said calmly.

“If Serena didn’t have to go back to school, she could watch over Will until the emitters are in place,” Peter said as he munched on a day old donut. He was actually just thinking out loud. His mind often worked like that. He heard ‘energy would contain him’ and knew ‘Serena could produce energy’. His intelligence just handled the rest. He sipped his coffee and noticed everyone was looking at him, even Serena. As surreptitiously as he could he sniffed under his arm.

Kate considered Tony's suggestion of the energy emitters. She hated the thought of all that work having to be done, but William's very life was at stake. The Tower wasn't exactly the safest place for a child. There was lots of very dangerous equipment and materials being stored in the building, not to mention the deadly long drop down if he phased through one of the exterior walls. That thought actually gave her anxiety. However, it would take time to get all the energy emitters into place throughout the Tower. They would need a temporary solution until then. It was at that moment that Peter suggested Serena helping out.

"Well we don't even know if this idea would work on William," Isabella said. "First we will need to test if energy can hold him."