The Little Hero (March 1999)

Serena nodded and nervously reached her hand out. Isabella held her breath and put one hand gently on her upper arm in case she needed to pull her hand back. Serena drew in a breath and then quickly passed her hand over the flame. She furrowed her brow slightly in confusion and then put her hand back over the flame. This time she held it there. Isabella breathed in sharply.

"Are you alright Serena?"

Serena slowly nodded. "My hand feels very warm...but it doesn't hurt."

After a moment she turned over her left hand so her palm was facing up and an orb the size of a baseball appeared. It glowed and hovered a few inches from her palm.

Tony watched with great interest as Serena tested out the flame. He was relieved to finally see that fire didn’t appear to harm her. That would be very handy! He could make her suit fireproof! Well...when she’s older he meant. “Jarvis, the ceiling...open the ceiling!” Tony said urgently. “Opening the lab ceiling sir,” Jarvis said and the ceiling began to shift open. “Serena...the ceiling, throw it at the ceiling!” Tony said.

The orb continued to grow in size and intensity and Isabella finally pulled Serena's hand away from the flame. Serena quickly threw the orb up at the open part in the ceiling. She felt better afterward, but quite tired. Isabella noticed that and looked at her.

"Serena, you did such a great job today. Why don't you go into the kitchen and get a snack and then watch some tv?"

Serena nodded and got down from the stool and left the lab looking tired, but otherwise fine.

Isabella looked at Tony and Bruce after she was gone. "Well? What do you think?"

Serena smiled at the orb but Tony and Bruce certainly did not. Tony could see half of his lab destroyed and they having to dodge the explosion. That and possibly the hulk coming out. However as Serena looked at the opening ceiling she lifted up her arm and then with a push the orb flew out of her hand quickly and into the sky. They watched it as far as they could but it continued to go and then a red bloom appeared as it exploded into the air. Tony sighed in relief and turned off the burner.

“You did great sweet-pea, and I think we know now what you can do. Well, most of it,” Tony said and moved up to kiss her cheek and then Isabella’s cheek. “What do you think Isabella?” Tony asked.

Isabella sat down and really took a moment to absorb everything that they had just witnessed and learned. It was...overwhelming, but incredible.

"I...I think she's amazing," she said with a sense of pride. Her daughter could do things that no one else could do. She then thought about something. "So, does this mean that she saved my life when I was exposed to that radiation?"

“The levels of radiation in the light beam were not insignificant and she absorbed it without an issue,” Bruce said and he knew what he was about when it came to radiation. “Her body appears capable of channeling the energy...all of it, the rads, the energy and the heat and making an energy beam or an orb. These readings suggest that her orbs are a combination of light, heat and radiation. Hitting someone with one would likely kill them," Bruce said.

Isabella sighed and slowly nodded. It was what she expected based on what she had just witnessed. She wasn't ready to tell her daughter that. That was a lot for a little girl to handle, even if Serena was very mature for her age. They would tell her when she was a little older and ready to receive that kind of news. She also expected that Serena would not likely aim at a person when expelling that kind of energy.

"So...she's a class 5 mutant then?"

Tony didn’t know alot about what the different classes of mutants really were. “Well I’m not certain of that but I can guess that since she is only 8 that it might be true,” Tony said. “Who knows how much energy she can absorb and how powerful her blasts and orbs can be,” Tony said. “With a range of line of sight she can certainly do alot of destruction,” Bruce said. “I wonder if she can channel that energy to power something,” TOny wondered aloud.

Isabella quickly looked over at her husband. "You are not making her a suit or turning her into a human battery."

Tony looked at Isabella with feigned indignation. “I wouldn’t do that...for an 8 year old,” Tony said but what he didn’t tell her that he might for a teenager! “In any case, I think we’re done here. We’ll need to try and keep her away from things like fire or electricity,” He added.

Later that evening after making sure Serena was in bed, Isabella came back to their room and began to get changed. She still had a slight bruise on her head from the car accident. She was standing in front of the mirror as she removed her blouse. Her eyes went straight down to the large scar on her abdomen. She slowly ran a hand over it. Despite how much time had passed she still felt rather self conscious about it. She glanced over and saw Tony watching her.

Tony had removed his shirt when he came into the room. He tossed it into the hamper near the closet then saw Isabella looking at herself in the mirror and she fingered her scar. He knew that particular wound was not completely healed yet but he had tried to show her that he didn’t love her any less. Show her when words did not appear to suffice. He came up behind her and put his hands on her arms and kissed her left shoulder.

“You two were very lucky. My two ladies are all the family I have left,” He said. He lifted up his hands and removed the 2 combs that held her hair back so that it would fly freely. He fluffed her hair out with his fingers and leaned into her and took in her scent. “Mmmm, I want you Isabella, I want my beautiful wife tonight,” Tony whispered.