When Not To Flinch (October 2002)

Tony straightened to what isabella said and he looked at her in disbelief. “No!” He said. His tone was urgent but he spoke softly as if he was surprised she could suggest that. “I won’t have someone else raising our son,” he said. “He will learn to push things like this away,” he said but he saw the uncertain look in Isabella’s face right then. “He will learn Isabella,” Tony said with more confidence than he truly felt about it. But he was concerned. Very much so.

Steve brought the tea for Kate. She had bronchitis and had gone to the doctors that morning. “Tea and cookies?” Steve said as he set the tea down on the small table next to the couch. She was watching...something on TV, he did not know what the show was but it looked like a soap opera. Kate’s nose was raw from sneezing, rubbing and blowing her nose and her voice was squeaky as well. She had a thick, soft white blanket draped over her and she was in a sweat outfit underneath the blanket. Even being sick she had done her hair and put a little makeup on her eyes. She didn’t like Steve thought it was just because she didn’t want him to see her not looking her best. He thought she still looked beautiful and she seemed to like him waiting on her. Steve sat next to her and felt her shift to lay her head on his lap.

“You know, you should rest Kate. I could go and come back later?” Steve suggested.

As soon as Steve had heard that Kate was sick, he had immediately come over. They had been intending to go to breakfast, but Kate had woken up sick and after a visit to the doctor she was diagnosed with Bronchitis. Steve had offered to come over and despite being sick, she had still gone and put on a little makeup.

When Steve got there he found her trying to do some SHIELD paperwork, but he had stopped that immediately and had put her on the couch with a blanket. Kate turned on the tv to something mindless as Steve went to make her some tea. Kate couldn’t stop coughing and was sneezing as well. Kate smiled at Steve gratefully when he brought her the tea and cookies. She took a sip of the tea and then shifted to lay her head on his lap as he settled in next to her.

“No,” she squeaked. “Please stay.” She coughed some before trying to talk again. “You said Natalya had an episode last night?”

Steve wasn’t certain how much he should tell Kate about last night but he trusted her implicitly. “Well, alot happened. She was screaming and flailing as she slept. She had given James a bloody nose and a nice shiner without meaning to until he could get her under control. And then there was Theo,” Steve said uneasily. He didn’t fully understand it all himself but he knew Theo had powers of a mental sort and he continued to grow in power with them.

“He ‘picked up’ what Natalya was feeling in her nightmare. What she felt, what she saw, apparently the SSB put some kind of Psychosomatic device over her head and face. She’s terrified of it and Theo...He went into some kind of convulsive fit. He bled through the nose and his ears as if the helmet brought him physical pain. I think because Natalya had built up a resistance to...that, and it was Theo’s first exposure to it...it affected him in such a horrible way. He still hasn’t spoken and Serena comes home today,” he said with a wince. Serena was very protective of her brother and everyone in the tower knew she was going to lose it when she sees him staring at the ceiling in his room. The Starks put a call into Professor Xavier but he and the X-men are away right now,” he said with a concerned look in his face.

Kate was still a little afraid of Natalya after what she had done to her, but she also knew that it wasn't Natalya's fault. Horrible things had been done to Natalya to make her do the terrible things she had done to her. She wasn't entirely surprised to learn that Natalya was having nightmares, but the one she had the night before sounded like it was pretty awful. However, hearing that Theo had picked up on what Natalya was feeling through Psychic powers and having it affect him that much worried Kate, both for Natalya and for Theo. What had the SSB done to her?

"Maybe Serena's presence will help him," Kate said as best she could. She knew that the twins were close and that Serena was protective of Theo and she believed their bond might be what Theo needed right then.

Serena had spent the night at her friend Cassandra's house. It was odd being in a regular house versus the Tower. She was used to all of the high tech security features of the Tower and living with the Avengers. However, she enjoyed the change of scenery on occasion and she really liked Cassandra. Unlike with her brother, she could just talk "girly" stuff with her...including talking about Harry, who was still very sweet on Serena.

The following morning, Happy went to collect Serena. She was picked up and they headed back to the Tower. Happy said nothing about Theo. They headed up in the elevator and as soon as the doors opened, Serena could sense that something was wrong. She found her parents waiting for her, which was also odd.

"Is something wrong?"

Tony looked at Isabella and Isabella looked back at him. They were at the table when she addressed them. “There...was an incident...with Theo,” Tony said as he stood. He saw Serena shifted to look toward Theo’s room but Tony took hold of her arm. “No, we’ll all go,” He said. “We’ll explain after you see him,” He said and shifted ahead of Serena so he could lead the way for them.

Theo was on his bed and he was staring at the ceiling. At the ceiling fan to be specific and he didn’t blink or talk or move. He was catatonic while his mind repaired the damage that had been done to it.

Serena's eyes widened when her father informed her that there had been an incident involving Theo. She felt her mouth go dry and her mind raced as she tried to figure out what might have happened? Was he hurt? Would he be alright?

Isabella put an arm around her daughter's shoulders as Tony led them down to Theo's room. Serena was hesitant to step inside, and when she did she was shocked by what she saw. Theo's eyes were open, but he didn't blink or move. She could see him breathing, but he looked pale and lifeless. She gasped and looked at her parents as tears came to her eyes.

"What happened?!"

Tony explained what had happened. Not in detail but enough that Serena would know that Natalya had a horrible nightmare and Theo had suffered some kind of Psychotic episode. “He’s physically healthy. But after we checked him out, he’s not moved or blinked or eaten,” he said.

Serena listened to what her father told her about what had happened. She knew that her brother's powers enabled him to have psychic connections to people near him, but she had never seen something like this happen before. It deeply concerned her.

Isabella and Tony decided to leave Serena alone with Theo for a few minutes to see if her presence might help him recover. Serena sat down at Theo's side on the bed and reached over and took up his hand into her own. She gave it a gentle squeeze. "You're scaring me Theo. I need you to come back. We'll figure out how to fix this...I promise."

James stayed in Natalya’s room after she appeared to calm down. He slid off the bed and moved to sit on the floor by her bedside. He sat with one knee up and played with her knife he found in her bedside 3 stand. The lights were off but the ambient light from the morning began to creep into the dark room. He listened to the sounds of her sleeping and took comfort from that. She had really worried him and it had been a very long time since he felt that, about anything or anyone. It made him feel...alive.

For the majority of the morning Theo had remained like that. He knew something was wrong with his mind but he could not understand what. By sheer will he repaired the damage but it was a slow process that took all of his mind’s effort. He understood one thing though, whatever the SSB were they used a very destructive process to affect Natalya’s mind. Clearly it was done to her over a long period of time and as she built up mental defences against it, they increased the severity of the torture. He had no such build up. It was fed raw to him in its worst state. The things it made her think. The things they had done to her made tears run from his eyes and down his cheeks. He felt that his sister was close but try as he might, he couldn’t squeeze her hand. He wanted to, Oh how he wanted to show her he was alright. But he couldn’t, not yet anyway. He knew she was looking at him now but he could not move, not even a finger.

Natalya's sleep, although calmer, had not been restful. She was constantly tossing and turning and mumbling in Russian in her sleep. Just before dawn, she finally settled down and did not move for over an hour. Her breathing was normal and the mumbling stopped. Slowly, as the ambient morning light began to creep naturally into the room, Natalya began to awaken. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she yawned and stretched. As she sat up she jumped a little when she realized James was in her room. He was dressed in his sleep clothes and was playing with the knife she had hidden in her bedside table. She had had it on her when she was brought to the Tower and they had not discovered it so she had hidden it there. They all had protection against her, but she had nothing against them. Having the knife made her feel a little safer...from them and if someone from the SSB came for her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

James was balancing the tip of the knife on his palm when he heard Natalya shift and what she said to him. He shifted his head back as he bounced the knife up into the air then snatched it by the pommel. He looked over at her. His eyes scanned hers a moment, he was calm and no emotion crossed over his face.

“You were having a very intense nightmare. You were screaming and talking in Russian. You woke up the whole tower with your screaming,” he said. There was more to tell and his sudden changed expression of concern on his face told her that. “I came in and well...well I crawled into bed with you. I didn’t want to take advantage of a sleeping woman but I was forced to have gratuitous sex with you to get you to stop. Isabella helped get you dressed after, you don’t recall any of that?” He asked. He was ofcourse lying to try and lighten the mood that had suddenly settled over them. He did not like to bring her bad news. When she gave him a withering look though he relented.

“The boy...Theo, he, he connected with your nightmare. As far as I know he’s in some kind of catatonic state in his room,” he said.

Natalya's gaze narrowed at James when he began to lie to her about what had happened the night before. She knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but it wasn't working with her. She didn't remember her nightmare...she never did. She didn't know anything about the twins and she certainly wasn't aware that he had psychic powers.

She got up and showered and got dressed and then Isabella and Tony asked James to bring Natalya to the living area so they could talk. This was the first time they had ever sat down with Natalya to talk to her. She felt rather self-conscious since apparently she had woken everyone up. They wanted to know more about her nightmares and what had been done to her. Natalya sighed and shook her head.

"I never remember my nightmares after I wake up and I only remember bits and pieces of what Tatiana did to me. I remember being beaten and raped...I remember verbal abuse...but I don't remember much else..."

Tony could not imagine exactly, how the rapes and beatings and torture had gone but obviously Natalya was a very disturbed woman. She was beautiful, anyone could see that but behind her eyes he saw a predator, a hunter...a killer. “Well..I don’t really care what happened to you. I...we, have our son to think about. His mutations have to do with the mind and whatever you were dreaming fell on him like a truck. He’s in his room staring at the ceiling and he hasn’t moved since early this morning. This is unacceptable. I know we can’t turn you out. People are lined up to either capture or kill you. Like it or not you’re our problem Natalya whether you want to be here or not. Stepping outside this tower right now is suicide. Our options are few and since we are being honest, I am highly skeptical of Steve’s and kate’s assessment that you could be Avenger material,” Tony said.

James’s eyebrows rose at that. He thought Steve and Kate hated Natalya.

Natalya blinked at what Tony said to her. How was this HER fault? She wanted to argue with him, but she could tell his mind was more than made up about her and that it wasn't going to change. She felt a bit of anger rise up within her and she stood up. "Why should it be YOUR problem if the SSB kills me? You clearly don't care one way or another about me and to be honest I'd rather face death than continue to be caged here with no future. I don't know how to stop my nightmares or help your son so just let me go. I don't want to remain here knowing that I might continue to harm him," she said honestly.

James sighed. He was sitting in one of the other chairs near her. “Sit...down,” he said forcefully without looking at her. He was not really looking at anyone and no one else spoke until she did sit down. Tony became irritated even angry as well. “Yes, I bet you would. You can hurt and kill more people that way. In here, in this ‘cage’ the only people you can hurt is us. And our boy is hurt right now. I’m not surprised you don’t care about that. What’s another life ruined by you? But you’re going no where and quite frankly, I don’t give a shit what you want. No one here is going to hurt you unless you try to hurt them first. The moment you try is the moment you will wish you hadn’t,” Tony said threateningly.

“I think she understands Tony,” James said and this time he did look at her though he spoke to Tony. He tilted his head as he looked into her eyes. They were beautiful, blue eyes though angry and sad at the same time. “I will take responsibility for her. I’ll move into her apartment today. If she kills me then we’ll know which way this will go,” He said and he never shifted his gaze from her. Tony chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. It was obvious how James felt about her now. And he thought the man was a fool.

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Theo, for a brief moment, squeezed Serena’s hand.

Natalya glanced at James. She was angry and upset and wanted to just leave, but it was clear that he wasn't going to allow her to do so. She had no choice but to sit down. Tony's words hurt Natalya more than a bullet or knife ever could. She felt like the monster the SSB had made her into. She would never be anything more than that, or given a chance to prove that she could be more than that. And maybe she couldn't. What little confidence she had started to build that she could change was suddenly shattered into a million pieces by a few simple words. James was the only person who had shown care towards her, but she feared that might come back and haunt him. He was doing well and she didn't want him to ruin that.

"Just everyone stay away from me," Natalya said as she stood up. She walked back to her room and shut the door. It locked behind her. Isabella sighed and shook her head at her husband. "Nice going Tony."

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Serena was laying in Theo's bed next to him. Her hand remained in his. She suddenly felt his hand squeeze her own. It was brief, but it was definitely there and it gave her hope that he was going to be alright.