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cap_ironman2009-03-09 09:07 pm
kijikun.livejournal.com) wrote in cap_ironman2009-03-09 09:07 pm
Entry tags:
All Your Tomorrows (2/?) (R)
Title: All Your Tomorrows (2/?)
Previous Parts: Chapter 1
Authors: Kijikun and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pandanoai
Rating: R
Betas:ellyr_in_ink and pandanoai
Word count: 4042
Series: Some Assembly Required
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Tony (eventually), Steve/Jan, ofc
Universe/Timeline: Ultimates, takes place after Ultimates 2 and Ultimate Human. Events take place three months after All That Remains. This isn't the direct sequel to All That Remains, but don't worry that's coming (and takes place before this story). This is a bit of a What If story.
Warnings: Minor violence, children in confinement
A/N: Big thanks topandanoai for writing the psychologist scene with me and making sure everything was accurate. And for writing up this Psychological report.
The view from under the bed was quite remarkable. Maria liked it. It upset the solider that seemed to keep guard by the door to her glass room. 'Didn't she want to lie on the bed?' he'd asked once.
She didn't. Under the bed was safe. She had a measure of control -- protection. Tony had told her once, while he lay beside the bed when she was under it, that his cameras couldn't see her under the bed. Tony's cameras were allowed to see her, because Tony's cameras saw everything in the penthouse. She liked that.
Tony was smart and could do things like that. He could control computers with his brain -- she couldn't, though she'd tried. Tony thought of everything. He could build model spaceships that really flew -- Maria had helped. He had a special suit of armor he'd built himself, and he was the smartest man in the world.
Franklin said his dad was the smartest, but Reed, as nice as he was, didn't have an Iron Man suit. And he thought the Savage Land could count as the land in The Journey to the Center of the Earth. Which it didn't, and Tony said so.
Maria blinked rapidly as her vision blurred. The glass walls and the metal walls beyond them mocked her as she tried to pretend she was in her bedroom.
She wanted Tony.
Maria was reasonably sure at least five full days had passed since General Fury had promised that if she was good she'd get to see Tony.
She was trying to be good.
But she didn't like needles and they kept taking more of her blood.
Maybe something was wrong with her?
She remembered in the middle of lessons in the Complex once, one of the other girls had fallen from her seat in convulsions. She'd been removed from the class, and the next day the desk sat empty and remained empty. There had been whispers of weakness and failure. They were all examined thoroughly by the doctors that following day, perhaps to detect any similar weakness.
Maria wondered where Franklin and Val were. She wondered if there were any of her sisters in similar glass boxes.
She wondered why that man she walked by as they took her to the labs was in a cage like hers. He looked -- familiar -- but she couldn't place it. He seemed nice, and he always said hello to her.
No one answered her questions when she asked them, and she hadn't seen General Fury since that first day. All the doctors and people in uniforms talked around her like she couldn't hear them. She didn't understand what 'super-serum' had to do with her, or what 'project rebirth' was. Their questions were even more confounding and they didn't seem to listen to her answers.
So, she started asking for Tony when they asked her anything. It hadn't made them happy that she wasn't answering anymore, but she didn't care. She wanted Tony.
Today, she'd started asking for Steve as well. Steve would know where Tony was and Steve had made promises, too. He'd promised to protect Tony.
Steve had promised he wouldn't let anyone take her from Tony.
"Come out from under the bed and present yourself for restraints. That's an order."
She recognized the voice of one of the soldiers -- they said they were SHIELD but she didn’t believe them. Tony ran SHIELD and he wouldn't do this to her.
It was a direct order. She should obey it, because disobeying orders got you isolation or worse. But she was already in isolation. She was already being punished.
"No," she whispered, even though she wanted to scream.
"Maria, we need you to come out from under the bed now. We need --" it was the voice of one of the doctors. Dr. Manuel, she thought. He was a nervous and jumpy man.
"No," Maria cut him off in a louder voice. She thought they must not know how to do their jobs very well, considering all the tests they'd run on her so far.
"Maria, you can either get up on your own and let us put the restraints on you, or we can make you. I thought you were going to be good and cooperate with us."
She didn't budge from under the bed. "I want Tony," she called loudly. "General Fury said he would call Tony. I want Tony. I want Steve." She kicked the underside of the bed, making it rattle as her voice got louder and louder.
"Maria --" Dr. Manuel's voice cut off.
"Maria? I'm Betty," a new voice spoke. "How are you?"
She turned her head curiously towards the voice. A woman she'd never seen before stood there watching her. Betty wasn't military. That was obvious from her dress and stance. When Betty saw she had Maria's attention, she bent down as if to be more on Maria's eye level.
"I want Tony," Maria told Betty. Tears were splashing on the floor and her hands every time she blinked.
"I know you're very unhappy and you're tired of all the tests. But I promise no more tests today. We just want you to talk to someone," Betty told her. "Do you know what a psychologist is?"
"Yes, ma'am," Maria answered, still looking at Betty.
Betty smiled just a bit, and that made Maria feel a little bit better, silly as it was. "We have a very nice one named Dr. Ludy, and she'd like to talk to you for a little bit. Would that be okay?"
"Then you'll call Tony or Steve?" Maria asked. Her voice shook despite her efforts to keep it steady. She couldn't hide tells like she once could. The sliver of fear that everything -- Tony, Steve, Jarvis, all of it -- had been a long-term test and she'd failed, tugged at her brain.
Betty smiled and nodded. "Yes, after you talk to her, we'll call Tony or Steve. And you can visit with Franklin. Would you like that?"
Maria nodded a bit more eagerly than she'd meant too. "Is Franklin okay?"
"He's just fine," Betty assured her. "And he wants to see you, too. So do his parents, but you need to see Dr. Ludy first. Now, can you come out from under the bed?"
She hesitated a moment before climbing out from under the bed. Betty smiled at her again and met her at the door. There were only two soldiers and they looked at Maria nervously. Maria still didn't understand that. Why would they be scared of her?
***
"Hello, my name is Dr. Ludy, but you can call me Christine. I just want to talk to you for a while and see if we can't understand some things better. What's your name?"
Maria looked uncomfortable and away, sitting stiffly in her seat. "Maria Stark -- formally F-12," she added quickly.
"Maria Stark. Maria, that's such a pretty name. But I'm confused, what's F-12?" The psychologist leaned forward across the little table they were sitting near. Both of them were on the floor and Christine noticed Maria's eyes darting to the pad of paper and the crayons sitting between them. Good, Christine thought, hopefully she'll like to pour her heart out on it.
When she'd seen the girl's backpack with its art supplies and sketch pad, she'd hoped art would be a good way to draw her out.
Maria blinked. "F-12 was my formal designation at the Complex. My daily designation was my uniform color and the letter of my chair for that day," Maria told her, as if she was explaining the most basic thing. Her eyes darted to the crayons and paper again.
“The complex, that sounds like... an interesting place." Christine offered. "So... your name used to be F-12, but now it's Maria?"
"Jarvis gave me the name after I went to live with Tony. It was the name of Tony's mother," Maria answered. Then she bit her bottom lip as if keeping herself from saying something else.
Christine tilted her head, wondering what it could be, but knew better then to try and force the information out of the child. She instead took the pad of paper in front of her and ripped off a sheet. She took a few crayons and then she looked at Maria. "So, you went to live with Tony. Tony Stark, I'm going to guess, because of your last name."
Maria nodded after a moment’s hesitation.
"So, Maria Stark, I need you to help me see things more clearly. I need you to draw what your house looked like when you were F-12, and what your house looked like and what it felt like to live with Tony." Christine took a sheet of paper and gave the girl the rest of it, taking the small supplies she had divided off for herself. "I'll draw too. What do you think I should draw while you do that?"
Maria titled her head to one side and there was something a shade too calculating in the girl's eyes for her age. Then the look was gone. "You could draw your own home."
Maria picked up the black crayon first and set to work. Very quickly she was engrossed in her drawing, the tip of her tongue sticking out.
Christine nodded, and halfheartedly began to draw a home. She was, obviously, much more interested in what Maria had begun to draw. As the time ticked by, Christine saw the details of the two drawings and was careful not to comment on the expertise in which the little girl worked the crayon. It would only slow things down.
Maria's pictures seemed pretty easy to interpret. The Compound was drawn with darker drab colors, and while Maria drew herself in the Compound, she also drew many other copies of girls who looked exactly like herself. None of them had faces, but the one that Christine thought Maria associated with herself, and none of them had fingers. Christine tilted her head in concern about that, but a military installation for children would probably try to minimize individualization.
The lack of fingers could represent an inability to express herself, feeling like she wasn't free. Christine turned to the drawing that Maria had done of when she had come to live with Tony, and was pleasantly surprised by the change. The colors were in reds and golds, and Maria was actually smiling in the picture. There were two figures, two male figures, also smiling- while the person Christine assumed was Tony Stark, held her hand. "Wow, Maria. I can tell you really like to draw. What can you tell me about what you've drawn?"
Maria’s smile was shy. "Steve's been teaching me new techniques," she confided, then looked back at her own drawings. "Those are --" she pointed at the faceless girls. "My sisters I guess." She frowned slightly and put her finger on the slightly taller faceless girl. "Tony said he'd try to find out what happened to them."
She pushed away the drawing of the Complex like she didn't want to look at it, and focused on the other drawing. "Tony lives in the top of a big tower. He said on a clear day you can almost see New Jersey from it," Maria said smiling, obviously much happier talking about this.
"Steve lives with us, and Jarvis." Her face crumbled slightly. "Do they know I'm here? I don't know why I'm not with them," she whispered.
Christine eyed the little girl sympathetically. She had no idea what Maria’s Tony or Maria’s Steve knew or didn't know. Or even if they really existed. But that wasn't going to help Maria any.
"You really care about Tony and Steve, and Jarvis don't you Maria?"
Christine looked at the drawing again and noticed something she hadn't before. "Maria, do you feel safe when you're with Tony?"
"I keep Tony safe and he keeps me safe," Maria told her. "He's Iron Man, he can keep people safe, but he needs someone to protect him, too. I can't protect him if I'm here. Steve isn't always there and they fight sometimes --" she cut herself off and looked down at the table. "I want Tony. General Fury said if I was good he'd call him -- but he hasn't yet. Betty said someone would call him or Steve after I talked to you -- did I do something wrong? Does Tony not want me anymore?" She looked utterly terrified for a moment.
Christine held up her hands. "Maria. Do you really think it’s possible Tony wouldn't want you anymore?"
Maria looked hesitant, but then shook her head no. "I hope not," she finally said.
"Okay." Christine sighed. "And don't worry about General Fury. We just need to talk here first."
Christine nodded toward the drawing again. "What happened, Maria, was it at the Compound? What happened to make you afraid Tony might not want you anymore?"
Maria’s brow creased. "If you failed too much at the Complex you were considered a strain on the resources, but Tony wouldn't --" she hesitated, then shook her head. "You mean now," she corrected herself. "I haven't been to the Complex since I went to live with Tony. We were at the Baxter Building, and then we were someplace else -- Franklin, Val, and me. There was this energy field around us and then there were soldiers. I tried to get away so I could get back to Tony."
She picked up a crayon, turning it over in her fingers. "Then I was here and I told General Fury, I told him and Tony still hasn't come to get me. Tony's Iron Man, he's Director of SHEILD, he should -- he should know where I am." Her voice cracked slightly. "He should have come and got me if he wanted me. I want to go home. I want Tony."
Maria was upset. In her mind things had strict rules and A always led to B. Christine knew that wouldn't help her here, wouldn't help her calm down.
"Tony really means a lot to you. And I know that you've shown it. I know that you want to get back to him. What if," Christine paused, hoping to get the girl's attention better. "What if it's not that Tony doesn't want to come get you, it's that he can't?"
Maria took a deep breath and shook her head. "But, he--"
"Maria, I have another question for you okay?" Christine interrupted, hoping that Maria would continue to think that idea over in her mind. "I just need to know, it seems like you really want to protect Tony, and so- just as something to imagine, like a game of make-believe, what would it be like if you couldn't go home with Tony?"
Maria opened her mouth, and then closed it again. She shook her head. "No. No. No. No," she repeated and shook her head again. "He -- I -- it would mean he was dead," she almost wailed. "I don't want to go back to the Complex. I don't want to live with Franklin's family. I want Tony."
"You won't, Maria. We would never make you go back there." Christine answered gently.
"But like you just said, Tony Stark wouldn't stop wanting you. You just said so yourself."
Maria eyed her hesitantly.
Christine took a breath and smiled at the girl, hopefully. "I just want to go back for a second because before you said that Steve helped protect Tony sometimes, right?" Christine eyed the blond man in the picture that Maria had drawn. "Tell me about Steve."
Maria shrugged slightly. "He's Captain America," she said in a 'you should know that’ voice. "He lives with me and Tony. He didn't at first but now he does. He draws with me and teaches me things in the gym."
"So this man you drew, next to you and Tony in the tower, that's Steve Rogers?" Christine tapped her finger against the yellow wax on the paper
Maria nodded. "Tony's happier with Steve living with us. Even though they fight sometimes."
“Okay,” Christine hesitated. “So, what would it be like to live with Steve, Maria?”
Maria frowned slightly. "Instead of Tony? I -- if I was required to. I'd rather be with Tony. But why would living with Steve mean not living with Tony?" She sounded confused.
Christine simply nodded.
"Thank you for answering my questions, Maria. Now, I need you to draw me something else. Draw me all of the things that Tony Stark does for you. All the reasons why you want him. I just need to go and talk to someone out in the hall while you do that, okay?"
Maria nodded in return. But once the crayon touched the paper the girl looked more at ease.
Christine was not looking forward to her conversation with General Fury, not at all.
***
"General Fury you can't do what you're thinking of doing. That child... she's been through something monstrous, and right now one of the main things keeping her from not trusting anyone ever again is Tony Stark."
Fury laughed at that, shaking his head at the young woman in front of him. "We'll be sure to share with Stark that someone else's mental stability hinges on him." Stark was constantly drunk, not that he didn't have some damn good reasons, but even if Maria was a normal child -- which she wasn't even remotely -- Stark was not the figure of ideal parenthood.
"If you don't want to be bringing in telepaths or torturing information out of her, I'd place her with Stark. Because she will shut down if taken away from one of the few people she feels she can trust now. I severely doubt you would want that, General." Dr. Ludy pointed out to Fury.
He raised an eyebrow but let her continue. Dr. Ludy had very -- strong -- opinions on the handling of the three children but he'd learned you didn't ignore recommendations from people like her out right. It led to trouble and traitors.
"Furthermore, if you don't want her to try to break out of here, which trust me, I'm almost positive she'd be capable of, she needs to talk to Stark. Steve Rogers is someone she trusts but you can't push a child like that," Dr. Ludy continued determinedly.
Fury glared at the young woman. "I'm sure Captain America can handle his own kid, Doctor, and will be perfectly capable of deciding the amount of exposure she has to Stark. I'd rather keep her here but I do agree that keeping her here would be a press and security nightmare." Fury told her. "What I want to know is if she will listen and obey Steve Rogers."
Christine thought about that hesitantly. "She will. At first. She knows Steve Rogers. Her Steve Rogers. She's been trained, or was at least starting to be. She's, for lack of a better term, programmed to obey military figures. It probably helps that Tony Stark, in her eyes, is Director of SHIELD. Military is family for her, so it will buy you some time. But if she knows that a Tony Stark is out there, she'll do anything to find him, to protect him, and that includes completely dismissing Steve Rogers, or anyone else who would come along."
"I'll keep that in mind, and make sure Rogers knows." Fury commented dryly. "We can't have her with Stark, it would be too big a risk and she's too big of a commodity. Too much money and too many years have been spent trying to figure out the very thing she carries in her DNA. Stark would never agree to further testing. So I need a recommendation of what Rogers is going to need to know with her. Including how to deal with the Stark issue. He can make sure she gets to visit him, but she has to remain in Rogers' custody."
"No one can really know if the information your scientists need is in that little girl's DNA, General Fury. Are you willing to live with treating her like that Compound did before she went to live with Stark? Wherever these kids came from, they are children. Not things." Dr. Ludy said, crossing her arms.
"I didn't ask for your moralizations, doctor," Fury reminded her, narrowing his eyes. He couldn't afford to get emotional just because their breakthrough came in the form of a little girl. "What are your recommendations?"
"My recommendation is to place her with Tony Stark. She might have problems adjusting to the differences between 'her' Tony and this one, but she would do much better," Dr. Ludy told him, her displeasure obvious. "But if you want a way to 'deal with her', I'd seriously recommend that she attaches to someone here and her own age. She seems to already have a bond with Franklin, which is good. But her meeting other children who have been through the emotional abuse and trauma that this girl knows would help her realize that she's not so alone in this."
Fury snorted softly. "You don't ask for much, do you?"
"She loves to draw," Dr. Ludy continued as if Fury hadn't interrupted her. "I'd foster that ability and try to get her to express some of her emotions out that way. She can't keep it all inside. Visitation with the other two children found with her is something else I’d recommend, but with direct supervision at all times."
"What do we do about the Stark issue?" Fury asked. That was what he was primarily interested in. Rogers could have a separate briefing if need be about therapy issues and if Richards figured out a way to send the children back where they came from in as little time as he thought he could -- then it would be a moot point.
"And for the Tony issue, the only thing that I can recommend is to have Steve Rogers spend as much time with her as possible, to develop as strong a bond as he can fathom, or I just can't see her willingly staying with him. Also assurances. Assurances that Tony Stark is safe, that he is being protected at all times, that living with Steve isn't a punishment, and that Tony isn't angry with her, will help soothe her," Dr. Ludy sighed. "It would probably be best if Rogers was living in the same location as Stark, but in lieu of that, she should be allowed as many visits with Stark as possible."
Fury frowned but nodded. It almost would be easier to keep the kid in a cell until they cracked the serum or Richards could send them home, but Betty was right. It would be a nightmare if even the rumor of them holding a child got out. "I suppose it's too much to ask that she'll be able to understand that this isn't her world?"
Dr. Ludy shook her head. "Franklin is older and seems to have had contact with the idea of other universes and realities, so he's handling things as well as can be expected. Val is simply too young to understand that things are that different once she got back her 'mommy' and 'daddy'. But Maria's at an age where she can understand things are different but not understand why. She can't even imagine the possibility of not living with Tony without it meaning he's dead or doesn't want her." She straightened her shoulders. "I'm going to go back in with her. I have a few more questions I want to ask before I make my formal report. After I’m finished, should I take her to where the other children are with the Fantastic Four?"
"We did promise her she'd be allowed to see Franklin and his 'parents'," Fury told her. "So yes, please do."
When the psychologist left, Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. At least dealing with Rogers should be a little easier after knowing all of that and dealing with Sue Storm and Reed Richards. And Rogers was less likely to faint.
Read Maria's Psychological Report
TBC
Previous Parts: Chapter 1
Authors: Kijikun and
pandanoaiRating: R
Betas:
ellyr_in_ink and pandanoaiWord count: 4042
Series: Some Assembly Required
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Tony (eventually), Steve/Jan, ofc
Universe/Timeline: Ultimates, takes place after Ultimates 2 and Ultimate Human. Events take place three months after All That Remains. This isn't the direct sequel to All That Remains, but don't worry that's coming (and takes place before this story). This is a bit of a What If story.
Warnings: Minor violence, children in confinement
A/N: Big thanks to
pandanoai for writing the psychologist scene with me and making sure everything was accurate. And for writing up this Psychological report. The view from under the bed was quite remarkable. Maria liked it. It upset the solider that seemed to keep guard by the door to her glass room. 'Didn't she want to lie on the bed?' he'd asked once.
She didn't. Under the bed was safe. She had a measure of control -- protection. Tony had told her once, while he lay beside the bed when she was under it, that his cameras couldn't see her under the bed. Tony's cameras were allowed to see her, because Tony's cameras saw everything in the penthouse. She liked that.
Tony was smart and could do things like that. He could control computers with his brain -- she couldn't, though she'd tried. Tony thought of everything. He could build model spaceships that really flew -- Maria had helped. He had a special suit of armor he'd built himself, and he was the smartest man in the world.
Franklin said his dad was the smartest, but Reed, as nice as he was, didn't have an Iron Man suit. And he thought the Savage Land could count as the land in The Journey to the Center of the Earth. Which it didn't, and Tony said so.
Maria blinked rapidly as her vision blurred. The glass walls and the metal walls beyond them mocked her as she tried to pretend she was in her bedroom.
She wanted Tony.
Maria was reasonably sure at least five full days had passed since General Fury had promised that if she was good she'd get to see Tony.
She was trying to be good.
But she didn't like needles and they kept taking more of her blood.
Maybe something was wrong with her?
She remembered in the middle of lessons in the Complex once, one of the other girls had fallen from her seat in convulsions. She'd been removed from the class, and the next day the desk sat empty and remained empty. There had been whispers of weakness and failure. They were all examined thoroughly by the doctors that following day, perhaps to detect any similar weakness.
Maria wondered where Franklin and Val were. She wondered if there were any of her sisters in similar glass boxes.
She wondered why that man she walked by as they took her to the labs was in a cage like hers. He looked -- familiar -- but she couldn't place it. He seemed nice, and he always said hello to her.
No one answered her questions when she asked them, and she hadn't seen General Fury since that first day. All the doctors and people in uniforms talked around her like she couldn't hear them. She didn't understand what 'super-serum' had to do with her, or what 'project rebirth' was. Their questions were even more confounding and they didn't seem to listen to her answers.
So, she started asking for Tony when they asked her anything. It hadn't made them happy that she wasn't answering anymore, but she didn't care. She wanted Tony.
Today, she'd started asking for Steve as well. Steve would know where Tony was and Steve had made promises, too. He'd promised to protect Tony.
Steve had promised he wouldn't let anyone take her from Tony.
"Come out from under the bed and present yourself for restraints. That's an order."
She recognized the voice of one of the soldiers -- they said they were SHIELD but she didn’t believe them. Tony ran SHIELD and he wouldn't do this to her.
It was a direct order. She should obey it, because disobeying orders got you isolation or worse. But she was already in isolation. She was already being punished.
"No," she whispered, even though she wanted to scream.
"Maria, we need you to come out from under the bed now. We need --" it was the voice of one of the doctors. Dr. Manuel, she thought. He was a nervous and jumpy man.
"No," Maria cut him off in a louder voice. She thought they must not know how to do their jobs very well, considering all the tests they'd run on her so far.
"Maria, you can either get up on your own and let us put the restraints on you, or we can make you. I thought you were going to be good and cooperate with us."
She didn't budge from under the bed. "I want Tony," she called loudly. "General Fury said he would call Tony. I want Tony. I want Steve." She kicked the underside of the bed, making it rattle as her voice got louder and louder.
"Maria --" Dr. Manuel's voice cut off.
"Maria? I'm Betty," a new voice spoke. "How are you?"
She turned her head curiously towards the voice. A woman she'd never seen before stood there watching her. Betty wasn't military. That was obvious from her dress and stance. When Betty saw she had Maria's attention, she bent down as if to be more on Maria's eye level.
"I want Tony," Maria told Betty. Tears were splashing on the floor and her hands every time she blinked.
"I know you're very unhappy and you're tired of all the tests. But I promise no more tests today. We just want you to talk to someone," Betty told her. "Do you know what a psychologist is?"
"Yes, ma'am," Maria answered, still looking at Betty.
Betty smiled just a bit, and that made Maria feel a little bit better, silly as it was. "We have a very nice one named Dr. Ludy, and she'd like to talk to you for a little bit. Would that be okay?"
"Then you'll call Tony or Steve?" Maria asked. Her voice shook despite her efforts to keep it steady. She couldn't hide tells like she once could. The sliver of fear that everything -- Tony, Steve, Jarvis, all of it -- had been a long-term test and she'd failed, tugged at her brain.
Betty smiled and nodded. "Yes, after you talk to her, we'll call Tony or Steve. And you can visit with Franklin. Would you like that?"
Maria nodded a bit more eagerly than she'd meant too. "Is Franklin okay?"
"He's just fine," Betty assured her. "And he wants to see you, too. So do his parents, but you need to see Dr. Ludy first. Now, can you come out from under the bed?"
She hesitated a moment before climbing out from under the bed. Betty smiled at her again and met her at the door. There were only two soldiers and they looked at Maria nervously. Maria still didn't understand that. Why would they be scared of her?
"Hello, my name is Dr. Ludy, but you can call me Christine. I just want to talk to you for a while and see if we can't understand some things better. What's your name?"
Maria looked uncomfortable and away, sitting stiffly in her seat. "Maria Stark -- formally F-12," she added quickly.
"Maria Stark. Maria, that's such a pretty name. But I'm confused, what's F-12?" The psychologist leaned forward across the little table they were sitting near. Both of them were on the floor and Christine noticed Maria's eyes darting to the pad of paper and the crayons sitting between them. Good, Christine thought, hopefully she'll like to pour her heart out on it.
When she'd seen the girl's backpack with its art supplies and sketch pad, she'd hoped art would be a good way to draw her out.
Maria blinked. "F-12 was my formal designation at the Complex. My daily designation was my uniform color and the letter of my chair for that day," Maria told her, as if she was explaining the most basic thing. Her eyes darted to the crayons and paper again.
“The complex, that sounds like... an interesting place." Christine offered. "So... your name used to be F-12, but now it's Maria?"
"Jarvis gave me the name after I went to live with Tony. It was the name of Tony's mother," Maria answered. Then she bit her bottom lip as if keeping herself from saying something else.
Christine tilted her head, wondering what it could be, but knew better then to try and force the information out of the child. She instead took the pad of paper in front of her and ripped off a sheet. She took a few crayons and then she looked at Maria. "So, you went to live with Tony. Tony Stark, I'm going to guess, because of your last name."
Maria nodded after a moment’s hesitation.
"So, Maria Stark, I need you to help me see things more clearly. I need you to draw what your house looked like when you were F-12, and what your house looked like and what it felt like to live with Tony." Christine took a sheet of paper and gave the girl the rest of it, taking the small supplies she had divided off for herself. "I'll draw too. What do you think I should draw while you do that?"
Maria titled her head to one side and there was something a shade too calculating in the girl's eyes for her age. Then the look was gone. "You could draw your own home."
Maria picked up the black crayon first and set to work. Very quickly she was engrossed in her drawing, the tip of her tongue sticking out.
Christine nodded, and halfheartedly began to draw a home. She was, obviously, much more interested in what Maria had begun to draw. As the time ticked by, Christine saw the details of the two drawings and was careful not to comment on the expertise in which the little girl worked the crayon. It would only slow things down.
Maria's pictures seemed pretty easy to interpret. The Compound was drawn with darker drab colors, and while Maria drew herself in the Compound, she also drew many other copies of girls who looked exactly like herself. None of them had faces, but the one that Christine thought Maria associated with herself, and none of them had fingers. Christine tilted her head in concern about that, but a military installation for children would probably try to minimize individualization.
The lack of fingers could represent an inability to express herself, feeling like she wasn't free. Christine turned to the drawing that Maria had done of when she had come to live with Tony, and was pleasantly surprised by the change. The colors were in reds and golds, and Maria was actually smiling in the picture. There were two figures, two male figures, also smiling- while the person Christine assumed was Tony Stark, held her hand. "Wow, Maria. I can tell you really like to draw. What can you tell me about what you've drawn?"
Maria’s smile was shy. "Steve's been teaching me new techniques," she confided, then looked back at her own drawings. "Those are --" she pointed at the faceless girls. "My sisters I guess." She frowned slightly and put her finger on the slightly taller faceless girl. "Tony said he'd try to find out what happened to them."
She pushed away the drawing of the Complex like she didn't want to look at it, and focused on the other drawing. "Tony lives in the top of a big tower. He said on a clear day you can almost see New Jersey from it," Maria said smiling, obviously much happier talking about this.
"Steve lives with us, and Jarvis." Her face crumbled slightly. "Do they know I'm here? I don't know why I'm not with them," she whispered.
Christine eyed the little girl sympathetically. She had no idea what Maria’s Tony or Maria’s Steve knew or didn't know. Or even if they really existed. But that wasn't going to help Maria any.
"You really care about Tony and Steve, and Jarvis don't you Maria?"
Christine looked at the drawing again and noticed something she hadn't before. "Maria, do you feel safe when you're with Tony?"
"I keep Tony safe and he keeps me safe," Maria told her. "He's Iron Man, he can keep people safe, but he needs someone to protect him, too. I can't protect him if I'm here. Steve isn't always there and they fight sometimes --" she cut herself off and looked down at the table. "I want Tony. General Fury said if I was good he'd call him -- but he hasn't yet. Betty said someone would call him or Steve after I talked to you -- did I do something wrong? Does Tony not want me anymore?" She looked utterly terrified for a moment.
Christine held up her hands. "Maria. Do you really think it’s possible Tony wouldn't want you anymore?"
Maria looked hesitant, but then shook her head no. "I hope not," she finally said.
"Okay." Christine sighed. "And don't worry about General Fury. We just need to talk here first."
Christine nodded toward the drawing again. "What happened, Maria, was it at the Compound? What happened to make you afraid Tony might not want you anymore?"
Maria’s brow creased. "If you failed too much at the Complex you were considered a strain on the resources, but Tony wouldn't --" she hesitated, then shook her head. "You mean now," she corrected herself. "I haven't been to the Complex since I went to live with Tony. We were at the Baxter Building, and then we were someplace else -- Franklin, Val, and me. There was this energy field around us and then there were soldiers. I tried to get away so I could get back to Tony."
She picked up a crayon, turning it over in her fingers. "Then I was here and I told General Fury, I told him and Tony still hasn't come to get me. Tony's Iron Man, he's Director of SHEILD, he should -- he should know where I am." Her voice cracked slightly. "He should have come and got me if he wanted me. I want to go home. I want Tony."
Maria was upset. In her mind things had strict rules and A always led to B. Christine knew that wouldn't help her here, wouldn't help her calm down.
"Tony really means a lot to you. And I know that you've shown it. I know that you want to get back to him. What if," Christine paused, hoping to get the girl's attention better. "What if it's not that Tony doesn't want to come get you, it's that he can't?"
Maria took a deep breath and shook her head. "But, he--"
"Maria, I have another question for you okay?" Christine interrupted, hoping that Maria would continue to think that idea over in her mind. "I just need to know, it seems like you really want to protect Tony, and so- just as something to imagine, like a game of make-believe, what would it be like if you couldn't go home with Tony?"
Maria opened her mouth, and then closed it again. She shook her head. "No. No. No. No," she repeated and shook her head again. "He -- I -- it would mean he was dead," she almost wailed. "I don't want to go back to the Complex. I don't want to live with Franklin's family. I want Tony."
"You won't, Maria. We would never make you go back there." Christine answered gently.
"But like you just said, Tony Stark wouldn't stop wanting you. You just said so yourself."
Maria eyed her hesitantly.
Christine took a breath and smiled at the girl, hopefully. "I just want to go back for a second because before you said that Steve helped protect Tony sometimes, right?" Christine eyed the blond man in the picture that Maria had drawn. "Tell me about Steve."
Maria shrugged slightly. "He's Captain America," she said in a 'you should know that’ voice. "He lives with me and Tony. He didn't at first but now he does. He draws with me and teaches me things in the gym."
"So this man you drew, next to you and Tony in the tower, that's Steve Rogers?" Christine tapped her finger against the yellow wax on the paper
Maria nodded. "Tony's happier with Steve living with us. Even though they fight sometimes."
“Okay,” Christine hesitated. “So, what would it be like to live with Steve, Maria?”
Maria frowned slightly. "Instead of Tony? I -- if I was required to. I'd rather be with Tony. But why would living with Steve mean not living with Tony?" She sounded confused.
Christine simply nodded.
"Thank you for answering my questions, Maria. Now, I need you to draw me something else. Draw me all of the things that Tony Stark does for you. All the reasons why you want him. I just need to go and talk to someone out in the hall while you do that, okay?"
Maria nodded in return. But once the crayon touched the paper the girl looked more at ease.
Christine was not looking forward to her conversation with General Fury, not at all.
"General Fury you can't do what you're thinking of doing. That child... she's been through something monstrous, and right now one of the main things keeping her from not trusting anyone ever again is Tony Stark."
Fury laughed at that, shaking his head at the young woman in front of him. "We'll be sure to share with Stark that someone else's mental stability hinges on him." Stark was constantly drunk, not that he didn't have some damn good reasons, but even if Maria was a normal child -- which she wasn't even remotely -- Stark was not the figure of ideal parenthood.
"If you don't want to be bringing in telepaths or torturing information out of her, I'd place her with Stark. Because she will shut down if taken away from one of the few people she feels she can trust now. I severely doubt you would want that, General." Dr. Ludy pointed out to Fury.
He raised an eyebrow but let her continue. Dr. Ludy had very -- strong -- opinions on the handling of the three children but he'd learned you didn't ignore recommendations from people like her out right. It led to trouble and traitors.
"Furthermore, if you don't want her to try to break out of here, which trust me, I'm almost positive she'd be capable of, she needs to talk to Stark. Steve Rogers is someone she trusts but you can't push a child like that," Dr. Ludy continued determinedly.
Fury glared at the young woman. "I'm sure Captain America can handle his own kid, Doctor, and will be perfectly capable of deciding the amount of exposure she has to Stark. I'd rather keep her here but I do agree that keeping her here would be a press and security nightmare." Fury told her. "What I want to know is if she will listen and obey Steve Rogers."
Christine thought about that hesitantly. "She will. At first. She knows Steve Rogers. Her Steve Rogers. She's been trained, or was at least starting to be. She's, for lack of a better term, programmed to obey military figures. It probably helps that Tony Stark, in her eyes, is Director of SHIELD. Military is family for her, so it will buy you some time. But if she knows that a Tony Stark is out there, she'll do anything to find him, to protect him, and that includes completely dismissing Steve Rogers, or anyone else who would come along."
"I'll keep that in mind, and make sure Rogers knows." Fury commented dryly. "We can't have her with Stark, it would be too big a risk and she's too big of a commodity. Too much money and too many years have been spent trying to figure out the very thing she carries in her DNA. Stark would never agree to further testing. So I need a recommendation of what Rogers is going to need to know with her. Including how to deal with the Stark issue. He can make sure she gets to visit him, but she has to remain in Rogers' custody."
"No one can really know if the information your scientists need is in that little girl's DNA, General Fury. Are you willing to live with treating her like that Compound did before she went to live with Stark? Wherever these kids came from, they are children. Not things." Dr. Ludy said, crossing her arms.
"I didn't ask for your moralizations, doctor," Fury reminded her, narrowing his eyes. He couldn't afford to get emotional just because their breakthrough came in the form of a little girl. "What are your recommendations?"
"My recommendation is to place her with Tony Stark. She might have problems adjusting to the differences between 'her' Tony and this one, but she would do much better," Dr. Ludy told him, her displeasure obvious. "But if you want a way to 'deal with her', I'd seriously recommend that she attaches to someone here and her own age. She seems to already have a bond with Franklin, which is good. But her meeting other children who have been through the emotional abuse and trauma that this girl knows would help her realize that she's not so alone in this."
Fury snorted softly. "You don't ask for much, do you?"
"She loves to draw," Dr. Ludy continued as if Fury hadn't interrupted her. "I'd foster that ability and try to get her to express some of her emotions out that way. She can't keep it all inside. Visitation with the other two children found with her is something else I’d recommend, but with direct supervision at all times."
"What do we do about the Stark issue?" Fury asked. That was what he was primarily interested in. Rogers could have a separate briefing if need be about therapy issues and if Richards figured out a way to send the children back where they came from in as little time as he thought he could -- then it would be a moot point.
"And for the Tony issue, the only thing that I can recommend is to have Steve Rogers spend as much time with her as possible, to develop as strong a bond as he can fathom, or I just can't see her willingly staying with him. Also assurances. Assurances that Tony Stark is safe, that he is being protected at all times, that living with Steve isn't a punishment, and that Tony isn't angry with her, will help soothe her," Dr. Ludy sighed. "It would probably be best if Rogers was living in the same location as Stark, but in lieu of that, she should be allowed as many visits with Stark as possible."
Fury frowned but nodded. It almost would be easier to keep the kid in a cell until they cracked the serum or Richards could send them home, but Betty was right. It would be a nightmare if even the rumor of them holding a child got out. "I suppose it's too much to ask that she'll be able to understand that this isn't her world?"
Dr. Ludy shook her head. "Franklin is older and seems to have had contact with the idea of other universes and realities, so he's handling things as well as can be expected. Val is simply too young to understand that things are that different once she got back her 'mommy' and 'daddy'. But Maria's at an age where she can understand things are different but not understand why. She can't even imagine the possibility of not living with Tony without it meaning he's dead or doesn't want her." She straightened her shoulders. "I'm going to go back in with her. I have a few more questions I want to ask before I make my formal report. After I’m finished, should I take her to where the other children are with the Fantastic Four?"
"We did promise her she'd be allowed to see Franklin and his 'parents'," Fury told her. "So yes, please do."
When the psychologist left, Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. At least dealing with Rogers should be a little easier after knowing all of that and dealing with Sue Storm and Reed Richards. And Rogers was less likely to faint.
Read Maria's Psychological Report
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Uh, yeah. Also this was quite good. XD
And Ult!Steve living with Maria is going to be... special.
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Glad you enjoyed it and yes it's going to be...special. Ult!Jan is going to be...uhm...less than pleased. Maria is going to be less than pleased, since damnit she wants Tony.
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I'm looking forward to the domestic disaster that will be Steve, Jan and Maria.
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But yeah for reading Ult!fic ^_^ Ani_bester and elly_r_ink's bigbang is Ult!fic and looks to be really good.
On my fic side: yeah, and it isn't going to help that Tony is going to spoil her every chance he gets, and that Steve and Fury are going to be keeping certain facts from Tony.
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Sweet, sweet hilarity and angst. :) I can't wait to see ult!Tony as surrogate dad.
I've read some of Ultimates 1 and 2. Bits and pieces. I get drawn in, everything's going fine, and then suddenly Hulk's trying to rape/eat Freddie Prinze Jr, or Hank's doing something unconscionable. I don't know, I suppose I should get around to it.
I saw some of Ult Human on SD and it looked quite good. I'm always up for a crazy Ellis story.
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And I always try to forget about Hulk eating/trying to eat people ;_;
Hank though can be blamed on incorrect medication and no one thinking that he might need a different dosage when he starts growing big.
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Hank though can be blamed on incorrect medication and no one thinking that he might need a different dosage when he starts growing big.
...really? That's heartening. I'll also admit to being very entertained by what I've seen of ult Black Widow. And her end. :D
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I love how gutted Tony is by it though he tries so hard not to show it.
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Jan's reaction is for the most part is to not speak to Hank at all, hook up with Steve as quickly as possible, and starts divorcing Hank. By Ultimates 2 she's cheating on Steve with Hank, leaves Steve for Hank (and then gets right back together with Steve by the end of the book), and it ends with them finally really talking with Hank in one of those glass holding cells.
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MA Hulk > Ult Hulk
<3
The evaluation was very well done and I can't wait to see the Fantastics Four's, Steve's, and esp. Ult! Tony's reaction to Maria/ hers to them.
And I caught a slight typo recommendations from people like her out right. It let to trouble and traitors.
Led instead of let?
Eagerly awaiting the next installment~
Re: <3
Poor Reed, he still hasn't recovered from Val delighted squeal of "DADDY!"
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And Rogers was less likely to faint.
Oh, I don't know Nick. Wait until Maria asks why they don't kiss and make up. LOL.
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And nah it's more like wait until Maria asks why Jan shares Steve's room and not Tony.
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How did you see through my clever disguise? :D
And nah it's more like wait until Maria asks why Jan shares Steve's room and not Tony.
I want to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.
(Also, I hope to have that fic sometime tomorrow. makes me go \o/).
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I'm really feeling for Maria here, in case you can't tell. ^__^;;; Franklin and Val have this world's Fantastic Four to protect them now, at least, but poor Maria doesn't seem to have anyone...
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Like it, though.
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I absolutely adore Maria and your writing, the way you capture characters' voices and tell those wonderful, compelling stories so there's nothing else I can do but wish that one day the inspiration will strike again and that you will continue writing this universe. Seeing the latest Christmas one-shot gives me hope that you're not done with this story. Please, don't be!
Take care,
katharienne