Why Not?

Chapter Twenty: Science is Great... Until You're the Mouse

Bruce's eyes scanned you for a moment, as if assessing your situation. Of course he was going to let you speak, but...

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking empathetically intrigued. 

That was something you liked about Bruce. He cared, you know? It was nice. You knew it was especially helpful for Scarllet and Maverick to hear when they were feeling down. Or even Katie when she was feeling anxious. 

You shrugged in response, "I guess. I just came up to talk to you about a little idea I had... something I was hoping you could test?" 

Bruce tensed, but he looked intrigued. "If something happened with your powers, I think it'd be best if we had Ste--"

"No no," your hands moved up a little in defense, "it's not like that. My powers are fine... I think." you paused. Were your powers okay? You didn't use them during the fight, but was that why your tongue wouldn't heal? 

"You think?" Bruce asked. He was nervous, as per usual, but it was weird. It was kind of like he knew it. 

You shook your head ever so slightly, "It doesn't really matter right now." A breath, a second, a small nervous smile. "What does is the thought I had after today's... incident." This was a lot harder than you'd thought it would be. You were nervous and... anxious. You wondered if this was how Scarllet felt all the time. 

"There was an incident?" Bruce looked startled, like he hadn't heard yet. As if.

 "Yeah. Micheal and I... got into a sort of fight." you opened your mouth to show Bruce the gory mess that'd been your tongue at some point. He flinched. Hell, even you almost flinched every time you talked. (Cause dude stuff like this hurts.) However, you just shrugged with understanding. 

"And that was how long ago?" Bruce asked.

You shrugged again, averting your gaze, which he seemed to understand as a sign to stop there. 

"I'm not really here for me. I'm doing just fine, and even if I wasn't I wouldn't really be concerned, so..." you shrugged, "Anyway, I'm actually here about Micheal." You cleared your throat, wishing you hadn't thought this. 

"I think he has powers."

...

Now, saying that to anyone else probably would've made them laugh. I mean, they had tests for those sorts of things, right? How could you not notice something like that?!

Simple: They're all human. Even Vision has some human to him. 

The chances are Micheal's meds (curtsey of Dr. S Strange) helped to dilute his powers in a way. (Umbrella Academy Spoiler Alert) Like Vanya with her anxiety meds. Which was fine, aside from the fact that he could still use them without knowing it. Plus, Micheal hated it when people lied to him, and never trusted anyone who intentionally kept a secret from him with no intention of him finding out. So, if Stephen knew about him possibly having powers, and Micheal found out through someone else, like Bruce or Scarllet, he probably wouldn't tell Stephen the truth ever again. Or even worse for their house's ecosystem, he'd ignore Stephen's existence completely. 

Bruce didn't really react when you said that, which was actually sort of surprising. He usually looked at least a little worried. However, in this moment, he just looked like he was thinking about it. Like he was trying to decide whether or not to believe you, and the consequences of both. 

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he shook his head. 

"That could actually be quite possible, Y/n." 

Your breath hitched. He actually agreed with you?

Bruce's eyebrows furrowed further, which didn't seem possible a few moments ago, "However, we need to be careful about this. Micheal and Maverick are sensitive about what happened." There was another pause, "And I actually think we should talk to the rest of the team about this." 

This was where you grew a little more than concerned. You were confused. Why would you need the rest of the team? What the fuck were they supposed to do? 

Bruce sighed and took his glasses -which had magically found their way back onto his face- off, rubbing his eyes to try and alleviate the sudden spike in his stress levels. 

After that, things were a blur. He sent you off so he could think things over, and you went to your room. You changed your clothes, and then went to the gym. 

A fun thing about the winter soldier being created was the consequences. HYDRA had the serum after that, and they loved to use it on the "strong-willed". From there, they developed a lot of biological warfare, working on things like altering DNA in whatever way they wished, creating life from nothing, and making everything they already had more efficient. 

That's where you came in.

After you were taken, your memory was altered, along with your DNA and such. After you were considered to be a person in "peak physical condition", they ran a lot of tests on you. From there, they tortured you until your cells mutated more than once. 

After a while, you were able to escape. You re-entered the world as a normal orphan until you were hopefully adopted. That's mainly why it wasn't surprising when you saw Tony in your foster home a year back.

As you worked on the bags, your mind wandered. It was quiet, and you couldn't help but wonder what your brother would think of you now. 

You shook your head, hitting the bag harder.

Your mother would be scared of you.

You hit harder.

Your father--

You hit the bag again, watching as it flew across the room before you could fully finish your thought.

You sniffed as you went to retrieve the bag and check for holes. And sure enough, as you got closer, you could see the sand spilled all over the once clean floor. 

A sigh.

Your father would think you're a monster.

...