Affliction (P.P.)

Part 3

(Peter POV)

"We're going to need to do a full body scan." Tony explains as he taps things on a screen. "The scan is safe right?" I ask. He peers at me over the screen. "It's fine Pete. Relax." He says. I take a breath. I sound more afraid then Lottie does. "I'll be honest with you guys though, I'll probably faint during the scan." Charlotte says shyly. "Actually, that's okay. We'll be able to get a good look at what goes on in your body when it happens if you do." Bruce says. Lottie nods. "Alright, the scanner is set up. Tony will get you inside it." Bruce says as he nods to Tony. The scanner is on the other side of a glass wall, separating the control room from the actual scanning room. The scanner is a big platform with white rotating rings spinning around it.

The rotating stops when Tony and Lottie enter the room. There's speakers in the control room that the rest of us are in, so we can hear everything they're saying. "Alright kid, pun intended, lets get you in here." Tony says with a smirk. Charlotte gives a small grin. "You had to make a goat joke." She shakes her head. "You know I can't help myself." Tony winks. I smile and shake my head. Charlotte lays down on the scanner platform, and the rings start rotating again. "Everything's gonna be fine, we'll do a scan really quick and then you'll be out. Okay?" Tony says to reassure her. Lottie nods determinedly. Tony then leaves the room and comes back to the control room. "Alright, scan beginning in 3, 2, 1..." Bruce says, then he flicks a lever, and the rings start glowing as they spin. Lottie's heart rate shows up on a screen, and it's kind of high.

"Guys, I'm gonna faint any second now." She says. "You're okay. We'll be right here when you wake up." I say. After I say that, her eyes fall closed, and her heart rate drops to a slow beat. "Alright, she's out."
Bruce says. Everyone else watches as the machine does its work. "It's crazy. She's not unconscious- it's like she's just frozen. Her body functions are perfectly regulated as if she were awake. She's just unable to move. Like her body doesn't want to deal with the stressful situation, so it just gave up." Bruce says as more information from the scanner comes onto his screen. Tony flips through the data too. "So, this curse. It's- fused into her DNA. Look at this. It's insane. All the nucleotides have morphed into a weird, DNA monster." Tony says. Bruce's nods. "But is there a way to fix that?" I ask.

"We'd have to work really hard to find a cure. Probably take a DNA sample too." Tony taps more things on his screen. "Another crazy thing is, the curse- it's like, it's own organism almost. When Charlotte tries to fight it? It fights back. I wonder, if she doesn't learn to control it, if it could just take over her whole body, leading to major sickness and possibly-"
"That's NOT happening." I say sternly. "Of course it isn't. I just wondered at the possibilities. But we'll find a cure." Bruce assures. I cross my arms and look back through the window at her. "So, if this is a curse, what if it's a true loves kiss kind of thing?" Natasha pipes up. Everyone in the room looks at her incredulously. "I'm serious! Little Pete would be the perfect Prince Charming." She says, smirking at me. I feel my face heat up. She winks at me, and I try to keep a straight face but fail.

"I think we'll keep that as our last resort." Tony says with a raised eyebrow. Everyone in the room smiles at the joke, the tension easing. Then the room is silent. Tony puts a hand on his chin. "You know what really gets my goat?" He says thoughtfully. Everyone in the room rolls their eyes. "Lunatic fairies that put weird curses on little girls." He finishes. He grins at everyone. "Come on! You really expect me not to make at least three goat puns?" He laughs. Clint chuckles at the jest. Everyone smiles and shakes their heads. The scanner beeps, signaling that it's finished. "Alright, Peter you can go wake her up. Then we'll go over the results." Bruce says. I nod and walk into the room. I go over to the platform, take Lottie's hand, and gently shake her awake. She blinks her eyes open. "Hey." I say. "Hi." She rubs her eyes.

"Oh! Is the scan over?" She sits up abruptly and bumps her head on one of the rings. "Ow."
I laugh at her. She pouts jokingly and hops off the table. I take her hand and we walk back to the meeting room together. We sit down with everyone else and I can feel Charlotte's anticipation as she waits for the results. "Alright, so what we gathered, is that when you faint, you're not even unconscious because your body is completely regulated. So the curse just makes your body freeze almost, so it doesn't have to deal with the stressful situations you're in." Bruce explains. Lottie nods and he continues. "We also gathered that the curse is one, fused into your DNA, and two, it's like it's own organism. So when you try to fight it off, it's like it fights back." He says. "That explains a lot." Lottie says.

"So, in conclusion, you need to be trained to control the curse. To make yourself strong enough to fight it off. We also need a DNA sample, to see if we can use that to find a cure." Tony finishes. Lottie processes for a minute. "I think, somebody should do physical training with her, as well as mental." Clint says. "And who's going to do it?" Bruce asks. "I will." Natasha volunteers. Lottie looks at her with wide eyes. "Really?" She asks. Natasha smiles. "I'd love to." She says. "We all want to help you Charlotte, so are you willing to let us?" Steve asks. Charlotte thinks for a moment. "I'll have to run it by my mom..." She says uneasily. "Of course. We'll send you home with copies of your results too, so your mother can look at them, and she could come to drop you off for training and meet everyone so she's comfortable with us too." Bruce assures.

Lottie looks at me, then back at everyone else. "Alright, lets do it."