Steel Meets Iron

Chapter 14

Ms. Day's office was decorated with cheerful, motivating posters, plants and bold furniture that fitted children and adults. There were reachable books, toys and statues, that you were allowed to pick up. Raven had to come here once a week, for an hour usually, just to talk. Ms. Day was pleasant, a subtle beauty, she had ashy blonde hair that she French braided and almond shaped blue eyes. Raven was head over heels about her which made the sessions much easier for her, and everyone else. She had summoned Tony and Pepper to give her an evaluation on Raven, while Raven waited outside.

Tony wasn't anxious about the meeting. Raven showed no signs of being difficult at home, she huffed and puffed over some things but she listened in the end. Pepper was mentally prepared for anything, that woman's intuition told her to be wary and to tread lightly. She knew that Raven was much more comfortable with them now but she said that a few sessions were not going to fix her problems. They noted her lurking temper with that dangerous knowledge.

"I'm glad both of you could be here," Ms. Day greeted.

"So are we," Pepper responded with her CEO grace.

Ms. Day opened a folder. "As you know I haven't been working with Raven long but," her fingers laced, "I need to bring some things to your attention."

Tony stiffened while Pepper grabbed his arm. "Such as?" She asked.

She stared at them squarely, "Does she talk to you about her previous life back in Ireland?"

"Vaguely," Pepper admitted.

"Does she mention any of her dreams?"

Pepper shook her head. Tony felt himself turn to stone. "What has she told you?" He inquired. "Or is there a patient-doctor confidentiality? Cause I'm pretty sure there is an age limit on that."

Ms. Day flipped through her folder. "Raven has seen some things in her life that no child should have ever known of," she began. "I'm picking up that she has been conditioned to lie and coached on what to say when she's in the presence of certain authority figures."

"Conditioned?" Tony repeated. "Like how they conditioned dogs?"

"Similarly," she agreed. "Raven has major trust issues, and not the standard bashfulness of a child. What I'm getting at is that her social worker may not have all the pieces to Raven's previous environment."

Pepper's face when paler, reducing her makeup to hollow stains. "You think there was abuse?"

Tony felt his breath falter. Abuse. The words hung in the air. Abuse. A noose around his neck.

"Not sexual or physical, but I sense some emotional abuse," she elaborated. "Not precisely verbal, nor directly intentional but rather, something that made her feel abandoned. Alone. Outcast. Something that frightened her so deeply that she keeps secrets to avoid resurrecting bad memories." She unlaced and laced her fingers. "I know it's a little premature to tell you this but I am certain about this. She needs to trust you two-"

"Excuse me?" Tony shifted in his chair. "Trust us?"

"Mr. Stark, Raven is a complex child whom has lost every father she had, one took her mother with him." She flipped through her folder. "She may say that she loves you but that is half the battle. She allows you close when it suits her, but I'm afraid that maybe her previous guardian may have been conditioning her to bury her feelings."

"How do you mean?" Pepper was regaining her composure.

"Marshall Helms taught her to put her pain in her art. He taught her about Vincent Van Gogh, Bach and Mozart, the world's most tortured and brilliant artists. Her idols are tortured men. Do you see?" Tony's eyes widened slightly. "She paints, draws and plays her cello a lot, yes?" She waited for no answer. "I believe that her art is her way of coping but it is much more than that. Raven finds security in her secrets, in her hobbies and she trusts no one."