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Summary: Tabitha comes home from the hospital dealing with a concussion and winds up telling Stark of her latest bout with trouble.
Date: April 4, 2011
Log Title: Concussed and Confused
Rating: PG-13 (L) - Language
NYC- Stark Towers
Tabitha's Temporary Apartment
It's the middle of the evening in the out patient ward; that place where people have to go before they get released. In the waiting room, Tabitha is sitting in a wheelchair, dressed in her jeans, t-shirt, and biking leathers; the same clothes she had when she checked in, presumably. There's a policeman standing beside her with a notebook, continuing to press the rat girl for information in spite of the dirty look he's receiving from more than one nurse. "I don't remember," complains Tabitha, though she speaks in a soft and subdued tone of voice without any of her usual sass. "No, I really don't remember who else was there, okay? I remember getting smashed through a building."
A phone call had been placed from the hospital where Tabitha had been staying for a bit due to her brush with Dingo. When she was cleared by the staff to go home the call to Tony Stark was fielded by Bambi. Bambi forwarded the message to Happy Hogan who drove over to the hospital to pick Tabitha up. Bit of a glare off between Hogan and the Police officer but other than that the ride over to the Towers is rather uneventful and Happy helped to escort Tabitha through the building and into her apartment.
About an hour has passed when a knock occurs at the door to Tabitha's apartment. On the other side waiting impatiently is Tony Stark clad in a black suit, and crimson red shirt with no tie to be seen. He is here because the message from earlier has cycled around between members of his staff until he was made aware of the fact that Tabitha was escorted back to the Towers.
Tabitha is very glad to be free of the police officer, though she sleeps through most of the return trip. After the knock on the door, she's several minutes before she answers; and when she does she's standing there in a light blue pair of pajamas, bare feet, and is holding her head with one hand as if afraid it might fall off. At first she just stands there, blinking her eyes. "…Hi," she manages at last, and takes a step back. "Want… to come ine?"
Tony turns about when the door opens as he had been looking down the hallway. "Well, you look like hell." Coming into the apartment the buttons of his suit jacket are undone and the panels flare a bit afterward. "I've heard quite the story from various sources about your latest brush with unexpected trouble."
Tabitha pads back into the apartment, tail dragging on the floor behind her, and sinks slowly and carefully into the first chair she reaches; a nice, big, leather armchair. She closes her eyes, and leans her head against the back of the chair. "I feel like hell," she qualifies. "Apparently I'm lucky I'm not dead. If I hadn't copied that… crazy lady with the crystals it would've been worse." She pauses, and reaches up to rub at her forehead. "I didn't… used to be so accident prone."
Dark eyes track the movement of the young lady as she manages to shuffle to her chair where she sinks. Coming further into the apartment Tony takes up a lean against a nearby wall listening to Tabitha. "Accident prone? An accident is dropping a vase or falling off a bike. Getting thrown into a building by a four story tall madman is called being in the wrong place at the wrong time and or bad karma. Both."
The Rat Girl rests her hand over her eyes, and mutters something vague and unintelligable, before swallowing, and licking her lips to moisten them. "I guess," she replies. "How much did you hear?" She pauses once more, and shifts her fingers to rub at the bridge of her muzzle, between her eyes. "Dingo… said he was going to annex Chinatown. Told me I could have any apartment I wanted." She coughs softly, and shakes her head — very slowly. "Don't want… to get anything that way," she mutters. "Tried to stop him. Didn't… want him to hurt people."
"Your heart was in the right place but ultimately a bad decision," Tony states coolly. Pushing away from the wall by using his shoulder he comes over to stand closer to the chair Tabitha is sunk into. "Given that you're a magnet for trouble I would suggest either remaining here or having Happy escort you to Barnes as soon as possible. You are by no means a prisoner however with your luck, such that it is at the moment, it might be best if you didn't wander the city." The man is honestly not trying to keep the young lady confined but as she seems to constantly end up in a clash with someone she may not get out of the next one. "The streets have never been safe but now they are even less so. At least consider laying low until Dingo has been swept off the street and put in a super powered prison sandbox."
Tabitha groans softly as she sits up a little more, though her hand never leaves her forehead. "I know," she mumbles. "I knew it was… bad idea. But… how do you stand by and do nothing… when people are dieing… and still look yourself in the mirror?" Her eyes open, and the two deep blue pools look up at Tony. "I'm… not going anywhere until I can think straight, at least," she replies. "Doctor says no driving for a month anyway. Think I'm going to sleep for a week."
Tony slips his hands into his trouser pockets with the suit jacket panels hanging over his hands. "Don't take this the wrong way," for it may very well come off as he's coming down on her for caring when that's not his intended purpose. "You're a teenager. Despite being a mutant and having abilities you are still a teenager. Leave the combating villainy to the police, and the adults that are there to handle these situations. It is not your duty to jump into situations that are way over your head."
Tabitha nods her head slowly. "I know," she mumbles. "And I don't take it the wrong way. I know you're looking out for me and I'm really glad somebody is." She blinks, but keeps her eyes on Tony, though finally her hand drops to her lap and she rests her head back against the seat once more. "Remember… I told you I got to look this way, after getting in a fight with another mutant… and my body copied hers?"
Tony spots a chair nearby then proceeds to walk over and bring it back. Chair flipped about Tony straddles it resting his forearms across the top of the chair. "One day you may actually let what I'm saying sink in." There's a nod for the mentioning of how Tabitha wound up rat-i-fied, as he can guess as to where this is heading. "I'm aware that you copied Envy's abilities. The fact that you were anywhere close enough to do so makes my skin crawl. You're lucky she didn't skewer you six ways from Sunday and leave you out in front of the Towers as a present."
Tabitha shrugs her shoulders, just enough for the motion to be visible as such. "Didn't know who she was," she replies. "Had… no idea she was… more bent than a paperclip… until she started talking about how great it would be to kill like every human on Earth." The insides of her ears darken as she blushes, and she coughs softly. "I… told her off when she threatened you, too. Stupid… stupid…" The rat girl swallows, and brushes her fingertips through her hair. "Anyway," she murmurs. "I got into a fight with that mutant… 'cause my Dad was… doing his thing." She pauses, and in the silence a tear beads up in the corner of each of her eyes, and rolls down her cheek. "And I was gonna help him. And… I gotta make up for that… somehow."
"Understatement," Tony mutters about Eris. Mind is wandering to things like the growing missing persons report, the various messages about MGH and Kick that are stacking up in his inbox both computer and voice, and to what exactly he was having for dinner as he was sick of letting others order out for him. Right, pay attention to the girl who is still struggling with staying out of trouble. Now back to the conversation. "Those sins are your fathers. If you feel the need to atone for your part in his doings do your best with the second chance you've been given and if you find that you truly wish to help people after your schooling then consider working for an organization that helps others. Hell, you could volunteer your time to help others. There's no need to snark at a crazy woman and turn self appointed savior of all."
"My skull agrees with you," Tabitha mumbles. She grits her teeth and stands up, moving slowly as she trudges towards the fridge; from it she takes two bottles of purified water, and brings them back, setting one on the coffee table and nudging it towards Tony before twisting the top off the other one. She settles back down in the chair and gulps down a couple mouthfuls. "I… I should've died," she continues. "Back in the woods, with my Dad… I mean. That mutant tore me to ribbons… and ripped out my throat. Felt it." She pauses, and flicks her eyes back up to her host. "Always thought… must be alive for a reason." Her lips quirk upwards briefly. "But I guess… getting beaten up… isn't it."
A thank you is given for the bottle water being offered even though she needn't have gone to the kitchen. If she'd asked he would have helped her out. Picking up the bottle of water Tony dangles it by the cap in front of himself as Tabitha speaks of the moment where her life went down hill again. What was he going to say? This is not his department nor is he the most suited for a conversation like this and so she ends up with exactly what he would say to someone around his age.
"There was this one time I had to cut off half of my foot to save the world. Shit happens. You either deal with it and move on or you cry into your Alphabits and have a hate on for everything and everyone." Twists the cap off the bottle water and waves the opened bottle towards Tabitha. "Find a way to let go. Let things out of your control or in the past eat at you constantly then you've not learned a damn thing from it and you'll wind up in a situation you don't want to be in."
Another time, that might well have drawn quite the reaction from the rat girl. Instead, she just takes another swallow from the water, and nods slowly. "Okay," she murmurs. "As soon as I can get the world to sit still when I walk around… I'll really try to stay out of trouble." She leans back in the chair, and holds the water in her lap, cradling it with both hands. "At least… until I grow up… join the Avengers… save the world a few times…" She coughs softly, and her lips quirk upwards a notch once more. "I'm just kidding," she mumbles.
As there was not much that Tony could say to apparently get through to Tabitha he finds that it's better if he stops while he's ahead. Sure she listened and offered up okay quite often but it clearly was one of those things that teens must do when their listening but not listening. Draining half the bottle of water in one go Stark takes to picking invisible lint off a jacket sleeve before screwing the cap of the water back onto the bottle. "I think you should rest and I should get back to whatever it was that I was doing earlier." Rising from the chair he takes the chair back to where he pulled it from and heads for the door. "No, don't get up. I can lock the door from the outside. My advice? Take your meds, use your downtown to think and catch up on the reality tv."
Tabitha takes another long drink from her water, and nods her head slowly. "I really was kidding," she mumbles, her ears once again giving away that she's blushing. "And… I really mean it… when I say I'll try to stay out… of trouble." She rubs her forehead, and tilts over sideways, resting her head in the corner of the chair. "I really… just want… to be a seventeen year old chick." The rat girl sighs heavily. "Sorry I'm such a dunce," she mumbles, just barely loud enough to be heard; and the next sound from her is the soft, steady breathing of slumber as she slips from consciousness and falls asleep.
Tony stands near to the front door peering back at Tabitha who has fallen asleep in the chair. On silent feet he heads over to pick up a blanket that is visible then removes the bottle of water from her slack grip. Water set aside he tosses out the blanket and lets it fall down in place over her. He knows she means well, tries too hard, doesn't really get it yet but perhaps she will in time. Tabitha is left to rest as Tony exits stage left locking up the apartment then heading upstairs to his office where he collapses into his chair spinning around to look out onto the city. Slowly the chair turns to the left as he notices a statue of Iron Man resting there. "Now this, is art." Assuming Pepper put it there he picks the statue up as if it weighed nothing and goes to the area where he displays things, shoving aside the pieces in the middle to properly display the very dramatic pose. Picks it back up to look it over and notices the base with a smile creeping across his facade.
