Convalescence (Tony/Lorna)

[safetytronic]

Abby watched out of the window of the vehicle that was taking her and Lorna to Stark Tower, taking her home. She was looking forward to getting into her new bed and just sleeping for the rest of the week, perhaps if she stayed in bed no trouble will follow her and she’ll stay safe and sound. Unless someone took her from her bed… She mentally shook that thought from her head. She will not think of that again. No one was going to take her out of the safety of her home, and from under her father’s watchful eye.

Her heart beat louder in her chest as the massive building got closer, and it wasn’t because she was anxious to see how her father dealt with her. It was because she was going home, and how far she’ll get inside before her father was notified of her return. The vehicle pulled up to a stop at the curb in front of the main door, and she got out first. She took a look around and spotted the media corralled off across the street on the sidewalk. ”Oh no…” She muttered to herself, before darting inside the building, allowing her father’s security to deal with any bold reports that dared to chase her.

All the employees that were posted on the grounds only seemed to nod at her, smile, and allow Abby to lead the way to the elevators that would take her up to the penthouse. She waited for Lorna to catch up with her before making the descent in the metal car as it rose to the top of the building. When it dinged to announce it’s arrival, the doors opened and she darted out first. She made a beeline for the penthouse door, and paused. It was an air seal, and she sighed as the warnings of her father rang in her mind loud and clear. ”Jarvis. Can I come in and go to bed please? I don’t care if you tell my dad…” She called for her father’s AI to open the door and let them in. Hopefully he will also allow her to get past the other locked doors to her bedroom…

[lorna]

The drive didn't take nearly as long as she thought it might have. She'd not really paid too close attention to which hospital they'd been in and apparently Tony had taken Abby to one that was near their home. And at this hour, even the traffic in New York City was down to a bare minimum.

The driver never really said anything to them and for that, Lorna was grateful. She was tired and while Abby had taken the brunt of the abuse that day, she'd not been without a scuffle herself. At least now the alcohol she'd had at the bar was completely out of her system. Not that she'd been intoxicated to begin with but still, it was always nice to deal with things with a level head.

Lorna actually noticed the media persons before Abby did but before she could say anything, the girl was out the door and racing toward the building. She got out of the car and did her best to cover her face as she followed Abby. Abigail may have been used to this sort of thing but she definitely wasn't. If her picture showed up anywhere tomorrow, she was going to have a fit. Luckily, they were most interested in Tony Stark's daughter, not the weird woman who was following her.

Once inside, she moved quickly to the elevator and rode it upstairs with Abby. They were quiet, both of them tired and she looked at the girl. “Do you want a bath or something to eat when we get inside?” she asked.

It honestly never dawned on her that the door wouldn't open for Abby. Surely Tony trusted his own daughter enough to be let into their home. Her? Yeah, she could see her not being able to get in so when Abby informed Jarvis that she was there and if he could open the door, she watched with wide green eyes as the door swung open.

This was almost deja vu except that Tony Stark wasn't there to greet them in the hallway first.

As she walked in after Abby, Lorna half expected to be vaporized or something for daring to walk back in there but she passed through the entrance, completely unscathed. God, she was definitely watching too many sci fi movies lately.

[safetytronic]

Abby smiled gratefully when the door opened and knew that her father would know that she was home, or would know within a few moments. She didn’t care, but hoped that she would be in her bed and fast asleep before he made it back to check in on her. If he felt like coming back to check on her, that is. He left the hospital pretty angry, much like her uncle was when she returned back from that god forsaken jungle he had sent her to one time. She only hoped that his temper didn’t last as long as her uncle’s…

”Do you want a bath or something to eat when we get inside?”

She looked up at her green haired friend, her exhaustion clearly evident upon her face. She sighed, and knew she should eat something… ”Yeah, that would be great. Perhaps I should bath before doing anything else first. But I think I’ll need some help… The stitches aren’t suppose to get wet…” She answered Lorna and stepped inside. The first thing she did was go directly to her room and got a pair of pajamas, and then went to the bathroom that she had used when she first arrived.

Abby then grabbed the towels, and things she needed to use in order to get cleaned up. She of course shivered when she just thought of those things, well she couldn’t think of them as people since they were not human, touching her. Lorna was a mutant, but she was a human being. The fact that she has trouble keeping cell phones didn’t both her the least, and she knew that she was going to have to draw her plans for the cell phone she was going to make her friend down before the details started to escape her.

She stood at the door to the bathroom, and turned to look over her shoulder at her friend to let her know she was ready to get cleaned up. She wanted to get this done and over with, and then crawl into her bed. Then sleep for the rest of the month, but then she doubt her father would let her and hopefully he would check in on her once he got home…

[lorna]

She entered the penthouse and then helped Abby take off her jacket. She imagined the girl would like to very much burn the dress she was wearing and Lorna really couldn't argue with her there. That's what she would have done, anyway. It was beyond filthy, it was downright disgusting. So when she agreed to a bath, Lorna was actually grateful. Getting the blood out of her hair would also be a priority. The longer it stayed on there, the worse it would be to get out.

When Abby went into her bedroom to get her stuff, Lorna wandered into the kitchen to see what sort of food they had there. She had to admit that the lights turning on and off as she walked through different parts of the house amused her slightly. It was something she could actually do with her powers but never really did. That had to save on electricity and the electric bill. Not that the Stark's really paid attention to stuff like that, she figured.

The fridge held a few promising prospects but Abby was ready for her before she could dive too far into things. Maybe she'd be able to throw together some soup or something. But she doubted Abby could stay awake that long.

Lorna followed Abby into the bathroom and began to run the water. The bathroom was, well, gigantic! The tub itself was so big that it could easily fit two people in there and if she were in there with anyone but a thirteen year old girl, her mind might have processed that a bit better. As it was, she filled it with only enough water so that she could get substantially wet and it would be easy to wash her hair.

Which was going to take some time. Not only was the blood caked in there but she was going to have to be very careful and not hurt the girl. No matter what mental voodoo Jean did to her, Lorna didn't want to chance the pain at all. It had been hard enough seeing her in so much earlier.

The bath took some time but they managed to get through it.

[safetytronic]

Abby smiled when Lorna followed her into the bathroom, and she gave a disbelieving sound at the situation. It started to feel like déjà vu to her, as the last time she stepped threw that door she was getting cleaned up from her last kidnapping. However, last time her father was the one who was with her, and she didn’t need any help bathing. This time, it was Lorna and her father was off somewhere angry at them. Her mind kept wondering and she missed her friend running the water into the tub.

She didn’t think twice about he size of the tub or the bathroom. Funny how she was only officially a Stark for less than a day, and she was already used to her father’s idea of home spaces. Granted her mother had made a home for her out of an urban house, but it wasn’t nearly as extravagant as this. Her mother’s family wasn’t as wealthy as her father is, but unlike him they didn’t like to show it off. She mentally shook her head to bring it back to her task at hand, which was of course getting cleaned up and ready to slip into her bed.

Lorna didn’t hurt Abby as she bathed the girl, but it did take quite a while. She of course didn’t want to draw it out than what was needed, and kept her from crawling into her bed sooner than what she wanted. When they were done, she got out of the tub and grabbed the towel she had set aside before gingerly drying off. When she was ready to dry her hair, she handed the towel to her friend. ”I still don’t feel clean enough. All those…things touching me… It feels like they still are…” She said absentmindedly, not really knowing that she was telling a very well kept secret about herself.

When her hair was dry, she carefully put on her pajamas and smiled tenderly at her green haired friend. ”Thanks, Lorna.” She said and then began to walk back toward the kitchen, wondering what there was to eat…if there was anything there to eat.

[lorna]

Lorna did her best to be gentle with Abby and to keep her stitches out of the water. It was a bit awkward to help bathe a teenager but she didn't think too much on it. It needed to be done and as long as they were careful, all would be well. Her mind began to drift toward something to eat for Abigail and she mentally went over all the things she'd found in the fridge.

She didn't know how to use the whole “Jarvis system” and therefore would have to make the food herself. If Abby could stay awake long enough. The girl looked ready to fall asleep in the tub and that wasn't a good thing. So Lorna kept up a constant amount of small talk, keeping the conversation light and as long as Abby made a sound now and then, she was good to do all the talking.

Finally, they were done and Abby handed her the towel to dry her hair with. Gently, Lorna ran the towel through until the hair was no longer dripping and she gingerly combed through the girl's dark locks to smooth it all out before she laid down. Satisfied that she was not only clean but ready for bed once she got some food, Lorna smiled at Abby but her smile died when the girl mentioned not feeling clean.

Gathering her carefully in her arms, Lorna held her there in the bathroom and ran a hand over her now pajama clad back. “Hopefully that feeling will go away soon,” she murmured to Abby in a soothing tone. “I'm not going anywhere until your father gets back. Between the two of us, we'll keep those monsters away from you. I promise that.”

The moment passed and they were on their way to the kitchen. Opening the fridge again, she looked through the various items and finally pulled out a few slices of American cheese and a small tub of butter. A cupboard produced a loaf of bread and Lorna looked at Abby with an almost apologetic smile. “Do you liked grilled cheese? I really can't find anything that I can make quickly,” she asked the girl.

If Abby indicated that she did enjoy grilled cheese, Lorna would set about fixing the simple but filling meal. If not, then she would continue to wrack her brain to figure something out until they settled on something that Abigail would eat.

[safetytronic]

As Lorna washed and bathed Abby, her mind was not in the bathroom. It was of course scattered in two different directions at that moment. Three if she counted the argument with her father, and she knew she should apologize to him. Perhaps explain her reasoning at the time to him. She was still worried that she would eventually be the death of him. She mentally shook her head as she pushed those thoughts away for the moment, and went back to thinking about her nice, big, comfy bed and what she could eat before climbing into it.

It wasn’t long before they were through in her mind, as it was of course not completely there. Of course her green haired friend was making sure she would stay conscious by asking her questions, and she of course answered absentmindedly not really paying too much attention. She of course didn’t wince the least when her friend began to comb her shoulder length hair, but if it wasn’t for whatever Dr. Grey-Summers had done she was sure it would have. When she mentioned not feeling clean, her friend gathered her into her arm and began to comfort her again.

”Hopefully that feeling will go away soon, I’m not going anywhere until your father get back. Between the two of us, we’ll keep those monster away from you. I promise that.”

Abby shook her head, and perhaps she should tell Lorna her pet peeve. ”It isn’t that. Like Daddy has a thing about people handing him things, well I don’t like people I don’t know touching me without permission… Unless I initiate the contact…” She said, and then went into the kitchen before sitting at the bar on a stool. She wondered if her friend knew how to get Jarvis to fix her something to eat. She soon had her answer as she was asked a question.

”Do you liked grilled cheese? I really can’t find anything that I can make quickly,”

She nodded her head with a grin to convoy that she didn’t have a problem about eating grilled cheese. She watched as the food was made and then set before her. She then began to eat it, and smiled a bit sadly as she remembered that her mom would make her these when she was nearly overworked with her projects and couldn’t or wouldn’t eat. Her mom would make her a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches and bring them to her with a glass of milk. She made sure that her daughter ate them before letting her get back to whatever had her so occupied.

When Abby was finished, she put her dirty dishes in the sink and smiled tiredly up to her friend. ”Thank you Lorna. That was just like how my mom would have made it.” She said and then turned toward the living quarters of the penthouse. She wondered if her father would check in on her when he gets there, knowing that he would be on his way. All she wanted to do was get to her room, crawl into her bed and sleep for the rest of the week. If she stayed that way, would be a totally different manner. The nice redheaded doctor might have stopped the pain in her head, but she didn’t stop the emotional and physiological trauma in her mind.

Once she got to her bedroom, she left the door opened a bit so that her father, if he came home, or Lorna can hear her screaming if someone else tried to take her away. She then crawled into the covers and fell asleep.

[lorna]

Lorna didn't really understand what Abby meant by Tony not liking things handed to him. Was that physically handed to him? Or metaphorically handed to him? Not that either mattered. She hardly expected to get to know the man that well, after all. The only real thing they had in common was Abby and ironically enough, they'd almost known the girl equally as long. Not that Lorna really knew that given she wasn't completely up to date on how the two had discovered their relationship. She merely assumed that Abby's mom had introduced them prior to her untimely death.

She did drop her arms from around Abby as the girl informed her that she just didn't like people touching her. It occurred to Lorna that she'd hugged her a few times that day without asking the child's permission and wondered if she'd been making Abby feel uncomfortable every since. “Oh,” she said, a bit unsure now. She had just been so used to her mother's own hugs of comfort when she was upset that it had seemed a natural thing to do. Now she was completely second guessing everything. “I'm sorry,” she added as they turned to go into the kitchen.

Luckily, Abby did like grilled cheese. It wasn't that Lorna couldn't cook more things, she was actually a pretty decent cook and enjoyed doing it but there weren't a whole lot of options available to them at the moment. So grilled cheese it was. She'd been making them since she was about eight years old and could do it in her sleep.

Instead of milk, though, Lorna quickly heated up a cup of water so that it was hot but not scalding. Finding a small box of tea (and refusing to look at the expiration date in case it had gone past already), she made Abby a cup of hot tea with a tiny bit of sugar to sweeten it slightly. She felt it would be a bit more soothing for the girl and hoped it would help her sleep. Not that she looked like she was going to have any trouble at all falling asleep.

Lorna smiled a bit sadly as Abby informed her that she'd made the sandwiches just like her mom used to. She'd also lost her mom at a young age but she'd been an infant and had absolutely no memories of her mother at all. However, if she ever lost Sarah, then she knew she would understand Abby's loss much better. Hopefully her adopted mother would stay alive for a very, very long time.

She followed Abby to her bedroom and as the girl climbed into bed, she pulled the covers up to her chin. The dark haired girl was so out of it by that point, she doubted that she'd even realize Lorna was in the room. So instead of saying anything, she watched her drift off to sleep for a moment, tucking that vision into her memory so she'd remember the girl. Lorna didn't believe she'd ever be allowed to see her again, especially after the way Tony had yelled at them earlier.

Then she formed a green protective barrier around Abby's bed. If anyone tried to get in that shield or even Abby herself tried to leave the bed, Lorna would feel it instantly. Leaving the door cracked slightly, she returned to the kitchen and cleaned up the dishes she'd used, placing them back where she'd found them. That done, she walked to the living room and dropped into the same couch she'd sat in earlier that day.

She was exhausted. Everything that had happened that day flooded back and with a small groan, she laid down on the couch, kicking her shoes off and leaving them on the floor. Just a short rest and then she'd wake up and check on Abby again. The shield was still in place and it would jerk her awake instantly if need be. That was her last thought before sleep also took her.

[TONY STARK]

The sky was clear, if not probably for the giant flaming, smoking building all the way in California. This was on of many fires that where happening around the area that Tony had to go and help put out. He slowly started to wonder who was causing these arsons, however before he could go into much thought a update was sent to him. It was sent from Jarvis all the way back in his estate in New York letting him know of Abby's return home. Tony didn't say anything or in fact wasn't really surprised. He foresaw this, and actually made it easier on both Lorna and Abby to give permission before hand to the doctors that Lorna could take her home. He also knew that there were doctors over at the institute and Lorna would most likely call one of them over. It wasn't that hard to arrange it so it looked like Lorna was taking a risk. Which was good on her part, showed Abby that she had at least a friend their for her as he walked out.

Tony wasn't going to go right away, he had to figure things here in California first before he want. She was with Lorna and with in the estate she was as safe as she could be even if he was there. Tony went down to talk to the officers, "Alright I have a few scans here and there from the burnt debris. They were started naturally through a heavy diluted compound of the methane gas. However the guy was stupid enough to leave the compound trails behind. I have updated your computers in your cars to trace the gas back to the arsonist. Be careful however one shot into one of those tanks will make a fire so big it would put Johnny Storm to shame." After he said what he had to Tony started his flight back to New York. Which was only going to take him a good thirty minutes. But with in those thirty minutes Jarvis was updating him with videos of what was going on. It seemed Abby finished taking a shower and was now getting ready to eat before she slept.

In that fast thirty minute time frame, Tony wondered what he was going to do back at the pent house. He did leave on a pretty bad note and if he knew any better when he did leave like that on a women he was going to get chewed out later. However he really normally didn't listen and would normally raise his brow and just twist their words around for just some fun. But this time he can't do that, he has to watch what he says, that's Abby's friend after all. After all if she was like him in the terms of friends, she would do a lot to protect the friend no matter the stakes. Even if it gives you a bad reputation in the end. But he decided not to think about it, but instead just concentrate on the flight. Feel the boosters on his feet vibrate the boots, the repulsors vibrating the gauntlets on his arms. However he had to snap out of it soon, the Stark building was coming in clear each passing second and he had to think quickly on what to do.

First he decided on a split second was to go to the window where Abby's room as and see how she was doing. He looked into the window making sure the repulsors were quite so it didn't create noise to wake her. But strong enough to keep him floating there for a few seconds to check on her. After a few moments passed he went to the living room window and commanded it to open up. He looked to the side and saw Lorna sleeping silently on the couch, he than landed softly on the floor. His mask split apart to the sides so it could show his face as he raised a brow and smirked. "Feeling a little comfortable their?" he said as he chuckled a bit and walked to the bar. He poured himself a half glass of scotch as he continued to smirk at Lorna. He than took to drinking from his glass making it almost disappear in one gulp. He didn't ask Lorna how was Abby's wound was doing due to the fact that Jarvis updated him on the medical condition of Abby every couple of minutes in his head.

[safetytronic]

Abby was sleeping peacefully for who knew how long. She didn’t know that Lorna had came in after her, tucked her in, and put a green protective barrier around her. She just knew that she felt a whole lot safer than she had before stepping inside the penthouse. She didn’t know if she was dreaming that or what, but she knew that she didn’t want that feeling to end anytime soon. She was sleeping so well, that she didn’t even notice that her father had checked in on her from the other side of the window. Even if it was only for a few moments before he went to the living room and came inside.

It wasn’t long after that was when she started to have her nightmares. The first was of her home being blown to smithereens, and she was across the street trying to get inside. She knew her mom was waiting for her inside, but something was keeping her from going inside. Then before she could even get a foot in the street, a bomb landed on her home and blew it up. She felt that she should have at least warned her that it was coming, and should have shouted it out or something. She then covered her eyes, sat down on the sidewalk and cried for the death of the mother and the loss of her home.

When she pulled her hands away, she was in the building and knew she had been there for a few weeks. She then looked up as the floor shook beneath her feet to see the building starting to crumble down, and knew that she would soon be crushed. Then she wondered if anyone would save her, before moving out of the way of a large falling piece of ceiling. Something feels off to her, and she just couldn’t put her finger on it. She only continued to dodge the falling debris around her, until she backed herself up into a corner. With nowhere to go and another large piece of debris heading directly for her, she closed her eyes once again in preparation for her death.

When Abby didn’t feel her body become a pancake, she peeled her eyes open once more to be in that old looking building that she had just been taken to only a few hours ago. Her wrist was slashed, and she was pushed into a deep pit cracking her skull open upon impact. She didn’t know what to do, and thus scurried into the nearest corner piled high with bones. She then brought her knees to her chest and began to rock back and forth, fearful of being there until she died. She didn’t know that she was of course tossing and turning in her bed, kicking off the covers, and not sleeping very well either.

[lorna]

Lorna hadn't been dreaming at all. She was much too tired to even conjure that much energy. She was pretty positive that in all her life, she'd never had a day quite as busy as this one had been. And never one quite so strange.

Her shield was still up around Abby and while she wouldn't pick up on small movements like the girl moving in her bed, she definitely would feel if she got out of the bed. Or if something tried to get in. It was likely overkill but after everything that'd happened, Lorna wasn't going to take a chance. Her sleep was deep, though, and because of that, she didn't hear the window open nor did she even feel the man encased in a metal suit enter the room

It wasn't until Tony had spoken that she started awake, a bit unsure for as moment as to where she was or who was speaking to her. Shoving long green hair out of her face, she looked around as it all came back to her. The paparazzi, the first meeting between herself and Stark, the bar with the vampires, the rescue and argument. In a flash she remembered where she was and sat up, looking at the man who'd been so incredibly pissed at her earlier that night.

“What time is it?” she asked. Looking for a watch on herself would have been useless. Ever since she'd manifested her powers, she'd not been able to wear one without it shorting out or magnetizing within moments. And her phone was dead.

On the brightside, it was definitely still dark out and she would be able to fly back to her car without being seen by too many people.

Standing up, she started explaining things, hoping that he wasn't looking to get back at her for what she'd said earlier. Her voice was still sleep filled and slightly husky and she ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it up as she spoke. “They released Abby from the hospital and I brought her back here. We got her cleaned up and she's in bed right now, sleeping,” she said and as she did so, she released the shield that she'd had over the girl. Now that her father was there, he could take care of her and he likely wouldn't want the intrusion anyway.

What she had told him were facts and truths but she'd kept so many of the details out of the picture.