Instantkarmabalancing-blog - Banner Builds. - Tumblr Blog

Bruce laughed. "Obviously. I am the very definition of calm, cool, and collected."

"They take after you with that temper."

"You really think so?"

Bruce reached up to hold onto Rebecca's ankles, tipping his head back at a severe angle to look at her. "Would you like that? Do you want to go see the house after Mommy's classes tomorrow?"

♤

"Hey Bruce, our little genius is asking for you." "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaad! The ‘sperment is waiting! Come home soon!" "Come home soon sweetie, we miss you! Love you!"

"I am," Bruce laughed, catching Rebecca when she ran and jumped at him. He swung her up onto his shoulders and straightened up.

"It's in the city," Bruce told Andie. "A brownstone."

♤

"Hey Bruce, our little genius is asking for you." "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaad! The ‘sperment is waiting! Come home soon!" "Come home soon sweetie, we miss you! Love you!"

Bruce took the stairs two at a time up to his and Andie's rooms, entering the rooms as quietly as he could, just in case Rebecca or Andie - or Rebecca and Andie - was asleep. When he saw Andie awake, he smiled at her, shutting the door softly behind him.

"I think I found a place for us."

♤

"Hey Bruce, our little genius is asking for you." "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaad! The ‘sperment is waiting! Come home soon!" "Come home soon sweetie, we miss you! Love you!"

Bruce laughed to himself as he saved the voicemail, shut off his phone, and shoved it into his pocket. He looked around the subway train, trying not to feel itchy and uncomfortable with all the people. He felt as though he might not have done a great job, since he basically ran off the thing when it stopped. He hailed himself a cab, and found himself back at the school in record time.

Even though he had been living at the school for almost a week now, he still felt uncomfortable just walking right in. He hesitated on the doorstep, then pushed it open, making his way inside.

♤

"Hey Bruce, our little genius is asking for you." "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaad! The ‘sperment is waiting! Come home soon!" "Come home soon sweetie, we miss you! Love you!"

Bruce smiled down at Rebecca, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. He glanced at his watches - his heart rate was steady, but the hour was getting later. 

"Should we get something to eat?"

"She really is." Andie smiled, pulling her phone out again so she could take pictures of them. "That’s our big girl, you can do it baby!"

Rebecca grinned up at Bruce as he helped her walk, a look of absolute triumph on her face having started to master a new skill.

Bruce crouched down when Rebecca took a couple more hesitant steps, then reached out and took her hands, helping her walk along.

"Guess so," Bruce commented, standing up and bending to help her walk. He smiled down at her. "God, she's beautiful, isn't she?"

Andie smiled, watching the two explore together. Rebecca babbled about leaves and grass before using the tree to pull herself up into a standing position. Andie gasped softly as Rebecca took a few steps toward Bruce before falling on her behind.

"Guess someone was just waiting for Daddy." She chuckled, watching Rebecca try again with a determined look on her little face.

Bruce followed after Rebecca to the tree, pressing his ear against it and humming thoughtfully. "Hmm. Sounds like... oak?" He grinned playfully down at Rebecca, then winked at Andie.

"Oh I’m sure she could have been walking by now, she just doesn’t want to. Before you ask how I know, I asked her." Andie said, running her fingers through her hair.

Rebecca squealed with excitement, clapping her hands. She got up on all fours and started crawling to one of the trees. “Expore!”

"So, she's ahead mentally, but behind physically," Bruce commented, looking down at Rebecca. The moment she started squirming, he grinned at her, then set her down on the ground. He knelt down beside her.

"Yes, sure, I'll play now," he agreed.

"Our baby girl is certainly unique. Sharp as a tack, and quick too." Andie grinned. "She’s also started pulling herself up and is probably going to start walking soon."

Rebecca waved her arms around, squirming in Bruce’s arms. “Da play now?” She asked, her big brown eyes inquisitive and bright.

"There's certainly no prior studies in something like this," Bruce commented. "I'm the only one who survived like this. By extension, she's presently the only child who can even be considered to hold radiation in her body like I can, never mind the X-Gene factor."

Bruce adjusted his grip on Rebecca, laughing at her lecture. "Good. It's good to hear she's learning all the right things."

Rebecca made a stern face that looked much like Andie’s as she looked up at him. “Bad word Da. No say bad word.”

"That’s part of why we think she hasn’t been effected other than accelerated development. We still don’t know what her mutation is going to be, especially with the radiation. She could take after me, she could have something completely different." Andie said, chuckling as Rebecca shook her little index finger at her father, still lecturing him about bad words.

"She picked that up from my always lecturing Logan about watching his words around tiny ears."

"You might find out about that one day," Bruce said to Rebecca in a low, conspiratorial voice, making her laugh. He looked up at Andie in surprise. "So, she does have the X-Gene? But... she's also irradiated." Bruce's gaze turned back down to Rebecca. "She's... Shit. Oh, sorry," Bruce said hurriedly.

"Oh yes. She’s very smart. We wondered at first if it was part of her mutation but her X Gene hasn’t gone active yet." Andie said, chuckling softly. "Becky honey, remember what Mommy said about our hands." She chided, hands on her hips.

Rebecca frowned and looked over at Andie, her hands falling to her side. “But Ma! Da!”

"I know sweetie, but Daddy needs his glasses so he can see."

Bruce whistled, pulling Rebecca down so that he could look into her face. "Jesus, really?" he commented, while Rebecca grabbed at his beard, then moved on to his glasses when she saw she was getting nowhere. "That's... really advanced for eighteen months." Bruce looked down at Rebecca, who had gone rather blurry since she pulled his glasses off. He reached out and took them back, shoving them back onto his face.

"We actually think that might be why she’s advancing so quickly." Andie said, grinning as she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of father and daughter. "She’s definitely a talker, that’s for sure. She knows her colors, her shapes, she even knows her numbers." She continued, pride clear in her voice.

"It seems like she does a lot of talking," Bruce said, lifting Rebecca up to sit on his shoulders. "She seems quite advanced for her age, which is good. I was worried about her developmental progress, considering-" Bruce shook his head, then half-laughed, half-winced when Rebecca pulled at his hair. "She's doing very well."

Andie smiled as Rebecca giggled and hugged him,  her little hands patting his shoulders. “Da! Da home!” The toddler said, a big smile on her face.

"You’re all she’s been talking about since we got back." Andie said, watching the two together.

"We both missed you."

Bruce smiled at her, reaching up to grab her wrists and pull her hands down, pressing a kiss to the back of one of her hands. 

When the boy brought Rebecca over, he laughed, pulling away from Andie and holding his arms out to take his daughter. When he did, he swung her around, then hugged her tightly.

"I missed you, baby," he murmured into her hair.

Andie held tightly to him, kissing the side of his head as they embraced. “Thank you, for coming back. And welcome home.” She said softly, running her fingers through his hair.

The teens on the lawn gave a few catcalls, one of the boys bringing Rebecca over to them. The little girl was babbling happily, reaching her arms out. “Da! Dada!”

Bruce dropped his duffel bag so he could catch Andie, stumbling back a few steps with the force of her attack. He wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck.

A few of the teenagers were playing in the grass with Rebecca, her giggles shrill and bright in the evening air. Andie was sitting nearby and looked up, seeing Bruce standing there in the evening light. She smiled, getting to her feet and running to him, practically tackling him.

Bruce checked on his patients, ensuring they were still asleep, then set about getting his affairs in order. It took him several days but, a week after Andie and Rebecca's arrival, Bruce felt sufficiently prepared enough to leave. He called for Tony, rather than drag Andie and/or Hank all the way out again, and was standing outside with his one small duffel bag in the evening.

Andie sighed and took Rebecca in her arms, holding her close. Rebecca whimpered and reached out for Bruce when he went back into the house but Andie quieted her. “It’s okay baby girl. Daddy will be with us again soon. Just be patient, okay?” The little dark haired girl gave another whine and settled into her mother’s arms as they made their way back to the X-Jet with Hank.

Bruce hesitated, then surrendered Rebecca to Andie, lingering just for a moment. He gave Hank a short wave, then kissed Rebecca and Andie on the cheek. 

"Be careful flying out of here," Bruce warned. "I'll be with you again soon." He let his hand settle on Rebecca's hair for a moment before he kissed her again, on the forehead, and ducked back into the house.

"We need you more than you know." Andie said softly, shaking her head. "I’m going to trust you. And if you don’t come back I’m hunting you down. Again. Do you understand me?" She didn’t want to leave him, not after finally finding him, but she might not have all that much of a choice.

"Obviously, you two don't need me," Bruce said, but he could feel all the fight draining out of him the longer he looked at Rebecca. Regardless of all the reasons he knew he should stay away from them, he wanted so badly to stay with his daughter. It was the most selfish decision he had ever made, but he felt as though he might have already made it. "Let me wrap up here. Then, I'll come back with you."

"You stick by her and you love her with everything you have. That’s all you can do." Andie said softly, looking down at the little girl. "I know this isn’t how you wanted things to happen but we’re a family, for better or for worse, and we need to stay together. We need each other."

Bruce shook his head, looking down at Rebecca. "I shouldn't've..." Bruce trailed off, unable to bring himself to regret any of the events that led to her. "You shouldn't've... God, Andie, I don't know. I don't know what to do."

"She never would have been able to even without the radiation, or are you forgetting the fact that I passed something on as well?" Andie said, kissing his forehead. "It’s a little too soon to decide that you’ve destroyed anything."

"Is this another battle for mutant rights? Did you two have an argument? We thought you might have more information that might be able to help us."

"I promised to protect you," Bruce said, slowly. "I can't do that now." Bruce looked down at Rebecca. "I've destroyed her life. She can never... she'll never lead a normal life."

"Da…Da no sad." Rebecca frowned and started to pat at his cheeks.

"Hank and Charles both think that we won’t know anything for sure until her powers start to kick in. That perhaps the X-Gene suppressed things a bit." Andie said softly, going over to them and wrapping her arms around both Bruce and Rebecca.

Bruce shook his head, seemingly without realizing it, as he looked back down at Rebecca. She looked... normal. Well, extraordinary to him, but, objectively, just like any other child. Healthy. Carefree. Bruce could hardly bear the heavy weight and the sharp pain that came with the words radiation in her blood. He pressed his forehead to Rebecca's again.

"I'm so sorry," he said quietly.

Hank sighed and looked at Bruce. “We found traces of radiation in her blood but not enough to draw any firm conclusions. It could end up being part of her mutation but we won’t know for sure until she’s older. She’s healthy and developing a bit ahead of the curve, so there doesn’t seem to be any negative effects as of yet.”

Bruce looked down at Rebecca again, then up at Hank. "Is her blood... Is she like me?" He sounded almost equal parts terrified and curious; the terror outweighed the curiosity, but it was plain that he wanted- no, needed to know everything.

"We’ll stay until then. Like I said, the whole trust thing is damaged right now. I’m not letting you out of my sight. If you’re worried about Becky, I’m sure my Nana and Poppy would be more than happy to visit with their great granddaughter." Andie said, putting her hands in her pockets as she looked at him.

Bruce cradled Rebecca's head in his palm, letting her lean back, supporting her weight so he could look her over. He couldn't help but smile at her before he looked back up at Andie, his face turning serious again.

"I have to finish up here," Bruce informed her. "I have patients, a few people who need me right now. I just need to finish with them, wrap things up. And then I can come with you." Come home, he didn't say, afraid of the implications of a word like home.

"Bruce, I don’t care where we are. I just want us to be a family." Andie sighed. "And don’t go all brooding on me saying that we can’t be. Like I said earlier, clearly we need to try something different. Leaving doesn’t do anything."

Andie wasn’t about to back down on this, especially not with how happy Rebecca clearly was in her father’s arms.