Bruce Shook His Head, Seemingly Without Realizing It, As He Looked Back Down At Rebecca. She Looked...normal.

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 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.

"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."

"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 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 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.