[Video] Time Ripples Event (CW: child abuse)

[addvancetovictory]

[The omnicomm comes on and...well, it's not obviously a member of the Legion. For one, he's obviously too young. But there's obviously reason for concern as there are obvious tear tracks on the boy's face and he's reached over, holding his arm.]

[There's also a bruise on his cheek and a bit of blood coming from his nose. But that last could actually have more to do with the slight purplish-blue aura cast over the camera.]

[He huddles back into a corner, eyes wide as he swallows and opens his mouth, speaking with a fairly strong New York accent.]

Well. I'm not sure where I am, but I don't think it could be much worse than where I just was.

[He shifts and hisses, omnicomm bobbing as his concentration is shaken.]

Umm. I don't suppose anybody out there could give me a ride to the hospital? Mom was gonna, but...well, I doubt she's taking me now.

Comments

[walkingballpit]

[ ... even a midget Vance can make Robbie feel inferior and conflicted. He's reminded of a long ago conversation with Elvin about it being the thought that counts with presents. Not everyone got to have the biggest, coolest toys when they were kids.

But damned if Robbie wouldn't love to spoil Vance rotten. The thought could be "I want you to know what it feels like to not hear no." ]

I guess I was always a spoiled brat.

[ Robbie shrugs a shoulder. ]

And I didn't want to join the Dark Side - I just liked having somebody for the Rebels to fight.

[addvancetovictory]

[Vance's eyebrows pull down.]

You weren't spoiled because you had something I didn't. [Seriously, what kind of thought process was that?] It's just the reason I wouldn't get my X-Wing wet. Could have damaged the paint and then I'd have been in for it.

[He pauses after he says that, it having come out of his mouth without any actual thought. It's something kids say all the time, but Vance avoids saying it because it actually would happen.]

[It takes a moment for him to shrug it off.]

I have other toys for them to fight, if I want to.

[walkingballpit]

[ He keeps the silence to only five seconds and feels reasonably good about that. Nothing really preps someone to listen to nonchalance like that. I'd have been in for it, Vance says, for scratching a toy. Robbie used to say things like that, but the 'it' was losing video game privileges or maybe getting grounded.

No, Robbie was spoiled because he'd had a lot of things Vance didn't, including parents who didn't beat the crap out of him. But the subject needs changing, desperately, and Robbie reaches for the first thing that comes to mind. ]

You're really making it harder and harder for me to understand how you didn't pop an aneurysm first time you heard about what we did to that Quinjet. Forget the paint - we crashed it in Madripoor.

[addvancetovictory]

[That makes Vance stop, just staring for a long few moments before he manages, horror obvious in his voice:]

You. You crashed a Quinjet? In Madripoor?

[Adult Vance might not have had an aneurysm when he heard. Baby Vance, on the other hand, may just faint.]

[walkingballpit]

Crashed, lost when an entire mystical bad guy temple imploded, possibly got stolen but no one's really sure 'cause Nova broke the tracking array... who can tell?

[ Robbie is all for letting Vance know he's going to be an Avenger someday and even telling him a gently improved story of of his life, but he's not going to lie and make it sound like the Avengers always have the situation under control. Pffft, Hank Pym lost the Infinite Mansion, and it was barely an oops.

Vance needs to know that mistakes are allowed. ]

I don't think it made a dent in the operating budget.

[addvancetovictory]

[Which is good, because that's not a lesson that he's ever gotten. Mistakes were things to be feared or hidden, because they would only end up with Vance in the same place he is right now: hurt and afraid.]

[So it's hardly any wonder that Vance is staring up at Robbie with wide eyes, especially at the flip way he's handling things.]

They weren't...I mean, the Avengers weren't angry with you over what happened?

[Sure, he can't exactly see most of the Avengers taking the mistake out on other heroes the way his dad takes mistakes out on him, but still. It's a lot to take in.]

[walkingballpit]

Sure, they were angry, but it's a plane, not a person.

[ And this is when the renovations to the story take place, because like hell are they discussing the overblown fallout of losing one plane without a long discussion about a sliding scale of punishment and whether or not it's worse to throw half the Avengers in jail or lose a plane.

Not with Vance looking at him like that. Robbie senses he has an audience for this particular show. ]

We were doing the right thing, and that is always the trump card. Besides, I think we got a longer lecture when me and you parked Mount Wundagore in the harbor. Iron Man and Cap, with a side of Thor to boot.

[ Robbie'd been about to bust a crater in the Avengers Tower that day, but he recognizes the quality of the story with the right spin. ]

[addvancetovictory]

[The fact that Vance's thoughtful frown is as deep as it is is probably not a great sign, honestly. Or maybe it is, because it means that he's thinking about the truth in Robbie's words. After all, things can be rebuilt. People are different.]

In the comics, the Allied command was always forgiving Captain America for going against orders when it was for a good reason.

[It takes a moment before he turns his head, frowning more. Though less thoughtful this time.]

How do you park a mountain in New York Harbor?

[walkingballpit]

[ He'll take it as a neutral sign, when combined with the talk about the old Captain America books. Robbie hasn't disappointed the kid that much if he's using that reference. ]

Exactly. That's not the same thing as the ends justifying the means, because we both know Captain Rogers wouldn't do anything immoral.

[ Does he sound a little like a muppet? Robbie thinks his voice sounds strange and tight, but he hopes it's all in his head. ]

Oh, that's easy. You commandeer the bad guy's mountain hideout with its built-in quantum teleportation drive [ He might've made that term up, but it's close enough. ] And then you take it for a spin back home so Haechi can visit his granny.

[addvancetovictory]

[A pause. Then a blink. And another.]

I know that all of those words were English. Or most of them were English. But I still don't have a clue what you said.

[He was eleven. And Doctor Who was still a bit away from a revival and becoming a thing in the US, after all. He might have understood better if he'd had that to reference, at least.]

[walkingballpit]

That's okay; you'll grow into them.

[ He's not trying to be mean, but Robbie can't really explain how a mountain can be in a harbor and not in a harbor at the same time without sounding crazy. ]

You don't have to worry about that for awhile yet... the medical bay is those double doors there. You want me to go with you?

[addvancetovictory]

[It's fine. Vance just nods, figuring it's something he'll learn about in the future.]

[He looks at the doors, then back at Robbie, then back to the doors. There's a voice in his head saying that he should be stronger than this, should be able to walk through those doors on his own and stop being such a worthless lump that he can't even handle himself.]

[It's a voice that sounds like his dad and, at the moment, he's all for ignoring that voice.]

If...I mean, if you don't have anywhere to be. I wouldn't mind the company.

[walkingballpit]

I don't have anywhere more important to be.

[ Robbie can admit to himself that nothing short of, oh, a massive invasion and several decks being vented to outer space, nothing would outrank hovering over Vance and making sure no one asked him too many prodding questions without breaking it up with some really awful, dad-style jokes.

Besides, someone has to make sure the kid gets at least three space lollipops. How else will he ensure that he gets a normal flavor? So Robbie's staying until he's told to buzz off. ]