As Theresa followed Tony into the tower, she figured she would stay with him. Her idea of such was proven to be the better one, as she found herself the victim of Natashas unrelenting glare while they walked past Bruce's lab.

Tony approached the table on which he had stored the scepter from Loki, calling out to Jarvis "Alright, get up Jarvis, it's playtime. We got a couple days with his joystick so let's make the most of it."

Theresa timidly approached the table, keeping her safe distance to the scepter. Of course, her careful actions were not unnoticed, but she had a feeling that Tony would keep quiet about it for now.

"Update me on the structural and compositional analysis."

As Tony set down his tablet, Jarvis took over reporting what he had figured out.

"The structure is alien, with elements I can't quantify."

"So there's elements you can," Tony asked, but it was more a matter of fact statement.

"The jewel appears to be a protective housing of something inside, something powerful."

"Like a reactor?", Tony asked while he went to a table along the glass screen separating this lab from the main living area of this floor. Theresa lowly hummed in agreement to his and Jarvis' words.

"Like a computer, but I can't decipher the code," Jarvis stated, giving Theresa a small opening to speak up.

"I tried to conduct my own researches on it during my stay in Sokovia," she began, leaning against the wall, away from the scepter, while Tony stood across the room and turned towards her to face her.

"I fully agree with the fact that the scepter is alien. Otherwise it wouldn't have been possible for Hydra to conduct the experiments they have on the twins and I."

Tony nodded at her words slowly, quietly adding "Right, you mentioned that they continued their experiments on you."

The shorter Stark raised her hand in front of her, palm showing up and she watched Tony lean forward a little to see what she was doing. 

A violet glow began to emit from her hand, but only for a short moment, as she had no target she was focussing on. Her brown orbs were filled with a tint of violet as well and while she didn't let it show, she felt the aching in her chest worsen for the split second that she demonstrated the obvious effects of the experiments.

As quick as it had appeared, the violet glow disappeared again and her eyes met her nephews. She couldn't quite pinpoint the look on his face, but she was sure disbelief was one of those many features she could see.

"When the scepter was first introduced to this world and they figured it could be used for mind manipulation, they thought there must be way more in that scepter than we already think there is. Well, they used whatever is in that scepter to further my capabilities as well as awaken those in Wanda and Pietro."

Theresa moved her gaze from her nephew to her hand, which she had now pulled into her chest. As if pressing onto the aching spot would help lessen the pain which she was trying to endure.

"They hadn't planned on experimenting on me too. After all, too many test subjects had already died before Wanda and Pietro had shown up as the only ones able to withstand it's...force. But, they thought if I had already survived whatever artificial serums Hydra had fed me with seventy years ago, that a little nudge from the scepter wouldn't hurt. So, one day I found myself as a subject to the scepter."

Tony moved to sit down on a chair near her and leaned forward a little, quite invested in the little tale she had to tell. Maybe he would find something in it that would help him understand the scepter, who knew?

"And when they realized I was also reacting positively to the scepter, just like Wanda and Pietro did, they continued with it. I was the doctor appointed to the twins, so whenever I would stand in Strucker's way to keep the twins safe, he would continue with me," Theresa shuddered slightly at the memories and took a deep breath, setting both her hands on the table she leaned against.

"So, aside from that little glow, is there anything else you're now capable of?," Tony asked cautiously, not wanting to overstep his boundaries. Sure, he might still have some trust issues considering his now found aunt, but that didn't mean he would not know when to stop while approaching a difficult subject.

"Before the scepter, I wasn't quite capable of making out who was where by the sound of their heartbeats, like...I could do it, but I had to strain myself to, unless someone triggered my alter ego. But after the scepter, I can always sense them. It's like a never leaving headache, I constantly hear that pounding in my head. Like I said in Sokovia, I knew you were coming the moment you set foot in the forest."

Tony nodded in thought, seemingly trying to figure out what it must feel like, or probably already knowing what it feels like.

"Aside from that, the aching in my chest didn't get better. But aside from some morphine from time to time I had Wanda by my side, helping me through it. Her ability is very complimentary to mine, you see, she controls the mind and I take the body," a small, sarcastic smile spread on Theresa's lips and she shook her head.

"Do you need one now?"

Theresa's head shot up to face Bruce, who had just come to the Stark duo, with whatever intention.

The female Stark pressed her lips to a thin line. She was actually trying to get off morphine, since she had Wanda, but the other female wasn't here to help her.

As the woman was fighting her inner battle, both Bruce and Tony noticed how her hands began to shake and how she started to seem restless. Both immediately recognized what she was going through and for a split second Bruce felt the regret of having asked his question.

Though that regret was quick to leave his thoughts as Theresa carefully spoke up "I've been trying to get off of it. I would only get morphine as a 'reward' when I was in Sokovia, so Wanda was helping me with her abilities to linder the feeling of withdrawal...but she isn't here and as much as it pains me to say this, it would hurt much more if I said no. So..."

The Stark hesitated, her hands balling to fists to stop the shaking. Her fists started to glow a faint violet and the two men present knew she was drawing her own blood, as if it's some twisted way to calm herself down.

Finally, after taking a deep breath, Theresa nodded and mumbled "Please."

Bruce nodded and left the room to go get some morphine, while Tony stood and gently pulled Theresa over to the seat he had just occupied. Tony knew what she was going through, so for a moment he would definitely put his trust issues aside and take care for the woman that, despite all she's done, still was his family.

Theresa shuddered as she moved to pull up the sleeve of her jacket to reveal her arm and the spot which was scarred from multiple needle insertions, despite the fact that Theresa could very much heal herself without any flaws and scars left. Perhaps she left them there as a sign to herself.

When Bruce came back with the few things he needed, he was followed by Steve, who was quick to crouch beside Theresa and take her free hand in his, mumbling a quick "I'm here, Tess."

Tony took a step back and left enough space for Steve to take care of Theresa's anxiety and Bruce to give her the shot she needed. 

It baffled the Stark just how trusting Steve was of Theresa, then again, the two had been born during the same era, both of them went through a war, were connected by the same squadron, by the same group of people. They had already spent a considerable amount of time together back in the 1940's, they knew each other basically like the back of their hands back then.

Sure, a lot had changed in seventy years, but not the deeply linked friendship that connected the doctor and the soldier. And despite that fact, it still took Tony a moment to wrap his head around it.

But, Tony guessed, there were still a lot of new things he would have to get along with, his newly found aunt being one of the smallest problems, though he didn't know that yet.

i live bitches

and covid19 can suck my ass