[Tony came up behind Romana and set his hands on her shoulders, staring out at the City with her. He had spend most of the night and morning dealing with the earthquake. Thankfully City Solutions was relatively undamaged.]
I didn't think it through, I always used to think these things through but...
[Her hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose, she still wasn't sleeping quite right.]
The walls that she built, in her mind, to deal with her trauma, they're crumbling. I should have realized as soon as we started that it was a possibility, but she was picking it up so fast, and I didn't notice...
Her gifts, Tony. That mental skimming thing she does, it's a form of telepathy that's never been trained. It should have been but there's no one in her world to do it and I...I offered to help. Offered to teach her how to use it so she doesn't have to worry about accidentally...
[She can't look him in the eye, not if he's going to rip into her the way Thomas did. Not that he doesn't have every right to, she just can't look him in the eye when he does.]
The trauma surfaced...so much faster than I could have anticipated...and it's starting to overwhelm her.
Re: [Action]morethanasuitApril 27 2009, 02:37:13 UTC
[Tony was silent for a moment. He was certainly angry, very angry, and for a moment it was directed at Romana. The fact that she couldn't look him in the eyes though hurt. Did he think he was going to scream or hit her? Maybe that's what she thought of him. After all, she had seen him attack the Major, maybe she thought he was a violent man.
He pushed those thoughts aside though and realized who he was really angry at was Rain's father, the man who had hurt her so much, and he was angry at the man who raped and killed her mother, and everyone who had ever hurt Rain and broke her.]
[She gets up and moves to the window, beginning to pace.]
I know you wouldn't, but inside my head, there's this...this...uncertainty that's eating at me. More than just a moment of doubt, its...incessant now. And I can't help Rain while I'm like this, while I'm....
Re: [Action]morethanasuitApril 27 2009, 03:23:21 UTC
[Now that was very telling. Stepping forward, he put his arms around her.]
Romana, listen to yourself. You're full of doubt, calling yourself broken... you sound like Rain. You can't tell me you looking around in her head and then being like this is a coincidence. Next you'll be thinking Iron Man and I are separate people.
It's not a coincidence. Her mind is...it's very powerful, Tony. It's amplified things in my own psyche - far beyond anything I would normally experience. And I'm aware of it, I am.
I just need time to fix it, and I'm not sure I have that time anymore.
Hey.
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[She tried to smile on her face, as she looked up at him.]
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No, it's not, but not as bad as it could have been. Right now I'm concerned about you.
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I'm not the one you should be worried about.
[She handed him her network device, already queued up to Rain's last few posts and Thomas's from that morning.]
It's all my fault.
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She talked to me about the bad men, but I just figured... I was so busy with everything else. What happened?
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[Her hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose, she still wasn't sleeping quite right.]
The walls that she built, in her mind, to deal with her trauma, they're crumbling. I should have realized as soon as we started that it was a possibility, but she was picking it up so fast, and I didn't notice...
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Romana, what are you talking about? Started what?
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[She can't look him in the eye, not if he's going to rip into her the way Thomas did. Not that he doesn't have every right to, she just can't look him in the eye when he does.]
The trauma surfaced...so much faster than I could have anticipated...and it's starting to overwhelm her.
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He pushed those thoughts aside though and realized who he was really angry at was Rain's father, the man who had hurt her so much, and he was angry at the man who raped and killed her mother, and everyone who had ever hurt Rain and broke her.]
What's it doing to her?
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For now, she has someone looking our for her that can help, but I'll have to go back in there soon and help her rebuild.
[Romana pulled her legs up and rested her forehead on her knees, hiding her face.]
I don't blame you if you want me to leave.
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Do you honestly think I would ask you to leave?
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[She gets up and moves to the window, beginning to pace.]
I know you wouldn't, but inside my head, there's this...this...uncertainty that's eating at me. More than just a moment of doubt, its...incessant now. And I can't help Rain while I'm like this, while I'm....
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When you're broken?
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[Romana stopped moving and stood, looking out over the City again.]
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Romana, listen to yourself. You're full of doubt, calling yourself broken... you sound like Rain. You can't tell me you looking around in her head and then being like this is a coincidence. Next you'll be thinking Iron Man and I are separate people.
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It's not a coincidence. Her mind is...it's very powerful, Tony. It's amplified things in my own psyche - far beyond anything I would normally experience. And I'm aware of it, I am.
I just need time to fix it, and I'm not sure I have that time anymore.
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