Rescue

Name, Please

"Hey, Sy?"

"Hey, Tony!"

"Ok, so I know at the beginning of the summer, I said we would get you into the system, et cetera, et cetera. Buuut I forgot, so we're going to need a name. What do you want? Vintoran Sy or something more . . . human maybe?"

"I want to use my name. I don't want to use it publicly yet, but when I do, I want to be able to use my real name. Maybe for the school we can use a fake name or something, but I will at some point want to use my real name."

"Ok, so what name, then?"

"I'll get back to you later."

As Tony left Sy's room, Sy thought about what he would call himself. He was used to using fake names from literally all his life doing so, but this was different. If this arrangement worked out, he would be here for the next two years: far longer than he has ever stayed at a school before. John? No, 4 already had that one. Timothy? Nah, too childish; plus, he already used that in New York. Jacob? Nope, used that one already too.

Frustrated, Sy headed to the gym to get his mind relaxed so he could think better. He went through some stretches then started jogging on a treadmill. It was designed to accelerate with the user so, before he knew it, Sy was running at 60 mph. and it felt invigorating.

After thirty minutes, he started slowing down and got off the treadmill, and he still hadn't gotten anywhere with his name.

"Hey." Sy started; he hadn't heard Natasha walk in, he had been so focused on his dilemma.

"Hey, Nat."

"You ok? You look frustrated," she asked, as she sat down next to him.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to think of a fake name I can use for Midtown. I don't want to use something I've already used before, and I can't think of anything. Maybe Symon for a first name, but I can't think of a good last name."

"Hmm . . . Walkers?"

"Used it."

"Williams."

"That too."

"Briggens."

"Surprisingly, I have actually used that one too."

Natasha huffed out a laugh and thought for a while.

Sy hesitated before asking, "Can I use Romanov?"

She looked at him in surprise, but he just looked at the ground, flushed. "I mean, you're sort-of like my mom. My guardian, right? Would you mind if I used that? Never mind, you probably would. I'm sorry—"

"I don't mind." Natasha spoke softly. "I'm happy you see me that way. To be honest, I've seen you like my son for a while; I just didn't want you to feel uncomfortable."

Sy looked at her and smiled before crushing her is a hug, "Thanks . . . Mom."

Natasha's breath hitched at the name: she was a mom. She had a son. She was going to cry.

"I'm going to tell Tony."

Sy got up and left the training room, leaving Natasha with her feelings.

Bruce walked in then and said, "Hey, Nat, I was looking for you. I was wondering . . . if . . ." His voice trailed off as he noticed the tears in her eyes. "Nat, are you ok? What happened?"

Natasha stopped herself from crying but her voice was still shaky when she said, "He called me 'Mom.' He thinks of me as his mom."

Bruce's mouth dropped open for a moment before he grinned widely. "We both knew we could never have kids but I never banished the idea of adopting. I saw how you were with Clint's kids; I knew you could be a mom." He walked over to her and enveloped her in a hug, "Congratulations." She smiled into the hug and held him tighter.