Rescue

Quality Time

Inspiration is a fickle thing: I spent more than a week writing one chapter, then two days writing another chapter. Welp

Hope you enjoy this one!

A couple weeks later, Sy was in the lab with Bruce again, working on a problem that the others might find slightly worrisome. Natasha came storming in with a playful glare, "You guys have been in this room every day for three weeks. I haven't gotten any quality time with the entire time. What are you even working on in here?"

Sy grinned sheepishly, "Sorry Mom, we've been trying to find a way to synthetically reproduce some ancient reptilian species, but so far, it hasn't been working out. We need some original samples before we can go any further."

She brought a hand to her face, "Dinosaurs. You are trying to make dinosaurs. Peter made us watch an entire movie series on why that is a bad idea."

"We just wanted to see if we could."

"You scientists wanted to see if you could do it, but you never stopped to think if you should do it."

Sy's and Bruce's mouths dropped open, "Nat, did- did you just quote a movie?"

"Bruce, if you tell Peter I did that, you're sleeping on the couch for three months."

Bruce paled, "Yes, ma'am. Not a word."

Natasha turned to Sy, "And Sy, if you tell Peter, I'm telling him, in detail, about that time you completely missed a bar during gymnastics and face-planted on top of Sam, while he was eating a large bowl of ice cream."

Aghast, Sy pleaded, "No, Mom, please no."

"I'm glad we're in agreement," she grinned, "Now, you boys want to go get some ice cream? Bruce, I found this place that has vegetarian ice cream for you."

"Umm," he glanced at the chalkboard then hesitantly back at Natasha, "You sure you guys want me to go with you?"

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Yes, you dork, let's go. C'mon, grab your coat. It's October and chilly outside."

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Sy was happily spooning his triple fudge sundae into his mouth as they walked through the park, "Getting ice cream when it's cold out is one my favorite things to do, because the weird looks I get are gold."

With a curious face, Bruce asked, "Sy how are you not freezing? You're wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt."

Sy glanced at his outfit and continued walking. "I'm immune to cold. I Ximiced Marina's ice powers for some of my missions in Canada and Siberia," he shrugged.

"You're immune to heat . . . and cold?"

Sy nodded, "I exist in a weird, lukewarm state. Like, when it's hot around me, I warm up only marginally, and when it's cold around me, I cool down slightly. It's like living in slightly-warmer-than-body-temperature warm air or, in-the-shade-on-a-breezy-summer-day cool air."

Natasha shook her head fondly, "Tony is going to get a headache trying to come up with a contingency plan for you." At Sy's confused, and slightly hurt expression, she amended, "Don't worry; he has contingency plans for all of us. If I had to guess, he probably thought your weakness was cold since you're heat immune, but that plan's out the window." She smirked, "He'll probably pull out his hair while shrieking, 'HOW MANY POWERS CAN ONE PERSON HAVE?!'" They all let loose laughs at that and continued their walk in a comfortable silence.

Once they finished their ice creams, they strolled the rest of the way through the park before heading back to the Tower. Sy and Bruce played a game where they said the scientific name of every bird they came across. Natasha smiled fondly at her two boys.