Reasons To Live(Avengers)Moon/Lady

"nope. can't." Grant stated with a smile. "no money." no money? he was a Shield Agent after all. both Natasha and Clint got a monthly stipend, as well as free room and board as well as essentials. their money tended to gather and collect dust. Phil gave them their monthly stipend every third of the month... oh, of course. Garret wouldn't want Grant or Eliza to have enough money to consider running away. "well. i'll inform Phil of that." Clint decided, realizing just a few short moments after Natasha did. "why?" "if Garrets been holding your checks then it gives Fury a reason to question him. we've been waiting for an excuse and now we have one."
 
Eliza winced ay that. Having gone shopping she'd forgotten tony had forced her to take his credit card to use instead of having money of her own...thkugh."I can pay you back tony...evetually." "....don't worry about it. You could buy 5hat whole store you guys went shopping in, and I wouldn't notice. I won't take your money." "What...how much money do you have el?"Natasha frowned considering the two, having never considered that they always had just enough to get what they needed,but not enough to truly spoil themselves."..uh...maybe 100 dollars?" Natasha cursed at that because she knew the girl hadn't simply spent it all,Eliza just woulsnt spend a lot of money on anything."I'll call phil after we eat. Stealing their money is more then enough to look into garret."
 
"don't bother trying to pay Tony back, everyone uses his money." Clint assured her. "we just dropped fifty-K on Bruce." he admitted with a smirk. "i don't think he's noticed yet that we took all his ratty clothes and replaced them with nicer things." he admitted. "he's still completely focused on the labs. every time i see him he's gushing about how amazing something is." he admitted with a chuckle. "wait... so we where supposed to be getting paid? i thought the free food, free rood over our heads, free clothes and stuff where what we where getting paid." he admitted, blinking. "...yep. calling Phil." Clint said, dialing Phil and chattering at him in rushed Italian. his new hearing aids allowed him to connect to his phone through Blue Tooth so he could hear Phil even though he was still mostly deaf.
 
“Oh. Well okay.”Eliza said still looking a little uncomfortable at taking tony’s money, but willing to do it to. “Good. Otherwise I’ll pout and be annoyed about it, and really, it’s not worth fighting me over.”Tony said shrugging a little before laughing. “I know. He gushes over everything anytime I stop to visit him.”He said smiling a little. “...I thought...that was all we got...”Eliza said looking utterly confused. Natasha growled softly, annoyed. Anyone else would have questioned it, but grant and eliza had never had a normal life, hadn’t been aware of just how weird their situation was. “What did phil say?”Natasha muttered when clint hung up.
 
"your annoying anyway." Steve pointed out, looking amused. "but he's right, it's not worth getting into a fight over." he admitted before grinning, glad that Bruce was happy here. it was like everyone who came to the Tower was so much happier. except poor Grant, who only looked more miserable. he had been losing weight, Steve noticed. ever since they left Shield he had been steadily getting worse, not that anyone had noticed the slow decline. "i never got anything, Garret just gave me things and told me they where mine now." he admitted. "i figured i didn't need anything more than that. i was provided for and comfortable so i never thought to wonder." he admitted with a shrug. "i don't know money anyway so what could i do with it?" unlike Elia, Grant was mostly uneducated. Garret had to teach Grant how to read and write, a task that was still very difficult for the agent. math more than anything else. "Phil's pretty pissed of course." he admitted. "they told Garret that he was going to be asked questions on Eliza's stability so he won't put up a fight going into the interrogation rooms." he admitted. "Phil's already pulling up all the important information. apparently someone..." here he looked at Tony. "has slipped Jarvis into Shield's servers so he was there to give Phil everything they needed." he admitted. "Garret spent every penny on something, the trail goes cold but i think we can all figure out that the money was going to Hydra."
 
“I am not. Annoying is not a word to describe me.”Tony grumbled making a face. Eliza bit her lip as she watched Grant, because even if they weren’t together, she knew the man was in a bad mood and miserable, simply because she knew him best. Though she hadn’t noticed the weight loss, she knew something was wrong, even if she was lost on figuring out what it was. “Of course. Good.”Natasha said looking pleased as she glanced at the two. “And well, she’s stable, though I’m not sure I trust either of them with their own care.”Natasha muttered studying the other two agents, ignoring the look she got in return for the words. “Hm, well, Jarvis is a very helpful interesting person to have around. I’m sure he’ll find out where the money went.”Tony said not even bothering to pretend he hadn’t hacked into shield just to snoop.
 
Steve chuckled a little and shook his head, wondering if Grant was ill wasn't going to help him at all. "yes, very good, and they aren't actually going to talk to Garret about her, they just want to get him into a locked room without a fight." he admitted. "she is Stable. sort of. though, have you noticed that Grant and Eliza have been acting... odd?" he asked, glancing at Natasha before focusing on the pair again. "i'm sure." Clint admitted, grinning at Tony and shaking his head. "i'm sure Jarvis will figure it out." he agreed with a chuckle and a shake of his head. "anyway." Steve said, amused at Tony. "i'm going to go for a good run after breakfast." he admitted. "i can't decide if i want to do it outside or on that monstrosity you made. are you sure that thing is safe?"
 
We are sitting here you know.”Eliza said making a face slightly at being talked about even if she couldn’t hear what they’d said, she knew they were talking about them. “They are being odd.”Natasha muttered watching the two, worried, glancing at clint, raising a eyebrow, wondering if he knew what was wrong. “it’s perfectly safe. I made it myself, and I promise, it’s as good as your punching bag. Perfectly capable of keeping up with a super soldier.”Tony smirked. “I’ll even go for a run with you, if you use it.”
 
Clint smiled at her. "i know darling." he purred at her before ignoring her again. mostly because he knew it would annoy them and if they where annoyed then they'd stop being so damn depressed. well, hopefully. Clint just shrugged and then his eyes flicked from Steve to Eliza and then lifted an eyebrow at Nat. they where experts at silent communication, so she'd know he was wondering if it was because Cap and Eliza had started dating. but that wouldn't explain why Grant had been steadily growing worse since they left Shield. after all Eliza ad Steve had only been a couple for a day, at most. "sure! sounds good. i'd be glad to run with you." Steve agreed, grinning.
 
“...I hate you.”Eliza growled, twitching, looking annoyed. Tony nodded flicking looking them over, before looking at grant and raising a eyebrow, before looking at the door, a silent question on corralling grant downstairs to get checked out by bruce. Maybe involve Eliza, get the man some help. It was so nice having a partner that was so good at reading her mind sometimes. “Awesome. Let’s go then.”Tony grinned as he finished eating, wanting to workout first, otherwise he’d lose himself in the lab and never see how the other did with the treadmill.
 
Clint smiled. "i love you too darling." he assured Eliza, making Grant snicker. she was going to turn Clint inside out if he didn't knock it off. Clint pursed his lips, thinking hard before shaking his head and flicked his eyes to the window. forcing Grant to see Bruce might make him flee. he scratched his wrist, indicating they should wait for a while. 'give it time'. just in case Grant was just homesick, or had a cold or something. he flashed her three fingers. they'd give him three days to recover from... whatever was wrong with him, and then they'd take him to Bruce. "we should go watch. i've heard Steve can get up to fifty miles an hour." "that's twice the world record, there's no way." Grant protested. "hey it was just a rumor!" "actually i can go 35.4 at my fastest." Steve said. "and i can hold that speed for about an hour." he admitted. "it was tested." he admitted with a chuckle and a shake of his head.
 
Eliza twitched, staring at the other. Natasha swallowed a snicker, shaking her head a little, a silent warning for the archer to step back, otherwise she couldn’t guarantee that the younger black widow wouldn’t lash out at him. Tilting her head she nodded a little, agreeing to wait three days. “You know, I feel badly for anyone who gets to have sex with you. You’re stamina’s for sex has got to be through the roof.”Tony snickered as he considered that as they headed for the gym. “....”Eliza squirmed a little shaking her head as they headed down after them, punching grant lightly in the shoulder, a small awkward smile on her face. “Spar?”she said softly, glad she’d worn her workout clothes to breakfast, starting to tape up her hands.
 
Clint offered Eliza a blinding smile and backed off, obeying Natasha's silent commands. "i wouldn't know." Steve admitted. "never had sex." Clint choked, his eyes wide. "you've... not ever?" "course not. before the serum i was too skinny and sick to have a girlfriend. no one wanted to be chained down to a kid who probably wouldn't live to see his thirties after all." he admitted. "after the Serum i was way too busy fighting Nazi and after i woke up from the ice i was too traumatized." he admitted. "i do know that i get bored before i'm satisfied when i do it myself." he admitted. "hey! no hitting!" Grant complained, as he always did before he grinned. "Spar sounds good." he agreed. in the ring though, it was even more clear that something was wrong. he was just as focused ever, but his moves where... not sloppy, almost stilted, as if he was glitching somehow. he'd go to hit her and his arm would twitch or jerk, he didn't seam to notice at all.
 
“...”Eliza flushed brightly looking up at steve, looking at a utter loss on what to say or do. Biting her lip, worried now as she considered steve’s inexperience. Feeling utterly pained at the idea of not being good enough for him. Swallowing hard she sighed, letting herself not think about it. “...That’s saddening.”Tony said shaking his head a little before showing steve how to use the treadmill. “Oh, stop complaining.”Eliza said laughing quietly, smiling, glad that no matter how tension filled and upset thigns were, some things were normal. Maybe they’d be okay. Frowning as they sparred, looking upset, before catching his wrists, squeezing gently as she pulled him closer. “What’s wrong?I thought...I thought things could be okay...we don’t have to do this.....I can leave you alone if you need me to...”She said looking utterly lost and upset at the idea of him being so upset with her for dating steve, that he couldn’t even spar anymore. Or maybe it was something else, but she knew something was wrong wit her and him.
 
Steve offered her a smile. "don't worry. i know the basics. you'll just have to teach me." he assured her. "i might be a little... clumsy to begin with but i'm a fast learner." ah, so he was more worried about disappointing her. did make sense of course, being who Steve was. "it's not that saddening." Steve huffed, rolling his eyes. "a lot of men back then where virgins until they got married. it just wasn't done to fuck around." he admitted. "and those that did where only the men, the women where immediately labeled as promiscuous and sluts. i couldn't do that to some poor girl just to say i wasn't a virgin, even if one of them did want me." he admitted. "no hitting." Grant complained again before smiling as he settled into the spar, looking startled and then confused when she grabbed his wrists. "i don't understand." he admitted. "no. i saw it too Eliza..." Clint admitted. "he hasn't noticed... we're going to Bruce, something is wrong." "nothing's wrong." Grant said, looking annoyed now. "i feel fine! i don't have to go to the doctor!" he complained, shaking his head even as he climbed out of the ring. "whatever you think you saw is all in your heads." he huffed, before blinking when Jarvis indicated he had also noticed. "....okay, i'll see the doctor." Jarvis couldn't be fooled by mental manipulations or flights of fancy and he had come to trust the A.I. a lot. the A.I always got him when Eliza was having a nightmare, or woke him up when he was having one. Jarvis really was very helpful so Grant would have to trust his judgment. "what did you see anyway? i feel better than i have in a long time." he admitted.
 
"I can do that. It'll be fun."Eliza said blushing not about to bring up the obvious, that it would be the second virgin she helped figure out things."it is to. You're the peak of human perfection,and none of your babysitters have jumped you. There's something saddening about that."Tony teased his grin making it obvious he was giving the super soldier a hard time..

"There's something wrong..."Eliza frowned glancing at clint, not sure if she found it relieving that the other two agents Noticed, or even more worrying."no its not in our heads."Natasha frowned as she helped Eliza clint out of the ring, looking relieved when jarvis said he noticed. At least they'd get grant to go see bruce without knocking him out."you're moving slower then normal. Flinching before you parry...Pausing before...I dunno..."Eliza swallowed looking anxious and upset as they headed for bruce.
 
Steve smiled a little before he snorted at Tony. "all of my babysitters where disgusting, aside from Natasha and Eliza i hated all of them and made sure they knew it." he admitted. "makes any feelings of 'infatuation' die pretty damn quickly on their part." he admitted.

"...there's nothing wrong, your just being paranoid." Grant complained. "flinching?" he asked, looking incredulous. "i think i'd notice if i was flinching or hesitating." he said with a sniff. still clearly thinking this was all an over-reaction to something silly. Bruce didn't seam to think it was silly when they walked in, watching a video of the spar." "lay down there and don't move." Bruce ordered, running the man through a full body MRI. and then a X-ray. he physically tested the others reflexes. muttered and mumbled and poked and prodded. "physically there's absolutely nothing wrong with him." Bruce finally said after two hours of tests and a very, very grouchy Grant. "whatever is happening it appears to be neurological." he admitted. "he's lost weight though..." Bruce admitted. "not much, just ten pounds but it's been a dramatic decrease in such a short period of time." he admitted, looking over previous health files. "i need to run an Cat Scan and a P.E.T if that doesn't show anything i'm going to do a full brain scan for a few days, see if anything shows up in day to day activities." he admitted, making the grumbling and growling Grant lay down again and then shook his head. "nothing's showing up." Bruce admitted, looking curious now. "whatever is wrong doesn't seam to be dangerous.... it seams to be a 'glitch' of sorts. that happens sometimes in people who have certain afflictions.. people who have had seizures for example can develop glitches, tourette syndrome, even a Stutter are all, in a way, a glitch in the human brain." he admitted. "this appears to be something like that so it won't show up on brain scans until the Glitch occurs."
 
“I am not paranoid!At least not about you.”Eliza complained back before nodding. “No, I don’t think so.”Eliza fussed worried and annoyed as she watched bruce testing things, and by the end natasha had made her leave with clint, which was the only way the woman had gone, with the reassurance natasha was looking after grant. Shaking her head a little at the knowledge that even if the two had stupidly broken up, eliza was so upset over grant’s stsate of health, it was amazing she wasn’t foaming at the mouth, and had simply settled for a spar with clint and steve. “.....So we just have to wait and see what happens? Doc, I can’t tell ehr that. El’ll break our heads in if we tell her there’s nothing she can do to help.”Natasha sighed softly.
 
Grant rolled his eyes. "you are too! you made me go to the hospital that one time because i had a head cold!" it had been pneumonia and he'd been coughing up blood. "no. not really waiting." Bruce admitted. "i'm going to hook the EEG onto him and make him go through what caused the Glitch in the first place." he admitted. "Grant is going to spar with someone while i monitor him to see if i can' spot the problem." he admitted. "is that suitable?" he asked, looking amused. "she is a bit high strung though." he admitted, making Grant snort and sit up so Bruce could attach the nodes to his head and check the wireless connection. "alright. we're ready to go." he admitted before running through a series of questions. had Grant been dizzy, nauseous, confused, tired, had heartburn, felt any sharp pains in the head, chest or arms? lightheaded, stuffy noses? sleeping problems? Grant suffered through that, grumbling no to pretty much everything. "i've had a bit of a headache, but it's not bad." was Grant's only 'yes'. "hmmm how long?" "i dunno. few days?" "...interesting. alright, lets get you in the ring and see if we can't figure out what's wrong with you, hmm?"
 
“It was pneumonia!”Eliza scowled at him rolling her eyes. “Ahhh, well that’s good.”Natasha said snickering a little before smirking. “At least we’re not asking Eliza to do this. She’d probably freak out at the idea of beating up on grant right now.”Natasha snickered a little, a slight frown on her features as she listened, before nodding. “let’s go then, grant. It’s not every day that I get to beat on you without Eliza breathing down my neck to be careful.”Natasha snickered as she climbed into the ring with the other.
 
he huffed. "it was just a little sniffle." he complained. "Eliza is going to freak out anyway." Grant admitted. "she's too high strung." he admitted with a smile. "sure. sure. beat up on me." he complained as he crawled into the ring while Clint explained to Eliza what Bruce, Grant and Natasha where doing. this time the jerking was much more pronounced until his arm stopped, all on it's own just when he was about to actually land a hit. this time he noticed it and stared at his arm as if it had betrayed him. "good god!" Bruce gasped as he stared at his screen, wide eyed. "the amount or cerebral scarring is... this is.... Jesus..." Bruce whispered, stunned. "Bruce?" "what? oh. right it's... you remember when they raised that huge fuss after a man was mind raped by a telepathic mutant?" Bruce asked. "the man's EEG showed scarring just like this. someone mind raped Grant... repeatedly. and the last one was very recent, which is what caused the Glitch, i think." Bruce admitted, making Grant blink. he didn't fully understand. "mind rape?" he asked, his head tilted. "shouldn't i have some memory of this?" "it depends on the kind of telepathy employed." Bruce admitted. "in this case, it's a..." he glanced at Natasha and then back at Grant. "it's a mental recalibration of sorts. it shapes your mind, kind of. makes you think in certain ways, behave in certain manners. they are basically manipulating your personality and who you are as a person. it's..." Bruce looked like he wanted to be sick. "it's not unlike programming you." he admitted. "the Glitch comes up because, and i'm simply theorizing here, whoever did it doesn't want you attacking anyone associated with Hydra. and both Eliza and Natasha where once a part of Hydra. i bet if you got in the ring with Clint, the glitch would be gone." he admitted. "....can it be fixed?" "yes. of course it can. but it's going to be...." Bruce looked even more sick. "your going to be pretty messed up Grant. really messed up..."
 
“I dare you to tell her that.”Natasha snickered because she knew it was true. High strung and anxious, to reeling from having so many things in her life change to quickly, the woman reacted by fussing and worrying all the more over the people she could. “What?”Natasha’s eyes went huge, for once shock overwhelming her natural stoic nature . “I remember that.”Natasha said tilting her head, looking at grant. “Why since he’s been done before?I mean, we’ve all fought before. It should have glitched before now.”Natasha frowned a little before swallowing hard, “....what has to be done, bruce?”She said, wondering just how much they were goign ot have to tell eliza before they got grant fixed.
 
he snorted. "no deal. i'm not doing that." he scoffed. "i'm not stupid." he admitted before frowning, confused. "he's not unduly effected by it right now but... once he starts recovering he's going to start realizing what happened and.... it's going to be just like a rape victim from what i understand. he'll shut down, he's probably going to freak out, he'll be sick, he won't want to be touched...." he shook his head. "there was a rash of mind rape victims about twenty years ago and there was an intense study so they could find the best way to help them." he admitted. "the problem is, is that this most recent mind rape, mental reprogramming was about three times more... violent, than the others. which is why he's glitching, his mind couldn't take the strain and now it's causing physical reactions." Bruce admitted. "the first thing we have to do is either get Professor Xavior or Jean Grey here to, basically undue the staples holding the new programming in place..." he admitted. "then all we can do is give him time, the same as any other rape victim." but that was only if they could keep whoever was raping his mind, away from his mind. they had to find the telekinetic first. "...i don't feel any different." "you won't." Bruce admitted. "because as far as your mind is concerned, this is how you normally are." he admitted. "when we... loosen that programming you'll realize how much damage has been done." "...can't we just... leave it as it is?" "no. because the programming will come loose on it's own eventually. and that will be twenty times worse."
 
“well, I’m glad to know there are some limits to your stupidity.”Natasha said before frowning, thinking about it. “...Yes. I read some of those case studies, and compared to regular rape victims, it was very similar...though maybe worse. Considering it was their very minds violated, instead of just their bodies...”Natasha frowned, sighing quietly. “...I wonder if whoever it was, realized just what was going on.”Natasha said flicking her eyes towards the door, a silent mental question of just how long anyone had realized that steve, and eliza, had bonded in a way that would cause problems for hydra. “I’ll put in a call for Xavier, see who can get here.”Natasha said before looking at grant, sighing quietly. Realizing what they were going to have to do, and knowing none of them were going to get any peace in the near future. “...Which is why we’re going to go tell Eliza, and then wait until Xavier gets here, and you’re going to rest.”
 
"there are no limits to my stupidity. it's just that i have a mite bit of common sense." he admitted with a grin before looking even ,ore baffled. he just... didn't understand what all the fuss was about. he felt fine... then again, maybe that was part of the mind rape? "there's no way to tell if one is worse than the other. both are about the same really, in the physical and mental effects." Bruce admitted. "it's more likely that someone raped his mind before he left so that he would remain under control even if he wasn't on base." Bruce admitted. "i would like to check Eliza as well, though i doubt she'll have any problems. she was trained from birth and that makes it very hard to change any of her behaviors. especially since she's only been free for a year and a half or so." he admitted. "i doubt they'd have felt a reason to mess with her mind." he admitted. "make sure it's either him or Jean. they are the only one of sufficient skill to do it without making it worse." Bruce admitted, Grant huffing. "i don't need to rest! honestly the way you people fuss! i'm fine!" he complained, sulking as he stalked off. Clint just sighed. "it's probably the mental manipulations, but i don't think he's going to understand how serious this is until it's too late." he admitted softly. "i'll get Eliza." he promised. "come on Nat. Steve? you get Grant into bed before Eliza goes out of her mind okay?" "sure." Steve agreed, heading after Grant. an hour later though, Steve reported that no matter where he looked, he couldn't find Grant anywhere.
 
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