Close Your Eyes

Dasha's glanced at the healthy looking boy that was perched on top of his bed as he stared at the cards in his hands, as her eyes raked over her own set, she thought carefully before placing the cards down. "Whatcha got?" it has been another slow day as the only surgery she performed today was one.

One.

Does anyone know what it feels like to feel insignificant surrounded by ill people? She didn't want to sound pessimistic, but her job was to have the ill become healthy and having healthy people in a hospital isn't what she signed up for.

When Scott placed his hand down, he smirked with a victorious voice, "Read 'em and weep." He gathered all the cards and tokens from the middle and slid them over to his side. Dasha rolled her eyes playfully as she chuckled at the now happy boy sitting across from her. The mystery of unsolved deaths hasn't been solved yet and it has been pondering in her mind along with a billionaire that sounded a little more worried than what she expected.

No. Don't think about him. It will only make it worse. She thought.

The more she thought about him, the more frustrated she was getting when it came to the unwanted feelings that were reaching towards the surface. Dasha wasn't a moron when it came to emotions. She knew exactly what she was feeling, but she rather go into a state of denial than actually admit that she is starting to develop feelings for that wad of a man that she loathed from the very beginning of his business career. Dasha always despised hot shots, throwing their fame and money at people expecting them to be at their beck and call whenever they wanted.

Tony was all of those things. He was far up that pedestal that he built for himself that it would take him years to come back down to Earth with a redeeming personality. Actually, she doubted he would ever change. So why did the billionaire playboy make her heart beat faster when he was around or made her flustered which turns into anger because of her incompetent of being a regular human being without feelings for him.

She was turning into one of those sappy women that chases after Tony, expected she has not once chased him. Dasha was proud that she has not once set foot in the direction of the playboy, she kept her toes on the opposite side not wanting to have anything to do with him. The very thought of her chasing him insulted her, would she ever turn into that woman? No, she would not allow it. Dasha wasn't going to start changing for a man that she currently despised. This was her way of denial and the more she thought about it, the more it wasn't working. She would never turn into some mushy woman, it was never her thing. That was more of Jak's thing of turning every tragic story into some romantic sappy cupid heart love story that audiences would be cheering for the two main characters to finally give in and be with one another.

Screw him.

Dasha doesn't need him. She was fine without him before and she was fine without him now. Hopefully, in her denying ways Tony has been MIA for the last few days. He hasn't called her once and it left this twists of knots in her stomach, but she relentlessly pushed them away. She needed to focus on her career like she always did an—

"Dr. Swan?" the boyish voice of Scott entered her thoughts as her eyes flickered back to the concerned looking look who had his head tilted to the side as he stared at her, "Are you…okay?" The way Scott said it was like he was expecting something horrible to happen to her or something did just happen. Dasha glanced down at her body to see if there was anything wrong with it before she looked back up with a puzzled look, "Yeah…are you okay?" It was her turn to switch the tables as the concern didn't leave his eyes, worry turned into fear as he bit his lip, shifting his tiny body away from her as if she shunned him from being close to her.

"I-I…don't know." He mumbled.

Dasha pushed the tokens and cards away from the bed as she softly said, "Scott? Is there something the matter?"

Watching Scott twiddle his thumbs flicking the piece of cloth in his fingers, he inhaled deeply before he peered up with his big childlike eyes, "Would you be mad at me if I told you a secret?" Dasha furrowed her brows wondering what he was talking about, Scott's eyes flickered across the room before it landed on the doorway. The doctor laid a hand on top of Scott's as she reassured him, "You can tell me anything, Scott. Nothing surprises me anymore. I heard everything. Trust me."

Trust.

Something that she lacked in others, her inner thoughts bitterly reminded her.

"Can you close the door?" Scott asked.

He worryingly stared at Dasha as she closed the door and decided to grab the chair beside his bed to give him some space since he tensed a bit when she did touch him. There was no need to be sentimental with a boy that lacked that in the first place, it was obvious that he wasn't used to the kind of nurturing Dasha provided for him since he was admitted to the hospital. She sat down beside him as she crossed her legs waiting for him to spill whatever he needed to say.

Thoughts started to scatter thinking of the worst. Preparing for the worst that can come from an eleven year old, nothing could prepare her for what he said next. His small pink lips opened as he suddenly breathed out the truth of his existence, "I'm not who you think I am, Dr. Swan. You see, I'm different than everyone else and I know the inspirational speech of embracing your uniqueness, but my uniqueness is the thing that is killing people. It's the reason why I can't be close to anyone because if they upset me, I can wish upon things and it comes true. The sudden heart attacks, the kids dying in the children's wing, all of those obscure incidents were, my fault."

Dasha's eyes widened as the one thing came to mind as he opened up about his genetics to her, "I'm a-"

"Mutant." She finished for him as she sat in utter shock as to why she didn't think of it sooner. The way his cells multiplied ten times faster than a normal human should have given it away! The test that she ran were a little abnormal, so whoever admitted him must have thought he was ill when in actuality he wasn't. The thing was, what was his power? Dasha knew that Scott could have not just wish people to have died, there had to be some other piece that was missing that had him link himself to the other person. It was the only logical explanation as to why he could do such things.

As she thought about what he was, Scott too, stared at his doctor in shock waiting for her to open the door and call authorities to have him locked up for who he was and what he admitted. She could lose her job for keeping something as big as this to herself, but she wasn't going to have him go back into foster care. Dasha had a better plan.

"Scott?" his eyes glanced up at her with cowardly eyes, he whispered out in fright, "Yes?"

A kind smile expanded on her lips as she said in a soothing voice, "Don't worry. I'm not going to say anything. I want to help you, but you have to trust me." Scott stiffly nodded as his heart rate slowed down tremendously. With a soft voice he agreed, "Okay."

Dasha immediately went to work as she got the number to the only person that was willing to help someone in need and take him in as their own. There was no way she could take him as her own, as much as she loved kids, she was not ready to raise an eleven year old boy on her own. She was already taking care of Willow as her own from time to time along with her work schedule it just wouldn't be a perfect fit. Whatever his power is, maybe they can help him hone his skills and anger instead of killing people because they upset him.

There was obviously some leniency on her side, she knew what it was like to be pointed as the crazy and unstable person in the room and there was no way she was going to let Scott get the same fate. Within the next day or so, Dasha had around the clock supervision that no one got near Scott.

Dasha waited outside of the hospital with wary eyes hoping no one caught wind of what she was doing, it was ridiculous and letting someone take Scott without permission of social services can be a crime of itself. Luckily, they were already getting that situated as she waited for her guest. Suddenly, a black sleek car drove up towards the entry way and parked perfectly beside Dasha. The person got out of the car as her white hair was pulled back into a pony tail, giving her a soft smile, she held out her hand, "You must be Ororo Munroe, correct?"

Ororo nodded as she took the doctor's hand, "And you must be Dasha Swan."

Once introductions were settled, Dasha let the white haired woman towards the pediatric wing as she filled Ororo in on the details of what was going to happen. They already discussed Scott's powers and Ororo easily reassured her that each individual got the attention they need in order to strengthen their skills. It brought Dasha delight to hear such words. As they entered the boy's room, Ororo introduced herself as she sat down in the chair Dasha sat down herself just yesterday and explained what the school was like. While everything was running smoothly, Dasha walked out of the room as she hurriedly walked towards the nurse desk, "Did you print out the consent forms for Scott Daley?"

The nurse nodded as she scanned through the file of clipboards before settling on one, swiftly, she took it in her grasp and handed it to the doctor, "Thank you Jenny." Jenny smiled as she calmly stated that it was her pleasure before helping another nurse with her duties. Dasha was grateful there was one nurse that was willingly to do what she asked without asking questions, if she were to ask anyone else they would be questioning her every move and asked if her attending gave approval.

Her attending can shove it up his ass. Dasha wasn't fond of her higher up, seeing she was only a resident and is so close to becoming an official surgeon that can perform surgery solo without another pediatric surgeon breathing down her neck. Everything she was doing now can jeopardize her career in this hospital and being a part of one of the greatest hospitals in California was an achievement, but standing up for someone like Scott was far greater than her. Flipping to the pages where she needed to sign, she scribbled her signature as she heard someone coming up beside her, "Dasha! What are you doing? Are you crazy?"

"Jak, I have no time for this. I have to get Scott out of here." She hissed back lowly.

Jak stopped her in her tracks as he placed his hands on his hips as he grabbed her shoulders shaking her a bit, "Do you realize what you are doing? You are forging your attending's signature in order to release a boy that has no business being released? Please tell me you aren't having an early midlife crisis because I can barely handle mine."

Dasha pursed her lips as she retorted, "You have no idea what this boy is going through and I am doing what's best for him even if I am putting my career on the line. So move before I move you myself." She had no time to give an hour long speech of why Scott should be released in the custody of Ororo Munroe. Jak had no clue as what Scott was or what she was, he probably wouldn't understand and seeing him narrow his eyes at her made her believe her assumption.

"I'm not letting you screw yourself over for some boy! Whatever you are doing, I can help you figure out another way to do this…legally-"

"I don't have time for that!" she shoved Jak out of the way before she regained her posture and walked diligently over to Scott's room. Knocking on the door, she peeked in with a kind smile, "Ready to go?" Scott glanced at Ororo before giving Dasha a soft smile, "Ready." Dasha handed Ororo the consent forms before heavy breathing was heard from the front door, Jak stood there with a frown on his lips before he furrowed his eyes at the stranger.

"Who's th-" Jak paused as he remembered the person that was standing in front of him, his mouth flew open before he pointed his finger rudely at Ororo before pointing it at Scott, "So you and him are…m…m-m"

"Yes, now shut up Jak!" Dasha glared at her friend as he instantly shuts up. At least now he would keep his mouth shut as Ororo handed back the consent forms as Scott now sat in the clothes he came in with. They were a little small on him seeing that he grew taller while his stayed here. Scott stood up, finally free from the tubes and needles that pinned him to the bed of death as he would like to call it. Pushing Jak backwards, all four of them walked out of the room with Scott standing closely to Ororo gripping her hand for comfort.

Exiting the hospital smoothly, Dasha let out a breath as she glanced down at Scott giving him a hug, "Now you behave and watch your anger. There is no need for anyone to croak before their time is up." Giving him a soft smile she let go as she watched the two climb into the car and drive away.

Jak and Dasha stood side by side as the male nurse said, "You do realize that you are going to be fired sometime soon, right?"

"I know." Dasha muttered as the car turned the corner and out of sight.

~~.~~

Sadly for Dasha, in a course of a day or so, the Chief of Surgery noticed what she has done and shared his sympathy with her as he had to release her from the program. Within an hour, Jak helped Dasha pack up her things and put them in her car. Dasha didn't look back as she hugged Jak, "Don't be sad Jaky. I'll be fine. There are plenty of jobs for me out there."

Jak being himself created some dramatic goodbye as if they would never see each other again, Dasha rolled her eyes as she stood there in his embrace as he stroked her soft honey brown cooing that it was going to be alright. Releasing herself from his hold, she climbed into the car promising Jak that they will still have get togethers whenever they can.

Sitting at home, she ate from the tube of ice cream as she settled on the couch with slight contentment. It has been years since she had just relaxed and there was no doubt that she will find another job, her resume was well established and recommendation letters that she gained from a few peers that were attendings from the hospital, promising they will email them to her when they had time. Dasha was grateful to all their help and hopefully, Scott was able to live a happy life in the Institute of the Gifted.

Flipping through the channels, she grumbled in annoyance, "Day time television is utter crap."

Instead of gorging herself with more food, she placed the tub of ice cream back in the fridge before she walked towards her bedroom to the soft bed she was rarely in because of her insane shifts at work. In Dasha's mind it was stupid to let someone like her go, not to be conceited, but she was one of the top residents in her program and was elected Chief Resident was a huge deal. Now along with the budget cut and lack of staff, they now laid off one of the most promising surgeons to date. So now instead of just worrying about filling on the huge loss of staff, they have to have a few residents pick up the slack that Dasha no longer had and choose a new Chief Resident.

Dasha shouldn't be thinking of such things. She had to let go of the hospital, it was the last link that she had with Tony and maybe there was a small part of her that did what she did in order to cut ties with him. Whatever extra reasons she did it for, she felt glum as she sunk down on her plush bed. Shutting her eyes, she thought of other things to drift her off to sleep and before she knew it she was asleep.

After a long well needed rest, she woke up with the phone ringing off the hook. A groan left her lips as her hand lazily flopped around to grab the phone that incisively kept ringing. Slamming her hand down on the nightstand, she grasped the phone between her fingers as she pressed the call button and pushed it on her ear as she mumbled, "Ello?"

"Dasha? Thank God you picked up-"

"Pepper, no offense, but why did you call me? If this has anything to do with Tony I rather not deal with it right now." Dasha's headache started to form again as she flipped herself onto her back as she stared at the dark ceiling above her. Lying in complete darkness, Dasha was in peace until Pepper decided to ruin it and call about someone she rather not speak or think about at the moment. "Dasha." Pepper stressed, "This is something really important…"

Dasha sighed as she rubbed her tired eyes, "What is it? What is so important that you had to wake me up in the middle of the night?" Silence filled the other line before Pepper answered, "Something happened to Tony and I know he would want to see you when he wakes up."

"Why is that? What could possibly could he want with me?" It drove Dasha insane that even Pepper was pressing her towards Tony at this moment in time. She didn't to be near him and thinking of the wedding when he was so serious about her staying away from Obadiah was purely idiotic. Why on Earth would she want to associate herself with someone like Obadiah? His ugly self can screw himself for all she cares. Her pulse started to rise when Pepper softly countered, "To make sure that you are alright."

Dasha glared into the darkness as she breathed heavily through her nostrils, thinking things over, she closed her eyes as she grumbled, "Where is he?" Pepper gladly gave her directions as she replied, "You should hurry, he might wake up soon." She didn't want to know the details of what happened that made Tony go to the same hospital that she was fired in, but since it was partly his hospital he can do whatever the fuck he wants. If he was faking any injuries just to grab her attention, then he will surely pay. Swinging her feet over to the ground, she groaned flicking on the lights for her to see.

Taking her time, despite Pepper's urgency for her to be there before Tony woke up, she scoffed as she slowly pulled on her shoes and sweatshirt that matched her sweatpants. There was no use of changing clothes when she was going to be in and out of there within seconds, once Tony sees that she is 'alright' then she is out of there. Driving over to the hospital that she was released from, it felt awkward and cold walking in as a visitor instead of a resident.

Stares welcomed openly as she walked to the front desk to see that Jenny wasn't there, she frowned as she placed her hands on the counter, "Olivia, can you direct me to Tony Stark's room?" Olivia peered up as she scoffed filing her nails, grumbling, "I don't have to do shit for you anymore. You're just some washed up wannabe surgeon that couldn't make a wise decision for herself and became a thug overnight."

Dasha's fists clenched as she kept her stiff smile, there was no use in starting a fight in a place where she just lost her job, it would be no use for her to do such a thing. "Just tell me, Olivia or do I want to wander the hospital until I find it?" Olivia wouldn't let up as Dasha rolled her eyes at how ridiculous she was being, pulled out her cell and called Pepper getting the information she needed. Hanging up the phone, she smirked at the stupid look on Olivia's face as she snatched a visitor's pass sticker, filling out her name quickly and pressing it on her sweatshirt. "Thanks for the help." She quickly walked away as she took the elevator to the trauma area. Tony's room was a bit more isolated than every other room seeing it was at the end of the hall and two bodyguards standing in front of it.

Of course, nothing will bring more attention than two buff men in suits standing there protectively will give the illusion that someone important was not here. Dasha was more than glad to see that Pepper was standing there in the hallway waiting for her to make the entry smooth sailing, she had enough to deal with for one day and she didn't want to get into it with a couple of bodyguards.

Pepper placed a hand on the back of Dasha as she said, "Tony is awake and already asking for you."

Dasha looked back at Pepper who gave her a nod of encouragement before she stepped in having the door closed behind her, having Tony hooked up was something she never imagined. He actually looked like he was injured, a little beaten up in her eyes, there were a few scrapes along his forehead that could easily be tended to and something under the thin blanket shined brighter than before. It confused her as why his arc reactor was brighter than before or was it because she hasn't seen him in a while she thought it was bright?

Tony cut off her thoughts as he grinned, "Sunshine, glad you can make it. How about you sign those consent forms and I'll be on my way?"

She rolled her eyes as she stood at the foot of his bed, "Can't do that."

He furrowed his brows at the young woman as he huffed, "Why the hell not? You're a doctor and you have the ability to sign, what's holding you back?" It was Dasha's turn to look at Tony strangely as she asked what was holding him back since he never listened to what anyone had to say and did whatever the hell he wanted. "I would if I could, but those two guards standing at my door are forbidding me to step any further than the door and the constantly yelling of Pepper of me being reckless was getting on my nerves so I thought it would be better if someone like you can help me with my predicament. So whataya say?"

Dasha pretended to think about it before she shook her head, "Nope." She turned around to walk out of the room before she heard Tony say, "Hey! Come back here! We're not done here."

"We are done here, Mr. Stark."

Dasha was ready to open the door when Tony's rambled words that she never thought would come out of his mouth, "I love you." Her body instantly froze as those three daunting words hit her ears, she was dreaming, wasn't she? She turned around with narrowed eyes as anger seeped into her core, "What did you just say?"

Tony looked nonchalant as he grinned in victory, "What? It got you from walking out that door, didn't it?"

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah, well. You can proudly say that you're an idiot for being with me. We are still together if I recall." Winking at her as she showed her disgust. Why couldn't she just walk away at the moment? Maybe seeing him beat up and acting like his old pompous self was actually wearing her down, taking pity on the poor bastard. It was then that a moment of weakness resurfaced as Tony stared at Dasha with some form of relief that filled his eyes. Dasha stopped in her tracks as she continued to stare into his eyes seeing that he was glad that she was there.

As for Tony, he was relieved to see that Obadiah's threats were empty when he threatened that he had captured Dasha and held her captive. It was an edge that got Tony stumped as he had an option of giving Obadiah the arc reactor or have Dasha suffer the consequences. Despite the frown that was on Dasha's face, he gave the stiff smile that he showed when he was showing the softer side of himself. He hated opening up himself to someone, but he felt like he can let Dasha in just a little bit more. Licking his lips, he patted the spot next to him, "Sit. I have something to tell you." It was time to reveal what he has done for the past several months, working on his project and the incidents on the news were actually him.

Dasha sat there quietly as she listened for the second time that week of someone sharing their secret with her.