Chapter 4- Come Through

Kurt stared, unblinking, at the clock as it ticked sluggishly, the seconds passed as though he was suspended in time. Nothing was moving, he could only hear the sound of his breathing.

And the breathing of the expectant Bruce Banner.

Dr Banner stared at him with wide eyes as Kurt stayed perfectly still, perfectly silent.

"I know that I asked you to talk in your own time and I'm sticking to that, I just wanted to let you know that there's only ten minutes left of our session. If you want to make a start on anything, now is your time to do so."

Kurt nodded blankly. He didn't know why adults were always so insistent about therapy. Talking about his emotions wouldn't bring his parents back. It wouldn't stop the kids at school from bullying him whenever he was there. He was supposed to heal or whatever, but he could do that on his own. He could do anything on his own if he put his mind to it. He had only agreed to appease Uncle Tony. Uncle Tony had all but begged him to at least sit down with Bruce and try to talk about his feelings if he wasn't going to confide in Tony himself. From the moment Kurt had sat down on the admittedly comfortable sofa, he knew that he wasn't going to do any talking anytime soon.

Dr Banner was a comforting presence, though. He had kindly eyes and soft features. Men usually scared Kurt, but something about Dr Banner put him at ease, the exact opposite to how Nick Fury had made him feel and even Captain America to some extent. They were large, assuming men who had a command to their presences. Dr Banner felt like a friend, or at least a non-threatening entity. Kurt was amazed that they were the criteria for people in his life these days. He had Uncle Tony, Uncle Tony's friends and colleagues, and people who wanted to make his life miserable. He didn't have any friends, and he didn't really know why.

He figured that his unusually high intellect alienated his peers, but he was still a kid. He liked playing sometimes and, when he wasn't reading, he wanted to be using his imagination. He liked certain video games and, although sports weren't his thing, he liked being activity and his dance classes gave him as much of that as he needed.

A sharp vibration startled Kurt from his thoughts. Dr Banner sighed softly and stopped the noise.

"The session's over, Kurt. Before you go, I'd like to ask that you think about trying to talk to me, okay? I know it's difficult, opening up to a stranger about your problems, even if you know how to compose them. Because emotions are tricky and sometimes we don't always know why we feel things that we feel. So, for next week, I'd like you to try and build up to talking. Even if it's not to me, you can talk to your Uncle Tony if you're not comfortable with me. But progress is important, okay?"

Kurt wasn't sure whether he liked Bruce's constant questioning, as if he was checking if Kurt understood everything. It encouraged him to respond with nods and it was definitely a good therapy technique, but it was a little condescending. And Kurt knew that he was only nine, but he rather thought he had a good head on his shoulders. He read voraciously, knew a lot of words and was probably the smartest kid in his grade by quite a way.

But, as Uncle Tony had pointed out in an earlier conversation, that didn't mean he had control over himself yet. Sure, he was more self-possessed that any child his age had any right to be, but he was still a child. He didn't know himself fully yet, and he knew that puberty was going to shake everything up.

So Kurt just nodded to Dr Banner and made his way to the lobby, whether Natasha was waiting for him. Uncle Tony had some Avengers business to take care of so she had volunteered to pick him up instead.

"Hello," Kurt waved to her, trying his best to put on a confident smile. But he should've known better around Natasha Romanoff.

"You hate therapy," she guessed.

Kurt shook his head. "How do you do that?"

She shrugged. "Call it a gift. Also, I'm someone who's seen a lot of mandated therapy couches in my time. It sucks, sometimes. But it does help. And if you can, I suggest you try to make progress."

Kurt nodded. "Dr Banner said the same thing."

"He's a good guy."

They walked in silence to the car, where they began to talk about everyday life. Kurt asked about the Avengers and Natasha asked him about schoolwork and his upcoming birthday.

"Got any plans? You'll be turning ten, right?"

"Yes. I suppose I'll just...hang out with Uncle Tony. Or read if he's not around."

"That's how you're going to spend your birthday?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't really have any friends to spend it with. All my friends are Uncle Tony's friends."

Natasha didn't know what to say to that. Even when she was growing up, she had had friends her own age. She figured Kurt must've compensated for his lack of friends with books and learning, hence why he was so intelligent. But she was starting to really see him, see the cracks in his collected façade. He really was just a kid and she wanted to make sure that Tony knew that. It was important for him to let Kurt have a semblance of a childhood, at least. Even with everything he had been through, there was still a youth to be had. None of the Avengers, maybe besides Thor, had gotten to have normal upbringings, she would make sure that Kurt did if it killed her.

Kurt entered the house, hearing the automatic locks click behind him. He was selfishly glad that Uncle Tony was so paranoid about safety. Kurt liked having the extra lock system in place, it put his own mind at rest when he was feeling particularly vulnerable.

Tony was waiting for him in the living room when he returned.

"Hey kid, how was your session?" Tony was careful to avoid the 'T' word, knowing that Kurt would shrink in on himself if he mentioned it. It was bad enough Tony had made him go in the first place. Tony knew it would help him. Eventually.

Kurt shrugged, picking up on apple on his way in. "Fine."

"Did you talk about much?"

Kurt nodded. "Some stuff. I think it's going to help."

Tony narrowed his eyes, but kept prodding. He had a hunch that something was off. "Did Bruce give you any homework? I know he likes to do that."

Kurt swallowed heavily. "Oh, yeah, he said to just think about the things that trigger my emotions. I'm not sure exactly how to do that, but I guess I'll learn."

Tony smirked. "Kurt, you're a terrible liar."

Kurt gaped. "I am not."

"You continue to prove my point. It doesn't matter that you didn't make any progress today, talking to someone is hard."

"You can say the word 'therapy', Uncle Tony. I'm not going to have a heart attack."

"Fine, okay. Therapy is a long process and you get out of it what you put in."

"I didn't even want to go in the first place. It feels so...official."

"Well maybe we can find some time for Bruce to come here, if that's better for you."

"I wouldn't want to disrupt his schedule."

Tony sighed. "He's a friend, you wouldn't be."

Kurt screwed up his face. It was times like this when he lost control of how he felt. Uncle Tony wasn't listening to him and he really didn't want to go to therapy. "Would you stop doing that?"

"What am I doing?" Tony knew exactly what he was doing. Kurt was making excuses to get out of therapy and Tony wasn't letting him take the easy way out. He knew that Burt and Lizzie had a tendency to let Kurt do exactly that, but Tony wasn't going to make that decision. He had given him a pass the first few times, but Kurt was good at adjusting. He could do this.

"You're...you're pushing me. I don't want to talk to anyone about my parents! I don't want to talk to anyone about anything! And you won't leave me alone about it."

"Because I know how valuable therapy is, Kurt. It's helped me out of the exact same position you're in."

"Well, congratulations! You're not damaged anymore, how great for you! Maybe some people work at different paces. Let me do this on my own."

Tony stiffened at his raised voice, but blinked to calm himself. "Look, Kurt, I get that you don't want to talk about what happened. But I know you, you'll bottle everything up until it becomes too much and when it explodes, trust me, you'll wish you talked to someone."

"You don't know me at all! Spending a few weeks and seven Christmases together doesn't mean that you know me even a little bit. You have no idea who I am." And with that, Kurt traipsed upstairs. It was times like this when Tony thanked himself for getting automatic doors for every room so Kurt couldn't slam them.

He did hear something smack against a wall and some stomping, but that soon eased up. He and Kurt were bound to have their first argument at some point, but he wasn't prepared for how that was going to make him feel. He felt terrible, even if he was making some valid points. Upsetting Kurt was never something he wanted to do.

A few hours later, Tony slipped upstairs and hovered outside of Kurt's door. He put in a request with Jarvis to let Kurt know that Tony wanted to come in. Kurt had activated the lock so Tony couldn't get in unless it was an emergency, in which Jarvis would open the doors no matter whether Kurt had locked it or not.

A few minutes of empty silence later, the doors slid open. Kurt was curled up in his bed, rocking back and forth. Tony rushed to his side.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," Kurt muttered.

Tony smiled. "It's okay, Kurt, it's fine. I'm sorry, too, I shouldn't have pushed therapy so hard."

Kurt shook his head. "I know it'd be helpful for me. And I know I get ahead of myself sometimes. Sometimes I just think I know better than everyone and that's not a good trait to have and it's probably annoying, but that's the way I am."

Tony hadn't expected the depth of introspection from Kurt, although maybe that was a sign that he should have stopped underestimating the breadth of Kurt's wisdom. For someone young, Kurt had definitely been through the ringer. Tony had at least had the luxury of being a little bit older when his parents had died. Kurt wasn't even ten yet and he was going to ring in that particular milestone without either of his parents and a guardian uncle who still had absolutely no idea how to be a parent.

"You should never apologise for the way you are. But, and I mean this with as little condescension as possible, as you get older you'll learn to notice things that you don't like about yourself. And some of them might have an adverse effect on others. I've certainly learned a lot about what I do that doesn't quite sit right with people."

"So what are you saying?" Kurt sat up a bit higher, curious.

Tony sighed lightly. "I'm saying that although you should always be yourself, it's good to have an awareness of the situations around you.

"And you were right before. I don't know who you are, because you're so much more than anyone realises, kid. Do you see any other nine years old reading Nietzsche? I certainly don't."

Kurt chuckled. "It is a bit dense for me, I must admit."

"Don't sweat it, you've got all the time in the world to get through those albatrosses."

Kurt inched forward and hugged Tony tightly. "Thanks, Uncle Tony."

Tony patted Kurt's back and smiled. "Anytime, Kurt. Now, how about we talk about your birthday next week? Any special requests? I mean it quite literally when I say you can have anything you want. It's not every day a guy turns ten."

Kurt paused for a second and shrugged. "As long as we don't do that thing where we invite my entire class at school just to be polite, then I don't mind."

"Is there anybody you would like to invite?"

Kurt shook his head sadly.

Tony was taken aback. Kurt had always presented himself to be okay with his current situation, that people his age just didn't get him and that was okay. But Tony also knew that Kurt was surprisingly good at hiding his emotions, even if he was terrible at lying verbally. Tony had just assumed solace was his ideal situation, although hindsight told him that had been foolish. What kid, even one as advanced as Kurt, didn't want friends their own age?

"We could go out for dinner somewhere then," Tony suggested. "Just us?"

Kurt thought hard for a moment. "How about a small get together here? I'd like to meet the rest of your 'associates'."

"That sounds more like a party for me," Tony grinned.

"Natasha will be there and she likes me more than you."

Tony shook his head fondly. "I don't doubt that at all. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it could be fun."

"Boy am I glad to hear you say that word. I was beginning to think you didn't know what fun was."

Kurt scoffed. "I have a growing pile of Dickens novels to read, you don't think of that as fun?"

Tony rubbed his hands together. "Oh, I can't wait until you hit puberty."

"It sounds like a blast."

Kurt sat in the cold air, cross-legged, his eyes firmly fixated on the small structure in front of him.

He scanned the surrounding area and saw no other people around him, something that pleased him. What he was going to be doing worked best for him without an audience.

He rocked back and forth gently.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad. I'm sorry it took so long for me to come here. I was thinking about it and I'm finally ready, I guess.

"Uncle Tony has been great, really, you don't have to worry about that. I'm doing okay. I miss you guys like crazy every day. Nothing really feels the same anymore even though not a lot has changed. Well, you know what I mean."

Kurt sniffled heavily.

"School's been much of the same. I went back too early and I let my emotions get the better of me. The Puckerman boy is still causing problems. I don't actually know how much of this you guys already know, whether you're watching or if you're somewhere else entirely. I'd like to think you're doing whatever makes you the happiest. Maybe you guys have a little cottage somewhere. Dad can go fishing and build cars while Mom writes music and plays with the dog I always imagine you have."

Kurt laughed quietly, brushing his hair back.

"I wish you were here, but that goes without saying. I keep thinking of all the things I won't get to share with you guys. My first best friend, high school, my first boyfriend, all of these things I'll have to assume that you're seeing. Of course, I'll come back every so often and fill you guys in, when I can. But if you can see me then you'll see that I'm okay. It's a really confusing time but I think I'll be okay in the end.

"I love you both, more than anything. And I'm going to miss you every day, until maybe it doesn't hurt quite as much anymore. I'll be back soon, I promise. I love you."

Kurt sat in their aura for a few moments, soaking in the closeness he suddenly felt with them. He hadn't felt like this since they had passed, it was a strange experience.

He then climbed to his feet and went to leave.

And came face to face with a small blonde-haired boy, who was watching him intensely. Kurt figured he was around Kurt's own age, but he was a little bit taller.

"Hello."

Kurt waved shortly.

The boy held out his hand, presenting a tissue. "I saw you were crying. I always bring these when I come here. Who did you come to see?"

Kurt accepted the tissue gratefully, dabbing his eyes and blowing his nose as quietly as he could. "Thank you. I—my parents. They died a few weeks ago." Kurt strangely realised that it was the first time he had properly said that aloud. Acceptance was closer than he thought. Or not, truth be told, Kurt didn't really know how this stuff worked. Adults always mentioned time being the only healer, but Kurt didn't like that logic.

Sam nodded glumly. "I'm sorry. That must be hard. My aunt died a year ago today, so I was just saying hello."

"Are you alone?"

The boy shook his head, pointing to the far side of the cemetery, where a man and a woman stood by the gate. "My mom and dad are over there. Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Kurt smiled. "No, it's fine. You're allowed to have parents. I'm Kurt, by the way."

"I'm Sam. Hey, want to hear something cool?"

Kurt nodded vigorously.

"I met Tony Stark today! He was standing not too far from here by his really nice car and my mom said I shouldn't bother him but he said it was okay and he told me he liked my shirt," Sam rambled.

Kurt's mouth fell open, half in a smile.

"Cool, right?"

Kurt laughed, nodding. "Sam, I have something even cooler to tell you about Tony Stark."

Sam nodded, waiting for Kurt to continue talking.

"He's my uncle."

Sam looked like his entire world had just turned upside down. "He's your uncle?"

"Yep. He's taking care of me now."

"That's awesome. What's he like?"

Kurt suddenly had an idea. "Sam, would you like to come over next week? It's my birthday."

Sam nodded once more. "I would like that very much. You're really nice. Do you go to Lima Elementary?"

Kurt's stance shifted slightly. "I'm enrolled there, but I'm taking some time off, you know. But I'll be back soon."

"I just transferred there. I was really scared about it but now it's going to be great! Do you want to be best friends?"

Sam offered his hand for a high-five.

"That'd be nice," Kurt said in a quiet voice, slamming his hand against Sam's. His mind did a triumphant dance. He had made a friend.

Sam looked over to his parents, who were gesturing for him to come back. "Uh, I think I have to go. How can I reach you?"

Kurt panicked, he didn't have a phone yet and he didn't really want to give out Tony's address without asking him.

Sam took initiative and waved Kurt over to his parents. "We can sort it out over here."

Kurt was startled by the family resemblance between Sam and his parents. Although the sight of two parents and a child still knocked Kurt off balance, he liked Dwight and Mary Evans very much.

In the end, they had given Kurt their home phone number and said that he can call with the details for the party. Kurt felt strange about leaving the cemetery in a good mood, considering what he had gone there to do, but that was how the situation had unfolded.

He met up with Tony outside, where Sam had described.

Tony waited for him with a big smile. "How was it?"

Kurt shrugged. "It was good. It felt nice to talk with them, you know? I felt close to them and I'm not sure how that happened."

"There's something about these places that'll do that. I'm glad it helped, anyway. What's going on, you look happier than you should be right now."

Kurt smiled. "I made a friend."

"You did? In the cemetery? Are you sure they're not a ghost?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "No, his name is Sam and he's really nice. He gave me a tissue because he saw me crying and I think we're going to be best friends. I invited him to my birthday...I hope that was okay." Kurt suddenly realised he hadn't cleared it with Tony.

Tony's face, though, lit up like a Christmas tree. "That's great news, Kurt. Of course it's okay for Sam to come over. Wait, are you talking about the excited kid who ran up to me just before?"

"The very same."

"He seemed like a nice kid."

"He is. I got his family's phone number so we can give him the details about the get together."

Kurt chatted excitedly about Sam as they drove home. Tony noticed that it was the most childlike he had ever seen Kurt and he couldn't have been happier.

Kurt had made a friend, was going to try therapy again, things were becoming promising for him.

So why was it that all Tony could concentrate on was the looming dangers on the horizon that threatened to destroy all of that?