Christmas was always as festive as it was stressful for adults and parents worldwide. After all, they had to ensure that their children found the time memorable.
One adult who really felt the pressure this Christmas was Hank Pym. After having taken Ava Starr into her cell at SITE-98, a cell he had helped to build and improve, he had gotten a permanent headache.
As soon as Ava had woken up she had been afraid and panicked. Thankfully, they had Bill Foster to help calm her down, though he had also been frightened.
After all, he had also been kidnapped and far less gently than Ava had been. Still, as an adult, he had done his best to appear calm for Ava, even if, thanks to the training she had gotten at Shield, she had been able to see through him.
Poor Bill and Hank both suffered a headache over the fear that filled Ava, making her uncooperative, which the remaining staff at SITE-98 didn't take well.
The more she acted up, the more she was punished, and the more she was punished, the more she acted up and tried to escape.
Hank, in particular, felt terrible about this as he hadn't realized how much Ava would blame him for all of her troubles, which made her very resistant to working with him.
"You got to do something, Pym, Ava can't even sleep properly anymore, and I'm afraid they might further restrict what little freedom she has left if this continues." Bill Foster said as he came back from talking with Ava.
"I am trying, but they aren't listening to me. They just say that she is a flight risk, so they can't allow her any more freedom." Hank replied helplessly.
"You told me we were taken here to help her, but so far, I'm not seeing you do much of that Pym. The only thing I see is Ava scared and angry, so much so it lowers her already poor quality of life."
"I, too, was promised that what we would be doing here was to help her. They have also given quite a few resources; hell, even the room she is in has been improved by me! But they are rather extreme when it comes to escape risks. I haven't worked with these people a lot, but they clearly aren't going to calm down before Ava does."
"And she won't calm down before they let up!" Bill nearly shouted at Hank, both of them feeling equally helpless. Though perhaps Bill far more so than Hank as Hank at least had the ability to leave if he so desired.
"Alright, listen here, Foster, I am trying to help, and Ava doesn't need to forgive me for anything; I don't need her to like me or anything. All I require is for her to be more cooperative with us all here. As long as she does that, then yes, I might be able to talk others into treating her better."
"But as long as she doesn't play ball, there is not a lot I can do. Sure, I might be in charge of this effort to help Starr, but that's only for as long as they decide for me to remain as such."
"What I need you to do is make her behave if you have to make her some promises. To do that, I will talk with the staff, but make it small things, some candy, snacks, and more entertainment. I can't allow her to leave her cell, not now, at least."
To that, Bill Foster looked like he was about to start a shouting match with Hank before he sagged back in his seat and let out a sigh.
"Fine, I will promise her a normal Christmas, gifts, snacks, everything I can get. You go and talk with our hosts about it, and I will make her behave as much as possible." He said after a moment.
"Mmm, sure, I will take care of that. We don't have a long time for anything, but I will do what can be done given the short notice, dinner for tomorrow and some kind of gift for the 25th. Go ask her what she wants, and I will do my best."
With that promise from Hank, Bill finally relented, stood back up, and went back toward Ava's cell. Thankfully, it looked more like a typical room than a cell from the inside. Even if many of the amenities there had been there to start with have been removed by now,
Punishments, they had said as they carried the stuff out. Said she could get it back once she proved herself to have a safe class attitude, whatever that meant.
Navigating the sterile, metallic corridors of the facility, Bill Foster was met with the silent vigil of heavily armed guards. Their presence, a stark reminder of the high-security environment he found himself in, was both reassuring and unsettling.
Some guards patrolled the hallways, while others stood sentinel in front of doors he had no clearance to access—doors that remained firmly locked against any unauthorized attempt to explore what lay beyond.
Yet, it wasn't the secured doors that sent a shiver down his spine; it was the ones guarded not to keep people out, but to prevent something from getting out.
The ominous stance of the guards, weapons at the ready to neutralize any threat that might emerge, spoke volumes about the dangers contained within. These doors, Bill knew, did not offer an escape into the outside world but rather shielded the outside world from the perils locked away behind them.
Every visit to Ava's cell was preceded by an exhaustive security check, a routine that had become all too familiar to Bill. The process was thorough, leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that nothing compromised the integrity of the containment protocols.
Finally, after navigating the gauntlet of security measures, Bill stood before a door that looked deceptively ordinary in comparison to the imposing blast doors he had just passed through.
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[With Ava Starr]
Ava hadn't had a very good Christmas; in fact, it had been many years now since she last had a proper one. She could barely even remember it by now. Even before the accident, her parents had always been busy with their work.
After the accident, life had been hell. It had been a little better since she got found by Bill, but not by much. The pain and the inability to easily touch things had always been a problem.
When she first arrived at the shield facility, she had been hopeful that things might change, but they really hadn't.
The chamber made for her had reduced the pain she suffered from and allowed her to live somewhat normally inside. But that mostly meant she had to study or train all the time.
At most, Bill would come with something small, like a piece of clothing or a book or something for her birthday and Christmas; nothing else had marked those times.
The situation didn't look all that better here. Sure' the new "room" she was given looked normal enough, but it was simply an ordinary room inside a bigger version of the chamber from back at Shield's.
Merely an illusion that things were every day, but they were anything but.
The people here were just as cold as the people from Shield, but they were also different; people at Shield seemed wary of her, afraid she might attack them.
The people here didn't have the same fear; they were only afraid she would escape, they seemed to think of her as non-dangerous. The only danger she could cause was by running around by herself.
This was what really scared her; these people had secrets, deadly ones. Dangerous ones, the kind that just knowing would kill her.
Then there was the fact that the great and mighty Hank Pym was supposed to treat her! The man responsible for everything! This was his fault, and now he came wanting to be a hero!
When she first saw him, she had tried to attack him, after all, she had just woken up after being kidnapped. Yet that had been a wrong decision, as her captures had been quick to shut her down.
She had woken up after that, bound to her bed and unable to phase out at all. A strong humming sound had filled her head and made her unable to rest.
Thankfully, Bill was also here, even though he had also been kidnapped.
*Knock Knock*
She was brought out of her musing by a knocking on the door. "Bill, is it you?" she asked, as Bill was one of the only people that came to visit her.
Bill opened the door and quickly stepped inside. "Yeah, it's me." He said with a weak smile on his face.
He always tried to smile, to make everything seem alright. But she knew he was scared; she could see it in him. He didn't like being here any more than she did.
It was just that there wasn't much of a choice; escaping didn't seem possible; they clearly had a way to stop her from phasing.
At one point, she would have loved such a thing, but now? She wished she could still phase at will and escape from here and take Bill with her. But he wouldn't run; he knew she needed to be in a chamber like this.
Only this place and Shield had one, and she didn't think going back there was a good idea. Not after having been kidnapped, those people would only grow more scared.
Going in and sitting in the only chair left in the room, Bill looked nervous. "Ava, I had a talk with Pym." He said, to which Ava reacted strongly to that name.
"And what does he want?" she growled.
"Please, Ava, he wants to help, and we want to help you. Even he is powerless in front of the people running this place. All we need is time, a bit more, and we can solve this problem. Once you are cured, you will be free, free to live a normal life."
"Hmph! I don't need or want his help! This is all his fault; he doesn't get to come and play hero now, it's far too late." Ava Interrupted him.
"Please don't be like that; you aren't a little girl anymore. We still have time, Ava, not a lot, so we have to use what we have. If we don't find a cure, you will die, die far too young. These people might be able to help, and even if they can't, then Pym can."
"I know you don't want his help, but the truth is that we need it. His help is free Ava, the other people here? Not so much. I'm sure Pym has his own reason to help you, but let's at least take advantage of that and get what we need as well. Then, once that is done, we can both leave."
"You really think we can just leave? They seem like the types to like their secrets very much indeed." Ava huffed.
"And what secrets do we know? All we know is that some group with some tech to match Shield exists. The reason the person in charge of this is Pym is because he also isn't part of them. For now, we don't know anything about them.
We just have to keep it that way, and yes, they will let us go. Probably in the same way we got here, only this time they will dump us out somewhere random without us ever knowing where this place even is. This is why you need to behave if you force them to show their hand."
"Well then, they might indeed not just let us leave again, at least not without pumping our heads filled with stuff that will give us amnesia, and that stuff always is so full of side effects that we should really try to avoid that."
To his words, Ava looked thoughtful for a moment; she did want to be cured, and he might be right about them, yet not knowing enough to be a risk to the people running the show. But she sure as fuck didn't like it. "I don't like this, Bill, I really don't."
"And you don't have to like it. Hell, I would have preferred Shield to fix the issue with you. We just can't always have what we want, but please promise me that you will behave, alright?" Bill implored her.
Sighing, Ava could only nod and agree. "Fine, Bill, I promise, but only as long as they or Pym don't do anything strange."
"They won't, and thanks, Ava." Bill smiled a little bit more real now,
"As I said, I talked with Pym, and he agreed to talk with our hosts to allow you a proper Christmas this year, so at least gifts and food. So just tell me what you want, and I will pass the message along to them, and we and Pym will do our best to make it happen."
Ava did look up at that. After all, who didn't like Christmas? And there was indeed a possibility that these people might give her one far closer than anything she got back at Shield.
"Alright then, I want…"