Prosperous In Battle

21: Hugs

"Just let me go talk to him," I asked. I had heard Noah shouting when I was in the lab earlier and now no one is letting me in. And mum is out on a mission so I haven't got her as a backup. "Tilly it's too dangerous." "I'll take the risk," I say to Tony with a forced smile. "GET OFF HER!" Noah screamed loudly. He was in an empty room, they had put him in a cell-like some sort of prisoner. 

"Please. He's scared." I say looking up at him using my best innocent eyes to get my way like I normally do with Tony. "He said no." Great Steve I was never going to get my own way now. He was more firm than my mother... "DON'T HURT HER. GET OFF OF HER." Steve seemed concerned. "Fine. 5 minutes, Tilly and the minute he hurts you, you're out of there." I nodded agreeing. I rushed past them and to the cell. I punched in the code to unlock the door and scanned my card which opened the door so I could slide in before it slid shut again. 

"Noah, Noah," I say going over to him, he was in chains, it pained me to see him this way but it was what was best for him. Apparently yesterday he tried to scratch his eyeballs out. "Tilly?" "It's me." I crouch down in front of him and cup his face. "Tilly." "It's me. I'm okay." "You're okay. They were hurting you. They we-" "It's in your head. Look. I'm here. I'm okay." I tell him, not breaking eye contact. 

"Get off her." He whispered looking past me. "Who?' "Tilly get off Tilly." He pulled slightly lunging but I caught his arms before he was able to make much of a movement. He was trying to protect me... it was sweet of him really. "Hey, look at me. Look in my eyes." I tell him again. "They're hurting Tilly." "I'm Tilly. I'm right here, look." I held his chin making him look at me. "I'm okay. I'm here. We are both home. I promise it's all over now." I tell him softly. He stroked the side of my face. "They hurt you." "They haven't. I'm okay. I've been home." I tell him. "They're going to." "No, they're not... They won't." "I saw them." "Who?" "Men, men hurting you. They wanted to use you, but you wouldn't listen. Why do you never listen? And then they killed you." "I'm listening. I'm listening right now. No one is going to kill me. I'm safe, in this house I'm safe and so are you. You just need to work out what is real and what isn't." He pulled my face close to his, I could feel his heavy breaths fanning across my face, I leant my head forward to rest my forehead on him. "They're going to make you into a robot." "See how silly that sounds. They can't make a human a robot." I smiled at him. They could make me a robot, they've almost succeeded at that. 

"Yeah... You're right." I nodded. "I can hear you... Screaming in pain." "I'm not in pain. I'm okay. I promise you, we're both okay. Both safe." I reassured him again. I don't know what they did to him, or how long they had been doing it to him but his brain was fried, he was so confused some of the things he was saying were irrelevant not part of what was happening right now and other things came out back to front and scrambled. I tried my best to understand what he was telling me. I was filled with worry. What if I never get him back. What if that chip did permanent damage as it had to some of the girls in the red room? 

"Sing to me." He tells me. "Make them stop." He covered his ears but inexperience, I knew it only amplified the sounds running through your head. I pulled his hands away. I sang to him a song that we had written together. We got bored of science one night and he began playing the keyboard and we messed around for a while and came out with this. He sang with me bearly above a whisper. 

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STEVES POV

I watched from the camera's just down the hall so Tony and I was out of sight. There were a few times I went to go in but Tilly seemed to have it under control. She wasn't scared of him, not even a little bit. "Since when could she sing?" I asked. "She singings all the time in the Lab... just shy about it." He had a fond smile as he listened. 

"It seems to be helping." Noah was relaxing, he adjusted his hold on her making her sit one his lap his long arms wrapped around her torso loosely not restricting her movement. Her hand held one of his and the other dangled around his neck. "She was telling us she could help," Tony says still watching ready to jump into action in case it went south. She should know better than to be so close to him when he was in an unstable state.