Carol opened her eyes and smiled softly at her son sleeping in her arms. She really was a lucky mom...

It wasn't even the fact that his magic could ease her pain, because she would have gladly endured even worse agony to keep him safe. It was like she had found a little angel that night, something that reminded her that she was human and not just some monster. A reason not to lash out at the world around her just because she could induce pain on others.

She teared up slightly and remembered something her old teacher had taught her in the past... Everything happens for a reason. If she had never become Painwheel, she never would have been there to save Harry from his uncle.

She was drawn from her swirling thoughts by Harry shifting in his sleep, and for a moment she was afraid that he was having another nightmare. Thankfully, her fears were laid to rest as Harry hugged her in his sleep, bringing a small smile to her face. Carol softly chuckled as she wiped away her tears. 'If this is the reason for becoming Painwheel... then I think it was worth it in the end.'

Her mind wandered for a moment, and a thought she hadn't considered for some time appeared... What happened now? What did the future hold for her? Admittedly, she was fine with staying at Lab Zero for the foreseeable future. She liked Robo-Fortune and Fukua, and Harry seemed comfortable here. But what was her future going to entail? She assumed she'd have these implants for years to come, and maybe someday they could be dealt with, but until then, that would probably make both school and work next to impossible. So... what was plan b? She didn't blame herself for not having one or even considering that outcome until now, (and until you find yourself re-built as a traumatized living weapon who kills without warning and are used to fight a demonic witch-stone thing leaving you mentally broken, scarred and unable to face your own family and having the general public run in fear of you, you don't really get to comment on that).

'Well, so long as I have my sweet little son with me, thing's will be okay.' Carol thought, smiling down at the sleeping boy. She noticed he didn't sleep in fear the way he had the past few days. It seemed like he actually was getting better. Good.

She tightened her hold on him as the love she felt overwhelmed her. She planted several kisses on his sleeping face and rested her chin atop his head as she cuddled her sleeping son close, just wanting the feeling of having him in her arms.

Carol let out a deep breath as she felt, while not quite at peace with herself, much more relaxed with her body as it had become than she was before. She would never let herself fully become the monster known as Painwheel again, but maybe she could learn to live with that part of herself. She began to softly hum a lullaby to Harry and gently rub the back of his head as she listened to his soft breathing as he slept.

She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position and cradled Harry against her chest as he sleepily rubbed at his eyes. With a soft chuckle, she carefully adjusted his glasses after his eye rubbing knocked them askew, "Well now, it seems that someone enjoyed their nap. How are you feeling Harry, still a little tired?"

Harry smiled up at her and snuggled in closer. "Um... No, but... Are we doing anything big today...?" He asked softly. Carol shook her head.

"Not that I know of." Harry buried his face in her chest.

"Then can we stay like this longer?"

Carol felt like her heart was going to explode as she wrapped her arms around Harry, "Of course we can sweetie. We'll stay right here for as long as you want to." She kissed the top of his head before resting her cheek against it. 'This much cuteness is dangerous, I'm pretty sure he could hear my heart skip a beat!'

Looking down at him, she saw him resting his tiny head against her chest and stroked his hair gently. "Heh... We need to get you a haircut... You could keep a family of birds in this hair of yours..." She teased lightly.

When Harry looked up at her, she used his long bangs to play a quick game of peekaboo. "You see, at the very least when need to get it cut from in front of your eyes. No matter how cute it makes you look you need to be able to see where you are going. Plus it covers up these pretty green eyes you have."

Harry just smiled, he felt the value of the words, and it meant the world to him. The pair remained in comfortable silence, occasionally giggling or laughing as Carol poked and tickled Harry lovingly. Neither noticed Valentine look in for the briefest of moments before heading into work. She smiled as she shut the door once more. That little boy was a true miracle, he had brought so much love and happiness to this place... and he was the bridge between parties who needed to reconcile. Some more-so than others, but that was besides the point.

Carol simply held him close for a few minutes before deciding to talk with him a bit more. "I'm gonna find a way to get you some toys." She said simply with a beaming smile.

Harry's smile turned sad as he mumbled "I miss my teddy..." Carol's ears perked up before an idea came to her.

"You know, we might be able to ask Ms. Valentine for some help with that. With any luck that man has forgotten about your teddy and we can get it back, do you remember where they lived?" She left that she wouldn't mind another opportunity to give that walrus another well deserved beating unsaid.

Harry flinched. "Um... Number Four Privet Drive..." He said softly. Carol grinned and rubbed his back.

"All right! We can go there and..." She then noticed him shivering in her embrace. "Huh? What's wrong?" He looked at her.

"I don't wanna go back there..."

'Wow. Okay.' Carol blinked, that thought stopping dead in her mind. 'He's not going there then.'

She mentally kicked herself, annoyed that she didn't put together the pain that would remain after all that he had been through, and his home was most definitely not a place he would want to return to. The confessions of how he was beat, forced to cook and clean... all that came rushing back to Carol's mind as she nodded with a determined look in her eyes.

"Alright hon. You're not going back there unless you're okay with it." She said calmly.

She curled herself around him, hugging him close. "I'll go get it myself, Harry... It'll be okay... Just leave everything to mommy..." She whispered.

Harry cuddled in closer to her, clutching at her rags as she held him close. He loved this feeling of safety...

His mommy was the best ever... She was always there for him... She took such good care of him...

She wanted to make them pay... so much more violently then the first time... Perhaps for the first time in years, she'd use her implants willingly... No. No... what was she thinking?! They deserved what was coming, but she couldn't just... kill them. While she hated to admit it, that wouldn't make her much better than them.

'If Valentine does it though...' She thought, then shook her head. She didn't need dark thoughts starting something inside her right now. Not when she was holding her son.

Yes, just focus on her son... That was what she needed to do... It waa what helped her so much these past few days...

Indeed, she rapidly calmed down as she gave Harry her undivided attention. Cuddling him close and stroking his back, she sighed in content.

"I love you, Harry..." She said softly. "I love you more than I could ever love anything in my whole life... Never forget that..."

Eventually their need for food outweighed heir want to remain in bed, so Carol sighed, cracking her back somewhat as she rose, and strode out of the room, her son still tucked in her arms.

The Lab was quiet, Carol wasn't sure if Fukua and Robo weren't up yet or if they were off doing something else. If she was honest... she was just fine with that. Not because she didn't enjoy their company, quite the contrary actually, but she enjoyed time alone with her son just as much, and was happy to have some.

Harry still seemed to be struggling to wake up fully, the stubborn grip of sleep refusing to let go, so Carol decided she'd make food alone this morning. The last thing she needed was him getting hurt.

She set him down in one of the chairs and gently draped a blanket over his tiny frail shoulders, stroking his back as he fell asleep.

Smiling softly, she turned to the stove and prepared to start cooking. She decided a simple breakfast of eggs on toast with a bit of bacon.

As she cooked, she periodically looked over at her sleeping son, cuddled up like a little coccoon in his little blanket.

She thought it was adorable how tiny he looked... but that was also a sad reminder about the fact that no matter what happened, he wouldn't grow properly. He'd always be shorter than he should be, and there was nothing she could do about that. She smiled sadly at him as she served up his food, setting the plate in front of him. She sat down next to him with her own plate, and set to feeding her son with a smile.

He sleepily ate up everything she fed him, and she would periodically stop to dab at the sleepy boy's face with a napkin. When he finished his breakfast, she picked him up carefully and cuddled him close against her smiled and nuzzled in closer, resting his head over her chest. His mama always held him in such a nice and strong way... It reminded him she was more than strong enough to protect him.

He smiled up at her, feeling safe and warm... things were great right now. Harry was so happy...

'...Carol.' A voice came in her mind. 'I know you don't like-'

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HEAD?!' Carol mentally screamed at Brian Drain, anger flying in her mind.

'I understand you are not comfortable with this, but there is something we need to talk about, sooner rather than later. I may have found a way to help with your implants... and I believe we've found one of the ones responsible for Harry's parents' deaths.'

That calmed her right down. In fact, it brought a downright wicked sense of glee to her heart that one of those monsters was here. "All right... Whoever they are, they're gonna pay. Let's make them beg for death to come take them away."

Brain Drain chuckled. "Well, you may like this idea... We plan to give you her magic. You yourself will be a witch."-

"What."

"It wouldn't be to the extent of Harry's abilities but it would mainly allow you to nullify your own pain without issue, so much so that you might not even know you are doing it."

"Should I bring Harry?"

"I'm unsure of that..." Brain Drain did sound hesitant, Carol was a bit surprised by that. "If need be, Robo or Fukua can watch him for the time being. This may either help him overcome his pain, or only serve to traumatize him more. I can't say which."

Carol frowned. "Is the bitch gonna be hurt?" She asked, silently hoping the answer was yes because god she deserved it.

Brain Drain chuckled. "It is a painful process, forcibly stripping one of their magic. She will be in quite a lot of agony."

"Good... When do you need me to come in?" Carol asked.

"Honestly, whenever you are ready." Brain Drain's voice conveyed a shrug.

Carol nodded, then looked to her son. She was going to rip this woman apart... remove her organs one after another and make her choke on- 'What is wrong with me!?' A brief icy prick seemed to stab at her brain, shattering her dark thoughts. Yes, this witch deserved everything that was coming. Yes, Carol was going to make her suffer and most likely kill her, but she wasn't doing this for twisted pleasure, she was doing this for her son. She couldn't let this become something she did frequently...

Shaking her head, she picked Harry up and hugged him close. "I got stuff to do for a bit, Harry... Let's see if auntie Fukua can watch you for a bit." Harry nodded his head and cuddled up closer to her as she carried him through the facility until they reached Fukua's room. Carol knocked on the door, and she heard a soft groan on the other side before an exhausted Fukua opened the door.

"Yeah?" She muttered, clearly still half asleep.

"Can you watch Harry fo a-" Carol began, but felt her arms get lighter all of a sudden. "-bit." Harry tensed up somewhat, surprised at the sudden hug he found himself in. But then he relaxed as Fukua held him close, nuzzling his cheek.

"Yes." She said, a wide grin on her face. "C'mon sweetie, you look tired still. Let's enjoy some rest and relaxation."

"Thanks Fukua." Carol sighed.

"Thank you Auntie Fukua..." Harry said timidly, snuggling closer to the clone who blinked in shock at the comment.

"EEEEE, AUNTIE FUKUA! I'M AN AUNTIE!" The clone squeed as she hugged the boy tightly and nuzzled his face. Chuckling, Carol decided to leave them to it for now and left the room to go and meet up with Brain Drain. It was time for the pain to come to a permanent end. No more having to rely on Harry's magic to make it cease.

She felt like what was about to happen was going to be painful. Painful for her, painful for her son, and painful for the monster who killed her son's parents. She froze for a moment as she saw the door in front of her. This was it... this was where Carol died and Painwheel was created. Well, today Painwheel would disappear and Carol would finally be free. She opened the doors and stepped through, back into the lab where her nightmares dragged her. Determined to cause nightmares this time, not to be affected by them.

She saw the unfamiliar woman, unconscious and restrained, and clenched her fists tightly as she approached. "This her?" She turned to Brain Drain, who was talking to a woman she didn't know, turning to acknowledge her question.

"It is." He said with a nod. Carol looked at Bellatrix. Then she formed a spike on het fist and plunged it into the woman's thigh.

That got the woman to react, and she woke up screaming. Even her scream sounded wrong, like a deformed and mutilated child's doll that had somehow been possessed by a serial killer. Carol didn't care though, she had questions that needed answered.

"I could've just shocked her awake." Brain Drain remarked. "But that was rather satisfying."

"You have no idea..." Carol muttered, looking down into the crazed woman's eyes. "This is going to hurt like hell. For you."

Bellatrix thrashed about in her restraints. "MUGGLES! FILTHY MUGGLES! I'LL KILL YOU ALL, YOU-" And then she screamed and screamed as Brain Drain casually pulled the switch to the machine she was strapped in. The pain was unbearable. It was entirely comparable to the agony of the cruciactus curse, as every drop of her magic was forcibly ripped out.

Carol felt something stab her arm, she yelped in pain, then saw a needle in her arm.

"Sorry..." Valentine muttered awkwardly. Carol just gave her a death glare. Then she felt it. Some sort of energy flowing throughout her, it wasn't just in her blood, but her whole body. She felt like some sort of fire was crawling up her internal organs, burning the rotting flesh and shattered dreams away, the fire cleansed her, and she felt... stronger. Not physically, not even in a mental sense, but more... She didn't know how to explain it actually. It felt like the strength someone gets when they're in a dream. A kind of power that you can't put into words what it is or what if feels like, but you know is there, and you appreciate every second of it.

She stared off into space, intoxicated by this feeling as her mouth formed into a wide, joyful smile. She felt better than ever before in her life, even before she became Painwheel. She felt healthy and strong. She held her hands up to inspect them and saw her palms were alight with a crackling red light. Was this...magic?

She began to wonder, had the parasitic implants mixed with her magic? Was that even possible!? How could she-

A calming wave washed over her, like finally getting into some cool water on an extremely hot day. Carol sighed, almost shivering euphorically as she felt her nerves calm, her body relaxed... for a few moments.

Admittedly, Carol was disappointed it didn't last longer, but if that's what she could learn to do, then it was worth every trial and error!

Bellatrix's screams died out, as did Brain Drain's observations and the unknown woman's gleeful cackling at Bellatrix's expense. Right now, all she could focus on was the wave of pleasant feelings washing over her. She closed her eyes and smiled. It was so nice to feel this relaxed again... To feel like she could just curl up right there and go to sleep... To feel like she was normal...

"What do I do now?" She finally asked. Feeling a sense of calm surround her as her new, well, powers settled down.

"Unfortunately, I cannot give you that answer." Brain Drain remarked. "While I understand certain properties of magic, I do not have a large volume of spells memorized. In fact, the only ones I know were learned accidentally after watching other magic users perform them."

Carol saw the witch glaring at her with hatred in her eyes, and was then kicked in the ribs by the other woman.

"Is... is she all right?" Carol asked. Not feeling sympathy for the dark witch, but also uncertain what to make of the newcomer.

"Don't mind her. Bellatrix Lestrange has... a long history of horrible deeds." Drain replied, choosing his words carefully. "I assume this is therapeutic or cathartic for her."

Carol nodded as she looked at the witch. Then she stabbed her other thigh for good measure, causing her to shriek. "DAMN YOU, WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, YOU BASTARDS ARE GONNA PAY!" She shrieked. Brain Drain chuckled.

"Oh? And just how do you intend to make us pay? Your precious magic is no longer yours." He said smugly. "In fact, if I had to take a guess, your life, is now, done. We aren't going to kill you, and if you happen to go to anyone about what has happened, not only will you expose yourself, and the magical world. So it would either be death, or life imprisonment with everyone believing you to be mentally insane. Which isn't much of a stretch."

Bellatrix went silent, her face draining of colour and horror fulling her eyes as she looked up at the cyborg who had effective just taken away her life.

"N..no... That's not true..." She finally whispered.

Brain Drain quirked a brow. "Oh isn't it? Well then, surely you're going to torture me with your incredible magical power?"

"Yes... I am! I am going to do that! You'll regret everything, muggle!" Snarling, Bellatrix grabbed her wand from a nearby table.

"CRUCIO!" She shrieked, pointing her wand at Brain Drain. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Ha." Someone said, looking at the horrified witch. Carol summoned some claws once again, feeling for the first time in forever okay with doing so, and slashed at the witch. She cut her face and sliced her wand in half, making her cry out in pain once again.

"You tried to kill my son." Was all Carol said, her tone one of icy fury.

"I TRIED TO KILL A LOT OF PEOPLE'S SONS, THAT DOESN'T NARROW IT DOWN!" Carol's eyes narrowed into slits.

"Wrong answer, bitch." And with that, she pounced, deciding to forsake the weapons in favoue of a full-on beatdown.

The sounds of Bellatrix screaming in agony, Carol screaming profanities and the thuds and cracks of the beating reverberated through the room.

In her room, Fukua froze slightly as she heard the screams and swears echoing throughout the lab. She blinked and looked down at Harry, who she was currently teaching to read, and thankfully he didn't seem to notice. Her parasite noticed as well, and wordlessly slunk over to a nearby clock radio and turned on some music, Fukua mouthing 'thanks' as the music drowned out the screams.

In another lab, Robo Fortune looked up as her servos picked up on the screaming.

"Huh. Friday already?" Ian remarked.

"Negative, it is thursday."

"Oh yeah, that's the day Brain Drain does project roundabout with Stevie! Pretty early today though..." Anthony remarked.

"Pfft! Stevie screams like a girl!" Ian snickered, Tom and Jerry silently laughing into their hands at his joke.

Robo just tilted her head. "Perhaps today will be the day her finally perishes-"

"HI GUYS!"

"...damn it."

Back in the lab, Carol stopped herself. This is what she DIDN'T want to become. But she understood the dangers of addiction. It felt good, having someone screaming under your mercy, someone you felt so much contempt for, someone it would be so easy to reach out and end their pathetic life... but she couldn't. That's what she was made to be, but that's not what she'd become.

Now, if this dark witch SURVIVED, that's meant she wasn't becoming a monster. And she had no issues with that.

'I mean... I guess.' She thought. 'I really need to stop trying to make moral decisions out of everything.'

She decided she had had enough and took a deep breath, stepping away from the severely injured woman.

She felt.., at peace now. Like she could finally truly relax. She smiled softly and turned to Brain Drain.

"Is that all you need me for?" She asked. Brain Drain shook his head and pulled out a sheet of paper labelled 'Magic Tests'.

"Huh. Okay." Carol nodded. She read over the page, some things made a lot of sense, and some of the things that she could supposedly do seemed really weird if she was honest. Moving things and healing herself she understood, but teleporting, mind reading and summoning some sort of ghost? That just seemed very unrealistic, even with magic.

"This will take time, but hopefully you should be able to control certain aspects of your, uh. Implants, better.

Carol nodded and looked at Brain Drain. "I'll test this stuff out whenever you need me to, just say the word." She said with a nod.

"Very good. For now, though, be on your way. I have a few experiments I would like to run, and miss Lestrange here is an ideal test subject."

Normally Carol would protest in disgust and anger. But this bitch, no matter how indirectly, hurt her son.

"What's first?"

For the next two hours, Carol ran through some practices with her magic. She wasn't good, not in the slightest, but she had to start somewhere. The major thing to take away was the ability to control her implants, and the ability to numb a good deal of the pain she felt from them. It was astonishing to her, she believed it wasn't possible until Harry had done it, and then she didn't believe it was possible for herself to do so, but now... now she was doing it ever so slightly. That gave her hope that in the future she'd be able to control this better.

She no longer had to depend on her son for pain relief... She could do it all by herself now. And that pleased her.

She was curious about some of these more destructive spells though. Fireballs, ice, levitation, and more...

She decided to give these powers of hers a shot outside. Walking out into the snowy air, she focused on the area around her, looking for something to use this magic on.

She created fire, and melted some of the snow on the ground. She created ice and froze the ground back to the way it was. She lifted herself up and floated across the ground, letting her new powers course through her body. It was a feeling that she didn't think possible. It felt... AMAZING! She felt alive! She felt-

Thump

Her magic suddenly shorted out and she fell face-first into a snowbank. She went silent of a moment, then screamed in annoyance.

Of course, the reverberations from her scream only served to make her situation worse as a mound of snow fell on top of her from a tree.

After a moment of silence, the top of the snow pile containing Carol began moving and shifting as she struggled.

Finally, her butt burst out of the top of the snowbank like a cherry atop a sundae. And no annoying guest reviewer could do anything about it.

She tried to summon fire, but it seemed like now her magic had been exhausted, and she'd need to rest before she could use it again, and leaving her now trapped under the snow. So, with nothing else to do, she began digging, trying to free herself form another snow prison.

"That's great sweetie!" Fukua smiled as Harry finished reading a sentence out of a book. The small boy wasn't illiterate, but he had a lot to learn, and was trying his best.

She wasn't exactly the best at reading herself, but she at least understood enough to teach him the very basics.

Honestly, he was best off learning this kind of stuff from his mother, Valentine, or heck, even Robo!

Still, she was glad to help him, even if just a little bit. It was so cute the way his face lit up when be was doing well!

"Auntie Fukua? Is mama okay?" Harry asked, looking up at her, who thought it over then nodded.

"Yeah, she's alright." The clone nodded. "She and Brain Drain just needed to talk about some personal stuff, she should be back soon."

Granted, when Brain Drain needed to talk about something personal, it could get pretty dire, and sometimes painful, but Harry didn't need to know that. Carol was going to be fine, Fukua had no doubts on that.

After all, there was no sign of Carol screaming profanities and destroying the entire facility they resided in, so that was good.

Still... What WAS her father doing with her new friend? Surely there weren't any experiments involved?

She received her answer when something smashed through her window. There was now a snowman in the center of the room. Only, said snowman consisted of two snowballs and Carol's butt sticking from the middle one to represent the small snowball, a top hat and coal eyes decorating her rear.

"...before you ask dear, I have no idea what's happening." Fukua stated matter-of-factly, looking down to the equally confused Harry. Her confusion didn't subside when the snow seemed to be incinerated by fire which appeared quite literally out of thin air. Carol dragged herself to her feet, breathing heavily and clearly annoyed.

"Okay... that... agh..." Carol groaned, not seeming to notice where she was. Finally, she looked around and smiled warmly when she saw her son. "Hi sweetie!"

Harry perked up, jumping out of the bed and rushing to greet his mother. "Mama, mama!" He ssid excitedly, hugging her leg.

Carol picked him up and cuddled him close to her breast, nuzzling him gently as he let out that sweet little coo sound that always melted her heart.

Fukua smiled at the scene before her. It was so cute the way they interacted with one another... Carol looked so... vicious, yet with Harry, she was a teddy bear through and through.

"Hi honey. I'm glad to see you're doing okay." She cooed, nuzzling the top of his head. "So... there's something I need to tell you."

"Is everything okay?!" Harry asked, clearly concerned.

"Yeah, everything is great hon." Carol smiled, bouncing her son in her arms. "So, you know how you used your magic to help calm me down at times?"

"Mmhmm?"

"Well, I can do that too now."

Harry blinked at her revelation. "You... You know how to ro magic like me, mama?" He asked innocently. Carol nodded.

"That's right." She sat down on the bed and sat him on her knee. "I have my own powers now, just like you..."

"Wow! So you can stop yourself from hurting?" Harry asked with a bright smile. Carol nodded her head.

"Yeah, and I wanna thank you though. You showed me this was possible, and you helped me when I needed it... you have no idea how thankful I am for that."

"But you helped me mama." Harry persisted. "You saved me! You took care of me!"

"Aww..." Both women said at once. There was something about Harry's innocence and insistence of Carol's love that was so pure, and neither one of them wanted to try and argue that fact.

"And I wouldn't change that for the world..." Carol whispered softly. "But you helped me too, Harry... More than you realize..."

"I did?" Harry asked, tilting his head. Carol nodded and hugged him close, running her fingers through his hair.

"Yeah... I was just an angry monster that beat up everyone that came near me... You taught me how to love again."

Harry didn't really understand what his mama was saying, but tit was clear she was happy and he loved her, so he simply settled for snuggling closer and trying his best to hug her. "Thank you mama." He said in a tiny voice. Carol smiled and kissed his head again.

"No, thank YOU, Harry. You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

"And you're the best thing that happened to me." Harry replied.

The two of them held each other close, smiling softly. Carol didn't know what the future held for her and her son... But whatever it was... She would be ready for it, and she would always be there to keep her son safe and happy.

Harry smiled up at his mama. And that's who Carol was, his mama. He knew with his whole heart she'd always take care of him, she'd always love him. That was something he hadn't believed anyone would ever feel concerning him, and his heart was filled to overflowing with the love and joy he felt when he was around his mama.

In another lab, Valentine looked to the broken and bleeding witch, not feeling the slightest amount of sympathy.

"So... what do we do with her?" She finally asked when she realized she was alive.

Brain Drain shrugged. "I have no idea, just send her back I suppose. We have no more use for this dead weight."

"Eh. All right." Valentine shrugged before dragging the unconscious witch out to a large dumpster and tossing her in. When she woke up, Bellatrix Lestrange was dead. Effectively. No magic, no way home, and no one who would help her. It's not known what happened to her after all that went down in Lab Zero, but frankly, no one in their right mind would give a crap.

Carol seated herself on her bed, using some magic to make herself float in the air, much to Harry's amazement.

He giggled softly and spread his little arms out, pretending that he was flying. His mother chuckled softly at his enthusiasm. "Yeah, this magic business is pretty great. I can do all kinds of cool tricks now." She said with a nod. "Like this one..." She snapped her fingers and her bedding changed colour, from white to a much cooler turqoise colour that was more her preference.

"Wow..." Harry breathed. Looking on in amazement, it was adorable, and kinda funny that he seemed to forget he could do these things himself.

"Hey, you have this gift too." Carol smiled. "You're the one who introduced me to it, and now you're not the only one who has it, so I don't think you need to feel alone."

Harry blinked at those words and realized she was right. His mother now shared the very thing that led to his abuse with him. He wasn't alone anymore... Rising to his feet, he toddled over to his mothet and hugged her as tightly as his little body would allow Carol smiled softly and embraced her child tightly, closing her eyes in contentment, just enjoying the moment.

There was a warmth between the two Carol had long since given up on feeling. But now, with her son snuggled in her arms, she felt a new feeling. A warm feeling of completion. She was a mother, she was a survivor, she was Painwheel, she was Carol. And above all...

She was happy.