Summary:After their run-in in the Disaster Zone, Nick talks with Isis Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Nick is back at Paragon Investigations nursing a bruised shoulder. He's got ice on it and he's laying back on the couch. This is not entirely unusual for him. He's often some level of hurt or banged up. It comes with the work and with being a big wolfman. But hell it hurts sometimes.
It's mid afternoon and the sun is just peeking in the windows. The workload has been steady but they've resolved a few ordinary cases. Missing husbands. Will investigations. That kind of thing. So he's got a little time to relax before picking the Reverbium case back up.
"Nick?" Who knows where Isis has been for the last few hours. Whereever that was, she's here now. "What happened?" When she comes in, she's wearing one of his T-Shirts - it swims on her of course. The filing is all done though and phone calls made.
The feline-like mutant comes over and sits on the floor beside the couch and puts her head on him. "Were you fighting again?"
Again. Cause Nick does that all the time, doesn't he?
"No, not again. This is from getting whuffed down in the Disaster Zone." Nick says, groaning slightly. When she puts his head on him he reaches down to stroke her ears. At least she switched Tee Shirts. The one she had was getting smelly.
"How are you doing Isis? That was a brave thing you did. And how is our guest?" Felicia. A name that is suited to a cat mutant if ever he heard one. Why are these things always so on the nose?
"Oh …" Nick really did take a beating and his ears had hurt really badly, as well. "… sorry." She's quiet as he strokes her ears, she really does like that. At least for the moment.
"Brave? Fighting the werewolfs or searching for Felicia? That had to be done. They were going to hurt you and that's not allowed." It's that simple. Today, her feral nature is under control. Mostly.
"She's ok. She's scared and worried about the others. We're going back in to get them, aren't we Nick? We can't leave them there…"
"Both. But I meant fighting two werewolves at once while I was down. If you had run I wouldn't have blamed you. I would have run too if you hadn't been fighting when I got up." Nick says, still ear scritching. He knows that turns her into a puddle and he kind of wants her to hold still right now so he doesn't have to move.
"We are but I need a place to keep them. We only have so much space here Isis and I can't FEED all of those people. Might need help from the school or a charity foundation. There's a few. I put some calls out before I came here to lay down."
He smirks. "Hurting me is not allowed, mmm?"
Isis starts purring softly as Nick keeps stroking her ears. A puddle seems to be in order about now and at least she's not crawling over him.
"They were going to hurt you, why would I run?" The feline-like mutant murmurs. He knows, cause he sensed it, that she was driven to respond that way. It's in her programming, how she was trained and raised. It's possible she doesn't really remember much of it too, her conscious thoughts being pushed down by her feral mind.
"I wasn't asking you to do all that Nick…" Isis sighs. She hasn't thought that far ahead. "We can't leave them there though. The school… they might help. They'll want to use safe houses, like they did with me."
It's an unfortunate fact that Isis's first experiences with the 'real' world hadn't been exactly pleasant for the woman.
"Who else did you call?" beat "And no. Who'd buy me ice cream if you got hurt bad?" She is aggressively protective of Nick, and Piotr, though.
"A few of the larger charities who help house those in need of homes. And a few places that deal with families in need." Nick had been getting creative. There isn't yet a real focused effort to help the zonies. He hopes that changes.
As to why she'd run? Nick doesn't say. He just scratches her a bit more. "We need to take you in to see Hank soon." He says instead. Quietly. Soothingly.
"Are you going to be okay? Or do you need me to stay there with you? I remember how difficult it was for you to see the doctors after you got rescued."
"I saw something in Miss Potts office that day we were there, Nick. About a charity…" She can read, just. There might have been something about the colours of a poster or flyer. That's the sort of thing that would get her attention. "Have you spoken to her?"
"I was going to try and go tomorrow…" to see Hank. She knows it's important but it doesn't fill her with joy. That unease rolls out from her. "I don't like surgeries or labs or anything like it, Nick. Reminds too much of …. " What was done to her when she grew up.
"If you can come, that would be good. I feel safe … safer … when you're with me, but you're busy and I can go on my own." She thinks. Hank might get a few scratches but he'll live, won't he?
Hank will live. The two might even become good friends. Hank is good people so far as Nick is concerned and Isis will no doubt pick that up.
"I will try to come." And he will. Hopefully things don't get worse before then, though they might. "And no I have not spoken to Pepper. You seem to have a rather high opinion of her. Feline intuition?"
When she says she feels safer with him he scretches her a bit more firmly. He knows she does. He tries to make sure she generally feels safe but that's tough in this line of work.
It's certain things that make Isis feel unsafe and Nick has been there to save her from most of them. She purrs more and rubs her ears against his fingers. "I don't know. She seems to get me…" There was the cat toy the last time.
"She didn't yell much when I knocked the glass off the table." That's a high estimation in her opinion, clearly. "She's nice, Nick. I don't know …"
It's often like that for Isis. She'll take a shine to someone and that's it. "Like Jimmy. He just talked to me. Didn't lecture…"
"She is nice. And she does well understanding people. You know she's got a very difficult job with what I bet is a very difficult person, right?" People at the tops of companies tend to be brilliant, driven and impossible. And anyone who professionally wrangles them is both a saint and a miracle worker.
"Do you want to talk to her instead? Do you think you can? Talk to her and see if she'll help those people who need it? There's probably… what? A dozen of them? They just need some place safe…"
"She seems … busy … in her mind a lot. Lots of different emotions going on. I've seen stuff about Mister Stark, on the TV and things. He always seem to be … busy." And that probably keeps Pepper busy as well. "But yeah, I think you're right. That's nice. Don't stop."
"Um. I … would like to talk to her. Do you think I could?" What she's asking is does he trust her. It's pretty serious and Stark is really high end. Isis isn't. "I could call her later … maybe she'd like to meet Felicia."
"I won't." Nick chuckles. He scritches a bit harder and runs his hand down the back of her neck. "I think you could. And I think it would be good for you."
She'll feel his own conflicting emotions. "It's hard for you, isn't it? Pulling your mind back from the cat and into the space of a person." She's a person all the time of course but much like Nick she's caught between animal and man. Or woman in her case. Only she's much further toward animal than he.
The conflicting emotion have her blue/gray eyes look up in question. "That worries you, doesn't it? That I'm more cat than woman." She sighs as she thinks on the answer "I have to work at it, yes and when things happen I go there very easily. They …"
Isis rests her cheek against Nicks side "… kept me like that, Nick. It was normal for me. But yes, it's hard."
She tries though, she really does. When she remember.
Nick lets out a soft growl. "I hate that they did. And I am sorry that they did. And I am sorry that we could not undo what they'd done to you." But in some ways it is Isis. She takes things at her own pace. Hurrying her rarely gets anything but scratches.
Still, in this, Nick regrets that they didn't find her sooner. If they had maybe, just maybe, she might be less a beast.
Though is it really so bad a thing that she is?
"It means you found me though." There's a simplicity to her thoughts sometime. "You had nothing to do with it, Nick. When you knew, the X-Men knew, you came. And you didn't leave me there, even when I fought so very hard."
She does shift now, closer to him. Hopefully it doesn't upset his arm too much.
"And you've given me a job, a purpose and somewhere to stay." She's a lot luckier than some, right?
Is is so bad she's more beast than woman? It's something they use, isn't it? And she seem happy.