Summary:Following an eventful skirmish, Hank, Thea and Neena have a talk while Gwen gets some rest. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It has been a fairly long night, Hank working on both Domino and Gwen, though he's very careful not to unmask Spider-Woman, that would be utterly not cool! Still, the girl is a mess, he'd end up doing some minor surgery to remove shrapnel, it is enough that Thea would probably be the primary caregiver for the Murder Cookie. Nice to have TWO people capable of such care considering there's two people in NEED of it.
Once he's done, the girl is carefully covered, an IV with saline, antibiotics and a purgative for the combat meds setup.
He looks to Thea. "How is she?" He ask as he moves to the sink in the bathroom and washes up.
*
Thea could have removed the shrapnel, but it would have taken a /lot/ of effort and been painful. She just sits back in the chair, occasionally nibbling at the pizzas she'd bought so they could have food to refuel. She should be eating more, and she knows it, but this whole thing with Domino has her stomach not wanting a lot of food.
She would have boosted Hank's healing a bit, but nothing too much - she has two other to keep an eye on, so to speak. "Hmm?" She says to Hank, sounding distracted. "Who, Domino? She's all right. Physically, at least." She can't speak as to whatever else is rattling around inside her hell bonded friend.
*
There aren't many people who can get immediate medical treatment from the people they had just shot. Whether it came down to luck or that Hank is that upstanding of a Doctor is left for debate!
Whether the nearby talking or the scent of food finally reaching through to her, Neena gradually slips back into consciousness. Thea's seen her get banged up plenty of times but this is the first time where she's been so weak as to have difficulty moving. When a hand slowly comes up to her forehead the entire limb is twitching from having been over-worked. Going toe to toe with the super-strength that is Gwen had taken almost everything out of the merc.
"Everyone alive..?"
*
It is actually fairly surprising how deft the guy's touch is, his fingers are as thick as kielbasa and he performed the surgeries with consummate skill and precision. One does not often get super agility paired with both super strength and super dexterity in one package, that's just…odd. Nice, definitely, but still rather on the odd side of things.
Poor Gwen is essentially mummified with gauze when she's finally covered.
When Domino makes that weak query, he pokes his head around the corner of the restroom area, drying his hands on a towel. "Nobody died." He confirms, and then finishes the clean up to let Thea deal with her friend. Hell, it is plain she's friends with both girls!
*
There's a sharp look at Domino, as she rises from her chair. She'll work with what she can to help Dom's over-taxed body. The sodas she ordered will help with glucose at least, and then the carbs of the pizza can be slower building blocks.
She'll sit on the edge of Dom's bed, looking down at the woman. "Everyone's alive, including you. You can thank me for /that/ later." Thea will sass her.
*
Domino grunts faintly in what might have been an attempt at saying 'good' to Hanks response.
As Thea approaches with a justified amount of sarcasm her eyes slit open to peer at the biokinetic. It's been a rare sight for the last few years but there's more of the usual Arctic blue rather than a chrome-like lens covering her blurry gaze. "I'll get you a -really- nice cookie. With frosting and sprinkles and shit."
Turning her head a little further shows Gwen's heavily bandaged form, prompting a weak and quiet swear from the albino before she makes a snap decision. "Appreciate the help" she says to them both while turning to roll herself out of bed…
…And go straight to the floor.
The next curse has a little more energy. "Yeah, I'm..I'm good. Just… I'll see myself out." Like she's in any shape to try!
*
Hank watches the roll, a brow quirking at the inevitable fall, sadly he's just not fast enough to prevent the *thud*. "No, Miss Neena, you will not." He moves over, edging past Thea if she permits, and simply picks Dom up like she's weightless, and then gently puts her back into the bed. He'll move then get some of the pizza for the woman and himself, hell, he just brings the whole box, settles into his seat and will share as needed. The dude can EAT, but considering his bulk? Probably not a surprise.
Bright blue eyes are kind, he even slouches a bit in the chair, apparently even he gets a little tired after a while. Pause to unwrap his arm, and he looks thoughtful. "Curious. This should be a bit less healed than it is…" After all, he doesn't know that Thea is a healer (among other things). Of course the way Domino got paralyzed? Sure suggests that Thea can do something besides snark and look good!
*
There is a barely perceptible sigh of relief at the color of Neena's eyes as the albino looks at Thea. "Fuck cookies. I want a cupcake, at least. Dumbass."
Then Thea is on her feet, but Hank was quicker than she to get to her to help her up. She will arch an eyebrow at Dom, a finger pointing. "Don't be dumb. Stay put. You know I won't let anything happen." To her or anyone else. "Eat. We need to have a chat, you and I."
There's a glance over at Hank, and there's a moment of surprised. "I.. sorry, I thought you knew. Biokinetic. I just boosted your natural healing. Seemed like a good idea, so there's at least two of us up and running with these two down."
*
The most energetic Domino gets is when she's protesting against Hank, not really able to speak her mind but making a pretty ornery sound when he denies her freedom and picks her up like she's nothing more than a feather to him. Being set back into place on the bed doesn't help her pride any, either.
She stares back at Hank and sighs once, sounding about as weary as she looks. "Just..keep me away from -that-" she demands while blindly motioning toward where Spider-Woman sleeps.
The finger which Thea levels her way draws another shift of Whitey's attention, smirking lightly in a way that, for anyone else, would come across as 'go eff yourself.' "I still don't know whether to love you or hate you, you bitch."
Welp. Since Hank went and brought the food closer Neena reaches for a piece. And misses. Her hand flounders about until it's able to catch hold of one but pulling the slice away from the others shows how out of it she is even with Thea's help.
*
Hank picks up the faint signs of relief in Thea, and can't help but laugh softly. "I'll bake you some cinnamon rolls sometime, how's that?" He offers congenially. And yes, he cooks too.
He doesn't even dignify the protestations and 'struggle' when Hank puts Dom back into bed, he even tucks her in like the child she's behaving like!
Once seated however, he surreptitiously moves the box closer into reach to help Neena without seeming to. Thea probably won't be fooled, but Neena? She's pretty out of it, she might just.
A smile then to Thea as she aplogizes. "No, I was not aware, but that's fascinating. So you can manipulate and movie the body with your mind, if I'm interpreting what you mean correctly. So…you could have healed both women? AND you boosted my healing, /and/ you paralyzed Neena when she was berserk…you've an impressive array of talents."
*
There's a look from Neena to Gwen. "You just watch it, paleface. She's my friend, too." Thea is just full of surprises! There's a sigh, watching the albino try for the pizza. "You love me and hate me both. It's part of the fun of our relationship." She will state dryly, even as she's opening a soda, and pouring a half a glass. "Drink this first. Your muscles need glucose. Trust me on this." Because of course, Thea would know.
Her eyes shift to Hank, and her expression is fairly blank. "I can, as our little friend here can tell you. She loves it /so/ much when I do it to her. I did do some healing on …our other friend, but to force the shrapnel out would have been much more painful then letting you take it out surgically. But she can tell you that I was healing her, where practical." She shrugs at the mention of array of talents. "It's just my power." Now speaking several languages and being a top notch assassin, that's more impressive. She earned those.
*
Hank's going to be on the receiving end of a middle finger for treating Neena like a child. Not cool, Doc… Not cool.
Having it said out loud that Thea paralyzed Dom results in another long release of breath. Yes..she did that..AGAIN..and yes..she is capable of that level of control and YES..she's saved Neena's life -many times over- but she still isn't fond of anyone having a remote 'off' switch to her entire body.
At least she listens to Thea's instructions without balking. Both hands are needed to take the glass and not dump it everywhere. "Whether she's your friend or not -keep me away from her.- I mean it." Not that she's elaborating as to why that might be.
*
Hank is gratified to have his suspicions confirmed about Thea's relationship with both patients. He is intrigued by the explanation of whys and what was done at which points. "Remarkable. But you act as if having and using a power doesn't take skill, it does, and a lot of practice. To do what you do would also take a great deal of education on biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, probably some considerable first aid, and possibly pathology and toxicology. The body is an incredibly complex machine, the degree of control you exhibit requiring /great/ acumen." A thoughtful nod. "I'd posit that first and foremost you'd have to learn to /sense/ such things, which implies you'd have a keen sense for who's about you, and what they're up to."
Dang, there he goes again with that big brain of his.
Neena's bird draws a smile from the man, clearly a 'That's the spirit!' sort of expression, so there's that. He'll even help with the pizza, separating a few slices on the side nearest to the patient and letting her do her own thing. See? Not a total jerk!
*
Hank will get a dull stare. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Doc. I've got a GED, not even a real high school diploma, let along education or degrees in biochem and the like. I just.. know what to do. I've had first aid lessons, of course, and some anatomy education, but the rest of it just slowly came to me." She's never been any good at explaining what she sees, what exactly she does, or how. "It's just what I do, since I was fifteen."
Neena will get a more scrutinizing look. "Why are you so insistent on being kept away from Spider Woman?" It's not accusatory, Neena will know she's asking because she should know.
*
"Yeah, Hank. She can do all of that" Neena confirms as though him going on about it is particularly draining. Although hearing that she -doesn't- have any such formal training is something of a surprise, Dom had always assumed she was more skilled in those fields!
"She's a woman of many talents, the greatest of which is managing to keep me from strangling her."
Some careful drinking of soda follows, the cup never leaving both of her hands. She's not about to reach any distance to set it down. Tired eyes drift back to Thea with the question, Dom's head gently thunking back against the headboard. "Because my pal has a taste for arachnids." She's not sure how else to say it but it seems simple enough.
*
"Really? That's both impressive and disappointing on some levels." Hank smiles to take any sting from what he just said. "I'm disappointed I was wrong on so many points, but impressed even more by your power. Are you a mutate, or a mutant? Do you know?" A nod. "Or something else…perhaps alien or psionic?" Curious Hank is curious!
A pause. "If you'd like to learn more I can offer you some reading materials and the like."
And then he follows her gaze to Neena as the luckstress offers her own commentary.
"I do know someone who's an expert on such things." A pause. "I don't know if I can reach her easily, but I will reach out and see what can be done to help." After all, he's friends with the Queen of Limbo, if /anyone/ knows demonic possession…
*
Thea will take the cup from Domino, pouring more soda into it. "And here I thought my true talent was putting up with you." She'll say mildly to Neena, offering the cup back. Her eyes narrow. "That thing is not your pal. It's a parasite. You do know I'm not going to let it keep getting a free ride, right? I thought you were free of it."
Thea's chin comes up, and her expression is proud, verging on haughty. "The only thing disappointing is that people think I need degrees to be as good as I am." The heat is stealthy, her tone is mild, but the words are hot enough to scorch.
*
"And now you know why we've been avoiding you," Dom says all matter-of-factly to Thea before holding up an empty hand to preemptively hold back any response. "Wasn't my decision. Haven't exactly been myself lately. I don't know what else to call it but it knows you. Seems to have a good feel for everything it encounters. It knew enough that it didn't want to pick a fight with Hank."
Little by little the food, drink, and biokinetic voodoo helps to bring the albino back around. She won't be up to fighting form for a while but she might be able to get up and walk around before the day is through.
Hank's mere consideration that Thea might be -alien- has Dom barking out a laugh! "You really do have to wonder sometimes" she suggests at Thea's expense.
It's still not as 'out there' as Hank saying that he knows someone who's an expert on ..whatever it is she's having to deal with. "Of course you do," she sighs in a tone which has returned to flatline. "Color me surprised."
At least she'd finally have -some- color…
"They're just jealous that you can beat them at their own game without dumping twelve years of your life or being thousands of dollars in debt, Thea." Down, girl!
*
"You misunderstand." Hank says gently. "I was not implying your lack of education in /my/ fields of study is a bad thing in any way, my disappointment had nothing to do with you, but with ME and my having made erroneous assumptions. I did not and do not mean any insult, Thea." He smiles then. "You're CLEARLY capable, and as per what Neena said 'a woman of many talents', so, are we cool?"
The fact that the parasite didn't want to pick a fight with him draws a curious look from Hank. "Why not?" He asks, rather directly. "I've no particular defenses against magic or demons." A nod. "One of my best friends is a demon sorceress." Teleporter. Mutant. Ruler of a dimension…and people think /Hank/ is over the top!
*
"IT knows me because I tried to kick it out back in hell. You should have told me, somehow." A letter, morse code, something. "I thought we left it behind." Then there's a blistering look at Neena as she's laughing about Thea being an alien.
She just shrugs at Hank, getting up from the side of the bed to get herself a soda. "Lots of people assume about me. Don't sweat it." It is not her most graceful of acceptances.
*
"You talk too damn much, Doc," Neena groans while giving in to another moment of exhaustion. Compared to the room's pair of assassins the guy's a freaking chatterbox!
Although… Isn't it for the better? Wouldn't she rather have one who is so comfortable in casual conversation rather than people who are as stoic as statues, poking and prodding and testing as if she isn't even there, being—
Dom pulls herself back to reality with a twitch and a faint grimace. It's still just a hotel room. Nothing much sinister about this place.
"Oh come on, Thea. That shit's funny! An -alien,- seriously. Yeah—okay, maybe that would have been the right thing to do."
Except that she had to have -wanted- to be free of it enough to say something about it…
Hank's next question has the pale lady rolling her head around to face him again. Her response is once again flat, direct, and pointed enough to pierce steel. "Because you're the most feral creature in this room, Hank. You just don't know it yet."
*
A faint sigh, he really didn't mean anything by what he said, Hank's just chatty as hell. Hopefully Thea won't hold it against him. For long. Well, bother. He does help Domino to sit up, easier to eat and drink, he'll even prop her up with some pillows.
"I am rather…verbose, I suppose." A half smile is quirky and pretty endearing really. "I also outthink myself sometimes." And then he goes very still at the last bit. "I am not feral, I'm a gentleman-scholar." He declares with a bit of a huff to his tone. Hank DOES rather pride himself on being urbane, and yes, he's in denial about his bestial self and nature too.
He even knows it on some level. He just doesn't /like/ being feral!
*
"If your parasite is afraid of Hank for being feral, I must downright terrify it." No, Thea isn't kidding. She's not feral in the standard sense, but that doesn't matter. "I'm a lot more likely to be deadly than the Doctor." She sips soda from a cup like it's Champagne.
*
"Like I said" Domino concludes while the 'feralest of them all' helps to prop her up with a pillow. The way he is now how could -anyone- accuse him of being an animal? It'd seem like quite the callous remark. It isn't intended to be an insult, however. Dom seems completely serious about the subject.
He just doesn't know it yet.
Back to Thea, "I don't think it knows what the hell to make of you beyond being a threat. Face it, girl. You're way too clinical to be on the 'beast spectrum.' This thing in me can only read so much. You're outside of its understanding. But don't worry, it still hates you plenty," she says with a thin smirk.
*
Now it is Hank's turn to frown, he is NOT Feral. "I am /not/ feral." He growls, and then grimaces as he snaps at the Murder Cookie. A moment to restore his aplomb, and then he sighs. "I should check on Spider-Woman, excuse me a moment, ladies." He does indeed move over to the other bed, distancing himself from the duo, and he actually does check Gwen's supine form out - taking her vitals, checking the bandages, making sure her IVs are working and the dosages correct. He's definitely skilled at this whole 'medicine' thing.
You know, for a feral Beast.
*
There's a laugh, but there is zero mirth in it as Thea turns her head to look at Domino. "Then it really doesn't know me very well." The smile that follows briefly is nearly frightening, even for someone who knows the biokinetic.
She will glance over at Hank. "You do know I would know if something wasn't progressing the way it should for her, right? I've eased some of the crash from those party pills she took."
*
Know when to fold. Not that Dom has anything riding on the subject of Hank's true self but she's said all that she felt the need to and perhaps a little more. If the Doc is happier getting by without thinking about it then more power to him, she's not going to rock that boat.
How does one describe the feeling she has, anyway? 'Don't ask me how but there's a monster inside of you?' For as kind and intelligent as McCoy is the infernal side can sense something more to him. Something buried quite deep.
The look which Thea gives Neena here is met with one which is entirely level. "I'd rather not be shown that the lady I had trusted my life to is an absolute monster. One demon between us is plenty."
*
Hank is very good at suppressing his bestial side, frankly - his capacity for rage terrifies the man. Thea would probably twig to his emotional state based on the man's adrenals and stress hormones at the moment. Yeah, he is taking refuge in the medical stuff, -that- he can do and without causing harm.
"Dangerous does not equate to feral. I would argue that rational actions are far more concerning." SO it really puzzles Hank why the parasite is more wary of him, than Thea.
A sigh, and he looks over at the biokinetic. "Yes, but you're dealing with Neena right now, so I might as well do what I may for Spider-Woman."
Deeply buried, but always lurking, that's Hank's Beast. That's to him, his burden.
*
"Now now, Dom, you know for all good, there must be ungood. Evil, even. Do I really seem so unbalanced and saintly to you?" Thea asks. The albino knows better -at least she damn well should.
"I am more than capable of monitoring them both, Doc, if you're feeling restless and need some air, or something." Thea offers gently. She really is a double edged blade.
*
Hank is on point. Dangerous and feral -are- quite different. A rampaging tiger isn't as good of an assassin as ..well..Thea. In every moment the two had been together, even when Thea had really stretched out with her powers and laid waste to dozens of creatures in the beat of a heart, she had never once seemed anything but perfectly in control.
She alone had provided the psychological stability which Dom relied on to keep her own sanity during their other-dimensional experience. It's a whole different level of scary, and one which more animalistic-minded creatures like her 'parasite' can't properly comprehend.
Dom still has to roll her eyes at the biokinetic, the tone of her voice when she says "Oh shut up" completely failing to convey that she's joking around with the other mutant.
Here she passes another wary look to the sleeping Spider Woman. With these two on patrol the girl will be safe from the hellcat but it still leaves Neena feeling wary. She'd rather avoid anything which might encourage it to come back out to play. Since it seems like she's not getting to leave anytime soon then another approach may be necessary.
"Can one of you knock my ass out? I feel like hell."
*
Hank actually flat looks Thea, it is rare, the man has a truly impressive willpower and is generally the king of affable, but the digs and the stress have him a bit shorter tempered than his usual. "I will be fine." Curtly. Once he's finished making notes on Spider-Woman's chart, he mmphs, and moves back to sit down with the pizza, because…food.
He looks to Thea at Neena's request. If she does it, great, but if not, he'll take out a needle and inject Domino with sufficient demerol to knock her the hell out. Sadly, there's nothing in that pick line injection to knock the Hell out of her at the same time. Pity that.
*
She was looking at Hank with a kindness. She knows how it is to have something you work hard on thrown in your face, in a way. "I wasn't suggesting you weren't fine. But a stretch and a walk never hurts." She shrugs.
She sighs at Dom, a tip of her head. "I'll do it, but we're still having a serious talk later." She will come sit on the edge of the bed, but she won't touch the albino. She will just put her into a deep sleep, by manipulating her own brain chemicals.
*