Summary:Hank oversees the recovery and accompanying heart to heart of Gwen and Domino. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Type "+thelp" for help.
After the Hellbino's wakeup and Thea's and Hank's bits of miscommunication and back and forth, Thea ended up taking a bit of a nap, she'd burnt a LOT of calories in her healing efforts and needed to rest a bit. Hank, well, he simply parked himself between Domino and Gwen, mindful of the Murder Cookie's insistence she be kept away from Spider-Woman…for HER safety and everyone else's peace of mind.
As for Gwen, when she wakes up she'd pretty well feel — less craptacular than she'd probably been expecting. First thing she'd notice is that she's still masked. Second thing is that she's got an IV hooked to her arm, and finally that she's in a strange bed and her clothing has been either partially shredded, or she's swathed in bandages and a lot stiff.
There's the smell of pizza.
Somehow, there's a small teddy bear in the crook of her arm, under the covers.
Since Thea had helped put Neena back to rest she's been down and out for the count, helping to make Hank's job both that much easier and that much boring to sit through. Two sleeping patients and a sleeping medical assistant makes for pretty dull conversation.
This all changes in an instant.
The albino's eyes snap open, wide and wild. Muscles ache and scream as she moves but the discomfort is ignored as she leapsstumblesoff of the bed so quickly that she has to use the wall to catch herself. The hep-lock still taped to her one arm disappears in a flash, ripped away then thrown to the ground before she grabs the first thing she can reacha lamp shaped like a hula dancer?!and holds it ready like she's about to knock someone the HELL out…
…Right until her eyes flicker and she slumps to the floor.
It's something different from before. There's no sign of the feral which had taken Domino over before. This one is more like someone waking up from a terrible nightmare.
Gwen can probably be thankful for the fact that her mask (in the horrible condition it's in but who's counting) is still in place. That's probably about all she's going to be thankful for, when she wakes up; well, that and the fact that she's still alive.
It turns out that waking up is happening right now. She was in the process of shifting from zonked right out to groggy sort-of wakefulness, but thanks to Domino's thrashing panic, the spider snaps to full on fight-mode and snaps bolt up-right. Instinctively, she fires a glob of webbing at Domino — or would, if someone hadn't taken her webshooters off her wrists and left them on one of the bedside tables, so she just sticks her arm out and jostles the IV in the process instead.
"…Ow," she complains, rubbing the spot on her arm where the IV is stuck in, but not yanking it out just yet. Hey, it hasn't killed her yet, so it can't be that bad, right?
As her eyes flicker back and forth between those present, she pieces together the events of the previous night; gunfire, combat, cold water (so much cold water, so cold), grenades, combat drugs… well, technically just one grenade, but it felt like two.
The Spider pats her chest abruptly, as if checking to make sure all parts of it are still there, followed by her belly and sides. "Angel, you're amazing," she murmurs, as she looks up again and keeps a stern eye on Domino.
"So uhh… questions, then; where are we, how'd we get here, is the Murder Cookie safe, and who are all of you?"
Truth be told, Hank needed the damn quiet! He was happy to let sleeping girls lay, he smiled faintly when the mild snoring began (You know who you are, snore monster! But names shall be unmentioned to protect the SINnocent), and then took out his phone to read. The book? Probably the driest Tolkien piece ever (and that's saying a lot!) — The Silmarillion.
And then Dommie has to go and freak the hell out, jumping about in her skivvies and bandages, and brandishing a hula lamp before she falls.
Once again Hank proves that nearly 28 stone of muscle /can/ move at astonishing speed, his phone is dropped, and he is vaulting over the Hellbino's vacated bed and is there in time, barely, to catch Neena before she quite hits the ground. "Well, that did not look like fun for her." Hefting her very carefully in his arms, he sets the woman down in her bed again, and leaves the hep-lock out for now, though he does wipe the puncture site down with a betadine wipe, and then covers it with a bandage and some folded over gauze.
At which point he sees that Gwennie is /also/ awake. "Hello, miss…I'm Hank McCoy, we're in the Tahiti Inn, we drove in Bessy — my car, the…Murder Cookie?" That one stumps him, and then he nods. "Yes, we're safe."
It's a strange thing being picked up and moved around when you barely realize that it's happening. It isn't until Hank starts to tend to the pale arm spotted with bright red that Neena suddenly goes to yank her arm away from him. She's all gearing up to yell "Kill you all!" when the pull away from Hank is suddenly stopped -way- short as that broad hand of his allows for no further retreat.
It took her a while but she finally seems to SEE Hank and recognize the big gentle 'feral.' With a wide stare and a mouth which tries to figure out what it wants to say in a moment of silence her mind does a soft reboot before she legitimately stammers a "S-sorry. You weren't..supposed to…"
Her other hand comes up and attempts to bury her -entire- face as if she's trying instead to disappear without another sound. This also doesn't work so well.
With head tilted forward and that hand coming upward, she announces "I'm fine. It's cool. Forget whatever didn't just happen."
And then she goes and makes it worse for herself by turning to look at Spider-Woman in all of her bandaged glory. "I understand if I'm not getting a Christmas card this year."
"You BLEW ME UP with a GRENADE!" Gwen holds out both hands to emphasize her indignation. "Lady, we are way past not getting a Christmas Card, you full on tried to murder me! Twice!! Not to mention I only just got my suit fixed after the last time you put bullet holes in the hood — y'know, the part where I keep my head?" She looks for a moment like she's about to leap out of bed and start gesticulating, but she's still got an IV in, and let's be real; even with how awesome Thea is, and with Hank's ministrations on top of that, she still hurts. A lot, actually.
So, she just picks up the Teddy Bear and hugs it, which does absolutely nothing to reinforce her visage of anger and righteousness, but whatever.
"By Murder Cookie, I meant her," she clarifies, inclining her chin towards Domino. "Please tell me you took all her guns away. And grenades, and weird curved knives, and whatever else she's packing." She sighs softly, and lies back down again, tilting her gaze back towards the ceiling. Afterall, her danger sense is staying perfectly quiet, so there's that. "And, thank you for the rescue. And the amazing drugs. I appreciate it, a lot."
"Easy, Neena…you're safe, I am not going to hurt you." Or let you hurt yourself. Or let you hurt others. Hank's hand on her upper arm is quite gentle…and about as obdurate as as mountain, he holds her quite still and finishes making sure her arm is properly tended. Seeing the blue eyes, seeing the pure anguish and distress in those blue eyes, in her posture, in her movements…he can't help but shake his head and (half expecting to be attacked) gather the young woman close, holding her in a simple and very human attempt to comfort a hurt thing.
He's a doctor dammit, Jim, not a warden!
He also has a really big, really squishy heart that brims to overflowing with empathy. Okay, and he's also got a very real problem with his feral instincts, but he has that well in hand most of the time!
Looking back and forth between both girls as the words fly fast and (righteously!) furious. He opens his mouth, but then Gwen is cuddling the teddy bear (he's lavender, with button eyes and a big white heart covering his entire chest).
After a moment. "Her name is Neena, she is not going to be murdering anyone, and yes, she's been disarmed." Almost literally! "There is no danger at the moment unless people get out of hand again."
A nod then at the last. "Of course, Spider-Woman. You both needed help, Thea and I provided it. Now, /both of you/, calm down, relax, eat, drink and recover." His tone is firm, clearly the big man is -not- going to brook anymore hijinks.
The Spider's outburst is..understandably..Justified As Hell. Neena sits there and watches Gwen while taking it all, word after word. Somehow an apology or a 'hey, it wasn't really me!' doesn't seem like it's going to cut it. Dom done messed that poor girl up! The least she can do is let Gwen vent without interruption.
Sobering up here is a process requiring stages. The curious empathy and a hug of all things from Hank. Seeing how badly Gwen got torn up and ticked off. The teddy bear sitting next to her. Thea crashed out hard nearby. It's easy for Neena to write off lots of tragedy but beneath the murderous adrenaline junkie and the hellcat possession it's still possible to find a conscience. She must have been too out of it to notice before. Or maybe it required Gwen being awake and all shouty for it all to sink home.
It's a hesitant start, like she doesn't know what a hug even is or how to respond to it. After a few seconds she seems to remember and hugs the broad mutant back, muttering another "Sorry." Apologies are also rare with her but tonight it's two for two! "Not used to having others treat me." So..aside from Thea she treated herself..? It sure might explain all of the scar tissue covering her body.
Once she's able to the Murder Cookie makes a swift retreat back into the covers because without her thermal suit she's right back to being COLD.
Ohboy. It looks like no one's going anywhere for the time being, either. How many ways can you say 'awkward?'
"…I, uhh, didn't actually know her real name," Gwen mumbles. "But, no need to worry, I won't tell anyone. I'm good with scret identities." the Spider sits up again, and fishes around behind herself for the pillow, which she stands up so she can sit propped up without having to get out of bed. She sits there, and looks over at Domino, half glaring angrily and half observing inquisitively.
"I would've tossed the grenade into the street and jumped inside the building for cover," she mumbles. "But there were kids in the street." Just in case anyone was unclear as to how she wound up getting a multitude of shrapnel wounds. Fortunately; it looks like she isn't going to scar. Must be another one of those neat Spider-tricks.
Food sounds great right about now; so she plucks her functioning webshooter off the bedside table, puts it on, and looks around for the pizza box. Once she spots it, a skinny strand of webbing is enough to grab it and pull it straight into her lap. She doesn't waste any time; she just rips the box open, grabs the biggest available piece, and starts munching on it.
"Mmmhungry," she explains, as she devours most of the slice in pretty rapid order, albeit leaving the crust.
"Mmmmph. So. why were you hunting me down, again?"
Rising from where he'd been sitting, Hank goes into the closet and finds two more blankets, and oh, hey, a lucky find - a /heated/ blanket someone left behind by mistake. Oh well, their loss, Dom's good fortune! He covers the once more cold and resting Hellbino with all three, the electric between the other two, and then moves to check on Spider-Gwen.
"Mmmph, no worries, Spider-Woman, truly you /were/ provoked." A nod. "That said—let me adjust your IV." He comments as he does just that.
After a moment, he laughs softly at the Web Shooter Pizza Heist, and the girl's vast appetite. Honestly? That's a good thing.
A moment to get her a Coke (Ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby!), and then Hank warily, /obviously/ warily - eyes just bright enough to indicate he is most likely teasing, sits down in the seat he has between the two beds, facing the wall, about where their feet would be so he can watch both his patients while the Biokinetic sleeps, somehow, through all this. Gwen's question, however, that he leaves to Neena.
"And now you know" Neena quietly says to Gwen before holding a single thumb up in her direction, notably without looking anywhere near her. This quickly becomes a theme with the albino, she can hear Gwen sit up and has no trouble hearing what she says.
Fortunately she'll soon have some warmth! Hank's given a brief glance which might be her way of saying thanks while also biting her tongue at having someone (ANYone) else taking care of her. She still has a lot of recovering to do. More than Gwen, even. Darn those super healing powers…
When the webline darts out to snag a piece of pizza she flinches -further- away as if trying to avoid seeing the nifty trick altogether.
Is..is that a meat-lovers pizza..?
Dom quietly reaches for a slice.
When Gwen gets around to asking the question Dom doesn't skip a beat. "Because I'm possessed by a demonic cat that likes to eat spiders."
It's one of those admissions which doesn't benefit from sugar-coating attempts.
Gwen freezes (physically, not thermally) when Domino answers her question. It might feel uncomfortably close to a certain transdimensional vampire with similar cullinary preferences, for her taste, but at least she doesn't seem to be single-minded about it. And she did say 'possessed'.
"…Sure, why not," she mumbles, as she holds out the box, extending her arm to put it within Neena's reach. "So, like, just Spiders? Or are we just a top-of-menu preference, but really anything will do, kind of like how I go to iHop for pancakes but if they were all out, somehow, then after checking to make sure we weren't in the advanced stages of a zombie apocalypse, I'd just have a muffin?"
Once Domino has a slice, Gwen will offer the box to Hank, before claiming another piece for herself and setting the box on the bedside table. She's silent again, while she destroys this piece, right down to the crust — which she doesn't eat, she just lobs it into wherever there happens to be a garbage can.
"Do I have to worry about a third attempts?" she adds, tugging her mask back down over her chin. "I mean, you seemed pretty hell-bent on it last time… or… your demon did, anyway."
A wink answers the look from Neena (thanks accepted!) and then Hank checks on Gwen. "I'm sorry, by the way, when I was removing the shrapnel your costume was essentially a complete loss." Beat. "I did send a build request to my lab, it will have fabricated a new one in about twelve more hours." Of course it will.
Yes, it IS a meat lover's pizza! With cheese, ground beef, more cheese, bacon, some cheese, Canadian bacon, more cheese, Italian sausage, queso, and a bit of pepporoni. And chesse.
Gwen's moment of freezing can almost be -felt- without having to see it in action. In all honesty Domino isn't surprised, it's a weird bit of news which doesn't have any particular standards for reaction.
What follows is an important question, and one which she's much less interested in answering. Just in case it already seems like they have a problem on their hands… Dom's about to make it a lot worse.
"Metas" she replies after a lengthy pause. "Once it got a taste of a power, it…" Another pause as she tightens her jaw. "It hunted arachnid-themed critters back home. You're both a spider and a meta. Congratulations on being crowned entree of the year."
What about a third attempt? "If these two weren't here your odds wouldn't be too great," she admits in a dead level voice. "When it decides to check in I'm just along for the ride."
Nevermind that if they had a round three this soon without outside interference Gwen is in MUCH better shape to dish out some epic level whoop-ass. It's a hungry hellcat, not necessarily a strategic hellcat.
Gwen contemplates another slice of pizza, but decides to give it a rest, just for the moment. She picks up the coke instead, and downs half of it in a hurry — girl is thirsty — with a nod to Hank. "Thanks," she murmurs. "And not just for the coke, I'm grateful for everything you've done for me. Suit included… though I imagine I'll just have to clean the mask, it's got my comms in it anyway."
The Spider's attention refocuses on Neena, and she reaches up with her non-IV'd arm to scratch the back of her head. "Alright, so…" She sighs softly, "It's not your fault. I imagine you didn't get possessed by choice, so… let me know if there's ever anything I can do to help you get free of it, alright? And in the meantime, I…" Sh trails off, and purses her lips, clearly weighing something in her mind.
"I don't think I should tell you about my abilities," she decides at last. "But suffice it to say I'm hard to get the drop on, so if there is a round three, I'll focus less on trying to stop you and more on avoidance? Hopefully we can get a bit less collateral damage that way?"
Hank pays attention to all that's being said, and yes, he /will/ have a slice, thanks. He provides more Cokes for everyone, and then smiles. "Fortunately, we /are/ here." Not even suspecting that Neena's luck power is surely a factor in all that, or that Neena even /has/ a luck power. He's good, he's not prescient however.
"Truly, Spider-Woman, I'm glad I could help, the costume won't be anything fancy - carbon fibre and synthetic silk primarily, I didn't get a good analysis of your old one, so, hopefully it will match. It does have the hood and mask combo, though, so if you want me to I can help in transferring the comms — if you even need help, of course."
He happily munches his slice, big guy needs big calories, ugh!
"So…please…tell me that you're both in accord?" He looks to Neena, and then to the sleeping Angel. "I'll reach out to my friends, see if they can help with the possession bit, so it might be moot."
The moment where Gwen offers to help Domino snorts in amusement. "You'd -help- me? Even I wouldn't have bet on that." Slowly shaking her head, "I don't know what the options are. I don't know if there -are- options." At least not for trying to get rid of the abyssal kitty, although the idea of how to handle a round three if it does happen does cause her to pause in thought. What could she suggest without also outing her own abilities and how to get around them?
"If it happens again then stick me to something, evac, and call this guy," she hooks a pale thumb toward Hank. "..Or her," she adds with a head-dip toward Thea. Thea would actually be the better choice if not for the hit to Neena's pride having to call on the biokinetic yet again because she went and lost control. It's..highly embarrassing.
Back to Hank with a look of 'yeah, whatever,' Dom says "I never had anything against her. Just luck of the draw."
"Eh? Hunh? Accord? Yeah, sure, no problem." Gwen shrugs her shoulders lightly. "Now that I understand why everything happend, I don't have anything against you, Neena. Like I said, I'm sure you didn't get possessed on purpose. And I mean it, if there's anything I can do to help, let me know. Partly for your sake, partly for innocent bystanders' sake, and frankly, partly for my sake."
The young Spider bobs her head towards Hank, "Not to worry. I know a guy who helped me make this suit, so I'm okay with the comms bit… but I really appreciate you making me another one. It's not just secret-identity keeping, it's fuctional… like, not giving someone anything to grab hold of in a fight."
Gwen looks back to Domino, "I've got her basically on speed dial," she acknowledges, before looking back to Hank. "How do I get ahold of you? Just in case. Might be important. Hopefully it won't be important, but you never know."
"As I said, Neena, I will see what I can discover for you in the way of options, or other contacts." Hank takes out his wallet, and produces a pair of business cards, giving Gwen one and Neena the other. "There. My contact numbers, please do not give them out, the card lists my direct and private numbers. I will answer any time of day or night. And I keep strange hours, very strange some weeks. Odds are good that I'll be awake if you call…whenever." A nod. "If it isn't call-worthy, my email will work, or you can text."
He seems muchly relieved when Dom reassures that there's no malice on her part, and even more so when Spider-Woman seems eager to help the other woman! "You have a very big heart, Spider-Woman, you're to be commended, it is a laudable thing to offer help after what you've experienced." He looks to Dom then. "You should sleep, would you like something to help?"
"Well, you know. When in Hell," Neena airily 'suggests' to Gwen about being possessed. (No, of course she didn't choose the hellkitty life. The hellkitty life chose her.)
The card offered from Hank is caught between two bleached fingers and briefly glanced at before setting it nearby. "Bitchin'" she grumbles while tucking her arm back into the heated blanket pile.
Sleep? "Hold that thought, McCoy. I've had all of the spiritual healing I have patience for. Point me to my stuff so I can check out of here and leave you three to it." Sitting idle sooo does not suit her, even if she's got a foot and a half in the nearest grave!
"Perfect." Gwen takes the card, and tucks it up one of her sleeves, next to her functioning webshooter. "I uhh… really need to work out a way for people to contact me that isn't attached to my non-hero identity," she adds, blushing under the mask. "I'll let you know what that is as soon as I figure it out."
The Spider bobs her head towards Neena, "Yeah, well, like I said… pretty sure you didn't pick it. I'm just glad nobody got seriously hurt this time around." Well, other than you, Gwen, with a bunch of shrapnel. Because that was nothing, right?
Gwen herself lays back against the pillow, and closes her eyes; not to sleep, but just to rest. "I can't stay all night," she muses. "If I don't get home, Dad's gonna worry. And I don't want to make him worry."
Eyes of blue narrow at Dom's insistence she be given her stuff and let go, Hank /clearly/ doth not approve — that said, she's an adult. He can be firm, but he isn't going to hold her prisoner in the name of helping her, that's…yeah, that is a total non-sequitur. "Fine." He grumbles. "But only if you go with Thea to care for you." He rummages in one of the drawers and produces her thermal suit, patched good as new. Also her armor, weapons and other gear, setting them on the seat beside the bed.
Gwen's situation is a little more serious, wardrobe wise anyway. Still, hank did his best. "I'm afraid your costume won't be ready for some hours yet, but I did get you a t-shirt and sweats from the gift shop." Yes, he's embarrassed. "They're…tropical themed." Oh. Dear.
He puts those garments, still bagged, next to Gwen's bed. "I will absent myself so you can change, and then I'll drive everyone to locations of their choosing. "Oh, and Spider-Woman, I'll loan you my jacket so you won't be cold."
Hank then proceeds to do just that, making sure he sees nothing untoward and allowing the girls to preserve their modesty as he ducks outside the room, and waits.
Once they clear his return, everyone is trooped out to Bessy and driven to their chosen locations by a very quiet Hank McCoy.