Summary:Hank finds a very ill and distressed Lin Li, returning her to the Institute and seeing to her care. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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After discovering that Lin likes pictures, Hank's decided to start teaching her photography skills. He's set her up with an instagram account and she's mastered using her phone camera and uploading! Very basic and easy to do, to start with. Plus she can be social, after a fashion without actually interacting with people. It's a good slow way to start her towards more personal interactions. It's also led to the discovery, at first a strong suspicion only, that Lin's been living in an underground cement storage room she found in central park that had been paved over and long forgotten. It doesn't have electricity or even running water and she's been using the facilities at a nearby shelter. It's hardly safe or good for her and definitely isn't going to do anything to help her overcome her social anxieties.
After discovering that Lin likes pictures, Hank's decided to start teaching her photography skills. He's set her up with an instagram account and she's mastered using her phone camera and uploading! Very basic and easy to do, to start with. Plus she can be social, after a fashion without actually interacting with people. It's a good slow way to start her towards more personal interactions. It's also led to the discovery, at first a strong suspicion only, that Lin's been living in an underground cement storage room she found in central park that had been paved over and long forgotten. It doesn't have electricity or even running water and she's been using the facilities at a nearby shelter. It's hardly safe or good for her and definitely isn't going to do anything to help her overcome her social anxieties.
The fact that she'd suddenly started dodging his calls, started solidifying the suspicion. A bit of searching, made easy by going over her phone's recent gps data confirms. A further bit of searching old records would find the entrance to the room is located beneath a small bridge in the park. The door blending almost seamlessly into the wall, covered in old grime and graffiti. A set of stairs lead down and aside from a few battery powered tea lights and cardboard boxes possessions, the room is dark and bare but for a nest of blankets and pillows in the corner. Lin is there, curled in a ball and whimpering softly. She hasn't heard the door open or Hank's approach.
Hank is actually impressed that there's someone in the world who takes worse care of themselves than he does of himself. It takes doing too. Fortunately Catseye has programmed a nag program into his lab, the network at the institute, burned it to various ROMS on the system, and made sure that any use of a variety of systems in the campus will reload it…so yeah…not going to be rid of it anytime soon. She can't be there, so she made sure…this was his Christmas gift this year!
He moves over to the whimpering girl, concerned, and obviously so. Dressed in his costume, he takes out a small medical kit. "Hello Lin Li." He rumbles softly. Eyes of yellow study the girl, his visor active and data streams flowing on the HUD.
One of the first things he's like to notice is that she's shed her antlers. She'd always disappeared when it happened at school, not returning til they'd developed a few inches. They've just begun, tiny pale knobs poking through the flesh and hair atop her skull. Her head aches and she has a mild fever, the spots where the antlers are coming allowed an infection to start and the labored sound of her breathing suggests a spring cold on top of it. Hard to say if it's the fever or not causing her night terrors knowing what he does of her history.
At the sound of his voice though, Lin begins to stir, though she doesn't quite wake yet. The scent of dried sweat and old blood fills the small concrete chamber. Uncovered in her little nest Lin is still dressed in her park ranger shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. Dried splotches from a wicked tscratch on her thigh, the skin surrounding the wound angry and red, the scabs oozing is another clue. It seems to be an unfortunate combination of bad luck at the same time has just overwhelemed the poor girl. She really doesn't look after herself so well, her concern is always for what's around her and what's around her usually takes care of her. She's a little bit beyond the passive help of nature at the moment and sealed in this room so it's good luck that Hank has found her and it's his lingering presence that finally draws her from her uncomfortable rest. Confused brown eyes open to meet his. "…uhoh…" As she recognizes her visitor.
Hank reads the data feeds, and checks her various injuries and concludes that he can do very little for her, under these conditions, and so he very gently gathers her up, and starts towards the exit when she wakes. "Ut oh, indeed." He rumbles, a bit of censure to his tone. Lin's muddled senses would surely feel his concern for her well being, he genuinely cares about her. That's got to be a strange and nice thing.
"Don't worry, all will be well once I get you back to the school."
Once outside he takes her to Bessy, his beloved 1978 Ford Grenada, and sets her on the back seat before going to the trunk to take out a blanket, first of all, and then a field medical kit most EMTs would drool over as he does some basic treatment including cleaning and bandaging any wounds, giving her a shot to help clear her head and deal with the pain, and a massive dose of antibiotics.
That done, he wraps her up in the blanket and lets her lay down in the back seat. "There's a cooler, water and snacks inside, eat and drink, please."
And then he gets the car underway for that 90 minute drive to Westchester.
Even in her muddled and pained state she realizes she's in trouble but she also feels Hank's concern is grateful for it. A warm fuzzy feeling she projects towards him, though there's definitely the sense of her masking her ills beneath it. She hadn't wanted to be a bother. Once in the car Lin settles beneath the blanket, brown eyes glazed as she slowly realizes where he's taken her. "Oh noes. Lin will get it dirty!" She tries to climb out but he's likely not having that and her body isn't exactly eager to comply with her urge to flee. Part of her knows she needs his help right now and once the shot starts working Lin blushes, her skin turning red beneath the fever. "Sorries. So much trouble Lin is."
She doesn't even remember what clawed her. "Was someone in the zoo? One of morlocs?" She frowns then gives up trying to recall. The last while is blur of pain and exhaustion because of course she'd still been working. Lin does eat, and drink though she does it slowly throughout the long drive. He'll feel her worry over the state of his car and her wonder at being inside it. Her antlers are usually far to large for her to bother trying to get inside a vehicle. It's a mostly new and very novel experience and she's conflicted over enjoyment and guilt at being trouble for her friend. "funfunfunfunfun." The antlered woman sings softly under breath. If she'd realized she was doing it aloud she'd be so flustered! She hasn't even realized she's projecting at him. She's that out of sorts.
In trouble? No, she's an adult, she is in even a worse state - she's likely going to guilt herself so badly he won't have to say another word, and damned if he'd argue with her. Even HE takes better care of himself. "Shhh…it will be fine, I've treated the seats and interior, it is almost impossible to stain or even get it dirty without active malicious intent and tool use." So no, he's having none of that, and if need be will simply hold her down with one hand, and keep working. Much like a momma cat might give an unruly kit a bath it needs but does not want.
"You are not a lick of trouble, though I will be very disappointed if I learn of you letting you get into this state again, you have a phone, and my number. I'll take your word that you'll call me if you feel ill again, mm?" Now please.
Her delight in the car ride does ease his concerns for her somewhat, and he even snags a drink for himself on the ride. "Of course you won't be returning to that lair, we'll get you setup in a room at the institute again." In fact he's already sent commands to the security system though his visor to get the ball rolling.
It takes her a tiny bit longer than usual to understand everything he's saying, her mind keeps wanting to form itself as a dog, and she keeps fighting the urge to stick her head out of the window. She's not used to having actual people care for her and is so touched by his concern that she'll do exactly what he says. As the shot returns her to further clarity and she takes stock of herself, Lin winces. Ohh. Definitely not one of her best moments. Well, actually. She sits up enough just to look out of the window. Just a peek! It's like flying but takes no energy! "wheeeeeeeee."
There's a nearly overwhelming sense of relief at learning she'll be back at the institute. The little underground chamber was more than bearable when shifting mindsets but she has enough sense to have begun to realize that if she wants to learn to be more human then she has to start, acting more human. She'd just been afraid to ask. She never asks for help. "Thank you, Hankfriend." Lin murmurs and reaaches out to grasp his shoulder. Tired from the brief exertion of sitting up she slides back onto the seat and under the blanket, very glad she's not hurting her friend's car. Of course she'd be more concerned about that than herself.
He pulls over for a moment, and helps her to sit up, a second blanket used to help prop her comfortably so she can watch out the window and actually enjoy the ride. "Whee indeed." He meets her gaze in the rear view mirror, visored eyes kind in the reflection and monitoring her vitals with the thing.
Hank drives exactly five miles over the limit, not a bit faster. "Would you like some music?" He asks, and she can feel his anticipation, he is very proud of the music for some reason.
And then as he senses her concern for the car she'd feel the urge to swat her nose, as he very mildly says. "Nonsense. I'd happily destroy the car if it would make you feel better. Happily and count myself as ahead of the game." He loves his car, yes, but it is a /thing/, not a person. Lin is /far/ far *FAR* more important than Bessy. Period.
Lin hugs him when he helps her sit comfortably. She's entirely forgotten the nightmare she'd been having about her time in Africa and her aches and pains are much easier to ignore surrounded by comfort and the care of a friend and joy of a new experience. "Music?" Lin perks up a bit and smiles shly. She loves music of all kinds. It's a language all it's own and while she rarely understands all the shade of meaning behind the words, she understands it's there and the sounds, oh the sounds!
"Ah!" Lin gasps as Hank tells her he'd destroy a car to make her feel better. The illness and a mild euphoria induced partly from a reaction to the antibiotics, a rare reaction but she's so rarely ever had actual medicine it's probably not a huge surprise, but it loosens her mental shields further and Hank receives an image of himself juggling several cars and then tossing them about like apples. She startes giggling, realizes from his reaction she accidently shared that and blushes. Her eyes widen in shock. *She's* more important than Bessy?? "Oh." Wow. "So much happy." Lin burbles.
Hank hugs his friend back, and smiles toothily. "Music." Sensing her approval, he queues up the sound system in the car, his ONE indulgence…the other mods were to make the car usable, this is for fun. The dulcet strains of O Mio Babino Caro /fill/ the car, but do not echo, the sound quality such that it is akin to being in the center of the orchestra pit as it plays. It is…truly amazing.
And yes, he's very proud of that sound system, definitely not stock!
He chuckles at the juggling image, and then forms an image of himself doing much the same, with SUVs, while on a unicycle, and blowing out one of those party favor things with the bright paper that curls up and extends as blown. Dignity, what dignity?
Lin's giggles stop and her eyes go wide again as she hears the music. To her it's like magic, the quality of the sound alone, but she also enjoys the song he picked. She can't begin to imagine how he made it work like this so it might as well be magic, Hank magic. She knows he must have worked very hard on it. "Wow!" Then he returns her image and she's all agiggle again. They're nearly there by the time she manages to control herself and then it's only because she needs to breathe!
She sends back this time apurpose, an image of him wearing a tuxedo and his specs, perched hanging from the lightning rod and reading three different books. In her eyes he looks very dignified. Regal even, though she doesn't quite know that word, she has the sense of it. "C'n we do this again, before.." She gently touches the top of her head. Well, there's a big leap forward for her. She asked! Shyly and while fiddling with the blankets but she did it. There is a soft gasp and hurried looking around after though. Like she's slightly afraid something bad will happen.
Ironically, that's the next song that plays 'It's a Kind of Magic', by Queen. And /that/ fairly vibrates the air with the power of it. Really is a kind of magic — techno magic. He'd be amused at the thought of 'Hank Magic', he's a scientist, gosh darn it! SCIENCE! is not magic.
Delighted at getting the girl to laugh despite how awful he knows she has to be feeling, Hank drives at that steady pace, pulling through the gates to the Institute and heading up the drive to the garage.
Once there he nods firmly. "Yes, we can definitely accommodate that request, or perhaps I'll restore a convertible for when it is warmer, then the roof is no longer part of the equation." Which opens up all sorts of new possibilities.
Moving around to the back, he gets the door and helps Lin out, and gives her an arm to lean on. "Add a monocle, then the image is perfect." He teases about the Opera Hank reader on high image she sent.
She focuses more on the words of this next song and then laughs softly. She knows him well enough to know.."is SCIENCE Lin LI. Not magic." She imitates his bass rumble, or tries too. Then Lin blinks. She's seen those cars but it just never occurred to her she could fit in there. Oh. She wonders what else she hasn't thought of due to her inexperience and her usual avoidance of what she thinks of as peoplethings. It will be interesting to find out.
"But..that a lot of work for just Lin." She frowns. It would be. It wouldn't be right to spend so much time on just her. The thought of more car rides fills her with a sense of longing and hope though. She comes up with a compromise. "Will help." She can carry things! And follow instructions.
She sighs a little as they pull into the garage. Partly because the ride is over and partly because the thought of getting out and onto her feet right now is more than a little intimidating. He can feel her weigh his positive response over her request for car rides against something.. else. Something bad, she's got it shielded well. Whatever it is, it's what makes her so resistant to asking for help. She gathers herself and opens the door quickly and then..tumbles out onto the floor. Well. That didn't go quite how she wanted. "..nuckfuts." Lin mutters in chagrin.
Hank smiles again into the mirror. "But I /enjoy/ working on cars, that is something to do to relax." He means it to, the concept of having a convertible really is something that amuses the man and lets him let down his (vast amounts of) hair a bit. "And I've always sort of wanted one anyway, so…not just for Lin Li, also for Hank, me." Yes, he rhymed on purpose.
Sensing her trepidation, he is swift to offer a hand up, just a little slow off the mark to prevent the spill entirely. In fact rather than risk a repeat, he simply bundles the girl up in the blankets and carries her. "We'll head down to the infirmary, and Doctor McCoy will get you sorted up. I've already fully reactivated your security profile, you're cleared for the base and housing areas, we'll get you settled in your room once I discharge you from medical, okay?"
All the while he's loping along into the school, heading for medical on the lower level.
Lin giggles at the rhyme, is glad he actually enjoys working on the cars, like she does experimenting with plants, she guesses. Fun, relaxing. Hank doesn't give her a chance to feel foolish or embarrassed after she tumbles from the car and just carries along, literaly. After a few moments Lin relaxes and rests her head on Hank's shoulder, watching familiar surroundings pass by and slowly realizing that for the first time this place feels like less of a place and more like.. like.. is this what home feels like when you're a human?
"Huh." She murmurs. It's a good feeling. A very good one. Nothing at all like her previous experience. "Is..good." "Hank..is not bad to ask for help? If *really* need?" She had relaxed but he can feel her tense a bit at the question, anxious over the answer. "Not..stupid, weak? Learn to do it on your own or do without." The way she says the words, the flat suddenly emotionless tone.. it's probably explains a few things.
Nope, he does not give her any time to dwell on anything negative, that's against Hank's religion! Well, it would be if he had one, anyway. A low rumble of approval as she just relaxes. "Welcome home, Lin." Hank confirms, not even feeling her thoughts, sure feels like it though.
Once they get to medical he takes her to get cleaned up, and then once she's in a medical gown he does a much more thorough examination, and updates her biometrics and health files while they're there.
"It is." Good. The follow up question gets a frown. "No." He shakes his head. "You can ask for help even if you only /want/ it, you *must* ask if you NEED it." She can sense how strong he feels that to do otherwise is unacceptable. "You /can/ and /should/ ask if you are curious, or simply want help, or if you want company."
He pauses, holding the girl's gaze with kind yellow eyes. "Not stupid or weak, no." His surety is adamantine. "You should never have to do without simply for lack of asking, Lin Li. You're not alone, you have friends here, people who care about you and /want/ to help you, okay?"
Very carefully, gently she reaches out and *feels* he means everything he says. Feels very strongly about it, unyielding even more so than stone. She'd better listen or.. no, he isn't going to hurt her. He'd just be dissappointed and then..help her anyway? Yes. That means.. her voice is soft and full of confusion. "Did he not care then? Why not leave Lin, not teach her words?" A faint image, the one she's thinking of. An old, wild eyed human. Unable to read him, and being very young,
Lin hadn't had any way of knowing or understanding the man was suffering from severe mental illness, a definite terror of her abilities when she couldn't control them and a mistaken belief she was possessed by demons at times. Still, he'd tried hard to give what he could. There had been a lot of punishment and discipline involved though. She shows Hank off all this, taking advantage of her shields being down farther than she's usually able to take them. It's so much easier for her to communicate this way and she wouldn't begin to know where to find the words to explain. From her memories it looks as if she'd been perhaps around the age of six or seven when the hermit found her. They'd lived in a shack in the wilderness. He'd died when she was 12, his estranged daughter had sold the land and left Lin at the institue. She's never told or shown anyone this before. "…so confused. But is good here. Yes. Home." It will still take getting used to, she's got a lot of conditioning to overcome. "You're good." Lin murmurs and leans forward to hug Hank. She's so grateful, and so very touched. No person has ever been this kind to her. Not without wanting something in return.
Hank blinks a few times at the images shared, and needs to brace against a wall for the power of her sending. He replies, both via crystal clear thought - he's not a telepath, not even close, but he DOES have an exceptionally disciplined and capable mind. He builds painstakingly precise images to send that support his words, enhance them. "Your guardian, tried, but he lacked true understanding. He did what he felt was right, but did not really know what to do, who you are, /what/ you are, Lin Li." Hank does. The people at the Institute do. "His discipline was the best his broken mind could do, it was a misguided attempt to do well for, as close to love as the man was able."
Hugging her back, Hank pets Lin Li's back very carefully. "This is home, yes." And Hank DOES want something in return - her well being, the only coin he'll take.
At last. At last she understands. All the contradictions from she's seen and what she's experienced. For that alone she'd be willing to do anything for him. It's very clear how easily taken advantage of by others she could be. As she has been, like when shee'd told him with poppies. A little kindness shown and it's so unexpected, she's so grateful. Hank hasn't just been kind, he's meant it and unlike with others she can tell that for sure. It's done a lot already to change her view of humanity and reaffirm her decision to return. It's much less of a desperate last ditch gamble before suiciding than she'd planned. If she's truly honest with herself and Lin always is, doesn't know how to be otherwise, she'd really returned to say goodbye.
He can see the change in her, the determination. "Home. To live." She murmurs before giving Hank a final hug and settling back on the bed, asleep almost as soon as her eyes close. Sure and safe in the knowledge for the first time in her life that she belongs here, with humans, mutants, just as much as she belongs to the Mother. Yes, She still calls but She doesn't want Lin before her time. That had been her own twisted projections, an attempt to deal with her pain, to find any sort of release. Her last thought as she drifts back into slumber, this time without any nightmares, is that she'll make an entire field of Blue/Yellow roses for him. Roving Roses. She doesn't see the smile, the peaceful expression on her face. So different than when Hank found her earlier. Home is deifnitely where the heart is.
Hank is actually, for the first time, grateful he's more bestial - it allows Lin to 'feel' his thoughts, which means she can truly learn what he means by /seeing/ the exact connotations he was sending. She still lacks a bit of context, but it is sufficient unto the day to get the message across. He can feel that the girl's paradigm shift from 'goodbye' to 'I want to live'.
That's a gift for him.
Once she's asleep, he carefully sets up the IVs, she needs more antibiotics, and fluids. The thought of roving roses impinges on his consciousness and he shakes his head fondly. "Sleep, little one. I'll guard your rest."
Hank makes sure she's good, then slips out to get her room ready for her before he returns and keeps an eye through the night, reading quietly.