please review. i can not stress this enough. REVIEW. PLEASE.
** oh and yeah, Hortense, the main character, her name is kind of weird. i just always loved it and i couldn't think of anything else. the more reviews i get the sooner i'll update!
i own nothing. but, Hortense and her peeps.
This is the story of the doctor that musthave worked at S.H.I.E.L.D. along with her, we meet her diminished staff, Jessica and the Newbie. its hard enough to be superheroes. but, what's its like to be their doctors?
"God! Those are some gorgeous cells! Wow! I mean- check out this plasma! Look! Right there! You see that? That's like a text book model!"
Working for S.H.E.I.L.D was not a safe job. It involved weird long hours, high risk situations, tons of paper work, working with annoyingly stoic agents and none of the perks of a social life. But, everyone once in a while, something came along that made Dr. Hortense Grimani very happy to have her job. At first it was having a whole team of less experienced doctors to boss and order around. Other times, it was being able to get under all the super duper secret agents' skins and point out every valid reason why they couldn't fire her. Right now she was thrilled to be able to have access to the super soldier's DNA. It tickled her pink to see such such divine samples. This was such superb blood; any doctor would kill to just examine it. It was a medical marvel.
"ex-excuse me? Doct- doctor? I just- I mean, the computer just gave the results- from the epidermis samples and I was w-wondering if you'd like-" the intern, Jessica, mumbled, holding a folder full of papers. Another perk of being the head of medicine was the fact that she could scare the shit out of practically anyone. She didn't know why but, everyone seemed a little terrified of her. And she kind of liked it. Abusing authority always made her day. This intern had been around about two months. She was good, well excellent actually; S.H.E.I.L.D wouldn't accept anything but the best, but this young doctor was still very shy. Whatever. Not Hortense's problem.
"Yep. I'll take a look at those," Hortense said taking the manilla folder, numbers and chart peeking out, enrapturing her. "I'll need the Rogers' pre and post resuscitation scans."
"Right away, ma'am."
She chuckled a little as the intern scurried away. The doctor leaned against her desk as she eyed the results, her amazement slowly growing. Steve Rogers aka Captain America had been perfectly frozen in ice for almost 50 years. He hadn't suffered any brain injury or trauma, no loss of nerve connections or muscle dystrophy. He was perfect, the ultimate solider and man. At least that's what she got from the Eriksine medical journals. On her part, she had done the best job in resuscitating him. It wasn't like you could just pop a frozen human in a microwave. No, it had taken a lot of time and patience on her part. And also the fact that she had a doctorate in pharmaceuticals, endocrinology, rheumatology, and psychology. Besides, it wasn't the first time she had brought someone back to life.
Of course, once she had defrosted the sleeping legend, there was no "thanks" or shiny gold star for her. All she had got in return was a "when he gonna wake up?" from. Every. Single. Person. In. S.H.E.I.L.D. Every time she walked down the hall, morning/evening coffee in hand, all she heard was : "so when he is going to start moving?" "When is he gonna wake up?" "why isn't he up yet? Is something wrong with him? Maybe you should check him. Again." at which point Hortense would shout: " for the last time, Coulson, get out of my lab! I am drinking my frigging Starbucks and its 3 in the morning! Stop watching Captain America sleep!"
but, Steve Roger had woken up after a three months of carefully planned thermal exposure, while she had been on a contaminate sweep in New Mexico; Hortense hadn't even met him but, from what she heard, it hadn't been the gradual introduction to the 21st century like everyone had wanted. No, apparently, he had run right out into 21st century Times square. But, Steve Roger was fine, apparently. His motor, cerebral and physical functions were behaving normally. Hortense had felt medicinal pride as she analyzed the flawless data. A perfectly reanimated person, fully functional. Once again, a medical achievement of hers she could never share with the world. You know, because she worked for a top secret national protection initiative; She couldn't exactly go off to the Medicinal bureau and run her mouth about S.H.E.I.L.D and how she was brought this guy back to life. Fury would kill her. Twice. Fine. She was okay with that. No fame for Hortense. Cool.
She focused on the test results. Rogers' somatosensory system was properly reacting to all sensory tests. Normal responses to heat, cold, pressure, and vibration. Good. The job was done. Time to call it a night. Then her phone rang.
"Dr. Grimani." it was a command, not a question. Oh, Nick fury, always ordering people around. He was no doubt calling to give her some super duper secret agent update about the glowing Cube of Doom in the basement.
"What up, F-man?" Dr. Grimani casually said before wincing. Her palm hit her forehead as she realized how lame she sounded. Her staff stared at her curiously. She glared at them and they hurridely went back to their business, shamed to be caught staring. Oh, people.
"Don't ever call me that again," Nick fury said, as she blushed. Shit, why in god's name would she say?
"Never gonna happen again. Sir. So what's up? You never call anymore," Hortense teased. She heard Fury huff in exasperation. Nobody in S.H.E.I.L.D had a sense of humor or a quick wit or you know, a personality. So Hortense had taken it upon herself to supply all the jokes and one liners. Everyone was so damn serious.
"I need you and your company to move out, evacuate. Mission's gone critical."
"What?!" Dr. Grimani squawked, putting down the folder on her desk. "What do you- I can't even- the mission is- what?!"
"The base is at risk and we need to evacuate. Explain to me exactly what part of that sentence is not clear?"
"Fury, this is our home base, man. I just go all the doctor up here for a conference. And besides, we have all the data, samples, scans here. Not to mention all the-"
"Grimani, that's an order." The doctor let her head fall back and she breathed deep.
"Rank thing, right? Fine. Any other orders I should know about then?"
"We need you on the Helicarrier as soon as possible. We're mobilizing. We should be assembling the team soon and you ought to be there, Grimani," Fury commented in that cool emotionless voice of his.
"What!?" huh? what was he asking? "I am- what? Not to sound too much like a trekkie, but I am a doctor, not a care taker. I've had a nice little work break planned for the last year!" Dr. Grimani argued, not wanting an increased workload. She pinched the bridge of her nose. This was all very confusing to her.
"Grimani, don't argue with me. I don't need any more shit right now," Fury growled. In the background, Hortense heard the sounds of a chopper. He was probably on his way right now. She sighed, hopping up onto her desk.
"So the big old Council giving you trouble than?"
"We have more important things to take care of. I need you on the Helicarrier, especially since we might bring in some key players-"
"So, you got him? Captain Freezer-burn? Or Bruce Banner? I thought he wasn't into the whole S.H.E.I.L.D. Deal." Dr. Grimani said, as an she noticed an unfamiliar doctor following intern, Jessica. He was tall and lanky, a regular tall glass of nerdy water, with glasses. very new to the medical game, if his nervous, wide eyed, kid-in-a-candystore stare meant anything.
"We sent Agent Romanoff to recruit him," Fury said.
"Ah. So once again, with the force," Hortense said tiredly.
"We deal in force, Grimani. You have your orders-"
"But-"
"...yes?"
"Can't I just send Davis in? I want my vacation!" she whined.
"Grimani, just do it." click.
Great. Lovely. Brilliant. She put the phone back into its cradle. Jessica was still talking to tall glass of water. Did Hortense miss a memo? The immediate evacuation could wait; she had a rogue doctor.
"Hey, intern! I told you, you aren't allowed to bring your boyfriend down here!" the intern and new doctor both blushed.
"He's not my- he's new-he's the new intern here," Jessica sputtered out.
"Ah, the newbie. Great. I need you to pull out everything we have on Rogers'. Okay, Newbie?" she said, sharper than she had intended. The newbie quickly nodded his head and went towards the MRI room. Jessica handed Hortense the resuscitation scans, biting her lip.
"Where are the files?" the Newbie asked, nervously, peeking around the corner.
"Jessica, help Newbie."
Jessica gave a quick nod and led the Newbie to the files room, still blushing. Just what Hortense needed: office romances.
"Okay, everyone else, pay attention!" Hortense shouted getting the attention of all the doctors. "We are heading out to the Helicarrier tomorrow so we need to package all the expensive stuff! Lets make this quick, people! Fury's orders! " some of the more experience doctors groaned. You could feel everyone's annoyance. Everyone visibly slouched as they went about starting to package their equipment. She had a staff almost 30 doctors, the bare minimum and most of the time, they worked independently. There were about 500 S.H.E.I.L.D agents, most of which were here strictly for military skills and muscle. Hortense and her crew patched them and took care of the more...unusual injuries. At least one fully trained multi-skilled doctors had be stationed at S.H.I.E.L.D bases. Sometimes they worked in threesomes or pairs. But, every once in a blue moon, all the doctors would be stationed at the same base. Recently it had been occurring more and more frequently.
Fury was preparing for something. Everyone could feel it, especially Hortense who had to deal directly with Fury daily. She was the head of everything medical that went down in S.H.E.I.L.D, from supply inventory to employing new doctors to casualties and injuries. It was the dream job for Hortense. The doctors she worked with were the best in the world and they all looked up to her. They all understood the confidentiality their job required and performed like champs, bandaging all kinds of bizarre injuries: strange cuts and burns, unusually broken limbs, autopsies on things that were barely human. They were champions doctors and she was their leader. But, they moved under Fury's command so the medical staff packed up their lab without question.
Hortense sighed as she sat at her desk, the scans no longer interesting her. The doctors went around the lab, boxing up molecular biomass distributors and DNA & RNA sequencers, stuff that was too delicate to regularly carry on the Helicarrier. plastic containers full of samples and equipment were stacked by the door, ready to be carted out. They moved like busy bees, quick efficient workers in white coats. They were a good lot. She hoped they hung around.
Then came the rumbles. It started softly first, barely any movement. Just a deep quiet kind of wail that everyone had gotten used since the Tesseract had been moved into the basement, which the medical center was directly above. They ignored it. A beaker shook and fell off the shelves, the sound startlingly everyone. The shards were quickly picked up and thrown out. It was strange But, everyone just went with it.
Then crack appeared. Now that was odd. A single black needle thin line appeared after a particular violent tremble. It didn't seem dangerous. The staff continued to box up everything. Hortense, however, examined the peculiar line. It started as a narrow crack in the ground, running along the floor and leading up the wall. Then came the dreadful sound of something breaking, something inside the walls. Hortense winced as she saw the single line diverge and crawl up the wall, like the branches of a barren tree. It spider webbed, moving along the ceiling, creaking as it climbed. Everyone stopped now. The loud wailing underneath them and everyone was silent. Gunshots rang out.
"Shit!" Sam the anesthesiologist cursed.
"What was that?!" Ivy the resident cardiologist asked as she picked up the files she had dropped.
"Probably some target practice or something..." Davis the radiologist asked looking at Hortense. Davis had been the first doctor Hortense had ever hired nearly 7 years ago. Many doctors had quit or retired and occasionally died but, he had stuck around. Right now, he was looking to Hortense for some sort of guidance. Oh right, she was their leader.
The floor beneath them began to hum, then vibrate. Plaster started falling from the ceiling, as the room shook. Something was wrong. The ground trembled, knocking everyone off their feet, as if a rug had been pulled out from under them. Hortense shakily stood up, regarding the floor suspiciously. Something had been wrong for a while. Hortense swallowed, her throat tightening. Something big was going down, right beneath their feet.
"Doctor?" Jamie asked, snapping Hortense out of her daze. She reached for the phone and quickly dialed Fury's number. It rang and rang. No answer. Frustrated, she slammed it down into the cradle. Stupid phone. Then the floor moved and the crack deepened, splitting apart and moving under their very feet. It shifted again, like a fault line, one half above the other. Everyone grabbed something to hold onto. The tremors now felt like small earthquakes. The world around them began to shake.
"Please evacuate!"
The emergency alert system must have finally been activated. A bit late for that. The whole lab seemed to be sliding toward the deep crack in the floor, loose chairs and tables gravitating towards it. Shit.
They rushed to the sealed door, opening it with a soft hiss. She was the last one out. It was chaos outside. Armor clad guards headed downstairs while other personnel and intelligence officers headed for the stairs. Behind her, she heard an enormous cracking sound.
Hortense turned just to see the her whole lab get swallowed up. The floor cracked open like an eggshell. It splintered and fell away as debris rained down from the floor above. Dust and falling rubbish clouded the air. When it stopped and the dust settled there was just a doorway, leading to a pit full of slabs of metal and cement. It was too much. Too much noise. The heavy thundering of rocks sliding and hitting each other and people running and screaming. The crack of glass and the squeal of iron. The only thing louder was her own heartbeat which pounded furiously in her chest.
"Move people! Up the stairs!"
The Tesseract must have been reacting or something. Big nuclear explosion maybe. How the hell should she know!? She wasn't no freakin' scientist but, the whole building was in trouble. Large cracks ran along the walls as the doctors and agents raced to get out of the building, splintering and diverging just as they ran. The foundation was cracking. Dust fell and the lights flickered on and off teasingly. Everyone was running up the stairs, among the mob, Hortense could pick out 30 people in white coats. Her people. She was behind the large mob.
Then there was a scream from behind, just as she to got one foot on the stairs. Aloud ear piercing wail of someone in pain. Hortense stopped, doctoral instinct kicking in. she peered into the corridor, trying to discern something. It was too hazy to make out anything. the light was clouded and yellow with dust. She couldn't see a damn thing. The building rumbled again and she reached out, leaning against the wall. There wasn't any time. She couldn't help anyone. Suddenly those nine years of college felt very useless.
Her pocket move. Oh god, she had something alive in her pocket! Get it out! Get it out! Oh, wait. It was her cell phone.
"Shit!" she cried, flipping it open. "What?" she yelped. Worst time for a phone call ever. if it was her mom asking, begging her to come to dinner she was going to do something drastic.
"Grimani! Where are you?" came a familiar voice.
"Coulson! Man, am I glad to hear ya! What the hell is going on?"
"You need to get as far away as possible! We're-" static interrupted him. "Tesseract- compromised-"
"Coulson! I can't hear anything you sayin'!" Hortense hissed as she started running up the stairs, the deep rumbling getting louder. She coughed as the dusty air filled her lungs.
"Hawkeye- Selvig- door open- letting- Loki!" she could barely hear him over the clatter of ...well everything. Everything was crashing and tumbling and colliding. Everything was falling and making noise.
"No! You're loco! My lab caved in and the whole building is coming- aaaahh!"
Something heavy collided with Hortense. She lay on the stairs, pinned to it; She grasped the step in front of her and struggled to pull herself out from under it. But, her hands kept slipping. Oh god, please don't let it be a slab of rock! She didn't want to die in a stairwell with a gazillion tons of concrete and building on top of her. She didn't want to die of asphyxiation or paralysis or pressure or...fear. Her chest tightened as she attempted to calm herself down but, panic welled up in her. Her phone was in front of her, but out of reach. She could hear Coulson repeating her name. Then suddenly the pressure was gone and she heard a familiar voice.
"Dr. Grimani! Oh my god! I am so sorry! I just like totally ran you over! We were looking in the file room for the files you wanted and the floor started to shake and we tried to get out and it took a while because a cabinet had fallen in front of the door. We need to get out like, now!"
it was Jessica, the intern. It was a strange thought but, Hortense was pretty sure that was the most Jessica had ever said to her. In person. Hortense stared at her, not listening to her at all. No, she was totally mesmerized by the fact Jessica had just stepped on her phone. Wait, what was she saying? Oh, Jessica had fallen on her. Another hand supported her back as she stood up. It was the Newbie. He had collided with her as well. A chunk cement hadn't fallen on her. Just a couple of nervous fumbling interns. okay.
"So sorry again, Doctor! I didn't mean to-"
"Great! Lets go!" Hortense suggested as they endured another violent tremor.
"I think that's the best idea I've hear all day!"
good? bad? ugly?
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