Several minutes later, Tara was entering the humongous lab that Dr Lipsky called his own. She was the best assistant ever! Not only did she get a fresh donut from the gossipy fryer that was on a plate and everything to keep the sprinkles around, she'd also been present for a fresh brew of coffee! She was so lucky, and her boss would be so happy. Like, maybe she'd already get a promotion to senior lab assistant!
"Dr Lipsky~ I got your donut and coffee~" she sing-songed, skipping over to where the loud bangs were emanating from. Sure enough, the doctor was messing around with the empty robot, tinkering with some of its innards and trying to reconnect servos.
"Hm?" He looked up, confused. "Coffee and do-.. OH! Right. You." Dr Lipsky sounded very unenthused. The coffee was clearly needed! His face turned grumbly as he wiggled his fingers towards her and said, "Well?"
"Right!" Tara handed over the coffee first. He chug chug chugged it in one breath. She knew she was right! The coffee was definitely a must. Another waggle of fingers saw her flourishing the donut.
"Hm? What's this?" He made a face as he picked the kind-of-sprinkly donut up. "Nonono, this is all wrong!" He threw her Donut of Perseverance on the ground and stomped on it. "I wanted a chocolate donut! Covered in chocolate! Not a chocolate-chocolate donut!"
Tara looked down at the donut that she had worked so hard to get. She looked back up at him, her face twisting.
"What… What are you doing?" he said, eyebrows knitting together.
"I…" She choked a little, sadness filling her like a sad thing."I tried really hard…"
Drew cringed away. "Just… Stop! Stop being all… Nnngh…"
Tears began to build. "I just…"
"Nnnngh… Fine! Watch!" He made a show of picking the donut off the floor and taking a bite. He made a face then spit it out. "Bah! It tastes like boot!" She gave a couple of weak laughs, but it didn't stop the tears from flowing. He threw the donut back on the floor and stomped on it more. "Stupid donut!"
Now she was crying full-on. "I tried really hard to be a good assistant!"
Dr Lipsky's eyes darted around before settling back on her. Cringing, he said, "And you, er, are a good assistant!"
She sniffled. "Really?"
"Erm, ah, yes! Really!" He seemed more confident in his words, clearly meaning that he meant them. He brightened like he'd had a brainflash. "In fact, I have an important assignment for you!"
"Like what?" Tara shuddered a little as she got her crying under control, tears beginning to dry up.
"Like… Ah…" He narrowed his eyes, judging her suddenly. "You know how literary citations go?"
"AIP, ACS, or MLA?" she asked, wiping her face more. She hoped it wasn't MLA. That one was super hard to get right.
He tilted his head, confused. "Uhm, erm, ACS. I need the highlighted areas noted on a sheet of paper."
More stuff! Cool! Her tears forgotten, she enthusiastically said through the remnant of sniffles, "Can do!"
"..-and they laughed. Oh, they laughed! But they certainly didn't laugh when my new Bebes kidnapped them." Dr Lipsky paused clipping one of his plants as he was remembering his first encounter with Dr Possible and his former posse after college. "Okay, they did laugh. Not at the Bebes, though!"
"Are those Bebes the same ones that Dr Porter used as a template to help build Oliver and her other projects, Dr Lipsky?" Tara asked, looking up from the newest set of research papers that she was looking through for relevancy.
"Nnnnngh, stop calling me Dr Lipsky!" The blue man put the tools that he'd been using to work on his plant down and turned towards the bent table Tara was seated at. "I've had you as my assistant for how long?"
"Uh…" Tara stared, thinking hard about the last several days of whirlwind research that the doctor had set her on. "...ten days."
"Ten whole days! Ten! And you haven't come up with a nickname at all?" Dr Drew tensed his hands in front of him all dramatic-like. "I'd be just as well off programming a robot to do what you do!"
"A robot can look at research papers and find stuff related to what you're looking for?" she asked, excited. Wow! A robot with that kind of 'thinking' power would be really cool to see!
"Uhm…" He made the noise that she was starting to understand was him hitting a mental roadblock. Slumping, the doctor said, "No, no it can't. But one will! Eventually! One that won't become a homicidal maniac the second I turn it on!"
Cackling, he raised his hands up and Tara swore she heard thunder. Or the vents turning on. Either way, the ambiance was 8/10 for going along with his laugh.
Dr Lipksy lowered his hands and waved one around. "Now, coming up with a processor like that… I once created a son for myself, but that was a lucky break. I…" He looked a little sad, then his head shot up. "Wait. What were we talking about?"
Son... That was clicking a memory, but Tara couldn't quite think of it. "Nicknames?"
"Right! Nicknames!" Drew waggled a finger at her. "You need to come up with one, missy, if we're going to keep working together!"
"Oh! Is mine Missy?" Tara asked. The only nickname she'd had was T, from Bonnie, so another one could be pretty fun! It'd be like a secret buddy sort of thing.
"Yeah, sure, you'll be Missy. Because I definitely remember your name," he said, clearly having forgotten her name. But that was okay! It'd only been ten days, and she already had a nickname at least!
This left her with a minor problem, though. She tilted her head and queried, "What should I call you? Doctor Drew?"
"I don't know!" he said, exasperated. "Just… Doctor Lipsky… I like the 'doctor' part, but, erm, Lipsky…"
"Then what about Doctor Drakken?"
"BAH!" He made a spitting motion and declared, "Doctor Drakken is gone! I'm not him anymore. Doctor Drakken was a loser. I'M a WINNER!"
Tara didn't understand what difference a name made. Wasn't he him? What did it matter what he called himself? But it must've made some sense, or else he wouldn't be trying so hard to not be Doctor Drakken.
"Okay! I'll think of something really good," the blonde said excitedly. It just meant that she'd have a challenge in front of her!
"Well, whatever it is, I think-.."
They were interrupted by Tara's phone buzzing. They both knew what that meant!
"Coffee break~" she sing-songed, jumping up from her seat.
The doctor clasped his hands excitedly. "Oh! Make sure to get me-.."
"A chocolate-covered donut with sprinkles," they both said at the same time. Tara continued, "For sure!"
He, like always, giggled as she left the room. She was super glad they'd established the coffee break a few days ago. It really helped to break the day up and keep them energized.
She'd barely started to walk down the hallway when a familiar female voice called out, "Heya Tara!"
"Vivian!" One big happy family, she reminded herself. No fangirling. She'd slipped up yesterday and went starry-eyed at Dr Porter. Her reaction to it was definitely not positive. So! They're sisters now! Definitely not a fangirl and her idol. Nope. Not at all. She waved at the other woman, who was walking from the direction of the cafeteria, and said, "It's coffee break time."
"Same here," the tanned blonde observed. "We're both pretty needy for coffee."
"'We'?" Tara finally noticed that just behind Vivian was a short-haired brunette. Moderate build, kinda like Kim but with a larger bust, with a GJ uniform and an eyepatch over her right eye. Ouchy! Wonder what happened to make her need an eyepatch?
"Vivian's told me a bit about you," the woman said. Holding her hand out, she introduced herself. "Hello. I'm Doctor Director. I'm the head of Global Justice."
"Global Justice?"
The two other women exchanged glances. Dr Porter noted, "Global Justice is nicknamed GJ, as in the initials."
"Ohhhhh, that makes sense!" Tara was surprised that she'd missed that. It was pretty obvious!
The brunette chuckled. "Just like Vivian described…"
"What does that mean?" the younger blonde said with puffed cheeks. That almost never meant anything good.
"That you are a very bright young woman who will contribute a lot to her field once she gets some experience," Dr Director smoothed over.
Tara beamed. "Aww, thanks Vivian!"
"No problem, kiddo," Vivian said, smiling and looking at Dr Director. It was a weird look, like what Tara's mom and dad did whenever they did something particularly sneaky. But what was so sneaky about this?
"How is Drew doing?" The question from the brunette was so straightforward and serious-sounding that it caught Tara off-guard.
"I, ah, the doctor wants a donut," she replied dumbly. "He always wants a donut with his coffee."
Vivian stifled a chuckle while Dr Director shook her head. "I meant how he's doing overall. He was pretty shaky there with Shego being gone."
Shego? Hm. She was his former assistant, wasn't she? The mean green woman that Kim sometimes talked about? Oh well, it didn't matter. "He doesn't seem to really be bothered by it."
Both womens' eyebrows rose. Looking between themselves, Vivian asked with disbelief, "Really?"
"Really! Like, I haven't heard anything about her."
"That's…"
"Good?" Tara supplied.
"Worrying." Vivian's concern was echoed on Dr Director's face.
"Why would you be worried that he hasn't talked about her much? Isn't that good, that a bad influence is out of his life?" The younger blonde was well and truly confused. She knew enough about Shego from Kim to know that she was mean. Like, really mean. Why would they want Doctor Drew to think about her?
"Shego is bad, that much is true," Dr Director agreed, "but she was also a balancing factor in his life. They were partners for over 5 years. When you're with someone that long, they leave a mark in your life." She sighed. "We'd been hoping that him going back to his civilian identity would convince her to do the same…
"Doctor Lipsky is at a delicate point in his life. He's trying to transition from being the villainous Doctor Drakken to being the intelligent but far more normal Doctor Drew Lipsky. He's currently stuck between his two identities, so to say."
"Oh, like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?" Tara loved that story!
"Not quite. It's more of a good vs bad sort of thing, not any sort of real monster or evil involved…" Dr Director shook her head. "If only Shego had come with for the transition… We'd predicted that it would have been a smooth experience, for both of them. With her having left, however, so has a pillar of his life. Him not even mentioning her to you after even one day, let alone ten, means that he's not dealing with it. And Doctor Lipsky has already refused psychiatric help."
"He's seemed pretty normal to me, if eccentric," Tara shrugged. "Why would he need a quack?"
"Tara! I'd expect better from you!" Vivian scolded. "'Quack'? That's demeaning to the profession!"
"But…!" The assistant pouted. "But Bonnie said-.."
"I think Bonnie is as bad of an influence on you as Shego was on Drew! Especially from the other things I've heard about her."
The younger blonde gasped. "How could you say something like that about Bonnie?!"
"Your friend isn't as nice as you seem to think," Dr Director said. When Tara tilted her head, the older woman supplied, "We've been keeping tabs on Miss Bonnie Rockwaller, now Bonnie Senior-.."
A harder, even worse gasp left Tara. "Bonnie got married and didn't invite me?!"
"That's the kind of friend your 'friend' is," Vivian scoffed, waving a hand in dismissal.
"Yes she did," Dr Director said. She gave Tara a critical eye. "I'm guessing you two were great friends."
Tara felt a little part of her heart tear. "I… I thought we were…"
"Then maybe you feel a little like how Drew felt with Shego! Do you think you could just get over it easy, even with Bonnie being 'bad'?" Vivian asked with more hostility than Tara had ever expected to get from her idol. Was her comment about psychiatry really that bad?
"I'm… I'm sorry about calling psychiatrists quacks…" Tara said as she choked down tears, trying to ignore the piece inside of her that was bleeding. "Just, Bonnie always told me that they make their money on people too weak to handle their own stuff."
"That sort of misconception is what drives people that really need help away!" Dr Porter grumbled. "My cousin, Electra, SHE needed help and didn't go for any until after she was reverse polarized!"
"Reverse whatnow?"
"Irrelevant to the conversation, and getting off track," Dr Director admonished. Vivian snorted and turned away. "The point is that Doctor Lipsky needs help and isn't getting any, or letting himself work through losing his partner."
"So… He's stewing like poison on it?" Tara asked, trying to process the idea that was being presented to her.
"Something like that," the brunette agreed.
"Okay… I think that makes sense."
"Please, keep an eye out for it he starts to display… Worrying behavior. Let myself or another operative know if you have any concerns regarding Doctor Lipsky," Dr Director requested before turning and leading her companion down the hall from the lunchroom.
"Like I was saying, Betty, I think that…" Vivian's still-heated voice trailed off down the hall, barely audible but still clear enough to hear.
Tara would need to apologize more to Vivian later. It felt like she'd had a family row with her, arguing something small and dumb. As for Doctor Drew… Stuck between his two identities… Huh. Like Bonnie and her Queen B persona which, it sounds like, won out... Tara was the only one that really got to see her with her armor off and just be B...
...OH! That gave her a great idea for a nickname!
"Here's your coffee!"
"No donut?" her boss grumbled.
"Terrence is out with a virus," Tara noted, still trying to ignore the sting the news about Bonnie had given her. The day before, someone had tried to get one of the kitchen staff to work when they were sick, the entire lunchroom ended up covered in pizza dough!
"Oh." He slumped, arms crossing. "Hmph! Stupid machines getting sick…"
"OH!" She knew he'd be excited about this. "I came up with a nickname while I was in the lunchroom!"
"Really?" The curiosity in his voice bolstered her.
"Yeah!" Tara cleared her throat and declared, "Your new nickname is 'Doctor D'."
He looked stunned. "Doctor… D…?"
"Yup!" Now whispering, she shared, "It's 'cause you wanna be Doctor Drew Lipsky but you're used to being Doctor Drakken. Doctor D, because of Drew AND Drakken!" She waited on feedback, beaming at her cleverness. After a few moments of silence, the assistant looked at her boss and found a surprise.
His eyes were slightly misted over, like he was holding back tears. Why would he be tearing up? Was her nickname really that bad? She couldn't make him cry! It wasn't nice!
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings at al-.."
"It's fine," he said, voice cracking. "I, erm…" Wiping his face on his sleeves, he sniffled and turned away. "Doctor D is fine. Just… Nostalgic."
"Okay…" She wasn't sure if he was being honest or not. He seemed almost heartbroken! But before she could quiz him on it, he began marching back over to the walker.
"Follow me." Doctor D said it roughly, his throat still tight.
Huh? "But what about these papers? I thought yo-.."
"I said follow me." Ohhh, scary voice. She hit a nerve somehow. With a name? Obediently she followed him, not daring to say anything else.
She hadn't seen the walker since her interview. Now it was far emptier than it had been before. One of the legs was completely dismantled, the pieces laying around under the joint in its separate parts. The innards of the main body were opened up now and a variety of wires were hanging out. He took a bundle of them in his teeny hands and began to examine them. She stood awkwardly, waiting for him to give her any instructions.
Minutes passed. Tara fought the urge to shift from one foot to the other, a little afraid of making him more upset. What did she do wrong? How did she upset him like that? Was that was his mother called him? Or was it a mocking nickname? Just as she was about to give in and start swaying on the spot, he broke the silence.
"It made me think of something… Someone that used to call me that. My old-.." He choked again, gulping down more sadness than Tara thought was healthy. "Anyway, you can go ahead and call me that if you want. I need to get over that kind of, of sentimental rubbish."
Now that Dr Director had brought it up, his comment sounded a lot more sinister and bad than it would have before.
"Okay, Doctor D," Tara said cautiously. He flinched, but nodded sternly at the nickname. He seemed to accept it even with how painful it was. But why did it feel like such a bad idea?
Tara sat in her room at her parent's house. She was staring at her phone. Displayed on the screen was the contact info for Bonnie Rockwaller.
Not Bonnie Rockwaller anymore. Bonnie Senior, if that agent lady was to be believed. Again, that little piece of her heart that loved her best friend friend-like felt like there was some bleeding. Why didn't Bonnie tell her any of this? Or invite her at all? Maybe it was a quickie wedding. After all, Tara hadn't heard anything about a fancy wedding, and Bonnie would definitely have one! All snazzy and fun, maybe with a famous singer as the entertainment.
...that didn't mean much. Tara wasn't really keeping a pulse on social events anymore, B and high school food chains being her only real reason to keep in touch with that side of her life.
This could be really, really bad. Like, Bonnie dresses-her-down-before-discarding-her bad.
...it wasn't healthy to let the poison stew. Better to bite the bullet.
She hit 'call'. The grip she had on her phone tightened as the phone rang. And rang. And rang. Eventually it clicked and a familiar voice stated, "This is the cell phone of Bonita Senior." She sounded so pleased. And Bonita? Why didn't Bonnie tell her that her name was a nickname?
"Like, leave a message and if you aren't a loser I might call you back," the crisp snappy voice of her maybe former best friend clipped out. A moment later the line beeped. Tara took a deep breath.
"B? It's T…"
A/N: For some reason I feel like this is a substandard chapter... Maybe I did the chapter breaks in the wrong spots? Ah well.
