Fic: Waiting At the Doctor's
author: Lucinda
rating: pg 13?
no Willow pairing
takes place during part 7 of FT9.
again, I own nobody from BtVS or Marvel. I do own Dr Hause & his staff.




I can't quite understand it. Xavier wanted to have his people find
Willow so she could help save Magneto. It doesn't make sense, but that's
what they said. Willow even believed them, at least partly. Which was how
they ended up talking her into flying off somewhere with them. Of course, I
had to go along, how else could I be certain that she was safe?

Plane trips are miserable, and small planes are worse.

But no, the misery didn't stop there. Alright, the shopping wasn't too
terrible, and I definitely could use a few new things. But then, the gaurds
wouldn't let her go into the prison to see Magneto. She was pissed about
that, but she didn't yell at the gaurd. She was practically growling on the
way back to the hotel though.

The worst was yet to come. Storm, the woman that called lightning, had
made Willow an appointment to go see Magneto's doctor. I found myself
worrying about all the things that could go wrong, and having a big feeling
that doctor was BAD. No explanation that I could think of, but I was sure
it was something from Before. No way in Hell that I was letting her go to a
doctor's without protection.

That was how I ended up in a waiting room with Red and Storm. There
were other people, smelling of pain and sickness in some cases. There were
even a few children, and someone with a little baby. I could smell the
antiseptic and the rubber gloves from here, even over all the people.

It was setting me on edge, and I had no idea why. Brief flicker of
almost memory: cold metal tables, bright white light, figure in a surgical
mask and coat bending over me... A sudden, sharp pain brought me back. I
had clenched my hand, and my claws had dug into the arm of the little chair,
splintering the wood and making some of the splinters dig into my hand and
fingers. Now the scent of my blood was added to the scents of antiseptic
and rubber gloves and sickness and pain. It didn't help any.

A woman in medical clothing the color blue rather than the faded green
that I was expecting called Red's name, and she stood up to go back there.
Something in me wanted to grab her and take her far away, certain that
there was a danger here...

"Relax. I'll be okay, just try to be calm." She leaned over towards
me, concerned for me. She patted my hand reassuringly and followed the
woman back.

Doesn't she realize how.... no. She doesn't see any danger in this.
She isn't afraid of seeing a doctor. She has no buried fears making her
nervous in this place. I'm here as well. She has to know that if anything
happened to her, if she needed any help at all, i'd be there for her, even
in this horrible place. I'm her back-up if she needs help.

I hate waiting. hate it hate it hate it.... I'm pacing now. Walking
along the wall, waiting as Willow is back there, in the depths of the
office. Everyone else is leaving, and she's not back yet. Did I mention
that I hate waiting?

Still pacing, waiting for Red to come back out. Or even for something
to happen, something that I can shred to get rid of some of this tension.
Maybe I'm not he only one nervous about being here. Something's bothering
Storm, I can smell her fear. She's sitting very still over there, got some
magazine in front of her. She hasn't turned a page in forever, I know she
isn't reading that. Is she still upset that I tried to kill her at the
train station? Held her up and almost choked her? hmmm most people would be
upset, yeah.

Red's not back yet. I'm getting really worried now, how long does it
take for whatever it is she's doing back there? They could be dragging her
off to do some sort of horrible experiments, horrible things where they
slice into her flesh, carve out her insides...

Wait, the door is opening now. She's there, she's alright. There's a
faint hint of blood, a small bit of tape holding a cotton ball on the inside
of her elbow. No scent of pain, no drugs.. she's safe.

"Hey. All finished her for now. The doctor drew a bit of blood to run
a few tests on, and he promised that someone would call with the results. We
can go now." She was smiling, the smile that says let's get out of here.

Best idea I've heard all day. Leave the horible place and go away from
it. Hmmm, maybe I can talk her into going out for steak somewhere? Just a
good thing that she came back out of there. Shadows of memory flickered in
his mind, the scent of antiseptic, the smell of fear and pain mixed with
drugs.. blurry figures in green clothing and white labcoats....

Shaking my head slightly to get rid of the bad memories, we step
outside, the hot sun light and absence of air conditioning almost like a
blow to the system. Nothing but the air, filled with scents of everything
around us. No antiseptic, or gloves... He was relaxing already.

end A Cat's Tale 8.