Dominion
"This entire floor is yours, doc." Gabriel said, leading her out of the elevator and onto basement level one. "Through this door ahead of us is the infirmary. Generally, this is where routine medical exams and other, simpler medical tasks are handled." He opened the door and gestured for her to enter. She stepped inside and glanced around. The room was mostly filled with beds – twenty, ten on each side – with curtains drawn back between them to be used for privacy. Each bed had its own set of equipment, and towards the back she saw a large desk and three doors. At least two of the doors were wide enough to wheel the beds through, so she imagined that there were operating rooms and the like through them. The room was empty of patients, but there were two others at the far side of the room that looked up when they entered.
"That's a lot of beds, Rey-err, Commander." She said, stumbling over the title as a woman bustled over to them. Maybe she should just call him Commander all the time, request be damned. It certainly would be less confusing and hard to keep track of. "How often do they get used?" The infirmary looked well kept; it was clean and orderly, but there were no patients for her to use to add to her assessment of the place.
"More often than we'd like, doc, that's for sure. Overwatch is a big organization, so people cycle through here all the time." He responded before looking towards the smiling red head standing before them. "Dr. Angela Ziegler, this is Dr. Gloria Freeman. Dr. Freeman, Dr. Ziegler is coming on as head of the medical division, with a specialty in medical research." He turned towards Angela. "Dr. Ziegler, Dr. Freeman is – err, was – in charge of the infirmary, to include everything between a check up to surgery. I would recommend that you keep her on as she is, at least until you are more acclimatized." Angela nodded and smiled towards the other woman, whose smile now appeared a bit forced. She was older than Angela, and in her experience that led to hostility and resentment, especially when an older doctor was usurped by a younger one.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Dr. Freeman. Do you think we can meet later today, once the Commander is done with me? I know I'll need to rely on your help in the coming days." She asked. Angela hoped to have a positive relationship with her new subordinates, but she wasn't dumb. Hopefully Dr. Freeman would at least be mature enough to work with her if she ended up disliking her new boss. That was really all Angela could ask for of anyone; she couldn't demand people to like her, but she could demand respect. After a few months her worth would shine through, and there shouldn't be too many problems. A private meeting would also help hash out problems now, before they emerged at a later, public time.
"Of course, Dr. Ziegler. I will be available in the infirmary at your convenience." Dr. Freeman responded respectfully – though Angela noticed that she was expected to go to the woman, rather than the other way around. She didn't care, though; let the older doctor win her pissing contest. It wouldn't change the fact that she was the head of medical now.
"I'll have her back to you soon, Dr. Freeman. I'm just giving her a quick tour around the facilities." Gabriel said, as he started forward towards one of the doors at the back. "I'll be out of your hair in no time." The redhead nodded and followed the pair, though she stopped at the desk with another young man. Angela smiled at him, but breezed past to the door set in the right wall.
"This is the infirmary main storage." He pushed the door open so she could see the large room filled with shelves of supplies, as well as locked cabinets and refrigerators for medicine and other specialty items. "There are other supplies stored elsewhere, but this should be sufficient for your day-to-day needs." He pulled the door shut and directed her towards the door on the wall across from them. On the other side was a small hallway with four sets of double doors.
"These are the operating rooms. We've never had to use all four at once so far, but they're to be fully prepped and ready to go at any moment. I'll let you tour those at your discretion later; I'm pretty sure I'll just offend you if I try to show you around it." She was pretty sure he was teasing – maybe trying to make her transition easier? – but he turned back into the main room before she could figure it out. Angela dutifully followed him as he pushed open the other oversized door at the back of the room. Yet another hallway – this one longer – greeted them. On the opposite wall there were six doors, as well as one door at either end of the hall.
"This hallway leads to a number of places. The doors on the opposite wall will lead into private patient rooms, for quarantine, critical care, or any other private needs." He told her, pulling one of the doors open for her to peer inside. She gazed around critically before turning to the taller man.
"Looks good, Reyes. Is six enough, though? As you've told me, Overwatch is a large organization – and apparently this is the main headquarters." All the equipment she had seen was state of the art, but the space allocated didn't seem quite… large enough for such a large and violent organization.
"You underestimate us, doc. The door on the left," he gestured but made no move towards it, "will take you to another section with ten more rooms, as well as a small kitchen where meals can be prepared to fit your patients' needs." He leaned against the wall casually as he angled his head down to talk to her. "I know it doesn't seem like much, but I assure you that it should be sufficient. We do have other bases of operations that injured agents can be taken to, should there truly be a need." He assured her.
"While I'm not so picky – or cocky – to assume that I am needed for all cases, from what I understand I am the head of the medical division. Am I also in control of these other locations – at least where the health of my patients are involved?" If that was the case, she was definitely in over her head.
"Zürich base is the head of all operations – medical included. Much of our triage is done outside of any headquarters, such as on the battlefield or in the back of Humvees. All other bases have medical wards – which, yes, you do control – but none are as large as Zürich's, and Zürich is not nearly as large as the hospital you come from." He glanced over towards her. "You forget, that while Overwatch is a large organization, it is not nearly as large as a city or metropolis, which requires intake sizes you are more used to."
Angela bit her lip as she thought. He was right, she knew – Overwatch wasn't that big, though it always seemed larger than life. They'd been around for years, and she had to believe they were at least slightly competent. She nodded, squaring her shoulders. She could do this; she could manage multiple infirmaries across the globe. Their intake couldn't be that high – this task wouldn't be nearly as hard as she feared.
"You're right. I'll adjust, I'm sure. It's all just… new." Angela admitted, turning to look at the door towards the right. "What's over there?"
"That will take you towards the research and analysis section. There's also a morgue – for body storage or autopsies – that way as well." He lifted one hand to rub the back of his head sheepishly. "I'll admit that I honestly have no idea where anything is over there, but Dr. Freeman will be able to help you – or find someone else that can." He directed her back inside the infirmary and towards the exit.
"I'll show you a few more points of interest, then I'll get you back to Dr. Freeman. By then the privates should have all your boxes in the right places." He'd made sure that, before he hustled her off to get her security clearance taken care of, all of her boxes were carefully labeled with where they should go.
"That sounds like a plan, Reyes." She said, as he pulled open the door to lead back to the elevator bay. He pressed a button to take them back upstairs, before pointing down the hallway.
"Before I forget; this hallway also leads to the research department, as well as your office and the kitchen." The elevator door slid open quietly and they stepped inside. "There's also access to an underground garage, so that patients coming in via ground vehicles can be seen quickly. This elevator also leads to the roof and, as you may have noticed, the elevators will fit a bed in the case that a helicopter comes in with wounded. There's an override here," he pointed to a key slot, "that will force the elevator to any floor you require, should you need it. Dr. Freeman should know where the key is." Angela nodded as the doors shut and Gabriel pressed the button for floor 3.
"I imagine I'll find my way around eventually, but is there a map somewhere?" She asked, bracing herself against the wall as it shifted upwards. He laughed, and she found herself smiling even though she was mildly exasperated.
"Somewhere, I'm sure." His tone suddenly took a turn for the serious, a stark juxtaposition against his previous demeanor. "We try not to have those laying around, just in case." Angela stared at him, suddenly chilled.
"Is it really so dangerous here?" She asked softly. Angela hadn't imagined she was traveling anywhere unsafe; this was Overwatch after all. They were heroes and soldiers, and that should make it safe, wouldn't it?
"It's not dangerous, per se. It's just, this base is the head of operations, right?" Angela nodded in agreement. "Most people, most organizations – good and bad – know where we are; transparency and all that." That was certainly true; even she had known that Overwatch was in Zürich, though she hadn't known it was the head of everything. "Many other major bases also are known, as well as most of our ecopoints, though most of our field offices manage to run mostly under the radar. We're just careful, since we have so many enemies standing against us." The door slid open and he stepped out and looked back towards her. "We probably are being overly cautious, but it's safer than the alternative." She nodded and stepped out after him.
They were silent as he led her through the halls. She hadn't expected that working with Overwatch would be terribly dangerous, though she supposed it made sense. Her own hospital had protocols for shooters and bombs – but then again you could get a map there. For an organization such as Overwatch, which opposed terrorists and inequality wherever it could, it only made sense that it would be that much more dangerous than her old stomping grounds.
She tried to keep track of their path, but she knew that it would take more than one trip to figure it out. People stepped out of their way as they walked, nodding respectfully towards Gabriel and staring unabashedly at the young blonde following at his heels. She ignored them; soon enough they should be used to her.
"This is the administrative canteen." Gabriel said, breaking the silence and leading her into yet another room, this one filled with tables and chairs. "You can eat at any hour – Overwatch never sleeps, or so it seems – but they serve meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a set schedule." She noticed that there were a few agents in uniform sitting among lab coats and suits.
"I thought you said this was an administrative canteen?" She asked, and he followed her gaze towards the agents.
"Well, it is unofficially. Honestly, no one cares where anyone eats. If you're closer to the barracks canteen when you need to eat, you can eat there and no one will stop you." He glanced back over to her. "It's mostly to help spread the burden of feeding everyone across two canteens, rather than one." He opened his mouth to speak, probably to give her even more information about her new home, when a shout interrupted him.
"Commander Reyes!" A man called out towards the man at her side, and they both turned to watch a young man rush over to them. Once he was closer, he saluted the man.
"At ease, private. What do you need?" Gabriel was all business as he turned away from the young doctor at his side to focus on the man before him. Angela looked around the canteen, noticing eyes on them – some from the mans' shout, others looking at the curious new addition at their Commanders' side – while trying to ignore the conversation happening less than three feet to her left with no success.
"It's Commander Morrison, sir. He needs you in the command center, right away." Gabriel sighed, but nodded anyway and turned back to her.
"Sorry doc, but it looks like we're cutting this tour short. The private here," he glanced back at the man still waiting, "will take you back down to the infirmary. I'll make sure someone shows you your quarters before it gets too late." He turned back to the man who had brought Jacks' order. "Private, get the doctor back to the infirmary, then report back to command for further orders." He glanced briefly back at Angela. "I'm sure I'll see you later, doctor." With that, he strode quickly out of the room towards, presumably, wherever command was. Angela turned towards the private.
"Well, shall we?"
The meeting with Gloria Freeman went about how she expected, but they managed to come to an understanding – mostly because Angela laid all her cards on the table. Proving her worth – mainly by name dropping her own creation – went a long way in proving to Dr. Freeman that Angela knew what she was doing.
Now she was reviewing lists at Gloria's desk; she wasn't certain where, exactly, her office was – though Gabriel had mentioned it earlier in her tour – so she had commandeered this one. Gloria only had access to the Zürich bases' medical personnel files, so she was reviewing those. She didn't have the researchers or the data on anyone else under her command outside of Zürich, but it was a good start. She'd ask Gabriel about getting the rest of the information she needed the next time she saw him. She was sure it was available to her, but she didn't know where to look.
With the list of personnel, she also had her own lists that she was writing for herself. She needed to call meetings – but god did she hate meetings – with all of her new subordinates; speak to the Commanders about getting her assistants, because she knew she was going to need them; and she needed to find new research projects for her newly assigned team, because that's what she was hired to do originally.
"How's your first day going?" Angela looked up from her lists to spy Jack hovering in her – well, Gloria's – doorway. His hair looked like he'd been running his fingers through it, probably from stress. Many of her patients' families had the same look from the exact same thing.
"It wasn't too terrible, all things considered." Angela responded, setting her pen down and leaning her elbows on the desk. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Commander?" She hadn't expected to be visited by him, what with the way they had butted heads originally.
"I can't come check on you on your first day?" He asked, leaning in the doorframe. She smiled wanly. Just because they didn't start off on the right foot didn't mean they couldn't be amicable – which was the same thing she'd requested of Gloria.
"Of course you can, Commander." She replied smoothly, rising from the seat to stretch. "I just didn't expect to see you. I thought you were busy with Commander Reyes." Which was also true; while she wasn't quite certain what time it was, she had expected them to be sequestered away for much longer. Then again, she had no idea how they worked yet and couldn't estimate these things. He just seemed the type of man to stick to it until the plans were done.
"I was. We've taken a break and I thought I'd make sure you were settling in well. Have you eaten?" Of course she hadn't eaten, not that he could know that. When she worked she lost track of the world around her, single-mindedly focusing on the task at hand, sometimes skipping several meals before coming up for air. It was a trait many doctors possessed, due to their long hours, but she used it to work on anything – research, administrative nonsense, and medical procedures. She'd put her mind to her lists – most importantly the research projects that she wanted to get started – and lost track of time, as usual.
"Not yet. I've been working." She responded, scooping up her papers from Gloria's desk. She didn't want to carry them around, but she wasn't leaving them in this office. "Do you know where my office might be? I just took this one." It was a perfectly rational question, but it sounded stupid to her ears. This was her division – everything on the floor was hers – and she had no idea where anything was outside the infirmary. She knew it was foolish to feel that way – it was only her first day – but it still made her feel dumb.
"Of course. I'll show you." She grabbed the personnel files while she was at it and followed the blonde out of the infirmary. "It's just down this hall here." He led her away from the elevator bay and down the hall she hadn't yet explored. To be fair, she hadn't explored anything but Gloria's office. He pulled open a door and gestured inside. "Here we are." Huh, it wasn't even that far away. "We made sure to assign you near the infirmary, in case you were needed for any kind of emergency." Which made sense; a research project usually didn't end up as an emergency, though an infirmary always had them.
"Thanks." She said, stepping past him and into the room. It was spacious and boasted two desks, one against the back wall and a second towards the middle with a monitor. An office chair sat in the middle and three filing cabinets lined another wall. The final touch was the couch against the wall with the door; she noticed it was large enough to sleep on, should she need it. She expected she would. "It's perfect, thank you." And it was. This room would work perfectly for her. It had everything she needed to get started, aside from a cork board – but that was easily remedied. She set the files into one of the filing cabinets and sealed it. "Are there keys? I've gotten the elevator one from Gloria, but I imagine that's just the beginning." She was going to need to get a key ring.
"They should all be in the top drawer of that desk there." Angela opened the indicated drawer and found a small key ring holding the four keys to this office – one for the door and three for the cabinets. She tucked them into her coat pocket with the elevator key. She glanced around and spotted a clock above the door, which read that it was nearly ten at night. Had it really been that long? She hadn't gotten anything unpacked!
"Is that really the time?" She gasped. Jack glanced up at the clock and then chucked.
"Yeah, it's a bit late. When I'd heard no one had seen you since you'd been led away from the canteen, I figured you had hidden yourself away somewhere." She bristled at his words. Had he thought she was hiding? She had been planning out her work here, and he thought she was cowering in some corner like a child!
"I wasn't hiding. I was planning." He opened his mouth, but she waved away his words. She was sure he didn't mean to offend her, it just happened that way. "More importantly, I need to meet with my staff. I need to plan meetings; how do I do that and where?"
"You'll need your computer there. Your login information is under the keyboard, but you'll have to change the password once you've entered it, security protocols and all." She nodded and found the scrap and logged in. Once in, he directed her to open her email. "All of your staff are in here, sorted by medical and research staff. Some will be in both sections, as you are, but most belong to one or the other. Just choose the ones you need and send them an email with whatever you want them to do. There's a meeting room on the second floor that you can use." Angela bit her lip and thought out loud.
"I can't leave the infirmary unstaffed, so I'll have to leave Gloria out – but that should be fine since I've already talked to her." She checked all the medical staff, excluding Gloria, and sent them an email to meet her in, "What's that room number?" room 217 at ten tomorrow morning. Then she sent a quick email to Gloria herself, explaining what, exactly, was going on so that she didn't feel ostracized. She repeated the same steps with her research staff, only moving the meeting to noon. "Done." She leaned back in the chair. Jack coughed politely, grabbing her attention.
"Sorry, Commander. I didn't mean to ignore you." While she wasn't necessarily sorry for doing her job, it seemed the polite thing to do when he'd come all this way to see her.
"Not a problem. I've only got a little time left before I need to get back; do you want me to take you back up to the canteen so you can eat?" He offered.
"I'll probably get lost on my way back, and I don't even know where my room is." She admitted after a moments thought. Food did sound like a great idea – she hadn't eaten that day aside from some snack on the plane – but she honestly had no idea what she'd do after that.
"We'll have to fix that, won't we? Come on, I'll take you up." He told her, and walked away with the expectation that she'd follow. She darted after him, almost forgetting to lock up behind her. By the time she caught up he'd already called an elevator. They stepped into the elevator in silence, and she leaned against the wall.
"What are you all planning, anyway?" Jack glanced sharply at her, but she put up her hands defensively. "I'm not looking for battle strategies or anything, but you said I was the final say on who is and is not fit to go into the field. If you're planning on sending anyone out, you have to run it by me." She raised one eyebrow at the man, daring him to contradict her. He huffed out a sigh.
"Gabriel was right; we definitely need someone like you around." He admitted, turning back to the elevator doors. "I'll have Ana – Captain Amari – bring you their files and a location tomorrow for your review, say around three? I know you have meetings – and you should really eat at some point tomorrow." The doors slid open and they walked out.
"That should be acceptable, Commander. I'll keep an eye out for her." She followed a step behind him. "Will I get to sit in on your meetings as the medical director, or will one of you just come to me with a list of names and locations?" While it would work in the interim, she couldn't see it being sustainable. While they would be knowledgeable of their skills in battle, she would be able to – albeit tentatively – allow or disapprove anyone for missions without all the running around. It would save everyone a lot of time in the long run. Jack looked at her appraisingly.
"We'll see doctor."
"Your room is on the eighth floor. We wanted to put you closer to the infirmary, but we didn't have any rooms available closer than that." Jack told her as he led her back out of the canteen. Up they went to the eighth floor, where he took an immediate right. After a short period of walking, he stopped at a door. "You'll have to swipe your card to get in – so don't forget it inside." She obliged him by swiping her card and letting the two of them in.
Against the walls were her boxes – except for the ones needed on the medical floor. She had to admit that the room – or rather, rooms – were bigger than she had expected. There were only what appeared to be three rooms. She had an area where she could receive guests, a bedroom, and a bathroom. It was plenty of room for the furniture she had without being too tight.
"Are you sure this is my room? It's rather large." She'd expected a dorm-style room with just a bed and bathroom – if she was lucky to not have to use a community bathroom.
"Any major players in Overwatch – and believe me when I say that the head of the entire medical division is a major player – gets rooms like these on the eighth floor. They're not luxurious by any means, but they're comfortable and give you your own space away from everything else." Well, when he put it that way it seemed rather obvious, didn't it?
"I have to go – they're probably wondering where I've gotten off to. Get some rest, doctor. You're going to need it." Jack made for the door.
"Thank you for your help Commander – and good night."