I do not own Spider-Man or any of the characters associated with the Marvel franchise, just my OC.
This fic is rated M for strong language, prescription drug abuse, violent themes, and eventual sexual content in later chapters– you have all been warned!
Luckily, the break had been clean, and after having the bones reset and bandaged tightly, Hayley was sent home from work. Her co-worker Gillian had graciously told Hayley that she would cover her day shifts for the next two days, as Nurse Cadence wanted Hayley to only return when she had fully rested. Hayley really couldn't afford to miss work but she hadn't had time off since she began working at Ravencroft over a year ago.
She reluctantly returned home to her apartment complex in down town New York. After loosing her parents when she was young, Hayley had been given to her Grandma, with the two of them living together until she passed away shortly after Hayley had started at Ravencroft. Although her Grandma's apartment was sparsely furnished and cheap to maintain, Hayley often struggled to pay rent but the landlord knew Grandma Carmichael, so kindly allowed Hayley to be late on her payments. After all, that girl had gone through enough in the eyes of the landlord.
After climbing five flights of stairs, due to the lift always being out of order, Hayley final reached her apartment. She stumbled to get the keys out of her bag with her injured left hand and arm. Eventually, after much cursing from Hayley, she managed to get her front door open and entered her quiet and bare home.
Now Hayley was truly alone.
Absentmindedly flicking on the television for some background noise, Hayley slowly removed her Ravencroft uniform coat before heading towards her small bathroom. Staring at her reflection, she carefully undid her hair trying not to aggravate her bandaged fingers. Showering was going to be difficult. The mirror had never been kind to Hayley; sure her favourite and must defining feature was her poker straight luxurious ginger hair, but that was about it. Hayley could only ever see the negatives in her appearance, feeling awkward in her own skin. Her build was around 5 foot 6 with long and willowy legs, but was on the lower end of a healthy weight for her age due to the constant medication she'd been on for twelve years.
Wetting a hand towel she washed away the crusted dry blood on her arm where the Goblin had struck her. Five angry half moon red marks now marred her wrist. At least these scars weren't the worst on Hayley's body and could be easily covered by makeup, unlike the others. Her eyes flicked to her bony shoulders were creamy skin was disturbed by an unnatural rouge that disappeared= from view down her back. The skin she could see looked tight and uncomfortable, peeling slightly. Hayley sighed, hating to dwell on such a painful memory. Instead she found a small plastic bag in a cabinet under the sink wrapping it around her broken fingers for protection. A cold shower would wash away today's events and the icky feeling left by Harry Osborn.
Once she was fully clean, Hayley wrapped a towel around her damp body, before walking to the kitchen to make a jam sandwich. The TV buzzed behind her with "Breaking NEWS!" causing her to turn and watch.
On the screen a large fire had broken out in a local factory, with the newsreader reporting the cause as an electrical malfunction. Some of the power in New York was still short-circuiting or failing thanks to Electro zapping electricity from the power station earlier that week. Apparently Spider-Man had yet to arrive on scene, the reporter was saying. He hadn't been seen since that night in the clock tower. Hayley looked away from the screen as a close up of the flames came into view. She hadn't liked fire, not since the loss of her parents.
The police never figured out how the fire had started.
They had received a call from a neighbour concerned about shouting and screaming coming from inside the house. Already on the polices' radar, the Carmichael home had various complaints and troubled reports regarding domestic violence.
On this particular chilly and blustery night, shortly after the first call, another was made reporting that a fire had broken out in the kitchen. Police had already been dispatched and arrived on scene along with two fire engines. The blaze was enormous. An orange haze could be seen inside the lower and upper floor of the family home. A smashed window allowed air to fuel the fire, flames licking up the outer walls, causing the house to be hidden behind a wall of combustion.
A girl, no younger than ten, was discovered in an upstairs room cowering in a wardrobe. She was trapped, unable to open door from the inside, with the unbearable heat scorching her tiny hands if she tried. The clever girl had put a jumper over her head to allow for ease in breathing and the smoky air to be slightly ventilated, but nothing could protect her back. She had curled up into a protective ball facing away from the doors. The child had suffered from deep partial thickness second-degree burns, fire fighters only able to locate her from the screaming.
Mr and Mrs Carmichael were found, bodies burnt black, surrounded by a pool of blood. Each had been shot in the head. No gun was ever located; with a smashed window and the back door wide open, the forensic and situational evidence pointed to a robbery gone wrong. However, due to the fire, it was undetermined whether or not any possessions had been taken. The case was still open but considered cold and unsolvable due to lack of leads - the killer had never been found.
Officer Stacy was never able to shrug a sense of uneasiness about the case. It was one that still plagued his mind, often running the evidence or lack of over and over, trying to discover a new angle. What kept him from disputing the deficient investigating with his ranking superior was thinking about how damaged that poor little girl already was. She would bare the physical and mental scars for the remainder of her life. He would never get the image of a fire fighter emerging from the flames, clutching a small child in his arms. Her back was exposed, displaying nasty boils and an unnatural red shade, shining like a beacon next to the pale complexion of her legs and face. The burns were an even darker red than her short ginger hair. They covered forty-five per cent of her fragile body. Small wisps of smoke rose from her damaged shoulders, with every cop unable to get the stench of burnt flesh from their nose for days. The girl was unusually quiet after her rescue with only a stream of tears displaying her discomfort.
All the young Officer Stacy could think of was how much she reminded him of his own little angel, Gwen. He took Gwen to visit the Carmichael child while she was recovering in the hospital burns ward. He didn't want to scare his little girl, but he wanted to teach her the importance of not judging others on their looks. Luckily his angel had taken it all in her stride, with Gwen and Hayley clicking straight away, becoming childhood friends. He was glad; after loosing everything so young, Hayley Carmichael could do with a friend.
Two days later, Hayley had received an urgent phone call in the afternoon from Ravencroft, needing her to take an evening shift. It was not her usual working hours because Hayley needed her sleep, especially since the medication she took made her drowsy. Hearing the desperation of the secretary on the phone, Hayley accepted the extra hours and hastily tried to get some rest before heading back to work.
"Where's Gillian today? I don't mind covering her shift since she covered mine, but it was a bit late notice," Hayley enquired.
It was midnight; the night shifts were only given to the most experienced nurses who had been at Ravencroft for over three years. The cells and endless dark corridors tended to frighten the young nurses, even some of the guards turned down extra shifts and money just to avoid working at night.
Cadence licked her lips hesitantly wondering how much of the situation Dr Scott would want Hayley to know. "She's resigned, hon," the older nurse muttered quickly "She wont be coming back".
"Resigned?"
"Resigned" Cadence stated in a clipped tone.
Hayley could tell the woman was not going to expand further on the matter.
Other than being wide awake at the stupid hours, the night shift was actually pretty easy, work wise in Hayley's mind. Only ten inmates required medication in the night, and the rest of the shift involved looking in on the patients through their cell windows. Evening behaviour was recorded manually on a table system by room number, noting down any uncommon sleep patterns, night terrors or drug reactions. Luckily for Hayley, Gillian had laid out the Night clipboard on her desk, along with ten white cups of pills. Now it was time to administer the drugs and visit every single cell in Ravencroft.
It was going to be a long night.
With clipboard in hand, pills and cups in a Tupperware container, Hayley made to exit the Nurse's station.
"By the way, Dr Scott wants you to visit Room 136 at 10am to do an initial behaviour assessment with the patient," Cadence called after her offhandedly.
"Sure… no problem." Hayley continued out the door, clutching her shift items closer to her chest, trying to get a grip on what she'd just be told. One word ran through her mind;
Shit.
Apart from corridors being sparse of doctors and the occasional mad ramblings of slumbering inmates, Hayley was having a very quiet and easy night shift. Her medicine dependant patients were prepared for their nightly visit, waiting expectantly for the pills that would allow them to sleep without nightmares. It surprised Hayley how easily and calmly they all took the pills. She was expecting refusal from at least one.
After finishing all the wings bar one, Hayley headed towards the West wing, a sense of foreboding filling her with dread.
Behind a coded locked barred gate, the entrance to the West wing, Hayley saw Colin, the longest employed guard at Ravencroft. Nothing could faze Colin; he had the biggest arms Hayley had ever seen, numerous tattoos decorating his skin, a slightly balding head, and a scar on his lip where an inmate had decided teeth would aid his escape – it did not. On first impressions, Colin looked like one intimidating guy, even like one of the prisoners, but he was a big bear at heart. At least with Hayley. Both originally from the United Kingdom, Colin had a soft spot for his fellow Londoner, plus she didn't seem to have many friends at Ravencroft.
Hayley saluted Colin, who she thought of as the bouncer of Ravencroft, while waiting for him to unlock the barred door between them.
"Evening, well, morning Colin! God, I can't believe it's three already! Just need to inspect the patients. How's it been?" Hayley conversed, happy to speak to a friend – apart from Colin, the night guards were not a conversational bunch.
"Alrigh' darlin'. Fancy seein' you 'ere. Been a quiet one, nah much happenin' 'part from earlier," Colin's gruff voice boomed in the long passage.
Hayley nodded, thinking he was referring to Gillian resigning. He pulled open the door, letting Hayley enter, before locking it behind her. They started walking together along the corridor, chatting mindlessly, stopping occasionally while Hayley noted down each cell occupants sleep activity.
They came to a stop outside Room 125, a previously vacant cell, now housing a new criminal, Aleksei Sytsevich. The man was awake, standing against the door, staring menacingly out the window. It made Hayley feel uneasy, but she jotted down his unsleeping state, making a note of possible insomnia with medication needed immediately. Colin shuffled next to the young nurse.
"Yeah, this one likes starin' thinks 'es a big shot!" said Colin, banging loudly on the glass making Sytsevich retreat back into his cell, "Freaks the fuck out of me, but 'e ain't goin' nowhere".
Hayley nodded, and they continued down the hall.
"By the way, where's that blonde chick, Gillian?"
"I thought you knew? She resigned today."
"Yeah, sniff, thought as much. Anyone would after that…"
"After what?" Hayley interrupted swiftly.
"Never you mind."
"It's really quiet tonight Colin, are you the only one in this wing? Where are Bill and Ernie?"
Colin looked uncomfortable under Hayley's questioning gaze, but he couldn't lie to her, well not fully anyway. "Given the night off, but both 'ave moved to North wing."
"When did that happen? You three were like the dream team of Ravencroft!"
"Today. 'N that's all I'm gona say on the matter," Colin stated a little forcefully. He was stressed, all of Ravencroft was on edge since Mr Osborn's arrival, but that was no excuse for his tone with Hayley. Besides, she hadn't been here for two days. She hadn't seen what had happened. Colin was about to apologise when a crackled voice came from the walkie-talkie on his belt.
"Big C, we got a 45 in progress in the North wing, requesting back up?"
"This Big C. On ma way. Over 'n out". With a final glance at Hayley that clearly said "Stay put!" Colin ran down the passage, leaving her alone and confused.
With only four rooms left on the chart on her clipboard, there was no way Hayley was going to stand around like a lemon. Colin could take forever. Whatever was happening on the north side of Ravencroft, it didn't sound good. Plus, what was the point in waiting when she was so close to finishing? Nothing was going to happen to her.
And nothing did. All four inmates were asleep and not displaying any noteworthy behaviour. Hayley smiled to herself, glad she could head back to the Nurse's station and get a quick nap before her usual shift started at 8am. Looking at her watch she was amazed to see it was 6am. Hayley was about to walk back when she realised that she was standing outside Room 134. Two cells away was Harry Osborn. Looking down at her clipboard, she was surprised to discover his cell had been missed off the list. Maybe someone had forgot to add it since he'd only just arrived.
Cautiously, Hayley stood outside his door, suddenly remembering that she had a session with him in four short hours. It was dark in his cell and she couldn't immediately locate him. Growing concerned, Hayley moved closer, putting her face almost flush against the glass window.
There he was, the green hued young man in all his glory, sitting on a chair staring at himself in a small dirty mirror, much like Hayley had earlier. She held her breath not wanting him to spot her spying. Harry seemed to be fully engrossed in looking over his altered appearance. His reflected eyes flickered up and down assessing the changes. He stopped when his eyes locked with the snooping girl reflected behind him. Hayley froze at being caught.
Smirking with one pointed eyebrow raised challengingly, Harry puckered his cracked lips and blew the nurse a kiss.
Backing away sharply from the window, Hayley ran back to the West wing entrance, already dreading their next meeting.
Huge HUGE thank you to my reviewers and all the follows and favourites, it makes my day! Hope you liked poor Hayley's back-story – tad obscure but all in good time.
You guys are awesome and I am excited to bring you more… and it is your lucky day! This is a double chapter update! Chapter 4 is waiting for you to read, literally buzzing to see what you think. I wrote it before this chapter, so I've been writing like crazy to finish Chap3. Continue on and read my lovelies, Chapter 4 awaits... as does Harry!