DISCLAIMER: This fanfiction will follow its own timeline, however, I've tried to stick to the movie timeline as much as possible. It must be noted that this story is rated M as there will be some explicit content mentioned later in the story (depictions of sexual intimacy, and also mentions of rape and abuse) but forewarnings will be provided at the beginning of the respective chapter.
It must be noted that I don't own any of the Marvel characters or anything affiliated with the Marvel Universe. However, all OC and original content have been created by me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
"The One with The List"
"You made a pros and cons list, didn't you?!" Sophia tried her best to whisper the accusation at Lilah, but it was all in vain as the surrounding nurses turned to look at them; their interest peaked. Lilah and Sophia were standing in the middle of the hospital emergency reception block. Lilah shushed and herded her into the staff room in a desperate effort to keep Sophia's voice down and get her away from wandering ears. Once the door was closed behind her, Sophia didn't nothing short of pounce on Lilah and began shoving her hands into every one of Lilah's pockets she could get into, "What are you doing?!" Lilah yelped in playful retaliation while trying to get Sophia's prying fingers out of the way. "Where is it, Lilah? Come on! Lemme see it!" Sophia begged as she rifled through the papers in Lilah's front coat pocket, "I don't know what you're talking about, Soph," Lilah said. Now squirming even more as Sophia fed her palms into Lilah's back jeans pockets and, while continuing her search, proceeded to pinch Lilah's butt cheeks. Lilah squealed and lurched forward with an "Ow!" right into Sophia's chest. As Sophia held onto Lilah, she stopped her search and grinned at her friend, "Ahhh... and what do we have here, Ms. Rory Gilmore" she said, looking down at Lilah's coat breast pocket. Moving as fast as lightning, Sophia reached in and grabbed the paper that was now poking out the top of the pocket. Not bothering to fight Sophia anymore, Lilah just rolled her eyes and allowed her friend to take the paper from her pocket.
A look of triumph and greed grew across Sophia's face as she waved the folded cube of paper in front of Lilah. But then, as she continued her wave of victory, she became conscious of the size of the folded paper, and slowly started blubbering with laughter, "Look at this thing! You folded it into a size of a matchbox!" She spluttered between laughs, "What did you think? That no one would find it the smaller you folded it?!" Lilah snorted in response, "Shut up," she insisted, plonking herself onto the staff room sofa, submitting herself to the incoming embarrassment that was on the list. But honestly, there was no one else she would rather discuss this with.
Sophia unfolded the list and started pacing up and down in front of Lilah. Nodding and humming as she considered the points on the list. Stopping only to ask the occasional question, Sophia agreed with most of Lilah's points. Lilah's arguments about her opportunity to work with specialists and other medical professionals from the field dominated most of the list. Taking this job required serious thought and Sophia understood Lilah's hesitation, but it was the last points on each side of the list that grabbed Sophia's attention. "Question," She said, stopping in front of Lilah with her notorious cheeky grin, "I noticed that you put James' name under both the pro and the con side of the list," she said with a little wiggle of her hips, "care to elaborate on that …?" Sophia tapped her fingers together and while it may have looked playful, it looked like she was hatching an evil plan. Once again, Lilah rolled her eyes but paused for a breath and answered with a smile, "Yes! Fine! You wanna hear me say it out loud?" she threw up her hands in defeat, "Of course, it would be great to see him, but at the same time, it's really complicated, Sophia! You know that! It would just …" Lilah got up from the sofa with a huff and stood in front of Sophia, "I am scared that it will just bring back everything," She took the paper from Sophia's hand and reviewed it for the hundredth time, "that's why I added him to the con side as well," she said with a grumble, her voice barely audible now. "Just talking about him with Steve brought up all of these memories and feelings, things I thought I was ready to let go of, but clearly …" Lilah's voice trailed off. A smidge taller than her friend, Sophia tilted her head down to look at Lilah as she grappled internally with this debate, "I'm sorry, my Sweets" she offered with a hug, "What can I do to help you make this decision?" Sophia asked as she released Lilah from the hug. Staring at the list between them, Sophia watched as Lilah took a careful look at her words on the page and then proceeded to rip it up, "What? Why!?" Sophia exclaimed, watching Lilah walk over to the bin and dispose of the confetti. As Lilah watched the pieces leave her hand, she smiled gently, "Because I already made my decision," turning on her heel back to Sophia, "I'm going to do it."
Leaving the confines of the staff room, Lilah went on to explain that while she had initially written the list before her meeting with Steve, it was good to see everything on a piece of paper and it helped her clear her mind before seeing Steve. At her meeting with Steve, he had assured her that while this was going to be an opportunity for her to get to be with James, he urged her to keep looking at the bigger picture and focus on the people that she would be working with. This concept confused the daylights out of Sophia.
"Wait, I don't understand... So, are you going to be working for them now or is he just giving you an opportunity to get into James' pants finally?" Lilah turned to her friend with a look of absolute disgust, "Sophia! Do you have to be so crude?" her best friend gave her a sulking look in return, "Come on Lilah! You're finally going to meet him after all this time; wouldn't you pounce at the chance if James offered it to you?" a sly cheeky grin spread over Sophia's face and made her eyebrows jump while looking at Lilah. "Would you stop that?! We're in a hospital, Sophia," Lilah grumbled under her breath, looking around them warily, doing her best to try and emphasize the fact that they were both standing in the middle of the hospital hallway that was bustling with patients and other nurses. Sophia enjoyed making Lilah squirm when it came to conversations about sex or anything sex-related. Although she knew that it wasn't in her friend's nature to talk openly about that kind of stuff, Sophia liked taking Lilah out of her comfort zone. "Okay, okay, okay, I'm sorry," Sophia replied, rolling her eyes with a smirk. Lilah tried to keep a straight face as long as she could but failed when Sophia stuck her tongue out at her, "Shut up! You are such a goofball," Lilah sighed with a smile. "Yeah, but you love me still," Sophia grinned, "Now, tell me, what's this job actually about now?"
Lilah explained that she would be serving as an assistant to Dr. Liebermann, a specialist doctor on SHIELD's medical team, who will be working closely with the Avengers team and closely monitoring some of the team member's basic health progression. While Lilah was still hesitant about accepting the position, Steve suggested a trial period of 3 medical sessions to allow Lilah to make a final decision. "So you're actually going to do this?" Sophia sounded bewildered, "I'm going to see out the trial period and take it from there," Lilah said with a firm sense of contentment, "My job here at the hospital and my patients come first, so if this thing with SHIELD starts to interfere with that and my focus to this job, then I'll have to let it go." Lilah had given this enough thought and was sticking to her professional guns. Sophia draped her arm around Lilah's shoulder, "I think that's a good approach, Lilah," she squeezed Lilah in for a hug, "I know how scared and nervous you must be but I'm oh so very proud of you for making this decision and sticking with it," Sophia meant every word. Lilah responded and put her arm around Sophia's waist, "Thanks, Soph...". There was a quiet moment between the two as they walked linked down the corridor to Lilah's office before Sophia interjected, "So," she drawled, "what are you going to wear?"
Author's Note:
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