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Post by Shuboni on Apr 7, 2020 21:02:53 GMT -8
Alyssa followed along with them but, as soon as they entered the clinic lobby, Allright turned on her. "No no, you stay here. You're a friend, not family, and I'm not risking that here. Shoo." Allright pointed at an empty chair, the receptionist snickering behind his hand. Alyssa huffed before going and taking a seat.
Beth couldn't believe Alyssa had roped her into this situation. Though, one look at her reporter friend told her that there was something going on that was not being discussed. "Uh huh. Okay, sounds like a bit of a virus. Nothing going around currently that we know of. With all these hero doctors able to eradicate vicious strains, I'm surprised you could have caught anything." She seemingly chose a random exam room and shut the door behind them. She pointed at the exam table, grabbed a stethoscope, and approached Melody with the intent to touch her and cure her. "Alyssa told me you were a reporter of some sort. Investigative journalism? That can get you in quite a jam, you know." As soon as Beth touched Melody, she knew something was wrong. This girl was drawing on a power, and there was a lot wrong with her. Beth's expression darkened as she used her power to constrict Melody's vocal cords, which seemed to be where the power was going, as well as numb her legs and arms. "You're not who you say you are..."
((If I went too fast, let me know. I can dial it back and fluff it up, if you wanted more exposition.))
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Post by Eliza on Apr 7, 2020 21:47:18 GMT -8
Melody was a bit relieved when the doctor forced Alyssa to stay behind, that was one less thing she had to worry about moving forward. The comment about nothing going around made her stiffen but she tried to play it off and relax, the key to a convincing lie was to act natural. "I don't know where I pick them up either, I spend so much time in the subway though, and I'm sure you would terrify me with the science backing how much of a cesspool I suspect it is." She shrugged off her coat and hopped up on the table obediently, nodding. "Yep, it takes me everywhere and has the downside of putting me in compromising situations. It pays well, though. I know she said not to worry about payment, but I really couldn't let you go to all this troub-"
She was cut off midway by the sharp eyes and the sudden heaviness she seemed to feel in every part of her. "Shit! She brought me to a hero doctor! How on earth did she get a favor with someone like this??" She couldn't allow herself to panic, she had to relax, play it cool and do what she needed to do to make it out alive. It was much harder to manipulate those that weren't attracted to people like her, but she could sometimes play on things like compassion, maybe that was her way out? She doubted it. The truth then, that seemed to be her best option, the truth and hoping that this doctor wouldn't do something to her to make her death look like an accident.
"You're right," her voice sounded strained, but she continued. "I am an investigative journalist, I just..." She took a deep breath, if the villain's guild found out about this, everyone would die, but what choice did she have? "I was taken in as a child, this isn't the life I would have picked for myself. They killed my real parents so no one would look for me, by the time I was old enough..." She had almost died going to the hero league as soon as they heard what she could do. She was supposed to be eliminated but she got away and never looked back, that was right before she donned her current identity as the Siren and accepted her life as a villain. "I promise to keep your secret, I'm not ready to lose the closest thing to a home I've ever had..."
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Post by Shuboni on Apr 9, 2020 19:48:05 GMT -8
Beth's mind raced as she listened to Melody. This is bad. Do I take the gamble and try to call her out on it? There's absolutely no way this is a coincidence. No, Melody was planted for sure. Had to be. The investigative journalism thing was just a front, had to be. The Villain's Guild found an extremely creative way to plant this girl in with a hero who could get her into the inner rankings. Beth thought back to how a lot of people owed Flash Bang. She wasn't the best hero, she was mid level at best. However, she was one of the best support heroes ever. They almost always tossed her in when they needed an espionage type hero.
Beth bolstered herself. She was going to do it, she was going to take the risk and call her out on it. This was an interrogation now. She was going to get answers, she would be the best at getting answers. She could make someone feel unimaginable pain and make it go away instantly. She didn't even need restraints to keep someone in custody, she was the best when it came to these kinds of things. But, it was against the hero way. Now Beth felt conflict, but she was careful with her expression. Working as a doctor, you mastered the art of masking your emotions. In a commanding voice, she finally said it, "So why do they have you watching Flash Bang?" There. No going back. She was going to get answers.
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Post by Eliza on Apr 16, 2020 13:11:45 GMT -8
Panic made way for confusion as Melody allowed herself to relax, trying to clear her mind and get her thoughts set to rights before she made things worse for herself. "Flash Bang? Why does she think I'm watching her? I've only done a couple of pieces on her when she came up against villains I was following... Does she not know who I am?" She was sure her lack of understanding was evident on her face but she fought quickly to mask it. "Why would I be following Flash Bang?" Maybe she could get the doctor to slip up and answer some questions of her own. It was a pretty consistent strategy to answer a question with a question to avoid giving away information you would rather not. It was evident to her that the doctor didn't do this often, if either. She was hoping to play that up and use that weakness against her.
Melody didn't relish the idea of hurting someone, a doctor, no less, but she also didn't like the thought of dying sooner than she had to. If it came down to it all she needed was an opening and a moment where there was no hold on her to be able to slip through and put down another person. She shuddered involuntarily at the thought of having to snap someone's neck and go on the run. She would never be able to see Alyssa again, it would set her back with the cost of hiding her involvement so no one got the idea to tie up any loose ends with her. It would be worth it, she didn't deserve to die because she was a good person and had nothing but happiness owed to her.
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Post by Shuboni on Apr 16, 2020 21:38:30 GMT -8
Beth's mouth dried as she stared daggers at the other woman, Melody. She couldn't think of any villains off of the top of her head that looked similar. A couple with powers stemming from the voice came to mind, but she thought it would be better to just get the information out of her. She reminded herself of her Hippocratic Oath, that she would do no harm even if it were to a Villain. Instead, she allowed an inspection of the other girl and saw that she was barely being held together. A flash of worry came to Beth's face before she closed her eyes, not allowing her concentration to slip. "You're really going to go that route? Come on, it's obvious. She's told me about her wonderful new roommate, you know. Talked about your charisma, how you seem to have enough common interests that hanging out isn't really dull, she even told me how you two ended up meeting in the first place at her coffee shop."
The only pain that Beth allowed herself to inflict on the other girl was a squeezing of the shoulder she was touching. Though, considering how much Melody was going through on the inside, it probably wasn't a whole lot to add on top of it. It's almost like her organs are rejecting her. Beth gritted her teeth. "So, why did you decide to shack up with Flash Bang? What is your villain name?"
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Post by Eliza on Apr 16, 2020 22:05:22 GMT -8
The disdain was almost palpable as she swallowed against the thick feeling in her throat. It felt like she was being choked, but she could still breath. It wasn't one of her favorite feelings, considering the types of experiences she had had up until that point it had to be pretty bad to make it to the list of "worst sensations physically possible" yet, there it was. Melody's hope that the lack of sleep that was evident on the doctors face would have dulled her mind was clearly a misjudgment on her part as she saw through her attempts to flip it to her own favor. Her own fatigue and the shadows creeping at the edges of her vision distracted her enough that she was hearing without following the implications of what was being said. She had been fortunate enough to evade capture enough that this hadn't really been an issue, she had been trained for it, but the skills were unused and she found herself struggling to remember. "Alyssa really is great, isn't she? I would probably be dead already... Gotta have something to live for though, right doc?" She let out a hoarse laugh and for the briefest moment she looked like the scared child that she really was. Soon enough it was over and she wore the same lazy smile she normally donned in an effort to throw people off.
The pressure on her shoulder made her twitch but she kept the same expression, pain was nothing new and she could handle it. It was what was said that threw her off her game. "Shacked up? We haven't had sex yet!" She blurted it out in almost a panic, not wanting to be condemned to a crime she hadn't committed, lord knew the list of ones she had was long enough without help. After the words left her mouth her brain had a chance to catch up and register what had been said, Alyssa... was Flash Bang? Alyssa was Flash Bang! Pieces started to fall into place and the first thing that came to mind was that she had been right. "I knew it! I knew that those injuries didn't come from a "Save the trees" rally! That makes much more sense!" Her exclamation would have sounded better if it didn't come out in what sounded like a yelled whisper, but she was working with what she was allowed at the moment.
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Post by Shuboni on Apr 25, 2020 22:54:17 GMT -8
Oh... shit... The cat was out of the bag, and Beth knew she had dropped it big time here. It was worse than that, the saying 'screwed the pooch' was more fitting of this situation. Not only did she break patient confidentiality, but she also revealed the secret identity of a high ranking hero to a villain! A villain that she still didn't know the name of! And... what was that about... "Wait, yet? Are you saying Alyssa is... You know what? Never mind. No, there are more important things right now." The panic in Melody's voice as well as the honest incredulity of her reaction made Beth think Melody was definitely telling the truth here. Again the image of what exactly was wrong with Melody flashed through her mind. Villains really know how to treat their own, don't they? Beth let out the most exasperated sigh she could muster, to the point of vomiting sarcasm right there on the floor.
This was probably a weird image to anyone on the outside looking in, Beth being so extremely angry with the situation while holding Melody's shoulder in an almost fatherly fashion. "Okay... Give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." There were, like, three already that Beth could think of off the top of her head. One, her Hippocratic oath. Two, heroes didn't kill. Three, how in the hell would she explain dead Melody to Alyssa? "Actually, don't. But you can give me a good reason why I shouldn't reveal your identity and have you hauled away." Alyssa would probably hate her? She was too much of a bleeding heart, that one. Beth's face was turning red at her self admonitions. "Scratch that too! How about either you tell me who you actually are or I'll get Alyssa in here and you can face that huh?" If Melody had spent any time with Alyssa, she'd know how much of a bleeding heart she was too. It'd be like kicking a puppy right in the face to see Alyssa heartbroken like that.
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Post by Eliza on Apr 26, 2020 18:03:06 GMT -8
Melody's cheeks burned with the combination of her fever and her embarrassment as she sat under the scrutinizing gaze of the doctor, she didn't feel shame often but somehow all of this crashed down on her like a pile of bricks. "I just want to go back home..." She felt so tired, so worn down. Her vision had started to falter at the edges but she used the fear of the danger she was in to help keep herself awake, she just wasn't sure how long that would work. The sigh broke her out of her thoughts and she flinched, thinking it was directed towards her and signaled her impending demise.
The gentle touch on her earlier abused shoulder came as a surprise and she eyed the doctor wearily as she seemed to struggle with her thoughts and emotions. She would have been able to stand firm and hold out, even against the most egregious torture possible and not reveal a single thing. Alyssa was her one weakness, and she was sure she would lead to her downfall sooner or later, but she didn't care. Melody bit her lip and stared long and hard at the doctor for a few moments longer than either of them were comfortable with before she let out a sigh and accepted her defeat. She couldn't face Alyssa like this. "My name really is Melody... I'm the Siren, I was taken in when I was a child after I did something awful, before I could control myself." She looked like someone haunted as she spoke, thinking back to that day. There had been so much blood, so much screaming... But they wouldn't stop touching her, she just wanted everyone to stop... She didn't even feel it when she started crying, thinking her tears had dried up long ago. "I'm a monster, I wouldn't blame you if you had to kill me."
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Post by Shuboni on Apr 28, 2020 20:57:31 GMT -8
Beth stared, her training coming back to her in a huge wave. Her first instinct was to comfort the girl, since she was so morose. This was almost akin to plenty of domestic abuse cases she had worked before. Alyssa, you sure know how to pick 'em. Another bleeding heart, just like you. Beth looked again into Melody and looked at some of the problems that were there. It was a hack job, to put it mildly. Almost like a surgeon that didn't have the right resources. Probably what it was, too. Beth doubted villains had access to proper channels for organ donors or any of that. In fact, she could see just how much Melody's body was fighting against itself.
"Look..." Beth sighed. "You probably already figured out that there's no way I can kill you here and now. We're basically at a stalemate with mutually assured destruction keeping us from ripping into each other. I'll spare the details as to why I can't do anything to you, because some are obvious while others are sitting in my waiting room, waiting for a roommate with a clean bill of health to walk out that door. So, I'm going to do something that nobody has done for you, and you're going to have to live with it. But your debt isn't going to lie with me, got it? It's only because of Alyssa that you're here." She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. Everything she could mend, she did. She told Melody's immune system that the foreign organs and parts were genuine, to not touch them, and to attack viruses and bad bacteria. She righted a few genetic wrongs and made certain things work overtime to make up for recent lethargy. She knew that these systems would right themselves after a couple days, so she wasn't worried.
"You're going to be running pretty hot for a couple days... but after that passes, you won't need to worry anymore. Everything will start working as it should." Beth hesitated before taking her hand away from Melody and releasing the restriction on Melody's vocal cords. If she remembered correctly, The Siren was able to control people with her voice, by singing. Now she was at Melody's mercy. She was throwing caution to the wind, however, and hoped Melody would make the right choice. "I don't expect you to do it here, now, or even today... But now that you know a secret that's not yours, I expect you to come clean to Alyssa. So, before we go back out there and have to pretend none of this happened... Is there any other business we have here?"
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Post by Eliza on Apr 28, 2020 21:43:20 GMT -8
Melody glanced at Beth with a doubtful expression. "I know you could make it look like natural causes. It's no secret that I'm a mess, doc... I appreciate you not killing me, though." She let out a weak laugh and shook her head. "I really would have rather done anything else with my life... I wanted to be an astronaut when I was little, can you believe that?" She didn't know what else to say while Beth seemed to scrutinize her further, her face drawn in what was clearly judgement over something or another that Melody had no intention to ask about.
"There are plenty of things I have to live with, and I can just add it to the growing list of things I owe her for." She thought back to the many occasions Alyssa had sat up waiting for her, or had made a late night trip out to get something she needed, even the times she was just there for her when she was down. "You don't have to tell me, I know what you mean, but trust me when I say that I would have done something dumb enough to have been left to rot in a ditch already if it weren't for her." She felt herself relaxing as she spoke, as if a great burden was being lifted off of her. It wasn't until she felt like she could move again that everything started to click into place.
She sat in stunned silence for what felt like an eternity, just staring at the doctor without hearing anything that she was currently saying. All of her aches and pains were gone, even burning up, she felt better in that moment than she had felt in any time frame that she could remember. It was liberating to go from being in constant pain to having all of it washed away like a layer of mud. Almost involuntarily, she threw herself at Beth and pulled her into a tight hug, sobbing against her shoulder. "I would do anything! I can't believe..." she trailed off as she gave her another squeeze and let out another sob. It was out of character for her, but so was not being nearly crippled by pain every waking moment so she was willing to cut herself some slack.
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Post by Shuboni on Apr 29, 2020 20:42:45 GMT -8
Admission after admission, Beth wasn't sure how to feel. She was feeling a bit embarrassed that Melody had admitted so much. Child fantasies of future jobs? Really? And admitting to how much she owed Alyssa, yeesh. She was grimacing when Melody threw herself at her. Having mind enough to catch the girl, she wasn't really sure what to do. This was probably the most dramatic thanks she had ever gotten for healing someone. She awkwardly patted Melody on the back, with a 'there there,' before grimacing again. There was another squeeze, which told Beth that it was time to get the heck out of there. "Yeah, right... Well... come on..." She started pulling the sobbing girl to the door. "Hey, you have someone waiting for you, come on..." Getting out into the waiting room, Beth spotted Alyssa. She was able to pry Melody off before saying, "Melody, we're done here! And remember your doctor's orders!" She shut the door behind her before Melody could say or do anything else, grateful to be out of that mess. What was worse, getting brainwashed and forced to do a villain's bidding or having to deal with that embarrassment again? Beth couldn't help but smile behind the closed door, though. She had probably done more than just save a life with that gesture. She hoped, anyways.
Alyssa was standing, tossing the cooking magazine aside when she saw Melody. Beth had disappeared before she could say anything. That was just the life of a doctor, huh? Alyssa didn't read too much into it, instead bounding over to Melody. "Hey-Hey! How did it go? Wha... Are you crying?" Grabbing the box of tissues off of the receptionist's desk, she offered them. "It wasn't painful, was it? Beth is real good at pain free healing. I should know, I've been seeing her for years now." Though, Alyssa had a suspicion that it was more than just physical pain. Maybe there was something else wrong that Melody hadn't told her about? Did Beth reveal... No, that'd be stupid of her. Especially to a reporter! Well, if Melody was going to fess up to what happened, she'd do it in her own time. "Are you ready to go home? Do you need a moment?"
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Post by Eliza on Apr 30, 2020 21:34:46 GMT -8
Melody tried her best to pull herself together as she was all but herded back to the waiting room. It seemed that Beth wasn't terribly fond of human contact, or maybe it was just because she was a villain? She was wiping at her eyes furiously with her sleeve as she sniffled and nodded at her parting comment. She offered a small smile to Alyssa and accepted a tissue. "Nope, we're all good. I just got news I wasn't expecting and I got kind of emotional." It wasn't a lie, she just didn't want to admit to everything while there were other people's prying ears around. It hadn't gone unnoticed that they had drawn the attention of everyone else in the room. "Home sounds good. I'm burning up in this." She pulled her sweater away from herself to prove her point, thinking that Beth hadn't been lying about running pretty hot, she could feel the normally comforting material sticking to her damp skin. "Don't freak out though! She said this would happen!" The last thing she needed was her roommate having an aneurysm because she thought she still had a fever.
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Post by Shuboni on May 2, 2020 21:22:53 GMT -8
"Well, that's good that you're feeling better. I just worried because-you got news? Is it something I should be worried about?" Alyssa stopped to look Melody in the eye. The talk about her running this kind of fever made Alyssa frown. "Wait a sec, my doc doesn't do-" There was a yell from behind the door- "DOCTOR PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY!" Alyssa stood there, at a loss for words. Beth already knew what was going to happen just from that? She sighed. "My doc does know me very well, I guess. Knows me better than I know my own self. Hey, I saw this really good lookin recipe in that magazine!" She grabbed Melody's hand and was concerned - even her slender fingers were warm compared to herself. But, Beth said it was necessary. She must have found something else that required this kind of treatment. Either way, she started towards the door, urging Melody to follow via the grasped hand. "It's a way of breading halibut in coconut and serving it with some lemon juice! I thought we could give it a go, what do you say?"
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Post by Eliza on May 3, 2020 16:44:05 GMT -8
Melody laughed a little when the doctor shouted through the door, it seemed they knew each other very well. When her hand was grasped so gently it filled her with a different type of warmth that rose to her cheeks and tinted them pink. "I'll be okay, I promise. I'm even up for walking home." This was probably the first time she could say that and mean it, it made her feel bubbly and like a huge weight was lifted off of her chest. "That does sound good. I thought you were making clam chowder for dinner tonight, though?" She walked beside Alyssa as they left the clinic and started home. "I think that would be good for tomorrow, if you want?"
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Post by Shuboni on May 3, 2020 21:09:27 GMT -8
Alyssa blushed pretty bad at the reminder. "Uh-yeah. Sorry, I just... I thought of switching it up since-er-I mean... I forgot that I was planning on doing that, hahaha." Her free hand rubbed the back of her head. She didn't want to admit to Melody that she knew Beth would be able to cure her that quick, to the point where she didn't think soup was necessary any more. Though, aside from the fever, Melody seemed fine. Full of energy, peppy... Like, more than just physical healing, there seemed to be some sort of emotional healing too. Either way, she started walking, opening the door for them and going out onto the street. "So, I know there's confidentiality and all that... but, did you want to talk about what happened? Seems to me Beth was able to fix up just your sniffles and aches."
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