First Sin: The Runaway Experiment (Pt. 6)

--- Scarlet ---

“This is where you want to take us?” She scowled at the red cross, knowing that it was a hospital of some sort, and that hospitals couldn’t be trusted. Both due to her own experience as well as the fact that, “I thought you said we couldn’t go to a hospital without alerting everyone that we’re Malcontent.”

“You can’t but this isn’t a hospital, this is a clinic.” He explained, gesturing for her to follow him around back rather than through the front door.

Once more she was tempted to take her sister and simply run, before forcing herself to continue following the man, figuring that at the very least he’d done everything else he said he would. (And finding out what’s wrong with Bell is important enough to risk it. Especially since she still hasn’t woken up…)

That was worrying her.

She knew for a fact that their healing factors had allowed them to walk off everything those (bastards) had done to them, from electrocutions and burns to impalement and… worse.

Her fingers idly ran just beneath her collar bone.

Even if her healing factor was notably stronger than Bell’s, the amount of time that had passed between them leaving the facility and coming to this ‘clinic’ was more than long enough for her to wake up. The fact that she wasn’t was… (bad…)

The man knocked on the door in an odd but distinct pattern before glancing her way. “Just give her a second, sometimes Betty has to offload someone to her nurses when I come a knocking.”

After a few minutes of waiting -enough for her to start growling in impatience as her eyes darted to the nearby street- an older woman with blonde hair and rings around her eyes opened the door wearing a coat she found all too familiar.

“Hey, hey, there’s no reason for that.” The man told her.

“She’s a doctor.” She spat.

The man looked at her a second before sighing as he wiped at his eyes. “Right… of course there’d be ‘doctors’ there.”

Inhaling deeply, the man gave her a look as he let it out. “There are different kinds of doctors. The ones from… that place, were science doctors. Betty here is a medical doctor. Her job revolves around healing people who have problems with them.”

“Nurses would argue they do the healing and I do the billing.” The… (doctor), said in what she assumed was an attempt at a joke.

Seeing that this had fallen flat (the doctor) sighed before giving the man a look. “Mercer, story?”

“Right,” The man, Mercer, blinked. “Uh, actually you mind if we come inside first.”

(The doctor) inhaled deeply before letting out a clearly pained breath as she ran a hand down her face. “Who are you running from?”

“Look I rescued the girls from a bad spot and…” Mercer trailed off at (the doctor)’s unimpressed look, before sighing again as he answered,“Vigilance.”

“Of fucking course.” (The doctor) cursed before holding the door open. “Well, get in here before the paranoid bastard starts knocking. We may be in the Way but we’re close enough to the edge that Vigilance has no problem coming here.”

“And even after all these years he’s got no idea you’re the one patching me up.” Mercer told (the doctor) on his way in.

She eyed the door with a frown before following, though she did hold her sister closer to her chest as she passed (the doctor).

Closing the door behind them as they stepped into a large room with grayish-blue -(not white)- walls (the doctor) turned to Mercer and once more said. “Story?”

“Right… So, you know what the Malcontent are, right?” Mercer asked with more nervousness than she’d seen from him the entire night.

(The doctor)’s eyes drifted from Mercer to her and Bell.

She couldn’t help the way her arms tightened.

“One or two?” (The doctor) asked, her eyes softening.

“Both.” Mercer answered, causing (the doctor) to frown.

“Her healing factor should’ve healed her by now.” (The doctor) told them before giving her a considering look, one notably softer than any other such look she’d ever gotten from a doctor.

“Do you know her other name, or her title?” (The doctor) asked her.

She swallowed because (names are important) and Bell’s was…

“If you tell me it’ll give me more to help her with.”

She glanced down at her sister, and how frail she was. “Her… Her title is ‘The Shadow Legion’.”

“That fits.” She heard Mercer mutter, making her wonder what exactly he saw in the facility, because while she knew the machines and experiments they regularly performed she didn’t know what the point of this one was.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“The Shadow Legion.” (The doctor) repeated. “So blue or black… Explains why her healing factor is weaker but still…”

(The doctor) glanced at Mercer before giving her another look. “How long has it been since she last ate?”

“I… I don’t know.” She admitted, searching for the fear, scorn, or pity she usually saw whenever her ‘eating habits’ were discussed. Only she couldn’t find it.

“Alright, well, we got a blood donor today. It might not be as good as something more solid but it should be enough to kick start her healing factor if she ingests it.” (The doctor,) Betty, told them before moving towards a nearby fridge. “Mercer, you know where the spare tubing is, grab it. And try not to get blood on my shit or I’m stabbing you.”

Despite her instincts telling her that (the doctor) fully meant that, rather than feeling threatened Mercer merely laughed as he started rifling through a drawer. “Aren’t you the one always complaining about me coming here with stab wounds?”

“And gunshot wounds, burns, freezes, nerve damage, scraped skin, broken bones, and on one memorable occasion a missing arm.” (The doctor) Betty, listed with growing agitation as she pulled out several blood bags before slamming the fridge shut. “At this point I’m pretty sure I’m the only thing keeping you alive.”

“Well, that and the spite.” Mercer nodded as he pulled out some clear tubing. “By the way, is an IV drip really the best way to give her blood if she needs to ingest it?”

“Probably not, but that’s why I’m setting up a bootleg feeding tube for the girl to hold because this is probably going to take a few bags.” (The doctor) Betty explained as she accepted the tubing.

After a moment of connecting the bag to the tubing, (the doctor) Betty offered her the end of it. “Unless you trust me to do this you’re going to want to slowly push this down her throat.”

She stared at the tubing for a moment before taking it because as much as Betty (the doctor) was turning out to not be like the other doctors… (she’s still a doctor.)

“Alright, well, since this is the least of her worries and she’s got a healing factor you shouldn’t have to worry about hurting her here.” Betty (the doctor) told her before turning to Mercer. “Meaning I can deal with you.”

“Heh, uh, what do you mean?” Mercer grinned, holding his hands up. “Is it the blood? Because that’s just part of this disguise thing I did to outsmart Vigilance, because you know, I’m smarter than him.”

“Maybe but you’re not smarter than me.” Betty (the doctor) argued. “I see the way you’re moving and it’s just like the time you decided it was a good idea to box living lightning.”

She had noticed that Mercer was moving oddly, but had been more concerned with her sister to really care, especially since she didn’t actually have a reference for long term healing in non-Malcontent.

“Well, technically I wasn’t boxing him.” Mercer tried to defend.

“Nope, you’ve probably got nerve damage and I’ve got a new M.A.D. machine for fixing that that I’ve been wanting to test out.” Betty (the doctor) told him pointing to a nearby door.

“Where’d you get that?” Mercer frowned.

“From your mother, before I fucked her.”

Mercer let out a pained sound. “I really should’ve expected that from you.”

--- Mercer ---

“So in all seriousness what is the plan here?” Betty asked him once she thought they were outside of the girl’s hearing. (And this is why she’s not a vigilante.) (Well that and she’s too mentally stable for that.) (Point.)

“What do you mean?” He frowned as his family’s doctor led him to what looked like a large defibrillator.

Betty gave him a flat look as she retrieved a syringe from a panel inside the machine. “These girls aren’t like the usual strays you help out Mercer, they’re Malcontent.”

“I know and,” He grimaced at the sight of the needle. “Do I have to?”

“Stuff cures nerve damage and is non-addictive.” Betty assured him.

He frowned but still offered his arm, forcing himself not to tense as she injected it into his vein.

With that done, Betty (thankfully) set the needle down and turned the machine on as she picked up the machine’s paddles. “I’m sure they’re nice kids with a tragic backstory, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are Malcontent and likely will continue to kill people.”

“I’m going to continue to kill people.” He felt the need to point out.

“But you can fight, out run, or out smart and of the vigils if you have to.” Betty argued as she placed the paddle to his forearm causing an odd sort of tingling through his fingers, which he was pretty sure meant it was fixing something since he hadn’t felt half of those in the last hour.

“I could get them out of the city if I have to.” It wasn’t even that hard. “Give them both enough money to keep them good for a year if they’re smart.”

“They’re teenagers.” Betty reminded him, pressing the paddles down a little harder than necessary.

He gave her a confused look, earning himself an eye roll.

“Teenagers from outside of the Way, and teenagers who have spent who knows how long in a lab being experimented on.” Betty elaborated as she switched arms. “Odds are they don’t know how to function on their own let alone as Malcontent.”

Part of him wanted to bring up the fact that the girl had been surviving on her own, but given how he’d been trying to get her off the streets that was pointless. “Originally I’d been planning on getting the girl a place to stay at least until I burned whoever was experimenting on her to the ground, but…”

Betty raised a single brow. “But?”

“But I kind of sicced Vigilance on them, to buy me escape time.” He admitted.

“Meaning you have no way of knowing when he’ll be done with that.” Betty sighed, before giving him a considering look. “Unless, you help him out with that?”

“No.” He shut down, before sighing himself. “It gets worse since there’s now two of them I have to deal with. I mean finding a place for one Malcontent to hide is easy, but two? With the Sanctuary has been trying to weasel into the Way again that’s going to be much harder.”

They both sat in silence for a moment, at least until Betty broke it as she grew an odd expression on her face. “Well, there is another option now that I think about it?”

“There is?” He frowned.

“You seem to have some sort of rapport going with the girl, enough that she’s trusting you despite her obvious issues doing that much.” Betty told him.

“I’ve always been good with kids.” He shrugged.

“You’re right you have.” Betty nodded, “Just like every other Donovan.”

He froze as he immediately understood where she was going with this. “No.”

“It would let you keep an eye on them.” Betty continued uncaring.

“No, no, no.”

“And given your own body count you could keep them fed.”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no.”

“Or at the very least make sure they don’t hurt anyone innocent.”

“Fuck no. Fuck no. Fuck no. Fuck no!”

“You know your mom is kind of mad you haven’t given her any grandkids yet.”

“La-la-la, I’m not listening!”

“Damn it, just adopt these kids, already!”