Chapter Text
Ajay Che wandered a little around the medbay on the dropship, opening a biohazard container to drop a used syringe inside, screwing the lid back on before putting it right back where it belonged. Not that it would stay there for very long.
Sighing loudly Ajay looked back over the datapad in her free hand, adding the proper information into the premade form, pausing at the box titled Patient’s Name. Usually she just put down each legend’s alias, but that was back when the contracts had entailed “each legend must not have any sort of relation(s) with another”. Yet somehow Crypto and Mirage had ended up in bed together - don’t even ask her how that had happened- and Bloodhound had been getting oddly close with Bangalore. Hell, even Caustic was getting some if the way Natalie hung around him was anything to go by.
Frowning inwardly, Ajay filled the blank in with “Park” before swiping to the next patient.
Octavio Silva.
“‘Course he ain’t here yet,” Ajay mumbled to herself in annoyance, checking the chrono on her wrist. She’d asked Gibraltar to locate the elusive patient and bring him to the medbay right before she’d let Park in for his assessment.
With the shadowfall games having just ended Ajay would be damned if anyone missed an appointment. Not with what happened when Elliott had come back from a game with those marks on his neck. In general she always wanted to check everyone after matches, but with this “shadowfall” event? She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Playing games in another dimension? With those… horrors running around and the frightening announcer?
Ajay shuddered a little at the memory. Thankfully today had been the last day, so once she had checked up on everyone else she would be able to put the terrible memories behind.
Walking over to the medbay door, Ajay slapped a hand against the keypad, the young legend taking a step forward before it had even finished opening, only to run into someone.
“What-” She started, jerking in surprise when she came face to face with Octavio, her childhood friend still clad in his mask and goggles. “Silva! Why’re ya standin’ so close to da door?” Ajay demanded, scowling a little, “come on now!”
Octavio looked at her, head tilted slightly before he mumbled something under his breath.
“Huh? Speak up, now,” Ajay answered impatiently, Gibraltar’s sudden entry into the makeshift waiting room drawing her attention.
“Can’t find Tav, Che,” the fortress noticed Octavio standing there beside the medic, laughing cheerfully. “Hey, Silva! Whatcha doin’ already here? I been out lookin’ for ya!”
Again the only response the adrenaline junkie gave was mumbled under his breath.
Ajay rolled her eyes with a sigh, grabbing Octavio’s wrist to pull him into the medbay. “Thanks, Gib!” She called over her shoulder before the door shut behind her.
“Up here,” Ajay ordered, smacking a hand against the examination table as she walked past it, opening up one of the many lockable cupboards, pulling out a bottle and a capped needle. A couple cotton balls followed, a small square piece of adherent gauze being the last to join the little pile.
Grabbing the datapad in her free hand Ajay turned around, filling in all the information she could. Stuff she could do in her sleep: age, height, weight. All the little things she knew so well after years of friendship.
“You’re awful quiet,” Ajay stated aloud as she finally set the datapad aside, turning her attention onto Octavio before stopping short.
Her friend was seated on the very edge of the examination table, hands gripping the edge so hard his knuckles had gone white. If she looked close enough she could see Octavio was trembling, body tense as if he were ready to bolt in a moment’s notice.
“What’s goin’ on wit ya?” The medic questioned in concern, quickly moving to the other legend’s side. “Silva?”
Octavio jerked a little, seemingly to look at her even though his familiar brown eyes were still hidden behind those goggles.
“Let me look atcha,” Ajay murmured, just now noticing how pale the other legend was, the sight of the unnatural paleness bringing back memories of how pale Elliott had been for a while after being bitten by the bin spider.
“Did’ja try’n poke one of da spiders, Tav?! I toldcha that they were bad fer ya!” Ajay felt angry as she grabbed one of her friend’s wrists, feeling for a pulse only for Octavio to yank his hand away.
Ajay looked at him in surprise, uncertainty filling her. “Why’re ya actin’ so weird?” She questioned, crossing her arms over her chest as she tried to keep her frustration in check. “Why’d ya take so long to come ‘ere, Tav? You look like a dead man walkin’!”
The speed demon stared at her through his goggles before shrugging. “Th-the spider looked cool, chica .” He answered after a moment of silence, looking around the room with the demeanor of a trapped animal.
“Where’d it bite’cha?” Ajay demanded in annoyance, heading back over to the nearby counter to retrieve the needle and bottle, uncapping the syringe before sticking it into the bottle and holding it up to the air.
Drawing the appropriate amount, Ajay set the bottle down and flicked at the tip of the needle to make sure there wasn’t any bubbles in the transparent liquid.
“I’m goin’ ta hafta clean it,” the combat medic added, grabbing DOC from the corner he was watching from to drag him closer to the other legend. “I swear, Silva, you always find a way ta make things difficult, don’cha?”
Ajay frowned when Octavio pushed DOC away, the moment the drone was out of reach he pulled his hand back as if it’d been burned.
It was then that the junkie turned to look back at her, Octavio stiffening upon noticing the syringe in her hand. He moved as quickly as he always did - the only familiar thing about him since he’d entered the medbay- and flipped over the back of the table to land hard on the floor where he lost his balance and vanished from sight.
“Silva?!” Ajay questioned, fighting back both frustration and concern as she came around the other end of the table to see if he was alright.
Nobody was there, the medic turning around just fast enough to see the medbay door sliding shut.
Ajay stood there in bewilderment, confusion and concern filling her. What just happened? She wondered inwardly. Octavio hadn’t been as talkative as he usually was, not to mention he was so pale. The woman also recalled how cold his hand had been when she’d been trying to find his pulse.
It was no secret that Octavio Silva hated having to go to the medbay, but never had he acted so… odd.
The medbay door slid open again, Renee standing in the doorway though she was looking over her shoulder. “What’s going on with him?” She asked, turning around to face Ajay then.
“Psh, he’s just bein’ typical Silva,” Ajay answered, pushing away all of the concern and confusion to toss the needle into the biohazard waste canister. “Ya can come in, I just hafta mark a few tings down then I’ll check ya over.”
Ajay re-opened the cupboard that she’d opened literally a few minutes ago to get a new needle and syringe. Any thought of Octavio she pushed away. That’d be something she would have to deal with when she didn’t have other patients to care for.
***
Ajay took extra time to put away all of her gear, DOC following behind beeping in concern.
Angrily tossing a couple empty bottles into the waste disposal Ajay turned to face the drone. “I dunno why he was acting like that,” she answered, DOC releasing a collection of beeps and blips, moving out of the medic’s way as she moved the datapad aside to wipe the counter clean. “He’s always bein’ a pain in da ass,” Ajay huffed, DOC again spinning aside as she worked her way down the stretch of counter, scrubbing furiously.
There was a few moments of silence before DOC let out a little bleeping sound, Ajay rolling her eyes. “I told ‘im not to touch da damn spiders, so if ‘e wants to deal wit’ da side effects he’s more’n welcome to do so without ma help.”
Ajay frowned deeply as she put away the cleaning supplies, the rag tossed into the mini incinerator as she turned around to look at her drone, arms crossing over her chest as she leaned against the wall. “What’m I supposed to do?” She questioned, more to herself than poor DOC. “I told everyone not to touch the spiders! ‘Specially afta Elliott got sick!”
DOC made a sound that seemed like he was in agreeance, the drone spinning in a circle once before blinking his lights, a soft croon-like sound leaving him as he drooped his head.
“Dontcha worry your little head, Doc,” Ajay crouched down to tap a finger on the little drone’s head. “Silva’ll come crawlin’ back once he’s sick of feelin’ like shit.”
The medic couldn’t stop her mind from reminding her that Elliott didn’t come to her. He went to Park for some damned reason. She was the medic for a reason, but Elliott had gotten better after taking a bit of time off. Almost overnight , her thoughts helpfully reminded her. He probably got a stim or something, Ajay answered herself, sighing as she crouched beside DOC. “Ya know how much he’s always whingin’,” she said, more to help her own fears than the dron’s. “He’ll be back.”
Ajay spent another hour or two in the medbay, wiping already spotless counters, cataloging the medications and equipment twice over, filling out orders for whatever she was low on. Work that she could typically do in a quarter of the time it took now, though the woman wouldn’t ever admit to herself that she was dragging her feet hoping that Octavio would come back asking for help.
He didn’t. In fact, nobody showed up after Bloodhound. They always came at the end of the day after everyone else had had been checked. Ajay had never insisted they come earlier, respecting the tracker’s silent wish for privacy.
Bloodhound, being the good friend they were - the type of friend a certain other friend should learn from - had noticed her silent concern and been polite enough to ask. Ajay had blown it off as ‘being tired’, of course, but the older legend had been persistent.
Pushing herself to her feet, Ajay took a last look around before leaving the medbay, stopping outside only long enough to ensure that the door had locked, the keypad lighting up when she tapped it to ask for a passcode. A code only known to her, of course, due to the fact that the syndicate worried certain individuals from getting to the powerful drugs inside.
Speaking of certain individuals Ajay felt rather annoyed when she checked her phone, the screen lighting up to inform her that there were no waiting messages. She expected no less, but it still hurt a little.
“C’mon, Doc,” Ajay sighed softly, tucking her phone in one of her back pockets before heading across the room. The door slid open to a dark hall, Ajay moving to pass through before hesitating. She felt like someone was watching her, the medic looking over her shoulder into the little waiting room.
There was nothing, at least not anything that she could make out in the dim lighting.
DOC bumped against her leg in question, Ajay remaining silent for several moments before answering. “Nothin’, just thinkin’,” the medic answered before turning off the light and leaving the room.
Her footsteps receded down the hall, then up another, a beeping - most likely her entering her passcode - sounded. It wasn’t loud enough for anyone to hear, six soft bleeps in total, a little ‘whoo’ from DOC, Ajay laughing- eyes shut at the sound. The grinding of the door sliding open and then closed.
Several moments passed, nothing to be heard, filling the room in a terribly familiar echo of silence.
A shadow peeled itself away from the wall then, vanishing into the darkness of the room.