nextgenerationmarvel | You just never see it coming... (open)

Current Location: Manhattan, NYC

Entry tags:

You just never see it coming... (open)

Since she started working for Alistaire once more, Alisa felt listless. There were so many restrictions on how she could do her job, that it no longer felt like she was a bodyguard. More like some paid friend who punched a bully every now and again.

"Should have stuck to my guns and just pushed him away. At least at the Xavier Institute I was learning things." Alisa thought to herself as she walked to the mailbox on the corner. She had with her two bubble envelops that desperately needed mailing. One addressed to Rachel Ramsey and the Xavier Institute, the other addressed to Ryan Grimm.

It took her awhile to realize that she had failed to take personal responsibility for her own actions. It was easy to blame Alistaire, it was easier to blame her powers, but it was really hard to acknowledge that she was at fault. Her relationship with Ryan failed because she used him as a shield and was too dependent on him for things she should have been able to handle herself. With the Xavier Institute, it was because she was scared and did not feel like she belonged there. It all came down to her in the end, and now she was going to own up to it all.

"If I just owned up earlier and wasn't so down on myself, I would not be stuck running out for coffee for Alistaire. It's starting to feel like I'm that nerdy kid in school all over, again. So desperate for a friend I'm willing to do whatever I'm told for... for what? Attention? A one-sided friendship? Mrs. Ramsey was right, I should go see that therapist. Get my head in order and try again." She continued to ponder as she walked away from the blue mail box and began to head for the coffee shop.

"Who knows, maybe I can work things out with Ryan. I miss him, probably because he was a real good friend to me, and nothing was one sided... until I made it. I know we need time apart, but maybe we can just keep that friendship going and see where it goes. I have a lot of repairing to do."

Just as she turned that next corner of the block, a motorcycle pulled up to her. Alisa noted it was an okay ride, and she had noticed it was the same bike she saw a few times this week while on her errands. She had figured it was some sort of admirer or perhaps Sebastian Shaw making sure she kept her promise to stay away from him and the club. It was then that everything started to move in slow motion.

Alisa turned her head to try and see who was behind the motorcycle helmet, to see if her hunch was right. It was at that moment that something was pulled out. There was a bright flash of light, and then a loud bang. People were running away, and the motorcycle was peeling off through the streets. Alisa just stood there, feeling nothing emotionally. No fear, no pain, just the trickle of something warm going down her forehead.

Instinct wanted her to move her hand to see what it was, but nothing happened in that regard. Instead, her legs buckled out from under her, and she landed on her side on the pavement. It was then that she finally noticed blood. She was bleeding. There were some lights and sirens in the distance, but she could not make them out clearly. Everything was getting blurry and she was starting to feel really tired, now.

Voices could be heard all around her. People asking what had just happened, police trying to figure things out, EMT's asking her questions she could not even answer. Pressure was being applied to her head, and she was moved on to a stretcher. Just as things were starting to go dark, she was loaded up into an ambulance and taken away.

"I think I've been shot..." Alisa thought once more to herself, as she could feel an IV being put into her arm and her vitals being checked once more. "I really did not see dat coming... well, maybe I did. Just did not t'ink it would happen so soon."

It soon became too tiring to even keep thinking to herself. She finally allowed her eyes to close and the world to go black, just as she arrived at the hospital and a nurse had gone through her purse and contact information to alert someone as to what was going on.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Alistaire had headed over as soon as he received word. He looked her over as he sat at her bedside, looking unusually grim.

"Such a waste..."

He puts a hand over hers, patting it softly for a moment. He then starts calmly issuing directives to the staff. She'll be receiving the best care money can buy.

More than that.. he's going to make sure she comes back even better.

"She has some severe frontal lobe damage..."

"I think I managed to piece things together, but she sure as hell will not be the same Mr. Shaw. You may wish to prepare yourself for the worst possible outcome."

"These implants should help control her ability to absorb emotions so she doesn't have these "breaks" as you labeled them. However, there is the possibility that the damage that she's already endured could lower her intelligence some. Possibly a more child like state... but you should easily be able to easily control her and get her to defend you in battle once more."

That was the odd thing about being in a coma. While people suspect you are sleeping, sometimes you can hear everything. But piecing together what was going on was impossible. Everything was like a jigsaw puzzle, one that was in millions of pieces. It was surreal.

But soon, pieces start to fall into place, and the world begins to become more clear. And then there is a bright light, and you are awake to a world anew.

Alisa's eyes started to flutter open. There were what looked like metal brackets in a sideways V shape by each of her eyes, thanks to some new implants that Alistaire Shaw had approved of. Her hair was gone, and there were some scars in their place... but it could have been worse. She could be dead.

Her fingers began to twitch as she started to lift her arm up, then place her hand in front of her face. She moved her fingers one at a time, then moved to touch the implants by her eyes. She could not see them without a mirror, but she could feel them. The only thing Alisa could not feel were the influx of emotions she usually felt, either from her powers, or her personality.

She felt... numb.

Edited 2014-04-19 04:01 (UTC)

"That's right... let yourself get used to them. You've been improved, at no small expense, my Knight." Alistaire intones smoothly, sitting at her bedside with a magazine.

"I cannot feel anything emotionally. I am not happy or sad, not even angry." Her accent was gone for the most part. That was odd. She forced herself to sit up in bed, her red on black eyes looking at Alistaire as she spoke. "How long have you been at my side? And I have regained my title?"

Her hand went to move through her hair, only to feel it was gone.

"I require a good wig. I would rather be near death once more than be seen like this." There was a weak grin on her face, now. "Bald is not a good look for me."

"I was told you'd be waking up today. If you were going to wake up at all." He replies calmly, still looking at his magazine.

"I think it's striking, and I can use someone with visual impact by my side, for what I'll be working on soon."

"Yes, it would have an impact. Not just on your enemies, but my love life. Or lack there of." She frowned, tearing out various IV's from her arm without flinching or showing pain. "There are few things you can touch on a southern woman. Her hair is not one of them, Alistaire."

Once she removed all the IV's, Alisa stood up straight on the hospital room floor. There appeared to be little impact on her motor skills as she walked just fine.

"Now then, I am going to go home. And if any hospital staff try to stop me... well, they are lucky they work in a hospital and will not have to go far."

Alisa was happy to be back at Alistaire's penthouse. She hated being in the hospital, so being somewhere more comfortable was a blessing. She was not allowed to come back to work for Alistaire until he was confident she was at her best. That meant she was being given time to heal, and get used to her new implants.

Alisa often spent her time alone in her room, wearing a new wig that looked closed to her natural hair, but brighter. She laid back in her bed, reading a book of poetry and trying to feel something from it, when someone walked into her bedroom.

Reiko knocked lightly on the door before entering, she had brought some tea that would help boost the medications her patient was on.

She hadn't expected to even be there, but the orders had com from old contacts, ones she was trying to clear her name with and this would clear it, at least they had said it would.

"Gomen... I hope I am not waking you."

"No, you are not waking me." Her tone of voice was nearly emotionless. "I have been up for twenty four hours and read through three books. I understand the words, but not the emotions."

She finally looked up, her cybernetics by her eyes glowing a soft green for the moment.

"Gomen nasai. I did not mean to be rude. My name is Alisa Lebeau. Alistaire told me he had hired someone to... help me. I suppose that would be you, by deduction. Might I know your name?"

"I can use English if it's easier. I'm Reiko, you could say a specialized doctor." She held up the tray. "I thought you might like tea. My own mix, it should aid the medications you're on and is a lot better tasting."

*No, I prefer to speak a language you are more comfortable with.* Alisa spoke in Japanese. It was practically flawless... like that of a native speaker. *Please, come in. Sit, make yourself comfortable.*

Once the tray was placed down, Alisa put her book on the dresser and took the cup of it. she started to sip the contents before speaking with Reiko once more.

*It does taste good. Better than having to down so many pills.* She admitted, again, sounding more like a robot than a person. *I hate the idea that even with the implants, I could have long lasting health issues. But what do I expect? I was shot in the head and nearly killed. Anything is better than the alternative.*

Her eyes narrowed for a moment, before taking another sip of her tea.

*Relax. You are not some servant here. Be natural.*

Edited 2014-05-03 03:39 (UTC)

"I need the practice." She did pour herself tome tea though. While it was mixed to aid with Alisa's healing, it wouldn't bother others.

"Explains why my contacts sent me here. I was informed of a serious injury, but not the extent. I did meet with Mr. Shaw and he filled me in on some details. I will try my best, but there are things beyond my abilities."

Reiko bit her lip. "I, am nervous, only other times I have been summoned as I was was dealing with people of lower class mentally than our employer."

"Alistaire is in a class of his own." Alisa admitted. "He is a hedonist with a lack of empathy towards others."

Alisa tried to relax more in bed, her eyes blinking every so often.

"He knows what people wish to hear, what they wish to see, and he gives them the illusion of it. I fell for it one too many times, myself. But at the end of the day, he is a heartless bastard. Why he saved my life is debatable. All I do know is that I have no where else to go and no where else to work but here."

She took another sip of her tea before looking back at Reiko.

"If he hits on you or makes you feel uncomfortable, please let me know. I will not stand for such actions." She was serious. "Unless you want them, of course? Then I will not interfere if it is something mutual."

"He did not seem that bad when we spoke. He showed concern for your well-being." She sipped at her tea.

"I think he has more heart than you give him credit for Alisa-san. I do not think he would have asked for me if you were just an employer."

"I think I can handle him. But thank you for your concern." She gives a small smile.

"The man is good at illusions, Reiko-san." Her lips formed a thin line as she looked over towards her. She could barely believe he had a heart. If he did, it was small... and something he rarely showed. Even to her.

"But I could be wrong. Perhaps he does care for me... in some odd way." She finished up her tea, placing the cup back on the tray and curl up more in bed. "I do not know what I feel towards him anymore. I cannot really feel, period. Everything is numb.. and the only thing I do have feeling towards is a picture of a man I may never get back in my life."

"He still does not seem as horrible as bad men I have met before. But I will be on my toes thank you."

She moved to take the tray, she knew there was help around, but the tea set was special to her, she didn't mind properly caring for it. "Maybe with time I might be able to help with that. For now, you should rest. I still have to unpack most of my things, but I'll return to check on you in a while, maybe I will not be so jet lagged and we can start a treatment?"

*Whatever you believe is best. I trust your judgement.* She spoke once more in Japanese. *Please, go rest and make yourself comfortable.*

She curled up more in bed, trying to sleep. 24 hours without sleep, so far, made her feel less human than before.

Reiko had finished unpacking most of her things, at least the things she had thought to bring with her. Her Bow was still in Tokyo, but she knew it was in safe hands with her team.

The medic was currently sitting on the floor in front of a window, her textbook open and an unlined tablet nearby, the page half full of Japanese writing. In front of the book was a cup of coffee, more cream and sugar than actual coffee. She reached over to turn the page, the book seeming to be read backwards, and grab the cup to take a sip.

Alistaire appears in front of her, dropping his invisibility. He's immaculately dressed, as usual, but with his top buttons undone. His collar is somewhat rumpled, and his chest is exposed. He looked down at her with a vulpine smile, a bottle in one hand, and a glass in the other.

"How is the patient, Tawakawa-sensei?"

He's lucky she happens to have both hands around the coffee mug, or the pen would have gone flying at him. It gave her a moment to think and not act.

You really should knock before entering a woman's room Shaw-kun." She sighed a moment though leaning back. "It will take sometime to repair the damage, but I think it may be doable." She closed the textbook as she sipped her coffee. "I gave her a low dose sedative in the tea earlier, should help her rest, I'll know a little better when I speak to her later." She bit her lip a moment. "I really do hate working after sloppy doctors though. I avoided contact not wanting to know the full extent, but she moves and talks... More machine than person."

"They generally invite me in without me having to ask." He replies, filling his glass.

"Alisa's trauma is more mental than physical, by comparison." He sets down the bottle and takes a seat near Reiko, examining her over the rim of the glass as he drinks. "I'll attend to that portion of her recovery. I need you to maintain her body."

She shakes her head a little grinning. "You will find, I am not like most women. And as I do not wish to have to patients, might be wise of you not to spy on me while I am alone. I am never without some means of a weapon." Hey she'll be honest she's killed with a slip of paper before.

"Head injuries are... Difficult for me, it will take time between sessions for us both to recover, unless I purge every so often, but such actions I have been attempting to get away from." And she wasn't back in Tokyo, where she'd just find someone in her grandfather's clan and give back what they did to her.

He closes his eyes, smiling. "Women are always formidable, for they are born unto their own greatest weapons.

"Tell me what you need, and I'll acquire it. I may not have the resources of my Grandfather or a Stark, they'd have to work at it to go broke, but I'm not without means."

"Smart man, maybe there is hope for you yet."

She nodded. "Luckily, I have almost all I need with me, what I don't have I think I can find in Chinatown." She moved to stand. "All I ask is that when this is over the debt my grandfather owes your father is clear. If this works out I might make a deal with you, but on my terms not the clan's."

Alistaire raises both eyebrows a bit, walking to the nearest window. "Your services will constitute a substantial payment towards the exchange we've each inherited. You'll be told when your ledger is clear." He looks out at the lights of the city for a few moments, before looking back over his shoulder.

"Have you had dinner?"

"Do you even know the deal that grandfather had with your father when it comes to me?" There was a slight tone, not exactly anger, more... hatred aimed at the man that killed her parents.

Though the next question startled her.

"No, I was tending to LeBeau-san, then unpacking. Before you entered was the first time I had even really taken time for myself since I left Tokyo." She thought back, She may have skipped a few meals in there too.

"Enough. Not all the details. He shrugs, filling his glass again.

"Would you care to join me? I purchased a restaurant yesterday morning."

She was silent a moment.

"I'll have to change, I do not think I should be walking around New York in my kimonos." She was thinking of what she had packed that would be suitable. "If you wish to wait about twenty minutes I can be ready." It would give her time to understand her employer more after all.

"I think you should. You wear them very well." Alistaire smiles, gaze narrowing in appraisal.

"And what good is owning the place if you can't bring in whomever you want, dressed however you wish?"

She caught the look and did blush a little. Though she made no other move to pull the kimono tighter around her. She was there as a doctor, and she already knew from Alisa to stay on guard around him.

She gave a small grin. "I would rather wear something that allows more movement. After all I have heard that New York can be dangerous. And I am used to trouble finding me even in the most mildest of places." She tucked some hair from her face. "Not that I do not trust you or your security, but I am used to looking out for myself more than relying on others."

"Tawakawa-sensei.... I'm the most dangerous thing you could find." His eyes show satisfaction, but his lips don't so much smile as they reveal his teeth. "Where could be safer than with me?" He follows her hands as they adjust her clothing.

"Which is why I think it may be best to make sure to be prepared." She gave him a small grin. "There is always someone who is willing to try to prove they are stronger than the largest threats." Her face stayed guarded as she finished speaking. "And some do not care whom they hurt."

"Now, if you don't mind, I will meet you in the main hall as soon as I am ready." Sorry but she'd rather not show off her scars thank you.

He smirks. "Well parried. You understand the importance of not contradicting your host." He gestures with his glass. "Go. I hate to wait."

After a suitably slow and leisurely pull of the drink again, he steps out.

She bows her head politely. "I've dealt with bigger egos actually."

Ten minutes after he left she was walking out of her room dressed in a short dark purple kimono, with black trim, that was as long as most tasteful short skirts, and black leggings. It had taken her a few minutes to decide, the shoes she wore were her geta, something that would make most people look twice and wonder how she was able to walk in them, but they were familiar to her, and gave her a little more height.

"I do hope that this is appropriate." She said calmly as she quickly twisted her hair up, keeping it in place with a pair of thin sticks that hid dirks. In her sleeves she had tucked flash powder sleep toxins and a few other non lethal weapons for 'just in case'.

Another exposure of his teeth. "I say it is." He watches her fingers dance over her hair, noting her dexterity. To be expected of a medical practitioner, and more.

He offers her his arm. "The car is waiting."

Of course she's used to both taking and saving lives with those hands. Pausing a moment she did slip her arm into his, carefully slipping the sleeve of the kimono into the obi to keep it out of the way for now with her free hand.

"So, on the way, do you think you can tell me about the city? It really is my first time here. I would rather enjoy playing tourist for at least a little while."

"With all due respect to Tokyo and the old capital--" Alistaire comments, helping her into the car. "--Manhattan is the city. Grown of all cultures, torn down and rebuilt for grids and progress, struck from afar, and reviving itself. If you can't find what you want here, it's not worth pursuing."

She accepted his help only out of courtesy, making it clear with her actions she's played the 'arm candy' role before. After all getting targets close enough to kill in a crowded room involved playing to their whims at times.

"What about peace and quiet? Or fresh air?" She had found the air a little heavier than back home, and really wondered if it was all the people, or if it was just her nerves. Empathy sucked, even if it wasn't one of her mutant abilities, just more of a trained skill as a medic.

"Sorry, it's just even in Tokyo it seems there are still areas where you can find the crowds are not as thick as they were at the airport." She smirked a little.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You just never see it coming... (open)

no subject

A Few Weeks Later...

Re: A Few Weeks Later...

Re: A Few Weeks Later...

Re: A Few Weeks Later...

Re: A Few Weeks Later...

Homecoming

Re: Homecoming

Re: Homecoming

Re: Homecoming

Re: Homecoming

bleeech

Re: bleeech

Re: bleeech

Re: bleeech

Re: bleeech

Re: bleeech

Unpacking and meeting the boss

Re: Unpacking and meeting the boss

Re: Unpacking and meeting the boss

Re: Unpacking and meeting the boss

Re: Unpacking and meeting the boss

Re: Unpacking and meeting the boss

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject