[Log] An apple a day keeps the doctor away [closed]

[exequies]

Characters: Bucky Barnes, John Watson, Steve Rogers, and Undertaker (walk into a bar...)
Location: Building 131 (the hospital)
Date: Day 208, midday
Summary: Undertaker revives at the hospital after being dead for several days. He's found by both Bucky and John. Also I suck at summaries.
Warnings: Suicidal ideation and mentions of suicide.

131: The roof of a large, square hospital. At first, it seems like this is as far as you can go--but actually, there's a door on the rooftop. It's locked, but there's a card key reader attached. As for what spared it from having its parts stripped? It was frozen over with ice, though not any longer. The building can now be entered from the rooftop.

The hospital is eerie in its silence, and snow presses in against many of the windows, keeping much of it in sterile darkness. It still smells like a hospital; the antiseptic is fresh, and there isn't much dust. Someone must be cleaning it, and yet it's clear no one is here. The hospital is four stories high with one basement, all connected via the elevator lobby and staircase. Unfortunately, the wall of the elevator lobby has been torn open all the way down, exposing it to the bitter air outside. While you can explore and remain on most of the floors of the hospital at night, you cannot travel between them until it's daytime once more, as the lobby seals itself up at curfew.

The first floor has both more and less relaxed areas. There's an operating room down here, too, as well as another sort of laboratory, and a large section of this floor is taken up by labor delivery. The hospital has a generally oppressive atmosphere, but this area is marginally less so. Only marginally, though. The rooms in the delivery wing are larger than the rooms upstairs, with a more private atmosphere, but there are extra beds in here, and even VIP delivery isn't private on first blush. A closer inspection reveals the rooms only really seem fit for one of the beds. Others must have been added later for some reason. The lobby is very large here, with plenty of seating available for waiting. There's a door that works, also, opening to the south into a small, empty parking garage and finally revealing the rest of the ice tunnel area. During the day, at least. It's locked at night like everything else. There are finger-sized slits cut into many of the mattresses. One of the bathrooms on the first floor has signs of a fire having been set, with scorch marks. "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY TWO, CONTACT @LELRIC FOR ANY ASSISTANCE" is written on the wall. "ALFIE SOLOMONS, 1922. Camden Town, London, England, UK, Europe, Earth. Day 165, February 24." is carved into the wall. Underneath the RECEPTION sign is the following, scrawled in black crayon:
"NⓍ NIMA
where is it?
73 74 69 6c 6c 20 73 65 61 72 63 68 20 69 6e 67"

Comments

[exequies]

[Undertaker awakes with a jolt in the hospital's morgue. Darkness greets him, and for a few seconds he feels confused by the impossibility--he remembers the anomaly had come from nowhere and had taken him clear as day. The thing had looked disturbingly like a massive dog, and seemed to hone in on him, specifically. His clothes had been wet and dragging him down, making his entire body numbed with the onset of hypothermia and causing him to be too slow to react. But he wasn't wet, anymore. His hair and clothing felt dry.

How long had it been? It felt like seconds ago that he'd looked into that mouth with far too many teeth, but as his breathing evens out from the first panicked gasps he realizes that he's inside of a bag. His fingers feel out the zipper, nails clinking along it until he manages to find a tiny gap and wiggle one through. He drags down, and the bag peels back inch by inch as the zipper pull goes with his finger.

It's dim outside as well, but even so, the presence of light makes him squint and blink into it. After a few more moments he sits up and discoverers a very familiar sight of the metal body locker table he's been lying on. It wasn't a dream then... he actually had died. Which meant that something had been taken from him, surely.

He felt alright, though. Dazed and not quite sorted, but as he extracted himself from the body bag he found all of his limbs in working order. His senses seemed to be intact, as well. And his belongings had survived, waiting backpack and messenger bag scooped up and secured in their places. Picking up his hat last, he plopped it on his head and headed up the stairs from the basement, looking for somewhere to settle in the first-floor lobby where he could get out his tablet and check the network to see what he'd missed.]

[advanced]

[He dare not go any further south.

His orders were to go north, albeit only for two days, and it itches under his skin to go the opposite direction. Half because he still doesn't want to disobey, and half because he doesn't want to run into Pierce again. Not now, maybe not ever. He made a severe miscalculation, he should never have gone alone.

But Dr. Watson is in trouble, even if he protests otherwise, and something inside Bucky makes him keep moving to try and help. He's stalling in the hospital, however, too cowardly to go further. He scouts around instead, instantly on his guard when he notices a figure emerging from the basement.]

Who the hell are you?

[jumpthegun]

[John's coming through the parking garage into the hospital from the south when he hears a voice. He can't make out what it's saying, but there's definitely something there, and the tone concerns him. The doctor picks up the pace, opening the door to the actual building and squinting into the dimness to see two figures he can't entirely make out across the darkened room.]

Who's there? It's Dr. Watson.

[exequies]

[The tall man pauses as he's addressed, or more like being accused of even existing. Bucky's voice is one he doesn't recognize, either.]

Still me, I think. [He raises a hand to his temple and rubs it a bit before a second, further away voice chimes in. This one he recognizes, and he tilts his head in Watson's direction before he gives a little wave.]

Good to hear you're still around, Doctor. What day is it?

[advanced]

[Still me isn't an adequate response and it causes Bucky's eyes to narrow in even further suspicion, but the stranger is saved for now by the arrival of the man he's come to meet.

He shifts to put himself equally facing both in case of an attack from either side, his body language utterly rigid.]

I asked you who you were.

[Apparently not saved for that long.]

[jumpthegun]

208. It's Mr. Undertaker, Bucky. He's been dead. Reckon you just woke up, yeah?

[That's directed to Undertaker as John takes a few more steps in, but stops, just staring at the other men. Something's going to have to give here, and John's content to let it be Bucky. He's the one most likely to go on a tear.

Maybe get the silver fox away from him, love? Mary says. I don't think he's going to like his jokes all that much.]

For John

[advanced]

[It's not all that much later when Bucky manages to find Dr. Watson away from the strange man - Undertaker - who revived that morning. It's strange, Dr. Watson looks both different and familiar in a way that itches under Bucky's skin. His posture is one of tension, like a coiled spring ready to go into fight or flight rather than the tentative trust they had established before. His expression and voice, however, are both neutral.]

You look older.

[There's a hint of a question behind it, as if asking if that's true or if it's just a trick being played by his mind.]

[jumpthegun]

[John is tense, as well, so at least they match. He's sat himself along the middle of one wall where it gives him a clear line of sight to most of the doorways on this floor of the hospital. The doctor looks up at Bucky.]

I'm five years older than the last time we saw each other. I mentioned I gained a few years while I was dead, right?

[advanced]

[Oh yes, he does remember that now. He nods, jaw firming.]

Something happened while you were gone?

[jumpthegun]

A lot of things happened.

[John licks his lips.]

There were more films. With you and the Avengers. And Mr. Pierce.

[advanced]

[His fingers twitch as if towards a weapon, but that's the only outward sign of that causing him any discomfort. He looks much better, actually. Clean from head to toe, shaven, clothes washed, even slightly fatter.]

What happened to you?

[He doesn't want to talk about himself at all.]

For Undertaker

[jumpthegun]

Be quiet!

[The snap is louder than John means it to be in the middle of his conversation with Mary, and he's looking up, rather than down at his tablet. That may be difficult to see in the dimness of the hospital, though, even with the tablet painting deep shadows onto John's face. He needs to make sure she's real, that this conversation is actually happening. John finished the message more quietly and looks around, eyes falling on Undertaker.

Bit more dangerous than Bucky for that question, isn't he? Mary asks. John tries to ignore her. Two voices from his dead wife are one too many to have.

He picks himself up and moves over to where the other man has settled.]

Mr. Undertaker, I'm having a little trouble with my tablet. Could I ask you to check something for me?

[You're asking the Victorian how to work your tablet? John...]

Please.

[exequies]

[By this point, Undertaker is well aware what's wrong with him. Like the wind taken from a sail, he's visibly deflated and sitting listlessly against the nearest wall, eyes staring off at some point in the distance.

It takes him several seconds to acknowledge John's presence when he does move over, the only sign that he hasn't become a corpse again being the subtle expansion and collapse of his lungs as he breathes. But eventually, his head turns against the wall towards the other man, nearly flopping half-heartedly against his own shoulder as he looks dead-pan at him.]

What is it?

[He wants to ask 'what does it matter?', but it's his mild peak of curiosity that keeps him from being entirely brusque. It still isn't the most welcoming of responses.]

[jumpthegun]

Could you just... [John kneels down and presents his tablet to Undertaker. He has Mary's first message pulled up. This is going to be a patently ridiculous lie, but he's hoping the other man's lack of familiarity with technology will help sell it.

He really is cleverer than that, my love.]

I tried replaying this message and the sound was sort of garbled. Can you hear it properly?

[John taps the play button, and Mary's comes through in perfectly clear tones.]

John? It's... it's me.

[exequies]

[His eyes fall somewhere near the other man's tablet as he plays the message, gaze flicking upward only once as he squints faintly at Watson. His hearing was the sharpest of his five senses, and as the message plays he gets the impression that he isn't getting the full picture.

The voice is unfamiliar to him, but it's asking for Watson. And the tone seems to imply an uncertainty but also a familiarity to it.]

It sounds fine to me. [He keeps his voice neutral, shoulders hunching in a little more to conserve his heat.]

She a friend of yours...?

[jumpthegun]

[He can hear her. Oh, God... Christ! It really is Mary. John draws in a sharp breath and slumps a little to the side where he's kneeling.]

My wife. She's my wife.

for bucky and john, after all THAT (they said i could)

[fiteme]

[It's been a rough week for Steve, but he's managed. Everyone keeps saying it's dangerous, and Bucky insisted that he travel with John, but Steve's not convinced. Honestly, stubborn as he is, Steve kind of wants to just keep going it alone. If Bucky won't even meet him, why should he bother meeting with anyone?

Except... it is rather lonely. Not that he'd admit that.

Steve arrives at the hospital in the afternoon. He hadn't set a time to meet John, so he just starts searching methodically, as he's done in every other building he's encountered, just in case there's something new to find. And he likes satisfying his own curiosity by seeing things himself.

He's trying very hard not to be mad at Bucky. He's been through so much, it's no wonder he thinks himself dangerous. He always was overprotective of Steve. Steve just wishes he could sit down and talk with him, get a good feel for how he is, where his head is at. But apparently that's not going to happen.

Don't think about that, Steve. Think about what you're looking at.]

[advanced]

[He's split off from the Undertaker and John for a while so that he, too, can explore. He's been to the hospital a few times, but the paranoia that whispers in his head demands that he check out all the floors for danger before he can settle in for the night.

He's on the first floor when he hears a noise, footsteps that he knows don't belong to the other two men. It puts him right in defensive mode, half crouching as he slips around the corner and finds himself face to face with--

--oh.

His eyes go wide, and for a second he's just frozen.]

[fiteme]

[Steve thinks he hears a footstep, but his hearing is not very good, so it's as much a surprise to him as it is to Bucky when they come face to face.

He gapes back.

Steve's seen Bucky already, of course, there was the video conversation just the other day, but seeing him in person is completely different somehow. He's bigger, and the wear of his experiences weighs on him. But it's still Bucky.

Steve pulls himself together enough to manage a hesitant greeting.]

Hi, Bucky. Wasn't expecting to see you here.

[advanced]

[All of a sudden everything kicks back in again as if his brain has rebooted in a second, adrenaline coursing through him in a mixture of fear and anger.

He whirls on his heel and simply takes off.

There's not a long way that he can go, the hospital has just shut for lock down not long since and so he can't get outside, but he can slam through the doors on this floor and try to get into the stairwells unsuccessfully.]

[fiteme]

Bucky, wait!

[No, no nononono don't run why is he running

Steve doesn't have time to stop and think logically about whether he should follow or not, or why Bucky might not want to see him. Instead instinct takes over, and Steve does his best impression of a sprint, chasing after Bucky as best he can and slipping on the tiled floors. He gets whacked by a couple of doors but makes it through okay...

...until one catches him right in the forehead and he goes flying back, crashing to the floor.

Fuck, that hurt. And now he's nevertheless going to catch up with Bucky. But he struggles to his feet and ignores the dizziness to try to keep after him anyway m even though at this point he's totally disoriented and has no idea which way Bucky went.]

[jumpthegun]

[John's checking the operating room on the first floor when the sound of footsteps catches his attention. Even knowing Undertaker and Bucky are in the hospital with him, the doctor can't help his hand going to the scalpel in his pocket as he turns toward the source of the sound.]

Find anything interesting?

[It's called lightly, gauging who it might be.]

[fiteme]

[Now, Steve hasn't actually seen John. Doesn't know what he looks or sounds like. And Steve's realized this and is kicking himself about it somewhat. But he figures he can contact him if they don't run into each other, so Steve's focused on searching for the moment.

He's been alone in Norfinbury so far. He can't hear the sounds of a person in the next room thanks to his bad hearing, but he can hear the voice that calls out.

Steve freezes.]

Define interesting.

[jumpthegun]

[Luckily, John recognizes the other man's voice and relaxes minutely.]

It's John, sir. Just about anything would be interesting here, in all honesty.

[fiteme]

[Okay... Steve relaxes a fraction, but he's still suspicious.]

Prove it.