Scooby Gang

Posted on Wed Aug 28th, 2019 @ 7:26pm by Commander Hades,MD & Lieutenant Commander Carolyn Corrigan MD

2,701 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 99 - Exordium / Epilogue
Location: Various Locations SB 400
Timeline: MD01 1800 hours

OOC: My apologies this should have gone up MD01!!! Thanks for understanding.

ON:

Nursing a cup of hot chocolate, Doctor Corrigan slid into a seat opposite Dr Harris and sat in silence for a moment. Having checked in with Kalani to ensure she was coping as well as could be expected, her attention had shifted. And it shifted straight to her colleague who was presently focusing a lot of attention into updating patient files.

Aside from the two of them, the lounge was empty. Everyone far too busy, not wishing to incur the wrath of their Chief Medical Officer.

"So. Hades?" she prompted after a long silence, taking a drink. "I assume someone was planning to do something to help him at some point?"

He sighed, "No...everyone just kind of backed off. Hades is an old friend and I...dared not approach him even though I am more liberal with him than most."

“Yeah, most of the Scooby Gang would freak if they’d heard you,” she agreed. She remembered how even Nivar, that night, had tried to stay away from Hades wrath. “He has a temper at times but come on, complicated or not, he needed help.”

"I guess for those of us who've known the man so long it's unfathomable that he would need help. Even at his worst he always helped us. Those who don't know him know him as a man with bedside manners to rival anyone but a temper as you say." He sighed. "Hades...you know he chose that name because he'd been so many times in what felt like the depths of the underworld and came out. This was the first time I saw him like this. In despair and lost...I was almost afraid." He shook his head. "When I finally snapped out of it I saw the Katra treatments he was doing and then, only then, knowing we could lose him I smartened up. That man carries a world on his shoulders..." He studied her. "You are so much like her. No wonder you balance him."

In honesty it was way, way more information than she expected. So much she was bursting with questions. “If someone needs me for balance it kinda says it all....” she commented. “And people keep saying that. Who am I supposed to remind him of?”

He sighed, "That is a long story that is best left to him. All I can say is that for him you are like a resurrection, spirit and appearance." He studied her. "Ask him to tell you about who you remind him of. He will, it might be a bit painful but he'll tell you." He studied her. "Actually one of the cases we are watching now, he's asked me to brief you on it and it will tell you a bit about something the doctor has dedicated quite a lot of time to so it might help you understand. He's asked me to give you the choice of if you want to be involved in this or not. If you proceed you will be expected to keep strong confidence on the matter. The Admirals know, some senior staff."

“I think I’ve done enough to Hades for one day,” she told him with a sigh. His answer had only served to intensify her curiosity answer. And she wasn’t sure he would tell her. After all she had already tried that. As he went on her eyes narrowed. “Sounds very Mystery Inc. And he actually wants you to brief me? Sounds very unlike Hades. When did he decide this?”

Harris sighed, "Before you left. But with Kalani and all...It wasn't the time." He studied her, "So. Ready?"

“As I’ll ever be,” she replied.

He smiled, “Alright. Let's go then. We have a Section 31 agent to meet."

“Nivar?” She guessed as she stood. Unless someone else had come aboard.

He smiled, "Exactly." The walk didn't take long. They found themselves outside Michael’s quarters. Harris entered a code that gave them entry. When they entered Nivar sat at the dining room table looking as if he hadn't slept in a couple days. Stubble coated his jaw.

"How is she?"

Nivar swiped a hand down his face. "I just came from her. It's getting worse. She does not have much time."

Harris sighed. "Hades?"

"He was there an hour ago."

Harris motioned for Carolyn to sit. "Hades asked that she be briefed."

"Carolyn Corrigan, MD." He typed something into a PADD which he placed in the middle of the table. "Have a seat Doctor. What you are about to hear is beyond classified. I will need you to treat it as such."

Carolyn slid into a seat opposite Nivar. He looked like he had been following lifestyle tips from Hades. “That’s me,” she said as Nivar spoke up. “Classified 2.0. Understood.”

Harris snorted a laugh.

Nivar sighed, "How to dramatically start this? A long time ago in a galaxy that was not so far away there was a group of idiots who called themselves scientists."

Harris laughed. "How dramatic." He gave Carolyn a smile.

Carolyn arched an eyebrow, “was their Jedi or we talking strictly dark side?”

"Yes...well. Anyway they were part of a project called Rebirth. Have you heard of Khan?"

“Since you are talking science I assume you are referring to Khan Noonien Singh. Augmented human born mid twentieth century. Eugenics. U.S.S. Enterprise. That Khan?” She surmised.

"Yes. This experiment by Section 31 and Starfleet intelligence was to enhance certain abilities. When Splendora and I, along with others, entered the program we had things that needed to be fixed. For example," Nivar began. "I could not talk, my hand eye coordination was off, I had no ability to commit myself to logic. After the treatments I was doing well, then regressed. Anyway Starfleet threw out the word Eugenics again and the program was shut down. The subjects, we, went to our homes. Down the line it was discovered that the experiment was no failure. At a certain stage the augmentations kicked in."

Harris took over. "The subjects, like Nivar myself and many others who were a part of this began to change, emotionally, physically, it was...not a pleasant experience. Many did not make it through the transition. Those that did...they were the ones saved by a kind Vulcan man and his Nephew....Hades."

Through the entire time they talked, Carolyn listened in silence. Running through the implications of what they were saying. Her headache was back with a vengeance. “So, does Section 31 still believe the program failed?” She asked Nivar after a long moment.

He sighed, "No. They know it hasn't. They've been on a hunt for those who were in the program. Hades has arranged for a colony within the First Federation, a group Starfleet has no relations with, to be formed and for the colony to be protected."

“How did Hades and his uncle know about you? Oh....” she seemed to sink a little further into her seat. Little pieces of the jigsaw falling into place. God she wanted to hit him. “So Hades now wants me to know about the Scooby Gang. Why?”

"Hades was one of the...as you call us, Scooby Gang." Harris finished.

Nivar hissed. "Harris!"

"Relax. He approved it." Harris turned to her. "Splendora is about to transition." He looked at Nivar. "Show her."

Nivar sighed. "Do you have a strong stomach?"

Carolyn arched an eyebrow at him, “seriously? Do I look like a first year med student?”

Harris smiled. "Now, that little tid bit about Hades being one of us that is something that not even Admiral Bremer knows. Nivar will show you his transition."

Nivar tapped a button on the PADD. A small holo image rose of a medical facility. The sequence of mini holo images took them through the transition. Michael was on the bed his body twisting in pain. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties. A close up as his ears began to stretch and his hair to lighten. Soon the points of his ears seemed to even out and his eyes an emerald green were now amber. His body rounded and it was as if he was changing from the inside out aging and then getting younger. Then the readings changed where Michael went into full organ failure.

Harris moved the time stamp forward twenty minutes and it showed a simultaneous effort to revive all organs and the first breath. The scanner readings went mad and the subject, Michael, jumped up in full fight mode. He seemed like a wild beast and then Hades' nerve pinch had him down. The image disappeared.

"The results of the transition. Some....never make it through." Harris shook his head. "Hades...well he was the first of us to transition. He was already gifted when he went into the program. The genetic enhancements served to correct a few things, like his inability to speak, and amplify a lot of other things. Hades has dedicated his life to saving our people and giving them a peaceful life. Now Doctor Sage will face this transition."

Carolyn listened to them, watched it all in silence. Her mind was reeling at even just the science involved, let alone the ethics of morality of it. “What does Hades want me to do?” She asked them.

"We have to ensure Splendora makes it through this so he'll need your help." Michael said.

Harris turned to Carolyn. "We might as well tell her everything."

Michael shook his head. "I can't. Hades should.."

Harris sighed. "Hades needs Splendora to make it through this and his reasons...are selfish and personal."

“Spill,” Carolyn interjected.

"Splendora is half Betazoid and half El Aurian. She is the product of an affair between her mother and Hades' father. She is his half-sister."

“Hades doesn’t need a Scooby Gang,” Carolyn sighed, “he needs an open bar.... does she know?”

"No...not yet. Hades had chosen to keep that a secret."

Carolyn frowned, “I still don’t exactly see where I come in.”

He'll need medical help. Hades and I will be in the room, Nivar, perhaps the Admiral and Tom and or Vito. We need a third pair of hands. When her organs shut down she must be clinically dead for about twenty minutes before we can bring her back." Harris handed her a PADD. "All the medical data you'll need."

“Twenty minutes?” She stared at Harris, “and then hope for the best?”

She took the PADD, quietly reading through each section, brow furrowed in concentration. When Harris moved to speak she held up a hand, silencing him before handing the PADD back. “When will this happen?”

He shrugged. "We don't know. Each person is different. Hades thinks it won't be long." Harris sat back looking tired and old. "None of us asked for this you know. Section...they are as disgusting as the Obsidian order and the Tal Shiar."

Michael shrugged. "The only reason I'm in section is to find those like us to take them to the colony and to safety and to protect Armand ... I mean Hades."

"You know he chose that name..." Carolyn glanced between the two men, unsure what to even think. It was beyond surreal. And complicated did not even begin to cover it. A colony, Section, eugenics...

"I think you need classified 4.0," she said quietly, trying to get beyond Hades not just being Hades.

Uncomplicate the complicated. That had been his promise before she left. To give him a month. Of course that was before she told him she was leaving and before Lynn - Carolyn shook her head, angry with herself. “Is there anything else I should know? Might as well just throw it out there,” she asked bitterly, climbing to her feet. “Anything that was actually the truth? God I am an idiot!”

Harris stood. "Now hold on there young lady. What do you mean by that? Do you know what Hades has gone through in his life? Not one day has he lived for himself! He has taken care of the world and fought for everything he has. He has one of the kindest and purest souls I know and you make a comment like that?"

Michael who'd never seen Harris like that sat back to watch the fireworks.

“Of course I don’t know! But that’s the point, isn’t it?” She stopped, sinking into the chair again. “Sorry. It’s just. A lot..”

She took the PADD out of his hands, skipping to the section she wanted, adding a note to the page, gibberish unless you were accustomed to research papers and journals. “Its early tests are encouraging. It might help her. Hades can call me if he needs to.”

Harris sighed. "I told Hades it was a mistake to tell you. Frankly there are times when I wonder if he has too much faith in you. You are the only one outside of Kalani that' he's trusted."

“Cut the guilt trip, Harris,” she muttered, up and heading for the door. “You don’t want me here, fine. I’m going. Tell Hades whatever the hell you want.”

Leaving the two alone she headed towards Sickbay. Confident she would find Hades with Kalani. And sure enough he was sitting at her side as she slept. Without a word, Carolyn sat in the seat beside him, watching Kalani for a long moment. They were alone, but her voice was still barely more than a whisper as she admitted, “I don’t know if I should hug you or throw something at you. All of this is just ....” she couldn’t decide on a word to adequately encompass it all.

“What they did to you. All of you. I’m sorry.”

There was silence for a moment. He listened to the steady breathing of his sleeping wife. Having her back...was more then he could say. He then sighed. "Thank you. It was not the life we chose but I knew I had to be here to make sure that all those who had gone through the same were safe. Long ago Armand died and due to this experiment was reborn as Hades. I have livened my enter life trapped in a purgatory beyond comprehension." He smiled, "Throw something at me?"

“That part is because I felt like an idiot, hearing Harris and Nivar just reveal this whole other life. Harris thinks you have too much faith in me. I may have freaked out a little first. Just a little. He worries about you. And he’s probably right about me. You trust me for some reason when I don’t trust myself half the time.”

He smiled, “I will trust you for the both of us." He took her hand. "I must apologize to you. I have placed a great burden on you."

She looked at his hand. “Isn’t that what friends are for? I don’t usually keep them around long enough to find out but I think I read it somewhere. They get to infuriate you too.”

He chuckled.

“I’m going to find something for this annoying headache and then I’m going to take Kalani’s lead,” Carolyn said, starting to get up. “Harris’ PADD has some links to research that might help Doctor Sage’s odds. Not by much but maybe? I’ll let you read it and decide.”

"I am grateful for any help." He sighed. "Get some rest. I will be seeing a few patients. Kalani's sister will sit with her and then she’ll be released early morning."

“Get some sleep too. Wedding planning is so stressful it will make the rest of it all pale in comparison,” she warned him with a smile, glancing at Kalani. “And thank you. Burden or not. Thank you for trusting me.”

He gave a nod. "Alright. Off to rest now."

“You can be so bossy,” she grumbled, grinning as she headed for the door. “Night Hades.”

"Night Carolyn. And for the record you need to be fresh as a daisy. The Wedding is in two days."

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