1961-11-15 - Private Matters
Summary: Sue needs some private consultation with everyone's big sister, Heather.
Related: None yet.
Theme Song: None
sue heather 


There's a strange semblance of thoughts and emotions that have accompanied a certain Doctor Storm out of the Fantastic Four residence. With a black bag across her chest, and her lab coat still draped over her shoulders, there's plenty of purpose in this visit. While she's expected to learn a thing or two about cooking, she's dressed a bit oddly for the occasion.

In her back sleeveless dress beneath the coat, she knocks lightly on the door before trying the doorknob. She is, expected, after all…

*

"Come on in!" Heather is in the middle of something. There are textbooks — medical textbooks? — piled on the coffee table. There's laundry half-folded on the sofa. Something smells like it's baking. And Heather is, mostly, in the fridge. The contents of the fridge? On the counter.

"Sorry,I can't get the door," she adds. David is nowhere to be seen. He's probably, wisely, taken cover somewhere. Maybe Tibet.

*

Sue peeks around the corner as she treads into the room and sets the black bag down. The medical texts are regarded with an arch of a single eyebrow, and her hands slow unload the bag onto the coffee table. Gently, she sets it down and opens the flap, but doesn't set herself up yet. "It smells divine~" she calls as she finally begins to draw items from the bag.

Each of them is set on the table including a few syringes, some test tubes, and an elastic arm band. "What are you working on?"

*

"I'm baking my mother's coffee cake and cleaning the fridge, doing laundry, and reading up on emergency medicine," Heather says from back inside the fridge. "Also I'm working on a backgrounder for Hammer Industries. How are you?"

Heather being busy is…normal. But not this busy. Unless she's bothered about something. And then it's all hands on deck.

"Oh, let me put the coffee on!" Heather pops out of the fridge. "Do you know grinding yourself is back in fashion? I didn't know it ever went out." She zips over to the coffee pot to fill it.

*

"I…" Sue's cheeks flush a pale pink. "…I've been better." She can feel her face flushing further as her chin drops to her chest. She manages to make her tone light when she observes, "Admittedly, the smell of home baked goods seems to make it better."

She smirks as she trails to the kitchen and leans in the doorframe. "Why emergency medicine? Moonlighting as a nurse? Because… that would be rather… timely." She manages a smile at that followed by a vague shake of her head. "What's going on? This is…" she looks back over her shoulder at the books, "…a bit excessive."

*

"Oh, I'm just…" Heather looks around. "Maybe it is. I clean when I'm upset. And. I was at David's work last night when a young woman came crashing in. She was in very bad shape. Dying, I don't think she'll make it. But I got her breathing again. Barely, for what it was worth. I suppose…she was very young and I don't know what the case was but I didn't know if I could have done better. And, once I got started cleaning, well. One has to finish." She gets the coffee pot on, then looks Sue over. "What's wrong? Been better?"

*

The smell of the coffee actually causes Sue to blanch. She inhales deeply as her chin drops. "I…" she forces her gaze upwards. "I need some help. And… I need…" her eyes trail to the ceiling. "You can't… I need… please don't say anything to anyone. Please." She slowly sheds the lab coat draped over her shoulders. Purple and blue line both of her arms. "I'm terrible at finding a vein — " she explains as she flushes further. "And normally I'd ask Johnny or Reed or… maybe even Ben, but I…" she's nearly beet red.

*

"Sure thing, honey. Don't worry." Heather can, in fact, draw blood. Tests had to be done, sometimes there was no one else to do it. "What on earth is going on?" she asks, on her way over to wash her hands at the sink. Safety first.

"You can't ask Ben to draw blood," she adds with a laugh. The idea is actually pretty hilarious.

*

"Well, the last two months are kind of a blur and I wasn't exactly in my right mind with Victor's nano-bots taking up residence in my," Sue taps her temple. "And I don't exactly know, but there's a chance and the tests are notoriously unreliable. False positives, false negatives," her eyebrows lift as she describes some situation that isn't making a lick of sense without a very imperative piece of information. Her throat clears. "I think I might be pregnant." Pause. "Maybe." Pause. "I don't know."

*

"Ah." Heather takes this in stride. "Well, sit down and let me get that test going for you, then. This one, I know how to do." That's inevitable, given the era, given her role in a department that did employ young women, given the doctor she lived next door to and the community of Catholic women around her.

"Now," she says briskly, coming over to take stock of what's on the table, "it is early days. So there are going to be questionable results with some tests. How do you feel about it right now?" She waits for Sue to settle while she gets a throw pillow from the couch to cushion Sue's arm on the table.

*

A long sigh of extreme relief emits from Sue's lips. "Thank you," that's enough to get her moving to the table to sit down. She slumps into the seat and lifts her chin o stare up at the ceiling. "I don't even know," she murmurs softly. "I genuinely don't know." The lab coat is carefully draped over her lap and she rests her arm on the pillow. "Yeah. I've been collecting samples for days and trying different tests, but I'm not sure I'm not contaminating any samples I've collected. I mean," she motions her head towards her arms. "I'm not good at collecting from myself."

Her throat clears. "I almost asked Johnny the other day in the lab, but I'm not sure that's — no one wants to know their sibling… yeah." Her fingers lift nearly defensively. And then, finally as an afterthought she offers: "I'm ambivalent, I guess. Of two minds. Unsure how I really feel about it."

*

"Agreed. Not the kind of thing you want to discuss. If he were married, maybe. A man has to consider those things then, whether he wants to or not." Heather slips the band in place around Sue's arm, then cleans her off with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol.

"A lot of women feel ambivalent. I suppose the more pressing question isn't so much how you feel but what you plan to do. I absolutely won't tell anyone and, well, there are options." She leaves it at that. It's not talked about much but there are options. "No matter what you decide to do, or how this turns out, I'm not one to judge. Everyone has to live their life the best they can. Make a fist."

Heather takes a moment, pressing and probing with her thumb above and below Sue's elbow, before she slides the needle in so she can start collecting samples.

*

Sue heeds the directions and makes a fist. "I know," she manages with a flicker of a smile. "To be honest," she cringes again, "I'm not actually likely able to carry… I shouldn't be able to get pregnant. I mean.. actually. My cells are," she frowns. "There's a lot of radiation there. A lot." Her eyebrows lift. "It's not normal. And not mutant in a natural sense of the word. It's different, and because it's different — " her head shakes. "The situation isn't likely to last."

She swallows hard and emits a soft breath. "This is not an ideal time. Or situation. Our lives are often a three-ringed circus. There are aliens that have made themselves known. I love Reed but it's new. And we're not… the public gives us a lot of grace. But an unwed mother?" her eyebrows lift. "On top of which," she sighs. "Joon told me I did a terrible job raising him." She lifts her free hand, "Not an exact quote, and he was all full of Victor's nanites, but he said it. It's entirely possible I'm not cut out for this. I'd probably make a terrible mom."

*

"Not true." Heather is focused on the vials but she seems certain. "Let me put it this way. You might not be everything your child needs on your own. Even you and Reed might not be. But you are smart and you are selfless, Sue. Your ego would not get in the way of doing the right thing." She finishes with the vials and sets them, and the needle, aside before putting a fresh cotton ball on the puncture wound.

Now, Heather looks Sue in the eyes. "You'd find a way to meet all your child's needs, whatever it looked like. You'd take parenting classes, you'd hire a really good nanny. You'd play to your strengths. You'd let Johnny help. The last thing you need to worry about is what kind of mother you'd be." She puts a bandaid over the cotton ball. "Press there. What's going to be important is finding you a doctor you can trust if you are pregnant. Someone skilled. If you are, and you want, I can enquire at SHIELD. They have all kinds of connections with specialists in fields across all disciplines."

*

Sue emits a soft sigh and then allows her chin to drop. "Maybe." She issues Heather a weak smile. "I just don't know, Heather. Honestly. But maybe." Her nose wrinkles. "I lost my mother a long time ago. Both of my parents. And Aunt Margay was… wonderful, but not my mom." Her smile tightens. "Joon doesn't remember her, but I do. And everything tells me I'm not quite good enough. Nor will I be. But. I'll keep SHIELD in mind. Please. Just… keep it to yourself for now?"

*

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