1963-08-17 - Visiting Hours Are Over
Summary: Cloak and Dagger stop into Roosevelt Hospital to check in on someone and say goodbye.
Related: None
Theme Song: None
cloak dagger 


Roosevelt Hospital has a long and storied history with the nearby neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen and the unfortunates who wash up on its shores from that particular sea of hard luck. It also has a short but storied history with those attempting to clean the waters of that sea— those like CLOAK AND DAGGER, who roam the night in search of that which would go bump in it that they might bump back.

The girl's name is unknown to the staff. Unknown, in fact, to anyone that is aware she is here, suffering under the effects of a severe overdose and withdrawal of some unknown substance. It's her presence, though, that draws the fluttering sound to the quiet of the hospital room, brings fabric unfolding itself out of nothingness, resolving into a voluminous shape around a dark figure. His name is Cloak, and he was once a shadow of dark vengeance, now tempered and restrained. A dim light, brightening, leaks from the folds of cloth, eventually resolving into a bright figure who steps out of the shadows within Cloak's form, softly illuminating the room. Her name is Dagger, and it is at her insistence that they have both come visiting this night.

*

"Dagger. Should we really be here?"

Cloak was entirely willing to transport himself and Dagger into the hospital room, but even so, he harbored… doubts. The black silhouette remains near the window, two pinpricks of white flicking around the room from beneath the hood. Checking the door for shadows moving through the light under the gap, checking the girl in the bed for… anything.

Very carefully, he says, "I know you want to help. But I don't think there's anything left to do."

*

"Someone should be," the other replies. Dagger understands his concern. They're somewhat allergic to official notice at the best of times, for one— and in times past, she had a borderline-obsessive need to exhaust herself attempting to breathe life back into the recently-departed. She'd never even gotten close to managing it, though, and over time, had come to accept it as a limitation. She watches the girl in the hospital bed for a few moments, taking in the way the unconscious teenager still moves fitfully, the ragged, labored breathing, and reaches out her hand.

"You're right— there isn't anything left to do," she agrees, fingers fussing with the younger girl's hair. As she does, the girl settles, stills, and her breathing becomes smoother, if still labored. "Not in the way you mean. She hasn't much time left, but she needn't suffer so." She glances at her partner. "And she won't be alone."

*

There is a moment of silence from the dark figure. Then, slowly, he reaches up to draw the hood from his head, letting it drop to sit around his shoulders. From there down, he seems to be nothing more than darkness given form — the absence of light in the shape of a man. But from the neck up? He's just another black teenager casting fitful glances towards the doorway.

Cloak moves a bit closer to the hospital bed, making very certain that Dagger remains physically between himself and the girl they have come to visit. And even though he says "You really don't have to do this," he knows it isn't true. He brings a hand up to rest lightly against Dagger's shoulder.

*

Dagger has rarely moved away from Cloak's approach— not any time recently and certainly not right now. She nods, privately grateful for the support. "I know I don't," she murmurs quietly, knowing it isn't true just as well as he does. "But I want to." The truth is complicated, for that part. Her hand finishes with the stricken girl's hair, and Dagger settles on cradling the patient's nearest hand in both of her own. The vigil is silent for a time before an internal debate resolves in favor of the present. "There is something about it that bothers me," she admits. "Something familiar but I can't put a finger on it."

*

"Honestly? It all started looking the same to me a long time ago," Cloak admits, and he sounds… tired. Maybe even a little ashamed. "Not the people, they're all different. I just mean this," he murmurs, indicating the hospital bed with a tilt of his chin. "The results."

Even so, Cloak's hand gives Dagger's shoulder a light squeeze. An apology. "Maybe I just don't want to see it. Is it reminding you of something?"

*

Dagger makes a small noise. She clearly feels he shouldn't be apologizing for the admission, but they don't need to talk about that. Especially right now. "Maybe. I don't know. Something about the symptoms. I can't place it. But we've dealt with so many varients, strains, and whatever else in the last couple years I shouldn't be surprised whatever this was is a little familiar. There's only so many ways you can end up here." One hopes. She shrugs a shoulder, offers him a small reassuring smile. "Maybe it'll come to me later."

*

"If there's anything to it? You'll remember." Cloak sounds absolutely certain of it. He mirrors her smile before his eyes drift back to the girl in the bed and, gradually, his expression softens. "…I wonder what her name is," he murmurs quietly, the hand not resting on his partner's shoulder unconsciously drifting to touch to very edge of the bed. "It feels wrong, not knowing."

*

A noise of agreement, and Dagger looks back towards the girl. "Not—" whatever she started to say cuts off, and her eyes flick to the door as a noise comes from the other side. The shadows of a pair of feet darken the gap under the hospital room door, and he can probably see the debate going on behind Dagger's eyes. And the moment when she decides she's not going anywhere, they'll just have to accept dealing with whatever hospital staff this is.

…which turns out to be a nurse, once the doorknob turns and admits her from the hallway. Dark-skinned, a bit on the heavy side, with that air of no-nonsense so common in places like this. The door closes behind her before she even realizes the room isn't as empty as it should be, so focused is she on the chart in her hand. Unsurprisingly, there's a pretty generous pause for confusion, given their appearances.

*

The light changing beneath the door immediately has Cloak's attention, his hand tensing against Dagger's shoulder. But when she doesn't budge, he doesn't argue or try to convince her to change her mind. He just swallows and, as the door begins to open, slowly raises his hands to chest-height, palms out.

Just trying to show the lady that he doesn't pose a threat.

"Please don't freak out," is always a good conversation-starter, so that's what Cloak goes with. "We're just visiting."

*

Once the initial shock of trying to figure out what's in front of her is past… well, apparently nighttime ward nurses are made of sterner stuff than 'freaking out'. Her hands end up on her hips in practically no time. "Who are you and how did you get in here?" A pause as her eyes slide past him to Dagger and she reaches for the doorknob, presumably to call security. "And just what do you think you're doing to my patient?" Okay… could be worse.

*

"We're friends," Cloak replies carefully, taking a very slow step away from Dagger to come around the foot of the hospital bed. "We're the ones who found her and brought her here. We were trying to help."

He casts a brief, uncertain look back towards Dagger before returning his eyes to the nurse. "I'm Cloak. She's Dagger. We came in through -" He hesitates a moment. Okay. One lie. "- the window." Easier than trying to explain. "We're not family, so we knew you wouldn't let us in to see her, but we wanted to see how she was doing."

*

It's enough to get her to stop reaching for the door, at least. So that's better than usual. The nurse looks him over like she's trying to decide if he can possibly be telling the truth, and then flicks her gaze over to indicate Dagger, who hasn't moved. "And her? What exactly is she doing?" Wary, but curious. "Some kind of… weird healing whatever?"

*

When the nurse stops, Cloak stops as well, watching her with a hopeful expression. "It's… something like that," he says slowly, his lips twitching downward into a frown. He lets his hands drift back down to his sides; partway down, the 'fabric' of his cloak falls overthem and they, like everything else, once again go black. "Your patient is fading fast," he explains quietly. "She's just… trying to make her comfortable. Keep her company."

*

The nurse's lips go thin, compressed into a flat line, while she absorbs this. Finally, there's a slight change in her demeanor, something around the eyes. It doesn't keep her from her… ah… force of personality, though. "I *should* have security throw you two out on your ears," she finally says, in the sort of way that people do when they're reminding both themselves and others of what they should and have no intention of doing. "But she does seem to be resting easier," she allows, begrudgingly. She looks at Dagger and the girl for a moment, back to Cloak, and makes a distasteful face. "Nothing else you can do, huh?"

*

There is a brief flash of relief across Cloak's face. He really hadn't wanted to have to pry Dagger out of the room before she was ready. The nurse's warning gets an immediate nod of agreement from him and a grateful smile that immediately fades to a much more subdued one. "No ma'am. I'm sorry. We wish there were."

*

"I've tried before," Dagger adds quietly. "It's never worked."

The nurse sighs, nods, and starts her work in the room, which is mostly checking on a girl she knows isn't going to get better. "Fine. You have a name for this girl? She's just Jane to us."

*

"Us, too. She wasn't in a state to tell us when we found her," Cloak murmurs, drifting his way back to Dagger's side. His hand finds itself on her shoulder again in short order.

*

"Shame," the nurse says, in the kind of tone that suggests she wasn't really expecting them to have the girl's information. "Unfortunately, you get used to it. A lot of these kids don't want to be found."

As the nurse goes about her work, Dagger remains silent. Until eventually, she lets the girl's hand slip from her grip. "Nurse, you should call for a doctor," she suggests quietly, stepping back. She's barely done speaking before the girl flatlines, and as the nurse moves in hurriedly to do the part of her job she already knows is going to go unrewarded, Dagger reaches for the edge of Cloak's cape. Without ceremony or a word, she steps back, vanishing into the interior darkness. Time for them to move on as well.

*

Cloak is silent and still — until Dagger releases the girl's hand. Then, he simply takes a small step backward and opens his arms as if to invite her into an embrace, allowing her to step into him. Literally, into him, and out of sight. He reaches up to draw his hood back into place, but he doesn't follow his partner out of sight without first offering a quiet "Thank you," to the nurse.

By the time the doctor arrives, they're gone.

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