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Tweak says, "I’m a big fan"

Hannibal (i_consume) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2012-03-02 12:58:00

Entry tags:

hannibal lecter, henry mccoy, stand still

Busy and in confusion (Hank)
Backdated: Happens right after this

They'd called him down into the clinic today because the hospital was being overrun. People were coming in with all kinds of complaints and much panic. All of the staff was present unless they had a very pressing matter to attend to, and even then they were told to return as soon as they got finished.

Hannibal was currently standing in front of a woman, the bridge of his nose pinched in his fingers, eyes closed. Trying to not get angry.

"No, I assure you. You are not dying." He said. It sounded like it might have been easily the fiftieth time he'd said it. "The streets not moving has nothing to do with the numbness in your arm. Which has nothing to do with a heart attack. You've told me yourself you spent a good deal of time today watching the news for any updates. You told me that you were using your arm as a pillow. Now what that does is cut off circulation... no, the news does not do it, the weight of your head does it. Since you did not rise at the first sign of numbness, this matter has had a while to form. The feeling will return to your arm shortly, and it isn't going to feel very good. But that will end soon as well, and then everything will be back to normal. Until then, if you like, you may sit in the waiting room. We have no place for you to sit in an exam room. No. If you don't wish for me to kick you out of the hospital entirely, you will wait where I tell you. Thank you."

Hannibal turned away from the woman, shaking his head. He'd known that the people born of this place weren't exactly the smartest creatures ever, but this was a new low. Stubbed toes and lightly bumped heads, and all of them nutjobs.

He could only be thankful that the people the City had brought in were not this dense.

He stepped into a supply closet to get a moment of peace.

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i_thebeast
2012-03-15 07:31 am UTC (link)

"Of course," he sighed. He knew all of it was true, that it would have been better to get another scientist in on what he was doing, where he'd started and where the cure would take him, but he'd been so certain it was correct and desperate to get control of himself that he'd abandoned the safer paht. Now he was paying the price for his impatience and his first great scientific failure, and it made him feel queasy.

The hand on his shoulder and Hannibal's extended apology made him huff a short laugh, looking at his friend. "Hannibal, I almost certainly would have been more thrown off had you not shown any reaction, and I could smell the adrenaline rush of your surprise regardless if you had allowed it to show on your face or not," he said matter-of-factly. Then he thought for a moment. "Probably my lab. There is a chance this is reversable, though I imagine it would be a short lived opportunity. I do not believe the nurses will be an issue, they did not call security when I walked in and informed them of my intent to find you. Perhaps this is not the first time a beast has walked in looking for a specific doctor."

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i_consume
2012-03-15 07:42 am UTC (link)

Hank's admission of being able to smell the changes in Hannibal made him smile. Again, they were lining up in similarities, though in different ways and on different paths. "Truly. Your senses have advanced that much?"

He put his hand on the doorknob again, this time to open it. He didn't bother to peer out to see if anybody was around. There was no true way to hide Hank in the state he was in. Perhaps if he'd only been furry. But the blue was electric.

"If there is a way to reverse it, we will find it. Between the two of us, nothing is impossible." One of their minds alone could probably figure it out, surely with the two combined it would be difficult to thwart them.

Hannibal led Hank through the door and through the throng of people in the clinic, not paying any notice to any of them. His attention was for the other doctor now, and he didn't care what any of the reactions were. What he cared about was helping Hank and perhaps squeezing some tests in there. If they managed to reverse this mistake, there was a chance he would revert to how he'd been before, and the belated notes could be taken. Of course, the experiments would not truly be scientific, without a way to prove Hank had gone back perfectly to how he'd been, but they weren't looking to publish or do anything else with the findings that could lead to harm. For their own curiosity, it would be enough. Or at least, for his.

"Do you have everything we might need? Can you make a list of what you don't have so you can set up and I can fetch it?"

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i_thebeast
2012-03-15 08:00 am UTC (link)

"Yes. It seems to be accompanying the predatorial instincts. I'm keenly aware of your heartbeat as well," he rumbled. "And scents are much more powerful. It is similar to when I was night lighting as a polar bear."

He followed his friend out, also ignoring the staff and patients in the hall. He paused only long enough to grab a pair of extra scrubs from a supply closet, wanting to change out of the rags that were formerly his pajamas. Hannibal's words of comfort were appreciated, even if Hank still wasn't convinced. His body had clearly mutated along with the genes, there may be no way to completely undo his blunder. But he wouldn't mind as much if he could get rid of this ridiculous fur.

"I will need some supplies, but until I get a good look at what happened I do not know what I might need to try to create a reverse serum," he rumbled. He'd been thinking about it the whole way over, and decided that first he had to get a look at the changes to the gene.

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i_consume
2012-03-15 08:09 am UTC (link)

There were definitely changes in Hank that Hannibal did not see as bad. The sense input he was experiencing was something that could not only be useful, but made life much more interesting. Granted, Hannibal didn't think his senses quite as good as that of an animal, but he knew they were more than normally human as well.

Things that he had not, of course, shared with Hank due to their uncanny nature. Most had a tendency to be put off. Yet he had to admit that Hank hadn't even been truly disturbed by Hannibal's ability to move quietly. Hannibal wondered if he could still move with that same freedom under Hank's new abilities.

"Then we will look first. Can you describe at all what we might be looking for? I may be reduced to merely being a lab assistant in this initial search, I fear. But I will do what I can."

Hannibal made his way down the long hallway that contained Hank's lab. Now not shifting at all. He'd taken to walking automatically to his own office, not needing to pay attention to the doors anymore. It was a strange thing. He immediately stepped aside so Henry could move quickly to what he wanted.

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i_thebeast
2012-03-15 08:33 am UTC (link)

"The cure targeted the gene in my DNA sequence which was responsible for my initial mutations," Hank said, looking over the scrubs and then shaking his head. "I have the genetic sequence documented at home, if I can retrieve the backup data. I only need to compare it to what it is now, see if it's been altered in some way."

When they got to his old lab, now the bare bones of what it had been before. Still, it would be serviceable, once it was restocked. "I'm surprised nobody has taken over the area in my absense," he said, going to the cabinets to check on the supplies. If he could pull a blood sample and get it into the analyzer now he could finish preparing the lab while the machines did thier work.

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i_consume
2012-03-15 08:38 am UTC (link)

"Can it be accessed remotely?" Hannibal made sure to stay out of the way, if Hank needed him, it would be said.

"The hospital is large, it provides the room that's needed. I believe this was designated yours, no matter if you were here or not. That could change with the alterations in the City's movements, but I can't be sure." Hannibal smiled a little. "There also aren't too many scientists looking for lab space, so even if there were a drastic influx, I don't know if this space would be required."

He gestured to the space. "Some of the basics I may have in my own office. It's simple to get to from here now. More complicated things will have to come from elsewhere."

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i_thebeast
2012-03-15 09:03 am UTC (link)

"No, I only keep a back up there and it's on a data disk," Hank frowned, finding some of the stocked supplies and taking out a needle and vial, as well as a few swabs. "Perhaps tonight I'll return and see if I can't get it without causing too much more trouble. Would you mind helping me take a blood sample?"

It was something to think about the hospital designating a space just for him, but it wasn't overly comforting at a time like this. Just convenient.

He nodded. "This shouldn't require too much. The cure had surprisingly simple components, it was more about modifying the gene of a virus. I'm hoping that the effects will be temporary, or at least, something different from the basic genetic structure that I can counteract."

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i_consume
2012-03-15 09:14 am UTC (link)

Hannibal stepped forward and took the needle and vial from Hank. He also grabbed a rubber tourniquet and gestured the other doctor to a stool to sit. He spoke while he worked.

"Henry." The rubber would likely pull on the fur, but there was no good way around that without a shaving. Hannibal didn't think that Hank really needed to add that humiliation to his trials. "You should know by now that nothing in science and medicine comes easily, and if it does, it does so at a heavy price."

The vein did not pop easily, but it was simple to feel even through the fur when it did. Hannibal inserted the needle with care and practice, and replaced the plunger with the vial when he was sure of his mark.

"Even when a virus is modified for a vaccine, the effects can be negative even while they're positive. Something more complex, such as a cure, you're greatly increasing your risk." The blood looked and smelled to him as normal. "I won't lie to you, Henry, I'm a little surprised and disappointed that you would jump so immediately on a solution that should have rung overly simplistic to you."

He released the tourniquet as gently as he could, doing his best to not entangle it in the blue. The vial filled quickly after that. Henry's heart was strong, willing and able. Hannibal was glad to see his friend was healthy, at least. The blood thick like it should be, not thin. Nor sluggish.

"You were eager to be rid of something that wasn't so entirely bad. I understand that you didn't particularly like your differences. I was hoping to teach you to accept them easier. I sound like an overprotective parent now, but I cannot help but point out large feet would have been an easier lesson than blue." He raised an eyebrow. "Not that you could have predicted this advancement, of course."

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i_thebeast
2012-03-15 09:41 am UTC (link)

"You sound just like my father," Hank said pointedly, but then nodded, staring out ahead of him as he mulled over the reproach. "It was working in the tests I had performed. There was no reason for it to have gone wrong," he said, grunting. "I'm not that old, I know, but I'm not stupid either. Everything I had done to test it indicated that it should have worked. It was impossible to be completely sure without testing it."

When the rubber released his lip curled up ever so slightly from the sting of the rubber on fur, but he let it go.

"It wasn't just my feet. My instincts had been acting up more, getting in the way. And everything said it should have worked." He couldn't keep the frustration out of his voice, or the low growl, but he stopped himself and touched his forehead, inhaling deeply to calm himself. "I don't expect you to understand, but had it not been 'so bad' don't you think I wouldn't have been spending my entire academic life attempting to find a way to cure it?"

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	i_consume 2012-03-15 09:45 am UTC (link)
	"I understand the process. The logic of the choice is where I'm getting hung up." The vial full, Hannibal moved the needle from the vein. He noted the growl and found it interesting, but refrained from comment for now. "Henry. Tell me what my most obvious characteristics are." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	i_thebeast 2012-03-15 10:03 am UTC (link)
	Hank watched him move the vial, then listened to the question. Hannibal was going somewhere with this, and Hank already didn't like the sound of it. "You're human," he said flatly, in a tone that at the very least told Hannibal to choose his words carefully. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

i_consume
2012-03-15 10:06 am UTC (link)

"No. Don't get tense. Physically. When you see me, what do you see? Perhaps not you, you may see past things at this point. But when you first met me, or if you consider somebody else who might not be so interested in the cerebral?"

But he did nod. "You bring up another valid point, however. The things that are very obviously different between the both of us. Your genetics versus mine. There are similarities you don't see. Things that have occurred despite my lacking of your X gene."

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	i_thebeast 2012-03-15 10:13 am UTC (link)
	"If you're asking me to comment on your brown hair or fine jawline, I'm not in the mood. I'd rather you get to your point," Hank almost complained. Almost. His next phrase did catch Hank's attention, though. He sobered slightly. "Similarities such as?" he asked, genuinely interested. Or at least, as interested as he could be given the circumstances. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

i_consume
2012-03-15 10:23 am UTC (link)

"I'm flattered, but that's not quite what I'm referring to."

Hannibal pointed to his maroon eyes with his right hand, and then held up his left. The sixth digit flexed easily with the others. Things that were very obvious, much like Hank's feet had been.

He let this sink in and moved on to his second point.

"Excluding intellect, for obvious reasons, I share traits with you that you have never known, because I have not told you. But, given your reactions to other things, I feel it safe to divulge." There was a glint in his eye as he looked at his friend now. "I cannot compare to your current senses, I don't think, but as you stood before me originally, with only your large feet to distinguish your differences, mine were far more advanced than yours. You could smell the changes in my body when I saw you. I did much the same to you when we met. I can hear the rise in your pulse with your increasing anger with me, and catch off of you the scent of your frustration.

"I will also concede that I couldn't match your strength now or before, but I have also been unnaturally more physically capable than my peers. Able to outmatch them with ease. My speed is not yours, and not particularly significant, but with my intellect, my wit, my memory, and other factors, I can best a man with more skill and twice my size. That was before any martial training."

His face serious now. "Am I human?"

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i_thebeast
2012-03-15 10:38 am UTC (link)

Hank looked at the eyes, not having noticed the unusual color before. Then again, he hadn't really spent a lot of time staring into the older man's eyes, either.

The sixth finger was something he needed reminding of, and the list of traits was very surprising.

"Based on your physical features, I would have said yes," he said slowly. "But as for the rest... I would need to check your genetic structure."

He straightened slightly. "I'm not sure why you hadn't told me about those abilities before now." He couldn't help but be a little bit put off. It was incredibly lonely being the only mutant in existence, or at least, the only one you knew about. Having somebody else around who knew what it was like to be able to do things normal humans couldn't... that would have been nice. Really nice.

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