Who: Alex Roivas and Ezio Auditore. What: Psych appointments. When: Friday, 10/11. Where: Ezio's office. Rating: PG-13. Status: Complete!
Ezio had only just gotten his first appointment, a man recently back from the Middle East, out of his office on time. He tried to keep a tight schedule - people who were already nervous, he reasoned, didn’t need to wait. Next was the woman from the valarnet, Miss Roivas. He honestly wasn’t sure that she needed any psychiatric care at all, but he would play along, at least for one session.
Alex was sitting in the waiting room, wearing her usual attire: skinny jeans, a white tank top, and motorcycle boots. Normally she’d have been wearing a leather jacket, but she couldn’t due to the bandaging on her shoulder. She’d taken a bullet the week before - her first week in the OC, thanks very much - and in order to keep her good name as a bounty hunter, she’d taken the advice of her peers and made a psych appointment. She’d go on three or four of them to prove she was okay.
Ezio came out into the waiting room, seeing her already waiting. She was pretty, in a hard way, and the bandage on her shoulder was obvious. “Hello,” he said, smiling in a professional fashion. “You must be Signorina Roivas. Alex, yes? I am Ezio Auditore. I hope that you have not been waiting very long.”
“Oh, no, just a few minutes.” She stood up and reached out to shake his hand, appreciating that he’d remembered to just call her by her first name.
“Good, good. Please, come in.” He gestured back toward his office, waiting for her to get comfortable. This type of woman, he guessed, would ask for help if she needed any. “I hope you found this place easily.”
“GPS makes life fantastic,” Alex smiled. She sat down in the chair she assumed was for patients and sprawled out, crossing her legs. “How long have you been in the states?”
“Perhaps one year.” Ezio smiled. “I came from Firenze in last September - Florence, I think, in English.” He sat down across from her, getting comfortable. “I know my English is not perfect, but hopefully it is manageable.”
“It’s amazing. I’ve been trying to learn Japanese for like, a decade, and I only know three words.” Alex sighed to herself. “Manageable isn’t the word I’d use.”
“Nonetheless, thank you.” Ezio inclined his head. “So. How may I help you, Alex?”
“Uh, I got shot in the shoulder. Figure that it’ll make me look like a responsible bounty hunter if I get someone to help me cope. Or something.” She shrugged, winced, and then chuckled. “My doctor and my contacts recommended it.”
“I confess I am unsure what this bounty hunter is. I apologize - I hope it does not appear unprofessional. We simply do not have this in Italy.” Ezio shook his head. “I am happy to assist you however I can, but perhaps, if you do not object, I would like to hear what you do for a living?”
Alex couldn’t help a small smile in spite of herself. This man must’ve pulled at every place he went to, he was charming as hell.
“Well, we have a stupid system here. Sometimes, judges will let criminals out of jail until their trial. They have to put up money - bail. And most of the time it’s something high, like at least twenty-five thousand dollars. Most people don’t have that laying around, so they sell their car or mortgage their house or something. And not every criminal comes back for their trial. Some of them run.” She wrinkled her nose. The American justice system made no sense to Alex Roivas.
Ezio raised an eyebrow. “Forgive me, but this seems silly. To allow a criminal out of jail. If someone is not a criminal, a few days in a cell is not going to be a traumatic experience for most.” He didn’t want to comment on how full American prisons allegedly were; it wasn’t the time to discuss that. “But suffice it to say. I assume you are very good at your job, with the ease of which you speak. Is this your first time encountering a firearm?”
“I think it’s honestly because we don’t have room.” Alex wrinkled her nose. “What with us locking up everyone for pot.” She rolled her eyes at that and then shook her head in response to his question. “Nah, I got shot in the hip a few years ago.” She pushed her jeans down a tiny bit so he could see the scar.
“How did you handle that, may I ask? For the basis of comparison.” Ezio jotted a few notes. “Was it also from this bounty hunting?” Even though she seemed more even-keeled than most of his patients, he still had to ask the right questions.
“It was, yeah. And I did the same thing. Went to the hospital, did my PT, then went to a shrink a few times to make sure I’m not unstable.” She waggled her fingers a little, smiling. She’d cracked a joke, call the cops!
Ezio smiled back. “Are you healing very well so far? I did notice some movement inhibited.” Yes, he’d been watching her move. He was human.
“Eh, as well as you can expect for a through and through.” Alex moved to pull of some of the medical tape, wincing and showing him the wounds. “Hurts like a bitch when I clean it.”
Ezio grimaced; he was no stranger to wounds, though guns weren’t his forte. “I am not a savant when it comes to firearms. I do martial arts only. But I can imagine it hurts; much debris appears to have got in there.”
“I wish I could’ve just hit him, that’s way easier. I’ve got a black belt in two different martial arts. That’s what I did instead of going to college, I learned how to hit people. But yeah, gravel got in there too. Super fun times.” Alex covered it back up, trying not to visibly wince.
“Oh, yes.” Ezio shared in her sarcasm. “What martial arts do you enjoy, out of curiosity? I like the tae kwon do, but am only a purple belt.” There were still four or five levels before he could get his black belt, never mind achieve the top dan, or rank.
Well, this was going to make her feel like a bitch. “Seventh dan black belt in tae kwon do too. I do muay thai competitions locally too, but I’m really most proud of is getting up to E1 in Krav Maga. Think of it as a first dan black belt. That shit is hard.”
Ezio blinked. “Impressive!” And he wasn’t just buttering her up. “Clearly, I will not do anything to offend you.” He chuckled, sitting back. “Do you prefer, if you must use violence, to be up close, or to use a firearm?” Innocuous, maybe, but he also wanted to double-check that she didn’t secretly have strong feelings one way or the other.
“I would much rather do something up close. That’s usually not fatal and usually just leaves ‘em sore the next day. I don’t want to hurt these guys. The people I go after are jerks, sure, but they’re not real monsters, you know? The people who kill forty people or kids or burn people alive - bigger people than me would be after them. I’m just going after average joes who have some pretty piss poor decision making skills. Killing’s not a thing I enjoy. I did it once, in self-defense, and I’d rather not ever again.” She looked out the window. Huh, he was a good shrink; he’d gotten her to bring that up without even asking about it directly.
Ezio definitely learned more about her with that answer. “May I ask. Is who you are sent after decided by some agency, or do you pick your own quarries?” It would be interesting if she deliberately avoided going after murderers and such, for as tough as she looked and acted.
“I used to work for an agency, so they picked who I went after. I moved out here so I could work for myself and pick people who I think are the harder cases - the ones other companies won’t go after. And look what happens.” Alex chuckled to herself.
“But the point remains that you choose for yourself - you choose the cases you believe are within your abilities. And I am sure you are usually right.” Ezio smiled. Clearly, she had a caution and circumspection that was not readily apparent. It somehow made her a rounder person. “When you were shot, could you tell me how you felt? In pain, obviously, but mostly fear? Or anger and annoyance?”
“In annoyance. The guy couldn’t shoot the broad side of a barn. He got completely lucky after four wild shots.” Alex laughed. “Even he said ‘holy shit, I hit her’ while I was running after him.” It was funny only in retrospect.
He could understand that. “Definitely irritating. So it has been more of a roadblock for you, than any kind of real trauma?”
“It’s just annoying, yeah.” Alex shrugged. “I’ll be fine, really. I promise, I’m just here for requirements.”
“Well, if I can actually help you with anything, I would be delighted to try.” Ezio riposted, curious to see what she might say.
“If you find anything to help me with, go for it. I don’t know if there is anything.” Alex shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea.”
“It is nice that you do not dismiss the idea out of hand,” Ezio said, still curious. “Someone as strong as you, I thought, might indeed do this. It is silly, because we all have faults. But I will not go digging, unless you let me.”
“Dig away. I didn’t have a dad growing up?” Alex chuckled, shrugging and gesturing toward him. “Figured I’d give you a bone.”
Ezio laughed. “Signorina Alex, something tells me that you do not need men, in any capacity.” He’d wanted to say she didn’t need anyone, which he thought was more true, but it tended to sound cold. It was also kind of a pity, given that he might like to ask her to dinner once she ceased being his patient.
That made her laugh brightly. “Yeah, that’s what my mom told me. Then I ended up being straight, so that didn’t work out great.”
Was that flirting? Ezio laughed in turn. “You still may not require men, though you may enjoy us.” He grinned. “I ask purely professionally, but do you have a boyfriend or someone else to turn to, should you require help with your shoulder?”
Damn, he was asking purely professionally. “Nah, Fortunately for me, I’m awesome at kicking doors down, though.”
“This is a good skill to have!” He liked this Alex; he appreciated her sassy demeanor and how laid back she seemed to be. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure that she ought to be cleared for a return to duty, but very little was wrong.
He said as much. “I would like to see you one more time, perhaps two, and then I would have no issue signing any paperwork for you to return to your work.” Even if he didn’t think she was interested, it was best to be thorough professionally.
“That totally works for me.” Alex smiled and nodded. “Honestly, it’s probably good to have a few appointments every year, just in case.” She shrugged to herself. “Right? I mean, I’m fine now, but things could change.”
“Indeed, and it does you credit for knowing this.” Ezio nodded. “I salute you, really, Alex. Many people of your style think their minds and psyches are invulnerable. Even if you appear to be whole right now, that might change someday. And I am happy to help, if this does occur.”
“And what’s my style, Doc?” Alex couldn’t help but smirk. Flirting was just as fun, if not more so, when the person wasn’t attracted to you.
“You appear to be invulnerable.” Ezio replied. People had said the same thing to him. “That means that you have weaknesses which are extremely close to the proverbial vest.”
“Eh, or just normal ones. Everyone’s weak against bullets, you know?” Alex was still smiling to herself.
“This goes without saying! I meant psychological weaknesses.” Ezio smiled. “But I suppose we can try to find that out next time around. If you wish. Or we can discuss my inability to achieve my blue belt.”
“What’s holding you back?” Alex leaned forward. “If it’s something I can help you with, I can by all means talk about it. Not so much show you. Not for another two weeks.”
“I do not know, this is the difficulty.” Ezio wasn’t too proud to ask for help. “My tests come, and I do my best, and then I go unrewarded.” He shrugged. “Ecco. It shall come. One day.”
“I could always watch you sometime.” Alex shrugged. “But you’re right. It’ll come when it will. When you’re ready.”
“Perhaps someday I will take you up on this.” He smiled. “But for now, let us make your next appointment.” He liked her already. She had a charm that he had no doubt she didn’t know existed.
“Any time is fine. I’m kind of on strict ‘don’t go out and punch people in the face’ rest. It’s like bed rest, but less fun. At least then I’d have drugs.” Alex wrinkled her nose.
“True, alas.” Ezio pulled up his schedule on his computer, flipping around. “What about the same time, next week? It appears to be open.”
“That works for me.” Alex pulled out her phone and punched the dates into her calendar app. “I only have time, you know?”
“Indeed.” Ezio inclined his head. He smiled over at her. “Well, Signorina Alex, I can safely say that I don’t believe you suffer from any inherent psychological malady. It is a good beginning to our professional association, I think.”
“Yay, I’m not obviously mentally ill.” Alex fistpumped sarcastically. It was a talent.
“Congratulations.” Ezio chuckled. “And may your physical difficulty heal itself quickly.”
“Eh, here’s hoping.” She glared at her shoulder, pretending to will it into healing. “Nope, no magic powers yet. Maybe one day.”
“One can only hope.” Ezio couldn’t help but think about these Dreams as she let herself out.