WHO:Joan & Natasha WHEN: Recently WHERE: Nat's Office @ Agency WHAT: Joan's working situation is finalised WARNINGS: None STATUS: Complete
The Agency in general was a large change for Joan, she was used to small stations or just herself, and even working with John, sheâd largely been doing a lot of the footwork herself before approaching him with the details she felt were part of his line of work. Now, with the Agency and the Occult Division, it was all change.
There were resources, vast resources, things that Joan could barely have imagined, historical texts that rightly shouldnât even exist and yet, she was able to leaf through them for research. Naturally, she wasnât entirely able to move freely, she understood that there was a vetting process, and she hadnât completely cleared it.
While her initial interaction with Zatanna had been promising and the first set of hurdles was cleared, as expected there were a few more hoops to jump through and tape to navigate. This was what working within an organisation called for, and that wasnât too much of a hassle for Joan really. Not if it meant she could still work with all these tools.
âHave a seat,â Natasha said, looking up from the paper work on her desk. Her desk was clean and organized. In many ways it looked like the kind of desk an HR person would have, right down to the stapler carefully positioned on one side. In all, it was entirely too normal and clean. But then, that was the point. As for the woman behind the desk, her long red hair was up, and she was wearing a pair of black dress pants and a white blouse, and she looked like she belonged there. Again, too perfect. Nat flashed a smile. âGot a taste of what we have?â
âQuite the taste,â Joan had to admit that some of it was unnerving, like she was back in medical school and about to find out if sheâd made the rotation. Instead of being an adult with a career at her back and a future laid out, even if she wasnât sure where that would lead to right then. âWhich I have to say, is very addicting. So if thatâs the point, kudos.â
She couldnât actually imagine going back to what she was doing without the tools of the Agency at her disposal, or even just stepping back into the world of average investigative work. And what did that say about her that the dangerous and unknown was so inviting?
âThatâs exactly the point. Enough of a taste to understand just how truly out of our depth we actually are.â Natasha folded her hands on the desk, leaning forward. Best to save the âweâre preparing for an alien invasion of biblical proportionsâ for later. âBut thatâs really part of the fun.â
âI could see that, yes. Iâve been working out of my depth for a little while, and even this is⌠Itâs mind blowing really.â And Joan was most certainly in over her head, she knew that, even now she was still over her head. But it was a slightly better environment to be in over your head in. âWading into the unknown? Itâs certainly invigorating, and pushes certain people.â It was definitely pushing Joan; learn more, find out everything, be helpful. Find something.
âMagic and science intermingling with multi-dimensional theory and thatâs only scratching the surface. What we exist for is to protect people from the dangers that come from the dreams, and prevent the wider world from finding out we all even exist.â Natasha pulled an envelope out of a drawer, and slid it across the desk. âThereâs been a couple of groups over the years. Transplants from peopleâs dreams. One group has attacked some of us. Cerberus, and its successor Hydra. If they want to control and manipulate Dreamers, could you imagine if a government ever found out about us?â
Which begged the question, what was Joan here for and what could she offer?
She could imagine, actually. A concentrated group of people, some with abilities outside of the norm, with insight to things that shouldnât even be thought of? There was a reason these things had to be covered up, even if they were very thin cover ups.
People believed what they were willing to believe, they didnât want to look deeper.
âWhich is exactly the reason why there should be steps to maintain cover, avoid a full blown media blitz of the truth. Better to spread the lie and keep people safe, than expose the truth and panic and potentially harm.â And really, that was all Joan had been trying to do, it had just led her to places she hadnât fully expected.
âEven if the LSD excuse sometimes wears thin.â She hated that excuse and wished there was sometimes a better one. But for some reason most non-dreamers took it at face value, and those that didnât were quickly disillusioned. âSo youâre an investigator, or a doctor? Both?â
âUm⌠Both, technically. I was a surgeon, and then I was a sober companion, and one of my clients was a consulting detective. His work really grabbed me, I trained and became an investigator. I kept my medical license current, just in case.â It was in part a pride thing too, sheâd worked years of her life to attain that, sheâd studied and struggled and pushed her way through exhaustion, and she knew she was a good surgeon, it was just her confidence that fled after her mishap.
Nat nodded. Both medical and investigation would be really important in Agency work. Many times, theyâd come hand in hand. âSeems like something that wouldnât normally go together, doesnât it?â
âHonestly, I hadnât really seen myself in the latter career. I thought Iâd be a surgeon until I retired.â Or moved up the field, maybe eventually teaching at some point. âBut then, I also didnât see myself involved in paranormal investigation either.â And anywhere else, maybe that wouldâve sounded a little different. Here, it was just fairly common place.
âYeah, there are a lot of things about life I never expected to find myself involved in.â It was simpler, when it was just normal spy games, and not this weird combination of supernatural, aliens and the messed up politics currently ensnaring both Natâs birth country and adopted country.
Whatever had brought Joan to where she was, she knew she wasnât turning back, she wasnât stepping away from this, going back to whatever her life had been while she was ignorant and oblivious of what was happening around her, in the world she wandered through. âHowever I got here, wherever it leads, I can be an asset to this. Iâm involved, and Iâd rather have these resources at my disposal than not. But Iâm not walking away from this. No matter what this happens to be.â
Natasha studied her for a moment, as if she were trying to look directly into Joanâs soul. She liked her. She seemed to be made of steel, and if there was one thing the Agency was good it, it was recruiting women laced with steel. âThen youâre hired.â
It was just a matter of where to put Joan. Logistics? Clandestine? Which reminded Nat, she needed to get Wisdom and Clint in on some of her fun. Maybe OID or just an open agent.
âWe have numerous departments. I can think of a few youâd fit in, but for now Iâll leave you unassigned. Give you some freedom to move between departments as needed.â
If she were honest sheâd have thought she was going to need to fight for it, prove that just because she didnât have the same level of training that many operatives may have, it didnât make her useless. But when Natasha just declared her hired and currently free roaming, well, that did give Joan a lot of space to prove her worth, didnât it. âWell, um. Yes, thank you.â She just needed to shake that off, since she knew she was an asset and wasnât getting told otherwise.
âThatâs perfect, Iâm happy to go wherever Iâm needed.â And sheâd been good at picking up different specialities along the way; she was a master of none, and a dabbler of all.
Natasha smiled at her. âThe first place youâre needed is the cafeteria. Iâm starving and we have a pretty decent chef. Lets get lunch.â
Well, Joan was not going to turn down lunch. âWell, that definitely sounds like a pressing engagement.â Decent chef at work was a bonus.