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Jemma Simmons is a terrible liar (needanewplan) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-11-13 19:25:00

Who: Dick Grayson, Jemma Simmons and Raven, plus NPC!Prison Guards/Doctor
What: Shady things getting interrupted
When: [Backdated] 12 November 2020
Where: Prison
Warnings: Prison medical abuse
Status: Log | Complete

It happened in the middle of the night again, Dick wasn’t sleeping but it was still an unwanted surprise. Taken from his cell and brought up to medical again. He’d been pacing the night away as he often did between a stream of steady pushups and other workout routines. Silently thanking Bruce for hour long training sessions. And thanking the dreams it’d worn off, until now. Until suddenly his guards seemed to have a problem with it and it landed him in Medical every few days.

At least he thought it was every few days, he wasn’t so sure. Some days were clearer than others thanks to the drugs being pushed in his system. He wasn’t able to keep up with things as well as he had previous visits with Raven. In fact there was at least one time they’d left him back in his cell and he had been given so much of the drugs they were using to calm him down that he didn’t wake up. Tonight was not a night he’d get to return to that cell like normal though.

One hand was handcuffed to the medical table, while the other was free, but he couldn’t do much. The drugs he was given were taking hold. He was told the initial reasoning was for insomnia and anxiety, of course all those were lies. He slipped into a seizure like state. One of the doctors turned in time to see it and called over the other medics. They gave the counter medication, but it did nothing. The seizing kept happening. Between the sleep deprivation and the general idiocy of the jail doctors, no real aide was being given.

Raven was….well, it was a lot that was going on. So she was just staying focused on the issue at hand. The things she had to do in order to get information for the others? It had to be done and there was nothing more to it. The life she had tried so hard to avoid and have nothing to do with was now the in she needed to save Dick.

But she always made sure to visit. And she was worried. Her conversation with Clark left her worried, or more worried given the way things were. She could heal him but that never meant it would last until it happened again. Still, she pushed it aside. Don’t feel. She had to keep her emotions under control, she always had to keep her emotions under control. But something was wrong and just like that, she appeared at the prison - thankfully with enough presence of mind to do so with her soul self so it was more the shadows watching than her showing up. That would have been hard to explain.

She could heal him. She could heal him and get him out but there were people and this had to be done right. She had to keep her head. Which meant she couldn’t do either. Not yet.

Which meant she just portaled to where she knew Jemma was, grabbed her, portaled to the TARDIS to get psychic paper from Clara and then they were back to the prison.

Jemma was….it was confusing. She knew she was forgetting something important but so far it wasn’t crossing over from the Dreams. She’d been working on something when suddenly someone portaled in and grabbed her. Far too similar to what had happened with Garrett in the Dreams and she was about to fight when they were suddenly at the TARDIS and she realized it was Raven.

Raven who wasn’t telling her what was going on and she barely had time to apologize to Clara for the sudden dropping in and demand for psychic paper before they were….at a prison?

“Raven, would you please tell me what’s going on?”

“They’re drugging Dick and he needs our help to shut this down.”

All the biochemist could do was blink at the sudden information - well that explained Raven’s all but disappearance from work. But still. She wasn’t sure what to make of what she’d been told and suddenly there was a guard asking for identification and Raven was handing it over along with the ‘order’ and they were suddenly let in and she just let the younger woman lead her to where she had to be.

And it was definitely a worrisome scene.

“What is going on in here?” Jemma may be bad at improvisation but now it was all instinct taking over and being in charge? Well that was something she was able to do quite easily. She didn’t even have to say anything as the guard who let them in filled the others in medical the reason of the visit and oh did they look even more worried now.

“What have you given this man?” Nodding to Raven to go over to help ‘hold him down’ which really would let her heal him without anyone being the wiser, Jemma just waited for an answer, “And where are his medical charts?”

His vitals were down, he'd eventually stopped seizing but not for any good reasons. He could only stare, it was like being in a catatonic state. He couldn't react to anything happening in that room or around him. He might have stood a chance at fighting off other prisoners, but the guards knew that. They'd chosen this route of "control." They hadn't been able to mentally break him down. Raven’s visits, and the others around him kept him going. They hadn't been able to manipulate him the way they wanted to so they had gone physically.

The appearance of the two women surprised them though. They weren't expecting government officials. "Calm down lady, everything is good and legal here." Not answering her main question. Nor any respect at all. Which wasn't uncommon in a prison that was clearly understaffed and underpaid.

The lead doctor pointed at the chart which hadn't been opened or looked at at all." Standard anxiety treatment, calm your tits." He responded crassly as he turned his back on her to do something else. The IV attached to Dick however wasn't standard. They were severely over medicating him which had sent him into that state. The readouts on the bag itself were over what went patient should be given of an anti-epileptic medication. They'd combined the anxiety medication with another unlisted.

Well surprise inspections were a surprise for a reason. Letting Jemma handle the asshole men because there was a very good chance that Raven would have just….thrown them into a wall or melted their insides by this point, the empath instead focused on Dick, slowly letting her abilities begin to take effect. She had to do it far more slowly than normal thanks to the doctors being there. But no matter. Dick was going to be saved and the doctors were going to get a visit that night along with the guards. She had told Clark she would find a way to take down a corrupt prison as well so this was step one. The other steps, well, she’d get to them once Dick’s name was cleared. It seemed like something Kate and Natasha would be interested in.

As for Jemma? She was all too familiar with men disrespecting her. She knew her worth and wasn’t about to let mediocre men treat her otherwise. So she just quirked a brow at the lead doctor’s crass comment.

“My ‘tits’ are quite calm, thank you very much.” It wasn’t as if she hadn’t dealt with overt sexism and misogyny just recently in her Dreams from being in the 30s. And really everyday as a woman in science. “And things are clearly not good,” And she doubted legal as well just from the look of Dick’s arms.

Moving over to the medical chart, she quickly opened it and it was clear no one had paid attention to it. There were no notes, nothing.

“Standard anxiety treatment with a non-standard IV set up, overdosing and mixing substances leading to seizures.” Moving quickly over to the medical cabinet, Jemma found what she needed and filled a syringe, moving the head doctor out of the way and taking out the drugs that had been in the IV to replace with a universal antidote of sorts.

“Rachel.” Nodding to Raven that she could pick up the healing, Jemma made sure the detoxifying serum was injected into the IV.

Raven was relieved that she could have a reason to do a more proper healing, keeping tabs on Dick’s vitals all the while.

It took a moment for whatever medication they’d sloppily thrown together to flush out when replaced and combo that with the healing, his vitals were steadily improving. He took a deep breath and blinked finally when the room came back into view. His hand flexed slightly as he was getting some of his motor functions back and then there was Raven. And another voice he didn’t recognize. He was still quite groggy, but he was no longer in danger of going into shock or anything. He could almost focus again.

The medical lead just rolled his eyes. “Listen, you bring us more funding so we can do things properly. Until then, this rig is what we’ve got. You fancy suits have no right to come in here and criticize.” A bullshit statement from a facility full of bullshit. What else was really expected though.

His wrists were pretty raw thanks to the abuse of cuffs he’d been getting, they were trying to break him and taking joy in doing so. He wasn’t going anywhere. Dick shifted in an attempt to move, but couldn’t get that far considering one hand was cuffed still. Laying back was easier. He didn’t show fear, at least not physically but it could be felt.

Seeing Dick starting to come to, Raven gave a small smile. Oh, this was the last time that this would happen. Now that Raven knew who to focus on? Well, they wouldn’t be making this choice again. It was sickening and another reminder about how had she been around more people like this, had she never met Dick or Ahsoka, had the Titans in her Dreams, she easily could have fallen sway to Trigon because with so much darkness and corruption, sometimes it seemed like it would be better to let it all burn.

Not that she ever would. In the end, Raven always found something to fight for. The good and light and apparently that was why she was hopeful. Even if right now she wasn’t so sold on the hope thing. Still, she did give a mental message that Jemma was with her and could be trusted.

“So you’re lacking funding and yet you’re overmedicating someone who doesn’t need it with...you know what, I’m going to be taking a sample of this to test myself to see what you decided to mix with the anti anxiety medication.”

As for the criticizing?

“Oh believe me, the number of violations I see are more than ample reason to ‘criticize’ as you call it.” Violations that were going into a report to be filed.

Even the rawness of his wrists were healing. The damage that prison had done was fading, but Clark had photos. Of which he attempted to mentally relay to Raven, his voice hadn’t quite caught up but he was becoming more aware and alert again. It was a broken image of a phone, his mind was still a bit on the groggy side. He was fully clothed at least, he could be grateful for that. The last prisoner they’d taken had been forced against his will completely naked. He kept getting Arkham vibes from this place and it rubbed him every wrong way. And here he thought Gotham’s justice system was fucked up.

“Raven?” He was starting to sober up, no longer in such a piss poor condition.

The lead doctor just shook his head. “Do what you want, I’m going to lunch.” And apparently leaving Dick where he was, it wasn’t uncommon for patients to be left there. All of them seemed to hate “medical” if it could be called that. He was confused but awake. A better position than he’d been in before.

Healing Dick was second nature. It seemed that it had been fine when Donna visited Dick as she hadn’t mentioned anything and the photographer was more than likely to pick up on something if it had been wrong, so whatever was happening had been since then. Still, she knew that Donna also had photos from when they’d done their digging into information that past weekend. So she just gave a small nod, and was relieved that the doctor wasn’t paying attention when Dick said her name since she was supposed to be an unknown and Jemma had called her Rachel for that reason.

Instead, the empath just focused on Dick.

“Hey.”

And thank goodness the so called doctor left because it was very hard for her not to melt his brain there and then. So once they were alone? She undid the handcuff that was keeping Dick where he was.

Jemma was thoroughly unimpressed. This was not what she’d expected when she had been kidnapped by Raven but she was glad that she had been now. Because this? This needed to be shut down. She knew there were issues with the prison system and especially private run prisons like this, but it was disgusting that someone who was supposed to take care of people would just…

No matter. She was getting all of the information that she needed for a report to shut this down. And she was also going to make sure she had samples of every single medication they had in that place as well.

At least it seemed that Dick was awake and aware of his surroundings now. Or more so.

The magical and medical healings were working fast. When his wrist cuff was released, he moved to touch the bridge of his nose and rub at his eyes. “Where?” He wasn’t exactly doing well with the words just yet, and the confusion wasn’t a good sign. He didn’t realize where he was except that it wasn’t his own cell. “Last thing I remember was my cell.” He started to sit up, but dizziness prevented that. He was forced back down. “I’m not even sure when.” Those drugs had done a number on him.

He might have caught onto Raven being called something else if he hadn’t been drugged to hell, but he hadn’t connected the dots. Dick was still a little slow as his brain just rebooted. He ran a hand through his hair as he spotted the other woman after finally managing to sit up.

“Who’s your friend?” Sitting up probably wouldn’t last long. He was exhausted.

So long as his brain rebooted and he was fine in the end, she would take it. So instead Raven just kept watch on Dick, helping him settle back down when it seemed it wasn’t time yet for him to sit up. She herself wanted to go curl up given the strain of the healing and taking the drugs into herself essentially. But she was going to push that aside for now. She’d go curl up once things were settled.

It really was a good thing she kept all her visits to the cell itself and in the shadows so that no one would recognize her there.

“You’re in medical.”

“Or what they’re calling medical.”

Looking over at Jemma who wasn’t hiding her disgust, Raven turned her attention back to Dick.

“Jemma, we work together. She’s a doctor.”

Jemma, who had set up her travel testing kit and was running through different tests on the substances in the room, results being sent to her email for a more proper study. But it was clear a lot of these were experimental and dangerous. Especially when mixed.

Hearing her name, the biochemist looked up.

“How are you feeling?”

Yep. As much as Dick wanted to get up, laying down was the better option. His body still felt like a stack of bricks. He looked up at Raven and reached for her hand. He could use the comfort. Even just for a minute to feel like a human again instead of a test subject. He knew what she was going through for him, they were both basically experiencing prison together. He was afraid, especially considering the last few days were lost to his memory. He refused to show fear, but with Raven she probably already knew anyway.

"Like a science project." He responded with a shrug. "Jemma.. Think we spoke before. Biochemist?" one of his memories was coming out of the forced fog it'd been in.

He wanted to just go home with them, so badly it almost hurt. He could feel his chest tighten as emotion threatened but he pushed it back. Don't think on it. Just a while more. He had to tell himself that or lose what was left of his sanity. "Everything is kind of a blur." he'd never even smoked before, much less voluntarily taken drugs, he'd have said no if given the chance. There wasn't much but way of choice in this place though. It put Arkham to shame.

Noticing Dick reaching for her hand, Raven closed the distance and just squeezed his hand reassuringly. Empathy meant not having to tell her what he was feeling. He couldn’t hide it even if he wanted to but in times like this? Of course she knew. So she would do whatever it was she could to give him something akin to grounding him, of reminding him he was human. Just because she wasn’t didn’t mean she couldn’t give Dick that.

Nodding at the description, Jemma sighed softly.

“That would be me. And also yes, similar to a science experiment. I can’t say I’m shocked that things are currently a blur for you.” Between the general stress of the situation, of being locked up for something he hadn’t done, mixed in with drug cocktails and the fact they had led to him seizing before going catatonic?

“While they do have your typical medications, there are things that aren’t adding up. I’ll be better able to study the results once I’m at my lab. But even what I’m seeing now…”

Well. This place needed to be shut down. The UK and US criminal justice systems were depressingly similar but the US continued to outdo itself. Especially with private prisons.

Raven would love to get Dick out of here. And she could, but he had been insistent they do this the right way, to clear his name. And they were making progress on that. Between the things Donna and Kory were looking into, and then what she and Clark were looking into to anonymously turn over to the proper authorities (which basically was going to be Dick’s captain as he was the only one she trusted right now) plus the information Tim had found to be ‘miraculously’ found. The plan that involved surveillance being done by the Organized Crime unit to catch a confession she may or may not find a way to compel forward.They would get him out the way he had told her they needed to.

It didn’t make her feel any less antsy or that she wasn’t doing all she could because there were other ways she could get him out and back to safety now though. But the path had been started and they had to see it through to the end now.

Deep down he knew he had to stay and all this had to be done the legal way. If he left, his name would still be dirty. He couldn't live with that. Dick needed a clean slate and evidence was the way to go. Vigilante justice only went so far with a corrupt system and a case like this. He was glad Raven had picked up the signal that he needed her. He didn't have to say anything, it made this ten times easier on him. He wasn't the type to outwardly admit he needed help. He was usually one who would prefer to fix problems, not cause any.

He already felt a bit guilty for doing so. Though it wasn't as if he'd chosen for this to happen. Hell he just thought he could make a difference when he joined the force.

"I don't even remember being brought here." Who knew what else they'd been giving him. "Clark snuck photos. He visited recently." Dick tried to remember what day that was, but he couldn't.

"This place puts the insane asylum from my dreams to shame, and I thought that place was corrupt.." He shook his head a bit as he finally sat up but still held onto Raven’s hand. His free one running through his hair. "I've heard talk of a riot, now I know why." The first few days had been normal enough, but he wasn't sure if he remembered then correctly to even say that.

It wasn’t like Raven was one to admit when she needed help and with her guilt issues here and the dreams related to her father? She’d shoulder everything if she was able to. So words weren’t needed in times like this. She could just take the cues and go with them.

“I know, he told me so I’ve been healing you when I visit if they’ve drugged you that day or by that point.” Because of course she would. It clearly just wasn’t enough. Well that was going to stop. Being separated from her soul self for extended periods of time wasn’t the wisest of decisions but it was possible. And clearly necessary instead of her usual trying to do so only at night.

Jemma nodded some. “Well, I have my own photos as well now. Plus the initial read throughs of the different drugs they have here. I’ll have more information once I’m back at my lab for a more thorough analysis and report to be filed.”

As for a riot? Well, Jemma couldn’t blame those who wanted to do so in this place and it looked like Raven agreed. Though it could be tough to read her expressions on a good day.

“Guessing that’s the only reason I’m still alive.” He gave her a half smile and a slight squeeze of her hand. “Sorry, it’s probably a lot.” All of it was a lot for him too, though the drugs had one good effect-he didn’t remember half of what was going on. Or how long he’d been there. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with withdrawal unlike most of the inmates there. “I’ve tried to make sure no one gets killed, but the inmates are out for blood at this point. It’s in the air.” And with how many mystery drugs they were pumping into him, he could only imagine how bad the situation would be for the rest of them.

“Don’t think they have much by way of leadership though. I’m not volunteering for the job.” He mused slightly, Raven would get the joke. HIm and his multitude of teams, this was one team of misfits he didn’t want to lead.

“Thank you.” He said in response to the extra work Jemma now had on her desk. “Sorry to add to your paperwork.” The drugs hadn’t affected his long term memory at least, he remembered that conversation.

The only response that Dick got to it being a lot was a shrug of her shoulders. After all, Raven wasn’t going to comment on that or complain. It was the least she could do. Healing was just a part of who she was. And he definitely wasn’t wrong about the inmates being out for blood. The anger was suffocating whenever she showed up. Add in whatever was going on here? The place was a powder keg.

Dick really did have an affinity for starting teams, so she just rolled her eyes with the faintest of smirks at the comment.

“I’d have to worry about you if you did that.”

Hearing the comment about her paperwork, Jemma shrugged, “You’re welcome and it’s quite alright. This is something worth getting answers on and shutting down.” And really that was all that mattered. Putting an end to whatever this was and getting those in the prison proper care. No one should be left in such conditions and treated as lab rats just because society forgot about them.

He saw that smirk and it brought him the smallest bit of amusement. That place had been rough on his nerves, and body now but the fact that he still had friends and people looking out for him meant everything. More than they knew. He kept hold of Raven’s hand as he sat there. He knew she could just whisk him away and that would be the end, hell he probably should let her. He knew better. For his name to be clear and this prison to be shut down, things had to be this way or it was all for not.

His sanity was suffering a bit, but just knowing even if he couldn't see the others in his life that he'd get to see Raven at some point had kept him in mostly one piece. If it went on too long who knew what could happen with all the anger in that place. Dick was a person who needed light, and the prison virtually had none.

"They might be criminals and deserve to be locked up for what they've done, but nobody deserves this." he didn't wish this Frankenstein lab on anyone. Dick finally stood as the world stopped spinning enough to do so.

According to Raven, he definitely should let her just get him out of there. But with all that had happened, it wasn’t the way. But on top of clearing his name - she was going to have to dig into the Deadly Sins powers which always made her sick but also very easy to get the truth out - there was also revealing the corrupt nature of the private prison as well as the judge who got kick backs for placing prisoners there.

Because of course she was digging into that and getting Donna to help on that front as well. Too bad they didn’t know a journalist to break that particular story. But no matter. A lot was going to be shut down because of this.

Jemma nodded.

“I understand what you mean. No one deserves this.”

Looking to the hall, the biochemist sighed softly.

“We probably shouldn’t stay much longer.” Not like Raven wouldn’t be back later to check on Dick but there were things that needed to get done and to not raise too many concerns. “Will you be okay? I can figure out a cover to get in until you’re cleared if needed.”

They both knew that, but that didn’t mean they had to like it. Dick certainly wasn’t going to escape scott free out of this. There were some things healing powers couldn’t erase. There were going to be scars, but in the long run if it helped bring this place down then it was worth it. That was what they did, help those who couldn’t help themselves.

“I’ve got a birdie watching out for me, I’ll make it.” He reassured as he gave Raven’s hand a bit of a squeeze and then finally, reluctantly let it go. They were probably right and he should likely head back to his cell before they got back and had other ideas.

“Thanks doc.” He said to Jemma obviously, offering them both a wave before he pulled on that lovely prison khaki jacket he wore in a lackluster attempt to keep warm. Cells weren’t known for being comfortable. In summer they were god awful hot and in the winter, a basic ice box. But it was better than medical.

“I’ll call for a guard to take me back.” Since the idiots had left him there, wandering the prison on his own wouldn’t be a good look.

There would always be the things that couldn’t be healed no matter how much she wished she could fix them, but that was life. So Raven would do all that she could and that was that. As Dick let go of her hand, she stepped back some and looked to Jemma.

“Of course.” Smiling some, Jemma noticed the look from Raven and gave a small nod. She could tell that this was going to be an ongoing project and she was more than willing to play her own role again if necessary. But for now, it was getting them out of there and Dick back to his cell.

Either way, things were going to change and those who couldn’t help themselves would get the help they needed. In the end, that was what drove all three of them in the room. It was tiring and never enough, but it was something.