Days seemed to pass in the dimly lit waiting room of the hospital wing in the LF stronghold in Kolkata. Scarlett sat bone strait with her hands tucked between her knees, clutching a rag that had gone pink with blood. She swiped at the dropletts before they could make a mess of the clean white floor, but other than that remained motionless. Clash leaned against the wall beside her, his hand under his chin and an intense gaze about him as if there had to be a way he could think Will out of this situation. No matter what scenario he ran in his head, all of his tactical mastery was for naught. Snow stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. She wore a white fur lined jacket and over sized black sun glasses that hid her nearly glowing red eyes. The jet lag and the grief had done wonders for them.  Finally the door popped open and they all looked with anticipation as Doctor Yokoi tried valiantly to go about his business without having to talk to them. Clash stopped him by clapping  a hand on his chest and tilted his head back suspiciously as he beheld the doctor. 

“3 days out here and you’re just going to walk by us like you owe us nothing?…What’s going on in there Doctor?”

Yokoi looked weathered and weary, His aging asian features seemed dim and emotionless, which put fuel on the fire of Scarlett’s anger. She sat there with a death stare on the doctor as he used his index finger to push his thick rimmed glasses further up on his nose.

“He’s currently undergoing a “nanite injection”…they are..”little machines” that repair the damaged walls of his  vascular system.”

The doctor twiddled his fingers and air qoted as he said “Little machines” Almost as if he where talking to dim wits or children. Clash tilted his head, clearly frustrated yet not near his breaking point or so it looked. As Snow watched the transaction of words between the two, she realized that she had never seen a time when Clash was anything but level headed. Granted she hadn’t worked with the tactician much, but it was intrigueing that he could manage to stay frosty even as all this was happening. Clash spoke in his proper british accent again, Soft but commanding.

“I’m still not a hundred percent on what happened to him doctor…you mentioned it had something to do with the poison in his blood stream”

The doctor perked up a bit as Clash mentioned the poison. He gathered that the doctor was much more in to his work than probably anyone had the time or the will to sit and listen to. The doctors slightly accented voice began a roll of chatter that had Scarlett now standing.

“Well to properly understand what is happening, you’d have to know a bit about the project. IVY212 is an enzyme that was created by myself after splicing many genetic codex from several species of creatures uneffected by poison. The applications where endless…. IVY212 would make all of our agents immune to poisons of any kind. It would also turn the agents blood into the deadliest of poisons itself.”

“yeah yeah look I already want to murder you…can we skip over the part where you killed innocent agents to pass your mad scientist admissions exam?” 

Scarlett had moved up on the old doctor so quickly and silently that he was startled by her voice. Anybody with a heartbeat could see that she was out for blood, and the crimson ribbons of it running from her nose, eyes and ears where startleing to say the least. The Doctor jumped to defend himself verbally. 

“On the contrary! All of the agents INCLUDING agent 2215 Volunteered willingly. We shut the project down immeditely when the enzyme broke! 21 out of 22 test subjects very unfortunately lost their lives…but they did so willingly and in the name of science. 2215 er…Agent Matthews..Continued the poison injection for years after the project was scrapped…he was trying to build a new enzyme from is own blood…I advised him against it!”

Clash could tell that the good doctor’s words had done little to calm Scarlett. The least thing he needed was a dead doctor, especially the only one with any knowledge of Venom’s physiology. Clash cut a look at Scarlett that both begged and commanded Scarlett to drop it for the good of their mutual friend. He then attempted to get the doctor back on course.

“Listen doctor…nobody is accusing you of anything”

“I am…” Scarlett almost instinctively muttered under her breath….

Snow had heard enough by this point and the tapping of her heel stopped silent as she snapped at the three of them impatiently.

“Just tell us what is going on already….fuck this isn’t Drama club slash Science camp 2012.. it’s a god damn man’s life at stake”

“Yes well….Quite frankly, The IVY212 enzyme in Agent Matthews blood has dissintegrated. Quite amazing that it lasted this long honestly.. However this has naturally caused the extremely powerful alkaline structures in the poisons, to eat away at his vascular system. His heart has failed, his organs are in melt down…there are very few options left..”

Snow looked on with disgust as the doctor spoke in a tone that made it sound like he had basically given up on Will. She shook her head rumbled.

“I feel like no one in this brotherhood gives a damn for us anymore! It’s like we are on our own…”

Clash looked to her and frustratedly ran his hand through his hair, replying as if his thoughts where escaping through his mouth.

“I know…I wish the empress was here…She’d know what to do…”

Scarlett looked as if the act of that name being spoken had hurt her. She missed her mentor and friend and she knew that what Clash had said was true. If Empress where here, she’d be making heads roll and getting things done. Scarlett’s fangs extended as her face contorted with frustration and sadness…

“I’m glad she isn’t here… because she would be ashamed of what I am going to do to this FUCKER  if he lets Will die!”

Clash held his hand before Scarlett as she began to move menacingly toward the doctor. Everyone but Yokoi understood that she was exhausted and at her breaking point. Much like a woman of action would be with a man who’s lifes work exsisted mostly in the realm of theory. Clash plead the case for the doctor to use whatever means necissary

“Doctor…Will isn’t exactly a man of scientific scrupples..I mean he continued with dangerous research after he was advised against it…You can do whatever it takes…ethical or not”

Yokoi’s face shrunk with anger. He had tolerated quite enough of what he considered a witch hunt at the hands of a bunch of people who killed others for nothing more than a pay check. For them to be questioning him about his own ethics was more than a bit hypocritical..

“Why do you Psychotic people try to paint me like I am unethical!?…Agent 2215 and I had a friendly relationship during his time in my lab, and I worry for his safety just as much as you people! I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. Now can we all stop acting like maniacs and let me think?!”

The room fell silent as Yokoi’s outburst caught everyone off their guard. This timid old man had a bit of a lion in him afterall. Scarlett crossed her arms and gave the man a chance to plea his case before she ripped out his juggular. 3 days of nothing but vending machine synthetic blood was making her more than a bit ready to eat the old bastard.

“He has already undergone a complete blood transfusion…I’ve enlisted the help of the Cyber Initiative and their nanite research. They have injected nano machines into his blood stream to begin repairs on his organs. It’s a long shot but it might work. We’re prepping him for a synthetic heart as we speak and I am about to get on the phone with Tokugawa heavy industries about implants…if you’ll excuse me”

The doctor pushed his way past Khalid and headed down the hallway to the operating room. The agents all gave each other a confused and concerned glance as they stood in silence and absorbed what the doctor had said. Finally Clash spoke up.

“No good can come of us all sitting here…I’ll go and try to get a bit more info out of the doctor, you both need to get some rest. Go on…”

Scarlett stared at him for a second, but knew that he was right. She couldn’t do anyone any good in the state she was in. Snow was exhausted as well, and they both decided it would be best to go and get a bit of rest…

4 hours later….

“forceps…”

“Clamp”

Clash stepped next to Scarlett who was watching the heart transplant through the glass window outside of the opperating room. She hadn’t managed to sleep much, instead playing like she was until Snow fell asleep. She crept out of the room they where in and made her way back into the hospital just before they finished prepping Will for Surgery.

“I managed to get an estimate out of the doctor before he went into surgery….It’s…not good.”

Scarlett didn’t take her eyes from Will as she stared through the glass and eplied with a subdued and cool tone.

“I don’t want to hear it Khalid…He’ll survive…he always does…”

The clacking of Snow’s heels could be heard as she made her way down the checkered hall way with fire in her eyes. Scarlett had givin her the slip and she was probably a bit cranky that she only had managed a few hours of sleep before she noticed the vampire was gone…She looked through the glass and saw Will. Her breath jumped from her in the form of a gasp and she grabbed a hold of Scarlett’s arm, not wanting to watch her friend being cut open like that.

“Why are you watching this?…..Come on let’s get some fresh air…We might have to leave the country…but..we’ll find some.” 

Scarlett gritter her teeth and pushed Snow away from her . A mere flick of her arm for Scarlett, but enough to send Snow stummbling back..She barked at the two of them who had come to bother her in the first bit of alone time she had been able to squeeze out since getting to India. 

“How are you assholes so cool about this?!..He’s our friend…Don’t act like shit would ever be the same if he was gone..”

Snow turned her head to the words. She simply didn’t want to hear them or have to think about them.She responded to the question before it could sink in..

“He’s going to be fine Scar…be cool…”

Scarlett’s eyes widened as if she had officially heard everything…

“Be cool? The fuck Sarah?!”

Before it could get too much out of hand, Clash held his hands up and and raised his voice. His eyes closed as he clapped his hand down ently on each of their shoulders and pushed them toward the exit.

“Stop! both of you…let’s go and cool off!…none of this is helping William right now.”

Scarlett looked back at the pale lifeless body of her friend through the glass. The medical atmosphere and the cold bright lights of the operating room making hiim look as if he where already dead. She would have froze for a moment there if not for Clash, shuffleing her along and out into the warm Indian evening..