Waiting in the sky...

( text : james ) pulling the fire alarm is always a classic you know

( text : james ) you must have something up your sleeve from being a spy or even from boarding school days

( text : james ) sounds like a story you can regale me with once you get me out of here

( text : james ) trust me, the cats are terribly grateful even if they seem like they aren’t, that’s just cats

( text : james ) I fear I’ve become too important to be in bloody meetings with the pm but god this is so dull

“Yeah, of course. You’ve actually got a brain around here.” That was saying something considering other present company now that everything has gone down with the virus. Ophelia nodded slightly, looking up at him.

Of course she knew who he was. She had been poking around in everything she could when it came to trying to find answers. Especially after her source within Umbrella was killed, she couldn’t simply just let that go. They were getting close to answers, and she wouldn’t stop until she had them all.

“You’ve got my full attention. You’ve somehow survived all this since the start. I’ve got a lot of faith in you already, Kennedy.”

Whoever this woman is, Leon can tell there's something about her that screams she's not willing to go down without a fight. There's a fighter in her, and while she's in over her head, he recognizes that in her.

It's his job to get her out of this alive, even if her being here sets off all kinds of alarm bells in Leon's head. She shouldn't be here, no one should be here, unless they're umbrella, but this woman.....she doesn't seem like Umbrella to him. A woman here at the wrong place and the wrong time or something more? Leon's bet is that there's something more to this; there usually always is.

"What are you doing here? Who are you? If I'm going to get you out of here safely, I need to know I can trust you. I can't do that if you're keeping things from me so I'll ask again - how did you end up here all by yourself?"

“I’m Ophelia Smith, I’m a journalist.” No need to lie to someone like him. She had done her research on the man, she knew better than that. Being caught by him of all people was probably for the best for her survival too.

She held up her hands, showing she meant no harm with this, hoping to gain his trust even a little bit. “I’m here cause I’m trying to figure out what the hell Umbrella is doing. My source, he… the got to him, okay? And I have to know why. What he got to close to finding out or… I don’t know, but I can’t not get the answers I need now.”

Phee takes the gun, looking it over briefly before back up at him. “Yeah, I won’t shoot you in the back, don’t worry.” Not when he could be a good source for her later. It wasn’t her top priority to get an interview out of him, but whatever info she could get would only help her argument that Unbrella was up to no good.

Samira had a new iced coffee in her hand. John knew she was pulling a double and had brought an extra in with him. She is trying to suck it down fast so she can get a jolt of energy. Enough to get her over the slump so she can get back into the swing of things. Just another 8 hours and she would be home free.

“Oh my god, what I wouldn’t give for that length of sleep. I’m running on 4 to 6 hours anymore, if I’m lucky.” The nurses didn’t have it quite as bad as the doctors, but that didn’t mean that they still didn’t feel the effects of exhaustion from shifts around here. Ophelia was pulling a double again despite everyone’s insistence not to.

“Now I feel like I need to know the story behind that one.” She raised an eyebrow, curious how one could get kicked out of a chess match. Maybe for making too much noise? Having only known Carter for a bit, she definitely could have imagined a multitude of things he could have done to get removed.

“You’re not wrong about that. That’s why GSW’s don’t bother me as much anymore as they used to. I had to get familiar with them on my first day.” It still bothered her, of course, she was still human, but it was odd how unfazed she had almost gotten by them. She supposed all doctors got used to some of the injured that came through their doors soon enough.

Ophelia nudged him again under the table at his teasing, her grin widening. “Maybe. It’s only going to end up with me making a fool of myself more so I don’t know if it was a really good idea or not, but a drink seems like it’s in order.” A little liquid luck, or more likely, loosening of her lips and making a bigger fool of herself. At least they seemed to have that aspect in common.

“Well, if it’s a nice place, sure. I invited you round to mine, so seems only fair. Granted, I asked for help with building furniture, but still.” She dipped a chip in salsa, listening to him explain. “Couple rooms, fancy. Guess doctors get paid more than nurses anyway.”

Sharing a place with him might not be so bad. It’d help her save on rent and they had similar enough schedules, it might actually work out well. No, this was only possibly a first date, and they were still so new to knowing each other. That idea needed out of her head quickly. As if to keep her from voicing it aloud, she took a bite of her chip instead.

Upon Ophelia’s revelation, he offered a meager smile. “Yeah,” he agreed. “After a while, blood just looks…red, you know? Almost fake. It’s like the brain dismisses what it truly is, if only to protect you to keep us moving forward. I remember when I first started, I could barely stop shaking.”

Liquid luck…

Carter mirrored her grin, scrunching his brow in disbelief. “I’m sure I’ll be right there with you,” he agreed. “I’m not exactly good at keeping my mouth shut, in case it wasn’t obvious, and that’s when I’m stone-cold sober.”

The topic shifted to his salary, and slowly, his smile faded. “Oh, uh…” He straightened in his seat and cleared his throat. “No. Not really… I-I mean, doctors don’t make much. And least especially students, interns, and residents. There’s a reason a lot of us sign up to give blood for a small sum. Any little bit helps with the bottom line.”

While they both reached into the chip bowl, Ophelia’s assessment caused him to look up at her again, blinking in surprise. “Are you throwing your hat into the ring?” he asked, a glimmer of amusement shining within his eyes. “I’m not so sure we’d avoid each other, but…you’re right. It’s certainly an idea.”

“Fake, yeah. We choose to work in some horror movie every day.” She nodded, fully understanding. “Well, shaking isn’t too bad. I fainted within the first hour on my first proper time in the emergency department. Over an IV too, of all things. I think I was too in my head and already dehydrated that morning, which didn’t help, so it didn’t take much to send me down.” At least they both had embarrassing stories to share.

She made a mock face of surprise, laughing a bit. “You? Unable to shut your gob? I’d never imagine. At least we’ve got that in common, aye?” Though their moment of lightheadedness seemed to falter some, and she chewed the inside of her cheek. Money was never a polite conversation topic, even if it was more of a passing comment.

Ophelia nodded slightly, popping the chip in her mouth as she thought about it. Even if he was higher up on the seniority track, healthcare workers were still struggling in all areas it seemed. Or, at least in the bigger cities. Chicago was only marginally better than New York.

“Well, I…” She was turning red again and coughed a bit on her chip. “I mean, maybe. Suppose it depends how this date goes, but given that I’m in the process of unpacking, I’d kind of hate to repack it all up again so soon, no offense.”

When the waiter brought back their drinks, she gratefully took a long drink of the margarita, swiping the salt off of her lips with the tip of her tongue afterwards.

“Okay, say… we don’t avoid each other. Even if we aren’t about to have our toothbrushes next to each other in the near future, you think we’ll still hang out outside of the ER? Cause we’ll be seeing a lot of each other in there, naturally, but I’m really hoping I haven’t ran you off with my own inability to keep my mouth shut from time to time.”

“Ian?” Now that took her by surprise, eyebrows rising as she quickly put it together that this was the analyst in question, not poor Matt for once. “No, no, I… I was mistaken. Ian is fully deserving of all of your spite, please, carry on.”

Despite Ophelia’s insistence that they all get along, Ian was the clear exception to that mentality. Slipping her hand into Loki’s, she quickly switched her tune when it came to how to handle the situation.

“Oh, so now he’s moved onto this fleshy body instead of being green. I almost think that’s an improvement where his insults go.” She mused, squeezing their hand in return as she saw him scowling. “Bea is terribly busy with everything else, unfortunately, and there’s only so much she can probably do with someone like him and-”

she had watched from the window as vhagar had left kings landing ( but rather than relief , she felt - afraid ). IT WAS ONE THING TO HAVE SEEN THE NEXT FEW MOMENTS , to know where a story ends & yet another to watch it unfold. the queen , it seemed , was not the only one to feel the tension in the air.

the sound of ophelias footsteps echo , and helaena moves away from the window , drawing her shawl closer. "they are both gone." helaena had heard the whispers. aegon had fled & now with aemond in the sky ( flying to what would be his doom ) ; her own end felt as if it was drawing closer.

she wondered if the words were meant for ophelia, or for helaena herself. she knew the woman had been by the window, she always seemed to be looking skyward, finding unseen answers in the stars. ophelia found herself often looking to the lights for some hope, but she knew whatever the other saw was more real than anything she could imagine.

“we will stick together then. give each other courage. we will make sure neither of us are afraid then.”

“Not entirely.” She admitted, giving him a slightly more mischievous smile before she headed off to execute her plan.

Ophelia was hardly much of an actor, but being clumsy came naturally. She did her best to keep her breathing still as she heard the commotion around her, praying that Nathan was able to get the idol now with her distraction. After a moment, she let herself ‘come to’, assuring everyone that came to check on her that she was alright, despite her appearances.

“Really, I’m fine. Just need some air and I’ll be alright, but thank you, I’m so sorry to have caused a scene.” She told the staff as a stronger security guard helped her up to her feet. She leaned into him slightly for balance, hoping to keep his focus on her than anything else going on right now.

As the guard led her out, she spared a glance around the room to see if anyone had noticed the idol was missing, looking terribly embarrassed as she kept up the act. Maybe her plan actually worked out for once.

Once she was outside, she opted to lean against the step railing, slipping off her heels and holding them in her hands. “I’ll call for a ride, I’ll be good, sir. I really appreciate your help, but I feel much better already.” But he seemed hesitant to leave her alone.

“It’s the heels and all the spanx I’m wearing, you understand, right? You’ve got a wife, you must understand how we torture ourselves to look good for a few hours.” At that, he seemed to understand, nodding a bit awkwardly as he headed back into the event.

Ophelia moved down the steps casually, hoping any onlookers wouldn’t think anything of it, before she turned the corner and dropped the act completely. “Alright, which car are you in?” She muttered to herself as she began to hurry down the street.

She saw the one sitting idle to the side, quickly making out Nathan in the driver’s seat. She headed over quickly before she nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard gunshots nearby.

That was the danger she was warned about, getting involved with Drake. Not that it was making her turn and run the other way.

Of course it was too much to hope that they’d make it out of here before anyone knew the idol was gone. Nathan knew that but it didn’t stop him from foolishly hoping that this would be the one time they’d be lucky enough to get away before someone realized the idol had been stolen right underneath their noses. 

The moment the bullets go flying, Nathan is reminded how utterly foolish a hope like that is. The gunshots ring out one after another, making his heart leap wildly in his chest as his eyes jump from place to place, searching for Ophelia. He won’t leave without her and God – he hopes they haven’t clocked her as an accomplice before she even gets in the damn car. 

The rising anxiety clawing at his throat calms when he spots the redhaired woman rushing for the car. A wave of relief washes over him as she climbs in and yells at him to ‘drive!’. She doesn’t have to tell him twice before he’s switching gears and shoving the car into drive. 

“Are you hurt?” Is the first thing out of Nathan’s mouth as tires screech as he hits the gas with very little care for how fast he’s peeling out of there. He’s careful with driving. More bullets go buzzing by and Nathan inwardly curses as he swears one comes close to nicking his cheek. 

He ducks, looks over his shoulder, and inwardly curses. He’s got his own gun but he’s not going to start shooting while driving. No, he’ll let Sully handle that. His job will be trying to get him and Ophelia to the boat that will take them to the jungle they’re headed for. 

“I owe you big time.” Nathan says as another gunshot rings out but this time, it’s not a bullet coming for them, but rather one going for the man that is gaining on them. Sully manages to make the guy swerve the car in the opposite direction and Nathan doesn’t bother to check if he’s still alive. 

“We’re boarding a boat, from there we might have some time to breathe once we hit the ocean. Until then just....hang in there, alright? It’s going to get dicey for a bit.” That’s an understatement, he thinks, but Sully’s got their back so he’s not too worried about that part at least. 

“No, don’t think so.” She quickly looked over herself and was grateful she somehow dodged them all in her rush to the car. One less thing to worry about right now. They just needed to get out of this mess first before she could think about what they’d just done.

Ophelia jumped as the shot rang out, turning back to look at the car as it swerved, facing forward soon after as she tried not to look at the crash they had now caused. “Yeah… yeah, totally owe me.”

She gripped the seat, trying not to panic. She knew what she was getting into when she agreed to help him, logically, she did. She had heard the stories of his past expeditions and had an idea. Being in the middle of it, however, was a much different story.

“Boarding a boat.” Phee repeated, processing it all. She was about to board a boat and head off on his latest adventure with all she had in her clutch. That felt terrifying, but she had been wanting this type of excitement for a while. Something far more rewarding than her desk was providing for the moment.

They weren’t too far from the docks and once they were on the ocean, she could finally breathe. They just had to get to that point and figure out next steps then.

“You do have the idol, right?” She questioned, now looking about the car. This couldn’t be all for nothing. She was sure if they were chasing them, that he actually had it in his possession.

As they pasted under a streetlight, she saw the gold glint beside him and relaxed a little, grateful to see he hadn’t lost it in their little heist.

The little hand pats nearly have her breaking as she holds Anya just a bit closer to her. A hug was a good way to hide your face, and she didn’t want her little sister to worry about her even more. It was bad enough she probably heard some of their argument already.

“It’s okay, I’m okay.” Ophelia said softly, turning her head slightly to kiss the girl’s head. “She didn’t. I think I did though, that’s the problem. It wasn’t very nice of me and I’m sure I’ve made momma sad too.”

While she was moping still, she could try to rationalize her actions to Anya, just to try to make things seem better than they were. She didn’t have to know that her big sister got grounded for sneaking away from secret service. Again. It just meant that she would be around more to be with her.

“You didn’t wake me up,” Anya says, sitting back as she watched her sister. Ophelia may have tried to hide the worst of her emotions from her little sister, but Anya had grown up in a volatile environment and that had made her cautious, watchful, and very in-tune with the emotions of others. More so, certainly, than a five-year-old should be.

“I couldn’t sleep so I was playing with my blacks instead. I made a big castle in my room.”

She reaches back out, patting at her sister’s knee this time. Anya won’t be distracted for long.

“You can say sorry in the morning,” she says. “Mommies are nice. They don’t stay mad when you say sorry.”

“A castle? Maybe we should go look at that. It’s probably pretty impressive.” And it was a way to get Anya back to her bed in case Ophelia didn’t fully control her emotions.

“I will say sorry in the morning. And mommy is very nice. Too nice, sometimes, but no, she can’t stay mad if I say sorry.”

She wiped her eyes before placing her hand on top of Anya’s. She knew what was left unsaid. It don’t take much to figure out there was issues in her past that she still hasn’t talked about to them all yet.

HANDOVER'S gone on for about a half-hour too long for Jack's tastes. As with most things at work, he likes it to be smooth. Efficient. Something that doesn't have him chasing day-shift staff out of his ER.

Looking up from a chart to catch @theresastargirl lingering by the board? He's very quickly on the warpath. He's still early enough in his shift that the exhaustion hasn't slowed his stride -- his leg doesn't ache just yet. He's rounding on Ophelia like a drill instructor.

The fact that she doesn't turn to look at him when he draws close should be the first indication that she's not trying to sneak a double that she isn't scheduled for.

Your patient in bed seven? That's my brother.

He follows her gaze upward, squints ever so slightly -- fucking aging -- to catch the name. "Andrew Smith? Didn't know you had siblings" which... might've been a bit of an oversight given that he considers himself friendly with Ophelia. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't linger on the self-chastisement.

"He been seen yet?" Stupid question. He would've been 'VIP-ed' through the ED the second it was established who he was. Jack's already scooping up a tablet and heading towards the room in question. The option for Ophelia to follow is wide-open, though not expected.

Once she was sure he wasn’t actively dying, she tried to finish out her rounds before she found herself lingering by the board, waiting to see if any x-rays or tests came back yet to ease her mind. She didn’t want to be that person on staff who rushed for results. There were still other patients who needed focus more than him, even if she wished he’d be priority number one. Problem was, so was everyone else’s family members waiting around.

When Jack approaches, she almost braces herself given the force in which he rounds on her, but technically, she’s clocked out by now. Can’t do anything to the patient anyway since it’s family so she’s stuck for the moment.

“Just the one twin.” Ophelia replies as she starts to follow him. “I got him back here soon enough. Crus did an initial assessment. Just waiting on some results. I figured he was just concussed coming in here, knowing Andy, but, I don’t know, it’s…”

She tugs on the sleeves of her undershirt, trying not to fret too much, but it’s hard when the patient is her other half in a sense. “It’s been a long shift and my judgement isn’t exactly sound right now with all of this.” She admits before they pull back the curtain.

She knows better than to push. Ophelia hated whenever their mother tried to get her to open up about things at this age too, knowing it normally led to them fighting afterwards anyway. She didn’t want that with her sister, but she was also trying to respect her boundaries too.

“I’m not in danger, Phee. I’m just upset. It’s fine.”

Planting her hands on the ground, Anya kicks her legs over, landing on her feet and standing up in one fluid motion. Turning, she finds her sister again, this time with her hands planted on her hips.

“Yes, got it. Literally anything else.” She held up her hands in surrender, dropping it for the moment.

Ophelia immediately wrapped her arms around Kit in return, almost clinging to the other woman for the moment. She had missed hugs like this. It had been a couple years since her mother passed, but moments like this brought that pain up all over again. She was grateful for Kit for pseudo-stepping into that role with their friendship.

As for confidence, with Kit a lot of it was surface level, almost a defence mechanism by this point. You could tell a lot about a man by the way the reacted to a seemingly confident woman. So she projected it to sort the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

“Okay, maybe, but still, you’ve got way more experience than me. In that area and… all the others, really.” She ran her hand through her hair, trying to pull herself back together. It was meant to be a fun girls night, not turning into a therapy session.

Anakin  opened  his  eyes  enough  to  see  the  wall  in  front  of  him.  "When  I  only  focus  on  the  Force  and  not  myself."  It  was  that  simple.  And  here  Anakin  was  overthinking  it  the  entire  time.  So  many  times  he  tried  and  only  grew  impatient.  He  expected  it  to  be  a  quick  fix  and  an  end  all  solution.  Grandmaster  Yoda  corrected  him  quickly,  much  to  his  dismay.  Well,  maybe  he  was  frustrated  at  first.  That  was  the  difference  between  him  and  Obi  Wan.  He  was  incredibly  patient.  "Alright.  So  that  doesn't  work.  Then  we  try  a  new  strategy.  Grab  your  saber.  We're  heading  to  the  training  grounds."

[ TXT - tex ] oh absolutely. we’re there more for the vibes than anything else

[ TXT - tex ] you might end up on the jumbo screen when they do like the lookalike cam for being at the wrong game, but might as well. you got landy or mack?

[ TXT - tex ] booking flights would force us to take time off actually. non refundable and all that.

[ TXT - tex ] gritty is my one true love so you’re not that far off tbh

[ TXT - tex ] zegras, obvs, but drysdale was a close second ngl

i think we've learnt that there's a lot of things that i'm not good at.

ALTHOUGH Emery's never been one to shy away from telling people they suck in a great manner of of ways for a vast variety of reasons, the fun of doing such things is incumbent upon how punchable the subject in question's ego is.

In short: it's no fun punching down.

So while she can see the clear self-deprecating humour in the way @theresastargirl pokes fun at herself after the night from hell, they're far enough away from work at the current point in time that Emery's allowing herself to see the deprecation part, too.

Doesn't stop her from huffing out a chuckle into her coffee, mind.

"Well," she eventually begins, "I think most people would agree that knowing that you're shit at something is more admirable than pretending you aren't. Makes you less annoying in my books, at least. Also definitely means that you're killing patients less often than, say, the ER cowboys, because you're not trying to prove you're the baddest bitch in town. You're just doing your job." A beat to increase the comedic value, "And/or eating shit on the way out of the hospital because you handle an icy sidewalk like a deer on stilts. You know your limits."

She’s about to take another sip of her Coke before the last line hits. “Oi! One time that was so bad I had to come back in, and only cause Olsen saw me. Otherwise, no one would have known.” Ophelia admits with a laugh. “Trust me, I’ve ate ass more times than I can count out there but I walk my bruised bum to the bus stop and no one is any the wiser.”

She takes a long drink of her soda now, mainly to shut herself up from giving the rest of the night crew gang any more ammo on her misfortunes with her uncoordinated limbs. It was a miracle she wasn’t in the ED as a patient more than a nurse some days.