Don't Forget (Open)

[Dante Stark]

Dante had been stirring in bed, he'd been thinking about her once again.. There was something's people never did, such as abandon a child.. And Dante wasn't mad at his mother one ounce.. She'd never wanted to leave him it was all his Father's wishes.. And when he found out his mother had been committed to one of the hospitals close to him he was at doubts at if he should go and visit her.. She was after all still his mother but the pain left burned in his heart was sometimes too much to overbear.. His alarm clock blared finally and he got up out of bed and slid on a pair of jeans and one of his t-shirts.. He slowly let out a sigh as he grabbed a large but tarnished book and held it close to his chest. Dante grabbed his jacket and carried the book with him to his car. The book contained a few pictures of Dante and his mother before she had left him, Dante opened his car and tossed the book on the passenger seat as he started his ignition and left his apartment behind as the roar of his engine was all that could be heard in the distance..

Dante had pulled up at the hospital and parked his car in one of the parking spots, he was nervous about coming here after how the doctor had called and described her condition to him.. She was lucid at certain points only remembering certain aspects of her life, and Dante was sad to learn this fact.. Grabbing the book he closed his door and locked the car as he proceeded into the hospital stopping at reception he looked at the girl behind the counter. "I'm looking for the room Allison Stark is in, I'm her son and I've come to visit.." Dante smiled weakly as he filled in the guest book. Normally he'd have flirted with the pretty girl but today he wasn't feeling so hotshot.

Dante walked through the hallways until he finally stopped outside of her room and opened the door slowly, The woman inside was sitting by the window looking outside at the autumn weather as he pulled up a seat next to her.. "Hello, young man.. It's a lovely day today isn't it?.." with a form of elegance as he opened the book and pointed to a picture of them together.. "I'm sorry you don't remember who i am mum.. But it's me Dante.. and I've come to talk to you... " He placed his hand in hers as she began to look through the book a small smile taking over her face.. "Ohh Dante, how could i forget my beautiful little boy.." She cooed as she gripped his hand.. The pair looked through some of the photographs and his mother had began telling Dante what she had been up to and how she had been practising her drawing while she was locked up her..

Dante had wanted to hate his mother but in her current state he felt more remorse for her losing her memory everyday.. and not remembering how much she impacted Dante's life for however much time she was in it for.. Dante smiled as they closed the book and she continued to look out the window.. They had spent two hours together talking and laughing it wasn't meant to last of course as she turned back to face him and asked him "Sorry.. Who are you again.." Those words stabbed Dante's heart worse than any bullet could have.. She was gone once again.. Rather than explain who he was again he choked back a tear and grasped the book close to his chest as he stood up.. "I'm just one of the doctors M'am.." He turned his back on her as she wished him safe travels. Dante left the room and closed the door behind him..

Sitting on one of the vacant benches he dropped the book next to him as he covered his face with his hands sobbing quietly in the empty part of the hospital.. It was tragic the woman he loved and cherished the most had forgotten him once more although this time it wasn't by force it was her condition.. She'd been ripped from Dante's life once more and all he could do was sit here and cry to himself.. The man was made of Iron and Steel.. but his only weakness appeared to be his mother she was the only woman in his life that he depended on and now he couldn't tell her anything let alone speak to her without her forgetting him.
Dante unclasped his face with one hand and picked one of the photographs out and wiped a few of his tears away as he looked deep into the photograph wishing he could be back in that time with his mother. "I.. Just.. Want to go back...." he muttered to himself still choking back a few tears.

[Hazel 'Hobbs' Yeung]

"Impressive," he remarked, as Hobbs thumbed the vacuum seal on the socket and slid off her leg with a hiss of escaping air.
"Thanks," she said. "Made it myself."
"You did?"
Hobbs looked up to find the doctor staring at her, his eyebrows halfway up his forehead in surprise.
"Yeah. Couldn't find one I liked so I decided to make my own." Indeed, the first leg she'd had was a simple mechanism that forced her to goose-step to make the knee lock out. It was a nightmare to walk on. Hobbs laid the carbon fibre and steel leg on the flat, paper-covered examination bed beside her. It was still wearing her Doc Marten.

She rolled up the leg of her cargo shorts and peeled away the liner. She heard the doctor draw in a sharp breath as she stripped it away, and then hold his breath, not wanting to be heard as though he were gasping. She'd already heard it, though. She laid the liner beside her, and stared down at what the doctor had found so shocking. It wasn't the scarring or the disfigurement that surprised him; that was what she had come for in the first place. It had been eighteen months since the RPG explosion in Afghanistan, and she was here for a check-up.
What the examining doctor found so shocking was the sheer colour of her thigh; a mottled yellow-purple from extensive bruising, some fresh, some half-healed.
"What's this from?" he asked her, leaning down.
"My leg," Hobbs said, gesturing to her side.
"It doesn't fit?"
"It fits fine, it's what I do on it that does it," Hobbs said.

He placed a thumb to the centre of the X-shaped scar where they'd taken her leg off, and pressed gently. Hobbs grimaced and gripped the edge of the bed cushion and squeezed it so hard her nails almost tore through the vinyl. Jesus Christ, that hurt. See, when the surgeons had lopped her leg off, they'd bundled up her nerves and put them right underneath the scar tissue. That spot hurt more than anywhere else on her body.
"You really need to take it easy at this point."
Hobbs rolled her eyes. She'd heard that one before. But 'taking it easy' was easier said than done when the difference between being active and relaxing was the difference between stopping dangerous immortals and letting them massacre people.
"Yeah," she lied, "I will."
The doctor straightened up. "So how're you finding adjustment?"
"Alright, I guess. The leg works almost as well as my real one."
"And the phantom pains?"
"On and off." She shrugged. "Hourly some days, more often at night."
"And you're still suffering from Post-Traumatic-"
"Yes," she said, more forceful than necessary. She didn't want to talk about that. She grabbed her leg and the liner and stuffed them into her rucksack, ready to make a quick getaway. She knew exactly where this conversation was heading and she didn't want to be a part of it.
The doctor sat down at his desk, grabbing a pad and pen. "You know, I could prescribe some-"
"Don't bother," Hobbs said, hopping down from the examination bed, swiping up the crutch from beside the door and leaving in less than a second.

Outside in the hallway, she slammed the door behind her and heaved a sigh. Thank God she didn't have to do that for another six months. But, as she leaned heavily on the crutch she realised she needed a place to plonk herself down and stick her leg back on. She began to hop down the hallway on the crutch without an ounce of dignity, and only slowed once she saw a half-empty bench. A bench that had none other than Danticus Stark sitting on it.

Oh jeez. This would be the first time he saw her with her leg off. This would probably turn out to be awkward or embarrassing, or both, since she usually freaked people out with it. It was, however, a vacant seat, which she sorely needed at this point. But, as she drew nearer, she began to think that it was she who was seeing him at a bad time, and not the other way around.
"Stark? You okay?"

[Dante Stark]

Dante had noticed Hobbs.. something was different though.. wiping away his tears and adjusting himself he'd moved his book so she'd have a seat, even though her leg wasn't on Dante wasn't freaked out by it not in the slightest.. But he kept his book close to him as she'd spoke to him.. He'd waited a moment allowing the swelling in his throat to go down before even attempting to speak to her. "Yeah.. I'm good.. Just being myself y'know sitting on a bench.. Seeing my partner, it's funny we always seem to bump into each other.. Glad to have the company i suppose. Dante weakly smiled as he placed the book by his feet and watched as Hobbs came and joined him on the bench..

He'd always liked Hobb's attitude and how she treated people, she was in Dante's term one of those badasses that he didn't mind being caught crying by.. Either way he was done having his depressive moment even though the wound was still fresh in his heart. Dante looked ideally down the hallway and saw various medical staff going around there duties and he was almost hoping Hobbs didn't ask why he was here..

It was his one weakness and he'd figured he'd have been judged silently by her which would have probably made matters worse.. Oh well he figured the worst was probably over now and he could just relax and enjoy his memories.. unlike other members of the Stark family. Dante shrugged it off and looked at Hobbs.. "So Hobbs, what have you been up to since we last spoke to each other." Dante didn't have his usual boyish smile on his face as he asked her.. Obviously she was dealing with her Leg, he just wasn't sure on what kind of basis..

Dante got up off the bench and walked over to one of those coffee machines and inserted a dollar or two filling two cups up with nice warm coffee walked back towards Hobbs and offered her one of the cups as he sat back down.. "It's not exactly a beer.. But it'll do for now.. " He spoke as he brought his cup up to his lips and blew on it before taking a sip.

[Hazel 'Hobbs' Yeung]

Hobbs hopped down the corridor, only staying upright because of the crutch, and collapsed onto the end of the bench beside him. He looked okay now, but Hobbs knew what she'd seen, and there was the telltale faint pinkness of his eyes that betrayed him. He'd been crying, or at the very least damn close to it. Her eyes flashed to the book in his hands and back up to his face as he placed it by his feet.

"Yeah, call it a coincidence we've run into each other. I'm not following you or anything," she assured him. "If I was I'd be the world's worst ninja." She pulled the crutch off her arm and propped it up against the wall beside her. "Say hi to Stumpy," she added, grinning as she wiggled her right leg around, trying to lighten the mood.

He asked what she'd been up to, and there wasn't a whole lot to talk about. "Same old, same old," she said, unzipping her rucksack and pulling out her leg and the liner. She stopped talking then, as Dante got up, and Hobbs took his absence as a momentary opportunity to stick her limb back on. She turned the liner inside out, revealing the electronic muscle pads along the inside of it. She rolled it back over her knee, so that when it was properly on the ratchet pin was centred in the middle of the X-shaped scar that the surgery had left behind. The pads on the inside aligned with her muscles and tendons, and the half-kneecap she still had. They picked up signals from her leg and controlled the myoelectrics, which basically allowed her to control it independently. The liner on the outside was slick and ridged, and it had covered half of her bruised, scarred thigh by the time he got back.

Stark handed her a paper cup of coffee and Hobbs thanked him as she took it. She sipped it, to find that it was thin and watery and tasted a bit like acid, but it would do. Hobbs put the coffee down on the table beside the desk and slid on her leg, hoisted herself off the bench slightly, and pressed her weight into the socket until the ratchet pin clicked, announcing that it was secure. The pin had a wire running through it, and that connected to the electrics in her leg. Lastly the vacuum seal was capped, so that it formed a suction pocket around her leg. By that point, it was as firmly stuck on as any other limb. Hobbs sat back down and tested her knee and ankle to see if the myoelectrics worked right. They did.

"So what're you doing here?" she asked him.

[David Cortes]

Needles. David hated needles. Out of everything David hated when he was in the Marine Corps, the one thing that was the worst were all the damn immunization shots. He remembered very clearly in the month leading up to basic going down to the MEPS station and getting that God-awful "shotgun" shot... Six needles, six separate immunizations, all at the same time. He remembered his arm went numb for about a solid 48 hours. Then there were all the shots at basic... Then before his first deployment to Iraq... Then when he came back... Then again the second time... So many needles...

And now here he was again getting another shot, this one for chicken pox. He couldn't believe it. Evidently, getting the shot once when you're a kid didn't cut it anymore. And now, since he never got it, there he was, getting another shot. Fun.

Gritting his teeth and looking away as the nurse stuck the needle and injected the inoculation, David sighed heavily as the woman removed the needle, wiped down the injection sight, and placed a large padded bandaid over it.

"There, not so bad was it? Do you have to be such a baby about it?" The nurse chuckled.
"Yes, absolutely." David pouted, then rolled the sleeve of his t-shirt down and put on his leather jacket. "Are we done yet?"
"Of course Mr. Cortes, come with me to finish billing."

David first watched her leave, then followed in suit. The nurse was cute, he gave her that. Strawberry blonde, some freckles on her cheeks and nose, nice curves (noticeable even through the scrubs). He looked down at the floor a moment. She reminded him of... No, she's dead. Move on David. Sighing, he followed down the hall to the desk, where a woman began to type up his information after he handed her his Veteren's Affairs card. Thankfully, Uncle Sam still paid for stuff like this.

As he stood leaning on the counter, he looked over to see two familiar faces. One, Hobbs, he had met. Or at least had heard at the meeting. The other... He hadn't really had the chance to meet yet. This was only his second week or so as a hunter. After he was returned his card, he smiled to the woman behind the counter and turned to walk over to the other hunters. What could be the harm of saying hello??

Well, evidently, great harm to his pride, for about halfway to them, just as he was about to greet them, he slipped on some cleaning fluid and promptly busted his ass on the tile floor. Slowly standing up, his face grew very bright red when he realized everyone was watching him. Great....

Walking over, his pride now moderately wounded, he smiled weakly at the two and greeted them.

"Hey Hobbs... Fancy seeing you here..." Looking over at the man he did not yet know the name of, he extended his hand and smiled. "Sorry, I'm David... And I'm a bit new here... If you haven't already noticed." He managed to chuckle softly.

Then he noticed Hobbs' mechanical leg. "Wow... That's a nice prosthetic!" He commented. "Where'd you get it if I may ask. I got a buddy of mine who needs a new one. His prosthetic knee keeps mushing up on him."

[Dante Stark]

"I was uh--" Dante paused and almost started welling up once more; "Just visiting..that's all that i can say.. Stark's lip trembled as he thought back to his mother.. Dante had continued to sip his coffee it was the only thing keeping his nerves on edge.. Dante watched as Hobbs had been adjusting all her different parts to re-attach her leg and Dante was still amazed at how she'd built something like this.. She had very good talents and she was a kind person.. If you got to know her as well as he did at Finley's that night.. They'd shared stories and drunk beer.

Stark noticed a man appear and he'd started talking to Hobbs and he'd looked at the man and nodded his head.. "You can call me Stark.. That's all you need to know about me mate.. Stark's voice still was different to his usual light-hearted one, he'd still been suffering as he'd continued to watch nurses potter around.. Dante and said to the others he'd be back in a moment.. Dante walked down the hallway to where his mothers room was and he'd looked through the glass, she was still observing out the window and he gulped.. He'd wanted to go back in and try again but he'd figured he wouldn't leave Hobbs and the new guy sitting around.

Stark walked back to the benches and leaned against the wall as if nothing had happened.. this must have been one of the new recruits he'd figured.. Although he wasn't in the mood to think about his day job.. Or his night job however people would look at it, he was still in his own world of grief and listened in on the other two's conversation.

[Hazel 'Hobbs' Yeung]

He was just visiting? Hobbs looked at Stark closely. He didn't seem his usual chipper self.
"Who were-" she began to ask, but just at that moment another man came sliding into the conversation on his arse. The man stood up, turned a glorious shade of tomato, and continued to approached them. Nice entrance there, bub.
He greeted Hobbs first, and she blinked at him, frowning at him for a second as she tried to remember who in God's name he was. Then, her expression cleared as she remembered.
"Ohh, Cortes, right? At the meeting?"
Cortes seemed a bit lost when it came to Stark's identity, but the Hunter Lieutenant filled him in with a flatness to his voice. Hobbs eyed Stark again but said nothing. Now was hardly the time to press him on why he seemed off.

She turned back to face Cortes, surprised that he'd remembered her and not Stark. Stark was generally the second most-known of all the Hunters, after Logan, due to the fact that Stark was the chief's second-in-command. But then again Hobbs was very memorable; even if it was for being a rude and opinionated Chinese cripple. Hell, with recognition like that she barely even needed a name.

Cortes cast his eyes down and fell upon her leg. Hmm, yeah, she'd been expecting that. At the meeting she'd been known for speaking up against the Commander first. Nobody had reason to look at her legs when most had been trying to even glimpse her head. But those who saw her in the hallways of the HQ never forgot her, because of the modern-designed leg and the way she readily wore cargo shorts to display it.
"I made it," she said simply. "But tell your mate to go for hydraulic joints. Spring mechanisms suck."

Hobbs leaned forwards on her mismatched knees. "So, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, what're you doing here?"

[David Cortes]

Well, to say David felt a bit like a fool was a mild understatement. He had forgotten the lieutenant's name, made an ass of himself by slipping on the cleaner, and hastily (and rather messily) tried to change the topic. Try as he could to lessen the redness on his face, he found he was having a really difficult time doing just that.

"Um... My apologies mr. Stark." David finally said after a moment. He didn't mention his rank due to the fact that, being in the civilian hospital, it'd be a bad idea to mention anything about Hunter business. "I should have recognized you..." He dropped it, however, when the man excused himself and walked off, leaving him with Hobbs, who now probably thought he was an idiot.

"Yes ma'am. I was Cortes. Am. Shit, sorry... I usually don't have conversations like this after busting my ass on the tile..." He gave a nervous chuckle. "And thanks. He's been trying to get back into running marathons after losing his legs outside of Baghdad. Guy just doesn't know how to quit." He smiled softly.

"Anyway, the reason why I was here really wasn't anything life threatening. I just had to get an updated vaccination... Sorry to disappoint. Would it be better if I lied and said it was a life threatening surgery from a motorcycle accident?" He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. One look at the lieutenant, however, and his smile quickly faded. The man appeared to be in no mood for jokes, nor did he appear particularly willing to divulge his reasoning for being here. Anything he might say to Mr. Stark would most likely fall flat or outright anger him.

"Oh... Sorry for not recognizing you sir... I just wasn't used to seeing you this way..." He sighed, then turned back to Hobbs. Her missing a leg still made him wonder.
"But your leg." David continued, "Where'd you lose it... If you don't mind me asking?"

[Dante Stark]

Stark nodded as the man had been engaging Hobbs on how she'd lost her leg, He'd known since that night out on the cliff top.. they'd talked about their military experiences and how it'd affected one another's lives.. Dante wasn't one to talk about his own service career.. The only person that knew about that was Hobbs and he'd liked it to stay that way for as long as possible.. She was his Partner and the closest thing to a best friend. "Don't call me Mr. Stark.. Just Stark.. " Dante was trying to cheer himself up and he'd forgotten he'd left his book by the bench where he'd been sitting.. He'd made no action to grab it hoping neither of them hand it to him.. He'd known some of the photographs could have slipped out had they moved it..

Dante cleared his throat as he continued to listen to "Cortes" as Hobbs had named his face.. Dante wasn't the best at making conversation with new people.. He'd just stuck to watching the pair shooting glances as he'd mentioned his buddy from Baghdad.. It was funny the pairing Two British Veterans.. and one American Veteran all stood in a hospital.. Stark hadn't wanted to be caught visiting his mother as it raised to many questions to those who unaware of his standing.

"Quite the party we've got here.. It's almost cheering me up.. Not that I'd like to be the guy oozing feelings as of now.. And you sound like quite the klutz Cortes.. although it does kind of make me chuckle inside.. " Dante faked a smile, he was good at faking expressions it came with the job.. and he'd managed to be a very good compulsive liar if the situation needed him to.. But as of lately his emotions had been more of his enemy then a friend.

[Hazel 'Hobbs' Yeung]

She leaned down, zipped up her bag, and shouldered it before picking up her cup of weak-ass coffee Stark had brought her. She wasn't gonna complain, though; coffee was coffee and it looked like Stark wasn't up for hearing her bitching and moaning today.
She cracked a smirk as Cortes called her 'ma'am'. Since when did she look like a ma'am?
She had even more reason to smirk when he asked her how she lost her leg.

"Got bitten off by an alligator as I saved a school bus full of children from the mouth of a fiery volcano," she deadpanned, and took a sip of the coffee. She observed his expression over the rim of her cup, wondering if he'd laugh, or look confused, or wonder how serious her serious face was. She was used to snarking about how she lost her leg by now, and it amused her to hear the theories other people came up with for its absence. Moore had mentioned that somebody thought it had been ripped off by a Werewolf. That was her personal favourite.

All jokes aside, she wasn't telling Cortes what happened. Only two knew the truth: Logan whose business it was to know shit like that, being the Commander an' all; and Stark, who Hobbs had told only a short while ago over a nice touchy-feely heart-to-heart bonding session on a cliff top. She didn't like telling people she'd seen war, much less lost her leg out there; she didn't like all the connotations that came with being an injured vet. She'd prefer to chalk it up to a car accident or some kinda disease.

She made to move away from the bench when she spotted the book Stark had left on the floor. She stooped briefly, and picked it up, before striding over and handing it to him as she took another nonchalant sip of coffee. She didn't know what the book meant to Stark, nor did she honestly care. As she held it out though, she noticed something poking out from the bottom of the front cover, a snippet of photograph that she got a half-second's glimpse of before she turned around to face Cortes.
"Hanging around in hospitals is fantastic and all, but I'm sure we could find somewhere better to relocate to." A beat. "ICU ward, anybody?" she joked.