She could feel the knot in her guts as she strode towards the stock room on the third floor, with sandwiches and a bottle of juice in her hands. Samantha could feel the sweat beginning to form in the palm of her hands as she tried not to grab any attention towards her. Dr Otto Octavius was in the stock room, injured with a bullet would. She had hemmed his injury but she feared he would have departed by the time she would reach the room. And it would not end pleasingly for him if he did so.
"Samantha Wright, what are you still doing here?" A voice she was acquainted with came from behind. It was the last man she wanted to talk to at that moment. Regretfully she spun to face him, trying to obscure the edibles behind her back.
"Are you planning to go home or not, you workaholic?" Kyle's pitchy voice reverberated in the vacant hallway. With a leather bag hanging by his right shoulder, he looked ready to leave. Dr Wright knew she had to lie to her only friend for she couldn't leave that eccentric scientist behind. So with a determined mind, she spoke-
"I won't be going home today. Michael is coming to pick me up. He is probably thinking of taking me on a date."
The lie was effective as Sam saw a pleased look on her fellow's face, she could even sense the hint of delight in it too. Michael was a charming man she went on a blind date with a year ago, nothing happened between them but he had kept in touch with her, messaging her once in a while and inviting her to Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners.
"If that's the case then enjoy your date." Squeaked the more youthful man as he pulled her into a light embrace. "But why these sandwiches girl?" He contested but his tone remained the same.
"Nothing he said it might take him some time to come to pick me up, so I thought I should treat myself with something. I am terribly hungry." Responded Sam trying to convince the man standing in front of her. Passing her one last nod, Kyle wandered away leaving her wondering why she was lying and going through so much peril for a supervillain. Shoving the thought aside, the doctor dashed towards the stock room. Silently opening the door she spoke not wanting to alarm the man who was already in pain-
"It's me, no need to worry."
No reply came from the other side, the fear in her heart augmented- the mad scientist had left and there was nothing she could do anything about it now. To confirm her disappointment she walked up to the metal rack behind which he was lying earlier, his back against the wall, his head comfortably resting on one of the tentacles that were connected to his vest. To her amazement she found the man nonetheless there lying in the same position, one of his tentacles looked up at her aggressively.
"No need to worry, I mean no harm to the Doctor." Whispered the surgeon as she kneeled on the floor in front of the injured man. Softly taking his name Sam tried to wake the mad scientist.
Otto's eyes open to find the Doctor in front of him but he wasn't taken aback by her sight instead it felt consoling in some way to him. Rubbing away the sleep from his eyes the scientist acknowledged her presence.
"So you have no plans of calling the police on me, do you?" Expressed Otto in a mirthful tone.
"I don't care about that. I found you in a condition that forced my doctor self to perform her duty first. The dutiful citizen had to take a backseat. But you are lucky Kyle didn't find you or you wouldn't have been resting here but fighting off the cops." Sam reciprocated his mirth as she handed him the sandwiches and opened the bottle of juice for him. "Eat this and get some rest. I would ask you to stay away from any conflict. It would be advisable that you don't get involved with the Black Skrull because it won't be hard for him to tear the stitches." She persisted, her tone changed from mirthful to that of seriousness gradually.
Otto absorbed every word she spoke as he eat the sandwiches in stillness. The small act of kindness from this doctor made the supervillain feel like a fool for he had thought of killing the intruder when the door of this room had opened and he had heard a feminine voice talking to someone. He wanted to leave no traces of him being there but now he felt ashamed when he saw the possessor of the same voice fixing his wound and even bringing something for him to eat.
"I would have committed a blunder by killing you when you came into this room." Stated Otto, instantly regretting the words that left his lips. He couldn't have killed her anyway, her face appeared so innocent to him- she was too pure to hurt, even to a monster like him.
"It surely would have been, I would have missed Mom's wedding next summer." Came an unexpected reply from the woman who sat by the wall in front of him. The scientist was not expecting such a sweet statement in return for his vile one.
"Don't I scare you?" Asked Otto out of curiosity as he fixed the woman with a curious look, her behaviour towards him, her replies to his question- all have been so different from what he was used to and it forced him to ask her the reason for the same.
"Frankly speaking, I do fear your invention. Those arms of yours scare me." Replied the surgeon as she looked up at her patient who had fixed her with an odd look.
"Then why..." The words left the scientist's lips in anticipation that the doctor will apprehend the question he was implying.
Samantha sensed the unspoken question as she spoke softly not wanting to offend the supervillain in whose company she sat-
"But you don't. The Doctor Otto Octavius who hides behind these metal arms fails to scare me." Spoke Samantha as her eyes never left the scientist's face. For the first time, she got a clear look at his pale face which wasn't drained of blood anymore. Under the dull light, she could see a face which was rather very appealing to her, his dark brown eyes fiddled between her and the sandwiches that he ate. His physicality which was hidden under many layers of clothing was unrecognizable, yet when she had touched his skin to treat the bullet wound, she found it colder than she was comfortable with.
Otto was left startled with the reply that came his way yet again, the lady doctor was terrified of a part of him that couldn't be separated from him but she wasn't afraid of who he was- a mad scientist.
"I am all but a mad scientist, at least that is what most people call me. Doesn't that scare you?" Questioned the man with four extra limbs, a small chuckle left his lips as his renowned nickname came to his mind.
"I have read about that fusion reactor of yours, the idea was noble if you ask me." Answered the surgeon as she placed the back of her head on the wall behind her, not dismayed by the tentacles that hissed in her direction not very aggressively this time.
"So, you aren't going to eat anything?" Asked Otto as he took a big sip of the orange juice, the cold liquid felt soothing against his warm gut.
"Not feeling like eating anything." Sam lied as she stood up and walked up to the small alley that had formed between the metal racks, vanishing behind those high rising shelves. In a matter of seconds, she was back with a lump of white fabric in her hand which appeared comfortable and warm.
"You need to get some sleep if you want to leave in the morning." Dr Wright spoke softly as she stepped towards the man with an innocent intention of covering his body with the warm comforter. But her genuine act was received with hostility from the tentacles that protected the mad scientist. Samantha was taken back by the arms lunging at her aggressively. The surgeon pointed at those hostile tentacles, wordlessly asking the host of those arms to ask them to calm down.
"She means no harm to us, don't try to scare her," Otto commanded his arms in an aggressive tone. He had also noticed that the arms hadn't warmed up to the lady as he did. The talking to those arms earned him a bewildered look from the doctor, her eyes dilated at the sight of the arms complying with his orders.
"They are a little sensitive." Spoke the supervillain as he looked up at the woman, answering the unasked question for her. With a slight nod, Samantha covered his tall form with the comforter as the tentacles gently placed themselves near Otto's face, making itself a headrest for him. The tentacles' gentleness towards the mad scientist startled Sam, the sight felt so impossible to digest. She had witnessed how frantically they had attacked Black Skrull and Spiderman but to him, they acted so delicate and soft similar to the manner one treat one's own body. With a heavy sigh, Dr Wright went back to her place and sunk on the ground. Otto contemplated every movement of her with narrow eyes.
"What about you?" Asked the supervillain, pointing at his comforter.
"Larry had taken all the other comforters and besides that, you need it more than me." Replied Samantha as she closed her eyes out of exhaustion.
"Are you sure you don't need one?" Repeated Doctor Octopus, his voice soft and non-threatening.
"Which one of us has been hit by a bullet and was bleeding profusely about an hour ago?" Asked Sam, her tone ridiculing the regard shown by the scientist, still it failed to offend him either. Otto was left speechless by her assertion so he opted to keel his silence.
Not another word was exchanged between the two doctors of different masteries. The calming warmth of the comforter made the scientist's eyelid heavy but his mind was not convinced with the fact that the doctor who sleeping without one. The little bit of humanity left in his monstrous body felt mortified at the sight of the woman's body shivering from the coldness of the floor. Her eyes too were closed, the spectacles on her nose threatening to fall off, which captured Otto's attention for a reason that it resembled the one he had used to disguise himself. With a heavy sigh, the supervillain decided to submit to the wishes of the little humanity residing in his heart.
*
The sweet sound fell on Otto's ears too, blessing him with a soft embrace of music, for all his ears had managed to hear was the sound of metal clanking and the screams of horror from the people at the sight of his metal arms. The left side of his abdomen was still hurting but the pain was bearable now that piece of metal was no longer inside him. His eyelid struggled to open itself, with a great deal of effort the scientist opened them, one of the metal arms staring directly into his dark brown eyes. As he decided to get up the sudden realization of a warm body pressed against his left arm alarmed his mind. He found the lady doctor's head resting on his shoulder as he narrowly eyed her. A metal appendage wrapped around her asleep form protectively. For the first time in the long years that had passed had he found it hard to decide what to do? So he stayed that way next to the woman.
Her ears were gifted a lovely voice descanting about love, the warmth refrained her from waking up but a stern voice in her head scolded her for her lack of discipline. There were uncountable days when she felt the same way, she just wanted to switch off her alarm, snuggle in her warm comforter for a little longer and not go to work that day. But every single time she pushed that thought away and got up from her bed to offer more people relief from the pain they were in. It felt to her many times that it was this character of her that had drawn her parents apart, her not being able to give them the time had taken away the reason from them to be together. The dreadful thought sometimes felt so harrowingly true that it ached her heart. All she ever wanted was to see that couple happy and safe but the happiness seem to have been sucked out of the three of them. Suppressing every thought racing through her mind Samantha opened her eyes to feel a rough fabric caressing her face. She remembered her dream she had seen that night very clearly, it felt so real to the extent that it felt that it really happened to her. Rubbing her face against the rough yet warm Dr Wright rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"So, you finally woke up." A deep voice fell into her ears, alarming her of someone's presence. Looking up she encountered her face uncomfortably close to that of the infamous mad scientist Dr Otto Octavius. A sharp gasp left her lips as she backed off, trying to increase the distance between them.
"God, you scared me!" Cried the surgeon as she got on her feet as soon as possible.
"Apologies." Replied Otto with a mirthful tone. He too got on his feet, the metal appendages aiding in the task.
"What were you doing next to me? Weren't you sleeping on the side?" Clamoured out the woman in a hurry.
"You were shivering and so was I. Sharing the comforter was the only option my mind could figure out." Justified the supervillain, not wanting the doctor to question his intentions.
Samantha opted not to speak, she had nothing to say for the matter of fact. Pushing away the thought of sleeping on the arms of a supervillain Sam picked up the comforter and started to fold it, she didn't want to leave any traces of him or her in the room.
"So, am I allowed to leave now?" Came a mannerly question from the man as he stood there idly contemplating her movements. His words successfully grabbed her attention despite the fact that she was trying to ignore his presence. Wordlessly, Dr Wright stepped towards him and in the same swift manner she shoved off his trench coat to get a look at the dressing. There was no extra bleeding from the stitches and it let her exhale a sigh of relief.
"It's fine, you can surely leave now. But please promise me to change the dressing every day and stay away from any confrontation for a while." Pleaded the surgeon as she passed him a similar look. Doctor Octopus was just able to pass a silent nod.
Another period of silence ensued, only the sound of the metal arms could be heard. As the actualization stuck Otto that his purpose here was accomplished he decided to leave, without breaking the wall of silence his metal arms suspended towards the square window from which he had entered the last night. The tentacles directed him out of the room in a swift manner. No words were exchanged between the two as they went their own way.
*
The cemented pavement ushering to her house were laid in front of her but she feared to walk upon it. The sun wasn't up yet there was adequate brightness. The long hours she spent under the bright fluorescents had made her eyes a little sensitive to the natural brightness of nature. A small part of her heart was worried about the mad scientist with whom she had crossed paths at the most unexpected place. She shrugged her shoulder in the hope to shrug off the thought too, Sam didn't want to think about that mad scientist but she couldn't help her mind.
With a determined look, she walked upright on the cemented path towards her house, climbing the porch stairs she pulled out her keys to open the door which opened itself before her hands could even touch the knob, revealing an old man.
"Sorry," Samantha uttered as she passed her father an apologetic smile.
"You don't have to feel sorry for saving someone's life." Told the old man as if he was speaking the obvious. Leaving the door open for her the old man walked off towards the kitchen.
"You hungry Sam?" Asked Dalton as he stepped behind the kitchen shelf and ignited the stove.
"I wasn't but if you are making breakfast then please fix me some too." Answered Dr Wright as she threw her body on the large couch, burying her face in one of the large pillows kept on the couch. There was a lot her that her mind wanted to compute but her heart was too weak to acknowledge those facts. Her parent's divorce signing is the day after tomorrow, she helped a supervillain that has technically made her a criminal and she had skipped two appointments with her own doctor.
"So do you have any surgery on the 17th or you will be coming with me?" A question came her way from the kitchen. Pulling herself up from the couch Sam walked towards the kitchen herself, trying to ignore the question.
"Your silence tells me you ain't coming." Spoke Dalton as he flipped the eggs on the pan. He too ignored any eye contact with his daughter.
"No, I'll be there. It's both of your decision, who am I to deny it." Samantha justified herself, trying hard not to offend her lovely father.
"Sam, please don't feel guilty. We are doing this because we had our time together and that was indeed a lovely time for both of us. But everything has to come to an end and our relationship too has ended." Said the doctor's father with an unintentional smile playing on his thin lips at the reminisces of the sweet moments of the past. "It's not because of you or anyone else for the matter of fact. Don't blame yourself for something you never did." He continued, his tone soft and filled with concern.
Every word her father spoke fell into her ears and every word that left his lips somewhat lifted the burden off her heart. Her parents were her whole life- everything she ever did was for them. She had no time to love and she never felt the need for the same. The lifestyle she dwelled every day was monotone and boring to even her but she never complain, for she lived in the fear of losing it.
*
The fading sunlight entered the harbour where he had stayed for the past ten years. Two of his fusion reactors had failed here in front of his eyes, but he refused to leave that place for it was the only place no one ever looked for him. It was peaceful life here for Otto, for people thought that harbour to be radioactive after the fusion reactor failed there. That place was in no way a livable one, all it had was a makeshift bed on the far right corner and a safe with a broken door on the far left which had the gold he robbed from the back a long time ago. The past few years were spent in such a hassle that it had blurred his memory. In between all the ruin of shattered walls and roof was his working desk, covered under the layer of scientific equipment and ashes of the cigar.
The mad scientist had been sitting on the makeshift bed suffering through another day, his nose buried in a book written by Dr Curtis Conners a fellow of his. Otto recalled reading about his death at the hands of Spider-man three years ago. The poor guy had turned himself into a lizard and wanted to do the same with everyone else in the city. The supervillain missed being the only weird person a failed science experiment had created but now it felt like you could find one in every other house.
Two days has passed since his awkward encounter with that doctor who treated him like he was a normal person and to his own astonishment, he had kept his promise of changing the dressing and staying away from any conflict. He had healed a lot and the pain was reduced by the passing days. Every once in a while her face came in front of Otto's eyes, her sad eyes looking down at him with empathy and compassion. She wasn't the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes upon but surely was the most distinguishable one. The morning which he had found her head lying comfortably on his shoulder, that was the closest anyone had been to him in a long time and it felt good to him.
With a heavy sigh and the thought of the lady doctor in his mind, Dr Otto Octavius decided to put his mind to rest as he placed the book on the side table and lie down. Sleep came easily to him that night.
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