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[astridv]

<br />&lt;p&gt;"Not happening."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Guess I won't say hello, then. You did have decaf, didn't you?"&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "Yeah." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Are you lying?"&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; He didn't answer. Mendez followed him to his room. Ward sat down at his desk and turned on the laptop Sayers had built for him. (She'd gotten some advice from Fitz on a few of the parts, but that was information she'd elected to keep to herself.) Mendez watched as Ward clicked through his messages, typed and sent a few, and opened and shut a few desk drawers like he was looking for something. Finally he found a pen and jotted a few things onto it. Then he threw down the pen. "What?"&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "You need to watch your diet. It could effect your meds."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "Watching my meds or being able to stay awake through the day. Hmm." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"You can take a nap," Mendez said. &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"I can also do my job. There are more important things than making sure I take my pills, Mendez."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "When the pills effect how you do your job? Hmm."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "I get to decide how I do my job, not you." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"I am a doctor," Mendez said slowly. "I give medicine to sick patients." He pointed at Ward. "Sick. Patient. I know what I'm talking about. You're throwing a fit. Stop it. It's unprofessional." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;Ward typed slowly. "Decaf?" Mendez said. &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Fine." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Watch your diet."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "Fine."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "Promise." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Fine." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"I want to hear you say the words."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; Ward looked at him. His jaw muscle flexed and then he smiled his Charming Smile. (He still capitalized things in his head.) "I promise." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Good. You want some coffee?" That son of a...&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; ************************** &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;Daisy was used to the crowds of wide-eyed admirers by now; her name was whispered in the secret circles of Inhumans that were tucked in the back corners of the Internet, placed there by Sayers, mostly. Sayers was branching out, though, and with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources, she was able to cover a lot more ground, and more lives were saved and changed. A few Inhumans had studied at places like Harvard and MIT, so Coulson offered them positions and financial backing, ways to continue studying what they were passionate about. Many took him up on the offer, but a few decided to go back to Ward's facility, where they trained to go on missions to rescue other Inhumans. &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;Ward hadn't come out to meet them; neither had Mendez. It must be a bad day for him, then. He'd gone on a lot of missions in a row, so he was probably drained, resting up to go on another run and burn himself out, continuing the cycle until something stopped him. Mendez did his best to keep tabs on him, nag him about his medication, made sure he didn't contain his powers, and that he kept eating and drinking. She looked up at the row of windows that were curtained off, a small section where shadows were now moving. The door swung open; Mendez stepped out, walked down the stairs, and smiled when he saw Daisy standing in the doorway while the Inhumans that were leaving said good-bye to the Inhumans who had decided they wanted to stay. &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;She joined him at the table where the coffeepots were set out. "How you doing?" she said. &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Excellent. And you?"&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "Fine. Tired. How's Ward?"&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "Tired. Stubborn." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Is he taking his medication?"&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "He threw a fit with me over it, but yes, he's promised to." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;Ward. Throwing a fit. These two things did not compute in her mind. There was Ward, the inscrutable; Ward, the traitor; Ward, the prisoner; Ward, the enemy; Ward, the Inhuman; Ward, the broken; Grant, who she'd kissed; Grant, who she'd said goodbye to, and Grant who'd said good-bye in return; but there was no Fit-Throwing Ward. She added it to the mental box of things she would never understand and said, "Tell him thanks. He's been doing a lot of good work."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "If I could get him to come out of his room when he's here, I'd have you tell him." Mendez took out a book and opened it to where he'd left off.&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "Aren't you getting something?" &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"No. Just messing with him." He nodded up at the windows without taking his eyes off the page. Daisy took the new recruits back to base, flying co-pilot with May, and Mendez waited an hour, until Ward stepped out, looking for him. "Are you going to make you ask for my medicine?" he called down to Mendez. &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"No. I'm going to make you ask nicely, though." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;************************** &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"How's he doing?" Coulson asked. Daisy lounged on the couch while he sat in a chair facing her. "Well," she said, "he's on regular medications, Mendez is making sure he keeps clean and that he eats, all that stuff, he's getting missions done, and he's bringing more recruits in for us. He's doing all right." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Think Mendez would let me borrow him?"&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "What, like a car?" Daisy said. "No. But maybe you could ask him." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"You think he'd say yes?" &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"More likely to say yes than Ward. What do you need him for?" &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"A mission." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Surprising. A mission. From a secret agent base. From the Secret Agent Overlord, who is now sitting in his own secret agent office, where it looks like a knock-off James Bond film set." Daisy made an explosion noise with her mouth. "No. Way." She laughed when Coulson scowled at her. "What's the mission? I'm listening." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;*************************** &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;Mendez was at the door just as the minute-hand ticked to twelve o'clock at night. "You're done." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"One more file."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "No."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "Mendez." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Director. Get up. Turn off your computer. Go to bed. What if you die tomorrow, where would I get my paycheck?"&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "Do you get a paycheck?" &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"No. You need to stay alive so he has hope of one," Sayers said, coming in. "Coulson keeps trying to talk to you. He says he wants to meet. Questions, comments, how should I proceed?" She saluted. "Director." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;Ward gulped the water so that Mendez would leave him alone and said, "Leave it for tomorrow."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "Whatever you say." &lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt;"Stop calling me 'director'."&lt;/p&gt;<br /><br />&lt;p&gt; "So humble." Ward shut Sayers's laptop when he walked past. "Goodnight." His feet were bare and he was only wearing sweatpants, so he flopped into bed and covered his head with the pillow, with his nose and mouth poking out. He noted before he shut his eyes that Mendez had put a new alarm clock by the bed, with the book Carl&amp;Carl had given him by it. There was even a lamp. It was almost normal.&lt;/p&gt;

Comments

[astridv.livejournal.com]

*grin*

I just figured out what to call the latest shenanigans: metaffle *nods*

Oh, my download is finished. That means I can dl your page now. It's really interesting to see what you're doing with the pencils.

[starborn-scribe.livejournal.com]

metaffle *nods*

Is that like falafel? Or maybe waffles? Damn, I'm hungry. :)

It's really interesting to see what you're doing with the pencils.

Cool. I'm glad you're enjoying watching them evolve. It's facinating how two people can start with the same materials and end up with very different products.