Doctors
“Hello, Marc Spector, I’m Doctor Emberly,” The doctor smiled kindly at him as she introduced herself, though the silver nametag on her breast coat could have also told him that. He wasn’t Marc though. Marc was asleep. But as he tried to introduce himself as well, he found himself instead mimicking his three fish as his mouth opened and closed. His throat felt tight and even Jake was a bit nervous. All three of their worst fear came true; A doctor was going to psychologically assess them. They knew they were mentally unwell, but they didn’t want to admit it, not to a person at least. Hell, they couldn’t even tell Taweret when they were literally dead, how were they supposed to talk to a real life doctor about it?
Finally, Steven found his voice, and he was glad it was actually his when he spoke. “I’m not Marc.” Although it came out a bit softer and shakier than he would have liked, it still was understandable. The doctor’s expression was confused, but only for a second before smiling back at him once again. She looked down at her clipboard as she spoke this time, writing something down that he couldn’t see.
“Alright then, What’s your name?” After a long pause, she looked up to find Steven shocked. Maybe he was still thinking of doctors being like “Doctor Harrow” and not actually listening to him. Maybe… Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to have a therapy session, especially if someone actually wanted to listen to him.
“S-Steven Grant. With a V!” He smiled and went to reach his hand out to shake, only for it to be stopped by the cuffs. Still, she reached over and shook his hand. “Um, in the Steven part though, not the Grant!” He laughed nervously and she let out an amused huff.
“Well, Mr Grant, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Both of their hands fell back and Steven felt awkward being referred to so formally.
“You can just call me Steven, it feel weird being called Mr Grant…” Steven smiled kindly, though he assumed he looked absolutely terrified. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been referred to as “Mr Grant”, that’s probably why it feel so weird. Actually, now that I think about, barely anyone that I know even called me Steven! It was always Stevie or Scotty- I mean, how hard is it to just say Steven? It’s not even that rare of a name! There’s probably a million Stevens out there in the world being called “Steven”, not something like Scotty! The only people who’s ever gotten my name right is Marc, Ja-” He stopped himself before he could say his other alter’s name. His mouth shut tight as he looked at the doctor, who still smiled at him calmly.
“It’s alright, there’s no need for you to tell me everything right away.” She laughed a bit, though the skin around her grassy green eyes never seemed to scrunch up. “It’s your right to share whatever you wish to me. This is a judgement free place, Steven.”
“...Thank you, Dr Emberly.” He returned her smile, though his was much more strained. He was still nervous, of course, who wouldn’t be? But he felt the smallest bit better. “I actually used to not like doctors very much.”
“And why is that? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Oh, well funny thing actually.” Steven laughed as he remembered his awful time in Cairo. “I, ah… Died once. And during that death, while waiting to go to the field of reeds or be resurrected, I had my own personal doctor who had taken the form of a genocidal cult leader who followed the orders of a judgemental crocodile lady. Of course, that kind of ruined my perception of doctors, but I’d say it’s been fixed a little now thanks to you.”
“Er, well, I’m glad I could help..?” She gave her own nervous laugh, to which Steven did as well.
“Yeah, but I came back after what felt like ages. Then Khonshu, that old pigeon, had us fight the same cult leader right after coming back! He wanted us to kill him but then Marc stood up to him and told him to free us. Of course, after a few months, we started to noticed gaps in our memory… then we found out that he cheated in our deal and… and then the cycle sort of started all over again… now we’re here…” Steven spaced out for a moment, causing Dr Emberly to get worried and move a bit closure to him, shaking her hand in front of his face for a second.
“Steven? Is everything alright?” Then, his spaced out look shifted. His eyebrows furrowed and his mouth curled into a snarl. Before she could react, he leaped at her, jumping from his chair and trying to grab her. Fortunately, the cuffs stayed in place and he only managed to get a few inches close. She made a mental note to not get too close.
“I don’t care what Steven thinks of ya, I ain’t talkin’ to no doctor.” The sudden switch between British to Brooklyn would have startled her if she wasn’t recovering from first jump scare. Then it hit her. Of course, why didn’t she see it sooner?
The doctor sat up straight and fixed her glasses, picking her clip board and pen up from where she threw them and writing down some more notes. She looked back up at the man, who had sat down in his chair, slumped but still glaring at her. He knew he couldn’t reach her from where he was, but he was still pissed. She didn’t bother smiling, assuming it would only upset him further. Instead, she went straight to the point.
“Hello, my name is Doctor Emberly,” She didn’t reach her hand out like she would have with Steven. She couldn’t risk getting close to him. “I’m no longer speaking to Steven, am I?”
“... no.” He muttered throught a frown, glare trying to carve holes in her head.
“I see. May I ask your name or anything you would like me to address you by?” After a moment, he sat up and leaned closer to her, her eyes being the only thing that followed him.
“I told you,” He started, his face scrunching up as his snarl grew. “I. Ain’t. Talkin’. To no doctors. No estoy hablando con ninguna doctora.” He repeated it in spanish for good measure.
“Of course.” She took in a deep breath before continuing. “Are you aware that you may have a mental disorder called DID? Commonly known as Dissisociative Identity Disorder or Multiple Personality Disorder?”
He stared at her for another long minute before smiling. “So what? Now you’ve got me all figured out, right?” He leaned back as he spoke, looking away from her. “Go ahead an’ tell me your analysis then, doc. I’d love to hear it.” She knew he was being sarcastic, but told him anyway.
“I believe you wish to protect yourself, Steven, and any other alters you may have. I understand that sometimes, as the protector, you focus more on keeping everyone safe rather than you as a person. Many people who have DID have an alter who believes that keeping them safe is their only purpose, that that is the only reason they even exist. And I’d like to tell you; It’s not.” He stared at her, not glaring anymore, and seemed thoughtful but listening, so she continued. “From what I can see, you spent most of your life only coming out to keep everyone safe. But you don’t need to only be the last resort, you can be a person. You can want to be more than a last resort. And from I’ve gathered from Steven, at least one person would be willing to help you on that journey to being you, all you have to do is ask for that chance.” He stared at her, then away at the ground for a long moment before confusion pulled at his features and he looked around the room, eyes darting around before landing on the doctor. She smiled tiredly and hoped she didn’t have to constantly repeat herself.
“Hi, I’m Doctor Emberly,” She noticed the way the man tensed when she said doctor, then he looked away. “May I ask your name?” He squeezed his eyes shut before sighing and looking over at her.
“... Marc…” He looked at her tiredly, not bothering to smile or glare. It was too early for this shit. He wanted to wake up in the apartment, to those stupid fish that Steven wanted them all to name, to the vegan food in the refrigerator, or even to the hard wood floor after forgetting they put that dumb ankle restraint on the night before. Hell, he was even willing to wake up in that god awful cell the Avengers tossed him in, not in the middle of some therapy session with a doctor that looked like she had already had enough weirdness for one day.
“Mr Spector, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She smiled kindly at him, but he knew it was fake. It’s always fake. “I want to inform you that I’ve already met two of your alters. One of them didn’t wish to say their name, but I do remember Steven.”
“... Why’d you call me Mr Spector but not Steven Mr Grant?”
“Steven wanted me to call him by his first name.” She answered simply, Marc hummed in response. “I could call you Marc if you’d like?”
“Yeah, that’d probably be less formal…” He refused to look at her, he rather stared at the bottom corner of the room next to her as she spoke slowly to him. He just wanted to sleep in his bed, maybe call Layla about her Ammit-follower hunting… Layla… “I want a phone call.” He interrupted whatever the doctor was about to say or ask, her hanging open for second in shock before closing. “I’m legally obligated to one phone call. So give me my damn phone call.” His brows furrowed in anger as he glared at her. She sighed before standing and heading towards the door.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Then he was alone. He stared at the door for a minute before hunching over and laying his head on the table. He was tired. Mentally, emotionally, and physically. After a few minutes passed, the door opened again and the doctor came in with an old burner phone in hand. She sat it on the table and pushed it over to Marc, who had sat up a bit straighter when she came in. He quickly grabbed it and dialed a number, watching her leave the room and the door closing with a soft creak.
The phone rung a few times before someone picked up.
“Hello?” The feminine voice made Marc’s heart flutter and he nearly gasped for breath.
“Layla… hey.”
“Marc? …Who’s phone are you calling me on?”
“I-I don’t know honestly, and there’s a lot of stuff I need to explain to you but I might be on a time limit. I think I’m in Avengers tower and they got me locked up in here talking to some shitty doctor. I can’t do anything from here and I don’t know what else to do, but I promise you that I’ll explain everything when I can.” There was a long beat of silence before a disappointed sigh traveled through the phone.
“You’re lucky I’m already in New York. I’ll come get you as soon as I can.”
“Okay…” And by soon, she apparently meant around 15-20 minutes. Outside the door, he could hear his wife yelling and arguing before the door opened to reveal her in all her angered beauty. A security guard came in and unlocked his handcuffs, escorting them out of the building and to the front, but not before both of them could flip off the still-waking-up Avengers as they left.