Working Late

“Well the good news is… you’re a perfectly healthy, and perfectly normal person,” McGee accounced, scrolling down to the bottom of the last page of your test results. You were peering over her shoulder to read along and nodded. “You’re in great health… not quite peak physical human condition… but you just so happen to have the best cum for addiction treatment stored in your balls to make up for that.”

You were almost not used to the joking, jovial way Tina was conversing with you now, but it was very welcome.

“We can’t all be super metahumans,” you said , and you heard her give a curt laugh.

“But we can still save lives,” she added. With that she seemed to want to go back to work and started typing. You quietly cursed at your bandaged, useless hands and glanced around the lab for something to do. Even though the work day was well and truly over, and your date was pretty much done too, you still didn’t quite want to clock off yet. You were glad that Tina seemed content to just… hang, though she still kept productive.

You decided that you might try to be productive and proactive too and wondered if a second date, perhaps dinner, was on the cards.

“Um… Doctor?” you began, and McGee immediately stopped what she was doing and swivelled around in her chair.

“Yes? And you can just call me Tina,” she said. “We’re off the clock.” Her demeanor was so pleasant it caught you off guard, that and that sweet smile of hers.

“Right… Tina,” you started again.

“John,” she responded quickly, smirking. Was she flirting? You felt hot under your collar but dove on.

“I was thinking-” you managed before the doctor was suddenly on her feet.

“Diana…” she said, and you were confused about this name game now but then read her changed expression. “How?” She rushed past you and glared at a monitor on the opposite wall. You turned and saw that it was a screen tracking Wonder Woman’s vitals that Tina was studying. On the monitor things were turning red… lines were dropping… an alarm started to flash and blare.

“What’s happening?” you asked, now next to McGee.

“It’s… there’s something wrong,” replied the doctor, biting her lip. “Vitals have gone borderline. How could this .. how could her condition **** so quickly? Her readings fifteen minutes ago were green across the board. She should have been fine for another six hours at least. Maybe something with her Amazonian biology that I didn’t account f-”

“We have to do something!” you shouted, watching the wrong numbers spiking dangerously. Your urgency snapped Tina into focus and she slammed a button on the console.

“Diana? Diana! Come in!” she called, waiting for a few seconds. There was no response. “Sister Eye, keep the channels open,” she commanded. The symbolic purple eye flashed up onto an adjacent screen.

“Affirmative, doctor.”

Tina worked furiously over the console, turning virtual dials and flicking digital switches like she was operating a holographic puzzle.

“We need to get her back here fast,” she muttered, eyes darting across the varied displays and taking in all the information. She hit another big button, then the screens turned red and a big ‘X’ buzzed at them. The jarring noise had Tina frowning.

“What? The Boom Tube isn't working...what-”

“Doctor McGee?” came another digitized voice, and it was not Sister Eye’s. This one was definitely more masculine.

There was a flicker from another screen and a video feed popped up. You recognized the face and voice. It was a man who had over a quarter of his face covered in silver machinery. His red cybernetic eye blinked at you through the screen. This was Cyborg. “Tina,” he said. “You’re trying to access the Tube?”

“Yes! It’s not responsive!”

“Reflected solar flare last night hit the Boom Tube Array. It desynced the whole system, but there’s enough of it holding for maybe one jump every 12 hours,” he explained. The man sounded calm but he appeared to be running based on the moving background behind him. There was what looked and sounded like an explosion wherever he was but he mostly ignored it. “I can fix it when I get back to the Watchtower next, but I’ve locked it down for now. Only use is for emergencies.”

“This is an emergency, Cyborg!” McGee shouted.

“Figured it was, Doc,” replied the young Justice League member. “I’ve granted you special clearance now. What’s the emergency?”

“It’s Diana! She’s…” the Doctor started, but she froze in the moment. Cyborg was already checking his teammate’s status.

“Wonder Woman? She hasn’t activated her distress beacon. And...hmm her vitals are blocked,” he said, apparently accessing some unseen database at the speed of thought. “Classified huh? How does Batman keep walling me like this without me knowing?”

“Can you get to her, Cyborg? You need to bring her back to Watchtower!” she pleaded desperately.

“Sorry doc, I’m presently occupied,” he said, which sounded offhand but it seemed more like a mechanism for the hero to stay calm in whatever crazy situation he was currently dealing with himself. “I can tell this is serious though, Doctor McGee. I’ve got the last location of her jet, but I don’t think opening a portal there will be enough if she can’t even activate her beacon. I’ll try to send someone to you, then they can boom down, find Diana and fly back in her jet.”

“No there’s no time to fly her back,” the doctor tried explaining. She looked to you and swallowed. “We... need to send the asset down to her…”

“What asset?” asked the man with a super computer in his brain. It was obvious now that he knew nothing about Wonder Woman’s condition or about you. You wondered what kind of hierarchy existed within the Justice League.

“I’m sorry Cyborg it’s... It’s classified,” replied McGee, her fists clenched.

“It’s fine I get it. Don’t worry,” he said, managing to sound like it didn’t bother him but he was almost too resigned. The doctor now turned to you, her expression dour.

“John, we need to get down there,” she said, as calmly as she could, but there was a tremor edging her voice, either from fear or from worry about Diana. You swallowed nervously, also not sure which thing was making your heart beat of you chest.

“I’ve already got someone on the way to you. ETA seven minutes,” Cyborg cut in. “They can escort the asset to Wonder Woman’s last location and go from their. That’s the best shot you’ll get. And… I’m sorry Doc I’ve got work to do here. I’ll try to help as soon as I’m done. Get the asset to the launchpad.”

And with that his screen blipped out.

“Damn it!” McGee yelled, slamming her hands onto the console. You were startled but the doctor took a deep breath to steady herself then turned to you.

“You’re gonna need to suit up,” she said.