Day 46: Doctor's Office 10 (Dr. Burroughs) [Fourth Shift]

[ginsu_glove]

Well, that could have gone better, but, from the patient's file and the track record here for stubborn patients, it could have gotten a lot worse. Jacob was wary, understandably, and didn't want to cooperate in terms of speaking personally. He was avoidant and shy, but had enough control over himself to not give into whatever alternate personality

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[ginsu_glove]

"...huh."

That was the first time they knocked and waited instead of the nurse just bringing them in automatically to have a seat. Thankfully, it only took about five awkward seconds of staring at the door that Maggie realized she'd have to get up and she felt a twinge of guilt for being lazy as she stood and went for the door.

"Good afternoon," she said, swinging the door open wide enough to both look over her next patient and give him enough room to actually get in. Ben Smith (only a tiny bit better than John Doe), dangerously delusional with an attitude problem and a half. Great. Like she needed someone who could potentially drive her anger levels up and remind her of her heritage. "I'm Dr. Burroughs. Would you like to take a seat, Ben?" She paused for a second, waiting for the nurse to take her leave so she could close the door and get back to her desk. "Or would you like me to call you Jason for now?"

Maybe it wasn't so much a good idea to humor any delusions, especially with this man, but if it'd make him more comfortable and he didn't get too stubborn with her, she'd do what she could.

Back at her chair, Dr. Burroughs began pouring another mug for the company. "Why don't you have some coffee and tell me a little about yourself?"

[no_ones_son]

Jason sauntered in as the doc opened the door, gaze flicking around to take in the room and the doctor herself. Pretty boring all up. The poster on the wall was odd but that was it. The doctor herself didn't look like anything special - young, not unattractive, average build. Unless she was a metahuman he could overpower her easily enough if he had to. He was unarmed but Jason knew his own strength, knew that if he wanted to he could kill her with his bare hands. It was strange then, that he was being left alone in an enclosed room with her. The nurses had only seen his disappointingly brief fight with Harley but from the lecture he'd received this morning and the state both he and his roommate were in they had to be aware of what had gone on last night. So it seemed a big risk to leave him alone with her.

Lucky for the doc here, he wasn't looking to make an escape right now but if this was going to be a regular occurrence it was worth keeping in mind.

Jason slumped into the empty chair, watching the doctor as closely as he would any opponent. He had been avoiding using his real name with the other supposed patients and the staff had never called him by it. Hearing this doctor use it now made part of him tense up. He knew already from Alfred and Bruce's prescence that whoever had brought them here knew everything but that didn't make him ready to be confronted with it like that. Still, he played it cool, calmly replying, "Why don't we stick with Jason? I like it a lot better."

Watching her pour a cup of coffee for him, Jason nodded his thanks, saying "I don't know if there's much I can tell you doc. You must have everything on file already right?"

[ginsu_glove]

For being stubborn, he was playing this awfully smart. No signs of shyness or resistance, no severe hesitation. He was still eying her like a target, which was fine with her - she could take care of herself surprisingly well. The real problem would be his safety if the orderlies were slow at her call.

Her face briefly paled at the realization that she was thinking of hurting someone, none the less internally boasting about how well she could do it. Goddamn it...

She took a swig of her coffee before setting the mug down again. If he was going to play smart, she didn't have grounds to sugar coat anything. Maggie picked up the file, his file, and casually flipped through it. "Files aren't that conclusive. They only tell you an outsider's perspective and no matter how close you can get to understanding what's going on, there's no better source than the horse itself." She paused, peering up at him from the folder. "If you'll pardon the analogy.

"So how about it? At least tell me what's on your mind?"

[no_ones_son]

Sipping thoughtfully at his coffee - which wasn't as good as Alfred's but then what was? - Jason frowned to himself. The doc had looked.... upset maybe - for a moment there. He hadn't done anything to cause that kind of reaction. If she was a professional shrink she had to be used to being around potentially dangerous patients so it made no sense for her to be suddenly worried about being alone with him.

Getting to his feet Jason moved to her side under the pretense of trying to look at his file, using his height advantage to loom over her as he looked down. It was a cheap trick but it would at least give him an idea of how easy she was to intimidate.

"Well, if you really want to know," he said lazily, still staring down at her. "I'm wondering where you heard that name. You're the first person here to call me that." Besides Alfred that was. "I didn't think any one else knew it."

[ginsu_glove]

Whatever fear was showing on her face earlier had vanished by the time Ben moved himself over her shoulder. It was funny, but she really didn't see it for the intimidation tactic it was, at least not right away; being a measly 5'5" and a fraction more with heels, everyone loomed over you. It was something she was used to.

But then she remembered this man's track record and all she had been warned against when dealing with him. It wouldn't be out of the blue for him to try and scare her by almost pinning her to her desk.

It was a cheap trick. Maggie wasn't all that impressed.

"I heard it from your file." Just to prove her point, she closed the thing and held it up to him as she swiveled her chair back to face him. It wouldn't hurt any if he was that curious and it wasn't the entire thing anyhow. "Whoever wrote your file apparently heard it from you."

She looked up at him, watching his face. "Anything else? If not, maybe we can get started."

[no_ones_son]

Jason took the proffered file, shifting to lean against the desk by the doc as he opened it and scanned the information inside. His eyes narrowed, frowning dangerously as some key points jumped out at him. Whoever had written this, he'd like to discuss with them some issues he had with the bullshit story they'd constructed. Preferably the kind of discussion that ended in broken bones. The whole idea of Bruce being nothing but an innocent victim left him grinding his teeth and just itching to beat someone's face in.

When Burroughs spoke again, dragging his attention away from the crap in his file, Jason's gaze snapped up to her face, staring her down intensely a moment before he relaxed and nodded, moving back to the empty seat again. Tossing the file down on the desk between them he threw himself down, feigning nonchalance.

"Sure, why not?" he answered flippantly. "Where do we start doc?"