[Fic] Sins of the...
Spoiler warning.
Sins of the...
"But why-"
"Do you remember seven years ago? Do you remember when Neo-GUILT was spreading?"
"Neo-GUILT? Yeah, I do. But I was eight then, Naomi."
Eleven years since the Japanese media had exposed Naomi Kimishima as a "devil doctor." Eleven years since she'd first made a deal with the closest thing to the devil she would ever know. Ten years since she'd begun her redemption for such a deal. Eight years since her infection, a payback of sorts; and eight years since she had gotten her fourth chance at life and begun raising Alyssa.
Two weeks since the formal announcement of the new spreading disease: Stigma.
Stigma. Not GUILT. But what did it matter?
"Age has nothing to do with it. I've seen some of the victims, Alyssa. Stigma is just as dangerous as GUILT was, and it doesn't discriminate against age."
"So shouldn't you be worried too? You can't lie to me, Naomi. I know you still check in with Resurgam now and then about...whatever!"
"That's different. That's routine. Stigma is much more dangerous. You don't understand how bad it is."
"Because you won't tell me! Seven years ago I thought you were just scared, after the Raging Bomber and Rosalia. But during the Hearst virus outbreak last year, you didn't even flinch. With Stigma out there, you hardly even let me go outside! There's something going on and this is always how it is. You're scared, but you never tell me why. You won't even tell me what you've been sick with all these years."
Caduceus and their top doctors were working on it. That didn't include her. Of course it didn't. She hadn't been needed for Neo-GUILT and that had been seven years ago. Naomi had given up surgery, even when her disease had gone, because her time had passed. At thirty-one years old, she had felt past her prime. So what did that mean now, when she was nearing forty?
"Alyssa, please understand. You were only eight when Neo-GUILT spread, and six when the first GUILT was around. You probably don't remember what it was like as well as you think you do. I was-"
"Don't talk to me like that. I'm sixteen now, not eight! I've grown up. You're still fussing over me like I'm a little kid."
"Because I'm worried about you."
"Then stop worrying so much! You - you're not my mother! Stop acting like you are!"
It was always back to that moment. The sudden numbness in her chest, Alyssa's face frozen in horror at words they'd never wanted to speak.
Naomi set her mug of tea down on the table and watched the ripples forming as the tea bag bobbed up and down in the water.
Time had moved on. Derek Stiles had been working with Caduceus Japan for two years. The US branch of Caduceus was headed by entirely new people, and new doctors were heading the movement against Stigma. She didn't even know what Caduceus Europe was doing.
And then there was Naomi Kimishima, the devil doctor who had once helped to foster one of the worst diseases in the past few decades and been forced into retirement before she could atone for her crimes, spending her life instead investigating for the dead and taking care of a girl she'd orphaned in the first place, a girl who would leave her in less than two years to begin her own new life. Where did she fit in?
Normally she would have laughed, a deprecating chuckle at her own inane introspection, but Naomi couldn't even do that. Her voice was gone, lost somewhere else in the kitchen with the lingering remains of their argument. Her silence had been enough yesterday to scare Little Guy into contacting Chief Wayne, until she'd left work early. With no ongoing jobs from the FBI, she hadn't even bothered to go today.
It was almost five-thirty. Normally it would have been dinnertime in a little over an hour, but if nothing changed Alyssa was probably going to go out for dinner again rather than suffer the silence. Naomi couldn't blame her. They hadn't even seen each other since...
There was a creaking behind her, indicating that Alyssa was in the hallway and making her way towards the entrance. Naomi didn't move. She'd expected that. Jessica's car would pull into the driveway any minute now, and Alyssa would be gone for the night.
The creaking stopped, but a few seconds later she heard footsteps and Alyssa dragged out the chair next to Naomi to settle in at her right.
Neither of them said anything. A moment passed and Alyssa covered Naomi's hand, still clutching the mug, with hers. Naomi let go and Alyssa moved so that their hands were clapsed.
Silence.
Five-forty.
Naomi's voice was hoarse. "Eleven years ago, I found that I had a strange power few others possessed. It was called the Healing Touch, and it ruined the career and the life I'd made for myself back then. That was when I first encountered Delphi..."
Sins of the...
"But why-"
"Do you remember seven years ago? Do you remember when Neo-GUILT was spreading?"
"Neo-GUILT? Yeah, I do. But I was eight then, Naomi."
Eleven years since the Japanese media had exposed Naomi Kimishima as a "devil doctor." Eleven years since she'd first made a deal with the closest thing to the devil she would ever know. Ten years since she'd begun her redemption for such a deal. Eight years since her infection, a payback of sorts; and eight years since she had gotten her fourth chance at life and begun raising Alyssa.
Two weeks since the formal announcement of the new spreading disease: Stigma.
Stigma. Not GUILT. But what did it matter?
"Age has nothing to do with it. I've seen some of the victims, Alyssa. Stigma is just as dangerous as GUILT was, and it doesn't discriminate against age."
"So shouldn't you be worried too? You can't lie to me, Naomi. I know you still check in with Resurgam now and then about...whatever!"
"That's different. That's routine. Stigma is much more dangerous. You don't understand how bad it is."
"Because you won't tell me! Seven years ago I thought you were just scared, after the Raging Bomber and Rosalia. But during the Hearst virus outbreak last year, you didn't even flinch. With Stigma out there, you hardly even let me go outside! There's something going on and this is always how it is. You're scared, but you never tell me why. You won't even tell me what you've been sick with all these years."
Caduceus and their top doctors were working on it. That didn't include her. Of course it didn't. She hadn't been needed for Neo-GUILT and that had been seven years ago. Naomi had given up surgery, even when her disease had gone, because her time had passed. At thirty-one years old, she had felt past her prime. So what did that mean now, when she was nearing forty?
"Alyssa, please understand. You were only eight when Neo-GUILT spread, and six when the first GUILT was around. You probably don't remember what it was like as well as you think you do. I was-"
"Don't talk to me like that. I'm sixteen now, not eight! I've grown up. You're still fussing over me like I'm a little kid."
"Because I'm worried about you."
"Then stop worrying so much! You - you're not my mother! Stop acting like you are!"
It was always back to that moment. The sudden numbness in her chest, Alyssa's face frozen in horror at words they'd never wanted to speak.
Naomi set her mug of tea down on the table and watched the ripples forming as the tea bag bobbed up and down in the water.
Time had moved on. Derek Stiles had been working with Caduceus Japan for two years. The US branch of Caduceus was headed by entirely new people, and new doctors were heading the movement against Stigma. She didn't even know what Caduceus Europe was doing.
And then there was Naomi Kimishima, the devil doctor who had once helped to foster one of the worst diseases in the past few decades and been forced into retirement before she could atone for her crimes, spending her life instead investigating for the dead and taking care of a girl she'd orphaned in the first place, a girl who would leave her in less than two years to begin her own new life. Where did she fit in?
Normally she would have laughed, a deprecating chuckle at her own inane introspection, but Naomi couldn't even do that. Her voice was gone, lost somewhere else in the kitchen with the lingering remains of their argument. Her silence had been enough yesterday to scare Little Guy into contacting Chief Wayne, until she'd left work early. With no ongoing jobs from the FBI, she hadn't even bothered to go today.
It was almost five-thirty. Normally it would have been dinnertime in a little over an hour, but if nothing changed Alyssa was probably going to go out for dinner again rather than suffer the silence. Naomi couldn't blame her. They hadn't even seen each other since...
There was a creaking behind her, indicating that Alyssa was in the hallway and making her way towards the entrance. Naomi didn't move. She'd expected that. Jessica's car would pull into the driveway any minute now, and Alyssa would be gone for the night.
The creaking stopped, but a few seconds later she heard footsteps and Alyssa dragged out the chair next to Naomi to settle in at her right.
Neither of them said anything. A moment passed and Alyssa covered Naomi's hand, still clutching the mug, with hers. Naomi let go and Alyssa moved so that their hands were clapsed.
Silence.
Five-forty.
Naomi's voice was hoarse. "Eleven years ago, I found that I had a strange power few others possessed. It was called the Healing Touch, and it ruined the career and the life I'd made for myself back then. That was when I first encountered Delphi..."