𝑅𝐸𝑋 𝑇𝑅𝐸𝑀𝐸𝑁𝐷𝐴𝐸 𝑀𝐴𝐽𝐸𝑆𝑇𝐴𝑇𝐼𝑆

[hell_hound]

Face claim: Alex Pettyfer
Name: Atlas Clarke
Orientation: Bisexual; transgender (closeted)
Occupation: cafeteria worker at Lily Victoria (dreams of being a fashion designer)
Personality: goofy, lighthearted, loyal
Lineage: eldest son of River and Andromeda


Face claim: Lesley-Ann Brandt
Name: Amelia Samson "Sam"
Orientation: lesbian; panromantic
Occupation: neurosurgeon at Lily Victoria
Personality: tough love, determined, ambitious
Lineage: unrelated

[hell_hound]

Atlas had been in the middle of a spectacular dream - the kind you wrote down in your journal and never told a soul about except your best friend at four in the morning after midnight mimosas and mini tacos (don’t ask) - when the blaring of his alarm jousted him out of bed. With a start, the tall blond leapt out from between his sheets and slammed his fist down on the loud machine. Quiet descended over his London studio flat. Scratching his backside, Atlas shuffled off to the bathroom for a swift shower, and then into the kitchen area for a breakfast consisting of a granola bar and milk straight out of the jug. He scarfed his food down while he scrolled through his phone for messages. He had received two earlier in the morning, both from his friends, Janie and Lilith. The third was from his sister. To that one he responded with a thumbs up emoji and a star. All three women would do just fine.

After throwing his clothes on for work, Atlas headed out. He arrived at Lily Victoria with five minutes to spare. Wiping his forehead free of sweat, he slipped into the cafeteria through the back so no one would notice he was almost late and report him to Emma. Not that his aunt would do anything to him, but he didn’t want her to get in trouble for nepotism or something. He grabbed a spare apron from the hook on the wall near the door, pulled a hair net over his golden curls, and set to work preparing breakfast for the various patients at Lily Victoria.

He could only hope today would be free of the sniggering, mocking doctors that frequented the cafe.

Meanwhile, Emma greeted her daughter and her niece with excited hugs. The years had been kinder to her than most people. Her wrinkled face retained its beauty, and her hazel eyes still glowed with all the playfulness of her youth. True to her style, she wore peach scrubs beneath her lab coat. Her hair had gone gray, but it didn’t take away from her appearance at all. The gold of her wedding ring - she never took the thing off even to this day - glinted in the light as she handed the girls their files. It held information on the hospital, maps and detailed backgrounds of their mentors. Not that they needed them having grown up in the halls of that place, but receiving them was customary.

“Welcome to Lily Victoria, Dr. Clarke, Dr. Nicchi,” she greeted them with a wink and a smile. Janie’s blank expression didn’t bother her in the slightest. After dealing with Ray for literal years, Emma could decipher the mask her youngest wore. There was excitement there. Nerves, too. The urge to do well, she suspected.

“As you know, Dr. Clarke, you’ll be interning with me. As for you, Dr. Nicchi, you’ll be interning under Dr. Samson. Doctor?” Emma pointedly turned her attention to the figure lurking in the background.

Dr. Samson - six-foot-seven with dark hair she kept in a faux hawk colored in deep red - stepped forward to offer the girls her hand. She looked to be in her early thirties, with dark skin that looked to be kissed by the sun. A pair of black eyes gleamed back at them with wisdom and mischief. She flashed them a crooked grin. Both ears had hoops going down the edges and she had a piercing on her septum in the shape of a silver loop. Her fingers were iced with rings containing all manner of gem. She wore black scrubs and a matching pair of biker boots.

“Amelia Samson, but you can call me Sam. Everybody does. Well, Dr. Samson at work if you’re feeling particularly brown nosed.”

Emma rolled her eyes with a laugh. “I have paperwork to do, but Dr. Samson can take you for a tour. You don’t need it, but Atlas is in the cafeteria and I thought you’d like to see him. Plus, you need to know where all the private areas are. There are many places Ray and I declined to show you in your younger years. Now go on. We have a craniotomy in three hours and you’re going to need to be familiar with the grounds by then.”

That being said, Dr. Samson led the girls to the cafeteria, where Atlas’s blond locks could be seen from a mile away. She winked at the two of them. “Go talk to your boy. I gotta check up on something real quick and then I’ll come and get you.”

The ground seemed to shake when she walked; several smaller doctors darted out of her way as she went, her coat billowing out behind her like a cloak.

Atlas blinked from over the counter. “Damn that woman is scary.”

[hell_hound]

Atlas stared after his tall friend, his eyebrows scrunched and his mouth set to remind her whose sister she was talking to, but she was gone by the time he managed to find the right words. Already having predicted what his sister would ask for, Atlas walked around the counter and handed her a plate of food. It wasn’t like all the other plates of hospital food; he used actual spices in the sausage and eggs. When she was satisfied, he leaned against the counter with his arms folded over his chest. He was actually a rather handsome young man. Tall and lean, with long legs and prominent veins in his hands that showed how strong they were. He looked very much like his father, River, but his hair and the shape of his chin belonged to his mother. His frown, too, come to think of it, which he wore now.

“What’s wrong with her? She isn’t usually like that,” he remarked, watching the place where Janie had disappeared. He opened his mouth to say more, but the chef in charge of the kitchen barked at him, forcing him to wish his sister luck before vanishing back into said kitchen.

Anyone with ears could hear him getting in trouble for distracting the intern.

But he remained calm and simply apologized before going back to work. Such was his easy-going personality. He was much like River in this regard, too. Slow to anger, but explosive once there.

Meanwhile, Sam made her way from Emma’s office to the ICU. She came across Janie first, but paused upon seeing another Nicchi coming down the hall straight ahead. Deciding to give them a moment, Sam moved on, sliding into the room of another one of her long-term patients. She would give the Nicchi girls a few minutes to themselves. She understood that the loss of their mother had taken a toll. She wouldn’t want prying eyes on her and her sister, either.

Lilith Nicchi - the spitting image of Emma with the same personality to boot - nearly ran into her sister as she rounded the corner. She had to blink a few times to realize that it wasn’t Ravenya herself standing there. A sadness fell over her face for the briefest of moments before she collected herself and straightened out her coat. Lilith had already undergone her internship, having finished early like Ray had so long ago. Now, she was on her way to becoming yet another well known Nicchi - a renowned neurosurgeon. She still had plenty of time and many miles left on her journey, but she loved every moment of it. Unlike her sister, it would seem.

“Hey, Janie. What are you doing here? Where’s Dr. Samson?” She sniffed the air, then asked, “Did you just come from the cafeteria? Atlas didn’t text me this morning, so I want to ask if you’ve seen him. I don’t want him to get into trouble for being late again.”

[hell_hound]

Lilith watched Meredith go with a frown that deepened when she turned and saw the rage in her sister’s face. Her own scrunched up in disappointment that bordered on disgust and a bit of pity. But only a bit. Sometimes Emma Jane did it to herself. She sometimes wondered why they named her after a demon queen and her sister after the sweetest woman in the world. For all intents and purposes, it should have been the other way around. Should have saved the demon name for their younger daughter.

“Stop acting like that whenever someone talks about Mum. She isn’t some lowlife to curl your lip up at whenever you hear her mentioned. She was a good surgeon - a good person. Stop behaving like you think she’s a burden to you. Christ, Emma Jane.” Lilith turned and was about to walk away, but a thought struck her. She craned her head around and shot a glare at her sister. She snapped, “And for your information, my nose isn’t stuck up anything. Atlas is my best friend and I’m allowed to worry about him. It’s normal to be concerned for your friends. You should try it sometime. And don’t act like I’m the only one with feelings for him.”

And with that she was gone. She had better things to do than to argue with her sibling.

Once she felt it was safe to do so, Sam made her presence known. She cleared her throat before stepping into Janie’s view. She had a stack of files under her arm that she handed to Emma Jane. When Janie looked up at her - an odd thing for the girl to have to do, Sam figured - she flashed her another crooked grin that consumed her face in an ornery sort of way. This woman knew trouble like the back of her hand. Her grin gave that away even more than the combat boots and wicked winged eyeliner.

“These are the files of my current patients. I want you to look them over the next few days and give me a prognosis by Thursday. Monday at the very latest. A diagnosis, too, if you’re feeling bold. Don’t worry, none are especially life threatening. I wouldn’t want someone to croak while I wait for my intern to do her homework. Now, in the meantime, let’s get to this craniotomy. Your sister is performing. Watch her. See if she slips. Observe her technique.”

Sam took Janie to the appropriate viewing theater in the OR so they could watch Lilith and the nurses work. She lapsed into silence, preferring it to conversation. She also didn’t want to distract her new intern. Janie may come from a line of the best doctors in the country, but that didn’t mean Sam or Lily Victoria would show her any mercy.

Meanwhile, Atlas thanked the smaller man for his kindness. He hummed as he worked, and when lunch time rolled around, he made trays for his sister, friends, aunt and his stepmother, which he delivered personally. He took his aunt Emma and stepmother Meredith their food first, then his sister, and finally to Lilith and Janie. It was a rare sight these days to see them together, and even though there was clearly tension between them, he enjoyed seeing them in the same room. He set their trays in front of them with a flourish, adding his own sound effects and everything.

Lilith laughed at his idiocy, placing her hand on his arm. She pretended not to notice when he slipped his arm out of her reach and shoved a piece of bread in her mouth to stifle her noise.

“Hey!” she cried, chewing.

Atlas rolled his eyes with a smirk. “You sound like a braying mule.” He turned to Janie, flashing a dimpled smile. “How’d the first day go so far?”

[hell_hound]

Atlas had been enjoying the banter at the table up until Emma Jane left. He tried not to let it hurt his feelings when she dumped his food into the trash bin without even glancing at it twice. He had managed to scrounge together a handful of special ingredients that few doctors and even fewer patients were allowed to have - the food budget had had to take a bit of a dive in order to afford the new CAT and MRI machines Ravenya had always put off purchasing - but it seemed his kind gesture had been unwanted. Nonetheless, he wanted to help his friend more than he cared about the food. So, after finishing off his lunch, he waved goodbye to everyone and headed after Emma Jane.

“Janie!” he called, jogging after her. He bumped into a gaggle of nurses on the way and earned himself a few scorching glares, but he ignored them as he finally caught up to his friend outside. He shivered a bit. Lily Victoria wasn’t the warmest place in the world, but it was better than being out in the elements that day. Winter was right around the corner. It wouldn’t be long before the snow started piling up.

He reached out to touch her elbow in an attempt to slow her down. His face held nothing but concern for her. “What’s the matter with you today? You seem… angrier than usual. Talk to me. Please? I wanna help.”

Meanwhile, Lilith slammed her fork down a little too harshly. She scooted out of the way as her mother joined them. With a quick goodbye, she stalked toward the same exit Janie had taken. Her temper flared a bit out of control. Why was her sister being like this? All they had talked about as children had been working at Lily Victoria like their mothers. She should have known Ray’s name would be everywhere. She should have anticipated it and either accepted it or gone to work somewhere else. She was halfway to her sister when she caught sight of a familiar mop of blond hair. Cursing under her breath, Lilith ducked out of sight but kept her ears open.

She knew what they said about eavesdropping, that no one ever heard anything good about themselves, but she couldn’t help it.

Emma watched her babies go with a frown. They had changed so much since Ray’s death. Her old heart ached for once was. Now more than ever she wished her wife would come striding through the doors, commanding attention and respect as she always had. Memories of days gone by filled her head to the point where she had to cover her mouth with her hand to hide her trembling lips. Her eyes became misty. She took a few seconds to calm herself, and then lowered her hand and smiled at her niece.

“River, Meredith, you should be proud of your girl. Before long she will be running me out of the office,” Emma said with a wink. “Andromeda would be even prouder.”

[hell_hound]

Atlas opened his mouth to reply, but Janie was already gone. What in the hell was she talking about? Lilith wasn’t in love with him. They were friends! He glanced around him, suddenly feeling exposed to the wandering eyes of unseen strangers. Janie’s words repeated themselves in his head over and over again. They forced him to rethink and reevaluate his relationship with Lilith. Now all of those moments with both of them came to him in a new light. Every touch (platonic on his part, always), every kind word, and even every joke seemed to take on a new meaning. His chest suddenly hurt. He placed his palm over it, feeling it beating hard in his chest. What had he done? Had he led them on? He didn’t think so. But again things from the past were beginning to realign themselves and he suddenly didn’t know where he stood anymore.

He wanted to go after her, really, but decided against it. She clearly wanted to be alone. Dropping his head, Atlas retreated back inside the hospital. The saddened and confused expression looked wrong on his face. It didn’t belong. Much like it didn’t belong on the goofy face of his father. He didn’t even see Lilith when he shot past her hiding hole. He had to go through the cafeteria to get to the kitchen. When he did, he didn’t say anything to anyone.

He disappeared behind the staff only door, letting it swing shut behind him. He had a lot to think about.

River glanced up in time to see his son stalking away. Frowning, he leaned over to whisper in Meredith’s ear, “I think our son needs you. I’ll stay out here and distract June so she doesn’t go barging in.” Ah, he knew his children all too well. River then turned to his daughter, put his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand.

When she smiled, she looked devastatingly similar to her mother. It made his heart yearn for his Dr. Galaxy. Looking at June was like peering into the past. Suddenly, he was transported to Andy’s hospital in America where they had first met. She had treated his mother briefly before her death and then later had become his wife. He had held the entire galaxy in his hands once, and now that cluster of stars had come back to him in the form of his daughter. He had to be the luckiest man in the world.

“Tell me all about your day, pet. I want to hear everything,” he told her, meaning every word.

Lilith, on the other hand, had lost her patience. She strode outside to follow her sister. “Hey!” she shouted once she had gotten closer to Janie’s retreating figure. “What do you think you’re doing? Do you realize what you just did? You have no right to put my feelings for him on display. Nor do you have the right to yell at him when all he wants to do is help.” She had to break into a run, but she eventually caught up with Janie. When she did, she shoved her sister so hard the taller girl had no choice but to fall.

“And how dare you disrespect our mother like that?”

[hell_hound]

River was the first to react. He sprinted after his daughter, falling and sliding to his knees beside her. He held her head in his lap as he shouted for help. His mind raced. His heart hammered. Her face spliced with Andromeda’s in his mind, doubling his fear. The cool hand on his shoulder and the gentle yet firm tone of a doctor was the only thing that saved him from a full on panic attack. He glanced up to see Dr. Samson standing there. He had no idea where she had come from or why she was there, but his gratitude to her was palpable.

“Help her,” he begged, “please, bloody hell, help my baby.”

“It’s okay, Mr. Clarke. I’ve got her.” Sam reached into her pocket and dialed the line for the hospital that only doctors were allowed to use. Soon enough, an entire team of professionals descended upon both Lilith and June.

As the carted both girls off to be inspected, Emma raced up to River’s side. The expression on his face when he turned to glare at her frightened her enough to send her back a step or two. For one frightful second she wondered if he was going to hit her, and then decided that was ridiculous. She had no reason to be afraid of River Clarke. But someone else did, and they would be stupid to ignore the murderous threat gleaming in his eyes. He wanted to hurt someone. Badly. Suddenly, she could see the dark version of himself he had been when he lived in the streets.

“Get your daughter under control, Emma, or so help me, I’ll do it for you,” he snarled before turning and chasing after his Junie.

Emma shivered. Then she turned in the direction Janie had gone and stalked after her. Her Ferrari was in this direction anyway. She wouldn’t confront Janie on the street. She would wait until they were at home. Then she would find out just what in the world was going on with her kids.

Meanwhile, Atlas ran a hand through his hair as he tried to figure out how to explain the dilemma to his mother. “Apparently, Janie thinks that Lilith likes me. She said something about how I needed to go ahead and pick Lil and get it over with so she could move on. Then she said something about how she was a half-baked Ray before leaving. I don’t get it. I… Am I a bad person? I didn’t mean to lead anybody on. I didn’t mean to… She implied that she liked me, too, but I’m not… I…”

He hopped up on the nearest counter and tugged at his hair in frustration. “Now I’m rethinking every interaction I’ve ever had with the two of them. I don’t know what to bloody do, Mum.”

[hell_hound]

June may not have noticed her father pacing in the waiting area, but River did. He darted out of the room and into the hall where he grabbed his daughter and hauled her back into said waiting area. He checked her over three times - ignoring her protests, of course - before he was satisfied enough to let her go. He reached out, brushing his thumb over her cheek. He used to do the same to Andy. It meant something different with his child, of course, but the affection in the familiar gesture was just as strong if not entirely stronger than that he showed to his late wife. Kids had that effect on you.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked her. When she explained that she wanted to go check on Janie, he froze. “You’re an adult, and I can’t really tell you what to do, but I don’t think that’s a good idea right now, June. She… She roughed you up pretty bad. You and Lilith both. I would prefer if you didn’t, uh, go near her for a while. At least not until she gets her head screwed on straight again.” He ran his hand over his jaws where a dusting of course hair had started to grow. “Bloody hell. Atlas is going to lose his mind when he finds out she hurt you.”

While River spoke to June, Emma made her way through traffic back to her house. Along the way, she imagined everything she was going to say to her daughters. Every word, every syllable. If they were going to act like teenagers then she was going to treat them like teenagers. It didn’t matter that one was in her mid twenties and the other nearing her thirties. It didn’t matter at all. Emma Nicchi would not tolerate violence between the members of her family, especially not her daughters.

She glanced at the picture of Ray she had pinned to her visor. “I’m sorry, love. I’m trying. I really am,” she whispered to her late wife. She hoped and prayed that wherever Ravenya had ended up, she heard Emma’s words and believed her.

After parking her Italian sports car in the driveway, Emma threw herself out of the cab, slammed the door, and then strode up to the front door. She flung it open so hard the knob hit the wall and left a hole. She clicked her tongue at it. It would need to be filled in later. Turning her back to the damage, Emma first went to Janie’s room. They had knocked the wall out separating Janie and Lilith’s bedrooms to create one large room that Emma had given to Janie. She had no need for such a large space and had therefore kept to the bedroom she had shared with their mother. When she saw Janie wasn’t in there, she closed the door and went to the basement. Janie liked to go down there quite often. Why, Emma didn’t know. Maybe because Ray had used it, she felt connected to her mother there? Who knows.

Emma had just opened the basement door and flicked on the lights when she looked down and saw her daughter lying there. Gasping, Emma went to her immediately. It didn’t take her long to realize she wasn’t breathing. As Emma began compressions, she dialed the emergency line at the hospital. The ambulance arrived shortly thereafter, hauling Janie away and leaving Emma to race behind them in her Ferrari.

She almost wrecked three times along the way.

Atlas sighed, nodding. “I know you’re right, but what if I do like one of them that way? Maybe I just haven’t thought of them in that light enough. Even if I did, though, how could I choose one over the other? They’re both important to me.”

[hell_hound]

Amidst all the chaos, River managed to snag his kid around her waist and haul her away from all the noise. He dragged her, kicking and screaming, into her hospital room and slammed the door shut. He didn’t let her go until Atlas and Meredith appeared. Quickly, he explained to them the fight between Janie, Lilith and June. He had no idea what Janie had done to herself, and as much as he loved that girl like his own daughter, he had to make sure his own children were okay first. He loosened his grip on June, but didn’t entirely release her. He didn’t trust her not to run out and get herself even deeper into trouble, especially since she was still healing.

She was too much like her mother for her own good.

Upon hearing that Janie had hurt his sister, Atlas backed away toward the door. River started to tell him not to do it, but by then he was already gone. Atlas slammed the doors out of his way until he found Samson and Emma, who were working with the other doctors to secure a pulse on his friend. Was she still his friend, though? She had attacked his sister. She could have killed her! Just before he could reach the doors that would take him in there, Atlas paused. He forced himself to breathe - to relax. Then he whirled around and half-ran out of the hospital.

Meanwhile, Lilith shoved away the doctors trying to look her over. They had done their job. Now she needed to do hers. Alongside being a neurosurgeon, Lilith partook in the trauma department sometimes, too. She used this to advantage, using her authority to get herself in the same room as her sister. All their squabbling didn’t matter now. They could deal with it later. For now, Lilith’s priority was to make sure her baby sister was breathing within the next few minutes.

She didn’t know how, but eventually Lilith managed to bring Janie back to the land of the living. She leaned against the wall, dabbing at the sweat on her brow with a cloth. Janie had crashed more than once, but she seemed to finally be stable enough to let the staff relax a bit. Allowing the nurses to take Janie away to her new room, Lilith walked out of the OR and right into the lion’s mouth.

Emma stood there, arms across her chest, foot tapping. “Just what in the bloody hell was that all about?” she snapped.

Ruh-roh.

[hell_hound]

Emma might as well have been watching a tennis match with the way her eyes bounced back and forth between the faces of her children. She wanted to continue to be angry, but as Janie began to cry for the first time in years and finally confessed to what she really felt, Emma felt her anger ebb away to become confusion and sympathy. Her expression melted. She went to her babies, drew them into her embrace. At least there they would be safe from the pain of the outside world. So long as she held them, they needn’t worry about loss or hurt. She would hold them for the rest of their collective lives if they wanted her to do so. She kissed the tops of both their heads before speaking again.

“I know you want your mother, my lovelies. I want her, too. So badly do I want her to walk through those doors.” She pulled away a bit to wipe the tears from both their eyes. “She loves you. She’s proud of you. Emma Jane, your mum is with you always. Even if you can’t see her. Trust that she sees and hears you.”

When Meredith swept in, Emma understood the expression on her face. She knew what the vials were for. Her anger returned for one scorching moment before it dissipated again. She could be angry later when she knew Janie was out of the woods. For now, she wanted to find out more about this feud going on between her daughters. So, while Meredith set to work, she sat down on the end of the hospital bed where she could see the two of them on equal levels.

“Now explain to me what Atlas has to do with this. From the beginning.”