Reach For Me
Reach For Me
Rating: G
Pairings: General
Summary: Lucy finds herself in charge of four Gunbu kits!
Lucy finished up with her usual rounds, making sure to stop by with apples for her little surrogate family, happily greeted by the Havocs, greeted at least by DK, and shyly by the little Pride Kit. Though Lucy had been thrilled when the little one had actually gotten the gumption to take the slice of apple right out of her hand. He had been there three months, but his new parents and Kit were slowly teaching him he was safe.
Pride would be in the humans care for the rest of his life. But Kit... Kit would be taken to a sanctuary in a few years, where he'd learn the skills to be wild, and then hopefully, released in time. Lucy smiled at the pictures of the little family now decorating her desk, a few shots with herself in them. Her favorite was sitting in a frame, featuring DK glaring as Pride hid from the camera in the brown coat of his Edward-father, and Havoc and Kit with perked and curious ears, and Lucy behind them all, actually laughing. She picked it up and smiled.
Her phone suddenly started ringing, causing her to glare.
It had been ringing off the hook since the news crew had come to do a story on how the zoos and sanctuaries scattered throughout Amestris, Drachma, Creta and Xing were helping to save Elrics, Gunbu, and the rest. How they'd managed to give the zoo staff the slip, Lucy couldn't find out, but they'd come into the hospital and she'd nearly ripped their throats out when, as she was feeding DK's family, there had been a brilliant flash and one of the dip-shit reporters tried to walk in, smile too bright, too eager. He had said only three words, before Lucy had shoved him outside, slamming the door behind her, and gave him such a talking to he had been reduced to whimpers, and had quickly fled. But they'd still run the piece, and while they had numerous donations now stored up thanks to it (half of which Lucy insisted on being donated to Marta Dexter's sanctuary), Lucy faced the daunting task of telling off numerous specialists, grad students, etc for wanting to "study" the little family.
These folks usually didn't respond to a simple "they're not monkeys here to entertain you and satisfy your curiosity!" It got to the point where Lucy invested in a bit of technology that saved her gabs of time and energy: Caller ID. And all her number were programmed into the thing, from the staff to their delivery services. So when a programmed number popped up, she waited until the sixth ring to yank up the phone after the the sixth ring
"FOR THE LAST TIME DR. GALEFEN, THE HAVOC-EDWARD FAMILY IS OFF. LIMITS!"
"Excuse me, but is this Dr. Branighan?" Came a hesitant voice that Lucy only vaguely recognized. Lucy paused. The voice seemed polite enough, and usually they'd just hang up once she snarled about the family being off limits.
"This is Dr. Branighan. How can I help you?"
"Dr. Branighan My name is Ashawn Forrester I was an intern-"
"Four years ago." Lucy interrupted, smiling. Ashawn had been a great intern, very excited about the field. However her budget had been cut and she'd sent him to another center, one specializing in the Elrics. She had received the random email from him since then, but never a phone call, certainly not at work...
"What can I do for you Ashawn?"
A deep breath, "Apparently some rich schmuck was breeding and selling Gunbu, several officials had been paid off to keep quiet, it'll explode fairly soon. Things is, with the police working overtime to bust up these rings, and the fiasco with that Elric kitten held by a sex offender a few months back? Well it made him extremely nervous, so he'd already sold most of them." Lucy was rapidly taking notes, groaned.
"What did the idiot do to get caught?"
"... He died. Carbon Monoxide. Paramedics got lucky and found where he was keeping them." Lucy felt the pen drop, stomach churning.
"... And the Gunbu?" Another pause.
"There were seven adults. A Mustang, Hawkeye, Hughes, Havoc, Breda, Fuery, and Falman... plus a Mustang, Hughes, Havoc and a Hawkeye pup, so twelve total? They were lucky that they were at the other end of the house. The Breda, Fuery, Falman were DOA, and we just lost the Hawkeye." A shaky breath this time, "The other thee adults are so bad... we aren't holding out much hope." Lucy grip on her pen tightened, but she made a valiant effort to do no more then that, though the chant "needless..." echoed in her head. She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer, but she had to ask... "What about the pups?"
The voice on the other end of the phone perked.
"The Hawkeye and the Hughes were born premature, probably the stress of knowing SOMETHING was wrong."
"And being moved to a strange place and probably separated from the others, am I right?" There was an embarrassed pause. Lucy sighed.
"Obviously she had to be moved, and even the separation, if her pack was just winding her up further, was the right thing to do. As long as the pups are safe."
"We really did the best we could, I had just came on when they told me to head down to a birth, and I really did the best I could. But I remembered what you taught me so I got them wrapped up in blankets and the older kits nearby. Little Mustang tried to bite me when I went to feed them, just glad the little stinker is too young for the gloves" Lucy laughed out loud. Yep, a Mustang could be absolutely FIERCE when it came to his pack, even as a pup, "And their lungs are sound. But we're Elric experts, and they need fellow Gunbu. And I knew you'd want to be the first one we called."
"Thank you Ashawn, I appreciate the thought. Let me check one thing." Lucy checked her clipboard. Their lone Hawkeye had been transferred to the Zoo, where a Mustang and Breda had eagerly received her. So there was that enclosure, plus Kit and Pride needed some others to play with....
"Okay, we do have space, but I want to come down and inspect them myself, if that's alright?"
"Oh that's fine Dr. Branighan. I know you like to meet all your residents beforehand if you can..." A smile.
"I'll be there in about an hour, okay?"
"See you then Dr. Branighan."
Lucy hung up. and then quickly got a hold of Rosie on the walkie.
"Rosie, we have incoming orphans, two of them preemies. Get the Hawkeye's enclosure ready... and this a St. Helens waiting to happen, so make DAMN SURE we get no more of our "friends" from the media."
Rating: G
Pairings: General
Summary: Lucy finds herself in charge of four Gunbu kits!
Lucy finished up with her usual rounds, making sure to stop by with apples for her little surrogate family, happily greeted by the Havocs, greeted at least by DK, and shyly by the little Pride Kit. Though Lucy had been thrilled when the little one had actually gotten the gumption to take the slice of apple right out of her hand. He had been there three months, but his new parents and Kit were slowly teaching him he was safe.
Pride would be in the humans care for the rest of his life. But Kit... Kit would be taken to a sanctuary in a few years, where he'd learn the skills to be wild, and then hopefully, released in time. Lucy smiled at the pictures of the little family now decorating her desk, a few shots with herself in them. Her favorite was sitting in a frame, featuring DK glaring as Pride hid from the camera in the brown coat of his Edward-father, and Havoc and Kit with perked and curious ears, and Lucy behind them all, actually laughing. She picked it up and smiled.
Her phone suddenly started ringing, causing her to glare.
It had been ringing off the hook since the news crew had come to do a story on how the zoos and sanctuaries scattered throughout Amestris, Drachma, Creta and Xing were helping to save Elrics, Gunbu, and the rest. How they'd managed to give the zoo staff the slip, Lucy couldn't find out, but they'd come into the hospital and she'd nearly ripped their throats out when, as she was feeding DK's family, there had been a brilliant flash and one of the dip-shit reporters tried to walk in, smile too bright, too eager. He had said only three words, before Lucy had shoved him outside, slamming the door behind her, and gave him such a talking to he had been reduced to whimpers, and had quickly fled. But they'd still run the piece, and while they had numerous donations now stored up thanks to it (half of which Lucy insisted on being donated to Marta Dexter's sanctuary), Lucy faced the daunting task of telling off numerous specialists, grad students, etc for wanting to "study" the little family.
These folks usually didn't respond to a simple "they're not monkeys here to entertain you and satisfy your curiosity!" It got to the point where Lucy invested in a bit of technology that saved her gabs of time and energy: Caller ID. And all her number were programmed into the thing, from the staff to their delivery services. So when a programmed number popped up, she waited until the sixth ring to yank up the phone after the the sixth ring
"FOR THE LAST TIME DR. GALEFEN, THE HAVOC-EDWARD FAMILY IS OFF. LIMITS!"
"Excuse me, but is this Dr. Branighan?" Came a hesitant voice that Lucy only vaguely recognized. Lucy paused. The voice seemed polite enough, and usually they'd just hang up once she snarled about the family being off limits.
"This is Dr. Branighan. How can I help you?"
"Dr. Branighan My name is Ashawn Forrester I was an intern-"
"Four years ago." Lucy interrupted, smiling. Ashawn had been a great intern, very excited about the field. However her budget had been cut and she'd sent him to another center, one specializing in the Elrics. She had received the random email from him since then, but never a phone call, certainly not at work...
"What can I do for you Ashawn?"
A deep breath, "Apparently some rich schmuck was breeding and selling Gunbu, several officials had been paid off to keep quiet, it'll explode fairly soon. Things is, with the police working overtime to bust up these rings, and the fiasco with that Elric kitten held by a sex offender a few months back? Well it made him extremely nervous, so he'd already sold most of them." Lucy was rapidly taking notes, groaned.
"What did the idiot do to get caught?"
"... He died. Carbon Monoxide. Paramedics got lucky and found where he was keeping them." Lucy felt the pen drop, stomach churning.
"... And the Gunbu?" Another pause.
"There were seven adults. A Mustang, Hawkeye, Hughes, Havoc, Breda, Fuery, and Falman... plus a Mustang, Hughes, Havoc and a Hawkeye pup, so twelve total? They were lucky that they were at the other end of the house. The Breda, Fuery, Falman were DOA, and we just lost the Hawkeye." A shaky breath this time, "The other thee adults are so bad... we aren't holding out much hope." Lucy grip on her pen tightened, but she made a valiant effort to do no more then that, though the chant "needless..." echoed in her head. She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer, but she had to ask... "What about the pups?"
The voice on the other end of the phone perked.
"The Hawkeye and the Hughes were born premature, probably the stress of knowing SOMETHING was wrong."
"And being moved to a strange place and probably separated from the others, am I right?" There was an embarrassed pause. Lucy sighed.
"Obviously she had to be moved, and even the separation, if her pack was just winding her up further, was the right thing to do. As long as the pups are safe."
"We really did the best we could, I had just came on when they told me to head down to a birth, and I really did the best I could. But I remembered what you taught me so I got them wrapped up in blankets and the older kits nearby. Little Mustang tried to bite me when I went to feed them, just glad the little stinker is too young for the gloves" Lucy laughed out loud. Yep, a Mustang could be absolutely FIERCE when it came to his pack, even as a pup, "And their lungs are sound. But we're Elric experts, and they need fellow Gunbu. And I knew you'd want to be the first one we called."
"Thank you Ashawn, I appreciate the thought. Let me check one thing." Lucy checked her clipboard. Their lone Hawkeye had been transferred to the Zoo, where a Mustang and Breda had eagerly received her. So there was that enclosure, plus Kit and Pride needed some others to play with....
"Okay, we do have space, but I want to come down and inspect them myself, if that's alright?"
"Oh that's fine Dr. Branighan. I know you like to meet all your residents beforehand if you can..." A smile.
"I'll be there in about an hour, okay?"
"See you then Dr. Branighan."
Lucy hung up. and then quickly got a hold of Rosie on the walkie.
"Rosie, we have incoming orphans, two of them preemies. Get the Hawkeye's enclosure ready... and this a St. Helens waiting to happen, so make DAMN SURE we get no more of our "friends" from the media."