#i originally has doc as medic and simmons as engineer

[coyotejone-s]

together in every universe or some gay shit like that

[valkyrie-echo]

Project Echo, Part 1: Chapter 24 (Agent Simmons)

Part 1 Summary: A long-buried Hydra disaster, a monster in the shadows, a missing child. Eight months after the events of “The Winter Soldier”, Bucky turns himself in to the Avengers on one condition: They must help him find a girl snatched off the streets by Hydra seven years ago. In their quest, the Avengers accidentally unleash a horrifying creature of darkness and shadow, intent on making their quarry its prey.

Chapter 24: Agent Simmons

May was kind enough to help load Steve's motorcycle into the back of the helicopter and fly him to Avengers Tower, though she was hesitant to land there. On the way he grilled her about the Shadow- or Shadows, if SHIELD's original theory held water. The attacks went unnoticed for years, before an Agent started putting the files together. May had never seen a survivor, but the Avengers weren't the only ones who made it through the attacks. Survivors were very few and very far between- out of nearly 150 attacks, only 17 had survived. Of those, only 4 could remember seeing the creature. They all described the same thing-some sort of massive beast, indistinct. Those 4 who remembered were attacked over a 8 year period, and their descriptions indicated the creature was becoming more powerful- assuming a gradually distinct form.

Other than that, SHIELD knew nothing. People separated by entire oceans were attacked simultaneously on only 5 occasions, which is why SHIELD decided there must have been more than just one. If it could use shadows to transport itself, though, it didn't rule out or in the possibility of only one creature leaving blood and bodies in it's wake.

SHIElD's research into the beast, coupled with what Sam had found out from their 'Project: Helius' file and Astana incident reports indicated the creature had been there, in captivity, for years. If people were being attacked all over, then there were definitely two. At least. God save us if they really hunt in a pack. Steve pulled his cycle out of the helicopter and waved to May, who flew as quickly as she could to retrieve Simmons.

Steve left the bike outside and headed in. As soon as he crossed the threshold he saw Tony, waiting, "I've got new intel on the Shadow-"

"Talk to your boyfriend," Tony cut him off and pointed back towards the engineering lab, "he beat you to the punch."

"What?" Steve walked quickly with Tony following. He pushed the doors open and Bucky jumped. He was still terrified, still twitchy.

"I went to see if he wanted to join Clint and I for breakfast," Sam explained, "He was having a panic attack, nearly wet himself when I came up behind him. We can't get much out of him," he warned, "he says he saw it, but he won't describe the thing. He's convinced even talking about it somehow draws the creature out. And check this-"

Steve came around to stand behind Bucky, who was staring into spice, wide-eyed, "He kept saying it was behind him, so I took a look." Bucky's hair was pulled up into a short ponytail, exposing the back of his neck. Steve angled so the light shone directly onto it- it was moist, and even as he watched the moisture seemed to shift outward- like something was breathing on him. "We can't make it stop, we've tried everything. Whatever happened to Bucky last night, that thing has him locked in.

"Shit," Steve swore softly, then walked back in front of Bucky and crouched down so he was squarely within his friend's eye line, "Hey, we're going to figure this out, OK? Help is coming. We'll break the connection." Bucky just nodded, he was more scared than Steve had seen him in- well, decades.

"What about you?" Tony piped up, "You said you had-"

"-news from SHIELD, right. Thanks," he prayed Tony would take the hint and drop the issue. They didn't need to be any more freaked out than they already were- especially Bucky, "They're giving us Simmons to help figure things out." Tony watched him a moment, then nodded. Cap could keep his secrets, for now. Steve considered telling Bucky his hope that Simmons would be able to break the connection between them and the Shadow, but he held back. Telling him now wouldn't change anything, and if Simmons couldn't find a fix? Steve didn't want to think about that. If she couldn't create some sort of anti-venom, chances were good the team would continue to be picked off, one by one.

At precisely 7 o'clock Steve woke up to a knock on the balcony door. He'd slept in a chair in the lounge, ready to let Simmons in as soon as she arrived. He scrambled to his feet and ran around to the door. When he saw the small scientist he breathed a sigh of relief and had JARVIS unlock the doors for her. Simmons blinked hard in the bright room, "Sorry about that," he apologized quickly as the door locked again behind her. It was going to rain most of the week, they couldn't even rely on daytime for a reprieve from the Shadow now- the clouds were too dense, "did May fill you in on the situation here?"

Simmons was loaded down with bags of medical equipment and books. Steve took half the load in one hand and escorted her to the medical lab as she replied, "I thought it would be best if you explained. What precisely do you need from me, and what work have you already done to solve your problem?"

Steve paged Tony to come down and explain everything to Simmons regarding the venom and the brain scans he'd run. She listened intently, interrupting on occasion to clarify results or inquire as to his process. As soon as Tony finished speaking, Simmons drew blood and tissue samples from Bucky, Hulk, Inessa, and Steve, then ran fresh scans on all of them with her own equipment. By lunch she'd kicked everyone out of the lab so she could run her tests and process the results. Simmons promised nothing, but she seemed optimistic.

Bucky had calmed down only slightly from the day before. He busied himself in the mechanics workshop with yet another engine to rebuild, but Steve could tell he was still frightened of whatever it was he saw in his dreams. It was frustrating more than anything- someone somewhere had to know something about this thing, what it was, how to contain it, maybe even how to kill it, but Steve left his crystal ball in the 1940s and that was precisely what it would take to get any answers.

It was nearly 3am when Simmons called up to Natasha and Clint's apartment and asked them to bring Inessa down. She needed a test subject, and all that was left of Inessa was what the Shadow's toxin hadn't destroyed- making her the perfect person to test an anti-venom on. "It's rough," Simmons warned, "it probably won't work on a large scale, but I think it's worth a shot."

"You're the boss," Clint had heard of the young doctor- he hoped none of it was exaggerated. Fury was certainly a fan.

Simmons produced a syringe filled with a slightly green liquid and injected it slowly into the vein of Inessa's arm. She waited ten minutes, then started taking more tissue samples and ran scans every half hour for three hours. The results were promising. "There's a seven percent decrease in the presence of the venom in her blood stream," Simmons announced, "Which means I just have to isolate which part of the anti-venom is working and try to find a way to enhance it so we can make that seven percent at least a seventy."

She kept Inessa for the next couple days and ran scan after scan on the girl. Everyone took a shift sitting in the observation room and waiting for any sign of results. Simmons worked tirelessly until, at long last, she was ready to test her serum on the others.

"Do Banner," Bucky nodded to the man, "I don't want the cure."

"Wait, what?" Steve was confused, "You're not sleeping, you're not eating, and you want to stay like this?"

Bucky nodded, "If we're all cured, no one will be left to warn the others when it attacks again. Until we figure out how to kill it, I need to keep the advantage."

"Natasha and I sensed it before it even attacked," Clint pointed out, "Steve, you said you knew it was there before it got you too." Steve nodded, "Keeping that stuff in your veins might just give it even more purchase here. You need this injection."

Bucky shook his head, stubborn as always, "It's the right call. I know it is."

"I will leave you plenty of anti-venom," Simmons announced, "if you change your mind, you can take some later on." he nodded.

Banner offered his arm to her and waited patiently for the anti-venom to take effect. After a few minutes, his goggles seemed to make the world darker and darker, until he was forced to take them off entirely. By the half hour mark his normal vision returned. He breathed a sigh of relief, "I have to say, it goes down smooth," Banner shook Simmons' hand.

Steve was up next, but he didn't see any change. His silver scars remained, as did Banner's. Simmons still had work to do, but curing the venom was an excellent start.

"Now," she turned to Natasha and Clint, "Inessa is an unusual case-"

"-yeah, we're getting that." Clint smiled.

Simmons laughed politely, "She was given a massive dose of the toxin almost directly to her brain, and a second dose later on. I've found evidence that her body may in fact be producing the venom on its own now- albeit in extremely limited quantities. It's unusual behavior for a venom, you see this sort of thing in HIV- it can convert cells in the body to replicate its own DNA structure. The anti-venom will work, and I will continue to search for a more permanent solution, but it will take much more time than this serum. Inessa will need injections every twelve hours to keep the levels down. If you maintain this regiment, I believe her brain will recover sufficiently to begin forming new memories. Whoever she was before is gone, but that doesn't mean her life is over."

"Aye aye, doc."

May was there first thing in the morning to pick up Simmons. She was sorry to go- if it weren't for Skye and her condition she'd have stayed to monitor Inessa's progress. "I'll keep working through the samples," she promised Steve, "refine it a bit more. Do keep me informed of their progress? And take samples from Inessa every other day- I don't know how quickly her body may adapt to the injections."

Steve smiled and held the helipad door open, "It's all written down, don't worry. We owe you for all your help. Anything you need, don't hesitate to ask," he held up a small, gift-wrapped box,"a token of my appreciation."

Simmons opened the box and immediately threw her arms around Steve in a quick hug. She was bouncing in place, excited- a vial of Steve's blood! He laughed, "Just no replicating the serum- even if the recipe is written out in big letters in there, deal?"

"Deal! And I'll copy you on everything I find!" she was still beaming as she climbed into the helicopter. Fitz got in before her and helped pull her and the gear the rest of the way.

"What did Captain Rogers give you?" he asked.

"You were standing right next to me, weren't you paying attention?"

"I was a bit busy, wasn't I?! Going over YOUR bloody notes- it's impossible to read your writing."

Simmons buckled in and the helicopter took off, "he gave me a blood sample, if you must know, so I can complete my research into Erskin's serum."

"Ah," Fitz understood, "that's why you said you wanted to drop it with the lab boys, so they could start analyzing it for you while you worked on Bucky's blood."

"No, silly," Simmons smiled pleasantly, "Bucky didn't want to be cured, remember? It's just Inessa's samples I brought back."

Fitz returned the smile, "Of course, how foolish of me." May started her landing pattern by a series of warehouses. Men in black suits waited by an open area, "I'll get started on the Captain's sample, as you requested."

Simmons handed him the vial and he climbed out, "Thanks Fitz!" he waved and the chopper took off again.

"Good work," Morris stepped forward and shook Tyson's hand, "I'm very impressed. Your gift will most certainly come in handy." He nodded to the vial, "Is that Mr. Barnes' sample?"

Tyson sneered and handed it over, "Mr. Rogers, actually."

Morris' grin was almost manic, "Impressive indeed! Your reward just tripled. I'll send the boys over with the next two installments by the end of the day," a guard handed a duffle bag filled with cash to Tyson, "Your next mission is in there too. If you do half as well as you did today, you'll continue to dwarf even our most lofty expectations."

"I gotta say, it's nice to put my gifts to use."

"I'll never understand why Hydra put you in the Asylum. With your help, they would have ruled the world."

Chapter 25: Transformation

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

Around the Diabetes Blogosphere — November 2012 Edition

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/around-the-diabetes-blogosphere-november-2012-edition/

Around the Diabetes Blogosphere — November 2012 Edition

The year is coming to a close, and it's hard to believe we now only have one month left of 2012! Time flies when you're having fun, and the many happy posts we found around the diabetes blogosphere show that's what we've all been doing this past month!

Of course, November is the biggest D-Month of the year, in which diabetes awareness is on the world's stage. With World Diabetes Day itself on Nov. 14 and many other events happening the rest of the month, the Diabetes Online Community was abuzz with activity...

A post by Jess Collins over at Me and D caught our eye as a tribute to insulin co-creator Frederick Banting, who would have celebrated a birthday on WDD!

We were also very impressed with what Joslin Diabetes Center did in bringing some key DOC voices together, with its blogger project designed to raise awareness about living with diabetes. Each blogger wrote four posts about their own life experiences, and also helped raise money for Joslin's High Hopes Fund for cure and treatment research.

The Diabetes Hands Foundation had a strong month too, of course, marking news that our community reached the Big Blue Test goal of 20,000 entries before the deadline on WDD. They also shared the exciting news that the DHF Big Blue Test program was recognized as the work of a "top social media-savvy nonprofit using the Web creatively to make a difference in healthcare." Very cool!

Now in its second year, the World Diabetes Day Postcard Exchange project had 901 participants from across the world! We loved the creativity in all the postcards displayed on the project site. Heaps of thanks to our friend and D-blogger Lee Ann Thill who worked tirelessly to make this initiative a success for our entire community's benefit!

This month was also a heavy time for diabetes conferences, with a number of different events held across the globe. We liked this post from fellow PWD Simon Boots about the first-ever D-Summit in Australia. The Diabetes Technology Society Meeting was held in Bethesda, MD, and there was also the Global Diabetes Summit in Ohio that we covered here. Then of course, there was our very own DiabetesMine Innovation Summit, blogged about by D-Dad Bennet Dunlap over at Your Diabetes May Vary, and also by advocate and software engineer Doug Kanter at his blog, Becoming Diabetic.

As happens sometimes in November, our friend George "The Ninjabetic" Simmons unveiled a new project on World Diabetes Day. This year, we got a laugh (to the point of tears, for me) from checking out the first episode of NinjabeticTV!! We can't wait to see more, George!

The U.S. also wrapped up its 2012 election season, and Medtronic got creative by putting a diabetes spin on the election theme. The D-Community got to elect one of three "diabetes ambassadors," and once the votes were tallied the D-ambassador-elect made a special video with professional skydiver and fellow PWD Michael Craig to celebrate the victory.

Fellow type 1 Scott Johnson has a message for glucose meter makers, and he uses both words and photos to show manufacturers what he wants them to keep in mind when designing devices. Now, that's what we call keeping the PWD perspective in the spotlight. Thanks, Scott!

D-Dad Tom Karlya writes what many PWDs and D-parents think: If you don't have diabetes, then you really don't know what it's like to go through what we do. He takes the notion further, adding balanced perspective to give us an inspirational message for the times. Thanks for the great post, Tom!

Every PWD sometimes imagines a world without diabetes, but for the parent that's an even more sensitive and gut-wrenching topic - especially for those of us who fear passing diabetes on to our children. Type 1 D-blogger Scott E. explored the non-D world over at Rollin in the D, as did Kerri Sparling over at Six Until Me.

Ever doubt the power of the DOC in helping people feel better and do better in managing their health? Well, Jess Collins over at Me and D has ANOTHER powerful post called Real Tangible Hope that shows how these friendships and her overall support system has helped her. This brought a wide smile to our faces, so happy to read this... Keep it up, Jess!

Taking fingerstick tests and logging blood sugars isn't much fun (at all!), and some of us have cut some corners to convince our docs through the years that we are in fact doing BG checks -- even when we're not. But as PWD Alexis Pollak points out at I Run On Insulin, we can't hide the truth thanks to the A1C... and that number can reflect some of where we've been at different points in our lives.

Hey Diabetes Product Pitchers and Marketing Execs: our friend and fellow D-blogger Kim Vlasnik at Texting My Pancreas wants you to know something: The words you choose matter. Take note!

What exactly constitutes "normal"? Well, D-wife Sandy Floyd over at A Diabetic Spouse asks that question when looking at her relationship with her type 1 husband, Vince. Thanks for the thought-provoking post, Sandy.

Type 1 blogger Ryan at The Diabetic Cyclist found some inspiration recently, realizing just how much heart it takes sometimes in living with diabetes. He's keeping that in mind while tackling marathons and cycling events, as he works to prove that anything is possible for PWDs!

We share our favorites every month, but we want to include yours, too! Please send along your D-post picks for the month of December to us via email. We look forward to hearing from you.

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

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