Echo

Chapter 5: The First Victim

Author's Notes: 14 Reviews!? Holy Bajeezus, you guys spoil me! Many of you informed me that you actually do read the author notes at the beginning, but regardless I'm going to finish this statement with the word nun chuck.

P.S. This chapter is short, so I will be posting chapter six as soon as it gets validated because I love you.

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Leonard

The doctor knew without even having to consult Joanna that adult sociopaths were once children, and that the signs of a child being a sociopath were all evident upon examination. Maybe that was why, as an eight-year-old, you had been shipped off to an assassin's agency instead of to the nuthouse.

The thought of it made him sick to consider, but had you been the one responsible for the deaths of your parents? He had heard you say you were orphaned at a young age, but he had not anticipated that you had enrolled in training to become a professional killer immediately following the event. Was such a thing even legal? The place you worked for was supposed to be a discreet governmental agency. Had they found a way to dodge the laws of child endangerment for the purpose of raising an army?

The subtleties of your affiliation with the agency were not what truly plagued him, though.

He knew that his daughter was not going to be around for him to talk to tonight, so after finishing his work at the medical bay he went for the next best source of information. Dr. Santos was in her office when he knocked and entered the room, discovering that she was pleasantly enjoying an afternoon cup of tea and idly gazing at her PADD, which contained employee psychological evaluations.

"Dr. McCoy," she said, smiling at him when he entered, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He did not mistake her delighted look to be one of sincerity. It was probably a well-concealed expression of raw excitement. She had wanted to shrink him since they day they met three years ago, and she was under the impression that he had come to talk about his daddy issues and sob into a handkerchief while she picked apart the different aspects of his psyche. It occurred to him that he was about to disappoint her.

He sank into the seat across her desk as she put away her reading material and said, "I have a nurse in my employment that I think might be a sociopath."

Where she had lit up before she seemed to diminish before his eyes, but regardless of that, she replied, "Okay, and what led you to believe that?"

Here, Leonard had to be careful, because despite his wishes to do so he could not outright admit that you were a trained assassin. Thus, he said, "She is strangely non-emotional. She has a detached sense of self when she interacts with other people, never really revealing many details. When provoked, she doesn't really get angry, and she is strangely comfortable with the sight of blood for a first year cadet."

"Hm," she replied, "That does sound like it. All but the part about not getting angry...tell me, when you talk to her, does she divert her eyes at all?"

McCoy nodded and said, "Yes, all throughout the conversation no matter how brief."

"Does she appear to have a strange fascination with wounds, injuries or blood?" She inquired.

He frowned and replied, "Not really, but usually first years vomit at least once during their time in the sick bay, and she's never given an indication that she's uncomfortable in the slightest."

"As far as you know, does she lie or manipulate people unnecessarily?" Asked Santos, beginning to click a pen.

Irked by the annoying sound, McCoy stared at her hand for a moment before replying, "I'd say she's definitely a liar, and she probably manipulates people as well, but I'm not around her enough to say for sure."