"No one's ever walked into my garden before," She called out to the intruder. "Do you have a death wish?"

He focused on the sound of her voice, allowing it to lead him through the fog. It was a little hard to see beyond a few steps. "You didn't leave me much of a choice, sneaking off after extraction like that."

"You must give your security detail a lot of headaches, Doctor." He heard her again, this time a lot closer. Soon enough the faint blue outline of her hoodie became visible in the fog. She was out on the grass just up ahead, waiting for him. The Doctor joined her, sitting beside her with his legs crossed.

Blue Poison eyed him suspiciously. Most people would be on the ground and struggling to breathe in this kind of environment. The fog was laced with one of the most lethal kinds of poison she could make. Yet the Doctor was acting like he was in the middle of a picnic. Her eyes widened.

He even brought something to eat!

"Is that...one of my apples?" She stared at the fruit in his hand, completely baffled. "You know if you eat that you'll die, right?"

"Ah, this. I hope you don't mind," The Doctor told her. "They looked ready to be picked."

"Please don't do that."

As he admired the vivid blue color of his snack, the Sniper scanned his figure for the equipment. It was the only way to explain how he was still alive but he wasn't carrying anything special, like an oxygen tank. His face shield didn't look any different than usual either. Could he have installed a special filter inside? If that was the case, Blue Poison was sure he'd have to replace it soon enough. All she had to do was wait things out and he'd be forced to leave.

They sat in silence for a minute. Then five minutes. Ten. The fog seemed to grow denser over time, matching her growing frustration.

"Hey, tell me. How are you doing it?" She asked him after a while.

"You missed the debriefing," The Doctor repeated.

It wasn't at all what she had asked about but she laughed all the same, feeling at the same time utterly dismayed. Had he really risked his life here just for that?

"You mean the victory party?" Waving it off, she leaned back on the grass. "I hate those things."

Why waste time there when she could retreat into her garden? Rhodes Island had been especially generous when they assigned her a Habitat Zone on Zero Level. There was so much room to grow her plants...

"You don't have to stay cooped up here, you know?" His face shield lit up with a red light when he talked. "It's good to spend time with your team and get to know each other."

"You want me to be best pals with everyone? Like you and Dr. Kal'tsit?" She teased him, suddenly eager to get under his skin. It was common knowledge by now that the two lead doctors of the Island were on opposite ends of the spectrum with almost everything. If it wasn't for Amiya bridging the gap...that poor rabbit had it rough.

Yet the Doctor showed no signs of annoyance at having the conversation flipped on him.

"That's right," He said without hesitation. "Dr. Kal'tsit and I both want what's best for everyone. Even if the way we practice medicine is a little different, we still have each other's backs."

"I think "little" might be the understatement of the century," Blue Poison closed her eyes, her mind conjuring up an image of the doctor with a permanent scowl on her face. Right behind her she could see her teammates. They still wore the same reactions they had at the end of her first mission. Horror-struck. Disgusted. Grim. The toxins she used as her weapons, deploying them as a Sniper using the aid of a cross-bolt, were very effective against Reunion. So much so, that their blood-curling screams were louder than anything else happening on the field.

She had never allowed anyone to die that painfully again. Not even an enemy.

"It's impossible." She said finally. "I'm...different." Saying that, she felt a certain weight pressing down on her chest. She had gone through it many times before. The crushing feeling of disappointment that even in Rhodes Island, a place that accepted so many individuals from all walks of life, she couldn't find a place among others.

She heard a loud crunch and the Operator shot up immediately, catching the Doctor munching on the blue apple he had brought along. Her heart sank down to her stomach.

"Wait! Doctor!" She screamed out. "What did I tell you?! That apple is...!"

She reached into her pocket, panicking as she tried to find the small test tube she carried around. Just as she could produce poison, so could she provide an antidote. She had spent many nights before a mission extracting enough to soothe anyone suffering at death's door.

But would it be potent enough to cancel out the venom?

He had removed his face shield and exposed himself to the fog just to eat that. Even worse, that apple was sure to dump its own toxins into his system. No matter how she cut it, they were up against a fatal dose here. There was another crunch again just as she popped open the antidote in her hand.

"I won't die," He said calmly.

"What...?" She watched at his side as he took another bite, his real face hidden inside his hood. There were no convulsions and the air wasn't filled with the screams from her nightmares. When he was finished, the Doctor locked the mask in place again before turning to face her.

"I won't die so you don't have to pretend anymore," The Doctor said. "You've been trying to chase me off, saying you like it here, with no one around. But...the truth is you've been worried, right? About everyone."

"You're...still alive? You're okay?" Confusion mixed with relief and she felt her eyes start to water. She wiped them away with her sleeve, only for new tears to form and stream down her cheeks.

He raised a hand over her head, hesitating for only a second before he started ruffling through her short pink hair.

"You're an outstanding Operator, Blue Poison."

In response, he was almost knocked backwards into the grass when the Operator crashed into his chest.

"You've been feeling lonely, right? I'll eat with you whenever I have time," The Doctor said, his voice free from any fear regarding her powers.

"You idiot..." Her words came in a whisper and he decided to hold her in his arms for a while. He sat there with her, waiting patiently as the shock morphed slowly into quiet sobbing. She didn't want to know how he did it anymore. She just let herself absorb the fact that there was someone out there who could withstand the poison in her system. Just thinking about it made the weight in her chest much easier to bear.

She closed her eyes. Their faces were still there and they sent shivers running down her spine. But there was someone beside her now. Even if they judged her with their stares and talked behind her back, she was going to be okay. Probably. "Dr. Kal'tsit...doesn't trust me. None of them do. I've seen the way they look at me. They don't even eat when I'm around." Blue Poison said quietly. "I didn't come here to make trouble for Amiya. That's why, it's better...if I stay here. It'd give everyone some peace of mind."

"The ability to recognize the feelings of those around you and put others before one's self..." The Doctor thought, watching the fog dissipate around them. "Did you know? There are others on Rhodes Island who feel just as you do. They are good Operators...but ones who haven't found their place in the company we've created. I want to fix that."

"Doctor?" Blue Poison looked up at him.

"I'm making a new team," The Doctor said. "And you're going to be the captain."