“No, although I’m sure you’ve been invited for tests on numerous occasions – I bet they’d love to figure out your powerset up in the research labs!”

Some people mistakenly believed the MNRU to be intricately linked with the Hero Program, but they were in fact two separate government programs. There were several facilities like the MNRU across the country, though it was by far the largest (and most secretive) of its kind; each one worked with the relevant metahuman populations in their areas. Sometimes this included Heroes, although mostly just for checks and tests, but mostly it focused on the kind of patients Nate dealt with. Claire was a particular rarity – she was officially a Hero, but a deal had been arranged with the Hero Program under the guise of collaboration that brought Claire into the employment of the MNRU. A form of rather permanent contract work.

It was strange to hear that Paladin didn’t have a big social circle of metahuman friends – Nate had always assumed that the whole Hero gang would hang out together laughing and recounting their heroic tales to one another while they awaited the next Bat-Signal. Or at the very least, there would be some kind of regular meta-coffee shop where they all secretly met up to share their experiences.

“If it helps, the majority that I get to meet have some of neurological or psychological issue, so there’s not really the same chance to get to know someone there either,” he said with a grin. “You seem pretty normal though – hopefully I’ll get the chance to get to know you while we hide out here.”

When she’d leaned in, Nate had first been worried that Paladin was about to divulge some major secret or drop a major bomb about the MNRU, but instead a warm smile spread across her face.

“I’m only in charge of the super-secret mega meta-soldier program, of course,” Nate teased. Which, in a way, was a half-truth. He had worked with Anna after all, and his exclusive access made him technically in charge (although Jack would probably have a thing or two to say about that claim). “Interested in being one of my test subjects?”

He noted the empty glass and the watchful look at the bar. Carol was nowhere to be seen – Nate could probably dash over and grab something if he was quick. The VIP area was thankfully far less crowded with people wanting to discuss their own achievements. (They were still there, and in many ways worse, just in smaller numbers).

“Can I get you anything?” he asked, gesturing to the glass. His own was still half-full but he could easily finish it off while he was ordering the next round. Nate was a seasoned pro at finishing off barely-decent drinks. It made it closer to his round; closer to ordering decent liquor.

“What are you-”

Anna pulled her underwear down.

“No, no, no - no need to do… don’t do… you can, um!”

Nate shook his head, flustered at the bare arse before him. Her expression was one of quiet, unquestioning obedience. Obviously her previous examiners had exclusively taken rectal thermometer readings which was… fine, but not necessary here. An oral temperature reading would be close enough - all her measurements so far had been exactly what someone would expect of a woman of her size at peak physical fitness, so Nate wasn’t too concerned about any benefits the rectal thermometer reading may have in terms of accuracy.

“Pull those up,” he said, doing his best to sound gently amused rather than completely taken aback. “I’m just going to put the thermometer in your mouth today.”

He twirled it deftly in his fingers - only showing off just a little bit - while he waited. It was a distraction as much as it was a gentle exercise in fine motor skills. Nate had done the same once with a mercury thermometer back in high school and his lab partner had smacked it out of his hand unexpectedly, causing it to shatter and causing them both to stay behind in class for the rest of the year tidying the lab as punishment.

“Say ‘ah’,” he instructed quickly, thermometer poised.

Once he’d compiled a picture of Anna’s vitals, it was time to think of some of the other considerations Jack would have for their new employee. He’d probably need a few blood samples, maybe a urine sample too.

“Sorry about that earlier misunderstanding,” he chuckled. “That all looks great though, Anna, thank you. I’d just like to take some samples for testing - blood and urine, if that’s okay.” He pulled up the relevant pot and held it before her. “Bethan at reception will be able to show you where the bathrooms are if you get lost, but they’re just on the other side of the waiting room. Can’t miss them.”

He made sure to get that detail out the way quickly so Anna didn’t pull her underwear down again.

“While you do that I can see if there are any nurses available to help take a scan of your abdomen and find out what’s causing that… poking. Or I could check on Claire’s availability and we could visit her?” he added. “Your choice.”

Fortunately for Nate, Paladin did not seem disturbed by the fact that he'd nearly sat on her. In fact, she was laughing. Even joking with him! It certainly was one way to meet people - and apparently pretty effective too.

"Hey, I like to think I'm pretty good at meeting people," he said with a smug grin. Fact of the matter was that Nathan Havelock was indeed quite excellent at meeting people, even if it was by awkward accident in this case. He'd had a lifetime of training in social skills at dull, self-indulgent high society parties and he liked to think that he could talk his way around any room if need be. The social world his parents lived in may have repelled him greatly, but it had also fed his natural charisma immeasurably.

He was positively buoyant at her 'great minds think alike' comment. It was almost flirtatious given the circumstances.

"You'd really class my mind in the same league as a famous superhero?" he scoffed, though the twinkle in his eyes gave away his intelligence anyway. "I'm honoured." Definitely teasing her there - just a little. He was genuinely honoured to meet one of the most prominent Heroes in the country, after all. Who wouldn't be?

As Paladin extended her hand, Nate offered a rebuttal by raising his champagne to block it.

"The pleasure is all mine," he said smoothly, "But please, we are at a party after all. To hiding from parties!" Nate tilted his glass towards her, hoping that she'd join him in the rather cynical toast.

"I'm Nathan Havelock, by the way. My mother may have mentioned me if you had the delight of being cornered by her this evening." He pulled a face. "Please, call me Nate though."

It was almost inevitable that his mother would have spread word of her darling son Nathan. Whether any of it was true was another matter, of course. Carol tended to be economic with the truth at the best of times.

Carol Havelock had a knack for getting herself invited to the hottest of social events on any given calendar, and New York Fashion Week was no exception. She’d witnessed a couple of the more high-profile collections and had acquired invites for a select number of invite-only parties throughout the next few days. She had long given up on trying to bring her husband to such things – he barely tolerated the stuffy company parties for his own business as it was. Her son, however, still obeyed her instructions for the most part, no matter how insultingly he had tried to distance himself from the world she had raised him in.

He was probably quite aware that without her and her husband, Nate would have to make quite a few lifestyle sacrifices. He’d never openly admit it of course – he was quite insistent on “making it” on his own – but somebody had to put him through medical school and help pay the rent. Accordingly, Nate occasionally indulged his mother in her invitations – and so he found himself at an exclusive after-party surrounded by vapid celebrities searching for opportunities for the perfect candid shot.

There was even a VIP area. An extra layer of exclusivity to the invite-only party. Carol had connections in many places, of course, and Nate had VIP access by extension, but so far he’d been trying his hardest to find somebody normal and so had stuck to the rather more crowded “open” area. His quest hadn’t been particularly successful, although he’d been having an interesting discussion about metahuman fame with a model who could change the colour of their skin until his mother appeared with a pretty young woman in tow for him to be introduced to.

Nate excused himself, leaving the girl to gawk at the colour-changing guy, and escaped through the crowd before Carol could chase after him.

He ended up in the one place she’d never think to actually look; the VIP section.

Cheerfully accepting a glass of champagne from a passing tray-bearer, Nate slipped to the side of the room. It was lined with booths – mostly occupied with bored-looking beauties – but the last one in the far corner seemed empty. It was smaller, and you couldn’t see into it from the open section, so it was highly undesirable to people looking to be noticed. It was precisely what Nate needed.

He sat down so swiftly that he nearly spilled his drink, and he lifted it quickly to his mouth to contain any potential overflow. As he did so, he began to slide more comfortably into place on the seat before realising that the booth wasn’t quite as empty as it had first appeared.

Nate jumped up, aware he’d been nearly on the verge of sliding himself all the way onto her lap, and hurriedly switched seats. “Sorry, didn’t see you there,” he laughed, setting his drink down as he made himself more comfortable. “I was kinda hoping to hide here but I guess you had the same idea first.”

He looked up to view his companion properly at this point, realising with a jolt that the costume was more than just a fashion statement. He didn’t say anything further, but she’d probably be able to spot the surprise on his face if the neon lights had hit it at the right moment. Paladin!

An actual superhero, and from his home city nonetheless. Maybe this party wasn’t such a lost cause after all.

“Billboards – you mean ads? Trying to sell you stuff usually, right? Yeah they can be distracting. I’d be happy to show you what a forum looks like though!”

Nate turned to the computer, wondering idly if the system would flag it up as inappropriate usage. He pulled up Google, typed in “forum” and then turned back to Anna.

“Any particular interest? Baking, dancing? Forum for the vertically-challenged?” He stuck his tongue out a little between his teeth, unable to quite resist poking the rather dangerously powerful metahuman. She shouldn’t have been standing on his sink or he would never have had to address her tiny stature. Anna was broad for her height though – quite stocky and obviously strong. She seemed sweet enough but Nate should probably know better than to pick on her too much.

“I can get that check done ASAP, no problem. I take it you haven’t been suffering from any illness since you… arrived in San Francisco?” She seemed perfectly healthy from the outside. “Any aches or pains?” Apart from Jack Fontaine, of course?

He scrambled around under his desk, reaching a pile of fairly dusty textbooks that a well-meaning consultant had obviously left there in case people needed to review content that couldn’t just be found in a simple search online. He pulled up Kaufman’s Clinical Neurology for Psychiatrists, which had a few handy diagrams on the front to vaguely hint at what neurology entailed. He gestured to the cover, holding it out just in case Anna wanted to bore herself silly.

Nate frowned in thought. “I’ll see what I can do about tracking down family, maybe I can get in touch with you later this month if I find anything. You never know, we may be able to recover some memories in the process,” he added hopefully.

He nodded understandingly at Anna’s interest in Claire. It could potentially be a very healthy and productive meeting for the two of them – Anna’s low-intensity conversation pace matched Claire’s natural quietness pretty perfectly. “I can certainly try to get you back there to meet her – I think Jack has put you into the system at quite a high security level, just because they could, I bet.”

Nate tried to recall Claire’s schedule – he was fairly sure that today was a low-intensity day for her. True days off were few and far between but he’d managed to stress the value of giving the young Hero a chance to rest and recharge. He may have slightly exaggerated the negative impacts of not giving her rest days when drawing up his report; they were far more likely to listen to his concerns over her wellbeing if he phrased it as matter of efficiency.

“I’d probably tell you anyway.” Nate grinned broadly as though the two of them were hardcore conspirators – not just cogs in the MNRU machine. He rested his chin on his hands and leaned in, just a little, as Claire began to talk about her current assignment. Information like this provided a pretty obvious clue as to why Claire was a member of the Hero Program, despite not being your traditional costumed superstar like the ones you saw on TV. Investigating secretive Russian operations? Pretty badass.

“Longer, huh.”

Nate raised an eyebrow and leaned back, taking a long steady sip of his tea. “Don’t let her push it too far. We know it gets more… difficult if you stay in too long. I’ll give them my recommendations but it’s up to you to make sure they don’t take advantage.”

Claire would be well aware now of Nate’s disapproval regarding the ethics of her work with the MNRU. As a doctor, he couldn’t help but put her safety and wellbeing first, and he had the distinct impression that that was not the case with the rest of her team.

She definitely seemed to have lightened up a little though. Maybe the tea had some kind of special relaxing ingredient. Nate didn’t want to think too much about that in case it were true and he needed to answer any questions on his way out. He didn’t think so though, of course. Claire wasn’t exactly the type to spike her tea.

“Great!” he exclaimed. “I’ll get in touch. She’s a gorgeous woman, you’d love her. Does a lot of charity work – and we both know how into helping others you are.”

What was unspoken, of course, was that Harriet could afford to do a lot of charity work because she was very, very rich. And the charity work was always conveniently in beautiful exotic places – just perfect for an Instagram shot. Nate himself didn’t really think anything of it, however. It was just the kind of world he himself had grown up in.