Making the Best of it [Open - Multi-scene]

While it was certainly not her favorite thing, Ana was not as resistant to the concept of physiologists as many others seemed to be. She'd just been busy, between the relocation, between being in charge of the team until Jack was feeling more himself...it hadn't left her much time to do many other things.

But she had been one of the ones who'd wanted everyone's mental state looked into, and what sort of leader of the team would she be if she refused to do the same?

She knocked, letting herself into the office as she did. "Good afternoon, Doctor." She greeted him with a smile. "I know I should have paid you a visit sooner...I'm afraid I've been rather busy as of late though." A pause. "Hopefully this isn't a bad time?"

Harley had been dozing lightly when he heard the knock, jumping from his light snooze to give the woman a sleepy smile when she walked in, "Ana, it's good to finally meet you!" He stifled his yawn and stood up to stretch, shaking his head when she asked if it was a bad time, "oh no no no, I am glad to see you!" He gave a friendly smile and stood after a moment to go into the small space he used as a sort of makeshift kitchenette, "nonsense, you have been doing your best, I understand you being busy, ma'am. Coffee? Tea?" He cleared his throat, "I have uh...Stronger things if that suits you." He would get some minty tea going anyway, just in case, before turning back to her.

"things have been a tad less urgent since moving here, I've noticed, have you been handling the move alright?" He sat in a chair across from her and quirked his head to the side, "and I heard you had an unpleasant stint in Alaska, how are you holding up after that?" There was genuine concern in his voice, this woman had been through hell and back in a very short amount of time, and he felt she was holding back more than she would ever let on to her team, "you only have to share what you wish to, but know that I am here to listen to whatever you need to vent." He nodded, "I served my own time, I know how much of those struggles go, I only want to help you and your team." He went quiet after that, giving the floor to her to speak.

She settled down onto one of the comfortable seats. "Tea would be lovely. I tend to avoid the stronger things, they...make me rather testy." She did not drink often in her adult life, the last time had apparently ended in Reinhardt having to restrain her from trying to hit someone with a broken whiskey bottle. He'd found it...a weirdly hilarious and enduring situation. She'd taken it as a hint that she didn't really need to drink. Of course...that had also been many, many years ago. She'd undoubtedly mellowed a bit over time.

The mention of Alaska brought a strange expression to her face before she shook her head slightly. "That...was an unfortunate incident." She said after a few moments. "We were careless...and it came down to cooperation...or the death of one of our own." She started slowly. "So the next thing I was fully aware of...I was restrained to a table with a masked mad-man who accused me of all sorts of things, including collaborating with those that killed children." She spat out the words, the concept still unthinkable to her. "And...all of this of how I had to pay. How I had to suffer...before deciding to cut me open and insert cybernetics into me while I was fully aware of the entire situation..."

She hadn't meant to go too in depth into what had happened in Alaska, but the words kept coming. She hadn't wanted to put it on anyone else, Jack had been unconscious, Reinhardt hadn't seemed to want to know the details...undoubtedly because they would only make him angry over something he had no way to fix. Jamison certainly didn't need to know about most of that. Instead she'd tried to push it aside and keep going...yet this was exactly why Harley was here.

"I...he...presented me with an opportunity to escape...I assumed it was some sort of trap or way to track me but it seemed better than staying there...As it turns out they were in fact tracking me and using the cybernetics to try to...it was a strange thing, a way to send me messages. Commands. That if I did not do as I was told they once again threatened to murder those closest to me." She started to sound angry.

"They threatened me, and I had little choice but to cooperate or stand aside and watch as members of my family were killed in front of me. It never used to be that way..."

Harley nodded when Ana agreed to tea, giving a soft chuckle of agreement to her avoidance of stronger things, "ah yes, I can be the same way." He have a soft sigh of amusement, but his face became serious when Ana began to speak.

He was surprised by just how willing to share she seemed to be, he hadn't expected such a thing from any of them, but he was glad for it, he was glad to hear in such detail what she went through. It was easy for other people to pass off when their loved ones have been hurt or suffered, and truly it did hurt him too, but he was glad to hear her being so forwards and honest, this was truly what he was here for, and he was content to listen until the end of her tale, which finished right as the tea whistled on the little stove.

He took a moment to go and prepare them both a cup, handing her's to her before sitting back down and giving her a kind smile, "I am glad you told me this, it's often hard to relay these kinds of things to your family, or people you deeply care about. No one wants their loved ones to know they hurt." He looked thoughtful as he spoke, "the noble choice is often the hardest on you...Have you been holding up okay since returning home?" He sipped his tea and looked thoughtful, "you've done well for the people here, but you must care for yourself as well." He nodded, "you are useless to your company if you allow yourself to become overwhelmed, we are safe for the moment." He nodded, looking thoughtful, "may I suggest you take this as a sliver of time to focus on yourself, even if only for a moment, your mind will thank you in the end for taking the opportunity to rest."