Fineshrine
one - two - three - four - five - six
Pairing: Dr. Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch x Original Female Character (Charlotte Adler)
Description: When Dana calls in an old coworker to help out during the July 4th tech blackout, Trinity makes it her mission to figure her out.
Warning: eventual smut, implied cheating, language. Check tags if you want specifics for each chapter
Author’s Note: Hey! So I always put my fun notes at the end of the chapter, but I wanted to give you a little background going into this.
1- I have never written an OC fanfic before. Please be gentle. 2- This literally came to me in a dream as 1st person POV, but it was too complicated to write that way, hence the OC, but just know- that's me but better. 3- This takes place during/after season 2, but there is some obvious canon divergence and slight timeline changes happening, as well as some head canons I worked into here. Mainly, Langdon get's divorced and starts seeing Mel, Monica doesn't exist, we took out the ICE agents, and Langdon isn't completely on everyone's shit list.
Chapter 1: SOS
The middle of the afternoon is always a weird time to be home with nothing to do. A liminal space between clean up from lunch, and prep for dinner. Not long enough to settle into any long haul activity, but too long to just fill with simple errands and cleaning, especially with rush hour around the corner. But Charlie manages. She has learned to adapt to this unscheduled lifestyle beautifully, and often uses this time to deep clean something insane. It’s just enough time to fully deep clean the oven, or shampoo the stairs, or re-caulk the guest shower. She’s just about to pull out the vacuum and strip the couch of its cushions when she gets the text from Dana. Three simple letters “SOS”.
Years of working so closely together means that the women have hashed out their own sort of system: a regular text is just a friendly convo, and a sudden phone call with no warning is an actual true emergency. But a text like this? That means “call me as soon you can, but no one is currently bleeding out”; or at least, no one that either of them need to worry about more than they would any patient in crisis. So Charlie calls. Immediately. But Dana’s phone goes right to voicemail, no signal to be found. “Shit…” she mutters, swiping through her phone for the direct hospital number that she hasn’t had to use in years.
“PTMC Emergency, it’s Princess, go medic command.”
“It’s Charlie. Dana sent me an SOS. How can I help?”
—
By the time the Uber got to her apartment, Charlie had managed to throw her hair into a clip and pull on the most appropriate clothing she could find, considering she no longer owned scrubs. She told the Uber she would pay double in cash if he could get there faster than the estimate, and would personally get them out of any speeding tickets if they happened to get pulled over. He must have seen the seriousness on her face, because the usual 20 minute drive took 7. Charlie shoved $200 in his hand and told him to have a great day. It wasn’t often that she threw money around like that, especially considering she still didn't feel like it was hers, but desperate times. Her husband would understand.
She rushed in through the ambulance bay and frantically looked for anyone who was currently in charge: Dana, Robby, Abbot- hell, even Shen. What she found instead was chaos: two women writing patients and rooms and abbreviations on a giant whiteboard, nurses looking at clipboards with the kind of confusion she honestly should have expected from people who had only ever used digital charting, and Princess sweating at the hub, finally looking like she could breathe again when her eyes landed on Charlie. “Oh thank God!”
“Nope, just me!” Charlie said with strained cheer, as she swung her bag under the desk, and took in the movement all around her. “Bring me up to speed.” And Princess did: the entire hospital was all analog due to a possible incoming cyber attack with no estimated down time, they were receiving patients from other hospitals in the area because they had already shut down due to the same issue, Dana was currently in with a patient and couldn’t leave until the exam was complete, and Robby had been dealing with a kid who lost half a hand to a firecracker.
“Christ, okay! So we’ve already got our stations set up, great. Just managing the chaos. And you guys are clerks?” she asked, looking at the two men filling out slips at the desk.
“No, medical assistants.”
“Okay, maybe they need you doing that more than this right now. Once Dana is back, get outta here okay?”
“Yes ma’am. You do not need to tell me twice.”
Princess continued to guide her through the set up they managed to scrounge up and ended at the whiteboard. “And this is Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, our new attending, and MS3, Joy Kwon who has saved us with her photographic memory”
“Hell of a first day ladies! I’m Charlie, reinforcements. Please think of me as the Pitt's personal assistant for the day. Supply runs, chart issues, labs, whatever. I’m the catch-all for issues that need to be fixed, but shouldn’t fall on someone who can actually save lives. Speaking of which,” Charlie held out her hand for the marker. “I can finish this,” she nodded to the blank bottom quarter of the white board. “Dr. Al-Hashimi, I am sure there is someone who needs you more than expo markers do.”
With that, Baran gave her an appreciative nod and left to check on current traumas, while Charlie and Joy rounded out the board and became acquainted.
“Called in on your off day?” the MS3 finally asked, in between spitting out patient stats.
Charlie just smiled wickedly. “Something like that. Okay, South 22…”
Once the board was finished, Joy left to continue checking on patients and Charlie turned her attention to the charts littering the edge of the station. She started with the discharges, trying to clear beds, and worked her way through labs, fixing mistakes in paperwork and making sure that orders were being ran and results being read at least every 20 minutes, if not more often. Almost an hour had passed once Dana finally appeared from her exam.
“I knew you’d figure it out,” she said coming up behind Charlie and squeezing her affectionately on the shoulders as the younger woman moved lab orders to the file slots.
“SOS and then no answer? I wasn’t sure if you needed me or if you were ready to quit again.”
“Ha! They can’t get rid of me that easy. What I miss?”
Charlie filled Dana in on where they were and what gaps they still needed filled. “If anyone is idle or needs a breather, send ‘em on a labs run. I figure that’s what I’ll mostly be doing, but the more the merrier. Now that you’re back, I feel more on top of things.”
“Yeah, someone’s gotta be in charge here. You see Robby yet?”
“Nope. Been running from trauma to trauma since I got here. Met the new attending, though. She’s gonna give him a run for his money, I bet. And one of your new med students is a fucking genius.”
“Yeah, we got a few of those around here these days. Speaking of which: SANTOS! WHITAKER! You haven’t had the pleasure of meeting my good friend Charlie, have you? She’s your point of contact for the rest of the day. If it’s not a medical issue, or a nursing issue, bother her- not me.”
“So nice to finally meet you both,” Charlie said with an easy smile, holding out her elbow for a bump. “I’ve heard great things!”
That seemed to surprise both the residents as they had never heard of her. Whitaker racked his brain trying to think of if he’d heard the name, or even a description of a young red head around the Pitt, trying to mind his Midwest manners. But Santos, as always, didn’t have the decorum.
“And I have heard exactly zero things! Did you used to work here?” She asked, immediately trying to sus out the vibe of the stranger.
“Oh yeah, many lifetimes ago. Me and this hellhole go wayyyy back. I’ve got a lost of experience with chaos and paperwork, so Dana called me in just to grease up the gears a little. Anything I can help you with?”
“Uh, no, no just gonna grab a new patient, and drop off some orders.” Whitaker sputtered out, placing the orders in the right area, and turning to the whiteboard to grab the first unclaimed patient and clipboard he laid eyes on. “Oh, he is a good boy,” Charlie thought. “Not even playing favorites on cases.”
“Bring the med students with you, I know they like you!” Charlie shouted after him and he nodded, only pausing once he was halfway down the hall to think about how she could possibly know that. She noticed Santos lagging though, studying the board like it would suddenly become a lot more interesting if she kept looking.
“Santos!” Charlie called getting the doctors attention, and nodding her head to beckon her back over. “You should take North 4 if it’s still open. Looks like a broken ankle. Derby player. Should be able to send her for imaging and then pick up something more fun while you wait. And…” Charlie dropped her voice conspiratorially “She’s hottt,” she added in a sing song voice.
Santos blushed a little and tried not to look completely read for filth, but was too tired to be annoyed by the personal intrusion. “Ohhhkay.” She picked up the chart and wiggled it a little as she walked to the room, “Thanks.”
Charlie continued to write up the correct lab forms, and put them in the right areas in between running orders and labs back and forth. Word began to spread that she was back and suddenly, the hub was the most popular place to be. Langdon was first to show up looking for her, with a smiley blonde by his side. “Adler! I thought I heard this place was haunted,” he said, running in to embrace her in a hug.
“Gonna need an exorcism to get rid of me.”
Langdon gestured to the woman next to him. “This is Dr. Mel King, R3.”
“Dr. King! Just as beautiful as you were described. So lovely to meet you. I’m Charlie.”
“Oh you’ve, um, someone said I was beautiful?” Mel stammered.
“Oh yeah, someone,” Charlie flicked her eyes to Langdon quickly as he shot her daggers, “hasn’t actually stopped telling me how amazing you are. You made the quite the impression.”
“Charlie,” Langdon interrupted before Mel could press further, “used to work here too, in admin. Now she just stops by to press my buttons and cause mischief.”
“Hey, I’ll have you know I was called in specifically to help today! The button pressing is just an added bonus, considering this is volunteer work out of the good of my heart.”
“There’s good in your heart? When did that happen?”
She just rolled her eyes at Langdon. “Whatever. How are the kids?”
“Exactly the same as they were last week when you asked me.”
“Oh, so I have no heart, but now I care too much? Which one is it Francis?”
“Not my name, you’re a monster, and I love you very much.” He said with a grin, picking up some lab results and hurrying away, taking Mel with him. Charlie just laughed, and returned Mel’s wave goodbye with a small salute.
A few minutes later, it was Garcia popping out of the elevator and shouting out to Charlie as she walked towards the trauma room to assess the patient Robby was currently working on. “Thought I smelled trouble. Hey, Big Lotto”
“Hey, mamas. Didn’t know they allowed for smoke shows in the hospital these days.” Garcia chuckled, and beelined for the hub, but before she could get distracted, Charlie reminded her of why she was here in the first place. “Go sew someone back together, I’ll be here when you’re done”. Garcia held up her hands in surrender and slipped into a room.
It had been hours of running orders and organizing files, but to Charlie it felt like second nature. It had been almost two years since she left the Pitt, and even though she swore she would never be back, there were times when she missed it: the people, the rush, knowing she could keep things in control under pressure. But she knew the novelty would wear off very, very quickly if she ever truly came back. She left for a reason, and that hadn’t changed. Plus, then she would have to deal with Robby at work.
Just as she was thinking she may be able to continue to avoid him by being on order and supply runs, he came storming out of Trauma 2 where Garcia had entered only minutes before.
“Why on earth are you here and more importantly, why am I hearing about it from someone in a different department?” Robby asked with just a hint of frustration below the surface that he was hopelessly trying to mask with fake flippancy.
“Because you are useless without me and the invite to the Welcome Parade got lost in the mail?”
Robby’s face stayed stern, waiting for an actual answer.
“Dana called me in. You needed back up, and I was available.”
“You’re supposed to be retired.”
“Retiring at 27 is insane, Michael. I quit to pursue other passions. There’s a difference. Now can you be helpful and make sure the board is up to date, or are you just going to continue to stand there looking at me like I broke your favorite toy?”
---
Santos was dropping off discharge papers for the derby player (compound fracture, discharged with a follow up in ortho as soon as possible, and Dr. Santos‘s personal info - just in case anything else came up. Purely medical. Of course.) while attempting to eavesdrop on their conversation. She didn’t know what Charlie’s deal was at all. How did she know that Santos was gay? Or that the med students followed Whitaker around like a pack of puppies? And most importantly why was she so comfortable flirting with Garcia?
“Michael??” Santos mouthed to Javadi across the hub, who just shrugged. She continued to observe Charlie and Robby’s interaction at the board. Robby seemed to be going through his patients and updating the board with anything else he could add, while she wrote and erased where necessary. Nothing seemed particularly interesting, just a former employee stepping in to help the hospital run smoothly in a crisis. But Trinity always had a Spidey sense when it came to people, and she was missing something here. Charlie’s whole demeanor with the staff was too easy: little too all-knowing and kind of flirty, if she was being honest. And now Robby said she retired at 27? How was that even possible?
---
“Where’s Jack?” Charlie asked as she finished the update and swung back into hub, grabbing at charts to write up order slips while continuing the conversation.
“At home, I hope. Came in earlier with a GSW patient from a SWAT mission. Got a little banged up himself. He should be sleeping before his shift. Why?”
“I thought you might miss your boyfriend. Figured he’d be a good set of hands to have here, but I guess even the best of us need our beauty rest.”
“Mhm…” Robby hummed, crossing his arms over his chest and raising his eyebrows over his glasses, not believing Charlie’s pure intentions for a second.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Charlie rolled her eyes and batted him on the arm with the papers in her hand. “I’m being serious. You could use the help. If I just wanted to oggle him, I’d call him up and do it on my own time.”
Robby’s pursed face twitched slightly, betraying something under his slightly dramatized annoyance. His voice dropped in volume and turned to a tone most of his coworkers had never heard him use before. “Charlotte…I don’t like you being here. You should go, we got this.”
“Not only are you lying through your teeth right now,” she snapped back. “But that is not a choice you get to make for me.”
“Technically, I’m Chief Attending and it is my choice.”
Charlie stilled, looking up from where she was writing, having been multitasking through the conversation. There was a fire in her eyes, and her voice dropped lower, accent thick in a way that sent shivers up the spines of Santos and Javadi, who were still spending this whole conversation trying pointedly to not look like they were eavesdropping. “Don’t you fucking dare pull rank on me, Robinavitch. If I couldn’t be here, I wouldn’t. End of story. Are we gonna have a problem?”
Robby unfolded his arms, hands up in surrender. “No, ma’am. Just let me know if you need anything, alright?”
“I need you to go save a life somewhere.”
Robby nodded once, slow and deliberate, and turned on his heel to check in some patients who had arrived in the most severe conditions.
Javadi and Santos quickly dropped their heads and busied their hands in hopes they weren’t being completely obvious. It didn’t really matter because Princess and Perlah would fill Santos in on the whole thing anyway if she asked, but it was just easier to watch it in real time. Charlie watched the two walk away together, heads close together and whispering conspiratorially. She huffed a single breath, knowing they just watched her chew out their attending, and that he seemingly didn’t want her there. The rumor mill was going to be flying. But she had been the subject of many rumors in her life, a good handful of them here at PTMC anyway, so it was no bother to her. She went back to work, picking up orders to run down to the lab and radiology.
End Notes:
- This is heavily inspired by Avengers-Tower-Everyone-Is-Besties-All-The-Time type of fics. Some shit wouldn't happen IRL (like spending that much time with your coworkers, or having so many coinciding days off, etc.) but this is MY fictional mind palace and HERE we suspend our disbelief sometimes when it's fun. I try to be as realistic and factual as I can manage, but my barbie dolls are mine to play with!
-I wrote this as one giant note in my phone. The chapters might be a little choppy and it might be dialogue heavy. I saw this as a movie in my head, I'm trying my best.
-I can see this evolving into a collection with some random one shots or additional series down the line, but I'm hoping not to make it a completionism thing. Trying to keep it loosey-goosey here.
-Everyone is here from the show. If I don't mention them? They're still here. Maybe they had a day off, or they were busy, but they're there. There's just so many of them.
- I cannot stress enough how absolutely RAN THROUGH Robby and Charlie are. Just FAWKING everyone crazy style. And no one is weird about it.
-I have worked on the admin side of medical for a very long time, but never in a hospital setting, so please excuse anything that is incorrect. I tried to be both as accurate and vague as possible.
-The perspective is third person limited, but it shifts between characters. This one if obviously Charlie and Trinity, but I'll probably do more in the future.