Chapter Text
Gromsko didn't know much about the PMC that he had signed up for. After Captain Price had practically burned down his door one night and offered a spot to him, he had jumped at the chance to escape his miserable predicament and hadn’t asked many questions. He had signed the contract, left no trace of himself in the apartment he had been living out of, and was given directions and a ticket on a private flight out of Poland.
Someone working for SpecGru had pulled enough strings that Gromsko didn't have to go through any security checkpoints at the airport, which he had been thankful for. The plane that was waiting for him was a small utilitarian jet. He was the only passenger. There was a dossier waiting for him, and he tried to relax into one of the seats as he opened it.
The dossier contained a few pages on each of the other members of the group, pertinent medical information and descriptions of their abilities. Gromsko was going to be their medic, a job that his time in JW GROM had prepared him well for. He shifted back into a mindset he never thought he would get to adopt again, analyzing the data before him with a critical eye.
Gromsko finally got some more information on the pyrokinesis that Captain Price had displayed in his apartment. The man could create and control flames, although the limits of how hot they could be were redacted from the file. Based on what he was reading, melting the paint on his door and lighting a cigar were parlor tricks for the man. Gromsko made a mental note to stock more burn treatment supplies, not for Price himself but for the other members.
"What the hell kind of codename is Soap?" Gromsko wondered as he moved onto the next file. Soap's normal medical file was typical, but the explanation of his hydrokinesis was interesting. The man was still working on controlling his ability, but what stuck out to Gromsko were the incidents. Quite a few were listed on Soap's file of him ending up in episodes of dehydration that required medical assistance. Based on observation and testing he needed liters more water a day than the average person just to stay combat-ready, much less use his abilities. Gromsko made a note to check on the levels of electrolytes and such in the man's blood. The last thing he wanted to deal with was a case of hyponatremia.
Kyle "Gaz" Garrick's file was standard, and the description for his power was surprisingly short. It was listed as "Telekinesis up to 1000.0000g”. The only side effects that were recorded were headaches and nosebleeds once or twice from straining himself. There was little Gromsko could do for that besides migraine medicines and painkillers, but he added them to the mental list anyways. He wondered how they had been able to find what the upper limit of Gaz's ability was with such precision.
The last file for Gromsko to look through was not only the thickest, but also the most heavily redacted. He took a moment to rub his eyes before diving back into his work, the wings on his back twitching slightly at the discomfort of having already been in the plane for the better part of an hour.
There was more information on Ghost's ability than about the man himself. A few things stuck out to Gromsko immediately, including words like "endothermic" and "venom" and "cranial kinesis". He was left with more questions than answers about Ghost. By the time he finished reviewing the files again, and the plane was touching down at his new base.
Gromsko squared his shoulders and maneuvered himself off the plane, keeping the wings held as close to his body as he could. Price came out to the tarmac to greet him, and gave him an introductory tour of the base. It wasn't a large facility by any stretch of the imagination, but it had all the important parts.
While a few contractors had been hired to work with the PMC, the only ones in the organization so far with powers were Gromsko and the four men he had been given files on. Price explained as they walked that he had just recently started SpecGru himself, after the four men mutating caused them to suffer a similar medical discharge from the SAS that Gromsko had had from JW GROM. Gromsko wanted to learn more about the incident, but was focused on trying to take in his new surroundings.
Price mentioned that he would have to introduce him to someone named Laswell, but Gromsko was only half paying attention. He mostly wanted to go to bed and crash for a few hours, it had been a long week to arrange everything for the move.
"We'll get your bag put away in your room and get you over to medical for your physical." Price inserted the sentence casually into the completion of his tour of the base.
Gromsko stopped dead in his tracks. "Co?"
"Your physical." Price have him a look. "It's been a while since your last one, we need to be able to clear you to go on our upcoming mission."
Sobiesław's blood ran cold at the thought. Had he signed a contract just to end up back in another quarantine cell? His apprehension must have been clear on his face, because Price changed tactics a bit. "I know doctors make the worst patients, but we can't have you going out if we don't know whether you're ready for combat. Tell you what-" He placed a hand on Gromsko's shoulder. "Once we get this out of the way, it will be time for lunch and you can meet the rest of the team."
Price moved his hand and clapped it on Gromsko's back, a friendly gesture that had the other man stumbling forward a few steps. The sensation was like TV static in his mind.
Price practically dragged him to medical after that, and Gromsko endured the blood sample and physical exam with little resistance. He didn't have to suffer the indignity of the hospital gown since there was no way for it to comfortably fit, so he stayed in his underpants for the exam.
The only trouble he ran into was when the doctor decided it would be a good idea to test the sensory input and reflexes of the wings. The doctor didn't give him a warning before he was grabbing one of the joints in his hands and trying to stretch it. It startled Gromsko enough that the wings gave a full flap, throwing papers around the room, sending the doctor stumbling into the wall, and a few stray feathers floating free into the air. There was a beat of silence in the room for a moment while the chaos settled and the doctor adjusted his glasses. "I'm just going to note that your reflexes are good." The doctor said. The man moved through the rest of the examinations as quickly as possible, barely touching Gromsko as he did so.
Once he was cleared to go Gromsko rushed to get dressed and leave the room as fast as he could. He almost walked right past Price, who was sitting in one of the uncomfortable waiting chairs and reading through documents on his tablet.
Price looked up at him. "Ready to meet the team?”