Understand ((justprompts activity))
Brief Synopsis: While in the middle of a brutal fight somewhere, an unexpected turn of events happen, to which Hei's not really prepared for... Hurt and baffled as to how he arrived in a completely different location, he finds himself in the company of someone completely different from the enemy he was fighting.
Author Notes: This random idea for a scenario came to me. A random experimentation of sorts. Warnings of strong violence in the first part I must include.
Hei fell to one knee as he felt that sharp tail blade scrape against the back of his shoulder. Damn, she was fast! Vertigo had reappeared somewhere behind him again, so he tossed another of his knives, ignoring the new amount of burning pain he received.
There came a ferocious hiss in response. There was no time to feel good about getting another hit as he whirled around and tossed one of his wires. She leaped aside and thrust forward her whip-like tail. Hei ducked and rolled before she could lash him in the front like she did before. He was learning her fast fighting techniques the best he could to gain the upper hand.
The good thing about her teleporting was that it gave off a sound, something he could not compare it to. As she did this again, he got to his feet quickly and braced himself to evade another advance.
That long muscle of a tail flicked forward like a blur. He dived and rolled to the side in the dirt toward the fallen wire. Snatching it, he pushed himself to get back up.
He tensed and rushed toward her while hearing her taunting voice in his head. "Not good enough. Try harder!"
Hei's jaw set in as he ran to her. While a hard determination to get closer had sunk into the core of him, her snake eyes started to emit a greenish glow. Another trick, he assumed.
He started to feel a little disoriented but came ever closer while attempting to toss that wire to wrap around Vertigo's long neck. His head felt strange, lighter in weight. His vision was blurring, but he had been able to see a thin stream of black reaching its mark as he gripped the other end of it tightly. He reached inside of himself upon will, and used his sister's power to electrocute this monster.
His ears rang when he heard a high pitched shriek, embedded with hissing. Hei didn't dare lose his grip on the wire as the blue sparks ran along it, traveling on the thin narrow path toward his target. The outline of his lithe body glowed blue. His fierce emotionless blue eyes twinkled crimson, and all the while Vertigo looked blurrier by each second, her eyes two twinkling orbs of green light. He wasn't going to stop until she fell dead.
"You think you can kill ME," the angry female voice bellowed telepathically.
He wasn't thinking at all; just doing. As the Black Reaper, all that Hei ever becomes is a driving force of action. Thoughts and discussions were only minor hindrances unless he felt he had to engage in them.
Another wild scream came out of Vertigo as a blue light was spreading all around him, Pai's other power awakening as everything glowed in a blue hue.
A stinging wallop to his chest sent him flying as the glow was dimming. Hei still couldn't see clearly enough as to what was happening in front of him, but he knew that he had her. A breeze whipped back the bangs of his dark hair as the blue light all around dimmed to darkness.
An upcoming wave of pain spread across his lower back. There was a different light and blur of colors as he heard his body bang up against something. He fell hard face down. He heard his painted mask, painted mostly white with a purple lightning bolt over one of the small eye holes, crack a little as his chest ached from the landing. This next pain came from something harder than a dirt covered field. With all those tail lashings and some small wounds from Vertigo's dangerously sharp fangs, this new pain with that all together had taken the wind from his lungs.
Hei rasped out a strained breath. If he could just get back up... He would surely be killed if he didn't.
He stuck a hand in one of his trench coat pockets, searching for a knife to slice through scaly blue and teal patterned flesh in case Vertigo attacked.
To clear his vision, he had to blink several times. Hei as the Black Reaper expected to hear that sinister voice in his head again. It would be no surprise to hear her reveling or saying in any chance just to provoke him to attack again.
"Ow, ow... Ow-ow-ow. Fuck." The hushed voice coming from somewhere close by didn't sound like the damned dinosaur at all.
Vertigo always spoke in his head. It seemed to be her only form of communication. Not once had he seen her reptilian mouth move to form words. All he'd seen was her dark forked tongue flicker in and out, in and out occasionally like any lizard or snake.
So no--this new voice belonged to someone else entirely. That didn't mean he was safe, necessarily...
As Hei's vision came clear, he could see a rug. Beside him was a wooden table, tools, small cement statues, and cinder blocks scattered along the surface.
Everywhere was so quiet, except for the heavy beating of his heart and the padding footfalls from whoever was coming to see him.
The same voice as before, a young woman's, couldn't finish what she was trying to say. "Oh my..."
Hei didn't care if he shocked the person. A part of his mind was furious as well as confused. What the hell happened? Was this Vertigo's doing? Was this another one of her damned tricks to sneak up near him and take him down?
"Who are you," he demanded, his voice low. "Where am I?" He was struggling to stand, but it felt like everywhere hurt. Possibly, he was hurt that bad. His arms and chest were soaking wet in his clothes from bloody wounds, wherever Vertigo had bit or cut into him with her tail blade.
"Holy..."
Hei looked up to see who must have been the owner of this room that looked like a basement in seeing the tools and work table, a washing and drying machine side by side against the wall, a chair with stacked clothes on it behind the woman he glanced at.
It's no surprise that he saw fear on her face. Aside from slightly trembling in place, the casually dressed woman stayed still. She was unarmed and he could tell that she wasn't going to harm him. This person was just a person, showing no traits of an attacker, or even the neutral emotionless gait of a Contractor.
Hei let himself relax, but just a hair. Even if she was truly harmless, there might be a chance that Vertigo was nearby here--and he didn't want any innocent bystander getting hurt because of him.
"Get out, and run as fast as you can," he said, still straining to keep his voice steady.
The civilian only flinched, but didn't go anywhere. "What? W-Why?"
"No questions. Just get out," he commanded. "Hurry."
"But, you're hurt!"
"I'll be fine. Go now."
The strands of long red hair around her neck, and shoulders twitched from side to side as her head moved in jerky movements, looking for the danger.
Over a few minutes have passed, but there was no sound of Vertigo teleporting. He still hadn't heard any voice in his head, or any snake hissings. This enemy was still fairly new to him, so he was trying to prepare himself for anything.
She was starting to move close in his direction. In one quick motion, Hei got out one of his knives that was split down the middle. She came to a complete stop as he held it out for her to see. "Not this way."
More seconds quietly ticked by. Hei's guard was still up, but if Vertigo was waiting for the perfect time to take this idiot out, she'd spring out now and do it. That was what he'd do, if he were her.
Hei saw tears sliding down the civilian's cheeks. "Stop. Okay? Just stop."
She wouldn't be able to see his cobalt blue eyes narrowing. Nevertheless, he fell silent, eventually giving up. More than enough time for the snake dinosaur to take them both out had passed. Vertigo didn't know Hei was here.
"You're bleeding all over the floor. I...I can't stand by and watch you die, whoever you are. I don't know where you came from, but there isn't any danger here." She heavily exhaled. "Obviously."
He was going to say something to argue, but didn't. Lowering his knife and putting it away, Hei didn't see a point in enforcing any violent act towards her. It was clear that she wanted to help. Stupid, but bold, he considered her to be. There was no sense in killing this woman, and no matter what he told her, he guessed that whatever threat he'd voice out would be meaningless. Little by little, he felt himself weaken. He'd still have enough energy to strike out from where she stood, but it'd only be a waste of effort. The person was right; Hei was seriously wounded.
"Who are you," he asked, forcing himself to calm down. Clearly, all she wanted to do was help him.
"Laura. Laura Wilkinson," she replied. Hei saw her swallow as she remained where she was. "Hold on. I-I have to get a first aid."
She turned and hurried over what sounded like a wooden stairway. Instantly he recalled what he heard from Laura earlier--she must have hurt herself. Was she in the middle of something, or did she hurt herself while rushing over to see his unexpected arrival?
All the while, not much else made sense. What happened? Where was he, and what the hell happened to Vertigo? The burning question that rose above them all; why was he here?
Shortly, he saw Laura hurry back, carrying a plastic red case. Hei didn't move while making the last minute decision to just cooperate and let her patch him up.
"Are you some masked avenger, or something," she wondered while cautiously reaching forward to take off his mask. "Because if you are, I promise not to tell a living soul about this."
"No," he simply said, and didn't make any sudden movements as she took off his mask.
He didn't care if she saw who he looked like. Even if she did decide to make contact with any police department, he wouldn't let her. If there was no other option, he'd kill her. Hopefully, it wouldn't come down to that. Taking down some ordinary and harmless person such as Laura was the very last thing he'd allow himself to do.
From his one word answer, he noticed that she picked up on him not wanting to tell her much of anything about himself. Carefully, she set the cracked mask on the table. Hei said and did nothing, his expression completely blank. His eyes watched Laura as she examined his face for injuries.
"May I remove your coat?"
"Go ahead," Hei said. His voice was almost monotone, and his odd behavior was causing Laura to stare. "Hurry." If she wanted to help patch him up, she should just go ahead and do it. Never mind that he wasn't normal. Never mind that he just...appeared in this room unexpectedly.
Laura bit her lower lip as she removed his trench coat, to which no doubt was heavily stained with his own blood. He watched her set it aside, and moved to tend to the small gashes along his arms and chest. The pain alone was very bad, a burning sensation.
Laura let out a startled gasp, but didn't hesitate any longer as she opened up the red box. Hei could see a bottle of rubbing alcohol, bandages, some rags, a sealed plastic bag containing two needles, and spools of thread. She got to work right away, soaking a rag with the alcohol. At least he wasn't bleeding profusely, or else he'd have to prompt her to work even faster.
Hei didn't flinch much when she began to clean up one of his arms.
"So...I don't know your name."
"It's Hei." He looked away, able to tell that his observation was making her nervous. "Do you even know what you're doing?"
"I'm a medical student," she said. "It's only another month until I get my degree."
"I see..."
"Just stay as still as you can." She moved his left hand to his arm. "Hold that there."
Hei did so without objections as she grabbed for a roll of bandages. He promptly removed his hand as she wrapped it tightly over the wound.
"Who did this to you," Laura wanted to know. "What happened?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"No matter how unbelievable your story seems, I'll try to." She finished wrapping the first bandage.
"Trust me. You're better off not knowing."
A heavy sigh came out of her. "Okay, look. I don't care. No matter how crazy you think your story sounds, I want you to understand something. This is my place you just crashed into, and secrets aren't allowed in here."
Hei's neutral expression just hardened. If that's how it has to be... "Somewhere else, I was fighting a giant lizard. She wanted something from me. And I only know that much as to why she attacked."
He turned to glare at her. She looked as startled as she was no less than a few minutes ago, and probably thought he was mentally ill. "Understand this. I'd rather have you focus on what's going on here than what had happened."
She paused, and stared at him.
"Are we clear," Hei persisted.
"...Crystal," she softly said, and went back to preparing to dress up another wound. "It's better than nothing..."
- - - - - -
The chest wound was the most serious. Hei had to sit on the table under the lamp light so she could stitch it up. There wasn't a need to remove his shirt, and Hei had insisted that she didn't. Laura had to move a toolbox aside so there was enough room for him to complete the sewing.
Laura kept quiet, taking the hint that he was very antisocial. Especially at this time.
"There. Much better," she said, in satisfaction.
Glad I could be of some practice for you, he silently thought as he pushed himself off the tabletop. "Thanks."
"You may look and act scary as hell, but I had to do something. But--is there anyone who cares for you? I mean, is there someone I should call? The phone's upstairs."
"No. Not necessary," he says, as he walks toward the door, gathering his coat and mask on the way out.
"Just like that? You're leaving?"
He stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"I think you need help. More help," Laura told him.
"I'll be fine."
Again, she didn't seem convinced. "Okay, but what if this lizard monster you were talking about comes around to try and kill you again?"
"Then I'll just have to kill her next time." It's not going to be easy though...
"But--do you even know where you're going?!"
Hei frowned, his gaze narrowing. "Are you saying you're willing to risk your future career to protect me?" He turned all the way around to face her. "You wouldn't even live long enough to, if you chose to do that."
Laura sighed. "At least stay the night, and let yourself heal up some. Before, I don't know, going out to battle evil or something."
She has a point, but... Hei shook his head no, canceling off his train of thought. "No, I can't risk putting you in danger."
Laura leaned against the table. "You really are some masked avenger. Aren't you?"
Hei's frown deepened. Not that crap again. "Maybe."
"Just promise me you'll be careful."
It was people like her that kept Hei from abandoning his humanity. He softened his expression, and nodded. "I will." He turned back toward the door and opened it, after shifting to carrying his stuff under one arm. "Goodbye."
He made sure to close the door behind him as he stepped into the night, leaving Laura to clean up the mess she made in order to help treat his battle wounds. Hei didn't look back, wary of when and where he'd see Vertigo again. He couldn't run off without triggering much pain, but he had to move as far away from Laura's place as he would be able to.
Because he'd never forgive himself if Vertigo discovered Laura, and hurt her.
Author Notes: This random idea for a scenario came to me. A random experimentation of sorts. Warnings of strong violence in the first part I must include.
Hei fell to one knee as he felt that sharp tail blade scrape against the back of his shoulder. Damn, she was fast! Vertigo had reappeared somewhere behind him again, so he tossed another of his knives, ignoring the new amount of burning pain he received.
There came a ferocious hiss in response. There was no time to feel good about getting another hit as he whirled around and tossed one of his wires. She leaped aside and thrust forward her whip-like tail. Hei ducked and rolled before she could lash him in the front like she did before. He was learning her fast fighting techniques the best he could to gain the upper hand.
The good thing about her teleporting was that it gave off a sound, something he could not compare it to. As she did this again, he got to his feet quickly and braced himself to evade another advance.
That long muscle of a tail flicked forward like a blur. He dived and rolled to the side in the dirt toward the fallen wire. Snatching it, he pushed himself to get back up.
He tensed and rushed toward her while hearing her taunting voice in his head. "Not good enough. Try harder!"
Hei's jaw set in as he ran to her. While a hard determination to get closer had sunk into the core of him, her snake eyes started to emit a greenish glow. Another trick, he assumed.
He started to feel a little disoriented but came ever closer while attempting to toss that wire to wrap around Vertigo's long neck. His head felt strange, lighter in weight. His vision was blurring, but he had been able to see a thin stream of black reaching its mark as he gripped the other end of it tightly. He reached inside of himself upon will, and used his sister's power to electrocute this monster.
His ears rang when he heard a high pitched shriek, embedded with hissing. Hei didn't dare lose his grip on the wire as the blue sparks ran along it, traveling on the thin narrow path toward his target. The outline of his lithe body glowed blue. His fierce emotionless blue eyes twinkled crimson, and all the while Vertigo looked blurrier by each second, her eyes two twinkling orbs of green light. He wasn't going to stop until she fell dead.
"You think you can kill ME," the angry female voice bellowed telepathically.
He wasn't thinking at all; just doing. As the Black Reaper, all that Hei ever becomes is a driving force of action. Thoughts and discussions were only minor hindrances unless he felt he had to engage in them.
Another wild scream came out of Vertigo as a blue light was spreading all around him, Pai's other power awakening as everything glowed in a blue hue.
A stinging wallop to his chest sent him flying as the glow was dimming. Hei still couldn't see clearly enough as to what was happening in front of him, but he knew that he had her. A breeze whipped back the bangs of his dark hair as the blue light all around dimmed to darkness.
An upcoming wave of pain spread across his lower back. There was a different light and blur of colors as he heard his body bang up against something. He fell hard face down. He heard his painted mask, painted mostly white with a purple lightning bolt over one of the small eye holes, crack a little as his chest ached from the landing. This next pain came from something harder than a dirt covered field. With all those tail lashings and some small wounds from Vertigo's dangerously sharp fangs, this new pain with that all together had taken the wind from his lungs.
Hei rasped out a strained breath. If he could just get back up... He would surely be killed if he didn't.
He stuck a hand in one of his trench coat pockets, searching for a knife to slice through scaly blue and teal patterned flesh in case Vertigo attacked.
To clear his vision, he had to blink several times. Hei as the Black Reaper expected to hear that sinister voice in his head again. It would be no surprise to hear her reveling or saying in any chance just to provoke him to attack again.
"Ow, ow... Ow-ow-ow. Fuck." The hushed voice coming from somewhere close by didn't sound like the damned dinosaur at all.
Vertigo always spoke in his head. It seemed to be her only form of communication. Not once had he seen her reptilian mouth move to form words. All he'd seen was her dark forked tongue flicker in and out, in and out occasionally like any lizard or snake.
So no--this new voice belonged to someone else entirely. That didn't mean he was safe, necessarily...
As Hei's vision came clear, he could see a rug. Beside him was a wooden table, tools, small cement statues, and cinder blocks scattered along the surface.
Everywhere was so quiet, except for the heavy beating of his heart and the padding footfalls from whoever was coming to see him.
The same voice as before, a young woman's, couldn't finish what she was trying to say. "Oh my..."
Hei didn't care if he shocked the person. A part of his mind was furious as well as confused. What the hell happened? Was this Vertigo's doing? Was this another one of her damned tricks to sneak up near him and take him down?
"Who are you," he demanded, his voice low. "Where am I?" He was struggling to stand, but it felt like everywhere hurt. Possibly, he was hurt that bad. His arms and chest were soaking wet in his clothes from bloody wounds, wherever Vertigo had bit or cut into him with her tail blade.
"Holy..."
Hei looked up to see who must have been the owner of this room that looked like a basement in seeing the tools and work table, a washing and drying machine side by side against the wall, a chair with stacked clothes on it behind the woman he glanced at.
It's no surprise that he saw fear on her face. Aside from slightly trembling in place, the casually dressed woman stayed still. She was unarmed and he could tell that she wasn't going to harm him. This person was just a person, showing no traits of an attacker, or even the neutral emotionless gait of a Contractor.
Hei let himself relax, but just a hair. Even if she was truly harmless, there might be a chance that Vertigo was nearby here--and he didn't want any innocent bystander getting hurt because of him.
"Get out, and run as fast as you can," he said, still straining to keep his voice steady.
The civilian only flinched, but didn't go anywhere. "What? W-Why?"
"No questions. Just get out," he commanded. "Hurry."
"But, you're hurt!"
"I'll be fine. Go now."
The strands of long red hair around her neck, and shoulders twitched from side to side as her head moved in jerky movements, looking for the danger.
Over a few minutes have passed, but there was no sound of Vertigo teleporting. He still hadn't heard any voice in his head, or any snake hissings. This enemy was still fairly new to him, so he was trying to prepare himself for anything.
She was starting to move close in his direction. In one quick motion, Hei got out one of his knives that was split down the middle. She came to a complete stop as he held it out for her to see. "Not this way."
More seconds quietly ticked by. Hei's guard was still up, but if Vertigo was waiting for the perfect time to take this idiot out, she'd spring out now and do it. That was what he'd do, if he were her.
Hei saw tears sliding down the civilian's cheeks. "Stop. Okay? Just stop."
She wouldn't be able to see his cobalt blue eyes narrowing. Nevertheless, he fell silent, eventually giving up. More than enough time for the snake dinosaur to take them both out had passed. Vertigo didn't know Hei was here.
"You're bleeding all over the floor. I...I can't stand by and watch you die, whoever you are. I don't know where you came from, but there isn't any danger here." She heavily exhaled. "Obviously."
He was going to say something to argue, but didn't. Lowering his knife and putting it away, Hei didn't see a point in enforcing any violent act towards her. It was clear that she wanted to help. Stupid, but bold, he considered her to be. There was no sense in killing this woman, and no matter what he told her, he guessed that whatever threat he'd voice out would be meaningless. Little by little, he felt himself weaken. He'd still have enough energy to strike out from where she stood, but it'd only be a waste of effort. The person was right; Hei was seriously wounded.
"Who are you," he asked, forcing himself to calm down. Clearly, all she wanted to do was help him.
"Laura. Laura Wilkinson," she replied. Hei saw her swallow as she remained where she was. "Hold on. I-I have to get a first aid."
She turned and hurried over what sounded like a wooden stairway. Instantly he recalled what he heard from Laura earlier--she must have hurt herself. Was she in the middle of something, or did she hurt herself while rushing over to see his unexpected arrival?
All the while, not much else made sense. What happened? Where was he, and what the hell happened to Vertigo? The burning question that rose above them all; why was he here?
Shortly, he saw Laura hurry back, carrying a plastic red case. Hei didn't move while making the last minute decision to just cooperate and let her patch him up.
"Are you some masked avenger, or something," she wondered while cautiously reaching forward to take off his mask. "Because if you are, I promise not to tell a living soul about this."
"No," he simply said, and didn't make any sudden movements as she took off his mask.
He didn't care if she saw who he looked like. Even if she did decide to make contact with any police department, he wouldn't let her. If there was no other option, he'd kill her. Hopefully, it wouldn't come down to that. Taking down some ordinary and harmless person such as Laura was the very last thing he'd allow himself to do.
From his one word answer, he noticed that she picked up on him not wanting to tell her much of anything about himself. Carefully, she set the cracked mask on the table. Hei said and did nothing, his expression completely blank. His eyes watched Laura as she examined his face for injuries.
"May I remove your coat?"
"Go ahead," Hei said. His voice was almost monotone, and his odd behavior was causing Laura to stare. "Hurry." If she wanted to help patch him up, she should just go ahead and do it. Never mind that he wasn't normal. Never mind that he just...appeared in this room unexpectedly.
Laura bit her lower lip as she removed his trench coat, to which no doubt was heavily stained with his own blood. He watched her set it aside, and moved to tend to the small gashes along his arms and chest. The pain alone was very bad, a burning sensation.
Laura let out a startled gasp, but didn't hesitate any longer as she opened up the red box. Hei could see a bottle of rubbing alcohol, bandages, some rags, a sealed plastic bag containing two needles, and spools of thread. She got to work right away, soaking a rag with the alcohol. At least he wasn't bleeding profusely, or else he'd have to prompt her to work even faster.
Hei didn't flinch much when she began to clean up one of his arms.
"So...I don't know your name."
"It's Hei." He looked away, able to tell that his observation was making her nervous. "Do you even know what you're doing?"
"I'm a medical student," she said. "It's only another month until I get my degree."
"I see..."
"Just stay as still as you can." She moved his left hand to his arm. "Hold that there."
Hei did so without objections as she grabbed for a roll of bandages. He promptly removed his hand as she wrapped it tightly over the wound.
"Who did this to you," Laura wanted to know. "What happened?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"No matter how unbelievable your story seems, I'll try to." She finished wrapping the first bandage.
"Trust me. You're better off not knowing."
A heavy sigh came out of her. "Okay, look. I don't care. No matter how crazy you think your story sounds, I want you to understand something. This is my place you just crashed into, and secrets aren't allowed in here."
Hei's neutral expression just hardened. If that's how it has to be... "Somewhere else, I was fighting a giant lizard. She wanted something from me. And I only know that much as to why she attacked."
He turned to glare at her. She looked as startled as she was no less than a few minutes ago, and probably thought he was mentally ill. "Understand this. I'd rather have you focus on what's going on here than what had happened."
She paused, and stared at him.
"Are we clear," Hei persisted.
"...Crystal," she softly said, and went back to preparing to dress up another wound. "It's better than nothing..."
- - - - - -
The chest wound was the most serious. Hei had to sit on the table under the lamp light so she could stitch it up. There wasn't a need to remove his shirt, and Hei had insisted that she didn't. Laura had to move a toolbox aside so there was enough room for him to complete the sewing.
Laura kept quiet, taking the hint that he was very antisocial. Especially at this time.
"There. Much better," she said, in satisfaction.
Glad I could be of some practice for you, he silently thought as he pushed himself off the tabletop. "Thanks."
"You may look and act scary as hell, but I had to do something. But--is there anyone who cares for you? I mean, is there someone I should call? The phone's upstairs."
"No. Not necessary," he says, as he walks toward the door, gathering his coat and mask on the way out.
"Just like that? You're leaving?"
He stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"I think you need help. More help," Laura told him.
"I'll be fine."
Again, she didn't seem convinced. "Okay, but what if this lizard monster you were talking about comes around to try and kill you again?"
"Then I'll just have to kill her next time." It's not going to be easy though...
"But--do you even know where you're going?!"
Hei frowned, his gaze narrowing. "Are you saying you're willing to risk your future career to protect me?" He turned all the way around to face her. "You wouldn't even live long enough to, if you chose to do that."
Laura sighed. "At least stay the night, and let yourself heal up some. Before, I don't know, going out to battle evil or something."
She has a point, but... Hei shook his head no, canceling off his train of thought. "No, I can't risk putting you in danger."
Laura leaned against the table. "You really are some masked avenger. Aren't you?"
Hei's frown deepened. Not that crap again. "Maybe."
"Just promise me you'll be careful."
It was people like her that kept Hei from abandoning his humanity. He softened his expression, and nodded. "I will." He turned back toward the door and opened it, after shifting to carrying his stuff under one arm. "Goodbye."
He made sure to close the door behind him as he stepped into the night, leaving Laura to clean up the mess she made in order to help treat his battle wounds. Hei didn't look back, wary of when and where he'd see Vertigo again. He couldn't run off without triggering much pain, but he had to move as far away from Laura's place as he would be able to.
Because he'd never forgive himself if Vertigo discovered Laura, and hurt her.