Night 57: Infirmary

[antiheroed]

[ from here]For as direct as they were being, Riku understood how much of this section of Landel's remained unexplored. They were so focused on acquiring the drug that it hadn't occurred to them to stop-or, if it had, it was a thought stopped by his frustration with his partner for the night. To think he pushed off some old man because he thought he

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[zack_fair]

[From here.]

The room here was familiar in its own way. Shin-Ra HQ had an infirmary for injured soldiers and Zack had spent his fair share of time in there. Usually it wasn't for too long, seeing how Cure materia could handle just about any injury, but illness or poisoning could be trickier to magic away.

He got the feeling that the room would almost be pleasant to be in during the day. The pattern on the ceiling and the clean sheets seemed welcoming in their own weird way. Of course, that would have only been the case if this was a proper hospital. As it was, he knew that anyone who was brought here had to be going through something pretty terrible.

Either way, the drugs had been set up for them and as Zack approached, he saw that a few had already been taken. Where had everyone gone, then? It was an eerie thought, and yet there weren't exactly bodies littering the floor either. The stuff clearly wasn't fatal.

So what would it do, then?

"They're not even labeled," he said as he grabbed for one of the syringes. "Talk about

[loyalrose]

Rose followed him into the room, taking a moment to let her eyes scan the shadows, as if expecting this to be a trap. Which it certainly could be, considering the intercom had all but dared them to come here tonight. Still, for the moment the room seemed still and empty except for the two of them. After another moment of careful alertness, she moved up behind him and eyed the drugs laid out on display.

She gave a quiet sound or amusement as he picked one up. "That would be making things too easy. Nothing like surprise cocktails." She picked one up, holding her flashlight up to try and decipher anything about it, but she was hardly brushed up on modern pharmaceuticals. The syringes could be anything. And probably were.

She sighed, casting him a patient glance. "Well. What do you think? Worth the risk or just plain stupid?"

He was definitely human and probably more in danger than she was. Although considering this place was prepared to restrain vampires, maybe they had drugs prepared for them as well, as unlikely as that sounded.

[zack_fair]

The apprehension Zack felt was only normal. Even if he'd been put through serious experimentation before, it wasn't like he had enjoyed any of it. In fact, doing something like this to himself might just bring back unpleasant memories, the sort of thing he'd been able to lock away since it'd all been experienced through a haze in the first place

[loyalrose]

"How chivalrous of you," Rose gave a rueful laugh, glancing over at him curiously for a moment. She hesitated, debating over several options before giving a quiet sigh and shaking her head. "No, if either of us should take it, it should be me. It's less likely to affect me than it is you, for reasons I'd rather not get into at the moment."

She glanced at the syringe and winced, putting it back down on the table. "Although if it's alright with you, I'm going for one of the vials. At least it doesn't come with any tongue-in-cheek instructions like 'Drink me'."

She made a joke of it, keeping her tone light, despite the slight unease she felt. She could tell that he was feeling the same, although he was doing very well in hiding it. Perhaps they both really were crazy.

[zack_fair]

What was she saying? Zack had more or less assumed that he'd go first, seeing how this had been his idea in the first place, and yet Rose was now offering herself up. More than that, she was being kind of tight-lipped about it. Why would it affect her less? He'd been through all sorts of tests in the past few years, from mako infusions to Jenova cell exposure. He was pretty sure he could handle whatever these drugs might do to them

[loyalrose]

His reluctance to let her go first was almost sort of adorable, but she hid the smile that threatened to twitch across her lips as she nodded. Letting her fingers skim over the vials, as if touch might somehow reveal some hidden secret that her vision wasn't providing, Rose finally picked one at random and held it up to shine her flashlight beam on the clear liquid.

Deciding it was best to get this over with, she uncapped it and sent Zack a rueful glance. "Here goes nothing," she quipped before tilting her head back and swallowing it all in one gulp.

It was tasteless and odorless and Rose set the empty vial down on the table with a quiet click as she focused on herself, waiting. A moment passed, then another

[zack_fair]

The moment that Rose put that vial to her lips, something twisted in Zack's stomach and he almost reached forward to snatch it out of her hands at the last second. He managed to ball his hands into fists and hold back, though, knowing that it was her choice to make. He'd just have to help her through whatever effects it might have

[loyalrose]

She almost smiled at his obvious concern, instinct tempting her to wave it off, but it was a nice change of pace to be fussed over a bit. It wasn't something she was used to, despite how unnecessary it usually was. Humoring him, she followed the wave of his hand, moving to sink down on one of the infirmary beds with a crooked smile.

"Man, I think these are nicer than the ones in our rooms," she commented, bouncing on the edge of the thick mattress. "Don't want to think about what it would take for us to end up in here, though. Or what would happen once they did." She wrinkled her nose again, finding that thought disturbing. She hardly wanted anyone from this place poking around at her. For any reason

[zack_fair]

At least Rose took his suggestion without a fuss. Too often his concern for people was interpreted as not seeing them as competent when that wasn't it at all. Zack knew that he had a bad habit of wanting to protect everyone, but in a case like this he was pretty sure it was justified

[loyalrose]

Rose took a moment to mentally inspect herself again before shaking her head. "Yeah, I've still got nothing. Not sure what that means, exactly. It could be just that... it will have no affect on me, or that it's going to be slow about it. But if you feel the need to give it a go, I'll not stop you."

She swung her feet slightly against the side of the bed as she watched him, hoping that wasn't a mistake. At least she was fairly certain she could get him back to one of the rooms if something happened, but what would she do with him there? Or even here, for that matter? It wasn't like she was a doctor or anything, and she was fairly certain her blood would only be useful if he suddenly started dying on her - not a scenario she wanted to play out, thank you very much.

Still, she bit her tongue, leaving the decision up to him. He seemed relatively sane. If he still wanted to take this risk, it was his decision. Between Trevor and Damon, she had more than her fair share of experience with impulsive, headstrong males. Telling him no

[zack_fair]

It didn't seem like there were enough words to fill the silence of the room. Zack was having a hard time deciding, but considering his initial plan -- to head out on his own tonight and get things done -- he couldn't let someone else's presence stop him from making a decision. It felt selfish, but he was trying to make progress in this place for the sake of his friends and everyone else. It's why he was willing to take a proverbial bullet with minimal complaint

[loyalrose]

Rose gave a quiet laugh at his joke, shaking her head at him. "If you try and die on me, I will kick your ass. Just so we're clear," she commented with a wry little smile playing about her lips. She was mostly joking. Although how she was going to explain what she was if the situation required it was something she hoped to save until they were out of options. She'd never had good experiences with humans knowing about her. Elena was possibly the one exception, but then again, Elena seemed to be the exception to everything

[zack_fair]

Even as the last of the syringe's contents entered his body, Zack knew that this was pretty high on his list of bad ideas. Hadn't his time with Shin-Ra taught him that being exposed to unknown substances was a very bad thing? He'd seen what had happened to Angeal and Genesis, and yet here he was falling for the same thing because he was just that desperate to earn something or get somewhere

[loyalrose]

"Yeah," Rose answered, letting her eyes scan the shadows for a moment longer, just to be sure, before glancing back at him with a sheepish smile. "My imagination running away with me, is all. It's hard not to be jumpy here, I guess." Which, if she paused to think about it, was odd in itself, but instead she pushed the momentary paranoia away, preferring to ignore it and chalk it up to nerves.

When Zack questioned what they should do next, her gaze narrowed at him. "Are you sure you're alright? Should we give it a moment?" she asked, still worried for him. "Maybe you should sit down

[zack_fair]

Zack wasn't going to judge someone for having frazzled nerves, and so his only response was a nod. Was her paranoia a side effect of the medicine or was it just a normal reaction? It was hard to tell, but he didn't want to start pinning every little thing on the drugs, either. It was something he could keep an eye on, at the least.

When Rose then turned the tables and started to mother him a little bit, Zack had to relent. She had taken his advice without question and so he was going to do the same, even though he was pretty sure it wouldn't be necessary. He sat on one of the beds and tried to relax, if only for a moment.

Keeping an eye on Rose, Zack tried not to think about the fact that they were now at a point where they were just waiting for a bomb to go off. It was best to stay calm, so he focused on what she was saying. "Yeah, well, this whole area is brand new, so it wouldn't hurt to --"

But what did hurt was a sudden shock of pain that ran through his bones, sharp enough that his body became tense and his spine became

[loyalrose]

Rose heard his quiet hiss of breath, her attention turning back to him immediately as he tensed, an expression of pain flickering over his features. She was at his side in an instant, and if her movements were a little faster than they should be, it was something easily missed in the oppressive darkness of the room.

"What's wrong? Are you in pain?" she asked as he started to get up. Reaching out, Rose steadied his elbow just in case it was worse than he was letting on. "If it hurts, should you really be getting up?"

There was a note of anxiety in her voice she did her best to stifle, not liking the thought of him having a bad reaction to something they'd both taken when she was just standing there all fine. Not that she wanted to be in pain - she wasn't crazy or masochistic - but that didn't mean she wanted to see him hurting either.