FIC: Hostile Takeover 9/18 - Part 1/2
The kids had made it.
Domino had no doubt that they would be able to pull it off, but she was damn happy that they had been able to. They had already lost two team mates, and four more were missing. So to see that these guys had survived it satisfied her in a way she would never say out loud to them.
“Damn guys,” she muttered as they stepped inside the cave and looked around. “Nice hide out. It’s no wonder they didn’t find you; this place is better hidden than our safe houses.”
“Ric did it,” Roberto explained. Domino noted immediately how cold and hardened he looked, and she frowned at that.
“How you guys holdin’ up?” Sam questioned.
The Brazilian shrugged, and gestured over to the body on the ground. “Does that answer your question?”
Violet eyes moved from the boy and to Rictor. The sight of him made her swallow, and Domino frowned. “Shit…I know you guys said bad, but I didn’t think you meant that bad.”
The team moved forward and the merc took a good look at their youngest member. Rictor’s face was pale and sunken in, and he had burns covering most of his neck and the entire bottom part of his jaw. The older woman got down on one knee, and gently grabbed him by the face to inspect him. He did not even stir at the touch, and it worried her; his breathing was much too slow and his skin was damp and clammy.
“We need to get him out of here.”
“We did our best,” Terry told her, worry and guilt coating her tone. “We ran out of medical supplies though.”
Domino turned to her and sighed. “I know. I’m not blaming you.”
“Do ya want me tah blast him back to the van?” Sam questioned.
“Van?” Roberto echoed.
“We managed to steal one earlier this morning,” Jimmy explained with a wave. “We hit an abandoned truck stop and figured we should grab something to move you guys. The med facility is quite a few kilometres away, and we weren’t exactly sure what sort of shape you all would be in.”
Sam nodded in agreement. “And Ah guess we’re gonna be needin’ it foah sure.”
Terry frowned and folded her arms. “Any sign of HYDRA along the way?”
“All over,” Domino muttered, glancing back down at Rictor. “They’re crawling around the forest like a bunch of fucking parasites. I told you guys, they’re onto us - way too close for comfort, too. They have to be using something, or someone, to follow us because we just can’t shake them.”
The redhead shifted uncomfortably at that. “Are ye sure? Maybe they’re just growin’ in numbers. They know that we’re out here somewhere, so maybe ye just ran intah a bigger group.”
“They’ve been on us since we were in the U.S.,” Jimmy told her, inching closer. “It’s only been getting worse as we go. Even in the air they’ve managed to keep on Sam’s tail with carriers and whatnot.”
“Shit,” Roberto cursed. “So how far away to this van?”
Domino looked up. “About four kilometres. We didn’t wanna risk pulling up to your coordinates so close.”
“That was probably a smart decision,” Shatterstar muttered, voice low. Domino noticed how quiet he had been since they showed up. The group looked like they were in bad shape both physically and mentally, and she knew it was time for her to step up her game. Without Nate there, she would have to be the one to keep them motivated.
“Sam, get Ric up. I want you and ‘Berto to take him up ahead to the van and lay low until we get there,” she holstered her gun and gently tapped the Mexican’s cheek. “Ric? Wake up.”
He groaned incoherently, but did not move.
“He’s been like that for a few hours now,” Shatterstar told her. “We’ve been trying to keep him asleep so to heal better.”
She nodded, and tapped him again. “Rictor! Come on now. Can you hear me?”
“Seven,” he replied.
Domino smirked. “Your favourite number or something? Great, now how about you say something that makes sense?”
“Where are my shoes?” he asked. Brown eyes fluttered open barely, and rolled around as he tried to focus.
“On your feet,” she informed him. “Feet I need you to stand up on. Can you do that?”
“His ankle’s messed up,” Terry explained, and kneeled down next to her. “He hasn’t been able to walk much on it.”
“Great,” Dom sighed, and held up the back of the Mexican’s head with her hand. “Rictor, listen to me. We’re going to stand you up, okay? If it starts to hurt or if you feel sick, make sure you say something.”
“He can’t,” Shatterstar snapped irritably. “He’s been in and out of consciousness and hasn’t eaten in almost two days now. All he does is vomit, and he can’t control it.”
“Wonderful,” the merc clucked her tongue. “All righty then, we’ll just have to go ahead and do it anyways, won’t we? Hold tight, kiddo.”
“Domino?”
She grinned down at the Mexican. “Yup! Welcome back to the land of the living.”
“Where we going?”
“To get you help,” she told him as she sat him up. He groaned at the sudden movement, and she gestured for Roberto to lift him. “Bobby and Sam are gonna take you out of here and fly you to a car. Can you handle that?”
“I think so,” Rictor replied dazedly; it was taking him awhile to fully wake up. “Hey…did you guys…you know…find anyone? Like Tab, or someone?”
Sam smiled a little. “Actually we did. Not Tab and Nate, but we found out that there are a couple of X-Men that made it out of the attacks.”
“Really!?” Terry exclaimed. “How? And who? Where are they now?”
“Worthington is out there with Jean Grey and Wolverine,” Domino announced. “Which is kinda ironic considering whenever X-Men die Jean is usually the first to go.”
“Dom!” Sam scolded and shook his head. “Iceman’s also alive. Apparently he’s able to heal and reform when he’s in his ice form. We also found out that Quicksilver survived from X-Factor. He’s with the X-Men, and they also collected Skin and Chamber from Gen X. Apparently they were off road trippin’ with some weird ole duck again.”
Domino nodded to confirm the news. “They’re out looking for more survivors. So far they’ve found Karma too, and they’ve also made contact with Northstar and Sasquatch from Alpha Flight.”
“That’s great news!” Terry beamed.
“Are we meeting up with them to discuss further plans?” Shatterstar questioned.
Domino scratched her head, and stood when Sunspot had Rictor up safely off the ground. “Yeah about that…we were kinda told to move along.”
“What?!” Roberto scoffed. “What do you mean?!”
Sam frowned. “They said they wanted us to keep goin’ to Canada to look for anyone else. The invasion is worse in the ‘States, and they’re building a strike team to fight it off. But Ah guess they just want us to work here since y’all were already out here anyhow, and they wanted us in charge of takin’ on Canadian intruders.”
“Isn’t that Alpha Flight’s job!?” Shatterstar scoffed incredulously. “And what do they honestly think they can do with Generation X students that we cannot do to help? I do not understand…”
“They’re just taking charge,” Domino muttered. “And that’s that.”
“Yuir just gonna stand for that?” Terry asked her.
“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” the merc rebutted. “It was either stand around and piss and moan about it to them, or I come here and help you guys. And besides the two mentioned before, Alpha Flight’s missing too. So we’re setting up shop up here until further notice.”
“But--” Roberto began.
“No buts,” Domino cut him off. “Your mission right now, Bobby, is to get Ric out of here. He’s worse off than I thought and we need to get him out of here ASAP. So no more questions; just go.” The Brazilian glanced at Sam, who nodded in return, and they both set off out of the cave with a groaning Mexican in tow. Domino just took another look at the remaining members of the team and sighed. “Pack up whatever gear you guys have left. We need to get a move on.”
“And what do we do once we reach the facility?” Shatterstar questioned.
“We’ll worry about that when the time comes.” When the kids just stared at her irritably, the merc sighed and raked a hand through her hair. “Fine, ‘Star I want you and Sam watching what the staff do with Ric. Make sure there’s no funny business and find out the extent of his injuries and what we need to do to get him better. Jimmy, I want you to partner up with Bobby. Talk to any patients you can and find out anything you can on Canadian HYDRA bases, attacks, whatever. Satisfied?” she perked an eyebrow and folded her arms. When they did not reply, she nodded. “Good, now get your stuff packed.”
Warpath and Shatterstar worked on collecting all of the blankets, weapons, and packs on the ground. They shoved as much as they could into the bags, but did not say a word to each other as they worked. Theresa, on the other hand, was giving Domino a troubled look. “Dom…”
“Yeah, Red?”
“What about me? Ye dinnae assign me tah anythin’.”
The older woman nodded. “You’re with me. You’re getting checked out by a doctor.”
“What? I dinnae need tah--” she began, obviously fighting off any sort of visual vulnerability.
“Bullshit,” Domino remarked. “Just because Ric’s as bad looking as he is doesn’t give you a reason to hide whatever injuries you have. That’s a liability and you know it.”
“I did nae,” she insisted.
Domino shook her head in annoyance and whipped out a hand to grab Terry roughly by the wrist. The girl yelped frantically at the hold, and the mercenary perked an eyebrow. “Not hurt, huh? This looks pretty bad to me.”
“Dom…” the redhead winced.
“You might be able to fool ‘Berto and ‘Star for awhile ‘cause they have their heads up in the clouds, but you can’t fool me,” she explained, letting the younger girl out of her clutch carefully. “I’ve been playing this survival game since the day I was born; I can see these things, and you’re not gonna hide it.”
“What are you a doctor now?” Theresa hissed, rubbing her arm gingerly.
“No, but it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see you’re guarding it,” the merc pointed out. “Besides, if it was just one arm injury I wouldn’t push as much, but you’ve got two different sized pupils. That’s a head injury right there.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted. “Really; I’ve been fightin’ with the boys and gettin’ by on me own. It’s Ric ye have tah worry about, nae me.”
Domino frowned and turned to look at Shatterstar and Warpath. “Do you mind? I gave you instructions to pack, not eavesdrop!”
Jimmy quickly grabbed his bags and headed out of the cave, while ‘Star turned and huffed. The merc faced Theresa, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Look, you did good, okay? The whole trip wire thing…it’s not your fault; you couldn’t have stopped it.”
“I’m the only one who failed my team,” Terry muttered bitterly, averting her gaze from Domino. “I should have been more careful.”
“You can only be so careful when a bomb goes off,” Dom rolled her eyes. “You lost Feral, yeah, but Ric’s still here - and what happened to him sucks, I agree, but you can’t blame yourself. Doing that will only make your focus slip and cause you to fuck up more.”
“But--”
“But nothing,” the merc cut her off. “You did what you needed to do, and you did well with the boys. In fact, with the three of them - I’d of expected them to kill each other with all this stress. You did well and I’m proud of you.”
Terry clenched her jaw and nodded her head. “Thank you.”
“But that still doesn’t give you an excuse to walk around hiding injuries just because you feel bad,” Domino scolded her. “You were caught in a blast, and god knows how hard you rocked your head. Just go into the facility and at least get a quick look over. I need you right now to be at the top of your game, Ter.”
The redhead nodded. “Yes ma’am. I can do that.”
“Good. All those boys have the anger on their side, but I need you because you’re a damn good leader. You’ve made it this far, so no more beating yourself up either.”
“Okay,” she whispered, and Domino could tell that the words were sinking in. Perhaps not completely accepted, but at least Theresa got the point. “Let’s go,” Domino told her, and led her out of the cave.
“Dom, one more thing…”
The merc turned. “Yeah?”
“You really think Cable’s squad is captured, don’t you? Be honest.”
Violet eyes shot down to gaze at the ground and she shrugged. “Honestly?”
“Yeah.”
“At this point we’d be lucky if they’re only captured. I didn’t wanna say anything in front of Sammy because of Tab, but I honestly think it’s looking pretty grim, Red. My psi-link with Cable’s been gone for a few days now,” she swallowed and raked a hand through her hair. “And the only reason I’m telling you is because you and I both know that whatever happened to them…Wade’s alive. That fucker can’t die.”
Theresa averted her eyes and nodded. “I see.”
“But that stays between you and me for now,” Domino warned her.
“What about ye? Can ye handle not knowin’ if Nate’s all right or not?”
Domino just stared at her for a few silent moments before continuing on her way. “I do what I have to do, just like I always do.”
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The ride to the medical facility was long and silent. The group picked up at the cave were all visually exhausted and hurt. Even the healer Shatterstar looked like he had been through hell and back, and that said something about the overall state of their team. Just watching them - the frown lines on their faces, and the bloodshot colours of their eyes - made Jimmy Proudstar pang with sympathy.
However, it also made him thankful that he had been placed on a squad with Domino and Cannonball. The others were good fighters, yes, but none of them could match Dom and Sam in keeping their emotions in check. The fight and the cause came first with those two, and Jimmy knew his team had lucked out. They had probably fought more HYDRA agents than the others, yes, but their battle attitudes made all the difference in the world. Jimmy was unsure if his mental state would have been able to stay focused had he been paired with the kill-or-be-killed Shatterstar, or the vengeful Sunspot. That combined with the fact that Amara and Maria had been fatally injured, and Rictor was teetering on the edge of living and dying, Jimmy was unsure how Theresa had managed to make it through with her sanity in tact.
Yes, he did know. She was the strongest, toughest person that he knew, and that was saying something coming from a guy who was over seven feet and three hundred pounds of pure strength and speed. But Theresa was solid steel in spirit, and that was not something James would credit himself for.
Especially when sitting in the back of the van and feeling down just looking at his friends. Roberto was absolutely silent, while Terry curled up in the corner to get some rest. Shatterstar and Domino were going over everything that had gone on since they last met, while Sam took driving responsibilities. Things were tense, but remained quiet up until the Mojoworlder opened up Rictor’s jacket and showed their leader the younger boy’s chest.
“Holy shit,” Domino muttered. “How long has that been leaking for?”
Shatterstar stared down at the burns, masking emotion from his features. “Almost two days. I ran out of materials and bandages, so most of this has just been collecting up.”
James followed the warrior’s pointing hand with his eyes, and felt his face pale at the sight of Rictor’s wounds. His skin was scarred, coloured, and swollen, and the bandages covering the worst of it were stained with blood and yellow fluid. The other squad did not even seem bothered by it as much as they should have been, and Jimmy figured it was because they might have actually gotten used to seeing their friend look that way.
That thought made him sick.
“We’re here!” Sam called from the front, and let the van come to a stop. They had driven for almost three hours to Manitoba, the next province over, and stopped at a remote location in the thick of the wilderness and just off a small highway. Immediately Shatterstar and Domino went back to getting Rictor whisked off, and the rest of the team gathered their things.
“You okay?” he asked Terry, as she slowly moved from her place.
“I think so,” she winced, and rubbed at her shoulder. “I feel like I have nae moved in days though. My whole body’s just stiff.”
Jimmy frowned, and grabbed her bag for her. “I heard what Domino said to you. That you’re hurt.”
“I’m okay,” she promised him with a gentle smile. “There’s just been a lot goin’ on is all. Ye know that.” She jumped out of the back of the van, and peered up at him. “I’m just glad yuir all right.”
He smiled and placed his arm over her shoulder. “Likewise. I was worried when I heard about the bomb. Thought I’d have to come kick some ass.”
Terry chuckled at that and watched as Shatterstar and Sam carried Ric to the entrance of the facility. “I just hope he’s all right. That’s all I’m worried about.”
“Uhm…I wanted to tell you something,” he said awkwardly, and rubbed a hand over his hair. “I just wanted to let you know that…”
She glanced up at him, shooting a worried look. “What?”
“I found your dad,” he explained slowly. “I know that only half of Gen X was visiting the Institute during the attacks, but your dad wasn’t. And he…he didn’t make it.”
Her gaze fell down to the ground and she swallowed. “I see.”
“I know that you guys were still working on things, but I wanted to be the one to tell you.”
She nodded. “Thanks. Yuir me best friend, Jim, so that means a lot.”
“I also wanted to let you know that we took his body. It was quiet out where we found him, and Dom let us give him a decent burial. When this is all over I’ll take you there.”
Her chin quivered, but she did not dare cry - just like he suspected she would not. “Thanks.”
“It’s no problem,” Jimmy told her quietly. He knew exactly how she felt and what she was going through; he had been through the same thing when his own family had been killed, and despite any brushing off she may do, he knew that she would need him to be there for support. And whatever kind of support she needed he was more than willing to give it to her.
“Terry!” Domino called. “Let’s get a move on, girlie!”
The redhead looked back up at Jimmy once more before giving him a quick hug. “Thanks again, Jim. I dinnae know what I’d do without ye sometimes.”
Something swelled inside him, and he slowly hugged her back. “Likewise.”
She nodded before turning on her heel and catching up with Domino. Brown eyes followed her as she jogged away, and Jimmy could not help but feel a pull of grief in his heart for her. She was hurt - scarred even - and he hated that more than anything else. What was worse was that she would not tell anyone and she would bury it down deep where no one else could see. The problem was that Jimmy could see it though. He knew her better than anyone, and no matter how much she would try and brush it off, grief would be seen by him.
“Hey,” Roberto dropped a bag at Jimmy’s feet. “Me and you were partnered up.”
“I know,” the bigger man said, and finally turned to look at the blackened mutant. “You have everything we need?”
“I figured we’d leave most of it in the van,” he shrugged. “Why carry it around when we’ll just be hopping back in this pile anyhow?”
Jimmy narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “We should keep it on us, Bobby. We don’t know how long we’ll be able to get away with keeping that ‘pile’ and not getting tracked down. It’s better we’re safe than sorry.”
Roberto scoffed before storming toward the facility empty handed. “I already am sorry!”
Sighing, Jimmy picked up the bag at his feet and then turned to collect the rest from the vehicle. He was not in the mood to be dealing with Roberto’s mood swings right then, and it only figured that he was the one that had to get partnered with him. Domino must have been smoking something when she thought sending Bobby out to talk to patients and victims would be a good idea; the Brazilian could not even stand in the same spot for two minutes without snapping on somebody.
Not that Jimmy blamed him or anything.
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“What’s wrong with this one?”
Shatterstar stared down at the doctor, a balding man with a white overcoat, and frowned. “He got trapped in a bomb blast.”
“I need help over here!” the man called, and grabbed a gurney. He straightened the sheets and gestured for Sam and ‘Star to place Rictor on top of it. The boys did as they were told, and watched with concern as a small group of assistants began getting syringes and care aids prepared. The doctor unlocked the wheels of the gurney and began pushing it toward one of their small rooms. Shatterstar immediately started walking behind him.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” the doctor demanded.
“With you,” he stated simply.
“I need space to work; you’ll have to wait in the hall.”
“No.”
“Yes!” the physician insisted, but stepped back when the warrior unsheathed a gun from his cargo pants. He cocked it and pointed it straight at the doctor’s forehead and did not blink.
“I will watch you, and you will deal with it. I have no reason to trust you, and if you end up being a traitor or a spy, you will die.”
The doctor’s eyes widened and he moved his gaze to Cannonball. “What’s the meaning of this!?”
Sam cleared his throat. “We hate tah be a bother, sir, but we have orders. We just wanna make sure our friend’s in good hands.”
The older man scoffed, and moved his gaze back to the Mojoworlder. “Fine! Can you take the gun off of my head though? I promise you can trust me; I’ve been treating HYDRA victims for over a week now. I’m not a spy.”
Shatterstar nodded, and gestured with the gun to the room behind them. “Take us in.”
The doctor nodded, not taking his eyes off of the weapon, and backed into the room his assistants had taken Rictor into. Sam shot Shatterstar an annoyed look. “Do ya have to scare people?”
“Yes.”
Sam sighed, and pushed the warrior into the room. It was not very big at all, but was very well equipped for a makeshift facility. The walls were covered in shelves of vials and small pieces of equipment. A freezer was located in the back corner, opposite a homemade cabinet. The staff parked the gurney at the far wall, and immediately began shedding Rictor of Shatterstar’s coat and cut off the combat pants. However, when they got a look at the bandages, the doctor turned back to the boys with a disgusted look.
“Who on Earth treated this boy?! Are those supposed to be stitches?!”
Shatterstar narrowed his eyes. “He needed them. He was bleeding out.”
“I haven’t seen something so makeshift since the Gulf War!” the doctor shook his head, and turned back to Rictor. “You shouldn’t have gone ahead and done that. These things could’ve easily been responsible for the infection!”
Shatterstar frowned. “He was bleeding. He needed it.”
“And you’re not some Green Beret! You could have killed him!”
Sam looked up at Shatterstar and frowned. “No, sir, our training is probably more thorough than that. We might be a little less disciplined though…”
The doctor just blinked back his shock and looked down at Rictor. He began removing the bandages covering the burns. “Harris, cut his shorts off. I need to get a look at that one up his thigh; it looks like his hip might be damaged. Morseau, I want an IV and a transfusion prepped. We’re also going to need a dose of penicillin, and get him some Oxycodone.” He lifted a syringe and measured out a dose of something clear. “Administering 400mg of Ketek…”
“No.”
Shatterstar looked down at the bed, and noticed Rictor’s eyes were half open. He was staring up at the needle with fright, and fighting to lift his arms. “Julio…”
“No…don’t let him touch me with that…please.”
“Julio? Is that your name?” the doctor questioned. “You have to allow me to administer you treatment.”
“No…” he shifted on the bed, and tried his hardest to brush away the orderly removing his boxer shorts. Weakness and fatigue were apparent in his actions, and it bothered Shatterstar to see him struggle. “Don’t let ‘em touch me, ‘Star! It’s jus like…like…Right…”
The warrior clenched his jaw, and tried his best to ignore his plea. “You’re fine…”
But Rictor was not listening. The small machine hooked up to his heart rate began beeping faster, and the Mexican’s hands began glowing green. Tools skipped across the counter tops and shelves, and soon Shatterstar felt the ground beneath his boots tremble.
“Aw crap!” Sam squeaked, and grabbed onto Shatty’s arm to level himself. The warrior stumbled against the doorway.
“He’s a mutant!?” the doctor yelled.
“Yes! He controls seismic energy!” Sam yelled.
“Don’t let them touch me!” Rictor whimpered.
“Fekt!” Shatterstar cursed, and looked for something to hold onto.
“Got it, boss!” a brown haired man, Harris, he had been referred to, jumped toward the bed with a large needle in his hand. Swiftly he jammed it into Rictor’s leg, and the Mexican let out a pained yell. Shatterstar growled fiercely and leapt across the room to grab the man by the throat.
“What was that!? Fekt, you Mojo-sucking bitch! What did you do to him!?”
The man in his hands looked like he had just seen a ghost. All of the colour drained from his face, and he stared up at the warrior with widened eyes as he gasped for air. But before Harris could even stutter out an answer, all of the shaking in the room stopped, and Rictor’s hands slowly dulled back to their original colour. Shatterstar released the orderly and stared down at his friend.
“We dampened his powers,” the doctor explained shakily. “It will only last an hour or so.”
Sam stepped forward and grabbed Shatty by the elbow, pulling him back to allow the staff to work. Rictor was even more groggy from the shot, and continued to mutter incoherently, begging the boys to keep the doctors away from him. However, the staff went to work, removing the Mexican’s underwear and covering him with a paper sheet. An intravenous tube was hooked into his hand, and he was given two more shots.
“Stop it, please…” Rictor whimpered, and slowly lifted his hand to push away at the doctor. A strange, twisted feeling suffocated Shatterstar at the sight of it, and he could not tear his eyes away from his friend’s face. He was distressed and scared like the warrior had never seen him before, and that fact bothered him. Mostly because Shatterstar was allowing it to happen. “‘Star!”
The struggling continued until all of the Mexican’s muscles contracted tightly and he snapped back onto the bed. The heart rate monitor screeched, and all of the staff leapt up to work. “He’s convulsing!”
Frantically they rushed around the gurney and moved away anything that could harm him. Shatterstar watched in horrified fascination as his friend jerked violently on the bed. One nurse grabbed a monitor and began shouting off numbers. “His temperature is 104.6, BP is 90 over 60 and respirations are down.”
Rictor stopped moving then, and fell back to the bed with a grunt before the doctor promptly turned him over to throw up. He groaned loudly when he was finished, and fisted the sheets beneath him when he was laid back down. “F-fuck-fucking ass…hole!”
“You should go where he can’t see you,” a short woman nurse said, and attempted to push the alien back by the chest. The warrior did not budge and did not even look at her. He just stared back at Rictor with a troubled frown. “You’re only making it worse!” she scolded.
“Please,” Sam spoke for Shatty. “We’re just keeping an eye on him. We won’t get in the way!”
“Don’t bother them,” the doctor agreed, eyeing the pair. “They’re armed.”
The nurse’s eyes widened, and she quickly backed away. Sam, however, stepped forward. “We don’t wanna hurt anyone! Please believe us! We come from the United States…we’re part of a militant mutant strike team, and we’re lookin’ tah take down HYDRA. They have some of our team captured and they’ve killed a big chunk of our allies back home. We’re on yoah side.”
The staff continued to look at the boys with mistrust, but kept treating Rictor nonetheless. Shatterstar cared not what they thought, only that they made his friend better. Seeing him in such pain made him feel a flurry of emotions that he could not begin to describe, and it only stressed him out as well. Why was he so bothered by looking at such things? And why was he not doing anything to verbally console his friend? For the first time in his life, Shatterstar found himself so disturbed that he was rendered speechless, and the fact confused him greatly. He had no idea what to do or how to act.
“I have the blood transfusion ready.” Another orderly, who had been referred to as Morseau, held a drip bag in his grasp, and prepped another needle.
“Is that mutant blood?” Sam questioned.
“With regenerative properties, yes,” the doctor confirmed. “However this needs to be done in stages. Not only does he have damage to his integumentary system, but the infection he has is practically like poison running through his body. The blood will work as a filter to flush it out, but it will take a little bit of time.”
“How much?” Sam questioned.
“A couple of hours, tops,” the doctor promised. “How are you holding up, Julio?”
“Fuck y-you.”
“He’s good,” Sam sighed.
But he was not good, Shatterstar knew that. Though he was very happy that his friend would be healthy in a short amount of time, the situation would only prove to be distressing to Rictor’s mental status - and at that point in time, that was the last thing that they needed.
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Go to part two of chapter nine.
Domino had no doubt that they would be able to pull it off, but she was damn happy that they had been able to. They had already lost two team mates, and four more were missing. So to see that these guys had survived it satisfied her in a way she would never say out loud to them.
“Damn guys,” she muttered as they stepped inside the cave and looked around. “Nice hide out. It’s no wonder they didn’t find you; this place is better hidden than our safe houses.”
“Ric did it,” Roberto explained. Domino noted immediately how cold and hardened he looked, and she frowned at that.
“How you guys holdin’ up?” Sam questioned.
The Brazilian shrugged, and gestured over to the body on the ground. “Does that answer your question?”
Violet eyes moved from the boy and to Rictor. The sight of him made her swallow, and Domino frowned. “Shit…I know you guys said bad, but I didn’t think you meant that bad.”
The team moved forward and the merc took a good look at their youngest member. Rictor’s face was pale and sunken in, and he had burns covering most of his neck and the entire bottom part of his jaw. The older woman got down on one knee, and gently grabbed him by the face to inspect him. He did not even stir at the touch, and it worried her; his breathing was much too slow and his skin was damp and clammy.
“We need to get him out of here.”
“We did our best,” Terry told her, worry and guilt coating her tone. “We ran out of medical supplies though.”
Domino turned to her and sighed. “I know. I’m not blaming you.”
“Do ya want me tah blast him back to the van?” Sam questioned.
“Van?” Roberto echoed.
“We managed to steal one earlier this morning,” Jimmy explained with a wave. “We hit an abandoned truck stop and figured we should grab something to move you guys. The med facility is quite a few kilometres away, and we weren’t exactly sure what sort of shape you all would be in.”
Sam nodded in agreement. “And Ah guess we’re gonna be needin’ it foah sure.”
Terry frowned and folded her arms. “Any sign of HYDRA along the way?”
“All over,” Domino muttered, glancing back down at Rictor. “They’re crawling around the forest like a bunch of fucking parasites. I told you guys, they’re onto us - way too close for comfort, too. They have to be using something, or someone, to follow us because we just can’t shake them.”
The redhead shifted uncomfortably at that. “Are ye sure? Maybe they’re just growin’ in numbers. They know that we’re out here somewhere, so maybe ye just ran intah a bigger group.”
“They’ve been on us since we were in the U.S.,” Jimmy told her, inching closer. “It’s only been getting worse as we go. Even in the air they’ve managed to keep on Sam’s tail with carriers and whatnot.”
“Shit,” Roberto cursed. “So how far away to this van?”
Domino looked up. “About four kilometres. We didn’t wanna risk pulling up to your coordinates so close.”
“That was probably a smart decision,” Shatterstar muttered, voice low. Domino noticed how quiet he had been since they showed up. The group looked like they were in bad shape both physically and mentally, and she knew it was time for her to step up her game. Without Nate there, she would have to be the one to keep them motivated.
“Sam, get Ric up. I want you and ‘Berto to take him up ahead to the van and lay low until we get there,” she holstered her gun and gently tapped the Mexican’s cheek. “Ric? Wake up.”
He groaned incoherently, but did not move.
“He’s been like that for a few hours now,” Shatterstar told her. “We’ve been trying to keep him asleep so to heal better.”
She nodded, and tapped him again. “Rictor! Come on now. Can you hear me?”
“Seven,” he replied.
Domino smirked. “Your favourite number or something? Great, now how about you say something that makes sense?”
“Where are my shoes?” he asked. Brown eyes fluttered open barely, and rolled around as he tried to focus.
“On your feet,” she informed him. “Feet I need you to stand up on. Can you do that?”
“His ankle’s messed up,” Terry explained, and kneeled down next to her. “He hasn’t been able to walk much on it.”
“Great,” Dom sighed, and held up the back of the Mexican’s head with her hand. “Rictor, listen to me. We’re going to stand you up, okay? If it starts to hurt or if you feel sick, make sure you say something.”
“He can’t,” Shatterstar snapped irritably. “He’s been in and out of consciousness and hasn’t eaten in almost two days now. All he does is vomit, and he can’t control it.”
“Wonderful,” the merc clucked her tongue. “All righty then, we’ll just have to go ahead and do it anyways, won’t we? Hold tight, kiddo.”
“Domino?”
She grinned down at the Mexican. “Yup! Welcome back to the land of the living.”
“Where we going?”
“To get you help,” she told him as she sat him up. He groaned at the sudden movement, and she gestured for Roberto to lift him. “Bobby and Sam are gonna take you out of here and fly you to a car. Can you handle that?”
“I think so,” Rictor replied dazedly; it was taking him awhile to fully wake up. “Hey…did you guys…you know…find anyone? Like Tab, or someone?”
Sam smiled a little. “Actually we did. Not Tab and Nate, but we found out that there are a couple of X-Men that made it out of the attacks.”
“Really!?” Terry exclaimed. “How? And who? Where are they now?”
“Worthington is out there with Jean Grey and Wolverine,” Domino announced. “Which is kinda ironic considering whenever X-Men die Jean is usually the first to go.”
“Dom!” Sam scolded and shook his head. “Iceman’s also alive. Apparently he’s able to heal and reform when he’s in his ice form. We also found out that Quicksilver survived from X-Factor. He’s with the X-Men, and they also collected Skin and Chamber from Gen X. Apparently they were off road trippin’ with some weird ole duck again.”
Domino nodded to confirm the news. “They’re out looking for more survivors. So far they’ve found Karma too, and they’ve also made contact with Northstar and Sasquatch from Alpha Flight.”
“That’s great news!” Terry beamed.
“Are we meeting up with them to discuss further plans?” Shatterstar questioned.
Domino scratched her head, and stood when Sunspot had Rictor up safely off the ground. “Yeah about that…we were kinda told to move along.”
“What?!” Roberto scoffed. “What do you mean?!”
Sam frowned. “They said they wanted us to keep goin’ to Canada to look for anyone else. The invasion is worse in the ‘States, and they’re building a strike team to fight it off. But Ah guess they just want us to work here since y’all were already out here anyhow, and they wanted us in charge of takin’ on Canadian intruders.”
“Isn’t that Alpha Flight’s job!?” Shatterstar scoffed incredulously. “And what do they honestly think they can do with Generation X students that we cannot do to help? I do not understand…”
“They’re just taking charge,” Domino muttered. “And that’s that.”
“Yuir just gonna stand for that?” Terry asked her.
“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” the merc rebutted. “It was either stand around and piss and moan about it to them, or I come here and help you guys. And besides the two mentioned before, Alpha Flight’s missing too. So we’re setting up shop up here until further notice.”
“But--” Roberto began.
“No buts,” Domino cut him off. “Your mission right now, Bobby, is to get Ric out of here. He’s worse off than I thought and we need to get him out of here ASAP. So no more questions; just go.” The Brazilian glanced at Sam, who nodded in return, and they both set off out of the cave with a groaning Mexican in tow. Domino just took another look at the remaining members of the team and sighed. “Pack up whatever gear you guys have left. We need to get a move on.”
“And what do we do once we reach the facility?” Shatterstar questioned.
“We’ll worry about that when the time comes.” When the kids just stared at her irritably, the merc sighed and raked a hand through her hair. “Fine, ‘Star I want you and Sam watching what the staff do with Ric. Make sure there’s no funny business and find out the extent of his injuries and what we need to do to get him better. Jimmy, I want you to partner up with Bobby. Talk to any patients you can and find out anything you can on Canadian HYDRA bases, attacks, whatever. Satisfied?” she perked an eyebrow and folded her arms. When they did not reply, she nodded. “Good, now get your stuff packed.”
Warpath and Shatterstar worked on collecting all of the blankets, weapons, and packs on the ground. They shoved as much as they could into the bags, but did not say a word to each other as they worked. Theresa, on the other hand, was giving Domino a troubled look. “Dom…”
“Yeah, Red?”
“What about me? Ye dinnae assign me tah anythin’.”
The older woman nodded. “You’re with me. You’re getting checked out by a doctor.”
“What? I dinnae need tah--” she began, obviously fighting off any sort of visual vulnerability.
“Bullshit,” Domino remarked. “Just because Ric’s as bad looking as he is doesn’t give you a reason to hide whatever injuries you have. That’s a liability and you know it.”
“I did nae,” she insisted.
Domino shook her head in annoyance and whipped out a hand to grab Terry roughly by the wrist. The girl yelped frantically at the hold, and the mercenary perked an eyebrow. “Not hurt, huh? This looks pretty bad to me.”
“Dom…” the redhead winced.
“You might be able to fool ‘Berto and ‘Star for awhile ‘cause they have their heads up in the clouds, but you can’t fool me,” she explained, letting the younger girl out of her clutch carefully. “I’ve been playing this survival game since the day I was born; I can see these things, and you’re not gonna hide it.”
“What are you a doctor now?” Theresa hissed, rubbing her arm gingerly.
“No, but it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see you’re guarding it,” the merc pointed out. “Besides, if it was just one arm injury I wouldn’t push as much, but you’ve got two different sized pupils. That’s a head injury right there.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted. “Really; I’ve been fightin’ with the boys and gettin’ by on me own. It’s Ric ye have tah worry about, nae me.”
Domino frowned and turned to look at Shatterstar and Warpath. “Do you mind? I gave you instructions to pack, not eavesdrop!”
Jimmy quickly grabbed his bags and headed out of the cave, while ‘Star turned and huffed. The merc faced Theresa, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Look, you did good, okay? The whole trip wire thing…it’s not your fault; you couldn’t have stopped it.”
“I’m the only one who failed my team,” Terry muttered bitterly, averting her gaze from Domino. “I should have been more careful.”
“You can only be so careful when a bomb goes off,” Dom rolled her eyes. “You lost Feral, yeah, but Ric’s still here - and what happened to him sucks, I agree, but you can’t blame yourself. Doing that will only make your focus slip and cause you to fuck up more.”
“But--”
“But nothing,” the merc cut her off. “You did what you needed to do, and you did well with the boys. In fact, with the three of them - I’d of expected them to kill each other with all this stress. You did well and I’m proud of you.”
Terry clenched her jaw and nodded her head. “Thank you.”
“But that still doesn’t give you an excuse to walk around hiding injuries just because you feel bad,” Domino scolded her. “You were caught in a blast, and god knows how hard you rocked your head. Just go into the facility and at least get a quick look over. I need you right now to be at the top of your game, Ter.”
The redhead nodded. “Yes ma’am. I can do that.”
“Good. All those boys have the anger on their side, but I need you because you’re a damn good leader. You’ve made it this far, so no more beating yourself up either.”
“Okay,” she whispered, and Domino could tell that the words were sinking in. Perhaps not completely accepted, but at least Theresa got the point. “Let’s go,” Domino told her, and led her out of the cave.
“Dom, one more thing…”
The merc turned. “Yeah?”
“You really think Cable’s squad is captured, don’t you? Be honest.”
Violet eyes shot down to gaze at the ground and she shrugged. “Honestly?”
“Yeah.”
“At this point we’d be lucky if they’re only captured. I didn’t wanna say anything in front of Sammy because of Tab, but I honestly think it’s looking pretty grim, Red. My psi-link with Cable’s been gone for a few days now,” she swallowed and raked a hand through her hair. “And the only reason I’m telling you is because you and I both know that whatever happened to them…Wade’s alive. That fucker can’t die.”
Theresa averted her eyes and nodded. “I see.”
“But that stays between you and me for now,” Domino warned her.
“What about ye? Can ye handle not knowin’ if Nate’s all right or not?”
Domino just stared at her for a few silent moments before continuing on her way. “I do what I have to do, just like I always do.”
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The ride to the medical facility was long and silent. The group picked up at the cave were all visually exhausted and hurt. Even the healer Shatterstar looked like he had been through hell and back, and that said something about the overall state of their team. Just watching them - the frown lines on their faces, and the bloodshot colours of their eyes - made Jimmy Proudstar pang with sympathy.
However, it also made him thankful that he had been placed on a squad with Domino and Cannonball. The others were good fighters, yes, but none of them could match Dom and Sam in keeping their emotions in check. The fight and the cause came first with those two, and Jimmy knew his team had lucked out. They had probably fought more HYDRA agents than the others, yes, but their battle attitudes made all the difference in the world. Jimmy was unsure if his mental state would have been able to stay focused had he been paired with the kill-or-be-killed Shatterstar, or the vengeful Sunspot. That combined with the fact that Amara and Maria had been fatally injured, and Rictor was teetering on the edge of living and dying, Jimmy was unsure how Theresa had managed to make it through with her sanity in tact.
Yes, he did know. She was the strongest, toughest person that he knew, and that was saying something coming from a guy who was over seven feet and three hundred pounds of pure strength and speed. But Theresa was solid steel in spirit, and that was not something James would credit himself for.
Especially when sitting in the back of the van and feeling down just looking at his friends. Roberto was absolutely silent, while Terry curled up in the corner to get some rest. Shatterstar and Domino were going over everything that had gone on since they last met, while Sam took driving responsibilities. Things were tense, but remained quiet up until the Mojoworlder opened up Rictor’s jacket and showed their leader the younger boy’s chest.
“Holy shit,” Domino muttered. “How long has that been leaking for?”
Shatterstar stared down at the burns, masking emotion from his features. “Almost two days. I ran out of materials and bandages, so most of this has just been collecting up.”
James followed the warrior’s pointing hand with his eyes, and felt his face pale at the sight of Rictor’s wounds. His skin was scarred, coloured, and swollen, and the bandages covering the worst of it were stained with blood and yellow fluid. The other squad did not even seem bothered by it as much as they should have been, and Jimmy figured it was because they might have actually gotten used to seeing their friend look that way.
That thought made him sick.
“We’re here!” Sam called from the front, and let the van come to a stop. They had driven for almost three hours to Manitoba, the next province over, and stopped at a remote location in the thick of the wilderness and just off a small highway. Immediately Shatterstar and Domino went back to getting Rictor whisked off, and the rest of the team gathered their things.
“You okay?” he asked Terry, as she slowly moved from her place.
“I think so,” she winced, and rubbed at her shoulder. “I feel like I have nae moved in days though. My whole body’s just stiff.”
Jimmy frowned, and grabbed her bag for her. “I heard what Domino said to you. That you’re hurt.”
“I’m okay,” she promised him with a gentle smile. “There’s just been a lot goin’ on is all. Ye know that.” She jumped out of the back of the van, and peered up at him. “I’m just glad yuir all right.”
He smiled and placed his arm over her shoulder. “Likewise. I was worried when I heard about the bomb. Thought I’d have to come kick some ass.”
Terry chuckled at that and watched as Shatterstar and Sam carried Ric to the entrance of the facility. “I just hope he’s all right. That’s all I’m worried about.”
“Uhm…I wanted to tell you something,” he said awkwardly, and rubbed a hand over his hair. “I just wanted to let you know that…”
She glanced up at him, shooting a worried look. “What?”
“I found your dad,” he explained slowly. “I know that only half of Gen X was visiting the Institute during the attacks, but your dad wasn’t. And he…he didn’t make it.”
Her gaze fell down to the ground and she swallowed. “I see.”
“I know that you guys were still working on things, but I wanted to be the one to tell you.”
She nodded. “Thanks. Yuir me best friend, Jim, so that means a lot.”
“I also wanted to let you know that we took his body. It was quiet out where we found him, and Dom let us give him a decent burial. When this is all over I’ll take you there.”
Her chin quivered, but she did not dare cry - just like he suspected she would not. “Thanks.”
“It’s no problem,” Jimmy told her quietly. He knew exactly how she felt and what she was going through; he had been through the same thing when his own family had been killed, and despite any brushing off she may do, he knew that she would need him to be there for support. And whatever kind of support she needed he was more than willing to give it to her.
“Terry!” Domino called. “Let’s get a move on, girlie!”
The redhead looked back up at Jimmy once more before giving him a quick hug. “Thanks again, Jim. I dinnae know what I’d do without ye sometimes.”
Something swelled inside him, and he slowly hugged her back. “Likewise.”
She nodded before turning on her heel and catching up with Domino. Brown eyes followed her as she jogged away, and Jimmy could not help but feel a pull of grief in his heart for her. She was hurt - scarred even - and he hated that more than anything else. What was worse was that she would not tell anyone and she would bury it down deep where no one else could see. The problem was that Jimmy could see it though. He knew her better than anyone, and no matter how much she would try and brush it off, grief would be seen by him.
“Hey,” Roberto dropped a bag at Jimmy’s feet. “Me and you were partnered up.”
“I know,” the bigger man said, and finally turned to look at the blackened mutant. “You have everything we need?”
“I figured we’d leave most of it in the van,” he shrugged. “Why carry it around when we’ll just be hopping back in this pile anyhow?”
Jimmy narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “We should keep it on us, Bobby. We don’t know how long we’ll be able to get away with keeping that ‘pile’ and not getting tracked down. It’s better we’re safe than sorry.”
Roberto scoffed before storming toward the facility empty handed. “I already am sorry!”
Sighing, Jimmy picked up the bag at his feet and then turned to collect the rest from the vehicle. He was not in the mood to be dealing with Roberto’s mood swings right then, and it only figured that he was the one that had to get partnered with him. Domino must have been smoking something when she thought sending Bobby out to talk to patients and victims would be a good idea; the Brazilian could not even stand in the same spot for two minutes without snapping on somebody.
Not that Jimmy blamed him or anything.
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“What’s wrong with this one?”
Shatterstar stared down at the doctor, a balding man with a white overcoat, and frowned. “He got trapped in a bomb blast.”
“I need help over here!” the man called, and grabbed a gurney. He straightened the sheets and gestured for Sam and ‘Star to place Rictor on top of it. The boys did as they were told, and watched with concern as a small group of assistants began getting syringes and care aids prepared. The doctor unlocked the wheels of the gurney and began pushing it toward one of their small rooms. Shatterstar immediately started walking behind him.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” the doctor demanded.
“With you,” he stated simply.
“I need space to work; you’ll have to wait in the hall.”
“No.”
“Yes!” the physician insisted, but stepped back when the warrior unsheathed a gun from his cargo pants. He cocked it and pointed it straight at the doctor’s forehead and did not blink.
“I will watch you, and you will deal with it. I have no reason to trust you, and if you end up being a traitor or a spy, you will die.”
The doctor’s eyes widened and he moved his gaze to Cannonball. “What’s the meaning of this!?”
Sam cleared his throat. “We hate tah be a bother, sir, but we have orders. We just wanna make sure our friend’s in good hands.”
The older man scoffed, and moved his gaze back to the Mojoworlder. “Fine! Can you take the gun off of my head though? I promise you can trust me; I’ve been treating HYDRA victims for over a week now. I’m not a spy.”
Shatterstar nodded, and gestured with the gun to the room behind them. “Take us in.”
The doctor nodded, not taking his eyes off of the weapon, and backed into the room his assistants had taken Rictor into. Sam shot Shatterstar an annoyed look. “Do ya have to scare people?”
“Yes.”
Sam sighed, and pushed the warrior into the room. It was not very big at all, but was very well equipped for a makeshift facility. The walls were covered in shelves of vials and small pieces of equipment. A freezer was located in the back corner, opposite a homemade cabinet. The staff parked the gurney at the far wall, and immediately began shedding Rictor of Shatterstar’s coat and cut off the combat pants. However, when they got a look at the bandages, the doctor turned back to the boys with a disgusted look.
“Who on Earth treated this boy?! Are those supposed to be stitches?!”
Shatterstar narrowed his eyes. “He needed them. He was bleeding out.”
“I haven’t seen something so makeshift since the Gulf War!” the doctor shook his head, and turned back to Rictor. “You shouldn’t have gone ahead and done that. These things could’ve easily been responsible for the infection!”
Shatterstar frowned. “He was bleeding. He needed it.”
“And you’re not some Green Beret! You could have killed him!”
Sam looked up at Shatterstar and frowned. “No, sir, our training is probably more thorough than that. We might be a little less disciplined though…”
The doctor just blinked back his shock and looked down at Rictor. He began removing the bandages covering the burns. “Harris, cut his shorts off. I need to get a look at that one up his thigh; it looks like his hip might be damaged. Morseau, I want an IV and a transfusion prepped. We’re also going to need a dose of penicillin, and get him some Oxycodone.” He lifted a syringe and measured out a dose of something clear. “Administering 400mg of Ketek…”
“No.”
Shatterstar looked down at the bed, and noticed Rictor’s eyes were half open. He was staring up at the needle with fright, and fighting to lift his arms. “Julio…”
“No…don’t let him touch me with that…please.”
“Julio? Is that your name?” the doctor questioned. “You have to allow me to administer you treatment.”
“No…” he shifted on the bed, and tried his hardest to brush away the orderly removing his boxer shorts. Weakness and fatigue were apparent in his actions, and it bothered Shatterstar to see him struggle. “Don’t let ‘em touch me, ‘Star! It’s jus like…like…Right…”
The warrior clenched his jaw, and tried his best to ignore his plea. “You’re fine…”
But Rictor was not listening. The small machine hooked up to his heart rate began beeping faster, and the Mexican’s hands began glowing green. Tools skipped across the counter tops and shelves, and soon Shatterstar felt the ground beneath his boots tremble.
“Aw crap!” Sam squeaked, and grabbed onto Shatty’s arm to level himself. The warrior stumbled against the doorway.
“He’s a mutant!?” the doctor yelled.
“Yes! He controls seismic energy!” Sam yelled.
“Don’t let them touch me!” Rictor whimpered.
“Fekt!” Shatterstar cursed, and looked for something to hold onto.
“Got it, boss!” a brown haired man, Harris, he had been referred to, jumped toward the bed with a large needle in his hand. Swiftly he jammed it into Rictor’s leg, and the Mexican let out a pained yell. Shatterstar growled fiercely and leapt across the room to grab the man by the throat.
“What was that!? Fekt, you Mojo-sucking bitch! What did you do to him!?”
The man in his hands looked like he had just seen a ghost. All of the colour drained from his face, and he stared up at the warrior with widened eyes as he gasped for air. But before Harris could even stutter out an answer, all of the shaking in the room stopped, and Rictor’s hands slowly dulled back to their original colour. Shatterstar released the orderly and stared down at his friend.
“We dampened his powers,” the doctor explained shakily. “It will only last an hour or so.”
Sam stepped forward and grabbed Shatty by the elbow, pulling him back to allow the staff to work. Rictor was even more groggy from the shot, and continued to mutter incoherently, begging the boys to keep the doctors away from him. However, the staff went to work, removing the Mexican’s underwear and covering him with a paper sheet. An intravenous tube was hooked into his hand, and he was given two more shots.
“Stop it, please…” Rictor whimpered, and slowly lifted his hand to push away at the doctor. A strange, twisted feeling suffocated Shatterstar at the sight of it, and he could not tear his eyes away from his friend’s face. He was distressed and scared like the warrior had never seen him before, and that fact bothered him. Mostly because Shatterstar was allowing it to happen. “‘Star!”
The struggling continued until all of the Mexican’s muscles contracted tightly and he snapped back onto the bed. The heart rate monitor screeched, and all of the staff leapt up to work. “He’s convulsing!”
Frantically they rushed around the gurney and moved away anything that could harm him. Shatterstar watched in horrified fascination as his friend jerked violently on the bed. One nurse grabbed a monitor and began shouting off numbers. “His temperature is 104.6, BP is 90 over 60 and respirations are down.”
Rictor stopped moving then, and fell back to the bed with a grunt before the doctor promptly turned him over to throw up. He groaned loudly when he was finished, and fisted the sheets beneath him when he was laid back down. “F-fuck-fucking ass…hole!”
“You should go where he can’t see you,” a short woman nurse said, and attempted to push the alien back by the chest. The warrior did not budge and did not even look at her. He just stared back at Rictor with a troubled frown. “You’re only making it worse!” she scolded.
“Please,” Sam spoke for Shatty. “We’re just keeping an eye on him. We won’t get in the way!”
“Don’t bother them,” the doctor agreed, eyeing the pair. “They’re armed.”
The nurse’s eyes widened, and she quickly backed away. Sam, however, stepped forward. “We don’t wanna hurt anyone! Please believe us! We come from the United States…we’re part of a militant mutant strike team, and we’re lookin’ tah take down HYDRA. They have some of our team captured and they’ve killed a big chunk of our allies back home. We’re on yoah side.”
The staff continued to look at the boys with mistrust, but kept treating Rictor nonetheless. Shatterstar cared not what they thought, only that they made his friend better. Seeing him in such pain made him feel a flurry of emotions that he could not begin to describe, and it only stressed him out as well. Why was he so bothered by looking at such things? And why was he not doing anything to verbally console his friend? For the first time in his life, Shatterstar found himself so disturbed that he was rendered speechless, and the fact confused him greatly. He had no idea what to do or how to act.
“I have the blood transfusion ready.” Another orderly, who had been referred to as Morseau, held a drip bag in his grasp, and prepped another needle.
“Is that mutant blood?” Sam questioned.
“With regenerative properties, yes,” the doctor confirmed. “However this needs to be done in stages. Not only does he have damage to his integumentary system, but the infection he has is practically like poison running through his body. The blood will work as a filter to flush it out, but it will take a little bit of time.”
“How much?” Sam questioned.
“A couple of hours, tops,” the doctor promised. “How are you holding up, Julio?”
“Fuck y-you.”
“He’s good,” Sam sighed.
But he was not good, Shatterstar knew that. Though he was very happy that his friend would be healthy in a short amount of time, the situation would only prove to be distressing to Rictor’s mental status - and at that point in time, that was the last thing that they needed.
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Go to part two of chapter nine.