Los Angeles, Tuesday

[spin_kick_snap]

After a week of pollen and then finding out that Minako was Sailor V and Mara Jade was some kind of...knife-wielding badass, Kathy had decided that spending a week with her classmates on a ship was not in the cards. She needed a little time and space to put her confused thoughts into order, to figure out how she felt about who and what, if anything, she wanted to do about it.

Rather than hang around an empty (and frigid) island while everyone else was enjoying Mexico (so much that no one had returned any of her handwavy texts!), Kathy had decided to head back to LA. Rather than going back to her parents' apartment for the week, Kathy'd rented a tiny motel room where she wouldn't have to worry about rules, curfew, or her family finding out about her late night hobbies. During the day, she could work on her homework and brood be pensive and at night she could be Banzai, too busy leaping over rooftops and chasing down criminals to live inside her own head.

You relax your way, she'd relax hers, all right?

Not that tonight was anything like relaxing. LA was so much bigger than Baltimore, with more crime and, specifically, more violent crime. She'd just finished taking down a mugger when she'd heard gunshots coming from the north. Giving the mugger's collar one last shake, she let him go and ran off as fast as she could towards the guns.

It might be kinda sick, but she loved this.

[And the link to the thread that begins after LJ breaks the page]

Comments

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy nodded, snagging the sunglasses from the bag and handing them over. "I grabbed a couple of things for you at the store. A clean t-shirt, pair of sweats. Let's get you clean and comfortable, huh? I'll get those while you swap out your goggles, okay?"

She licked her lips and asked, "You want a hand with that?"

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

Question of the year award went to...

"I think I can handle a pair of sunglasses, Kathy," Nick protested, lifting his good arm, and managing to drum up the energy to move his hand toward his head before just sort of giving up and letting his hand fall limp to his face. "Yeah. Yeah I got this."

No. No he did not.

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

"I know you do," Kathy said, fingers already working to loosen the straps of his goggles. "You got this. It's okay, Nick. We're just gonna get your goggles off and some pills into you and we'll be okay."

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

"Okay. Okay..."

To say that Nick was squeezing his eyes shut tightly would be something of an exaggeration. It was more accurate to say that he didn't have the energy left to open them again, that what he wanted more than anything else in the world right then was a full month of sleep and maybe some of those drugs that Hannibal had given him back when the worst grief his shoulder had to deal with was having been dislocated.

Either way, the result was about the same, wasn't it?

"S'all dizzy, Kathy. Wanna humor me and tell me that blood's not all mine, I'd appresh'ate it."

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

"Of course it's not all yours," she said, trying very hard not to be as bad at lying as she normally was. "It's also...because...well and then Painkiller...Don't be silly, Nick, it's not all yours."

Nailed it.

"Here," she said, sliding the mirrored glasses over his face. So much less pressure on his face which would hopefully help. Then her hands went up to start rubbing lightly as his temples, trying to soothe the headache away enough for him to be be a little more coherent. "I've got good drugs..." she wheedled. "All you have to do is open your eyes and take a tiny hit and you'll be strong enough to take them."

And drink. And eat. And shower. And maybe walk to her room, where it did not look like they had butchered a pig in there.

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

"Be hard, taking a small hit... rather you be conscious than me right now..." He swallowed, brow furrowing. Yeah. Yeah, that was coherent. He made all those words happen like a champ. "Heh, if Mana was here she'd... I dunno. Crush the pills into honey, s'hard to choke on honey, and..."

He kind of wanted to ball himself up and bury his face in somebody's lap or something. Other things Nikolai would never admit to in a million years.

"Gatorade's prolly not the same."

And he didn't trust himself not to puke it up.

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

"I can crush the pills but you need to drink something," Kathy said, voice still soft as she stroked his hair. "You need to replace all that blood you lost and for that you need to eat and drink."

She wished she had honey. If she could, she'd run right out and buy some, just to mix the pills with. Or she'd run and find his Mana! Something, anything to make him feel better.

There wasn't a lot of room on the bed next to Nick, but Kathy found a small sliver of mattress and sat down, trying to weigh her options. Crushing pills she could do no problem, but how to get him to take them? If she had a straw, she could make him drink that way...but she didn't. No spoons or anything, either.

All she really had was--

"Nick, can you open your mouth for me? Just a little, okay? I want to get some fluids in you and then some pain pills."

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

Ha. If Nick's Mana found out about this, she'd kill him herself.

And then contemplate putting the pills in honey for him.

Nick frowned a little, but opening his mouth, at least, seemed easy enough. Fluids sounded good. He'd drink fucking antifreeze at this point, he felt so parched. So... that was what he did. Mouth? Open. Achievement unlocked.

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

And Kathy held her hand above his mouth, fingertips just brushing his lips when her hand moved, and she dribbled water down her fingers. Drip drip drip. The water pattered down on his parched tongue and slid towards the back of his throat in a slow rivulet.

"Pills in a moment," she said. "I just want to make sure your mouth's not so dry you choke."

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

Nick would have replied to that, but he was a little busy drinking. And swallowing took energy, and at least water was pretty easy, compared to that 'food' thing she kept talking about. So he sort of... there was a thumbs-up happening there. With that hand that was still next to his head. That was about as 'sure thing, good to go,' as he was going to get at the moment.

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

Hopefully the water would soothe his throat, too. Kathy could only imagine how raw and irritated it must be at this point.

She shifted a few times to find a position as comfortable as possible to keep pouring water down his throat and if he did end up curled up with his head in her lap, well, she wasn't gonna tell anyone.

When they'd gotten through most of the bottle, Kathy reached for the pills, grabbed two, and crushed them together as much as she could before dropping them into what little water was left to dissolve. He was gonna get his pain meds, dammit, and they were still several steps away from her just prying open an eyelid and giving him a hit willy-nilly.

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

Oh, that'd end great. Nick was too out of it to come to his senses and close his eyes right now. It would be like putting a starving man at a buffet and then expecting him to know when to stop gorging himself.

Only, in this case, the buffet could die. So maybe it wasn't the most sound of metaphors.

He didn't even protest when the last mouthful was less water, more nasty-tasting drugs. They went down as easily as the water did, at least, and he barely made a face.

"Thanks."

He actually meant that.

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

Look at Nick, being all polite. Apparently getting shot did wonders for his manners.

"You're welcome," Kathy said, going back to carding her hands through his hair while they waited for the drugs to kick in. "Hopefully those will help bring you back a little closer to being able to move around a bit."

Because she was serious about the eating and drinking. And pretty certain on the shower. And willing to give the old college try to getting him to move rooms. The thick smell of blood was starting to make her nauseous, she could only imagine what it was doing to him.

"The bullet's still in there, by the way. Mr. Spencer told me I could do more damage trying to get it out. But hopefully the Mighty Dragon's friend can help with that, too."

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

"Yeah...? S'up with that, anyway? The Dragon, I mean? How'd you find him?"

Now that there wasn't someone else listening in on the conversation, it seemed like a better topic of conversation.

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

"He found me," Kathy said, using her other hand to grab for more water. She was going to keep pouring liquid down Nick's throat until he developed gills, dammit. "I was running along the rooftops and he saw I was covered in blood and stopped me. Of course, I thought he'd already heard about the drugstore, so I nearly bolted away even faster, because I did not want Dragon to, like, arrest me or something."

Oh. Hmm. Maybe she shouldn't have said that. Maybe he wasn't listening? Maybe she should change the topic slightly.

"But he said he knew a guy who might be able to help. Unfortunately, he doesn't have, like, contact information, so he has to hand hang around and hope he bumps into him, I guess."

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

Nick listened quietly (and tiredly) while Kathy talked, once again a little too busy swallowing to be able to speak.

There was a questioning twitch of one eyebrow, at least, when she mentioned she had run from him. And a blink (hidden behind his shades though it was) at the mention of The Mighty Dragon... 'knowing a guy.'

After a moment, he leaned his head to the side slightly. He needed to stop drinking in order to breathe for a minute, anyway.

"He didn't say anything... about that guy? At all?"

He was mildly concerned, so sue him.

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

"Another hero," Kathy said. "Not a civilian. He didn't give me any more information than that, other than he's pretty sure he can help. But he doesn't know where we are, either. So if you don't want this guy coming around, he doesn't have to." She bit her lip before adding, "But if Dragon thinks he can help, I'd be inclined to let him. Keeping a bullet in your shoulder for an extended period of time strikes me as a terrible idea and it's the Mighty Dragon. If he can't be trust to understand discretion, who can?"

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

"... You know, Kathy, I wonder if people say the same thing about Gorgon from time to time. Of course, I'm also wondering if I'm the only one who can see the hilarity in a girl who dresses in a rainbow karate uniform talking to a goggle-wearing motorcycle cowboy about how matter-of-fact it us that some guy in a dragon mask is going to use discretion."

Just because a hero had an outstanding reputation didn't mean they were necessarily stellar people. Of course, he hadn't been the one to meet Dragon himself, so mostly he was just... paranoid. Rightfully paranoid.

"... But if you trust him to do right..."

He wasn't exactly getting better laying there in his own blood, really. The water and the drugs were helping him get his head back on straight, but once the painkillers (ha) really kicked in, he was going to be out of it all over again. Vicodin wasn't exactly renowned for causing alertness in the people who took it.

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy chuckled at that. Nick had a point. "If this whole scenario doesn't count as absurdist humor, I don't know what does. But I trust him. And I won't let anything else happen to you, okay? Dragon said that if it came down to it and we had to rush you to the hospital, he'd stand there the whole time to make sure that no one touched your goggles. Because his job is to keep people safe--the civilians you could unknowingly affect, yes, but you, too."

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

"Maybe I'll believe that when I meet 'im too," Nick mumbled, and then kind of nodded toward the water. "Can I... I dunno. Would you mind?"

More, Nick. Just ask for more. Say please. It was all the rage these days.

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

Hey, he'd said 'thanks' earlier. That was a lot of manners all at once.

"I don't mind," she said, with a gentle smile. "Making sure you drink is pretty up there on my list of priorities."

Sentences she hadn't expected ever to say for $100, Alex?

"He's pretty imposing," she added. "Maybe it's just because you don't expect a guy to come swooping down out of the sky wearing a dragon mask. At least, I generally don't. Which is pretty dumb, considering our line of work, I guess."

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

"I've been doing this longer than you have," Nick pointed out, pursing his lips a little. "I can safely say that's not something that I've ever seen before, either."

Pretty sure, anyway. He figured it was something he'd remember.

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

"By a couple of months," Kathy scoffed, even as she beamed down at him. He sounded like he was coming back to himself a little more. "And, besides, I'm still on the island. Talk about places where that should be normal..."

She'd gone on a date with a guy who called himself the Human Torch for completely legitimate reasons. The island was all kinds of weird.

"You're sounding a little more with it."

Re: Back at the motel

[gunslingerpose]

"Little more," Nick agreed. "Still feel like I was hit by a fuckin' truck. Could sleep for a month. Not goin' anywhere any time soon."

He pulled in a slow breath, and then exhaled it all at once in a soft, bitter chuckle.

"Fucking Fernando. I'm gonna shoot him in the fucking foot next time I see him with a gun."

Re: Back at the motel

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was so very disappointed in Fernando, she absolutely was.

She was also not going to ask Nick where he was gonna get the gun from. Sometimes you just had to vent. Especially when you'd just been ventilated.

"I'd still like you to try to eat something," she said. "And I don't know if lying in a soaked mattress is going to help you feel any better." She could feel it squelching beneath her when she shifted. "I know you just said that you don't wanna go anywhere, but I think with the proper incentive, you can move, say, just down the hall a little?"