Point and Click

[badbutsadboy]

Who: Hunter badbutsadboy and a few others.
What: Hunter fucks around and finds out
When: About a week after his running away post.
Where: Jason Todd's Safehouse over the bar
Content Warnings: Gunshot wounds, blood, harm to a minor

Then.

It was going as well as it could at first. As in, he hadn't been dragged back to the school and he wasn't dead. But he was tired, he was always just a little cold, even with his tent and sleeping pad and little heat orbs. The distant rumble of the subway going over one of the bridges woke him up every so often.

Then there was the...scuffling outside the tent. That he knew had to be rats. They tended to scatter anytime he unzipped it. He stored his food somewhere separate, safe from them, in weather proofed containers hidden on the outside edifices of some of the high rises, tucked behind things like gargoyles that window washers wouldn't look behind. Annoyingly distant, so he had to make sure he ate everything he wanted before settling in, but he had less fears about the rats with wings chewing through his containers than the rats without wings, so it was better they were somewhere up high.

He at least had been left alone so far. One major advantage to having Flapjack to get into high places that couldn't be climbed to. Good ol' reliable Flapjack, who'd agreed to this plan from the beginning, despite Hunter telling him he'd stay in the nice warm house with the fake family if he really wanted it. Flapjack was able to get him up and over barriers to places that most humans could get to. That's why he'd been able to camp out on the abandoned third floor of a factory, where all the ladders had rusted and fallen away, limiting people being able to reach it.

So he'd been safe so far, but cold. Hungry for something that wasn't protein bars and peanut butter and tuna packets. Starting to feel grimy. Hygiene was NOT easy like this and he knew he was going to cave soon and go get a shower at Jason's and wash his clothes. And he would not stay, he told himself. Even for comfort and warmth, he wouldn't stay because he needed to not be all in on trusting someone when there might be something they're hiding...

Besides, this wasn't all that different than his time on the run from Belos. That was slightly more harrowing, given he sometime'd had to shelter from the boiling rain until he made it to Hexside, and known he was almost certainly being hunted. The Emperor's nephew had enough credibility that warnings about Belos' plans might be taken seriously. So at least he was less mortally terrified every waking moment.

Mostly just...bored. He couldn't even fool around on his phone when he needed to save the charge. Maybe it was his boredom that had him perking up at the sound of loud voices not too far away outside. The voices sounded angry, one sounded scared.

He crawled over to a window, low to the ground, and peeked out through the broken panes, Flapjack on his shoulder. The bird was smart enough to duck his head down, too.

"Sorry, Benny, but the Cassowary wants you to pay what you owe."

"Look, Mr. Wise, Kevlar, I swear, I'm good! I just need more time!"

Hunter rolled his eyes. He wasn't such a naive idiot to not know people like this existed in any world. Two bit thugs that, unlike some others, truly deserved their place in the Emperor's dungeons. Probably dealing with some kind of internal crime-based conflict.

Without his authority as Golden Guard to intimidate them with, he didn't even think about interfering. He could phone in the details to someone to look into later. Someone with better resources. As long as it stayed at just making threats or even just punching the guy once or twice, he didn't need to interfere.

"That was an awful lot of merchandise you lost us," said Kevlar.

"I was just doing my job, okay. I'm a cop! I wasn't the one that found the warehouse, I just got called in as backup!"

So, a guard then? Wow. Extra scumbag, dealing with the criminal element on the side. That honestly meant nothing positive about his general virtue, too, either. In fact, that could make him an even worse person, the way some of the Emperor's coven were the worst people imaginable. Look at Kikimora.

"Still owe us a lot because of how much you lost at the ponies, too, Benny," said Wise.

"Please. I'm working on it. My kid's sick. The chemo alone -" said Benny.

Probably a lie. It'was probably just an excuse. Besides, who would bring up their innocent child to some toughs that might threaten them just for the mention?

Still...that meant a potentially traumatized child, hearing the news daddy wasn't coming home. Possibly a sick one reliant on his income for medicine. They didn't have healing magic here and the absolute barbarians in charge of medicine charged an obscene mark up of snails on it.

"Maybe you should've thought of that when you were at the track," said Kevlar.

"I stopped gambling after her diagnosis but -"

"Then maybe you should've thought about saving something for a rainy day before starting," said Wise.

"I just need more time."

"I think he's not getting the message, Kev."

"I think you're right, Wise."

"Wait wait! Please!"

They grabbed the man and pinned him to a wall, pulling out a knife. One of them started wrestling with his hand. It was clear they were possibly going to cut something off of him.

Hunter rolls his head downward, in a "staring at the Titan beseeching it for strength" gesture, thinking to himself, Of course it's in the alley near my hiding spot. Of course. He nodded at Flapjack who transforms to a staff in his hand.

Even if it was some low lifes terrorizing another low life, he could't just let them chop off fingers or something. The idea of letting someone face that kind of brutality and having to listen to it rubbed him the wrong way. Besides, it was just two idiots with knives, who hadn't shown a single sign of any powers. What was the worst they could do?

Now.

He almost can't work the window open, but is able to hook the bottom with Flapjack's beak and pull just enough to get it up. He outright falls through the opening, landing on the floor and drags himself across it. Inside. Into the warmth. Into the heat that he knows he needs to survive shock. After he's stopped, Flapjack starts panicking, flying right into his coat to pull his phone out of its inner pocket for him, with his beak.

He was lucky he wasn't altogether that far, especially since he could only hold onto his staff with one hand while flying over.

Gasping ragged breaths, he turns on his side. The bandage of magical vines is holding but he doesn't know how long it will, and he knows he needs more pressure. Biting back a scream as he does it, he rolls onto the upper part of his left arm, using his body weight to add even more pressure to the wound, cutting off circulation with his body in place of a tourniquet.

"S'kay, Flap. S'fine. Jus' need - jus' need t'..."

Flapjack gets the phone into his hand, even figures out how to swipe off the screen lock. Hunter fumbles with it with bloody fingers but his vision was already tinged around the edges. It starts fading to black. He's clumsy enough with his phone on a good day, with both hands. Pulling up the contacts to dial is hard to do, on his side, with only one hand and the screen now smeared with blood.

He fumbles, starts to feel himself fading, struggles to breathe faster, because even though nothing is wrong with his lungs, he feels like he can never catch his breath. He knows he's in shock. He's been in shock before. A few of his witches' duels hadn't gone well, especially early on.

His last thought is a perplexed:

I wonder why there isn't a way to dial a whole phone number with one button...

And then he stops, and the phone slides out of his hand, the screen flat on the floor where even Flapjack can't mess with it. His eyes roll back into his head. And he's left on the cold floor, breathing shallow breaths as Flapjack trills with wild-eyed terror, desperately tugging on the phone to turn it over to try to work the buttons and struggling to get a grip, or flying over to his forelock and yanking to wake him up.

He doesn't wake up. Crimson slowly pools around him.

Comments

[codicies]

Dylan can't exactly explain why algebra homework is easier at the safehouse above the Descendant — maybe it's because someone like Dana is usually available to tutor him when things get tough? Maybe it's the change of scenery? Maybe the buzz of activity downstairs provides enough white noise to help him concentrate?

Regardless of the reason, coming here has become a regular occurrence, especially now that Sleeper's been spending more time with Jason. He slips into the bar and into the secret passage, pulling out his phone and scrolling his contacts as he trudges up the stairs.

It's cold tonight, and Hunter's out there alone. Maybe Dylan can get him to sleep somewhere warm tonight under the guise of hanging out.

When he hears Hunter's ringtone from the attic above, Dylan grins and hurries to the top of the stairs. He's glad he didn't need to lure his friend here. They can hang out and chat while Dylan gets this algebra assignment finished, and —

Dylan's thoughts are interrupted when he opens the attic door. His eyes are immediately drawn to the panicked bird, then to a whole lot of red.

"Hunter!!"

Dylan's gotten better at using his powers in the past few months. By the time he's kneeling at Hunter's side, one ooze tentacle has already grabbed a pillowcase off one of the bunks across the room, and another joins it to start tearing it into long, thick strips of fabric to try and stop the bleeding — once he finds the wound, anyway.

There's a lot of blood.

As the tentacles are tending to the wound, Dylan's already typed out a text to Jason:

EMERGENCY

GET UP HERE

And once that's sent, Dylan finally turns his attention to the frantic bird. "It's okay. Flapjack, right? Help is coming. Can you point out where the — hold on, I see the vines. Is that where he's hurt?"

Before Flap even answers, one tentacle is already tugging the vines away so the new makeshift bandage can be applied.

[badbutsadboy]

Flapjack keeps trilling up a storm because he can't calm down. If Dylan could hear words in his little panicked tweets, he'd catch a "Not again" in there. But he can't.

But he does point with his little foot at the upper arm to show that yes Dylan is right about it being where the wound was.

Hunter himself winces and cries out at the shift of the bandage being removed and new pressure being added but doesn't quiet regain consciousness. Normally, he'd hold any cries in out of a habit of stifling them but not being with it means he's not even trying.

[robintohood]

Jason was downstairs at the Descendant greeting and serving customers when his phone pings. He checks it, sees Dylan's text, and immediately changes mental gears. Thanks to his training from Bruce, he swiftly and stealthily heads upstairs to the safehouse.

A perk to being a business owner is that if the owner decides to come and go as they please, people usually won't question them.

He's worried as he quickly climbs the stairs. He knows Dylan well enough that he wouldn't send that kind of text over something trivial. Then he reaches the top of the stairs, opens the door, and goes pale when he sees Hunter bleeding on the floor.

Shit. This one of the scenarios that he's been prepared for but hope would never happen when he set up the attic safehouse.

"What happened?" he says as he shuts the door and walks over to Hunter. He needs to know how serious the wound is. Jason's also scared for Hunter but can't afford to show it. Someone has to stay calm in this situation.

[codicies]

Dylan manages to get his makeshift bandage secured around Hunter's arm, but his pained cries hit Dylan like a knife to the gut.

If just that much was hurting him so badly, how the hell is he gonna move Hunter to safety? Maybe if Dylan cradles him in enough tendrils, then maybe Flapjack would be able to fly them —

No, wait. Dylan has a sudden moment of clarity in his panic, and shoots a text to Nico.

Hunter's hurt. Come to attic hangout.

Probably best not to allude to safehouse locations over text.

Dylan pockets his phone and leans in closer, bringing a hand to Hunter's forehead.

"Shh, it's okay," he says softly, brushing a lock of hair out of Hunter's eyes and smoothing it back with the rest of his hair. "It's okay. I'm right here. Help is coming."

He continues gently stroking Hunter's hair, the most soothing gesture he can think of.

The seconds dragged on like hours before Jason finally burst through the door. Dylan turns but chooses not to get up, even as the blood starts soaking into the knees of his pants. Comforting Hunter is his priority right now.

"I don't know," Dylan answers, trying (and failing) not to sound frightened. "I just got up here and found him like this."

[demigoth]

The text comes through when Nico is at the store. Alone, because alone is okay in small doses, and it’s not like anything terrible happens at the grocery store unless you put the cauliflower in your own cart.

Unfortunately, that means Nico has to make a snap decision when he gets the message. Shadow travel is something of a finite resource: he can only do it so often. If he goes to get Will, it’s another trip, and twice as much effort to get there - or a wasted trip if Will’s left the house. How hurt is hurt? Dylan doesn’t ask for Will - so Nico decides to trust people to not be stupid and to go straight there.

Nico sweeps an entire shelf of Pop-tarts into his cart until it casts a heavy shadow beneath it in the brightly lit store. He starts to crawl under the cart and the shadow deepens, sucking him in.

He comes out of the darkness in the bedroom of the little apartment. Having been here before, it’s easier to reach, and the noise in the other room leads him to them - and to an alarming amount of blood.

“Where is it?” Because there is always an it, some monster or “monster” to cause this, and he doesn’t want to miss the obvious running to Hunter. Dylan and Jason will take care of Hunter. Gods, why didn’t he bring Will?

[codicies]

[ A little while later, Dylan has texted both Sleeper and Eddie to let them know where he is; Eddie calls immediately and Dylan answers the phone.

He sits on the bench as he talks, looking exhausted. ]

[demigoth]

[ Nico waits quietly on the bench until Dylan is off the phone, but, now that he’s done, saying how he understands what it’s like to lose people is too big and negative for Nico to do. He inches closer, though, without any explanation. He doesn’t want to say that it will be okay or that, if it’s not, someday you’ll have days where you almost don’t think about the people that you lost. So he just shared the same space. ]

[codicies]

[ Dylan's aware of Nico moving closer, but doesn't engage quite yet. In the few months he's known Nico, he's come to know his comfort level regarding expressing himself — the small motion of just scooting a little closer is appreciated. ]

Thank you.

If you hadn't done your shadow thing, we might not have gotten him help in time.

And... thanks for taking the extra effort of bringing me, too.

[demigoth]

[ They still might not have gotten him good enough in time. Nico would’ve rather been completely unable to help than to have fallen short. It - doesn’t make him feel great to be thanked when they don’t know if Hunter is okay.

Nico’s head bobs once, although it’s not clear what he’s agreeing to, and offers Dylan a half-eaten Kitkat. ]

I had to bring you. I wasn’t going to leave you to get hurt.

[codicies]

It means a lot to me. Even if...

[ Well, he's not going to speak it into existence. ]

I mean, whatever happens, I want to be here for it. For him.

[robintohood]

[It's only after a while after Dylan's finished talking to Eddie that Jason joins Dylan. He also looks tired]

Hey. How're you feeling now?

[codicies]

[ Dylan leans heavily into Jason. ]

I'm managing.

How about you?

[robintohood]

[Jason gives Dylan another backrub for comfort]

I'll manage. Long night for all of us that's for sure.

[He then softly sighs]

I know it must've terrifying but you did good in flagging all of us to help Hunter.

Several Hours Later

[badbutsadboy]

[A doctor walks out, one of the ones that had helped rush Hunter in on the stretcher. Her nametag reads Dr. Espinosa.]

[She remembers the group. Also, while they've tried to clean up a little, or been able to borrow cleaner clothes, there's still a little dried blood on some of them.]

You're the friends, or - [she looks at Huvrye with his similar hair and eyes, and seems completely un-surprised at the wings.] - family of Hunter No...Last name, correct?

Can you come with me so we can talk about his condition? It's not bad news, just that our clinic tries to be extra...discreet when sharing health information, even more than some other places.

[effiomsfavorite]

[It has been an extremely long few hours, and talking can only do so much to pass the time. Huvrye doesn't need to rest (and probably couldn't now even if he wanted to), so he's on his feet the moment the doctor addresses them.]

Yeah, we are. Is he okay?

[Hunter's condition. Extra discreet when sharing health information. It all sinks uncomfortably into the pit of Huvrye's stomach. Do they know? How would they know? Did they find something during the surgery? If it's important to Hunter's survival, he can't stop the doctor from sharing, but there's no way to pull her aside now without raising suspicions. He can keep Hunter's secret himself, but if someone else knows it, he can't stop it from getting out. Unless he's very lucky, there's no winning here.]

[So he nods, and glances over to make sure everyone else is awake and ready. There's only so much he can do now.]

[codicies]

[ Dylan is, in many ways, much the opposite of Huvrye in this moment. He's exhausted, and the late night had been peppered short naps & even shorter microsleeps. He felt groggy, but was alert enough to take in what she was saying.

"Extra discreet" was less of a red flag to Dylan. He comes from a world of superheroes, after all, so that kind of talk was normal. Hospitals back home tended to have folks with superpowers, aliens... heck, Dylan's pretty sure there's a subset of HIPAA laws back home that apply to mutants.

But for how he stands, silently watching the nurse for news on Hunter's condition. ]

[robintohood]

[Jason's used to having long nights and going days on very little sleep so although he's tired now, he's choosing to keep chugging along like he usually does.

Central City's corruption runs deep and includes the healthcare system. The guilds' reach could be within there too. And if one does find a discreet clinic, some had better medical professionals than others. He's thankful they picked a clinic that seems to slip under the radar and has a staff that knows what they're doing.

He too stands up from his seat and ready to follow]

Several hours later: Hunter’s room

[demigoth]

[ After leaving the others, Nico tries two rooms before he finds the right one.

The door isn’t quite shut, and so Nico doesn’t quite shut it behind him. He just stands there and takes it in.

It’s nothing like the infirmary at Camp Halfblood, with its white plaster walls and wooden beams. The infirmary is clean but comfortable. The embodiment of being sent to the seaside to recuperate, that’s what it is.

The clinic is plastic, metal, and linoleum. It’s a dim sickly light that they didn’t turn off and the bip bip bip of machines. There’s no color to the room, but Nico’s used to bleak.

No matter how much it feels like the life has been sucked out of the room, metaphorically, it hasn’t literally. No one else Nico knows is going to die tonight and that’s, that’s really okay.

He positions one of the awful chairs carefully, call button in reach and Hunter carefully out of reach. Nico sits. Counts the bips. It keeps the faces of demigods who didn’t have him around to get them to the clinic in time. His sister Bianca didn’t have this chance. He hugs his knees to his chest while he’s alone. It’s not fair. He’s glad Hunter’s going to be okay, but it’s not fair. ]

[badbutsadboy]

[Hunter's pale, his face slightly contorted with anxiety, like even the morphine can't quite knock him into a complete peaceful rest. Quite a few IVs are hanging, one of them is clearly a blood transfusion.]

[But he's alive. Breathing evenly. The monitor shows his heartbeat is a little sluggish but steady. His heavily bandaged arm is propped up, elevated on pillows, and ice packs are pressed against it to bring down the swelling.]

[Flapjack cuckoos with sadness at his current state, but there's relief in it too. He flies over to the crook of his neck and lands there, briefly rubbing his little head against Hunter's chin.]

[Then he flies up, curiously looking at the IVs, trying to puzzle out what they mean and how serious it might be. It's only chance that has him looking outside right then.]

[His little eye goes wide and he suddenly flies over to the window to get a better look. He starts to absolutely lose it, pecking at the window and trilling loudly, then clearly trying to open it with his beak. When that fails, he flies towards Nico and grabs onto a lock of hair, tugging it in the window's direction.]

[demigoth]

[ Flapjack is a welcome, if strange, distraction. A bright shock of red in the room, seemingly unbothered by Nico's presence. Normal animals don't like him very much, but Flapjack is too smart to be normal, after all. Normal pet birds don't snuggle their owners, even if they're sick.

He won't pet the bird, just in case. It wouldn't be a good idea to set the thing in a squawking panic and get it kicked out of the clinic.

Oh, nevermind, Nico's finally spooked it, and from the insistent freaking out at the window, it wants out and Hunter isn't enough to keep it - ]

Ow! What are you - ow, quit it, you dumb chicken!

[ Nico's hair is thick, strong, and wavy: perfect for beaks and claws to sink in and tug to their avian heart's content to convince a surly demigod to move. Nico's only moving to try and stop the insistent yanking at his scalp because, and this is the important bit, he can't kill Hunter's stupid red pigeon. ]

Hunter's in here! What do you want? Something to eat? Drink?

[ This is not the time to hunt magic worms. Nico pulls out the bottle of Gatorade Jason bought him, taking the lid off and filling it with red flavor before putting it on the window ledge like, well? There you go. ]

[badbutsadboy]

[The bird lands on the sill, somehow giving him a flat "are you really that slow?" look, despite not having a face. Then points with a little foot, out the window.]

[Yes, points.]

[Then he starts pecking at the window and flapping around, trying to get the attention of someone outside.]

[badbutsadboy]

[When Hunter wakes up it's to a weight on his legs, and the vaguest sense of a moving presence near him, that almost has him reflexively kicking and fighting.]

[But he doesn't because there's also a residual sense of...safety?]

[There is something fuzzy snuggling into his neck. He thinks he knows what it is. His eyes still closed, he reaches his good arm up to feel a small, familiar ball of feathers. He pets the little crest on Flapjack's head.]

[He opens his eyes to see that he's not alone in the room. It's all familiar faces - including the Owl Lady's, who he's surprised to not have dreamed up. The only unfamiliar face is a kind-looking nurse who's replacing a bag of fluids with a fresh one.]

[Dylan is asleep, draped over his legs. He makes an abortive gesture, reaching towards him, but stops. That would be weird, right? All that's there in reach of any touch is his head or his arm. What would he even do, just give an awkward pat pat?]

["There we are," the nurse says. "You're finally awake. How's your pain, sweetie? On a scale of one to ten?"]

[He is, in fact, feeling a lot of pain. Solidly a seven. His arm is still burning and aching at the same time.]

[His voice is so hoarse he can barely grit some words out. He downplays the pain because it's what he's used to doing. The Golden Guard wasn't allowed weakness, wasn't allowed to admit pain was slowing him down.]

[But he's not the Golden Guard anymore. He can't admit complete vulnerability but he manages to get halfway to the truth.]

A five? I guess?

["I'll go get some pain meds for you, okay? And some water for your throat."]

I don't want to feel all foggy again.

["If you want, the doctor has a pain med ordered that won't make you as fuzzy. Do you want that instead of the morphine?"]

[Hunter nods.]

["I'll be right back." The nurse leaves to go get him the medicine.]

[If any of them were sleeping, the exchange is loud enough to get their attention and wake them up. He's still physically exhausted, his arm aching, but his brain is getting a little tired of sleeping so much. He's pretty solidly awake now.]

[robintohood]

[Jason began to softly stir when nurse asked Hunter how much pain he was in. When she steps out of the room again, he's awake. He then breathes a sigh from seeing Hunter awake]

Hey, Hunter.

[codicies]

Hunter's stirring is enough to gently shake Dylan awake, though it takes a moment for him to clear away the fog as awareness returns.

His eyes flutter open as Hunter speaks with the nurse. When Jason speaks, Dylan shifts a little, looking to his right at Hunter's face. He offers a sleepy smile as his head settles comfortably again against Hunter's shins.

"Hey."

[harageous]

( eda hasn't slept. quite frankly, she might never sleep again. however, that's not anyone's problem but her own. she's spent much of the waiting period thinking about it, leaned against a comfortable space along the wall. this room is already crowded as is and it wouldn't do any good to overwhelm him.

her eyes flick over the soft exchange happening on the bed and she smiles herself. )

Look who's awake.

( quietly said, her volume loud enough to be heard but not disturb anyone still sleeping. )

How's your head, kid?

( is he still feeling fuzzy from what he's been given? )