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thejusticelounge2012-11-06 05:48 pm
bossymarmalade) wrote in thejusticelounge2012-11-06 05:48 pm
skin deep
True to their word to Ollie and Kate, they’d brought Roy home, or, at least back as far as the Watchtower. Figuring that Kyle and Hal would want to see how Ollie and Kate were doing in Medbay, Guy offered to take Roy from Hal’s arms as they entered the Watchtower’s airlock. The hiss of repressurization seemed to take forever, and between them were murmured brief and polite words of vague plans to see each other around, get together soon, or remarks about showers, sleep, or meals.
Guy constructed a floating gurney to place Roy on, a bit safer and less awkward now that they were subject to gravity again, and began moving his sleeping form towards Medbay. He was a little surprised, though, to look over and see Kyle still at his side as he turned Roy over to the medics. It was by no means an unpleasant surprise, though, and he wondered to himself if this meant Kyle had had enough time to himself while enjoying the beach on Mogo. He gave Kyle a quiet smile, “Going in to see Kate, or have they discharged her from Medbay already?”
It was clear that Roy was still recuperating, but obviously he lay in a mental and emotional exhaustion, rather than any physical hurt. Still, there was something about Roy that made Kyle want to remain and make sure he was interned safely in the Watchtower, until it was time to release him. Maybe it was because Kyle had brought him in in originally, had first seen that glimpse of Red Lantern in him…and they still weren’t able to prevent Roy from nearly killing Oliver and Kate. Kyle sighed and shut his eyes briefly. No. Not going to think about that.
Instead, he tore his gaze away from Roy and focused on Guy, who was smiling quietly at him, gentle and supportive. It made Kyle flicker a smile back, made him forget everything he was trying to not think about.
“When we left she was able to mobilize to see Ollie…or maybe last time I saw her was in her office? Or was that the last time her and Ollie got beat all to hell…dios mio. I don’t even know. I’m so tired of all this shit.” Kyle sighed and shook his head angrily. “If this happens a third time, I swear I’m quitting life.” Kyle realized he might’ve sounded more serious than he actually meant that. Even his attempts at levity were coasting at zero.
“Ah ha ha, joke,” he tacked on belatedly, then raised his eyebrows at Guy. “How’re you holding up?”
On instinct, Guy laid a comforting hand on Kyle’s back, “I know you’re jokin’,” he reassured him, “I’m okay. Tired, I guess, but fine for now.” He looked grimly back at the group of medics as they transferred Roy to a bed from the construct gurney he’d brought him in on, then dismissed it so it would be out of their way. He was tired, all right: tired of having to bring his friends into this place. First Kyle, then Jaime, then just hours later Ollie and Kate, and now Roy.
“Mogo healed yer face all up then? Ya don’t need to see the medics while we’re here, do you?” At Kyle’s shake of his head, he started guiding Kyle out. They meandered out, neither of them eager to turn their backs on Roy, but both realizing it was time to let the medical staff do their job. Guy paused when they reached the now-empty waiting area, “Listen, Kyle,” he began in a lowered voice, wanting to keep his voice from travelling and being overheard, ”When Roy grabbed ya, an’ you had to stab him…yer right, it was a judgement call. I shouldn’t have barked at ya like that, it just came out, in the moment. Sorry, pal.”
Kyle waved his hand dismissively. “De nada, you weren’t wrong. And I wasn’t angry at you, I was…angry. I just felt angry at just…everything. I think we all did that that point.” He sighed and smiled slightly. “Except John. Mannnnn thank god he showed up. I don’t…” Kyle looked up at Guy and met his eyes. He took a deep breath, taking a brief moment to study his partner’s bright eyes, still so stunning even when they were obviously so tired.
“There was a point there I. Don’t tell Hal this, but. There was a point there where I almost felt like: fuck it. Screw Roy. Just let him go to Ysmault and treat him like any other Red Lantern.”
Kyle covered his mouth and rubbed it hard, feeling awful and yet strangely relieved for saying it. “Is that…was that bad of me? I mean seriously - if it wasn’t for John showing up, I was on the verge of suggesting it to you guys, y’know? Man…man.” He looked down again, balancing his hands on his hips and shifting his stance. “Is that bad of me,” He asked again, dully.
“It’s honest, Kyle,” Guy replied, and adjusted his position so instead of a hand on Kyle’s back, his arm was around the younger man’s shoulders, pulling him into Guy’s side supportively. “I’m gonna sound nuts for sayin’ this, considerin’ I just came back from a month in Europe, but we need a vacation. You an’ me. Or maybe…all four of us. Mogo was right, we need to get away from the job for a while, take a retreat. Ringslingers, we’re always about ‘gettin’ ‘er done’, but when we start feelin’ like it ain’t worth it, we need to step away, y’know?”
He smiled down at Kyle, “An’ no, I ain’t gonna tell Hal nothin’, don’t you worry ‘bout that.”
Kyle leaned into Guy’s side as he smoothed his hand over his hair a few times, pushing the stick-uppy parts down, even though they bounced back up. He laughed a little bitterly. “All four of us, yeah. Like that wouldn’t be awkward.” He looked up at Guy wryly. “C’mon, you can’t deny it was totally kinda weird when we were on Mogo, and that was only two hours and we weren’t even all together.”
He rubbed his eyes. “Gah. Poor John. One week of all this…this this, and he’ll be more than ready to leave sector again. Everything here’s such a freaking mess. Or…maybe it just seems that way right now. I dunno.” He looked up Guy, hopeful to hear something reassuring and comforting.
“Ya know what?” Guy rubbed Kyle’s far shoulder, trying to jostle a little happiness into him, “John ain’ goin’ nowhere. He told me he’s got a huge design project lined up here on Earth, so don’t ya worry about him.”
“An’ as for that other thing…I think it was awkward because we weren’t all together.” He looked over at Kyle, “It ain’t just because of you hooking up with Hal, or what happened with you an’ me, or me tryin’ to give you two space, or even John bein’ away for so long…it’s all it, and then some.”
He signed a little looking up at the ceiling, “Kyle, we used to get together for poker once a week, remember that? We’d do stuff together, for fun. We’d make a point of spendin’ time together between missions, so that awkwardness durin’ missions like we just had, wouldn’t happen. I think Mogo was right, we should go on a reteat, together…and just all get reacquainted.”
He paused to scratch the back of his head, “Can I tell you somethin’ I don’t want repeated to Hal, either?” He paused only briefly to look at Kyle. He was about to try and trust him again. “Him an’ me? Sometimes I feel like we’re practically strangers. An’ that was before you two started seein’ each other. He’s my oldest friend in the world, and we barely speak, ever.”
Kyle couldn’t be happier to hear about John, even if he was just staying for a job. Come for the job, stay for the people, right? he thought to himself, and was determined to try and find every way he could to make sure John would want to remain on Earth. Kyle never felt he’d stop owing John, and fortunately it was a debt he loved being in. Some people were just like that.
“Yeah….okay. Guardians be damned. Four 2814 Lanterns on Earth? They’ll just have to deal, right? We’re goddamn Honor Guard, they’ll just have to put up and shut up.” Kyle chuckled a bit, softly, only for himself and Guy.
“I loved poker nights. You, me, John and Alan. It was hilarious and fun and I learned so much from you guys… valuable stuff about flushes and bluffing,” he teased. “Which I could never really do, heh. M…maybe. Maybe Sunday dinner can be Lantern Sunday dinner? They don’t have to come around every Sunday, but every now and then. That’d be nice. Right?” The idea of the four of them laughing about a dinner table sounded very tempting.
“And you’re right, I mean, you’re right about all of it, it’s weird but…it’s not bad. It’s not the end of the world or, like, some kind of end of the 2814ship. We can’t even if we wanted to. And, y’know,” Kyle leaned back and patted Guy’s chest. “If you want my advice on Hal? Not to sound like I know him better or anything, but I do happen to be slightly observant, I like to think. Un poco observant?” He grinned, up at Guy.
“Give him a call. Just…call him up and ask to go have a coffee. I mean, he’s probably gonna be Star City’d for a while now, close to Ollie, but. That doesn’t mean the guy won’t be a-okay with you visiting him at the local coffee shop near the Arrow compound. Go to him and just…spend a couple hours of time, if you really wanna rekindle the friendship flame. Simple and nice. It’s Hal - no big overtures are needed.”
“Yeah, okay,” Guy took it in, “I mean, not that I haven’t tried, y’know? He didn’t seem real chatty at yer party, an’ we all know how that invite for Sunday dinner worked out,” he rubbed his face with his free hand as he released Kyle’s shoulder, and wondered to himself what the hell day of the week it was now. ”I guess I’ll try again once Ollie’s more on the mend. It was just a feeling, though, it’s been botherin’ me a while.”
Guy folded his arms in thought about Kyle’s suggestion of including the other two Lanterns in Sunday dinner. He loved the idea of that, but not if it meant giving up the one night of the week Kyle had agreed to spend together with him. Kyle seemed to have such an active social life, and that was before Guy had gone to Europe. To see him at his birthday party, and overhear all the conversations, Kyle’s time was more in demand than ever, and Guy found himself instinctively clinging to the one thing he had left that was just him and Kyle.
“Y’know, I really don’t mind cookin’ other nights of the week, too, Kyle. In fact, I really missed it while I was in Europe. I’d kinda like to leave Sundays as our thing, you an’ me, an’ maybe have guests over once in a while…if that’s okay with you? But this idea of a Lantern night, that’s…I love it, it’s brilliant!” he grinned broadly and clapped an arm around Kyle’s shoulders again, “Casa Verde just keeps gettin’ greener, don’t it?”
“Well..not anyone’s fault that Roy decided to go bonkers before Sunday. And Jaime getting TB. And…yeah. Hooooboy.” Kyle rubbed his head again, and tried to think of his stupid party. He spoke sadly and contemplatively, working through remembrances of that night.
“I thought Hal was really pleased and happy at the party, you even convinced him to stay a while, remember? Which,” he murmured gently, recalling his party. “which neither of us - me or Hal, I mean - were really intending for him to stay. We both wanted him gone….but you coming to talk to him, it made him feel welcome, y’know? So, pat on the back for that one, amigo.” Kyle smiled and rubbed Guy’s back in a wide, circular motion.
“And hey!” he protested in mock indignance, grinning. “You’re the one who invited him to Sunday dinner in the first place! Coulda consulted with me first, you know!” He shook his finger at Guy, pretending to be stern as he put on a Guy-type imitation. “It’s my home too, grararrrrr grumble.” He laughed, and it felt weird, like the first time he was genuinely joking around in a long time.
“No I’m totally cool with having Sunday to ourselves; I like it better that way, myself. Hmm. Maybe another night then, once a month or something. Gathering at the Warriors water hole for poker or Scrabble or something fun and harmless. Uno! I love that game.”
“I wanted him to feel welcome, and not just for yours and his sake, either, but mine too. I think he’s the only guy in the League that doesn’t drop in on us at home unannounced, an’ I really want to change that.” A thought occurred to him and he chuckled, “Okay, Bats doesn’t drop in either. That, I’m okay with. He’d probably litter the place with listenin’ devices or somethin’,” he laughed.
Guy put his hands up and waved them a little in very a Kyle-esque surrender, “Okay, okay! Si! Lo siento, lo siento!” before he laughed boisterously as well, which earned them both a nasty glare from a nurse who stuck her head around the corner. He rolled his eyes and lowered his voice, “That goes double for you, though; as the cook I gotta know numbers, food allergies, preferences…jeeze, I sound like a fifties housewife.” He waggled his finger back at Kyle, giggling quietly for the sake of the patients, “If you’re going to bring a Guardian home from the office, Ring-text me first, Honey!” Damn, it was so good to see Kyle laugh.
“BBQ, beers, boardgames, and bros,” he agreed, “Let’s make it happen!” They were just about to leave the Medbay when a thought struck him, and he stopped his partner, a hand to Kyle’s chest, “Hold up…listen, Kyle, you were pretty sick before we left, and it hasn’t been that long. That black stuff ya puked up, that worried me. Would ya put my mind at ease, and just get them to check you over, since we’re here in the Medbay, anyway?”
Kyle glazed over for a moment. “Can you imagine if Bats dropped in? Like, he’d literally drop in. From the rafters. Directly onto a stool and then he’d ask for a cold one.” Kyle laughed, and then laughed even more and with obvious delight at Guy’s impression of him.
“That’s good! That’s good!” Kyle almost shouted in joy, clapping and pointing at Guy, and only slightly abashed by the grim nurse. “You know I’ll bet you one day we’re gonna have Ganthet drop in on us. Hopefully wearing one of those awesome pantsuits with the huge belt and shoulder pads that he seems to love so much when he visits Earth. It’s like - dude! You’re still three feet tall and blue! You think a snazzy leisure suit is somehow gonna disguise you?!”
His laughter softened and faded when Guy asked about his sickness, and he scratched the back of his neck as he considered Guy’s question, squinting up at the older Lantern. “I’m pretty sure I’m fine, but I’ll do it just for you, okay?”
“Thank you, Kyle,” Guy replied meaningfully, relieved to finally be addressing this issue. He was glad he’d thought of it before they’d left Medbay. “C’mon, I’ll keep ya company,” he slung an arm around Kyle a third time as they turned 180 to head back into the medical ward. It was a quick, routine exam, and when the black vomit was mentioned along with Kyle’s other symptoms, naturally they wanted to run some tests, starting with a blood sample.
Then Kyle was asked to wait while they went off and looked at it. Feeling a bit bad that he had asked Kyle to go through this, Guy slipped away to the Watchtower’s lounge room and returned shortly with a stack of Uno cards to help pass the time. Kyle had just played a “pick up 4 cards” card on Guy and was about to triumphantly go out on his next turn when Dr. Smith returned, looking a bit grim as he stared at his clipboard…
Dick was worried. Not that he hadn’t been worried before, after Lian, Damian, and Stephanie’s hallucinations, but now, with Wally in the Med bay, almost his whole station out sick, parts of Bludhaven down with sickness, and apparently all of Keystone in a panic, things were starting to look terrible. So, really, “worried” was a hell of an understatement.
He yawned as he stepped off the zeta pad, that recent tiredness creeping back up on him. Hopefully everyone was doing better today. He’d visited Ollie for a bit, not too long since he was sleeping, but enough to look him over and assess the damage done. They were going to have a hell of a time when Roy returned.
He made his way to the med bay, planning to check in on Damian and Lian and try to raise their spirits somewhat. They’d spent too much time there recently. He passed an examination room and froze, not quite believing what his peripheral told him. He backed up and peeked in. Sure enough, Guy and Kyle were sitting there playing cards like they’d never left. He would have burst in had the doctor not cleared his throat to speak. Dick hung back just outside the doorway, waiting for his opportunity to come in.
Dr. Smith was looking Kyle over, frowning a little. ”We found something strange in your blood test. A virus of some sort. Not quite sure exactly what…. Have you been feeling… anxious? Terrified for no discernible reason? Maybe having hallucinations?
Kyle frowned in that ‘how absurd’ kind of way, feeling a little embarrassed as he glanced over at Guy, then back at the Doctor, huffing and sputtering as he did so. “Well…I mean, yeah sure, I guess. Nothing important. I haven’t felt terrified.” Slightly aggravated now, he wiggled his ringed fist at Dr. Smith. The good docter never liked him ever since Kyle flipped out at him over Guy being nearly half-dead and Smith being completely freaking useless and unable to - Kyle took a deep breath.
That was over. It wasn’t the Doctor’s fault he was incompe - now now, Kyle - he was limited in his capacity to help a Green Lantern live, Kyle chided himself, his temper pacing out. And it was just Guy here. It was safe. The Doctor was just doing his job.
Smiling brightly from one to the other, because he didn’t want Guy to get upset either, Kyle lowered his fist and tapped his ring. “I’m a Green Lantern, I don’t get ‘terrified’. Just had some nightmares and sicked up some nasty shit. That’s all. What’s in my bloodstream? Oh dios - is it TB? Like Jaime has??”
Dr. Smith frowned deeper. This guy was worse than the ten year-old; at least the kid had an excuse to be moody and uncooperative. He sighed and looked down at his chart once more, not so much to check it as to have something to do. ”No, it’s not TB. Whatever this is, you have what the children have. It seems to lead to hallucinations and terrors. If you haven’t had those, yet, we should probably keep you for observation.”
Dick poked his head in the room, deciding now was as good a time as any to join in. ”Sorry to interrupt, doctor, but the kids were exposed to fear toxin probably created by the Scarecrow. It wasn’t a virus. I’m not sure what exact kind of toxin it was but—”
“My team and I know what we’re doing,” the doctor interrupted, frowning again. Dick started to wonder if that was his only facial expression. ”We can say without doubt that whatever this virus is, it has been causing their symptoms.”
Dick scrunched his mouth to the side in thought as he walked fully into the room. ”If Scarecrow’s found a way to attach his toxin to a virus, we should be very careful. This could spread beyond our reach quick—”
“It’s not contagious,” Dr. Smith interrupted again, making Dick growl slightly. ”I haven’t found any reason for it, but it hasn’t spread in any of the cultures. We’re thinking it might need a cata—”
“Excuse me, doctor!” A nurse popped his head in the room. ”The lab has something to show you.”
Dr. Smith grumbled under his breath, not seeming to like being cut off himself, but nodded to Kyle with an “I’ll be back” frown, and followed the nurse out the door.
Guy laid a hand on Kyle’s shoulder as he nodded a greeting to Dick. “Fear toxin? The kids? Yer gonna have to fill us in, Dick, we’ve been away gettin’ Roy, just got back…”
They both listened as Dick told them of Damian, Lian, Zatanna, Billy, and Stephanie, and the events at Wayne Manor, as well as the fact Wally was sick as well, along with Keystone City and parts of Bludhaven. All had experienced hallucinations and anxiety or fear.
“So if Kyle has the same virus that Damian and Lian have, like the doctor said…” Guy mused, then looked at Kyle, “You said you had nightmares, right? When I found you that afternoon, you were really out of it, right before you started throwing up. What if you weren’t having nightmares, but hallucinations? Maybe you should tell the Doc, Kyle…”
“It’s not contagious? That….that can’t be true. Not with so many people having this illness, I mean. It wouldn’t make any sense why Scarecrow would only target like, such random people like me, the kids, Zatanna and Steph, Wally, Mia….At least - I can’t see any pattern, but then I’m not a Gotham-based criminal mastermind.”
Shaking his head at Guy, rubbing his face. “I was having dreams. Well…nightmares, I guess yeah. I guess they were. But I wasn’t really hallucinating, I don’t think…maybe that’s because I was asleep? Maybe it works different when you’re asleep, versus when you’re awake, y’know?”
He sighed and leaned back on one hand as he sat on the bed, looking at Dick; when something in his friend’s pale, tired, drawn face pinged a thought. He pointed at them, using two splayed fingers. “The Doc mentioned something about a…a catalyst, right? You…you guys were sick too, weren’t you? In Europe? I know you were Guy, I think I remember you saying that you might’ve gotten it from Dick. Did you guys get hallucinations or nightmares or whatever as well?”
Guy lifted his head and stared across the room as he thought back to their first few nights in Paris: taking pictures from the top of the Eiffel Tower at dusk, and how he’d woken in the hotel room late the following afternoon, when Dick informed him he’d found him feverish at daybreak… and hallucinating. “Yeah…I did…” Guy nodded as it started coming back to him, “Dick, you said I thought you were Kyle, and I was babbling about beds in space, and floors made of lava and… uh…stuff…”
He blushed as he realized how juvenile it sounded, not to mention the awkwardness of having mistaken Dick for Kyle, and both men were there, now, as Kyle was hearing it for the first time. “I just assumed it was the fever…and Dick said he’d had the same thing about a week before me, in Vichy, wasn’t it, Dick? But that was a month or more ago! How could anyone have caught it from either of us?”
Dick smiled at Guy’s recollection, but it faded fast as he thought about his question. ”I don’t think it’s possible. I don’t know of anything that stays contagious that long.”
He straddled a chair and stared at the floor in thought. He had been having hallucinations, voices in his head that chided him and berated him for everything he did. But that couldn’t be from the same thing. His auditory hallucinations were nothing like what happened to the children.
“Somehow,” he began, “Scarecrow’s spreading this virus around without anyone knowing it. It just doesn’t make sense that no one has seen him and that more of Gotham isn’t in panic. Keystone’s way out of his area.”
Dr. Smith came in again, just a hair too late to interrupt Dick. ”Lab found something interesting. Said the virus is actually noncontagious. It needs a catalyst of some sort to actually spread. We’re not entirely sure what that is yet, but we know none of the patients have it.”
“How do you know?” Dick asked, leaning forward in the chair to bring it on two legs.
“None of the viruses in them spread it.”
“But that…doesn’t make any sense.” Dick looked over at Kyle and Guy, biting his lip. “Since it’s spread through Keystone, I’d guess Wally was the reason spreading it. He could cover the most ground, and we’ve all interacted with him recently. But that doesn’t explain why Bl—”
“He doesn’t have it,” Dr. Smith said, seemingly pleased to be interrupting once more. ”His meta ability could be triggering the toxin spread. The virus itself is dormant.”
He looked at the three of them and flipped some pages on his clipboard, his frown ever-present. ”Let me get a blood sample from you two,” he said, looking at Guy and Dick. ”Check what you have. See if we can’t find something to give us more help.”
Dr. Smith called in a nurse to take the blood samples—“More than they needed,” a voice whispered to Dick. “They know!”—and waited until they were done, making small notes on his clipboard. ”We’ll have results in a few minutes,” he said, and left the room.
Dick looked back at the Lanterns and crossed his eyes, chuckling in a poor attempt to lighten the mood. ”So…if it is being spread around us by someone, when do you think it would’ve happened?”
Kyle was grateful he didn’t have the ability to raise one eyebrow at a time. They either both went up, or nothing at all. He was particularly glad for this lack of skill when Guy mentioned he thought Dick was Kyle, while he was ill. Not really too weird - they were both black haired, not-pale-skinned and generally pleasant demeanor - but it was the way that Guy seemed to demure after he said it. Maybe Kyle was just imagining things. Overly-sensitive to all of Guy’s movements and quirks. It was a bad habit and Kyle shook his mind free of it.
He watched the doctor take blood samples from Dick and Guy. Most of what Doc was saying slipped in one ear and out the other. That was for the medical staff to figure out. He raised his eyebrows wryly at Dick.
“Isn’t it obvious? Everyone was in fine form for one night, recently. I know because they were all pretty much there. In our bar. Celebrating my birthday.” Kyle shifted, folding his arms and looking surly as he muttered to himself. “Looks like everyone got themselves a party favor on the way out.”
Did anything end up right, that night? Kyle had to wonder, that distraught feeling washing over him. He looked up at Guy, hopefully willing him to read his mind about how he miserable he was about that stupid, horrible night.
“Why the long face? It’s not your fault people got sick…it happens, Kyle,” he rubbed the younger Lantern’s back reassuringly. “At least now we know what was wrong with you. And besides, everyone had a great time celebrating your birthday with you buddy, young and old alike. They all said so, from Wildcat all the way down to little Lian.” He gave Dick a nod, “It’s a shame your brother and Billy were too beat up to come though, they missed out on a great time.”
Dick smiled sympathetically, thinking about Damian and Billy. ”It really is. I know Billy would’ve had fun. Damian would’ve too, even if he wouldn’t admit it. Though it might have been for the best or they would’ve caught—”
But they did catch it.
Damian had thought Dick was Talia. Captain Marvel said Billy had been terrified. But, if they weren’t at the party, there was no way they could have been exposed to the virus. Lian couldn’t be a carrier or the doctors would have spotted it. Billy and Damian couldn’t be carrying it because they weren’t at the party with everyone else. No one at the party could have been carrying it because no one saw either of the boys after—
Not after. Before.
Dick and Guy came home because Stephanie told them about the boys and Two-Face. Stephanie could have it. She was at the party and she was with the boys. But the doctors had her here. They’d already know if she was the carrier. Guy hadn’t interacted with the boys. He’d never even got that near them. Only Dick had—
Held them. Cuddled them. Hugged them. Damian had even spent that night in Dick’s room, huddled against him for fear of nightmares. The next day was the party. Dick hugged everyone, carried Lian around with him, made contact with everyone.
But how was that possible? He’d been over the sickness for more than a month. Hell, Guy shouldn’t even have caught it from him!
But he had. He had the exact same thing Dick had, which sounded exactly the same as what everyone else had. But there was no way that could be true. Dick didn’t even know where he could have got it from.
“By the time you realize what’s going on, it’ll be too late. This, Grayson, is the moment when you fall.”
Talia.
Talia and Cheshire and the attack in his hotel that he could barely remember.
It was a virus.
It was fear toxin.
It was in him and spreading.
Dick stood abruptly, knocking over his chair. He looked at Guy and Kyle, both staring at him with concern. ”I— I need to check on Damian. Make sure he’s…alright. I’ll— be right back.”
Not two minutes after Dick left, Dr. Smith walked in, his frown almost triumphant. ”Well, I have good news and good news. We know who’s spreading it and we know where to find the cure. Mr. Gardner, it seems that your body has built up antibodies to fight off what Mr. Grayson here has been—” Dr. Smith looked over to where Dick had been sitting.
“Where the hell did he go?”
“He went to go check in on Damian,” Kyle said, pointing to one of the antechambers. He looked over at Guy and got on his feet. “He’s not, like, dangerous or anything, right?”
Kyle glanced over at Guy as they headed towards Damian’s room, taking a hold of his arm to let Dr Smith go ahead of them. “Hey. Hey, I’m just gonna ask you this the one time, and very specifically regarding your illnesses - what exactly happened in Europe?”
Guy ran a hand through his hair, “I can only tell you what Dick told me about his…he got sick suddenly in Vichy a week or two before I caught up with him. Same symptoms I had, the headache, fever, nausea, hallucinations, only he was laid up about four days an’ it was only 36 hours for me because of my Ring. From the sounds of it his symptoms were much more severe, too.”
“I met him in Vichy, we got caught up, he told me how Talia and Cheshire had attacked him a few weeks earlier, and we worked out a plan to lure ‘em out again. The next day we were in Paris, an’ that’s when I started gettin’ sick, that night…” he looked at Kyle, a bit sadly, “I don’t remember much, but the next mornin’ I was hallucinatin’ and feverish, an’ I started runnin’ my mouth off, thinkin’ it was you lookin’ after me, not him…”
He shook his head, unsure what Kyle’s reaction would be, “Apparently I rehashed stuff about our talk on the way back from Oa. I thought I was apoligizin’ to you and beggin’ you to stay with me on the couch or bed we were flying on…anyway, when I was lucid again, Dick knew. Well, he knew enough…” He ducked his head a little, “I’m sorry, Kyle, I only remembered ever talkin’ to you, but it was Dick all along.”
“I guess the upside was that once it was out there, I finally had someone I could talk to about it that wasn’t a stakeholder; Ollie was just too close to it, because of Hal, I never felt entirely comfortable, y’know? So, Dick talked to me about it while I recovered, an’ help me figure things through, let stuff go. From then on, he let me talk freely about it. It really helped a lot,” Guy ran another hand through his hair, this time less nervously, and more as a gesture of introspection.
Dr. Smith strode impatiently into Damian’s room. He had no time to wait on these Lanterns lollygagging and chatting. All he had to do was quarantine the source of the contagion. He stopped two steps into the room. His frown deepened. The only person in the room was the boy, sleeping relatively peacefully.
Dr. Smith turned on his heel and faced the Lanterns. ”He’s not here. You might not hold much to it, since I’m only a doctor, but I’d bet dollars to doughnuts he’s not up here anymore. Someone better find him fast.
“But not you, Mr. Gardner. You’re the only person who’s been exposed to it long enough to build up the antibodies we can use for a cure. We need you here to get what we can from your blood.”
“Guy…” Kyle started to say, keeping a hold of Guy’s arm until Dr. Smith spun to face them. He put his hands on his hips and thinned his eyes, pressing his lips together tightly as the doctor told them Dick wasn’t there. Both him and Guy echoed each other’s respective ring requests to scan the Watchtower for Dick Grayson AKA Nightwing…and both rings came up negative.
“You gotta be kidding me,” Kyle said to no one in particular, and turned back to Guy before Dr Smith had any time to snark. “We’re going to have to put out an APB on freaking Nightwing?! Unless you have any idea where he might’ve gone, Guy? If not, I’m contacting Oracle to get the word out that there’s a rogue bluebird on the loose, ASAP. Every active member of JL on high alert.”
Kyle looked over to where Wally was convalescing, and he made an annoyed, impatient noise. “Damn if only Wally was doing okay…maybe we can get a hold of Bai. Goddamnit, Dick! What the hell would possess him to leave the station?! Something’s not right with him. Hijole…” Kyle ran his hand through his hair, clutching at the back as he stared wide-eyed at Guy, his exhausted mind slowly piecing fragments together. “I hope to hell he doesn’t have the same whatever that had gotten to Roy. Cheshire also paid him a visit and was injecting him with shit too. Dammit!”
“I’ve no idea where he’s gone, but see where the last Zeta tube sent him to, and get the Batfam to check the obvious places first: Wayne Manor, his Bludhaven apartment… and tell Oracle to besure she cc’s Bats on the APB, and include a warning about the toxin-virus he’s spreadin’.” Batman may not be officially in the League anymore, but Guy felt strongly that he had a right to know what was going on with his son; they were probably going to need his help more than anyone else’s just to track down Dick if he didn’t want to be found.
“I’ll stick around an’ givin’ these vampires what they need - no offense, Doc - an’ see what I can do from here. Maybe if he’ll talk to me or text, I can convince him to come back in?” He lay a hand on Kyle’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze, “Be careful, okay? I hope you’re wrong about Dick bein’ a Red Lantern, but don’t take any chances, Kyle. You take John and Hal with you if you locate Dick. I’ll join you the minute they let me go. Keep me posted, okay?”
Kyle left the MedBay to check the zeta tube logs, not really expecting to find anything. Anyone who wanted and knew how to scramble the location would, and Dick, of course, did. He sent a message to Oracle instead, letting her know the situation. For a quiet moment, the buzz of the Watchtower crew around him, Kyle rubbed his eyes, hard. The Lanterns had just returned from getting Roy back, under the most strenuous circumstances. Now Dick left? Again?
Kyle almost vaguely wondered if, in the next Committee Meeting, he should propose putting tracking tags on certain members and ex-members of the Titans.
Heading back to the MedBay, he paused to look in on Wally, stroking his dark red hair. The only one who didn’t run away, Kyle realized sadly, and the irony was not lost on him. Here Wally was, locked in a fever-coma and god knew how long it was going to take before he was out of it…but Roy was also back and incapacitated, and Dick was gone. It was almost unbelievable. He was starting to see what Wally was getting at, when it came to the three of them.
One thing he had to clear up, as he went back to Guy, one thing niggling in the back of his mind. “Guy I don’t think Dick’s going to go Red Lantern, what I meant was—” He cut himself off, noticing Guy sending a text via his ring. Kyle quickly flew over. “What’s what? Did you get in contact with him? Can you track his phone?”
Guy nodded, his look a mix between confusion and worry as he focussed on his Ring, the words displaying on a small holographic screen over his hand. “When we were in Europe, he agreed early on to hook up my ring and his phone so we wouldn’t have to use the League comm system…besides, we wanted Talia and Cheshire to know where we were. It’s only been a little while since we got back, so the connection was still intact,” he explained.
“I tracked him to the greater Gotham area, but then I lost the trace. He’s definitely there, though, but…he’s cut off communications. I can’t get through anymore, just a message saying to try his comm.” Guy leaned over and showed Kyle the conversation, pointing out what seemed like a third person in the conversation:
[TEXT] No one is coming after the sick people, Dick. You’re imagining this. Hallucinating. Please let us help you?
[TEXT] Mi tesoro does not want your help. Leave him alone.
[TEXT] Who is this?
[TEXT] Who is this? This is Dick. Why would you
[TEXT] oh god. oh god she’s here. oh god she has my phone. oh god sh
[TEXT] i’m so sorry guy. you won’t hear from me again.
“I was about to send this to Batman. You have any idea who ‘she’ is?” Guy asked, and grimaced as the IV nurse walked in and asked him to bare his arm and lie down. “He could be hallucinating, or…someone really has tapped into his phone, because I don’t recall dissociative personality disorder being one of the symptoms with this virus.”
“Cheshire? Or Talia? I mean, those would be the obvious guesses, based on what you told me…remember when Dick got attacked by that snake? The one Damian brought aboard the Watchtower? And I remember when Damian and I were in the desert during the Manhunter nanobots attack…”
That’s what he wanted to mention.
“Guy, the Manhunter nanobots that invaded Earth before you came back. They were…some of them were collected by the al Ghuls, either the father or the daughter, I’m not sure which. I think that’s what was used to inject into Roy, by Cheshire. That was why he went bonkers enough to entice a Red Lantern ring to him. I feel like this all ties back to those damned nanobots somehow, and Talia al Ghul’s hatred for Dick. The attack on the Watchtower, now this…”
Kyle sat down, grasping his head. His insides were starting to feel weird and gluey again. ”Ahhh…look. I sent out the message to Oracle, and I’m sure Batman’s got the news by now. Can you…can you handle it from here? I’m just feeling a little woozy, didn’t get much good sleep for a while.” He could see Guy leaning towards him in concern out of the corner of his eye, and he waved Guy away. “I’m fine, really, I’m fine. And if not, I’m in the best place to not be fine. Just…do what you gotta do. I’ll be here, okay? I just need a little rest.”
Guy scowled in concern for Kyle, even as he was getting dizzier himself. He whispered softly to the nurse, “Ya know I gave three units of blood earlier this week, right? For Green Arrow? Only thing that’s kept me goin’ is my ring…”
She gave him a smile, “Why do you think I had you lie down, Mr. Gardner? Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. You just won’t be going anywhere for a while.”
“I have to help find Nightwing, though, an’ my partner here…he’s…he shouldn’t go anywhere. Look after him?” He was losing his focus, fast. “…Call me Guy…”
“Well, this can’t wait, Guy, we need enough blood here to replicate the cure. We’ll look after your partner, don’t you worry. Just relax, breathe evenly…dizziness, confusion and fatigue is perfectly normal,” she patted his knee.
Guy lifted the communicator and sent the texts to Batman while he still could:
[TEXT] Batman: confirmed tracked Dick to greater Gotham area. Dick’s condition may be linked to nanobots - connetion to al ghuls and cheshire
[TEXT] dik may hav ebeen injet wit nanbots same as roy
[TEXT] somone got into hisphon. uploding texttttts now
[TEXT] No one is coming after the sick people, Dick. You’re imagining this. Hallucinating. Please let us help you?
[TEXT] Mi tesoro does not want your help. Leave him alone.
[TEXT] Who is this?
[TEXT] Who is this? This is Dick. Why would you
[TEXT] oh god. oh god she’s here. oh god she has my phone. oh god sh
[TEXT] i’m so sorry guy. you won’t hear from me again.
Guy hit the “send” button on his communicator, and mentally gave his ring the simple instruction to wake him, and do whatever it took to keep him awake, one hour from now.
“Make Kyle liiedownnn…he’s shick…” Guy slurred at the nurse, though his eyes were fixed on his partner where he sat, holding his head in his hands. It was the last thing Guy saw before his eyes slid closed from the light-headedness.
Batman’d take care of finding Dick. The whole Batfamily would. That’s what they did. ‘World’s Greatest freaking Detective’ and all that. Kyle wasn’t going to worry about Dick anymore, particularly when he saw Guy slide into unconsciousness he stood up in horror, his own woozy head forgotten.
“Jesus christ! What’s wrong? Is he okay? Why is he half dead? How much blood did you need from him?! Don’t touch me, I’m fine,” Kyle dodged the approaching nurse, shaking his head viciously to clear it and coming over to Guy’s side, touching arm.
“Is he…like…is he regressing again? Into the fear…virus…whatever? Is he going to be okay? This is ridiculous! Why aren’t you helping him?!”
“Mister Rayner,” the nurse said in a clipped tone, highly unimpressed by all the foolish bravado in the room. “Will you please lie down. Next to your partner, if you like,” she motioned to a cot beside the one Guy was on.
“I said I’m fine,” Kyle glared at her, his crab mask sketching itself onto his face as he did. First Jaime. Then Ollie and Kate. Then Damian and Lian. Then Roy. Then Mia. Then Wally. Now Guy. The body count was getting sickeningly large, and now Dick was on the loose again. Kyle had no intention of adding himself to it when all he was feeling was a little woozy. “I just need some orange juice or something. And for pete’s sake, do you job and make sure Guy drinks orange juice too.”
The nurse stared stiffly at him. “I know how to do my job, Mr Rayner. Now please -“
“Forget it,” Kyle cut her off. Where was Dr Smith? As much as Kyle was annoyed at everything right now, he didn’t really want to take it out on the nurse. She was just doing her job. “Forget it. I’m…I’m going to visit the others. Since I’m not contagious or anything. May I go?”
She nodded curtly, knowing her permission wasn’t exactly something he’d care about anyway. Kyle looked back at Guy. “Sorry, big Guy. I’ll be back in a s…in a sec. I just have to…there’s so many of you here…dammit. I promised Jaime I’d see him when I got back, and Wally…poor Wally. I’ll be back.”
Sometimes it was like being split into a million different pieces. Sometimes it’d be better to just let it all go, wouldn’t it, a part of Kyle’s mind thought and Kyle shook his head again like a dog, pouring pure willpower over his burning mind, soothing it almost immediately.
He waved vaguely at the nurse as he left, not bothering to look at her. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
Guy constructed a floating gurney to place Roy on, a bit safer and less awkward now that they were subject to gravity again, and began moving his sleeping form towards Medbay. He was a little surprised, though, to look over and see Kyle still at his side as he turned Roy over to the medics. It was by no means an unpleasant surprise, though, and he wondered to himself if this meant Kyle had had enough time to himself while enjoying the beach on Mogo. He gave Kyle a quiet smile, “Going in to see Kate, or have they discharged her from Medbay already?”
It was clear that Roy was still recuperating, but obviously he lay in a mental and emotional exhaustion, rather than any physical hurt. Still, there was something about Roy that made Kyle want to remain and make sure he was interned safely in the Watchtower, until it was time to release him. Maybe it was because Kyle had brought him in in originally, had first seen that glimpse of Red Lantern in him…and they still weren’t able to prevent Roy from nearly killing Oliver and Kate. Kyle sighed and shut his eyes briefly. No. Not going to think about that.
Instead, he tore his gaze away from Roy and focused on Guy, who was smiling quietly at him, gentle and supportive. It made Kyle flicker a smile back, made him forget everything he was trying to not think about.
“When we left she was able to mobilize to see Ollie…or maybe last time I saw her was in her office? Or was that the last time her and Ollie got beat all to hell…dios mio. I don’t even know. I’m so tired of all this shit.” Kyle sighed and shook his head angrily. “If this happens a third time, I swear I’m quitting life.” Kyle realized he might’ve sounded more serious than he actually meant that. Even his attempts at levity were coasting at zero.
“Ah ha ha, joke,” he tacked on belatedly, then raised his eyebrows at Guy. “How’re you holding up?”
On instinct, Guy laid a comforting hand on Kyle’s back, “I know you’re jokin’,” he reassured him, “I’m okay. Tired, I guess, but fine for now.” He looked grimly back at the group of medics as they transferred Roy to a bed from the construct gurney he’d brought him in on, then dismissed it so it would be out of their way. He was tired, all right: tired of having to bring his friends into this place. First Kyle, then Jaime, then just hours later Ollie and Kate, and now Roy.
“Mogo healed yer face all up then? Ya don’t need to see the medics while we’re here, do you?” At Kyle’s shake of his head, he started guiding Kyle out. They meandered out, neither of them eager to turn their backs on Roy, but both realizing it was time to let the medical staff do their job. Guy paused when they reached the now-empty waiting area, “Listen, Kyle,” he began in a lowered voice, wanting to keep his voice from travelling and being overheard, ”When Roy grabbed ya, an’ you had to stab him…yer right, it was a judgement call. I shouldn’t have barked at ya like that, it just came out, in the moment. Sorry, pal.”
Kyle waved his hand dismissively. “De nada, you weren’t wrong. And I wasn’t angry at you, I was…angry. I just felt angry at just…everything. I think we all did that that point.” He sighed and smiled slightly. “Except John. Mannnnn thank god he showed up. I don’t…” Kyle looked up at Guy and met his eyes. He took a deep breath, taking a brief moment to study his partner’s bright eyes, still so stunning even when they were obviously so tired.
“There was a point there I. Don’t tell Hal this, but. There was a point there where I almost felt like: fuck it. Screw Roy. Just let him go to Ysmault and treat him like any other Red Lantern.”
Kyle covered his mouth and rubbed it hard, feeling awful and yet strangely relieved for saying it. “Is that…was that bad of me? I mean seriously - if it wasn’t for John showing up, I was on the verge of suggesting it to you guys, y’know? Man…man.” He looked down again, balancing his hands on his hips and shifting his stance. “Is that bad of me,” He asked again, dully.
“It’s honest, Kyle,” Guy replied, and adjusted his position so instead of a hand on Kyle’s back, his arm was around the younger man’s shoulders, pulling him into Guy’s side supportively. “I’m gonna sound nuts for sayin’ this, considerin’ I just came back from a month in Europe, but we need a vacation. You an’ me. Or maybe…all four of us. Mogo was right, we need to get away from the job for a while, take a retreat. Ringslingers, we’re always about ‘gettin’ ‘er done’, but when we start feelin’ like it ain’t worth it, we need to step away, y’know?”
He smiled down at Kyle, “An’ no, I ain’t gonna tell Hal nothin’, don’t you worry ‘bout that.”
Kyle leaned into Guy’s side as he smoothed his hand over his hair a few times, pushing the stick-uppy parts down, even though they bounced back up. He laughed a little bitterly. “All four of us, yeah. Like that wouldn’t be awkward.” He looked up at Guy wryly. “C’mon, you can’t deny it was totally kinda weird when we were on Mogo, and that was only two hours and we weren’t even all together.”
He rubbed his eyes. “Gah. Poor John. One week of all this…this this, and he’ll be more than ready to leave sector again. Everything here’s such a freaking mess. Or…maybe it just seems that way right now. I dunno.” He looked up Guy, hopeful to hear something reassuring and comforting.
“Ya know what?” Guy rubbed Kyle’s far shoulder, trying to jostle a little happiness into him, “John ain’ goin’ nowhere. He told me he’s got a huge design project lined up here on Earth, so don’t ya worry about him.”
“An’ as for that other thing…I think it was awkward because we weren’t all together.” He looked over at Kyle, “It ain’t just because of you hooking up with Hal, or what happened with you an’ me, or me tryin’ to give you two space, or even John bein’ away for so long…it’s all it, and then some.”
He signed a little looking up at the ceiling, “Kyle, we used to get together for poker once a week, remember that? We’d do stuff together, for fun. We’d make a point of spendin’ time together between missions, so that awkwardness durin’ missions like we just had, wouldn’t happen. I think Mogo was right, we should go on a reteat, together…and just all get reacquainted.”
He paused to scratch the back of his head, “Can I tell you somethin’ I don’t want repeated to Hal, either?” He paused only briefly to look at Kyle. He was about to try and trust him again. “Him an’ me? Sometimes I feel like we’re practically strangers. An’ that was before you two started seein’ each other. He’s my oldest friend in the world, and we barely speak, ever.”
Kyle couldn’t be happier to hear about John, even if he was just staying for a job. Come for the job, stay for the people, right? he thought to himself, and was determined to try and find every way he could to make sure John would want to remain on Earth. Kyle never felt he’d stop owing John, and fortunately it was a debt he loved being in. Some people were just like that.
“Yeah….okay. Guardians be damned. Four 2814 Lanterns on Earth? They’ll just have to deal, right? We’re goddamn Honor Guard, they’ll just have to put up and shut up.” Kyle chuckled a bit, softly, only for himself and Guy.
“I loved poker nights. You, me, John and Alan. It was hilarious and fun and I learned so much from you guys… valuable stuff about flushes and bluffing,” he teased. “Which I could never really do, heh. M…maybe. Maybe Sunday dinner can be Lantern Sunday dinner? They don’t have to come around every Sunday, but every now and then. That’d be nice. Right?” The idea of the four of them laughing about a dinner table sounded very tempting.
“And you’re right, I mean, you’re right about all of it, it’s weird but…it’s not bad. It’s not the end of the world or, like, some kind of end of the 2814ship. We can’t even if we wanted to. And, y’know,” Kyle leaned back and patted Guy’s chest. “If you want my advice on Hal? Not to sound like I know him better or anything, but I do happen to be slightly observant, I like to think. Un poco observant?” He grinned, up at Guy.
“Give him a call. Just…call him up and ask to go have a coffee. I mean, he’s probably gonna be Star City’d for a while now, close to Ollie, but. That doesn’t mean the guy won’t be a-okay with you visiting him at the local coffee shop near the Arrow compound. Go to him and just…spend a couple hours of time, if you really wanna rekindle the friendship flame. Simple and nice. It’s Hal - no big overtures are needed.”
“Yeah, okay,” Guy took it in, “I mean, not that I haven’t tried, y’know? He didn’t seem real chatty at yer party, an’ we all know how that invite for Sunday dinner worked out,” he rubbed his face with his free hand as he released Kyle’s shoulder, and wondered to himself what the hell day of the week it was now. ”I guess I’ll try again once Ollie’s more on the mend. It was just a feeling, though, it’s been botherin’ me a while.”
Guy folded his arms in thought about Kyle’s suggestion of including the other two Lanterns in Sunday dinner. He loved the idea of that, but not if it meant giving up the one night of the week Kyle had agreed to spend together with him. Kyle seemed to have such an active social life, and that was before Guy had gone to Europe. To see him at his birthday party, and overhear all the conversations, Kyle’s time was more in demand than ever, and Guy found himself instinctively clinging to the one thing he had left that was just him and Kyle.
“Y’know, I really don’t mind cookin’ other nights of the week, too, Kyle. In fact, I really missed it while I was in Europe. I’d kinda like to leave Sundays as our thing, you an’ me, an’ maybe have guests over once in a while…if that’s okay with you? But this idea of a Lantern night, that’s…I love it, it’s brilliant!” he grinned broadly and clapped an arm around Kyle’s shoulders again, “Casa Verde just keeps gettin’ greener, don’t it?”
“Well..not anyone’s fault that Roy decided to go bonkers before Sunday. And Jaime getting TB. And…yeah. Hooooboy.” Kyle rubbed his head again, and tried to think of his stupid party. He spoke sadly and contemplatively, working through remembrances of that night.
“I thought Hal was really pleased and happy at the party, you even convinced him to stay a while, remember? Which,” he murmured gently, recalling his party. “which neither of us - me or Hal, I mean - were really intending for him to stay. We both wanted him gone….but you coming to talk to him, it made him feel welcome, y’know? So, pat on the back for that one, amigo.” Kyle smiled and rubbed Guy’s back in a wide, circular motion.
“And hey!” he protested in mock indignance, grinning. “You’re the one who invited him to Sunday dinner in the first place! Coulda consulted with me first, you know!” He shook his finger at Guy, pretending to be stern as he put on a Guy-type imitation. “It’s my home too, grararrrrr grumble.” He laughed, and it felt weird, like the first time he was genuinely joking around in a long time.
“No I’m totally cool with having Sunday to ourselves; I like it better that way, myself. Hmm. Maybe another night then, once a month or something. Gathering at the Warriors water hole for poker or Scrabble or something fun and harmless. Uno! I love that game.”
“I wanted him to feel welcome, and not just for yours and his sake, either, but mine too. I think he’s the only guy in the League that doesn’t drop in on us at home unannounced, an’ I really want to change that.” A thought occurred to him and he chuckled, “Okay, Bats doesn’t drop in either. That, I’m okay with. He’d probably litter the place with listenin’ devices or somethin’,” he laughed.
Guy put his hands up and waved them a little in very a Kyle-esque surrender, “Okay, okay! Si! Lo siento, lo siento!” before he laughed boisterously as well, which earned them both a nasty glare from a nurse who stuck her head around the corner. He rolled his eyes and lowered his voice, “That goes double for you, though; as the cook I gotta know numbers, food allergies, preferences…jeeze, I sound like a fifties housewife.” He waggled his finger back at Kyle, giggling quietly for the sake of the patients, “If you’re going to bring a Guardian home from the office, Ring-text me first, Honey!” Damn, it was so good to see Kyle laugh.
“BBQ, beers, boardgames, and bros,” he agreed, “Let’s make it happen!” They were just about to leave the Medbay when a thought struck him, and he stopped his partner, a hand to Kyle’s chest, “Hold up…listen, Kyle, you were pretty sick before we left, and it hasn’t been that long. That black stuff ya puked up, that worried me. Would ya put my mind at ease, and just get them to check you over, since we’re here in the Medbay, anyway?”
Kyle glazed over for a moment. “Can you imagine if Bats dropped in? Like, he’d literally drop in. From the rafters. Directly onto a stool and then he’d ask for a cold one.” Kyle laughed, and then laughed even more and with obvious delight at Guy’s impression of him.
“That’s good! That’s good!” Kyle almost shouted in joy, clapping and pointing at Guy, and only slightly abashed by the grim nurse. “You know I’ll bet you one day we’re gonna have Ganthet drop in on us. Hopefully wearing one of those awesome pantsuits with the huge belt and shoulder pads that he seems to love so much when he visits Earth. It’s like - dude! You’re still three feet tall and blue! You think a snazzy leisure suit is somehow gonna disguise you?!”
His laughter softened and faded when Guy asked about his sickness, and he scratched the back of his neck as he considered Guy’s question, squinting up at the older Lantern. “I’m pretty sure I’m fine, but I’ll do it just for you, okay?”
“Thank you, Kyle,” Guy replied meaningfully, relieved to finally be addressing this issue. He was glad he’d thought of it before they’d left Medbay. “C’mon, I’ll keep ya company,” he slung an arm around Kyle a third time as they turned 180 to head back into the medical ward. It was a quick, routine exam, and when the black vomit was mentioned along with Kyle’s other symptoms, naturally they wanted to run some tests, starting with a blood sample.
Then Kyle was asked to wait while they went off and looked at it. Feeling a bit bad that he had asked Kyle to go through this, Guy slipped away to the Watchtower’s lounge room and returned shortly with a stack of Uno cards to help pass the time. Kyle had just played a “pick up 4 cards” card on Guy and was about to triumphantly go out on his next turn when Dr. Smith returned, looking a bit grim as he stared at his clipboard…
Dick was worried. Not that he hadn’t been worried before, after Lian, Damian, and Stephanie’s hallucinations, but now, with Wally in the Med bay, almost his whole station out sick, parts of Bludhaven down with sickness, and apparently all of Keystone in a panic, things were starting to look terrible. So, really, “worried” was a hell of an understatement.
He yawned as he stepped off the zeta pad, that recent tiredness creeping back up on him. Hopefully everyone was doing better today. He’d visited Ollie for a bit, not too long since he was sleeping, but enough to look him over and assess the damage done. They were going to have a hell of a time when Roy returned.
He made his way to the med bay, planning to check in on Damian and Lian and try to raise their spirits somewhat. They’d spent too much time there recently. He passed an examination room and froze, not quite believing what his peripheral told him. He backed up and peeked in. Sure enough, Guy and Kyle were sitting there playing cards like they’d never left. He would have burst in had the doctor not cleared his throat to speak. Dick hung back just outside the doorway, waiting for his opportunity to come in.
Dr. Smith was looking Kyle over, frowning a little. ”We found something strange in your blood test. A virus of some sort. Not quite sure exactly what…. Have you been feeling… anxious? Terrified for no discernible reason? Maybe having hallucinations?
Kyle frowned in that ‘how absurd’ kind of way, feeling a little embarrassed as he glanced over at Guy, then back at the Doctor, huffing and sputtering as he did so. “Well…I mean, yeah sure, I guess. Nothing important. I haven’t felt terrified.” Slightly aggravated now, he wiggled his ringed fist at Dr. Smith. The good docter never liked him ever since Kyle flipped out at him over Guy being nearly half-dead and Smith being completely freaking useless and unable to - Kyle took a deep breath.
That was over. It wasn’t the Doctor’s fault he was incompe - now now, Kyle - he was limited in his capacity to help a Green Lantern live, Kyle chided himself, his temper pacing out. And it was just Guy here. It was safe. The Doctor was just doing his job.
Smiling brightly from one to the other, because he didn’t want Guy to get upset either, Kyle lowered his fist and tapped his ring. “I’m a Green Lantern, I don’t get ‘terrified’. Just had some nightmares and sicked up some nasty shit. That’s all. What’s in my bloodstream? Oh dios - is it TB? Like Jaime has??”
Dr. Smith frowned deeper. This guy was worse than the ten year-old; at least the kid had an excuse to be moody and uncooperative. He sighed and looked down at his chart once more, not so much to check it as to have something to do. ”No, it’s not TB. Whatever this is, you have what the children have. It seems to lead to hallucinations and terrors. If you haven’t had those, yet, we should probably keep you for observation.”
Dick poked his head in the room, deciding now was as good a time as any to join in. ”Sorry to interrupt, doctor, but the kids were exposed to fear toxin probably created by the Scarecrow. It wasn’t a virus. I’m not sure what exact kind of toxin it was but—”
“My team and I know what we’re doing,” the doctor interrupted, frowning again. Dick started to wonder if that was his only facial expression. ”We can say without doubt that whatever this virus is, it has been causing their symptoms.”
Dick scrunched his mouth to the side in thought as he walked fully into the room. ”If Scarecrow’s found a way to attach his toxin to a virus, we should be very careful. This could spread beyond our reach quick—”
“It’s not contagious,” Dr. Smith interrupted again, making Dick growl slightly. ”I haven’t found any reason for it, but it hasn’t spread in any of the cultures. We’re thinking it might need a cata—”
“Excuse me, doctor!” A nurse popped his head in the room. ”The lab has something to show you.”
Dr. Smith grumbled under his breath, not seeming to like being cut off himself, but nodded to Kyle with an “I’ll be back” frown, and followed the nurse out the door.
Guy laid a hand on Kyle’s shoulder as he nodded a greeting to Dick. “Fear toxin? The kids? Yer gonna have to fill us in, Dick, we’ve been away gettin’ Roy, just got back…”
They both listened as Dick told them of Damian, Lian, Zatanna, Billy, and Stephanie, and the events at Wayne Manor, as well as the fact Wally was sick as well, along with Keystone City and parts of Bludhaven. All had experienced hallucinations and anxiety or fear.
“So if Kyle has the same virus that Damian and Lian have, like the doctor said…” Guy mused, then looked at Kyle, “You said you had nightmares, right? When I found you that afternoon, you were really out of it, right before you started throwing up. What if you weren’t having nightmares, but hallucinations? Maybe you should tell the Doc, Kyle…”
“It’s not contagious? That….that can’t be true. Not with so many people having this illness, I mean. It wouldn’t make any sense why Scarecrow would only target like, such random people like me, the kids, Zatanna and Steph, Wally, Mia….At least - I can’t see any pattern, but then I’m not a Gotham-based criminal mastermind.”
Shaking his head at Guy, rubbing his face. “I was having dreams. Well…nightmares, I guess yeah. I guess they were. But I wasn’t really hallucinating, I don’t think…maybe that’s because I was asleep? Maybe it works different when you’re asleep, versus when you’re awake, y’know?”
He sighed and leaned back on one hand as he sat on the bed, looking at Dick; when something in his friend’s pale, tired, drawn face pinged a thought. He pointed at them, using two splayed fingers. “The Doc mentioned something about a…a catalyst, right? You…you guys were sick too, weren’t you? In Europe? I know you were Guy, I think I remember you saying that you might’ve gotten it from Dick. Did you guys get hallucinations or nightmares or whatever as well?”
Guy lifted his head and stared across the room as he thought back to their first few nights in Paris: taking pictures from the top of the Eiffel Tower at dusk, and how he’d woken in the hotel room late the following afternoon, when Dick informed him he’d found him feverish at daybreak… and hallucinating. “Yeah…I did…” Guy nodded as it started coming back to him, “Dick, you said I thought you were Kyle, and I was babbling about beds in space, and floors made of lava and… uh…stuff…”
He blushed as he realized how juvenile it sounded, not to mention the awkwardness of having mistaken Dick for Kyle, and both men were there, now, as Kyle was hearing it for the first time. “I just assumed it was the fever…and Dick said he’d had the same thing about a week before me, in Vichy, wasn’t it, Dick? But that was a month or more ago! How could anyone have caught it from either of us?”
Dick smiled at Guy’s recollection, but it faded fast as he thought about his question. ”I don’t think it’s possible. I don’t know of anything that stays contagious that long.”
He straddled a chair and stared at the floor in thought. He had been having hallucinations, voices in his head that chided him and berated him for everything he did. But that couldn’t be from the same thing. His auditory hallucinations were nothing like what happened to the children.
“Somehow,” he began, “Scarecrow’s spreading this virus around without anyone knowing it. It just doesn’t make sense that no one has seen him and that more of Gotham isn’t in panic. Keystone’s way out of his area.”
Dr. Smith came in again, just a hair too late to interrupt Dick. ”Lab found something interesting. Said the virus is actually noncontagious. It needs a catalyst of some sort to actually spread. We’re not entirely sure what that is yet, but we know none of the patients have it.”
“How do you know?” Dick asked, leaning forward in the chair to bring it on two legs.
“None of the viruses in them spread it.”
“But that…doesn’t make any sense.” Dick looked over at Kyle and Guy, biting his lip. “Since it’s spread through Keystone, I’d guess Wally was the reason spreading it. He could cover the most ground, and we’ve all interacted with him recently. But that doesn’t explain why Bl—”
“He doesn’t have it,” Dr. Smith said, seemingly pleased to be interrupting once more. ”His meta ability could be triggering the toxin spread. The virus itself is dormant.”
He looked at the three of them and flipped some pages on his clipboard, his frown ever-present. ”Let me get a blood sample from you two,” he said, looking at Guy and Dick. ”Check what you have. See if we can’t find something to give us more help.”
Dr. Smith called in a nurse to take the blood samples—“More than they needed,” a voice whispered to Dick. “They know!”—and waited until they were done, making small notes on his clipboard. ”We’ll have results in a few minutes,” he said, and left the room.
Dick looked back at the Lanterns and crossed his eyes, chuckling in a poor attempt to lighten the mood. ”So…if it is being spread around us by someone, when do you think it would’ve happened?”
Kyle was grateful he didn’t have the ability to raise one eyebrow at a time. They either both went up, or nothing at all. He was particularly glad for this lack of skill when Guy mentioned he thought Dick was Kyle, while he was ill. Not really too weird - they were both black haired, not-pale-skinned and generally pleasant demeanor - but it was the way that Guy seemed to demure after he said it. Maybe Kyle was just imagining things. Overly-sensitive to all of Guy’s movements and quirks. It was a bad habit and Kyle shook his mind free of it.
He watched the doctor take blood samples from Dick and Guy. Most of what Doc was saying slipped in one ear and out the other. That was for the medical staff to figure out. He raised his eyebrows wryly at Dick.
“Isn’t it obvious? Everyone was in fine form for one night, recently. I know because they were all pretty much there. In our bar. Celebrating my birthday.” Kyle shifted, folding his arms and looking surly as he muttered to himself. “Looks like everyone got themselves a party favor on the way out.”
Did anything end up right, that night? Kyle had to wonder, that distraught feeling washing over him. He looked up at Guy, hopefully willing him to read his mind about how he miserable he was about that stupid, horrible night.
“Why the long face? It’s not your fault people got sick…it happens, Kyle,” he rubbed the younger Lantern’s back reassuringly. “At least now we know what was wrong with you. And besides, everyone had a great time celebrating your birthday with you buddy, young and old alike. They all said so, from Wildcat all the way down to little Lian.” He gave Dick a nod, “It’s a shame your brother and Billy were too beat up to come though, they missed out on a great time.”
Dick smiled sympathetically, thinking about Damian and Billy. ”It really is. I know Billy would’ve had fun. Damian would’ve too, even if he wouldn’t admit it. Though it might have been for the best or they would’ve caught—”
But they did catch it.
Damian had thought Dick was Talia. Captain Marvel said Billy had been terrified. But, if they weren’t at the party, there was no way they could have been exposed to the virus. Lian couldn’t be a carrier or the doctors would have spotted it. Billy and Damian couldn’t be carrying it because they weren’t at the party with everyone else. No one at the party could have been carrying it because no one saw either of the boys after—
Not after. Before.
Dick and Guy came home because Stephanie told them about the boys and Two-Face. Stephanie could have it. She was at the party and she was with the boys. But the doctors had her here. They’d already know if she was the carrier. Guy hadn’t interacted with the boys. He’d never even got that near them. Only Dick had—
Held them. Cuddled them. Hugged them. Damian had even spent that night in Dick’s room, huddled against him for fear of nightmares. The next day was the party. Dick hugged everyone, carried Lian around with him, made contact with everyone.
But how was that possible? He’d been over the sickness for more than a month. Hell, Guy shouldn’t even have caught it from him!
But he had. He had the exact same thing Dick had, which sounded exactly the same as what everyone else had. But there was no way that could be true. Dick didn’t even know where he could have got it from.
“By the time you realize what’s going on, it’ll be too late. This, Grayson, is the moment when you fall.”
Talia.
Talia and Cheshire and the attack in his hotel that he could barely remember.
It was a virus.
It was fear toxin.
It was in him and spreading.
Dick stood abruptly, knocking over his chair. He looked at Guy and Kyle, both staring at him with concern. ”I— I need to check on Damian. Make sure he’s…alright. I’ll— be right back.”
Not two minutes after Dick left, Dr. Smith walked in, his frown almost triumphant. ”Well, I have good news and good news. We know who’s spreading it and we know where to find the cure. Mr. Gardner, it seems that your body has built up antibodies to fight off what Mr. Grayson here has been—” Dr. Smith looked over to where Dick had been sitting.
“Where the hell did he go?”
“He went to go check in on Damian,” Kyle said, pointing to one of the antechambers. He looked over at Guy and got on his feet. “He’s not, like, dangerous or anything, right?”
Kyle glanced over at Guy as they headed towards Damian’s room, taking a hold of his arm to let Dr Smith go ahead of them. “Hey. Hey, I’m just gonna ask you this the one time, and very specifically regarding your illnesses - what exactly happened in Europe?”
Guy ran a hand through his hair, “I can only tell you what Dick told me about his…he got sick suddenly in Vichy a week or two before I caught up with him. Same symptoms I had, the headache, fever, nausea, hallucinations, only he was laid up about four days an’ it was only 36 hours for me because of my Ring. From the sounds of it his symptoms were much more severe, too.”
“I met him in Vichy, we got caught up, he told me how Talia and Cheshire had attacked him a few weeks earlier, and we worked out a plan to lure ‘em out again. The next day we were in Paris, an’ that’s when I started gettin’ sick, that night…” he looked at Kyle, a bit sadly, “I don’t remember much, but the next mornin’ I was hallucinatin’ and feverish, an’ I started runnin’ my mouth off, thinkin’ it was you lookin’ after me, not him…”
He shook his head, unsure what Kyle’s reaction would be, “Apparently I rehashed stuff about our talk on the way back from Oa. I thought I was apoligizin’ to you and beggin’ you to stay with me on the couch or bed we were flying on…anyway, when I was lucid again, Dick knew. Well, he knew enough…” He ducked his head a little, “I’m sorry, Kyle, I only remembered ever talkin’ to you, but it was Dick all along.”
“I guess the upside was that once it was out there, I finally had someone I could talk to about it that wasn’t a stakeholder; Ollie was just too close to it, because of Hal, I never felt entirely comfortable, y’know? So, Dick talked to me about it while I recovered, an’ help me figure things through, let stuff go. From then on, he let me talk freely about it. It really helped a lot,” Guy ran another hand through his hair, this time less nervously, and more as a gesture of introspection.
Dr. Smith strode impatiently into Damian’s room. He had no time to wait on these Lanterns lollygagging and chatting. All he had to do was quarantine the source of the contagion. He stopped two steps into the room. His frown deepened. The only person in the room was the boy, sleeping relatively peacefully.
Dr. Smith turned on his heel and faced the Lanterns. ”He’s not here. You might not hold much to it, since I’m only a doctor, but I’d bet dollars to doughnuts he’s not up here anymore. Someone better find him fast.
“But not you, Mr. Gardner. You’re the only person who’s been exposed to it long enough to build up the antibodies we can use for a cure. We need you here to get what we can from your blood.”
“Guy…” Kyle started to say, keeping a hold of Guy’s arm until Dr. Smith spun to face them. He put his hands on his hips and thinned his eyes, pressing his lips together tightly as the doctor told them Dick wasn’t there. Both him and Guy echoed each other’s respective ring requests to scan the Watchtower for Dick Grayson AKA Nightwing…and both rings came up negative.
“You gotta be kidding me,” Kyle said to no one in particular, and turned back to Guy before Dr Smith had any time to snark. “We’re going to have to put out an APB on freaking Nightwing?! Unless you have any idea where he might’ve gone, Guy? If not, I’m contacting Oracle to get the word out that there’s a rogue bluebird on the loose, ASAP. Every active member of JL on high alert.”
Kyle looked over to where Wally was convalescing, and he made an annoyed, impatient noise. “Damn if only Wally was doing okay…maybe we can get a hold of Bai. Goddamnit, Dick! What the hell would possess him to leave the station?! Something’s not right with him. Hijole…” Kyle ran his hand through his hair, clutching at the back as he stared wide-eyed at Guy, his exhausted mind slowly piecing fragments together. “I hope to hell he doesn’t have the same whatever that had gotten to Roy. Cheshire also paid him a visit and was injecting him with shit too. Dammit!”
“I’ve no idea where he’s gone, but see where the last Zeta tube sent him to, and get the Batfam to check the obvious places first: Wayne Manor, his Bludhaven apartment… and tell Oracle to besure she cc’s Bats on the APB, and include a warning about the toxin-virus he’s spreadin’.” Batman may not be officially in the League anymore, but Guy felt strongly that he had a right to know what was going on with his son; they were probably going to need his help more than anyone else’s just to track down Dick if he didn’t want to be found.
“I’ll stick around an’ givin’ these vampires what they need - no offense, Doc - an’ see what I can do from here. Maybe if he’ll talk to me or text, I can convince him to come back in?” He lay a hand on Kyle’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze, “Be careful, okay? I hope you’re wrong about Dick bein’ a Red Lantern, but don’t take any chances, Kyle. You take John and Hal with you if you locate Dick. I’ll join you the minute they let me go. Keep me posted, okay?”
Kyle left the MedBay to check the zeta tube logs, not really expecting to find anything. Anyone who wanted and knew how to scramble the location would, and Dick, of course, did. He sent a message to Oracle instead, letting her know the situation. For a quiet moment, the buzz of the Watchtower crew around him, Kyle rubbed his eyes, hard. The Lanterns had just returned from getting Roy back, under the most strenuous circumstances. Now Dick left? Again?
Kyle almost vaguely wondered if, in the next Committee Meeting, he should propose putting tracking tags on certain members and ex-members of the Titans.
Heading back to the MedBay, he paused to look in on Wally, stroking his dark red hair. The only one who didn’t run away, Kyle realized sadly, and the irony was not lost on him. Here Wally was, locked in a fever-coma and god knew how long it was going to take before he was out of it…but Roy was also back and incapacitated, and Dick was gone. It was almost unbelievable. He was starting to see what Wally was getting at, when it came to the three of them.
One thing he had to clear up, as he went back to Guy, one thing niggling in the back of his mind. “Guy I don’t think Dick’s going to go Red Lantern, what I meant was—” He cut himself off, noticing Guy sending a text via his ring. Kyle quickly flew over. “What’s what? Did you get in contact with him? Can you track his phone?”
Guy nodded, his look a mix between confusion and worry as he focussed on his Ring, the words displaying on a small holographic screen over his hand. “When we were in Europe, he agreed early on to hook up my ring and his phone so we wouldn’t have to use the League comm system…besides, we wanted Talia and Cheshire to know where we were. It’s only been a little while since we got back, so the connection was still intact,” he explained.
“I tracked him to the greater Gotham area, but then I lost the trace. He’s definitely there, though, but…he’s cut off communications. I can’t get through anymore, just a message saying to try his comm.” Guy leaned over and showed Kyle the conversation, pointing out what seemed like a third person in the conversation:
[TEXT] No one is coming after the sick people, Dick. You’re imagining this. Hallucinating. Please let us help you?
[TEXT] Mi tesoro does not want your help. Leave him alone.
[TEXT] Who is this?
[TEXT] Who is this? This is Dick. Why would you
[TEXT] oh god. oh god she’s here. oh god she has my phone. oh god sh
[TEXT] i’m so sorry guy. you won’t hear from me again.
“I was about to send this to Batman. You have any idea who ‘she’ is?” Guy asked, and grimaced as the IV nurse walked in and asked him to bare his arm and lie down. “He could be hallucinating, or…someone really has tapped into his phone, because I don’t recall dissociative personality disorder being one of the symptoms with this virus.”
“Cheshire? Or Talia? I mean, those would be the obvious guesses, based on what you told me…remember when Dick got attacked by that snake? The one Damian brought aboard the Watchtower? And I remember when Damian and I were in the desert during the Manhunter nanobots attack…”
That’s what he wanted to mention.
“Guy, the Manhunter nanobots that invaded Earth before you came back. They were…some of them were collected by the al Ghuls, either the father or the daughter, I’m not sure which. I think that’s what was used to inject into Roy, by Cheshire. That was why he went bonkers enough to entice a Red Lantern ring to him. I feel like this all ties back to those damned nanobots somehow, and Talia al Ghul’s hatred for Dick. The attack on the Watchtower, now this…”
Kyle sat down, grasping his head. His insides were starting to feel weird and gluey again. ”Ahhh…look. I sent out the message to Oracle, and I’m sure Batman’s got the news by now. Can you…can you handle it from here? I’m just feeling a little woozy, didn’t get much good sleep for a while.” He could see Guy leaning towards him in concern out of the corner of his eye, and he waved Guy away. “I’m fine, really, I’m fine. And if not, I’m in the best place to not be fine. Just…do what you gotta do. I’ll be here, okay? I just need a little rest.”
Guy scowled in concern for Kyle, even as he was getting dizzier himself. He whispered softly to the nurse, “Ya know I gave three units of blood earlier this week, right? For Green Arrow? Only thing that’s kept me goin’ is my ring…”
She gave him a smile, “Why do you think I had you lie down, Mr. Gardner? Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. You just won’t be going anywhere for a while.”
“I have to help find Nightwing, though, an’ my partner here…he’s…he shouldn’t go anywhere. Look after him?” He was losing his focus, fast. “…Call me Guy…”
“Well, this can’t wait, Guy, we need enough blood here to replicate the cure. We’ll look after your partner, don’t you worry. Just relax, breathe evenly…dizziness, confusion and fatigue is perfectly normal,” she patted his knee.
Guy lifted the communicator and sent the texts to Batman while he still could:
[TEXT] Batman: confirmed tracked Dick to greater Gotham area. Dick’s condition may be linked to nanobots - connetion to al ghuls and cheshire
[TEXT] dik may hav ebeen injet wit nanbots same as roy
[TEXT] somone got into hisphon. uploding texttttts now
[TEXT] No one is coming after the sick people, Dick. You’re imagining this. Hallucinating. Please let us help you?
[TEXT] Mi tesoro does not want your help. Leave him alone.
[TEXT] Who is this?
[TEXT] Who is this? This is Dick. Why would you
[TEXT] oh god. oh god she’s here. oh god she has my phone. oh god sh
[TEXT] i’m so sorry guy. you won’t hear from me again.
Guy hit the “send” button on his communicator, and mentally gave his ring the simple instruction to wake him, and do whatever it took to keep him awake, one hour from now.
“Make Kyle liiedownnn…he’s shick…” Guy slurred at the nurse, though his eyes were fixed on his partner where he sat, holding his head in his hands. It was the last thing Guy saw before his eyes slid closed from the light-headedness.
Batman’d take care of finding Dick. The whole Batfamily would. That’s what they did. ‘World’s Greatest freaking Detective’ and all that. Kyle wasn’t going to worry about Dick anymore, particularly when he saw Guy slide into unconsciousness he stood up in horror, his own woozy head forgotten.
“Jesus christ! What’s wrong? Is he okay? Why is he half dead? How much blood did you need from him?! Don’t touch me, I’m fine,” Kyle dodged the approaching nurse, shaking his head viciously to clear it and coming over to Guy’s side, touching arm.
“Is he…like…is he regressing again? Into the fear…virus…whatever? Is he going to be okay? This is ridiculous! Why aren’t you helping him?!”
“Mister Rayner,” the nurse said in a clipped tone, highly unimpressed by all the foolish bravado in the room. “Will you please lie down. Next to your partner, if you like,” she motioned to a cot beside the one Guy was on.
“I said I’m fine,” Kyle glared at her, his crab mask sketching itself onto his face as he did. First Jaime. Then Ollie and Kate. Then Damian and Lian. Then Roy. Then Mia. Then Wally. Now Guy. The body count was getting sickeningly large, and now Dick was on the loose again. Kyle had no intention of adding himself to it when all he was feeling was a little woozy. “I just need some orange juice or something. And for pete’s sake, do you job and make sure Guy drinks orange juice too.”
The nurse stared stiffly at him. “I know how to do my job, Mr Rayner. Now please -“
“Forget it,” Kyle cut her off. Where was Dr Smith? As much as Kyle was annoyed at everything right now, he didn’t really want to take it out on the nurse. She was just doing her job. “Forget it. I’m…I’m going to visit the others. Since I’m not contagious or anything. May I go?”
She nodded curtly, knowing her permission wasn’t exactly something he’d care about anyway. Kyle looked back at Guy. “Sorry, big Guy. I’ll be back in a s…in a sec. I just have to…there’s so many of you here…dammit. I promised Jaime I’d see him when I got back, and Wally…poor Wally. I’ll be back.”
Sometimes it was like being split into a million different pieces. Sometimes it’d be better to just let it all go, wouldn’t it, a part of Kyle’s mind thought and Kyle shook his head again like a dog, pouring pure willpower over his burning mind, soothing it almost immediately.
He waved vaguely at the nurse as he left, not bothering to look at her. “I’ll be back in a sec.”