Happy Boostlethon, settai!
Title: Weird Superhero Stuff
Author: doctorv
Recipient: settiai
Rating: PG
Summary: You meet all sorts of interesting people when your mom works at a hospital.
Notes: Beta credit goes to fleur_de_liz, who did not hassle me very much about being a sickly, last-minute beta-begger.
Weird Superhero Stuff
---
He's pretty sure superheroes don't usually escort people to the hospital. Not unless there's a time crunch. Which okay, yes, probably, but it's still weird to be landing as gently as he can in the hospital parking lot with a complete stranger held close to his chest. As he makes his way through the door, though, he figures this is one of those exceptions that just happen when you're a superhero. Since after all....
"Um, help? I think she's about to have a baby?"
Not his most eloquent, but while he may be a superhero, he's also still a teenage boy and there is a pregnant woman in his arms and there is fluid on his supersuit and he just spent the entire flight worrying that the baby was somehow going to pop out over downtown El Paso.
He also has a bit of a headache from being thrown head first through a brick wall, but the scarab is already taking care of that.
The woman is taken away by people far more medically qualified than a teenage superhero and Jaime Reyes, Blue Beetle, is left standing in the emergency room empty-handed and not sure where to go from there. The matter of what to do with himself is answered for him when his mother appears with a clipboard in hand and a smile on her face, voice quiet as she asks if he's okay.
Jaime smiles back and runs a hand over his head. "I'm fine."
"Have you had lunch yet?"
"It...kind of got interrupted," he says wryly.
Reaching out, Bianca Reyes cups a hand on his shoulder. "Think you could spare fifteen minutes to eat something with your mother?"
Jaime grins. "I think I could manage that."
-----
After Jaime sneaks off to change and meets back up with Bianca, they head to the hospital cafeteria. It's not as crowded as he would have expected, until he checks the time and realizes it's much later than he thought. Time flies when you're fighting bad guys, apparently.
"You're sure you're okay?"
Jaime waves off her worry and smiles reassuringly, motioning to himself with both hands. "The scarab's taking care of all my booboos, Mom. I'm fine."
"I'm your mother, mijo, it's my job to fuss and worry over you." Checking her watch, Bianca sighs and starts scooping her trash onto her tray. "Looks like lunch is over. I need to check on our John Doe now."
Jaime joins her in cleaning up their table and putting their trays away. "John Doe?"
"Police found him out by the highway. No clothes, no form of identification, and when he woke up, no idea who he was. I think he may be someone local, though, he looks vaguely familiar."
"Mind if I tag along?"
Bianca shrugs and smiles. "I don't see why not. He hasn't had any visitors yet, he'd probably welcome a new friendly face."
-----
Lightly knocking before opening the door, Bianca greets the room's lone occupant with a cheerful, "Mr. Doe? Good afternoon, how are you feeling today?"
"Call me John, please," comes a friendly voice from inside. "I'm sure my friends would call me that if it was actually my name."
Jaime freezes for a moment, then peers into the room with wide eyes. The man on the bed meets his gaze and gives him a smile and a wave. Bianca glances back at him and motions him into the room. "John, this is my son, Jaime."
Oh man. Brown hair, blue eyes, that unmistakable grin, it can't be. Khaji Da agrees with both his assessments: the man's identity and also the impossibility of it being him.
"Nuh-nice to, uh, nice to meet you--Mom, can I talk to you for a minute? ...In the hall?"
Frowning, she moves close enough for Jaime to snag her sleeve and tug her back outside. "Jaime, what's gotten into you? What's the matter?"
"Oh my god Mom that's Ted Kord!" he whispers in one long breath, hands flapping aimlessly in front of him. "I know who your John Doe is and he's Ted Kord."
"Wait, Ted Kord as in the--" she glances around quickly to make sure no one is close enough to hear, and then lowers her voice despite the empty hallway. "The man who was Blue Beetle before you? I thought he was dead."
"He was! I mean...I think he was. Everyone seemed pretty sure he was dead. I mean, Batman confirmed it and everything, so he was probably pretty dead. But....well, you know..."
Bianca sighs. "Weird superhero stuff, I know. Well, at least now we have an identity for him, even if it's...not really him. That's a thing that happens sometimes, isn't it? I remember there was some confusion after Superman died."
"Yeah, I think there was someone pretending to be Ted a while back, too." Running a hand through his hair, he blows out a deep breath. "Okay, so... I think I need to make a call."
"Do we tell him?" Bianca asks, pointing back at the door with her thumb.
"...After I call someone," Jaime says slowly.
-----
"You're either crazy or not-funny."
"Mr. Gold--"
"I've told you, kid: Booster. Look...Ted died, he's been dead. For...a while. Whoever you have there, he might look kind of like Ted, but he's not."
"He doesn't just look kind of like him, he looks exactly like him. Can't you like...check somehow?"
"Check how?"
Jaime throws his hands up in frustration. "I don't know! DNA, time thingies, whatever. I'm still new at this, I don't know the usual procedure for proving someone is or isn't someone who died!"
On the other end of the line, Booster sighs out a breath. "Look it's... It wouldn't be the first time someone faked being Ted, for whatever reason."
"I know! All the more reason to check!"
"I--What? No, I'm talking to--Yeah, the kid who-- ...What, are you serious? You're not. ...You are. And you couldn't have mentioned this, oh, at ANY time before right now? Great, yeah, solid time my shiny ass. You still there, Jaime?"
Jaime's eyebrows quirk in confusion as he stares at the phone for a moment. "What was that?"
"That was my inconveniently tight-lipped boss who just informed me it's vitally important I go check this out. So yeah, I'll be there in an hour or two. Hooray. Skeets!" Voice trailing off as he informs his robotic sidekick of their new mission, Booster ends the call.
Jaime is left with the nagging, and unfortunately familiar feeling, that the loop just passed him by and won't be back to let him in for several hours, if that soon. Sighing, he heads back to find his mom.
-----
When he gets back to John Doe-slash-possibly-Ted Kord's room, the man is cheerfully asking, "So tell me the truth, doc: will I ever play the piano again?"
"If your playing was as bad as your jokes, I certainly hope not," Bianca replies with a chuckle.
The man responds with a whooping laugh that Jaime recognizes from some old news feeds loaded on YouTube. "Aw, now that's not fair, stepping all over an injured man's punchline."
The door's already open a crack so he doesn't bother knocking, hesitantly pushing on it and entering the room. Bianca looks up and raises her eyebrows at him. "Did you get ahold of anyone?"
"Only Booster, everyone else was busy," Jaime replies, stepping closer to the bed.
"Interesting name," the man in the bed quips. "Kids these days."
"Actually, he's closer to your age, sir." Jaime rubs the back of his head and clears his throat nervously. "In fact...he may be a friend of yours."
The man who may be Ted Kord looks surprised but hopeful. "I do have friends? Well that's good to know, I guess. Any word on a name?"
"Does 'Ted Kord' ring any bells?"
He frowns thoughtfully, cupping his stubble-covered chin. "I'd be lying if I said it was clearing any bats out of the belfry, but it doesn't sound completely unfamiliar. Do you...know me?"
"More like I know of you," Jaime hedges, then pauses as Bianca touches his shoulder.
"I have other patients to see, but I'll be around. Page me if you need anything, mijo."
"You know of me," possibly-Ted repeats, leaning back in his raised hospital bed and grinning. That grin is in just about every picture of him that Jaime has ever seen. "Am I famous?"
"...Not quite."
-----
Laughter is the last thing Booster expects to hear as he nears the room the nice nurse had informed him held "Oh yes, our John Doe, goodness is he one of yours? A, I mean, a...Green Lantern?"
How people keep mistaking him for a Lantern he has no idea. There isn't a single pixel of green on his entire suit! Grife, people, pay attention!
Another painfully familiar laugh bounces out of the room, twisting the knife just a little bit more, and Booster hesitates with his hand on the door. Skeets hovers by his shoulder, silently judging.
Okay maybe not, but Booster's judging himself so he might be projecting a bit.
Steeling himself with a deep breath, he opens the door.
"Booster!" Ted's voice and grin greet him, arms thrown wide in welcome. "Jaime here has been jogging my memory. Would you believe it? Amnesia! Again! What are the odds?"
Booster stares at him, glancing briefly at the grinning teen sitting at the man's bedside. Skeets is already running scans, he knows. His little robot buddy is good at that practical stuff. Then he surprises himself by answering the man with a hoarse croak in his voice.
"Hi, Ted."
Author: doctorv
Recipient: settiai
Rating: PG
Summary: You meet all sorts of interesting people when your mom works at a hospital.
Notes: Beta credit goes to fleur_de_liz, who did not hassle me very much about being a sickly, last-minute beta-begger.
Weird Superhero Stuff
---
He's pretty sure superheroes don't usually escort people to the hospital. Not unless there's a time crunch. Which okay, yes, probably, but it's still weird to be landing as gently as he can in the hospital parking lot with a complete stranger held close to his chest. As he makes his way through the door, though, he figures this is one of those exceptions that just happen when you're a superhero. Since after all....
"Um, help? I think she's about to have a baby?"
Not his most eloquent, but while he may be a superhero, he's also still a teenage boy and there is a pregnant woman in his arms and there is fluid on his supersuit and he just spent the entire flight worrying that the baby was somehow going to pop out over downtown El Paso.
He also has a bit of a headache from being thrown head first through a brick wall, but the scarab is already taking care of that.
The woman is taken away by people far more medically qualified than a teenage superhero and Jaime Reyes, Blue Beetle, is left standing in the emergency room empty-handed and not sure where to go from there. The matter of what to do with himself is answered for him when his mother appears with a clipboard in hand and a smile on her face, voice quiet as she asks if he's okay.
Jaime smiles back and runs a hand over his head. "I'm fine."
"Have you had lunch yet?"
"It...kind of got interrupted," he says wryly.
Reaching out, Bianca Reyes cups a hand on his shoulder. "Think you could spare fifteen minutes to eat something with your mother?"
Jaime grins. "I think I could manage that."
-----
After Jaime sneaks off to change and meets back up with Bianca, they head to the hospital cafeteria. It's not as crowded as he would have expected, until he checks the time and realizes it's much later than he thought. Time flies when you're fighting bad guys, apparently.
"You're sure you're okay?"
Jaime waves off her worry and smiles reassuringly, motioning to himself with both hands. "The scarab's taking care of all my booboos, Mom. I'm fine."
"I'm your mother, mijo, it's my job to fuss and worry over you." Checking her watch, Bianca sighs and starts scooping her trash onto her tray. "Looks like lunch is over. I need to check on our John Doe now."
Jaime joins her in cleaning up their table and putting their trays away. "John Doe?"
"Police found him out by the highway. No clothes, no form of identification, and when he woke up, no idea who he was. I think he may be someone local, though, he looks vaguely familiar."
"Mind if I tag along?"
Bianca shrugs and smiles. "I don't see why not. He hasn't had any visitors yet, he'd probably welcome a new friendly face."
-----
Lightly knocking before opening the door, Bianca greets the room's lone occupant with a cheerful, "Mr. Doe? Good afternoon, how are you feeling today?"
"Call me John, please," comes a friendly voice from inside. "I'm sure my friends would call me that if it was actually my name."
Jaime freezes for a moment, then peers into the room with wide eyes. The man on the bed meets his gaze and gives him a smile and a wave. Bianca glances back at him and motions him into the room. "John, this is my son, Jaime."
Oh man. Brown hair, blue eyes, that unmistakable grin, it can't be. Khaji Da agrees with both his assessments: the man's identity and also the impossibility of it being him.
"Nuh-nice to, uh, nice to meet you--Mom, can I talk to you for a minute? ...In the hall?"
Frowning, she moves close enough for Jaime to snag her sleeve and tug her back outside. "Jaime, what's gotten into you? What's the matter?"
"Oh my god Mom that's Ted Kord!" he whispers in one long breath, hands flapping aimlessly in front of him. "I know who your John Doe is and he's Ted Kord."
"Wait, Ted Kord as in the--" she glances around quickly to make sure no one is close enough to hear, and then lowers her voice despite the empty hallway. "The man who was Blue Beetle before you? I thought he was dead."
"He was! I mean...I think he was. Everyone seemed pretty sure he was dead. I mean, Batman confirmed it and everything, so he was probably pretty dead. But....well, you know..."
Bianca sighs. "Weird superhero stuff, I know. Well, at least now we have an identity for him, even if it's...not really him. That's a thing that happens sometimes, isn't it? I remember there was some confusion after Superman died."
"Yeah, I think there was someone pretending to be Ted a while back, too." Running a hand through his hair, he blows out a deep breath. "Okay, so... I think I need to make a call."
"Do we tell him?" Bianca asks, pointing back at the door with her thumb.
"...After I call someone," Jaime says slowly.
-----
"You're either crazy or not-funny."
"Mr. Gold--"
"I've told you, kid: Booster. Look...Ted died, he's been dead. For...a while. Whoever you have there, he might look kind of like Ted, but he's not."
"He doesn't just look kind of like him, he looks exactly like him. Can't you like...check somehow?"
"Check how?"
Jaime throws his hands up in frustration. "I don't know! DNA, time thingies, whatever. I'm still new at this, I don't know the usual procedure for proving someone is or isn't someone who died!"
On the other end of the line, Booster sighs out a breath. "Look it's... It wouldn't be the first time someone faked being Ted, for whatever reason."
"I know! All the more reason to check!"
"I--What? No, I'm talking to--Yeah, the kid who-- ...What, are you serious? You're not. ...You are. And you couldn't have mentioned this, oh, at ANY time before right now? Great, yeah, solid time my shiny ass. You still there, Jaime?"
Jaime's eyebrows quirk in confusion as he stares at the phone for a moment. "What was that?"
"That was my inconveniently tight-lipped boss who just informed me it's vitally important I go check this out. So yeah, I'll be there in an hour or two. Hooray. Skeets!" Voice trailing off as he informs his robotic sidekick of their new mission, Booster ends the call.
Jaime is left with the nagging, and unfortunately familiar feeling, that the loop just passed him by and won't be back to let him in for several hours, if that soon. Sighing, he heads back to find his mom.
-----
When he gets back to John Doe-slash-possibly-Ted Kord's room, the man is cheerfully asking, "So tell me the truth, doc: will I ever play the piano again?"
"If your playing was as bad as your jokes, I certainly hope not," Bianca replies with a chuckle.
The man responds with a whooping laugh that Jaime recognizes from some old news feeds loaded on YouTube. "Aw, now that's not fair, stepping all over an injured man's punchline."
The door's already open a crack so he doesn't bother knocking, hesitantly pushing on it and entering the room. Bianca looks up and raises her eyebrows at him. "Did you get ahold of anyone?"
"Only Booster, everyone else was busy," Jaime replies, stepping closer to the bed.
"Interesting name," the man in the bed quips. "Kids these days."
"Actually, he's closer to your age, sir." Jaime rubs the back of his head and clears his throat nervously. "In fact...he may be a friend of yours."
The man who may be Ted Kord looks surprised but hopeful. "I do have friends? Well that's good to know, I guess. Any word on a name?"
"Does 'Ted Kord' ring any bells?"
He frowns thoughtfully, cupping his stubble-covered chin. "I'd be lying if I said it was clearing any bats out of the belfry, but it doesn't sound completely unfamiliar. Do you...know me?"
"More like I know of you," Jaime hedges, then pauses as Bianca touches his shoulder.
"I have other patients to see, but I'll be around. Page me if you need anything, mijo."
"You know of me," possibly-Ted repeats, leaning back in his raised hospital bed and grinning. That grin is in just about every picture of him that Jaime has ever seen. "Am I famous?"
"...Not quite."
-----
Laughter is the last thing Booster expects to hear as he nears the room the nice nurse had informed him held "Oh yes, our John Doe, goodness is he one of yours? A, I mean, a...Green Lantern?"
How people keep mistaking him for a Lantern he has no idea. There isn't a single pixel of green on his entire suit! Grife, people, pay attention!
Another painfully familiar laugh bounces out of the room, twisting the knife just a little bit more, and Booster hesitates with his hand on the door. Skeets hovers by his shoulder, silently judging.
Okay maybe not, but Booster's judging himself so he might be projecting a bit.
Steeling himself with a deep breath, he opens the door.
"Booster!" Ted's voice and grin greet him, arms thrown wide in welcome. "Jaime here has been jogging my memory. Would you believe it? Amnesia! Again! What are the odds?"
Booster stares at him, glancing briefly at the grinning teen sitting at the man's bedside. Skeets is already running scans, he knows. His little robot buddy is good at that practical stuff. Then he surprises himself by answering the man with a hoarse croak in his voice.
"Hi, Ted."