Nightshift 43 - West Wing, South Hall 2-B

[theroadsofar]

[From hereThey found themselves down another hall, one that would lead to the morgue after a few doors down. Dean could've sworn he saw the door already gaping open, but when he got there, it was shut and locked. Was he seeing things? It wasn't like he wasn't dead tired on his feet, and like it or not, the lack of real sleep was starting to get to

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[unmocked_lawr]

[from here]

And here was the door. Javert took a deep breath, trying to ignore the oncoming headache as he drew nearer. Was it a consequence of failing to use his acquired powers, or was it merely another side-effect? He tried not to think about it too much.

Instead, he focused his attentions on the door; it was apparent he was the first of the team to arrive. Hefting his axe, he began to batter at the hinges and the lock with a vengeance, grimacing as each blow worsened his already irritating headache.

[waiting for the other S&R members]

[scalyfishman]

[From here. Also, he has no shoes.]

It wasn't long before soft pink tissue gave way to hard tile under his bare feet again. Depth Charge left the scene clutching at his injuries and cursing violently. His shoulder was a bleeding wreck, his feet were cold and his weapon had been broken. Just gear. How was he supposed to search and rescue if he couldn't even handle one crazy brainwashed energy-firing psychotic?

And just to add insult to injury, there was Javert, breaking down a door with his axe not fifty feet away. Depth Charge was in no mood to play nice.

"Hey, mudflap! Where the Pit were you?" he called in a voice that could put liquid nitrogen to shame, all but leaving dents in the floor as he stormed towards him. The venom wore off a little, however, the second he caught the man's expression. Uh-oh. Someone hadn't been having a peachy night either. After a hesitant moment of silence he tried again, this time dropping the accusatory edge. "You look like slag."

[unmocked_lawr]

Even with all the noise Javert was making, it was fairly easy to tell when Depth Charge had arrived. The added noise made his head ring unbearably, and he lowered his axe and turned to face the other man.

"I was exactly where I said I would be," he returned, his voice a little sharper than usual. His headache was worsening. "I could ask the same of you."

The rejoinder was more due to irritation than anything else; severe as his headache was, he hadn't missed the fresh injuries Depth Charge was sporting, and he had a very good idea what had taken the man (and, probably, the rest of Search and Rescue) so long. Still, he'd never been the sort to fuss, and he turned back to the door, which was swinging by one hinge. "Monster or Special Counseling?"

[scalyfishman]

"Special Counseling in the last hall. He turned the hallway into a fleshy pink thing." And that was exactly where he would leave it. Between the frustration that came with being so effortlessly outmatched and the injuries he wasn't in the mood for storytelling.

Nor was he in the mood for screwing around. Even Cheetor could have realised that something wasn't right here, and Javert wasn't telling him. "Alright, knock it off." Sidestepping between the man and the door before he could take another swing, more determined than truly aggressive, he fixed him with a hard look. "What happened? And don't even think about saying 'nothing'."

[unmocked_lawr]

"I didn't see anything in the last hall. I must have beaten him here." Javert raised the axe again, but found himself face-to-chest with Depth Charge before he could bring it down.

He raised an eyebrow as he lowered his arm. The fact that he couldn't even meet the other man's gaze only increased his irritation, but this time he pushed it away.

"Nothing," he said promptly, the corner of his mouth quirking upward slightly. It looked like more of a grimace. "Aftereffects of the experiment; I occasionally find myself on the receiving end of a headache if I get too close." A pause, then, considerably more amused, "An inconvenience, but nothing truly worth mentioning. Your concern is touching but unnecessary."

[scalyfishman]

A muscle under Depth Charge's eye twitched at the 'n' word but fortunately he held out long enough to hear the rest of Javert's answer. Satisfied, he moved back out of the way and let it rest.

Less easy to let go, however, was that last little remark. He snorted, folding his arms and wearing a surprising level of dignity for a man in a smiley face shirt without any shoes. "Don't give me that 'touching' slag. I just wanted to know make sure you weren't about to collapse on me." A pause. On the chance that he'd sounded a little defensive before, he tossed in a more casual ending. "You Earthlings are a Pitload easier to break, you know that?"

Unless you were Waspinator, of course. Nothing, but nothing, in the known universe was easier to break than Waspinator.

[unmocked_lawr]

"Fair enough." The amusement hadn't left Javert's voice, but he turned his attention back to the door. It fell with a clatter, and he paused for a moment, listening for any sounds that weren't merely echoes crashing round his skull.

"I should think I would have enough of a sense of self-preservation to stay inside if I truly needed to," he added, though not without a touch of irony in his words. They weren't true in the least, and he knew it. "But I'm quite all right."

The experimental treatments hallway lay in front of them; picking up his flashlight again, he nodded at Depth Charge and stepped into the dark.

[scalyfishman]

Depth Charge raised an eyebrow at that, watching the door it the floor with a satisfying crash. It probably wasn't doing any wonders for Javert's headache, but he was still supposed to be too annoyed at him to care. Nonetheless, no matter how annoyed he was 'supposed' to be he managed to conjure a ghost of a smile. “I get the feeling you're not taking me very seriously. And you’re a terrible liar to boot. But thanks for trying.”

This was, he realised, the first time he'd visited this particular part of the Institute. Given the implications of being there he'd been hoping it was going to stay that way but he wasn't about to complain now. Swinging the crow bar up over his uninjured shoulder, he followed Javert into the blackness ahead.

[scalyfishman]

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