Nightshift 60: Main Hallway, 1-West

[toxicspiderman]

[from here]Even the main hall was deserted. S.T. switched on his flashlight and took a look around. Yeah, it was empty. No roadkill, no other patients. If he ever made it home, he was never bitching at any of the girls who didn't want to do night ops alone again. It was different when you knew there were things out there in the darkness.

Comments

[its_the_mileage]

[from here]

"I've had worse," Indy commented as he rounded the corner and stopped by Taylor and an un-costumed Peter. That made half the group here, nice and fast.

Taylor's flashlight gave them just enough light to see by, but even so, Peter seemed somehow subdued. Indy hoped he was still just recovering from the last trauma and not a victim of some fresh one. "Listen--if you're not feeling up to it..." he offered, careful to keep his voice neutral and make it clear he wasn't implying anything about the kid's toughness.

[unheroed]

[From here.]

Harvey had been right about spotting Jones a few steps ahead of him. The man was already there and situated by the time that Harvey reached the group. As it turned out, he was the fourth to get there, beating only Scott and Depth Charge.

Jones he had just been with last night and Sangamon he'd talked to earlier in the day, but Peter... well, for one thing it seemed odd that the kid was out of costume when he'd always insisted on wearing it before. Maybe he'd cast it off since it was what he'd worn that night. It didn't really matter, but they hadn't talked to each other, let alone made eye contact, since the coliseum fight.

Harvey decided not to make a thing of it. He just looked the kid up and down, taking in his haggard expression. The past few days and Jones' return obviously hadn't just magically made things better for him. He'd still felt someone die due to his own actions.

"Yeah, pretty sure we don't really need six people to pull this off," he said, piggybacking on Jones' statement.

[toxicspiderman]

"All we're doing tonight is recon, right?" They hadn't bothered with that the first three times. The whole doors locking behind them trick had made it impossible, but he was hoping Peter was too weirded out to notice. He was still in civvies, or he was expecting a convenient phone booth to materialize in the basement. For once he looked like the teenager that he was. Fidgeting and twitching and worried about his clothing more than saving the world. Or their own asses, which was all they could really count on right now.

"But if you want to bail, we'll be fine. I mean it." He put on his best sincere face. A real one, which had the downside of making him look less honest than if he'd faked it. Which he knew, and he scowled. "Look, your call. Not like we're not all going to be stranded here tomorrow, too.

[scalyfishman]

[from here]

Saying that the walk had revived him would have been lying, but slamming his frustrations down into the floor with military boots had still managed a little something for his tension. Even if his head was in a mess, he was physically ready for a fight, if he was going to be walking into one; one small scuffle and Depth Charge was ready to lash out with his crowbar. It was probably a good thing that he'd remembered his flashlight or he'd have left a small trail of unconscious patients in his wake.

By the time he reached the main hallway he could already see four other people waiting up ahead, Jones (or, more accurately, his hat) most prominently. Whatever, it wasn't as though he was late.

"Sounds like someone's being sensible," he commented, slipping in next to S.T.. "Little late for that, isn't it?"

Then he did a double-take. Standing near him were S.T., Dent, Jones, and... some kid. He frowned. "Who the slag are-" A triple-take. Same height, same build, even the same voice now that he rewound the conversation he'd

[unheroed]

Despite their best efforts, it looked like Peter was on board for the night. Harvey was pretty sure he would have been just as stubborn about it if their positions had been switched, so he couldn't blame the kid there. And despite Harvey's own wishes, Depth Charge showed up, looking ready for a fight. Well, that part was good, at least; he could take the brunt of the damage if they ran into something that wanted their blood.

Peter's question about Scott was a good one, and Harvey scoffed. "Yeah, you kind of think he'd have made his way here by now, seeing how he was the one who set this all up." That had actually been on Harvey's suggestion, but he didn't need to make that clear to the rest of them.

He knew that no one was going to want to go without him, though, which meant playing the awkward waiting game until he showed. Great.

[toxicspiderman]

S.T. flashed an honest grin at Peter. He wasn't trying to piss the kid off any more than he had to to keep him from chickening out. Peter'd regret it if he bailed, and none of them needed any more of that tarring up their intestines.

"Anyone know if they're dragging people out of their beds tonight?" Torture or brainwashing, it didn't matter. If it was back to business as usual, Scott might not be anywhere nearby. "I say we give it twenty minutes and then turn this into rescue teams." He slid a silver watch out of his jeans pocket and looked at it. The hands were stopped, as they had been when he'd found it, and it wouldn't wind. He didn't have a set of jewelers tools in the ridiculous closet full of gear he'd amassed, so stopped it would stay. Probably wasn't broken at all.

He was looking at it anyway. Then he snapped it shut, and put it away. "Unless anyone has a better idea."

[scalyfishman]

There was always one. Still, Dent had a point; Scott was the one who'd called them all together. Yeah, the guy had hardly seemed like the serious type, but it wasn't as though he'd made a habit of being late before. It seemed unlikely that he'd skip out on them without a word.

Depth Charge shifted from one foot to the other uneasily, feeling his grip tighten. S.T. might have made it sound more like an inconvenience than anything, but the possibilities that implied ground his gears. If he had been taken he was either above their heads and strapped to a chair or Primus only knew where and ready to tear their spines out. And, rescue teams or not, there was nothing they could do about either of those.

Thing was, regardless of how pointless a rescue mission would have been... "Whatever. So long as we don't just head out there without him." Stupid, really, but that was what teamwork did to you. Turned you soft.

[vsyourface]

[From here]

"Awww I knew you cared somewhere in that robot-y heart of yours."

Scott flashed an apologetic grin at Depth Charge, and then at the rest of the group. With a little wave, he added: "Sorry for the late, guys. Had to stop and give out some important advice on how to avoid Freddy Kreuger, among other things. You know how it goes." Though, Scott admitted in his own mind, he wouldn't have been opposed to Ramona going back to her room to sleep. Even if Freddy Kreuger were around, he would probably have been as safe a bet to take as travelling around the rest of the Institute.

Joining up with the rest of the circle, he looked around at everyone, marvelling a little that it really was... well, everyone. Even Peter had shown up, and without the Spider-man getup (Scott just barely stopped himself gawking in surprise). That alone gave him a little bit of hope, even has his stomach did a freaking Cirque-du-Soleil-worthy set of flips and twists at the thought of where they were all headed.

"So... Are we all set?"

[toxicspiderman]

"We're set," S.T. cut in, and held out his right hand.

The left hand held the ring, stone set between his molars. Once everyone was in on the pow-wow, he bit down.

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