ArchivedLogs:Get Better

Get Better
Dramatis Personae Jackson, Iolaus, Micah, Shane, Sebastian, Peter, Spencer
In Absentia	27 July 2013 Everyone comes to see wakeful-Jax! Aaaand, the outside world is full of terribleness. (Takes place shortly after Jax wakes up.)
Location <XS> Medical Lab – B1
Gleaming and sterile, the school's medical facility is all cool science in contrast to the mansion's old-world old-fashion. All stainless steel and antiseptic tinge, the room is filled with the quiet whir-click of the various implements that comprise its medical equipment -- all state-of the art. The hospital beds are curtained off for privacy when they have patients, and in one of the alcoves there is a small operating theatre visible. More heavy-duty equipment is visible in the lab in the back, where the securely locked cabinets keep sensitive equipment out of the reach of teenage fingers. Here is a bed! Tucked away into the back of the medbay, privacy curtain /mostly/ drawn. Jackson is in it. He might even be awake; it's hard to tell, he has acquired a pair of dark glasses that hide his eye. But there's a glass of water on his bedstand that is even mostly drunk so presumably at /some/ point he has finally emerged from his days of sleeping. Sans any illusion, he looks kind of washed-out; pale save for the dark shadowing of three days' worth of stubble on his face (and on his shaved head!), plethora of pitted scars etched up the entire left side of his arm and face and body. A very stark lack of glitter. Stepping out of the back rooms of the lab, Iolaus is dressed in a pair of grey slacks and a dress shirt, mostly covered up by the lab coat draped across his shoulders. His hair is mussed, and a five-o'clock shadow is stubbly on his cheeks. He walks towards the privacy curtain behind which Jax is hiding, studying a print-out carefully. A little too carefully, perhaps, as he nearly bumps into a cart on his way - only a last minute draw up short with a soft squeak of rubber soled shoes on the floor keeps him from stepping right into it. The cart gets a glare and a gentle push back out of the way, and he scratches briefly at the edge of the privacy curtain. "Hello, Jax. Are you awake?" Micah returns from his 'ohgosh, find the vegan food in an unfamiliar collective foodplace' run with a tray! It has been filled...quite full with odds and ends of foodthings. Since Jax's response to what he needed at this time was 'food'. Which is terribly specific. He has two small, lidded cups containing orange and apple juices. A mug of tea. A plate with hummus, flat bread, some raw vegetables. Another plate with fruit and nuts. A small, covered bowl of vegetable soup with a biscuit sitting on its lid. A dark chocolate candy bar, still in its wrapper. And a pile of napkins and utensils. “I didn't know which things, so I kind of got /all the things/,” Micah announces as he reaches the bedside table, where he deposits the tray. “Hopefully some of them will be good?” He shakes his hands a little after they are free of the tray, a bit sore for the carrying effort given the still-red, slightly blistered tale of burns on his palms and fingers. His split lip looks mostly healed, and the scrapes and bruises visible on his forearms below the sleeves of his Reading Rainbow-dash T-shirt are on their way, as well. “Hi, Doc,” he greets with a smile when the other man enters the area. Jackson gets very little -- read: none at all! -- warning before he has sudden NEW VISITORS. That is because even though the twins are taking the /stairs/, Spencer, upon hearing that Jax was awake, is taking the QUICK route in. Very abruptly there is a tinychild! Where there was no tinychild before. "/Pa/ I found a /dragonfly/," he is informing Jackson eagerly, first thing. He repeats this news to Iolaus, together with wide-outflung hands: "-- She's like /this big/ Shane says we can /ride/ her." Whooooosh. That is, a short moment later, the doors to the medbay sliding open. "-- /Sorry/ uh he took off before I -- I didn't let him ride Sugar!" Shane is protesting as he rushes in. "-- yet." Sebastian trails behind him, still dressed in wispy white-yellow-green pixieskirt and yellow butterfly-embroidered top. "/I/ want to ride Sugar." He hangs back slightly, peeking through the curtain with wide eyes. "Who doesn't." Shane doesn't hang back. He slips in past Iolaus and Micah both to hasten to Jax's bedside. "You're not dead." This sounds approving. IMMEDIATELY AFTER the med-lab is +1 sharktwin and +1 Spencer, it is also +1 SPIDER. Because here comes Peter, /darting/ in like a line-backer before the med-lab doors close -- clad in his black hoodie and blue jeans and thwippy things. "IshealiveIheardhe's--" Pause, /popping/ up behind Shane, suddenly just using him as a sort of /wedge/ to help slip in himself. "--/yes/. You're alive." He says this as if he's just won a /raffle/. "Oh -- woah." Jackson's voice is still a little scratchy-rough. "-- No," he answers Iolaus with a small furrow of his brow, "I'm sleeping -- /hey/, honey-honey." His arm lifts -- nudging his IV line out of the way so that he can curl an arm around the boy. "Aw, Sugar's a sweetheart, but I don't think you should be riding no flyin' things without me there with you, 'kay?" His head turns as the others arrive, a small tired smile curling onto his face. "Oh -- oh, thank you, wow. That's -- food thanks." Perhaps predictably, he reaches first for the plate of fruit. "-- I'm alive." This is quieter -- a little /shakier/, though his smile warms when the teenagers flock in. "So are you." The rapid arrival of Spencer is enough to make Iolaus jump, midway to his hand raising in a little wave and warm smile to Micah. His eyes dance over the rapid arrival of TEENAGER, and he gently folds the piece of paper in his hand in half, down the center. "You most certainly are," the doctor says, stepping in past the circle of screen and into the little room that it creates. "And on your way to recovery, according to your most recent blood tests. We'll be able to take you off of the glucose IV soon enough, but I want to give you a little bit more sugar before we do that." he says, reaching out with a hand and gently squeezing Jax's shoulder. Iolaus turns his smile onto the teenagers. "Sebastian," he greets first, then nods to the other two. "Shane. Peter." A pause, and his smile widens. "I have an interesting problem for you later, Sebastian. Remind me." He taps the side of his forehead with one finger and he chuckles, for no apparent reason at all. “Whoa, there is a sudden /everyone/. Hi!” Micah's eyes go wide as the room is suddenly flooded with people. He sinks into the chair he has claimed as his stakeout spot for the past few days, just to allow more standing space for everyone else. Hazel eyes track the plate as Jax claims it, keeping watch to make sure he is actually consuming food. Iolaus's report earns a broad, bright smile. “That all sounds like good news. Don't know if y'can ever get /quite/ enough sugar into this one, though,” he jokes lightly as he settles more comfortably against the back of the chair. "You can get enough into him! You just have to --" Shane gestures towards Jax's bed. Which he very soon after /falls/ upon, leaning up against it so that he can curl his arms around Jax and /squeeze/. "-- shoot it in through his /veins/," Sebastian continues. "Um -- how are you. Doing, are you doing -- okay?" He glances towards Iolaus with a raise of his eyebrows. "OK, sir," he answers, "but I've already told you I don't have any way to fit /more/ than twenty-four hours of work into your days." "Is your eye hurting?" Shane eyes the sunglasses suspiciously, once he straightens. He curls his arm around Peter, instead. Spencer does not do any withdrawing. He climbs up into bed with Jax, happily curling against his side. "/Will/ you take me for a ride on Sugar?" Peter curls an arm right back against Shane. But he's also reaching with his other hand toward Jax's arm, as if intent on GRASPING it, just to make sure. There is, in fact, a pulse. He's grinning, though, even as he does: "--nobody's--" Peter suddenly stops here, kind-of-getting quiet; his grin melts into something more tight-lipped. "--we're alive," he says, firmly. "Anole's okay too. He saved Sebastian. We--why the /heck/ were they trying to--" A hesitant glance toward Spencer, then back to Jax, a little more quiet: "--do that? To you?" "-- my eye's -- kind of I don't know I just can't -- really see very --" Jackson shrugs a shoulder, ducking his head slightly to hide his expression briefly against Spencer's hair. "-- When I'm outta here," he tells Spencer, "we can see if Sugar's alright with having you ride her. But if she ain't we can still go on the horses, 'kay?" He does eat food, once he has disengaged /one/ arm from CHILDREN, picking at the fruit first. "-- I don't know," he finally answers Peter, more soberly. "I mean, I can guess why they was down there. All the /lights/ they brung with them -- that wasn't for /me/, I think that was an /accident/. But lights -- it musta been Nox they was looking for. I don't -- know why they decided to shoot /us/, though. Did you all -- were you all alright? Down there?" "Oh, it's not that. Tony is working on that, I'm sure, for himself as well as for me." Iolaus says absent-mindedly, bending down to glance at Jackson's eye for a moment, a quick duck of his head down in front of Jax's face. "It's quite something else, I promise. None of that same-old." A pause, and the doctor straightens up a moment later and shrugs his shoulders. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, right now. You're still recovering, and your body has had a rough couple of days. It will take some time to get back on its feet." A pause, and he gives Micah a smile. "Food will certainly help." Iolaus' smile fades slightly as the other man begins to describe the events that had landed Jax in his care, and he crosses his arms over his chest, taking a step back away from the bed to let the others crowd in closer. His eyes flick between the adults and the teenagers, and one hand slips the folded paper into a jacket pocket. “Mmn, so what you're tellin' me is I been doin' it wrong,” Micah replies to the twins with a quiet chuckle. “Ah-well. The IV might be more efficient, but /prob'ly/ not as nice t'deal with.” The chuckling continues at Spencer's antics, coupled with a shake of his head. “Those folks didn't exactly sit an' have tea an' gossip time with us,” he adds in answer to Peter's question. “Prob'ly we're gonna have t'do a little information gatherin' t'figure out what was goin' on, exactly.” He looks distant for a moment as he runs through his mental checklist of all the phone calls and conversations he has to catch up on after playing medlab hermit for days. "We could get an IV. For at home," Sebastian says very solemnly. "-- did. You go blind?" He is stepping forward towards Jax now, too, with abrupt alarm. Waving a hand slowly in front of Jax's face. "-- They were looking for Nox," Shane agrees, slowly. He looks between Jax and Micah, shifting uncomfortably. "They found her." Sebastian lets his hand drops to rest on Jax's arm. "-- But I still don't know what they wanted with /you/." "We can find out." Peter's arm retracts from Jax, making room for Sebastian; his other arm curls more /tightly/ around Shane's waist. "Shane -- they sent. Those murderdrones. Oscorp bots. Osbots," Peter finishes. "Shane managed to break one. Brought it with him. There were soldiers, but I don't think they were trying to kill us. They were trying to /subdue/ us. Like, just capture us? They--" Peter frowns, then; he shifts a bit closer to Shane. "--one of them opened fire, like with real bullets, but I think it was because I blinded him and he just kind of. Freaked. They had /vinegar/ grenades, too. Which means they -- know about the thwippy things. They had lights for Nox and vinegar grenades for thwippy grenades /and/ they tried to kill you specifically." "Food is good," Jackson agrees quietly, still working his way slowly through the plate of fruit and nuts. "-- Do you think we should've given them tea?" His brow furrows, thoughtfully. "I don't think they -- wait. They found her?" He frowns at the twins. Then at Peter. "They shot you? Vinegar -- were they hunting /all/ of us?" This sounds more confused than alarmed. Protectively, his arm tightens around Spencer. "Somehow, if they were shooting at you, I doubt they would have stopped for tea." Iolaus says, softly. His lips thin and he shakes his head, once. "Don't let them wear you out too much, Jax. You need your rest." He looks around at the gathered crowd, smile weak on his face, but still present. "That goes double for you." A beat. "I'll be back in the lab finishing up some bloodwork. If you need anything, just give a shout." “Prob'ly they were lookin' for Nox specific, because...she kind of got notorious with the whole police...thing. Might could be the whole reason they were there,” Micah speculates. He moves right on past the whole Nox being 'found' commentary for now. That's a part of all those future conversations on his schedule. “Could be a number of reasons for the vinegar, though, hon. The Oscorp drones are shootin' the glue stuff now. Might need it t'clear up any accidents. Or, if a technopath or someone gets control of a drone, they're gonna want countermeasures. Don't mean they were specifically expectin' /you/,” Micah reassures Peter...or himself. Maybe both. “It would be strange for them t'expect you in the sewers, anyhow. Ain't like you're down there /all/ the time the way Nox is.” He sighs heavily, trying to decide how much to say. “I don't think anybody was expectin' Jax /there/, either, the way they reacted. But they sure knew him...though he's kinda on the famous side, too? They kinda had an 'ohgosh' freakout moment. But he's got a code name. An' standin' orders t'be 'taken out'.” Jax's tea question gets a headshake in reply. “Honestly, those folks? I think they would've /shot/ the teacups. They were very...shooty. Twitchy-shooty.” He offers Io a wave as he heads off. “I'll make sure they don't overdo it,” he promises. “Thanks for all your help.” "Why would someone have standing orders to kill /Pa/." Shane frowns at this /crankily/. "/Uh/ you really can't think of anyone?" Bastian raises his brows at his brother. "... well. OK. But I mean if these people were looking for /Nox/ they probably weren't /from/ --" Shane fidgets, and shakes his head. "Found her --" Sebastian agrees again, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Shane shoots him a look, for a moment, but then nods, sagging further against Peter's side. "-- It's all over the news," he says, softer. "They went down and --" He glances to Micah, too, a worried frown on his face before he finishes, "-- killed her." "We brought Anole back here because --" Sebastian trails off, eyes flicking between the others. Spencer has been wriggling in to settle better against Jax's side, but now he sits up again. "Was she his mom?" Sebastian shrugs a shoulder. "-- Kind of, yeah." "--yeah I guess," Peter agrees with Micah concerning the thwippy things on the Osbots, "I mean that makes sense, it's just -- they pulled them as soon as -- we started thwipping them. Like they were -- /expecting/ it. But..." This thought soon fades in the face of what the twins are saying. Peter gives Shane a sharp /squeeze/ when the sharkboy sags; his head leans down to butt against the side of his head, nuzzling. And then: "Codename?" Peter asks, suddenly. "It's just -- and the ones we saw, their uniforms, they weren't police they were -- I dunno. They basically /herded/ us I think we would have been in a lot more trouble if there hadn't been -- so many of us." Jax stills, at this news. He stops eating, just staring for a long moment at his plate. His arm untucks from around Spencer and, silently, he reaches a hand out towards Micah's chair, to rest fingers lightly against the back of the other man's hand. “Oh,” falls in a single, empty syllable from Micah's lips at Shane's revelation. “Ain't been...lookin' at much news.” He almost bites at his lower lip before being reminded yet /again/ that it's a bad plan. His shoulders tense, he swallows a little hard, and he moves on to the next point of discussion. “No, they weren't police. But definitely trained an' pretty well prepared. Somethin' paramilitary. They knew what they were there for.” He looks down at Jax's hand when it settles on his, blankly, as if studying it out of context. "Sorry," Sebastian says, very quietly. "We just --" "-- better than hearing it on the news." This doesn't stop Shane's tense fidgeting. His arm tightens against Peter's waist. "Should we -- do you want --" "-- The drone might have footage." For a moment Bastian looks pensive. "If I --" He shakes his head with a slight flush. "Sorry," he says again. "Micah --" Shane has an edge of worry to his tone. He examines Micah's face, then looks back to the boy tucked into bed alongside Jackson. "Even if. They weren't specifically after us. That's -- kind of terrifying." "--oh. /Oh/, you didn't..." Peter's voice trails off; eyes widen. Fingers dig into Shane's side. "--know. Oh, oh I'm sorry I didn't -- we should. Try to see if the drone has footage, yeah," Peter agrees, a little restlessly. "--or anything else. In it. But," he says, now much more /forcefully/, "they tried to kill you, and they failed." Then: "We should. Let you rest." "No, we didn't --" Jackson falls quiet again, his hand still resting over Micah's. "-- Rest. Is good," he agrees softly. "But guys -- you need to." Another silence. Jackson swallows, hard. "-- They told me. That they'd find -- kill. My -- " His head tips down, cheek resting against the top of Spencer's head. "You all need to look out for each other, OK? I think these people -- they might just be -- coming. For all of us." "No. Don't. People have t'hear things somehow, don't they?" Micah muses idly at the series of apologies, not looking up from Jax's hand covering his own. "Recordings might be helpful. T'know as much about what happened as possible. Perhaps t'research who these people are an' who's controllin' them. Forewarned, forearmed, all that. Evidence...if it's ever safe to use it as such." His mouth twitches slightly at Shane's comments. "Yes, they're very much terrifyin'. An' they are after us. I already...talked to 'Bastian about..." He just nods, agreeing with Jax's advice, finally moving his eyes to...regard Jax's abandoned plate. "You gotta eat, hon. At least a little bit more." Sebastian slinks forward to lean over the bed and press a kiss to Jax's forehead. "-- C'mon. Pa's gonna get some more rest." He offers a hand to help Spencer down. The look he gives Micah is equal parts concerned and guilty. "-- I'll see what we can do with the bot." "We always look after each other." Shane detaches himself from Peter's side to deliver kisses, too. Jax, then Micah, both lightly on the cheek. "We'll be back. After you rest, okay?" He can't keep the fretting out of his tone as he returns to Peter's side. Sebastian keeps hold of Spencer's hand, leading him away from the bed. "-- love you." This might be to Jax or Micah both; he seems to be looking more at the latter. Peter hesitates, squirming a little bit as the sharktwins move in to apply kisses; he mumbles something under his breath at the mention of looking out for each other -- and then. He /darts/ forward. To give Jax a hug, followed by a kiss on the cheek, and then, Micah. HUGHUGohGod. Before retracting with a flush. And: "--we will," Peter tells Jax. "Please, just. Get better."