The Hub Ch. 07

Flit got herself and her mother to the door of Ward C in record time. As soon as they arrived Flit let go of Tinker and pushed the door open, the bright lights from within the sterile smelling room dazzling her for a moment and she reflexively closed her eyes. When she opened them again she saw Scraps and Hawkeye passed out on adjacent beds, both looking worse for wear. Between them stood Hack, one of the more talented microkinetic healers. Flit's next teleport set her down between the two beds and directly beside the wizened derivate.

"What happened?" Flit asked, her voice coming out as a choked half sob. She reached out and cupped Scraps's cheek, looking at him for any sign of how bad he was. His chest was rising and falling steadily, and his skin was warm against her own.

"They turned up at the gate to the residence. Scraps was carrying Hawkeye. As soon as he saw Patch he just collapsed. Judging by Hawkeye's injury we think that a tunnel has collapsed, but we need to wait for them to wake before we can confirm this," Hack replied somewhat distractedly, his fingers tapping away at the screen of the data pad he was holding.

"Hakweye's injuries?" Flit's body went rigid as she moved her hand off Scraps's warm cheek and turned to her oldest friend. Now that she looked at him, really looked, she had no doubt that he was much worse off than Scraps. His skin had paled significantly and taken on a sickly green tint, and even though he was unconscious his eyes were tightly scrunched as if he was still in terrible pain.

"His legs were crushed from the upper thighs all the way down. Almost completely shattered." Hack explained, looking up from his data pad and watching her carefully. Flit stepped past him and put a hand on Hawkeye's still shaking shoulder. She moved her hand to the sheet that was pulled up to his chest, but Hack stopped her.

"Not a good idea," He said softly "It's a mess down there. Not something you need to see."

"Will he be alright?" Flit asked, looking at Hack over her shoulder, and trying to shake herself out of the consuming shock she felt.

"He will live, but the real question is if he'll walk again. His injuries will take a long time to heal, and even longer for him to get back to the way he was... If he can."

A tear rolled down Flit's cheek as she pictured the Hawkeye she knew in her mind and compared him to this unconscious creature on the bed. He looked so sullen, so lifeless, as he just lay there. More like a shadow of himself rather than the actual Hawkeye.

"And Scraps?" Flit asked, her hand reluctantly sliding from Hawkeye's shoulder as she turned around and looked at her Lover.

"He'll be fine in no time," Hack said with reassuring confidence. Flit couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. "He has some scratching and bruising, but nothing major. What knocked him out was that he over exerted himself- whatever happened to them down there, coupled with the fact he carried Hawk back, really took it out of him. He is probably lucky that his abilities didn't backfire on him."

Flit nodded as she reached down and took Scraps's limp hand in her own. She looked back and saw her mother smile at her sadly as she gently pushed a stool against her. Flit fell into it gratefully and rested her head on Scraps's bed, her eyes schooled on him for the first hint of any change in his condition. As she did she was vaguely aware of the low buzz of a hushed conversation behind her as her mother took stock of Hawkeye's injuries. Flit knew that she should pay attention, but the shock of seeing two of the three men she loved the most on hospital beds had taken its toll. So, instead, she continued to memorise the handsome features of Scraps's face and tried not to think about what the injuries would mean for Hawkeye.

~*~

Images and voices flashed in Scraps's mind. His body felt like a dead weight; unmoving, unresponsive and alarmingly uncomfortable. Slowly awareness crept back into him, the first thought that hit him was the intense pain he felt all over. It felt like a million needles were pricking at his skin whilst a large iron hammer pummelled his head relentlessly. The pain from his physical injuries paled in comparison but their dull thud against his skin was still uncomfortably present. He knew that the majority of his pain was due to the over exertion of his abilities; it was the downside of being a Derivate. Without the training he received from his Underground companions he would not have survived the ordeal.

He opened his eyes gingerly and the light of the room blared painfully in. He turned his head slightly to see Flit sitting next to him.

"Flit? Where am I? Where is Hawkeye?" His voice croaked with strain, but he was beyond pleased to see Flit at his side. "You're fine!" Flit's head lifted off the mattress and her eyes were wide with surprise. A moment later her emotions settled and Scraps could see relief in her pretty brown orbs. "You're in one of the wards in the Residence and Hawkeye is just over there," She pointed to the unconscious Hawkeye who was in a bed parallel to his own. The sound of Flit's voice sent a tidal wave of relief washing over him. Hawkeye had spent the last part of their journey unconscious. Scraps wasn't a doctor and had no idea what his friend's condition was. He sat up slightly and leaned forward, the pain cause him to groan loudly but he needed to see for himself.

The bright illumination of the hospital ward revealed how bad his injuries truly were. His exposed upper body were covered in bandages and his skin was sickly pale, only the rise and fall of his chest presented signs of life.

"Flit, I'm so sorry I tried to get him out as fast as I could but...How is he?" Hawkeye did not look good and Scraps was grievously concerned.

"He'll live. His legs were crushed, but Mum and Hack think that, in time, he'll be able to walk again," Flit's voice was filled with a strange high-pitched confidence that Scraps had never heard from her before. The overly large smile of reassurance on her face was also worrying. He knew that she was covering something up.

"Relax, lay back down," She cooed as she reached out and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "What happened down there?"

Scraps still wasn't sure about Hawkeye's condition, but he knew that if his survival was unlikely Flit would be an emotional wreck. He was reassured by the fact that she had managed to put on a smile, even if it was fake, and decided to answer her question without challenging her.

"A leaky gas pipe exploded and took out most of the tunnel we were in. Hawkeye pushed me out of the way. He pretty much saved my life. I couldn't leave him down there Flit, so I went in after him. We barely managed to get out of there," Scraps explained, his face settling into a deep frown as he spoke.

~*~

Flit listened and then nodded slowly as Scraps spoke. Burst gas pipes weren't uncommon in the tunnels; apart from the mutated creatures the pipes were one of the most dangerous things in the sewer network. She squeezed Scraps's shoulder as he spoke, and couldn't help but smile when he mentioned his desire to save Hawkeye.

"You did well, Scraps," Flit insisted, leaning forward and kissing him on the lips gingerly. "It looks like you were lucky to get out of there alive. Thank you for bringing Hawk back, and thank you for coming back to me safely."

Her next kiss lingered a little longer than the first, just to reassure her that he was real and that he was all right. When she pulled away the expression on Scraps' face had lightened and he sighed, leaning back against the headboard.

"So how was your day then?" He asked, clearly wanting to change the topic.

"Let's see." Flit said slowly, looking around. On the wall between the beds she spotted a hand-held computer sitting neatly in its charge pod. She grabbed it and typed in her ID number and password and then brought up a search screen. The News page was easy to find, and so was the article in the "Breaking News" section.

"As you can see," Flit begun with a grin "I'm officially dead."

She handed Scraps the computer so that he could read the article for himself.

High Speed Speeder Crash Kills Young Woman

A young woman identified as Leah Cross was killed when her Speeder crashed into the side of a hill half an hour outside of The Hub city limits. Authorities have searched through the wreckage and have ruled out foul play. Ms. Cross is survived by her two parents; Jack and Tina Cross. There will be an investigation into the cause of the crash but Detective Reacher of the Skyway Traffic Authority claims that it was probably due to driver fatigue or neglect.

Flit watched Scraps' expression as he read the article and then took in the picture of the grisly wreckage that accompanied it. He looked up at her and then back at the picture a few times and then shook his head.

"Wow I'm glad you got out of that alright. So Leah Cross, ah? I prefer Flit," He commented with a bright smile. Flit couldn't help but grin back at him. "How does it feel to be dead?" "Dead?" Flit scoffed "I've never felt more alive in my life," She reached out and caught Scraps' hand. "And yes. I am -- or was - Leah Cross. Not any more though. Thankfully. I hate my name."

"Well I am certainly glad you are alive," Scraps said with a cheeky grin. Patch walked over to them and placed his hand on Scraps' head.

"Well, looks like you're doing fine. You'll still need a bit of rest though. My advice to you right now is to avoid using your abilities for at least another twenty four hours," Patch explained, before turning to Flit.

"I know you want to be with these guys but you need some rest yourself."

Flit opened her mouth to argue but Patch put a hand up to stall her.

"Don't worry, well take good care of them both."

Flit wanted to argue, she truly did, but right then an unexpected yawn was desperately trying to surface and she knew it would be no use.

"Fine," She sighed, knowing that Patch was right, despite the fact that she didn't want to leave. Flit got to her feet and stretched her body slowly. She turned around and walked over to Hawkeye's bed, giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead, before turning to Scraps.

"Get some sleep, okay? You did well today," She told him. She leant over and gave him a much more intimate kiss than she she had given Hawkeye. "I love you."

Flit reluctantly made her way out of the ward, but as soon as she fell into her bed her entire body felt drained. She wasn't surprised. It had been one hell of a day. After a few moments her eyelids fluttered closed and she fell off into a dreamless sleep.

~*~

At Flit's departure Scraps felt the effects of exhaustion start to overwhelm him. Patch dimmed the lights and gave him some pain killers. Scraps feel into a deep slumber.

The next morning he was awoken by Tinker's investigative touch. She nodded in approval to her own assessment and made note of it on a small data pad in her hands.

"It seems you are doing very well Scraps, are you in any pain?" she asked. He assessed his condition by flexing his various muscle groups. The pain that consumed his body previously had reduced into only a small strain and the hammering on his head was now only a dull thud.

"Not bad, I think the worst is over," he responded confidently. "How's Hawkeye doing?"

"I was just about to have a look." She shifted over to Hawkeye's bed and placed her hands on his head, neck and chest. She let out a sigh of resignation.

"He's much better from when you brought him in. We managed to halt a lot of the internal bleeding and have started to reset some of his broken bones, but his body is going to have to heal a significant amount on its own," she explained grimly. Scraps nodded in response.

"Don't worry Scraps, you did very well bringing the both of you as far as you did. I heard that you and Hawkeye shared a disagreement recently involving my daughter. To be honest I wasn't particularly keen on the whole arrangement either, but it means a lot to all of us that you saved him. Thank you."

"You're right, Hawkeye and I haven't exactly been best friends of late. But even though Flit is the main reason for our conflict she is also the reason we both made it home. I know how much Hawk means to flit and I knew how much it would mean to lose him," Scraps explained.

"I'm glad. You keep resting, Hack will be over shortly with some breakfast," Tinker informed him and left him to rest. Scraps allowed his body to rest but his mind still raced, the events of the previous day were still fresh in his mind.

A few minutes later Hack arrived with breakfast, it was at this moment that Hawkeye gained consciousness, Hack moved over to him to check his condition. A soon as his eyes were fully open, Hawkeye tried to sit up, but Hack held him down to stop him from injuring himself.

"Hey buddy, welcome back to the land of the living. Don't try to move okay? I'm going to get some more Zydrole." Hack explained to Hawkeye gently. Zydrole was the commonly used pain killer of their time. Hawkeye opened his eyes and turned his head to the side to see Scraps lying on the adjacent bed.

"Hey Scraps man, you're okay. Last thing I remember is you busting through that wall. Sorry I couldn't do more. Are you okay?" he spoke weakly.

"Without your help we wouldn't have even made it that far. Hey I wanted to thank you for saving me when the pipe exploded. I have a feeling it would have been a lot worse for me than you," Scraps started.

"We wouldn't be good friends if we didn't help one another out, yeah? I think you've got a few screws lose up there by staying to save me though, but I am glad you did," Hawkeye responded as he looked around the room slowly, as if still slightly confused. Scraps smiled in response. Hack returned with the Zydrole and proceeded to administer Hawkeye the drug.

"Well Hawkeye the good news is that you're going to live. The bad news is that your legs took a lot of damage from landing in the pit and the fallen rubble on your legs. It might be some time before you can walk again and you may never fully regain use of your legs," Hack explained grimly, not bothering to beat around the bush.

"Well... If it weren't for Scraps I wouldn't be here at all," Hawkeye commented, seemingly unaffected by the grave news.

"Alright, there's enough breakfast here for the two of you. Scraps do you mind feeding Hawkeye, I've got a few other things I need to do." Hack asked. Even though his arms were working fine, Scraps assumed that Hack wanted to avoid Hawkeye doing anything that would use up what little energy he had.

"Sure. No problem." Scraps proceeded to organise the cutlery. They ate breakfast while Hawkeye told him about more practical jokes he played on the others in the Underground, it was good to see him in such high spirits even when he was probably going through so much pain. They finished breakfast and continued conversing about various different topics all through the morning.

~*~

Flit woke the next morning, for one of the very few times in her life, to the sound of an alarm. Usually the first thing that her conscious mind heard was her mother screeching at her to wake up. She didn't know what was more frustrating; the nagging yell or the high pitched wailing of her alarm. She felt a sudden pang of nostalgia and then brushed it away quickly. It was her first day of not being Leah Cross, of just being Flit, and she wanted to enjoy it.

Flit was showered and dressed in fifteen minutes. The trek to the Mess was short and she found that there were very few people there for breakfast. Perhaps she was too early. Either ways she ate quickly before she made her way through the hornet's nest of tunnels that belonged to Intelligence.

When Flit entered the meeting room she noticed Shadow first, quickly followed by the two people who were seated at the table with him.

"Newton? Sway?" It had been such a long time since she had seen the two of them; and they both looked significantly different to how she remembered them. It wasn't just their age; their features had changed as well.

"Surely it hasn't been that long!" Sway said with a warm smile.

"You look different," Flit mused, trying to shake the disorientation.

"You will too, soon enough," Shadow said smoothly and Flit looked at him.

Of course. It made sense. With her photo splashed on the news net there would be no choice but to alter her appearance for her return to the surface. The idea caused a cold shiver to run down her spine.

"Sit down Flit, we have a lot to discuss," Shadow urged, pulling out a chair for her and gesturing to it.

"Aren't we waiting for Hawkeye?" Newton asked, peering over Flit's shoulder at the door as she sat down.

"Hawkeye has been involved in an accident. Part of tunnel fifty eight caved in due to an explosion caused by a gas leak. Hawkeye's legs were crushed by the debris and he won't be healed in time for the mission. If he heals at all," Shadow explained calmly, watching the two operatives carefully for their reactions.

The looks of dismay on Netwon and Sway's faces matched the way that Flit felt inside.

"Who's going with Flit then?" Newton asked, his voice was slightly strained and he put an arm around Sway's shoulder.

"Not you, so don't worry," Shadow replied. His normally smooth voice had a hint of exasperation in it and Flit wondered what it meant as she looked between the two men. "Either way, you both had a lot to organise with Flit. Intensive training starts tomorrow, so I expect you three to sort out a schedule that suits you all. Let me worry about who will be going on the mission with her."

The rest of the meeting went by in a blur of planning. Even though Flit tried to give Sway, Newton and Shadow all of her attention, she found her mind wandering to the ward, wondering how Scraps and Hawkeye were holding up. She also wondered what would be happening now that Hawkeye would no longer be her partner. When the meeting concluded Flit had a very detailed outline of the training sessions for the next three and a half weeks as well as the individual study she would be required to do. If even the smallest part of her dared hope that she would be given some time to herself over the next few weeks she was gravely mistaken.

Sway and Newton packed up their things and Flit got to her feet to leave. Shadow called her name and she stopped in her tracks.

"Flit, this afternoon you need to go and see Tinker about getting some new DNA microtags into your system. If we do it gradually over the next few weeks it should be an easier transition for your body to handle. If you report to the medical bay in an hour and a half the MTs will be ready for you."

"Will do," Flit confirmed as Sway and Newton got to their feet. They smiled at her before they left the room. "Hey, Shadow..." Flit begun slowly, steeling hersel.

"Yes?"

"About my new partner... Can't I go up with Scraps?" Her voice came out in a quiet squeak and she watched Shadow's emotionless face as he contemplated her words.

"I'm not sure we can get him trained in time. And will he be able to take the radiation blocker?" Shadow asked.

Damn, Flit thought, the radiation blocker!

"He is trained for missions of all sorts. The only reason he was trained down here was to get used to our way of things. He was Registered, remember? He knows all the protocols for these types of things." Flit said with more confidence than she felt. Well, at least she thought he did. "Can't we get a DNA run up to see if the drug will work on him?"

Shadow was silent for a few moments before he nodded slowly.

"I'll have a talk to the others Flit. I'm not sure who your partner will be yet, but if he is suitable Scraps will be considered."

Flit thanked Shadow and almost skipped from the room. Consideration was even more than she had dared hoped for. She had expected Shadow to shoot her down as soon as she mentioned it, so that caged acknowledgement was an extra bonus.