Darkness Brings Terrible Things

[Aiden]

Even though he was physically and mentally drained, an nearly every part of his body hurt, he couldn't help but feel his sense of humor bubble up when Yuki came to his side to assist him in moving out of the factory. "What is this, Christmas? I have to be dying for you to be nice?" he joked, a faint smile on his face. Of course now it was likely that Yuki would just drop him and let him find his own way out, but for some reason he didn't think that would happen. She looked....worried. Drained. Heavy. Something was on her mind.

She called Lori, probably the only person outside of the other factions that was the closest and wouldn't ask too many questions. He knew that he'd be getting a verbal scolding from Lori about what happened too, because as much as he wished it hadn't happened, he knew that Lori was more attached to him than she should have been in his situation. She didn't even know about his demon blood, nor did he want her to know. She was the closest mark to a real, normal life that he had, and he would give anything not to lose that.

He sat on the bench, his body thanking him for not forcing it to remain upright, and he looked at Yuki, who joined him. As soon as she sat, his heart sank and his eyes glazed over. Teagan was in the hospital. Hadn't he just been in that scenario? Only this time the blame could be pinned on him, for making them fight the demons instead of fleeing from them. But in his dream...More chills washed over his body, even though the words he was hanging on to that came from Yuki said otherwise.

He remained silent for a moment before looking at Yuki seriously. "Call Lori back, and tell her to bring me a change of clothes, with a long sleeved shirt and a beanie," he instructed, and then he added, "and that's coming from your faction leader, regardless of my condition." He knew that she would protest, she would insist that he find someplace to stay and rest. "Yuki, I mean it. The hospital is half an hour from here. I'll be fine by the time we get there...at least as fine as I can be tonight."

After that, he let his body relax. The sweeping motion of calmness washed over his body and he embraced it. There was nothing more that he wanted to do than go lay down and sleep it off. He could do without the throbbing in his head and arm, the soreness from being slammed against the wall, the blood missing from his system, everything.

His eyes slipped closed, and he lost track of time--not that he was really keeping it--so he wasn't sure exactly how long they'd been there before he heard a car pull up. The blue Nissan came to a stop, and mentally he counted down in his head. Here it comes. Three. Two. One. Aaaaand, cue.

He heard the car door open, and perfectly in sync with his timer, Lori's voice. "Aiden! What the hell is the matter with you?!" Her voice rang out across the empty area and jarred his head, and he sat forward. "The bar is a mess, I've been cleaning it since the bodies were taken away by the police. We're going to be closed for weeks, and...look at you! Yuki, why didn't you call me sooner?" She glared at the girl, advancing. And then, once she was within striking range of Aiden, she flew to him with the first aid kit.

After his arm was bandaged up, she passed the box off to Yuki. "You know a lot about this stuff, right?" Lori asked quietly. "Make sure he's good, and then you are going to lay down in the back seat while I drive you to my house," she said firmly.

"Actually Lori, I need you to take me to the hospital."

"Finally, the boy speaks logic. I could've taken you sooner if you had--"

"It's not for me, it's for Teagan. I need to make sure she's alright."

The sincerity in Aiden's voice cut off Lori's protest, knowing that she would lose. With a grumble, she helped Aiden to the car when Yuki deemed him well enough, and threw a water bottle at him. In the back seat, he awkwardly attempted to change his clothes, leaving the dirty, bloody, torn, grimy ones in a plastic bag. Normally his long sleeves would have been pulled up to just beneath his elbows, but now they were all the way down, and he pulled a button-up shirt over it, one of his usual styles. He pulled the beanie over his hair and just low enough to cover his bruise on the side of his head. In essence, he could safely walk into the hospital without alerting attention.

Luckily the backpack with the first aid kit was also packed with some legal, albeit fake, documents that would confirm Aiden's relationship to his sister, Teagan. Yuki was finally able to get a hold of him, and naturally Aiden came as fast as he could with his girlfriend Lori tagging along with him for moral support. Add in some drained, worried emotion, and the receptionist didn't even bother about visiting hours. Hook, line, and sinker, even if he felt like he was about to topple over.

[Yuki]

As she told Aiden the events that had transpired during his absence, she observed his reaction to the information carefully. That was it. This was why she had hesitated to say anything. Her time together with the Portland faction had not been very extensive by a lifespan's standard, not even a year. But she had spent much of it quite close to her faction mates, and there was something about fighting the supernatural that brought people to a level of understanding unattainable by those unaware of the unfortunate reality. She knew Aiden well enough to know that he was going to feel guilty, that he was going to pin the blame on himself when it was actually really her fault, and that he would ignore his critical injuries for the sake of visiting Teagan in the hospital. She had foreseen the sunken expression he tried to conceal, and his minute of silence while he thought things over. And then, just as she had expected--

"Call Lori back, and tell her to bring me a change of clothes, with a long sleeved shirt and a beanie."

Planning a trip to the hospital? Of course she would protest. Teagan was not supposed to wake up for another two days. It was obviously more strategic to go back to the tavern, make sure that they treated their wounded conditions, and then go visit the girl. Besides, would a change of clothes really mask their injuries? But before she could voice her complaint, Aiden cut her off. It appears this faction predictability works both ways, she thought to herself. An order. He was aware of the way her mind worked: on the basis of giving commands or following them. Grudgingly, Yuki got out her phone, dialing Lori's number and repeating Aiden's instructions while also including the addition of a change of clothes for herself as well, all the while giving Aiden a spiteful glare from the corner of her eyes.

Though she was tired, she could not doze off as Aiden did as they waited from the Nissan to pull up. Fifteen or twenty minutes must have passed before Lori arrived. The woman was going to fuss over Aiden, she always did. He must have known this too, for Yuki could sense that his body tensed as she exited the car. And sure enough, after seeing Aiden, an explosion from the angry female followed. Yuki ignored Lori as she berated her over not calling earlier, much too tired to explain that she had just fought off a demon leader, almost faced the possibility of the death of her faction mate, and killed a djinn single-handedly within the span of a day. While the girl zoomed over to Aiden's side, Yuki closed her eyes once more. I do believe I am due for some credit here. She waited for Lori's worried and possessive nature to snap back to reality and for her to thus realize that she had a nearly medical expert at her side. When she finally did relinquish the first aid, however, Yuki was regretful that there were no herbs present, either in the box or in the suburban area of the city. She would have to make do with whatever she had.

Silently tending to Aiden's wounds, she listened to the conversation between him and Lori as the two progressed to argue like a foolish married couple. Exhaustion prevented Yuki from interrupting and shutting both of them up, as well as the idea that meddling between the affairs of a petty quarrel would frankly be completely stupid. The two would probably (illogically) just join forces against her, so she let them argue. When Lori made a quip about Aiden having the "sense" to go to a hospital, Yuki stifled a it's-not-what-you-think-it-is look, and instead focused on dabbing the wound on Aiden's arm with some antiseptics. This was going to end in the faction leader's favor, because as with her, Aiden knew Lori and how to convince her, and when she saw the sincerity in his wish, she conceded, though with the same attitude that Yuki had when she made the call to Lori in the first place.

Aiden made his way to the car when Yuki indicated that she had done all she could, and turned to her own clothes on the bench that she had retrieved from the backpack. She was not as bloodied as Aiden was, she only needed to wash her face and pull the long-sleeved shirt over the one she had now. She stood up from the bench and went behind an outer wall of a nearby building, pulling on the clean pair of jeans.

After a quiet car ride, they arrived at the hospital, and with the fake documents Aiden now possessed, all three of them were able to enter without any problems. Though she was not related to Teagan, they knew Yuki had been there the night before, and was to be her sole companion throughout the entire ordeal, at least until she had gotten a hold of her "brother." Yuki was dead tired, but shared the same concern as Aiden for the girl, though she would never admit it aloud in such a blunt manner. It was hard to believe that only hours had passed from the time she had last seen her, and Yuki hoped that Teagan was in a better condition than when she had left the hospital earlier that day.

[Teagan]

Dr. Millak sipped a cup of fresh coffee, wincing as the beverage burned his tongue. Reluctantly he returned it to the table in the break room where he leaned back on an old leather couch, catching up on reruns of the staff's favorite soap opera. It didn't have much of an appeal to him, but conversations easily died when the only topic centered around cardiovascular diseases.

His eyes flickered to the watch on his wrist. Speaking of sickness, his break was nearly over. Look like the doctor would have to wait on his coffee to cool while he made his rounds again. He stood and stretched his arms before making his way back to the main desk in the center of the building.

A nurse named Delia met him at the front, quickly handing him a clipboard that listed the next patients requiring attention and corresponding room numbers. "Thank you," he nodded, briefly glancing over the names before starting off in the direction of the first room. An alarm caught him in his tracks. That couldn't be good.

"Dr. Millak!"

In an instant he turned around, abruptly changing direction and nearly knocking over a pair of teens in the process. With a quick apology, he raced back to desk. A red light flashed on the monitoring system. "Delia, what happened?"

"Patient in 214 is flat lining!"

A group of nurses stood clustered at the other side of the desk. Dr. Millak pointed to two of them. "Chelsea, Dea, with me!" Days like this made him feel extremely lucky to have a long stride. When the fate of a life rested in Time's hand, every second counted. He realized that the door they approached belonged to the room of the injured girl, causing his stomach to twist. His hand grasped the door handle, prepared for the worst.

[Aiden]

Aiden's spirits hadn't been completely obliterated because he was blaming himself for what happened, that was only part of it. He had just been in a reality where Teagan was comatose in the hospital, and coming out of that world to hear the exact same thing, minus the coma, wasn't the best thing to hear. His mind automatically associated the images of Teagan comatose in the hospital bed to her condition now, and so he had to go to the hospital to make sure that wasn't the case.

Luckily, by now he knew how Yuki worked, and by giving her a direct order, she didn't really have much of a choice in listening to him. She called Lori, and the two waited for her. A mess of things flooded his head, primarily the battle and what went right and wrong, along with the journey the Portland faction had taken since it was assembled. They'd come too far in order to lose to some half-rate demon now. They were out to replace the Winchesters, right?

So the demon that retreated was the cause of Teagan's injury. Yuki hadn't even exorcised him. He let out a long, controlled breath, and looked over to her. "So the demon. He's still alive? I don't even remember what he looked like, only the fight...up to going into the cellar." His eyes scanned over nothing in particular, trying to recall the events. It hurt his head too much trying to, so he figured he'd just let it go for now.

Lori came, he was patched up, and he changed in the car after Yuki had changed as well. On the way, Aiden gratefully accepted Lori's demand that they stay with her, of course knowing that Yuki and Teagan didn't know he had stayed with her before, and not because the bar was destroyed. Not that they needed to know. Then Lori began talking business, about the money they had to refund customers that were staying there, and the money they were losing as long as they were closed, and how much it would take to rebuild. He wasn't sure if he had enough credit cards lined up for this.

At the hospital, they left the receptionist desk, and wandered over to the stairs. After careful mental debate, Aiden opted for the elevator opposed to the stairs, just out of safety. Lori was standing very close to him, in case he toppled over from lack of energy and his body trying to recuperate. They arrived at the second floor, and Aiden's eyes scanned the hallway for the arrow pointing to room 214.

"Patient in 214 is flat lining!"

"Get a crash cart!"

"Chelsea, Dea, with me!"

"Millak, we need you in here, now!"

Aiden felt his body waver as he realized there couldn't be two room 214's. "Coma....no, no, no, no, no," he mumbled, trying to push himself forward. He stumbled awkwardly and then rushed to the door, standing behind the crowd of doctors. He could hear the machine hooked up to the EKG emitting the noise known as the flat line, and as he pushed his way into the room claiming to be the patient's brother, listening to Lori try to pull him back and make him sit down, and listening to the doctors trying to usher him away, his mind snapped.

"No!" he growled at the nearest nurse, and pushed his way past the throng of medical officials, and into the room. He stumbled in, looking even paler in the fluorescent lighting, his heart racing. For a moment his mind replayed passing her in the dream hospital, and as his eyes fell upon Teagan now, he couldn't describe the feeling that he felt.

"Teagan..." he breathed, his brows falling into a crease. "...you're awake?"

[Teagan]

Gasping for breath and nearly choking on her own throat in the process, Teagan Cassidy barely recognized the face in front of her. The voice sounded muffled and, if not for the dominant necessity to identify her surrounds and focus on something tangible, it would have passed by unnoticed. Dry lips slowly opened, attempting to speak.

“Ai…? H…”

It only lasted a moment before an intense wave of panic consumed her, immediately cutting off any form of communication. She tried to breathe, only to discover her lungs unresponsive to the commands. Her eyes flew open wide as her body struggled to take in oxygen despite the blockage. What was going on? Where WAS she? Why couldn’t she BREATHE? Black spots trickled through the corner of her vision and she fell back, unable to prop herself up any longer with limp arms.

A pair of hands caught her as she began to fall backwards, guiding her carefully to the pillow before any more damage could be done. She winced in an attempt to focus on one of the flurry of faces meshing together around her. What was she doing here? Teagan’s arms pushed up against the resistance, unable to cope with the confusion. Strong hands gripped her tight and pinned her to the warm surface below.

Someone shoved a plastic contraption on her face and moments later a cool stream of air forced its way through her system. Her body remained tense as time slowed down, the nurses and doctor in the room waiting for the oxygen to circulate through Teagan’s system. As her head began to clear and the pain gradually subsided, she slowly stopped resisting, focusing more on breathing deeply. Her body relaxed, unaware that IVs were being returned to their original positions on her arms or that the bandages around her head and forearms were being rechecked.

“Teagan? Teagan? Can you hear me?”

A hand grabbed one wrist. “BPM returning to normal levels.”

“Good. Teagan? Nod if you can hear me.” The girl lay silent, the only peaceful thing about her represented by her steady breathing.

--------------------------

Dr. Milliak took a deep breath, his head bowed low as he waited for a response –any response- from the tiny figure below him. He lifted his eyes, noting the bruises showed only faint signs of fading and the wounds on her arm and the back of her head had reopened during this escapade and needed to be cleaned immediately. But for now that held no importance. Cassidy had regained consciousness, ruling out a dozen possible complications.

“Ches, I’ve got the situation under control now,” he rose and nodded thanks to the nurse. “Go ahead and head back to the desk. Dea? Could you rewrap the bandages and clean up in here?” Silently the nurses dispersed, leaving Milliak to unwrap the stethoscope from around his neck and quietly re-examine the patient. He needed to make sure the lungs hadn’t sustained any more damage.

“Not a fan of hospitals, is she?” The doctor glanced back at the three visitors who stood panicking in the back of the room. “Not many people manage to rip out life-support after barely retaining consciousness.” He gave the group a tired smile, hoping to alleviate the remaining tension. “Regardless of the heart attack Ms. Cassidy just gave us, it’s a good sign to see she, to some extent, woke up. For now she’s resting, but chances are that she’ll come around again in a short amount of time. Since she’s stable I’m going to continue on my rounds, but the moment she wakes up, hit that call button for the nurse on the bed, okay?”

With a polite nod toward the group, he left them and the sleeping girl behind, heading down the hall to the cardiovascular unit.

A half hour later, she began to stir. A brief look of confusion passed over her face before her eyes flew open, initiating a second wave of panic

[Yuki]

As she, Aiden, and Lori walked through the entrance of the hospital, Yuki wondered if any of the doctors passing through the corridors could tell that two of the three people in their group were injured. Could they see bruises and cuts past the long-sleeved shirts and head-wear? Were they able to sense the limp in their walk, or the tiredness in their eyes? Was there any hint that they were quite in the state to be considered hospital patients themselves?

If they did, no one asked questions, not even the receptionist who had directed them to Room 214 where the girl was at. Either we are experts at disguising our wounds, or the people at this hospital are a bunch of driveling imbeciles. She breathed deeply, standing near her faction leader, aware that if Aiden did indeed lose consciousness or lost balance, it was highly unlikely her senses would react fast enough to catch him. Even if they did, she wasn't sure that she would be able to sustain his weight. Suddenly, she was thankful that Lori was there in case he did pass out.

Yuki was also grateful when Aiden chose to take the elevator versus the stairs to the second floor. She wasn't weak, per se, but she was most definitely not at optimum strength. At that moment, she was functioning at what she assumed was 25% capacity. Still above average, naturally, yet not at her desired capability. As such, any measure taken to alleviate or eliminate any unnecessary movement was greatly appreciated.

However, by the time they stepped foot onto the second floor, all sense of fatigue instantaneously disappeared upon the words they first heard when they exited the elevator.

"Patient in 214 is flat-lining!"

214...Teagan! She snapped into motion, in pursuit of the doctor--Dr. Millak, the one that she had spoken with before. This couldn't happen. This wasn't supposed to happen. As she neared her room, a jolt of exhaustion struck through her like she had been hit by a lightning bolt that had drained her of all her energy. Everything got heavier, and the white walls of the hospital started to spin, but she pushed forward along with Aiden, shoving any personnel that got in their way. He charged into the room, and with the path he had cleared, Yuki managed to topple inside as well. She leaned against the wall of the room for support as she watched Aiden rush over to Teagan's side. Yuki took a deep breath of air and held it, watching silently from the short distance with the elongated beep from the machine echoing in her head, waiting, and waiting, and...

And then she awoke. Yuki let out a stifled breath of air, but the relief was brief, for as soon as the girl even tried to speak, she went into a frenzied panic. Doctors rushed in, attempting to hold her down and return her to a stable condition. Yuki wanted to see what happening up close, but the weight of the world much too heavy for her to even move. She felt paralyzed as she stood there, watching the flurry of medical assistants trying to stop Teagan's struggle. You stupid girl, stay still so the doctors can help you! she screamed mentally, but no words came out of her mouth--whether it was out of concern for the girl's feelings, or her own exhaustion that prevented her from doing so, she couldn't say.

Minutes passed in an ironically fast slow-motion pace, and by the time Teagan had been restored to her sleep-like state, Yuki was so drained that she had to collapse in a nearby chair. It was strange, feeling tired. She hadn't felt that way since her days in training as a teenager. Strong fighters were not supposed to get tired, even after everything she had gone through. She was better than this. It just went to show that not even the utmost amount of training could prevent fatigue. I need to train harder...

She looked up to see Dr. Millak glancing at them, snapped out of her reverie. She raised an eyebrow at him. Yuki bet they were an interesting sight, a Japanese girl and two Americans, all young, interestingly dressed, panicked and worried. Then, she looked over at Teagan. No, the girl wasn't a fan of hospitals. As a matter of fact, none of them were. But that was something the doctor wouldn't have been able to understand. ...So Teagan had woken up before the 48 hours? Perhaps her recovery system wasn't as shoddy as Yuki had assumed. And perhaps it was lucky of them to have arrived when they did. Now they could monitor her, in case she did awaken once more.

When the doctor left, Yuki sat motionless in her chair, almost in a daze. She needed sleep so she could keep tabs on the girl, but she couldn't sleep without keeping an eye on her. It was a no-win situation. Kuso, she thought to herself. This was why she had been trained to detach herself from others, or rather, avoid attachments in the first place. They were completely unnecessary in the realm of the elite. How could she ever hope to become a superb fighter, hunter, and academic genius with such ties? And yet... Yuki's eyes drifted towards the sleeping child, now peacefully unaware of the injuries that were still afflicting her physical state. At that moment, such aspirations paled in comparison to her concern for Teagan.

No, no, no, no, snap out of it, Yuki! She blinked furiously as if the action would wash away her thoughts, and then shook her head. Don't go and turn all soft now. Clearing her throat for no particular reason, she turned to Aiden, searching for a topic of conversation that would take her mind off things, but nothing came to mind. So instead, she slumped in her chair, crossed her arms, and watched the girl through heavy eyelids for any sign that she was about to wake up.

About half an hour passed, and in between Yuki's milliseconds of drifting to sleep, she caught sight of Teagan slowly starting to motion to life. But it wasn't a gentle awakening. No, it was quite opposite. Before the girl fully opened her eyes, she could see the line pulsate rapidly on the machine next to her as her heart rate violently spiked. Not good, not good.

"Aiden, hit the call button for the nurse! Lori, help me calm her down!"

[Aiden]

There it was. Just for a split second, but as Teagan rose in her bed, their eyes locked and she attempted to call out his name. And then, just as soon as that recognition came, she lost it and completely lost all semblance of tranquility. The doctors rushed to stabilize her, so Aiden sort of melted into the back of the crowd, knowing he was unable to do anything. He caught at least two doctors give him a thorough once-over, but they probably decided that Teagan was in need of more attention than their hunch.

Teagan was soon passed out on the bed again, and the doctors were dispersing. Aiden found a chair on the side of the room and sank down, more from exhaustion than worry for Teagan--don't get him wrong, he was plenty worried, but after everything that had happened in the past few days, he needed probably a day and a half's worth of sleep.

"No, I guess not," Aiden replied to the doctor when he turned to them. He nodded at the man's command, and let him walk out. He gave it a minute, and then closed the door, sighing as he sank into the chair once more. Its hard plastic frame wasn't comfortable at all, and so his body was preventing itself from falling into a sleep. His limbs, and more notably his eyes burned from lack of energy and sleep.

His mind did doze off, though, probably due more so to the blood loss from the dijinn. He was only roused when Yuki began yelling. He stared at Teagan for a moment before he finally mustered up the energy to speak. "Yuki, wait. She's fine," Aiden said, noting the pace that Teagan was coming to. This wasn't another frenzied episode, it was like she was waking up from sleeping any other night.

"Teagan," Aiden said slowly, rising unsteadily and taking a few steps towards the bed. "Hey, are you alright? Demon-free zone here," Aiden added, looking down at his teammate. "Do you even remember anything?"

[Teagan]

Darkness flooded her vision as Teagan bolted up, a result of trying to move too quickly with an injury. She blinked, desperate to chase away the creep in the corners of her eyes. Vague shapes appeared, colors extremely disproportionate and skewed. The deep silence that muffled her hearing gently diminished, allowing her brain to process small noises.

Or recognize the shrieking demand of a nearby person.

It took a few more seconds to realize that the intense noise was directed at her. A large, daunting figure dominated her vision, approaching closer.

"...moment, just one moment," she murmured, trying to focus the dangling thoughts together. Thankfully, the noise subsided, giving her time to straighten everything out.

Teagan Cassidy. Teenager. Trickster. Oil. Monkey bars. Baseball bat. Blue wheels. Seattle...

...Seattle. Future. Art. Death. Hunting. Demons. Lucas. Autumn....

Her brows creased together in confusion. She had vague memories of the past week...but what had occurred recently? Someone mentioned a hospital. Why would she be there? She rubbed her temples slowly, attempting and failing to reassemble a time line that didn't seem to exist.

"Is there water?" she whispered, not quite sure who she directed the question toward. Moments later, a glass found its way into her hand and she sipped slowly. After giving it a chance to settle in her system, she opened her eyes, wincing at the bright light.

"My head feels like someone dropped a bowling ball on it," she sighed. "What happened?"

As much as jolts of pains and aches covering her body indicated a major incident had occurred -and she came out on the losing end- for the life of her, Teagan Cassidy could not remember the circumstances that led up to her requiring medical assistance.

The only fleeting memory involved pain. And lots and lots of it.

[Yuki]

"Yuki, wait. She's fine."

Nande? The girl was...fine? Yuki gave Aiden a blank stare, and then turned to the girl. She blinked a couple of times. What did he mean she was fine? After what happened before, she couldn't have been...oh, but she is. He was right. As her eyes focused on the girl, Yuki could see she wasn't nearly as frenzied as she had been before. She just looked...confused. But there was no need for alarm. Seconds passed as this realization sunk in, and suddenly, she felt as she had exposed more of her concern for the child in front of Aiden than she had intended to let on.

"...Of course she's fine," Yuki muttered, clearing her throat. "I was merely following instructions," she added defensively, averting her gaze away from him so that he did not see the tiniest bit of a blush that hid risen to her cheeks. Indeed, blushing for Yuki was as strange an occurrence as smiling or laughing were. Such actions did not perpetuate strength or intelligence. They were indicators of having your guard down, useless and unnecessary. Fortunately for her, she was not easily embarrassed or nervous, if hardly ever. However, her little outburst just so happened to trigger the light shade of red, and she knew that Aiden would never let it go if he caught it.

"More importantly," she said forcefully, trying to focus his attention elsewhere, "It's about time you woke up," Yuki directed this at the girl, hovering over her bed. She handed her a paper cup of water from the dispenser in the room, per her request, and then remained standing there with her arms folded across in her chest.

"It's a long story," Yuki began, unsure of where to start. "You were attacked by a powerful demon, and quite brutally at that. I am unaware as to how much you remember, but it was a vicious battle, from the beginning of the demon invasion until we faced the leader. In the end, the demon escaped, but the filthy scum did not do so before inflicting a final move upon your body."

A moment of silence passed, as she did not know how to continue, and found it difficult to voice what she had to say. But it had to be done. As much as Yuki hated admitting that she was wrong, or that she was at blame (not that this was a frequent happening), this was an issue of honor.

"...It's my fault. I was not strong enough to defend the tavern, or you, and for that, I apologize."

[Teagan]

Teagan's gaze drifted side to side as Yuki recounted the story. She tried to focus on all of the words, but found the sentence distorted in her mind. Something about a battle and pain. She didn't quite catch the whole thing and her exhaustion prevented her from asking Yuki to repeat it.

A battle? The water cup, cool in her hand, hid the sight of her fingers paling as she thought about the implications. Yeah, they battled things monthly. Yet there were only a handful of times had anyone needed medical attention; if any was needed, between Yuki, Aiden and Google, the issues was fixed rather quickly. What had happened to place her in a hospital?

A silence fell over the room. They were expecting some sort of response from her. She wanted to ask someone to repeat what happened, but the chaos in her mind prevented her from seeing reason in doing so. The oldest faction member spoke again, saving Teagan from having to answer right away.

...

Teagan must have hit her head harder than she realized, though the ache behind her ear seemed to be lessening, but had Yuki just apologized? She blinked. No, that was right. Crap, how did she respond now? The tension in the room seemed to rise. Teagan's eyes remained unfocused, reflecting her tired state, but regardless, she had to reply somehow. Acknowledge that she understood....something. She understood something, even if she didn't know what that something was. Yuki deemed it important enough to apologize for.

It took all her effort, but she forced a wry smile on her face. "Drop the act, smart one. I get it. Yuki finally snapped, didn't she?" The last part she directed at the form she assumed was Aiden. "And I didn't fight back hard enough. I don't remember, but at least tell me which prank it was. The comic books? The closet? Or-" She paused. "You'd better just tell me before I incriminate myself."

The darkness crept back in along her vision, and she rubbed one eye to encourage it to disappear. IVs dangled from her arm, and she glared at them disapprovingly before taking a second glance around the room. Her vision looked slightly clearer, and for the first time, she recognized a third form in the room. "Um, hi Lori."

[Aiden]

Aiden just rolled his eyes at Yuki's response. Yes, they were worried about Teagan, and yes, a lot had happened to put them on edge, but she was fine. Yuki's overreaction wouldn't help things, and it would only make Teagan freak out. "We don't need the nurses in here just yet," Aiden said, knowing that they would be talking about what happened in the bar, and any civilian that heard that would commit them to the psychiatric ward.

Teagan asked what happened, and Yuki sort of took over, explaining briefly what had transpired, how Yuki felt it was her fault, and leaving out the fact that the bar was now destroyed. A pang of depression resounded in Aiden, because his home, his sanctuary had been completely and utterly demolished in the course of half an hour.

Finally, Teagan spoke, but Aiden raised a brow. Yuki snapped? The closet? What the heck was in the closet?! "Uh, no, Yuki didn't snap. Remember what yesterday was? Halloween?" he asked, trying to get her to string it all together. "A hell gate opened, demons attacked the bar. Some big guy showed up and took us out of the picture, that's all I remember before waking up with a dijinn," Aiden mumbled, rubbing the back of his head where he had hit it against the wall behind the bar.

Lori offered a wave, but remained silent amongst the talks of supernatural creatures. She knew of them, knew what Aiden did, and the thought scared the hell out of her--both the notion that those things actually existed and killed people, and that they risked their lives, and ended up like this, in order to save people.

"Look, why don't you rest a bit so we can get you out of here, alright? I don't know how long they can look at your insurance before they realize its not exactly real," Aiden said quietly, a small grin on his face.

[Yuki]

When Teagan spoke, Yuki raised her head up from the slight bow that had accompanied her apology and looked at her questionably. Perhaps she had lost more oxygen with the collapsed lung than she had taken into account for. Her, snapping? Comic books and the closet? She had no idea what the girl was talking about, and only knew that the string of incoherent words had nothing to do with the events of the previous day. Yuki wasn't even sure that the girl had understood that she had just apologized.

Aiden chimed in, attempting to connect the string of her memory that she obviously had no recollection of. That's what I just said, she thought to herself, as he finished explaining. Although, she hadn't mentioned the djinn part, and Aiden had said it in such a low voice that she wasn't even sure the girl had caught it. But perhaps that was for the best. If it was hard enough for her to remember something that had occurred about 24-hours prior, she imagined it would be quite difficult for her to process new information, especially about a supernatural creature she had probably never even heard of.

As Teagan acknowledged Lori's present, and Lori gave her a small wave back, Yuki looked over at the woman. She had been awfully quiet this entire time, and Yuki had been so engulfed in making sure Teagan was in a safe condition that she had almost forgotten Lori was there.

Turning towards her faction leader, she nodded in agreement with his statement. "He's right," she said, removing Teagan's nearly empty cup from her hands and proceeding to refill it. "The faster your recovery, the faster you an leave this pathetic excuse for a recovery institution and return to the tavern...or, Lori's house, depending on when the reparations for the tavern get done," she stated, handing Teagan the cup now full of water.

The tavern...it had been completely decimated. She wondered if Teagan knew the extent of the damage. The girl probably had no idea how wrecked their home now was. ...But she didn't need to know. Right now, all that mattered was that she got out of that place, and that she returned to full health. As for explaining the events of the djinn and details of that battle, that could wait. The important part was that they had all survived, and would all return to the tavern as soon as they could, because, to put it quite frankly, hospitals were simply no place for a hunter.

[End.]