Naomi turned her attention to Iya. She checked with her ability to make sure she didn't have any problems other than the wound, and the poison, her healing allowing her to see anything wrong with Iya. She lifted the bloodied sweater, revealing the makeshift bandages made of some sort of cloth. "You two really can't get your nose off of trouble, aren't you?" She muttered as she started cutting them. 

Iya let out a small whimper, her hand grabbing Naomi's as if to stop her from hurting the wound more. 

"No, Iya you need to let me take a look" Naomi gently pried Iya's hand off hers, "I don't have time…" 

Pulling away the bundle of soaked tissue, cursing under her breath when they got stuck to the open wound, and made Iya flinch away from her, Naomi carefully examined the wound. 

It wasn't so big, fortunately, and it looked like Kaen did a good job at taking out the bullet without making it wider. She quickly numbed the area, before she cleaned the wound, and started healing. Reaching at the wound with her ability, manipulating it to close on its own while she also supported it with a few stitches. 

Compared to what she had to heal countless times in the emergency department of the hospital, it was easy for Naomi. But Iya was weak, so weak with poison, she had to leave some of the healing to her body's natural healing process to not exhaust her more. 

Glancing back at Kaen every now and then to make sure he was alright, Naomi took the bullet she put on the table. Frowning at the black-ish, clear substance coating it, she rubbed some of it on a piece of gauze and started going through her knowledge on poisons. Then took some of it on her finger and also examined it with her ability. 

"...Nao?" A weak voice made her jump, she saw Iya looking at her with half closed eyes when she turned back. 

Putting the gauze back on the table, she immediately caught Iya's hand from where she was trying to reach the wound she just stitched and wrapped in clean white bandages. "Shh… don't touch that" she whispered, "Do you remember what happened?" 

Iya's hand shook in Naomi's gentle grip, she frowned for a while like trying to remember before nodding slightly. 

"Good, I just cleaned and closed your wound okay?" Naomi smiled down at her, "Are you feeling it hurt? It's supposed to be numbed" 

"...feels… weird… tingly.. like sick" Iya slurred, she squeezed Naomi's hand, desperate for some comfort, "...Where… Kai?" 

"He's right here" Naomi said, scooting to the side without leaving her hand, so Iya could see Kaen laying on the ground on his side. "He managed to get shot while carrying you it seems" she added before Iya started asking about the blood on his clothes. "But I have an idea what the poison is already, so, he will also be fine" 

Iya took a shaky breath, before nodding slightly. "...He… he looks bad" she muttered. 

"It's mostly the exhaustion… the poison hadn't take full effect on him yet. But I already know the antidote" Naomi said, "You need to let my hand go, so I can prepare it" 

"... you have… 'tidote?" 

"Yeah, I'm actually surprised it's just a common medicine I need to neutralize it" Naomi said with a small nod, "I think our aggressive friends were not as patient as they normally would, to find something hard to cure" 

Iya nodded, the normally dim lights of Naomi's living room were making her eyes hurt, more than it was supposed to, feeling like she had a high fever, and couldn't move with muscle pain, she forced herself to breathe slowly, "Nao… please hurry" she said, "It..  it hurts…" 

Naomi gently pushed her hair from her forehead,  turning back to her first aid box, she pulled out an IV bag, and a few vials of medicine. "So, I'm giving you a dose of antibiotics, with the antidote, and some liquid… because you definitely need it. Also, obviously, painkillers" she explained gently. "You will probably feel sleepy, so don't resist it and just rest okay?" 

Iya shrugged slightly. "Yeah… you do you… I don't understand it… anyway" she said with a smile, "Sleep sounds good…" 

  "It should, you need it" Naomi said, talking to her and distracting her as she quickly set up the IV, her hands gentle and practiced. "And no getting up when you wake up, because I don't want you falling on your face" 

"I won't… fall…" Iya chuckled and let Naomi pull a soft blanket over her, her need of rest even letting her ignore the sticky feeling if blood all over her. "...thanks Nao" she said, "Kai…" 

"I know, I'll take care of him now…Tell me if you feel anything wrong" Naomi nodded, before she turned to Kaen. 

Kaen was both worse, and better than Iya. It was clear his wounds happened a while later than her, with the poison not quite taking effect fully on him. But then, he had two wounds. Meaning he lost more blood, and got more poison in him. 

"Hey, Kaen" she tapped his cheek, "Kaen, you need to wake up"  

"Antidote first… it will take me a bit time to heal those wounds" Naomi thought as she prepared another dose, twice as what she gave Iya, because of the two bullets, other than that, it was basically the exact same of everything she gave Iya. 

A groan escaped Kaen's mouth, as he slowly peeled his eyes open. 

It hurt. 

Like something was stabbing him on his shoulder… and his thigh. Kaen managed to understand he was with Naomi through the fog in his mind. Naomi was towering over him… Was he laying on the ground? 

Naomi smiled down at him, holding his hand and gently rubbing it, "Shh… she's safe, I just patched her up" she said quietly, she quickly turned to the side, so Kaen could see Iya laying on the couch, already asleep under the blanket. "Now it's your turn" 

"Oh…I… I got shot… IYA?" He remembered finally, his one hand reached up and grabbed Naomi's wrist tightly, "...ya?... Iya…?" He asked, not even sure if he got his voice to work, or thought the words. 

"...my… turn? She… alright?" 

Naomi nodded, "She's gonna be just fine… just resting" she explained, gently brushing Kaen's hair back from his face, "Kaen, will you let me help?" 

"Yeah… yeah… why not" Kaen gave her a sleepy smile, the throbbing pain making him feel out of it. "You're… healer… after all" 

"I would say you're so cute when you're confused if it wasn't the poison threatening your health" Naomi muttered, shaking her head. 

Kaen just waited patiently as Naomi repeated what she did with Iya, before she was tapping his shoulder. "Kaen, I'm going to turn you so I can work on your back" she said, "It looks like the bullet hit you on your back" 

Kaen nodded again, he clenched his fist, taking a sharp breath to not make a sound against the pain and  letting Naomi slowly turn him to lay face-down, with a pillow under his face. He felt the stings of numbing a moment later and had to bite back a pained sound. That was the part he hated most… even worse than the actual hurt, he hated that part. 

"Sorry, I know you don't like that part" Naomi whispered, brushing his hair, "Good thing..  your wounds don't look that bad compared to what they could've been, so you can just relax while I'm healing it alright? Please don't resist it if you feel sleepy"

Kaen nodded to the pillow, "Thank you… Nao" he whispered quietly, "Iya… told me to not go to hospital… she's scared…" 

"I know she's scared of being there… fortunately it's something I can take care of" 

"She says it reminds her of when I lost my power" 

"I… I talked about that with her before, don't feel guilty for it, Kaen" Naomi explained as she got her tools and gently and carefully started working on healing Kaen, "You know it's not your fault… it was a really hard time for you" 

Kaen clenched his jaw, nodding again. "It was scary," he said, "That's why… I'm still in school… so I can protect others from experiencing it" 

Naomi gave him an encouraging smile, "Brave little boy, aren't you?" She joked, not breaking her concentration from the wound on Kaen's shoulder. It was bigger normally would be, since Kaen kept moving and putting strain on it without noticing. "Honestly… you have much more adrenaline than necessary. How do you not feel a fucking bullet?" 

"Dunno… thought… pulled a muscle… or something…" 

Kaen cringed at the clattering sound when Naomi took out the tiny bullet and let it drop to the small metal dish she brought for that purpose. He could only feel the pressure and tug of Naomi's tools as she worked, which was a relief, since he didn't want to make sound and scare Iya more than she already was. The relieved pressure of the wound, mixed with him being slightly scared of what was happening made him more nervous than he already was. "I… I had to remove the bullet from Iya's wound" he muttered. 

"And you did a hell of a good job at it" Naomi nodded, she quickly started closing the wound, "You saved her life, basically.  If that bullet kept dissolving poison…" 

"I hurt her…" Kaen muttered, moving restlessly under Naomi's hand, "She was crying… and screaming… I can't get my mind off… off that sight of her" 

"It's completely normal Kaen… it wasn't easy, I even know some doctors that wouldn't be able to do that in an emergency" 

Kaen let out a small yelp when she accidentally touched a part that wasn't numb, almost turning away from Naomi but she just calmly held him in place. "Don't move'' she said, "I don't want to cut you instead of healing" 

"S…sorry" Kaen said, "I… I think it's not numb there… hurts" 

"I'm sorry… you don't need anything to apologize…." Naomi muttered as she kept working, being careful not to touch that place again. 

Naomi could feel her heart breaking at the sight of Kaen just calmly laying in front of her while she healed the wounds. Not even a movement from him. She didn't know even if it hurt him or not, since he was completely quiet. 

It was so different from the Kaen she knew all the time as he was a kid, even a year ago, he would be squirming and crying even with just the anxiety from getting bullets removed from his wounds. 

Kaen shook his head, "...'s alright… jus… just give me a pillow… and blanket" 

"Just how hard have you been fighting?" She wanted to ask, and pull him into a hug, but instead, she quickly finished up, and wrapped the wounds neatly in clean bandages. "You're all set…." She said softly to him, "Do you think you can move to the couch? Floor can't be comfortable…" 

"If you say so… but you'll move to the couch when you can" 

"'kay" 

With the exhaustion from running while carrying Iya all the way here, and the adrenaline crash catching up to him, mixing with the painkillers Naomi gave him, it was all but impossible for Kaen to resist sleep. Before Naomi could drape a blanket over him, his eyes were already closed, fast, but evenly breathing with the effects of the antidote Naomi gave him. 

"You still look like a kid when you sleep…" Naomi muttered with a smile as she draped the blanket over him, making sure not to move his arm that had the IV, glancing at his young face, and gently combing his messy long hair, "I'm so sorry you had to experience all that…" 

Kaen hummed something in his sleep, moving restlessly for a moment before settling down again, his pale face going expressionless.

Giving him a kiss on his forehead, Naomi got to her feet to check Iya, who was also asleep, the thin white mist that always appeared around her when she used her ability was gently floating around the couch, barely noticeable. 

"Oh Iya…" Naomi said softly, sitting down on the small space next to her on the couch. She pushed her hair back, behind her ear, but Iya didn't react to it, deep into sleep. "I wish there was something I could do about the nightmares… but you can take care of them like you do all the time… I trust you" 

Iya turned slightly, her face leaning against Naomi's hand like she wanted some comfort, "Yeah, I'm here…" Naomi whispered and kept brushing her bangs, grabbing Iya's hand with her one hand while doing it, "I'll stay here alright? Just rest…" 

Taglist: @irathgo @myfriendcallsmeasickwoman19 @callaeidae3 @kurochan

Baz felt small. Strapped to the cold metal table, he didn't know what the restraints on his limbs and neck were made out of; he couldn't break them, couldn't slip them. They clamped into his skin so hard they bruised bone and throat, choking him until he could barely breathe. There was more to them than cold steel. He couldn't fight, shapeshift or camouflage his way out, something prevented him; he writhed and thrashed like a butterfly in a spiders web, screaming as he did. Please.

His chest had been sliced open down to his belly, clamps put in place to hold the skin back from rapidly healing itself shut. His body convulsed in pain and bloodied confusion, trying to put itself back together and failing each time.

Please, oh god PLEASE--

People rushed about in the hallways around him, their footsteps echoing on hard floor. There were dozens of them, busying with hurried conversations and clipboards. Above him, four masked faces hovered in front of fluorescent light, sterile scrubs and plastic coverings on their bodies. The man in charge shoved his gloved hands into Baz, inspecting him like a live cadaver.

PLEASE--

"Finally, found something that scares you."

The cold metal barrel pressed into the back of Baz's head. He stayed perfectly still. His cool demeanor faded in seconds as his breath grew shakier and a cold sweat gleamed over his forehead.

"Does it scare you? Tell me."

"Y-Yes," Baz said, "it... scares me."

The man hummed, amused. "Why does it scare you?"

Baz started to shake his head, confused, but stopped as the barrel pushed deeper against his skull.

"I... I don't know-- sorry..."

"'Sorry...'" the man repeated, chuckling lowly. "See? I knew you had manners."

The man dragged the gun around Baz's head, the barrel never leaving his skin as the man stood tall in front of him. He ran it gently down Baz's face, like a finger stroking beside his eye and down his cheek.

"Have you ever been shot in the head before? The face?"

Baz's jaw began to shake, despite him clenching it hard. He kept his gaze locked onto the man in front of him, but his confidence waned; the man was smiling, eyes hungry, eating up what Baz was beginning to realize was his own very obvious fear. His unaffected persona was failing.

"No," Baz breathed out shakily.

"Oh?"

The man's eyes studied Baz like a present. Grinning, balking, looking him up and down in disbelief.

"You mean, I could do something to you brand new..."

The gun went under Baz's chin. He fought back a reaction as it shoved uncomfortably upwards, nearly choking him.

"Just how old are you?"

Baz hesitated. "I--I don't know."

The gun whipped him across the cheek like a hammer, force knocking him sideways. He coughed, blood pooling in his mouth and dripping out. His cheek bone had fractured, along with a few teeth, but they healed in seconds.

"Answer me."

"One-hundred something," Baz spit. Truthfully, he was much older, but it didn't really matter now.

The man reached a gloved hand to Baz's cheek, thumb grazing over the disappearing welt.

The mans voice was low, not a whisper but something worse. "What do you think would happen? Would you be able to come back from that, if I blew your brains all over this floor right now?"

Baz swallowed hard. "No."

"No? How can you be so sure?"

The man crouched down, face inches from his. Baz flinched his face away, turning upwards to avoid the closeness. The man pushed the gun into him harder, guiding his head back straight.

"Don't you think it would be fun to find out?"

Baz's breathing grew shallower, unsteady, nearly a whine in every breath. He hated himself for it. He knew the man was only trying to scare him. The point was torture, after all - torture for information, torture because he deserved it, torture because they were bored - it didn't seem to matter with these people. They had all eternity to get what they wanted from him. The thought wasn't comforting.

"Please," Baz whispered.

"What was that?"

"Please--"

"Please? You want me to do it?"

The man stood.

"N-No!"

He moved behind Baz again. The man wrenched his head down by the hair, gun hovering above.

"Stay still."

"No, no, no, please-- don't--!"

Baz twisted in the chair, heavy chains unmoving even as he broke his own wrists to try slipping out.

"You need me! I'm valuable! I can do anything, I-I still have so much to tell you, think about what you're doing--"

A shot rang out.

Pain ached through Baz's skull, warm blood rushing out of his ringing ears.

The sound.

He opened his eyes, never realizing he had shut them tightly. In front of him, slightly to the side, a hole had been blown in the concrete flooring.

The ringing in Baz's ears subsided. Behind him, the man wheezed with laughter, struggling to even speak through it all.

"Goddammit, " the man laughed, "you were SO scared! Shaking in your boots!"

Baz stared at the floor, head hanging limp. Everything felt blurry, distant, numb. The man forced his head up by the chin.

"Fuck, you were crying?"

He dropped his head just as quickly, still laughing in a hunch. "Man, the guys are never gonna believe this...Wait," The man gasped, face lighting up. "Hold still, I've got an idea."

He reached in his pocket, pulling out an old flip phone and pointing it towards Baz. He lifted him by the chin again.

Baz stared ahead, listless.