vvvvvvvv for part one

Part one | Part two | Part 3

TW: Injuries and Hospitals

Word count: 2.0K

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It doesn’t take long for the pain to kick in and you’re left writhing on the floor, holding your side and trying to breath through it. You start dragging yourself towards the hall closet to get a first aid kit, pain meds, anything to make this pain go away before you hear a knock at the door.

A muffled voice comes through the door, “Hey, I heard gunshots coming from here, I want to check that you’re alive!”

Fuck. It’s your downstairs neighbor. He’s very reclusive, you don’t even know why he cares so much when all he does is scowl and grumble at you. You’ve tried to be nice and make conversation with him but heaven forbid anyone acknowledges him, you barely remember his name. He knocks again, but you’re head is fogged with the pain, you’re barely registering anything going on around you. What was his name? It started with an M, you know that much, you see it on his mailbox in the mail room but when your life depends on it you can’t remember, of course.

You hear the doorhandle start to shake, and then something starting to fiddle with the lock. You continue to try and crawl towards your hall closet, taking deep breaths, You’d shout back but your vocal cords have been strained by your recent choking. You finally get to the closet and manage to open the door before your front door slowly starts to open.

“If you’re going to make noise or watch action movies maybe you should, I dunno, turn the volume… down…” you watch as your neighbor’s shadow in the doorway stops as he notices the blood on the floor. “Jesus christ, where are you? Whose blood is this?” he rushes in and sees you reaching for the first aid kit.

You glare at him, “Breaking and entering isn’t really a good look on you” you rasp.

“I think that should be the least of your worries, you sound like shit”

“Wow, thanks prince charming, that really helps”

He rolls his eyes, giving you a quick glare before he comes over and grabs the first aid kit for you, “can you walk?” You shake your head.

“That was a stupid question, try again”

He sighs, you can tell you’re getting on his nerves. Good, he insulted your jello salad at a dinner party the apartment complex was throwing, yes you’re holding a grudge. No, you won’t give it up. “Do you want my help or not?” Miguel hisses

“Wow, you’re so generous, who would have guessed that?” you cough out, wincing at your injuries and slowly prop yourself up against the wall.

He shoots you another glare before popping the first aid kit open. You blush a bit, “don’t glare and snarl at me, you’re the one who’s sticking your nose in my business”

“Would you rather I call the police to file a noise complaint?” He pulls out some gauze and medical wraps as well as some alcohol wipes. “This first aid kit is primitive, how the hell do you expect someone to work with this?”

You roll your eyes, “I’m not made of money, I can’t afford the shit Alcamex is advertising”.

He goes quiet, you feel a little sense of victory being able to shut him up. He rolls up your shirt so that he can better examine your side. He stops you before you can call him a perv and pull your shirt down with a stern look and you swallow your words, letting him continue. You watch as he rips open an alcohol wipe and hiss as he starts cleaning the torn up skin.

“You might have to go to the hospital for this, it looks pretty deep”

“I would really prefer not to, it’ll be fine”

He gives you a frustrated look before just putting the gauze on and wrapping your side tight, you hold back a groan as the wrap presses against the wound.

“You should probably get your nose looked at. It looks broken and probably needs to be reset” he says as he packs everything back into the first aid kit.

“Who died and made you a doctor? Let me guess, your favorite board game is Operation.”

He gives you an agitated look, “you need to get your nose taken care of, it’s still bleeding.”

You wipe the blood off your chin and look down at your soiled shirt, cursing under your breath. “God fine, but I’m not going to the ER tonight, I’d much rather go back to bed” as you try to get up you wince and gasp out in pain at your wrist. You scowl down at it, ‘why have you betrayed me?’ you think to yourself. It’s definitely sprained just based on the size of the swelling and the feeling of fire racing through your hand and forearm due to the pressure you just put on it.

“Yeah, I’m dropping you off at the hospital, I don’t want to hear you groaning through the floorboards all night”

You hesitate before nodding, “fine… Okay fine, take me to the hospital.”

He nods before grabbing your arm and helps pull you up to your feet. Your legs feel like jello, you grab onto his arm to steady yourself and blush a bit ‘he’s awfully buff, god damn’ you think to yourself. He keeps a firm grip on your waist and wraps your arm around his shoulders, starting to help you walk out of your apartment to the parking garage downstairs. You’re already panting and sweating from the pain alone by the time you get to the car, he helps you climb in and you buckle up. He starts up the car after buckling up himself and drives off, you didn’t even notice that he put on some sunglasses before you both left and realized you left your own prescription glasses at home on your night stand between your judging looks.

“Fuck” you mumble to yourself.

He glances at you, “don’t pass out in my car.”

“Wow, nice work, I’m so comforted right now”

He rolls his eyes, the audacity of this man. “You’re welcome.”

“God you’re really getting on my nerves, why are you helping me?”

“My own selfish reasons.” He grunts out, you can tell the conversation is over based on the ice cold barrier he’s put up.

You roll your eyes and look down at your hands, feeling a blush spread on your cheeks. you don’t know why you're embarrassed. Maybe it’s because your attitude is less than savory but then again, he’s being an asshole back. He’s uninviting and abrasive and you’re still trying to put the pieces together as to why he’s so concerned because that excuse he just gave you sounded like a bunch of bullshit.

You both ride in silence the rest of the way to the hospital, you stare at the lights flying past you and dose off a bit, pressing your head to the cold window. It’s not long before your neighbor is shaking you and makes sure you’re clear of the door before coming around and helping you out. Like he promised, he’s dropped you off at the doors to the ER, not giving you so much as a second glance before going back to his car and driving off.

You stumble into the ER and a nurse helps you sit down, it takes a minute and some paperwork before they bring you back to a room. They change you into a hospital gown and before you know it you’ve got 5 stitches, a bulky stint on your wrist and a prescription for some strong pain medications that will help with your broken nose. The doctor already came in and they decided you’ll be staying the night for observation and you’ve been moved to a more permanent room, you’re trying to adjust and maybe get some rest before a nurse comes in with a clipboard.

“We just need you to fill out the emergency contact section and your insurance information and then you can rest okay? Do you need anything before I leave?”

“No I’m fine, thank you though” you smile and take the clipboard, already against having to write this down with your non-dominant hand.

“Okay, I’ll just get a refill on your water okay?”

“Okay, thank you” you give her another kind smile as she rushes out to get you more water and you start trying to fill out the form. You didn’t know how to politely say that you didn’t have any emergency contacts. You think for a minute, reflecting on your situation and shake your head. ‘I’ve got to remember his name… for the thank you card’ you chuckle a bit at your own joke. You imagine how his face will scrunch up with disgust, just like when he tried your jello salad… maybe you’ll send him a bowl. Just to make up for him breaking into your apartment.

Suddenly the phone rings next to you, you jump a bit and hesitate before answering it. “Hello?”

You cringe at your neighbor's voice, you don’t care how sultry it sounds, you’re just forced to reflect on his glaring face. “Yeah hi, I just wanted to let you know that you got blood on my seats. We’ll talk about how you’ll pay for that later.”

“Wow, you called me, at the hospital, just to tell me I stained your car’s seat?” You grab a pen and paper and start writing down the number on the receiver, you’re going to annoy the fuck out of him, you’re determined to do so.

“Yeah.. that’s the only reason I called you.” The line disconnects and you stare at the phone in raw disbelief.

You contemplate how you’re going to cuss him out when you see him next. You’re ready to make a scene and embarrass him, just like he embarrassed you. You feel like he treated you like a toddler, like you couldn’t take care of yourself or catch a bus down to the hospital when YOU were ready. You roll over, still imagining his snarl when you see him next and give him a piece of your mind. You settle down for the night, ‘I’m spamming his damn phone tomorrow’ You think as you doze off, ‘he risked his own damn seats’.

Miguel’s perspective

‘Why did I do that… that was probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. When have I cared about people after I saved them?’ He knows why, he just doesn’t want to admit that he finds you attractive. And your lack of cooking ability is almost endearing. The way you smile and wave at him when you catch him in the mail room, or the way your face brightens up at the parties the landlord decides to throw. So when he saw you, broken and bleeding after he handled the two shit bags who attacked you, he couldn’t help but soften, and decide that maybe he can allow himself to care about you.

He pulls into the parking garage and climbs out, walking in to the building after locking his car up. He looks at the buttons on the elevator for a moment before pressing one, stepping out as the doors open onto your floor. ‘I’m such a fucking idiot, I shouldn’t be doing this. I have my own shit going on.’ And yet he enters your apartment, grabs a broom, and sweeps up the broken glass shattered on your floor.

It’s not long before his ‘watch’ sets off and a small hologram of a woman in heart sunglasses and a puffy coat pops up. “Hey Miguel~ You have a priority call.”

“Tell ‘em I died” he grunts out.

“Still cracking the same jokes I see” the hologram smiles. “But you are needed at headquarters, some emergency with the cafeteria and some of the spiders. A food fight has broken out”

He groans, “god why didn’t you let Jessica or Lego Spiderman take over while I was gone?”

“Because it’s more fun to create chaos, also they have their own dimensions to take care of”

“Fine, I’ll be right in” he sighs as the hologram closes out and throws the glass away. ‘Might as well be wearing a French maid outfit, they better be grateful for this when they come home’ he walks out of your apartment and makes sure the door is closed before walking out of the building.

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I wanted to include this gem from the comics in here. You’re welcome.

Oh this is very interesting, considering the next chapter is going start when everyone is already at the Lake House... ;-)

Barbara recognised that name.

Stricklander.

An ancient, evil troll who had tried to wipe out humanity. That eldritch being had nothing to do with Walter. He couldn't.

She quivered, staring into Walter’s once more green eyes, no longer yellow and demonic, he was human. Yet no human she would ever associate with would torture anyone so... Monstrously.

"Walt? What does Jim mean?" She pleaded, managing to stand without his support. She noticed how he dropped his gaze away from her, letting Jim take her weight, his shoulders tensing.

"I—I'm sorry. For what little that is worth. I never wanted you to... Find out like this," his jaw clenched and Barbara could see the agony written across his face.

Jim stared at Walter, with a scarily hollow look, the man-who-really-wasn't-a-man staring back in resignation.

"I really had hoped it wouldn't have come to this," Walter said desolently.

Although Barbara was beginning to think this wasn't her Walt at all. Stricklander, that was apparently who she had fallen for. She had a catastrophically bad taste in men. Stricklander wasn't even human. He wasn't Walter, how much was an act? Was what she had just witnessed the real him?

1-2

Covention takes place a week after IWTA at the latest, so the events and realizations from that episode would still very much be on Amity's mind at the Covention. At first things are going great. Her school principal points directly at her while saying that some students may be able to reach the Emperor's Coven, the leader of which makes an appearance. Things are going good.

And then she runs into Luz. Or rather, Luz runs into her. As I said, Amity has been thinking plenty about the events of her precious episode, and I think that's still why she reacts as she does. She's blamed herself for what happened with Willow already, and she'd hate herself even more if she tried to blame Willow. So she channels the frustration on Luz. If the human hadn't been there then she wouldn't be going over this whole roller coaster again.

She almost ruined Amity's reputation. She's pretending to be a witch. She helped willow cheat. She doesn't understand the work put in and is looking at magic like it's a game. This viewpoint is proven moreso when the human challenges her to a duel- wait, the human reads Azura?- so Amity decides to get rid of the problem. She'll win, and the human will have to stop learning magic.

The human cheats. Again. At first this seems like a default win, but then she finds out about the glyph. She cheated too and of course she finds a way to blame herself. She runs away, and Luz follows. At first Amity of course wants nothing to do with her. Every time she's been here she's done nothing but cause problems. Then something strange happens.

Why must you remind me of my mistakes?