Disclaimer: Ok, we all know this song and dance routine. Weren't mine, aren't mine, and never will be mine. But hey, a girl can dream, right?
AN#1: Ok, any homophobes, turn back now. This IS slash, and it WILL contain adult situations. Don't like, tough. Con crit is welcome, and flames should be at least 3ft high. It gets cold in Berwick during the winter.
AN#2: This was written after "The Five" and about two days before "Edward" even aired, so, yeah. Also, I don't know what that snakey thing that was chasing Will was called, so I'm calling it a basilisk. If anyone knows the correct name, tell me, and I'll correct my story.
"Ouch! Dammit, Will!"
"Sorry, Ash, but it's not like I can help it!"
"Help this!"
There was a clatter, a curse, and then some hopping around as Will dropped his flashlight and grabbed the foot Ashley had just stomped on.
"Fuck, Ash! Call Henry and get him to turn the lights on down here!"
"I would, but there aren't any lights down here!"
"Great. Not only do Nagas like dark places, there had to be more than one of them."
"Not having any fun?" Ashley teased, then frowned as she saw an odd mixture of emotions flash over Will's face.
"Watching Henry go though the window with one of those things once was more than enough."
Any sense of adventure and fun vanished.
"Yeah," Ashley sighed, "C'mon, this should be the last one."
A snort.
"Should?"
*********************
An hour later, as Will ran back through the passageway, limping heavily and wiping blood out of his eyes, he mentally yelled at himself for letting his guard down. That Naga had not been the last one.
He had lost his gun after a backhand from the first Naga, resulting in a three inch gash over his left eye, and had lost track of Ashley after the second Naga had thrown him into a wall.
And then Ashley had grabbed him by the arm, tossed him toward the passageway, and yelled at him to get help.
Which was why he was running as fast as he could down the passageway, with a Naga on his ass, while Ashley occupied two others.
A whistling sound was the only warning he had as he threw himself forward, the Naga's tail barely missing him. He scrambled forward on his hands and knees, then managed to find his feet and was off again.
He rounded a corner, saw the doorway, and put on an extra burst of speed, the Naga only a few feet behind him. Even as he reached the door, he knew that he couldn't keep running, felt his energy slipping away, leaving him exhausted.
He heard the whistling sound again, but this time he was unable to duck fast enough. The Naga's tail hit him broadside across his back, leaving a blood furrow from his right shoulder to his left hip, and flung him into the door. The door, which he and Ashley hadn't closed all the way on their way in, burst open, and then he was tumbling, ass over teakettle, finally landing in a crumpled heap. He was vaguely aware of Bigfoot's pissed off roaring, Helen's gun firing, and Henry's cursing, then the Naga fell next to him, dead, close enough to make Will flinch.
"Christ, Will, are you alright?" Helen asked, her accent thickening with her worry.
"M'fine. Ashley need help. She's fighting two of those things," Will slurred, finding it hard to talk through his split lip.
Bigfoot had been gone at the words 'Ashley' and 'help', but Helen lingered long enough to say "Stay with him!" to Henry before running down the passageway herself.
"Stay with him," Henry muttered, "No shit."
Will gave a weak chuckle, and then tried to get up. He managed to get halfway before his bad leg gave out. As he fell back onto the ground Henry put an arm around him to steady him, but no sooner did his arm brush Will's back, Will hissed and stiffened. Henry gave a confused look at his shiry arm, damp and sticky with blood, then rucked up the back of Will's shirt.
Hissing in sympathy, carefully tracing the bloody furrow with a fingertip, he said, "Hate to tell ya, Will, but that's gonna scar."
"S'okay. Everyone likes an interesting scar."
Henry carefully sat Will up, then asked, "How is it?"
Will raised an eyebrow. "The pain? Pretty bad. Though, from the way you were yelling yesterday, having a Nubbin latch onto you bellybutton stud hurts even more."
Henry grinned at the memory. He had been fiddling with the AC system in the Nubbin enclosure, which had been going screwy, when he had accidently woken one up.
"Well, Will, when you're feeling better, we'll get your bellybutton pierced and have a Nubbin bite it."
"Sure, why not? Everyone like bellybutton piercings, too."
*********************
After the piercing comment, things went fuzzy for Will. He could hear Henry murmuring, but couldn't make out what he was saying. He jolted to full awareness, however, when Henry gently shook his shoulder.
"Can't go to sleep, Will, you might have a concussion."
"Great," Will groaned, or tried to. It came out as a whimper.
"You don't sound so good."
"I don't feet so good."
Henry shifted, encourging Will to lean into him, "Think we can try for the upper levels?"
"Yeah."
"C'mon."
Henry slung Will's arm around his shoulders, then carefully wrapped on of his own around Will's waist. He stood them up slowly, taking most of Will's weight off of his injured leg. With a shuffling, staggering gait they made their way through the maze of passageways and enclosures until they reached the main lab and it's offshoots.
Setting Will down carefully on an exam table in one of the rooms off to the side, Henry said, "Here, let's get your shirt off so Helen can fix you up when she gets here."
"Yeah," Will hissed as he pulled the shirt over his head, the movement making the furrow on his back begin to bleed again.
Henry grabbed some gauze and tried to get the bleeding to stop. He knew Will was in pain, so he tried to find a way to get his mind off it.
"Nice tattoo," he said, gesturing with his free hand to the tattoo on Will's right bicep.
"A remenet of my misspent youth."
"Misspent, eh?" Henry smirked. "How misspent?"
"Couple over-nighters in juvvie when I was fifteen," Will responded, "You know, just the stupidest shit you can think of to do, just to prove a point."
"And what point was that?" Henry queried softly.
"That my foster parents couldn't control me," Will sighed, then grinned. "The old man down the street could, though. Damn, his bamboo cane hurt like a bitch."
Henry snickered, "Worse than a Nubbin on a bellybutton stud?"
"Way worse."
"He the one who straightened you out?"
"Yeah."
They were silent for a bit, Henry continuing to clean the blood off of Will's back, with Will hissing and stiffening every now and then.
"Well, that looks positivly painful," Helen said from the doorway.
"It is," Will assured her, "How's Ashley?"
"Fine, other than bruised knuckles and knees," Helen moved forward and took Will's chin in her hand, tilting it to see the gash over his eye better, "That's going to need stitches. Or at least some butterfly bandages."
"Great," Will groaned, then sucked in a breath as the movement reopened the furrow. Again.
"Quit moving, dammit, before you bleed out!" Henry snapped, grabbing more gauze and gently wiping the new blood away.
"What did this?" Helen asked, taking the gauze form Henry and proceeding to clean and bandage Will's back.
"Damn thing's tail. Used it like a whip," Will answered, watching Henry wash the blood off of his hands over at the sink.
"That would explain it," Helen smoothed the adhesive of the last bandage, "Ashley said you were thrown into a wall. I don't see any signs of concussion, but I'd still like to have someone wake you up once an hour, with the usual questions." She started putting butterfly bandages on the gash.
"I'll stay with him," Henry volunteered.
"Would you?" Helen sank gracefully to one knee, examining the dark, almost black, bruise forming down Will's leg from knee to ankle.
"Sure. I know you can't wait to get your claws into those Naga corpses, Ashley's most likely already in a bubblebath, not likely to come out for hours, and the Big Guy's doing some intensive cooking therapy," Henry looked over at Will. "Any objections?"
Will, who had been listing sideways, sinking into sleep, jerked straight up, "What? Uh...no, no objections."
"Well, that's settled, then. Just let me wrap your leg, Will, and you can go and rest," Helen, turned to Henry,"Once an hour, with the usual questions, understand?"
Henry replied with a snort.
"I've dealt with you, Ashley, the Big Guy, and myself having concussions more times then I can comfortably count. I know the routine."
"I'm glad one of us does," Will murmured sleepily, listing sideways again.
Henry couldn't help it, he gave a small, soft smile. Even with the three inch gash, Will look cute, with tousled hair and sleepy eyes. He shifted his gaze over to Helen, and found here watching him oddly. He raised an eyebrow, silently asking 'What?". She just shook her head slightly, and gave a small smile of her own.
"When Henry gets you to your room," Helen said to Will, "I want you to stretch out on you stomach and put your leg up on a pillow."
"Sure," Will yawned.
Henry got Will's arm around his shoulders once again, and took most of Will's weight as they started their shuffling gait out of the room, with Helen smiling softly behind them.
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