Head Trauma

Summary: The jeep crashes on the way back to civilization. Morals come into play when someone they all hate is on the edge of life and death.

Notes: Eheh... I'm shameless. There we go, I'll admit it. :3

Disclaimer: I don't own 999. If I did, you'd see more of the story through Ace's POV. And he'd get more development.

Head Trauma

Chapter 1: The Accident

"Shit, Clover, watch the road!"

"Huh?! Whaaaaaaa-!"

I screwed my eyes shut and braced for impact, my fingers clenched tightly around the leather seating. My companions did the same as our jeep collided with a pole, and began to roll down the hill.

We had been driving for what felt like an eternity, finally pushing the memory of the Nonary Game to the backs of our minds. All I could see for hours was the beige sand of the Nevada desert; it was becoming really boring, to be honest.

But after the fifth hour in this godforsaken frying pan, we reached some sort of civilization. Just in time, too – we were all getting a little restless. And between Seven's snoring, Snake's ramblings, Lotus's complaining, Clover's screeching, and Ace's... Ace-ness, I was at my wit's end.

Still, I wasn't expecting our psychotic, barely-legal driver to actually crash. We tumbled down the side of the road, the windows cracking and splitting open. I screamed until my throat grew raw; everyone else seemed to be yelling as loudly (if not louder). Seven, however, had woken up and reverted back to his heroic persona.

Before I realized what was happening, a giant arm laced around my body and began to drag me out of the car. I saw Snake dangling next to me, and Lotus and Clover around Seven's other arm. With a roar of power, the large man bashed open the remaining parts of a window with mountain-like force and leaped onto the hillside.

After being set down, I rubbed my neck and watched the jeep continue to flip all the way down the hill. Eventually it stopped, crashing upside-down onto the forest floor at the bottom.

"Wow..." Lotus murmured.

Seven cracked his neck. "Yeah. We almost got killed... again."

Clover swallowed hard and clasped a hand around her brother's. "S...sorry, guys. I-I really don't... have my license, so... I didn't k-know..." She was clearly shaken up, with tears piling at the end of her eyes.

Sighing, I answered her, "It's okay, Clover. Look guys, it's alright because nobody got hur-" The words dissolved on my tongue, and I felt a chilling sensation course through my body. We forgot someone, and everyone seemed to realize at once.

"Hongou!"

Instantly, we charged down the hill. Yeah, none of us liked him, and he probably deserved this, but... but dammit, I didn't like it! Maybe after being with those people for the longest nine hours of my fucking life... I guess I sort of bonded with all of them. And Hongou had done terrible things, but I couldn't help but remember the cool old man I had a joke-off with in the Captain's Quarters.

The jeep was trashed, the windows little more than shattered bits of glass now. Its underside was dented and covered in holes. The whole appearance screamed 'No trade-in value'.

But nothing really mattered now, with a man's life on the line. Didn't really matter who that man was at this point.

With a grunt of power, Seven pried the trunk open. Instantly, something rolled out onto the cold forest floor, and we all gasped in horror.

He looked terrible. With his arms and legs still bound, it was obvious he wasn't able to even attempt to escape or dodge the glass. And indeed, the glass had cut into him; lacerations covered his limbs and body, his coat torn up and ripped in various places. Some small glass shards even stuck out of his face. But the worst of it all was the back of his head, which bore a horrible wound. Blood was caked into his golden-brown and gray hair, and had already started pooling around his head.

"Jesus..." Lotus murmured under her breath, unconsciously taking a step towards Seven.

A little while off, I heard Clover describe the scene to Snake. The princely young man had a grim expression on his face, and sauntered forward towards our unconscious foe. He then placed two fingers on Hongou's neck, frowning as he did so.

"He has no pulse." The words were like rocks settling into my stomach. Swallowing hard, I glanced around to my companions, the words dying on my tongue.

Finally, Clover whispered what we were all thinking. "We... we're murderers..."

True, we didn't kill him, but our negligence did. The thought turned my blood cold.

"Oh no, we ain't!" Seven yelled, breaking the deathly silence in the air. He dragged Hongou to a flat surface on the forest floor and ripped the duct tape off his mouth. With a grunt of effort, he began to push down on the older man's chest, attempting to jumpstart his heart. I guess Seven was a cop through and through, and didn't want anyone – even criminals – dying on him.

After a few moments, Hongou finally coughed and started sucking in air greedily. Seven leaned back and fell onto his backside, wiping his forehead off in relief.

We had dodged the bullet – for now. But blood soon spurted from Hongou's lips, and we all knew the danger was still evident. The wound on his head didn't help,either; blood kept seeping out from it, staining the ground red. Was he having a brain hemorrhage?

Snake spoke up. "I suggest we take him somewhere. A hospital, perhaps?"

"Take him to Cradle," Lotus scoffed under her breath. No one laughed.

With a grunt, Seven hoisted Hongou gently into his arms – funny, I didn't even think Seven could be gentle – and turned to us. Just like that, our time with that older man in the ship, the things he'd done in the past, who he'd killed, and who'd he'd almost killed – all was forgotten. It was as all the history had been wiped away from our memories. Someone was hurt, and our protagonist senses were tingling.

I glanced over at the others. Snake seemed pensive (then again, what else is new?), Clover had her hand clamped firmly around his arm, and Lotus was looking off into the distance. Kicking some leaves away from my shoe, I murmured, "Well guys... we should go."

They all nodded in unison, and we trudged back up the hillside.

It didn't take us that long to walk to the small town nearby. Yeah, we got some strange looks... though I can't say I blame anyone. A half-naked grandma, pink-haired lolita lookalike, a prince with his eyes closed, and a giant man carrying a bleeding mess like he was a bride. Not to mention the hot young stud in the plaid.

Anyway, while we trekked en route to the nearest hospital, I noticed how quiet Seven was. And the silence was something that was really hard to ignore; wasn't this the same guy who never stopped rambling back on the ship? I don't think I'll ever be able to forget "two hot orphans". It was nearly as eerie as seeing Hongou – another talkative man – deathly still.

But Seven's lack of enthusiasm was definitely the most concerning. He wasn't even cracking a smile.

Glancing over at him, I asked, "Hey, Seven, you okay?"

"...huh?" The mountain seemed to snap out of his thoughts and, with a quick glance down at Hongou, replied, "Yeah, m'fine. Sorry." But he still kept his mouth shut the rest of our walk through the town.

"L-look, guys," Clover announced after a while, pointing to a giant white building with a red plus on the side.

"Let's go!" I exclaimed, and we rushed in.