17. Revenge

(Sleep It Off)

Word Count: 1,557

Notes: This is my favorite one.

Gojyo and Hakkai were the only ones conscious when they got back to the inn. It was depressing, the redhead thought, as he dragged Sanzo and Goku through the door, every part of him aching; depressing that they could be whipped so badly after so long of coming out on top. It was depressing because it showed that they still weren't invincible, even after all this time, and he could admit that it annoyed him.

The barkeep was certainly surprised to see the bedraggled and bloody team stagger into his inn at the dead of night, but his shock quickly wore off when his proprietary instincts kicked in. He helped Gojyo get Goku and Sanzo upstairs, threw all the bandages he had at them, and then ran for the doctor.

As soon as the balding man was out the door, Hakkai sank down heavily on the edge of the nearest bed, his right hand pressed over the bleeding wound on his chest. Gojyo eyed the priest and the monkey in the room across the hall and then, after a minute, sat down beside Hakkai.

"Wouldn't mind if…left the healing to you this time…would you?" the youkai asked, trying on a smile. He coughed a few times and wiped the blood away from his mouth with one of his torn sleeves.

"Not at all, pal," Gojyo replied, putting an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Not at all."

--

The barkeep directed the doctor to first look after Gojyo and then move on to the others. Since the redhead was still firmly seated on the bed next to Hakkai (who was only semiconscious when the man arrived, leaning heavily against the half-breed), the brunette was looked after next. Hakkai mildly chided the doctor in almost everything that he did, telling him that he was bandaging wrong, the padding wasn't right, what did he know about what he was doing, and Gojyo couldn't stifle all of his laughter.

"Right," he said after the doctor had left for the room across the hall. "Let the teacher tell the doctor how to do his job."

Like a sleepy child, Hakkai rolled under the blankets and mumbled, "I've seen more injuries in this journey than that man will see in a lifetime. I'm the…authority on these things."

Jeep flew from where he had been perched on the windowsill to next to where Hakkai's hand lay. The dragon stretched out and cheeped before closing his eyes; his owner did the same.

"Gonna check on those two," Gojyo said, a little louder than necessary. He wanted Hakkai to know where he would be, in case he woke up and was alone…or something. Why would Hakkai wonder? He was a big boy, he could take care of himself.

"Have fun," the brunette said. "Get some sleep."

"You too."

--

Gojyo fell asleep in Sanzo's room as the doctor told him his prognosis. When he woke up, sunlight was flooding through the windows, Sanzo was still out, and Goku was gone. The redhead's back hurt from being propped up against the wall for so long, and he had a crick in his neck that started annoying him as soon as he stood up. He fumbled for his cigarettes, tried to light one, and found that his lighter had finally given up on him.

"Took long enough," he muttered, and shoved it back into his pocket.

Going across the hall, he came into the room just in time to see Hakkai working his way back to the bed from the bathroom. The brunette was going steady, holding walls and chairs and furniture to support himself, but Gojyo grumbled a curse and loped into the room anyway.

Grabbing Hakkai's shoulder, he steered him firmly to the bed and sat him down. "What, you were gonna take a bath or somethin'?" he asked.

Hakkai laughed and shook his head. "No, I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to manage that just yet. It started out as stretching my legs, but then I realized how much I'd like to use the facilities, and I got a little carried away."

"Overachiever," Gojyo said.

Neither of them said anything for a while. Then, quietly, Hakkai said, "When Sanzo wakes up, he'll want revenge. He won't take this sitting down."

"I know," Gojyo replied, just as softly. The redhead didn't expect Hakkai to keep going, but the brunette did.

"I…can't, either," he said haltingly. "The things that he – that Kami-sama – was planning to do to you…with you…I think that some revenge is required for that, also."

Gojyo surprised Hakkai by abruptly taking his chin in his hand and kissing him. There was a sound when the half-breed pulled away, something fairly loud and that made them both uncomfortable, but Gojyo didn't apologize.

Hakkai didn't want him to.

--

"I wonder where Goku went?" Hakkai asked the ceiling. He watched as Gojyo's cigarette spewed smoke up to the wooden beams; the barkeep had found him a new lighter.

"He's out back," the redhead replied. "I saw him sulking when I went down before."

"You should sleep."

"So should you."

The silence, this time, was not uncomfortable. Gojyo took a drag on his cigarette and put a hand behind his head. He was stretched out next to Hakkai on the bed, although he was pinching his cigarette on the far side of his mouth as a courtesy.

"You think…" Gojyo started, then stopped, shook his head.

"What?" Hakkai asked around a yawn. The half-breed glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Nothing," he said.

"Liar." Still, the issue wasn't pushed.

After a while, Gojyo stood up, cracked his back, stubbed his cigarette out against the wall. "I'm gonna go check on His Holiness." He started to leave the room, and then stopped. Over his shoulder, he said, "Get some sleep."

"Likewise," Hakkai replied loftily, and turned over in bed.

--

"What's the verdict?" Hakkai asked when Gojyo came back into their room, looking far more tired than he had in the past few days. It wasn't inconceivable, however; it was common knowledge that spending an hour with Sanzo could make anyone unhappy.

"He's not going anywhere," Gojyo affirmed, and sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. Pulling out a cigarette, he lit it, but then just stared at it. Hakkai, sitting beside him, leaned his head against Gojyo's shoulder. In turn, the redhead put an arm around his friend's shoulders.

"Neither are we," the brunette said. "Not for another day, anyway. Revenge will have to wait."

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"I was dozing. What about you?"

Gojyo made a seesawing motion with his hand. "On and off," he said. Then, "Why weren't you sleeping?"

Hakkai sighed. "Too much to think about."

"It's a wonder you ever get any sleep at all."

Neither of them had anything to say to that. Gojyo's cigarette smoldered, unused, between his fingers. He dropped it on the floor and stamped it out.

"Do you regret it at all?" Hakkai asked after a long time.

"Yeah," Gojyo answered softly. "I do."

--

Deft fingers peeled back red-stained bandages to expose the newly-made wounds beneath. Hakkai pressed his hand, the hand that his Kanan had always loved, over the round, scabbed-over hole, and concentrated his chi into a soft green glow. The gash closed up completely, healing over pink and soft. He found the other ones covering Gojyo's body and healed them, too, leaving him drained of his chi and feeling faintly hollow.

"Too bad you can't heal yourself," Gojyo said, pulling on a shirt.

"Yeah," Hakkai replied absently. "Too bad."

"You okay?" the redhead asked, setting a hand on his friend's shoulder and forcing him to focus his eyes. Red stared into green – complementary colors.

"Fine," the youkai said.

Sanzo, now awake, shouted for someone to get him a beer.

"You sure?" Gojyo pressed.

"I think I'd know," Hakkai snapped.

"Will one of you lazy asses get me a beer?" Sanzo repeated, louder this time.

"I'll do it," they muttered in unison.

--

Gojyo and Hakkai were the only ones conscious when they got back to the inn. By all rights, at least Hakkai deserved to have blacked out, but with Sanzo driving, it hadn't been an easy feat. The new inn looked remarkably like the last one, and the last one had looked very similar to the one before that, but it was an old same to them. Sanzo had passed out from new wounds and old, blood loss and fluid loss, and every other medical malady known to man just as he parked outside the inn. Goku was tired and hungry and hadn't felt particularly inclined to stay conscious. Gojyo wasn't feeling too bad himself, but Hakkai looked like hell.

They carted their companions inside, got two rooms, and collapsed in the empty one. Sanzo would be pissed that they had stuck him with the monkey, but they were over caring about it. Hakkai didn't ask to see to any wounds, didn't bother even wrapping his own up before sliding under the blanket and curling up, his too-long legs sticking out at odd angles.

"Comfortable?" Gojyo asked, sniggering.

Hakkai made a noncommittal noise and pulled a pillow over his head. "Get some sleep," he mumbled.

Gojyo leaned back on his bed and lit a cigarette. "You too, 'Kai."