The Wings

Chapter 11

It was Hiro who sat next to Elsa on the cot, who covered her naked bottom with his jacket, and who began stroking her hair until her eyes just barely opened. He had never been so close to a woman so close to nudity and it made a blush rise to his cheeks, but he was careful to only touch her hair and forehead. Elsa's lips began to move but there was no sound. Jack was staring, disconnected from the reality of his emotions.

"She needs you." Hiro whispered.

Jack crawled across the floor and grabbed her hand for the first time. It was warm. When Jack squeezed it he felt her return it. With his other hand he dug his fingers into her messy hair and pressed his forehead to hers. The smell of plumeria and blood was everywhere.

"I found you." Jack whispered. "It's going to be okay."

"Jack..." It was a whisper he wasn't sure even Hiro could hear. She was as still as a broken doll, used up and tossed aside.

"Oh my gosh—" Hiro jumped off the cot like he had been bitten. "Jack—" He pointed at Elsa, eyes wide and chewing his lip.

"What is it?" Jack pulled away from Elsa to look at whatever was making Hiro so upset. When he saw it, it stole his breath too.

Blood stained the pale blue of the dress shirt. It was wet and red all over her back and the cot. He lifted her shirt slightly so he could see under. Her wings were absent, replaced by two gaping wounds that ate into the flesh of her back.

"No," Jack tucked the shirt lightly over her back again. "No, no, Elsa, no." She grabbed his shirt with one shaking hand, feeling the rapid throb of his heart against her knuckles.

"Can we—can we help her?" Hiro asked.

"We're going to." Jack said firmly. "Go outside and get a cab." Hiro nodded and ran out the door, his chucks squeaking on the floor as he hit the corner.

Jack was looking down at Elsa in his arms, remembering the dream and how bittersweet it was to finally touch her so intimately. She was looking back at him with a face smudged in blood and dirt, that soft smile she only gave to him was alive on her lips and dancing in her eyes.

"I'm going to take care of your." He whispered. Jack eased Elsa back onto the cot and swiftly untucked the sheets from the cornerss. Wrapping Elsa like a package in the cloth, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her out. He could feel the eyes of the everyone in the bar as he walked with Elsa's lulling head against his chest but none of that mattered. Hiro was waiting outside, resting on the open door of a yellow cab.

"Take her feet," Jack isntructed. "Help me ease her in."

Hiro did as he was told guiding Elsa into the back of the cab. Jack gave the driver the address to his apartment and settled Elsa so that she was sitting on his lap with her head on his shoulder, his arms wrapped around her for protection. Her trembling had subsided and her breathing was even and slow. His hand rubbed her back in long, soft strokes.

Hiro whipped out his phone. "This is great! I'm going to call Tadashi! He'll be—"

Jack used one hand to smack the phone out of Hiro's hand. It bounced off of the stained fabric seats and to the floor of the cab with stale crumbs previous guests had left. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You can't call your brother."

"What? Why? He's looking for her."

"Because," Jack sighed. "Because... he'll turn her over again and they'll put her in that room again. Or someplace even worse."

Hiro was cradling his phone with one eyebrow raised. "Uh, weren't you one of those people who 'put her in a room,' so to speak?"

"Ugh. Well, yeah but—look, it's something I regret. I mean, what I see in her is... I don't know, humanity, I guess. She just—" Jack looked down at Elsa who was now sleeping on him. He had never ever seen her sleep, not even in video footage. This was something new, something Hiro couldn't appreciate. Jack could have brought Hiro's attention to it, but he decided to keep this knowledge all to himself.

"She wants and needs to be treated like a real person, and they don't understand that. They'll continue to treat her like a science experiment."

Hiro glanced at the driver, who glanced over his shoulder briefly and quickly put his eyes back on the road when he noticed Hiro looking at him. Their conversation was anything but private. Hiro opened a text message and typed in the message bar before showing Jack.

Doesn't she belong to the government? Won't you get in trouble?

Jack threw his head back and laughed. "You know what, I've already lost my job, any chance at a career involving my degrees, been arrested, and slummed around the shadiest parts of the city. That's only in the last twenty four hours! So, really, how much more do I have to lose?"

Hiro stared silently at Jack for a moment. His face was sober and his messy hair cast a shadow on his face that made him look old, much older than even Jack. "Don't you have a family?" Hiro asked.

"What? Yeah, I guess I have my dad. And my sister."

"Don't you want to see them again?"

Jack sighed. "Of course I do. But Hiro," He looked him straight in the eye. "You're too young to think that way."

"What!" Hiro jammed his elbow into the back of the seat so he could veer around at Jack. "I'm, like, fourteen!"

Jack put a finger to his lips and then adjusted Elsa on his lap. "Keep your voice down. "

"Sorry." Hiro said. "But about that thing—I don't feel right keeping things from Tadashi. I mean, he's my brother."

"Does it feel right to keep her in a glass cage?"

"No, of course not."

"Then I think you have a choice to make." Elsa whimpered in her sleep. Jack could feel a warm, damp sensation spreading against his arm. "I could really use your help."

Hiro's eyes moved from Jack's face to Elsa's and suddenly he looked like he was going to hurl. "O-Okay, I won't tell Tadashi. I want to help you. I mean, her, but I want to help you to help her."

"Good, then get out of the car."

"What?"

"We're here." Jack fished his wallet out of his back pocket and instructed Hiro on which card to hand the driver. After they paid, Jack lifted Elsa as gently as he could out of the back of the cab. She had completely soaked through the sheets and the blood was leaking onto Jack's old shirt. Hiro was still watching with a pale face.

"C'mon, I can only carry one person and it ain't you." Jack said. "My keys are in my back pocket. It's the gold one." Hiro pulled out Jack's keys with shaking hands. It took him a few tries to get it into the lock at the front door and then again when they were entering Jack's apartment. When he finally got the door, Hiro burst through and ran straight to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Jack didn't really have time for the distraction. He took Elsa to his bed and laid her down on her side, propping her into position with pillows and blankets he quickly balled up and stuffed beside her. He stepped back for a moment to look at her. Her eyes were closed but her breathing was out of cadence again.

"I don't know if you can hear me, Elsa," Jack brushed strands of blonde hair off of her sweaty forehead. "But I'm going to move your shirt so that I can get a look at your back and stop the bleeding, okay?" Gently, Jack began pushing up the tails of the shirt. He felt his own stomach roll upon seeing her wounds open and fresh. He assumed moving her must have aggravated them. Jack pulled Hiro's sweater over so that she wouldn't be exposed.

"I'll be right back." Jack stood and walked to the bathroom. Without knocking, he flung open the door. It smelled sour and thick. Hiro was sitting on the floor in front of the toilet with his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry." He croaked.

"It's okay." Jack said, not even looking at him. From underneath the sink Jack pulled out gauze pads, wash cloths, medical tape, and rubbing alcohol. From the medicine cabinet behind the mirror, he took out a pink bottle of Pepto Bismol and and set it on the counter before returning to Elsa. Her eyes were half-open now and she was watching him return to her.

Jack set down the medical supplies beside her and stroked her hair. For the second time he said, "It's okay." Gently so he wouldn't rock the bed, Jack sat down next to her and removed the sheet. He doused a wash cloth in rubbing alcohol. "This is going to hurt a bit, but I need to clean the wound." With one hand, Jack gently squeezed her shoulder. With the other, he applied the wash cloth to her wounds. Immediately he felt her shudder and Elsa gasped, swallowing air as she tried to hold still through the shock of pain.

"Shh, shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay." Jack quickly cleaned the wounds, changing the washcloths a couple of times. Remarkably, the wounds weren't as deep as he would have imagined them to be. He didn't really have the time to wonder why.

After they were clean, he applied enough gauze pads to cover both and then secured them with medical tape. Jack lightly rolled her to her side so that he could wrap it completely around her waist. Even though her chest was still covered by her shirt, a couple of times his finger brushed her breasts, making him blush and his fingers quiver, but he maintained his focus. When he was done Jack pulled the shirt and sheets back over so she was covered again.

At this point, Hiro walked out of the bathroom, still looking a little green at the gills and holding the bottle of Pepto Bismol like a soda.

"She okay?" He asked.

Jack nodded. Elsa seemed to be asleep again. Jack had positioned her on her side so that she wouldn't be lying directly on her wounds. He removed his eyes from her to look at Hiro for a moment.

"Are you okay?"

Hiro nodded. "Yeah, I... I just don't like blood. That's all." He took a swig of the Pepto Bismol.

"No more blood, thank goodness." Jack said. "Can you get me two bowls of warm water, a sponge, and a bar of soap from the bathroom?"

"Yeah." Hiro set his drink on the kitchen counter next to Jack's wallet and keys and began filling two large mixing bowls with warm water. When he was finished he brought them as well as the sponge and soap to Jack, who thank him and dipped Elsa's hair into one bowl.

"What are you doing?" Hiro asked.

Jack glanced at him. "I can't get her in the shower like this, so I'm just going to take the dirt off." He gestured towards the counter. "I want you to take fifty dollars out of my wallet and go buy her something to wear."

"Uh, I don't think I have the proper equipment for girl shopping, if you know what I mean."

"You can buy her cat pajamas for all I care, Hiro, but she can't stay in this."

"You have a lot of faith in me, don't you?" Hiro said as he pulled out fifty dollars from Jack and tucked the apartment key into his pocket.

"I don't have a choice." A smile slow and broken came to Jack's lips. "But you did."


A/N: Here we go! Thanks everyone for all of your kind comments. I have been getting a lot of positive feedback on the way I write Hiro. I love Hiro so much and he is a ton of fun to write. He is quickly becoming a central character in this even though originally I never planned to have him in here. Just out of curiosity, who do you see Hiro pairing well with? I've been looking at fanships at Vanellope is a popular one, but I'm just curious what everyone ships the lovely boy with. Ta ta for now! -Kay