Thank you for your patience! The last few weeks were dedicated to editing the second draft of my new novel. Also I ended up writing a short fic for "Hazbin Hotel" on ArchiveofOurOwn.
Not to mention this chapter was REALLY intense for me to write.
"Are we ready?" Flug asked as he finished switching on the equipment in the van. "Lita, you suited up?"
"Yup," Lita said, adjusting her utility belt over her stealth suit.
Reaching downward, 5.0.5. did a frantic sort of dance as he whined.
"Alright, but make it quick," Flug said as the bear rushed out of the garage. "Anyone else need to go? It's a long drive to the base."
"I'm good!" Dementia said, bouncing in the passenger's seat.
"You sure? Because I'm not making any pitstops along the way!"
"Should we grab snacks then?" Lita asked as she wrestled with her mask.
Flug held up a paper bag. "5.0.5. made snickerdoodles!"
"Mmm, yummy."
After failing to stuff her ponytail up her mask yet again, Lita pulled it off for another attempt. Gloved hands then appeared from behind her, grabbed her mask and gently pulled it over her head.
"You'd think," Black Hat murmured as he tucked her hair in, "you would've figured this part out by now."
Lita chuckled as she turned to face him. "Well, I'm not good at everything like you, sir."
"Indeed," he said with a smirk.
Last night's conversation had proved helpful for Lita. While the dreams still persisted, she was able to relax in front of Black Hat again. She still had no idea what to do about these newfound feelings, but there was no point in worrying about them anymore.
Except she had awoken in her bed with no memory of how she'd gotten there. And there was only one person who could've made that happen. It made the situation even more questionable.
"Don't forget," Black Hat said as he started putting her gloves on for her. "We'll need that battery to power our future products, so don't disappoint me."
"You're not coming with us?" Lita asked, frowning under her mask.
He resisted the urge to meet her eyes. "I have…work I need to catch up on."
It was a weak excuse, but in reality, ever since his stunning realization last night, he didn't trust himself around her.
"But," Black Hat said, taking both her hands in his, "I trust that you are perfectly competent in pulling this off without my supervision."
Lita wondered if this had to do to with her insistence that she have a little more freedom. It was sort of touching that he had this much confidence in her.
"I won't let you down, sir."
He finally lifted his gaze and softly said, "I'm sure you won't."
He had yet to release her hands. Despite both pairs of hands being gloved, he could feel her warmth. Her face was mostly covered, but her stunning blue eyes shone through. It reminded him of the first time she'd trespassed into his world, when her eyes had blazed through the darkness. They were still her most striking feature.
"Hey!" Dementia shouted, popping up between them and forcing Black Hat to drop Lita's hands. "Fives is back from the bathroom! We going or what?"
Both Lita and Black Hat awkwardly placed their hands behind their backs. The former was relieved her mask was hiding her blush.
"Yes, well," Black Hat said, clearing his throat. "Get to it."
As he watched Lita step into the back of the van, the demon had a distressing thought.
"Flug! Dementia!" he exclaimed, beckoning them with his finger. "A word?"
The two minions obeyed.
"Yes, sir?" Flug asked, internally hoping he wasn't in trouble.
After a quick glance at Lita to make sure she wasn't listening, Black Hat pulled Flug and Dementia in and whispered, "If anything should go awry on this heist, resulting in something…unpleasant happening to Miss Ladrona," his claws began digging into his subordinates' arms, "I will personally ensure the same thing happens to you! Understood?"
Flug squeaked from both fear and confusion. "Y-Yes, sir! B-But why—?"
"Are you questioning my orders, Flug?"
"N-No, sir!"
Though the scientist was,in his head. Black Hat had never ordered him to watch out for anyone's safety before. Not Dementia's, not 5.0.5.'s. Why was he suddenly showing concern for Lita?
Dementia didn't seem suspicious. "No problem, boss! I was gonna watch out for her anyway! Kid's still a rookie." She huffed proudly. "She'd be lost without me!"
Releasing them, Black Hat returned his arms behind his back. "Just keep an eye on her." He was especially addressing Dementia. "I do not want that little incident in the alley to be repeated."
"Roger wilco!" Dementia said with a salute.
Flug followed her example. "We won't let anything happen to her, sir!"
Black Hat watched as everyone climbed into the van. The last thing he saw before the doors were shut was Lita's eyes lighting up at the sight of 5.0.5.'s snickerdoodles.
His hands twitched as he resisted the urge to pull her out of that van and keep her at his side for the rest of the night.
Dementia clapped her hands excitedly as Lita climbed back into the air duct with the nuclear battery in hand. It was a tiny yellow thing with a hazard symbol in it, but according to Flug, it packed a lot of power.
"I thought this was supposed to be hard," Lita said, tucking the battery into a pouch on her utility belt. "But this was like taking candy from a baby!"
"When's the army ever gonna learn that laser grids and motion sensors never work?"
Lita put the grate back into place. "And why are these air ducts so big?"
"I know right?" Dementia said as she began crawling back the way they'd come. "It's like they're begging to be robbed!"
The vents were pretty dark, but that was no problem for Dementia. Lita, on the other hand, had to keep her night-vision goggles on in order to see.
"No dilly-dallying now, ladies," Flug said through their earpieces. "I can only keep the security cameras on loop for so long."
"We're almost out, Flug," Lita said as they came to a fork in the vents.
Dementia started going left, when Lita was pretty sure they'd come from the other way.
"Uh, Dem?" she said, crawling after the lizard-girl. "You sure this is the right—?"
"Absolutely!" Dementia exclaimed. "If there's one thing I'm really good at, it's a sense of direction!"
Lita smirked under her mask. "Says the girl who wandered from a mental hospital and into a snake pit."
"Ooh, low blow, Little Lita." She giggled. "You're getting way better at comebacks!"
They came to a dead end, a grate being the only thing in the way of freedom. Lita, remembering they had entered from the outside, noticed that the cold night air wasn't blowing through the grate.
"Wait, Dem! I don't think—"
But she was too late to stop the mutant from punching the grate open. It clanged to the floor as she poked her head out and was met with a pair of army boots.
Looking up, she found an armed military officer staring down at her in surprise. Dementia gave a sheepish smile and retreated back into the vents before the officer could fire his automatic weapon.
"Yeah, we gotta get outta here!" Dementia said, squeezing past Lita.
"Why?"
"Cuz we've just been spotted!"
Sure enough, the air duct was filled with red light as an alarm sounded.
"Dementia, not again!" Flug screamed over the intercom.
"Yeah, yeah, lecture me later, nerd!" Dementia retorted.
The women picked up the pace, only for an iron door to seal the path ahead of them.
"Wow, gotta give 'em props for the upgrades." Dementia gestured for Lita to move back. "Guess we're gonna have to make our own exit!"
Punching beneath her, Dementia made a hole in the air duct and jumped through. Learning not to question the mutant's actions by now, at least where running away was concerned, Lita followed suit. They landed in a hallway, one direction leading to a dead end, the other from which a herd of footsteps was drawing closer.
"This way, slowpoke!" Dementia said, racing towards the dead end.
Lita sprang to her feet just as a troop of armed guards were coming around the corner. The next few seconds seemed to play in slow motion.
She heard the gunshots. She felt the pain. First, her left leg. Then her right hip. Then her left shoulder.
She didn't scream. She was too shocked to. The sounds of the bullets became static as she fell forward, her goggles cracking against the floor. Then everything went black.
As Dementia approached the dead end, she whipped a bazooka out of her hair and fired a rocket without so much as a pause. The wall exploded, and Dementia could see the night sky.
"Yahoo!" Dementia screamed. "We're home free, kid! Kid?"
When Lita didn't respond immediately, Dementia glanced back and stopped in her tracks, dropping her bazooka in the process. Several feet away from her, lying face down in a pool of blood, was her colleague.
The mutant's face paled at the sight. She wasn't moving. Lita wasn't moving.
"Holy shit! Kid!"
She bounded towards the unconscious woman, but the oncoming shower of bullets prevented her. Picking up the bazooka, she fired at the troops. It only knocked half of them down, but it distracted them all enough for her to swoop in, scoop Lita into her arms, rush back towards the exit she'd made and leap out over the fortress wall and into the forest below.
Once again, her mutant powers were in her favor. Dementia didn't miss a beat as she landed hard on the ground, ignoring Flug's panicking cries in her ear, and sprinted through the trees to where the getaway van was hidden behind a large bush. Flug swung the back doors open and squeaked when he saw the state Lita was in.
"Sweet Einstein! What the—?"
"They're still onto us, you idiot!" Dementia shouted, now less than five feet away. "Drive!"
Flug scrambled into the driver's seat, shifted the gear and slammed the gas pedal. Dementia jumped into the van just as it started skidding down the hill. 5.0.5., in a moaning frenzy, shut the doors behind them. Panting heavily, Dementia fell to her knees, still holding Lita's limp and bleeding body.
"What the hell happened?!" Flug demanded, his hands jittering as he spun the van onto the main road.
"I-I…" Dementia sputtered. "W-We…g-guns…" The blood was oozing onto her lap, into her hands. "So…much…blood."
"Don't even think about it, Dementia!"
"W-What are you talking about?"
Flug looked up at her in the rearview mirror. Blood was pooling all around Lita, and Flug had been so sure Dementia would try and lap it up. Instead, she was staring down at Lita, eyes wide in horror. It baffled Flug, as it wasn't like her to be squeamish around blood.
"She…she's bleeding, Doc." Dementia raised her gaze towards him. "That's…not good, r-right?"
That was when Flug began to realize that for once, he and Dementia agreed on something. Neither of them wanted Lita to die.
He wanted nothing more than to put all that first-aid training to good use, but this was more than just a scrape or a cut. From what he could see in the mirror, there were at least three bullet wounds, and she was bleeding out of all of them! For all he knew, those bullets could've pierced her organs! She needed a real medical professional!
But he couldn't even apply basic first-aid if he was the only one in this van who knew how to drive.
"Dementia, listen to me carefully!" Flug said as he struggled to keep his eyes on the road. "You're going to have to stop the bleeding! And I don't mean suck on her wounds!"
Another first, Dementia actually seemed to be listening. "W-What do I do?"
"You'll need a bandage, or a piece of cloth! Then you'll have to—"
He was interrupted by the sound of the monitors switching on, Black Hat taking up all the screens.
Shit, he's going to kill us! Flug thought, remembering his boss' threat from earlier.
"Did you maggots get the…?"
The moment Black Hat's eye fell upon Lita, his disgruntled expression turned into one of panic. Like something out of The Ring, Black Hat burst out of the screens.
"WHAT HAPPENED?!"
"Guns," Dementia said weakly. "They had guns."
Not caring that others were watching, Black Hat swiped Lita out of Dementia's arms and into his.
"Lita?" he said, ripping off her mask and goggles. "Lita, can you hear me? Speak to me!"
Taking in a gasp of air, Lita's eyes fluttered open. "B-Boss?"
Her voice was so weak, Black Hat might not have heard her if not for his supernatural hearing.
"Yes, Lita," he said, tilting her face up. "It's me. I'm here." She felt so cold. "Stay with me!"
"I-I…I have…"
She was attempting to raise her right hand, which was clenched up in a ball. Black Hat snatched it up and opened it. It held the nuclear battery.
Black Hat looked back at her, then at the battery. After a moment's pause, he took the battery and tossed it over his shoulder.
"How do we fix her, Flug?" Black Hat said in a low growl.
Flug had been taking several deep breaths to keep a cool head. "W-We'll have to take her to Dr. Corona at the Hatsville Hospital! But until we get there, you need to stop the bleeding by bandaging her wounds and applying pressure to…"
Flug stopped speaking upon hearing a loud RIP! Glancing in the mirror, he saw that his boss had torn his jacket in two. He then ripped one half again and proceeded to bandage Lita's shoulder, hip and leg with the pieces. Dementia and 5.0.5. sat there slack-jawed. All three minions were wondering why Black Hat didn't just conjure up some bandages. The truth was his mind was in too much of a frenzy to even think of that, or how questionable his actions looked.
"I…goofed," Lita muttered as she began slipping out of consciousness.
"No, no!" Black Hat pulled her close, his tentacles applying pressure to her three wounds as he held her hand in his. "This isn't your fault, Lita!" His other hand began stroking her head. "Just stay with me. Stay with me!"
Her eyes rolled back as she passed out against his chest. Gasping, Black Hat lowered his ear to her chest. He could hear her faint heartbeat and feel her breathing, though both were very slow. Lifting his head, he continued to cradle her as he glared at the rest of his subordinates.
"You were supposed to protect her, you imbeciles! Flug, why didn't you make this blasted suit bulletproof?! This wouldn't have happened if you had been more—"
"We know that!" Flug shouted, having lost all patience by this point. "Look, sir, I get that you're upset! We all are! But yelling at us won't help Lita! So whatever bullshit you're gonna give us, can you save it for after we've made it to the hospital and LET ME FUCKING DRIVE?!"
Normally, Black Hat would've berated Flug for speaking to him in such a manner. But the feeling of Lita's limp, almost lifeless body gave him pause. He looked around at the others. Dementia had been dead silent for what might've been a new record for her. 5.0.5. was cowering in the corner, on the verge of tears. Flug was resisting the urge to look back at the distressing scene as he sped his way through red lights.
The four of them came to a silent agreement. It didn't matter whose fault this was, or how this had happened. All that mattered right now was getting help for their colleague.
Getting help for their friend.
There were many screams as the group of villains burst into the hospital lobby. Many people in the waiting area, even those with injuries, bolted out, not wanting to get caught up in one of Black Hat's exploits. Seeing the demon carrying an unconscious woman did nothing to ease their panic.
The nurse at the front desk, a brunette in her thirties with a nametag reading "Rosie," yelped and ducked out of sight. Dementia leaped over the desk and picked up the woman.
"Call the cops, and I'll make you a patient here!" Dementia cried, giving her a firm shake.
"Dementia, put her down!" Flug said.
5.0.5. wrenched the mutant away from the nurse, who was shivering.
"C-Can I, um," she said with a gulp, "h-help you?"
"Fix her!" Black Hat shouted, holding up Lita. "That's what you maggots are paid to do, isn't it?!"
"What my boss means to say," Flug said, deciding one of them had to be the adult here, "is that our colleague needs medical attention! Is Dr. Corona in?"
"D-Dr. Corona?" Rosie stammered, crouching down so that only her head was visible over her desk. "H-He doesn't work here anymore!"
Black Hat growled. "Do you know where we might find him?!"
"H-He skipped town after an article was published about h-him being a retired villain! Don't kill me!"
Several other hospital staff came rushing to the lobby to see what the commotion was, but ran off the moment they saw the villains. Ignoring them, Black Hat bent over the desk, snarling at the terrified nurse.
"My Lita is injured! One of you fix her now, or so help me, I'LL BURN THIS BLASTED PLACE OF HEALING TO THE GROUND!"
"Sir!" Flug took a big risk in placing his hand on the demon's shoulder, but this was a crisis. "No one's going to be able to do anything if you keep scaring everyone away!" Once Black Hat had taken a step back, Flug cleared his throat and calmly asked, "Miss Rosie, could we please get someone to look at our colleague's bullet wounds before we burn this place to the ground?"
Rosie only tensed up further.
"Alright, let's try this again." Flug placed his hands together. "Is there anyone here with a cool enough head to operate on a criminal while under the supervision of wanted murderers?"
Rosie paused for a moment, regretting the thought that had come to mind. Shakily picking up the phone, she pressed the intercom button.
"A-Andrea Espinosa, p-please come to the front desk. And hurry!"
Flug stiffened. "Andrea Espinosa? No, wait! You can't be serious! Isn't there someone else you could—?"
"M-Miss Espinosa's our best intern!" Rosie said defensively. "A-And she doesn't scare easily!"
"An intern?" Black Hat tightened his grip on Lita, taking care not to dig his claws into her skin. "I'm not letting some amateur operate on my Lita!"
"Y-Yeah!" Flug exclaimed. "That's why! W-We can't have someone with no experience perform such a delicate—"
"What's going on around here?"
The scientist winced at the voice. He gulped as he turned to see the once woman of his dreams come up to the front desk, looking strikingly alluring in blue scrubs.
"No, no, no," Flug said, avoiding contact with those lovely brown eyes. "No, this won't work out!"
"S-Sorry, A-Andi," Rosie said guiltily. "I…I know you're not licensed yet, b-but…you have such a strong stomach and I didn't know who else to call…"
Andi took in the image before her. While the sight of the world's most dangerous villain was naturally unnerving, she paid more attention to the unconscious woman in his arms, wrapped in some makeshift bandages that were soaked in blood.
"What exactly do you want me to—?"
Dementia thrust herself into Andi's face. "Our friend's been shot! Can you fix her?!"
Before Andi could respond, Flug cut in by pushing Dementia away. "Nope! You heard the nurse! She isn't qualified! We're not letting this perfect stranger help us!"
While the scientist was correct about her lack of experience, Andi was slightly offended by his tone. Regardless of how dangerous these people were, Andi did not like it when her intelligence was insulted.
"Is it because I'm young?" She crossed her arms. "Or because I'm a woman?"
"What? No!" Flug held up his hands. "And it has nothing to do with the fact that you're trans either!"
Andi blinked. "How'd you even know I was—?"
"Aw, who cares if she's a real doctor or not, Fluggie?!" Dementia shouted. "You're not a real doctor and you set my broken bones all the time!"
Flug clenched his fists. "I am a real… That's not the issue here! Lita's life is at stake and we need someone who is qualified to remove the bullets from her!"
Andi had never operated on a human without supervision. But from the terrified looks on her colleagues, she could see that no one else was going to jump in and help. It was true that these people were criminals, but she recognized Lita from that day in the makeup aisle. She'd seemed like a decent enough human being. Regardless of her crimes, she was still an injured person who needed medical attention. And doctors were supposed to remain unbiased, keeping their emotions in check in situations like this.
Fortunately, that was something Andi was exceptionally good at.
"Rosie," she said to the nurse, "get a stretcher in here." While Rosie made the call, Andi turned to the villains. "I'll do my best to help your friend."
"But—" Flug started to say.
"You wanna take your chances with the spineless wimps, Doctor?"
As she said this, two nurses arrived with a stretcher, but upon seeing Black Hat, ran away screaming, leaving the stretcher behind. Sighing, Andi took one end of the stretcher.
"Put her down," she said to Black Hat. "You, bear, give me a hand with this!"
5.0.5. grunted as he took the other end of the stretcher. The demon carefully set Lita onto the stretcher, but did not let go of her hand as she was wheeled towards the operating room at the end of the hall.
It was at this moment Lita started coming to, not really seeing much but flashes of white, but fully aware of the sound of wheels, the beeps of heart monitors as they passed occupied rooms.
No, not the hospital!
She could hear the flatline, her younger self screaming, "Mom!"
"Stay back, mija! Stay back!" her father cried as he held her hand firmly.
"D-Don't," she murmured, "wanna…die."
The hand around hers tightened, but the voice that spoke wasn't her father's.
"You're not dying!" Black Hat whispered, his other claw cupping her face. "You're not dying. Not today, not on my watch."
As Lita slipped back into unconsciousness, Black Hat feared that her life would extinguish right then and there, and found that he could not bear it. While he could always summon her soul from the spiritual plane, as her contract was still valid, she wouldn't be corporeal. He would no longer be able to touch her, to hold her, to…feel her warmth.
He'd never wanted to keep anyone alive this badly. Not since his mother. He hadn't told Lita of the time he'd tried summoning his mother's spirit, but had hesitated at the last minute, worried about what she would say if she saw what he'd become. And he learned now, as he held the weak form of the woman he'd come to care about, that even if he had gone through with it, his mother wouldn't truly be in his grasp. Lita wouldn't be in his grasp.
Black Hat didn't just care for Lita. He couldn't imagine going forward without her.
Once they reached the double swinging doors, Andi stopped the stretcher. "Mr. Black Hat? Mr. Black Hat, please! I have to take her inside and get the bullets out!"
He clutched her hand tighter. "I'm not leaving her!"
Andi had seen this before from family members refusing to let their loved ones go into an operation alone. Sometimes they were permitted into the operating room as long as they wore the proper safety apparel, but the demon was too unstable at the moment.
"Sir, please," Andi said, approaching him cautiously. "You'll just get in the way. Trust me, I—"
"Trust you?!" Black Hat snapped. "A shrimpy little intern I've only just met?! I don't think you realize who you're dealing w—"
"I know exactly who I'm dealing with, Mr. Black Hat!" Andi said firmly, squaring her shoulders and looking the demon straight in the eye. "I understand your concern, and while I may not have the proper credentials for this procedure, I received my Bachelor's of Science in Biology with an emphasis in Pre-Med with a 4.1 GPA and was granted certificates of excellence in Physiology, Microbiology and Biochemistry; so I believe that qualifies as me having more medical knowledge than the rest of you put together! Not to mention I'm the only one here willing to operate on your friend! So, if you want her to live, I suggest you back off, sit down, and let me do what I've been trained to do!"
There was silence for a moment. Flug stared at Andi, completely in awe. She'd always had more of a backbone than him. It was one of the things he'd always admired about her.
Black Hat was stunned as the small human continued to glare at him defiantly. This was the second human to talk back to him without any trace of fear. He was wondering if he was losing his touch. But after taking a whiff, he realized that this woman was absolutely pungent with fear. She was just exceptionally good at hiding it.
Slowly, the demon realized that Andi's words held truth, so he reluctantly released Lita's hand.
"If she dies," Black Hat said in a warning tone, "you die."
Andi nodded. "Fair enough." She turned to Flug. "You're a doctor, right?"
Flug stiffened, afraid that she'd caught him staring. "W-Well, not m-medically, though I've, uh, vivisected quite a few—"
"Good enough." She grabbed his wrist, causing him to squeak. "I'm gonna need an extra pair of hands."
Thinking too much about Lita to argue, Flug helped Andi wheel the stretcher into the operating room. Andi did her best to keep calm at the fact that this was her first time removing bullets as she rushed to put on a mask, hair net and gloves.
"Guess you're prepared," she said, noting Flug's paper bag and gloves.
"Err, um, yeah," Flug said, wringing his hands together nervously.
He didn't tell her that this was his first time operating on someone in an effort for them to live. Being in the same room with his unknowing high school sweetheart didn't help. He really shouldn't have been surprised seeing her here, as she'd often talked about becoming a doctor someday. His heart practically stopped when she turned towards him holding a tray of really, really sharp, glistening medical tools.
To someone who vivisected people for fun, the sight was more exhilarating than terrifying.
"Oh, wow," he murmured, trying so hard to keep his hands from shaking.
Andi took his reaction to mean the opposite. "You want your friend to die, Doctor?"
This snapped Flug back to his senses. "N-No!"
She grabbed his arm. "Then stop standing there shaking like a leaf and help me!"
Black Hat paced around the waiting room, glancing at the clock anxiously every few seconds. The hospital staff and patients avoided the villains like the plague. Most incoming patients darted out immediately, deciding to risk whatever injury or illness they had rather than cross Black Hat.
The other two remained relatively quiet, 5.0.5. preoccupying himself with a picture book, Dementia tearing out the pages of magazines with her teeth. Once she ran out of magazines, she began slowly chewing on the ripped pages absentmindedly.
"Do you have to make so much noise?!" Black Hat hollered, even though her chewing hadn't been that loud.
Dementia swallowed the page. "I eat when I'm upset." Her crossed legs flapped as she looked at the clock. "They've been in there a long time."
"It'll be fine." An uncharacteristic squeak in his voice suggested he didn't believe this. "Flug's with her! And the lady in there at least has some medical knowledge!" He stopped, growling towards the double doors at the end of the hallway. "So why's it taking so damn long?!"
"Boss?"
He snapped towards her. "WHAT?!"
Dementia bit her lip. "Is…is Little Lita gonna…die?"
Her voice was so quiet, so broken. Black Hat had never seen her like this, not even before her mutation, concerned for another being's life. That's when he realized that Lita wasn't just important to him, but all of them. Had she really made such an impact on their villainous gang, that they should all be despaired if she were to perish?
"I thought you despised her," he said, calming down slightly.
"Not really." Dementia crumpled a torn page in her hand. "She…she's nice. Not in a goody-two-shoes way, but…she doesn't act all scared around me. Not anymore." She tossed the paper ball into a waste basket across the room. "She says nice things about me. I'm smart. I'm useful." She chewed the corner of a page. "She treats me like…like…"
"Like you're a human being?" Black Hat finished for her.
"Yeah. And it's my fault, ya know? If I hadn't gone the wrong way…" She paused as she settled the magazine page in her lap. "It's not…bad that I feel this way about her, is it, boss?" She rocked in her seat. "I mean it's not like I get all mushy or anything, but you don't like it when I tell you my feelings and—"
"No, Dementia. I…" Sighing, he leaned down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know exactly how you feel."
Dementia looked up at him, stunned that he was touching her so gently. He'd only ever touched her to get her away from him, or to punish her. She'd waited years for him to touch her like this!
So then, why did it feel so…underwhelming?
As if just realizing what he was doing, Black Hat quickly retracted his hand. "Don't read too much into that!"
"Uh, yeah." Dementia was still in too much of a daze to process the situation. "Sure."
Once he heard Andi's and Flug's footsteps coming down the hall, Black Hat leaped towards them. He smelled Lita's blood before he saw it soaked down their fronts.
"Well?!" he demanded, taking Andi by the shoulders.
"Is she dead?!" Dementia cried, jumping up from her seat.
"Mroo?!" 5.0.5. grunted fearfully as he put down his book.
Flug looked about ready to reboot into protective mode when Andi calmly plucked Black Hat's claws off her.
"We managed to remove all three bullets," she said. "Fortunately, they caused no major tissue or organ damage. I think her current state of unconsciousness is due to the shock and blood loss. But otherwise, she's stabilized."
Dementia blinked. "What's that mean in English?"
Flug relaxed his shoulders. "It means she's going to be okay."
Squealing in delight, 5.0.5. stood up and threw his arms around Dementia, who was too relieved to complain about being choked to death. Black Hat closed his eye, breathing out all the tension that had been building up inside him the last hour.
"She's lost quite a bit of blood though and will need a transfusion," Andi said. "You wouldn't happen to know her blood type?"
Black Hat, Flug and Dementia all answered, "AB negative!"
The intern looked between them in bewilderment. "You, uh…must be really close."
"Nah!" Dementia said, pointing to her nose. "Just have a really good sense of smell!"
Flug laughed sheepishly. "It's, uh, my job to know my colleagues' medical information! I'm, uh, not a weirdo or anything!"
"Speak for yourself," Dementia said, poking his bag. "Boop!"
Andi shook her head. "Whatever." She turned to Flug. "Doctor, go monitor the patient while I get the blood."
Black Hat watched as the intern left, noting how completely calm she was after the whole ordeal. He had to hand it to her. Despite her lack of experience, the woman knew what she was doing.
"Uh, sir," Flug said quietly once Andi was out of earshot. "I know Lita needs care, but…we can't stay here." He gestured towards the people running out of the waiting room. "Our presence here is disruptive. It won't be long before the heroes or police show up. And, uh, subsequently, the press."
Black Hat knew he had a point. While he could fend off anyone who'd dare get in his way, tonight's incident was sure to raise a lot of questions. What if word got out that he'd threatened to burn down a hospital if no care was offered to his wounded subordinate? Would people figure out just how important Lita was to him? Would they think he'd gone soft?
Not to mention with Lita being in such a sorry state, she might be overwhelmed by pesky reporters trying to get the story out of her, and she'd have no physical way of defending herself. And if a hero were to find their way into her room…
"What would you suggest, Doctor?" Black Hat asked.
"Maybe," Flug said, clasping his hands together, "you should teleport Lita and all the medical equipment we need back to the manor. Now that the bullets have been removed, I'm sure I can keep an eye on—"
"I can't."
"What?"
The demon's claws twitched behind his back. "I…I've never teleported someone while in that…condition. I…I don't know what… She might not make it through in one piece."
Flug was astonished that his boss was actually concerned over the possibility of harming someone. Then again, his behavior tonight had been uncharacteristic for the most part. Not only had he helped rush Lita to the hospital, but he had torn his own coat to treat her wounds and hadn't let her go the entire drive here, as if she would perish the moment he did. Black Hat had never acted that way when one of his employees was injured. He'd always been cold, indifferent.
But he was definitely different when it came to Lita. Flug knew that could only mean one thing, and it scared him. Yet he wasn't going to bring it up. Not at a moment like this.
"The other option is that we steal an ambulance," Flug said. "But it might not be safe to move her at the moment. If you open a portal, we'd be moving her at a much shorter distance."
Black Hat contemplated this for a moment, and decided that should he open a portal, he would shove Dementia and 5.0.5. through it first to ensure that it was safe.
"Very well, Flug. But only if Dr. Espinosa accompanies us."
"W-What?" Flug squeaked.
"She seems competent enough to monitor Miss Ladrona until she's fully recovered."
"B-B-But…Andi…in my…our home?!"
Black Hat cocked an eyebrow at Flug referring to the intern so informally. "Are you…pre-acquainted with her, Flug?"
"You mean…you don't recognize her, sir?"
Black Hat took a moment, repeating the intern's name in his head and picturing her face. In his frantic state, he hadn't paid much attention to her. It had been a few years since he'd heard the name, and her appearance had become much more feminine since. Suddenly, Flug's nervousness around her made sense.
"I see," the demon said simply. "Her presence will not be an issue, I trust?"
"N-No, sir," Flug said, deciding that Lita's health was more important than his personal feelings. "I s-swear she doesn't remember that we were," he tapped his fingers together, "involved. And…please do nothing to change that?"
The last thing the scientist needed was for things to be more awkward than they already were.
"We will discuss this matter later," Black Hat said gruffly. "Once Dr. Espinosa is finished with the blood transfusion, we are all leaving."
"Color's coming to her cheeks," Andi said, glancing towards the heart rate monitor. "Vital signs are normal. Shouldn't be long before she wakes up."
Flug had been staring at her throughout the entire transfusion. "You're a natural. For an intern." He glanced down at Lita, who was now sleeping peacefully. "We can't thank you enough for this."
"No problem," Andi said with a smile. "Practice for when I get my license."
"Which is what," Flug said with a sigh as he reached into his lab coat, "is going to make this next part a teensy bit awkward."
Hearing a click, Andi looked up to find the evil scientist pointing some kind of ray gun at her.
"I'm afraid you'll be coming with us, An—Miss Espinosa."
Andi blinked in bewilderment. "What?"
"Lord Black Hat wants you to come back to headquarters with us and make sure Lita recovers. Just cooperate and no one will get hurt."
She glanced down at the gun and then at him. "You people sure have a funny way of showing gratitude."
Flug tilted his gun to the side. "Gather whatever medical supplies you need and we'll be on our way."
Andi didn't obey him immediately, but took a moment to scrutinize him. He was so scrawny, only an inch taller than her. His voice was so commanding, yet a little squeaky. It was like he was trying to be scary, but failing.
It reminded her of the first time she'd met a certain someone, over a decade ago.
"W-What?" Flug said once he noticed her sizing him up. "What are you staring at?"
Andi smirked. "Just wondering how a guy who wears a paper bag can look so tough."
His neck reddened, the only indication that he was blushing. It caused Andi to snicker.
"I-I'm the one holding the gun!" Flug shouted. "Don't laugh!"
"Alright, alright," Andi said, holding up her hands.
But she still found it hard to keep a straight face as she went to get the medical supplies. The evil scientist was a lot more awkward in person than he had appeared on TV. Awkward, she thought, but kind of adorable.
Please excuse my very, VERY limited medical knowledge.