A/N: I couldn't stand doing any more work on my papers so we have a most rare event, three updates at once, including some pointless Vlad torture!
Lina felt a little bad that she sent the message to the Misfits about the Hellions and their pasts. They needed to know, she comforted herself, so that they could help break them from the Hellfire Club, but it still felt wrong to tell the Misfits things told to her in confidence. Still, she kept Amira's background under wraps. What happened that night stayed between her and Akmira and about Vlad's she knew very little. He wasn't particularly talkative.
"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow." Vladimir grumbled as he staggered to his room after the battle with the Misfits and Jake Long in New York.
Usually.
Lina was glad that her friends were all right, though she didn't enjoy seeing the Hellions in pain either. And right now, they were in pain.
"Now I remember." Jacques moaned from the couch, a bandage wrapped around his head. "Why it's such a bad idea to annoy the Scarlet Witch."
"No kidding." Rodriguez agreed. He had a bandage wrapped around his ankle. "Still, we're not as bad off as the boss."
"Don't call me boss." Vlad ground out as he tied a sweatshirt around his waist, obviously in a lot of pain as he walked—with incredible slowness—to his room.
"Are you sure you don't want someone to—" Lina began.
"No!" Vladimir snapped. "I'm fine." Amira snorted in disbelief.
"Fine? A dragon just burned your butt!"
"That has to hurt." Semira winced sympathetically.
"Second-degree burns are not something you can just sleep off." Lina said to Vlad.
"I'll manage." He grumbled. "Almost to the door…"
"You started heading for the door ten minutes ago!" Amira exclaimed.
"It hurts to walk, okay?" He snapped as he took another half-step forward. Amira threw up her hands in annoyance.
"That's it! Lina, come on. You're a medic right? You know what to do to stubborn patients?"
"I'll get the duct tape." She sighed.
"Right. Come on." Amira said as she grabbed Vladimir's arm. Lina grabbed the other.
"What are you two—oh, no, you wouldn't dare!"
"Wouldn't we?" Amira smirked as they frog marched him into the infirmary.
"Let me go this instant!" Vladimir ordered as he tried—unsuccessfully—to wiggle out of their grip.
"I'll get his pants off!" Amira chirped.
"Oh no you don't!" A brief scuffle broke out. "Hey!"
"Well that solves the boxers vs. briefs mystery." Amira snickered as she held his pants in one hand.
"God this is so humiliating…" Vladimir moaned.
"It's gonna get worse." Lina told him, not unkindly. "Amira?"
"Got it." She grinned as she grabbed hold of his shorts.
"Don't—Yikes!" He gulped as he covered himself, his face crimson red.
"I'll get the bath started." Lina said as Amira busied herself with trying to take Vladimir's shirt off.
"Bath?" Vladimir shuddered. "It's drafty in here." He muttered as he stood naked.
"It's part of how you treat burns." Lina called over the sound of running water in the adjoining room. "Come on."
"I can handle this myself!" He snapped, furious and mortified.
"No, you can't." Lina said patiently with the air of one who has had to deal with a great many foolish patients with delusions of self-sufficiency.
"Move it buster. Get in before I kick your sorry rear in there." Amira threatened. Given how badly his backside was damaged already, Vladimir can be forgiven for not wanting to test Amira's patience.
Muttering under his breath in Russia, Vladimir stepped into the tub. "YIIEE!" He yelped as he stepped into the cold water. "Does it have to be this cold?" He asked, trying not to whine. Lina nodded. He sighed as he slowly tried to ease his way in.
After about five minutes of waiting Amira decided to speed up the process by simply shoving him down. "Hey!" Vlad sputtered, shivering. "Can I have a little privacy?" He asked as he covered himself.
"Stay in for five minutes." Lina told him as she pulled a rather reluctant Amira outside. Vladimir grumbled and muttered as he sat shivering in freezing water.
"You can come on out." Lina finally called. Sighing in relief, Vladimir stood up and made his way to the curtain separating the bathtub from the main infirmary.
"Can I get a towel?" He pleaded. Lina and Amira pulled the curtain open.
"Sorry, Vlad but not yet." Lina said as she walked him over to one of the beds. "I need you to lie down on your stomach so we can treat the…affected area." Amira giggled.
"Oh no! No way! Not a chance!" Vlad protested, backing away from them both.
"Don't be a baby." Lina sighed, starting to get a little frustrated as she held his arm. "Just lie down. The sooner you do as your told the sooner this will end."
"Not that I'm in a hury to be finished with this." Amira noted. Vlad, wondering what cosmic force he had somehow managed to offend, sighed and laid down on the bed.
"I should warn you." Lina said as she put on surgical gloves. "This may feel a bit chilly at first…"
"Hey, that's a sensitive area!" Vlad winced as she smeared something on his rear. "What is this stuff?"
"Burn ointment." Lina told him. "Aloe-vera. I'm going to put on some Silvadene too."
"Feel's kinda nice." He murmured. "Soothing…now can I put on some pants?"
"No. We need to keep you here for observation." Lina told him. "Check for blisters and swelling."
"I'm down with that. Yep. Observation sounds good to me." Amira agreed a little too quickly for Vlad's liking. Vladimir moaned.
"For how long?" Lina shrugged.
"The night at least. And maybe the next day or so." She turned to Amira. "I'm going to get some dinner. Why don't you stay here and apply the silvadene as needed?"
"All right." Amira agreed gamely as Lina walked out. She pulled up a chair next to Vlad's bed and sat down. "So…do you work out?"
"I hate my life." Vlad groaned into his pillow.