"Jaqulin..." a familiar voice called out to her. "Jaqulin..."
"What?" She snapped, her consciousness informing her unhappily that pain receptors were firing full throtle. However, no amount of annoyance would allow her to ignore the fact that the swelling in the side of her face made her sound sedated, and the pain that exploded her vision reminded her that her jaw had almost been broken. She moved her hand to her face but found herself unable to move very well.
"Don't move so much, the painkillers should be kicking in soon," a masculin voice whispered.
'I know that voice... but, I was in the temple... wasn't... No. I went into a ditch trying to escape that...thing.'
She attempted to say "Wu?" but it came out as "Who?"
"It's Jack." A hand squeezed hers gently; callouses on his fingertips were rough on her hand, and she almost jerked it back if it weren't for the painkillers kicking in right then to make her not care. She fell to sleep without realizing it.
She awoke to a nurse checking her vitals. She awoke again to a Jackbot patrolling the room. When she awoke for a third time, it was mainly because her painkillers wore off; she felt herself cry out and grab her face. Her fingers cooled her searing cheek, but it didn't help much. Through eyes blurred with tears, she watched the patrol exit the room to, she assumed, retrieve Jack. Sure enough, five minutes later he stepped through the door.
He looked different than she remembered. He had grown and filled in; he had matured. The eye makeup remained the same, but he wasn't so pale anymore; his face lost the last bit of babyfat it had clung onto, rendering his features angular and much like his father. His red hair had been slicked back with gel to allow the Spicer trademark red eyes to see everything unhindered. A pair of goggles hung at his neck. His clothing didn't change much; the tank top had been replaced with a long sleeved turtleneck, the coat had been abandoned for the moment, and the belt had a few pouches added onto it. All in all, the Evil Boy Genius had grown into an intimidating individual.
"I see you're awake."
"So I am," she croaked, "How did you find me?"
"Tracking device placed in the Jackbot head you stole from me." His tone held no accusation but a tone that scientists use when speaking about a subject; straight with no emotion.
"...Oh.."
"Yeah, 'oh'," he paused for a moment, "What, no sorry?"
"No."
"Oh. Very well. You'll be held here till your wounds heal, then moved to the basement so you can tell me what you were doing with my machine."
She blinked in surprise. What happened to him during the time she was gone?
He clapped once then held his hands open with a laugh.
"What did you expect? I'm an evil genius. I can't go easy on you simply because we're related..." he turned to leave but before he closed the door he said one last thing, "Oh, and welcome back Cousin. It's nice to see you again."
A mechanical nurse came inside the room a minute later and put something in her IV. Try as she could, she couldn't stay awake and eventually succumbed to the medication.