A/N: Yay updates!
Kyd held his side as he made his way down the street. The slight ache from a few hours ago had evolved into mind jarring pain that made it hard to even stand up. He was sweating bullets and his bruise had gone from nasty looking to downright scary. It had grown darker and darker and spread in size substantially. He felt like he was going to throw up from the pain it took to stagger out of the church and down the street. Though he hated to go to a hospital, due to how he'd gotten hurt, the amount of pain he was in was not something he could ignore.
His vision was swimming in front of him and despite what he wanted; he couldn't keep to a straight line. It certainly didn't help that the closest hospital was Gotham General, which wasn't close at all. His whole midsection and lower back were throbbing but he pushed that out of his head as much as he could. He focused on a spot further down the street and performed a clumsy teleport. It was stupid; he was dressed as a normal kid. But he knew he couldn't afford to go slow either. Unfortunately, when he reappeared he hit his knees hard. Kyd groaned and struggled to not fall over completely. He would never manage to get back up if he lay down.
Struggling back to his feet, Kyd swallowed hard to fight against the bile rising in his throat. This was just horrible. He staggered to the side and knocked over a trashcan. He winced at the noise as well as the person who called out to him. He must have attracted some bum's attention from further down the alley. They usually didn't like it when someone messed with their 'stuff' though it was all trash.
He could see the giant lit up sign for Gotham General up ahead but he knew from experience it was still several blocks off. Kyd grit his teeth and took a few more steps before he had to pause to gasp for air. He would never make it at this rate. He felt ready to pass out any moment.
Kyd managed a few more steps before he noticed the darkness crowding in around his vision. He mentally cursed and leaned heavily against a brick wall that had the Bat Signal crudely spray painted across it. Someone else had then crossed the symbol out, only for the cross out to be covered itself with another bat sign in a different color. Kyd tried to force himself to take another step but he stumbled. He fell to the ground, just getting his hand out in front of him in time to break his fall. "Hey, kid! You okay?" someone called.
Kyd raised his head and looked to the side to see a blue uniformed shape coming closer. He struggled to try and get to his feet but another wave of pain made sure he didn't get up. The blackness swept up around his vision and the last thing Kyd was aware of was hitting the ground hard.
The black of unconsciousness was all he knew for a while until a familiar voice chimed in. "Hm, probably shouldn't have run, Kyd. They'd have been able to treat you a lot faster if you hadn't escaped."
Kyd blinked in surprise before looking around at the darkness. Nelson? Why are you bothering me this time?
"Bothering is such a strong word," Nelson replied. "Think of it as checking in on. When I heard you escaped well, I wanted to be sure you were alright."
How did you hear I escaped? I thought you were trapped in that helmet with Nabu?
"Just because we don't have bodies doesn't mean we don't know anything about what's going on. Especially when it comes to the magical world. And you're definitely part of that world, Kyd. We just kept an ear to the ground for you."
We?
"Of course, I've got company in this thing after all. I told Nabu about you. We don't have much better to do than talk, you know. And he was curious. Don't worry though, I figured you would like him in your head even less than me so I made him promise not to come in here," Nelson supplied. "He is interested in you though, Kyd. He wonders what someone like Klarion could be up to taking on an apprentice. It's not his usual style you know."
So, I'm a magical curiosity now. Good to know, I guess, Kyd thought sourly. He didn't exactly enjoy being a spectacle. Especially not to disembodied magical beings and old men.
"Oh, don't get so uppity, Kyd. It's not always a bad thing to attract attention."
It is where I'm from, Kyd replied simply. Now, if you don't mind, I'm pretty sure I'm dying. I'd like to do it in peace.
"Don't be melodramatic. You're not dying. Your spleen just ruptured," Nelson said offhandedly.
If Kyd had eyes in his mind they would have widened. Ruptured? Don't say that like it's nothing!
"It is nothing. Not like that's a vital organ or anything. You'll be fine. They're removing it now and you're young enough to recover without a problem. Just relax. You're making your heart rate skyrocket," Nelson counseled. "By the time you wake up you'll be sore and tired but just fine. Trust me on that."
I don't see why I should, Kyd said, folding his arms over his chest. He was far from happy about this. If it wasn't for those hero kids he wouldn't even be in this mess. They'd hit him so hard to rupture one of his organs for goodness sakes!
"I don't have any reason to lie to you, Kyd," Nelson replied. "Though, when you wake up you'll probably have to answer some questions, you know."
Kyd's non-existent eyes widened again. He hadn't yet thought about that part. What on earth was he going to say about this? It would probably be safest to say he was mugged. That happened all the time and they had no way of finding out anything different. It was a lame excuse though. One that everyone in Gotham used when they didn't want to answer truthfully. He'd probably be seen straight through. Maybe he should just recover and then teleport the hell out? It probably wouldn't be that hard. They had no reason to think he'd done anything wrong. Not yet at least.
"Don't go and freak out, Kyd. Remember they're still operating on you," Nelson said. "You know you could just tell them the truth."
Kyd scoffed. Oh yes, that's genius. Let me just go and tell everyone that I'm training under a supervillain and Lord of Chaos. I'm sure that will go over very well. Especially when I tell them I got punched by a hero's brat and that's why my spleen ruptured. If they don't lock me up in Arkham they'll put me in jail.
"Alright, alright. No need for sarcasm. And really, you don't have to be training under Klarion. You can find a better teacher than him," Nelson reasoned.
Oh, yeah? Who? The disembodied dead man?
Nelson made a thoughtful noise. "Eeh, probably not me. But I'm sure Nabu could teach you a thing or two."
Kyd recoiled from that idea instantly. Hell no.
Nelson sighed but didn't seem surprised. "Well, can't blame an old man for trying can you?"
It's my mind. I'll blame who I want, Kyd replied with no small bit of annoyance. You don't like it… get out already. You weren't invited anyway.
"Fine, fine. It looks like the anesthesia is about to wear off anyway, but keep my offer in mind, Kyd. It's not so bad on this side of things. You might actually like it if you gave it a chance."
I doubt it, Kyd replied before the darkness started to lighten around him. He heard Nelson say something else but he couldn't make out the words as he slowly realized he was lying in a bed surrounded by several machines. He opened his eyes and saw he was in a hospital and the machines were all hooked up to him through various means. His middle had been wrapped in several layers of bandages but he wasn't sore at the moment. He wasn't feeling much of anything, which was nice. He followed the IV from his arm to the bag with his eyes and realized he must still have some sort of pain killer in his system. He was infinitely grateful for it.
The pain he had been feeling before he passed out had been horrible and he wasn't in a hurry to feel that amount of pain again. Kyd turned his attention to the ceiling tiles above him. He would wait until he fled. It was probably not smart to go teleporting and running after just come out of surgery. And who knew, maybe they would actually buy that he'd been mugged. Though then they'd probably start asking where he lived and that opened up an all new host of problems. He was not terribly enthused with the idea of going into foster care. Not that he couldn't just run away but still; the fewer systems he was in and were trying to keep tabs on him the happier he would be.