Febuwhump Day 8: Bleeding Out

Characters: John, Scott, Kayo, Virgil, Gordon, Alan, Brains, Grandma

Warnings: Gunshot wound, Bleeding out, Restrained.

John didn't have time to gloat as he watched the man who had tortured and tormented his family for years bleeding out. He didn't feel one iota of grief or regret over it either, it was a necessary action.

The man wasn't completely gone, though. A detached part of John's brain watched as the man gasped for breath, the wound producing a wheezing sound as his hand quested on the ground for John's foot.

It latched onto his ankle and gave a weak squeeze.

'J'n.'

Sniffing, John watched a moment longer. He didn't need to wrench his ankle free, the Hood's grip slackened completely and the man's eyes fluttered shut. John turned to move to the desk and remove the jamming bubble.

There was the slightest of sounds. Anyone else would have ignored it or quite possibly wouldn't have noticed it in the first place. But John was Kyrano-trained and he tensed inside even as he outwardly kept going at the same pace.

Suddenly he was face down on the carpet, some e leaning heavily on his back and helmet. Somehow they had leapt from behind him and pinned his arms in place with their knees.

One arm was pinning his helmet in place but the other was trying to unlock the neck of his uniform. John bucked wildly, trying hard to dislodge them, but it was to no avail. A sharp sting and a sudden metallic coolness and he felt the sedative take effect.

He was unconscious before he'd finished his Finnish swear word.

Kayo didn't want to get off John until she was sure the sedative had taken full effect, but Scott's need was far greater.

She'd been in her room trying to contact Penny or Parker, Colonel Casey or just anyone, when she became aware that the noise of the air conditioners had changed. The smell of sour apples wafted down and Kayo had reacted immediately.

Grabbing a rebreather from under her pillow along with her pair of Sais, she crept slowly through the villa. Realising that Protocol Omega had been initiated, she detoured to the infirmary to grab some antidote vials they kept on hand for just such an emergency. She carried on checking out the building, arriving at the hub of the villa in time to hear John confront Scott.

When Kayo had heard Scott remove his rebreather to talk she'd known it was a huge mistake. But nothing prepared her for hearing John screaming about the Hood.

And then he'd shot Scott.

There was no way she'd stay there until Scott was dead from bleeding out, but she needed to get John away from him first. Thankfully John was quick to move towards the desk and she took her chance.

As soon as John's hands were bound Kayo took out two antidotes and injected Virgil and Gordon. She would have liked to do Alan too but he was too far away and Scott needed help now!

Brains had added the apple smell during early testing of the knockout gas when a leaky faucet had knocked himself and Virgil out. The smell gave them an early warning but only a few seconds before the gas would act on them to grab a rebreather if they could. Scott had suggested apple as the smell because it was innocuous enough that an intruder would probably not get suspicious at the smell.

Alongside the knockout gas Brains had devised a fast-acting antidote. The gas would keep most people unconscious for around six hours - it had been created with Scott's ultra-fast metabolism in mind so it ensured plenty of time for the intruders to be taken care off and taken away.

It was with much relief that Kayo watched Virgil and Gordon come around quickly, both men blinking the sleep away and getting up. It didn't take long for either of them to grasp the situation they were in.

Gordon sprang up, ignoring the slight swimming in his head, and sprinted for the infirmary. The saturated shirt and growing puddle of blood meaning the first aid kit in the desk would be much help, and he snagged a stretcher too.

Virgil set about getting Scott stable. He tore off his shirt and balked it up, getting Kayo to use it to apply pressure to the wound.

It was with some relief that he noted that the bullet had hit him on the right side of the chest, collapsing the lung, but that came with its own complications, and Virgil took over in applying pressure.

Throwing himself down beside his brothers, Gordon got busy with the trauma kit he'd grabbed. Kayo watched for a moment as the two worked seamlessly together, getting a chest seal applied before getting Scott onto a stretcher and attaching a slow drip.

Something was tossed at her that she caught reflexively and they were gone, down to the infirmary no doubt until she could get them off the island.

What she'd caught was some wipes, and Kayo blessed Gordon as she hurriedly cleaned the blood from her hands. She couldn't do much for what had soaked into her knees, and Kayo pushed all thought of that from her mind. She had a job to do.

Now that John was unconscious and Scott was being dealt with Kayo could concentrate on everything else. She started by rousing Alan and sending him off to wake Brains and their Grandma while she began at the desk.

The Omega protocol used an early variant of Oxyhydnite, the gas Brains had initially developed for their cutting equipment but that had quickly knocked out both Scott and Virgil during its initial testing. Brains hadn't scrapped it though, putting it to use in defensive their home and their ships. The good thing about Oxyhydnite was that it dissipated quickly once heat was applied, and what little side effects were suffered if one was gassed were negated by the antidote.

'K-K-Kayo?'

'Brains! I need you and MAX.'

'Wh-Wh-What happened?'

'John initiated the Omega protocol. We need to get the hangars open urgently.'

'What's happened?'

'Grandma! Virgil needs you in the infirmary. Alan, I need you here, helping us crack the lockdown.'

'What's wrong with Virgil?'

'It's not Virgil, it's Scott. He needs an hospital now so let's get on.'

Although Kayo could see Alan was torn between being with his brothers or being here, the knowledge that they were trying to break through John and EOS' coding kept him there, and she gave him an encouraging smile as he pulled up a chair, opened his pad and his fingers fairly danced across the screen.

She took a moment out to look at John. Something had happened on Five, something Scott and Brains had pinned on the Mechanic, and she needed answers.

Making a decision, Kayo got up and approached John, knelt down and removed his helmet. She then unhooked his oxygen tank and set both aside to investigate later. She then tried to position John so he'd be more comfortable and draped a blanket over him before returning to the desk.

Answers would come soon, but first they needed to get off the island.

And get Scott to the hospital.