Night 65: F11-20 Hallway

[fourstonewalls]

To die for...

Was that idle chitchat? A red herring? The nausea making a convincing case for the chicken's immediate release and acquittal on all charges? Her stomach did a little flip as the gavel came down, pronouncing it not guilty. But wouldn't that mean it wasn't poisoned? Objection, your honor. This case makes no sense. She fell back onto her pillow for a second, head spinning. She was lightheaded, and giddy, and in no shape to be gathering her things in the dark -- she'd landed on the flashlight -- and heading out into it.

Nevertheless, she eased the flashlight out from under the small of her back and switched it on. A circle of light flickered into life on the ceiling, as the Head Doctor's voice came back on the intercom.

Five. How many were sick? She held the gun up into the light, probably thoroughly freaking out Ilia, even as she kept it pointed only at the near wall. What made a human? Guilt. Or innocence. A lawyer's answer, to pick both, but it was true. Animals didn't know what they did. Humans did. Temporary insanity, turned into a monster. It was a defense on legal grounds, but not on ethical ones. She wouldn't let it come to that.

Harrington's little interjection cut into the path her thoughts had wandered down. Another clue. This time, she was going to see it for herself. As long as she was still herself to do so. A good reason to hurry.

[to here]

Comments

[hairraising]

Knocking ended up not being necessary. In the quiet of her room, Rapunzel could hear the footsteps approaching outside the door and had enough of her strength back by now to get up and answer the door herself. The group was greeted by a welcoming face as the door opened for them.

"Hey guys," she said, inviting them in and walking back toward her bed, careful to step over her own hair as she did so. "If you didn't show up in a few more minutes, I was going to go find you. The other guys who were supposed to come tonight didn't show up." Which worried Rapunzel a lot more than she let on; Eugene was supposed to come tonight, and the Once-ler maybe too. "Is everything okay out there?" she asked, hoping that there wasn't some kind of Institute-wide disaster that everyone was getting caught up in.

After a few moments, she turned to the man in the group she didn't know. "Sorry, I didn't get your name? I'm Rapunzel."

[forsworn]

Kratos's answer to Gabriel's question was a tad more vague: "We associate." By that, he meant, "I've known her long enough to trust her", since he'd come to believe that Rapunzel was incapable of possessing a mean-spirited bone in her body, but it was his habit to avoid elaborating on his relationships, particularly when talking to someone who was mostly a complete stranger.

He caught Castiel's small cue as they finally came to Rapunzel's room, and stepped up, one fist raised to knock, just as the door opened: it seemed Rapunzel had heard them coming. Kratos recovered swiftly, lowering his fist and stepping inside as if nothing had happened.

"We nearly ran into a monster on the way here," he said, removing his gloves and rolling up his sleeves in preparation. "If you heard the broadcast earlier, more people have been transformed tonight. One such person was lurking just inside the men's blocks, but thankfully, we were able to avoid a confrontation. I'm afraid that might have been what caused the delay, though. It was a...disturbing scene." He avoided mentioning that it was Sora; it was better to not distress Rapunzel prior to the operation.

Kratos glanced at Castiel as he replaced his gloves, frowning briefly as he tried to get the leather to go smoothly over his Crystal. "How do you wish to go about this?"

[impudentsongbird]

Gabriel allowed Castiel to guide him, because really, he had less of an idea where he was going in comparison. Right here and now, his main job was as Castiel's leaning post. He helped his brother inside Rapunzel's room and made sure the other angel was seated and situated before turning to Rapunzel herself.

The hair was nearly the only thing she had in common with the Rapunzel Gabriel knew. In the first instant, that was relieving, but a moment later Gabriel checked and scolded himself. He didn't know this girl, not really, but that didn't meant she was a good replacement for his Rapunzel's suffering.

Instead he smiled warmly. "I'm Gabriel; I arrived here earlier today. It's my pleasure to meet you, Rapunzel."

[freewill]

It was a relief to see that Rapunzel was ready for them, as Castiel wouldn't have wanted to interrupt while some other patient was being healed. Though the news that some people hadn't showed up was worrisome. Was Flynn, Rapunzel's friend, part of that group? Castiel didn't know how to offer any condolences, and so he hoped that the frown on his face and a slight nod got the sentiment across.

Gabriel helped him to sit, and Castiel was thankful to no longer have to lean on anyone. He watched as Kratos switched out his gloves and assumed that it would help the process somehow. They were all looking to him for guidance now, but in reality he barely knew how human surgery worked. He had hoped that Kratos would know where to go from here.

Still, the first step seemed to be removing his shirt, and so that was what he did. His sleeve almost snagged on the stitches on his shoulder, which looked rather sloppy after his encounter with Lingormr last night. But that was really the least of his worries.

Castiel then leaned back on the bed until he was laying flat on his back. He looked to Rapunzel first. "You'll need to remain close enough that your hair can wrap around me, is that correct? But we'll have to make sure that you stay out of Kratos' way as he works." Hopefully they could coordinate their positioning among themselves. Castiel looked to Gabriel next. "What sort of help will you be providing, exactly?" The other angel had made mentions of being able to strengthen him somehow, but he was clearly a different brand of angel, and so Castiel didn't know how it all worked.

[hairraising]

"..." Rapunzel didn't know quite how to react to Kratos's news. She knew patients would be transforming tonight, but hearing it from people who had seen one of those patients firsthand made her stomach want to crawl up into her throat. What if it had been Sora out there? Could it have been? No, she told herself. He was still going strong. He had to be — he had a spirit that wasn't so easy to break down. She was sure he would hold out until she could cure him.

She could still feel sickened on another patient's behalf, though, whether she knew them or not. All the more reason they had to work fast, find out if this worked or not. If it was too late for some, they could still be in time for others. Castiel was proof of that.

"I... I can imagine. I'm really glad you all got away safe, then," Rapunzel answered Kratos, remembering to breathe after her stunned silence. "You didn't have to fight or get hurt any further, right?" she asked, looking up at her friend with concern in her eyes. She wanted to ask where the monster had gone after they left it, or if it had been out to find any other patients. However, she already knew the answer to that. If the person had been turned into a monster, it was almost a certainty that it would go after patients at whatever chance it got. All she could do was hope that the patients it went after had the kind of luck that these three had just now.

After a moment longer, Rapunzel realized she had almost missed the new person (Gabriel) introducing himself. She turned to him next. "Pleased to meet you too, Gabriel. I know I don't exactly look it, buuut..." Yeah. "Believe me, I am. It's always good to make new friends in here."

Then it came time to see to the patient of the hour. Rapunzel nodded at Castiel's question. "So long as it's touching some of the skin on or around whatever's been hurt, it'll work, yeah," she answered, already coiling up some of her hair and trying to find a good spot to get started. "Kratos just has to be careful not to cut any of it. Any pieces of my hair that get cut loose their power," she warned, trying not to think about the actual kind of cut that Kratos was going to have to make tonight.

[forsworn]

"No," Kratos said, making sure to say it as firmly and honestly as possible, which included meeting Rapunzel's eyes as he tried to reassure her. "I did say 'nearly'; we were able to pass by without detection." He could understand her need to ask him a second time, though: he was in the habit of hiding things from people.

He picked up his sword and cast a critical eye over Castiel's bare chest. It would take two cuts, perhaps? One to slice into the abdomen itself, and then another to reach the stomach...the issue was the depth of each cut. Now would be a nice time to have those two scalpels he'd taken from the medical wing, but alas, he'd given them both to Eugene, and Eugene had done who-knew-what with them after that whole debacle with Lingormr.

There really was no time to waste thinking about things that could have been, though, except that right as he he was about to give up on any further possibilities and simply proceed, a thought struck him. Someone else here did have a smaller blade that he could use.

"I should be able to avoid cutting it." Actually, that was the easy part. Kratos looked away from his soon-to-be patient. "Speaking of which, Rapunzel, do you happen to still have that knife from last night? I would prefer a smaller blade to work with, for precision's sake."

[impudentsongbird]

"I understand." Gabriel gave Rapunzel a sympathetic smile, and didn't pry. It would probably be best for everyone to focus on what they were doing; they had a task to do, and if they did it right that meant they would save his brother's sanity tonight. Tomorrow, their work may well save someone else's.

The Archangel also turned to Castiel, stepping carefully over Rapunzel's hair to the head of the cot and pulling up a chair. He would be out of the way there, hopefully, but still be near enough to lend a hand and grant comfort where necessary. "I'm going to be lending you my strength," he said, and then glanced up at Kratos. "We've nothing to stop the pain, have we?" Gabe looked back at Castiel. "I won't be able to take it away, but at least I can give you the fortitude to endure it."

He knew he could do it. The link between him and others was still open, whenever he drew near enough for contact. Gabriel only hoped he would have enough to offer.

[freewill]

Castiel remained silent as Kratos reassured Rapunzel that they hadn't received any more wounds, and as Gabriel and Rapunzel became acquainted. This was hardly the best way for anyone to meet, but he had to be grateful to all three of them for giving up their night to help him. So despite the fact that he could feel his own impatience gnawing at him, Castiel let them take their time to get prepared.

He took note of Rapunzel's comment about her hair. The last thing any of them wanted was to strip the girl of her power, so Castiel was certain that Kratos would take care with that.

As for what Gabriel explained, Castiel had to admit that it sounded like it would be a help. He was no stranger to pain, but he was used to a different kind, the sort of thing that targeted his Grace rather than this physical form. He didn't feel scared, but he was somewhat anxious, and having an extra boost of strength would be a help, especially given that they didn't have much in the way of medical supplies as far as he was aware. He doubted that Rapunzel would have collected any when she had her own power to rely on.

"That should be a help," he told Gabriel with a nod. "Thank you." He turned to the others and bowed his head. "All of you." He might as well say it now, before he was in too much pain to get words out.