Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

If Jay had outwardly said her theory of thinking Zan was dead and not hanging on for dear life in a coma, neither Kay and Fia would have been surprised by her surprise at Zan not being dead. They knew if they weren't around when the news broke that he was still clinging on, then they would have thought the exact same thing. The close call they all had was as close as they wanted it to get if they could have any say into it. Yet neither wanted to imagine just how tough and brutal Jay was on the sniper even though both could easily imagine just how damn terrifying she would have been in that room. Fia knew all too well how scary Jay could get, a sight she never never wanted to experience a second time. Which was just another reason for not wanting Rinaa's timeline to win over, sure it was incredibly selfish but they all knew how bad the other teenager's timeline was and was damn certain that none of them would have blamed her for her one simple wish. At the nodding of her reply and assumption, she felt pleased with herself that she was still very much on the right path of understanding, now finding it was her turn to do the nodding as Jay expressed how she wascertain people were already doing as much copying or screenshotting as they could before the files got deleted by the government. Out of all of them, she would have thought Jay would have found a moment to look at anything she could that had been leaked, so to hear she hadn't looked or pandered over it at all was of the slightest of surprise. "Neither have any of us. We knew it wouldn't be a good idea for any of us to look at it last night, instead choosing tog et as many naps in as possible" she replied.

Kay found it curious that some of the soldiers had managed to sneak a peak at what had been leaked as well as finding how a lot of it was cropping up as various social media profiles for quick access. It was incredibly clever in her mind, and found that once again she was seeing just how intelligent Zan was to be able to achieve such a thing. She too nodded at Jay's assumption of heading to the hospital to see if there was anything new going on. Seeing Elliott smirk ever so slightly, but still recognisable as his mischievious smirk was of some relief to Kay and Fia, seeing that he was still capable of it, despite this stressful and emotional time. It also wasn't a shock that Cliff had packed extra measures of good coffee bribes for her boss to let her back into the hospital, though she did think that the fact Cliff managed to get some sleep, she would be okay with getting back to work. "You going to stay here for some rest or come to the hospital with us Jay?" Kay asked the other woman, kind of curious to what her decision would be. She wouldn't be surprised if Jay chose the latter, but part of her hoped she would pick the former, knowing that if anyone needed some good rest and sleep for a while it would be Jay. She certainly deserved such a moment to herself that was for sure.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle when Cliff made her intentions of bribing her boss with good coffee known. Cliff always joked about bribing people with coffee, but never actually did. She would give the coffee to her boss and coworkers regardless of whether they let her into the hospital or not.If her boss declared that Cliff wasn't rested enough, the woman would initially grumble before taking the advice to heart. Proper, expensive coffee was one of those things that made the long shifts and hours more bearable, and it was the least Cliff could do, given that her boss had volunteered to do the surgery. Her eyebrows (along with a number of others in the room) rose when Jay said she hadn't taken a look at the information being released, Cal really had expected that Jay would have jumped at the chance to see what it was that Zan hadn't gotten around to telling them. Hearing that the soldiers had access to it was intriguing for both her and Cliff as it was common practice in military sites for access to social media and various such sites to be restricted or outright banned. Zan's warning about how things would explode out of control as soon as the dead-man switch was triggered evidently hadn't been all talk.

At Kay questioning whether she was coming along to the hospital or not, Jay gave her a look that said 'are you crazy, there's no way I'm staying here after what happened'. Just like John, she had no intention of letting Elliott out of her sight, lest somebody make an attempt on his life again. She sure as hell didn't want to lose him, not just because of what was at stake with the timelines, but because she was slowly starting to come to grasps with what exactly he meant to her and knew that like John, losing Elliott would send her down a very dark path- no doubt involving leaving a trail of dead bodies in her wake. "I couldn't sleep even if I tried." Jay replied, before giving Cliff a look saying 'you know what I mean'. And the doctor did, it had come up in conversation at some point that Jay had an aversion to sleeping pills as she tended to react badly to them, they left her lethargic for a day or two afterwards and gave her really horrific dreams. "So I'm sure as hell coming with." Cliff gave a nod, she had no intention of stopping Jay, the assassin had every right to make her own choices on this matter. "Well, then I see no need to delay any further, let's go."

 

[MzHyde]

The moment Jay gave her the look of 'are you crazy? I'm coming along' Kay knew she had her answer without even needing Jay to answer her vocally. Sure it was a stupid question to ask her, but that didn't stop her asking it out of concern for the woman's health anyway. She always asked such things from a good place, and knew Jay deep down wouldn't be offended by the question being thrown in her direction. She may not have known exactly what Jay meant by her words, unlike Cliff who clearly did by the nod she gave Jay, but she could understand how Jay wouldn't be able to sleep after such an event, even if she partly wished or hoped Jay would get some rest at some point. Just like how she would hope at some point John or anyone else would be able to get some rest after all of this. It's just who she was, if she personally wasn't in danger or even when she was sometimes, she would always think about others before herself if she even remotely gave a crap about that person. Just like when she was taken, she wanted nothing more than for John to save her, but she also didn't want him to get hurt or in trouble by doing so, and she was damn sure that she would never change, even if she was told she needed to and be more selfish, she wouldn't. Fia wasn't in the slightest bit surprised that Jay would refuse to stay at home and come along, knowing that the woman wouldn't let Elliot out of her sight just as John or the rest of them wasn't prepared to let him out of their sight.

Both Fia and Kay nodded at Cliff saying that they may as well not waste anymore time and just head off to the hospital, both grabbing their biker jackets, rather than their big heavy coats. Neither thought they'd need their bigger warmer coats during the day, but both wanted their jackets for something long sleeved to wear. Fia also was of the mindset of if she wore her jacket, it covered more of her magical runes as she couldn't just brush off most of them as decorative tattoos. She found her jacket was a simple way of not making her appearance draw anymore attention to herself than her hair already did. It was bad enough that she had one on her neck and collarbone that just about showed through her hair or clothing slightly, she didn't need all the runes down her arms to draw even more attention to herself. For Kay it was a comfort thing, having her jacket just brought her some comfort whilst pregnant because it was oversized and a sense of home in a strange way. Just as it helped her to keep going and have some kind of security when she was on the streets on Earth in London. "well, we're all good to go so lead the way" Fia smirked at Cliff.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott was completely unsurprised that Jay wanted to come with them. He had an inkling about Jay's aversion to sleeping pills, she'd refused them every time anybody in AJ's crew had offered them and there had been a number of nights where he'd found Jay working out in the restaurant basement/vigilante hub, either unwilling or unable to sleep. The knowing look she exchanged with their resident doctor was the clincher. He also knew that Jay would drive herself up the wall hanging around the apartment with her thoughts of what was going on with the others, as well as worrying about the possibility of there being other shooters around. Elliott liked to think that he had good instincts, but he'd detected nothing amiss until he'd felt Zan's hand in the middle of his back. Jay hadn't seen anything and he knew her well enough to know that she was beating herself up over it, cursing herself for failing to be alert enough.

Unlike the last time where they'd entered the hospital through the back way (which lead straight to the labs) Cliff headed in the main entrance, swiping her ID badge on the way in before making her way to the poky room that her boss called his office. Upon entering the main wards of the building there was a noticeable change in the atmosphere of the building that would stop John, Elliott and Fia in their tracks- the wards were significantly lessened in strength. They'd all become used to the oppressive feeling of Attil's magical wards and the way in which they weighed down on magic users during in their time they'd spent on the planet, and to feel them lessened, it was like breathing air after nearly drowning. If John was teh gushy type he'd call it'beautiful' or say it felt like being complete and whole again. But he wasn't, instead turning to exchange a look of 'are you feeling this too' with Elliott before turning to look at Fia, and seeing it clear as day that the teenager was feeling it to. "What the bloody fuck kind of shit is this?" John said, turning in a full circle as if trying to see the source of the lack of wards. Seeing none he ran a hand over the wall in the hopes that it would provide some form of answers.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia and Kay made their way with the others to the hospital, thinking that their group had some seriously weird 'family days out' and one day they really had to make a normal one instead of going out as a group to places like military barracks or hospitals or courts. Most families wouldn't be doing such things and thinking it almost normal for them. Most would be going to parks or shopping or some other normal day out location, but it seemed that wasn't to be the case for them. It was just yet another example of why they were far from normal but everything they did seemed to be normal for them. Reaching the hospital, Kay more than Fia took note of how they didn't go through the back way like last time she was here, to find out she was pregnant with Fia, wheras with Fia it was her first proper time at the hospital. Kay noticed Fia look at her as they reached the entrance and she knew exactly why she was being looked at. Kay gave her kid a smile and nod to say that yes, this was the place where they fouind out for certain she was pregnant with her. Fia gave the smiling nod in response as if she was saying 'cool', before walking inside and feeling that hit her, Elliott and John.

Fia looked at her dad back, giving him that look of 'holy hell I can feel that connection to my mage side in here!', whilst also seeing that John was clearly feeling it as well. She never truly realised just how disconnected she felt to her mage side on Attil until she had that hit the moment she walked into the hospital. It almost threw her off balance momentarily, making her unsure of how to react to such a thing. It reminded her of when she very first became connected to that half of her bloodline, which was incredibly overwhelming and mindblowing at the time. This time was similar, finding that she did have to have take a big deep breath and exhale, as she found herself unable to refrain from looking down at her hands and arms even though it did nothing to her outwardly, it was like a natural reaction to check herself over. As John asked what the hell was going on, she too looked at Cliff, "what he said, how come we can feel out magic so much stronger here?" she questioned. Kay looked at the three of them, not remembering John feeling like this when they went to her scan together, making her wonder what was so different in this side of the hospital to the area they went to early on in their arrival on Attil. "you didn't feel anything the last time we were here" she couldn't help but point out to John, finding that although she felt no different herself, she could tell the others did and wondered also what it was that was making them feel such feelings.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott had been on Attil longer than any of them and had spent a significant amount of time in a heavily warded cell and so, when he passed over the threshold into the ward area, he was actually thrown off balance by the feeling of being able to access his magical side rushing at him with no warning whatsoever. It was like being plunged into an icy river and he had to let out a deep slow breath as he concentrated on grounding himself again. He'd forgotten what it felt like to be so acutely aware of his magic, he hadn't felt this way since he was a young child and his magical affinity had first sparked. His magic was for a brief moment like a kind of living entity lurking below his skin. There was a very slight flicker in his eyes as he breathed out, they changed momentarily from Devra gold to a light purple colour, before just as quickly fading back to gold. "Ohhhh..." was all he said, the 'I've really missed this feeling' clearly visible in his tone and expression. It was only when that expression crossed Elliott's face that Jay untensed her shoulders and stopped directly looking for threats. With all three reacting in such a shocked manner and the memory of Zan being shot still fresh in her mind, Jay had gone right into 'there's a threat somewhere' mode. But hearing that it was only the three of them being able to access their magic again was a relief as it meant should they have to fight their way out, all three would be able to fight using the full scope of their skills and abilities.

"That I bloody well did not" John agreed, utterly baffled as to why he hadn't felt this last time round. He may have been worried because Kay was vomiting for seemingly no reason, but he couldn't possibly have been that out of it that he didn't notice the return of his magical abilities? That just wasn't possible. A thought occurred himself and he quickly spun around to face Cliff, his coat whipping around as he turned. "This is the same hospital yeah doc?" he asked to which Cliff replied, with a nod "yes, this the same hospital." There was a faintly amused expression on her face. "It's just a different section. these are the patients wards, last time you were in the scans and test centre facility, which is in a separate block. We, and by which I mean all the doctors, nurses and other medical specialists aren't political people. We took an oath to heal, help and protect which we feel supersedes political legislation. If somebody can heal a patient using magic, or save the life of somebody we otherwise couldn't using magic, we're no going to complain, or stop them. Call it turning a blind eye if you like, but it's not just us, it's most hospitals on Attil- like it has been said many times, the people don't agree or follow the government's stance on this. The warding isn't completely gone, but it's significantly lessened. The wards must remain in place in the scanning facility as magic interferes really badly with the sensitive and specialised equipment." "Hence why I felt nothing amiss last time." John nodded in understanding. "Exactly."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay noticed how Jay remained tense or even to some degree possibly tensed up even more when Elliott, John and Fia all reacted in the way they did, which she could totally understand why it would create such a reaction from the assassin, considering everything that they had just witnessed and gone through. To her it was totally justified to react in such a manner. It was only because she personally saw Fia looking down at her hands and arms and John was grazing the walls with his hand that made Kay think it was magic related and nothing more nefarious. Although she didn't think about the possibility of being attacked and needing to fight their way out like Jay, she would have agreed it'd be an upside if Jay had openly expressed her own thought process. She did however keep an eye on how the three magic users were reacting to the sudden hit of accessibility to their powers, noticing how Elliott's eyes briefly flickered from their usual gold to purple and back again, whilst also noting his tone as he spoke.

With John expressing his agreement on her assumption that he didn't seem to feel any different the last time they were here, she felt glad that she was right and it wasn't a case of her having just not noticed because she was in a state of vomiting and scared shitless at what was wrong with her. She didn't ever want to feel like she was ignorant to what was going on with anyone near her, especially John just because she was seemingly feeling rough at ahy time, so it was of a relief to have him confirm that he really didn't feel any different that one time. At his question to Cliff, Kay realise she hadn't even considered that it could have been a different hospital, just having always assumed to it was the same one, to which Cliff did confirm it was indeed the same one making her feel glad that she didn't just assume wrongly yet again. The amused expression on Cliff's face didn't go amiss on her (or Fia) as Cliff explained why now the three of them could feel the intense reconnection to their powers all of a sudden, finding it all made sense. She also thought it was admirable that the hospitals around Attil had such an opinion on the whole use of magic to save someone, in her eyes seeing it as a bit of a 'fuck you government, if it keeps a person alive we're doing what's right by said patient no matter what'. It also made sense why John didn't feel anything the last time if magic interfered too much with scanning equipment. "makes sense" Kay agreed.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The faint look of amusement on Cliff's face made it quite clear to all that the doctor had deliberately left this aspect of the hospital out of her explanations, and the smirk on Cal's face made it clear that she had been very much aware of this side of the hospital's running, but had chosen to stay quiet. The looks of shock, stunned disbelief and 'holy shit' on the faces of the three mages had been well worth it for the two women who couldn't help but flash grins at each other before Cliff explained. Both John and Elliott's mind were blown at the explanation. It made perfect logical sense, but at the same time was an incredibly dangerous stance to take, if something did go wrong in the hospital and it was magic related, not only would it would only act as ammunition for the government, but it would shatter the trust of the ordinary people in the healthcare systems. This was the system that was supposed to heal them, not deliberately expose to them to such a risk, and Cliff had no doubt that in the heat of the moment people would see it as being a reckless oversight and demand the ruin of somebody's career in compensation as well as that the wards around the hospital be made even stronger than those around the rest of the planet.

Now that both John and Elliott had comes to grips with the wave of shock that had crashed into them they could appreciate just what amazing thing it was that the hospital staff had done. There were indeed things that magic could heal that was beyond the influence of conventional medicine, even when said medicine was as highly advanced as Attil's. The magic came with a cost of course, but if the doctors were even half as dedicated to their job as Cliff was, then they'd feel the price was more than justified. Hearing magic interfered with sensitive equipment was no surprise to either John or Elliott, they'd seen it for themselves. What really stunned them was that this wasn't unique to this particular hospital- it was a thing done all over Attil. It was a massive middle finger to magic-haters in power in the government, and John couldn't help but smirk at it. As a teenager he'd been a full on 'fuck the establishment, fuck the toffs, anarchy rules!' type of punk and it hadn't faded in the years, anything that was deliberate mutinous stance against any kind of government he approved of, so this really took the cake for him. "That's bloody brilliant." He exclaimed. "The health system's always got the best kind of rebels in it. You can't fight the health system when the people revolt, who the fuck is gonna take care of your injuries afterwards?"

Elliott on the other hand was openly gaping. He'd never heard even a hint of this during his time spent growing up on Attil. "What, every hospital has this?" He asked, to which Cliff nodded. "Certainly every major and mid-level one, with smaller ones, it's hit and miss. but yes, this is a planetwide thing. It was decided years before you were even born, before any of us were born at the annual medical conference and every year they have a vote to decide whether it should continue, and every qualified medical staff member gets a vote." "That" Elliott shook his head in complete disbelief "is phenomenal, utterly utterly phenomenal." "It's like I always say, if doctors and other experts in their fields ran the country, things would be so much better, in every way." Cal and Dan nodded, indicating that this was indeed something Cliff said a lot. "Nobody's gonna deny that, except maybe John when it comes to psychiatrists and psychologists." Chas added with a wry look at John. "Well it's just as well that nobody in the medical profession like 'em either." Cliff added with a smirk as they resumed walking. "Pure psychologists are pretentious assholes in my experience and all that stuff about everything being confidential? They all swap stories at the bar or in the breakroom. Those who do it as a sideline tend to be okay." John muttered something to himself that sounded like 'I bloody knew it'.

For once Cliff's boss was in his office, though the pile of paperwork on his desk in-tray was so high it nearly obscured himself. Cliff rapped on the door to get his attention and when he looked around the side of his pile she shook the thermos at him. The first minute of so of conversation was a fast pace mix of sign and Attil, as the two made quips about the wonders of coffee and how paperwork seemed to do nothing but grow, before the boss (a Devra man with hair prematurely silvering) turned to Cal, to get her to verify that Cliff has actually slept for what could be deemed a proper amount of time. When Cal confirmed that Cliff had obeyed orders, he smiled, then began to give the update on what had happened since Cliff had. As Cal, Elliott and Cliff were next of kin for Zan, his words were aimed more at them than at the others. The surgeon didn't say anything out loud, but it was clear that he was comparing Elliott's physical appearance to Cal's as well as to Zan's. "There's been no change in brain activity since you were last here. The patterns emitted are still low, slightly lower than one would expect with, but still within an acceptable margin. We've removed shrapnel from when the bullet hit the impact and have sent requests to the company for his complete beta-testing records so we can deactivate any remaining pieces that might be still functioning. The entry wound was relatively small and we're cautiously optimistic that it will close up with only second or third level scarring. The same can't be said for the entry wound, it's... to be frank, a mess. We've done what we can, but a biosmesh over things to keep it sterile and encourage tissue growth, but there's going to be extensive scarring there. We'll be performing all the usual checks for infection and have put him on a low dose of antibiotics to kill anything that could be lurking. We're keeping him in the medical-coma for the time being, though we intend to bring him off the oxygen tanks later as he's showing all the signs of being able to breathe unaided. We might put him on a reduced dose through the nose to ensure he gets the extra his body and brain need to heal. Obviously he's still under observation, Cliff can testify to how important the initial twenty-four hours are." The doctor nodded in agreement. "As for whether he'll need further surgery and what the extent of the damage is to the mind and memories, it;s too early to say."

 

[MzHyde]

Seeing Elliott openly gape at the revelation that every hospital in Attil had this same system in place was quite something to see, as both Kay and Fia would just assume that this was something Elliott would have known to some extent, but after his reaction to feeling reconnected to his mage side proved otherwise. They both listened as Cliff gave more information on it, clarifying a few details, both thinking along the same lines as Elliott. It was indeed incredible that they went to such measures to keep happening, finding that yes, Attil's medical system really was years ahead of Earth's in so many ways. Both women smirked at Cliff saying about how much better the world would be if doctors and other medically trained personel ran the world, until Kay thought otherwise, which somehow was vocalised by Chas in the sense of him only mentiuoning John's opinion. Yet she did think the same thing, having her own grievances with such people, even if they were keeping it from Fia for reasons that Kay wanted. Kay felt some relief when Cliff expressed that a lot of people in her side of the medical field didn't particularly like psychologists either, whilst also just about hearing what John muttered and thinking to herself 'couldn't have said it better myself'. She had no plans on ever telling Fia that she had her own mobid history with psychologists and suffered abuse from them, not wanting her kid to know that part of her past, which so far those who she told that one time, have agreed to keep from Fia. Instead, in response she just gave a silent nod to Cliff's words. It almost felt like at times that the mere word 'psychologist' was a borderline trigger word for her, but there was no way she was going to let it get to her here and now. Now was certainly not the time or place.

At Cliff's boss' office, both Kay and Fia knew that the fact only three of their group were listed as next of kin and thus, rightly allowed to hear the information technically, they kept back just enough for Cliff to take the lead for the conversation with the updates but close enough to hear it all as well. They did watch on with the same level of fascination (Fia more so than Kay) as the mix of sign and Attili happened in quick succession between Cliff and her boss, Fia catching the odd bit, enough tog et they were going on about coffee thanks to Cliff waving the thermos flask at him as a little offering to let her be back at work. It also didn't take much to work out when Cal nodded at the sound of a question being asked to her that it was a case of wanting confirmation that yes Cliff did get a proper night's sleep when she got home late last night, before her boss went into the updat4es about Zan. Both noticed how he was clearly noticing the facial similarities between Elliott, Cal and Zan as he spoke, whilst also not being in the slightest bit surprised by the sheer level of Zan's state. They all saw how bad the exit wound was at the scene of the shooting when Cal turned him over and they saw the bullet fall out of his head, quite literally. Whilst some of the information did seem hopeful, there was still the element of the worrying side of it all also. Both of them hoped that Zan would pull through fine and that he will heal up okay. It didn't seem all that surprising that it was too early to tell if there would be any permament damage to Zan's memory and mind, it was still pretty soon after it all had happened after all. Neither of them knew what to say to the information, yet both also knew if there was anything to be asked, only Elliott and Cal truly had any right to ask them.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott watched the exchange between Cliff and her boss with a smile of undisguised amusement paying at the edge of his mouth. He could only understand the Attili part of things (his sign language needed serious work, something he vowed to do as soon as the trial was over), but the rapport between the two was obvious. There was a similarly fond expression on Cal's face. Despite the gap in age, authority and specialism in their chosen area between Cliff and her boss the two had a relationship well beyond a simple boss-colleague one, something closer to that of siblings. The fact that her boss was fluent in sign language (both of his parents was deaf) was something that had really drawn Cliff to him. At the end of a long shift she really didn't want to have to bother with speaking, listening or even lip-reading, so for there to be somebody there who she could converse with in sign language, it helped a hell of a lot.

The siblings and Cliff listened carefully as the surgeon explained what the situation was. What he told them appeared to be for the most part good, or as good ass it could be given that Zan had been shot in the head. The fact he'd be left with some serious scarring wasn't a surprise to anybody, the bullet may have been deflected by the neural impacts and while the exit wound was nowhere near the size of Mara's, it was still large enough to fit the tips of a couple of fingers in. What was surprising to the siblings was the likelihood of Zan being left with some form of brain damage and/or memory loss. Neither could fully stifle the gasps of horror nor the winces. The idea of their birth father ending up seriously brain damaged was a horrifying one for them, and given his suicidal mindset, if he lost access to his skill of total recall, they suspected it would be enough to push him over the edge. John's reasons' for not wanting Zan brain damaged were more selfish, if the damage and loss was too severe they wouldn't be able to get the answers they so desperately craved from him.

"Hypothetically speaking, could a MindWalker fix such damage, or would it all be linked to the physical state of the brain?" Elliott asked hesitantly. The surgeon tipped his head to one side and considered what Elliott was saying. "Hypothetically yes, if said MindWalker was of sufficient skill and training. In practice and right now. I couldn't possibly allow it. His mind, what's left of it anyway, is far too fragile in it's current state. Any mental intrusion would just increase the likelihood of damaging the mind. It's nowhere near strong enough to support a second person. Then there's the mental health side of things, the fact he's suicidal is also a barrier to letting a Mindwalker in. People with such intentions usually have bad reactions when a Mindwalker tries to get in and that's when they're working at full mental capacity. In this coma state, it's just too risky. It would be at least a week before I'd consider letting anybody in there for that kind of attempt and he'd have to be in a coma of his own will, not a medically induced one like he is now." Elliott nodded slowly, that had been the answer he'd expected, but as he was the only one with such abilities in the group and Zan had just saved his life, the least he could do was put the offer of his skills out there, now that he knew he was powerful enough to be able to do such a thing.

"And besides" the surgeon continued "it's not just me you'd have to persuade. You're not the only ones in this hospital who are here for him. Zan's being watchdogged as we speak." That stopped Cliff in her tracks. "What!?!?" She exclaimed before giving her boss of a look of 'you should have opened with that first'. Seeing the mystified looks on the others' faces, Cliff gave an explanation "hospital slang for when somebody is being really closely monitored by friends and/or family to the extent that they question the doctors on everything and refuse to move." Cliff's boss then spoke again. "I thought you knew, Zan's NOK and EC arrived shortly after you left, so I assumed you'd told them his status. They've passed all checks before you asked, they're the real deal. Anything you want to do to him, you're going to have to go through them first."

 

[MzHyde]

They didn't particularly know why it never occurred to them that Elliott would ask such a question, but when he did ask about a Mind walker going in to help Zan, it really didn't even cross Fia's or Kay's minds that Elliott would think of such a tactic to help Zan with his mind and memories. Neither even gave thought about John's reasons for wanting Zan to pull through either, even though if they knew of his reasons they'd see where he was coming from with them even though they were selfish at the end of the day. They listened to the answer that was given to Elliott's question, realising that although it didn't occur to them that it could be a thing if it was safe to do, it was a good question to ask. It was interesting to hear and they could see why Cliff's boss wouldn't want it done so soon with those reasons. Yet it was when he said it wasn't him who they'd have to persuade that truly got their interest.

They couldn't think of anyone else who would be close enough to come watch him or see how he was doing, so to hear that Zan did in fact have other visitors was highly curious. They didn't know what the term meant either, but it was clearly clearly enough for Cliff to react the way she did, whilst also glad that Cliff gave them and the others the meaning of what her boss meant by the term. They then looked back at her boss when he said that he thought Cliff knew, which by Cliff's reaction she clearly didn't. "excuse my ignorance but what's NOK and EC?" Fia asked, feeling that as the only teenager in their group, she had the valid excuse of her age to ask such a question. She didn't mind who answered it for her, she just wanted to know what the initials stood for. Kay also was curious and on this situation she was glad that it was Fia who asked and not her. She presumed it may have something to do with him being part of the spooks, but she didn't want to just assume it out loud incase she was wrong. Yet she knew no one could be put out for a teenager wanting to ask such a question or be curious about what those acronyms stood for.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John's eyebrow raised in surprise at Elliott's question. The possibility that his adoptive son could use his MindWalking powers to help repair Zan's mind hadn't even crossed John's mind (unsurprisingly). The fact it had occurred to Elliott just proved to John that Elliott had a far better moral compass and far more developed empathetic side than John did. In other words, by raising Elliott he hadn't completely screwed up the man and John's deepest wish regard to Elliott had come true- that Elliott wouldn't become the kind of areshole fuck-up John himself was, that he'd be better in every way. As soon as the surgeon started listing the reasons that it was bad idea to attempt to access Zan's mind Elliott's face fell somewhat, as it once again hit home just how bad of a situation his birth father was in. The fact that the final answer was a cautious 'maybe if things don't change' was ignored in favour of gaping at the surgeon when he said they weren't the only ones in the hospital who were visiting Zan and keeping an eye on him.

jay's first thought had been 'Dakkon'. Zan was one of his agents after all, so some other spook would have to be sent to get information on Zan's current status (though she had a sneaking suspicion the lizardkin might try to get that information from her instead). Her second thought had been that it was another assassin come to finish the job, but that thought was discarded when she saw Cliff's reactions to the medical jargon used to describe the visitors. If Cliff thought that a NOK and EC had aright to be there, then they did. Had Fia not asked, Jay most definitely would have. At Fia's question Cliff turned to the others with a slightly embarrassed expression. She was so used to hearing this kind of acronyms day in, day out that she forgot the others wouldn't have the slightest clue as to what their meaning was. He expression was slightly apologetic for not thinking to give a translation as she gave an explanation (in English). "Next of Kin and Emergency Contact respectively. The emergency contact is ALWAYS called whenever the patient comes into hospital with a serious grievance. For next of kin it varies according to whatever preference the patient had indicated on their documents. Sometimes the NOK called immediately, other times where there's divide in the family for instance the NOK won't be called after the patient has passed."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia and Kay never once doubted Elliott's moral compass before, and this was just another example of why his moral compass was great. It just added extra weight to why Fia looked up to her half brother so much when it came to wanting to do the right thing etc, even though she did look to her father also, but she also wasn't naiive to know John's was hit or miss at times, or at least it was more so in this time than it was hers. Yet she was also always biased when it came her family and ranking of moral compasses. For her it was always Elliott, Chas, John then Kay, which always baffled everyone in her timeline on occasion as Kay's was greater than John's, but she was also biased in the fact she held a lot against her mother because of her not wanting Fia to live her life in the same way as say Leah did. It was the over protectiveness and the lying to her about who she was for so many years that made her think so low of her mother, even if it was slowly changing from her coming back to this time. She also felt like her and Elliott's mindset and sense of morals was always going to be proof that John was far from a screw up when it came to fatherhood, even if he wasn't perfect by any means, he wasn't in the slightest bit a screw up.

When Cliff gave a slightly embarrassed apologetic, Fia felt glad but sorry at the same time for asking the question, but she was noticing that others wanted to know what it all stood for as well. She listened to what Cliff explained, wondering how the hell she didn't work it ouit now she had heard the full terms. It made so much sense that they would stand for such things, as well as thinking it was so obvious now she had heard it. "That is so obvious now you've said it, I feel like I should have worked that out" Fia replied, giving Cliff the amused look that would show she was more making a joke out of herself so the woman didn't have to continue feeling embarrassed or bad that she had to be asked what it all meant. "So I'm guessing if it all means next of kin and such, then it's his sister possibly that's made it? Didn't he say something the other night about how she was planning on visiting him anyway, before all this happened?" Kay then spoke up, putting the pieces of the puzzle together in her head. Fia gave her mother the look of 'that would make sense if it was his sister, now that you mention it'. They both also thought that if it was Zan's sister, then it would mean it would be this horrific situation that would make Cal and Elliott to meet their aunt for the first time, which in Fia's mind particularly, totally sucked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Fia's wasn't the only one kicking themselves for out figuring out the acronyms. They made so much sense and Elliott decided to blame his lack of figuring out on the fact that he mightn't be fully recovered from the shock of yesterday. Maybe Cliff really was a mindreader as the next question on his mind was what was the difference between the two. The way Cliff explained it made Cal and Elliott exchange glances wondering what instructions (if any) Zan had put on his file with regards to contacting them in the event of him being injured seriously. Would they have been contacted at all? Would have been as soon as he was admitted? Or would it have been after their father had succumbed to his injuries, too late for them to say any form of goodbye? If they'd learned anything these past few days it was that they really didn't know Zan at all.

"Yeah we medical people love a good, logical acronym. There's practically one for every occasion." Cliff replied, matching the teasing edge in Fia's tone with one of her own before giving a shrug of 'don't look at me, I wasn't there' to Kay's theory. "Yeah... she was" Elliott nodded slowly, prompting all heads to turn in his direction "he wrote down a pick-up time and terminal number when we there, though I didn't pay much attention to it." He'd been more focused on coming to terms with everything that had been dropped on them then reading the reminder his father had stuck on the bookshelf. "It's not like there's a crowd of people it COULD be. Man's a loner from what we know and might as well be an orphan." Jay believed Zan when he spoke of the schism in his family. She recognised the look in his eyes all too well, it had been the same one she'd worn for almost a year after the incident that tore a gaping chasm between her, Quin and Jack. As she spoke she pulled out Zan's phone to see if it could provide them with answers. It didn't take her long to find the contact labelled 'Bec'. "It's in Darriluxi, or what I presume to be Darriluxi, but the last message was sent shortly before the trial ended yesterday and is accompanied by a photo of a a boarding card." She flipped the phone around so the others could see the photo. "So unless there's somebody else in his life called Bec then I'd say it's her that's watchdogging him- as you two so eloquently put it."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia smiled and sniggered ever so slightly at Cliff's tone in her reply, seeing that she was just matching her own, which meant she felt like stupid for having to ask the question in the first place. She also almost forgot about Zan having a sister until Kay mentioned it, reminding her of that night of Zan rudely ignoring them to reply to his sister's texts in his apartment. If they weren't in the hospital wanting to know how he was doing, she probably would still have thought ill of him for that but after he risked his life to save Elliott she knew she could forgive him for such a petty thing. Like with a lot of things, situations like this always put the petty things into context whilst also hearing Elliott confirm Kay's suspicions of who Zan's next of kin and emergency contact could very well be. Both her and Kay listened as Elliott went into a bit more detail about Zan's actions from when they were there, both finding themselves mentally going back to that evening in their minds to try and remember, to which they both recalled Zan writing something down but not paying enough attention to what it was.

They then looked at Jay who said about how it couldn't be many other people if it isn't Bec as Zan was pretty much a lone man now his ex wife was dead. They couldn't deny that Jay was right about the summary of the kind of man Zan was, as even they could see he came across as very much a loner when they took in what his apartment looked like. As Jay pulle dout Zan's phone, Fia couldn't help but think 'of course you kept his phone on you and not left it in the apartment. Smart move and yet, so typically you as well' as she refrained from letting her thoughts and smirk appear on her face. Deciding it was very much better to keep her thoughts to herself. With the phone checked through and then flipped round so they could all see, she and Kay both did see for themselves that Bec was indeed already on her way to visiting Zan before this incident even happened. "definitely fits that's for sure" Kay agreed. "which leaves one more question in my head" Fia started saying before turning her attention to Elliott and Cal, "do you two want to meet your aunt under these circumstances here and now?" she proceeded to ask.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay hadn't the slightest intention of letting Zan's phone out of her sight. Zan was smart, that much was obvious, so it stood to reason that he wouldn't have anything on his phone that would incriminate him, but in her experience a spook's phone always had two layers- the outer one where the device functioned like a standard phone designed for normal use and then secret layer to allow the spook to communicate back with/give information to/get orders from whoever their handler or superior happened to be. This phone also had a brief message chain between the shooter and Zan, and given that no phone had been found on the shooter, maybe with some reverse engineering, hacking and triangulation by somebody like Deke it could be used to locate the shooters phone? Jay was fairly certain there would be something incriminating on that, something that could, if they were lucky, lead them right back to whoever it was that had put a hit out on Zan.

Cal and Elliott nodded at the photo of the shuttle boarding card. For them that photo was the clincher, the estimated arrival time and the port of arrival meant that Bec would have arrived on Attil while her brother was still in surgery. Factoring in baggage claim, actually getting to the city, finding the right hospital and going through whatever security checks she needed to to verify herself as Zan's sister, it would be a few hours before she got to Zan. What it must have been like for her to arrive on a planet only to be faced with the news that your brother had been shot and was in critical condition Cal and Elliott couldn't even begin to fathom. At Fia's question the two siblings looked at each other. They'd never actually discussed meeting this aunt of theirs and without a doubt now was the worst possible background for what was a significant moment for all involved. They knew nothing about the woman apart from the aged gap between her and Zan, her occupation and the fact that she was firmly on his side after years of being estranged. Clearly Bec wasn't going to budge from Zan's side, and despite everything, both siblings actually wanted to see Zan, see for themselves that he was still alive. The man had saved Elliott's life, he clearly cared, the very least they could do was show up. And if they didn't, what would come off like? that they didn't care? They were too proud? Too ashamed? This was a woman who'd once been in the position they were in, trying to figure out was it worth reacquainting themselves with an estranged family member.

"That's something we'd need to discuss." Cal replied, before pulling Elliott away from the group and walking a short distance down the corridor so they could talk, sibling to sibling on what was the best course of action. It took them the bones of five minutes to come to a decision. Rejoining the group it was Elliott who spoke first "we're going to meet her now, the timing is shit, but if things take a turn for the worst, it could be out only chance." "She also deserves an explanation of how and why her brother got shot. We're partly responsible, so it should be us who breaks the news, unless she's been told already?" The last clause was directed at Cliff's boss, who shook his head. "Nothing had been said as to the why, she was more interested in his condition, his chances and where the nearest power socket was."

 

[MzHyde]

Asking the question she did, wasn't one Fia wanted to ask in this situation, but it really was the only time she could ask it. If she could, she would have preferred to ask such a question in a more laid back upbeat situation, or better yet, have Zan ask them if they wanted to meet his sister. Yet the universe wasn't giving them the opportunity to meet under nicer terms and so she felt if she didn't ask it, someone else would have as checking in on Zan would mean meeting Bec whether they liked it or not. The way Cal and Elliott looked at each other after she asked the question, told her that they hadn't once thought about this situation or even gave Bec a second thought after she was briefly spoken about by Zan in his apartment that night. She couldn't blame them though as she remembered when it came meeting Sam when she was much younger (school learning age), she was very hesitant to meet her aunt herself because it was Kay's sister, and not John's. When it came to meeting John's sister, she was excited about it, but because she had grievances against Kay for so long, that bias went onto Sam, that was of course, before she actually met her. The moment she actually met Sam and got to know her, she learned she adored Sam and liked her more than she liked her own mother for quite some time which she imagined now looking back on it, probably hurt her mother a hell of a lot more than she probably let on. Fia always made it well known how much she adored Sam in front of Kay, which looking back she realised now was highly spiteful. So she could empthasise with how her half siblings would be feeling or what they could be thinking in this very moment.

She nodded at Cal's words and watched her and Elliott walk off together just further down the corridor but still in eyeshot. She and Kay both were thankful they remained in eyeshot even if they weren't in earshot, knowing that none of their group would be happy to see them disappear from their sight even in the hospital. Deep down they had the mindset of if the hospital wasn't a safe place for them to be then quite frankly nowhere would be, but last night's shooting and attempt on Elliott's life was still more than incredibly raw and they both knew that need to have Elliott in eyeshot at all times wouldn't just disappear any time soon. That need to be able to see him wherever he was would linger for quite some time, and probably right up until they got to take him back to Earth where they'd like to think no one would follow them and get to him. They waited with everyone else for those five minutes of discussion and as the two of them came back, awaiting for the answer that came from Elliott first, both nodding in understanding at his and Cal's decision. They also got where Cal was coming from when she continued explaining theyre reasonings for going to where Bec was now and not delay in getting the first awkward meeting out of the way. After the doctor answered Cal's question, or more to the point, confirmed her suspicions, they both looked at the two of them. "We're right behind you" Kay said, basically letting them know that they all had their back and would follow them and accept their decisions no matter what they were.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John was reluctant to let Elliott go even few metres away, as was Jay, but both knew this was a conversation the siblings needed to have without any of their extended family butting in (which they would all do, John had his own opinions on the matter and would not hesitate in sharing them if given a suitable opening. They compensated by keeping an one eye on the pair at all times and the other constantly scanning the surroundings for any kind of danger. The body language didn't give much away, the two seemed to be on the fence and hoping that the other would be able to push them to one side or the other with some unbeatable argument. This wasn't a decision to make without thinking, and while their egos and thoughts of what others would think of them should really have been kept out of it, the majority of their points were revolving around the impression they wanted to give off to this aunt they'd never known. They had no idea what Zan had or hadn't told Bec about his children, but they could be almost certain she knew Elliott was alive, given that his return was the entire reason for this trial kicking off in the first place.

John felt that the argument Cal gave was more compelling than the one Elliott gave. They were all, as Jay had pointed out, responsible for what had happened to Zan. They'd chosen to go and confront him at his place of residence as getting answers was more important to them at that time than how such a trip might look to an outsider, For all their talk of keeping Elliott safe and staying under the radar it had been an inexcusable lapse of judgement and now there was a man with a bullet hold through his head paying the price."Fair enough, it's your call on this." He told them. Chas personally thought it was the right decision to make, as well as a very mature one (sure both Cal and Elliott were adults, but at the same time emotional situations like this clouded everybody's judgement). "Like Kay said, we're all with you on this."

The siblings exchanged a look with one another. "That's the other thing" Elliott scratched the back of his head nervously"the bit you aren't going to like as much, 'specially after what happened yesterday. We don't think it should be all of us barging in at once. There's way too many of us" he gestured at the whole of their group, starting with Cal and himself them going to Cliff, Dan, Cliff's boss, John, Jay, Fia and Kay "and we have no idea how many of us she knows about. Now is not the time for introducing a whole load of new people." Before John could open his mouth and vocalise the many ways in which he thought this was a bad idea Elliott continued "but we're not gonna in entirely alone either. Cliff should go, if she's going to be one of the doctors involved with treating Zan. We think Jay as well for obvious reasons." The 'obvious reasons' were the fact that Jay was the most qualified killer of them all, but that wasn't what Elliott actually wanted to say. What he really wanted to say was that there was nobody he'd rather have by his side in this moment and John couldn't exactly be trusted not to get riled up if this Bec decided that giving them a right bollocking was what they deserved. Jay at least would stay calm even if she was plotting the other woman's gruesome death in her head as a way of diverting her annoyance.

 

[MzHyde]

When Chas agreed with her and reiterated that yes, they would all be with them no matter the decision made, Kay nodded, but it was also down to that that made her surprised when Elliott started saying 'about that' in his own way. She knew that if a sentence was being started with anything like 'about that..' or 'that's the other thing' it was going to be followed by something no one on the receiving end of what as about to be said was going to like it. Just as her assumption proved, what Elliott said next was not liked by any of them. She may have been able to see where he was coming from better than possibly John was going to, but that didn't mean she was had to like what was said. The moment John tried to protest which made Elliott speak again his and Cal's reasons for the decision, she and Fia both decided to remain quiet and listen to their reasons. Neither looked entirely impressed though by the decision, but that lessened when he explained they'd take Jay and Cliff with them and no one else.

Kay thought it highly interesting that Elliott for once, did not want John around for meeting Bec for the first time, but if she truly thought about it, she could see why Elliott chose Jay over John. It was no surprise to anyone who really knew John what a loose canon he could be and under the recent circumstances, she and Fia both knew it wouldn't take much to make him lose his cool. "then we'll go part way with you but leave you both alone to meet her properly. I think I can speak for everyone else when I say no one is going to be happy letting you both go out of eyesight straight off the bat. So at least let us go half way to where Zan and Bec are with you, then we'll leave you both be with your aunt. That way we're close by but out of the way" Fia spoke up, thinking it was an okay compromise. At least then in her eyes, if anything went wrong they wouldn't be so far away to help with back up or getting Elliott and Cal to safety. She knew none of them would be able to live with themselves if they were too far from them, and to her being round the corner but out of sight would be a better compromise than them remaining here and the others who knows where. Kay thought that Fia made a good counter suggestion, whilst noting she was clearly thinking of her dad in this moment, knowing that it would make John feel better if he was closer but still far enough away that he wasn't in the way.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John would be very much lying if he said he wasn't annoyed by the fact that Elliott was choosing Jay over him as the person he wanted by his side when meeting his aunt for the first time. He was, by now, so used to be being the one Elliott went to for company on things like this that he almost took it as a deliberate rejection and an intentional insult against him. There was a definite element of selfishness to his mindset, he didn't want to 'share' Elliott with anybody. It was a glare of 'just let it slide this one time John' accompanied by a slight shaking of Chas' that stopped John from opening his mouth and demanding why he wasn't a suitable candidate. The cabbie could see exactly why John would be a bad choice. John wasn't exactly known for his tact or discretion in such matters, nor was he known for his love of anything related to Zan and even though John would never admit it, when he was in one of his insomniac phases he was even more of a reckless loose cannon than normal, not just heavily flirting with danger like he usually did, but actively throwing himself into the lion's jaws to see what would happen. If John ballsed this up they could easily get banned from visiting. Bec, he suspected, as a close sibling and not an estranged child of the patient would have more power than any of them to make a call on who could visit or not.

John did back down, but he still wanted to make his disapproval well and truly known. "Yer right, I really don't like that part a' it at all." Dan didn't look entirely thrilled at the prospect of letting Cal out of his sight either, but as Cliff was going to be there he could place his faith in the fact that Cliff and Cal's powers were stronger the closer they were to each other. Both could hold their own, they weren't just military, but Royal Guards too, but yesterday he'd seen a spook get shot in the head by a bullet none of them saw coming, so his faith in people's abilities was at an all time low. He knew by set of Cal's face that the decision was made, it was like it or lump it time. "Of course you're still coming the rest of the way with us." Cal replied. She knew Elliott hadn't meant to give the impression that they were just going to dump their families on the corridor and head off into the maze of corridors that was the hospital. Just as Dan, Chas, John, Cliff, Jay, Fia and Kay didn't want Elliott and Cal out of their sight, neither Elliott nor Cal wanted to be separated from those they cared about. Both were being comforted just by having the others around them. "They put him in a room as opposed to a ward, so you can all just wait outside while we get what is going to be an incredibly awkward meeting over with."

 

[MzHyde]

Both Fia and Kay were glad that Chas could manage to make John back down, even if it was reluctantly. Neither were sure if in this instance they would have been able to, and Fia certainly didn't want to talk down on her father for fear of coming across as completely and utterly disrespectful toward a parent. Even if he was technically only her unborn self's parent in this timeline. She did feel like they had bonded through her coming back for help from this version of him, so she really didn't want to ruin any of that. Kay didn't want over step her mark with him either as they were still learning in some ways about each other, and learning to accept how they felt toward each other. Yet both also knew that Elliott would never intentionally go out of his way to insult the man who brought him up and was for all intent and purposes, his father. They just hoped that when John had calmed down a little bit from the decision, that he would understand all of that that brought Elliott to this decision.

At Cal's reply to her, Fia was glad that the two of them did at least think about the fact none of them would want to leave them out of their sight. She nodded at what Cal said and thought it was more than a good enough compromise made. "that's more than fair in this instance. Like I said, we've got your backs and will be where you both need us all to be" Kay said once more. Like the others, she didn't like the idea but she did also see their point of view more than clearly. If she also truly honest with herself and it was her in this situation, she would have come to the same decision and would only want one, maybe two people with her and not the entire hoard of them. "what she said" Fia agreed. "we'll stay out of the way, but in eyeshot for you both" she continued.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John was somewhat reassured when Cal clarified that they had no intention of going to far out of earshot/eyeshot of the others in their group. He still wasn't mad about being separated from Elliott, but being only a few feet from the room his adoptive son was in was far better than spending the next.... however long it took.... wondering where the hell said adoptive son was and how it was going. As Zan was in an ICU room, the room wouldn't be soundproofed in any way, so all they had to was make even the slightest shout and John would be there in a flash, kicking down that door to jump to the rescue. Zan had taken a bullet for Elliott and John damn well wasn't going to let himself be one-upped by Zan, neither his pride nor his love for Elliott would let him. At this moment everybody else in the building didn't even register on his scale, Elliott was his one and only priority. Some people thought this kind of tunnel-vision love was a weakness, but it wasn't. It just meant that if you hurt somebody he cared about John would destroy your life and raze everything you cared about to the ground in retaliation. When Kay had been taken in Fia's timeline John's initial reaction had been to going on a killing, maiming and threatening spree, calling in all kinds of long-owed debts to no avail. It was after e'd exhausted all methods he could think of that he fell back into his usual pattern of self pity, moping and alcoholism to attempt to numb the pain.

Now having made a plan, Cal gestured at the surgeon to lead the way. While they'd been discussing what to do next Cliff's boss had done an excellent job of just fading into the background and staying out of it. If he'd been listening to, or understood what they'd been saying he made no comment. Cliff knew the way to the room, she'd been there the night before, but ot of respect for her superior and a desire to be close to her wife, she let her boss lead the way. John couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at the strong smell of industrial antiseptic and various miscellaneous hospital chemicals that hit him when they passed through the doors from the office section to the wards. Zan's room was just at the end of the corridor. The two couldn't help but exchanged nervous glances at each other, before steeling themselves in preparation for what they were about to do. The boss meanwhile turned to Cliff, giving what appeared to be a pep talk of sorts followed by some advice in sign language. He then handed over the thermos, somewhat reluctantly as it was great coffee and he could do with the caffeine, but keeping the peace in the room was more important. "From a personal perspective, the family issues are none of my business" the look he gave the four who were going in said very clearly 'don't bother lying about there being family issues, the whole planet knows it'. "But from a professional perspective, they very much are. Cliff, as one of the doctors of my department, I can argue for, the rest of you I cannot. This will be the ideal peace offering."

 

[MzHyde]

If Kay and Fia said or thought John didn't have tunnel vision for Elliott in this moment, they'd have been lying. Both could tell easily enough that he did and neither could blame him. Everyone was focusing on Elliott's safety right now and nothing else, and after Fia had experienced John's tunnel vision when it came to Kay's successful kidnapping and how she saw her dad go from 'I need to find your mother no matter what' state to 'I'm out of ideas kiddo and I'm done' state. One that made her do the one thing that she would no doubt have gotten the biggest bollocking of all time for, and no doubt grounded to whenever they felt like lifting it, with all of her luxury things taken away as punishment. Yet in her eyes, any punishment that would or could be given to her for coming back in time would be and was worth it as it meant they did indeed stop Kay getting taken from that alleyway close to the Constantine household in her timeline. She changed the timeline slightly by doing it and didn't have a single regret in it as she couldn't take her father going into a downard spiral any longer because he lost her mother. So because of that, she was all too used to seeing how he was when he got tunnel vision from his love for a family member, and thus didn't see any point in making a big deal out of it or being offended by it. She just accepted it for what it was, and knew when this was all over, John would be back to his normal self. Kay was of the samew mindset, she may not have brought Elliott up like John had, but she knew he was the priority and only Elliott, so she accepted in this moment, his adoptive son was all John cared about.

With the plan decided upon, and Cliff's boss leading the way to the part of the department where Zan was located, both women kept silent the entire time, just taking in the smells of the department, the cleanliness of the place (which they expected no less from a hospital) and the overall business of the department, before stopping when they reached the room that Zan was situated. They looked at Cal and Elliott, seeing them mentally prepare themselves for what they were about to do whilst Cliff's boss relucantly handed Cliff back the thermos of good coffee and signed to her and spoke to the other three who were also going into the room. Fia knew enough Attili by now to understand that he was talking about the coffee being used as a peace offering to Bec as it would be better given to her than it was to him. Kay didn't understand as well but she could make a pretty spot on educated guess for what was being said to the four going inside without the need for any translating being done. "Good luck guys" she simply said, before letting them go in whenever they were ready to do so. Kay spotted a row of chairs for visitors near by the room, which allowed them to still see what was inside and be close enough to rush in if they needed to, but Kay doubted they would be needed and being the woman she was in the situation she was, was mentally a bit too happy to know if she needed it, there was a chair to sit on. For now, she just let herself think about why they were all here, rather than where they were as she was never particularly a fan of hospitals for obvious reasons as told to John and Chas that one night. But it wasn't ever so bad that she refused to step inside them, if she did have that big of an issue with them, then it'd have been highly awkward (even more so) when she was taken in to get a scan and finding out she was pregnant.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff nodded and took back the thermos. All she said was a simple "thanks boss." but it conveyed a whole other depth of meaning. It was first off a thanks for sacrificing the thermos for the greater good, but at the same time a thanks for letting her back in to the hospital, for not questioning why she had been there when Zan was shot, for not questioning why they'd been in a demolition and most of all for not asking the questions that were surely lurking in his mind. He merely gave a curt nod in response, reached over and knocked on the door and entered. Cliff followed him, Cal was next, then Elliott and finally Jay. The assassin and John exchanging loaded looks as she entered, John making it clear that he was putting all responsibility on Jay's shoulder, and Jay making it clear that on her life nothing would happened to Zan.

John couldn't resist the urge to take as much of a look as possible through the door as the others headed in. He wasn't the only one, Dan wasn't even trying to disguise it, he had to bend over sideways at a particularly awkward angle to get a glimpse. Chas was less obvious about his looking, but he couldn't help but help but be curious, particularly as to whether there would be the same kind of resemblance between Bec, Cal and Elliott as there was between Zan and the siblings. None of them saw Bec, the way the door opened meant the woman was obscured from sight. they did however have a clear view of the bed, and of Zan. To say the man looked like shit was understatement. Half of his head had been shaved short (his condition had been so critical that every second counted), there was a large bandage pad covering the exit wound on his temple (and a matching one the back of his head where the entry wound was), the dark circles around the man's eyes were drastically worse, it looked like he'd been punched in the face and the oxygen mask covering his mouth was doing the look no favours. Never mind that the surgeon was confident they could take him off it, it sure as hell didn't look that way. There was also the standard set of monitoring equipment and IV drips. John couldn't help letting out a soft "christ" at the sight.

 

[MzHyde]

Like Chas, both Kay's and Fia's looks were a lot more discreet than the other two, it was also a bit more obstructed compared to the others, but they still got enough of a view to see just how bad it was for Zan, despite what Cliff's boss said about being able to take him off some of the monitors soon, it really didn't look it and neither could quite believe yet again that he was even still alive, let alone everything else. Kay never really believed in miracles as such, but if she did, this would be considered one to her as she knew if it was anyone else, they would have died on the scene and wouldn't even be in the hospital, but in a morgue instead. She didn't say it however, instead just sighed as she nodded when John said what he did. There really wasn't anything they could say to what they were witnessing before the door closed and separated them from the other four. Fia couldn't help but take note and think upon the exchange of glances that John and Jay gave each other before the door closed behind them, knowing that it could only be one thing that was said between them without either whispering a single word. "Now I guess all we can do is wait and be patient, whilst hoping it all goes okay with this Bec" Fia remarked as she leaned against the wall, crossing one foot over the other and crossing her arms over her chest in the process.

Kay agreed with her kid, as she too leaned against the wall, but rather than crossing arms and legs, she just did her usual tucking her hands inside her jacket pockets which naturally tugging her jacket taunt by her side, one foot resting on her heel just infront of the other, her head down. All she really wanted out of this trip was for Cal and Elliott to get what they hoped to get from the visit and meeting of Bec, and that it will happen smoothly and with no real issues. Yet because they didn't know Bec, it was never a certainity that it could go smoothly, but that didn't mean she was going to stop hoping for the best, even if she was mentally preparing for the worst. Fia hated being on the outside, she always did, no matter what it was but she knew this was for the best, as if she thought differently, she wouldn't have sided with the siblings over the decision to make John back down. Yet that didn't mean she had to like it, and it certainly didn't mean she wasn't thinking many different levels of things in her mind ranging from 'it'll be okay' to 'if Bec says one bad thing to my big brother I will beat the living shit outta her, I swear to gran I will'. Which was something she didn't usually swear to, as for most people (and a lot of the time, herself) was utterly strange, but considering who her grandmother was on Kay's side of the family, it always seemed appropriate and better than swearing to any particular God. The foot that was crossed over her other foot had started tapping the thin air and shaking out of impatience and worry, whilst her arms remained firmly crossed across her chest. "It'll be alright kiddo" Kay reassured Fia, knowing the teenager's impatience will be out of her protectiveness for Elliott.