Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Seeing that Chas had joined her in the doorway wasn't much of a surprise to Kay as she figured he probably would have, unable to not watch what was going down, so they knew what to do next if something were to continue. She noted the slight thoughtful tone in his voice, and wondered if he was also noticing the similarities between John and his kids, even if she didn't bring it up. She nodded at his next lot of words, noticing that Cliff had made plenty of it as a back up incase it was needed to keeping dosing the shifter up so they wouldn't lose the advantage they had. "Yeah, well one can certainly hope they keep the upper hands that's for sure" she replied. She really didn't want them to lose the advantage that they had so seamlessly managed to get, it was bad enough that it took causing a real fight to break out in a hospital corridor for them to gain the upper hand in her eyes. She glanced back to check the shield around Zan's unconscious body before finding herself pacing ever so slightly as she placed her hands on her lower back to massage the muscles. The stress of the fight and being fearful for losing Fia (and sub consciously John in a way, even though she knew John could more than look after himself) taking it's toll on her. She always thought it was a myth that stress could impact a pregnancy, not that she ever took much in depth thought into it, but it seemed she was very much mistaken.

Fia remained firm in her place as Cliff spoke with Bec and Bec pulled out her fingers from under the shifter's scales, seeing the all too recognisable blood colour ooze out more, also noting like John did, that it was all too similar to that of a demon's on Earth. Unlike John though, she didn't think about doing more research on it anywhere, let alone The House when she next got back to all the familiar surroundings of her two home in her time. If anything she was sure she would forget a lot of this trip the moment she went back to her time, or would have purposely wipe her own memory of said trip to save the timeline and not risk completely destroying it by having two timeline's worth of memories in her head. She did wonder how Bec knew how to speak this shifter's language, but her teenage mind was also unable to not make a mental comparison to Harry Potter and talking of tongues with the basilisk or similar. So to stop her mind wandering, she focused on the fact Cliff was about to say anything but Bec stopped her by apologising for letting this fight get to this stage in her workplace, instead of taking it elsewhere, but did fully intend to take the main interrogation elsewhere. "Where did you wanna take this asshole?" she found herself asking. She knew the moment they needed to move this shifter, she would have to will her restraints of the fire arrows away herself for them to be able to take the shifter away.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The fact that Bec had the thoughtfulness to both apologise to Cliff and reassure her that none of the interrogation (which, judging by the look on Jay's face would quickly turn into 'torture to get what information we need') was a pleasant surprise for Cliff and backed up her earlier judgement that the woman was somebody she could like and get along with. The doctor honestly hadn't been expecting anybody to apologise for the fight. "No need to apologise to me about it" she told the other woman with a small smile. "I'm a doctor with military training, I know what the other option was and this was arguably far, far better and nobody got hurt." Bec's look was one of relief, she may be the closest next of kin, but that didn't mean her visiting priviledges couldn't be revoked for something like this. She didn't answer Fia's question immediately, turning her attention back to the snake creature, which was now slumped against the bindings unmoving, carefully pulling back the eyelids to reveal that the pupils had rolled right back into it's head. It looked unconscious but she wanted to be completely that this was the real deal and not it faking. While Elliott's translation spell arguably made it much easier for them to all talk to each other, it was a general spell as opposed to taregtd to specific people so it also meant the snake could understand everything they weer saying it was.

"Unconscious?" She asked the doctor, to which Cliff gave a curt nod. "There's a sedative mixed in with that particular muscle relaxant, I figure the last thing we need is this one being conscious while they're transported and thus know where they're being kept. The element of surprise would be very much lost." "In that case to answer your question" she indicated Fia, whose name she'd never actually been told. "I was thinking whatever military facility the other assassin was put into, clearly they are the most equipped and seem to be willing to turn enough of a blind eye to certain practices." "You'd be correct in thinking that" Jay confirmed "those two know somebody who is high up enough that they can pull a few strings and get the holding and further questioning classified as a black-opp." "But for now I suggest we move them to one of the vacant rooms on this corridor, so that normal hospital functiosn can resume. I presume it's Dan- the blacksmith- whose been making sure that nobody heads down this way and gets acccidentally injured in the crossfire." The blacksmith had vanished at the start of the fight and as he hadn't appeared in the room with chas and Kay, Cliff suspected that he'd nominated himself for crowd control.

Bec nodded again. "Sounds like a plan to me. We can administer the rest of the drugs there and figure out a more secure way of keeping them fire bound, preferably one that doesn't involve magic or having to be constantly near it." John, Cal and particularly Elliott nodded at that. While fire magic wasn't the most draining for Elliott, it was still draining and the longer one used it, the more it would cost him at a future date. Bec then truned her attention to her brother's best friend. "Dex, you good?" she asked, giving him the once over. "Very much alive" the photographer replied, rapping his knuckles against the bullet proof vest before declaring. "I'm never calling your brother paranoid again." Bec gave a sort of half chuckle, glad to see that Dexter's sunny disposition hadn't been too dented by being shot at. "Agreed. Pity he didn't have the foresight to kit us out with acid proof stuff too." Dexter waved hand dismissively. "Oh please, he made sure that the one of the experts on these things was here, I'd say that man is going to be so smug when he finds out. No doubt he'll make some crak about how finally you've put that pHD to good use." It was then that Elliott asked the question that had been on his mind ever since Bec had used her pHD as a threat. Zan had mentioned that Bec was a research scientist, but it had never come up what exactly it was she researched and he couldn't help but wonder whether the woman's talk had been just that, talk, or if she really did have the skills to back it up."So you really did do a pHD on serpent shifters?" Elliott asked, tone laced with curiosity. "Yes, I did. I specifically worked on creating better shifter blockers- for medical purposes not interrogation purposes though. I'm not that kind of scientist" the way she emphasised teh word 'that', the others got a feeling she was referring to the scientists who'd torture the Astras wolves

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't take offence that her question went unanswered initially, figuring that it was because Bec needed to check they were safe to move the snake before even contemplating it. Her suspicions were sort of confirmed when she spoke with Cliff and Cliff explained about what was in the medication that was administered onto the snake to knock it out. She had to admit that seeing the snake unconscious was of some relief to her, as it meant for a while they could all breathe and not be on edge as much, especially as Cliff had earlier given time windows of how long the snake would remain subdued in one way or the other. When the question was answered, Fia looked at Bec, not even realising that the woman didn't even know her name, or probably a few of their names for that matter as she heard that Bec was thinking one of the military facilities which really did make the most sense. Jay had already proven with the previous assassin that that was indeed the best place to do the interrogations. She nodded her understanding before looking at Jay and Cliff as they joined in the conversation with Cliff suggesting to play safe, they should take the snake into one of the vacant rooms. It was only when she mentioned about Dan probably being the one to do crowd control that Fia even realised he wasn't around with the rest of them. She didn't even notice him in the room where Chas and Kay were now she looked back behind her to see where her mother and uncle figure was.

She then looked back forward again as it was discussed about figuring out hoe to keep the snake bound without the use of magic or needing to be close by. Like the other three, she too nodded knowing that she would have to be close by if they used her phoenix flame, which she didn't particularly want to do. She drew enough attention to herself just because of her auburn and blonde hair, she didn't need to draw extra attention by using her phoenix abilities as well. To her it seemed like Cal going with them was the only logical answer, but she kept quiet on that for now. She also found that seeing Dexter very much okay was of a relief that they didn't have to worry about another body in a bed and only half listened to Bec and Dexter talking, before fully listening as Elliott asked his question. The answer Bec gave was indeed interesting and one she would have to try and remember incase she or any of her family came across such a shifter on Earth. She understood the unspoken meaning behind her last words, nodding once more at it. It was clear to Fia that Bec did not approve of such scientists at all judging by her tone that was used. "interesting. Shall we unpin the ugly piece of artwork on this wall and continue this chat in a vacant room?" she commented, gesturing at the snake on the wall.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John kept a firm eye on the snake while Cliff, Bec and Jay talked business and one ear on their conversation. He had to refrain from snorting when Bec made a comment on how unbearably smug her brother was going to be when he came around and found out his predictions were right. John could all too easily imagine Zan being the tyep to well and truly kind to rub in the fact that he'd been right to be so worried and forwards planning. In John's mind the poliician had the face for being that kind of smug asshole (though John was completely baised and very much ignoring the fact that Zan and Elliott's faces were very similar when making this judgement, his opinion on Elliott's birth father hadn't just changed drastically overnight). John also saw the fact that Bec had dedicated a good portion of her life to researching snakes and shifter blockers as another piece of proof that there was no such thing as coincidences. Jay's eyebrows raised in surprise as she understood the hidden meaning in Bec's words. Zan had said Bec was more informed than they were, but the assassin had never thought it would mean that Bec possessed knowledge about the Astras researchers and their horrific actions in the name of 'research' and 'scientific progress', though in hindsight it did make sense that the story of the Astras researchers would be a cautionary tale to others.

"Calling it art is an insult" Dexter replied with a smirk at Fia's comment. "I don't think I could take a good photo of that if I wanted too." That resulted in another round of smirks, teling John that his adoptive son hadn't skimped on spell quality- bad translation spells and runes couldn't do humour. "That would be best" Cliff agreed. She had no doubts that her boss and her boss' bosses were having a fit that a fight had broken out in the hospital. If it got out to the general public about the fact that there was all kinds of magic involved, there would be a media shitstrom. With all the information that Zan had collected being distributed, and Elliott's trial being very much a hot topic, magic and magic users were very much in the public eye. The last thing they needed to do was compromise the trial. Cliff knew that there would be a certain amount of ass kissing, grovelling and maybe some threatening done to keep this under wraps, but it was significantly less than would need to be done had Zan actually died. "I believe that room there" she gestured at the door across the corridor from the door of Zan's room "is currently unoccupied."

Bec looked at the door clearly trying to weigh up the pros and cons of keeping snake right across the hallway from her brother. After a few seconds she slowly nodded. "That works for me, but there's no way that gag is coming off until we can find a non magical substitute, giving a snake of any kind muscle relaxant sometimes results in them releasing acid uncontrollably because their facial muscles are also affected." She held up her hand pulling down the hoodie sleeve a little bit to show the line of shiny scar tissue (similar to burn tissue but not quite the same) running from below her thumb, across her palm and down her wrist, the path the acid had taken when she'd pulled back the lip of a tranquilised snake to examine it's teeth an unknowingly caused a build-up of acid to escape. "Dex, can you go grab a camera? I want some photos of this one in both forms, somebody one of us knows could recognise them." The photographer nodded "on it."

 

[MzHyde]

When Dexter was the first to answer Fia's comment by making one just as snarky as her own, she had to smirk and snort in amusement slightly. She meant her words 'work of art' completely sarcastically and she was glad that Dexter clearly got that from her as his own snark matched her own. She also found yet again that Elliott's magic was just as impressive as she found it in her time, not that she truly doubted his abilities when it came to it, but the fact humour translated well in this moment, told her how many years ago (for her) he was good at what he did. There was also the little part of her deep down that was still on a slight kick that she got fight side by side with her half brother and her father. She glanced over when Cliff began talking and looked at the room she was gesturing to, nodding even though it was entirely up to Bec where to put this snake shifter. She did also think about how many people must be having fifty fits over what just went down and felt sorry for those who would now have to fight tooth and nail so to speak in keeping this fight out of the media, and from escaping the hospital building. When she heard (and felt) that magic was allowed in this hospital, she did not think they would be using their skills so soon. She looked at Bec as she explained about keeping the gag that John managed to put on the shifter, glancing down at the scar tissue that was a trail down her lower arm. She made a face of 'yeesh' seeing that Bec was indeed talking from experience in this instance.

"Don't think John will complain about having the gag restraint kept on it" Fia commented, also thinking after what they saw, even before Bec's old injury that stopping the shifter from spreading more acid everywhere was indeed a great idea. "When you're ready to move it I'll remove the arrow restraints but be ready to grab it when you do, and...I shouldn't have to say this, but obivously steer clear of them. My fire isn't exactly....the same as the other's" she explained, trying to find a way of saying it's different without actually saying 'I'm not purely a mage but a phoenix and phoenix flame is a hell of a lot more potent than normal human made fire'. She did not want to get into the topic of what she and (in turn Kay) was with someone she didn't know well, if at all and didn't even know her name. As it was she was probably saying too much but now wasn't the time to worry about what had already come out of her mouth. She was as vague as she could be and hoped that would be enough. What she did think was though, was that once they had Bec, Dexter and the shifter in the unoccupied room, she would probably check to make sure that Chas and Kay were okay, even though she didn't think for a moment that they would be hurt.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff couldn't help but wince at the sight of the scar on Bec's arm. It was one of the disadvantages of being a doctor any time anybody entioned an old injury or showed a scar Cliff's mind would be flooded with a surge of information she'd either learned studying medical theory, from dealing with a patient with a similar injury before or heard anedoctally from various other (reliable) doctors and nurses. Looking at Bec's hand she knew that if the acid had stayed on the skin for half a minute longer the woman would have serious nerve damage in that hand. John gave a firm nod in response to Fia's assumption about him wanting the gag to stay on. After seeing how quickly the acid had chewed through Jay's boot as well as the various holes and burns on the hospital wall that had been created as a reult of the fight, John was going to give the fangs a healthy respect. In his experience, it enevr ended well when you got on the wrong side of normal fangs. "Yer right, that I bloody well will not object too! I wasn't gonna suggest removin' it at all, that thing has masive fangs."

Bec nodded slowly at Fia's words, she could gues that there was a hell of a lot that the teenager wasn't saying, but it wasn't her place to ask, nor was it the time. It would also be hypocitical of her to judge Fia for keeping her magical heritage secret given that Bec had chosen not to mention her own mage side. "I was thinking it might be, the magical signature was...." she shrugged, trying not to be put off by the sharp look from Elliott and the looks of suspiscion John and Jay were giving her, wondering if Zan had twigged Fia's real heritage and connection and shared it without tehir knowledge. That kind of information was dangerous, especially given that this wasn't Fia's timeline. "Well I wouldn't say off, but not like anything I'd seen before." She then turned her attention to the snake creatue. "I'll take the head, somebody will need to do the tail and probably two for the middle. It's a heavy beast." "I'll remove mine as well, they're all focused on the lower end. Jay you want to grab the tail?" Jay obeyed without questioning, removing the remians of what had once been a very nice leather boot. A short syllable and a quick gesture with one hand was all that was requiered to make Elliott's flames disipate. The tail fell right into Jay's waiting arms, who adjusted her footing so she could have a better grip. As Cliff went ahead to unlock the room and ensure there was a clear path to the bed, John and Elliott positioned themeslves to grab hold of the middle section and Bec carefully took hold of the head, wrapping one hand around the mouth just in case, for whatever reason the magical gag was to fail. All waited for Fia to quench her fire arrows.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia was for a split moment worried that what she said and how Bec was beginning to answer that Zan had said something without them knowing and let slip about what or who she truly was. But as the reply continued, she hoped it was because Bec didn't know and just felt she was different and that was all. She was also glad that Bec didn't want to say her magic was off as Fia would have taken great offence to such wording, especially as she was still learning to accept she was half phoenix in the first place and after using her natural phoenix flame to help the woman, she would have taken it badly. She also sensed that both John and Elliott were getting their guards up until Bec found the words to finish her reply. So when the subject was left as it was, she felt much relief and was glad that the subject continued on to who was going to ske what part of the shifter and getting into position. She let Elliott remove his first as they were more focused on the lower part of the shifter, letting everyone get into position as the restraints started to be removed and Jay managed to grab hold of the tail, whilst she watched Bec, Elliott and John all take either the head or the middle.

When she satisfied that Elliott and John had a firm enough grip on the torso area, she focused on the fire arrows she had placed and with a swipe of her hand in the air outwardly then behind her, she dissipated the flames watching them fade out as if they were being extinguished by water or in the phoenix case, Iron. As they faded, a few little flakes of what could be seen as ash appeared and floated onto the floor before completely vanishing at Fia's will. Last thing she needed was for someone to find the ash on the floor and run tests on it out of curiosity. It was bad enough that Cliff had to put Kay's phoenix heritage into the database when she needed a scan done to find out she was pregnant. With the restraints gone, the body of the snake would have slumped into her father's and brother's grip with almost an thud, even with Bec and Jay holding each end. "okay, done" she confirmed even though it was obvious and stepped sideways out of the way, placing her nearer Cal than John by this point.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Both John and Elliott stggered as the snake fell into their arms. It was far heavier than they'd expected, which was saying something, this wasn't exactly a small snake to begin with. It also felt surprisingly dry. It's scaes may have had a glossy sheen, but they were armour hard and not at all slimy as one would mistakenly think. "Bloody hells what is this thing made of? Living metal?" John groaned as he readjusted his grip on the snake, relaising hat unless he supported it from underneath there would be no way he could properly carry it. "High density muscle fibres mostly." Bec replied, slipping a portion of the snakes body across her shoulders and behind her neck to better distrubute the weight, all the time keeping a hand firmly clamped around the mouth. Seeing that everybody had a firm grip on the snake Jay began leading the group. "Right then, one my word let's start shifting this fucker." She made sure that her bare foot avoided the few remaining blobs of acid on the floor. "It relies entirely on muscles to move, it's not like it's got any proper limbs to speak off in this form. The biped form is usually much heavier than a normal person. I'd be worried if it was light as we'd probably have a trafficking case or some kind of forced labour situation on our hands." She continued as they walked towards the room, her tone making it clear that she condoned both of those situations and if that had been he case would be taking a very different approach with the creature. Being forced to kill somebody was a very different situation to doing it for money.

"Is that a real problem?" Elliott asked, partly out of curiosity and partly hoping that the talking would keep his mind off what was seeming like an inordinately long walk down a corridor. "Unfortunately yes." She sighed "most serpent shifters have some kind of venom or poison which will fetch a hell of a price on the black market. There's a thriving trade in scales and fangs and then there's those sick people who want to keep a shifter as a pet, a status symbol or worse those involved in the sex trade." Elliott couldn't help but look horrifed at Bec's words. He knew Scott had been earmarked for such an industry as a biological child of two vampires (almost all vampires were sterile and converted people insteda of having kids) and a full daylighter he was incredibly valuable. And while the demons of Earth wouldn't want to make money out of Fia and Kay, they certainly wouldn't have any quams against doing the other things mentioned on Bec's list. "That's so bloody messed up!" John replied, shaking his head in contempt, his thoughts also not too far from Kay and Fia's heritage.

"I know, it's kind of how I ended up in this particular area. I was one of those teenage activists, the full-on kind that would do illegal shit to make their point. Figured if I was gonna be forced to study science I might as well go into something related to one of my various causes." Now in the room the four rolled the snake onto the bare matress, then stepping back to take a proper look at the thing when it back of its's head and at certain points down the backbone. These markings were the first thing Bec focused on when Dexter came in with his camera of choice and a notebook. "Get some good, clear ones of the markings, we might get lucky and this one could be in some kind of data base." She told him. The photigrapher nodded well used to being bossed about. His left hand glowed ever so slightly and an orb of light materialised in it. It wasn't magical, both Elliott and Cal recognising it as one of the common Devra powers- light manipulation. He positioned this orb hovering above the air in such a way that it cast eliminated any shadows on that section of the snake.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia followed the group to the unoccupied room just incase she needed to do anything or jump in and help in any way she could as they all carried the shifter to the room. Even if John hadn't mentioned about the weight before they lugged the shifter long the corridor, she could tell from the way it's weight came down onto Elliott and John hard when her restraints left it, that it weighed a fair bit and she was actually glad that she wasn't one who carrying it. She avoided like Jay did the little spots of acid that were still on the ground, her avoidance being little hops over or round them, a habit that had become a thing when she began her dancing from a young age, even when she was a mere 6 years old she would do do a little hop or skip over a rain puddle or round it if it was raining outside, or over something that was left on the ground that would always make her land softly and delicately on the balls of her feet every single time. Once in the room, she keps back as Bec took over for the most part, getting the shifter turned over to a specific angle so she could boss Dexter round in what photos she needed to try and identify the being in question. She did however find herself thinking back on everything that Bec was explaining to Elliott and John about what happened to or why young ones were abducted, unable to not see the similarities of what co9uld be done to herself or Kay if the demons back on Earth got either of them, or anyone else in the downworld that was corrupt enough to want the aura, powers or blood of a phoenix. The very fact that John had earlier openly expressed his disgust on it, showed her that he too possibly was thinking along the same lines and knew that even in this time, he wouldn't let that kind of shit happen to her or Kay which brought a sense of security that she always had in her time, onto the John of this time.

She found it interesting that that was how she got into her field of expertise when it came to a career, also found it admirable in some small way that she managed to use what she was passionate about and put it into good use by blending both her passions and her work choices together. When Dexter all but summoned a light source into his hand and raised it above him to use a decent light for taking photos, she couldn't help but find it quite something to watch, even though it wasn't exactly anything entirely new to what she knew of or could do herself, but there was always something to it that fascinated her when someone else did such an action. She also couldn't help but think how it mustbe highly useful having to not lug around too many big heavy bulky lighting equipment with him if he could summon it from himself and manipulate it to be where he needed it without constantly putting a camera down and moving equipment around. "Hopefully you'll get the answers you need" she commented to Bec as she leaned against the wall nearest the door, one foot up on the wall, foot flat against it and her arms folded. Due to being opposite Zan's room, she looked over her shoulder and saw that Chas and Kay were very much okay in the other room which gave her some sort of relief. She could tell that Kay's back was playing up from the way the woman's hands were still very much on her lower back and rubbing it in a massaging motion but that was very minor in comparison to what could have happened.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Here's hoping" Bec agreed, taking out a small notebook and a measuring tape (like the one a tailor would use) from a pocket and flipping to a new page. While Dexter photographed one part of the snake, she'd focus on a different part, recording things like length, width, scale colour, texture and shape. She even did a rough sketch of the various indentifying markings on the creature, just in case something was to happen to Dexter's camera. While they worked Elliott was paying significantly more attention to Dexter's actions than to Bec's. Internally he was turning cartwheels that he was finally getting to see that master at work. He was scrutinising the man's every move, hoping that maybe he could pick up something that might benefit his own photographic ventures. He was taken aback when Dexter started using powers to assist him with his photography having never considered that powers could be an asset to photography before now. Normally light manipulation wasn't anything he'd find impressive, shaping light into orbs was something that even the weakest light-render could do (it was actually on the school curriculum for those with such powers) and Elliott had seen it so much growing up in his childhood that he'd considered himself truly unphased by it. But Dexter had just blown that mindset right out of the water. Cal couldn't help but smile, seemed she wasn't the only one with a power beneficial to their chosen occupation.

Catching Elliott watching the photographer gave a half smirk, half shrug. "Not the most impressive or exciting of powers, but it's incredibly useful for what I do. Saves a fortune on equipment and transport costs, not to mention it's an excellent way of earning favour with other photographers." "That's pretty clever actually, I'll have to remember that." With the snake sufficiently photographed he pulled out his phone and gestured for Bec to come over. "One for the pinboard I think." Bec rolled her eyes, muttering something about how completely inapppropriate his suggestion was under her breath before before complying and getting in the frame so Dexter could take a selfie of them with the snake unconscious in the background. She flashed the same rude sign with her fingers as they'd seen in the group photo. "I'm gonna get a laptop, start processing this stuff and uploading it, won't be a sec." The photographer then nipped across the corridor, giving a brief nod at Bec and Kay as he rooted through the equipment bags for the correct laptop and cables. Seeing that the shield was still up he sighed, running a hand sideways through his dishevelled hair. "Bec is gonna burn herself out if she keeps this up."

 

[MzHyde]

Elliott's fascination and close watching of Dexter at work didn't go amiss on Fia and it actually made her smile seeing him in such a situation yet again. Even after the stress of a fight, he could find something that brought some joy to him and she just knew that he would end making sure he remembered certain little tricks and hacks to try out himself the moment he could. She was waiting for the moment for Dexter to notice himself that he was being watched whilst she also took note of Bec making her own notes the 'old fashioned' way, thinking it was always a good idea to do such a thing as technology can always give out when you really need it to work properly. She remained silent as Elliott and Dexter spoke before Dexter pulled out his cell phone and spoke to Bec in a hushed manner. It was when Bec said it was totally inappropiate that Fia guessed what Dexter was wanting, making her smirk and roll her eyes as they saw the two of them taking a selfie with the unconscious snake on the bed. It didn't surprise her too much that Dexter would want to start uploading and sorting through everything the moment he could, and if he had a laptop with him, now seemed like the perfect time to do so.

At Dexter's brief appearance in the other room Kay gave a nod in greeting back at Dexter as he came in to get his laptop. By this point she had sat herself down on one of the chairs to get off her feet, in the hopes that sitting down would help relieve some of the aching in her back primilarily. She glanced over when Dexter sighed at the sight of Zan still under the shield that Bec had up and even though she may not have uderstood every single word he spoke, she got it enough from the way he looked at the shielding and sigh he did. She wished she could tell him that they would stay in the room and if bec wanted to, she could remove the shield for a while to not burn herself out, but she couldn't as she didn't enough Attili to feel confident in saying it well enough that it wouldn't come out all wrong. So she remained quiet instead, letting Dexter just get on with what he needed to do. She just hoped the others were okay and not too burned out.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John didn't manage to refrain from rolling his eyes when it became cler that Dexter's great idea was to pull Bec in for a selfie with the unconscious snake person. To him it just seemed an utterly ludicrous thing to do, but for those who knew the photographer better (ie only Bec as her brother was in a coma), it's was actually quite an in-character thing for him to do. When not tired out of his mind and running on fumes the phootgrapher was a very out going person, who would do crazy things on a whim to get a laugh from those around him. The 'taking selfies and weird and inppropriate moments' thing was one of his quirks and there was indeed a pinboard back at Dexter's place overflowing with selfie print-outs. Elliott and Cal tried to mask their smirks while Jay remained more stony-faced, focusing her attention on the snake, looking for anything that might give her a clue as it to it's identity.

Having now located the necessary equipment Dexter made his way back across the corridor, leaving the door wide open behind him, not sure if the other two were going to follow him over or just keep an eye on proceedings from their current position. "Bec you can drop the shield on Zan now, preferably before that talisman burns a hole in you." He told her as soon as he stepped foot into the other room. Bec instinctively looked down to see that Dexter was right, the talisman had begun to glow and heat up uncomfortably against her skin. Casting an eye across the corridor she broke the spell then yanked the necklace over her head. She didn't put the hot stone back in her pocket, instead she let it dangle from he leather cord, curling her fingers around thw edding rings to protect them. "And that brings us to the other matter which I think we'd all like some kinda bloody explanation about" John fixed the woman with a sharp look, making it quite clear he wanted answers and would keep asking until he got them "yer a mage."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay noticed how Dexter left the door wide open as a gesture of 'if you wanna come into the other room you can' but now she had sat down she felt it difficult to get the motivation to move, not only that she partly felt, that despite how little she trusted Zan, someone should be in the room with him anyway, especially if Bec would get rid of the shield before she burns herself out. "Chas if you wanna go into the other room you can" she spoke up eventually, not wanting him to feel obligated to watch out for her. Soon after she spoke and Dexter had got back into the other room, she looked over at Zan as she saw that Bec was closing the shield and getting rid of it.

In the other room Fia glanced up after she had looked down whilst Dexter went to get what he needed and return, seeing that the start of finding out about Bec being a mage was clearly happening. She watched on as Bec got rid of the shield round Zan before removing the talisman but not putting it away just yet as it was very evidently hot judging by it's glow. With John speaking up about the obvious elephant in the room, she focused completely on John and Bec, having also wanted to know the answers that John wanted as well. She couldn't help but think 'which is why you didn't want to say anything when I brought it up before as you didn't know our group had mages'. It honestly made sense why Bec would want to see first if they were trustworthy with such information before saying anything due to Attil's laws. "and I'm guessing from the wedding rings that are linked to it, and hoe you were before, that talisman is actually Zan's?" she theorised, putting more of the clues together in her head. "which would make Zan a mage too?" she guessed, her tone showing she was figuring it out as she was talking.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas looked up when the shield finally blinked out of existance, taking a proper look at Zan. He was still in one piece, and very much unharmed, not that was saying much. None of the man's colour had returned, he was still pale under the tan and the half shaved head made Chas think of a patient about to undergo some form of chemotherapy. Out of the original three (him, John and Elliott) Chas knew he was the one who felt the most sympathy towards Zan once they'd found out the true extent of his past. Zan had made some spectacularly bad life choices, but in the cabbie's opinion he didn't deserve this. Chas gave a nod when Kay said it was okay to leave her alone and head to see what the others were talking about. He couldn't deny that he was curious, he may not have been present for the whole fight, but the sight of Bec striding out of the doorway and launching blasts of energy was enough to prompt a myriad of questions. And it was only just across the corridor, he wouldn't even be out of sight. "I think I will go listen in. No doubt John's damanding answers with a vengeance." He gave a fond smile before heading across the corridor to lean against the doorway (these hospital rooms really weren't designed to hold a large number of people).

Bec nodded at John's statement, knowing that if it hadn't been for the pressing need to deal with the snake creature, John would have asked a hell of a lot earlier. She knew from what her brother Zan had told her that John was the type to demand answers immediately. Elliott, Cliff and Chas were more thoughtful, while Cal and Fia possessed the same fiery hotheadedness that was so common among pyrokinetics. "Yes I am." She confirmed. "I'm not a particularly powerful mage though. What you saw on the corridor is pretty much the extent of my abilities. I don't have the kind of magical affinity that lets me do anything more exciting than blasts, shields and certain shield wards." John's response was a slow nod. It explained why Bec had told them they needed to create fire instead of just creating it herself and having them all follow her lead. Elliott and Cal's were slight 'huh' noises, which were drowned out by Fia thinking aloud.

Bec waited until Fia had finished spelling out her theory, then shook her head firmly. "You could say that, but you'd be wrong. On all counts." "What?!" John couldn't help but blurt out. Fia's theory made sense to him, so how could all parts of it be wrong? In the dorrframe Chas' eyebrows shot right up, while Cal, Elliott and Cliff had to try not to gape like fish. A flash of surprise crossed Jay's face, though she smoothed it away very quickly. "First off my brother isn't a mage at all, never was, never will be. He's a Full Null, not only does he have no Devra powers, he has no magical affinity whatsoever, something that makes him an anomally in our family. All our immediate relatives possess some form of magic, it's in the bloodline. Our eldest brother is the most powerful, followed by my parents, my youngest brother, then me."

"But the talisman can't be yours, it's clearly not matched to your magic, if it's burning up like that." Elliott spoke up, still baffled, though weirdly glad to hear that Zan wasn't actually a mage. He honestly had no idea how he would have reacted if he'd found out that Zan had been a mage and had been concealing it Elliott's whole life by being a xenophobe towards magic. "Or do totems and talismans work differently where you grew up?" The second part was said more cautiously, now clearly wans't the time to make assumptions. "I never said it was mine. And yes, as far as I can tell it's the everywhere- totems work for anybody with any even the smallest shred of magical ability, talismans will only work properly for one particular person, the person they've been made for. If you have the right type of magic they'll work a little, but as you can see, it's risky." She indicated the talisman hanging from her fingers, the glow had only slightly faded in the past few minutes. "My brother was given this as a......" Bec gave a deep shrug, a look of intense sadness welling up in her eyes. "Zan was given the talisman by the same person who bought him that jacket." She gestured at the leather jacket on Elliott with a sad smile. "He used to live in that jacket when I was a kid. To eight-year-old me that jacket was my brother's defining feature."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay smiled back when Chas gave her the fond smile after stating he was curious to what was being said and how John no doubt was being. She was curious as well, if she said otherwise she would have been lying, but because of her moment of back pain she really needed the seat and did think someone being in the room with Zan was more important than her curiosity to what was being spoken about in the opposite room. She also knew she would be able to see absolutely everyone in the other room from where she was, so she didn't see it as an must to be in the other room with everyone else. The way she saw it, if anyone wanted her nearer for whatever reason, they would come get her or send someone from their group to get her. It was clear also that Fia kept every now and then looking back to see how she was. "That I don't doubt, everyone knows where I am if I'm needed" she said back, letting him walk across the corridor and lean against the other doorway.

At Bec's reply to John's remark that was borderline accusatory, despite being a mage himself, Fia had to listen intently at her answer and like John, she gave her own nod thinking it did make sense as to why the talisman was glowing and almost burning Bec in the way it was and why she needed the rest of them to conjure fire and not simply do it herself. The woman's answer just made her out loud theory feel even more valid, so when Bec said she was wrong on every single account she couldn't help but look just as shocked as John and everyone else did. She was rarely wrong with her theories and she was more than confident up until Bec replied that she was very much correct. To her, her theory was the only thing that made sense as she distinctly remembered that Bec seemed to glance at Zan when she shut her down during the first enquiry of the talisman. She was just thankful in some ways that everyone else was just as shocked at her being so majorly wrong as she was, which told her that quite possibly at least some of the others (she was guessing mostly John) had similar thoughts or thought her theory was pretty solid. Hearing that Zan possessed absolutely no magic skills whatsoever made her wonder who the talisman actually belonged to if it wasn't Zan. She let Elliott ask his question to gain more answers, thinking the question was by far a very valid one.

She also thought Bec made a good point in stating that she never said it was her talisman to begin with, which clarified to Fia that she did at least remember Bec's much earlier words correctly, making her feel not so stupid after getting her theory so epically wrong. She kept listening but when Bec explained that it was the same person who gave him the jacket that Elliott was now very much sporting still, who gave him the talisman, it made her wonder who the hell actually gave both items to him. "So that's why you glanced at Zan when you shut down my earleir query about the talisman. It belongs to Zan but he can't actually use it as such an item as it wasn't originally meant for him? Which begs the question who was it that gave it and the jacket to him?" the penny dropping properly in her mind now, but also bringing up more questions. She guessed it'd have to be someone highly special to Bec and Zan if it brought up a lot of emotions to Bec. Her guesses were either Mara or one of their brothers, but she didn't want to express her guesses out loud incase she got them wrong again. She also could understand why something like the biker jacket would be deemed as a defining feature to a younger sibling, as she herself (like everyone who knew him) saw the trenchcoat as John's defining feature, and Kay's hair hers.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Like Elliott, John was also relieved that Zan wasn't a mage. If it had been true, John would probably have spontaneously combusted, or at the very least started shouting and demanding even more answers, while internally kicking himself for being to stupid to notice such a massive thing about Zan. He listened to the rest of Bec's explanation impatiently, really just wanting to get a name, rank or serial number for whoever this mage was that had given Zan the talisman. The fact that the laws of totems and talismans were universal didn't suprise him. As somebody who'd seen and felt the laws of magic being rewriten (that was one hell of saga involving the Justice League Dark, the destruction of many magical kingdoms, the loss (and later regaining of his demon's blood), a lot of death and a whole heap of bad decisions and booze) he knew just how universal they really were. John did give a slight smirk when Bec explaianed how for her as a young kid the leather jacket had been her defining feature. Thoughts of Fia or Kay didn't even cross his mind in this moment, John was very much thinking of his own beloved trenchcoat. The people closest to him (Chas and Elliott) didn't have such a defining garemnt. Chas almost always wore the same style of clothes didn't but lacked that one particular iconic piece of clothing, while Elliott was still grappling with what exactly would be a look for him taht wouldn't look like he was just straight up copying John.

When Bec revealed that the talisman and the jacket had been given to Zan by the same person, Elliott couldn't help but look down at himself. During the fight he'd forgotten entirely that he was wearing the leather jacket. It was comfortable in a way most leather jackets weren't having already been 'broken in' by Zan. His earlier reluctance to wear the jacket was back now that he knew there was even more of a significance to the garment. Part of Elliott suspected that seeing him in that jacket would have been for Bec like seeing the ghost of her brother. Maybe that would explain the almost haunted edge to the look in her eyes. Elliott may have tried to deny it when he was younger, but after seeing the photos, there was no denying that he and zan were very alike physically. "Should I really be wearing it then, if it's that important to him?" He asked, tone softer intending to add 'and you as well', but Bec gave an answer before he could open his mouth again. "You should keep it." Bec replied. "I know my brother, he wouldn't have any problems with you wearing it."

As Fia once again outline her theory, albeit this time with less assumptionsElliott and Cal breifly wondered if Mara could have been the one to give these items. they dismissed that theory almost as quickly as it arrived. Zan had worn the leather jacket when he was shot, so whoever gave it to him was somebody from his teenage years, Mara didn't make an appearance until Zan's time at university on Attil. It was John who spoke up first with a shrug. "It's a love thing innit?" the fact that Bec didn't deny it straight off made him believe he was on the right track and so he continued. "The only people I've ever known to give talismans away willin'ly have done it as a symbol of deep runnin affection or some such similar sentiment." John himself had never owned a talisman- his magic was linked mainly to his demons blood, so a talisman would serve no advantage to him- nor had he ever been given anybody's. "It's also kept on the same bit of string as the wedding rings. As for who exactly? Well my money's on it bein' a bloke. No woman at that age, or any age really ever manages to buy clothes that their man actually a hundred percent likes."

 

[MzHyde]

At the sound of Elliott's question to Bec about the jacket, Fia could tell that he suddenly felt some kind of discomfort about wearing it and if he had to take it off. She could see that he'd waste no time in removing the garment if it haunted Bec that much, but she also saw another example of how much Elliott did think about other people and not be completely selfish. It was nice to see it was a trait he always had and not just a recent thing from her time. Yet to her, it also said a lot about Bec when she told him to keep the jacket. When it came to her next theory enquiry, she didn't think it could have been Mara due to the bullet hole, but then stranger things have happened and she just didn't want to rule anything out, even if she didn't openly give her theory of it being Mara or someone else.

She was expecting Bec to answer her again, so when it was John who spoke up first she couldn't help but glance at him as he added his own theory to it, which as he explained it did make a lot of sense. She herself was handed down the phoenix necklace from Kay, just as Kay's mother (albeit from her needing to find it in the old family house) handed it down to Kay. It wasn't quite a talisman as such but it did hold a lot of significance for her bloodline on her mother's side and was said to hold a lot of importance to truly bringing the phoenix kind back. So when Fia was old enough, she had the necklace given to her to be the next guardian of it. Little did her group know, she still had it on her and always had the entire time she was in this time, hidden either round her neck or in her pocket for those days she was wearing a low neckline vest. At the remark of women not being able to buy their man clothing that he was to 100% like, she couldn't help but smirk as it was such a typical John thing to say in her eyes. "okay, so it was an old boyfriend? But where do the wedding rings come into it?" she asked as she truly felt like she was missing a piece of the puzzle so to speak and just couldn't figure it out without that piece.

Back in the other room, Kay was watching on from where she was and she could see the various facial expressions during all their chats and wondered what was being spoken baout, but she just wasn't curious enough to actually move. It wasn't like she could stand anywhere in the other room so she saw no point in moving. If she wanted any answers, she could ask when they all went their separate ways.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas put a hand over his face and sighed in a 'why oh why am I friends with this guy?' kind of way at John's comment about women being unable to buy clothes for their male partners. It was such a typical John thing to say and delivered with such a classic aura of 'John-ness' that he had to sigh (never mnd the fact that he did agree with it to an extent, nothing his wife had bought for had ever been quite as right as something he'd buy for himself. Elliott just rolled his eyes, a similar expression of 'oh gods, who set him off?'. Bec gave a single nod to confirm he was spot on with his theory. "Yes, it was a boyfriend, not a girlfriend." She then, with a slight smirk gave the smart-alec remark on her mind. "And for the record men are also shit at buying clothes for their female partner." "Never said they weren't shit." John smirked, echoing Bec's words back at her. The woman recognised that and gave a slight smile. "That's what she said."

It was Dexter, not Bec who answered Fia's question. "The talisman came well before the rings did. There's no big grand connection between the two like you're imagining. They're simply physical reminders of what.... well technically who he's lost" he stated, before giving a slight shrug. "The man doesn't let that kind of thing go easily, and he certainly doesn't like to forget either. The talisman, he's worn it almost as long as I've known him. His ring appeared on the cord after he and Mara started repairing their relationship and her ring only appeared....." he tailed off, not quite able to bring himself to say 'after she died'. Bec gave an understanding nod, then asked in a softer tone. "He told you the full story?" she asked, leaning forwards, resting her elbows on her knees and lying one hand flat over the other so she could rest her chin on it. "Not the full story no, I was there when he got the news and in the years since then I've filled in the gaps. He's sentimental, as we both know, which means there's clues if you know where to look." Bec nodded, some unspoken message passing between her and Dexter.

 

[MzHyde]

The sigh and face palm action from Chas as well as Elliott's reaction truly didn't go amiss on Fia. Even if there was some truth to what John said, to her it truly depended on the people and the couple and how in tune with each other they were. Not that she could speak from any kind of experience, only of what she had witnessed from her parents, Chas and Renee as well as Elliott and Jay. She hoped though that were would be a moment where John's statement would come back and bite him in the ass metaphorically speaking. At Bec's comeback of it also applies the other way round, Fia had to smirk even more, especially as John admitted she was right before Bec made the typical comeback that she did. She then looked at Dexter as he decided he would reply to her question rather than Bec, nodding in understanding at his words finding it made sense that it was just sheerly a case of being a little collection of sentimental items put together.

The emotional pain of talking about Mara in the past tense was evident to her, seeing that it possibly would always be a sore patch and something Bex, Dexter and Zan if he wakes up, will never fully move on from. Seeing that, she could understand that pain, knowing that in her time if they didn't save her mother, her dad probably would have never gotten out his funk that she saw. She didn't know how she would deal with the loss herself, knowing if she didn't bring her mother back she probably would have blamed herself for absolutely everything and letting her dad go into the depressive state he started to show in her time. She didn't say anything back at Dexter as it seemed he and Bec were going off on a tangent about the story, instead and for once keeping her mouth firmly shut as the two of them spoke.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott and Cal both exchanged looks of 'did you know that?' and 'didn't really have him pegged as that type' with each other when Dexter said that Zan was sentimental. That was a side of the man they most definitely hadn't seen as children (though they supposed that parents didn't really reminisce with their kids at that age, that kind of nostalgia trip was reserved for friends and spouses). What was becomming more and more clear was that they really didn't know the man at all. Both could see why he'd want to hold onto this one piece of his and Mara's relationship he had left, neither had doubted that their parents had loved each other. It was only as they became adults and started to (or in the case of Cal had already) fall in love with somebody that the siblings realised just how much their parents had loved each other. So for Zan to have been wearing the talisman over his heart for the majority of his life, it told them that whoever this boy, this past boyfriend was, he'd been somebody very special. And reading between the lines of what Dexter and Bec were saying, this person had died.

"So you were there then?" Bec asked, to which Dexter gave a long, slow sigh. "Well not there, there, if you get my meaning." Bec didn't so he elaborated. "I wasn't there when the news was broken, but I was there directly before he was told. And one day, midway through a drill in which we'd been paired together- as was often the case- one of the liason officers pulled him from the drill and I had to complete it solo, which was horrendous." The photographer shook his head, clearly he hadn't enjoyed his time in the army either. "I later found that that officer was a witness protection agent whose job it was to bring news from back home if the person in protection wished to hear it- which your brother obviously did. I was the one who found him all those hours later on the roof, just standing there right on the very edge, deathly pale- like the soul had been sucked out of him or something" the photographer gave a shudder at the memory "clearly in some kind of shock. I'm pretty sure that's when they started putting suicide risk on his file." "Gods." Bec shook her head, to which Dexter simply nodded. "He got through it though, by some miracle. He kept on going and dragged himself onwards through the ruins....... Like he always does." "Until now." Bec replied, her tone was dark, but every other part of her body was drowning in sorrow.

 

[MzHyde]

Instead of saying anything, Fia just listened to Bec and Dexter talk about the history of Zan's teenage boyfriend and how it came about that the said person in question had died. She let herself glance round the room to see what everyone's reactions were to what they were hearing and only really saw such reactions from Elliott and Cal at the mention of Zan being sentimental of any level. Otherwise she didn't see anything or hear anything from anyone that warranted her to fully listen and speak up. Sure, it made her feel a bit like a spare wheel and a little bit lost on what they could possibly do whilst Bec and Dexter spoke together like the rest of them weren't even in the room, but if that was needed to spoken about between them, then so be it. Yet even though she wasn't fully listening, the bits she did catch she did find rather interesting, especially the part of it was that particular death that sent Zan onto suicide watch. It seemed that at every corner and which way they found themselves, that they were getting more and more plot holes filled in when it came to Zan. Eventually however she really couldn't really stay quiet for much longer as they really needed to focus on moving forward with what they all needed to do before the shifter woke up and Kay got incredible bored in the other room.

"So, we gonna rewind the convo a little here and see if there's anything about this shifter and what our next moves are?" she asked, despite her wording her tone wasn't conveying it as abrupt as it could have sounded. She just wanted them all to sort of get back on track, as she got a feeling from the way the conversations were progressing that it'd be far too easy for them to go way off track and almost forget what it was they actually needed to do. In the other room Kay was getting bored just as Fia was guessing she would, and despite the fact there was no room left in the other room, she just had to get up and stretch her legs and see how they were all getting on. She didn't think they would have been here for as long as they were even if she couldn't say for certain how long she really expected them to be there. She stood up with relative ease and began to walk across the room when yet another growing pain hit her hard making her stumble and slam her hand onto the door frame of Zan's room with a wince as she tried to stop her legs buckling from under her. "shit that hurts..." she muttered to herself. The slamming on the doorframe made Fia look across and saw how her mother was being and every part of her wanted to call out 'mum!' but she knew she couldn't when Elliott's translation spell was in full swing and everyone would be able to understand her. Instead she quickly walked across the corridor, "You okay?" she asked, with Kay nodding, but still wincing and feeling unsteady.

 

[_gallifrog_]

It was abundantly clear to the others in the room that Bec and Dexter had forgotten that they weren't alone in the room. John doubted that Dexter would be saying any of these personal details if he remembered that the other family members (who, as far as he knew, hated Zan with a passion) were still in the room. But John sure as hell wasn't going to butt in and interupt, clearly this conversation was going somewhere interesting and as reluctant as John had been initially to learn about Zan, he was figuring out that for their own safety, and for Elliott to continue living it was a damn good idea to have as much kbnowledge as possible on Zan's past, including any other ghosts that may attempt to pop out of the woodwork. There'd already been two assassins sent after the man, so clearly there was at least one powerful person or group of powerful people that wanted the man dead. Clearly Fia had different ideas, her words prompting botjh Dexter and Bec to look up at her, both somewhat annoyed that their conversation had been shut down and somewhat embarassed for going so off piste in the first place.

"Ah yes, this bugger." Bec shot a glare at the still immobile creature on the bed. "Guess now is as good a time as any to flip in back to biped form." "This one will switch them back, and this one will keep them locked in that form. You'll have to wait a minute or so after the shift before injecting the second one just to be sure the transformation is finished." "I presume the gag is staying' on for all of this?" John asked, still leaning against the wall, but uncrossing his arms to ready himself should he need to re-cast the spell to make it better work on the 'human' form. "It's not worth taking it off." Bec replied, before standing up and taking the first syringe. The needle tip was carefully inserted between two scales before she depressed the plunger.

The transformation took a few seconds to begin but when It did John found himself riveted to it, so much so that he missed completely the sound of Kay's hand slapping against the doorframe as the force of the sudden growth pain caused her to lose her footing. The morphing was both fascinating and disgusting in equal measure, the whole body distorted into a black mess, the scales fusing together to form a seamless layer of skin, the fangs retratced back to more normal teeth, the limbs split away from the body, as did the fingers and toes which initially appeared as webbed appendages, hair began to sprout at the crown before cascading down onto the person's shoulders. The form was male, tall with dark hair. It was only when the others starting moving and looking with concern towards the other room that john realised something else had happened. Any thoughts of going over to see if she was okay were prevented by Chas laying a hand on John's shoulder and telling him firmly. "Mate, Fia's got this, Kay'll be fine. You concentrate on making sure this thing doesn't try and bite off our head." John gave a nod, half of him relieved, half of him worried and turned back to the snake-person now sprawled on the bed.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't even care too much that Bec and Dexter looked annoyed at being interrupted, as much as it was interesting to find out more about Zan's past for everyone's sake, she couldn't help but feel like it was taking over the more important situation that was laying unconscious right infront of them all. It clearly didn't annoy the two of them too much as Bec gladly seemed to switch back to focusing on the shifter, with Cliff explaining what was what syringe. She just managed to see Bec take the syringe first needed and be used on the snake form before she felt she had to get to Kay. If she was in any other angle in the room, she wouldn't have noticed either, but the fact she was against the wall nearest the open door, she she saw it out the corner of her eye, making her jump into action. She wasn't even mad that John had been utterly distracted by watching the shift back to Devra was happening because of her own mental admittance she could have easily missed Kay's stumble herself.

"like shit you're okay" Fia replied to her mother, trying to be used as a crutch for her so Kay could at least attempt to stand up straight. "it's just the growing pains, this one is seriously beating my ass" Kay said through gritted teeth. Not that she could ever consider herself an expert on the situation and she was just hoping it was indeed just growing pains and not because of anything else like the stress of worrying over everyone in the fight or similar. The only thing she could say for certain was that it was not pains relating to going into labor which she was beyond relieved for. The one theory she never did think of was maybe it was down to Fia being in their time for as long as she has been and it was starting to make an effect on her unborn version. "you sure you don't wanna sit back down? I know it's not the most exciting being in this other room but-" "I'm sure" Kay said before Fia could even finish her sentence. As much as she was in pain, she didn't want to coddled by her future daughter either but she also didn't want to particularly alone whilst she was in still in pain. "just...just stand here with me for a second" Kay ended up requesting, a request that Fia sighed at but nodded. "okay..okay" she replied, hoping that nothing would go wrong with shifter in the other room in this very moment.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay walked over to the bed, treading without sound like she always did and stared stony-faced right at the face of the attacker. Now that she wasn't in a fight with it she could see the classic signs that this was a serpent shifter- small ears, eyes narrower than usual (closer to slits), the nostrils were similiarly narrow and the whole face in general was long and sharp. The assassin suspected that if she was to wrench the jaw open she'd be confronted with a forked tongue too. Some sepent shifter species had a normal tongues and teeth in their biped form, but this Jay suspected wasn't one of those species. "Well the good news is they aren't Isogrii and I don't recognise them." Jay ran a hand along the arm as she spoke, making fully sure there were no subdermal implants. "And the bad news?" John asked, trying to do as Chas said and focus on the snake person as opposed to what was going on across the corridor with Kay and Fia. He was having mixed success in that regard, while had staying firmly and tightly in place throughout the whole transformation, he hadn't been able to stop his eyes from flicking over briefly to be certain that kay actually was alright.

"I don't recognise them. Which either means they're new to the field or they're some kind of living legend who hasn't ever left a witness who saw their face alive." Seeing the way teh others' faces blanched she added "I suspect it was option one, the disguise was clumsy, it didn't fool a real doctor who was only half paying attention. It sure as Hell wouldn't have fooled a fully alert one. And bringing a gun into a hospital with no silencer?" Jay shook her head in disapproval. "That's a classic rookie manouvre there. They underestimated the job and now they're gonna pay for it."

Jay then gave an alarming, almost hacking cough, which resulted in her spitting bloodly phlegm into her hand. John outwardly winced, paling slightly, the sound and the sight bringing memories rushing back of the time he'd been forced to endure highly advanced lung cancer. It was an experience he never wanted to repeat again. It had taken him tricking all three princes of Hell in order to cure it, but it had been damn worth it. So to see Jay doing the same thing was beyong worrying. "Bloody Christ!" Both Elliott and Cliff took a step forward, only for the assassin to hold up a (now blood splattered) hand. "That's the other bad news. That temporary fix I did, crunching my nose back into position? It seems to have come undone... not surprising really. It was only meant to hold until I could get it set or healed."

Spoiler: Dangerous Habits

As interesting as the Legends storyline where John got lung cancer, I much prefer the original comic one and it's resolution, so I'm gonna ingnore that particular TV arc

 

[MzHyde]

Fia kept glacning back at the other room for a couple of reasons, 1) to see how things were going on in there and 2) because she noticed John kept glacning voer and was clearly worried about Kay. It took a couple of failed glances before she managed to catch John's eyes and gave a shrug with a look that said 'she's being stubborn as fuck, I dunno what to do' before looking back at Kay and staying in front of her not wanting to leave her alone in this very moment. She just didn't trust that Kay would make it across the corridor with some kind of support crutch in the form of another person. She didn't know what was going on in the other room, but she could see that something was happening and mentally she cursed that everything was happening at once in true Hale-Constantine fashion. She did hear her dad curse out at something that was going on Jay and it made her wonder if it was to do the fact Jay broke her nose in the fight and something was happening around that, as she knew deep down if it was the shifter then there'd be a lot more commotion going on with the group. Kay on the other hand was focusing on her breathing to get through the pain she was feeling, just wanting it to subside like it did back at Zan's apartment. She continued to convince herself that she would be okay and it would pass, if nothing else but to make herself feel mentally okay and not panic.

"Get me to the room Fia, I think I just need to walk it off" Kay said, slowly making herself stand upright a bit more. Fia nodded once more and slung one of Kay's arm over her shoulder and one of her own arms round her waist to hold her up, hoping that although Kay was being unbelievably stubborn, she would be okay if she could her to the other room. She wasn't the slightest bit happy about it and would much rather take Kay back to the chair in Zan's room but it seemed that her mother was not going to listen to her no matter how hard she tried. As she went to properly pull Kay off the doorframe and begin to walk her to John and the others, Kay began seeing twinkling lights in her vision, which could only be a sign for one thing.... Next thing Fia felt was Kay stumbling and falling to her knees fainting. "Shit...JOHN!" Fia called out, despite her first instinct was to shout 'dad', but knew she couldn't. She just called out for him out of habit as that was all she truly knew due to him being her dad in her time. She kneeled down and tried wake Kay up, only able to think that it must have been the pain that made her faint.

Spoiler

ah yeah, the comic version is more interesting. It was good they added that important part of his past into the show but it could have been done better, I agree.