Players:
Summary: Kevin finds Kai bleeding in an alley and refuses to let him die.
Date: September 11, 2011
Log Title: Saving a Life
Rating: PG-13
NYC - Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Station is one of the main hubs to get in and out of Manhattan. The main concourse is vast with marble covering the floor and walls. Looking up at the ceiling is looking at a piece of art, mapped out is all the constellations in gold on a blue background. In the center of the main concourse is a circular information booth displaying departure and arrival times of the various trains. Once you leave the Main Concourse there are many expensive shops to be found. There is also a major food court within the Station, where visitors can feast and chat before their train arrives.
Having seperated from Quenton Kai managed to get himself as far as a quiet alley not too far from the Grand Central Terminal, he got about halfway down the alley before collapsing next to a trashcan, he's dressed in black jeans, grey converse and the remains of his shirt is wrapped around his chest holding his beanie in place over the bullet womb just below his ribs, semi-conscious Kai doesn't even notice the falling rain anymore, he's just gonna rest a while, yeah, just a rest.
Trying to find safety from whatever is happening as he exited the train from Westchester, Kevin runs from the station into the same alley that Kai just happens to have taken refuge in. The young teen doesn't really notice anyone else yet. Not until the smell of blood hits his nose, at least. For a moment, the young mutant freezes, closing his eyes and turning his head to locate the source, and only opens them again when he finds the direction the scent is strongest in. His eyes reflecting the light so that they shine slightly green in the twilight dark of the alley, the teen searches the shadows by the trashcans for the one who's bleeding so badly.
Then he spots the familiar figure of the boy from the zoo and he makes a vague strangled cry and rushes forward, "Oh God in Heaven!" It's a prayer and curse all at once as he falls to his knees at Kai's side and pulls his cell out of his pocket, thumb pressed to the panic button, "What happened?! Are you okay?" He tries to push aside the other boy's hand to see how bad the injury is and what happened, leaning in close to sniff and see if he can catch the smell of bowels, bile, or stomach acid in with the blood, even though it's a fairly high wound.
Kai's eyes open whe he hears a voice he's heard before and tries to make out the blurry figure at his side, "I'll give you three guesses to answer your own question", his interest in maintaining his nice guy Kai persona is pretty much non-existant right now, he tries to pull himself into sitting position, "Kevin?/"
"No, don't move!" Kevin puts one hand on the other boy's shoulder to try to hold him down, "You're bleeding pretty badly. You need to be still so that you don't agrivate the wound. I don't want you to bleed out." He looks at the other teen's face for a moment and nods, "Yeah. You're Kai, right? The guy from the zoo? Penguins?" He reaches for the wound again, "Let me look. I know some things about injury." He pauses and looks at Kai's face, "I've called for someone to help. Please… Let me help you!"
People in the train station flee from a commotion that's apparently something between some mutants and Friends of Humanity. Kevin fled down an alley only to find Kai with a gunshot wound 'resting' beside some trash cans.
Kai looks up at Kevin, "Penguins?, you chose now for a chat about penguins?", still he does as he's told and shows Kevin the bullet wound, pulling down the makeshift bandage he looks at it, "Wow, never bled this much before", he really needs to remember to avoid bullets in future.
"I just mean that I saw you there." And Kevin likes penguins. It helps him to connect the memory of the other boy's name to the boy. He inspects the wound and winces, wiping up the blood that pools around it, "This looks pretty bad…" 'Bad' being an understatement… He recovers the wound, "I need to roll you over a little to see if it went all the way through. It's probably gonna hurt like a son of a gun, though." At least there's a little warning before he sterts trying to see how bad the wound is.
Kai almost rolls his eyes, yeah cos a little pain is really gonna bother him, "Fine", he shifts his weight onto his arm and turns over unto his stomach, he lets out a grunt from the effort, seriously he's never trying to help anyone ever again, "You know what you're doing?"
"I'm just trying to make sure you're not gonna die until someone that can actually help gets here." Kevin trails off as his eyes fall on the tattoo on the other boy's back, a small frown pulling his brows together for a moment, though his expression quickly fades into a wince when he sees the exit wound, "Ugh… Okay, I'm going to need to try to stop the bleeding." He starts pulling off his t-shirt as he says this, ripping off strips with his teeth to try to pack into the wound and form a pad, "I know enough, anyway… I used to be a healer. I can't do it anymore, but I still remember a few things." He leans in a little closer and sniffs quietly, "I don't smell anything. I think it was a clean shot." He winces a little at both the loss of his shirt and the fact that it's not exactly sterile, "I wish I had some bandages, but I don't have any with me." He glances back toward the way he came from, his voice soft and anxious, "Come on… We need help here…"
"I am not going to die, i've only just started, i'm not ready", focusing on that thought Kai comes up with an idea, how did he not see it before?, cold slows down blood flow, "Used to be a healer?, doesn't really help me now", he pushes Kevin away and tries to turn back over, "Stand back, i need to try something".
Kevin makes a face, "Just because you're young doesn't mean that you can't die." That's something he knows first hand. He caused enough deaths, after all… For a moment, he seems older than his years, more world weary. He winces a little, "Yeah, well, if it hadn't been for Dad-one, I would be a vegitable right now. He saved me when I tried to use my gift on myself to keep from being able to use it to hurt people anymore. I can't use it anymore." There. He just admitted to a virtual stranger that he's a mutant. Or at least used to be one, anyway. The young mutant falls back on his butt when he's pushed away, "Hey. You need to be still! You'll make the bleeding worse."
Kai closes his eyes and focuses on what of his cyrokinetic ability he can muster in his weakened state, "I don't wanna go", his eyes, hair and tattoo turn an ice blue colour as he tries to lower his body tempreture, his skin, fingernails and lips turn a grey/blue colour as his tempreture drops and the blood flow slows a little, as he hits his limit his powers cut out and his hair, eyes and tattoo return to their usual state.
"You're a mutant, too?" There's a note of wonder in Kevin's voice when the other boy's coloring changes and his body temperature drops a little. He hangs back for a minute until Kai's coloration returns to normal and then scrambles back to the other mutant's side, ignoring the dirt and blood that soaks into the knees of his jeans, "I'm not gonna let you go anywhere. He presses one hand to the entrance wound, hoping that the makeshift pad in the back will help to put pressure on the wound and stop the bleeding, "Come on, Kai. Talk to me. Help is on the way. I need you to stay conscious until they get here. We'll get you to the hospital and get you all patched up." He falls silent for a moment, "Talk to me. Tell me about yourself. Where do you go to school? Here in the city?"
Kai's eyes snap open at the mention of hospital, "No, i'm not going to a hospital, there will be too many questions asked, no just no", he coughs and answers Kevin's questions, "Yeah i go to school in the city, i only started there last week, they're really not gonna like this", stupid guns.
Kevin frowns a little at the insistance that there not be any hospitals, "But I can't do this by myself." He winces a little at the cough, sending another mental call for help through the chip in his phone, "If you think they'll help, I'll help you get there. I go to school in Westchester, myself. My dads work there, so I stay at school during the week and at home on the weekends. Do you have family close by that I can call?" He winces a little, "Yeah, I know that the teachers at my school would be pretty upset if I showed up with a gunshot through my middle." His dads would probably have a freak fit, too! "Where's your school at? What's the name?"
Kai shakes his head, "Can't tell you any of that, against the rules, dont tell outsiders about the school", hmmm family members?, nope none, there are those posing as his family who work for HYDRA but they contact him not the other way round, somewhere in his head two thoughts connected, "You go to Xaviers".
There's another little frown when Kevin is told that the other boy's school's rules doesn't let him tell anyone where it is or what the name is, "Well, surely you can tell me the name, right?" His frown deepens when he's told that the injured teen doens't have family in the area, his expression becoming one of distress when he hears this. He's distracted for a moment when Kai mentions the name of his school and nods, "Well… Yeah. I'm not really supposed to talk about school, though. It's kinda supposed to be a big secret, or something." So don't tell anyone! He glances at his phone for a moment, brow furrowing when there's no call or text reported on the screen, "Keep talking to me. I wanna make sure you stay awake." There's a short pause, "Where did you grow up?" If he doesn't have family in New York, then he can't have grown up in the city, after all…
Kai raises an eyebrow, "It's a secret?, then someone should let the other people i've met from that school know that, cos i've had four different individuals mention it", when asked where he grew up Kai gives a more or less honest answer, "Ithaca, same state, different city", he leaves out the part about the underground base though, "Why are you in the city?"
Kevin shrugs, "Not a really huge secret. We just aren't really supposed to talk about it, is all." He rolls his eyes a little and shakes his head, "Yeah, well, it's not really a big deal. I guess it's just school, but still…" He makes a small oh sound and nods when he hears that the other teen grew up just in another city, "That's cool. I lived my whole like in Miami up until last year." He blinks a couple of times at being questioned, "I was going shopping. Dad-One's birthday is in just over a month and I wanna get him something perfect, but there's not really anything in Westchester that would work." He shakes his hair back out of his eyes and falls silent for nearly a minute before speaking again, "So what's with that tattoo? What's the thirteen for? It really looks kinda cool, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone who's tattoos change colors when they use their powers."
"I wanted a tattoo and i like the number thirteen, not really a story behind it and i didnt know it changes colour", Kai groans, "I think i've rested enough now, i gotta get moving, i'm not dying in an alley", he starts trying to use the trashcan to get to his feet, "Would it kill them to put some sort of handle here?"
"You aren't going to die!" Panic rises in Kevin's throat, making him sound at least vaguely strangled, "I won't let you die!" There's determination in his voice, "I've killed too many people to let somebody die when I can do something to stop it." He puts out one more call to anyone monitoring it back at the school and makes a face when the other boy insists on trying to stand, "At least let me help you. You're just gonna make things worse." At least if he helps, then there's less of a chance of him tearing something as he moves. He moves to put one shoulder under one of Kai's arms and one of his own arms around the shorter boy's waist.
Kai nods, "Good, i'm not exactly planning on letting it happen either", he puts some of his weight on Kevin as he helps him get up, he tries to access his ice powers and finds himself unable to, "Good thing i'm not a panicker right?", he reaches into his pocket and hits the Barnes panic button again, not exactly on top of things are they?
"Yeah…" Kevin's tone is wry at the other boy's comment as he helps him slowly head for the end of the alley, careful not to move too quickly or over anything that might cause him to trip. "If you tell me where to take you, I can get you there. No questions asked." He pauses to shrug his far shoulder, "Who's gonna listen to some mutie kid about where some secret school is, huh?" He's certainly not going to go tell anyone anything about the location of whatever school the other boy goes to, "It's not like I even know what the name of it is, after all."
Kai considers for a moment, weighing up his chance of survival if he doesn't go back to Barnes, "Ok, fine", he activates the GPS on his cell and hands it to Kevin, "It's not exactly close though, or visable", he seems to be keeping up with Kevin's pace okay, "Kinda wishing a blue box would show up right about now".
When the phone is handed over, Kevin gives a little satisfied nod, wincing at the blood that covers the both of them and their shirtless state, "I just hope we can get a taxi…" Only because he doesn't want to make the other boy walk farther than he absoulutely has to! He winces at the distance, frowning a little at the thought of the school not being visible, "Come on, Kai. We can make it!" He's not going to give up on the other boy, that's for sure. He frowns at the comment to some blue box, not getting the reference, "Blue box?"
Kai nods, "We'll be able to, trust me", he may be powerless right now but if need be Kai can still be pretty threatening, "The Blue Box is a Doctor Who referance", Doctor Who being one of the things he enjoys outside the Kai persona, "It's his ship, it's called the TARDIS but it looks like a blue box".
"Oh… Okay." Kevin wasn't allowed to watch anything so non-Christian as Doctor Who when he still had his healing powers and just hasn't really looked at it since then. It's not like he knows what he's missing after all, right? Fortunately for both of them, they don't have to worry about getting a taxi since one of the Xavier's instructors drives up as they're walking down the sidewalk to get somewhere a little more public to hail one. Relief floods the taller teen's face and he leads the way to the familiar school owned car, "Come on! I know that car. We can get him to take us to your school." There's a brief exchange between the young mutant and teacher before he helps Kai into the backseat and slips in after him.
If it wasn't a life or death situation Kai wouldn't risk getting into the car, but this is so he allows himself to be bundled into the back of the car, he grabs the phone from Kevin while he's distracted talking to the driver and disables the GPS, "Sorry, one person i can risk, two no, gotta keep the secret", with that thephone slips out of his grasp and he slumps into his seat, conscious but exausted.
Kevin frowns a little when the phone is taken away, "Hey! How're we supposed to know where to take you then?" The man in the front seat looks back at the boys for a moment before asking if this 'secret school' happens to be Barnes. Apparently, he is at least mildly familiar with the SHIELD run school.
Kai frowns, "Guess i'm the only person with any consept of secret at that place, yeah Barnes", geez it took him three months to even get a mention of that school, and any randomer seems to know about it, "Who is that?"
The teacher shakes his head, "No, we just know that there's a 'secret' school in New York." Kevin gives the other boy a worried look as the teacher pulls away from the curb, "I don't know exactly where it is, so you'll need to direct me."
Kai winces as he fumbles for his phone again, "Here, the GPS is back online", he drops the phone back on the seat before closing his eyes, he hates this feeling, the feeling of complete and utter defensiveless, he hasn't felt like this in years, "I'm not letting this happen again".
"Sometimes you just can't help the bad things that happen." Kevin's voice is soft as he tries to keep the other boy from getting too upset, the teacher in the front seat falling silent after taking the phone from the taller teen, "And he's just a teacher at my school." So he's safe enough, right?
Kai slowly shakes his head, "Yes you can, things like thisonly happen if you care, when you start caring you get sloppy", he tries to sit up but can barely even open his eyes right now, "I'm giving up on caring, no more caring".
"You can't just go around not caring about anyone, though." Kevin frowns, "If you don't care about people then you'll just end up old and bitter like my father. It might get you hurt sometimes, but everyone is connected. People just can't live a life disconnected from everyone else. It'll drive you crazy." He should know. He had it forced on him for a couple of years, after all.
Kai sighs, "I've been having these weird thoughts lately, like is any of this for real or not?", everything old and new is getting all mixed up in his head and he can't make sense of it anymore, "I'm not even sure who i am anymore, do i keep going like i am or go back to who i was?"
The teacher just drives silently, letting the two boys talk and trying to get the injured Kai to medical help as quickly as possible. "Of course it's real." Kevin misunderstands what the other boy is talking about, "You got shot!" He frowns when Kai admits to an identity crisis, "What do you mean? Who did you used to be?" Pure confusion from the taller boy as he reaches up to try to feel the injured boy's forehead to check for fever.
Rather than hot Kevin will feel that Kai's forehead is icy cold, "I can't tell you, i was just different", while Kai may not have the high body count Kevin does but he was a ice cold killer, "My powers aren't working, why aren't my powers working", is he gonna make it?
Kevin blinks a couple of times at the cold feel of the other boy's forehead, his brows drawing together in worry as he moves his hand down to check Kai's pulse, "Calm down, Kai. We'll get you help." Hesitantly, he tries stroking the other boy's cheek to comfort him, something that his Tia used to do to him when he was sick as a child, "You're gonna be okay. I promise!" Who cares if he really can't keep that promise? He still made it.
Kai nods as he's helped out of the car, he reaches out to place his hand on the scanner to allow them access to the underground base, the doors open just as his legs give way, "Fuck", he struggles to get some strength back into his legs to get himself into the base.
"Just calm down. We'll get you where you need to go." Kevin makes no hesitation to help his friend to get where he needs to go to get patched up, "You're gonna be fine, Kai. I'll make sure of it." Even if it means that he calls home and gets permission to stay by the other boy's side until he's up on his feet again.
"Ok, being calm", once they get inside it shouldn't be too hard to get Kai to the Medical Center, a SHIELD guard should be right with them and will quickly show them the way to the the center, when entering the room Kai will be taken by the Doctor and nurses on call who will get him to a bed and begin work.
As soon as it's obvious that Kai is being taken care of, the teacher leaves, letting Kevin stay for a little while longer, but warning him to come back to the school soon. Kevin nods and settles down a short distance away to keep an eye on Kai while the medical team works to get him stable, anxiously wringing his hands while he waits.
It's been a good few hours since Kai arrived in the medical center and since then he's had surgery and there have been one or two complecations but he's now stable and just starting to regain consciousness, laying on a bed his chest is now covered in (sterile) bandages and he's got some of the colour back in his face.
Kevin is where he has been since Kai was stablized, seated in a chair near the other boy's bed waiting for him to regain consciousness. He doesn't notice right away when the injured teen starts to come around, instead sitting curled into the chair sending a text to his dads about where he is and what happened and can he please stay a little longer?
As Kai opens his eyes he momentaraly forgets where he is and for a moment dispairs at the thought that the few months living outside of the HYDRA base he grew up in was a dream, but as he goes to move he feels where the stitches are and spots Kevin sitting next to the bed, dispite the fact he's laying in a hospital bed he can't help but grin. "Hey Kevin", his voice is a little horse, "Didn't get bored then?"
It's only when Kai speaks that Kevin looks up and tucks his phone back into his pocket with a relieved smile on his face, "Hey." His voice is soft as he shifts to face the other boy, shaking his head, "Nah… I had my phone to keep me entertained." Not that he did much more than worry… "You look better." Or at least improved, anyway.
Kai nods, "I don't know about looks but i feel a little stronger, havn't got my powers back yet i don't think but no more internal bleebing has gotta be good", he can't help but wonder how bad he was, "Can you pass me the chart hanging off the end of the bed?", it'll take some deciphering but should clue him in, "What made you wait?"
Kevin rises from his chair and slumps over to get the chart to hand to the other boy, grinning at Kai feeling stronger after his surgery, "Yeah… No more internal bleeding!" He hands over the chart and resumes his seat, pulling his feet up so that he can fold his arms over his knees, and shrugs, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I promised that I wasn't gonna let you die, so…" He shrugs again. So he stayed.
Kai takes the chart, "Thanks, and now you can say you kept your promise, still alive, so if the next guy doupts you, just say the last ones still kicking", he looks over the chart trying to decipher what it says, "Huh, thats weird, still smart way of getting around it", he frowns at the parts he can't figure out.
"You're welcome." Kevin wrinkles his nose a little at the callous way his concern is dismissed, "Well, hopefully there won't be a next time… I really was worried about you, though. I couldn't smell anything other than blood, but just bleeding can be really bad." He leans in to try to look at the chart, not that he'd understand a bit of it, but still curious about what it says.
Kai isn't being callous he just has no interest in dwelling on the whole almost dying thing, the weird thing about Kai is that even with the way he grew up he has an extraordenary way of always focusing on the upside, and right now he's focusing on the upside that he's just learnt something new about himself, he hits a button by he bed to move him into a more upright position and turns the charts a little towards Kevin when he tries to have a look, "Apparently i don't have a registered human blood type".
Kevin blinks quickly several times at the news that Kai doen't have a human blood type and cocks his head in confusion before shifting his attention from the chart to the other boy, "What does that mean? I know that I've got a human blood type. It's B." Wow… It's a fifteen year old that actually knows his blood type! That's very unusual.
Kai shrugs, "I dunno, but apparently it threw a bit of a spanner in the works when it came to stablizing me, i think they used the universal doner type and something else to get it to work", "B is the second most common right?"
Kevin just listens and nods almost blankly at the explination, "Um… I really don't know. I just know that's what I've got." He never did really understand what the big deal about blood type was. Especially not with his healing ability before… He chews on his lower lip for a moment and pulls his legs back up, "You are gonna be okay now, though, right? Even if you don't have a human blood type?" There's nothing wrong with him still, is there?!
Kai nods, "Yeah i think so, i'm stable and as i heal my red blood cells should replicate themselves, still now i know i'm definatly not human", he puts the chart down, "Hey don't sound so worried, you got me here on time, you pretty much saved my life there".
Kevin stands, still frowning a little at the thought of his newest friend not being human, and reaches out with one hand to try to give Kai a light pat on the hand, "Well, I'm just glad that you're gonna be okay. I really need to be getting home now, though…" He makes a face at that, "Give me a call if you need anything, alright?" He pulls a pen and scrap of paper out of a pocket and scribbles down his phone number, "I just want to make sure that you're gonna be okay." Number given, he heads for the door, giving a little wave over his shoulder as he heads for the bus stop and then the train back home.
