[center][h1][color=96EACE]Joseph[/color][/h1]
[img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjcyLjBhMGY0Yy5VM0JoWTJWM1lXeHJaWEksLjAA/pandora-limiter.regular.png[/img][/center]
[@KaijuBaragon]
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It’d been a while since he’d last had to go through the experience, but Joseph was quickly remembering how little he liked hospitals.

“Mr Moore, please answer truthfully this time. Have you hidden [i]any[/i] more flasks around this room?”

[color=96EACE]“No,”[/color] he sighed at the nurses question, [color=96EACE]“that was the last one. I am now officially out of ways to pass the time, thank you.”[/color]

“Moore, you do understand the condition you were in when you were found, don’t you?” The nurse asked, audibly straining to try and remain calm. “Even though you’re stable now, your body is still quite weak, to the point where the amount you drink normally may very well kill you.”

[color=96EACE]“You’re keeping me stuck in this bloody bed for at least three more days. I’d rather just take the liquor and die happy.”[/color] He replied, not putting nearly as much effort into not sounding petty as she had. 

Apparently realising how low the odds of getting through to him were, the nurse simply shook her head with a sigh of her own and left, leaving Joseph to lie back and let out another sigh.

How the hell was he going to sneak out of this room?

Meanwhile, Tom was heading up the hospital corridor on his way to Joseph’s room. He hadn’t gotten off too badly from the whole experience, just a couple of burns that, while painful, weren’t going to do any long lasting damage. He also had some general bruises and bumps that the doctors wanted to take a look at, so he had to stay in the hospital for an extra day or so, while Grace got to be discharged pretty quickly, having been mostly safely tucked away in the safety gel in the plane. 

As he got closer to Joseph’s room, he saw an angry looked nurse come out before walking in the other direction. Wondering what had happened, he cautiously walked over to Joseph’s door, knocking on it a few times, saying [color=SteelBlue]”Hey, Joseph? It’s Tom.”[/color] He didn’t wait for a reply before opening the door to the room and peering inside.

Joseph’s eyes widened briefly as he heard the unexpected voice.

[color=96EACE]“Who?”[/color] He asked, turning to see Tom as he entered. [color=96EACE]“Oh, Tim. I’ll admit, not exactly the first person I’d expect, but at this point I’ll take just about anyone if it means a few seconds of something other than staring out the window to try to entertain myself.”[/color]

He paused for a second.

[color=96EACE]“By the way, and keep in mind I’ve been unconscious for the last day and a half-ish when I ask this, I’m gonna guess from the fact you were allowed in here that you’re [i]not[/i] actually a traitor, right?”[/color]

Tom rolled his eyes as Joseph immediately started acting depressed about being stuck in the hospital room bored. [color=SteelBlue]”Why don’t you ask for like, a book or a magazine or something… Do you not have a phone?”[/color] Tom asked, before probably wasn’t the best question to ask and instead pushed on instead with answering Joseph’s question. 

[color=SteelBlue]”No, of course I’m not a traitor, that was just a ruse so I could get close to the Wings without them suspecting me or anything. Not like it lasted very long, thank god for Christina…” He said, shaking his head. [color=SteelBlue]”Look, you can’t just sit here alone being sad the whole time.”[/color]

[color=96EACE]“Well, I [i]had[/i] a phone, but… well...”[/color] Joseph nodded his head to a nearby bench, where a small plastic bag of smashed machinery had been placed. [color=96EACE]“Apparently pockets don’t provide much protection against getting clubbed. Who could’ve guessed? And for books and magazines…”[/color] 

He paused again, wondering if he should continue, before finally sighing. 

[color=96EACE]“I can’t really read very well. Not without my contacts.”[/color] He looked back to Tom, and if he hadn’t noticed before, it was now a lot more obvious that instead of their usual dark brown, Joseph’s eyes were now a light green. [color=96EACE]“And because they don’t want me ‘straining me eyes’, they aren’t giving them back ‘til tomorrow.”[/color]

He nodded at Tom’s explanation, a small grin growing on his face.

[color=96EACE] “Well, first of all, let me just say ‘called it’. And second, I actually agree completely! If you can find some crutches or something, I might even have something in mind.”[/color]

[color=SteelBlue]”Oh, yeah, well I can see how that phone isn’t gonna be much fun at the moment.”[/color] Tom said, glancing over at the plastic bag which once held Joseph’s phone. As he did, his eyes were drawn over Joseph’s face.... Were Joseph’s eyes always green? Tom obviously never paid much attention to them, but he was pretty sure they looked different. Whatever. He would ask him about it at some point down the line, maybe. 

[color=SteelBlue]”Well, it wasn’t too hard to call, surely none of you thought that I would actually betray you all just like that.”[/color] He rolled his eyes, before cocking his head a little at Joseph’s suggestion. [color=SteelBlue]”Crutches, huh? I can probably find you some.”[/color] He knew that he probably shouldn’t, but he was so bored being in this hospital, just hanging around waiting for people to visit him, he needed some entertainment. 

He quickly backed out of the room and headed down the hallway for a little while, until he found a door that was labelled as a supply closet. He inconspicuously slipped inside, and presto, there were a bunch of crutches just lying there against the wall waiting for people to do something fun with them… And like, serious medical stuff too of course. He grabbed a pair and headed back out. 

Soon he had cracked open the door to Joseph’s room again and headed inside, bringing the crutches over next to him. [color=SteelBlue]”Here you go, crutches. Now what are we gonna do?”[/color] He asked. 

[color=96EACE]“Well, if all goes well, this should be pretty simple.”[/color] Joseph started, wincing as he stepped out of the hospital bed, almost stumbling over. Turns out the staff might’ve had a point when they said he shouldn’t be walking yet. Still, the crutches helped, and after taking a few moments to adjust to the soreness, he felt good enough to get moving.

[color=96EACE]“Ok, considering my shins haven’t folded in half yet, I think we’re probably good to get started.”[/color] He said, nodding in satisfaction. [color=96EACE]“So yeah, here’s the deal. I’ve got someone I’ve been meaning to see in here myself, but I’ve been putting it off for a while because… stuff, I guess. But I’m stuck here now, so at this point, I might as well just suck it up and go. However, the staff here have made it pretty clear that I’m supposed to stay in bed at his point, with nothing to do but yearn for death.”

“And that’s where you come in.”[/color] He said, nodding towards Tom. [color=96EACE]“I need you to help me sneak around the poorly disguised prison guards they call nurses here. That and fill me in on just what the hell has been going on over the last couple of days, because so far all I’ve gotten is ‘Jamie and Powers are both still alive.’ Other than that, I know pretty much nothing.”[/color]

Tom nodded. [color=SteelBlue]”Alright, sounds good, I’ll help you go over and talk to this mysterious person. They better be fun to be around.”[/color] Tom added, walking over and standing near Joseph as he started to walk a little, just there to catch him in case he toppled over. But, luckily that didn’t happen, so Tom stepped back a little bit as Joseph started talking about Tom’s role in all this. 

[color=SteelBlue]”So I’m just here to make you look like you’re not out of place walking around to find this person? Fair enough, I suppose.”[/color] Tom looked around the room. Hanging behind the door was a white doctor’s coat. Tom grabbed it and slipped it on, now feeling suitably disguised as he cracked the door open and peered out. [color=SteelBlue]”Alright, I don’t see any nurses, c’mon…”[/color] He gestured for Joseph to come. 

When the two had stepped outside, he started filling Joseph in. [color=SteelBlue]”Well, Seraph is probably dead, Mr. Impressive and Sea Serpent are in prison. Blake is currently being psychologically deprogrammed… He got brainwashed. Oh, and uh… I’m dating Grace now, which is cool.”[/color] He said. He decided not to tell Joseph about Brie being transferred to California, at least not yet.

[color=96EACE]“Full disclosure, pretty sure she won’t be.”[/color] Joseph said in response to Tom’s ‘fun to be around’ comment. [color=96EACE]“She wasn’t especially talkative last time I visited, and I’d’ve heard if something changed.”[/color]

He listened to Tom speak as he hobbled along, nodding occasionally. A hint of sadness passed through his expression at the mention of Seraph dying, but it was gone so quickly that it was unlikely anyone would have realised what it was unless they were looking for it.

[color=96EACE]“Oh, well… cool. I mean, more like ‘finally’, you know? I honestly thought you were going out already, so the reveal is more just meh than anything. Congratulations though.”[/color]

Somehow, the path to their destination was clear of staff for the most part. A few nurses at the far ends of the halls, but nobody ever got close enough to really question them, which was good. Tom seemed so confident that the doctor's coat he’d stolen would be enough to disguise him, despite being an easily recognizable celebrity, so he’d have almost felt a little bad if a doctor had found them. He wasn’t even covering his face! On the other hand though, it wasn’t a big enough deal for Joseph to actually call out himself. Ruining Tom’s fun might drive him away, leaving Joseph as easy pickings for a swarm of angry medical staff.

Thankfully though, they made it to the room before that conversation ever had to come up. It was strange though. Before he’d been eager to do this, but now that he was actually here, he couldn’t help but feel nervous. Like he should just leave. His hand hung there, half stretched towards the door, and he wasn’t sure whether he was surprised or not to see that it was actually lightly trembling. Hopefully Tom wouldn’t notice, or if he did he’d just chalk it up to his body still being weak. Then again, he was going in with Joseph, so any point to hiding it would be gone soon anyway.

He turned to Tom.

[color=96EACE]“Before we go in there, I need you to promise not to talk about this. Nothing you hear comes out of this room, yeah?”[/color]

Tom crossed his arms at Joseph’s reaction to him saying he was now going out with Grace - although he supposed it was probably fair. [color=SteelBlue]”Well… Yeah, I guess that’s fair, we probably should have started dating a while ago anyway.”[/color] And then he considered what Joseph said about the person that they were going to meet. [color=SteelBlue]”She can’t be that bad, anyone is better than the same 3 or 4 nurses who keep harassing me in my room, I’m not even really injured!”[/color] He said. 

Tom didn’t really expect his costume to work, considering it wasn’t really a costume at all, but as the pair made their way down the hospital corridor, it seemed like they were in the clear. Weather that was because of the disguise, or the fact that people in a hospital were too busy with more important things to care, was up for discussion. It didn’t really feel like long before they reached Joseph’s destination, a hospital door just like any other.

Tom crossed his arms and waited for Joseph to open the door so he could finally see who this mysterious person was. But it looked like Joseph was hesitating, at least a little. What was he doing? Was he just being slow because of his injury, or was there something else to it? And then, before Tom could say something about it, Joseph turned to him and asked him to not let anyone else know about what happened. Tom raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. [color=SteelBlue]”Uh, yeah, sure. I won’t tell anyone, don’t worry.”[/color]

Joseph continued to stare at Tom for a moment, looking for any sign that he might be lying. In the end though, he realised that the gravity user just wasn’t thinking that deeply about it, and sighed.

[color=96EACE]“Alright. Let’s go.”[/color] He said, finally opening the door.

A young woman lay in the bed, hooked up to a number of life support machines. An oxygen mask was attached to her face. She was unconscious, just like she’d been the last time Joseph saw her. He slowly hobbled into the room, sitting in a chair that had already been set up not far from the bed.

[color=96EACE]“Hey El, it’s Jeremy.”[/color] He said, putting on a happier tone than usual. [color=96EACE]“Sorry it’s been so long since my last visit, some stuff came up. I… well, I joined HERO, just like I said I would last time. That’s been pretty interesting. I even brought one along! This guy is Tim, but his made up name for the news and stuff is Skywalker. There are a bunch more like him, it’s practically a whole team! Idiots, the lot of them, but not like we were any different, right? If I’m being honest, I can’t stop noticing things that remind me of us while I’m with them. It’s legitimately just like back then, but bigger, and… and I...”[/color]

He couldn’t do it.

[color=96EACE]“I don’t know what I’m doing anymore...”[/color]

It was as if his entire positive demeanor evaporated instantly, the happy facade falling away as he leaned forwards in the chair, his hands in his lap seemingly the only thing keeping him up.

[color=96EACE]“I mean, I thought this would be good, you know? I’d be a d-tier hero, help out where I can, and still be able to keep a low profile while I do it, but I-… I messed up again El. We got in a fight with someone strong. [i]Too[/i] strong. I tried to fight him with the others but… I couldn’t do anything. Everything I tried, the guy just shrugged it off, and I was so sure that it was going to end with all of us dying, all because I couldn’t hold him off long enough, so I-...”[/color]

He hesitated for a moment, his hands clenching in frustration.

[color=96EACE]“I used Failnaught... I know it was stupid, but… I didn’t know what else to do. It was the only way I could think of to get out of there, but if they find out, if Louis finds out, I’ve fucked us all anyway, haven’t I?”[/color]

He let out a short, humorless chuckle, as he forced a weak smile back onto his face.

[color=96EACE]“Sorry about that. First visit in over two years and I start venting at you? Nobody wants that. Besides, you’ve got your own problems to deal with, I can’t be pushing all my issues onto you too...”[/color]

He turned to look at Tom.

[color=96EACE]“Tom, you got anything you wanna say, or should we get going?”[/color]

As soon as Tom followed Joseph into the room, he knew instantly that this visit wasn’t going to be anything fun. The girl lying on the bed was not at all in a good state - in fact, the amount of life support equipment that surrounded her made it look like she was in some kind of coma, or something like that. Whatever it was, it was immediately clear to Tom that this visit was of a highly sensitive nature. 

When Joseph introduced him to the unconscious girl, Tom gave a meek and awkward wave, feeling that he should do something, even though he knew that she obviously wasn’t able to see or hear either of them. And then Joseph… Wait, did Joseph just call himself Jeremy? That was weird. Maybe Jeremy was his middle name or something, and this El person just knew him by that. Then it dawned on Tom that he didn’t really know anything at all about Joseph before he joined HERO. He knew general things from the lives of everyone else… But not Joseph. 

And then Joseph seemed to lose the semi-joking vibe in an instant, pouring his heart out to the unconscious girl. Tom had the intense feeling that this was something that he really shouldn’t be listening to, something super personal. But he nevertheless remained rooted to the spot, watching on. Who was Louis? What the hell was the Failnaught? And then the rant was over. 

Tom gulped a little as Joseph looked at him. [color=SteelBlue]”Well… Uh, I don’t wanna say anything to her, because I don’t know her, and she’s, you know, unconscious… But to you, I think you’re being hard on yourself. From what I heard you did a solid job, and Jamie might not be alive if it weren’t for you. But yeah, let’s get going.”[/color]

[color=96EACE]“All I did was basic first aid, and it wouldn’t have even mattered if that guy had gotten bored of beating me to death before the others got there.”[/color] Joseph said. [color=96EACE]“Actually, I’m pretty sure the paramedics made it before Jamie would’ve died even [i]without[/i] the runes, so in the end all I did was put her through unnecessary pain to apply them.”[/color]

He winced slightly as he stood up, ignoring the aches as he got set up with his crutches once again.

[color=96EACE]“But it doesn’t matter now. Can’t change what’s already happened. Let’s go.”[/color]

He hobbled over to the door, looking back into the room before he left.

[color=96EACE]“See ya El, I’ll try to come back sooner next time.”[/color]

And then he was out, looking over to Tom as he walked.

[color=96EACE]“Ok, now that that’s out of the way, we can move on to the next task. I don’t have the map on me, but I’ve got a bunch of flasks stashed around in the indoor plants here. I’m gonna need a good few of them to replace the ones the nurses stole from me.”[/color]

As he described the next plan to Tom, a man with a striking resemblance to the woman they’d just visited passed them in the corridor, heading towards her room. Before he entered the room, he turned back to glance at Joseph and Tom, and Joseph ignored it as if he didn’t even notice. After a few more moments, the man turned back and entered the room, leaving the two to their dumb plans.