[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qFC355N.png?2[/img][/center][hr][hr][right][sub][color=1a7b30][b]Location:[/b] Cross-street Battleground @ The Ruined City[/color]     [color=A9A9A9]//[/color]     [color=007236][b]Date:[/b] February 23, 2057[/color]     [color=A9A9A9]//[/color]     [color=00746b][b]Time:[/b] 11:14[/color]     [color=A9A9A9]//[/color]     [color=0076a3][b]Interactions:[/b] Vincent [@Daxam], Erik [@FunnyGuy], Poppy [@dreamingflowers], everyone else on the Rear Team mentioned.[/color][/sub][/right][hr][hr]
Sage and Princess did a quick scan of the area and, aside from the thralls that Akaia had pinned, things seemed clear. Lysandra brought the pair of drones down, big one on the ground and Sage right into her outstretched grasp. Their buzz died away and she tucked them back into their pouches. Some of Princess' ammo needed reloading, but there were more pressing matters at hand. Injured people came before machines.

It was a sentiment that Poppy seemed to share, and Lys thought that perhaps it was the [i]only[/i] sentiment that the two of them regularly shared. With a high-pitched buzz of wings not dissimilar to the sound of her drones, the team's healer began flying over from the forward group to join the rear. Ajax and Desmond appeared fine and Lys was both shaken and stirred but otherwise unharmed. It was Dallas and Vincent who were in rough shape. The former had a busted nose and arm, from the looks of it, while the latter had what appeared to be a badly broken forearm.

[color=lightcoral][b]"How is everyone back here..?"[/b][/color] Lys looked up, blinking, into the diffuse glare of the near-midday sun and its sickly veil of clouds. Poppy hovered only a foot or two above the ground and there was something distinctly... [i]off [/i]about her movements, but Lys didn't press. [color=7FFFD4][b]"Pretty banged up,"[/b][/color] she replied, as Poppy hovered and checked over her, Ajax, and Desmond, asking the usual, almost perfunctory medical questions. [color=7FFFD4][b]"Main concerns are Dallas and Vincent, I think. They got it pretty bad."[/b][/color]

Poppy seemed to have come to the same conclusion at about the same time. She fluttered a bit away from the group of three and... [i]knelt [/i]on the battered pavement. A flash of worry pricked at Lysandra's stomach, but she tamped down on it. [color=7FFFD4][i]Probably just the sprain but... possible limb weakness? Brain hemorrhage?[/i][/color] [color=lightcoral][b]"Dallas I need you to sit down next to me if you can.."[/b][/color]

Lys glanced over. Vincent and Dallas had been talking. She'd been about to break them up herself for treatment, but had hesitated. She'd been trying to change, the past few months: making a concerted effort to be more approachable, nicer, and less pushy. To those two at least, she got the sense that she wasn't just 'that bossy rolling bitch', and she was scared of damaging the positive impression she'd made. [color=7FFFD4][i]Irrational,[/i][/color] she scolded herself. [color=7FFFD4][i]They need medical treatment.[/i][/color]

[color=7FFFD4][b]"Hey you,"[/b][/color] she called, making her way over to Vincent, [color=7FFFD4][b]"Megamind."[/b][/color]

He turned. [color=orange][b]"Me?"[/b][/color]

[color=7FFFD4][b]"No, the other dude standing around with a broken arm."[/b][/color]

[color=orange][b]"Dallas?"[/b][/color]

[color=7FFFD4][b]"Fuck. Okay, 'You, Vincent!' That better?"[/b][/color]

[color=orange][b]"I mean, whatever's good."[/b][/color] He grinned agreeably and Lys rolled her eyes, suppressing a rueful smile of her own as she coasted to a stop and twisted to reach into her bag for her first aid kit. [color=7FFFD4][b]"Make yourself useful and look for something to use as a splint,"[/b][/color] she told him, fishing the kit out and opening it.

[color=orange][b]"A splint?”[/b][/color] Vincent echoed. Then, he looked down at his arm, which had turned an ugly purple, and seemed to remember his broken forearm. [color=orange][b]"Oh, that! You sure no one else needs help worse than me? I mean, I can wait.”[/b][/color]

[color=7FFFD4][b]“Yeah, ‘that’.”[/b][/color] She pointed pointedly. [color=7FFFD4][b]"And it can’t wait. You want me to have to re-break the bone?”[/b][/color] Softening her voice a little bit, she looked at him and shook her head in what she hoped came across as understanding as opposed to tiredness. [color=7FFFD4][b]“Poppy’s dealing with Dallas and he’s the only other one who’s really hurt.”[/b][i] Besides maybe [b]her[/b]…[/i][/color] At that moment, Lys noticed a narrow spar of wood, the kind used in wall framing, sticking up from a pile of rubble. She backed up a couple of pushes, turned, and yanked it out with a little grunt of exertion. [color=7FFFD4][b]"Come ‘ere,”[/b][/color] she told him, extricating a bandage roll from the kit on her lap.

For a moment, Vincent thought about once more trying to talk Lys into making sure the others were okay, but from the look in her eyes, he knew she wouldn’t be dissuaded. He sat down on a piece of rubble and held his arm out to her. [color=orange][b]"Alrighty, then, have at it,”[/b][/color] he told her with a level of calm that one wouldn’t normally relate to broken bones. [color=orange][b]"You know, this isn’t even the worst injury I’ve had. Fighting with one eye sucks. I’m not sure how Desmond does it.”[/b][/color]

[color=7FFFD4][b]“Don’t just dangle it out there parallel to the ground!”[/b][/color] Lysandra hissed. [color=7FFFD4][b]“For fuck’s sake, dude!”[/b][/color] She had already laid the splint upon her lap. [color=7FFFD4][b]"Here, arm on my lap.”[/b][/color] She patted a thigh. [color=7FFFD4][b]“It needs support or setting it is going to be that much harder.”[/b][/color]

Vincent did as Lysandra asked, not thinking too much of it. He couldn’t help but wince, however, as he let his arm come to rest on her lap. If he had to be honest, he was in quite a bit of pain, but years of enduring such injuries, and worse, had left him with a very high threshold for it.

Lys’ hands were as gentle as they could be on Vincent’s arm (which wasn’t very gentle, to be honest) and, after a moment, she responded to his earlier boast. [color=7FFFD4][b]“And hmm, yeah, must be rough losing thirty-five degrees from your field of view. I couldn’t imagine living like that.”[/b][/color] She hid her smirk and her eyeroll, still not entirely sure if Vincent was as out to lunch as he seemed or if he was actually just [i]that[/i] unaware. He hadn’t been like that in battle, though. He’d been a dynamo there. Carefully, she wrapped the bandage around his arm, feeling him tense up in pain. He wasn’t the type to make a scene of it, but compound fractures hurt, and his was both the radius and the ulna. [color=7FFFD4][b]“You’re doing fine,”[/b][/color] she assured him, brushing his shoulder reassuringly with a hand. [color=7FFFD4][b]“If you need to squeeze or bite down on something, tell me. We’re almost done, though.”[/b][/color]  

Vincent let out a quiet chuckle. [color=orange][b]"Ah, who do you think I am? Couple of broken bones are nothing for me.”[/b][/color] A moment passed and then he added, [color=orange][b]"Thanks for the concern, though.”[/b][/color] When Lys finished bandaging his arm, he flexed his hand a bit before he asked with a smirk, [color=orange][b]"Now, be honest. Will I still be able to play the piano when this heals?”[/b][/color]

She grinned back. [color=7FFFD4][b]"Terminal, I’m afraid. You ain’t never gonna walk again, Vinnie.”[/b][/color] She bit her lower lip. [color=7FFFD4][b]“Oops, wrong movie. Anyways…”[/b][/color] She shrugged, backing up a push, [color=7FFFD4][b]“The way revenants recover, you should be just fine. Just… don’t do anything stupid, kapish?”[/b][/color]

[color=orange][b]"I’ll try, but can’t make any promises,”[/b][/color] Vincent replied, well aware of the kind of person he was.

Lysandra sighed, closed up her kit, and twisted to shove it back into her bag, but it occurred to her that she’d never seen Vincent play the piano. [color=7FFFD4][b]“Wait a sec: you [i]actually[/i] play the piano?”[/b][/color]

Vincent barked out a short laugh and replied, [color=orange][b]"Fuck if I know! I know I’ve got rhythm, that makes fighting a lot easier. Beats me if I can do anything more than kick ass with it, though.”[/b][/color]    

She snorted. [color=7FFFD4][b]“Yeah, you’re pretty good at asskicking. I’ll give you that.”[/b] [i]even if one of my drones was on the receiving end the time before this.[/i][/color] She shrugged. [color=7FFFD4][b]“I know a few duets, though, so we should test that out later, assuming we pull off this mission and make it back in one piece, huh?”[/b][/color]

Whatever Vincent may have said next was cut off by more pressing matters. [color=#ffd700][b]“Lys, I need an assist over here!”[/b][/color] Erik’s voice called. [color=#ffd700][b]“Everyone else, maintain security so we don't get surprised!”[/b][/color]

Lysandra turned on the spot, having to pop a small wheelie to get over some uneven payment, and rushed over to where Poppy was slouching. She’d known that something was wrong. She’d [i]known[/i] it!

[color=7FFFD4][b]“Pops, how are you doing?”[/b][/color] That was a dumb question, because the answer was obviously “wretched.” She turned to Erik and thought she could pick out the telltale shimmer of Akaia arriving. [color=7FFFD4][b]“She’s concussed,"[/b][/color] the Commune’s backup medic added. [color=7FFFD4][b]“I think. It could be something else, but let me check.”[/b][/color]

Vincent jogged up behind Lysandra. He didn’t have to look at her to know something was wrong and quickly turned around. [color=orange][b]”I’ll keep an eye out behind us. Last thing we need are Lost coming up on our asses.”[/b][/color] He took a seat not too far away, ready to help carry Poppy if needed. He bounced a good-sized stone in his hand, ready to throw it at anything that might try to sneak up on them.

For her part, Lys twisted briefly - [color=7FFFD4][b]“Thanks, Vincent.”[/b][/color] - before turning back to face Poppy. [color=7FFFD4][b]“Poppy,”[/b][/color] she began, in a calm, clear voice. She adjusted her position so that the sidhe could lean against her wheelchair if needed. [color=7FFFD4][b] “I need you to answer these questions for me. They’re to make sure this is just a simple concussion, alright?”[/b][/color]

At first Poppy didn’t answer any of them. Her ears were ringing and she covered them with her hands, drowning out the concerned voices around her. She opened her eyes to look at Lysandra. The contours of her face were blurry and faded in with the background. Poppy focused on Lysandra’s brown eyes. The answers to the check up questions were out of order and she answered them very slowly. Poppy knew she had a concussion and, after piecing things together, Lys knew it too. Bad as that was, the latter decided, it was better than the other diagnosis she’d feared. It wasn’t a brain bleed. She’d been favouring that leg because of the ankle and not any limb weakness. [color=7FFFD4][i]Small blessings,[/i][/color] Lys thought. She’d take what she could get.

Poppy leaned back against the wheelchair and breathed slowly, her eyes closed. The cool metal kept her from fading into unconsciousness. After a couple of minutes Poppy somehow managed to heave herself from the street, steadying herself on Lysandra’s wheelchair. She looked around, almost like she didn’t know where she was, a pained and troubled look on her face. Her gaze kept wandering until she noticed Vincent standing guard. Poppy kept staring at him, feeling as if she’d forgotten something important. 

Lysandra noticed her gaze after a moment. [color=7FFFD4][b]“Pops.”[/b][/color] She knew how hazy things could be when you were concussed. She tried to make sure she had Poppy’s attention. [color=7FFFD4][b]“I helped him already. See, his arm’s wrapped. I made a splint for him.”[/b][/color] She reached up gently. [color=7FFFD4][b]"You need to be off your feet right now. You [i]know [/i]this.[/b][/color] She turned to Erik. [color=7FFFD4][b]“We can use Iron Horse. Means I might need the odd push, but she needs it more than I do.”[/b][/color] Truth be told, Lysandra was not looking forward to some of the terrain ahead, but she felt a bit of personal guilt. She’d gone all boom-boom with Princess and that had probably played a role in attracting all those Lost but, thinking about Vincent and Dallas and just how many enemies there’d been, drawing a swarm had been all-but inevitable anyhow. [color=7FFFD4][i]You’re trying to let yourself off the hook,[/i][/color] she realized. Lys reached into her pack, pulled out a controller, and made a few adjustments. Horsie decoupled from the back of her wheelchair and spread out into a little platform one could sit or recline on. She switched the input to ‘follow mode’ and set herself as the target. [color=7FFFD4][b]"Help me get her on?”[/b][/color] she prodded Erik, also glancing at Poppy. 

[Color=gold][b]“Aye aye cap'n!”[/b][/color] Erik winked at Lys, glad to see she was helping handle things as the alternate medic. He carefully carried Poppy, minding her injuries of course. Once Iron Horse positioned itself closer, Erik set the Sidhe down but didn't let her go. He didn't trust her balance. [Color=gold][b]“Pops, you good? You're about to get carried around like a princess.”[/b][/color] He grinned, trying to make her predicament seem less gloomy.

The medic wasn’t in any shape to protest. When Erik refused to let her go, Poppy also held on. She was feeling dizzy and didn’t trust herself not to fall off the metal contraption. Her hands squeezed Erik’s forearms. 
[color=Lightcoral][b]“I’m dizzy…”[/b][/color]

Iron Horse was not yet moving and Lysandra could see that sitting up for long periods would be a stretch for Poppy. She rolled up and spotted the Sidhe, just in case. [color=7FFFD4][b]“Pops, lay down, okay?”[/b][/color] She flicked a couple of switches and the servos in Iron Horse hummed as it unfolded further and flattened out into something more like a movable stretcher. There were gaps, of course, and it was far from comfortable, but it was safer. Poppy didn’t protest.

Lys laid a hand on her shoulder momentarily. [color=7FFFD4][b]"We gotcha, Flowers. You just take it easy.”[/b][/color] She backed off and took a few pushes forward, experimentally. Horsie did what it was supposed to and Lysandra was satisfied enough, she supposed. [color=7FFFD4][b]"I’ll take first shift with her,”[/b][/color] she promised. She took a deep breath and glanced around at the others. They were standing, brushing themselves off, talking, moving restlessly. [color=7FFFD4][b]"Right then, let’s move. We’ve got ground to cover.”[/b][/color]
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