Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

John's shoulders slumped slight in relief when Jay clarified that she wasn't trying to cough up a lung, that it was merely her busted nose acting up. John couldn't claim to be masisvely close to the assassin, but at the same time, he really didn't want to see somebody else going through the ordeal of having their lungs disintegrate that he had. "Why does it sound like this isn't the first time you've had this EXACT injury?" Cliff asked, taking a hold of the assassin's chin and tipping Jay's head so she could get a better look at the full extent of the damage. "That's because it isn't" the woman admitted with a slight shrug, emphasising that she really wasn't that worried about the injury "this is the fifth... no sixth time I've had it broken." "Seriously?" Cliff's eyebrows raised in surprise, Jay's nose didn't have any of the outward lumpiness of a nose that had been broken before. "Yep- the other times it was either Jack or one of the other tribes healers who could reverse cellular damage that fixed it. The one time on Earth it was fixed by somebody who owed me a favour." "Which surely means I'm well overdue to patch it up." Elliott gently indicated that Cliff should step aside, so he could do his thing. Elliott had just reached up a hand to gently touch Jay's smashed nose when Fia's cry of "JOHN!" came from across the corridor.

At the exact same moment that Kay crumpled to the ground in front of her daughter a searing pain shot up through John's side. It was followed by an intense burning sensation like anything he'd ever felt before. The closest thing he could compare it to was the time he'd temporariy agreed to let the demon Etrigan use his body as a vessel and his body had been stabbed with a celestial blade. This pain was far worse than that, and he would have doubled over in pain had it not been for the way he had braced himself against the wall in the corner of the room. With all heads (including his) turned in the direction of Fia and Kay's sprawled, unresponsive form, John had a brief few seconds to grit his teeth and steel his face into something that wouldn't let on how much physical pain he was really in.

The sight of Kay, lying there on her side, limbs sprawled out, clearly having been to far blacked out to even attempt to protect her head as she fell, made John sick to his stomach. In his experience, people who adopted that pose ended up dead- usually because of of some fault or bad decision on his part. He had to do something, had to be there. John sure as hell wasn't going to lose another person like this, let alone the woman who the universe had dictated should end up lumped with being the poor bugger who was supposed to carry his child. John wouldn't wish that fate on anybody, he knew how that story would end- badly. On all sides. Any kid who had the misfortune of being related to him by blood always ended up fucked up, and the woman and men he'd felt anything for- they ended up dead or hating him (or both). "Shit! Ell, take over the gagging spell!" John ordered his adoptive son, knowing that- be it becasue of pain or worry or a combination of two- his own concentration was going to break any second. "On it" Elliott nodded, removing his hand from Jay and turning to face the bed.

John then flung himself out of the door of the room, determindely ignoring the pain that was burning up his side. Whatever the fuck it was- he had a half a theory that it was something being passed on over the bond and was hoping to hell it wasn't anything labour related as it was the last thing any of them needed- now was not the time to get bothered about it. There was a far bigger problem to deal with right now. Cliff was right behind him and between the both of them (John brushing aside Kay's hair to check the neck, Cliff going for the nearest wrist), they quickly verified that not only did Kay have a pulse, it was a strong one.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia wished she had the forethinking to call out for Cliff but she just didn't as she was so used to crying out for her father for help. She knew it was a case of Kay fainting and she tried her hardest to stop Kay from hitting her head on the floor as she went down but seeing her mother faint was still terrifying to her. She had absolutely no idea that John was feeling a very similar pain to what Kay was feeling before she fainted, but one thing she did know was that none of this was remotely John's fault and if he even so much as thought about blaming himself, she wouldn't hesitate to correct him on such a thing, but right now her mind was being glad that both John and Cliff came running out of the room and over to the two of them. She stayed by her mother's side and tried to remain calm as John brushed Kay's hair out of the way to check her neck and Cliff checked her pulse. "She complained of pains but was convinced she'd be okay, like they were just those growing pains she's been getting, then she just fainted before I could stop her from going down" she explained, not knowing what else she could say or do, but her worry for her mother clear in her tone. She had a feeling and knew deep down that if it was labor pains then Kay would know the difference and actually have said as much, but she said nothing of the sort so didn't think it was that at all. She hated that she had to tear two of them away from the rest of the group, but there was no way she was going to handle this on her own, and either way she would have needed help getting Kay up off the floor.

The moment Cliff verified that Kay's pulse was indeed still there and strong was of great relief to her, not wanting to have had gone through all this time travel to save her mother from The Void to then possibly lose her mother here on Attil before she was even technically born. "She going to be okay....right?" she asked. Kay remained out cold but breathing and luckily thanks to Fia's attempt at slowly her fall, she hadn't hit her head or twisted her neck in the process. FIa also had the incentive to make sure Kay didn't land on her womb to possibly cause anymore strain than what she was already feeling. She just hoped she did the right thing and it wasn't anything serious as well as Cliff being able to help in some way. It would have been about a minute or two before Kay started to show signs of stirring back to the waking world and flickering her eyes open, feeling disorientated and confused to what happened. She couldn't understand why John, Cliff and Fia were all around her but one thing she did notice was that the pain she was feeling was subsiding making her not feel like she wanted to double over from it. Yet it was still very much there. "What's going on?" she asked groggily and quietly as she looked at them all, but saw the concerned look in John's and Fia's eyes the most. She hated that she clearly worried the both of them, as well as being completely oblivious like Fia was, that John was feeling the exact pain that she was only moments ago.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John just nodded at Fia's words, he sure as hell wasn't a doctor and he had no idea what he should do with this information. The pain of Fia's accelerated growth for Kay was something he was aware of, Kay had mentioned it to him before, though like most things about the pregnancy they didn't exactly talk about it. John because he was still kind of in denal and knew that any real conversation about it would be a) excrutiatingly awkward, b) require him to act according to some kind of societal norms he had no idea about and c) would stray dangerously close to discussing whatever the hell it was that was between them (and him having to accept that he had to bend the universe's will and accept that he didn't get to chose who he loved or even shagged, that he was bound to this woman for life and that was that. John was far from the settling down type and there were a couple of figures in his life he'd sure as hell want to shag should they ever proposition him). The pain was still continuing, stabbing against the left hand side of his ribs with no particular pattern. If this pain was being transmitted somehow over the bond, then it would back up the unspoken theory that Kay fainting was related to the pregnancy. If however, it wan't related to that, then they were in deep shit. Without consciously knowing it, John's efforts to show no sign of the pain he was also feeling had resulting in him closing off his bond link between him and Fia, forcing the link shut so that no sense of his physical (or emotional) pain would be trasmitted across to the girl.

It was the fear in Fia's tentatively phrased remark- the fear of losing her mother and by extension her unborn self audible in her tone- that caused John to look away from Kay and towards the his daughter. John didn't know what to say to that, he sure as Hells didn't know if the woman was alright or not. Her pulse was strong, but that didn't tell them if her mind was alright. Walloping off the floor like that wcould cause a concussion. At a loss for words, John reached out an arm and put it around Fia's shoulders in what he hoped was a comforting gesture (it had worked on Elliott, and on Noah, so it should work on Fia, was the extent of his logic). It was then that Cliff spoke up. "She's going to be fine." Cliff told them, making sure to convey her complete confidence in her tone. Without any real equipment her diagnosis was little more than just a theory, but an educated pone, given how much time she'd deovoted to reading up on pregnancy and it's side effects in various races and species. As Cliff explained her hands were continuosly moving, a tic she always had when giving a medical diagnosis. "It's just a regular faint- her pulse is completely fine, and strong. Best guess? It's that old classic of not eating or drinking anywhere near enough to fuel a body this advanced in a pregnancy- we all barely ate anything last night and she didn't finish her meal at Zan's flat. Since the growth seems to come in surges, each surge requires extra energy and I'm guessing so much energy was channelled into growing the baby that there wasn'tenough for her to stay conscious and upright."

There was a sigh of relief when Kay's eyes flickered open again and she groggily asked what was going on. John's shoulders visible slumped, the sight of Kays eyes snapping back into focus brought him more relief than he'd ever admit to. Cliff rocked back on her haunches slightly to give the woman some space, though John didn't move, his hand still on the side of you neck. Cliff, as the resident doctor, took over the explanation. "Best guess you fainted due to a combination of not eating enough, not drinking enough, another growth spurt and the general stress of the past few hours. You'll be fine once you get hydrated and get your blood sugars up."

 

[MzHyde]

The moment John put his arm round Fia, she found herself instinctively lean into him as like he assumed, it did help her a great deal. She wanted to mumble about not being prepared to lose her mother after all her efforts to save her once in her own timeline, but Cliff spoke up before she could to say Kay was going to be just fine. She listened to Cliff's educated theory about why Kay fainted, nodding also now remembering that kay couldn't finish all of her food at Zan and had only had the one drink at the time. The theory made sense to her somehow, nodding in understanding hoping that it was just all that and nothing else. "Okay" she said back to the woman before she saw Kay start to stir awake and look completely confused about what had happened and why the three of them were all staring at her. She too sighed with relief when her mother awoke and asked what happened, as well as her noticing how much of the tension in John's shoulders just left him as quickly as it appeared. She noticed how Cliff gave Kay the space, but John just refused to move or even let go of her mother, which despite the timing told her there was definitely growing between them that wasn't her. Even if she couldn't get any kind of hint that he was feeling the stabbing pain himself or his internal emotional worry for Kay, the slumping of the shoulders told her enough."You scared the living shit outta me" She remarked to Kay, trying to give a scolding look but the fondness and relief she was okay just overtook everything.

"Sorry kiddo" Kay replied before listening to what Cliff said to explain why she was on the floor and not upright. She nodded at the whole explanation finding it made sense to her, even though she always thought she had eaten enough as she genuinely felt so full when she did eat, especially at Zan's. It was after the explanation that the embarrassment of fainting in the middle of the corridor of the hospital and at a moment that needed all of the others in the other room. "I'm sorry for scaring you all and taking you from everything in the other room" she then said, slowly insisting on sitting up as she let her eyes properly refocus on everyone and everything whilst the angle she sat up from made her closer to John and Fia. "The growth spurt pain just got too painful and made me go fuzzy headed. Before I could say anything to Fia it was lights out" She explained, running a hand through her hair to brush it up and away from her face. The pain started to fade a bit more but still not completely and she had no idea still that John felt any of it or what was going through his mind when she was out cold, if she did she would have felt even more guilty for their bond putting him through such pain. She didn't want to be going through all this anymore if the rapid growth was going to make her this much of a vulnerable person but she also knew that if this unborn version of FIa turned out anything like the one in front of her, she would be so proud of her and feel in the future it was worth it, but there was no way in any universe she was going to put herself through this again. She just hoped that all of these side effects were down Fia being her first child and thus a lot for her body to adjust to.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John didn't say anything on top of Fia's words, finding that they perfectly conveyed everything he felt worth saying about the solution. Instead he simply nodded in agreement. The worry was still visible in his eyes, no matter how much of the worry he'd managed to mask on his face, he could never really hide the depth of emotion in his icy-blue eyes. It was as Kay began to move herself up into a sitting position that John realised his hand was still resting on the side of her neck. He drew it back, not a fast as he would have had he been burned, but faster than most people would when the other person had fainted. He did however keep his other arm around Fia, the way the teenager was leaning against him, and the sheer volume of emotion audible in her voice earlier, it was clear she needed comfort from somebody.

The pain may have been lessening for Kay as she got up into a sitting position on the ground, but there was no decrease in intensity for John, if anything it got slightly worse and he had to give in to the urge to rub the side of his ribs with his knuckles, as if scratching an itch. There was only the slightest flicker of pain across his face, but it could just as easily been due to the fact that he was coming down from the adrenaline surge he'd recieved during the fight. It wasn't until after Kay had apologised for the second time and give her theory as to what had happened (which thankfully matched up with their own). "No need to apologise quite that much, not like you could do anythin' about it, and at least you're in the best equipped place for shit like tihis to happen. What's more important is that it's over now. As for what was goin' on in the other room?" John gave a shrug. "It was mostly talk, nothing can really be done until the shifter is transfered to whatever secure off-the-map facility the other assassin is in." He then gave a slight smirk "unless you consider Jay boastin' about teh number of tiems she's had her nose busted important." Cliff then cut him off before he go on anymore of a tangent. "But what IS important is that I'm going to run a quick blood test anyway." Cliff added, in a tone that made it clear that there was no arguing with her on this. "I really, REALLY don't think it was anything serious- just the same old thing that I've been harping on about- but I need to be sure. I wouldn't be a good doctor if I didn't make sure."

 

[MzHyde]

John's 'scratching' with his knuckles came across as just that, that he had gotten an itch which didn't make Kay or Fia think anything was wrong with him and Kay didn't think too much into it when John quickly removed his hand from the side of her neck, even though the speed at which he did didn't go amiss on either Kay or Fia. Kay knew he was still trying to figure out what it was between them so she didn't feel particularly offended that he wasted no time in letting go of her in any manner, but there was still a tiny bit of her deep down that had wished he didn't feel the need to do it so quickly. She did see how worried Fia was still, especially how she was leaning into her dad for some kind of support, so she let anything else she was thinking slide. At John's reply, Kay just nodded at his words even though she felt like her second apology was more to the both of them whereas her first one felt more directed to only Fia, which didn't feel entirely right to her. She also took note that not much was actually going on in the other room and he considered the main thing was that it was over. She couldn't help but smirk slightly back at his remark about Jay and her record of times she's had a broken nose.

She then looked at Cliff as she cut John off, in some ways thankful for the fact she was bringing the conversation back to what actually was to happen next. The tone she used, Kay knew there was no backing out of a blood test due to her hatred of needles and just accepted that it had to happen. "okay" she agreed. "guess I should get off this floor now huh?" she half smirked, whilst also hoping that herself and Cliff were right in thinking it was a case she was just dehydrated and possibly a little malnourished. Yet if she knew about John's pain she would be worried that it could be something else entirely at the same time. "might be a good idea yeah" Fia agreed smiling, eventually pulling away from John, and getting up onto her feet and dusting herself off in the process. "Cliff, you gotta go elsewhere in the hospital to do the blood test? I can let the others know she's okay and where you're going if so" she asked, figuring that Kay would possibly want John to go with her and in a lot of ways just assumed they'd stick together anyway. She hovered around though incase she was needed to help her mother onto her feet if no one else helped her as she couldn't imagine getting up off the floor would be the easiest thing to do in Kay's situation. "someone fancy helping me up then?" Kay couldn't help but ask.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff knew that the real purpose behind Fia's question was to engineer some time for her parents to be together, alone. While Fia's intentions were clearly in the right place (she was looking to ensure that her prents had the same strength of relationship in whatever timeline won out as they did in Fia's timeline), it was an idea that directly clashed with the medical protocals of the hospital. There were strict rules stating who could enter the analysis labs and patinets were firmly on the forbidden list. It was a rule Cliff whole heatedly agreed with, it prevented sample cross-contamination, data breaches (a bored patient could so easily snoop through files on a doctors desk) and ensured that the number of people in the labs was at a safe level. Given that Cliff was partly responsible for a fight in which magic was used, she was not going to break any more rules. The last thing she needed was to face disciplinary action and lose her job. The last time had been different as Kay and John had only been in one of the scanning rooms- not the actual labs. "I do have to go somewhere else- the labs are in a seperate annexe. BUT I'm actually not allowed to bring anybody who isn't a trained doctor, nurse, medical student or lab technician into the bloodwork labs. Even if I was, there's a whole host of data protection and ethical reasons that would stop me, not to mention that the labs are on the second floor."

Cliff's answer didn't particularly surprise John, on Earth patients didn't go to the blood labs when they were getting a test done, why would they do that on Attil? Unlike with Cliff it didn't occur to him at all that this might be Fia trying to engineer some private time for him and Kay to talk it out and say thinsg to each other that they wouldn't say in front of the others (who were all crowded in the doorway of the second room, watching on from a safe distance, nobody wanting to get in the way). At Kay's request for a hand up John gripped the left one while Cliff took the right one. On Cliff's symbol they pulled Kay upright again. Once they had confirmed that she was able to balance on her own to feet and any momentary dizziness had subsided, they let go of her hands, though neither strayed far, just in case she would collapse again.

"And on a more practical note, given everything that happened, there's safety numbers. I'd rather not split us up into smaller groups." Cliff added rubbing her hand on her scrubs, leaving behind a tiny smear of Jay's blood. John nodded his agreement, that was a statement he could very much get behind. He was reckless, but he wasn't stupid. If there was another assassin lurking, it wouldn't be a fight they could easily win, espescially with the pain still stabbing away at his side. "Yeah, it took what, six of us combined to bring down that thing? Two of us versus an assassin trained probably from fucking birth? No offence, but pregnant women who've just bloody fainted aren't exactly known for their competance at fighting. It just wouldn't end well. Last thing we need is a body, or bodies in the fucking morgue."

 

[MzHyde]

When Fia initially asked, she didn't even think about the actual labs to get the results done, she just thought it was similar to Earth where Kay would have her test done in one room then Cliff would go away to get the results. She just thought also about Kay's hate of needles and not only would being with John would probably keep her mother calm, they could indeed start facing the fact that this was happening and keep on the road of having a strong relationship like in her timeline. She didn't even twig that either Cliff or John would see through her little idea or if neither of them saw through it, she just didn't want to risk having Kay freak out on Cliff and possibly work herself up into another fainting spell. "makes sense. Wasn't sure if you'd need Kay in one place before going to the lab or not." she admitted in reply as she kept out of the way whilst John and Cliff both helped Kay up off the floor by pulling her up together.

At the explanation of why it's best if John and Fia both stayed behind for the blood tests, it did make a lot of sense to Kay as well, even though she didn't particularly like the rule, she did understand it. With John's added quip, she shook her head after getting up, making sure she was fully okay and giving them a thumbs up gesture to show them both she was good. "no offence taken. I know better than anyone right I'm useless if another fight breaks out. I know my place is protect myself and the baby" she replied, after thinking of the right general terms to use instead 'protecting baby Fia' just incase people who weren't in the know overheard. She, like John knew they didn't need anymore near dead bodies on their hands and she also knew if she got hurt in any way John wouldn't be able live with himself in one way or another. She already always had the thought of needing to prove she won't die or leave him in her mind, which in any other case probably wasn't healthy in the slightest, but she had it nonetheless. "just say where you need me for getting the test done Cliff and I'll go wherever you need me to" she then added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

With Kay now firmly on her feet again, John took a slight step back to give the woman space to breathe, though remained close like Cliff did to catch her should she be overcome by another spell of dizziness. His phrasing was far from eloquent (John knew he was far from an eloquent person in normal circumstances and that when stressful situations what little decorum he did have was chucked out the window), but the point was made and understood. He was glad Kay didn't take offence at his word, he genuinely didn't meant them in an offensive way and that she saw the sense in taking a blood test. The use of 'the baby' as opposed to Fia wasn't lost on either him or Cliff, both seeing it as a wise choice- so many parents chose not to find out the gender of their baby (John and Kay had only found out through time travel shenanigans) that the words wouldn't set off alarms in Bec and Dexter's mind.

"There's all the necessary bloods equipment in Zan's room, we found it earlier when looking for the shifter blockers, so going in there would be easiest for me." She gestured at the open door to Zan's room as she spoke, from their angle all four would be able to see the open medical cabinets and the disorganised state of the contents inside. "I was also thinking, even before you fainted of getting blood and venom samples from the shifter, so it's not as if this is putting me out in ANY way" the emphasis on the word 'any' was directed purely at Kay. Cliff knew that Kay was the type to feel guilty and believe she was somehow putting Cliff out by having her running test and the doctor wanted to make it quite clear that this wasn't a bother at all. "The chances of them being on the data base are low, but who knows, we might get lucky and something will turn up." She gave a slight shrug before indicating that kay should go through first.

 

[MzHyde]

The fact that Kay used the term 'the baby' instead calling them by their name also didn't go amiss on Fia and if it was under any other circumstance she probably would have taken a huge amount of offence to it and huffed in annoyance, but she knew in this situation that there was no way she could take offence as if anyone who didn't know who she truly was, she was just the teenager that was being brought up by Kay as the younger sibling. It sucked that she had to play this game but she played it anyway and nodded at her mother's words. She also knew John didn't mean any offence when he was talking about not wanting to risk anymore bodies or serious injuries if they got attacked again and there was only two of them actually able to fight. This was something that she always admired about her parents, the fact that both could see the sense in what the other said, no matter how crudely and didnt take offence to each other. Sure there would be times they would disagree, but she was certain that she never actually saw them everfull blown argue or have a fight over something and for that she knew she was incredibly lucky. She knew that the last thing they needed among other things was for Bec and Dexter to start getting suspicious about any of them and demanding what the truth was. They had enough on their plates as it was, they didn't need to delve into the whole time travelling side of things as well and her being demanded to explain how she got passed all of Attil's magic barriers to get here.

Kay nodded at Cliff as she explained it could be done easily enough in Zan's room as like she so perfectly pointed out, there was still all the medical cabinets left opened after they went to find the syringes and shifter blockers that Cliff needed only minutes ago. At the mention of it not being anything extra or making Cliff go out of her way for her Kay nodded once again, knowing exactly why she was making such a comment as it seemed rather clear now that from previous things that Kay did always seem to feel bad about putting people out for her. It's just who she was and after having to rely on herself for so long, it always felt incredibly strange that she could get aid from others and it was perfectly okay to rely on said aid from others. She wondered if she ever got over that feeling of guilt in the future or not, but Fia never once gave any kind of hint to whether she did or not, making her realise that it's something she'd have to find out for herself. "Fair enough" she replied before walking into Zan's room and went straight to the chair that she was on before she decided getting up was a good idea. Fia walked the few steps to the others who she now noticed were all crowding round to see what was going on, "She's fine guys, Cliff is taking some bloodtests just to make sure but she's not worried the fainting was because of anything nefarious. Reckons its dehydration and lack of energy from food that made her faint" she told them, mostly to her group/family. She didn't want to add the rapid growth spurts into the mix because of Bec and Dexter being in the room.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal gave a slow, knowing nod at Fia's explanation fo what had happened. "Ah yes, the classics." She replied, well aware that people not eating and/or drinking enough was one of her wife's bugbears when it came to patients. For somebody who specialised in trauma, who spent her time treating the injuries and seeing the pyschological damage that should never have happpened, having somebody be admitted to hospital for something as simple as not eating or drinking enough, it made her blood boil. It was something so easily preventable and so much more treateable than broken bones, internal bleeding and ruptured organs. With Kay she had more leniancy, this was a pregnancy progressing at a rate they didn't understand, and couldn't predict either, but it still annoyed the woman (though she was too professional to mention it). Chas gave a relieved nod at Fia's words "Well, I'm glad to hear it's nothing serious and that Kay'll be alright." Elliott and Jay nodded, indicating that Chas spoke for all three of them.

Now that Bec and Dexter knew that all was okay with Kay (they mightn't know the woman well (or even at all), but she was pregnant, so of course they were worried) they turned back to their original tasks. Dexter began taking photographs of the shifter, taking shots of the whole body first, followed by facial close-ups and then close ups of specific spots of the body identified by Bec, who was looking for any identifying scars, tattoos or borth marks that could potentially help indentify the attacker. As he worked he bit his lip slightly in concentration, every so often making a gesture with his hand that cause one of the suspended orbs of light to move to a better position.

The taking of blood from Kay was a quick and painless process. As she was now technically Kay's doctor Cliff had been told about the woman's fear of needles and knew that the best strategy to follow was the one Jay had used the last time which involved as little faffing around as possible beforehand and taking the sample without Kay ever seeing the needle. With the blood sample now drawn into the storage vial, Cliff carefully labelled it and threw the used syringe into the biowaste bin. After checking once again that Kay was okay and confirming that any remaining wooziness was gone Cliff made her way across the corridor to take her other samples and inform her wife that she'd be heading up to the bloodwork labs.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia was glad that the others nodded their understanding and relief of what happened to Kay and how she currently was. She was also glad that no one thought badly of Kay when she gave Cliff's theory to why her mother fainted, all understanding that it was probably because of the rapid pregnancy growth and even at the best of efforts it seemed it was proving harder and harder for Kay to be able to eat and drink enough to stop her from fainting. If that truly was the reason for it and not anything else, which she did hope was the case as the idea of her being in this timeline causing the more painful side effects never truly left her mind from the moment it came into her head only moments ago. If her very existence was causing her mother great pain and possible problems then she wouldn't be able to forgive herself and feel incredibly guilty, so she hoped also for her own conscious that it was more to do with Cliff's theory than her own. For now though, all she could do was shake those thoughts from her mind and focus on the shifter and being of use there if something else were to happen. She also noted how Dexter and Bec seemed relieved by the news themselves despite not really knowing Kay which she had to admit to herself was rather nice of them. At Chas' words in particular she nodded, "Yeah same, she scared the fuck outta me and clearly John as well" She replied to him before the others went back to what they were doing.

Kay was glad that Cliff was understanding of her fear of needles and managed to somehow put her at ease whilst doing it whilst also having her not even look at the whole process even if she wasn't entirely sure which one of their weird family and group told the woman of her fear of needles, but she suspected it would have been either Jay, Elliott or John. She was convinced if she was looking at the needle going into her arm she probably would have fainted again and she really didn't want to be fainting again, once in front of everyone was enough for her. She still held a slight bit of embarrassment over it, especially when she noticed everyone crowded around the other door watching on which didn't particularly help matters for her but she could understand why they would do such a thing. She just hoped she didn't worry everyone else to the extent like she worried Fia and John. WHen the bloods was taken she made sure she wasn't feeling woozy anymore and to reassure Cliff made sure to let her be happy with the words 'i'm okay' by letting her do her own checks of possible signs of wooziness or clues to someone about to faint. She then let her go into the other room to get the other bloods of the shifter and decided to remain seated just for a moment longer and sighed. She couldn't help but think that if it was down to dehydration and malnutition then she may have to be eating and drinking almost constantly like Rinaa was just to make sure she wasn't going to do another bount of passing out ot anything else borderline dramatic.

 

[_gallifrog_]

It wasn't long afterwards that Cliff left for the lab with a whole rack of samples. She and Bec had never conferred on the matter it had simply been a case of great minds think alike. Zan's sister hadn't waited for permission, simply heading to the storage trolley and began to gather everything she needed. "Err, should really you be doing that without permission?" Elliott asked cautiously, removing his hand from Jay's now healed nose. He'd barely known Bec for a day and had no idea how she would take him questioning her actions. The woman gave a shrug "probably not" she admitted. "But I am a doctor, they kindly put it on this thing" she pulled the Next Of Kin lanyard and held it out so that Elliott (and anybody else who was interested) could take a look at it. As well as her full name, a clear statement of what level of hospital access she had and a small photograph the card also included a string of abbreviations that indicated her various educational qualifications. "And this shifter is my area of expertise, so if questioned I'm going to say I wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything else toxic in that venom. After that it'll just have to be one of those bitch fights where I go dirty and say 'well you people let an assassin into the wards', which I'd rather not do."

"Or alternatively you could NOT get into a pointless fight with my bosses and give the samples to the one person who is actually allowed to access and carry out tests in the lab." Cliff offered from the doorway. "That would be ideal." Bec agreed with a smile "I'd rather not fight the people who've spent so much of last light patching up that holes in my brother's head. I owe the staff here a hell of a lot that's for sure, even more if he comes around." Her use of 'if' instead of 'when' was something Cliff found worrying but chose not to comment on, instead coming over to help the woman, holding the head of the shifter in place so the other woman could extract the acidic venom from the glands in the neck. The two women worked efficiently and mostly in silence colllecting and labelling the necessary samples. After giving her wife a kiss and reassurance that she'd be fine Cliff left and headed to the labs.

Although John was now in the same room as Kay he didn't say anything to her, partly because he didn't know what to say (the 'are you alright now?' part of things had been more than sufficiently covered by their resident doctor) and didn't want to be percieved as perpetual worrier who ddin't stop asking questions (depsite the fact that he himself hadn't actually asked Kay if she was alright) and partly because he was engrossed in the swirling of thoughts in his head, not just related to the whole path of raising that was ahead of him, but those he hadn't been there to seee growing up. As he thought, he beagn gnawing on the side of his thumb, an old tic that he'd acquired in Ravenscar which conveyed that not all was well in his mind The burning stabbing pain in his side may have finally been lessening, but it was still relatively strong and once again he caved to quickly scratching the side of his ribs for some kind of relief.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia watched on and wondered also if Bec should be just rummaging through the cabinets and drawers without permission but unlike Elliott she didn't ask about it. She noticed Cliff come back into the room out the corner of her and how John was still in the other room with Kay, as she stood pretty much where she was before, against the wall next to the open door so she could keep an eye on everyone in both rooms. She saw how Bec pulled out her card whilst explaining that she was technically a doctor of sorts, shoeing Elliott the card in the process. She didn't bother looking at it as she didn't see the point in her seeing it. She did however think that Bec made a very valid point when she said that the shifter at hand was her expertise field and if anyone knew what to do and where to get the blood tests and such done, it would be her. It also seemed obvious to her that Cliff didn't take offence to Bec just getting on with it, instead just giving another option when it came to getting the actual results. The idea of not pissing off Cliff's bosses anymore than they possibly have already seemed like the best plan right now in Fia's eyes. The very reply of Bec saying 'if' and not 'when' also didn't go amiss on her either when Bec was talking about Zan. She continued to watch on as the two women worked well together before Cliff kissed her wife and headed off to the labs. Fia couldn't help but smile briefly seeing that even when needing to work on a professional basis, Cliff still had time to show Cal that bit of affection.

Kay noticed how John was being incredibly quiet even though he was staying with her and not heading back to the other room with the others. She noticed the tic of him biting the skin on his thumb come back and how he was scratching his side again as well, knowing instantly that he wasn't as alright as he was trying to make out. "You alright? You seem anxious or worried about something" she asked him, keeping her voice low to show she was concerned about him but whatever was said was between them and them alone. Even though she directed her concern as a question she gave him the look of 'I know you're not so don't lie to me please'. She also found it ironic that it was her asking him if he was alright, and not the other way round considering everything that had happened just now. She wasn't sure if he would even talk to her about what was going on in his head but she wanted to try anyway and show him he could talk to her. From what little hints and clues they found from Fia, it seemed they do become capable of doing such a thing in the future, so why not try and get onto that road now she thought. "you don't have to worry about me John, I'll be okay. I'll just have to see what my bloods say and probably up my eating and drinking." she tried to reassure him. She wanted to say 'we'll be okay and neither of us are leaving you any time soon' but she didn't want to push her luck and kept that thought to herself.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Kay may have kept her tone low, but John had been so far into his own head and so engrossed in his own thoughts that even her low voice managed to startle him. As a result of this startling he jerked his thumb away from his mouth, tearing a long strip of skin off in the process. He also stopped scratching his side, dropping his other hand away. There was a slight look of confusion on his face as well as something that could either be guilt or annoyance at being caught out by Kay. Turning to face her, John was met by her 'don't lie to me John Constantine' face and knew that fobbing her off with some answer along the lines of 'it's nothing' or 'of course I'm fine' or worse 'gods woman there's nothing wrong, leave me the fuck alone'.

When he didn't give an answer (or even an acknowledgement that he'd heard her) quick enough and Kay then took it upon herself to reassure him, John felt like such a shit as he knew it should really be the other way round. He should be teh one reassuring her that everything was going to be alright, that once Cliff's tests came back they could figure ot exactly what Kay was deficient in and make plans accordingly, that he was there for her and she wasn't going to be going through all this on her own. Yes somehow, it was Kay doing all this. If John had been anybody else he would have taken it as further proof of just how good a person Kay was, but because he was him, all John could do was make the comparisons that showed just how much of a good person he was not.

John let out a deep, troubled sigh at Kay's words. "It's not all this I'm worryin' about" he told her, making a vague gesture between the two of them. He then tipped his head to one side and corrected himself. "Well it is mostly that." He admitted, for once letting a sliver of just how worried, stressed and messed up in the head he was after seeing Kay collapse on the ground. "That much is obvious to the whole fuckin' planet by now." There was a slight edge of anger in his tone, though it wasn't directed at Kay, it was more directed at John himself, as if he was annoyed at himself for caring so much. "But there's also this unfinished bitta buisness on Earth that keeps naggin' at me."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay's words about being okay were partly not only to reassure him but to reassure herself as well. She was still very much scared about this whole becoming a mother situation, shhe was terrified that they'd get back to Earth, have Fia and something would happen that would make her or their daughter easier to be found. But she also knew from her days on the streets that she had to continously reassure herself that she was just over thinking things. She also had to reassure herself that she would be okay and some women just have horrible pregnancies on their first child and it was perfectly normal for her to start getting the troublesome time carrying Fia. Even if fainting did concern her greatly and it seemed that apart from Cliff, no one else was going to be that voice of reassurance, so she just took it upon herself to be that voice. She didn't hold it against John though, it's just who she was as a person, the type that always did what they could to rely solely on themselves.

She watched as John still got startled by her speaking to him and she couldn't help but feel remotely smug inside that she managed to successfully convey her 'don't lie to me' face enough that it actually seemed to make an impact on the man in front of her. She just felt that it worked enough and for once in his life he was going to actually talk with her and try and get out of the conversation or make a run for it into the other room. The sigh told her he was going to talk for once and when he started opening his mouth and do so, she listened wholeheartedly. Hearing him say its not them and the pregnancy he was worried about, she rose an eyebrow not fully believing it, and it seemed to notice as he did correct himself making her lower her eyebrow and nod as he continued talking. She expected him to correct himself and say 'well yeah, I am worried baout that but..' but when he used the word 'mostly' in his correction she felt she had seen a sliver of how worried he was about her after all. Sure, she saw an inkling in his eyes when she first came round but she didn't think much passed it as Fia was also worried. But seeing it confirmed yet again here and now just solidified that that worry she saw in him earlier was real. Yet that wasn't to say she didn't also note the anger in his next remark about everyone knowing that now. She knew he wasn't one for getting close and she could only hope that anger wasn't directed at her, and didn't let anything she was thinking show just yet.

His next words made her actually nod in understanding, "I get it, I'm worried about what there is back on earth for us as well. We just quite literally dropped everything to come here for Elliott and rightly so. But the unfortunate consequence of that is that we still have to face what's there when we return. I would be lying too if I said I wasn't scared, no..terrified of what was back on Earth and what could find out about Fia. There isn't a day that goes by here that I don't worry about the moment word gets out I'm having a child. I was...am rare enough as it is back home, but now? Even I can admit I'm even more of a valuable piece of meat to Hell and anything else that wants my damn blood or soul or whatever. But I have to trust that we can deal with it when we get to that point. Follow whatever rules or guidelines you want to me do" she replied before sighing to pause from talking. "I need to believe we'll be okay in every way John because if I don't? I'll fall apart and none of us need that right now." she said finally, whilst also thinking 'I need you'.

 

[_gallifrog_]

That particular bit of unfinished business John was referring to actually had nothing to with Kay or their current situation. It was something he'd been procrastinating on for a couple of years, mulling over for a long time before Kay came into his life. John was far from proud that he'd taken the cowardly way out, that just upped and left that particular town in Scotland with no explanation and a secret that weighed heavily on his soul, but he felt, at the time, that it was the best way to deal with it. The other person involved had no idea, and he'd been intending, for once, not to rock the boat and to keep his bloody gob shut. Owning up wouldn't do him or the other any good, it would sure as Hells make things worse. But with the arrival of Kay and the knowledge that he was now going to have a biological child, one he was going to have to acknowledge (Chas nor Elliott would never forgive him if he was to flake out and leave Kay alone with the baby), it had stirred some shit up and made John wonder if his decision to conceal Noah's identity from everybody had been a good idea after all.

Not that he was going to tell Kay that particular line of thought when she began to speak, opening up about just how terrified shitless she was for what was to come. On one hand it was a relief that John wasn't alone in feeling soul-crushing terror about the future and what would happen if demons were to get wind of the fact that Kay was pregnant. They'd taken her once in the future, and once in the past, and it was safe to say they weren't just going to stop persuing her or Fia just because John asked them nicely. Another relief was that Kay would do whatever he said needed to be done for ber safety and that of baby Fia, she could recognise that this was his world, and he knew the dangers and tactcis of demons better than she did. It was Kay's last words that really struck a chord with him, as they echoed his own thoughts - he had to believe things would work out, or else he'd have more even more innocent blood on his hands, the kind of blood that never went away. So much so that he sat down in the chair beside her and took one of her hands in his, linking their fingers together.

"Yeah, I get similar thoughts." John replied as he sat down. "If I fall apart, I probably won't come back." He admitted, in a quieter tone, some of the he felt at that admission bleeding into his voice. "On top of that, I'm so far from ideal father material, I'm in a whole other bleedin' category. I know sure as Hells if I'd met you, or anybody else the normal way, I would not be considerin' havin' kids. I'm not the type- as literally anybody could tell ya- kids around me have this habit of ending up dead or fucked up in the head. And to be bloody honest, if I had to get another kid I'd rather ack... adopt a kid like Elliott- somebody who needs a second chance than burden somebody with all the lifetimes worth of shit that comes out of bein' related ta me. I can just about father an adopted kid, but kids by blood? Recipe for complete and utter fucking disaster"

There was a slight pause before John spoke again. "D'you know what I think is the worst bloody bit 'bout all this?" John asked, his tone making it quite clear the question was rhetorical and whether Kay gave an answer or not, he was just going to plough on with it and say exactly what was on his mind. "It's the lack of bloody choice either of us get in this thing. The universe had just lumped us with having a child that neither of us could ever claim to be in any way ready for. The inly bloody perk of bein' a bog-standard human is havin' free will and bein' able to make all the crap decision you want, knowing that you made them and not some arsehole up there." With the middle finger of his other hand John gestured vaguely skywards. "If all this and all the future is predestined and I don't get a choice in choosin' whether I want to have a kid with a person or not, don't get to pick who my partner in life i, then it says that my whole life up until this point has been followin' some preset path. Which means that all the shit I've been through in my life was put there on purpose by somebody. It wasn't my bad bloody luck at all, it was somebody deliberately making my life a living Hell." The use of the singular form of 'Hells' was unsual for John and a testament to just how much the idea of not having free will in his own life was upsetting him.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay's words did indeed come from not knowing one hundred percent what John was actually meaning as she well and truly didn't have any idea about this Noah like everyone else, but she also hoped that her words of her own worries showed some kind comparison and similarity, even if it was a very round about and tiny way. She just hoped that John would find something in her words even if she wasn't completely tuning in to what he was actually referring to incredibly vaguely. She did notice though he was acknowledging her open willingness to do whatever he said. She had already before agreed to be on house arrest in The House when they left Attil, so to her it seemed only logical that she would continue that into everything. She knew how kids were a complex sore subject with him and if she could do absolutely everything in her power to help keep herself and more importantly Fia safe, then well, so be it. The fact that her last words seem to strike something inside him to the point he sat down and linked their fingers together said to her, she said something of worth in his eyes.

She let him speak and not once did she interrupt him, knowing it was incredibly important to just let him get everything he needed off his chest. She hesrd the admittance in his voice and how he truly believed what he was saying, whilst also finding it a relief that he too was scared of never finding himself again if he lost himself. She still found it incredibly saddening that he saw himself so far from being the father type, but she understood why he thought such a thing. If she had that kind of history with kids like he did, she would think the same thing. Hell's, she did think she wasn't a mother type, albeit for different reasons than John but it was still a feeling none the less. As he went on anf paused after the question, she just gave him the look 'what is it? Go on' and let him keep speaking. She couldn't have ever imagined that the words he came out with were those words, but they also struck a chord with her just as her earlier words struck a chord with him. She gave his hand a squeeze to show she was wholeheartedly with him every step of the way. At the middle finger being aimed upwards to the sky did make her smirk very slightly, but it vanished just as quickly as it appeared and she found herself nodding soberly. She noted the singular use of the final word as well and got it. "I get it John... Okay, maybe not absolutely everything but that last bit? I do get it. I have thought similar things myself numerous times to myself. You're not the only one who wonders if everything that you've been through was some sick premeditated course of action to bring me here" she replied. "the very idea of some diety or another going 'hey you know what would be fun? Making Kay Hale lose her birth parents and shove her into the arms of an abusive pedophile therapist, then just as she thinks she's moved on, shove her on the streets to be hunted by demons'" she spoke, putting on a sarcastic snobby tone to convey her point more before continuing.

"point is, we've both been utterly screwed over and played with to kingdom come but you wanna know something?" she paused and made him look at her, replying before he could reply, "every day I say 'fuck em. So they've shoved this shit onto us but I try and pick the positives out from it all. For me it's that I met you, and through time travel we've met the daughter we're having and what an insanely impressive young woman she is. They can pick everything else in my life, but I refuse for them to pick how I feel about them and those around me. I refuse to let anyone tell me how to feel about someone except for me" she told him. She hated seeing him so upset and torn up about his feelings but she hoped in some way she could help him.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Kay's squeeze of his hand was something that helped ground John far more than he'd be willing to admit aloud. (He did however squeeze her hand back to signify that he understood the unspoken sentiment behind it). Hearing that Kay also wondered whether somebody had made out her life as a pre-set path was something that really surprised John, one eyebrow shooting up towards his hairline. John really thought he was the only one with that kind of mindset, in his experience those with any kind of deep religious fate or beliefe in a higher power saw the badness in their life as a test and not as somebody up high fucking with them. In his experience of celestial deities, they were indifferent and amoral at best and sadistic fuckers at worst. So to hear Kay so graphically give an explanation of a mindset of his own, it was enough of a shock to make him turn towards her. When he'd been giving his own thoughts on the matter he'd stayed looking straight ahead, at times like this he really didn't want to see the reactions of people to the darkness that lurked in his head. He'd seen enough looks of disgust in his lifetime, he didn't want to see any more, espescially not from this woman, who was the mother of his child.

For once it wasn't disgust that was there, it was something else. A determination, a fire one might call it. Kay wasn't going to let herself be bossed around by anybody and she was going to damn well fight it. She wasn't going to let the world, or anybody else define her, she was her own person and the universe didn't like that, then tough. It was honestly pretty inspiring and the philsophy of 'fuck 'em, fuck every single on of 'em' was one John had made his mantra as a teenager, there was no reason he couldn't make it his motto again. He gave a smirk, equal parts determined, equal parts dark. "Yer right on that" he told her, and it woudl be clear in his eyes that the words had really hit home and resonated in a way that the words of others hadn't. The darkness and determination in his tone was matched by his eyes- the look of The Hellblazer. "I really needta stop moping around in my own head and give meself a good kick up the arse, it's not helpin' anybody, least of all me. I've told the lords of Choas and Order where they can shove it, I've told maniac magic users that same thing, in explicit detail, there's no reason I can't do it to whatever fucker is running this cruel game. If I ever meet the bastard behind this I'm gonna give them such a bloody piece of my mind that they'll wish they were never created. Whatever this shit is, I'm not gonna sacrifice who I am, I'm not gonna stop goin' out and beating the shit out of demons, Downworlders and anybody else who thinks it's a good idea to have a crack at me. I'm gonna make some awful bloody decisions. I've only got one bloody life, I might as well enjoy it while I can. I'm not the monogamous, settles down with a 9 to 5 job and 2.7 kids kinda guy. I'm a lotta people's worst nightmare, and ya know what? I'm bloody proud of that."

 

[MzHyde]

The fact that she didn't have to make him look at her as she spoke was of a relief, not to mention she appreciated the whole squeeze of the hand back. She could see the surprise in his eyes and demeanor when he found out she had thought along similar lines to himself about how the universe was forcing them together. She had a feeling it would surprise me and quite honestly, she was glad he was surprised by her words because she didn't want to be so predictable to him that he could just tell what kind of her person she was and think there wasn't a single thing she could possibly understand about what was going on in her head. Even before she fell at John's feet she would find herself crying in the night wherever she could seek shelter asking whoever was listening why did they plan this life for her, why her, why not someone else to be given this shit lifestyle. It wasn't going to change just because she found John because sure, she knew deep down she was falling/had fallen in love with this guy, cared deeply for him but even then the universe was rushing them into a lifestyle neither of them were truly ready for. It was those actions that pissed her off greatly as she just couldn't find a moment for a break to truly let the change in her life sink in. For that, she could never look at John with disgust or amusement and think anything of him other than what she already did.

Seeing him finally smirk at her words made her see that she was getting through to him, that what she said really hit home and made an impact on him in ways that he probably hadn't found for a very long time. She listened to him speak and reply to her little speech, glad that he wasn't going to let himself be stripped of who he was because of any reason, smiling softly and nodding. She would be lying if she said hearing him say he was proud of not being the monogamous type didn't give her a pang of upset but there was noway she was going to say as such as she knew it would strip away everything they've just said, but she hoped in time he could learn to be a bit more faithful to her and her alone, just like in Fia's timeline. "I don't want you to lose who you are John. Just like I hope you don't want me to change who I am either. I've never been one to hold down a normal relationship myself, never saw a point in taking that risk to get my heart broken...until now.... but know this. I will ALWAYS be here for you and will always care about you. Even if you are a self proclaimed asshole who doesn't settle down." she smirked, not letting go of his hand. "I just ask that you don't give up on me either. That we be a team, no matter what because from what we've just said, it seems we need each other more than we're willing to let on because we get where each other are coming from." she added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Telling somebody who the universe had chosen to be your partner for life that you weren't the monogamous type was something that John knew you weren't supposed to do, but the way he saw it Kay deserved the truth on this much. He wasn't going to change this part of him easily (he had definitely settled down more in Fia's timeline, but not entirely- when it came to women Kay was the only one for him, but when it came to blokes, things were a little more complicated). As much as John would like to be able to take the moral high ground and declare that he could stay loyal to one person, he had cheated on partners before and knew there was every chance he'd do it again- espescially if it was one particular handsome devil doing the propositioning. John tended not to think about things in an exiestential kind of way, but the fact still remained that Kay had the potential to live forever, where as he would wither and die within one human lifetime. John didn't want to be immortal, he'd seeen what happened to mages who lived forever- they became apathetic, cold, uncaring and even more of an arsehole and he'd rather face whatever was waiting for him in Hell than live a life like that (he also had various contacts in the realm of Hell that he fully planned to utilised- when you knew Lucifer Morningstar himself and he owed you a favour, you damn well took advantage of that).

"Yer right, I don't want you to change yerself cos of me, it's ultimately a stupid idea that will backfire on both of us an' besides.... yer fine as you are." His words weren't quite John-speak for 'you're perfect as you are', but there was a similar kind of sentiment behind them. It really didn't matter to him that Kay was a bit messed up in the head and had her own flaws, John was both those things too and if he was being honest, people who were broken and had pulled themselves back together were more attractive to him than those who'd never had a breakdown or traumatic experience in his life. The description by Kay of him being 'a self proclaimed asshole who doesn't settle down' brought a broad smirk to his face, which was followed by and understanding nod about how she hadn't wanted to risk getting her heart broken in the past being the reason she'd never comitted herself to a proper relationship before now. That John could understand, he'd been there and been burned, the fact she was wiling to try one with him was still utterly baffling, Kay could do so much better than some council estate raised, back-alley exorcist with more enemies than friends, a habit of pissing all the wrong people off on purpose and a tendency to leave all those who cared about him dead. "Can't blame you on that, heartbreak sucks balls. I wouldn't recommend it ta anybody." He agreed. The next bit prompted him to scratch the back of his neck with his free hand, the amount of faith Kay had in him was humbling and he really didn't feel worthy of that. "Nah, I won't give up on you that easily." He told her firmly. "An' I'll do what I can to be there, both physically and emotionally for whatever comes, just don' expect miracles from me, yeah? I'm not that kind of bloke."

 

[MzHyde]

If the subject had ever been brought up or ever did get brought up about the possibility of Kay living on way longer than John and she could possibility be immortal to a certain extent, or he was concerned about that prospect then Kay wouldn't instantly tell him that she would never want him to feel he had to be immortal with her. She would never ask that of someone, especially someone like John. She didn't even like thinking about that idea herself and actually disliked the idea of herself being possibly immortal. She could start learning to accept that she wasn't fully human, but the idea of out living every person she truly cared about was too much for her to comprehend. She would rather purposely die for good than outlive her loved ones. She still felt for some part human, hell, her father was human, so there had to be some part of her that still human too. There just had to be. Over time in Fia's timeline Kay did learn that John was only fully loyal to her when it came other women and that there was possibly the odd time he wasn't entirely loyal when it came to other blokes but she decided to accept that, even if it wasn't an easy thing to accept, she accepted it nonetheless. Little did this present day Kay realise, but her promise to say she wouldn't change him or expect him to change who he was really did carry a heavy weight into her future self's life.

Kay continued to listen and was glad that he felt the same way about her as she did baout him. She was glad that he didn't see any part of her was worth changing or unbearable to be around. Hearing him say in his own way that she was just fine the way she was did make her smile, knowing that for now that was probably the closest she'd get to the whole 'you're perfect the way you are to me' which was more than enough for her. The broad smirk at her description of him that appeared on his face made her half chuckle, glad that even when they're having, dare she think it, a heart to heart, she could still amuse him. She nodded when he agreed that heartbreak was not something anyone would want to go through, she had enough of that losing her mother, she didn't want it because of a lover either. Yet truth was it wasn't just the fear of getting her heart broken that stopped her getting into a relationship, she never once lied weeks and weeks ago when she said she didn't believe in love for the longest time, one night stands was all she could let herself do and even then it was because she wanted to control what she did with her body and not have it violated like she did when she was a mere child.

Seeing him rub the back of his neck at her last words made her realise she hit on something yet again but wasn't entirely sure what. But the fact that he confirmed he wouldn't give up on her easily was of a great relief to her. She took it as his way of letting her know he did care about her, just like he had seemingly been doing this whole chat. At his very last statement she nodded, "I wouldn't expect anything else. We can't have your reputation put into question now can we?" she smiled, telling him in her own way that she wouldn't ever expect miracles from him. She knew what she was getting into with him but none of his faults would ever stop her loving him. She then leaned forward and kissed his cheek, letting it linger for just a second before pulling back.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Kay's comment about his reputation made him smirk, he was proud of his reputation as The Hellblazer, he'd spent years cultivating it. Being the prickly, sharp tongued wanker who chainsmoked, swore profusely, wore a trenchcoat, shagged both men and women, always played dirty, openly despised the famous hero types and left a trail of bodies in his wake wasn't everybody's cup of tea, and it ahdn't been a role John had meant to fall into, but now, aged thirty-something he couldn't see himself as anybody else. It was rare that a name made both Downworlders, demons, humans and hero-types pause and wonder if it was really worth pissing that person off, but the name John Constantine had that effect on all those groups. Kay's words may have been a joke, but there was a truth in them (a truth she mightn't necessarily have grasped)- if John's reputation was to go, it would be open season on him and his friends. Given just how much of the Downworld and more importantly the number of demons he'd pissed off, it would be a bloodbath, the likes of which hadn't been seen since the bloody melee battles of the old. When hellspawn took their revenge, it was almost in the most violent way possible

John had been intending to make some kind of further witty quip about his reputation in reponse, hoping to keep it light, as opposed to telling the truth about just how important that reputation was- Kay really didn't need that worry on top of everything else was his rationale- but the soft, slightly lingering kiss Kay pressed against his cheek made his brain go momentarily offline. It didn't make any logical sense to John as to why his brain would shut down, it wasn't like Kay hadn't done that before (she'd done it numerous times by now), yet it happened anyway. He caught himself quickly though, giving her a soft smile in response, the most caring expression he'd ever directed towards her when she wasn't dying or collapsed out on the ground.

Any other reponse he was going to give was thrown out of his mind by the sound of the double doors at the end of the hospital corridor opening and multiple sets of footsteps breaking the silence that had been lingering over the rooms. The others had retreated to the room with the shifter to give John and Kay some privacy to talk and also so that Bec, Elliott and Cal could decide what was the best way to restrain the shifter during transport using Cal's pyrokinetic powers and how they should gag it given that for safety Elliott didn't want to use his magic outside of the hospital. John couldn't help but get up and have a look around the door, which was close enough that he didn't have to let go of Kay's hand as he did so. What he saw made his eyebrows raise "You gotta come take a look at this Kay, seems like the bloody cavalry has arrived." He told her, a clear edge of 'it's about bloody time!" in his tone. Striding down the corridor like he owned the place was Devra man- tall, with slightly curly black hair, a sharp face that could be described as either 'elven' or 'regal', with eyes of molten gold and a series of intricate tattoos spiralling up his left arm -accompanied by two, what John guessed to be bodyguards of some sort. They were both dressed from head to toe in black armour that seemed to flow around their bodies as they walked, as if it was a part of them, not just something they wore. No matter how hard John tried, he couldn't get his eyes to focus on their faces, every time they slid away as if something was preventing him from looking at them. Behind them were some general military personnel- no cadets, all trained officers at their peak.

 

[MzHyde]

Despite the jokey tone of her quip, she did mean her words. She may not have known the full extent of how important it was for him to keep his reputation up as The Hellblazer but she knew it was important to him and that was enough for her. If he had explained why it was so important to him, she would have listened, just like she always did when he told her anything. She did though think it was important to have at least one moment of light hearted banter even when they were speaking truths and having their moment which seemed to be a rather common thing for the two of them and it made Kay think that this was just one reason why they worked so well. As she pulled away from the kiss she planted on him, knowing if they had everyone else in the room she wouldn't have done it, much preferring to keep such actions as private between the two of them, she noticed that something in John just seemed to almost shut down but not neccessarily in a bad way. The soft smile he gave her back as reaction making her smile back at him just as softly as she took note of how it the most caring look he'd given her to date when she was very much conscious and focused on him properly. The looks being exchanged between them was something that Kay was certain she couldn't put any words to, it just felt so genuine between them and then came the noise of the double doors to break them out of their moment.

She was mentally about to curse the interruption but then John told her she needed to see whatever it was he had gotten up to see himself, which she had to admit had piqued her curiosity. So as he suggested it, she stood up and walked to the door the couple of steps, very much still holding John's hand and peered round the doorframe to see what had gotten his attention to make him speak in such a tone. What she saw was something she didn't expect in the slightest. She had a feeling that quite possibly someone in the hospital would have called for some assistance but for some reason she wasn't expecting this. The Devra man up front was impressive to look at for a start, she definitely made comparisons to Elven people as she took in his appearance and clothing, but like John it was the armoured Devra behind him that had totally gotten her absolutely mind blown. It was something else entirely to see and she couldn't resist taking in every part of the armour and how it flowed. She just hoped it wouldn't trigger yet another vision of the phoenix warriors like seeing Fia in the sports armour did a few nights ago. It took a lot of mental forcing for her to notice the military personel following behind the bodyguards and then the tattoos on the frontman Devra. "that is....wow" she spoke quietly to him. "This is gonna get interesting" she then added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Oh yeah" John agreed, watching as the group made their way down the corridor. "Fifty quid says he's the prince Cal beat up" John smirked, indicating with his chn in the direction of the leading man. He knew he wouldn't be taken up on that bet, it was too much of a certainty for losing money and although it Kay's financial situation had never been discussed, she had been living rough on the streets before she met John. There was one more person to pass through the double doors of the corridor after the soldiers and that was Dan. Intead of shouting down the corridor and drawing even more attention to their situation he signed something at her, to which Cal also responded in sign language. the blacksmith agve a nod then reatreated back outside the doors again, his presence outside them would be significantly less likely to attraact the attention of some nosy member of the public than that of a military guard, or one of the black shrouded bodyguards.

Kay wasn't the only one whose mind was boggling at the sight of the bodyguards. Elliott was completely enraptured by them, even though he knew exactly what they were, he'd never seen one in person before now, only heard the stories (and teh far more exciting rumours) and it was clear that the few photos he'd seen as a kid didn't do the bodyguards justice at all. The intimate guards of the Royal family were known all over Attil, it's colonies and his neighbours as stone cold badasses, even more of a legend than the regular palace guards, far more feared than revered. Their black flowing robe-like armour was what had inspired the nickname of 'The Wraiths'. Little was known about their training or identities, only that their faces were never shown, some kind of technology or ancient technique was used to make sure that no living person could ever focus on their faces. "Oh woooow" he couldn't help but exclaim softly, to which Jay smiled slightly and adjusted her position to get a better view. "I know, the Wraiths are really quite something." Elliott cast a sidelong look at her. "You've seen them before I take it?" "Once" the assassin replied softly, lowering her tone so that the approaching group wouldn't be able to hear her."It's a long story, I was doing a freelance job, on guard duty, fighting with as opposed to against them, thankfully." She dropped her tone another few notches, leaning in closer to Elliott. "And the thing about them never talking? That's one hundred precent true. Everything they do is through this code of special gestures. Which reminds me.... I should probably get this out of the way."

Jay's sleeves had been rolled up ever since they'd gone to Zan's apartment, the faint lines of her Isogrii subdermals visible against her skin. The asassin didn't need to seee the faces of the Wraiths to know that they'd seen them and recognised them for what they were, just as she had recognised just what kind of power it was that the Devra prince had that justified him being a member of the Royal family. Attil's royal family was based on power strength and paragons of certain powers more than it was on the bloodline. There was always one member of the Attilian Royal family who possessed a power relating to the mainpulation of space and time and as an Isogrii, Jay was bound by a code of honour to show respect to that member. Stepping away from Elliott and out of the room, moving slowly and with the silent grace of the predator she really was. She extended her arms out, palms up, before elegantly lowering herself into one knee down, one knee up kneeling position. It wasn't an entirely submissive gesture, her throat may have been exposed (something that future Jay had drilled into Fia should never be done with an unknown enemy), but her eyes were facing upwards and she wasn't shying from making eye contact.