multiversallogs | I know it's hard but...

Entry tags:

I know it's hard but...

Who: Steph Brown, others [closed]
What: Monster fighting, rescues, healing
Where: All around Baedal
When: Over a two week period since Hasi broke reality
Notes: Everyone has their own thread starter, which are in no particular order, if there are any problems/questions please let me know!
Warnings: NPC death, gore, violence, monsters, PTSD, my inability to be succint, if I've missed any feel free to tell me

The monsters are new for her.

It's not that she isn't used to dealing with all the assorted bullshit that Gotham can throw at a vigilante, but there's nothing quite like this. There are people like Killer Croc and Zsasz and Black Mask, who might be horrific, but they're still people. These monsters are more like animals, but they're huge and violent and they hunt people. She's not trained for this, she's not equipped for this and she sure as hell isn't prepared for it. Getting the gun and new batarangs from Rex helps, and she adds a large hunting knife to her array of weaponry, but it still doesn't feel like enough.

It's terrifying, in a way that she doesn't have time to deal with, so she pushes that down and focuses on doing what she can. There's moments, as she faces down things that eclipse her worst nightmares, when she wonders if she should be hiding instead of out here fighting. But there are other moments, times when she wins, when she gets to reunite a parent with their lost child, and it doesn't matter that Steph is bleeding, bruised and exhausted, because she did good.

At the behest of Babs, and the reminders her own body sends, she forces herself to stop and rest once in a while. Usually she goes back to wherever Babs is, or Kate, if she happens to be resting at the same time. Her sleep happens in small bursts, a few hours here or there, curled up near Babs or Kate and letting the exhaustion take over. She tries not to eat too much, because she has no idea how long these monsters will stay in the city and she's scared that food will start running out. She's already started collect supplies, bringing them to the safe places and distributing them to people.

She doesn't think about the dead bodies she sees, or the injured people. A lot of Baedalites can look after themselves, but some of them can't and it's those who end up as smears on a wall. Except for when she has to stop to throw up, after seeing half eaten corpses; then she thinks about it, and she doesn't know how long she can keep going out and coming back alive.

She hopes no one will hold it against her if she gets killed.

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"It's infected," her voice sounds oddly detatched, which is really the only way she can deal with this right now without having a freak out. She wishes Alfred was here with an almost desperate ache; he'd know what to do, he'd make everything better.

But he's not here, Steph is, and it's up to her to help Kate. She holds Kate's arm with her left hand and uses her right to pour the antiseptic, saline solution over the wound, spending longer on it now because she has time for it and it's imperative that the wound gets cleaned.

Being right handed, Kate's never given much thought to her left arm, but if she's at the risk of losing the use of it in the very worst case, it's all she can think about. A fever and some aches she can deal with. Those aren't anything she's never had before. But something this big, something mysterious, worries her more than words can say.

She watches Steph's movements carefully with wide eyes, not sure what to say to break the tense silence that's covering the room like thick blanket. "Be honest with me." About the arm, how it looks, if she can fix it.

"It's spreading fast," her tone is as gentle as her hands, because she doesn't want to scare Kate too much, "The problem is that I have no idea what pathogens could have been on the creature's claws, but I'm going to start with a broad spectrum antibiotic, and if there's no progress in a day or two, I'll try magic."

Not her own magic, obviously, she has none, but she can ask someone to help her. Hermione can heal broken bones, surely she can deal with a pesky infection. With the wound cleaned, Steph puts down the bottle of antiseptic and pulls out a tube of cream, which she carefully applies to the wound.

"It's going to be a nasty scar, I don't want to stitch it up while it's infected; that could make things worse," Which means it won't be a straigh scar, it'll be rough and jagged and probably pretty big.

She listens to Steph and huffs a joyless laugh at the notion of magic fixing what science can't. It's not that Kate doesn't believe in magic--which would be silly of her considering who her friends are--it's just that they might as well skip the antibiotics and seek out Billy or somebody else.

"A scar is the least of my worries right now," Kate replies, sighing as she pushes drenched hair off her sweaty forehead with her healthy hand. She definitely has a fever now and her eyes burn to let her know this. "I still want to sleep more than anything."

Kate suspects Steph won't let her just yet.

"Not yet," there's still a little bit to do, and then she'll let Kate sleep, "Are much are you gonna argue if I tell you to get changed?" Kate needs rest, and Steph knows how hard that is to do in costume, partly because they're just uncomfortable, and also thanks to the association of costume with fighting.

The next thing to go on is a pad of gauze, although it's packaging shows it's not the normal kind - it's designed for infected wounds - and Steph tapes it onto Kate's arm with medical tape.

"Stay awake for a little longer while I go get the antibiotics." They aren't kept with the first aid kit, nothing injectible is.

"Do I have a choice?"

She knows she doesn't, not right now, not with the way she's feeling. But as little as Kate will argue, she needs a change of clothes. There's a full guarantee Steph isn't going to let her walk right out Babs' door and all the way to her apartment for it, not with outside being as dangerous as it is right now. She's slowly sliding towards the bathtub now that Steph has patched her up, and rests her head on the edge.

"I don't have anything on me."

"Yes," she says it carefully, because when it comes to the doctor's orders, Kate shouldn't really have a choice, but Steph is her friend and when it's little matters, like wearing a costume to bed or not, that's more important.

"I have some clothes stashed here, you can borrow them," it's practical for Steph to keep clothes at Babs' place, even when the world isn't imploding. With practiced ease, the first aid kit is repacked, the waste and gloves thrown away, and then Steph stands.

"I'll be back in a sec," she gives Kate a reassuring smile, then heads into the main part of the house.

As much as this costume cost, there is no way Kate will ever wear this much spandex and leather and whatever else superhero costumes are made of to bed. That's just asking for a heatstroke. She would make this joke out loud, but the cool comfort of the bathtub is slowly lulling Kate into a light doze, just after she nods to Steph who leaves her to her own devices amongst the toilet and soaps.

It doesn't take her long to get the antibiotics from Babs - as well as giving her a quick update on the situation - and to grab a pair of yoga pants, a t-shirt and a pullover, then Steph is back in the bathroom. She frowns when she realizes Kate is dozing, but can't really blame her and is just grateful Kate isn't suffering from a concussion. She'd hate to have to keep her awake.

"Kate," she wakes her with a soft voice and a light touch to Kate's right shoulder, not wanting to startle her too much.

Kate's not out long enough to start on any fever dreams just yet, but Steph's voice sounds weirdly hollow and far away. Her head feels full of cotton and so does her mouth; Kate would gladly pay for a glass of water right now.

"What?" Kate answers with a hoarse dry voice, picking her head up slowly. She's sweating more and the fabric of her uniform is sticking to everything part of skin it touches. It's a disgusting feeling, like she's trapped by an outfit she can't escape. "Give me five more minutes."

"Give me five more minutes and then you can have five hours," She thinks this is a fair trade. The clothes are put down on the closed lid of the toilet seat, and then Steph kneels beside Kate.

She's got a cotton ball covered in alcohol, and she wipes down a spot on Kate's left shoulder before uncapping the syringe, "This might hurt a little." It might be a bit of a silly warning, considering Kate's got a huge gash in her arm, but it comes automatically. Her hands are steady as she adminsters the injection, and then she recaps the syringe and tucks it into a pouch on her utility belt -- she'll dispose of it properly later.

"Are you gonna need help with the clothes?"

There's just the feeling of pressure, not pain, in her arm right now and it's not something that registers in Kate's mind. All she's thinking about is changing clothes and getting in a bed, somebody's bed, any bed. She'll take the floor if she has to. Feeling this horrible has never been on Kate's radar before and she's mentally beating herself up for doing such a stupid move that got her injured in the first place.

Help? Definitely and she shakes her head so. Her uniform's sleeve has been torn to shred by those claws but there's still the shoulder part and the rest that usually needs to two hands to deal with. There's not much in the way of underwear under that uniform, but suddenly, Kate doesn't care if Steph sees her naked, old scars and all. In a better mindset, Kate would question this.

Steph pulls out a knife - a small one, not the hunting blade she's been using against monsters - and carefully cuts away the rest of Kate's sleeve. It's ruined anyway, and this will make it easier to remove. The knife gets put away, and then Steph carefully helps Kate out of the uniform, tossing the pieces into the bath to be dealt with later.

Before she redresses Kate, Steph wets a washcloth and gently wipes down Kate's face, neck and injured arm. It's a strangely intimate act, but Steph stays professional the whole time, trying not to make Kate feel uncomfortable. Putting the fresh clothes on is a lot easier than getting the uniform off, and Steph has the job done within a few minutes.

She can't help but think about her mother, the cool cloths she put on Kate's forehead whenever she ran the slightest fever, the way her soft hands gently spread that stinky ointment on Kate's chest when she had a cold. Kate was a helpless kid then and she's a helpless adult now. Well, not much, but she still needs some assistance until she kicks this infection.

Or it kicks her.

But that's something she's not thinking about at this moment. All she's thinking about is how much she misses her mother and how she's grateful to have met Steph, to have a friend who is doing her best without even a blink of hesitation. It's truly what friends are for and it's enough to get Kate to fight the physical heaviness and push herself towards the bathroom door to wait for Steph to tell her where she can go next.

She doesn't hesitate to put a hand on the small of Kate's back, both to guide her and to offer more help if she needs it.

"Babs had the guest room cleared out, we should have it to ourselves for a few hours," Maybe she should feel a little guilty for commandeering a room, but it's important that Kate gets better, and a lot of the people here owe their safety to Kate, so they can deal without an extra bed for a while.

She steers Kate in that direction, glad that it's not too far from the bathroom. When they get there, Steph makes a note to thanks Babs -- not only is it empty, the sheets look like they've been freshly changed and there's a bottle of water and two peanut butter sandwiches on the nightstand.

Kate makes a beeline straight for the bottle of water, holding it between her thighs to twist the cap off and downing it in just a few gulps. She probably should have offered to share it with Steph, but she's so dehydrated that Steph should forgive her for it. It doesn't feel like enough, but one bottle will do for now as she crawls into the bed, automatically scooting over to make room.

"Are you going back out?" she asks, eyes squinting up at Steph. Kate hopes not. At least not until Steph gets some well deserved rest. Steph isn't a mutant like Kate's other friends. She doesn't have the superhuman stamina and hell if Kate's going to let her think she does.

If anything, Steph feels guilty when she watches Kate drink; she should have offered her water soon.

"I'm staying," there's no pause before her answer, she'd made up her mind as soon as she'd seen how bad the gash was, and anyway, she'd been planning to rest soon. She sits down on the edge of the bed to tug off her boots, then she stands back up to take off the outer layer of her uniform, leaving her in the lyrca bodysuit. Once that's done, she crawls into bed next to Kate, sitting up with her back against the headboard so she can hold the plate of sandwiches in her lap and take a bite. She's starving.

"You should eat something, if you feel up to it," Steph holds the plate out, offering it to Kate, hoping she'll be able to eat. Her body needs energy to fight off the infection.

"Too tired," she replies as she shakes her head. She'll nap a bit and then maybe wake up and eat something. Chewing just seems like so much work right now; she uses a bit of her last energy reserves to move over some more. It's a small bed, but neither one of them are big girls. They'll fit with a little creativity.

While Steph's sitting up, Kate stretches out on her back, pushing one of the pillows under her arm. It'll double as a body block so she doesn't roll over on it in her sleep. With her good hand, she reaches over to poke Steph in the thigh with a sheepish smile on her face. "Thanks. I know I'm not the best patient."

"I'll hold you to that," Even if she has to force Kate to drink a protein shake or something; it's better than nothing.

She eats the second half of her sandwich as she waits for Kate to settle, then returns the plate to the nightstand, smiling back, "You were fine. I didn't even have to give you a lollipop." She's not ready to liw down and sleep yet; she wants to watch Kate for a bit to make sure she's okay. But she shifts a little so that she can run her fingers through Kate's hair, hoping it'll soothe her a little.

"Wait, if I acted up, I could have gotten candy? Jeez. Now you tell me." She chuckles sleepily, pushing up into Steph's hand like a cat. Somebody should really come in here and question them about what the hell they are doing because none of how they just fall so naturally into this position, these roles, makes sense. Maybe it's just because Kate is sick. Yes, that's it.

That's her story and she's sticking to it.

"Only if you want me to go out and fight my way through the monsters to get you some," Steph is pretty sure Babs doesn't keep a lot of candy in her house, and any that was would've gone to the few kids staying there already.

Steph closes her eyes, head leaning back against the bed, but she doesn't stop petting Kate's hair, "If you get better by tomorrow, I'll give you all the candy you want."

Even if she really did want candy, Kate will let the kids have it. They need something to cheer up with while Hell rains down outside. A hug, a stuffed animal, a wad of bubble gum. They all do wonders. No taking candy from a baby here.

Exhaustion wins this fight and Kate calls it a defeat. She curls in closer to Steph, hoping she doesn't sweat too much during the night, and closes her eyes. "I'll hold you to that."

Steph doesn't say anything at first, she's suddenly lost for words and she's not entirely sure why. Maybe it has something to do with how easy and right it feels to have Kate curled up against her. Or maybe she's just overthinking everything because she's scared and exhausted. After a while she settles on, "Goodnight, Kate." Which doesn't even begin to cover her complicated feelings, but she can deal with that later.

Right now she focuses on making sure Kate is sleeping as peacefully as possible. Eventually she'll fall asleep as well, curled up around Kate like she belongs there.

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I know it's hard but...

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