[C] Red

"Okay."

Dick tilted his head to the side, taken aback by desperate plea. He wasn't entirely sure how to decipher that.

"Are you going to stand there or are you going to sit down?"

He patted the plastic seat next to him. The thin cushion on it barely made these seats any less uncomfortable.

"Didn't think it would be this way 'round, me being judgy about your temper." There was a gentle, humorous tone in his voice. He wasn't judging.

Fleck stayed where he was for a moment before pushing away from the wall with a grunt.

"Miracles happen occasionally, apparently," he muttered, dropping into the chair.

It creaked unhappily under his weight and he pulled a face, not quite trusting the chair not to fall through with him on it. Falling flat on his arse because he broke a chair with his weight was not what he wanted right now.

Dick wouldn't exactly call it a miracle.

"Can you move your hand? If it is as bad as you say we should go to the hospital."

He tapped the centre of the table.

Fleck held his hand out between them in the air and tried to clench it.

His pinky and ring finger both curled right to his palm, but his other two fingers barely twitched upwards.

It still felt numb, even though he could see the open wound and the drips of blood onto the tabletop. His knuckles and fingers were already swelling up and bruising.

"Well, fuck."

Dick sucked the breath between his teeth. they should have looked at that sooner.

"We," he said slowly, "are going to the hospital."

His medical knowledge was limited at best. Enough that he didn't entirely trust healing Fleck himself. 

Dick stood.

"Hopefully Chrys' hasn't arrived yet and we can catch a lift with him."

"Yeah, maybe he'll run me over with his car and put me out of my misery for good," he muttered to himself.

He didn't sound too unhappy, but inside he was panicking.

He'd definitely need that surgery to fix this. There was no getting away from that. That left his left hand all but useless while it healed and recovered, then he'd have to go through rehabilitation for it...

How was he supposed to work if he couldn't hold a pencil, couldn't hold tools?

How was he supposed to pay for all this when he couldn't work?

He was starting to feel sick.

Dick rolled his eyes.

"Come on, wrap your hand back up."

Dick stood, and hastily wiped up the spilt blood on the table with an old rag and spare spray bottle before chucking the old rag in the bin on the way out. He looked around to see if he could spot Chai.

Chai was sat at a table by the door, and Chrys was leaning against it, arms crossed, chatting with her lightly.

He was the one to notice the both of them.

"Nice hair, kid."

Fleck raised a hand to his newly-short hair, ruffling it a little. "Yeah, well, you know Chai. If it wasn't this, it was a new spring wardrobe."

"It needed a trim," Chai defended. "It went down past your ass. That's not healthy."

"It's always in a bun. Who cares how long it is?"

Chrys shook his head. Though he wasn't one to talk. His hair was currently braided over one shoulder, hanging almost to his slim waist. "All right, children, let's not argue. Need a lift anywhere, Fleck?"

Dick looked to the topic of conversation: Fleck's hair. It was a shock at first when he saw him stride into the room with the iconic long locks gone. Yet it quickly grew on him. It was far more easy to finger brush and play with idly, and it suited him handsomely.

He had to resist being gag-worthy and reaching up to start running his finger though Fleck's hair absently in the middle of the cafe.

"I appreciate it, Chai."

At Chrys' question, Dick raised his brows at Fleck pointedly.

"See, someone has taste." Chai gestured to Dick, which had Fleck and Chrys both snorting quietly.

"Uh yeah. Hospital. Gotta get this sorted." He raised his bound up hand.

Chrys' brows shot up and his eyes flickered to Dick for a second before returning to Fleck.

"Okay then, off to the hospital."

He gestured for everyone to spill out of the cafe and down the street, where his dented old pale blue truck was waiting.

Dick glanced around them as they walked outside. 

He fished out his phone from his pocket and began texting Giacinto. 


You don't happen to know anyone that can hack, or something, into CCTV footage?

Everyone loaded into the car, Fleck scooting the baby seat across to the far end as he got in, sitting in the middle seat.

For once, Giacinto didn't respond immediately.

Dick's phone was quiet.

Dick started at his phone and waited expectedly. Waited some more. He bit his lip.

Maybe she was busy? Or maybe something was wrong? ... Did he upset her?

A deep sinking feeling of worry passed him and he hastily put his phone away. He nudged Fleck's shoulder.

"Has your hand gotten any worst?"

Chrys slammed his door shut, but didn't start up the car yet.

He was staring at Dick in the rearview mirror, blond brows furrowed. He sat like that for a long moment before giving in.

"I don't get it."

Dick met Chrys' eyes in the mirror.

"Don't get what?"

"Why don't you just heal him?"

He turned in his seat to actually look at Dick now. His confusion was palpable.

Fleck stilled next to Dick, cheeks going pale. His brother knew?

"Ah."

He glanced between all three of them. Was Chai in on it too? Lord knows. She was friends with Sacha, so maybe the cat had been let out of the bag. Maybe he said so himself on a drunken night out. By the look on Fleck's face, he didn't know that his brother knew. An extension on that, any of the family member that was in the know.

Great.

It was funny how a couple of years ago, the idea of any of the family members knowing would cause internal panic. Now it was more of a headache.

"Well, it's not a cut or," he paused for a moment, a little reluctant to admit it, "a tattoo. If there was a problem, I wouldn't want it to heal wrong. He can barely move a couple of fingers."

He shrugged and glanced between all three of them again, rubbing his forearm.

"Rather be safe than sorry."

Chai slapped her older brother's arm and hissed at him.

That was probably the worst way for their younger brother to know that they'd known pretty much all along that his boyfriend was a Vampire. She knew Chrys was anything but subtle, but c'mon!

Chrys sighed. He supposed he could see the logic in that.

"All right," he conceded, turning frontwards again and bringing the car to life. "I have some money saved. I can help out a little, Fleck."

Chai leaned over to the back seats. "Yeah, and I'll put in a good word for you at the shop, see if we can get your old job back while you're getting physio."

Fleck's lips curled up a little. "Thanks, guys." At least, even when his career was going to shit, his family would be there.

The corner of his mouth quirked up as Chai slapped Chrys. 

"Oh, I mean I would heal you after, once it is all sorted and depending on how bad it is. I'm not too sure how long it would take or how well, but..."

He shrugged, uncertain. Fleck, really, was the first person he healed on the regular - but never for something like this.

"I could always as Giacinto."

He glanced back down at his phone again.

"It's not so easy to hide things now as it was hundreds of years ago," Chrys pointed out.

"Yeah," Chai agreed. "If we head to the hospital, get xrays, find out what's going all up in that gory mess, he's going to be referred to the surgeon. He can't be perfectly healed the day after. It just wouldn't fly."

Fleck leaned against the baby seat. "They have a point."

He couldnt be seriously injured one minute then healed the next, if they were heading to the hospital.

Dick's phone buzzed in his lap.

Sacha had set him a cat picture. The big ball of fur was stretched out, dead asleep, with dozens of cat treats laid out over her stomach.

Dick deflated a little. 

"Oh."

He hadn't really taken that into consideration. He hoped they could just... slip away?

Dick smiled down at the phone and was about to let it do the rounds in showing everyone until a thought dawned on him.

He called Sacha.

"Oh," Chai and Chrys repeated together, sharing a quick glance.

Sacha picked up right away.

"I knew you'd fall in love with that picture. Who is the best in all the realm at taking cute cat pics?" he lorded into the phone.

"Me. Can I ask a quick question? How do you deal with patients that are more... supernaturally inclined?"

He looked up to Fleck and laced his fingers through his good hand.

"Yeah, fuck right off. Your testicle cat and your fur rug so aren't as cute as my baby."

Sacha blinked at the question. "Well, depends. If my partners in the know, I tend to just heal 'em up and send 'em off with a warning. If they're not, it gets kinda difficult. I usually try to sign them off to a supe doctor. Not always easy, but I can usually get it done. Why?"

Dick let those comments slide... for now. There were more pressing matters.

"Fleck busted up his hand. Fracture, maybe. I don't want to heal him in case it goes wrong, but if he goes to the hospital he can't just be magically better the next day. Which it sort of needs to be."