“That’s a start”
@smellofsnoww, @myfriendcallsmeasickwoman19, @kurochan, @whumpay2022
Just as he was about to fall asleep a door slammed shut, jolting him awake. Jason blinked and just rubbed his hand over his eyes. He slowly sat up from the couch, looking around.
It was the Ground Zero office.
He must have fallen asleep there.
Again.
Shaking his head, he slowly got up from the couch. It's been getting harder and harder to focus the last few days. Not just that, there was a constant pounding in the back of his head.
With a sigh, he sat down behind the desk again.
It took him longer than normal to start focusing on the reports he was supposed to do.
He just stared at it. Time slowly ticking by, without him doing anything. His body ached and he felt so tired. Like it was pulling into his bones and to the core of his being.
When his phone started ringing, he just stared at it.
Mike's name flashed on the caller ID.
He sighed and just pushed his phone away. He didn't have the energy or the mental capacity to deal with anything else at the moment.
He turned back to the papers, just slowly reading over it again...
and again...
and again....
Jason pressed his hand against his head, just stared at the page. Again his phone rang and he flinched, looking over at it.
Mike.
He sighed and just pulled his phone over, looking at the messages. It took him a moment before he actually managed to read what Mike sent him.
After a moment more, he put the phone down. None of the words he read wanted to make sense. He needed a break, but there were so much work that needed to be done, with more exams for the university coming up and the Huuga case.
His groaned before he picked up his phone again. For a moment he stared at it, before putting it down again.
Slowly he just sat back, just staring up at the ceiling.
His phone started ringing again. He glanced at the phone, this time it was Frank. So he had to answer it.
"What do you want, Frank?" he asked.
"Jason why the hell aren't you answering when Mike calls?"
Jason sighed and just shook his head. "Because I'm busy" he snapped, immediately realizing that he needed to keep his calm "Sorry.... What do you need?"
He could hear Frank sigh through the phone.
"I need you for an extraction. There was an attack on the Flaco Industry's lab" Frank said "The head scientist's daughter is caught, trapped in the lab. They can't get to her. There's chemicals that's extremely unstable"
"Really?" Jason asked annoyed "Isn't there any one else that can clean up this mess?"
"Jason... There's laboratory full of unstable chemicals.... if any of it get mixed or touched it can cause a lot of damage. We cannot let anyone in there that have no knowledge of the chemicals"
"Fine..." Jason said annoyed "Send me the details so I get this over with"
"Listen here Jason.... Are you alright? You haven't been yourself the last few week"
"I'm fine" Jason snapped "I'll call if I need anything"
***
Jason stepped into the laboratory building. Annoyance flashed through him. He should be back at the office finishing his work. They could have send anyone else to do this, why would they pick him?
He finished the energy drink he had before he walked over to the lab. There were people running around. It looked like chaos in there. With just a quick look, it looked like a bomb went of inside.
It was understandable that the building structure was damaged. Shaking his head, he slipped through the people towards the laboratory that Frank mentioned.
"What's going on here?" he asked.
"Are you the one they sent over to help?" one of the men asked.
Jason nodded. "Yes" he said "That's me. Now tell me what's going on"
The man quickly explained. The head researcher's daughter was trapped in the room. The door got jammed. Some of the vials of chemicals got broken, they weren't sure what it was.
Nodded Jason pulled his hand through his hair. "Alright.... Is there any other ways to get into the lab, like a vent or something?" he asked.
"Yes, there is" the man said.
"Alright, bring me a blue print of the room and building" Jason said. This was going to be messy. "Is there any way to talk to the girl?"
"Yes.... there a intercom in the room, that still works" another person said "Her name is Nora"
Jason nodded. "Good... Show me where it is"
The groups worked quickly and Jason managed to figure out how to get into the room.
Slowly Jason opened the vent and twisted out and into the room. He dropped to the ground. With a sigh, he looked up at the the vent. They were not going to go out that way again. It was to high up and he wouldn't be able to get the girl up there.
He looked around and noticed the girl curled up in the corner. There were tables scattered around, glass shards on the floor, with liquids everywhere.
"Hey..." he said softly, carefully stepping around the liquids and glass "Nora?"
The girl looked up. "Who are you?" she asked, slowly sitting up.
Jason looked around, there was a strange smell in the air. It was familiar, but strange. There was something about it in the back of his mind, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the girl. "I'm Jason..." he said softly "Are you alright?"
She looked up at him. "Are you.... here to get me out?" she asked, voice trembling.
Jason nodded, he pulled out a handkerchief pressing it over his mouth and nose. The smell worried him. They needed to get the out and away from the gasses. Slowly he knelt next to the girl, giving her the handkerchief.
"Here... Breath through this" he said softly.
Nora nodded and quickly took it, holding it in front of her mouth.
"Good girl" Jason said "I'm going to get you out of here... alright?"
She nodded.
Jason straightened up and looked around. "Stay right here, Nora" he said "I'm going to see if there's a way out of here"
"Okay" Nora said softly.
Slowly Jason looked around. The smell was starting to get sharper, and he moved his arm over his mouth and nose so he could breath.
There were to many things going on here, he was going to need help with this. Slowly he moved through the room as he pulled out his phone, dialing Sam's number.
He went over to the door, trying it for a moment. With a quick movement he tested the door again. It was jammed, they wouldn't be able to go through the door. On the other side of the door the rubble blocked the chance to get through even if they managed to get the door open.
There had to be another way.
Sam answered.
"Sammy..." he said "I need some help...."
"Jay.... Where are you?"
"I'm helping at the lab attack" he said "There's chemicals... I need the right composition for a mild explosion"
"Did Frank send you? You're supposed to be on desk duty" she sighed
"Things happened, Sammy, now will you help me?"
"Alright.... You want a mild explosive?"
"Yeah... Something that will make a hole in the wall but not bring the building down"
"Give me a sec...."
Jason took a shaky breath as he started going through all the bottles and chemicals that he could find.
"Mister?" Nora said softly "How are we going to get out?"
Jason glanced at her. "I'm going to make a hole in the wall" he said "But I have to be careful, because there's a lot of chemicals around here that cause damage"
Nora nodded. "Okay"
Jason and Sam spoke quickly. He pulled his hand through is hair. "That wouldn't work" he said "There's to many unstables.... Yeah, I know.... So what...... Hey, I know what I'm doing, Sam..... Wha..... No no no, that's going to cause fumes.... No, we can't, the building is to unstable...." Jason hesitated for a moment "That... might work.... See if they can give you a feed into the room..."
Breathing out, Jason started to gather the chemicals he was going to need.
The intercom crackled.
"Jason, It's Sam... I can see you"
Jason glanced up. "Thanks, Sammy.... Alright.... Tell me the measurements"
Sam started talking and Jason carefully mixed everything in one of the test tubes.
"Jason hold on... that one is not right...." Sam's voice said.
"What... No, it's the right one" Jason argued.
"Are you sure? Because that doesn't look right...."
Jason glanced up, lifting the vial. "See" he said, putting it down on the table.
Sam sighed. "Yeah.... Alright..." she said "But just be careful"
With a sigh, Jason continued to mix everything. He reached for the vial he just put down.
"Jay... I don't like this... I don't think you should do this" Sam's voice said.
"Well... there's no other way to get out of here" Jason said "It's this or we wait until the spilled chemicals burn right through....." he paused and took a deep breath "I am being careful"
"Jason please.... let's just think about this.... I don't think this is the best way"
Jason shook his head. "Not now Sam" he said "What else do you want me to do?"
"Find another way" Sam said "This is you.... You always find another way"
Taking a shaky breath, Jason shook his head. He did not have the mental capacity to think of another way out. His head felt dazed and he was to exhausted. All he wanted to do was to go back home and sleep.
"I have this handled, Sam" Jason said as he slowly poured the last vial into the mix. As he put the vial down, his hand bumped against another one. He frowned and looked over.
For a moment he just stared at it, before closing his eyes.
"Ah, shit...." he mumbled, before going over the chemicals he already threw in "It shouldn't explode..... to much..."
Shaking his head he made his way back to Nora.
"Hey, Nora..." Jason said, kneeling in front of her "Are you ready to leave?"
Nora blinked at him before she nodded.
Jason shrugged his jacked off, wrapping it around her. "Alright.... Keep your head down and just hold on to me, alright?" he said, smiling slightly.
Nora nodded as Jason pulled her to her feet.
"I'm going to pick you up.... is that alright?" he asked and the girl nodded again.
Gently Jason picked her up and made his way through the chemical spills. He placed her back on the ground, before tipping one of the tables, like he was making a barrier.
He took a deep breath before gripping the mixture, getting ready to throw it.
"Sam..." he said "Get ready... I'm going to take down the wall"
"Jason..." Sam started, but Jason just ignored her and flung the bottle.
Immediately he turned, covering the girl. The room shook. Heat wrapped around them. Jason turned his head away, covering his face with his arms.
The sound echoed in his head.
It took a moment before Jason quickly lifted his head. He could hear the people on the other coming closer. A smell filled his nose.
"DON'T COME CLOSER" Jason called out.
He breathed out and got up. Quickly he looked over at the hole in the wall. It looked like the edges was melting.
That was not good. It's going to be a mess to get through that and not get any of it on them. Quickly he looked at Nora.
"Keep that over your nose" he said, as he felt a burning sensation on his arm "I'm going to pick you up again. Keep the jacket over your head, alright?"
Nora nodded.
Jason clenched his jaw and got to his feet. He carefully pick Nora up, making sure that his arm and what was on it, did not touch her. When he looked up, he notice Sam standing on the other side.
She looked angry.
Slowly Jason moved towards the hole. He paused for a moment before he carefully climbed through the hole, holding Nora out to one of the officers on the other side.
Some of the chemicals seemed like it was forming a mist, dripping down and Jason moved his arm to keep it from touching Nora. He could feel the mist starting to burn his arm.
As they took Nora, Jason gritted his teeth against the pain that flared.
Quickly he pulled back into the laboratory, since most of the officers were blocking the way for him to go through. As he watched the misting from the chemicals were starting to become worse.
"Jason!" Sam called out from the other side.
"It's fine" Jason said, controlling his tone against the pain. He glanced at his arm. The burns were becoming worse, spreading from his forearm to the back of his hand and up to his shoulder.
"Jay..." Sam said slowly "Can you come through?"
Jason breathed out, studying the hole and the mist. "I think so..." he said slowly, trying to ignore the burning pain.
He nodded at Sam. Then he shook his head, lifting his already burned arm, to block any more of the mist from touching him. Biting his lip, he quickly climbed through.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Sam hissed at him as she pulled him towards her, eyes flickering towards his arm "That was reckless..."
"I had it handled"
***
Jason gripped his shoulder against the pain in his arm.
“Dammit….” Sam hissed at him, opening the car door “What the hell were you thinking?”
“.... I already…. Apologized for that….” Jason managed between gritted teeth.
Sam slammed the car door shut. “You were reckless and careless…. And just what the hell?”
The two walked towards the emergency room. Jason’s arm wrapped gently in a clean bandage, that already looked like it was being stained from the burns beneath. They stopped at the reception desk.
The receptionist looked up from her desk, shook and worry crossing her previously neutral expression.
"Oh my what happened?" She asked them. Then she took out a phone to call a doctor.
Jason winched, looking away.
“A chemical burn…” Sam said.
The receptionist nodded but kept her attention on the ringing from the phone and the burnt young man.
When someone answered on the other end she turned her attention to it.
"I'm going to need help….."
The nurse was cut short with another doctor cutting the line.
"It's alright Bebe." Theo said as he looked over at Jason with worry. "I'll take this one." Then with a reassuring nod he turned to Jason and Sam.
Bebe put the phone down and kept looking over at them.
"What happened?" Theo asked as he got closer. Helping Sam with Jason and leading him to a wheelchair.
“I”m fine walking” Jason hissed through clenched teeth.
“Fine?” Sam snapped, clearly angry at Jason from even before they came in “Fine? You are…. I don’t even have words to explain how angry I am at you”
Theo rolled his eyes. How could he be so stupid right now?
"I don't care what you say. You're sitting." He demanded. Not leaving any room for argument.
Jason tisk, before sitting down on the chair. He narrowed his eyes at Sam. “I had things handled…. Why the hell are you mad at me?” he asked.
"I don't know, maybe because you have possible second degree burns covering a large part of your arm and shoulder." Theo answered. "Now what actually happened?"
“He handled things, by letting a chemical mixture explode” Sam snapped “Something that wouldn’t have happened if he’d listen to me”
“If you just fucking let me do it….” he started, before a botl of pain shot through his arm and he doubled over, torn between wanting to grip the arm and just leaving it.
"There's no use arguing now. We'll discuss this later." Theo said urgently when he saw Jason double over. "I'll have to look at those wounds first."
Sam took a deep breath and stepped back. “Thank you, Theo” she said “You’re hospital was the closest and Jay’s just been…. Extremely stubborn”
"It's fine. It's been quiet since my maniac disappeared so I needed the stimulation." He told her. "Since this is a chemical burn I have some questions."
"Jason, are you having trouble breathing?" Theo asked him.
Jason sucked in a sharp breath. “Slightly….” he growled.
Theo's brows crossed. "That's not good." He mumbled. "Any dizziness?" He asked again.
“It… fucking hurts… and that’s making….. Me dizzy” Jason hissed through the pain.
Theo frowned. The worry on his face growing. Then he turned to Sam.
"I'm going to need you to find the chemical because I think he might have got some of it in him and I need to know so I can counteract it." He told her.
Sam nodded. “Alright… I’ll write it down for you…” she said “I’m not surprised….”
Theo nodded then turned back to Jason. The more he looked the worse he thought this might be. He might need to be admitted.
Jason gritted his teeth, breathing through his teeth against the pain.
Sam glanced at Jason as she quickly wrote down the chemicals that were involved in the explosion.
Theo carefully got Jason off the wheelchair and helped him on the bed.
Then he slowly began peeling the bandages of his frown growing deeper with each part of the wound that was revealed.
Jason bit back a scream. The wound ran up from the back of his hand, up his arm to his elbow and then up to his shoulder. By the pattern of the burns it looked like he tried to cover or protect something with his arm.
"Sorry about that." Theo said. The looks of the burns made him worry more "But this isn't going to get any easier." He let him know.
The blisters weren't intact and the wound covered too large of an area for this to be an easy fix. There was a high risk of an infection.
“..it’s fine….” Jason said through clenched teeth. His arm was trembling with the pain.
"This is really bad and the fact that it's deeper means there's a lot of damage." He informed him as he settled the dirty bandage down.
Then he turned to get what he would need to clean and treat the wound.
"What were you doing?" He asked, as he settled the things down. He was a little frustrated and worried.
Jason clenched his jaw, glancing at Sam, who were still standing at the foot of the bed, looking worried and angry.
“There was an accident at one of Flaco industries’ labs. I…. got distracted and….” Jason said “The wrong chemicals got mixed”
Theo gave him a suspicious look. "The wrong chemicals were mixed?" He was a little suspicious of Jason's answer. "To this degree?"
“The chemicals caused an explosion” Sam said “The original mix was supposed to be corrosive. You heard about the lab attack this morning? Well the one head scientists’ daughter got trapped in one of the labs…”
“There was a fucking unstable chemical mix…” Jason muttered “I took the wrong mix…”
Theo realized something and took a while to understand what was going on.
He closed his eyes for a second pinching the bridge of his nose then turned to Jason.
"So what you're saying is." He began in a low irritated tone. "you went to work after I told you to take a break?"
“Well… It wasn’t all my choice” Jason snapped.
Theo turned to Sam for further elaboration.
“He’s been put on desk duty… So he was doing paperwork” Sam said “Their boss called him out for it, since he has the knowledge to be able to avoid any accidents with the chemicals. It was to get a girl out that was trapped in one of the laboratories”
Theo nodded once she finished. "I understand that and it wasn't a very dangerous thing to do but I'm sure someone else could have done it."
He turned to Jason, meeting his eyes with a worried look. "You really need to rest," he said to him.
“Everyone was busy” Jason said coldly.
Sam closed her eyes for a moment, before taking a deep breath. “Jay…” she said softly.
“Sorry” Jason mumbled, like he was realizing what he was doing.
Theo just sighed and shook his head. He didn't say anything else on the issue and just continued working.
He turned to the things he had to take care of his wound.
"It's going to hurt while I clean due to the severity so I'll give you something to numb the pain." He said.
He turned to Jason with a syringe in hand and filled it with a painkiller.
Jason nodded, looking exhausted all of a sudden. “Yeah…. Thank you…” he said.
Theo nodded. Then stuck the syringe in Jason's arm.
Jason flinched, clenching his jaw.
"That's good." Theo said. Then he turned to Sam.
"Samantha." He called. "stay close to him while I get things ready."
Sam nodded and slowly walked towards the other side of the bed. “Jay…” she said gently “You need to stay calm for this, alright?”
Jason did not look at her. “Sorry…. For yelling at you” he muttered.
Theo turned back with what he needed to clean the burn wound.
"Samantha, is he ready?" He asked before proceeding.
“Are you ready, Jay?” Sam asked, taking his good hand.
Jason blinked a few times, quickly glancing at his arm before looking at Sam. “Yeah… Let’s get this over with”
"Alright." Theo said as he began.
The wound was definitely going to scar. With its damage being so deep.
He was careful with the cleaning trying to get any chemical residue out. Washing the burn with disinfectant, adding antibiotics and cream.
It took a long time because it was so large and when he was done he began to bandage it.
Carefully lifting Jason's arm even Jason most likely didn't feel much of it. Then he moved up to his upper body where the burns travelled.
Then when he was done he breathed out.
"I'm done." He told them.
Jason was clenching his teeth. He could feel slight, dim, pulses of pain going through his arm. His head was starting to feel strange.
“Thank you” Sam said softly.
"Samantha, give me the name of the chemical." Theo said, taking his medical gloves off.
Sam nodded and handed him the note. “Here…. This is what got on his arm, the second one is some of the chemicals that was already spilled and he might have breathed in”
Theo took the paper. Examining it for a while. Then he nodded.
"Alright. I'll be right back." He told them and just left the room.
“Alright” Sam said, before turning her attention to Jason “How are you feeling?”
Jason breathed out. “Sick…. Tired” he said, winching “Slightly high… Sammy….” he hesitated “Sorry for flipping on you… I didn’t mean it”
Sam brushed some of his hair back. “You need to rest, Jay…. You’re pushing it and Frank shouldn’t have sent you on this”
“I know….” Jason said “I just… can’t seem to shut down”
"If you keep up with that I'll shut you down myself." Theo said as he walked in with bags of fluid.
"Lay him down." He said to Sam.
Jason just looked away. Slowly Sam helped him to lay down.
“Maybe.. That would be better” Jason said slowly.
Theo chuckled.
"Don't give me any ideas." He said with a playful smile as he placed the bags on the stand.
Then he found Jason's vein and injected the medicine he got. The medicine was a combination of painkillers, antibiotics and antidotes for the chemicals.
Then he turned to take Jason's temperature.
Jason let out a groan. “I… hope that’s the… good stuff” he said, before noticing Theo taking his temperature. For a moment he felt a bit dizzy, moving his hand quickly to steady himself on the bed, blinking.
Theo laughed a little. "It's to make sure you don't get any sicker." Theo told him.
Then he looked at the thermometer and his smile disappeared.
"This is too high." He said to himself.
“What now?” Sam asked, worried.
"He has a little fever. Luckily it's not raging but I think he can manage." He told Sam.
Sam bit her lip. “Alright…” she said “You’re going to keep him here for a while, right?”
“I don’t wanna stay…” Jason mumbled.
"Well you're going to have to." Theo said. "You're too unwell to leave."
"I agree with doctor Theo" Sam said, just holding his hand.
Jason closed his eyes like he was to tired to keep them open.
"Happy you accepted quickly." He said to Jason who seemed to be resting now.
Then he looked up at Sam. "I'm sure he'll be fine." He told her.
"That's all thanks to you" Sam said "And I think he's to tired to argue and fight"
"Well that's a relief." Theo replied.
"How long do you want to keep him?" Sam asked as she looked at Jason's sleeping face.
Theo thought for a bit. "It really depends on how his wounds heal but I could keep him for at least a week."
"That's great" Sam said "He's been… acting more irritated and even paranoid. I'm worried, because accidents like today, he doesn't make mistakes like that"
"It must have been the pressure from everything and everyone." Theo said, looking even more worried and sad for the guy.
"Yes…. He's exhausted and he just keeps on going" Sam said softly.
"That's a real problem." Theo insisted.
"If he continues." He paused. "I think you've already seen what will happen if he continues like this."
"He knows… " Sam said "He admitted as much, but as soon as someone needs help, he will jump to do what he can"
Theo knows he's seen this before, with someone else. He sighed. 'There really are two of them.' He thought.
Then he continued with his advice.
"I know and that is a very admirable trait but what good is it if he can't help himself." He said to her, "One day he'll do more harm to the people he's trying to save."
“I think he might have realized that today” Sam said.
"That's a start." He said.
****
Jason slowly woke up. Immediately he became aware of a burning pain in his arm and shoulder. It took him a while before he could remember what happened.
Ignoring the pain in his head, he opened his eyes. He just lay there staring up at the ceiling.
"Hello." Theo's gentle voice greeted him.
Jason blinked and turned his head towards the voice. "Doctor…" he said, voice slightly hoarse from the sleep.
Theo smiled. "yeah." He confirmed. "How are you feeling?"
"In pain" Jason said as he tried to sit up, but his arm just gave in, and he sank back against the pillows "How long was I asleep?"
"I'm going to need you to stay down." Theo said first. Then he thought of an answer to his question. "About 10 hours." He told him.
Jason blinked at him, surprised. "Ten… hours?" he asked.
Theo shrugged. "Guess you were more tired than you thought."
"I shouldn't be surprised" Jason said "I think I only got about 4 hours sleep the last two days" winched as he moved his arm slightly. That hurt so much more than he thought it would.
"What?" Theo said, dropping his gentle demeanor.
Jason sighed. "Paper work and my studies" he said.
"I need a word with whoever is in charge of you." Theo said with some urgency.
"He doesn't know" Jason whispered, before gripping his wrist of his burned arm. "Doc… anything for the pain?"
"Oh yeah. Sorry about that." Theo apologized then turned up the amount of morphine released.
Jason breathed out. "Thank you.." he said, feeling the tension in his body relaxing.
"I don't know if it helps but I'll give you a doctor's note for school." Theo offered.
"Yeah it might…" Jason said before hesitating "Can you give anything for insomnia?"
Theo considered it for a bit. "I guess I can but you might also need to have your PTSD symptoms checked."
Jason swallowed, looking away from Theo. "I know… I just… I don't like people in my head" he said.
There was silence as Theo thought of a good response.
"I understand that it can be scary having someone probe you." Theo began. His voice was as gentle and understanding as he could get. "But you're quickly losing it and that might extend to the people around you. Just think of what got you here."
Jason clenched his hands into fists. "I know… it hasn't been this bad in a very long time" he said "The triggers were even getting less…"
"But they got worse." Theo stated. "and that's all the reason you need to get help."
"Yeah…. I… I will" Jason said slowly "Because… I don't care about the job or the university… I'll be fine without that… I can't lose Sam…"
Theo smiled at his moment of clarity. "That's good."
Jason nodded. "Thanks for the help, doc" he said.
