The alarms of the bank were loud and frightening. Trial number one of discovering the Blue Warrior's secret identity was going all according to plan. Eight of the Phantom's henchmen began the robbery just a few moments before. Three of them held a few cops and the bank tellers hostage at gun point, while one guarded the door and the other four worked on breaking into the vault. Regular, every day civilians huddled on the ground, in corners, and under desks. Some of them were crying. Seth, disguised as the Phantom, paid no attention to the civilians. After cutting all the power to the security cameras, he watched the door like a hawk from the ceiling above, awaiting his nemesis.
Instead of entering through the front door, Darien crashed through the window, landing in a somersault and hopping back up on his feet.
"G'day, mates!" he shouted in an Australian accent. Two of the henchmen turned to face him, pointing their guns in his direction.
"Don't move!" the first one shouted.
"Who are you?" the second one asked. The phantom hid in the shadows above, watching.
"You don't really think I'd be silly enough to tell you, do you?" Darien smirked. He began to walk towards the henchmen opening the bank vault.
"Man," Darien said. "I gave you guys like, a full five minute head start, and you still don't have this thing open?"
"Don't come any closer," a third henchman warned. Darien didn't listen, naturally, and continued on his way.
"Fire!" a voice shouted. Bullets sped past Darien and he panicked, back flipping and acrobating away from them. He grunted and began to conjure up his powers. Civilians were hit by bullets that bounced off of walls and objects.
It didn't take much to stop these henchmen. Without their weapons, they weren't very useful. Blue streaks of electricity lit up the entire building, and before he fired them, he shouted to civilians to get under the wooden desks. He accounted for everyone's safety and let go of a big power build up. To humans, it would be the same feeling as getting struck by actual lightning. To someone like the Phantom, it would be more like a strike from the worst Taser imaginable. All 8 henchmen fell to the ground in literal shock. The Phantom growled quietly and made his way out of the bank unseen.
The civilians, despite seeing such a traumatic event, recovered quickly and came to the Blue Warrior to thank him gratefully. The police collected the henchman and all their weapons, also thanking the superhero. An ambulance came and collected the wounded, and all was sound. Sort of. After all the civilians were out and safe and everyone was gone, Darien noticed a piece of paper on the ground, and upon unfolding it and reading the inside, he realized what was actually going on. The message was signed by Z, and it was a report describing that the Phantom only create crimes that could injure or put civilians in danger in order to force the Blue Warrior to come to the crime scenes. They wanted his identity, and he knew it. Just then, a burning sensation grew in Darien's side. It was like he was on fire. He looked down to find blood staining his costume purple. He had been shot.
"Shit," he whispered. He didn't really feel the bullet when everything was all crazy and intense. However, he couldn't go to the hospital like this. They would remove his mask and know exactly who he was. He decided to leave out the back door, and run, limping all the way to the alley that contained his belongings. He didn't have super-healing, but he did lose blood a lot slower in critical conditions. He changed into his day clothes and ripped a bullet-sized hole in his shirt. The blood began to create a huge stain in little time.
Darien shoved his costume into his backpack and buried it in a little ditch between the building and the ground. He would have to come back for it later. He needed a believable story to tell Andy. That's who he was going to tell. He ran as best as he could back to the vacant bank, "trapping" himself under some debris. He'd be a regular civilian accidentally left behind. This is where the acting part came in. He "struggled" for his phone, dialing Andy's number.
"Hello?" Andy answered.
"Andy? It's Darien, I need you, there's not a lot of time," Darien said, already crying hysterically. Show time.
"Darien? What's wrong? Oh god, what happened?" Andy asked, extremely worried.
"I've been shot. I'm caught up under some debris in the bank that was just robbed. The first responders couldn't hear me, I guess," Darien cried.
"Holy fuck, Darien. I'm coming. I'll call the police, and I'll call you back. I'm on my way. I promise, please be okay," Andy said, starting to cry.
"Okay, please hurry," Darien whimpered. He heard the click of the phone hanging up and smiled. He was going to be okay. His side was starting to hurt even worse. He closed his eyes for a few moments, and opened them again as his phone rang. Andy's name flashed on his screen, and Darien started the water works up.
"Hello?" he sniffled.
"Hi, honey. An ambulance is on their way and I'm nearing the bank. Stay on the phone with me until I get there," Andy instructed.
"Okay, Andy."
"How do you feel?"
"It hurts really bad. It burns."
"Where did you get hit? Is the bullet still inside your body?"
"My right side. I don't know, I couldn't even feel it when it first hit me. I guess I was in shock."
The sound of sirens began to ring in the distance.
"I'm almost at the bank, Darien. I'm going to hang up now. Stay with me, okay? I'm only a minute away."
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you too."
The phone clicked a second time and Darien waited patiently. Andy rushed into the building and looked around, unable to find Darien.
"Where are you?" he asked.
"Over here, I'm trapped under this stuff," Darien called back.
Andy rushed over to a pile of rubble and began pushing it off of Darien's body. Once he cleared the debris, the big pool of blood on the ground was visible. Andy gasped and fell to his knees beside his boyfriend. He started to cry, tears slid down his cheeks and onto Darien's shirt. He gently pulled back the blood-soaked fabric to look at the wound. He almost threw up.
"Oh, oh my god, Darien, there's.. there's so much blood, I can't.. I don't.."
"Andy, look at me," Darien said. "Look at my face."
Andy looked over at Darien, looking into his brown eyes.
"Why are you crying? It's going to be okay. I'm going to be okay," he said softly. Andy nodded and sniffled, trying to calm down. The medics rushed in right at that moment, getting Darien onto a stretcher quickly. They asked Andy if he was immediate family, and after a brief explanation, they told him to meet them at the hospital and they'd allow him to visit once Darien was stable, but that may take a while. Andy nodded and made his way to his car so he could go back to Darien's dorm to retrieve some things. The ambulance zoomed away with Darien inside.
Darien's vision began to go blurry. A female medic stood above him, talking to him and trying to keep him focused. She began asking him questions.
"Can you tell me your name?" She asked.
"Darien, Malloy, I think," Darien responded.
"Where do you live?"
"Dorm. Performing Arts Academy."
"What's your major?"
"Acting."
Darien couldn't hear her anymore. He was too sleepy to focus. He just wanted to close his eyes..
***
Andy began banging on Seth's door. He wasn't even sure if he was home, but he was pretty sure he saw Seth's Nissan in the parking lot. He was frantic, and trying to keep calm, but it was very difficult for him. Seth suddenly opened the door.
"Jesus, what do you want?! I was trying to get dressed!" Seth yelled.
"I'm sorry Seth, it's Darien, I-"
"What? What's wrong with him?" Seth's demeanor changed immediately.
"He's going to the hospital. I came to get some things for him," Andy said.
"Hospital? For what? Come in, get his things," Seth said and moved out of the way.
"He was caught up in the bank robbery today. He was shot while hiding under a table," Andy told him, tears pooling in his eyes again.
"The.. the robbery?" Seth asked. He couldn't believe it. Was he really so set on figuring out the superhero's identity that he didn't even see his own roommate running bank errands?
"Yeah. It was so bad, Seth. I've never seen so much blood," he said. He picked up the big, fluffy blanket that Darien received from Teagan when he first came to the school. He also grabbed some reading material and a hand-held Nintendo system. Seth just stood there in utter shock.
"Well," Andy began. "Are you coming to the hospital?"
"I'll.. I'll show up once he's feeling better. I don't want to bother him right now. He's probably so shocked and upset."
"I'll let him know you intend on showing up. I know he'll want to see you."
Andy collected the few things he needed and made his way out of the dorm, gently closing the door behind him. Seth sat on the edge of his bed, staring down at the floor and holding his head in his hands. This was all his fault. Darien was fatally injured because of him. For the first time in a while, he began to cry. He wanted to hurt himself. He wanted to take every amount of pain that Darien ever felt for him, whether it be emotional or physical, and give it all to himself. He wanted to lift that burden away from Darien forever, but he couldn't. He'd never be able to.
He wiped his tears from his eyes and looked over at Darien's empty bed, not knowing how long it would be before Darien could sleep in it again.
***
When Darien woke up, he was connected to lots of tubes and a heart monitor. He was surrounded by nurses and a doctor. A big bag of blood was above his bed, connected to one of the tubes. His side was patched up with a lot of gauze and medical tape.
"You're very lucky," the doctor said. "You lost a lot of blood."
Darien continued to look around the room, his vision slowly getting clearer and clearer. He noticed a bloody bullet sitting on a tray a few feet away from him. He slowly moved his fingers, then his hands, and then his toes and feet, trying to relax in such an uncomfortable situation.
"Where's Andy? I want to see Andy," Darien said.
"Your boyfriend, I presume? He's in the waiting room. We'll allow him to come in shortly, okay?" the doctor responded. He looked over at the heart monitor. Darien's heart beat was becoming regular and stable now that he was awake. The doctor directed the nurses to some paper work, and left the room to retrieve Andy, who was looking down at the floor and twiddling his thumbs nervously.
Andy looked up at the doctor approaching him.
"How is he?" Andy asked.
"He's doing just fine. You're lucky to have called him in when you did. The bullet has been extracted and a blood donor just gave us two pints of his blood type."
"Can I go see him?"
"You may. Follow me," the doctor said. He led Andy down the seemingly endless hallway, taking him around turns and different corridors until they reached Darien's room. Andy made his way inside, being mindful and quiet.
"Andy," Darien said softly with a smile. Andy smiled nervously back.
"Hi, Darien," he said quietly and walked up to him, gently taking his hand. "How do you feel?"
"Tired," Darien said. "But I feel okay."
"Here, I brought you Teagan's blanket," Andy said, taking it out of his back pack and draping it gently over Darien. "I also have some books and one of your hand-helds."
"Thank you," Darien said with happiness in his eyes.
"How long will he have to stay here?" Andy asked.
"At least a day or so. We need to make sure he is strong enough to go out again. He could have a quick recovery, or he could be in here for a while," the doctor said. "Now, I'm going to give you two some space. If anything goes wrong, my office is just down the hall. If I'm not in there, go to the nurse's desk."
The doctor made his way out of the room and down the hall. Andy sat in a chair right next to Darien, taking his hand and kissing it softly.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Andy whispered.
"I told you I would be," Darien smiled. "Does Seth know?"
"He does. I told him when I was getting your things," Andy told him.
"Is he coming?" Darien asked. Andy thought for a moment.
"I don't know. He said he wasn't going to yet," Andy said. Darien grew incredibly sad. He felt ready to cry and choke on his own words.
"He.. said that?" Darien asked.
"Well, he said he was going to attempt to visit later," Andy answered.
"Attempt?"
"Yeah, he didn't want to come right away."
"Oh."
The boys sat in silence for a while. Darien stared at the end of the bed. Did Seth just decide not to worry about him? He was supposed to be his best friend. Now, when he needed him most, he wasn't going to show?
"I had done everything for him," Darien thought. "I was kind, I was gentle, I was sweet and caring. And now I'm in the hospital, and he can't even take a bit of his day to come visit me? He's been horrible to me since day one. I thought he could get better, and become a great person, but clearly I was wrong. Some people are just wicked. I will admit he has done some good things for me, but this? This takes the cake."
"Andy?" Darien started.
"Yes, Darien?"
"I want to move in with you."
"Oh? Really? What made you change your mind?"
"I want to live with the person who actually cares for me. I don't want to be a doormat anymore, Andy."
"You shouldn't have been a doormat in the first place, babe."
Darien nodded and sighed, feeling a few tears in his eyes. He choked them back, not wanting Andy to see how hurt he truly was over this situation. He would be better soon.
***
"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Seth screamed as he looked at his tires. Three of them had perfect slashes across them. This was his only method of getting to the hospital. The bus routes didn't go that far this time in the evening. There was only one thing left to do.
Seth started to run. He ran down the street, headed deeper into the city. He jumped over obstacles like garbage cans and fire hydrants. He ran so hard that he couldn't feel the burn in his lungs anymore.
Seth was fast, but it still took him a while to get to the hospital. He made it to the front desk, panting heavily. He stood there, awkwardly trying to catch his breath and talk to the nurse through puffs.
"I.. I need.. to visit.. a friend.. please," he panted out.
"I'm sorry sir, but visiting hours are over," she told him.
"N-no, please, I need.. I need to see him," he begged.
"Are you immediate family?" She asked. He finally caught his breath.
"No, he's my roommate. Please, ma'am, I need to see him," he said.
"Sir, I'm really sorry, I'm just following orders," she said. Seth laid his head in one of the water coolers and pressed the cold lever down, letting the water fall into his mouth and then all over his face.
"Sir?" the nurse asked. "You need to leave."
"I can't leave, I need to see him!" Seth shouted.
"I'll have to call security if you don't-"
"DARIEN!" Seth shouted, running past the nurse and down random hallways. He continued to call his friend's name while looking into random rooms with open doors. Nurses and a doctor chased after him, doing their best to stop him.
Darien woke up from a short nap because of all the commotion. He looked at Andy, confused.
"What's going on, Andy?" he asked.
"Nothing, dear. Go on back to sleep, okay? I think they're just having trouble with a patient."
"Okay," Darien replied and curled back up in his blankets.
A doctor launched himself at Seth, tackling him. A security guard followed closely behind, pulling out a pair of handcuffs and cuffing him behind his back. They helped him up off the ground and escorted him out of the building. They sat with him, explaining he wouldn't get any jail time, but he'd have to pay a large fine for his actions.
A few policemen showed up to the scene, asking questions about the incident and making sure Seth wasn't on any drugs. They wrote out papers explaining his fine, what his faults were, and how to pay for them. He cooperated perfectly. Once the police were finished, they prepared to leave.
"Wait," Seth said.
"Yes?" One of the officers asked.
"I.. I don't have any way to get home. I'm a student at the Performing Arts Academy, and I ran here this evening, and-"
"Woah, you ran here from all the way over there? It's at least a 25 minute drive. You say you came to see a friend?"
"Yes.. yes sir."
"Wow. Talk about a good friend. Look, we can't take you to see them due to hospital policy, but we can give you the ride back. Deal?"
"Thank you, sir. Thank you," Seth said.
"Hop in back and we'll get you home. Just don't forget to pay your fine!"
"I won't."
Seth hopped in the back of the police car. As they began to drive away, he turned to look back at the hospital, slowly growing more and more out of view, and further away from Darien. He felt a lump in his throat. He wished he had went with Andy. He'd never forgive himself for that evening. Ever.
***
A/N: A longer chapter, today! I had a few hours before work, so I figured I'd go ahead and type up another chapter. I hope you guys like it! We're clearly seeing a new side of Andy today, and I want to hear your thoughts on it!