luke henry ; robin (notjustsidekick) wrote in musingslogs, @ 2011-02-06 17:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | batgirl, eric draven, oracle, robin |
Who: Quinn, Luke Robin, Oracle and Corbinian
What: Quinnrescue!
Where: Abandoned farmhouse + ending at an OAH.
When: After Quinn's comm call.
Warnings: Some injury-related stuff, but nothing too serious.
Luke knew as soon as heard Quinn’s coordinates that going on foot would take too long even with his grapple gun, since it was best suited for buildings and rooftops. He considered heading to the warehouse to get his motorcycle but he had a feeling that Quinn’s injuries would be severe enough to require some kind of transportation to a hospital. Since he didn’t have a car of his own, though, he’d had to find an alternate way of getting his hands on one. Which he had. Details weren’t important - no one would miss it, not in Rainier Valley, where abandoned cars were a regular sight. He kept to the back roads where his speed limit wouldn’t matter and there was no traffic or police to avoid, and he arrived at the location much faster than he would have the usual way.
He pulled off the dirt road and barely remembered to put the car in park before shutting off the engine, too focused on the farmhouse that stood like something out of a horror movie amidst the grass and foliage. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was aware that he should wait for Corbinian, but Luke was too fearful that he hadn’t arrived in time for that. “Quinn?” His voice wasn’t strong enough for his liking, so he tried again as he moved forward. “Quinn!”
Corbinian came up on his motorcycle less than thirty seconds later. He’d done some artful flaunting of the set speed limits to get there as quickly as possible - sometimes running along rooftops simply didn’t cover the distance he needed to fast enough. He was off the motorcycle and running up behind Luke within moments of reaching the end of the road. “Robin,” he called, not too loudly, but loud enough to get his attention. When he came close enough to him to speak a little more quietly, he said, “We don’t know if he’s inside. Take the back and I’ll approach from the front. If he is in there, he’ll see me first.” Because Luke had already begun shouting, the Terror knew they were there if he was inside. The most they could do at this point was attempt to confuse him.
Luke paused when he heard his name, albeit reluctantly, turning back towards Corbinian and forcing himself to stay still instead of rushing forward. “She said he wasn’t there,” he muttered, but Quinn had also said he was coming back. If he went in there without thinking and ended up getting shot again he’d be of no help to Quinn, not to mention the fact that Thomas and Max would probably kill him. “Alright. I’ll go around back.” It was frustrating, but Corbinian could take a lot more damage and realistically could handle Night Terror better - Luke suspected that he’d end up tearing his stitches by the end of this, but hopefully he could get them fixed without anyone knowing. After ensuring that Corbinian was heading towards the front he crept around the side of the farmhouse, straining for any sound of activity inside. There were low, muffled sounds but nothing else; no male voice that would suggest Terror’s presence.
He adjusted his comm and spoke into it, clearly frustrated. “Anything, Corbinian?” Once he had the all clear, then he’d go in.
"Nothing yet," Corbinian said, quietly as he could manage, surveying the space just inside the entrance. He heard no movement, saw no movement, but remained tense in case the Night Terror was there, just around the next corner.
Just inside the doorway where Corbinian was standing was the open front room of the farmhouse. While most of Night Terror’s equipment was gone, there were still signs of what had been going on over the past three days. The chains from the ceiling in one corner with dried blood around the shackles, but right below their feet was a clear trail of smeared blood that lead to a bloody table.
Quinn had been waiting in a terrified darkness. The only thing keeping her remotely calm was Oracle’s voice on the comm she could hear. She didn’t let herself hope that she would be rescued until she started hearing voices, not quite recognizable yet but they weren’t the sounds of her captor. “Hello?” she raised her tired voice from behind the table she was located, “Corbinian?...Robin?” She was still shaking from a cold that wouldn’t leave her, barely able to shift or any other movement to notify them of her presence beyond her weak voice.
Any thoughts of stealth or concern over whether their presence was known disappeared when Corbinian rounded the corner and saw blood on the floor, the table, and Quinn. He walked quickly toward her, and when no one came out of the shadows, he called, level as he could manage, "Robin - come in, it's safe." He knelt down next to Quinn, thinking through what needed to happen next as quickly as possible. Quinn needed to get to a hospital. The Night Terror wasn't here. So someone needed to take her in, and someone needed to hunt him down. "It's going to be alright, Quinn," he said, as calmly as he could manage. Then, into the comm, "Oracle, we found Quinn. She's conscious, but she needs to be taken to a hospital as soon as possible. The Night Terror isn't here, I'm going to see if I can catch up to him before he gets too far."
Luke moved forward as soon as Corbinian said the word ‘safe’, but he stopped short when he saw the inside of the farmhouse. He’d known it was going to be bad, obviously, but the reality of what happened was so much worse when he was seeing it for himself. For a moment he simply stood and stared until Corbinian’s voice snapped him out of his reverie and he dropped to his knees on Quinn’s other side. “I’m here, Quinn,” he reassured her, taking one of her hands in his. “You’ll be fine now.” As much as he wanted to go after Night Terror himself he couldn’t bring himself to leave, and it made more sense for Corbinian to give chase. There was no time to wonder whether he’d kill the man if he found him - all he could do was have faith that he wouldn’t. “I can get her to a hospital,” he said into the comm, meant for both Oracle and Corbinian. “She can’t walk, and because of my arm I can’t carry her out on my own. Just help me get her out to the car and I’ll take it from there, and you can go after Night Terror. He couldn’t have gotten very far.” He was already sliding Quinn’s arm around his good shoulder, figuring that he’d at least be able to support her weight on that side.
Quinn blinked tired, blurry eyes at Corbinian’s face and opened her mouth to say something along the lines of that she was fine. She doubted either of them would listen that they should go find Night Terror and leave her. She knew as soon as he saw the vehicles in front of the farmhouse, he would disappear and reappear in her nightmares the next night. Luke’s hand closed around hers and she made a soft pained noise before she told them, “I can try? To stand.” It was mostly a futile offer since she was slumping against Luke’s body in an exhausted gesture.
Corbinian stood and shouldered a great deal of Quinn’s weight. He couldn’t think about the blood on the floor and the table, how badly Quinn seemed to be injured, couldn’t linger on it too long or he would lose any chance at all that the Night Terror would live when he found him.
Corbinian helped carry her out to the car, laying her across the back seat when they reached it. He backed away a few steps. “I’ll be in contact,” he said, then, still moving away, “She’ll be fine, Luke. And I will find him.” His tone was hard as nails, and he broke into a run toward the motorcycle. A few seconds later he was driving away, following tire tracks.
He managed a weak smile at Quinn’s attempt, but it was painfully obvious she couldn’t even stand on her own which eliminated any possibility of her being able to support herself. Luke held her up as best he could even though he knew Corbinian was taking on most of the effort, but between the two of them they managed to get her out to the car and in the back seat without much trouble. “Thanks, Corbinian.” He didn’t even need to wonder if the man would find Night Terror - it was clear from the tone of his voice that if the Terror was nearby Corbinian would find him, no questions asked. One less nightmare for Seattle to worry about.
Luke had his mask off even before he was in the front seat, and he managed to get out of his suit even while he started the car and backed up onto the road. His mind was going at an alarming pace and he realized he couldn’t walk into a hospital in full vigilante gear - better to show up as Thomas Brandon’s kid than as Robin. “Oracle, where should I take her?” He spoke urgently into the comm, settling somewhere between panic and determination, and kept glancing back at Quinn. It was an attempt to reassure her through looks alone while keeping an eye on where he was going at the same time. “It’s going to be okay, Quinn. You’re safe now, and Corbinian will get Night Terror. Everything’s fine.”
Oracle had been quiet throughout the mission, not trusting her voice to remain calm and even as she listened to Robin, Nobody, and Corbinian chime in. There was a ragged breath as she heard them tell her they had Quinn and she immediately switched to mute as she composed herself. When Robin came back and asked her where they should go, she gave him the nearest hospital she had been able to pinpoint. “Don’t worry about anything else. Just get her there as soon as possible.” Running below the radar had been crucial to getting Thomas to a hospital last week, second only to making sure he had medical care. Now that Quinn’s disappearance was known by everyone, they didn’t have to be secretive. Getting her medical attention was paramount above all else. “‘I’ll let the police know we have her.” Really, it was more protocol than anything else. Robin was taking Quinn to the hospital and Corbinian was chasing the Night Terror. She had absolute faith in both of them. “Tell me what injuries you know of so I can let them know what to be ready for.” Wasting any time was not an option as far as she was concerned.
Quinn winced and shut her eyes again when they laid her across the backseat of the car. There was some noise she could hear of people’s voices, but they were all starting to blur. She still felt so cold. “Luke...?” She managed to raise her voice enough to know she was being heard, “‘m cold.” She thought of it being from the cold water dunks, not the blood loss.
She opened her eyes briefly to look at Luke in the driver’s seat. “Knew it,” she mumbled, not even really aware she was speaking out loud any more. “Said you wouldn’t come. But knew you’d rescue me. My Luke...my hero.” She felt too heavy to keep her eyes open any longer and let herself drop deep in to unconsciousness.
Luke couldn’t help but turn back when Quinn said his name, causing the car to veer sharply to the side before he managed to regain control. He was going to get them both killed in an accident if he didn’t keep his gaze forward but she just sounded so... weak. It scared him almost as much finding Thomas at the bottom of that drain had. “I know, Quinn. Once I get you to the hospital they’ll take care of you. I promise.” He didn’t care about speed limits or proper driving at the moment, and it was a good thing there were no cops around because he wouldn’t have stopped for them or anything else. Before he could respond to Oracle with an injury assessment he heard Quinn speak again, lower this time, but he could still make out what she said.
“Of course I’d come. I--” He glanced back again and stopped short, seeing her slump against the seat. “Shit.” There was no time to waste now, and as Luke turned a corner he pressed down even harder on the gas. “I’m almost there, Oracle. She... she’s lost a lot of blood and she couldn’t stand on her own. There’s a lot of cuts, some look deeper than others, and bruises too.” He took a deep breath as the hospital came into sight in the distance. “She’s unconscious now.” There were probably injuries and specifics he was missing, but the main thing was that she was alive. They’d found her in time, Corbinian would get Night Terror, and everything would be fine. It had to be fine.
He pulled up to the hospital in a screech of brakes and tires, discarding the last of his suit as he got out of the car and went around to meet the paramedics. Someone tried to hold them back as they lifted Quinn out of the car but Luke kept shaking them off, and he stayed right by Quinn’s side as they wheeled the stretcher inside. He’d come back for the car later - right now he needed to make sure that Quinn was properly taken care of.