Chapter Text
The rain pounded onto the unforgiving cobblestone as she shuffled through the empty, unlit streets, eerily devoid of life and city sounds except for the white noise of a heavy storm overhead, the weight of the rain soaking through her clothes and sticking to her injuries nearly dragging her to her knees. Enid was keenly aware of at least a dozen seeping gashes and two bruised, if not broken, ribs screaming at her. Her accelerated healing was trying its best, but she needed real medical attention and soon. Her breaths were already labored enough but the extra energy it took to heal at a superhuman rate was exhausting her too much too quickly.
Enid roughly slumped, more than leaned against an old stone brick wall, the texture rough against her shoulder and the cold immediately sapped the warmth from her bones, but she could not stop here and rest unless she really wanted to lay down and die, as the pain tried convincing her it was more and more worth it every moment. She tried to squint through the disorienting downpour and peered into the darkness of the alley, looking for any sign she was getting closer to her destination. The wolf grit her teeth and pushed off the wall, trying desperately to give herself some forward momentum so she wouldn’t collapse. She had to keep moving.
“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…” she sang under her breath, even more off key than normal due to the stabbing pain of a broken rib poking at her insides.
She grunted out a laugh at that stupid line coming to her as she fought against gravity to maintain an upright position. I should probably worry about the blood loss Enid thought to herself as another wave of dizziness overcame her. She reached out and steadied herself once more, limping further, when she finally saw it. That stupid rusty metal door had never looked more inviting, or who was behind it. Her salvation, her biggest rival, the cause of so much of her pain in the past few years. Her last hope. She reached it and slammed her fist against the door twice as the rain continued to plaster her color streaked blonde hair to her face and wash the sticky blood down her legs. She took a shallow breath and held it, desperately hoping the person she sought was behind the door. Enid pleaded to whatever higher power was out there for once, someone would be there for her, someone would reach out and save her— The door swung open in complete silence on well oiled hinges and Enid immediately raised her gaze up. It was her. The blonde reveled in the sharp, inky gaze that pinned her in place, the only bit of her she could see in the oppressive darkness of the night. The other woman's eyes analytically swept over her in a mix of confusion and suspicion. Ah, her mask. She forgot about that. It was probably smashed to pieces and lost somewhere beneath the rubble, a few kilometers back. So much for my secret identity. She thought hazily.
“Hey there, Viper” she spoke with a grimace as the claw wound decided to make itself known, sending a searing heat up her left side. She tried to summon up as much of her usual cheery, happy-go-lucky attitude as she could, but nothing pushed up to the surface, leaving her delivery flat.
Those haunting, piercing eyes widened in recognition at her voice and an emotion that Enid had never seen before quickly flashed across Viper’s eyes that she didn’t have the brain power to decipher.
“Wolf.” Viper said, in an oddly breathless whisper.
The wolf managed a shaky, bloody grin at the other woman as she took a step forward, and promptly had her twisted ankle give out on her, sending her careening towards the rain-slicked cobble. Enid briefly thought this was how she was going to go out, head dashed open on the stones of her rivals doorstep, before a pair of familiar, strong arms with dark painted fingers caught her by the underarms. She couldn’t hold in the involuntary groan of pain and harsh “Fuck!” as her broken rib was agitated as she tried to engage her core to keep herself upright. Enid felt herself being pulled up and forward, into Viper’s hideout, the door slamming shut behind her, blessedly blocking out the white noise of the oppressive rain and into heavy silence, only the sound of her laboured breaths breaking the atmosphere.
“What in the Devil’s name are you doing here?” The raven haired girl said with a snap, looking oddly human and Oh.
She didn’t have her mask either. The vigilante was quite different than Enid had pictured in her mind. (not that she spent much time doing that.) She was pretty, like really pretty. Pale brown skin, long, full eyelashes, with twin raven braids reaching down to her waist. She was all sharp angles and a clear cut perfect posture, better than any military man the colorful blonde had ever seen and holy shit were those freckles?! Enid couldn’t tell if it was the blood loss making her want to faint or Vip—
“Wolf!” The shorter girl snapped, quickly returning the taller girl to the particularly painful present.
The taller girl managed to focus her woozy mind back on the conversation and grunted out “I didn’t have anywhere else to go. The closest hospital was blown to bits and this was the only place I could think of.” Enid gritted out. “And… I really need help… please.” She tried to meet Viper’s gaze, and once again something tense passed across her face, almost like sympathy?
She seemed to deliberate for a moment, dark eyes flicking back to the door before she seemed to settle on a decision. “Fine.” Viper spoke in a quiet, clear voice.
Enid let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding at the concession. I’m safe, finally. Her mind spoke, over and over as all the willpower she used to drag herself away from certain death crumpled like ash and tears of relief prickled with heat at the back of her eyes. She stumbled forward and again, she felt strong, gentle arms secure themselves around her waist and pulled her towards another room that looked to have a wide variety of medical supplies and strange tinctures sat upon on shelves. A mixture of rainwater and blood made quiet drops on the wooden floorboards as the wolf half limped, and was half-carried towards a cot.
“Hey, Viper, I really don’t think I can take another step—” She mumbled as she lost control in most of her lower half, muscles feeling like lead weights and tv static. This time she was fully swept off of her shaking legs and into a bridal carry as the vigilante picked her up and effortlessly marched them deeper into the building. Some of the pain subsided, with no longer having to support her own soaked body weight and Enid let out a sigh of relief as her head lolled onto the shoulder those toned arms were attached too. The blonde was close to dozing off, ready to sink into the inkiness of sleep before she felt a sharp flick against her head and she floated back into the conscious world “Ow!” the blonde grumbled, rubbing at her forehead.
“You have to stay awake for now. You likely have a concussion and if I am going to keep you from exsanguinating yourself all over my floors, I won’t have you die of a brain bleed either.” the quiet voice came floating over her head.
“Fine, fine I’ll try” she muttered as they came to a stop above the cot, legs dangling as a dolls would.
Enid was hoisted with ease and with a gentleness that surprised her, and laid down on the cot. Viper's presence loomed large over the other girl despite her shorter stature, though this time, not in victory as many of their fights had ended before.
“Where are you injured?”
“Everywhere”
The ravenette held a breath and let it out slowly, keeping herself from snapping, and regaining her composure.
“I need specifics, Wolf, or I can’t help you.”
“Sorry, sorry, uh, at least two broken ribs, cuts on my arms and legs, and a nasty stab wound in my side.” The colorful blonde groaned as she shifted in the cot, trying to get more comfortable.
“That’s better” Viper gave a quick nod and set about gathering supplies in the dim room before calling out into the depths of her hideout. “Thing! I require your assistance.” A moment passed before the blonde heard the beat of large, iridescent black wings, and a sizable raven swooped in and perched on the table beside his companion as she moved around the room with practiced ease. “Gather the suture kit and bandages.” He let out an affirmative croak before shaking out his feathers and flew about collecting the necessary equipment. Viper came back with a wet towel and a bottle of saline, setting them on the table. She caught Enid’s eye and asked “What is your blood type?”
“B-” she said, just speaking causing the pain from her side to flare up.
Viper quickly grabbed something from a cooler and an IV line before bending down over the girl and grabbing her arm, swiping it with an alcohol wipe and inserting the needle with precision. She flinched slightly at the unexpected pain, but it was minor compared to everything else she had been through earlier that evening.
“You aren’t gonna poison me right?” She asked blearily before seeing Viper’s flat look
“Don’t make me regret doing this, Wolf.”
“Sorry, sorry, just not used to, ya know, not being poisoned or envenomed in some fashion around you.” The blonde said with a fragile smile, eyes glazed with exhaustion. From what Enid could tell the other girl did look a bit remorseful at that before she did a one-eighty and and grabbed the rest of the medical supplies from where Thing had laid them out. “Despite what you may believe, I don’t—” She let out a breath and grit her teeth before continuing. “-I don’t enjoy hurting you, Wolf.”
“That might be the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me Vip.” Enid said, while letting out a weak sounding laugh.
“Never refer to me as sweet again. I am anything but.” Viper intoned with a bite.
“Alright, alright jeez.” Enid paused and thought for a moment “But you patching me up is sweet of you.”
Viper didn’t dignify that with a response, only a quick movement as she grabbed the saline from the table and began to flush the cuts on Enid’s arms, making quick work of them before moving on to the exposed ones on her legs. The vigilante reached and lifted the bottom of the blonde’s shirt up to get a better look at the knife wound. The ravenette clenched her jaw as she laid eyes on the bleeding, inch-wide wound.
“Who did this to you?” Viper said with tight fury, eyes glinting dangerously.
Enid stared back with a sharp exhale and said “Who do you think?”
“Of course it was that deplorable Hyde.” The words were grit out angrily. “He just can’t stay away.”
Enid let out a quiet sound of affirmation as she readjusted on the cot, drying clothes sticking uncomfortably to her skin. She watched as the dark haired girl prepped her side for stitches by cleaning the wound thoroughly and prepping it with a disinfectant. The blonde tried not to move as her wound was carefully sewn back together, freezing hands ghosting over her side and leaving goosebumps in their wake. The process wasn’t painless, but it was necessary, and the shorter girl finished quickly with help from her oddly smart raven sidekick. The wolf hadn’t ever had to fight the bird directly, but she knew his worth as an informant and a supremely effective diversion tactic.
Enid, safe to say, felt like shit, but she was regaining some more motor control and the numbness had faded out of her legs. It seemed the blood transfusion and the down time had allowed her healing to get her back into shape by a few degrees and close most of the superficial wounds that littered her body. Her stomach decided to growl loudly then, signaling to the whole room how hungry and exhausted her energy stores were.
“Sorry, been like twelve hours since I could eat anything…” She said sheepishly
The shorter girl ran her analytical eyes over her once more before silently turning and walking out of the room off to get god knows what. Enid was left in relative quiet, Thing’s constant tippy taps of claws and shuffling of his wings bringing some life into the apparent medical room, though there were quite a number of mysterious looking vials and scientific instruments lying around, as well as a wall of glass terrariums lining one corner of the room which she hadn’t noticed earlier, given her state. The blonde found Thing staring her down from the table, head tilted slightly and beady eyes watching her.
“Hi, uh Thing. Don’t really ever think we got the chance to… talk? Before?” Enid said awkwardly, not entirely sure how to go about communicating with a presumably sentient raven. Before she could second guess her eagerness to communicate with him she heard a few quick taps and pauses before she realized; holy shit the damn raven speaks in morse code! Thing paused again before repeating his earlier message
“hello, wolf” Thing tapped out.
The wolf in question almost burst into laughter at the absurdity of the night, from getting into one of her worst fights yet, being nearly stabbed to death, showing up at her enemies doorstep and being taken care of by said enemy, then speaking in morse code to a god damn bird. Could the night get any stranger?
Yes, apparently, because Viper decided to stiffly walk back in at the moment, hands carrying a bowl of something warm and steaming, and immediately her nose latched onto the delicious, familiar, and slightly tangy smell.
“Holy shit is that Žurek?” Enid said, slowly sitting up. If the wolf didn’t know any better she thought that the ravenette looked embarrassed but she passed it off as a side effect of the blood loss and the lighting.
“Thank you so much!” Enid began with enthusiasm before she saw the harsh look upon Viper’s face. “Sorry uh, really, thank you, for everything.” she said as she quietly tucked into the soup before taking a look back towards her… enemy? She wasn’t quite so sure anymore. Of course, they had their differences and they fought much more often than a tentative team up, but Enid wouldn’t call her a villain, more of a vigilante with significant moral differences. Yeah, that seemed about right. Boy, this situation felt like it would throw a wrench in their future conflicts, If she had to hazard a guess. She really didn’t know why she felt safe coming here instead of risking a longer walk to an intact hospital. Enid knew it was essentially an open secret between them at this point, that they knew where each other's hideouts were, being found through careful observation on both ends of the field. Neither had ever made a point to show up until tonight, when the blonde had stumbled up and pleaded for help.
“Don’t mention it. Ever.” The shorter girl said flatly, quietly getting comfortable with her own bowl on the opposite side of the room, keeping a mindful eye on the wolf as she ate. Enid occasionally glanced over to peek at the other girl as she quickly downed her soup. She tried to be inconspicuous as she could, hoping to memorize her unmasked face and imprint those captivating eyes on her brain. Gods she was gorgeous. How is someone even that pretty?! Enid felt her mind scrabble at words to describe her rescuer. Intimidating, fierce, otherworldly, all perfect lines and soft lips.
“Quit staring, Wolf, or I will add a matching stab wound on the other side.” Viper said without looking up as the taller girl realized she had been caught up in her daydream and, in fact, not been subtle about her “peeking.”
“Uh my bad! I just haven’t seen you without your mask before! Not that I was thinking that you’re absolutely breathtaking or anything!” Shit. Definitely just the blood loss. No other reason for spilling that absolutely abysmal gay shit to her rival right to her face. She was going to die from embarrassment.
She expected murder on Viper’s gaze when she finally pulled her head from her hands with cheeks burning red, but instead she saw the most imperceptible raise of her eyebrows like she was caught off guard. Ridiculous, Enid had never seen the famously stoic girl caught unprepared before. Their stare off remained for a few tense seconds before the colorful blonde looked away, ending the deadlock. She expected to be thrown onto the street right then and there, but got a response instead.
“You are… not what I expected.”
What the hell, how was she supposed to take that?! That could mean anything?!
“Thanks?” She said uncertainly, half a confused grin on her face. Dark eyes just flicked to hers before looking away and effectively ending the awkward exchange. The silence was broken by a laugh-like caw coming from Thing before he tapped something against the metal table that Enid couldn’t make out, ending in a withering glare being sent to him by Viper before she abruptly stood squared her shoulders, empty soup bowl discarded. She fixed that now familiar glare onto the wolf next, instinctively causing her guard to go up after countless fights being started by the same look. Her rival, of course, noticed and stood down, relaxing her posture (if you could call it that) slightly and spoke in an even tone.
“You will sleep here and be gone in the morning, understood? I don’t take in strays.”
Enid slowly let her guard back down and tried to force her heart beat to calm down after it had geared itself up for a fight. She nodded once before laying back down on the cot as Viper left, Thing hanging around and curling up on the couch across from her.
Enid tried to process just how everything happened that day but her extreme fatigue was finally catching up to her, so she pushed off the tangled web of thoughts and storm of emotions swirling in her gut and got as comfortable as she could with stitches in her side and slowly healing cracked ribs, drifting into an uncomfortable, but dreamless sleep.