Emmett spent the next two days on patrol and catching up with friends and family at the shelter. Clara stayed with him, but by the time Thursday came around, she wanted to go back to the lab.
She wanted to decompress, both in the Gray Room and in her own bedroom. She also wanted to see her dad. Apparently, these couple days were one of the longest times she'd been away from the lab.
After she mentioned that fact, Emmett felt a strange mix of guilt. It was easy to forget just how cooped up Clara had been. All these years buried underground because of her powers. He honestly wasn't sure how she'd managed all this time.
Emmett decided to accompany her. As relaxing as it was to catch up with everyone, Emmett wanted to go back to the lab too. Maybe it was how smitten he'd become with Clara or the lack of actual sparring they'd had lately...
And also, the drive to continue his own research.
The pair rode back to the lab in the heavy drone and then walked the halls to section 006. Clara's first part of decompression was literal. In the back of the biolab, there was a special holding tank just for her. The first time Emmett saw it, he'd been expecting a tank like he'd used for surgery. Clara's couldn't have been further from it.
The sphere was over twenty feet tall—towering over them and taking up almost the entirety of the room. Pipes and wires crisscrossed the surface—modified versions of the heat sinks that he and Clara had spent so much time working on. The small entry hatch opened, revealing walls that were almost a foot thick.
Clara kissed him deeply before sealing herself inside. Thankfully, this time she would only be inside a few hours—long enough for TINA to run diagnostics.
Knowing that it would be a short time made it easier to be apart, but as soon as Clara was gone, Emmett found himself missing her warmth.
~
Before Emmett began work or training, he wanted to check in on something else that had been on his mind.
Hunter Nine.
Emmett got back to section 001 and stripped off his super suit, then paced the living room. It'd been three weeks or so since Hunter Nine had shown up at his parents' house. Three weeks since Emmett had put him in the hospital.
He'd put off checking on the injured cape.
Emmett had a mix of feelings about the entire thing. Between Hunter Nine and The Freakshow...
It surprised Emmett how easily violence came to him, and how comfortable he was with it.
TINA pulled Hunter Nine's hospital records and put them on the living room wall screen.
Patient Name — [Redacted]
Summit Alias — Hunter Nine
Injuries — 4 broken ribs, broken jaw, broken clavicle, broken forearm. Ruptured spleen. Internal bleeding. Torn ligaments. Severe concussion.
Treatment — 4 surgeries. 25 pins.
Prognosis — Partial physical recovery in 1-2 months. Full physical recovery expected in 3 months. Psychiatric recovery uncertain.
Follow-up Care — Subject beginning physical therapy. Subject suffers from PTSD from the incident, but is refusing counseling.
X-rays appeared alongside the records. Emmett winced. Most of the bones weren't fractured, but were instead completely broken.
Emmett shook his head and waved away the screens. He hadn't meant to do that... well, definitely not all of that. Hunter Nine was an asshole, but they were supposed to be on the same goddamn side.
YOU ARE READING
Mod Superhero
Science FictionFor this cyborg, power is just an upgrade away. Emmett was used to being caught between college and his engineering internship, but when he gets caught between a powerful hero and an even stronger villain, he becomes collateral damage. Instead of d...
