Friendly Fire

[WP] He is called simply The Surgeon, and everyone knows that his OR is neutral ground. Heroes and villains alike seek his aid when injured. You're a hero, just in for some stitches, but waiting in the lobby is a villain you've tangled with before, and they're weeping.

*****

“Sky Master?" The Nurse asked out loud, reading a name off the sign in sheet. I stood up and walked to the reception's desk.

"Here, fill this out,” The Nurse told me. I thanked her, took the clipboard she handed me, and sat down. The OR was nearly empty tonight. The holidays offer a sort of truce amongst the heroes and villains only because so many are off on vacation or have family visiting that they do not have time to work. In 19 minutes, it’ll be Christmas. I did not leave town this year so I figured I’d try to help others have a safe Christmas.

Parents would keep the presents they bought for their kids in their car trucks. Their kids would never find them there. But thieves? Thieves like to wait for the night before Christmas. They would find parents that are unloading gifts from the car to their house and strike. No need to worry about breaking into cars or homes. Just find them when they are most vulnerable. Electronics were a big seller this year. Two new gaming consoles hit the market, and scalpers are already asking 3-4x the price for them. I managed to stop two groups of thieves without trouble but the last set had advanced weaponry. They managed to hit my shoulder with an energy blast. Not fatal or anything, just painful and could lead to issues if not treated.

As I began filling out the paper work, I noticed an old foe sitting in the corner. He had his head down, I couldn’t see his face, but his white and orange glowing skull costume motive, I knew it was Omega Skull. His shoulders were shaking. Is he laughing at me? I decided to ignore him. Breaking the Surgeon’s truce isn’t worth it. It takes a few minutes to fill the paperwork and handed it back to The Nurse.

“He will be with you shortly,” she said, looking over the paperwork to make sure I did not miss anything.

I sat back down and looked after at Omega Skull again. His head was still in his hands, shoulders shaking. The coffee machine was nearby. That’s a good enough reason for me. I checked my watch. 11:48 PM. I walked over the to coffee maker, selected a Columbian roast (decaf) pod, and put it in. In about a minute, the machine had warmed up and started to pour out a cup of coffee.

“Kinda fancy for a doctor’s office,” I said to no one in particular, while also trying to get Omega Skull’s attention. He didn’t say a word. He…sniffled? “I haven’t seen you since last June when we battled along the wharf.”

He continued to ignore me. “I got hit by some random thieves who fired one of Dr. Future’s guns. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about how they got a hold of that weaponry, do you?”

Omega Skull continued to remain silent.

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” I demanded.

In a split second, he stood up, grabbed me by the throat and slammed me on the wall.

“NOT. TODAY.” he said. He didn’t have his mask on. His eyes were red. He was crying.

“NO FIGHTING,” The Nurse shouted and with that, he dropped me and sat back down.

After a second or two to regain my composure, I asked “Hey…are you okay?”

Silence.

He was hurting. Not from physical pain. From something else. I didn’t see a villain. I saw someone who was angry, sad, frustrated and vulnerable all rolled into one. He needed help. He needed a friend.

I sat down near him. I didn’t press the issue. I didn’t say a word. He continued to cry silently in his hands. After about 10 minutes, he finally said something.

“My daughter….my daughter is in there,” he said. “I didn’t know it was her….I hurt her…” he said, looking down as his powerful hands. “I…did this. I hurt my own daughter. I’m…” he stopped for a second to compose himself.

“She’s only 15. And has powers. Flight. Energy blasts. She calls herself Crimson Blast. She’s part of The Crew. You know. The teenage heroes. They attacked my base…they had intel that I had stolen some government project. But I swear, I didn’t. It was someone else. I don’t even deal with government heists anymore. Too much to lose for a minor gain. They attacked my base. I fought back. They were no match for me. Why would they even attack? They were outclassed. Inexperienced. Weak. They knew I would win. Why the hell did they attack? What kind….what kind of leader even plans that?”

“Teens these days are trying to make a name for themselves. Taking you down would do that,” I said.

“They attacked. And I fought back. I wanted to make an example of them. I didn’t hold back. As they were retreating, she…” he stops himself. Takes a deed breath. “She fired. She was protecting one of her downed teammates. I didn’t want to kill him. But she was protecting him. She got me in the leg. So I unleashed…” he stops again.

A few moments pass. “They left her behind. What kind of….they left her behind. She was hurt. She needed them. SHE PROTECTED THEM. AND THEY LEFT HER BEHIND,” he got angry. He had every right to be angry. “She was hurt bad. As I got closer to her, I noticed….I noticed her birthmark on the side of her face. She always hated it. She wanted to get plastic surgery to get rid of it. But I told her it made her unique. It wasn’t that noticeable. But I noticed it. Just there. On the side of her cheek. Her mask had burned off with my attack. That’s when I knew it was my little girl. And what I had done to her…” he stopped. He looked at his feet for a long time.

“This is all my fault…” he said.

He looked defeated, exhausted, angry, and vulnerable.

The Surgeon came out.

Omega Skull stood up. “Is…is she…?”

The Nurse walked up next to him and grabbed the clipboard.

“She has multiple fractures, a collapsed lung, first and second degree burns. But we managed to stabilize her. She’s awake and alert. She’ll have to stay here for a few nights, but using our medical tech, she should be cured within a week,” The Nurse said.

Omega Skull breathed a sigh of relief.

“Do you want to go see her?” The Nurse asked.

“N-no…,” Omega Skull replied. “She…doesn’t need to know I’m here. Can you keep that anonymous? I don’t want her to know I’m the one that brought her here. I’ll just pay and go”

“Sure thing,” The Nurse replied. “Come this way and we’ll settle you up.”

As he walked away, he turned back to me. “Hey, Sky Master. Thanks. I’ll see you around.” he said.

"No problem. If you want, I can go in and talk to her if..."

"No, no. I'm just happy she's doing okay. I got a lot of thinking to do." he said. He started to fill out the paperwork The Nurse handed him. I walked back to the coffee maker and popped in another Columbian Roast (Decaf). I looked at my watch.

"Hey Omega. Merry Christmas," I said.

"Merry Christmas."

*****

THE END.