It was the morning after Evelyn's fight with Werecat, and she was sore and bruised all over. Her neck hurt, and while DocProf had healed the major injuries (including her busted up arm and scratched shoulder), many of the minor cuts and bruises were still left. She didn't expect him to take care of it all though, especially since the fight had been her fault. But it didn't make it easier to deal with the pain.

During the night a few of the smaller cuts had reopened though, and she finally decided to wander to the infirmary to get a few bandages to put over them. She stepped gingerly as she did, and knocked quietly. The room was empty besides the doc and she sheepishly shuffled at the door. After showing her where the first aid kid was, he gave a quick look over the small cuts. Her echoes picked up a small level of concern on his face making sure she was healing properly, but there was also the stern fatherly look.

Kid didn't learn from being mollycoddled. If she was going to stay here every cut didn't need to be mended as long as they healed properly in the end.

That had to have been the longest night of Mirror's life.

The riots were still in full swing, and the X-men spread so thing over the city it was a wonder he did not have to work alone. Gawain had spent the entire past 24 hours hopping from crime scene to crime scene, taking down bad guys and scaring humans and mutants alike until finally Sam ordered him to drag his ass back to the Mansion. And he did. The sun was coming up, and he did not even remember when he had shifted from Maya to Gawain.

When the young mirrorwalked showed up at the door of the infirmary, stumbling out of one of the mirrors in the hallway, the way he looked gave even DocProf a start. He was sued to seeing the X-team banged up, and usually did not do anything about Gawain's injuries beyond tossing him the first aid kit...
... but this was something else.

"Damn, kid, what have you been up to?!"

Gawain leaned against the door frame with a shaky smile. He looked like as if something had exploded right in front of him. There was shrapnel and broken glass sticking out of various parts of his body, his clothes soaked in blood, and scratches and bruises criss-crossed his face that was quickly developing a black eye. Some parts of his uniform and the skin on his neck were burnt... some in the shape of hands.

"Bad enough for some healing?..." he asked, attempting a smirk, but it quickly dissipated when he finally noticed Evelyn.

"What the heck is she doing here?..."

Evelyn jumped several inches in the air when she heard Mirror's voice, and she whirled, flinching as the motion hurt her tender sides. Suddenly, her throat felt as tight as if Werecat were choking her again. But there was nothing there to account for the pressure.

"I uh, I was..." She glanced at Doc Prof as he moved to take care of Mirror, and he gave her a look that clearly said I'm not explaining for you.. So she grabbed a bandage and held it up with a flushed face.

"Just needed a band-aid. But you look like you need more help and I should just go..." She trailed off and started trying to find a way to the door. But Gawain was still leaning on the door frame blocking her escape.

Gawain's eyes narrowed as he braced himself against the doorframe and looked at Eve. She had bruises and scratches as if she had been in the fight, and from what he could tell, Doc was not busy healing her... which, once again, pointed to a fight, even though Gawain had no echoes of his own to confirm this suspicion.

"Band-aid my ass." he grumbled as Doc peeled him off the door frame and started steering him towards the hospital bed. He kept his eyes on her. "I'm fine, I come from the field. Where did you get your ass kicked, huh?"

Doc snorted and muttered something about pots and kettles before he managed to make Gawain sit down on the bed. The young knight swayed visibly upon contact and Doc had to catch him.

"Oh hell no young man you don't get to lie down." he huffed "Sit straight, dammit. Gotta get the shrapnel out first. Tell Sam next time you see him that we need to have a talk. And you miss, come here and help me."

As Gawain moved away from the door, Evelyn momentarily considered bolting for the door. She could just run away, not have to answer questions, and delay the inevitable truth. But then Doc called her over and the color left her face. Trapped. There was no leaving now.

As she stepped forward though concern mingled with her own personal discomfort, and she grimaced at the sign of Gawain's injuries. It certainly wasn't pretty, and she knew it had to be serious for Doc to actually help.

"I... I went back to my apartment to check on things. It was dumb, I know I just... Not that it mattered anyway. Everything was..." Doc started removing some of the glass and she flinched slightly and looked away, waiting for further instruction from Doc and helping however he needed her to. It at least gave her the opportunity not to make eye contact with Mirror.

>>"I... I went back to my apartment to check on things. It was dumb, I know I just... Not that it mattered anyway. Everything was..."

"So, lemme get this clear" Gawain muttered as he waited for DocProf to do his job "The Mansion is under a lockdown and y...OW!"

DocProf was, indeed, doing his job.

"... you snuck out, without supervision and OW GODDAMMIT!"

"Stay put, I can't see a damn thing." DocProf grumbled sitting back "Evelyn, grab the scissors from the box, and some of the clean bandages."

Gawain made a face, but had to admit that his uniform was ruined anyway. He decided to focus his frustration on Eve.

"... You left the Mansion alone, got your ass kicked in the riots, and all for what exactly?"

Evelyn scooted to grab the scissors and bandages, avoiding the question for as long as possible. She handed them to DocProf, and considered just refusing to talk. That wouldn't help anything though. If nothing else, at least he was focusing on her and not his injuries. "My art..." She said quietly, and glanced at him for the moment.

The echoes she received made her quickly look away again.

"I don't sleep. I draw. Every since I was 13 I would draw before bed, and all those pictures... they were still at my apartment. Were... It may not mean much to you but that's all I had." A tear pricked her eye and she tried to blink it away before he noticed. She took a deep breathe and sighed.

"So yes I snuck out, and yes I got my ass kicked, ok? I deserved it and I'll deal with it." She grumbled.

>>"My art..."

DocProf took the scissors and handed the bandages back to Eve.

"You know what to do with the bleeding."

Without further explanation he started cutting the shirt, stopping every once in a while to pull a shrapnel or a piece of glass out of a wound. Most of these were followed by a fresh tickle of blood, and Gawain wincing and growling.

>>"I don't sleep. I draw. Every since I was 13 I would draw before bed, and all those pictures... they were still at my apartment. Were... It may not mean much to you but that's all I had."

Gawain blinked away some tears though, although for a different reason. Also, the girl snuck out and risked her life for a bunch of paintings?!

>>"So yes I snuck out, and yes I got my ass kicked, ok? I deserved it and I'll deal with it."

"You can't just OW do that, Eve." he sighed, the exhaustion and the blood loss starting to take their toll "Sam would murder my ass if he found out you got hurt on my watch."

>> "Sam would murder my ass if he found out you got hurt on my watch."

Evelyn's mouth twitched into a frown, and she grumbled under her breathe. "Well it was his friend who ripped me up anyway so he can just deal with it." She still couldn't believe the cat woman's temper. Evelyn delicately helped bandage the wounds while the doctor removed the glass, refusing to allow her frustration with Gawain to interrupt the process. While she may not have had much medical experience, she was good at following directions, at least when it came to this.

"You don't have to give me a lecture anyway. Having someone choke and then throw you kinda teaches that lesson... Flying lessons, falling lessons... Talon made sure I got back though..." She remarked. The story was coming out choppy but she didn't know exactly how to word it all anyway.

>>"Well it was his friend who ripped me up anyway so he can just deal with it."

"Wait, wh..ARGH!" Gawain actually bit his lips and his eyes teared up again as DocProf had to twist a piece of glass to get it out. Breathing deeply he gritted his teeth. "Motherf****"

>>"You don't have to give me a lecture anyway. Having someone choke and then throw you kinda teaches that lesson... Flying lessons, falling lessons... Talon made sure I got back though..."

"I think ya lost me" he said finally, trying to focus his attention on the story and not the pain, although the fact that Eve was helping with his wounds was not entirely lost on him "Which one of Sam's friends attacked you and why?... And what was Talon doing... OW!"

Talon was an X in training, but Mirror had never seen him in action outside the Danger Room. It made sense he would be doing his share of patrolling, but still...

Evelyn was not an empath, but she could still read the pain on Gawain's face as Doc continued to treat him. She could also see the difference when he was focused on the story and focused on the pain. So, she kept talking. She was digging a hole but since she shovel was already there she might as well.

"Sara? Were? Lion-woman... helped me out first day when I left the museum, but then she ran into me when I was leaving back towards the mansion and we said a few words, and then it turned into a fight. I called her a house cat." She flinched as another piece of glass was removed and bandaged it, trying to figure out if she would need more cloth soon.

"So she choked me, Talon tried to step in... so she threw me at him. And then she decided to drag us from the air with her claws and we ate pavement. Pretty much the end of the story. Oh, she dislocated his jaw..." That was putting things as simply as possible.

>>"Sara? Were? Lion-woman... helped me out first day when I left the museum, but then she ran into me when I was leaving back towards the mansion and we said a few words, and then it turned into a fight. I called her a house cat. So she choked me, Talon tried to step in... so she threw me at him. And then she decided to drag us from the air with her claws and we ate pavement. Pretty much the end of the story. Oh, she dislocated his jaw..."

That was some messed up story right there. Gawain's head swam with the blood loss and the exhaustion, but he could still tell that Eve got beaten up by an ally, not an enemy. That's what the riots do in a city, he noted.

"So, you... got between... a bird and a cat." he noted with a small chuckle as DocProf threw the shirt away and put his hands on his arms.

"Stay still."

The rest of the healing went quicker, and Gawain closed his eyes as Doc's powers washed over him. Wounds closed and burns disappeared, but when all way said and done, Gawain was still pretty banged up. Doc made a principle out of that.

"I though you were smarter than that, Sherlock."

"You'll live" Doc grumbled "Get cleaned up and get some rest. You too, Evelyn. After you help him. You two deserve each other."

>>"So, you... got between... a bird and a cat."

Evelyn considered it, then gave a small smile despite the situation. "Yes, I guess that is pretty much what happened. The bird even gave the cat the bird..." But then the smile vanished and the more serious mood returned.

Slowly the healing finished, and Evelyn was hopeful that she would be leaving soon. Soon didn't escape his smart alek remark however, and she stuck her tongue out at Gawain. "I never said being aware made me smarter." She remarked, feeling irritated at his jab. It was those I thought you knew better type comments that stung the most.

>> "Get cleaned up and get some rest. You too, Evelyn. After you help him."

Her face turned pink as Doc spoke and she considered protesting. The look on his face made her hold her tongue. Perhaps she had learned a bit after all. She nodded reluctantly. All she wanted was a band-aid...

You two deserve each other.

What was that supposed to mean? They were going to be accident prone together? Stubborn? Pig headed?

"Come on, let's just get you back to your room..." She said, offering out a hand.

>>"I never said being aware made me smarter."

"Good, it doesn't." Gawain grumbled. He knew that telling her not to do it again, whatever it was, was not going to work. He had seen her in the museum. Best anyone could hope for was Evelyn eventually learning to defend herself. Or having someone around to do it for her.

He winced at Doc's comments and shot him a look as he walked out and left the two of them. And now Evelyn was blushing. Splendid.

>>"Come on, let's just get you back to your room..."

"We are moving that fast, huh" he smirked, sliding off the bed and standing, a little bit wobbly, on his own feet. Making Evelyn blush was always fun. At least his wounds were closed now, even though he was pretty sure his nose would bleed again if she slapped him...

If there was anything worse than having humility shoved down your throat, it was having someone continuously remarking on your mistake. She got the picture. She was obviously incapable of looking out for herself. That was obviously what her parents had thought when they had Jensen hired to look after her. Perhaps she just got used to having someone watch her back. That just wasn't going to happen now.

And then, Gawain started picking on her again. Or, flirting. She really wasn't sure. She kept sending her echoes anywhere other than the boy, and that made it hard to really know what he was doing. Not that she wanted to. She glared and him and grumbled. "Don't push it. Doc didn't heal you up all the way and there are still a few good bruises I can jab if you make me angry." She grumbled and stuck her tongue out at him again.