“We need to get you to a hospital,” Leonard was concerned at Willams deteriorating condition. He had been able to keep himself attentive before due to the rush of adrenaline, however now that they were safe inside the air taxi it seemed like the exhaustion was catching up to him.
“Nah,” Willam choked out, voice hoarse. “The White Skull’s will have eyes there. I’ll be fine, lets just go to the safe house.”
Leonard disagreed, Willams consciousness was constantly fading in and out from the large blood loss and damage to his head. But he did agree that on his point that any hospital would be watched, the White Skull’s were a large organisation, the base they had just busted out from was just one of many.
“He is in serious need of medical attention,” Leonard thought. “If hospitals are out of the question I’ll have to think of something else, and I doubt his safe house has the medical equipment in order to treat him. That really just leaves one choice.”
Leonard reached up to the faceplate covering his true face and peeled it off, Willams eyes widening at the sight.
“Woah,” he said, shocked. “That's some fancy tech, I had no idea that was a mask.”
“Then it's working as intended,” Leonard chuckled as he pulled his fake hair off.
“Man you look a whole lot different,” Willam gawked as Leonard placed both items back inside his briefcase. “I’ll have to look into getting something like that.”
“One thing at a time first,” Leonard pulled up his civilian comm unit and started searching through his contacts. “Let's get you some help before you start thinking too far ahead.”
“Ahhh-haaaa- '' Willam yawned, mind drifting off. “Yeah that's probably best, but first I'm gonna get some sleep.”
“Hey, hey.” Leonard lightly slapped his face as his comm united started to buzz. “No sleep, you’ve taken quite a bit of trauma to the head, I don't want you going to sleep until I’ve had you checked out. I get that you wanna sleep, but try your best to stay awake.”
Leonard kept half an eye on WIllam as his call went through, Rupert's face appearing on his comm.
“Leo! Good to see you haven’t forgotten about this old man.”
“Rupert, I need your help.” Leonard angled his camera to get Willam in the shot, Rupert wincing as he saw the man's injuries. “Can you get us into the clinic?”
The clinic in question was the Vallum Estates internal medical centre, built to accommodate the needs of its various members. Ordinarily Leonard could visit whenever he wanted, however the same couldn’t be said about bringing in an outsider like Willam.
“Hmm,” Rupert hummed. “It’s certainly something I could do. But those are some pretty severe injuries, where did he get them from?”
Leonard considered whether or not to say, however he decided to be forthcoming, he had already filled his father in a little anyway. “He had a run in with the White Skulls, it's why I don't feel comfortable taking him to a public hospital.”
“The White Skulls huh? I heard Arthur say something about that this morning, but it does complicate things.”
“What?” Leonard was confused, while they were a large organisation they shouldn’t hold any sway over his family's estate. “Why?”
“The Rochester’s. The White Skulls are a non issue, however their masters are. It just depends on what your friend there did to earn their ire whether or not this could become an issue, the Rochester’s almost certainly have people on the inside of our estate that will notice his arrival.”
“They have people inside?” Leonard was alarmed at the statement. From Rupert's demeanour he could tell the man only thought it was because of politics that such spies existed, however Leonard's knowledge of their treachery painted an altogether different picture.
“Let us old folk worry about that and bring him in anyways. I’d rather die than let those pompous noble fucks decide what we do within our own walls.” Rupert's picture began to move, “Your air taxi will still have to park outside, however I’ll arrange for some medical personnel to meet you there.”
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“Thank you Rupert.” Leonard meant it as the call began to flicker out.
“Oi,” Leonard turned his attention back towards the slowly dozing off Willam. “I told you, no sleeping.”
“Urghh!” The man moaned out in complaint.
“Focus, I need you to stay awake.”
Leonard tapped on another contact on his comm, who answered before it could even ring once.
“Did you find him!?” Anna looked panicked, her constant worry about her only sibling only growing larger the longer she went without news. “Is he okay?”
“He’s with me now,” Leonard answered and she visibly relaxed. “However he’s pretty beat up so I'm taking him back to my place for treatment.”
“Tell me where,” Anna's image began to move, as she gathered her belongings, fully intent on dropping everything to come and meet them.
“No,” Leonard responded plainly, causing Anna to frown. “It’s not safe for you to move on your own right now, I’ll drop Willam off and then come around and collect you.”
“I guess,” she reluctantly agreed. “But be quick then will you? I’ll send you through my location.”
“As fast as I can,” he reassured her before ending the call.
The taxi made quick time, however to Leonard and Willam it felt like a lifetime, the minutes passing agonisingly slow. When the car finally touched down and its large side doors opened, Leonard was greeted with a contingent of three medical personnel, a stretcher being pushed between two of them.
“Mr. Leonard,” the medic at the head of the trio spoke up. “Please step aside, we will take care of the patient.”
Leonard did as instructed, and the medics quickly got to work, gently picking up Willam and placing him on the stretcher before rushing off into the complex. He didn’t follow, he trusted the professionals to do their job without him being there watching over their shoulders.
Instead he reboarded his trusted air taxi, the small counter displayed on its interior growing higher by the minute.
“I might have to start using ground transports at this rate,” he complained to himself as he imputed the location Anna had sent through to him into the taxi’s navigator. Air taxis were not expensive per say, but they certainly were not cheap and Leonard’s bill was quickly climbing up.
–
Anna paced back and forth, the small ‘safe house’ her brother had arranged that was less a house and more a tiny room smaller than even a studio apartment. It was advertised as a storage space, and not intended for someone to stay in.
Still he had made the best of the space, stocked with supplies and a small bed it acted as a good hideout that she would be able to stay in for weeks without having to leave.
In her hands she held the two tickets Willam had prepared, the starship would leave in the evening, but she didn’t know if she would be able to board alone.
*Knock* *Knock*
Two knocks sounded on the small metal door, but she didn’t open it straight away, still jumpy from her previous ordeal. She peeked through a small peephole on the door, only relaxing and unlocking the bolts when she noticed Leonard’s familiar face.
“Leonard, is my brother okay?”
“As good as he can be,” the man replied as he walked into the small space. Now with two people inside it felt a lot more cramped. She backed off a little, while she appreciated Leonards help, for all intents and purposes he was still a stranger to her. But he seemed to notice her unease and took a step back, giving her as much space as he could.
“Where is he? Can we go now?”
“Of course, of course.” Leonard led the way out of the small alley the safehouse was tucked in and towards his taxi waiting outside. “He’s with the doctors at my family's estate.”
She raised her eyebrow at this. “I don't want to seem rude, but wouldn’t it be better to take him to a hospital? How would he be able to get the proper treatment at your house?”
“I never did give you my last name did I?” Leonard chuckled a little. “It's Leonard Vallum.”
“Woah,” Anna’s eyes widened, she never expected that he would be from somewhere so important. “Isn't that one of the founding houses?”
“Technically, but the house really came into itself in the aftermath.”
“Still that's crazy. How did you and my brother even meet?”
“Err.. It's complicated.” Leonard dodged the question.
“It's crazy to think Will has connections like this,” Anna thought as the car raced through the maze of towering buildings of Citadel. While the orphaned siblings were not poor by any means, they weren’t rich either. The fact that her brother could get into Citadel University was cause for great celebration, but for a family like Leonard such an outcome was all but guaranteed. The difference between the two were akin to the earth and the sky.
“Thanks for helping us out,” she said, and she really did mean it. “I don't know what I would have done if you weren’t here.”
“Dont worry about it,” Leonard shrugged. He stood to gain a lot if he could pull the future founder of the Northern Caravan into his camp. But of course she didn’t know any of this.