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"My head hurts," murmured Robbie Baldwin. He reached up blindly to touch his temple, it flared unhappily sending pain through his skull. "Feels... good."
"Sleeping beauty awakes." The woman's voice was familiar, filled with amusement.
Robbie smiled, in spite of himself. "Angel."
He opened his eyes and lay staring at the ceiling. Sagging, flaking paint. Angel's face moved into his line of sight.
"How do you feel, Robbie?" she asked, helping him sit up.
"Like I got incredibly hammered last night but without the luxury of actually getting drunk or memory loss. I vaguely remember I was in a padded room, wearing a straightjacket, and pumped full of painkillers. The guards were-- God, I'm so thirsty. You were wearing a nurses uniform. You looked hot."
Someone laughed softly behind him. Sounded like Vance.
"What kind of friends would we be if we let some jumped up psycho bury our toothpick behind a ton of paperwork and ass deep in a nuthouse?" said Rich, who appeared at his elbow, passing him a bottle of water.
"I'm thinking," mused Robbie, holding the chilled bottle to his aching head.
"Hey! Ingrate."
"Kidding, Buckethead." He couldn't help himself and smiled again, stretching long unused facial muscles for the second time in less than five minutes. What would Doc Samson say? You're hallucinating, it's the drugs.
"You still with us?" Nova waved a hand in front of his eyes.
He must've been looking vacant again. It was a gift he'd never expected. The old team, back together to save his sorry butt. His stomach filled with what felt like a million butterflies straining to get loose. He swallowed hard. "Thanks, guys."
"You're welcome. Just how nuts are you, Robbie?" asked Vance. His friend was leaning against the doorjamb, watching him with narrowed eyes.
Robbie sipped the water and clenched his fist, the nails breaking the skin of his palm. Opening his hand, four tiny half moons welled up with blood, decorating the pale skin. Power surged, only a small amount but it was reassuring that it was still there. He looked up and smiled, with an edge of restrained rage. "Nuts enough to want to break into Thunderbolts Mountain and show that--"
Rich put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll add it to the shit list."