Sitting

Max and Jack had almost finished their mission of getting the person responsible for what had happened to Laila and her unborn baby. On the way over with the detective to make the arrest, Max called Steve to inform him of the good news. Although Noah had taken the initial report well considering the circumstances, Steve had been a bit worried since he had exaggerated the truth of what Max had told him. If he had to retract his story or hadn't been able to give an update that matched what he had said before, there was no telling if Noah's anger might return.

The only thing that had eased Steve's worry, had been that Noah had been allowed to enter Laila's room and see her, hold her hand. This had made him calm down a bit, since he could confirm with his own eyes that she was still there and breathing. The monitor showing that baby Nick's heartbeat was still going strong too. The downside was that he could now see the cuts and bruises, which made him want to find the person who did this even more. So, Steve was happy that he could turn his strong version of the truth, into the actual truth so soon after the initial report.

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After Steve had told Noah everything Max had told him, Steve could see that Noah was in a dilemma. Going back and forth in his mind between wanting to stay here with Laila until she woke up and wanting to see the piece of scum that had put her here in the first place. Steve could tell what was going on in his friend's mind and said, "Why don't you stay here with Laila for now and I'll go meet Max and Jack at the precinct on your behalf. I will update you the minute I hear something, that way you can stay here for now and perhaps by the time they have some answers out of him, Laila will be awake and you can come join me. For now you are much more needed here, than you are there. I am sure Laila will want to see you the moment she wakes up and will need you to reassure her that things will be okay. Unless you want to leave that job to Maria and I?" 

The immediate glare that followed answered that question, causing Steve to chuckle at the predictability of Noah's response to a question like this. "I didn't think so. So, let's just have faith in the two of them. Max and Jack have got this. They managed to get this far in this short amount of time. I'm sure they'll be able to finish the job without our help, since they feel really responsible for what has happened and would probably appreciate being allowed to make it up to you and Laila in this way. It won't take away all that has happened, but will at least show their sincerity right?" 

Noah couldn't disagree with Steve on this. Although he had been very angry before that a thing like this could have happened, they had all let their guards down these days. If he had driven Laila himself, this could have just as easily happened. At least with their training, Jack and Damian had been able to prevent the worst from happening. So, if they got the person who did this, then he could let his anger towards them go and focus it on the person who deserved his full wrath instead. 

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Over at Max and Jack's location, they had arrived at the hospital and the three of them had apparently gotten there right in time. The man they had come to arrest had just finished getting his treatment. Although the staff had tried to do everything as slow as possible, it had been a slow night, which gave them very little to use as an excuse to not treat him right away. Even if most of his injuries weren't life threatening. When the nurse who tied up his final bandage saw the three of them fast approaching, a sense of relieve came over her, which showed on her face. Something which hadn't gone unnoticed by the man they had come to arrest. He quickly glanced past her to see what or who she was looking at and didn't need long to figure out the same thing the nurse had. That they had come for him. 

He cursed under his breath. "Shit". He thought he would have more time than this to get away. But quite frankly, he didn't think he would need more time to get away. When he got here and saw how few people there were, he figured he would be in and out in no time. Unless he had suffered any internal bleeding. And for a minute there it seemed that everything was going smoothly, letting him leave without a single problem. But then those stupid nurses suddenly couldn't get anything right the first time. It had taken so long to treat his wounds and bandage him up that it had turned him into a sitting duck. Waiting to get caught. Now that the moment was there, his options were rushing through his mind one by one, getting eliminated just as fast. Causing him to curse more and more under his breath as time appeared to move in slow-motion. 

He should have known something was up when it took them 20 minutes and three runs to find the right painkillers and bandages. But the pain he felt had numbed his senses. Made him unable to pay the same type of focus to these types of details. And now he was in an impossible situation. Even if he tried to take the nurse in front of him hostage, he didn't have a weapon. Since this mission didn't require one. For a minute he stared at the IV line that was dripping fluids slowly into his veins. Wondering if he could use it to threaten to choke the nurse. But what would stop the cop from putting a bullet between his eyes. That line was no immediate danger and would not protect him from a single thing. Stab her with the needle of the line? But how much damage could that really do. Push her as a distraction and run?

In the end he decided on the latter and initiated his get away plan just seconds before the detective could grab him. However, unfortunately for the Joker, the detective wasn't alone and while he couldn't just fire his gun inside a hospital with patients, Jack had no problem grabbing one of the phones at the desk in front of him, initiate a chase and use his skills as a trained bodyguard to throw the phone as hard as he could at just the right spot to make the Joker drop to the floor. Although it wasn't a full knock-out and just him losing his balance due to how fast he was running and the unexpected sudden force, it was enough to allow Jack to catch up and keep an injured man from making another move.