Achilles cracked his eyes open and wanted to immediately go back to sleep.
The ceiling had harsh lights in it, and a mask covered his face. A thin blanket covered him, and he was wearing nothing but a hospital gown.
He was back in the Hero Emergency Unit.
Time passed slowly, but Achilles was too tired to get up. Finally, that annoying nurse walked in with a tablet.
"Awake, are we?" he asked. "Good. Glad to see that. You and Prime took quite a beating last Friday."
What day was it now? Achilles was too sleepy to ask, but the nurse seemed to have anticipated the question.
"It's Monday now. We kept you sedated over the weekend so you wouldn't fight us on treatment. Lightning gave us permission. Prime's in the next room over, but his recovery looks like it'll take a little longer. That leg wound was pretty bad.
"We've got Mr. Garcia working on it, but it will still probably take some time before Prime can walk on his own again. In the meantime, you seem to be in good health so as soon as you feel alert enough, we can let you go."
The nurse kept typing on his tablet. Achilles felt himself drifting off to sleep again, the beeping of machines acting as an unfortunate lullaby.
A different nurse greeted him the next time he woke up, informing him that it was now Tuesday. With a bit of help, Achilles was able to take off the mask and monitoring equipment. He changed back into his uniform and decided to check on Prime before leaving.
Bruce was also in the room, holding a hand over Prime's knee. They were having what sounded like an amicable conversation until Achilles walked in. Prime glanced over at him and grinned broadly.
"Getting out? Nice."
"Yeah. Nurse said you'll have to stay here for a bit longer though."
"Doesn't surprise me. That leg hurt like hell. But this guy," he said, patting Bruce on the shoulder, "this guy is a real miracle worker. Pun intended."
"I only wish I could do more," Bruce said with a self-conscious chuckle.
"Achilles, Lightning wanted to debrief after that last incident. She's already gone over her points with me, and I agree with her for the most part. Let her know when you get back to HQ. She's left her cell number for you."
"Right," Achilles groaned. "I'll call her tomorrow." Something told him he didn't want to talk to Lightning at that particular point in time.
"Look," Prime said sympathetically, "I know it's hard. I know we were trying to help. But...from my understanding, we only made things worse. The media's unimpressed with us and I really hope the military doesn't take this as an interference charge."
"We did what had to be done!" Achilles snapped. "If we hadn't intervened, who's to say the Phalanx wouldn't have caused more trouble anyway? I am not listening to this right now. Get well soon."
Prime was saying something behind him, but Achilles shut the door and went straight back to Legion HQ. He checked his emails, and Ben had left him something.
He read it over. Parts of it were scolding, but most of it was praise for how well the Legion had done in dealing with the Phalanx. Denouncing the Phalanx's villainous ways.
Overall, Ben was proud of them. His main concern was keeping Legion members from getting injured in the future. Achilles could agree with that. The Legion had done well.
As he went to grab a snack, the door opened and Light Master walked in from patrol. His eyes lit up the moment he saw Achilles.
"Achilles!" he said, bounding over. "Are you okay? I tried to keep them from taking you, but Lightning got in my way."
"I'm fine, Light Master," Achilles sighed. "Prime's in a bit worse shape, but at least the hospital seems inclined to make sure he gets better as soon as possible."
"How is he?"
"Still recovering. I didn't get to talk to him much."
"Those hospital jerks. I'm glad I didn't get stuck in there this time."
"You were lucky, Light Master."
A pause fell between them as Achilles tried to find words.
"So I've been asleep for most of the past few days...What's been happening?"
"Asleep? Why?"
"They decided to medicate me and keep me unconscious. Apparently Lightning told them they could."
"That demon! How could she know they'd actually take care of you? That sounds like the request you'd make if you were a secret society looking to assassinate someone!"
"I know, right? Like, no one bothered to ask me," Achilles replied.
"Well, I can tell you everything that's happened. I've been keeping an eye on the TV in between patrols. Oh, and one more thing."
"What's up?"
"Can you please, please please cook something good tonight? I realized I don't actually know how to make anything but instant noodles and sandwiches. And microwave dinners. Which got old fast."
"It's a deal, Light Master," Achilles said with a laugh, clapping the kid's hand in his.
According to Light Master, most of the city was upset with the Legion because they blamed them for the Phalanx's actions. Lightning had done nothing to mitigate these feelings, instead issuing an apology to those affected by the hostage situation and their families. She's also made sure to instruct Light Master to stay in the shadows in case someone tried to turn him into the military.
It had driven the kid nuts. He tried to argue against the naysayers, but nobody seemed willing to listen to him. Lightning had taken to spending more time around HQ, and she often scolded Light Master for trying to repair the Legion's image. Jumper hadn't been seen since the incident in question, and people were actually saying that he had resolved things.
It was just a coincidence! Jumper happened to drop in around the time the Legion was cleaning up the Phalanx, so people were assuming he fixed things. Achilles was irritated at the situation, but he managed to calm Light Master down. After all, Jumper was his first sidekick.
"We should get Jumper to formally join," Achilles said.
"What'll that do?" Light Master asked. "He seems pretty distanced from us."
"No, no, no," Achilles replied. "He's my first sidekick, you see. He's talented and we could use someone like him. He agrees with me and would help us a lot. If he's worried about money, Ben can pay him. If he's worried about perception, well, we're all working to change that!"
"Fine. But I still get to be an important sidekick!" Light Master insisted.
Achilles nodded with a laugh.
"In fact, we should push for more recruitment," he said.
"What do you mean?" Light Master asked.
"Remember when I last put out an ad for people to join? Do that again. We can have Ben vet them, then we'll have a larger team to fight Paris with. And none of us will have to worry about money with Ben supporting us."
"Okay!" Light Mater agreed. "Can I help with the interviews?"
"Of course. Now, what did we want to eat?"
Despite there only being two of them, Legion Headquarters felt quite lively. Achilles was looking forward to the day when the complex was even more energetic, with all sorts of heroes under his command.
