Beat Down

Damien wakes up to a bright refreshing morning. He sings as he is getting ready "Oh, La la la la! My favorite chicken is the chick right there! Oh, la la la la!"

On his way to the Academy, Damien feels something is wrong. "I always take this road to the academy, and when I was just looking around town, but where is everyone, usually this street has a bunch of people around this time."

Feeling something is amiss, Damien proceeds with some caution.

As Damien turns a corner, he gets hit by a flare bolt. "Ah!" Damien falls onto the ground, as he wasn't expecting to get hit.

"What the fuc-" before Damien can finish his sentence Tyler comes running at Damien and kicks him in the face sending Damien onto the ground skidding across the pavement for a few feet.

"What now, bitch! I told you I was going to get mine!" Tyler comes running at Damien as a few flare bolts fly by him hitting Damien as he is lying on the ground.

"Ah, Ow, Fuck!" Damien cries out as he's getting hit one after another from the flare bolts.

Tyler jumps up and shoots out a much bigger flare bolt and hits Damien.

Damien screams out in pain as Tyler comes down and starts wailing on Damien body and face.

He continues to beat Damien down; Damien lets out one last cry before passing out from the multiple barrages of attacks from Tyler and his crew.

Damien wakes up in the infirmary all bandaged up lying on one of the beds.

Beside him is Ariel, who is sleeping and coming into the room is Jessica, "Oh! You're awake! Thank GOD!"

Jessica comes running up on the other side of the bed, and with Jessica's shouting Ariel wakes up as well.

"Damien! Thank God you're awake!" Damien looks around the room, groans a little from the pain and sits upright.

"Girls, what are you doing here?" Ariel punches Damien in the arm, "we were worried about you, after Sheridan told us what had happened, we had to come see you!"

Damien chuckles slightly before groaning from his bruised ribs. "Ha, thanks but how did Sheridan know what happened?"

Jessica chimes in, "She's the one that found you lying in a pool of blood and quickly brought you here as it was the closest place to get help. Thank God the nurse was in."

Damien lets out a sigh as he sees the door fly wide up and three other faces pop through the door.

"Is he alright!" Veronica says with some concern in her voice.

"The nurse said he'll make a full recovery." Lauren says sternly toward Veronica.

"Ohgodohgod, I don't think I'm ready to see him yet." Emmy says as Lauren is practically pulling her into the room, "Come on, he wants to see all of us get over here!"

"Hey, girls." Damien says with a smile with pain written all over it.

They come rushing over to see him, Ariel, Lauren, and Veronica on his right side and Emmy and Jessica on the left.

"What happened to you?" Lauren asks with concern, "You got so beaten up." Damien lets his head fall before answering, "I got jumped."

Ariel stares at him hard and lets out a sigh, "Damn, they really got the jump on you. I'm glad you're alright."

Emmy pounces forward "Do you need anything, Damien?" All the girls nodded in agreement. "I think I'll be alright girls. Just got a few scraps it'll be fine in no time. Thanks though."

As Damien says that the nurse walks in, "Woah. What are you all doing surrounding him like that, let the man breathe. I'll check on him periodically throughout the night to make sure his injuries don't get any worse so don't worry. Now I will have to ask you all to leave as class is over for the day." All the girls drop their heads and all of them say "Hope you feel better, I'll be here first thing in the morning!"

They leave the room.

The nurse comes over to Damien's bedside "Quite the Casanova aren't you. It seems you've been brutally beaten; do you mind telling me who did this?"

Damien shakes his head, "No. I'll take care of this myself."

The nurse looks him up and down, "Hmph, suite yourself then. But please try not to get as banged up as you did this time. It was quite the toll keeping you alive."

Damien looks up at the nurse, "Thank you for what you did. And I promise it won't happen again."

Damien clenches his fist as he says the last part. "Good, and you should thank Sheridan when you can. She found you and carried you all the way here." Damien nods, "Yeah, I will once I see her."

A few hours go by, the nurse makes sure Damien has enough fluids and he eats, the sun starts to set, and the nurse says "Well, it seems you can eat and go to the bathroom by yourself. I'm going to head on home. Here's my number if you need me for anything, see you tomorrow morning."

Damien waves as the nurse heads out.

Once he knows the nurse is gone, Damien starts walking the halls, "Gotta get back to the dorm. I don't want to stay here all night, there isn't even a damn TV!"

As Damien continues walking, he takes a corner bumping right into Sheridan, knocking Damien onto the floor. He groans in pain as his butt bounces off the floor.

"Oh god, what are you doing?! You should be resting!" Sheridan shouts at Damien.

"I just don't want to be here." Damien says as he gets back up to his feet. "And plus, I can move around fine, see?"

Sheridan sighs. "Well, it's too dark out for you to be walking the streets, and who knows if you'll get hurt again if you go by yourself." Sheridan pauses as she thinks about what she'll say next. "I got it! Just stay at my place for the night. I can watch over you and make sure you get what you need, and you'll be in a comfortable and safe place."

Damien is practically forced to go with her since he doesn't want to stay at the infirmary and Sheridan won't let him return to his dorms.

They arrive at Sheridan's house. "Welcome to my home. It's not much but come on in."

As Damien enters, he sees a small apartment, modernized with a small kitchen and living room. A decent sized couch with a flat screen hanging on the wall. She gives Damien a tour of the house and just like the rest it's small but cozy.

"Nice and cozy place you got here." Damien says as he looks around the rooms.

"Thank you, this is what I could get since just moving here. You'll be staying on the bed for the night, I'll take the couch."

Damien turns to her, "No, no, no I can't let you do that. I'm your guest."

Sheridan just shakes her head, "No mister, you're hurt. You sleep on the bed or back at the infirmary!" Damien just sighs in defeat.

"I'm going to cook some pasta with alfredo sauce, do you want any?" Sheridan asks Damien, and Damien perks up, "Oh, yes please! That's my favorite. My uncle used to make it all the time, it was delicious."

Damien starts reminiscing about the happy moments he has with his uncle on the farm, as Sheridan notices she just happily hums to herself in the kitchen as she cooks away. "Hope I meet your expectations!"

She finishes cooking and brings a plate to Damien as they both start eating in the living room as some background music plays from the TV.

"MMMMMM." Damien starts devouring the food with a big smile on his face. "This! Is! So! Good!" He says in between bites. Sheridan smiles at him as she slowly enjoys the meal. "Thank you."

They finish eating and Sheridan puts the dishes in the sink. She returns to Damien and checks his wounds, "You seem to be alright. You heal pretty fast. It's nothing like it was when I found you."

Damien nods, "Yeah, I always healed fast." Sheridan looks at Damien seriously "Who did this to you?"

Damien just shakes his head, "Just some punks, they got the jump on me as I was walking to the academy and took me by surprise. Before I knew it, I was being pummeled and the next thing I know is I woke up in the infirmary. That reminds me, Thank you! Thank you for helping me out. I don't want to know what would have happened if you didn't so thank you."

Sheridan returns the thanks with a smile. "So, you don't know who did this though?"

Damien looks into her eyes, "I do, but I'll take care of it."

They stare at each other for a few seconds before Sheridan lets out a sigh, "Alright, alright. You men and your stupid pride or honor whatever it is. But PROMISE me that you'll be careful, it was a sight I would not like to see again."

Damien chuckles, "I promise."

Sheridan rebandages Damien's wounds and gives him a small hug and kiss on top of the head, "Now get some sleep. See you in the morning." Sheridan heads off to bed.

"Good night, Sheridan." Then Damien lays down reminiscing about today's events.

"Those bastards got the jump on me once, but it won't happen again. They better not target the girls next or I'll destroy them." As Damien says this his eyes start to take on a blue hue, realizing Damien's anger is starting to get the better of him he takes a few deep breaths and calms himself down. "Gotta be careful, I don't wanna unleash this power here."

Damien flips through the channels for a couple more hours before sleep overtakes him and he passes out.