Chapter Text
If the cockpit door had been warped before, it was unrecognisable now. Tim managed to squeeze past it with minimal new scratches.
His leg wouldn’t hold his weight for very long – it wasn’t that bad, as leg injuries go, but fuck did it hurt. He’d probably have to get all kinds of shots when they got back, too, between his head and leg, because who knows what germs this plane wreck is home to?
He found his way back to the mossy path where Cissie had left him, figuring that was his best option. He could stay here, and then he wouldn’t even have to worry about the fact that he couldn’t walk right. Right?
The first bullet missed his nose by millimetres.
Suddenly, it didn’t matter that his leg was royally fucked, because Tim sprinted out of the plane like his life depended on it – which it did.
Bullets sprayed the collapsed sheets of metal behind him as he ran, back the way he came – then taking the left, instead of the right, and making a dash for the forest.
He stumbled jumping down from the gape in the side of the plane, but he made it into the forest – the branches scratched his face, pulled his cape –
Tim detatched the cape as quickly as his shaking fingers would allow while he still pressed on, sprinting over a small creek, slipping over mossy rocks and vaulting over logs.
Eventually, his leg forced him to a stop, and he collapsed in a heap, just about managing to drag himself behind a boulder. His breath came in short pants as he listened nervously for any sign of his pursuers.
Nothing. Tim slumped against the rock, his eyes shutting of their own accord. He dragged them open again to appraise his leg – it only looked worse now than it had looked at first, the blood congealing along the edges. He swallowed and brought a hand to his head – that blood, at least, seemed fully dried.
He swatted at a bug buzzing around his head as he took stock of his situation. He couldn’t go back to the plane, for obvious reasons. Cissie could be just about anywhere. He pretty much only had whatever supplies were in his belt, and maybe whatever he could find in the forest. Great.
Tim went to stand, only to immediately fall back down as his leg refused to hold his weight. He got up again, slowly, leaning off that foot. Whatever adrenaline that had helped him run away from the gunmen was long past helping him. What Tim needed to do was find somewhere safe to hide before he really crashed down.
——
The burrow he’d found couldn’t exactly be described as comfortable, but it would have to do.
If Tim’s luck held out, whatever animal that lived here wouldn’t be back for at least until he was found by Cissie or one of the others. On reflex, Tim went to pull his cape around himself, but he’d ditched it on a branch somewhere.
Frankly, he was beginning to feel a bit pathetic. Was this really all it took to send him cowering in the ground?
A branch snapped a few feet away, sending Tim scrambling backwards in the burrow.
Yes. Yes this was all it took.
——
Unfortunately, humans needed water, so Tim hesitantly ventured out soon after.
He crept low across the moss-blanketed ground, doing what he could to avoid stepping on any twigs or the like. He’d just about reached the stream when he felt a presence behind him.
He spun around, hands flying up to protect his face, overbalancing on his leg, and falling back wards.
“Tim!”
He blinked up at the canopy for a second, before shooting back up to sitting, bashing his split head on Kon’s invulnerable chin. “Ow,” Tim said, gripping his temple from where he was, once again, on the ground.
“Oh, shit,” Kon said, eloquent as ever, hovering his hands over Tim’s. “Probably should have said something earlier.”
“Probably,” Tim agreed, waiting dizzily for the throbbing to subside. “Wait, have you seen Cissie? We split up at the plane wreck and I haven’t seen her since.”
“Cassie and Anita are with her on the beach,” Kon said. “Bart’s still zipping around the island looking for you, Slobo is… supposed to be bringing in the backup jet. Dunno how that’s working out.”
“What about Greta?” Tim frowned.
“In theory, helping Slobo,” Kon said. “In practice, they’re probably going to crash that plane too.”
Tim snorted, which wasn’t ideal for his head.
“So, you ready to head to the beach?” Kon stood, offering Tim his hand.
“I don’t know if I can walk that far,” Tim admitted. “I messed my leg up at the plane, got trapped under some metal. And then these guys started shooting at me, so I probably used up whatever running I had left in me for the day.”
“What?” Kon asked. “Who shot at you?”
“I don’t know,” Tim said, tossing his arms up. “I was busy running away.”
“Well, that’s all the more reason to hurry down to the beach,” Kon said eventually. “If you can’t run, then I can carry you. It’ll be faster if we fly, anyways.”
“Fine,” Tim sighed. “Do you have a water bottle?”
“There’s some in Cassie’s bag, I doubt they’ve gone through all of them already,” Kon said as he scooped Tim up by his armpits. “Bridal carry or fireman or what?”
Tim stared at him. “I’m not saying it.”
Kon grinned at him. Prick. “Oh, well, I suppose your leg is too sore for the fireman’s carry. And you probably can’t wrap it around for piggyback either.”
“Shut up,” Tim said.
“Bridal it is,” Kon said, sing-song, doing just that. “Comfy?”
“I’m going to kick you out of the next plane we get on.”
“That’s great.”.
——
Kon was, annoyingly, an amazing flier, taking care not to jostle Tim’s leg (even though he really couldn’t feel it anymore), and landing smoothly on the beach. Cassie immediately ran towards them.
“Tim! What happened?” Tim opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off. “I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without something happening, what the hell?”
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Tim tried, because he was fairly sure that was true. “Besides, I can’t even feel it anymore.”
Silence followed his statement.
“That’s probably not great,” Cissie said. Anita made nodded slowly.
Cassie was glaring daggers at him. “I’m not explaining this. This is on you.”
“In my defence, I didn’t expect the cockpit to fall on top of me,” Tim said, spreading his arms for emphasis and whacking Kon in the face.
“I told you to wait in the body of the plane,” Cissie said accusingly. Cassie’s glare increased.
“Did you really expect me to stay still,” Tim said flatly. Cissie opened her mouth, then closed it again. Mentally, Tim celebrated.
“Not to break up your chat,” Kon started, “but there’s people on this island that would not be happy to see us.” Tim grumbled something even he couldn’t quite make out. “Where’s our ride out?”
Anita pulled out her phone. “Slobo said he’d be here… now, actually.” She looked into the sky. “But I don’t see – oh.”
Tim looked up, following Anita’s gaze. “Oh.”
It wasn’t clear who was at the controls, because both of them were pretty bad drivers, pilots, whatever, but whoever it was should probably slow their descent, Tim thought absently, as they watched the plane land further up on the beach in an explosion of sand.
The door swung open, revealing a grinning Greta. Her fingers were held in a salute and she had a pilots cap clumsily thrown on her head. “All aboard!”
Bart zipped past, straight into the plane, then right back again, colliding right into Kon’s back. Luckily enough, Kon was unfazed. “C’mon already. I’m sick of this place.”
“You’re sick of this place?” Tim repeated indignantly.
“Let’s all just go home,” Cassie interjected. She began walking over to the plane, and Tim was pretty certain he’d never been so happy to follow her.