Tony ran through the snow as fast as he could, thankful that the streets were still empty, until they reached the edge of the Ray County Hospital. They stopped just outside the rings of yellow light that emanated from the streetlamps surrounding the hospital and stared up at the large, well-lit building. It was a relatively small hospital, six, maybe seven floors, and no added wings yet, which would make it easier to find the girl but more difficult to avoid attention. A small county hospital like this one meant that everyone knew everyone, and there was zero chance they could pretend they worked there without getting found out.
"Has anyone gotten a response from the team?" Daisy asked.
"I did," Bali said, looking down at her phone screen. "Roz and Dimitri are on a mission, but Dalia and Blaze will meet us as soon as they can."
"Great, we could use a little invisibility right about now," Daisy replied.
"Get your augmentors out." Tony pulled his augmentor out of his pocket, a long, metal stick-like object with a small, roughly cut stone on one end.
"Got it." Daisy held hers up and waved it in Tony's face obnoxiously. It looked very similar to Tony's except it was bronze-colored, and the stone at the end was slightly smaller and a little misshapen.
"Good," Tony said, and then he and Daisy turned to Bali expectantly.
"I don't have it," Bali said. She tossed her golden hair over her shoulder and looked at Tony with a combination of anger and chagrin before admitting, "I didn't bring it."
Tony just looked at her.
"I didn't know we would need them tonight," she said defensively. "This was supposed to be a simple job, right? Find the girl. You said it yourself—this would be easy; that's why there's only three of us. How was I supposed to know this would turn into a full-blown shadow showdown?!" She crossed her arms and mustered up a reproachful look at both of them.
"Say 'shadow showdown' five times fast," Daisy muttered to no one in particular. She was clearly unwilling to be the one to scold the ice queen.
Tony let out a frustrated breath, muttering "unbelievable" just loud enough for Bali to hear. This was why he hated going on missions with her, despite the fact that they had been close friends once upon a time. Maverick had brought them in at the same time, and they had known each other from before, when they were still on the streets. It wasn't until their first mission together that he realized she wasn't reliable in a crisis.
"Your call, boss," Daisy said into the silence.
"It can't be just my call this time, Daisy. This is riskier than we planned for. Maverick won't like it, but I have a feeling if we don't get the girl now, we won't get her at all."
Daisy looked up at the hospital again, over at Bali, and then back to Tony before replying, "I say we go for it. Minus the presence of any real tactical muscle from the team, and sans a third augmentor, what could possibly go wrong?"
Tony chuckled, appreciative of Daisy's succinct and sarcastic way of summing up the situation. At least she was reliable in a fight.
"Okay, let's do this. Bali, you will secure the girl while Daisy and I run defense," he said.
"What if she doesn't come willingly?" Bali asked.
"Pick her up and carry her if you have to," Tony replied.
Bali wrinkled her nose at this, like she could smell the girl already and didn't care for her perfume, but Tony didn't bother chastising her any further. They were running out of time, and the shadow hunters could already have the girl for all they knew.
They walked across the parking lot towards the ambulance bay, slipping their augmentors into their sleeves before walking through the automatic hospital doors and into the waiting room, at which point Daisy leaned over to Tony and whispered, "Drunken idiot?" and he nodded.
Daisy fell into Tony and then swayed and fell into Bali, giggling suddenly in a very believable way. Bali held onto her arm, and Tony grabbed the other one as she became increasingly belligerent and seemed to lose the ability to hold her head up right. They practically dragged her to the check-in desk, where a younger man was sitting, watching them come in with a barely suppressed smile.
"Uh-oh, did someone have too much fun tonight?" he asked them, looking at Daisy.
"Shhhhhh…" Daisy said suddenly, putting her finger to her lips as she did so. "I'm trying to sleep over here."
"Sorry, mate. I think our friend might be on the verge of alcohol poisoning here. We thought it better to be safe than sorry and have her checked out."
"How much did she have to drink?" the receptionist asked.
"Ohhhhhhh… bout this smuch!" Daisy said, going from a whisper to a shout as she pulled her arms free from Bali and Tony to show about two feet of distance between her hands before giggling and falling back into Tony with a hiccup.
"Of what?" the young man asked.
"Vodka," Bali replied shortly.
"Yikes, okay. Better have her admitted quickly. Go on through the double doors. I'll call ahead and let them know to get the stomach pump ready. You two can take her as far as the yellow lines on the floor; after that, you can wait out here." They nodded and carried/dragged her through the double doors, following the yellow lines until the doors closed behind them.
"Works every time," Daisy said, standing up and straightening her jacket.
"You guys could have warned me!" Bali cried, clearly annoyed.
"We don't have time to argue. Bali, can you find her?" Tony asked, pulling out his augmentor again and holding it at the ready.
"Here?!" she asked, incredulous.
The hall was relatively quiet, but who knew if that would last.
"We don't have time to search every room!" Tony exclaimed. He was growing impatient and had a feeling that time was not on their side.
Bali looked around at the empty hallway and then sighed. Bringing her hand up to her mouth, she leaned towards Daisy and blew her icy fog into her face. Daisy jumped back in surprise as the ice covered her entire face for half a second and then shattered into a soft dust that disappeared.
"Geeze! Ask a girl first!" she yelled.
"You had more contact with the girl; the magic will work better this way," Bali replied with a shrug as a snake tattoo began to wiggle on her forearm and come to life, slithering off of her body and onto the floor.
"The snake will be less conspicuous," she said in reply to the looks Tony and Daisy gave her.
"Stay near the wall; stop if you see people," Bali whispered to the snake, who nodded to her, his little pink tongue slithering in and out as he tasted the air before slithering to the wall and leading them down the hallway.
The snake took them right and then left, stopping twice and lying still against cheerful wall art that matched his green and gold coloring so well he practically disappeared into it. Each time the snake stopped, the others took it as a warning and did what they could to hide or appear nonchalant. Thankfully, they didn't pass anyone of consequence and were able to travel fast throughout the hospital until a man in a white doctor's coat opened a door and stepped into the hallway just behind them.
"Can I help you?" he asked them.
The three stopped and turned to face the doctor. The snake hid behind Bali's feet, curling up and lying as still as possible. Tony saw out of the corner of his eye Bali motioning with two fingers behind her back, and then the snake poking its head up her pant leg and slithering back onto the skin on her arm that she held behind her back.
"We are looking for a friend of ours," Daisy said, sounding convincingly sincere.
"You can't visit at this hour; it's nearly five in the morning. How did you get up here?" the doctor asked, frowning.
"Well, it wasn't exactly hard," Bali said with a smirk, which made Tony and Daisy give her a death stare.
The doctor did not seem pleased with Bali's remark and walked over to the wall where a telephone was and picked up the receiver before replying, "I'm calling security." But before he said another word, two things happened. First, the lights in the hallway began to flicker and dim, and second, the sound of a woman screaming pierced through the hospital from the floor above them.
"Shit!!" Tony, Daisy, and Bali all said at the same time before sprinting down the hallway towards the staircase.