(A/N: Like I said in my X-Men story "Sometimes I just write stories for myself, like I don't even care if others read it or not or if they even like it, sometimes I just write it to have something REAL to hold in my hand. Sometimes I'm just not satisfied with the story being in my head, I have to be able to read it and picture it from the readers' point of view. THAT gives me satisfaction" Yep, so, if you wanna read this, great, but I'm gonna write it no matter what you think ;D Enjoy~)
Grey Kingsley and his wife, Alexis, were sitting together on their front porch, watching their 2 ½ year old daughter play with her favorite ball in their front yard when IT happened.
The day was cloudy, but not cold at all… The weather man had predicted scatter showers and perhaps and storm or two here and there, but nothing major, so the family had taken advantage of the lack of precipitation and nice temperatures to get some outside time together that, soon to be eventful, weekend.
Alexis snuggled closer to her husband on their porch swing in front of their nice suburban house just outside of Gotham City.
There WERE a few… draw-backs to their house though (and its location); one, the small yard (Alexis grew up in the country so she was used to MUCH bigger, she wasn't TOO upset by this lack of space, it just made her miss her rural home sometimes), and two, their house was pretty close to an electrical substation which is NOT the safest of places for a 2 year old.
BESIDES that, they had the nicest house in their subdivision, and it was all because of Grey's job.
Grey worked at Wayne Enterprises, just like the majority of Gotham City's population, BUT his position and salary was most LIKELY quite different than the rest of the people working there. Grey was the leading, highest ranked, scientist at Wayne Enterprises and over looked several different lab and R&D departments in the company.
Now, Grey did NOT just get this job because of his intellect, science degrees, and natural leadership skills (though that certainly was part of it), he also got his position because of his long friendship with the owner of the company; Bruce Wayne himself.
Grey and Bruce met during their freshman year of high school and had instantly became buds, then, when they discovered they were going to college together, they became dorm mates. When college ended, Bruce quickly offered Grey a job working for him in the labs and they'd been close ever since. Having a guy like BRUCE as a best friend DID have its perks (though the friendship had NEVER been based on his insane amounts of cash).
So there the happy couple sat, thinking about how lucky they were when the Un-luckiest thing happened and ruined their, so-far, good day.
The storm dropped out of the sky like a dime. Lightning flashed, followed by a quick thunder, not so far off in the distance. Alexis sighed and rose to her feet, about to call their daughter, Kristi, so they could go inside when ANOTHER unlucky thing happened.
Kristi was still bouncing her ball when the thunder had rumbled. Spooked, she forgot to catch the bouncing ball and it began to roll away from her and down the street.
One thing you must understand about Kristi is that she is a BIT faster than the average two-year old… of course, only when she wanted to be… NOW was one of those times.
Kristi took off after her ball before her parents even had a chance to react, but they didn't hesitate long and were soon dashing off after her.
"KRISTI!" her mother shrieked as the ball rolled towards the electrical substation, followed by their little girl.
Kristi didn't stop following her beloved toy, not even when it went into the busted open gate surrounding the substation. Grey suddenly sped past his wife, trying to reach his daughter before she got shocked with thousands of watts of electricity.
Kristi caught up to her ball just as her parents got close to her inside the gate surrounding the substation.
Grey and Alexis were only about two feet behind Kristi, about to pick her up… when there was a sudden, blinding flash of light.
Everything went black as the thunder boomed.
…. …. …. …. ….
Bruce was out on his normal routes as his alter ego that stormy night when Alfred called him.
"Hello?" Bruce answered.
"Master Bruce…" Alfred started, but then he paused, taking in a deep breath. He wasn't sure how to tell him of what had happened… and he wasn't sure how he'd react.
"Alfred? What is it?" Bruce asked his caretaker a bit impatiently.
Alfred sighed before answering him, "Grey is in the hospital –" he started, and before he could finish his thought, Bruce hit the brakes, whipped the Batmobile around, making a u-turn, and cut in, not wasting any time.
"Meet me near the hospital with my change of clothes, and as soon as possible," he all but ordered, his voice stern.
"Of course sir, I'll be there momentarily," Alfred replied and then he hung up.
As Bruce sped up, swerving through all of the alleys and back roads he could think of, trying to get to the hospital as fast as possible, all he could think of was HOW on earth his closest friend could have wound himself up in the hospital (or WHAT on earth could have gotten him there) at THIS late hour…
He hoped Grey was okay…
Bruce got to the nearest abandoned building by the hospital (where they were to meet) before Alfred did, but the second Alfred DID arrive, Bruce already had the Batmobile hidden and was ready to go (for the most part). He changed quickly and soon they were speeding their way to the front of the hospital.
Alfred dropped Bruce off at the front door and he was out of the car before the vehicle had even stopped. He dashed through the front door, barely waiting for them to open, and over to the front desk.
The nurse there looked up in shock. "Oh, hello Mr. Wayne –" she started to greet him, but he cut her off impatiently.
"Grey Kingsley?" he asked quickly.
The nurse nodded, understanding his urgency. Just about everyone in Gotham City knew how close Grey and Bruce were (which is why they'd called his house when they saw him in the hospital). "Room 317," she told him and Bruce dashed off again.
He raced down the halls, not even looking twice when he passed the elevator, it'd be too slow for his liking. Instead, Bruce took the stairs, two at a time, up to the third floor.
Bruce wasted no time finding the room the nurse had told him and opening the door to it… but what he saw then froze him in place.
In the room were five people, two patients (Grey and Alexis) and three medical… professionals (one doctor and two nurses). Just as Bruce was coming into the room, the nurses were covering a charred Alexis with a sheet… but Grey's heart monitor was still beeping… BARELY… He was badly burnt too.
The doctor looked up as Bruce stepped into the room (his speed slowed dramatically). "Mr. Wayne… I'm so sorry…"
"What happened?" he asked, walking over to his friend's bedside. He wanted to examine him himself, but he couldn't do that with the doctor and nurses in the room… it would be insulting to there… position.
"They were outside when the storm hit… and they were struck by lightning… Their daughter was hit, too," the doctor explained sadly.
Bruce looked up at him in shock. Their daughter, too? He hoped, for his friend's sake, that she was ALIVE. "Where is she? Is she okay?"
The doctor nodded. "She's actually quite fine… much better off than they are. A purple, rubber ball she was next to may have saved her life… Though, the ball is melted…"
Bruce's eyes were still a bit wide when he returned his gaze to his friend. "How are the odds looking…?" he asked in a whisper.
The doctor came over next to him and put one hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry… we don't expect him to make it through the night…"
Bruce nodded, holding back his emotions.
The doctor sighed and gestured to the nurses to leave. Then, he put his hand back on Bruce's shoulder. "We'll let you be alone for a while… if anything changes, hit the call button."
Bruce just nodded… Then, the doctor left… and he was alone.
Bruce suddenly crumpled down in the chair next to his friend's bedside, tears falling down his face. He couldn't believe it… he was going to lose his closest friend… He just COULDN'T believe it… it was too unreal.
After a few minutes, Bruce managed to get to his feet and inspect his friend like he'd wanted to earlier… Pulse… slow… eyes… dilated… injuries?... EVERYWHERE…
Just then, the door opened. Bruce turned around to see who it was and sighed a bit when he realized it was Alfred.
Alfred walked over to him and placed a caring hand on his shoulder, though this gesture meant a LOT more to Bruce than the doctor's had.
"How's he doing, sir?" Alfred asked.
Bruce shook his head. "He's not expected to live…" he whispered.
Alfred squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sorry…" he whispered, too.
Bruce just nodded, sitting back down again.
"Do you know how his daughter is doing?" Alfred asked and Bruce shook his head. "The poor thing, she made it out without much of anything… and she's going to lose both of her parents at the age of 2…."
Bruce's eyes widened as he realized something… His friend was going to die, he couldn't change THAT, but he could honor his memory by doing for him what he would have wanted him to do….
Bruce rose from the chair. "Alfred, do you know what room his daughter is in?" he asked.
Alfred nodded, not only as an answer to his question, but also understanding what he was thinking. "She's down the hall, room 320."
Bruce stepped lightly out of the room and Alfred followed. "What's her name? I've seen her picture before, and I'm SURE he's told me… but I just can't remember right now."
"Her name is Kristi," Alfred answered as the stepped into her room.
The two-year old looked up as they entered. She smiled at them with her toothless grin (for she'd lost a tooth already). She pointed at him and said, "Bucee."
Bruce couldn't help but grin, he'd seen Kristi only a few times before... yet she knew his name. Grey brought her to work sometimes and, actually, Bruce was her godfather (Alexis was religious and had had Kristi baptized).
The nurse who was in the room at the time looked at Bruce and smiled. "She knows your name," she said, her voice filled with that love everyone feels when they see a young child, you can't help it.
Bruce just nodded and headed over to her bedside. Kristi continued to smile at him and reached one hand out to him. Bruce picked her up gently and she patted his head.
"Momma? Daddy?" she asked him.
The nurse watched them with sad eyes. "Poor thing…" she whispered.
Bruce just smiled at Kristi. "They're in a different room honey," he told her in a soft voice… He was a bit surprised, too (though he didn't show it), he never was one for kids… He'd never acted this way around them, at least.
Kristi looked confused, but she seemed to nod. Then she yawned and laid her head down on Bruce's shoulder, falling asleep in seconds in the hands of her surprised godfather.
The nurse walked over to him and held out her hands. "I can take her if you'd like," she offered, but, surprisingly, Bruce shook his head.
"Can I take her in to the room her parents are in?" he asked. The nurse nodded.
"Yes, but she'll still have to stay here over night. She'll probably be free to go in the morning, we just want to make sure she doesn't have any other injuries," the nurse informed him and then she left the room.
Bruce headed out of the room and down the hall again, back towards Grey's room.
Alfred walked next to him. "She's taken quite a liking to you sir," he noted and Bruce looked at him.
"Yeah… and I have NO idea why…" he told him.
Bruce stepped into Grey's room and went over to his friend's bedside. The doctor was back in the room and was currently checking over his vitals.
"Is he…?" Bruce started to ask but he trailed off when he saw the look on the doctor's face.
He looked up and shook his head sadly. "We lost him."
…. …. …. …. ….
The funeral for Grey and Alexis was two days after their death. Bruce was the first one there for the visiting with Alfred at his side… holding Kristi.
The day when Grey and Alexis had died had been hectic. Bruce had been the one to arrange all of the funeral plans. His work had given him time off for "family reasons"… The two days off had also given him time to get the adoption papers in order.
He'd adopted Kristi, he was now her legal guardian… He knew it'd be what Grey would want… and he also just couldn't stand the idea of her growing up without her parents… like he had (for the most part, Alfred was always there for him).
Kristi sat in Alfred's arms while they stood next to the caskets that held her parents… Both were closed, their burns had been too bad to let them be open caskets…
The funeral started about half-an-hour after private viewing times. Bruce gave a speech, along with two other people. There were a lot of tears a hugs… some people left early and others stayed until the end.
The next day was the burial… The majority of the people from the funeral were there… It didn't last long and soon everyone was gone.
Everyone… but Bruce, Alfred and Kristi.
Kristi struggled in Alfred's arms as Bruce knelt in front of the tombstones. Alfred put her down and she walked over to the stones and put one hand on it… as if she understood what they meant…
Her parents would never be coming back… though their memory would always be there.
Grey and Alexis Kingsley
Friends of Many and Parents of one: Kristi
Dead but Not Gone
June 10th, 1987
(A/N: I hope you liked it~ This is just the beginning, though, Kristi is gonna play a BIG part in Bruce's life later~ I hope you REVIEW and keep reading!
~KKCopper)
