I own nothing
--
Question was asleep - finally. He was still having trouble breathing, but so far the oxygen mask was enough. Huntress sighed and rubbed her eyes. It wasn't her fault he was lying there, helpless, but she couldn't keep from blaming herself. Maybe if she'd kept him with her... maybe if she'd chased him... maybe, maybe, maybe. Of course, he thought he was going to commit a murder, but then, she'd gone to commit a murder before, even if she hadn't been able to go through with it. It didn't faze her, murder. Torture was another thing entirely.
The door hummed and opened, admitting Supergirl and Green Arrow. "We thought you might be hungry," Supergirl said. "You've been in here all day."
"He's been... having trouble breathing," Huntress said. "I couldn't leave him alone."
"We're not kicking you out," Green Arrow said. "We're just feeding you."
Huntress bit back the response that had been about to explode from her mouth, and took a breath. She had been there all day, and she washungry. "Thanks. 'Preciate it," she said, and took the tray from Supergirl, who exchanged a look with Green Arrow. Green Arrow leaned against the wall by the door while Supergirl took one of the empty chairs. "Gonna sit here and watch me eat?"
"We're... worried about you, Huntress. You haven't been taking care of yourself since you and Superman got Question back from Cadmus."
Supergirl jumped in, saying, "You haven't been eating, you haven't been sleeping..."
"They didn't feed Q; they didn't let him sleep..."
"Just because they hurt your guy-"
"Shut up," snarled Huntress. "You shut the hell up, Supergirl. They hurt him? They tortured him! They tortured him for a whole week before I even-" A sob cut her off before she could keep going.
"Nobody blames you, Huntress."
"Nobody but me," she muttered.
"Listen," said Green Arrow. "I get it. If if was my Pretty Bird lying there, I'd probably do the same thing. But it doesn't mean you should punish yourself for something you couldn't help."
"I could have stopped him."
"For how long?"
"I could have gone with him."
"You'd be in the same situation - if not worse. And think about it - if you had been in there with him, they would have strapped you into that machine and made him watch. He would have snapped in seconds. Question's strong, but he's not that strong."
Huntress looked away from the two of them and folded her arms. Her gaze fell on the Question. The bruises on his face were fading and turning yellow. The electrical burns were just as livid as they had been. His wheezing, laboured breaths were especially obvious in the silence after conversation. Would he really have caved so quickly to keep them from hurting her? She wasn't sure which answer frightened her more, and not just because no meant she would have been tortured half to death and yes meant Luthor would have won.
She picked up the plate and looked at the food they'd brought her. Corn, potatoes, and chicken. "I wasn't really hungry, anyway," she muttered, pushing it away.
"Huh?"
"Corn's genetically modified, so Q doesn't trust it. The potatoes we buy for here, he says, are being used to sponsor an underground Eugenics movement in Idaho. As for chicken, well, I'm just sick of chicken."
"You do listen," said the Question.
"Baby, you should be sleeping," Huntress said. "Did we wake you up?"
"Should sleep, too," he mumbled. "People who don't sleep enough are more susceptible to subliminal messaging. That's the reason behind video games."
"I won't leave you, Q. I just got you back."
"Then don't leave. Sleep here. Enough room."
"I don't want to hurt you."
"You could never hurt me."
Huntress felt tears pricking at her eyes. He trusted her so much? So soon? She gingerly climbed into the hospital bed next to him, taking care to avoid as many of the burns as she could. He reached out a hand to her, shaking slightly with the effort, until she took it, and he could relax.
Supergirl was suddenly aware that this was the second intensely private moment she had witnessed between Huntress and the Question since he had been rescued from Cadmus. Green Arrow touched her shoulder and led her away, glancing back at the two of them. They had earned their rest.
--
Huntress woke up first. Somehow, after getting her proper sleep, the lights seemed less harsh. Her stomach growled. She wished they had some uninvited visitors at the moment - she could send them for food.
Question hadn't let go of her hand all night. She got up to check the machines. He was breathing easier - maybe he would be able to go without the oxygen mask when he woke up. Or maybe not, she thought, as he started to gasp and wheeze again. She should have known better than to tempt Murphy's Law.
"No, don't," said Question. "She doesn't know... Don't... Get off her..."
"Q?" said Huntress. "Q, wake up. You're dreaming."
"No!" He was still trapped in the nightmare. "Don't! I'll tell you anything!"
She grabbed his hands. "Q, baby, I'm here! You're safe!"
"Ngh!" said the Question as he woke up with a jolt. "Huntress?"
"It's me, Q. What happened?"
"I was back in C-Cadmus, except... they had you, too."
She scowled. "I am going to kill Green Arrow for making you think about that."
"They were... What they did to you-"
Huntress' expression softened. "Nobody touched me, Q. I'm fine, now that I've got you back. We're all safe now."
The door hummed and admitted a doctor, who looked worried. "The heart monitor went haywire a moment ago."
"It was a nightmare," said Huntress. "But I was here."
"Alright," said the doctor. "I'm glad. Question, are you still feeling nauseous, or do you think you'll be able to eat something today?"
At the mention of food, Huntress' stomach growled. She grinned sheepishly. "I guess I can go get it. You want eggs? Pancakes?"
"Soup," interrupted the doctor. "Or a little porridge. Nothing too rich or heavy, and stop if you feel sick."
Huntress nodded, and turned to go to the cafeteria. She stopped when the Question called her name. "Don't be long," he said.
"I'll be so fast, Flash will be jealous," she told him.
--
Huntress was intending to ignore any and all heroes she saw on her way to and from the cafeteria, but when she got stuck in line behind Green Arrow, she couldn't resist. She punched him in the arm.
"Ow!" he said. "What was that for?"
"Q had a nightmare this morning about me being in Cadmus," she said. "Guess who gave him that idea."
"Geez," he said. "I'm sorry. Is he alright?"
"He's... I don't know. He's hungry, kind of. Doc said soup or porridge only. At least he's breathing better."
There was silence for a minute or two. "I don't suppose there's anything I can do."
"Actually," said Huntress, slopping some scrambled eggs onto her plate with more force than was strictly necessary. "You could get Supergirl's friends to stop talking smack about Q." She snatched up her tray and marched out of the cafeteria, calling over her shoulder, "He was frigging tortured, and he didn't give them anything about us - they could have some respect."
Green Arrow frowned at the table where all the younger women, minus Supergirl herself, were sitting and looking guiltily back. This, he thought, he could do.