"But do remember that I-" I stared at the tape as tears ran down my face. My girl had died, I had let this happen. I picked up the remote to rewind and Bats took it from my hands.
"Alaster what are you looking for, we analyzed the scene to its fullest, we searched high and low and found nothing." Bats said. I glared at him and he sighed and put a hand on my shoulder.
"LookI know its hard, its been hard on all of us these past few weeks. But now that we know that she is presumed dead, we can go on with our lives, like she told us to. And in order to do that, I am taking you off the team for a little bit, so that you can recover, and mourn without any further distractions." He said I went to protest but at a stern look form him, I nodded and stood.
"Just give me a call when I am allowed back in." I grumbled and Zetad out of the cave. I was teleported out to a phone booth in a junk yard somewhere in Happy Harbor. I glanced around, closed the door and went to Azreal's car, I had been asked to take it by Artemis, who at the time wanted nothing to remind her of her daughter. It took all of us to convince her not to burn down Az's lab and sell the contents of her room. As of right now, most of Az's things are in a spare room or two at my house. The science equipment was mournfully collected by Nightwing and to the news, they were now miracle workers. They had stepped up and given the tech to scientist to duplicate and give to hospitals to help out with the patients. The only regulation they had was that the Tech be copied and distributed for free. That may seem like a bunk idea and that no one would want to do that, but hundreds of scientist jumped at the opportunity to work on that kind of technology. Thanks to Az Barb and thousands of others are now able to walk. Coma patients who have been under for years are now awake, and amputee patients now have the equivalent of a working sensory robotic limb.
And the nano bots that were turned in have advanced the stages for the cures for severe diseases, such as cancer, AIDS, even things like Alzheimer's. the media thought that Fox and Richard Greyson are the heroes, but we all know who it really was. At he moment we are working on a statue of her in the Hall for the honorable mention that she deserves, but other than that no one seemed to want to acknowledge that she was gone. People seemed to be denying it.
Though everyone was down I think her dad was the most effected, I haven't really seen in a while. The last I really saw of him was when we sent a burning raft out to sea to honor her. I gave a gentle sigh as I got home, The red bullet-what I had named the car- announced that I was home and I thanked her and put her in sleep mode.
I Walked into my front door and frowned at the mail that was waiting on me. There was a letter from artemis, well more like a thick envelope. I opened it and read her hurried shaky scrawl.
"found these in my old books and I thought that you would want them more than I wanted to burn them. Maybe one day I will want them back, but for now please keep them safe." It read, I saw a few places on the paper that looked like water droplets had hit it and the ink was a little smeared in some places. I frowned at the note and set it aside on a table and shook the contents of the envelope into my hand. Several pictures fell into my hand and I frowned. They were all of Az. I went to my couch and took a seat to look through them. One picture in particular caught my attention and made me smile. It was of Az leaning on on her dad, both of them in their costumes. Her hair was a bright plumb and she held an arrow in her hand. The thing that made me smile the most was the innocence in her eyes and the wide grin across her face. I flipped the picture over to see some writing.
First day going into the family business. Still mad at her father for the hair prank, but I guess it is normal.
Artemis's messy scrawl again. I smiled again and set it on the table in front of me. I would have to frame that one and give it to the league or put it up somewhere on my hall. I kept flipping and paused again. I couldn't help the surprised chuckle that had escaped my mouth. There looking a little irritated was Azreal standing in a poofy ball gown, she looked like a giant cupcake. I flipped the picture over and let a laugh escape.
first covert mission with Batman.
I should have known. Bats would put anything in a dress. I remember when he made tim wear a gown and wig. We still haven't let him live that down.
I sighed and put down the rest of the pictures and went to get lunch, I passed the open door of the room holding Azreal's things. The first thing I saw when I glanced in was her bow and arrow. I walked in and picked up the Bow. My face crumpled and I sunk to the floor holding the thin piece of oak and string. It had been weeks and I still couldn't accept that she was gone. I put my head back against the wall, I couldn't cry anymore, I didn't have it in me anymore. And right now I just wanted to silently sit and hold what was left and most important to her.