Shots Fired
Part 2
"So how are we going to begin to track those two?" Flash asked, as the three of them stood on a building in the middle of the city.
"The gas I filled the store with left trace amounts of a compound on their bodies. I'm already tracking their whereabouts…" Batman informed, peering at a device he held in his hands.
Chelsea watched them in silence. A small smile appearing on her face. Batman was so brilliant. It was so hard for her to not be freaking out on the inside from the excitement of watching him work.
Batman's jaw straightened when the device started blinking, "They're near Gotham West High School…"
"Why there I wonder?" asked Flash.
"People always go where they're least expected to be. Did you ever go to school willingly?" Chelsea asked Wally.
"Well, no…" Wally said, stroking his chin in thought.
Chelsea looked over to see Batman had vanished.
"I hate it when he does that…" Wally murmured, "Do you know the way?"
Chelsea nodded, and floated up in the air. She flashed a smirk his way, "Try to keep up, Wally." With that she took off. She got there within about five minutes. When she landed, she looked around to see that Flash was nowhere to be found.
"Looking for someone?" he asked, suddenly in front of her.
She shook her head, "I'm not even sure where to start. At least school isn't in session. I wonder if they're inside somehow…" Chelsea wondered if these kids were victims of the same thing she had gone through. Perhaps they were an example of the kind of people Batman was referring to.
"I already checked the perimeter. No luck," shrugged Flash.
"So they are inside then," she sighed. Coming up to the front door she looked discouraged, "it's not like this is going to be-" she pulled open the door, "-unlocked…"
"That's convenient…" Flash commented.
"No, it's Batman." Chelsea confirmed. He would unlock the door for them, even if he decided that wasn't the way he was going to enter. As they walked in, the lighting was dim and there wasn't much light to help them see. Chelsea held up her hand and lit it up to give them a better view. She looked around the corner and didn't see anything, "Where would one hide in a school?"
Flash spotted a stairway, "Perhaps in the basement?"
Where it's even darker. Chelsea nodded, and they started for the stairs. Something didn't feel right. The next thing she knew she was being tackled by Wally who spiralled them off of the stairs and onto the ground. A shot had been fired in their direction. Chelsea's light went out, and they were immersed in darkness. Flash's arms were still around her body as they laid on the floor. Neither wanted to speak and take a chance on giving away their location. Flash realized the sort of position they were in and his mind started to wander. Chelsea's mind was so focused on the situation, her mind was racing. Slowly, she stood to her feet, never letting her hand leave his so she wouldn't lose him in the dark. His grip on hers was firm, as she helped him up.
Pushing her back to his front, she flashed an orb of protection around them, causing another bullet to fly, but they were safe now. Chelsea's eyes met the older brothers through the darkness. He was giving her a cold stare as he switched from a pistol to a shotgun. Chelsea swallowed hard. If a shell from a shotgun made contact, it would blow a hole into one of them. The older brother was beyond the point of turning back. He was angry.
"Talk to me," Chelsea said into the darkness, her light was almost blinding to their surroundings, "Who did that to your brother?"
He smiled and laughed, "He's not the only one who's gifted." He loaded a shell into the chamber of the gun, "I make bombs…" he touched the pistol at his side, and a seal appeared on it. Tossing it toward Chelsea, it exploded. The shock of it all sent Chelsea and Wally flying back. Her protection dome came down for a bit and then ignited once more.
"You alright?" she asked Wally.
"Just fine…" he mumbled. His tone was more serious than ever.
"Did you end up in the hospital sometime recently? No, not even recently. In the last 5 years?" She tried to get the boy to speak to her again.
A look of shock appeared on his face, "How did you…" his face grew cold again as he fired the shotgun.
His brother emerged from behind him, "Hold on, how do you know about that?"
"What are you doing, Sam?" asked the older brother.
Chelsea looked back to Flash and then frowned at their response, "How do you think I'm doing this now?" she asked, "I'm just like you."
"We were in a car accident," said the younger brother.
"Stop telling her everything!" yelled the older brother.
"I want to know what she has to say Nick!" Sam cried.
Chelsea watched the two brothers bicker, "When did your abilities start appearing?"
Sam put his hand on the barrel of his brother's shotgun and pushed it down, "A couple years ago." he told her.
"Can we just talk this out? We're not here to hurt you." Chelsea asked.
"No!" yelled Nick, "the last time we tried to tell someone they tried to separate us. It's too late now!"
Batman watched the scene play out through a ventilation shaft nearby, "Alfred," he spoke into his earpiece that was connected to the Batcave alone, "have you heard about any peculiar car accidents?" He opened up a small device that made a small screen appear and he typed away on it, doing research.
"Afraid not sir." Alfred informed.
Bruce started skimming the police files for any information on car accidents in Gotham. Low and behold a picture of both boys were found, along with their parents. Bruce switched ears and started speaking to Chelsea, "Chelsea, these boys supposedly died nearly three years ago. Their parents were casualties in the car accident. Someone must have reported them dead as well so they could use them for whatever experimentation practiced to make them that way."
Chelsea listened and looked at the boys, "Where have you been for three years?" she asked.
The boys looked shocked she knew such information, "They never told us." Sam commented.
"We woke up in some building with no windows. It was all white. They tortured us. Electrified our brains and pumped us with information." Nick explained, "one day we woke up on the street. I don't remember much of anything, except my powers." He placed his palm on the wall, "And I don't intend to waste such power." He blasted a hole into the wall and Chelsea's heart skipped a beat when she heard Batman grunt in her ear.
"Batman, are you alright?" she cried.
There was no response.
Her eyes instantly started to tear up, and she was filled with a sudden eruption of rage, "Flash… go find Batman."
"But…" he started to say, but when Chelsea looked back at him, her looks could have stopped his heart, "I'm on it." He ran out of her bubble and disappeared through the broken wall.
Nick was about to take a shot at the opening when Chelsea came forward and grabbed for the barrel of his gun. Her hand lit up, warming the barrel, causing it to grow soft. She twisted it into a knot and glared at him coldly. He smiled at her, and left his mark on the gun, then grabbed his brother and ran the other way. Snapping his fingers the gun exploded. Chelsea felt her heart stop as she took part of the blow. Her body throbbed all over from all the small burns. Luckily she blocked the brunt of the blast with her barrier.
She started to run off after the boys in hot pursuit. Sam watched over his shoulder as she caught up fairly quickly, "Shoot at her Sam." Nick instructed.
"But Nick…" Sam urged.
"Shoot!" his brother growled.
As Sam took aim and fired with his hand, Chelsea dodged and took to the air, speeding up instantly.
Nick dragged his arm across the wall, his symbol appearing across every part he touched, and then held up his hand, getting ready to snap.
"Think this through you idiot!" cried Chelsea, causing him to pause, "You're in a basement! If that blows we all get buried! Are you that stupid?!" She couldn't believe how inexperienced and childlike they were. They couldn't even process common logic.
Nick stared at the wall he had marked. Suddenly from behind the boys a tough titanium rope wrapped around the their bodies, pulling them together back to back. Flash came zipping out of the darkness and handcuffed the boys so they couldn't use their hands and then used a putty he received from Batman that instantly grew hard to glue their hands together in a praying position. He appeared before them with a grin, "I think they're a little tied up at the moment."
Batman emerged from the darkness. His shoulder was exposed from his suit, but otherwise he seemed unharmed. Chelsea came up to them quickly, "Are you both okay?" she asked.
"I still have one more bomb…" murmured Nick, "you aren't taking us back to that place… I won't allow you to." His body started to glow, along with his brother, because he was in immediate contact with him.
"No!" cried Bruce.
Chelsea grabbed for Bruce and Wally and surrounded all three of them in light. They were shot out of that building like a cannon ball. All three of them watched as the building started to collapse in on itself. They watched from the sky, as two lives were taken by flames and explosives.
No one said a word as Chelsea lowered them to the ground in front of the building. Batman didn't say a word, as he walked away a moment later, "Come on Bats!" Flash urged, "There was nothing we could do…"
Batman didn't say a word.
Chelsea put her hand on Flash's shoulder and shook her head, "Go get the ship, Wal…" she said softly. She started after Batman, and reached out to his bare shoulder, "I'm sorry… about your parents."
Batman instantly tensed.
"I know this one was personal, Batman. I'm so sorry. I tried so hard to save them… but there comes a point where it's up to them whether they want to be saved or not." Chelsea mumbled.
"My parents didn't have a choice." his voice was stern, "Those boys gave up… someone drove them to do something everyone strives to stay away from. People try so hard just to stay alive each and every day. So many things can take their lives from them. Life is fragile. Imagine someone driving you to the point where you don't wish to fight anymore!"
Chelsea took a step back from his voice booming. It started to pour. The rain was pounding at their bodies. It came on so quickly. Chelsea removed her jacket, and draped it over Batman's exposed shoulder. It was so small against his large, broad, muscular body. One might mistake it for an infants blanket, "Sometimes, people are driven to stop surviving… that's why we're around. To give them something worth fighting for. We can't save them all… we just have to do the best we can with the situation given. Today wasn't successful, but…"
"Someone is out there," he interrupted her. "That could have just have easily been you. Someone is out there turning people into super genetic humans. Exposing them to God knows what, and we don't have the first clue as to where this is happening."
This was the most she had ever heard Batman speak. She sighed, and looked up at the sky. Her body was soaked, and she was shivering. "I'm so sorry…"
"Get used to that feeling," Bruce warned, "it doesn't go away. It comes with taking on this line of work. You won't remember all of the faces you saved, but you will always remember the faces of those you let down."
Chelsea watched as Batman started to turn away again, "They're at peace now. They're with their parents." She explained, "Your parents… I bet, I bet they're so proud of you."
Bruce listened to her words. When he turned around to look at her, she was gone. He looked up to the sky, "Are you proud?" he wondered.
As Wally was on his way to pick Chelsea up from what remained of the high school, something didn't seem right with the aircraft. Out of nowhere it started to malfunction, shooting sparks and smoking, "That's not good…" Wally murmured. Unbuckling his seat belt, he stood up and backed away, "Sure, break down on the guy who can't fly."
Chelsea was standing in front of the school, watching it burn through the storm. That's when something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Her mouth fell open as she saw the aircraft smoking and spiraling in the air. Her eyes glowed a bright white light as she shot off in the sky, water bouncing off of her body as she covered herself in her forcefield and smashed clean through the ship. Wally was being tossed around like a hacky-sack. She never stopped momentum as she grabbed his arm and held him tightly to her body in her arms. He was unconscious by this point.
Floating in the air, she removed her protective orb and concealed what was left of the ship inside a new one, allowing it to blow up in a confined space. Gotham had enough to worry about, being down one high school. They didn't need another building going down because of a rogue aircraft.
Lowering herself to the ground she held Wally, keeping his head propped against her chest. She put her hand to her ear, "Can anyone hear me?"
There was silence, and then she heard the voice of Superman, "Chelsea, what's going on? You guys have been gone a long time."
"Could you come pick up Wally and me? Our ship sort of blew up…" Her voice cracked, snuggling Wally close. She was worried he was really hurt. She could only imagine his body was battered and bruised underneath his suit. She was overwhelmed. Her first day on the job essentially, and it was a failure. Two boys died today and she couldn't save them. Now who she considered to be her best friend, was lying unconscious in her arms. Batman's words echoed in her head, "Get used to that feeling. It doesn't go away…"
"Are you alright?" asked Clark with concern.
Chelsea felt herself start to sob, then held her ear again, "Yeah…" her voice squeaked, "I just… I need some help." her tears were masked by the rain.
"I've got your location. Don't worry hun, we're on our way." Clark replied.
Clark turned to the others and they all looked worried.
"What did she get herself into?" wondered Hawkgirl.
"We can't worry about that right now." John Stewart said, "We have to help her."
"Exactly," Clark responded.
In no time Clark, John, and J'onn had arrived in a different space craft. Superman came out to find Chelsea sitting there, using her upper body to shield Wally from the rain. When they returned to the ship, there was a suffocating silence that filled the air. Chelsea's appearance was wrecked by stress and drenched with rain. She never strayed from Wally's side, keeping his head on her lap.
"I'm sorry to ask, but what happened?" Clark asked into the open air.
Chelsea went through the whole story. From them starting their journey in the store, to the high school and Batman's instructions to keep this case between the three of them, and to the tragic end. She wasn't even sure how the ship had a malfunction, but it certainly topped the cake.
"Never trust Wally to drive," joked John.
J'onn waved his hand over Wally, "I assure you that he will be alright," he told her, "he took a beating, but it's nothing severe. No broken bones or internal injury occurred."
"Thank goodness," Chelsea sighed.
"Wally means a lot to you, doesn't he?" asked Clark.
Chelsea looked at him, "I know it sounds silly since I haven't known him very long…" she ran her thumb up and down the bridge of his nose, "but he's shown me a kindness unlike any other. He's made me feel so comfortable here. I'm the reason he's hurt. I'm the one that told him to go get the ship…"
"You can't take responsibility for everything that happened today," Clark told her, "I know you're upset about those boys too. And I'm sure you're upset about Bruce…"
"Bruce?" asked Chelsea.
"Batman," corrected Clark.
"His name is Bruce?" she thought to herself.
"All I'm saying is, it only hurts you more to bare such a burden. Things happen beyond your control. What is meant to happen will. All you can do is control your own actions. If more people accepted that… I think they'd be more happy." Clark told her.
She mustered a smile, "I can see why you're the leader…"
Clark decided not to comment on that, "He cares about you, you know…"
"Who?" She asked.
"Bruce…" Clark said, "I've never seen him act that way over anyone before. You mean a lot more to him than he's letting on."
"Get used to that feeling. It doesn't go away…" She heard his sultry voice once again in her head. He apologized earlier that morning for something that was also out of his control. The mugger in the alleyway. Did he feel like he let her down? Instead of replying to Superman, she just held Wally close to her and sighed. What she wouldn't give to hear a light-hearted joke from him right about now.
About an hour later Wally's eyes fluttered open. He checked his surroundings to find himself on his bed in his room. His body ached. He couldn't exactly remember what happened that got him here in the first place. Chelsea came out of his bathroom and saw that he was conscious. All the pain seemed to disappear when he saw her.
"Hey," she said softly, "I'm so glad to see you awake. How're you doing?" she asked.
He nodded, "Fine actually," it started to come back to him now. The ship was going down. So that means Chelsea must have… saved him? "My hero?" he joked.
A smile spread across her face as she sat on the bed beside him and pulled him into an embrace, "I was… really worried."
He'd been around his share of women, but none who held him this sincerely and was filled with so much care. Normally he'd be very tempted to make a pass at her, but with Chelsea, it's almost like he wanted to be on his best behavior. His respect for her was too high to tarnish it. Almost like a reflex he pulled her in tightly, "Hey now, I'm fine."
Chelsea had to admit, it felt nice to feel embraced. After the day she had, it was almost like feeling his arms around her was the only thing that would get her through it, "I brought you something." She said, pulling away and reaching for a bag she had on the floor, "GL went out earlier so I asked him to pick something up for me," she held up a DVD of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Wally couldn't help, but laugh at her. His face wore his usual smile, "You stayed beside me the whole time didn't you?"
She got up to put the DVD in his DVD player and turned on his tv, "Yeah, except ironically when you woke up and I was in the bathroom. Don't think I didn't see the magazines in there by the way…"
He chuckled nervously, "I keep those for the rest of the guys…"
She sat beside him on his bed and grabbed the remote. It crossed her mind that she'd be willing to bet her right arm that Wally had the closest thing to an ordinary room out of all of the Justice League. Dirty laundry scattered across the floor, swimsuit model posters, an old television and DVD player. Not to mention the retro game stations he had lined up.
As she pressed play, she sat back and laid there beside him, her upper body propped up against the pillows. This was the most normal thing she had done since she had been here. There were no complications, no bad guys. Just a kid getting out of a day of school to cause mayhem, her, and Wally.
For a while, Wally kept his eyes on her frequently. She acted like they had done this for years. And the odd part, it felt like it. He was sure everyone had been telling her things like "He womanizes" or "He flirts with everything that doesn't move too fast. Har-har!" but she didn't seem to listen. She got to know Wally herself. She decided to make those judgments on her own. Wally looked down and smiled to himself. Chelsea, was a one of a kind girl.
