Bruce stormed down the hall as the images of what he had seen kept flashing in his mind. He had seen tortured kids , the mobs in the Gotham before use to execute entire families but even by that standards what he saw was inhumane and evil. He wondered if theo had remembered these memories during the meeting , he wondered if his hatred and anger during that time was due to him reliving all these memories like he told Wally. The kid saved the league even though it was the source his miseries. he stopped in his tracks a realized he was in front of diana's room. He couldn't hear anything inside the room but for some reason he was sure she was inside. He knocked twice but when there was no response he tried opening the door and was not much surprised to see it was open. He could see her sitting beside her bed with knees bend and head between her arms. He removed his cowl and approached Diana and placed a hand on her knee.

Bruce:" Diana. Look at me" he could see her bloodshot eyes

Diana:" why bruce , why would anyone do that to a child?, where was I when they took him?"

Bruce:" diana , you saved him. you saw the same thing dint you ? . you saved him before it was too late"

Diana:" IT WAS ALREADY TOO LATE. HE WAS TORTURED AND EXPERIMENTED. HE WAS TAKEN BECAUSE HE WAS MY SON"

Bruce could see her growing restless and angry and he was worried she might hurt herself. So he did what his mother used to do when he used to be upset, one of the few memories he had of his childhood, he hugged her against his ches and tried to calm her down. She resisted and tried to break free but bruce held firm.

Bruce:" it's okay princess" he kissed top of her head "he is okay"

He felt her anger melt away into grief as she cried against his shoulder. He loosened the grip but still held her.

Diana:" They took my son and did those things because he was my son. Then he was left alone in a dying world, a world that we created . What kind of mother am I ,I was source of my son's pain, he must hate me"

Bruce:" I don't think he hates you, Diana . He is a good kid and despite what happened to him he stayed good. He is hero. You should be proud of him"

Diana:" how could anyone forgive someone for this? Does he remember all of it? . J'ohn said theo was trained when he was young to control his mind. Was this the reason?. Did these memories haunt him ? does he blame me?. I attacked him with my lasso when he was in infirmary …. "

Bruce:" Shhhh! Princess, you are overthinking it , everything that happened shows that he cares a lot, he was in infirmary first time because he wanted to protect you. Me and you are here because he teleported us away from the blast to protect us. His actions show He cares, princess. Even though he may not show on his face"

Diana:" I should go to infirmary and check on him" she said as she lifted her head off his chest and tried to stand.

Bruce:" princess, you need to rest. When was the last time you looked in the mirror. You hadn't slept or ate anything in past two days"

Diana:" bruce I need to go , I need to be there when he wakes up. Please"

Bruce:" how about I stay with him while you rest. I will wake you if he shows any signs of gaining conscious. So please trust me and get some rest"

Diana:" what about gotham? You will be going out on patrol soon"

Bruce:" (he sighed deeply) dick and tim can cover for me today. They usually do when I am away with the league. And if something urgent comes up, I can ask wally, he is still here and worried, to stay till I return. That okay with you Diana"

Diana:" Yes, I guess. J'ohn told me to rest before he tries something tomorrow"

She let her head rest on his chest. She could see the bat emblem. He had removed his cowl and had entered the room not as batman but as Bruce. She felt safe in his arms. She trusted her with her life and …..as she fell asleep. she whispered three words.

"Thank you Bruce "

The room felt silent. They stayed in each other's arms for quite some time, until he noticed that she had fallen asleep. Looked like the exhaustion of past few days had finally caught up with her thought Bruce . He lifted her carefully and laid her on the bed. He took a blanket and covered her. He then looked at her sleep then instinctively moved her raven hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. "goodnight princess" he whispered before he put his cowl back one and exited the room carefully closing the door.

Batman had just informed Dick and Tim to cover for him, who were more than happy to oblige but were still curious to know what occupied Batman's time meanwhile. Batman entered the infirmary and saw J'ohn mulling over Theo's scans and test results. He seemed confused, which was starting to seem like a normal state for people around the kid.

Batman:" any problem, J'ohn?"

J'ohn:" that depends I guess, he is healing and he seems physically and mentally fit give the ordeal. But I can't explain his … coma"

He gave batman the reports about theo's brain activity. As batman looked over the scans he realized that Theo's brain was active. Even though people in coma show minimum brain activity, his results were off the chart. The scans suggested that he thinking and talking rather than in coma. Also there appeared to be something else …. Or someone else. Just as he was going to look at other results something zoomed into the room in a blur.

Wally:" how is he doing doc?"

J'ohn:" he seems fine wally. I was just asking batman for his input"

Batman:" when were this taken?"

J'ohn:" I took one each day, to monitor his progress and also to find if I can trigger his powers"

Batman:" (frowned) this looks like a scan of someone active and not in coma"

J'ohn:" yes but that's not the only thing" (he said as he pointed towards the scan)" it seems he is having a conversation"

Batman:" with himself or subconscious ?"

J'ohn:" that's what I thought but when I tried to reach his mind something blocked me and if you look closely there seemed to be a second different brain pattern. It's as if someone else is actually in his head"

Batman:" so he is having a conversation in hi head with this presence?. To what extend"

J'ohn:" I am afraid that is something only Theo can answer"

Wally:" you know there is an age old myth which also happens to be plot points for various movies and novels and series and even short stories"

Batman:" to the point wally what do you mean?" Wally looked a bit surprised when both batman and J'ohn looked at him. They usually ignore his childish theories but now he had his attention and that made him nervous.

Wally:" well … you know… when a person is in come or dying …. They usually get visit from the grim reaper or someone else with whom they usually have chat and decide whether to wake or … die"

Somewhere else not in watchtower

Theo woke and found himself in a small dark room. He could barely make the outlines of a bed near a wall to opposite of which there seemed to be a door with a little viewing window at it top. As his eyes adjusted to dark, He looked around . he found that the room looked strangely familiar and there was a table and chair near the adjacent wall. There seemed to be few spots of blood on the floor and the ceiling was black, pitch black as if it stretched endlessly. He wondered if He was dead and this was some sort of limbo. Then he heard a female voice coming from nowhere and everywhere .

"No , you are not dead, well atleast not yet"

And as if in response the door opened. He wondered if he should walk out or not

"Well come one then , don't you want to meet me" he thought he heard a small chuckle when the voice said "And fyi the door was never locked. I just got tired of seeing you sit on your ass and do nothing"

He walked out of the door and the room and its surrounding faded. He found himself in someplace else. He was standing inside a big room. There was fire burning in the fireplace and two large chairs in front of them. There was a window on the opposite wall, he noticed it was snowing and there was a Christmas tree all set. He wondered again if he was dead or someone was messing with his mind.

"Well you are not entirely wrong"

You can read my mind he thought

"Hmmmm not exactly"

He was getting frustrated and angry at going round and round with the voice. He was getting restless.

Theo:" WHERE AM I AND WHO ARE YOU ? … SHOW YOURSELF"

'now now .. no need to throw a tantrum …. You already know where you are … look around you "

He looked around the room and just like the small room before this place looked familiar and as he looked out of the window to see the snow falling and the Christmas tree under which he could see the gifts. he felt as if he was safe and at

"Home"

" yup home sweet home"

He heard noise behind him and he turned to see that someone was in one of the chair in front of the fireplace. He walked towards it get a better look at ther source of mystery voice. As he reached the other vacant chair he noticed that the person sitting in front of him was a child. A young girl with raven black hair and who had blue eyes, just like his. He knew who she was.

"Alena?"

"Welcome back home, big brother"

so did you like this chapter and the previous one? ... pls do leave a review