I know I know, I can't believe I've actually updated this soon either! I'm sorry a lot of you won't like this chapter but have faith and bare with me I beg you!
Chapter 10: Confessions
The Team entered the infirmary together; Superboy carrying the unconscious and unmoving Blade in his arms before laying her on the medical table in the centre of the room where Batman and Black Canary were already waiting.
"It's been well over an hour and still she hasn't woken or shown any signs of doing so." Robin informed his mentor as he went to stand by his side while Black Canary did a quick inspection of the motionless Blade.
"Are there any further injuries apart from the obvious cuts and bruises?" The blonde woman asked the Team curiously as she frowned herself as she continued to inspect any injuries that had perhaps been missed.
"What happened?" Batman asked sternly as he looked towards the Team, the teenagers cringed as they felt him glare behind his mask.
"She saved us…" Miss Martian spoke aloud softly, turning the heads of everyone in the room as they looked towards her curiously. "She pushed both myself and Artemis out of the way just as these darts were shot at us." The Martian explained quietly, her voice sounding weak with guilt.
"Darts? What did they look like M'gann?" Black Canary asked curiously as she paid full attention to the Martian girls information.
"They were small, thin and silver. Some had tiny vials of purple liquid in them."
"What happened when Blade pushed both yourself and Artemis out of the darts way?" Batman begin to question as he continued to inspect Blade's wounds closer.
"She fell to the ground and got caught in the second wave of darts that were shot at us. I saw her get up and run away quickly as more of the darts were shot and the last I saw she jumped off a cliff face when the assassins followed her. Thats where we found her afterwards."
"I wonder…" Batman murmured to himself quietly as he cautiously lift Blade up from the table so she was sitting upright in his arms; he carefully lift her ponytail to the side to reveal a small dart that was embedded deeply into the back of her neck, the Team each releasing a mutual gasp.
"I thought so. This dart here is only used by one association to my knowledge. The League of Assassins."
"You mean Ra's Al Ghul's league of elite ? Robin asked for confirmation; to which the Dark Knight nodded once.
"Yes, but the real question is why did the League of Assassins formulate such an elaborate ambush for you all? And why were they so intent on attacking Blade." Batman mused aloud as he closely inspected the dart protruding from Blade's neck; frowning at the swelling before he lay her down on her side; leaving the dart as it was.
"What's wrong? Why are you leaving the dart like that?" Artemis asked worriedly after catching a glimpse of the Dark Knight's frown.
"I am familiar with these darts from experiences in my past. These darts are different to all others; only the League of Assassin's uses them, to subdue and to torture their enemies. The purple liquid is a highly dangerous neurotoxin that slowly starts to impair some of the major bodily functions; particularly the nervous system. It induces the victim into a coma, and due to the toxins highly potent hallucinogenic properties the victim is made to experience extremely vivid hallucinations and dreams of their worst fears. I have heard stories that many people have fallen into cardiac arrest due to the severity of the hallucinations. Not only that but the toxin can also cause excruciating pain if its in the body long enough. We need to be careful in removing this dart and due to the time of which Blade has been unconscious I would say she is only another hour away from beginning the first of her hallucinations, and only three hours away before the toxin begins to affect her muscles and other systems. It needs to be removed properly otherwise we will be unable to reverse Blade's comatose state."
The Team wore mutual expressions of shock and horror at Batman's words, each of them remaining silent before being ushered out of the infirmary by Black Canary. Leaving Batman wasting no time in searching for someone who could help Blade.
"Ugh my head kills!" Blade groaned as she woke up in the Caves infirmary, opening her eyes and exclaiming in pain as she was overcome with a pounding headache.
"The aftereffects of the neurotoxin do tend to last a couple of hours or so. Until they ware off completely you must remain in the infirmary for observation. " Batman spoke quietly as he appeared beside Blade's bed.
"Damn I hate those darts, always heard they were the worst things but now I know for sure..." Blade murmured softly as she rolled over in her bed and sighed gently while massaging her temples. "How long was I out for?" She questioned Batman, her eyes widening in surprise as the Dark Knight replied "five and a half hours"
"Has this happened before?" She asked curiously. "No, no one in the Team or the League has encountered these darts before." Batman answered, Blade quickly shaking her head.
"No, that's not what I meant. I meant has the Team's safety ever been jeopardised on a mission like this before?" Blade asked, sitting up against her pillows, she watched Batman intently as he stood beside her with his classic scowl on his face.
"No, the Team has never been in a situation so dangerous nor have they had the mission compromised as severely as this. We were not aware that Bane had aligned himself and made allegiance to the League of Assassins, had we known we would not have sent you out to the mission as we had." Batman explained honestly, Blade nodding in understanding as she lay down against her pillow again, trying to ignore the pounding in her head as she moved.
"It's easy to underestimate Bane. Even though he just looks like a brainless idiot dosed up on Kobra Venom he can be quite strategic. He knows how to persuade others to his benefit; although I'm sure that the League of Assassins have a bigger part to play in this than Bane did…" Blade spoke openly; frowning at the thought.
'I'm sure Ra's had planned everything perfectly.'
"What makes you say that Aurora?" Batman asked, intrigued by her words. "Have you had dealings with the League before?"
The question took Blade aback, surprising her to the point she lost her composure for a few seconds; quickly shaking her head and regaining her straight emotionless expression.
"No, but even when I was with the Shadows we knew all about the League, we wanted to work with them initially, but we knew they'd play us, double cross us. Everything they do is planned ahead to Ra's Al Ghul's benefit. It wouldn't have worked out for us, so we never bothered." Blade prayed that Batman hadn't taken notice of her error, knowing it could compromise everything she decided to play it nonchalant as though nothing had happened.
"Tell me Aurora, I spoke to the Team once you had all returned from the mission and they all said that during the ambush the assassins appeared to target you more so than anyone else. Is there any reason in particular that they would take so much interest in you?" Batman asked curiously as he watched Blade in the bed, noticing a quick smirk that appeared on her lips that quickly disappeared and was replaced by a soft frown.
"Don't know, I know that during my time with the Shadows and especially going solo I pissed a lot of people off. I was making a lot of business deals and trades back then you see; and a lot of them I ended up double crossing my buyers. I don't have a full memory of everyone I dealt with but to be honest it wouldn't come as a surprise to me if I'd pissed off or double crossed someone related with the League of Assassins." Blade answered honestly as she held her gaze with Batman's masked one.
"Very well, as long as that's the truth Aurora and you aren't hiding anything more from us. Remember any information you have regarding Bane or the League will help us bring them to justice." Batman spoke firmly, allowing her a few moments to come clean with anything she may have been keeping to herself.
"Nope, I've got nothing else that's of any use, I've told you everything." Blade confirmed sternly, watching as Batman exited the room after explaining Black Canary would be in shortly to follow up an examination of her injuries.
'I think he's on to me' Blade couldn't help but scold herself as she lay back against the firm bed and awaited for Black Canary to arrive.
Aurora had attempted to dismiss herself from the infirmary as soon as Black Canary set foot in the room. The blonde hero had a permanent frown on her face as she gave Aurora a once over, checking her blood pressure and temperature again and again until the bright haired girl had finally snapped at her. "
"You don't understand how lucky you are to be alive Aurora…" Black Canary had said softly as she sat down beside Aurora's bed on a small chair, her eyes full of concern.
"Yeah I do, trust me I've gone through worse. I think… Besides it's part of the job." Aurora had said as she shrugged back at Canary who shook her head tiredly at the girls demeanour.
"I think you should stay in the infirmary overnight, just to make sure you're okay. And I want you to take it easy in the next few days especially. Minimal training, bed rest and you shall be suspended from any missions the Team is given during this time."
"Are you serious? You really think Bats is gonna let the Team out onto the field any time soon after this incident? Come on, they're lucky it was only me that got hurt otherwise he'd have probably terminated the Team as they are… Not that it's their fault, fucking Red should've known better." Aurora spoke angrily as she frowned in bed, her arms crossed against her chest as she thought about Red Arrow's ignorance during the mission.
'That dickhead is the reason I'm stuck in here'
"Roy tried, he had no idea that the mission was going to be so dangerous. No one did. I know it's hard but give him a chance, like the Team have given you. I know he would never have meant for this to happen." With those words Black Canary left the infirmary, turning off the lights as she went; leaving Aurora in the silent dark room alone with her thoughts.
'Aurora ran, looking behind her her eyes widened as they met the dozen pairs of dark hateful eyes that were fixated on her. Her lungs were burning and her muscles were taut with agony. She continued to run, not only to save the teens she'd arrived with but with also running to save her own life.
There were too many to fight and she only brought her katanas, she was not nearly prepared to fight so many elite soldiers.
"Just shoot her down, Master won't care so long as she's still alive!" She heard one of the black clad assassins behind her shout to another. She leapt gracefully in the air, landing a front flip over a fallen tree, narrowly dodging two arrows that were shot at her.
'How long can you keep running? The further you run the bigger the chance you're going to die.' Aurora couldn't help but think to herself as she weaved through the thick forest greenery.
"Stop running and fight! Coward!" Aurora's eyes turned from fear filled to furious as she heard an assassin taunt her.
"Fuck it." She growled as she stopped in her tracks and slashed a katana perfectly in sync with the duo sais of her opponent.
The metal clashing against metal was like music to Aurora's ears, she grinned behind her mask as she disarmed her opponent and quickly applied several accurate touches to the pressure points near his neck. The assassin fell to the ground unconscious only for five more to take his place.
"Master is not happy at all. He's ordered for your capture alive, I can only imagine what he plans to do to you himself once he has you." A female assassin spoke smoothly, a familiar Russian accent triggered Aurora's memory to put a face to the woman behind the mask; only to frown as she turned and faced her.
"Natasha, it's such a delight to see you again. I hope you have been well, as I recall you were sent back to Russia after disgracing yourself in front of Ra's. I haven't heard the details but we have all night for you to fill me in." Aurora removed her mask to reveal a bright grin across her face.
Despite having numerous weapons aimed straight at her body she remained nonchalant.
Natasha was four years older than Aurora and had been her rival during her time under the League's tuition. The feud between the two girls had never ended, Natasha having been adequate for an assassin while Aurora had well surpassed her in all aspects of training, had soon opted to become a part of Ra's Al Ghul's harem. Aurora had never let her live it down. Natasha's Russian pride was one of Aurora's favourite things to shatter. Whether she died or not she would not waste one second to destroy Natasha.
"Shut your mouth! I'm here to take you Ra's, but the temptation to kill you is so great, perhaps I could have a bit of fun first." Natasha hissed as she advanced on Aurora, withdrawing two Tanto knives from her belt, flourishing them sloppily in her hands.
"You're gonna fight me, with those? You're seriously going to fight me with blades… You realise that is my forte right? You know my alias is actually Blade." Aurora couldn't help but chuckle aloud as she swiftly leapt at Natasha, her katana colliding with the small knives with a smooth clink before she swept the older girls feet from beneath her body.
"Good try Natasha, but perhaps you're better off just being one of Ra's whores! You've always been good at being second best!" Aurora quipped before sprinting away, dodging the flurry of arrows and star knives that were thrown in her direction.
She'd covered plenty of ground since she'd fled from Natasha, Aurora took a quick moment to rest against a tree on the edge of the cliff face. She breathed shallow breaths, allowing the crisp forest air to fill her lungs. A smile crept along her lips as she went continue running, only for a sharp pain to erupt in the back of her neck before she catapulted off the cliff face before plummeting into darkness.'
Aurora woke from her sleep with a startled gasp, grabbing the back of her neck protectively after dreaming about the dart piercing her flesh. She frowned as she felt the risen lump where the dart had began to swell.
The flesh was still very tender even after they removed the object, and Aurora found it painful to move her neck as she normally could.
She sighed, looking at the time and deciding she could no longer ignore the whale calls her stomach was making, she silently crept out of the infirmary and headed directly to the kitchen where she opened the cupboard, praying that Wally hadn't eaten all of the food in the hours she'd been out cold.
She sighed in relief as her prayers were answered, smiling; she spotted a box of Lucky Charms on the top shelf. The very shelf that was about a half her height above her.
"Typical." Aurora groaned as she climbed the two shelves above her, finally able to reach the treasured cereal. Once in her hand, Aurora jumped from the shelf, landing on the floor silently before grabbing a bowl, spoon and the milk from the fridge.
"What do you think you're doing?" Aurora turned to her left to see Red Arrow, now free of costume and dressed in civvies, leaning against the kitchen archway with his arms crossed against his chest and a scowl set on his face.
"I'm obviously masterminding a top secret plan to singlehandedly take down the Justice League and enslave and conquer the world…" Aurora said sarcastically as she sat on one of the stools at the island bench.
Roy's scowl deepened as he entered the kitchen. "I'm hungry and eating cereal, what the hell does it look like to you idiot? If you hadn't realised I was shot with a dart full of poison and was unconscious for a few hours." Aurora replied to him rudely as she took a spoonful of cereal and placed it in her mouth, continuing to glare at the archer distastefully.
'What a smartass…' Roy thought to himself, smirking at Aurora from across the island counter. Her attitude was so similar to when they'd been at the bar not too long ago, she was on guard and was her typical smart ass self, but now Roy found he could now tolerate her a little better.
He didn't mind Aurora, she'd shown a side of herself to him accidentally that night they'd shared at the bar. She was by no means a great person, Roy could only imagine the terrible things she'd done in the years she had spent as a criminal. But he knew she wasn't a bad person either. She'd proven that on their mission, despite the way he'd treated her she'd still saved his ass from being killed.
He couldn't ignore the fact that the rudest, cruelest and most violent, possibly deadliest women he'd ever met had saved him of all people. Thanks were in order, Roy had no doubt about that, but he knew expressing gratitude wasn't going to be easy with his sense of pride and Blade's "I don't give a fuck" attitude.
"I would ask what you're still doing here, but to be quite honest I really couldn't care less." Aurora said deadpanned as she continued to eat her cereal. Aurora's rude and blunt attitude ticked Roy off, especially seeing as it was far from her attitude when they'd been off duty at the bar.
He had to admit that circumstances were different then and they had both been drinking. Yet he couldn't ignore the fact he had seen a different side to Aurora that she had not meant to show, and he was slowly but surely beginning appreciate that side of her more and more.
"Look, we clearly started the night off on the wrong foot…" Roy began, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He was interrupted by Aurora scoffing.
"Yeah clearly, and I wonder who's got a part to blame for that huh?" She asked accusingly, glaring at the auburn haired boy with defiance in her eyes. She had just acknowledged she had been partially in the wrong, and given him the opportunity to apologise to her too. But they both knew it wouldn't be as simple as that.
"Maybe if you hadn't been such a bitch to everyone nothing bad would have happened in the first place." Roy spat, instantly regretting his words as they left his mouth.
He watched as Aurora gave him a look so fierce he knew he was only one mistake away from having a knife in his chest. She sat watching him with narrowed eyes, waiting in silence giving him an opportunity to try again.
"I'm sorry for hurting you earlier and for ignoring you and removing you from the mission. It was wrong of me-" "Oh wow, do you think?" Aurora asked mockingly, as she stood up from the stool, taking her now empty bowl to the sink.
Roy scanned her as she walked, taking notice of her long toned legs and round butt that was only just covered by the dark grey gym shorts around her waist. Her toned midriff and ample breasts that the cropped black singlet hugged perfectly caught his eye.
'No, Roy you're here to make amends…' The archer reminded himself, attempting to ignore his instinctive male observations.
"Let's start over again," he offered, his voice softer trying to make some peace with the pissed off girl. "Hmm… I would really rather we didn't. I think that would be a waste of our time." Aurora replied emotionlessly with her back turned to him as she cleaned her bowl.
"Aurora I'm serious." The archer said a little more firmly, causing the pink haired girl to turn and face him with her eyes narrowed. "So am I. And I think it's just 'Blade' to you now thanks. We are very far from being on a first name basis, Harper." She spat his surname like it was poison on her tongue as she turned back to face the sink.
'What the hell is he wasting my time for? What's with the attempt of being nice?' Aurora couldn't help but wonder to herself, genuinely confused by Roy's actions. She knew just as well as Roy's friends how complicated a person he was, how there were different sides, different layers that he only revealed to particular people at particular times.
'He's really just like me' Aurora couldn't help but notice the similarities between them, and she knew just as well as Roy did that they had both shown sides of themselves to one another that night that they never dreamed they would show anyone.
Without a doubt Aurora knew that Roy mustn't hate her as much as he appeared to, she knew herself she didn't hate Roy nor the Team as much as she acted like she did.
In that sense she could understand Roy's attempt to start a fresh, but it was so much easier to continue as though they hated each other. She'd done it to many people throughout her entire life, and Roy would be no exception, no matter how many attempts he tried.
"Look, what I did earlier was-" "A dick thing to do?" Aurora asked. Roy paused and frowned to himself, exhaled heavily before replying, "Yes, I was out of line, and I'm sorry." His voice was soft and seemed sincere, but Aurora was far from being in a forgiving mood.
Roy had seriously pissed her off throughout the mission and she wasn't about to let that slide with a simple "sorry".
"Bite me Arrow Boy." Aurora muttered in reply as she rolled her eyes tired, only angering Roy more.
'Why do you have to be so stubborn?' He wondered, his own patience starting to wear thin at Aurora's attitude towards him. He hadn't anticipated this much hostility towards him.
"Don't you think we should just start again and forget this?" He asked firmly, to which Aurora simply shook her head.
"No, can't really say we're on the same page with that one." she murmured bluntly as she began to dry her bowl, turning around she leaned against the sink and watched Roy with a frown on her face as she wiped the bowl dry.
"Listen," Roy said gently as he approached her, a cunning idea forming in his head in memory of the night they shared at the nightclub.
He took the bowl out of Aurora's hands and placed it carefully on the kitchen bench.
"I'm trying to apologise, why won't you let me?" he asked quietly, leaning closer to Aurora.
Unperturbed by the archer's advance Aurora leaned back against the bench calmly, looking directly into his cerulean eyes.
"Because I don't think for one second that you are actually sorry for what you did and how you treated me. I don't think that anything that comes out of your mouth is genuine unless you are insulting or speaking down to someone. I think that your ego is so inflated that whether you are in the wrong or not your apology would have no meaning towards it. Not to mention you led the entire Team into danger tonight because you are completely selfish and were only concerned about redeeming yourself for your fuck up earlier with Bane. Oh and I totally saved your dumb ass from getting killed and I didn't get so much as a nod of thanks. I mean, not that you would have meant that either but still… Need I really say more Hot Shot?" She answered him expressionlessly, to which the archer raised his brows in surprise. He was sincere in his apology, although he really couldn't blame her for not believing him.
He never apologised to anyone, and if he did he wasn't the best at being convincing. However he was grateful she had saved him near moments from being killed. Although he was still completely confused as to why she had done so in the first place. Anyone else probably would have just let him die had they been treated the way Roy had treated her that night.
"Thank you for saving my ass tonight." Roy thanked her honestly, only to be met with a chuckle. "Go shove your thank you up your ass Harper. It means nothing to me." Aurora said as she glared at him, tired of the conversation.
Roy chose to ignore her comment and leaned in further towards her, looking down into her eyes, only then taking real notice of how different the two eyes were in colour.
'First glance they both look the same, but they're so bright and different' Roy found himself thinking before he regained his focus.
"You know, a pretty girl such as yourself doesn't wear anger well Aurora…" He whispered close to her ear, his lips just grazing the bottom of her ear lobe.
He smirked to himself satisfied as he saw goosebumps instantly appear on the skin of her neck. Aurora couldn't help but tense as she felt his warm breath on her face and neck, surprised at his boldness but not wasn't near foolish enough to fall for his game.
"If this is you trying to seduce me it's a pretty pathetic attempt even for you Hot Shot." Aurora glared up at the archer, her expression unamused at is antics.
'Shit' Roy cursed at himself at being caught out. He'd actually thought he was making progress with the stubborn girl.
He should have known better, Aurora was a master at drawing people into a false sense of security and ease. He'd known her long enough know to know that she could play anyone she wanted.
'So he really wants to play like that huh?' Aurora wondered, annoyed by the archers boldness she decided she would play it as he had, pushing Roy firmly back against the island bench where she bent up on her toes and brought her face only a couple of inches from his, evening out their height difference as much as she could.
Roy gulped as he was intoxicated by Aurora's scent; a mixture of vanilla and a subtle berry like smell, probably from her shampoo as the archer caught a strong hint of the fruity sensation as she looked up at him, her magenta hair framing her her face perfectly.
Aurora smirked as she pushed herself up against the archer's body, purposely rubbing her thigh against his and chuckling to herself smugly as she felt his pants tighten against her bare flesh.
'This is just too easy' She practically laughed to herself as she watched Roy intently.
"Besides, Harper, if you're going to try and seduce me first, try and make me not want to punch you in the throat. And believe me, right now; I really, really want to." She purred as she brought her face close to his, her lips gently brushed against his own as she spoke, she couldn't help but chuckle to herself as Roy's body tensed, instinctively opening his lips slightly as if to go in for a kiss.
She watched satisfied as the same goosebumps that had covered her skin only moments ago began to cover his. Aurora smirked to herself satisfied as she revelled in Roy's discomfort and enjoyment?
'Stupid boys' She thought to herself as she pulled away from the auburn haired teen, a stern expression quickly replacing her seductive smirk.
She glared at Roy who looked back at her bewildered, 'she just played me' He realised, shaking his head softly as he watched her eyes narrow again.
"Don't ever think of pulling a move so stupid again Hot Shot. I'll let it go this once, but do it again and I'll make sure you regret it." She warned him calmly as she went to leave, Roy quickly stopped her inner tracks as he spoke to her.
"Why did you save me tonight?" He asked her simply, the question made Aurora freeze for a second as she sought for an answer. She turned and looked at the archer, the harsh glare soften as she saw the curiosity in his blue eyes.
"I don't really know." She finally answered, Roy instantly frowned and slumped at her words before she continued.
"I guess because even though you're a total dick, you still don't deserve to die. Not if I can help it at least. And-" She paused mid sentence as she bit her tongue, quickly hesitating to say more.
"And?" Roy prodded, his total attention was focused on Aurora and her words. "And it'd be a waste of a good looking guy. If I let you get killed I wouldn't have the fun I had fucking with your head just a moment ago." Aurora shrugged as she turned around to leave once again, not taking any notice of the grin Roy wore on his face.
"You think I'm attractive." He not so much asked but confirmed, his grin widening further as Aurora left the room, "tell anyone I said that and I swear I'll kill you myself." she muttered annoyedly, mentally kicking herself and hoping to God Roy had been too focused on himself to notice the pink colouration that she wore on her cheeks.
'Stupid boys'
I know you guys probably hate me right now but have faith! Chapter 11 coming shortly!
~BriBrokenHeart~
xx