Hey guys! Thanks so much for sticking with the story for so long, I cannot tell you how much it means to me. It's already reached the double digits! Anyway to show you my gratitude I made this chapter extra long. Enjoy!
From outside, the Manor took on a much more gloomy presence with the news of Rachel's death. Inside, Bruce and Alfred were about to have a heated conversation.
"Why are you so down in the dumps Master Bruce?" Alfred asked.
"I found Rachel and Sara," Bruce replied sadly.
"Shouldn't you be rejoicing?"
"You don't understand Alfred," Bruce said curtly before continuing, "Rachel is dead." Bruce's voice broke upon saying 'dead'. His slumped shoulders began to shake and Alfred could hear the slightest sound of a sob escape Bruce's lips. "What about Miss Sara sir?" Bruce raised his head to look at Alfred. His eyes were red and starting to swell. "She blames Batman for Rachel's death."
"She'll get over it soon," Alfred reassured him.
"No she won't Alfred! You didn't see the way she looked at me!" Bruce yelled, slamming his fists on the tabletop.
Flashback Bruce's POV
I found Sara lying on the ground. I ran to her body and picked it up. Her arms clasped around my neck and she cried into my shoulder. My first instinct as Bruce Wayne was to wrap my arms around her attempting to comfort her, but as Batman I had to be void of emotion. It was incredibly difficult acting like nothing was wrong outside, whenever inside my heart was being cut up by a dull knife. No impalement or abrasion came close to the agony I was going through.
"I'm sorry," I spoke, glancing at the blazing building off in the distance.
"Why didn't you save her?" Sara growled. Out of disbelief –of how she was behaving- I set her back on the pavement.
. . . . . . .
"Let go of me!" She screeched, kicking me in the shin. Sara looked me in the eyes and all it took was that one look, when I realized she blamed me for the death of her best friend. Her eyes were filled with disgust and hatred. This increased my sorrow to a magnitude not known to any species on Earth. Not knowing what to do, I loosened my grip and Sara ran away.
End of Flashback
The glare of headlights could be seen through the kitchen window. "She's here," Bruce spoke, collecting himself, "We'll continue this talk another time." "Of course sir," Alfred replied walking out to the foyer with Bruce close behind.
Sara's POV
The walk up the stone steps –to the Manor- seemed longer than usual. Maybe it was the way my feet drug along like there were cinderblocks attached to them. Or maybe it was my heavy heart, filled with despair for the loss of Rachel.
Slowly, but surely I reached the chestnut doors. They opened before I could even knock, revealing Bruce. His eyes widened whenever he took in my grungy appearance. And what a sight I was. My dark brown hair had been ratted out into many tight knots and was now taking on a red tint- from the blood. The clothes that hung on my sullen frame were scummy and torn. The bandage protecting the stitches freshly sewn into my hand had become doused with my pesky blood that had refused to be confined to a specific area and seeped through the stitching.
Bruce's expression changed from utter amazement to a glazed eyed saw one that I knew all too well. The self-control I had built up, became phony and I mirrored his expression. "Oh Bruce," I blubbered, tears escaping their imprisonment.
Bruce's arms where instantly around me. Stroking my hair he spoke his voice cracking throughout, "She's in a better place Sara. You have to remember that." After he stopped, we both lost any matter of self-control and began sobbing, our cries muffled by burying our faces in each others shirts.
Bruce recovered much quicker than me. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and after doing so, he lifted me into his arms and carried me to the den. "Alfred please make some hot chocolate," Bruce spoke.
"Of course Master Bruce," Alfred responded. Bruce sat next to me and pulled me into him. My head rested on his chest, his arms wrapped protectively around me. The rhythmic movement of his heart and the warmth radiating off of his body calmed my nerves and lulled me to sleep. When Alfred walked into the den, he paused and gazed upon the two. Bruce had placed his head on Sara's and the two were fast asleep. Quietly walking back to the kitchen, he set the tray of hot chocolate down on the counter. Afterwards, he retired to his bedroom.
As the sun rose, the bright lights of its rays made me drift out of slumber. Pushing my arms out to stretch, they hit a warm, cushion like substance. "Ouch!" Bruce murmured. "Bruce! I'm so sorry!" I yelped.
"Are you ok?" I asked poking and prodding the reddened area of his cheek. "Yes, I'm fine," he chuckled and slowly I followed giggling along with him. I lifted myself off of Bruce to grab the phone. "What are you doing?" He inquired lifting an eyebrow.
"I need to fill Rachel in on everything that's been going on." The phone fell out of my grasp as I recalled last night's events. Quickly I knelt down to pick up the telephone and muttered, "You can't call Rachel anymore, she's dead."
Water started to build in my eyes, blurring my vision. "I'll be right back," I told Bruce before running out of the room. He was in enough pain and seeing my tears would only increase it. "Sara, wait!" Bruce called after me. Ignoring his request, I continued to run until I was safely behind a locked door. Bruce must've been close behind, because soon after I had locked the door –and pressed my back against it- I heard pounding on the door. "Sara Please let me in!" he pleaded for ten minutes, before leaving me to wallow in my despair.
"Alfred, she's been in there for days," Bruce sighed in exasperation. He paced back and forth, creating a visible line of his travels to and fro in front of the window. Bruce had been there all morning for the past four days. Without an ounce of sleep, his body had begun to suffer the consequences. Dark purple rings encased his bloodshot eyes, but that wasn't the only unflattering part of his zombified bod. Lack of food, water, sleep, and exercise had made his muscles rubbery and weak.
"Sara's a strong woman and it has been proven that the human body can live without water for days. Weeks without food," Alfred mused.
"That's not the point. She needs to be around people who can love and care for her, so that she can mend her broken heart."
"Or maybe she just needs time," Alfred spoke. Bruce shot him a Alfred a look that put mad men to shame.
"Alfred do you know what it's like to want to help someone who is grieving for the loss of a loved one, but they keep shutting you out?" Bruce spoke, his tone uneven.
"Of course sir, you," Alfred blatantly replied.
"What did you do?"
"I let you climb out of the hole you had dug for yourself."
"Let me guess. Did it take some time?" Bruce asked cockily.
"Yes, it did sir. On my part, I had to treat you as if nothing happened. I didn't fuss over you or give you extra attention and you did pull yourself out of the hole, eventually. What I suggest Master Bruce is that you get some sleep and wait for her to come out on her own," Alfred wisely stated. Bruce paused his pacing, "I suppose you're right," he mumbled leaving the room.
Sara's POV
I had overheard the entire conversation behind the closed door of my personal abode. Alfred's wise words made me admire the man even more than I had beforehand, but Bruce's words stung my skin, penetrating through creating much more pain.
The word 'pain' had become a frequent visitor on my doorstep. What was worse is that the visitor refused to leave me be and whenever it did leave, it came back in a disguise-and a new variation. Pain for the loss of Rachel, pain for blaming Batman for her death, pain for Bruce in his period of grief. Everywhere I turned it just led to more agony.
Sighing I drew my knees to my chest. Bruce had a point trying to get me out of this room. Of course there was no denying that I would leave, my stomach grumbled in response to that thought.
Tip toeing to the door, I quietly opened it to pop my head through. Glancing up and down the hall-the coast was clear-I slithered out. Like children trying not to disturb their parents on Christmas day as they went to open presents, I continued to tip toe. Traveling to the end of the hallway and then to the stairs, I glided down them as if I were a ballerina doing pirouettes. My journey ended in the kitchen; I halted upon seeing Alfred slicing carrots and plopping them into the bubbling broth on the stove.
Not even looking to acknowledge I was there, Alfred spoke, "I figured you would come out as soon as he left."
"You are a wise man Alfred."
"It's only because I've been through this before Miss Sara." Alfred paused for a moment, before going on,-he had not stopped the creation of his soup through the duration of their chat- "You're not helping him by locking yourself up and shielding your tears. You make him feel like he did something terribly wrong for you to hide your emotions from him and not talk about them."
"I promise that I'll talk to Bruce, tomorrow. I have a few things that I need to patch up before I do anything else," I spoke hesitantly, praying Alfred wouldn't ask of my affairs.
"I will respect your privacy, only if you promise to be safe." Flashing Alfred a smile (err, more of a grimace. It had been weeks since I had last smiled and my lip muscles forgot how to smile properly). I gave him a hug before changing into a new set of clothes. Strolling into the parlor room I asked Alfred, "Do you thing Bruce would mind if I borrowed the Ferrari?"
"I think he'd prefer if you took the Rolls miss," Alfred replied with a hearty laugh.
Around nine o'clock (at night), I pulled the Lamborghini out of Bruce's fine collection of extravagant automobiles. I needed to find Batman, so that I could apologize fore my behavior on the night of Rachel's death.
Breezing through the streets of Gotham, my destination was the police station. No one could know I was there though. Parking a few blocks away, I walked up to the fire escape that led to the roof. Whispering a silent prayer that the fire escape wouldn't collapse, I began to climb. Once at the top, I swung one leg over the edge of the building. After the other leg was over, I walked over to the flood light. My hair whipped around in the cool night air-it was now early December- and just as my hand touched the switch I heard, "What are you doing here?"
The voice came from behind me. I knew exactly who it was and the feeling of his breath on my neck gave me goose bumps.
"I came to talk to you."
"Why?" his voice was harsh-he hadn't forgotten our last encounter.
"I came to apologize," My voice was irregular; I was too terrified that I would break down if I looked at him. "I'm sorry for hitting you, I'm sorry for yelling at you," I said my voice cracking, tears streaked my cheeks as I continued, "Above all, I'm sorry I blamed you for her death." And just like that, his arms were around me and I was facing him. He wiped my tears with his gloved thumbs, "I forgive you."
Unexpectedly his mouth came down to greet mine with a gentle kiss. So many emotions flooded my mind, but the most prevalent one was pure bliss. The heat from his lips sunk deep into me and when he pulled away my lips were slightly numb from the pressure of his own that had been previously on mine.
"Do you want me to drive you back to the Manor?" Batman asked.
"I think I'll be fine. I drove down in a Lamborghini and I don't want to leave it there overnight," I replied.
"Be careful," were his parting words. As soon as he left to prowl around in the Gotham night, I let my emotions run rapid. I jumped around squealing for about ten minutes because he kissed me! He actually kissed me and it wasn't the other way around. This brought another eruption of squeals, along with a permanent smile. I just couldn't believe this was happening to me-of all people.
Climbing down and off the building, I walked back to the Lamborghini with an extra hop in my step. I had become beyond happy; I was-as teenage girls would say (and strive for) - on 'Cloud 9'. The thought of his name kick started my heart to a fast tempo. It also made the heat rush up to my face and created that wide grin that would not go away. And as I reached the car, little white flakes of snow began to fall from the sky.
Not wanting this feeling to end I pulled out my cell phone and gave Jim a call.
"Hello? Who's this?" Jim's voice sounded on the other end of the phone.
"Jim, its Sara. I was wondering if the boys could come spend the day at the Manor with me."
"Sara? You sure about that? You're still mourning the loss of Rachel and I don't know if you want to handle the boys just yet," Jim responded. My heart sank a bit; Rachel was still a touchy subject.
"I'll be able to do it. Besides, Rachel wouldn't want me to be sad. She'd want me to continue living my life to the fullest," I spoke truthfully.
"Ok, if you're sure," he spoke hesitantly.
"Yes, I am. Drop them off at ten."
. . . . . . .
The next morning I sat up in my bed. Stretching my arms out in front of my body, I glanced at the alarm clock. 9:58 was written out in the generic blue digital lettering. Rolling out of bed, I dashed out of the door. Coming to the end of the hall I slid to a stop. Running half-way down the grand entry staircase, I took a look at the door. Cameron, Peter, and Bruce were giving me and astonished wide eyed stare. Well, the boys were at least. Bruce's look was more of a I-can't –believe-you-came-out-of-that-pit-you've-been-in-for-a-week.
I bit my lip, "I probably should have asked if I could have guests over, I'm sorry I didn't chat about it with you Bruce."
"No, I'm glad you have people over!" Bruce exclaimed enthusiastically. He was obviously happy to see me out and about.
Walking down the rest of the stairs, I knelt down and embraced the boys. "Where have you need Sara? We missed you " Peter said.
"I missed you too guys," I replied.
Standing back up, I felt Bruce put his arm around my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "I missed you too." He then spoke louder, "Sara, have you seen what's happened outside?" I shook my head from side to side, "No."
"Boys, why don't you show her." On cue, Cameron and Peter each grabbed one of my arms and pulled me to the front door. Bruce opened it to reveal a winter wonderland. The green spruce trees were dusted with white flakes; there was half a foot of snow that covered the grounds and more thick, fluffy, tufts of snow continued to fall.
"Sara, can we play in it?" Cameron asked.
"Please?" Peter added giving the puppy dog face to rule them all.
"Yes, you can," Bruce told them.
A few happy dances later, the boys were suited up for the snow. Bruce had gone upstairs and left me to get ready o go outside. Once I was equipped with mittens and a hat we went outdoors.
"What do you guys want to do first? We could make snow angels or create a snowman. It's your choice," I informed them.
"Can you teach us how to make snowballs?" Cameron asked giving me a toothy smile. 'Boys' I thought, rolling my eyes.
Crouching down, I showed them how to take a pile of snow and compact it together to make it stick in a ball form. Finishing the tutorial Peter asked, "What do you with snowballs?"
"Well, you throw them," I told him.
Cameron gave Peter a mischievous grin. The two made a snowball and threw it at each other. Peter's missed and he got hit in the stomach. "No fair!" he pouted before making another one. The continued their snowball fight and I just sat back and watched, laughing every once in awhile. I continued to be a spectator until someone called out, "Hey Sara!" Looking over to where the voice came from I received a face full of snow. Wiping the melted liquid off with my woolen mits, I returned my view to where the voice had come from.
They gazed upon Bruce in a matching leather jacket and gloves set. His white teeth smiled, mocking me and in return I have him a devilish smirk, "you are so on." Crouching down to gather snow, I stood up and felt a projectile snowball hit my chest and disperse. Debris from the ball sprayed into my eyes, making them water.
"Sara are you ok?" Cameron asked when he saw me wiping my eyes.
"I think so, Bruce hit me with a snow ball though."
"Hey! You can't hit a girl!" Peter exclaimed.
"Get him!" Cameron yelled running towards Bruce. Peter followed his brother and tackled Bruce. They collapsed in a fit of giggles. "How about I make it up to you by taking you sledding?" Bruce asked ruffling the boys' hair.
"Yes!" Peter squealed and then added, "But only if Sara can come."
"Of course," Bruce reassured him grinning. He looked at me, "Can you give me a minute, so I can go get the toboggans?"
I nodded yes, "Boys let's go make snow angels while we wait for Mr. Wayne."
Plopping in a bank of snow, we made half a dozen angels by the time Bruce came back. With two sled in tow, we hauled them to the foothills in behind Wayne Manor. Each one of us had a partner to go down the hill with. We'd alternate when it was time to push each other down the hill too.
The guys would cheer every time they went rushing down the slope at the speed of light. The best part was when we came to the bottom of the hill. Peter and I would fall off the toboggan and tumble to a halt. It made me glow to see the boys letting loose and having a blast. And after an hour of playing outside, we looked at each others rosy cheeks and decided to go back to the Manor.
Bruce was the first to walk through the front door, "Alfred, can you make four cups of hot cocoa?" Turning to me he asked, "Sara do you still play piano?" Cocking an eyebrow I replied, "Yeah I do. Why do you ask?"
"Well, maybe you can enlighten us with a few Christmas carols that we can sing-along to."
"In that case, I will," I told him with a smile.
The boys rushed to the study where the Grand Piano was placed. Bruce and I walked side by side to the door and attempt to fit through the doorway. We wedged ourselves between the frame. I looked at him and started laughing. I stopped though when I heard someone clear their throat. Both of us look at Alfred who made a 'look up' gesture. Raising our heads to the ceiling, our eyes fell upon a sprig of mistletoe hanging above our heads.
Hehe, I'm evil. So now that you've gotten one of THE longest chapters ever, I'm gonna do the worst thing I can think if doing... Before you can get then next chapter to find out if they kiss or not, I'm gonna need 10 reviews telling me what you think and at least three favorites! While you're waiting for the next chapter maybe you could tell me what you think about my new Lord of the Rings fanfic. Thanks!
-Cece