Chapter 21: I Wish It Was You.

The Surgery was over. The Surgeons had tried their best to help Sophie and they did, she would live but she would never be the same again. She would have to give up a lot of her old life in exchange. No more crime-fighting, no more dancing, no more taking her little brother to the park, no more of anything that she enjoyed. She didn't know any of this was coming her way and that's what got to Garth and Barbara. They knew that their daughter had to come to terms with all of this and they were not sure how bad she was going to take it. They always taught her to look for the good in life but when that's all taken away from you, how do you react?

Barbara hadn't moved from her daughter's side for hours, she had been holding her frail hand since she had arrived in the room. Garth tried to get her to have a break, to maybe go and see how Mar'i was doing but she refused. Garth knew why she wouldn't go, When Sophie wakes up she needed her mother to be there for her. Even if Sophie had just broke her wrist Barbara wouldn't leave her side in a place like this. Sophie despised anything that resembled a hospital with a passion.

Garth re-entered the room from making some coffee to the sight of his daughter hooked up to medical machines with her mother sat beside her, still holding her hand. He placed one of the mugs of coffee near the feet of Barbara's chair and kissed the top of her head, "I've spoken to Cassandra, she said she'd pick up Shaun and look after him 'till we get back." He told her as he walked towards the other side of the bed.

Barbara silently nodded and croaked a 'thank you'. Garth took a sip of his steaming hot Coffee and then placed the mug underneath his chair and looked at the two woman in his life. Even if you had never known them before you would be able to tell that Sophie was Barbara's daughter, it was the hair. They both had the same fiery red-hair except Sophie's had a darker hue to it.

"How did we let this happen?" Garth asked, looking towards his wife. Barbara did not respond. Garth decided to continue anyway, to vent out his frustrations to himself, "We tried our hardest to keep her away from this life, didn't we? I understand that we have a family of Bat-themed vigilantes but... They should have respected our decision."

Barbara took a deep breath and exhaled she retracted her hand from Sophie's and sat back into her chair, she turned to look towards her husband with a blank expression. "It was inevitable. She's our daughter after all." She said to him and then thinking to herself, 'When did we ever listen to our parents?'

Garth shook his head, he didn't agree, "No it wasn't. She had no reason to want to go out and take on armed thugs, let alone fight super-villains!"

Barbara now disagreed with everything her husband had just said, Sophie had more reason than most. Her mother is the Captain of the Gotham City Police Department as well as the original Batgirl, Her grandfather is Batman and all of her Uncles were 'Robin' at some point in their lives. So how could Sophie grow up and not become what she was born to be? Despite all of that, she still wished her daughter never decided to suit up.

The redhead paused for a moment and looked away from her daughter's father, "I saw her." She admitted. Garth furrowed his brow, confused at the fact that his wife might have known about her daughters secret life. "What do you mean? You knew she was doing this?" He questioned.

"I... No, Not really... I didn't know for sure." Barbara croaked, moving her eyes back to meet Garth's.

Garth sighed and ran a hand down his face and then cupping his hand over his mouth. He didn't know what to make of that information, "How? When?" He asked her. Barbara leaned forward and hovered from her seat; A wild strand of red-hair had moved over Sophie's face as the makeshift bun that the Doctors had put her hair in was beginning to become undone. The mother removed the hair-tie from Sophie, allowing her fiery red hair to flow down from her head. It was an unusual sight, her daughter normally tied her hair up when she was in civvies. Barbara sat back down in her seat and looked towards her husband with a worried look, "Robin and Batgirl stopped a bank robbery..." She told him.

"I didn't know it was Sophie until I got a closer look. Batgirl had the same hair color as her... And she had your eyes-" Barbara continued, she gave a feint smirk when she mentioned her daughters eyes. "-But what really gave it away... She tried to hide her face from me. She even used a voice modulator." Barbara finished.

Garth raised and eyebrow and smirked back to Barbara, "A rookie mistake." He said to her, giving a meek chuckle as he looked towards his daughter.

"You don't... seem angry." Barbara quietly and curiously told him. Garth blinked and moved his eyes from Sophie to Barbara, looking directly at her he said: "Oh, I'm fuckin' furious."

Damian knew it wouldn't be good for Sophie, everyone did but that still didn't prepare him for the news that Zachary had overheard. He never expected this outcome and that's what made him despise it even more. Sophie was going to have to live a different life, the realization of that fact broke his heart. He had to see her. She was always there for him, it was time to return the favor.

The Boywonder headed towards Sophie's recovery room as soon as Richard and Koriand'r had arrived at Mar'i's bedside. He had heard that Barbara and Garth had been staying with their daughter for the entirety of the evening and some hours before that. He didn't want to interrupt their grief but he wanted to give the two of them a chance to have a break from the sadness, to maybe get some clean air from the Watchtowers' garden or to simply have a change of setting.

Damian wasn't far from Sophie's room when Lian bumped into him at the turn of the hallway. She was now dressed in her civilian clothes, a loose and baggy grey shirt along with a pair of jeans. Her arm was placed in a green cast with a sling supporting it. Her face was pale and her eyes were puffed out from the tears. "Sorry." She mumbled to Damian.

Damian tutted and frowned towards her, "You're apologizing to the wrong person, Harper."

Lian didn't take any notice of Damian, she knew that she had to do a lot more than apologize to her. Especially now everyone was beginning to find out about Sophie's Paralysis.

Damian's eyes followed her as she moved past him, "Do you know what's happened to her?" He asked her with a calm weight in his voice.

Lian tried to step past Damian and ignore his obvious goading for an argument but she couldn't continue her ignorance when he said the one thing she did not want to hear: "I hope you know that it's all you're fault."

Lian stopped dead in her tracks and clenched her fists, a tear dropped from her cheeks and landed onto the metal floor with a feint echo around the silent hallway.

Damian began to step toward Lian, he needed to voice his frustration with her. He didn't care how hurt she was, all he cared about right now was Sophie's well-being. "If it wasn't for you going off on your own with that white-haired cretin and actually asked for help from the beginning then Sophie would not be lying in that bed!" He shouted to her as his voice grew louder with each passing word. Damian placed a hand onto Lian's shoulder to turn her around to face him, "You will look at me when I'm talking to-" before he could finish his sentence Lian grabbed the hand that was placed on her and flipped Damian over her good shoulder and slammed him onto the hard metal surface.

The Archer scowled towards the black-haired boy on the floor and released everything she wanted to say in one long burst of anger, "You think I don't know that Damian?! Do you think that I don't regret it? I went off on my own for YOUR BROTHER! My grandfather died to help me with finding Red Robin and now we might know where the fuck he is so you're welcome! If I could swap places with Sophie you know for a damn fact that I'd do it in an instant! If anyone deserves what she is going through... It's me." Towards the end of her rant her voice was beginning to fade out as it began to croak, trying to hold back the tears.

Damian sat up and pulled himself up from the ground and dusted his black cape, then finally looking back towards his teammate. He saw the look of pure sadness and regret on her face, he understood how she felt. He too would swap places with Sophie but then again if it was either one of them currently lying in that bed... Sophie would be saying the same thing. Despite all of that Damian didn't console Lian, he was too angry with her and too angry at the whole situation. He bumped into Lian's unbandaged shoulder and coldy whispered to her, "You are right, you do deserve it. I wish it was you."

Damian knew he shouldn't have said that and he regretted it as soon as it escaped his lips but a part of him agreed with some of those words. He did wish it was Lian instead of Sophie and he felt like a monster for saying such a thing. It goes against everything his father has taught him.

The Boywonder continued onward towards his best friend's recovery room. The Watchtower had become next to empty now that the hours on Earth were beginning to hit the early morning of the next day, the daytime heroes were headed home while the nocturnal vigilantes were leaving for their nightly shifts. He couldn't hear the odd conversation between hero and heroine nor the discussions between teacher and apprentice. All he could hear were his light footsteps and the pounding of his heart as he neared the door to Sophie. He was terrified. Terrified of seeing Barbara and Garth holding their hurt daughter in anguish. Terrified that they would go all out and blame it on him. Terrified that they would not let Sophie see her friends again. No, not friends. Family.

He stood one step away from the doorway. The dim light coming from the room extended into the hallway and disappeared as it hit the window that connected to the vast darkness of Space. Damian took one deep breath and stepped into the room. The sight that met him made him lose that deep breath. He saw his closest friend pale and frail, hooked up to beeping machines but what got him the most was not seeing the smile on her face or her bright eyes that would shine when she laughed. He knew that they would be gone for a while. Barbara was asleep with her head buried in her arms on Sophie's bed, Garth was nowhere to be seen. Damian noticed his 'Sister' shivering so he moved forward and pulled the black and yellow cape from his shoulders and delicately placed it over Barbara, even putting the hood up over her head. As Damian went to walk away to the open seat on the other side of Sophie a cold hand took hold of his. The Boywonder moved his eyes back to Barbara who was now giving a grateful smile to him, "Thank you Damian."

The black-haired boy gave a meek smile back to her, "Do not worry about it Barbara," He then lightly tightened his hand around Barbara's and shifted his gaze towards Sophie, "How is she? I have... I've heard the news Barbara. I don't want to believe that it's true."

The redhead looked up and into Damian's eyes, she could see the worry in them. She wasn't used to the caring that Damian was currently showing, he'd normally brush her off or be professional with her. She had a moment of happiness when she decided that Sophie was able to bring this side out of him. Barbara placed the cape more comfortably around her shoulders and then stood up from the chair to face Damian. She tried to hide the hurt from her expression as their eyes met but she wasn't able to, the faux 'I'll be fine' facade crumbled as Damian pulled her in and wrapped his arms around her. Barbara buried her head into the Boywonder's shoulder and let all that sadness out.

"Hush now Barbara... It will all be okay" He whispered to her. "We'll all get through this. Sophie will get through this and everyone will be here for her every step of the way." He promised to her.

Barbara sniffled and took a few deep breaths to compose herself and then gently pulled away from the hug. She thanked Damian with a weak smile and ran a hand through the top of his hair, "You're a good boy when you set you're heart to it Damian." she said with a brittle voice.

Damian squinted his eyes, "I am not a Dog, Barbara."

A feint chuckle came from behind Barbara, "Debatable..." it teased.

The original Batgirl quickly turned around and clambered to hold Sophie's hand all the while the fourth Robin stood there in shock. "Sophie, Sweetie! You're okay! Everything is fine, you're alive!" Barbara quickly rambled as she placed two kisses onto her daughters cold hand and gave her a hopeful smile.

Sophie gave a small smile back and looked towards her mother through her squinted and tired eyes. "Mm... not comfy..." She mumbled to herself as she pulled the front of her johnny gown down a bit from her throat, "Still not comfy..." she said again. Barbara let go of her daughters hand and went to move the pillows to help prop up Sophie's head and as she did this Sophie attempted to move herself up the bed but she soon felt a sharp and unbearable pain burn through the lower part of her back. Sophie let out a quick shriek of pain which forced Damian to kick into gear, he quickly bolted to the other side of the bed to attempt to stop Sophie from moving anymore. "Sophie you need to take it easy." He warned her as he took hold of her hand which had gripped the bed-sheets due to the pain.

She didn't listen to him, she continued to struggle despite her 'drugged out' state. She hated hospitals. They always meant pain or something bad had happened and the fact that she was the one lying in the bed got to her even more. Sophie didn't understand why she was having so much trouble using her feet as a means to propel her up the bed and inch or two, from what she could tell she was trying her hardest but it just didn't seem to work.

"Sweetie stop moving, you'll hurt yourself more." Barbara begged, attempting to halt Sophie's discovery.

It didn't take long for the second Batgirl to figure it out. She looked towards her feet and tried to move them once more. She couldn't help but get irritated over the fact that her legs must have gone to sleep, the doctors had probably put her in a stupid position or something. As the next few seconds passed the memories of what happened when she was last awake came back to her. She remembered The Man of Light gripping her hair. She remembered him running his warm fingers down from her throat and towards her lower back. She remembered him impaling his sharp finger into her and she remembered all of the unbearable pain that came with it. She could still feel it.

The hopeful smile that Barbara gave her daughter faded and her heart crumbled at the sight of her daughter trying to hide her tears by quickly wiping them away like she would do when she was a little girl.

"Why... Why can't I feel my legs?" She asked with tears pouring from her eyes. Sophie was begging for an answer that wasn't the one she knew was coming.

A/N: Alrighty, this one is for you Nathan, I just want to point out that the whole "Character wakes up and see's her LI sat beside her" doesn't technically count in this chapter. Sophie wakes up to see her family, not the man or woman of her dreams all doe-eyed begging for a quick snog. I wasn't actually going to have Damian there when she woke up but sometimes my mind goes with the flow and I end up writing a more different scene than I intended. I put Damian here with Sophie because I wanted you guys to see the two sides of him:

The Asshole/I'm better than you side. When he's angry or upset he lashes out and blames other people; He's pretty ignorant when it comes to others.

and

The caring side that he hides away as he doesn't want people to see him as anything else other than strong and fearless (He's basically trying his hardest to be Batman).

ANNOUNCEMENT: I know this is probably a terrible time to tell all of you this but I'll be taking a short break from writing, probably around the 2 - 3 week mark. This is due to some personal reasons and things that I have going on in my life (Don't worry I'm all good, it's just some adulty things that I need to deal with). Writing this has sort of been my distraction for the last few weeks and I'm thankful for it and all of you who have been reading and enjoying as it really helps keeps me going with this story, especially when I was reading your reactions to Sophie's potential death and now paralysis. I was smiling like mad when you lot were upset about it all (As evil as that sounds) because you cared what happened to a character I wrote. I guess that's why the big time writers do what they do.

I'm sorry for leaving you on another cliff-hanger! I would love nothing more than to be able to get the next chapter out by the end of next week but that's pretty doubtful because the next chapter is planned to be a fairly long one and I simply don't have enough time to write it with everything going on.

For those that one some very *minor spoilers* it's going to have:

.Sophie attempting to come to terms with her disability. Does she see it as just that, a "disability" or does she see it as something else?

.Lian informing her mother, auntie and grandmother about the death of Lawrence Crock. I know it probably feels like I glossed over his death (believe me, I know) but it does have repercussions for Lian as does her guilt for what happened to Sophie.

.Don, Jon and Zach have a "Brotalk" about the girls. (Thought I'd give you all a bit of a lighter/fun scene amidst all the darkness)

.Rose and Joey discuss the Red Robin situation with the Justice League.

and finally...

The last part is super secret ;)

Basically think of this chapter as a mid-season finale and the next chapter as the mid-season premiere (despite only being near a third of the way through the planned story).

Thanks for reading this far, love you guys. ~FarmingPirate