METROPOLIS ADVENTURE/DATE PART 3
Sorry for the seriousness of this chapter. I promise the next chapter will be lighter :)
L.L.A.P
~Laces
Chpt.21
A hollow sound of a knock seemed to echo in the hotel room Damian and Livy were staying in.
"I'll get it." Livy grinned, skipping like a child to the door. However, when she opened it she found herself staring in horror at a pale white face.
"Joker." Livy whispered in fear, but she couldn't close the door.
"Hello Livy! Did ya miss me?" the man chuckled gleefully as he stepped further into the room.
Damian ran towards Joker, but the clown prince managed to evade each blow Damian attempted.
"I brought a little friend with me." Joker smirked and through the door walked Jacob, looking just as he had when Livy was a little girl. Just like that, Livy found her strong and mature body was gone and she was in the skin of herself when she was living with Jacob. She was malnourished with blood staining her matted hair and cuts and bruises from various beatings littered her body.
"Miss me, Little Livy." Jacob grinned, then proceeded to kick her in the stomach.
"Yoohoo Jacob, I need some help over here!" Joker called with a sick grin on his face. Damian was on the ground, twitching in pain as Joker held a crowbar in his hand.
Jacob was quickly lifting Damian to his feet, holding the teen back as Joker slammed the iron crowbar into Damian's stomach and face.
"No! Stop!" Livy shouted, watching as Damian suffered hit after hit.
"You want me to stop? Well come and make me." Joker laughed. Livy quickly ran to him, but fell through the floorboards into something small… and square.
She was in a box and the lid quickly closed on top of her. Driving her weak fists into the walls, Livy tried to break free, but it was no use.
"Livy, I know you remember this lovely contraption." She heard Joker giggle. She then heard Damian exclaimed,
"Dammit Livy, help me! He's going to shoot me!" his voice sounded as if it were right over the box she was trapped in. "Do you hear me Livy! He's going to sho-"
There was a sickening bang and Livy felt something wet dripping into the box from the small openings in the top. It was Damian's blood.
"No." Livy whimpered. "No. Let me out! Let me out of here!" Livy shouted, struggling in the box, trying to kick and punch at the sides, but the contraption was too strong and she was too weak.
"Livy, don't you remember the fun features of the box?" Joker inquired, and Livy felt the walls start to constrict around her as water started to fill the chamber. Along with the water was needles sticking into her skin.
"No! Let me out! Please! Let me out! Let me out! LET ME OUT!" Livy screamed.
"No can do little Livy." She heard Jacob say.
"Yes, while you're in there, Jacob and I will be going on a fun killing spree. First we'll start by offing your old man. Then we'll find your artist uncle, then we'd kill your friend in prison, then Bruce Wayne, then Dick, then Tim, then Colin, then Selina, then Lancy, then Josh, hell, we'll even kill that woman who you got to talk to who was Jason's friend and was an undercover agent. We'll kill them all." Joker laughed.
"No! You can't! If you want to kill someone kill me! Don't drag the others into this!" Livy shouted.
"Now what fun would that be?" she heard Joker giggle, then there was the sound of a door opening and slamming shut.
"No… no! Let me out! Let me out! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" Livy continued to struggle in the box and felt the walls closing in. "GOD DAMMIT LET ME OUT OF HERE!"
"Livy!" When Livy woke up, she saw Damian hovering over her with concern written on his face.
"D-Damian?"
"Yes, it's me. You were thrashing around. Are you okay" he stated, and Livy just stared at him, reveling in the fact that he was still alive.
"Livy?" Damian looked at her with concern when she didn't say anything, his hand grabbing hers. She was shaking a bit, but then flashed him an uneasy smile.
"I'm fine. Just remembered about what I dreamed of is all. It's more like a memory that turns into a reoccurring nightmare is all." She shrugged. Damian's face hardened.
"Was it the memory when you were young and Joker-"
"Yes, now please don't continue. I just want to forget." Livy stated and Damian nodded, then leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, then hugged her tightly, holding her close.
"Sorry to worry you, Damian." Livy sighed as she kissed him on the cheek, then slowly pulled herself out of his grip and got out of the bed. "I have to go to the bathroom." With that, Livy disappeared behind the bathroom door.
Once the door was closed, she slid down it to the floor and held her head in her hands.
I didn't want to remember that nightmare. God, it was so dark and small and Joker's voice and Damian… it was horrible. I just wanted to get out. Livy thought sadly. And Damian heard me. He sees me all weak like this and then he worries himself over the issues I have… I wish he didn't know. I wish he had no clue about my claustrophobia or PTSD. I wish he didn't know so then he wouldn't worry so much. Livy thought sadly.
Livy looked up and stared at the bathroom ceiling. The longer she stared at it, the lower it seemed to go. Livy's heart started beating faster.
No. No! I'm fine! This shouldn't bother me! I've used this bathroom several times before and it didn't bother me! I'm fine! Livy thought and then ran to the sink and splashed her face several times with cold water.
She looked around and the walls seemed to drawl in closer to her along with the ceiling.
"No." she whispered. No! It was just a nightmare! I'm fine! I've been getting better so this shouldn't be a problem! Livy thought but the walls were still closing in on her. Dammit! This shouldn't be happening! Livy could hear her breath getting heavy and her heart beat was pounding in her ears.
Next thing she knew, Livy was on the ground, clutching onto her knees and bowing her head down, squeezing her eyes shut, shaking in fear.
Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, jerking her out of her terrified state. She looked up at Damian in confusion. His lips were moving but she couldn't quite hear him over her thudding heart in her ears.
However, slowly Damian's voice started to come through.
"… me? Livy? Livy, please answer me! Can you hear me? Livy? Livy?"
"Damian." she whispered, reaching her hand up shakily and placed it on his cheek. "It's okay. Please don't look at me like that. I'm fine." Livy's eyes glanced around the room and she noticed that the walls and ceiling weren't moving anymore.
"Livy, you've been in here for an hour." Damian stated seriously with worry and Livy's eyes widened.
"An hour?"
"Yes. I knocked and called for you several time, but you didn't answer." Damian stated, and Livy looked down at the tiled floor.
"Damian, I am so sorry. this shouldn't be happening. It hasn't been this bad for a while. You shouldn't've had to see that. I'm so sorry."
"Shh." Damian hugged her tightly. "There is no need for you to apologize. It's not your fault." He hushed and quickly lifted her up in his arms before she could do anything. He knew that at times like this, he needed to comfort her and try to help her forget about her nightmare. He couldn't let her dwell on it, or else her fears would start to get the best of her again.
"How about you get changed and we could go out and see a movie?" Damian smiled at her as he set her down on the bed.
She still seemed a bit out of it and dazed, but Damian kept trying.
"Hey, Livy." He whispered, and she stared up at him. "You're okay." Damian gently kissed her on the cheek. "How about we eat some breakfast. Just a little something light and then how about we see Frozen? You've been raving about wanting to see it since it came out and maybe afterwards we could buy some sandwiches then head to the park and have a picnic. Sound okay?"
Livy slowly nodded and tried smiling at him.
"Come on, Livy. Use your words. Does that sound okay?" Damian repeated, trying to get Livy to relax more and start talking again.
"Yes." Livy whispered, and Damian smiled at her.
"Alright. Here, come and pick out your clothes." Damian stated, helping her off the bed and towards the drawers where their clothes were stored.
Livy slowly picked out her clothes, and Damian turned to give her some privacy as she changed.
"I'm so sorry, Damian. I… I don't mean to get like this. This isn't right." Livy whispered. Damian didn't turn around since he could still hear her struggling to get her jeans on.
"Livy, do not apologize. It's not your fault." Damian stated firmly. It was quiet for a moment, then Damian felt two arms draped around his torso in a soft hug.
"I love you." Livy whispered into his back.
Damian's eyes widened in surprise. This 'I love you' sounded different than others. Some of Livy's 'I love yous' were said in a goofy flirtatious way or in a way that showed she still cared, like after a fight or while having a serious conversation. But this 'I love you'? This 'I love you' held so much emotion. It wasn't flirtatious or goofy or even that she was saying it to show she cared. It was as if she just told him that she wanted to always be with him, day in and day out yet at the same time, it was gentle, as if stating a fact.
Damian turned to face her and wrapped his arm around her, then gave her a light kiss.
"I love you, too, Livy." He smiled a bit and she smiled up at him.
The haze that had been over her eyes appeared to be clearing and she looked much more like herself.
Good. Damian thought with a small smile, however, there was a knock on the door and Livy immediately tensed and stared at the door fearfully.
"Damian-" her voice was high and trembled with fear.
"Shh, it's alright." Damian reassured her, then went to the door. He looked through the peep hole and let out an irritated sigh.
He didn't open the door, however he leaned against it and stated,
"What do you want, Kent." Damian's soft and gentle voice was gone, leaving no trace that it was capable of holding any tenderness at all. It was sharp and far from friendly.
"I just want to talk. Can I come in?"
Damian turned to look at Livy, who was still tense, but didn't look as terrified, recognizing Clark's voice.
"Tt. Fine. but make it quick, Kent, We're busy today." Damian growled as he opened the door.
Clark walked into the room, smiling at Damian, despite how the boy simply glared right back at him, and then smiled at Livy. She smiled a bit back at him, but it wasn't as bright and happy as it was when he first met her.
"It's nice to see you again, Livy." Clark grinned.
"You too, Mr. Kent." Livy nodded and Damian was quickly by her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder
"Alright, Kent. Why are you here?"
"Word on the street is that there's a new dangerous drug making its way through Metropolis. You two wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"
"Tt. I know you know that we're teenagers but we don't do drugs." Damian stated while he rolled his eyes.
"So you are telling me that you don't have any clue what's going on? No leads?" Clark questioned.
"I told you Kent, this is more or less a vacation for us. What happens in your city is your problem. Don't come to us to help clean up your shit." Damian snapped.
Clark let out a long sigh, but then his eyes locked onto Livy.
"Livy? Are you okay?" he inquired.
"Yes, I just… I'm not feeling too well." She informed. To her, the walls around her seemed to be closing in, which frightened her and also frustrated her. The room was fairly large, large enough that it shouldn't have been bothering her.
She only experienced something like this once before. It was a flare up. A moment when everything was going fairly well until something triggered her to revert to how she used to be. it only happened one other time several years before when she was with Jason.
"Your heart is beating extremely fast." Clark informed with concern.
"The walls are closing in." Livy whispered, then started to stagger to the door. "I have to go… I have to go!" Livy sprinted down the hall and stairways where she felt like the entire building was caving in on her.
She sprinted as fast as she could, heart pounding, until she made it out of the building. Damian and Clark had followed her, and she felt her stomach swell. She ran to one of the trashcans lining the street and vomited into it.
Damian slowly approached her and rubbed her back and pulled her hair back as she continued to puke, then dry heave.
"Shhh, you're okay. We're outside, you don't have to be afraid." He hushed gently and Clark stared on at the two.
Livy took in some even breaths and spat, trying to get the awful taste of vomit out of her mouth.
"This shouldn't be happening." She groaned. "I shouldn't still be doing this."
"It's alright. We'll stay out here and let you catch your breath." Damian said gently. "Are you alright?" Clark questioned, looking at Livy with some concern and curiosity.
"Yeah. Fine. Just got a bit spooked." Livy stated. "This happens sometimes. I just gotta stay out here for a while." Livy informed, then collapsed on a bench tiredly. Last time when this happened, Jason tried comforting her inside, but ultimately staying outside helped calm her down.
"Do you want me to get you anything?" Damian questioned.
"Ice cream would be good… or something really cold." Livy informed. She didn't really know if it helped or not, but the last time this happened, Jason had brought out some ice cream for her, which always brightened her mood.
"Of course." Damian nodded, then looked over at Clark. "Feel free to leave anytime soon, Kent." With that, Damian was sprinting away to get Livy some ice cream.
Clark slowly approached the girl, then sat next to her on the bench.
"I've never actually seen him be nice to anyone. I'm not used to it." Clark smiled a bit at Livy and she let out a weak chuckle.
"I got used to it because when we were younger he started being nice to me in small increments." She let out a sigh. "I really do love him."
"So… does this happen often?" Clark inquired.
"What? Me freaking out and thinking that the building is caving in?" Livy inquired and Clark nodded. "Not really. It used to happen a lot when I was a kid ever since… an incident with the Joker… and then it slowly waned away. This was just an extremely unfortunate flare up."
"I see." Clark hums. "So… I know Damian doesn't want to say anything, but do you two know anything about this drug dealer?" he inquired.
"No, and if we did, we would have a good reason why we weren't telling you." Livy informed. Clark let out a sigh, but smiled at the girl.
"Thanks for telling me." Just then, Damian came running back with a cup of ice cream in his hands.
"Thank you, Damian." Livy grinned. Damian nodded, then glared at Clark.
"You're still here, Kent?"
"Don't worry Damian. I'm leaving." He informed quickly, then looked over at Livy. "It was nice to see you again, Livy." He nodded.
"Likewise." She smiled, and then he was gone.
Damian replaced Clark's spot on the bench and handed the ice cream to Livy.
"Damian, did I ever mention how much I'm thankful for you?" Livy questioned, staring down at the ice cream in the bowl.
"Livy-"
"Because if I never told you, then please know that I am so thankful for you. I don't know how I could end up with someone so-"
"Hey." Damian cut her off. "Please don't talk like that. When you start doing that, it makes me feel like you're going to die and are trying to get in some last words. I don't like thinking about that." Damian informed, but then wrapped an arm around Livy and kissed her forehead. "But thank you for telling me. I have more of a reason to be thankful to you though." He chuckled, playing with Livy's hair and she scooped up the ice cream.
"Are you feeling better, Habibti?" Damian inquired once the girl had finished her ice cream, and Livy happily nodded.
"Yes, thank you, Damian."
"Would you like to see Frozen?" Livy smiled at Damian, kissing him on the cheek.
How do I deserve this guy?
"Yes please."