Chapter 28: GodWar Aftermath
Harley awoke with the feeling of intense pain all over her body. She could not see anything but darkness around her, but could feel a body underneath her own. She knew it was Bruce, despite the fact she couldn't see him at all. She bent her head down to his body, shifting around in the blackness to find his chest. Finally finding it, she placed the side of her head on his chest, and could faintly feel Batman's chest rising and could hear his soft breathing. At least he was still alive.
As her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness she could see her and Bruce were surrounded by rocks. They were encased completely, with only a little space around them allowing the pair to not be crushed. Harley tried to move, but instantly pain shot up through her whole body. She craned her neck to the side to look down at her body, seeing that her right leg was twisted at an odd angle. To say it was broken would be an understatement.
"I'm sorry I couldn't make sure you were unharmed completely," A voice nearby said to her, "I'm not 100% at the moment."
She hadn't even noticed him but standing over both her and Batman was Superman, holding up the rocks and stopping them from crushing the trio. Blood, mixed with the liquid green Kryptonite, stained his chest from the two wounds Harley's baterangs had caused. Clark looked as if he was about to crumble any second now, gritting his teeth and trembling under the weight of the rocks. Still, he flashed her a apologetic smile, which made Harley feel all the more terrible for what she had done to him.
"You've been out for 30 minutes now."Superman stated, pushing up and allowing more space, however it caused his wounds to stream out even more blood.
"Do you think everyone else is ok?"Harley asked, referring to all the heroes and her friends who had been caught up in the cave-in.
"I'm not sure. I'm too weak to get us out of here and no one has come for us yet."Clark answered, but upon seeing her face, reassured her, "I'm sure everyone made it out fine. Our kind is kinda tough to kill."
Harley tried to raise herself up on her hands, which proved a bad move on her part. When she put pressure on them, pain shot up through her limbs and she screamed out, falling back down on top of Bruce, who was too out of it to notice. She looked at her hands and her face went white. They looked worse than her leg. Her finger were bent at odd angles and her were entirely covered in both fresh and dried blood. She tried wiggling her fingers but none of them moved at all.
"I guess that's what I get for punching that iron jaw of yours boy scout." Harley said, grumbling a bit. She was too wracked with pain to say much else.
"Sorry...they don't call me the Man of Steel for nothing." Superman replied, flashing another half-smile and trying his to make jokes. Harley couldn't help but smile back at him.
"I'm sorry I well...almost killed you."Harley said, almost in a whisper as the events before the cave-in came flashing back into her mind, "I-I thought I had lost him...and something snapped in me."
"It's ok. I should be the one apologizing." Superman stated, adjusting himself to let his shoulders take most of the weight of the rocks, "I let my fear get the best of me. I ignored the law, my common sense, everything. And in the end, I hurt both my friend and you."
For a minute Harley said nothing, instead looking down at the sleeping form of Bruce. After a minute she finally spoke up, "It's not that I don't understand your position. I do. And in a way, you were just trying to protect Bruce from what you thought was a threat he was blind to seeing."
"I did a lousy job of protecting him it seems."Clark frowned, not even daring to look at the lain out form of Batman.
"It was an accident. You're a boy scout after all, you wouldn't hurt your friends on purpose."Harley assured him.
"Great so now two people will be calling me that."Clark said, laughing softly. Harley couldn't help but laugh alongside him.
"...So how far along are you?" Clark asked, a little awkwardly.
"Well, if my counting is correct. Almost three months." Harley asked, although she wasn't exactly sure. She did know she was in her first trimester, and more than likely nearing the second.
"Any idea what their genders are?" Clark questioned, trying his best to take his mind off his exhaustion
"Well I'm not su-wait their? As in more than one?" Harley asked, shocked.
"You didn't know?" Clark said, incredulously, "Well then...congrats twins!"
For a moment she said nothing, before asking him, "Can you tell if my babies are ok?"
Superman nodded before staring intently at her belly, clearly using his x-ray vision. He then answered her, "Well I'm no doctor but they look fine to me. I made sure to take as much of the force of the fall as possible."
Her nodded her thanks to him, sighing in last couple of months had been kinda hectic for Harley and Bruce. They haven't even had time to think about such things or even get a sonogram. Although part of Harley was glad for that because she wanted to be surprised. Now her and Bruce were going to have to think up a lot more names, since they were going to have one more extra. Harley was shaken out of her thoughts when the roof suddenly shrinked in them.
A huge rock fell dangerously close to Bruce's head, just barely missing him. She turned her attention back to the Man of Steel, who was now on one knee, clearly about to give out under the pressure. Superman tried pushing himself back up, but did not have the strength to do so.
"Harley...you're going to have to take these baterangs out of me." Clark said through gritted teeth, "Otherwise we're going to be crushed soon."
"I-I can't. My hands are shattered." Harley replied, showing him her disfigured fingers.
"The kryptonite is draining my energy Harley. You're going to have to find a way to get them out-and soon!" Clark said, raising his voice a bit and pleading with her.
Harley nodded, reaching up and trying to grab the end of one of the baterangs with her fingers, but she still could not move them. She then decided to bring the palms of both of her hands together and starting tugging on it that way. Her grip slipped every now and then but slowly the baterang was coming loose. More blood mixed with the green kryponite starting pooling from the wound, which made her grip all the more slippery. Clark kept wincing and gritting his teeth at the pain. However, she finally managed to pull the weapon free, throwing it to the side. One down, one to go.
That was when Superman sunk to both knees, the rock ceiling barely touching the top of Harley's head. She had to hurry. Not just for her sake, but for Superman's, Bruce's, and their childrens'. She gripped the other baterang on the right side of his shoulder, and began tugging on it frantically. Once more, red and green mixed blood oozed from the wound but Harley did not lose her grip this time. She kept pulling and pulling, just as the rocks got lower and lower. She had to bend her head now,the rocks getting dangerously closer, but the baterang was almost out. Finally, the weapon came free in her hands and she tossed it away. She watched as the blood slowly stopped flowing so hard, until she could no longer see the green krptonite mixed in with it.
While the descent of the rocks stopped, Clark was still straining. His powers weren't to come back just like that. Harley turned back to Bruce and managed to get part of his cape in her teeth, managing to rip a piece of it off despite it being made of tough material. She used her teeth to wrap it around her left hand, taking it and dabbing Superman's wounds with it. Clark's labored breathing soon steadied and he managed to get back up on one knee, his strength slowly returning.
"I'm sorry Harley we-no I- was wrong about you."Superman stated, finally rising back up on his feet and pushing the rock ceiling up higher, "and I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you and Bruce. Starting with getting us out of here!"
With that statement Superman jumped up, holding the huge rocks over his shoulder and freeing them all from their rock enclosure. He looked around before tossing the rocks aside, before coming back down to her and Bruce. He was about to move to carry her before Harley shook her head in protest.
"No. Bruce needs more help than I do." Harley stated, scooting to the side so Clark could gently carry the Caped Crusader.
"What about you? You're in no condition to walk." Superman stated, already gingerly holding Bruce's limp form.
"Don't worry. I can carry her." Another voice answered him, and they turned to see Killer Croc, along with Green Lantern, Ivy, Scarecrow, Riddler, and a few other behind him.
"You guys are ok!?"Harley asked, a mix of relief and shock in her voice. They all looked practically unharmed.
"I managed to encase us in a shield just as the Batcave was caving in." Hal Jordan answered, holding up his green ring and giving a cocky grin.
"There is still others though underneath all this mess. It's going to take forever getting them out." Riddler stated, half whining.
Waylon then moved behind Harley, bending down and cradling her in his arms, as if she was a baby. Harley was about to protest and possibly die of embarrassment when she decided to just let it go. She was so tired and hurting all over she was just happy to relax a bit in Croc's arms, despite the feeling of his scales on her skin being less than soft. Both Croc and Superman carried Batman and Harley out through the waterfall entrance, the cool water dosing them all and relieving some of her aches. She turned to see through the watery haze that the rest of the unharmed heroes were beginning to search and rescue the others, with the help of her friends. Waylon and Clark brought the pair to the edge of the river embankment, laying them gently down in the grass.
"I need to go back and help the others."Superman stated, looking back at the waterfall entrance, "Do you mind if you can help us Croc?"
Killer Croc growled in response, "I should beat the stuffing out of you for all the trouble you caused."
That was when Harley decided to interject, "It's ok Waylon. Go help everyone. Besides, everything's all hunky dory now and we're pals!"
Waylon was a little hesitant to go but seeing her smile he simply nodded and walked back through the waterfall with Superman. As soon as the two were gone, Harley sighed and laid back into the grass, cuddling up to Bruce and gazing at the nighttime sky. She always loved seeing the stars, though Gotham was usually so bright that no one could ever see them. Luckily, Wayne Manor and the Batcave were outside the city, and open just enough for the stars to shine through. It was beautiful.
She was taken out of her stargazing at the panic-filled voice calling out nearby. She looked up to see Alfred rushing towards them. He himself looked a little roughed up, a cut and bruise here and there upon his body. Perhaps he barely managed to get out of the cave-in in time. Or did he actually fight? Suddenly an image of Alfred wielding a rolling pin squaring off against the Man of Steel entered her mind, and she couldn't help but to giggle softly at that. Alfred didn't seem to notice as he came up to them, immediately inspecting his out-cold master.
"He seems to be breathing at least."Alfred said, sighing in both relief and irritation, "I'm getting too old for all this."
Harley couldn't help but smile at the butler, "Poor Alfie, you need a vacation don't you?"
"Iced tea and the beach sounds heavenly right now." Alfred admitted, smiling back at her, "But first, I need to get you two patched up. I wouldn't be able to enjoy any downtime while you two look as if you're on the verge of death."
"Dramatic much?" Harley asked, and the two couldn't help but laugh. That was when Bruce finally came to, groaning in pain and moving his head from side to side, taking in his surroundings.
"Glad to see you're as stubborn as ever sir and among the living." Alfred stated, patting the top of his head.
"How do you feel hun?"Harley asked, placing her damaged hand on his chest.
"You knows those twisty-tie things you wrap around to keep the bread fresh?" Batman replied.
"Uhm yes?" Harley answered, not sure where he was going with this.
"I envy them right now." Bruce replied, which earned him a half-giggle half-groan from Harley. She bent down and wrapped her arms around his head, hugging him close.
"Don't quit your night job and become a comedian Bman." Harley said, kissing his cheek. "Your jokes suck."
"Pfft. Tough crowd." Bruce replied, fake grumbling to her, which caused her to giggle again.
"I love you Bruce." Harley said, nuzzling the side of his head.
"I love you to Harley." Bruce replied, cracking a weak smile.
"I love you too sir." Alfred said, bending down and giving him a kiss on his other cheek.
"Stop that." Batman stated bluntly, which cause both Harley and Alfred to burst out in laughter once more. For all the amount of trouble they went through over these past few months, they certainly earned a moment to just laugh it all off.
Edit: I changed Harley's pregnancy month to three months. After a reader pointed it out, it wouldn't match up correctly.
