So, I haven't updated this in a while. Sorry.
The pounding in my head and the pressure around my eyes forces me to open them to the soft-white lighting of the hospital. As they adjust to take in the visual surroundings, the rest of my senses follow. The steady beeping of heart monitors and the shuffling of nurses' shoes fills the rooms. The thin, clinically soft hospital gown and sheets rub against my skin. I flex my fingers and keep shifting and moving until my back lifts off the bed. I'm pleasantly surprised to feel no pain and the delicious ache that comes with a well-rested body; something I haven't felt in almost five months.
I look around for my clothes but I can't find them. They must have been removed and probably disposed because of the blood. Pity, I really liked those jeans. When I flex my hands again, I feel something around my right, ringer finger; it's a gold ring with a yellow stone.
When I rub my left hand over it, I feel a warm pulse go through my body. A smile graces my lips when I realize it's a sun ring. Kal created several from a rather large meteor headed for an inhabited planet whose name was hard to pronounce, even for me. They can be used to slowly recharge Kryptonian cells from any form of damage. The only downside is the stones only last so long. Based upon the pale yellowness of this one, it's on its last legs.
Before I get out of the bed, I pull the intravenous needle out of my hand and watch the skin heal. I also carefully slip the finger monitor off and flex my fingers for a final time before throwing the blankets off of me and setting my feet on the floor. I can still feel the coldness of it that only comes when my powers have been stripped from me.
The coldness fades as I pad around the bed to sneak a peek at the room I'm in from behind the white curtain that protects me from prying eyes. I get a good glimpse at the clock to see it's close to 2 am. Even this early in the morning, there are more nurses in here than I'd like. And from my surroundings, I take a guess I'm in the ICU.
Great.
With my cellphone and other belongings somewhere else, that leaves me with little to no choice but to stay in my corner. I sigh and sit gingerly on the bed. It's only a matter of time before someone discovers I'm up and about. My hand shoots to my face when I realize my glasses are gone. This isn't good. This isn't good at all.
"Miss? Are you okay?" I flinch at the sound of a female voice behind me and slowly turn to face whoever it is. I smile. I know her.
"Helena?" She smiles back and closes the curtain behind her. She's wearing nurse scrubs and her hair is pulled back in an uncharacteristically tight ponytail, but it's definitely her.
"Miss me?" I hop out of bed and throw myself in her arms.
"How are you here? How was China? How's Karen? How are you here?" I ask with an inhuman speed after I pull away from her.
"Slow down there, kid," she says as she pats my left cheek. "I'll answer all your questions later, but right now we have to get out of here." I watch Helena move the curtain and take a look at the floor's activity.
There aren't many people who can make me feel like a kid when I'm with them; Helena is one of them. She and Karen were my mentors on and off throughout the years. They have nothing in common and couldn't be more different, but together they make one heck of a team.
"All right kiddo," she reaches back for me, "you ready?" I smile and take her hand. A beat later she guides me out of the ICU and eventually out of the hospital.
X
Jason Todd jolts awake and reaches out for Kara. His hand freezes inches from her face; it had been a nightmare. Kara had not gone into cardiac arrest then woken up as some monster. She most certainly hadn't tried to kill him while spouting out her disgust for him.
His hand runs through his hair and scratches at the back of his head. It's almost 3 am. Dr. Havens is out cold on his personal cot and listening to his mp3 player filled with nothing but the sounds of nature; whale calls in particular. And as much as Jason would like to sleep on the rather uncomfortable chair and stay by Kara's side for as long as possible, being exhausted will help her very little. He needs to go to bed.
He squeezes her hand lightly and leans forward to kiss her on the forehead. He can't help but rest his forehead on hers though, just to feel the warmth in his soul that comes from being close to the one you love. He's never been a particularly religious or spiritual person, but he feels himself say a small prayer for Kara. It's a simple plea, not just to God but to Kara as well, for her to wake-up.
If God has the whole world in His hands and nothing is outside of His reach, then maybe it's in His plan to keep Kara alive. At least, that's what Jason hopes. He kisses her head once more before standing straight up and pulling his hand away.
Jason freezes and looks down at the hand that loosely grips his. "Jay…" The nickname is quiet and raspy but rings loudly in his ears.
"Kara?" Her eyes flutter but don't open completely. "Kara," Jason leans down and pleas in her ear, "wake-up. You have to wake-up, Kara. Please." There's no reaction from her.
He closes his eyes and rests his forehead against her temple and listens to the beeping of the EKG machine. Eventually, he feels the lull of sleep again as the beeping becomes a lullaby. It's not until he feels something wet hit his nose that he opens his eyes.
Kara is crying.
Only a few tears have fallen, but it's enough to give Jason hope that Kara will wake-up soon; hopefully not as the monster she had once been.
X
Barb's brow furrows deeper as Helena explains how she got me out of the hospital. Her tale of how she was able to slip me by countless people, get me dressed, and then out of the hospital is not what's making Barbara frown though. It's the fact she's talking while eating one of Alfred's should-be-famous chocolate-chip cookies that's bothering Barb.
"Could you please, just not…"
Helena smiles and casts a sidelong glance at me before swallowing the last of her cookie. "Is something wrong, Babs?" The nickname does nothing to lighten Barbara's mood. In fact, I'm pretty sure it just ticks her off.
"Everything's fine. Now, are you done?"
"Regaling you with my masterful plan? Yeah, I'm done. I do have a question for you though."
Barbara adjusts her glasses. "What?"
"Now that I'm back in the states, do I get a chance to horn in on this Intergang case?"
"That's Dinah's decision. She's headlining this one."
"Gotcha," Helena says with nod and a slight shrug; it's a tell that lets me know she's doesn't like the answer she got. I once thought to tell her she about it, but Karen, and later on Dinah, advised against it. The moment she realizes she does that is the moment it becomes harder for her closest friends to read her body language.
Barbara notices it too, but of course says nothing. "I'll send Dinah a message about your return. I'm sure she'll need your help somewhere." She'll try to advise Dinah to find something for Helena. Though, with what's been done so far, I doubt there's anything for her to do other than join in the hunt for Night Shadow. Then again, the Huntress has always enjoyed a good chase.
Helena crosses her arms and shrugs again but this time without the nod. "Good, there's only so much time I can spend with my feet propped up." I smile at the imagery.
The three of us chat for a little longer, but because Helena never liked small talk she leaves after a few minutes. I walk her to her motorcycle and say goodbye to her with a hug.
"Tell Karen I look forward to hearing about China."
"I will. See you around, kiddo."
"See ya, Hel." I step back to let Helena start her motorcycle and leave the platform. "I never understood why the two don't get along completely," I say to Barb before I reach the top of the stairs.
"Really?" Barbara says as she points to the monitor that shows Helena leaving through the east cave entrance. "The woman prides herself on her ability to get under people's skin."
"She never got under mine."
"That's because you're made of steel."
Barbara brings her work back up she had been doing when Helena brought me here. It's the preliminary report on Night Shadow. There's not a lot of information. Not as much as I wanted, but Barbara has been working on it ever since the Birds of Prey took on the Intergang case.
"It doesn't feel like it."
"Huh?"
I make the choice to take Barbara's hand so she'll focus on me. "I need to tell you something. I-" A finger pressing against my lips stops me. "This is a little awkward," I say against Barbara's index finger. She pulls her hand away and slaps me in the shoulder.
"I know."
"You know? You know what?" I say while rubbing my arm; a reaction to being slapped than to one of pain.
"I know you've been going through something rough. Something you feel you can't share with me."
"Babs…"
She raises her hand again a few inches from my face. "Let me finish." She slips the hand I'm holding from my grip and turns her wheelchair to better face me. She takes both my hands in hers before continuing. "You know you can speak with me about anything. But sometimes, I know, there are some things you can't speak to me about. And I hate that. I…I just want you to know I'm here for you. Okay?"
I smile and place my free hand on hers. "Barbara, I love you. You're my best-friend. That's never going to change, ever. But I don't think it's wise to tell you what's going on with me. I want to, but I don't think it's good if I do. So, for the time being you're going to have to be ignorant of what's happening. And I'm not asking you to be okay with that, I'm just asking you to…well, I don't know what I'm asking of you." My grip on Barbara's hands tightens. "Can you just be here for me?"
"Of course I can." Barbara's voice cracks and there are tears forming in her eyes. She pulls me in for a hug. "I'm here for you, sweetie. I always will be," she says while hugging me tightly to her. It's not common knowledge but Barbara Gordon has always given the best hugs, still does.
Bruce's west entrance sensor goes off to warn of an approaching vehicle. Barbara and I pull apart and see it is level blue, so it's someone from Batman Inc.
Barbara pulls her hands from mine. "Well speak of the red-headed devil."
She and I watch Batwoman enter the Batcave through the monitor. The roar of her motorcycle is easy to pick up as soon as she enters the cave. I continue listening until she shuts her engine off after parking on the lower platform.
"Well, this should be interesting," Barbara remarks.
"You think?"
"How are you going to explain being dressed in Linda Danvers' clothes?"
"I'll think of something."
"Enlighten me, because-"
"Hey Barbara, I need-" Barbara stops talking and looks up at Batwoman. I try to hide my smile by taking a bite of a cookie.
"Hello Kate. And how are you this night?" I ask after swallowing. She opens and closes her mouth a few times then speaks to Barbara.
"Barbara, I need your help. Tonight-"
"I know."
"Good because we need to find her."
"No, you don't," I say after finishing my cookie. Batwoman looks at me and grits her teeth. Since I'm wearing my normal clothes, I have to remind myself that I'm Kara speaking and not Linda.
"Why not?"
"Because she is safe with me." Barbara laughs and grabs a cookie from the plate. From the look on her face, I can tell she's caught on with my plan.
"Supergirl is dressed like this because she needed to sneak into the hospital incognito. If she had retrieved Linda through the window then Intergang's spies would have seen her."
"Right," I add to Barb's explanation. "And dressing like this allowed me to get in and out without being seen."
Batwoman raises her right hand to stop me from continuing. "Okay, I get that you can get in and out without being seen because of your super-speed, but what about Linda? It's not like moving her would have been easy." Barbara and I smile at each other but we don't say a word. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"
"Probably not," Barbara says with a mouth full of cookie. I'm about to join her with mine when Batwoman grabs me by the arm and drags me away from Barbara into a quiet little corner filled with machinery.
"On a serious note, how is Linda?" I smile and lean against a piece of machinery.
"She'll be fine. The doctors did a good job of getting control of the bleeding. Right now she's recovering."
"And let me guess, she's doing this with the help of your magical mix." I push off the machine and step closer to her.
"It is not magical, it is a scientific formula created by Kryptonian doctors to heal those suffering from blunt-force trauma."
"Whatever you say, Supergirl."
Batwoman goes to walk away but I stop her. "Kara, call me Kara." She focuses more intently on me then gives me a look over using just her eyes.
"Batwoman, Supergirl, come here. There is something I need you to see." Batwoman and I join Barbara at the computer to see what she's found.
On the computer screen is a picture of a Dr. Geoffrey Barns.
"Are you sure that's him Barbara?" I ask. Barbara nods slightly and brings up the information about him and puts it adjacent to his picture.
"Doctor Geoffrey Barns, aka, Night Shadow."
"That's Night Shadow, the assassin for Intergang?" Batwoman asks. Barbara pulls up more information.
"Doctor Geoffrey Barns was working for Star Labs, L.A division," I read out loud, "on a project called 'Invisible Man,' it had to do with light refraction and the ability to create invisible soldiers. There was an accident six months into the project that made him hyper-sensitive to light. It also gave him the ability to travels within the shadows, literally."
"So how does an accident in the lab cause him to go Intergang assassin?" Barbara and I exchange a look. We're all too familiar with experiments gone wrong turning people into things of nightmares.
"All I can tell you," adds Barbara. "Is that he lives in some rinky-dink apartment in downtown Gotham, here's the address." Barbara highlights his address on the screen. I quickly memorize it and notice Batwoman entering it into what is probably some form of GPS.
"What are you doing?"
"Entering his address into my console."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going there."
"No you're not." Batwoman is about to argue back when the computer beeps and a picture of Black Canary pops up out of the corner.
"This is a prerecorded message. If this has reached you, it means I did not make my designated check-in. The likely reason is that I'm dead and my mission has been compromised.
I'm sorry-"
Barbara stops the message and looks at me with clear worry in her eyes. I nod and yank Batwoman towards the stairs. It doesn't take long for her to catch on to what I'm doing. She loosens out of my grip and jumps down the stairs.
"Do you know where she is?" I nod and take off my jacket and shirt. In case of emergencies, Barbara hid my covert uniform (the black one with the silver S) underneath the stairs. She figured it would be the last place anyone would look or stumble upon by accident. "Are we going for the Goth look now?" I smile at her and slide off the rest of my clothes, then use super-speed to put my uniform on. Afterwards, I shove the duffle bag with my civilian clothes under the stairs.
"Just trying something more covert," I say before jumping up and hovering around 40 feet in the air. Batwoman starts her bike and spins it around towards the entrance of the cave. We zoom out of there, intent on saving Canary.
Batwoman's POV…
Supergirl and I crouch down to get a better look at the scene before us. We're hidden in the top-most and darkest corner of an old warehouse. Because of how tall the building is, I need the small binoculars I hide in my utility belt. Of course, Kara doesn't need them; her and her stupid super-vision.
"It looks like they're preparing for a war," I say, thinking out loud for Kara's benefit. Unlike with Batman or Bette, I need to actually communicate with her verbally because she obviously can't read minds…Oh, I hope not.
The entire floor of the warehouse has tables covered in different types of weaponry and gadgets, with people rushing between them. Standing over this entire operation from a balcony is Daniel Siegfried, the right-hand or EX-right-hand man, of the now comatose Bruno Manheim. But that's not who we want.
As we survey the area, the one thing I notice missing is Black Canary. She must be in a back room getting the sense and blood knocked out of her, or dead and decomposing into a bloated sack of flesh. Either way, we need to find her.
"Have you tried using your x-ray vision on the building?" I ask Kara.
"This building used to be owned by Lex Luthor when he was still financially involved with Wayne Enterprises. And ever since Superman showed up, he's been having them lead-lined, so no." Great. "But that doesn't mean I can't hear her." Kara closes her eyes and relaxes her whole body. It reminds me of Bette. She does the same thing before going into meditation with me. Suddenly, Kara's eyes snap open and her entire body tenses up.
"What is it?" Kara ignores me and grips the beam her hand is resting on in a tight grip. The metal immediately groans and compresses under her steel-like fingers. "Kara…" I lift my right-hand and gently pull Kara's face towards me. She keeps her eyes down at my feet and I can see why. The edges of her eyes are tinged with a red glow.
I've only seen that once, in a clip GBN showed of her fight with an alien named Kathos two years ago. The result was him getting his right-leg obliterated and his body punched into pulp. This was after he threatened to destroy the peopled she loved, according to Supergirl anyway (because he had said it in Kryptonian).
"Kara, look at me." When she doesn't move immediately, I lift her chin and make her look me in the eyes. The red in them intensifies until I can see nothing but it. But then slowly, and with every second I keep my gaze on hers, the red fades. It fades until her beautiful Caribbean-blue irises shine through. I smile and pull my hand away from her chin. "There we go, that's my Kara." She gives me a weak smile then pushes herself up to stand, I follow suit.
"They have her in the back. They're…" Kara takes a heavy breath then continues. "They're hurting her, we need…we need to get to her now."
"Then let's get her." Kara steps forward and wraps her arms around my body.
"Hold on." She picks me up and takes a moment to push my head into her shoulder. Her arm comes back around me and I feel a sudden pressure around my entire body. I bite down to keep from crying out because of it. "Batwoman, are you okay?" Kara still has me in her arms.
"I'm…f-f-fine." Kara chuckles and I feel the vibrations from her body through my uniform.
"I'm going to put you down, okay?" I nod my head but keep my clutch tight on her arms until my feet touch the floor. I have to lean against the wall when she lets go to get my balance, but other than that, I'm fine. Wait…wall? I take a moment to assess where we are; a long, grey hallway with black doors littering both sides. "Canary is at the end of the hallway." Without another word, Kara and I take off down the hallway and stop in front of the door. Kara holds up her hand and slowly counts down. "On go," Kara whispers. "Five…four…three…two…one…GO!"
I can't promise when I'll update again nor will I promise when it will be finished. My hope is that I'll be done by the end of October. Let's see if that happens.
Thanks go out to those who chose to follow this story and have been patient with me. It is greatly appreciated it. Again, thank you.
