A/N: Writing update: I have completed chapter 37 and have written 38. Unfortunately it is shit so I am editing the crap out of those two chapters and I have a pretty good idea about where I want to go from there. The only hard part is actually writing it. But I will, of course! :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Enjoy!
Chapter: 29
Darren sputtered awake as steaming hot watered showered over him. Even as steam filled the air around him, he shivered. He frantically looked around, wondering where he was…he wondered what time it was…he wondered what day it was. How long had he been…gone? It was an indescribable feeling to be pulled from a mindless stasis and back into reality. There was no feeling, no movement, no thought in that mindless state. He could hear things…the wind, voices, the nighttime creatures that paraded through the woodlands…but nothing really made it through to his consciousness. He couldn't worry about what they meant, he couldn't react to things and he couldn't see or know what was really going on—he couldn't think. It was disconcerting and he didn't really understand where he had gone or if he had even gone anywhere at all.
Was it an abyss? Some unknown level of meditation? Did he just vanish deep within himself, into a place where breathing wasn't vital to live. Somewhere within himself where lack of a heartbeat didn't mean death…or was that what happened? Did he die…but not completely because technically, he was already dead? Darren didn't know the answer, he couldn't find it, he didn't want to either. That place where he went, that dark mysterious and forbidden place, would never be explored. He would not seek those answers…he did not want to know the truth out of fear that it would destroy his very being and leach any purpose he had from his second life.
Darren shuddered again and his eyes found Grant and Joesph looking down over him, the water still showering down on him from above. The heat melting away the stiffness and the ice cold numbness from his body. They looked severely relieved as they both helped him out of the tub and covered him in a large warm towel,
"W-what ha-happened a-after I-I fr-fr-froze?" Darren mumbled over chattering teeth. It appeared they were in a motel, where Darren didn't know but it was heated and had two large beds and a couch shoved in the corner which didn't make sense to him. Grant handed him some new clothes, stolen or paid for Darren also didn't know but he accepted them nonetheless, and helped him into them before answering,
"We trudged through the snow until morning before finding the nearest highway," he guided Darren—who was still disoriented from his sudden awakening—to the nearest bed. Pulling the sheets and comforter over him along with extra blankets. Slowly the feeling of free unhindered movement was returning. The heat of the room and bed lulling Darren almost to sleep once again. He forced his eyes opened, he would not sleep again…not yet, he couldn't,
"We followed the highway until we reached main roadways and hitchhiked from there. We then made it to Anchorage and found this motel to stay in for now,"
"How did you explain me?" Darren asked, his speech finally not halted by chattering teeth,
"It was difficult we said you were asleep but…well…you were stiff as an ice sculpture though to be honest most people who let us get a ride didn't ask any questions and we didn't give any answers,"
"Probably thought I was a valuable piece of art," Darren muttered, cracking a small smile in an attempt to be funny. Neither Grant or Joesph laughed,
'They will be looking for us…we'll need to move soon,' Joesph signed to Grant, who started pacing at the foot of Darren's bed at that declaration. Darren nodded mutely in agreement to Joey's claim, feeling worn down and tired despite not having to move through thick snow all night with nothing to eat after not being treated well or fed properly for who knows how long.
What Joey said was the truth. Everything Ra's had worked up to destroyed in a matter of minutes by the three of them. If it weren't for Darren's usefulness, he'd have a death sentence over his head like his brothers probably did. It wouldn't matter if Darren said he'd only cooperate if his brothers were kept alive…they were dead in Ra's eyes,
"I can rent a car…hopefully we can get some distance between us and them that way, before Dad joins in on the hunt," Grant said after a moment or two of silence. Darren grimaced at that. He made it sound like all of them would be going on the run from their father…all of them together, but he didn't want to do that. He didn't want to live looking over his shoulder everyday, hell he already did that with the Court of Owls, he couldn't do that with his father or the League of Assassins as well.
He wanted to go home, he wanted to get the trial over and done with…he wanted to live with Dick and have him as his guardian. He would not be going with them, he couldn't. Not after everything that had happened and everything he'd found out. Not after the various truths that had come to light. He couldn't go with them if they continuously antagonized their father, goaded him into attacking them and into hunting them. He can't live like that nor did he want to. Darren tiredly wondered if they already knew that and figured speaking as if it were not true was just to make themselves feel better about helping their father serve his debt to Ra's Al Ghul…albeit indirectly helping. But before he could say anything and without meaning to, he was asleep.
Darren woke again to the smell of food. It filled the room with a heavenly aroma…but his stomach didn't even growl like it normally would, and instead of feeling the anticipation of eating a good meal he only felt sick from the smell in the room. That's how diminished his usual appetite was…that's how little food he'd managed to eat and keep down. That's what his time in that dungeon had done to him. Upon seeing him awake Joesph held out a bowl of soup to him, Darren grimaced at it…remembering the broth they tried to feed him at the fortress. It had kept him alive but his stomach rolled at the sight of it. Despite his initial disgust Darren swallowed it all anyway. Moments later though he upchucked it all while trying to ignore his brothers concerned glances. He needed food…he needed sustenance…he needed vitamins and nutrients but the attempted Electrum formulas were still affecting him,
"We can get more food on the road," Grant said in an attempt to push back their worry, "I have the car outside, we can go now," Darren sighed, looking away from his brothers regretfully before saying,
"Drop me off at the nearest pay phone,"
"Why?" Grant demanded, his expression darkening,
"Because I'm not going with you," he said it simply, bluntly. It was what he decided…perhaps it was wrong to say that, to do that, after all they had done for him—what they suffered while he was stupidly dogging after their father's attention and affection—it needed to be done though. He couldn't stay with them. He just couldn't. Joesph looked on sadly, seemingly unable to sign a response. He, at least, knew it was coming,
"We're not him," Grant growled,
"I know that, but…I, I can't live on the run," Darren answered, trying to sit up properly despite being cocooned by the blankets of the bed,
"You already are…you have been," Grant argued back. Joseph stood wringing his hands out, biting his lip as if debating whether to stop this brewing argument or take part of it,
"No I haven't. I've been in a home…I have a roof over my head…I have friends, I'm getting an education…I can't be on the run, driving from state to state, and going country to country for the rest of my life. I can't live like that because the Court and the Powers could always get me back easily with the government out searching for me or something. I need to be there for this court date…and I need to look healthy…I need to look alive. I can't do that on the run from assassins. I need to go home! I want to go home!"
'He needs time…away from us…we, we made this happen too,' Joesph signed to Grant, who looked away back to Darren,
"We didn't know…you know we didn't know!" Grant's voice cracked, the only instance Darren could remember of his brother showing any kind of emotion other than anger. It hurt that he was the cause of such a change in his brother. He didn't want to hurt them, but knew in a way he was. Still he pushed on,
"I do…but…he won't be able to get to me in Gotham…not easily. Out here with only you and limited resources protecting me, I can't face him, not yet and not like this, not again…not so soon after finding out the truth…please, I need to go home," this time it was Darren's voice that cracked with emotion. Grant sighed defeated, his eyes on the carpeted floor, yet when he looked back at Darren it seemed he understood the truth of their situation,
"…Fine, we'll…we'll drop you off at the nearest payphone…then we'll try and lead them away from you…if they got whiff of our trail already we'll be able to keep them off your back before they realize you're not with us…but, you will keep in touch," Grant growled, handing him a piece of paper with a cell number on it, "It's high time we stop letting Slade get between us siblings," Darren couldn't help but grin in agreement.
Grant and Joey left as soon as Darren was in front of the nearest payphone. He watched as the truck they rented pulled away, the hood of his new coat pulled up over his ears against the sudden wind in the air. It was cold. Very cloudy and very cold still. His breath danced in the air before him as he stumbled into the little tiny glass box. His hands shook as he put four coins into the little slot in the corner. His knees were weak and the world spun slightly as he dialed the home number. He pressed his forehead against the glass, ignoring the chill that shuddered through his body. The freezing air crept through into the payphone…or maybe it was the remnant coldness from before catching up to him—he still wasn't over being frozen like before. It still had a hold on him and he still wasn't in the warmest place he could be.
Dick picked up after two rings like last time and Darren couldn't help but slump to the ground at hearing his voice after so long. The sound of his voice just took all the strength Darren had right out of him. He almost didn't reply for a moment or two before he murmured,
"Dick?" a beat of silence—then,
"Darren? Where are you! Are you okay?" He continued to babble on but Darren interrupted him, he was losing it, he could feel it…he was weaker than he thought, darkness was setting in,
"I—I—I'm alive…I, I—can you please come and get me? Please? I, I really want to come home," he turned so his back was against the glass wall, the phone's cord pulled to it's limit,
"What happened? Where are you…do you know where you are?" He sounded panicked…cold set in, Darren could feel it in his bones, his mind was shutting down like before…his limbs turning to lead as he crumpled in on himself and stiffened like a statue, "I'm in Alaska…find me…" Was he managed to get out before freezing completely.
A/N: Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter! I know it's a bit shorter than some other chapters have been but it's content is still great! I would really like to hear what you think about this chapter, how the story is going. What do you not like? I'm really lacking with feedback and would really appreciate some reviews!
Thanks for reading! Next chapter on Thursday please please please REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
