A/N: Here's the next chapter, the second to last chapter will be on Sunday and the final on Monday. After that the next part of Tori's story will begin on the Monday after the Monday the last chapter is posted on.

Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Enjoy!

PS - these last few chapters are just winding down from all the action and angst from before. So they may seem a little mundane or boring even...just a heads up for action lovers.

Chapter: 38

Tori sat on her bed, sharpening her swords. It was her first time in a while not having to finish a project, assignment or test for school. She had just handed in the last of the required assignments a few days ago, all she needed was a passing grade and she could graduate with the others. She was surprised Bruce actually let her keep the swords after what had happened all those nights ago. They came back and no one asked questions. It was written all over Tori's face what had happened and they understood…or at least partially understood why she had done what she'd done. It had been around three more months since that night and everything was still strange to her. Not just school or all the extra work she had to do.

Tori promised herself she would never go back on her word like that, for anything. She would never say she'd do one thing and then do the exact opposite especially when it came to her motives for fighting or anything regarding their nightlife. Tori was deeply ashamed at what she had done, even if it was Mac—who was now in police custody—, he was a monster so he should suffer for what he did in prison. Besides, she had more important things to do than kill Mac: she had to find those missing kids and return them to normal, if she can, and bring them home.

Tori let out a sigh before putting down her dagger. How was she supposed to locate all those kids? Sure they had evidence from the Gotham lab, but most of the computers had been wiped again. Mac had put a fail-safe in the remote control should it be destroyed. It sent out a signal to all the computers in the labs to destroy any evidence. Tori and Tim as well as Bruce were going to try and recover the information and hopefully start to find the kids.

Before the searching started, Bruce would have to teach Tori not to kill. She let out another sigh and reached for the Spadone, the last sword in need of sharpening. As she started the familiar motion she noticed something. The blade was different than the one she had made. It had more worn patches on the metal from constant use, Tori had only used her's for two months. Upon closer inspection, she realized this was Danbury's sword. The old battered, though still strong and sturdy, sword he had shown her the night she realized she did not want to kill for the Court anymore. Tori rubbed her thumb over one of the mended spots, the solder molded as one with the old metal, a small smile on her face. She knew he'd given it to her so she would always remember how strong mended places can be,

"Thanks Dan," she whispered. Carefully she started sharpening it again until her new cell phone started trilling. Sighing in annoyance she picked it up,

"Yeah?" she asked into the phone,

"Where the hell have you been?" a voice snapped, Tori blinked trying to figure out who it was before realizing it was Liam. She felt a lump form in her throat,

"Liam?" she asked,

"Yeah, it's me, your brother?!" he said into the phone, obviously annoyed, "Where the hell have you been for almost six months. We've been worried sick thinking BioTech got you!"

"It's not like they'll be a problem anymore though," another voice said—Ali—, "They were all murdered except for this one scientist and his kid," Tori felt her heart race at the remembrance of that night and the fact that it was her fault. Tori swallowed as Liam snapped at Ali to shut up,

"You owe us an explanation," he said,

"Yeah!" Ali chirped. How was she going to explain what happened to her siblings,

"I…I—um…I don't know how to—um—," Tori was saved from explaining by Stephanie who burst into her room with a frown on her face,

"Why the hell are you just sitting on your bed!?" she yelled. Tori blinked at her,

"Liam, Ali—I've gotta go," with that she hung up, "Thanks so much Steph, perfect timing. I was just getting interrogated by my siblings and—what are you doing?" Tori asked as Stephanie started taking things out of a very large bag she was toting with her. She also hung up paper covered clothing on her bed posts,

"Tonight is prom Tori. PROM!" Stephanie said, "It's in fact in an hour and you're just sitting on your bed,"

"Well…I'm not sure I'm really up to it," Tori said, absentmindedly twirling her dagger in her hand,

"Put the knife down Tori, you are going," Steph said, "It'll be good for you. You know, get you used to being around normal people again,"

"I've been around normal people," Tori said defensively,

"We're not normal Tori, we don't count,"

"It's not my fault…everything's just…weird," she said. Tori couldn't describe the feeling she associated with being back in society…high society at that,

"I know. It's weird. It always is. Every time a villain gets a good hit in and you're out for a day or two and you just show up at school again and everyone is just as they were but you're different because you were there when that psycho escaped or kidnapped that kid or robbed that bank or tried to blow up the city but they don't know that. You just need to keep going out there and talking with people. Life will start to feel the same again," Steph said,

"Fine…I guess you're right. You guys are experts at this," Tori said, "But there's just one problem…I don't have a dress," Stephanie threw her a mischievous smile,

"I took the liberty of finding you one since I figured you wouldn't be looking,"

"Should I be worried?" Tori asked,

"Oh no. Trust me. I know you Victoria. This is your dress," Steph said, pulling the covering off of one of the two things hung up. Tori jumped off her bed and moved to where Stephanie stood bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation. Tori looked at the dress before crossing her arms and grudgingly nodding,

"Oh that is so my dress," It was dark but pale blue, taffeta dress. Embedded in the long skirt there were blue flowers. It was strapless and dipped low in the back. It was beautiful,

"Yes! I knew it!" her friend said jumping up and down,

"There's just one problem," Tori said, frowning,

"What?" Steph asked pouting,

"It's backless," Tori said, "I-I don't…m-my back…" Tori hated that she stammered, but Stephanie's eyes widened in realization,

"Oh! Hold on, I have a solution for that," she disappeared into her giant bag and pulled out a matching blue shawl, "There, this will cover your shoulders and back. Now to your bathroom, we are losing time to get you all glammed up…me as well!" Rolling her eyes, Tori sighed and followed her friend.

Tori fidgeted nervously with her pale dark grey finger-less gloves near the doorway. People couldn't see the black swirls on her hands, so she wore gloves…all the time now. Tim and Stephanie were at the mercy of Alfred, who was taking a billion photos of them. She was a third wheel, she had no date—or at least her intended date was a no show. Alfred got Tori in one photo of the three of them…and he tried to get others, but she'd refused after the first. Tori wasn't so much angry as she was worried…where the hell was Jason? She bit her lip but quickly stopped once Bruce walked over to her,

"What are you worrying about?" he asked,

"Nothing," Tori said, "Well, nothing too important,"

"Have fun, enjoy the dance,"

"I'll try. I mean if someone jumps on my feet I'm going to step on his foot hard because that just really ruins the evening…although I guess it wouldn't really matter now that I wouldn't feel it," Tori said, putting a hand to her chin. Bruce chuckled as Stephanie and Tim passed him to get to the limo,

"Really though Tori. Enjoy yourself. Don't worry about anything, just have fun,"

"You're the boss," Tori said with a mock salute as she turned to follow them out.

They arrived late, Stephanie and Tori had taken way more than an hour to get ready…and once they started for the wide open doors, Tori felt a moment of nervousness. This was one of the biggest nights of senior year…but they were also out in the open where there could be Talons…specifically very, very, very angry great grandfather ones. Maybe she shouldn't be here…if anyone were to attack she'd be totally defenseless and she did not want to be serum-ed so soon after the last time, none of them even had the cure with them—

"Tori, relax," Tim said from where he stood on her left. His arm was hooked through Stephanie's, who was smiling brightly and looking around at the luxurious hotel their prom was being held at. Being rich spoiled brats had its funding perks,

"That's easy for you to say. I think I have social anxiety,"

"No, you have PTSD…but I guess that sort of goes under the same category," Tori glared at him,

"I've never been diagnosed,"

"Because you've never went to talk to Dinah," Tim said, "And before you get mad at me…just remember this is a party. There are security guards everyone and yes they can do nothing against a Talon, but they aren't going to attack because we took out a large portion of their members. They'll need to regroup and find a new location before they can do anything. And then they'll need to move their machines, tombs and everything else to the new location and then finally reformulate ranks. It's been almost three months and no movement by them either. So have fun," Tori closed her mouth and just nodded,

"Oh hey Tori," a new voice said. Turning Tori faced her friend Jenna on the arm of a boy named Jeffery. She wore a beautiful pale rose colored dress that complimented her hair perfectly, "Glad you decided to come!"

"Well…I was coerced by a best friend and a perfect dress," Tori said, beaming at her friend,

"I was worried you wouldn't come," Jenna said, "Especially after the last six months have been a blur of activity for you. You didn't even get to do Track or Gymnastics,"

"Yeah…I had a lot of catching up to do,"

"Will you be able to graduate tomorrow?"

"They'll let us know before it's time tomorrow," Tori said, "I cut it close to the deadline, but I wanted to make sure everything was perfect before turning it in,"

"Same as always," Jenna said with a laugh, "We're going to head inside,"

"Yeah, we should too—," Tori started to say before realizing Tim and Stephanie had already left. Sighing Tori started inside by herself.

To make it through to the ballroom, you had to go through the photography station…which she was dreading because she was one of the only ones without a date. Everyone around her chatted happily with their prom attendee while she waited in utter humiliation to get through with the single photo. To make matters worse Zoe and her prom date arrived just after she got in line,

"Hey Tor," Zoe said, a sneer on her face, "What's wrong…no date?"

"Well. At least I didn't bribe mine," Tori said, moving forward as the next couple stepped up for their photo,

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zoe snapped, narrowing her eyes at Tori,

"I'm just saying…I didn't see a promposal video on FaceBook or anything of the sort that's all,"

"Next please!" the photographer called, saving Tori from facing Zoe's wrath. Tori marched over to the backdrop area and stood awkwardly in the center,

"No Mr. McDreamy?" the guy behind the camera asked. He didn't ask it rudely, just genuinely wondering if he had to wait for anyone,

"No, it's just me," Tori said sullenly. The guy nodded and leaned over the tripod. Tori smiled her best but nearly lost it when hands found their way around her waist. The camera flashed and Tori scrambled away from the person with a shriek. She whirled around to yell only to stop and stare in relief,

"Jason?" Tori asked stunned,

"Surprise?" Jason said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Tori didn't care, she was just glad he was there. She threw her arms around him and didn't even care that the camera guy took another photo of them as they did so, "Shall we get this stupid dance over with?" Jason asked, holding out his arm,

"We shall," Tori said, taking it and walking with Jason to the ballroom. She only glanced back to stick her tongue out at Zoe who stared on in fury.

They arrived to the dance floor just as the song changed to a slow one. Smiling Tori turned to face Jason who was pulling at his tie,

"I remember you're not big on dancing, but just for the sake of normalcy and because I actually like to dance, can we dance?" Jason rolled his eyes,

"I didn't dress up in a tux to just stand around awkwardly by the refreshment table," he said before taking his hand and pulling her to the dance floor. Tim and Stephanie were dancing a little ways over. Steph threw Tori a wide smile and waggled her eyebrows at her as they slowly spun around. Tim threw Jason a glare as he came to face them. Tori rolled her eyes at her brother before facing Jason again,

"Something tells me us dating became very clear while I was missing," she said as he put his hand at her waist and took her other hand in his,

"Turns out everyone but Tim already knew,"

"Oh really?" Tori said,

"Yeah. I guess I wasn't that nonchalant about my feelings for you when you 'died'," he replied,

"I see," Tori said, as they spun slowly to the music, "Now, why did you put a tux on and scare me instead of showing up at the Manor if everyone knew. And on top of that, where have you been for the past three months?!" Jason sighed before dancing them off to a darker corner of the ballroom. Away from prying eyes and ears,

"It's not what you think," Jason said,

"You don't know what I think," Tori said,

"Calm down Toria. I stayed away because Bruce wanted me to,"

"You actually expect me to believe that?" Tori said skeptically, "You never listen to Bruce,"

"It's the truth. He didn't think it wise for me to be…near you after what had happened,"

"And why's that?" Tori growled, narrowing her eyes,

"Because I've been trained to kill. And because I didn't turn from it. He thought I'd turn you back into a killer by being around. He wanted me to give you space to sort out your mind yourself,"

"And look what happened! I nearly killed Mac myself!" Tori hissed,

"But you didn't,"

"You didn't kill the Joker either," Tori stated,

"But I didn't stop,"

"…I don't even know if I'll stop myself—what if I can't?"

"Bruce will teach you how. I was lucky enough to have Ducra, who taught me not to be vengeful and spiteful with my killing, though she still taught me to kill. He'll help you not kill at all,"

"What if I snap again?"

"I'm not saying it will be easy. Everyone will be there for you every step of the way. And if you do snap, they'll guide you back to where you were before,"

"What about you…will you be there for me?" Tori asked, she was afraid this was his way of breaking up with her…she might very well snap again especially if he was breaking up with her on prom night. She was probably over-reacting, but you never know,

"I'll be there for you too. I'll try to lend a hand in the no killing teaching…but I'm not the best at that myself," Tori gave Jason a half-smile,

"As long as you're with me I'm fine," she said,

"I find your lack of faith disturbing," Jason said cracking an even wider smile than before, "Ha! I quoted it right!"

"Give the man a reward," Tori said, "Two tries was all it took," Jason mock glared her before frowning again,

"We never really discussed the whole killing thing before did we?" he asked,

"What do you mean?"

"Me…killing. Before you lost your memory, we never discussed how you felt about it…we kind of avoided it,"

"It might not always sit right with me—but I think I understand it more than before. It's a part of who you are and it's something I can't change. It's not right yet at the same time it's sometimes justifiable. I can't change that aspect of you anymore than I can change the color of your eyes," Tori said,

"…would you have said that before everything happened? Before you became a Talon and before you disappeared?" Jason asked, they were still dancing, the song slow and calm,

"I'm not that girl anymore Jason. I can't say what I would say anymore because so much has changed," Jason nodded,

"I see," was all he said,

"But there's one thing that hasn't changed," Tori said,

"And what's that?" Jason asked,

"How much I love you," she said, flushing slightly as she did before leaning forwards and kissing him. They kissed for a while, only stopping when the music changed yet again to a loud shouty song that caused Tori's ears to ring. She pressed her hands to them, grimacing. Talon hearing was a lot like super-hearing, and it sucked. Looking over at the DJ with mild irritation Jason leaned close to Tori's covered ear and whispered,

"Want to get out of here?"

"With pleasure," Tori replied bunching up her skirts as he grabbed her hand and started for the exit. Once outside they ran to Jason's bike and sped away and over the bridge to Jason's safe house.

Once there they made out again, Tori was on a giddy high until his hands brushed her back. She stumbled away heart pounding loudly and trying to calm herself with a deep breath,

"Toria, what's wrong?" Jason asked. Tori shook her head and bit her lip before letting out a bitter laugh,

"I…well—it's my back," she said, wringing her hands together. Jason frowned,

"Is it hurting you?"

"No…it's just…I don't know…I'm self conscious I guess," Jason's eyes widened in realization before he chuckled. Tori narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to snap at him for doing so, only to snap her mouth shut as he pulled his suit jacket and shirt off to reveal his bare, muscled torso,

"We are the people you should feel the least self conscious around," Jason said, gesturing to his numerous array of scars. Slashes and holes, jagged cuts and thin lines criss-crossed his chest. Tori found herself moving forward to run a hand along them. Jason caught her hand as she did so, right over his heart before turning it over and slowly pulling the glove off, "You don't need to hide yourself around me," he said as the swirling lines of black on her hand were revealed. Tori didn't know what to say. She was so used to hiding because of what others would think about the scars on her back and the swirling black veins on her hands, she was afraid of what conclusions they'd jump to. But her family knew…Jason knew…and Tori agreed, maybe she did have to hide from society…but not from them. Maybe one day she wouldn't have to hide at all.

Gently she removed her hand from his and pulled off the other glove…the one she usually preferred remained because of the ugly hideous brand on the inside of her palm. Marking her with the symbol of the Court of Owls. She didn't remember them doing it. The marking had occurred when she had been the mindless killer the Talons wanted and it had not registered on her radar until afterwards. It was the only one of her scars that she hated so viciously. Every Talon had it and it just pinned her as one of them. Jason didn't say anything for a moment, but took both her hands in his. He traced his thumb over the mark, sending shivers up her arm,

"Scars are tattoos but with better stories," he said, with a crooked smile, "Stories of courage, and strength and will,"

"And change," Tori whispered,

"And I think you're the best story of them all,"

"Oh really. Does that work on every girl?" Tori asked, throwing him a wry smile,

"Just the ones with death wishes on Tuesdays," Jason joked back. Tori was still chuckling even as he kissed her. And when he placed his arms gently around her waist, hands resting lightly on the small of her back, she didn't pull away. Like how it was so many nights ago, it was just them and the starry night of the Gotham sky.

A/N: You guys knew Jason would show, he isn't like that...at least in my opinion he isn't like that to the person he's romantically involved with.

Okay, that last implied bit could be considered 'action' if ya know what I mean ;)

Didn't research anything about PTSD or Social Anxiety. I just put that in there because Tim was being Tim and rationalizing why Tori shouldn't worry whether she has something like those because she wasn't tested or diagnosed yet.

My mom always tells me that line: Scars are tattoos but with better stories whenever I complain about my surgical scars. And it's something I take to heart because it's true. I put that in there because I thought it had a positive message or state of mind towards things that are bad and difficult and sad in life.

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