Chapter 4
Wayne Tech executive Lucius Fox gave the media an official statement.
It read: "Dick Grayson, former ward of Bruce Wayne, was believed to have lost control of his vehicle on the icy roads that led to the Wayne home. All drug and alcohol tests were negative, and the police department is looking into some threats that had been made to the Wayne family earlier in the month. An investigation is also being made by the Bludhaven Police Department, as Mr. Wayne's heir has been an officer there for about 6 months. Officer Grayson's partner had no comment when approached, but acknowledged his performance as an officer had been above reproach.
Mr. Grayson is in serious but stable condition at Gotham Medical Center. He will be undergoing surgery this morning. Mr. Wayne has been at the hospital since his ward was admitted as well as family friends and City Commissioner James Gordon with his daughter Barbara. Security at the hospital has become tight, due to the possibility of any attempts on the Wayne family's lives."
Days turned into weeks. Dick had been home for most of them. He was released to Leslie's care as soon as he was out of serious condition. The only real problem was his eyesight. Most of the wounds healed quickly, and short of tying him to the bed, he could be found wandering back and forth through the halls almost every day.
S`lea had become a welcome guest as far as Alfred and Tim were concerned. Even Barbara liked her. She had taken her clothes shopping for a day of "girl stuff". With her ears hidden behind her long brownish-red locks, she looked like she stepped right out of the sixties and seventies. She had been dressed in her leather breeches and a t-shirt belonging to Dick since the day she had come to the Manor. Barbara got a laugh at S'lea's reaction the first time she saw herself in a mini dress. It was a simple straight-line dress with a beautiful sheer cover. It was quite flattering to her figure, but she swore the storekeeper must have lost part of the frock, for there was nothing covering her legs. She settled for a couple pairs of jeans, jogging pants and an assortment of shirts. And they talked as they lunched at a mall diner in the food court.
S`lea enjoyed the ale they served. "Its taste is like the waters of Calous," she announced. "Does it have healing magic too?"
"I wish," Babs laughed, sloshing her Diet Kola. "No, no, healing magic, but if you drink enough of it, you really care that you hurt."
She looked up to see that look. She had seen that look before. The shadow, the one that was always followed by The Question: "Does it hurt?"
It would not be the first time it was asked in the last week, let alone the last couple years. Dick, Tim and Alfred already explained the wheelchair long before they met. They even used Bruce's old chair to explain to S`lea how it worked. But the first day they had met, she seemed only to stare as if a question was going to burst from her at any moment. But she never said anything, only smiled and stared. It was obvious that she was told to keep all questions until after Barbara had left.
"S`lea we are alone. If you want to ask me a question, then go ahead. I can probably answer them better then the guys do, and I promise I won't tell anyone." S`lea looked at all the people in the restaurant, and then stared back at her confused.
"I mean, the guys aren't here to stop you from asking what's on your mind. You're obviously curious about something. Go ahead and ask."
"In my world, there are so many wonderful things that will either heal you or kill you. Your world's magic, it could not heal you?"
Babs smiled into her glass. "No. S`lea, the chair is something I will have to deal with for the rest of my life. It took a while, but I accepted that long ago."
"Then I do not understand. If you are so accepting of this fate, why do you blame him?"
"Blame whom? For what?"
"His lordship...Nig..."
"Dick, S`lea, his name is Dick," she interrupted, "and I don't blame him. He wasn't even around when this happened."
"No, he told me that, and it haunts him nightly. But that is not what I meant. You love him, yes?"
Barbara didn't know whether she was getting angry or curious to know where this was going. After all, Tim and Alfred both claimed that she was very good at seeing past the illusions. "Yes, I care very much for him."
"I am sorry I have angered you. Let us...uh...change the subject." Tim had taught her the tactic of changing the subject. He said it was often used to divert the opponent when you have said something wrong or they asked a question that could not be answered with out bringing harm to others. Looking down at her food she smiled. "I like this. What do you call it? Uh ... hamburger."
"No, let's not change the subject. I want to know what you seem to think I blame him for," Babs snapped. "Did he tell you I blamed him for something?"
"Godspit, NO!" she coughed. She paused a moment when she realized she had attracted attention once again, then stretching slightly across the table she whispered "Your name does not cross his mind that he doesn't hold you close to his heart. You are the one who has expressed this."
"I never said any such thing," Bab's objected.
"With your mouth, maybe not, but with your heart. It is quite plain."
She set down the hamburger and took another swallow of ale as if it were water. "Your blame lies not for your inability. It is for his ability."
"WHAT?"
"Is not the reason you do not tell him your true feelings is that you believe he cannot understand what you feel because he still does the things that you so yearn still to be able to do?" By now Barbara's face was as red as a fire truck. She felt like the whole room was lost in a staring contest and their table was the point of interest.
"I, uh ... how dare... I've gotta go." She backed away from the table, practically attacking a passing waiter with her charge card. "I'm sorry, I have an appointment I forgot all about. Will you please find our waiter and have him cash us out? I have to go."
S`lea picked up her packages and quickly followed behind her. "I am sorry. I have upset you. I thought you said..."
"I just remembered an appointment." Barbara lied. " I have to go."
She got halfway through the mall's garage when it hit her. Why the hell was she trying to lie to this woman? She just point blank stated the reason she was afraid to get close to the man who she professed in her heart professed to love, or to anyone else for that matter. Was she still bitter? She stopped, and turned to the elfin warrior. Tears had already begun to flow from her eyes "OH GOD," she squeaked
S`lea kneeled down and wiped them with her calloused fingers. "I am sorry, Milady."
"No, no, you were right. You are right." She sniffled. " I ... oh God, poor Dick, no wonder he walks on eggshells when he's around me. I'm such a jerk." S`lea tilted her head in a questioning manner. "I'm sorry, S`lea. It was unfair for me to take this out on you. You and I both know you're right. It's just that I don't like to be so easily read."
"I have not been harmed, but may I ask you a question?"
"I, ah, um... yeah, I guess ... sure," she answered. Bracing herself for another dose of reality, she looked at the kneeling warrior dead in the eye.
"Why do you have eggshells on your floor?"
The sound came out as a choke at first. Then she began to laugh. It was uncontrollable. She flung her arms around the one-time stranger's neck and laughed.
Yes, S`lea had become a guest in the Manor, since she couldn't return to her realm without Nightwing's help, and Dick had no clue how to return her. She was to become a more prominent figure. As for Bruce, he just ignored her. If anyone asked, she was a relative of Alfred's who was visiting Gotham. This was not a difficult concept for the young warrior to comprehend. It was a common belief in her world that all life forms had a common bond, so to her this would not be a lie. She helped Alfred when he would let her because she loved to learn about the wonderful magical machines this world had. She loved to ride in the iron carriages and loved the fact they could fly in the bellies of great iron beasts and still step out of them unscathed. She was becoming really impressed with the washer and dryer. She would spend hours just watching the clothes spin around and around.
In the afternoons Tim would come by and he and Dick would spar. Other times, S`lea would spar with them. She was proficient with a bowstaff, but even blind, Dick was faster and more accurate. She became very good with many of the "bat weapons." What she didn't know, she was quick to learn. She claimed that in her world, they had similar weapons.
However, she still preferred her sword.
S`lea even professed to have some gifts of magic, but it would tire her to use them. She told them that she could only use them if she felt there was no other choice. Claiming that because she had not been raised with the knowledge of her powers, she had to be trained in the use of them. "I am as a child born with a painful ailment who will go through life without worry of that ailment or its pain because that will be the only world known to him. Magic is an ailment. It is not unlike fire burning within. There are those who are born knowing how to ignore it. Others, such as myself, must be taught to use it. Still in a fight, pain can be a formidable friend." She admitted to missing her world, but for the most part she believed that she must have been sent for a reason or she would have been returned to her realm.
Most of the time, she could be seen following Dick around the house.
Her skills of stealth even astounded Bruce. She had been able to walk up on him more than once since she had become his "guest". But as Alfred so brilliantly pointed out, he had been greatly distracted with young master Dick and his current condition that everything that was Batman seemed to disappeared from Bruce's life. Bruce had been true to his word. Nothing was more important than Dick's recovery. Batman had seemed to vanish that night, and had not been seen since. It was nearly three weeks before Bruce even returned to work as Bruce. He was met with mounds of paperwork and floods of phone calls, most of them false concerns on the condition of the "kid" he had taken in.
This lack of activity didn't last. He had left the house on the day
Dick was to have the bandages removed against his better judgment. Somehow, deep inside, he didn't think it was a good idea. But for now, he did what they asked even though he knew better.
