Lost Hope
Chapter 3
Grief
When Donna landed on the deck of the rain-drenched cruise ship, she knew that no one could see her tears. But no one was on the deck; she didn't know how to make this next move. She was scared, so scared she never saw Roy walk up behind her.
"You miss me wonder chick?" He smiled placing his strong arm around her shoulder. "They gave me my own suite with its own Jacuzzi, never been used by anyone yet. What say we go christen it?"
Donna turned but her eyes could not meet his.
He gently lifted her chin to find her face was red and her eyes puffy.
"Donna, what's wrong?"
"Dick's..." she sobbed, hoping to get the words clear of her mouth before she broke down again. "...he's dead..."
Tim had fallen asleep in Dick's quarters at Titans Tower. He was the first to leave the candlelight vigil; he couldn't stand one more story of 'The First Robin' and his great escapades. It was not jealousy that drove him nuts it was...they all talked about him as if he were dead, and he just wouldn't believe that. Dick couldn't be dead; he promised to take him to one of the Nascar Winston Cup races this year, maybe even going to Daytona to catch the race and then spend the rest of the week at the beach catching waves. He'd really never seen a race before but in talking to Davey at Brentwood, he learned there was only one thing better than a good Nascar Race and that was all the babes who went to them. Dick tried to convince him that, considering what he did for a living, the races were probably going to be boring, but he would see what he could do to scrounge up some pit passes. Dick wouldn't lie to him.
Okay, that was a stupid thread to hold onto. But right now he would believe anything to push away this anger that was building inside, the feeling of abandonment that heated his soul. That's when he noticed that he had totally destroyed the room. His throwing stars found their way into the wall, the desk chair, the dresser, and the picture of him and Dick that his surrogate brother kept on the desk. Dick would flip out if he came back to find this mess...or just think he was at his apartment. God how he wished he would come back.
Bruce sat in the Cave, his robe hanging loosely over his shoulder as he stared at the monitor that played and replayed the copy of amateur film that caught the destruction of Dick's jet. Even the shower didn't wash away the memories of the day or the coldness in the air. This cold wasn't from the damp air of the Cave, it was much deeper. He doubted he would catch pneumonia from it, not that it mattered anyhow. He damn near electrocuted himself the night before. He has no memory of when or how he got to the top of the building, or even why he went.
"As Alfred would say, it wasn't the most impressive move in my repertoire." He thought out loud. Luckily you don't have to hit him with lightning to knock some sense into him...just hit twenty feet from him and blow him into the roof's emergency access door. It was about then when he realized where he was and climbed down the building, at least he thought he climbed down. The only thing he knew for sure was he was sitting in the car in the cave wondering what transpired just last morning.
Now he was watching the film loop for the hundredth time...nothing seemed to change the ball of "lightning" striking the jet. He could actually see by the movement of the craft that Nightwing was struggling to maintain control and rolled away from the other jet. The guy who was filming it managed to follow it out of sight, as the lightening appeared to be enveloping the entire craft. Then just before it disappeared from sight, there were two, maybe three explosions, the first barely noticeable when the second lit up the sky.
He enlarged the frame till there was nothing but a major blur and, in stop-frame as close as the computer would let him get, he replayed that one more time. He was right. The first explosion tossed something away from the craft, but not very far, when the second and third explosions occurred. If he was right, the first explosion was Dick ejecting the rescue pod from the T-Jet. The second was the jet's destruction and the third was the destruction of the pod.
Chapter 3
Grief
When Donna landed on the deck of the rain-drenched cruise ship, she knew that no one could see her tears. But no one was on the deck; she didn't know how to make this next move. She was scared, so scared she never saw Roy walk up behind her.
"You miss me wonder chick?" He smiled placing his strong arm around her shoulder. "They gave me my own suite with its own Jacuzzi, never been used by anyone yet. What say we go christen it?"
Donna turned but her eyes could not meet his.
He gently lifted her chin to find her face was red and her eyes puffy.
"Donna, what's wrong?"
"Dick's..." she sobbed, hoping to get the words clear of her mouth before she broke down again. "...he's dead..."
Tim had fallen asleep in Dick's quarters at Titans Tower. He was the first to leave the candlelight vigil; he couldn't stand one more story of 'The First Robin' and his great escapades. It was not jealousy that drove him nuts it was...they all talked about him as if he were dead, and he just wouldn't believe that. Dick couldn't be dead; he promised to take him to one of the Nascar Winston Cup races this year, maybe even going to Daytona to catch the race and then spend the rest of the week at the beach catching waves. He'd really never seen a race before but in talking to Davey at Brentwood, he learned there was only one thing better than a good Nascar Race and that was all the babes who went to them. Dick tried to convince him that, considering what he did for a living, the races were probably going to be boring, but he would see what he could do to scrounge up some pit passes. Dick wouldn't lie to him.
Okay, that was a stupid thread to hold onto. But right now he would believe anything to push away this anger that was building inside, the feeling of abandonment that heated his soul. That's when he noticed that he had totally destroyed the room. His throwing stars found their way into the wall, the desk chair, the dresser, and the picture of him and Dick that his surrogate brother kept on the desk. Dick would flip out if he came back to find this mess...or just think he was at his apartment. God how he wished he would come back.
Bruce sat in the Cave, his robe hanging loosely over his shoulder as he stared at the monitor that played and replayed the copy of amateur film that caught the destruction of Dick's jet. Even the shower didn't wash away the memories of the day or the coldness in the air. This cold wasn't from the damp air of the Cave, it was much deeper. He doubted he would catch pneumonia from it, not that it mattered anyhow. He damn near electrocuted himself the night before. He has no memory of when or how he got to the top of the building, or even why he went.
"As Alfred would say, it wasn't the most impressive move in my repertoire." He thought out loud. Luckily you don't have to hit him with lightning to knock some sense into him...just hit twenty feet from him and blow him into the roof's emergency access door. It was about then when he realized where he was and climbed down the building, at least he thought he climbed down. The only thing he knew for sure was he was sitting in the car in the cave wondering what transpired just last morning.
Now he was watching the film loop for the hundredth time...nothing seemed to change the ball of "lightning" striking the jet. He could actually see by the movement of the craft that Nightwing was struggling to maintain control and rolled away from the other jet. The guy who was filming it managed to follow it out of sight, as the lightening appeared to be enveloping the entire craft. Then just before it disappeared from sight, there were two, maybe three explosions, the first barely noticeable when the second lit up the sky.
He enlarged the frame till there was nothing but a major blur and, in stop-frame as close as the computer would let him get, he replayed that one more time. He was right. The first explosion tossed something away from the craft, but not very far, when the second and third explosions occurred. If he was right, the first explosion was Dick ejecting the rescue pod from the T-Jet. The second was the jet's destruction and the third was the destruction of the pod.