Your Cheatin' Heart
Chapter Seven
DISCLAIMER: Nope, no way. I wish I could think up new ways to do a disclaimer, but I've been doing it for almost a year now: what do you want from me? (it's true, August 30 with be my one-year anniversary of signing up with this site. Not necessarily the anniversary of POSTING, but SIGNING UP, yes).
...I'm hoping this chapter isn't too sappy for you. I have a tendency to get overly sentimental with these kinds of things, and if this chapter is too sappy for you, then please, DON'T READ THE NEXT ONE EITHER! It's way sappier than this one, believe me. At least, I hope it's softer, but not just plain soft... you understand? Good, neither do I.
The day of the trial arrived, and I had yet to see Bruce anywhere. Only Alfred came to see me, but no Bruce. I was beginning to think he was avoiding me on purpose.
"I really wish you wouldn't do this, Master Dick," Alfred pleaded for what seemed like the millionth time.
He handed me my coat anyway.
"I'm fine. For real."
The coat brushed against a part of my shoulder that was still sore. I winced. Alfred gave me one of his patented 'You were saying?' looks.
"I'll be alright," I insisted. Very carefully, I finished putting the suit on and left the room. I could practically smell Alfred's disapproval as we headed out of the hospital and into the car. But he said nothing else about it and we had soon arrived at the courthouse.
I noticed that Bruce was waiting for us on the front steps. As soon as he saw that we had gotten there in one piece, he disappeared inside. I was stunned. I knew he must be angry because of what Tracie and June had tried to do, but why was he taking it out on me?
Upon saying as much to Alfred, I got a reply I really wished I hadn't asked for: "Master Bruce believes that you allowed yourself to be shot to protect Miss Tracie, young master."
"He thinks I WHAT!" I cried. If I had been stunned before, I was downright horrified now. "But… but June… she… I… you don't believe that, do you, Alfred?"
"Of course not, Master Dick," was the prompt reply. "I know you did what you did to protect Master Bruce, not to deliberately aide the Silvers sisters. That just happened to be a rather unpleasant string attached to the deal you made. But with the shock of Miss Tracie's confession, immediately followed by finding you half-dead on the beach—he merely jumped to his own conclusion, and you know how stubborn Master Bruce can be once he gets a notion settled into his head."
Pause.
"You know, sir… we came dangerously close to losing you many a time over the past couple of weeks. And I think that is what has upset him most."
Another pause as I tried to absorb all this new information. Bruce thought I'd get myself killed to protect a woman I barely even knew? Usually he's an exceedingly intelligent person, but I couldn't help but think that this was a rather boneheaded thing to accept as fact.
"But Bruce was never at the hospital except for that one time. So how—?" I began.
"I'm afraid you're wrong, Master Dick," Alfred answered, shaking his head. "He was there constantly those first few days. Watching you, talking to you, holding your hand…"
"Talk about your basic out-of-character moments," I mumbled. That didn't sound like the hard, practically-emotionless Bruce I knew at all! I regretted not being awake to see that. Then again, if I had been awake, he probably wouldn't have done it.
By that time, we had almost reached the top of the stairs of the courthouse (that's one thing I've noticed without fail: all government buildings always have an excessive number of steps). There was still one thing I needed to know, though.
"How did Tracie find out about what June and I had planned?"
"Don't you mean what you planned, Master Dick?" Alfred corrected gently. I turned a little pink and nodded in agreement.
"I'm not entirely sure. However, according to Miss Tracie, her sister had informed her of the change in plans. Or rather, partially informed her. If she had told Miss Tracie everything, then Master Bruce would understand what really occurred that day."
"It still doesn't make sense," I insisted. "I overheard the Silvers sisters talking the other day, and Tracie said that if she could, she would have married Bruce. With me out of the way, she could have had him. Why would she ruin it all?"
"A guilty conscience, I suppose. Or perhaps she loved him enough to give him back what he cared for most—his son."
—
While I was waiting for my turn at the stand, I couldn't stop squirming. I'd been in courtrooms before, but murder trials are very different from the custody hearings I was used to. It was a bit nerve-wracking, especially because I already knew what the results were going to be—Tracie and June were going to jail. Unless somebody bribed the jury… oh great. I was getting as paranoid as Bruce. Not good.
For what seemed like the umpteenth time since we had been sitting there, I leaned over in my chair and hissed in Bruce's ear, "Look, just listen to me! I did not—!"
"Richard Grayson will now take the stand."
Actually, I felt as if I'd rather be locked in the tiger cage in the zoo. But since there were no tiger cages in sight, I had no choice but to get up on that stand and spill my guts.
"Were you aware of the fact that the defendants had committed crimes in the past?"
"Yes, sir."
Halfway through with the questioning, I felt this nagging pain in my shoulder. Sort of like the way your arm feels after you get a vaccination at the doctor's office. I tried to ignore it and answer the questions as best I could.
"And did you know that June Silvers was at Seagull Rock the day you went riding there?"
"Yes, sir. I planned it."
Murmurs, mutterings, surprised expressions from the jury.
But the annoying little ache refused to go away. If anything, it just kept getting more annoying. I gripped the arms of the chair as tightly as I could to keep from interrupting the trial. It was hard enough to condemn Tracie without prolonging it, and I could only imagine what Bruce was thinking…
"Now, Richard, why don't you tell the jury exactly why you did it?"
"I—"
Suddenly, my whole shoulder felt as if it would explode. It was that bad. Too bad to hide any longer.
I let out a cry and fell out of the chair onto my knees, clutching my shoulder.
I could hear people murmuring, and footsteps, but they sounded so far away. Someone was trying to talk to me, but the pain—correction, agony—was quickly consuming my thoughts and I couldn't answer.
Everything began to fade and eventually, all was black.
Dick: You like doing this to me, don't you?
Me: (maniacal laughter)
Dick: (sourly) I'll take that as a yes.
Me: Hey, you should be flattered! The more I torture a Muse, the more I like him/her. And since you're my all-time most tortured Muse, you're my favorite!
Dick: That sounds like pretty screwy logic to me, TAP.
Me: What'd you expect? Mr. Spock?
Spock: Yes?
Dick: Oh, great, you just HAD to bring him into this, didn't you?
Me: Hehe...
Reviewer Replies
Herald Tamara-Thank you for the compliment and... Death fic? Yikes, I never thought this could be a death fic! Now you've got me worried! I'll have to go ask Panamint what her plans are for this.
Alexnandru Van Gordon-Hopefully, this chapter helped to explain how TAP's warped mind works. But I will agree with you on one point-as long as I don't get charged with anything, I don't really care WHAT happens!... I'm going to regret that comment, I just know it... XP
Mysterious Jedi-Thanks, it was nice of you to say that! And life is definitely not fair... of course, it gets even LESS fair with a meanie like Panamint around.
Mrs. Hermione Potter-The ending shouldn't be too far away now. At least, I hope not. And she'll keep it up for as long as she can, believe me...
mee-That's definitely more than okay. Panamint NEEDS to be rushed. Especially with this week's little 'delay'... glad you liked the story, though.
60's-bat-fan-Mind? I'd be delighted! You know, that's the second time this month that somebody has asked me to hit the author... I think the reviewers are beginning to get smart! And I'm glad I'm alive, too, thank you very much.
Onthnis-Very sorry for the delay, then, since you seem to like it so much. I hope you were able to survive well enough without a new chapter for two whole weeks, haha. ;-)
kokomocalifornia-All of her stories? Wow! It looks like Panamint has gotten herself another fan, although how anybody can put up with her stuff is beyond my level of comprehension. Really. 8)