Your Cheatin' Heart

Chapter Eight

DISCLAIMER: I hate disclaimers. However, I suppose that they are a necessary evil in our lives to keep the lawyers from going bananas. Sooooooo I DON'T OWN THEM. Happy now?

WARNING: Sappy dialogue ahead! However, I sort of (ah-hem) accidentally did it on purpose, if you know what I mean. And if you don't know what I mean, you'll find out in this chapter. I'm hoping it isn't as bad as I think it is, but hey... you never know...

When I woke up again, I was in my own bed at the beach house with my shirt off and that stupid sling back on my arm. It just wasn't my day.

Funny thing, though, I was still in the pants I had worn to court—it must have been just a few hours since my collapse. My shoulder was still a bit sore, but not half as bad as before. Bruce was sitting in a chair next to the bed, watching me. When he noticed I was awake, he asked how I felt.

"I'm fine," I sighed. "I'd like to know what happened, though."

"The doctors said you weren't ready to get out of bed yet, remember? You must have moved the wrong way and aggravated the wound."

That must have been some aggravation.

It was probably all the squirming I did.

"That's it?"

"Yes," was the rather short reply. Then he stood up and walked over to the big bay windows. I propped myself up on my right elbow to see what he was doing. Not much, as things turned out. All he seemed to be doing was staring out the window. There was something a bit off here, I just knew it. Bruce always stares out the window when something's off.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked. "You've barely even spoken to me for days. Did I do something?"

He turned away from the window to glare at me. I knew right then that I was in hot water. Why? I didn't know. I hadn't set anything on fire within the past week, so…

"You knew," he said. "You knew and you didn't even tell me."

Great. Back to that stupid shtick again. I could feel my temper rising, and my shoulder wasn't helping my mood any, either.

"I tried to tell you! That day in the stable, remember?" I spat. "You wouldn't have believed me anyway… so what was I supposed to do?"

"Anything but what you did!" I had gotten him mad. Wonderful. "Running off without a word, knowing your chances of coming back were next to none… what were you thinking? Did it ever occur to you that I just might like to know what was going on in my life?"

I was stunned, and although I really felt like saying "Turnabout is fair play", all I could manage to choke out was:

"Well there's gratitude for you!"

"Gratitude? For what? You getting yourself shot to protect a couple of murderers?" he growled.

"You think I did it just to protect those two? Well, I didn't! I planned all that because I wanted you to be—"

I guess I must have 'aggravated the wound' again, because I found myself lying back, clutching my shoulder. Again. At least the pain wasn't as bad as before so I could register the fact that Bruce was sitting next to me.

I tried to finish my speech. I had to get it out. And besides that, it would be harder for Bruce to yell at me if I was hurting:

"You were so happy with Tracie…" I choked out. "Happier than I'd ever seen you. I thought… I thought maybe if June killed me instead of you, nobody would ever know… and you could continue being happy…"

Cheesy, yes, but that's what I said. Embarrassingly enough.

I continued: "The night before… I went over to the cliffs and met up with her… I made her promise not to… not to kill you… to take me instead… now I know it was a dumb thing to do, and I know I shouldn't have trusted her, but… what else was I…"

The pain, emotions and stress of the past few weeks finally got to me. As much as I hate to admit it, I began crying. It must have been an awkward situation for Bruce, since he had always let Alfred handle the emotional aspects of my upbringing, but I couldn't control myself. I had had it; I was completely burnt out.

Bruce started to stroke my hair a little. In an attempt to calm me down, I guess.

"Dick," he said gently (gently for him, anyway). "Didn't you even stop to think what effects your death would have had if June had succeeded?"

"…No…"

It sounded stupid, even to my own ears, but I really hadn't. I guess my plan hadn't been as foolproof as I had thought. But I was just his ward. I couldn't be as important as Tracie… right?… darn it, what had he gone and messed me up for? I was so sure a minute ago!

"Well, next time, I think you'd better rethink any plans you have to get yourself killed."

Wow. Bruce hadn't said anything that nice to me since I was nine. It wasn't so much what he said; it was more like how he said it. And I really liked the way he had said it.

"Are you serious?" I asked, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.

"Would I lie about a thing like that?"

I smiled a little. "No. I guess not."

"Okay then." He ruffled my hair. "Try to get some rest, alright?"

I nodded and closed my eyes. But there was just one thing I needed to ask before we put that little matter to rest.

"Bruce?" I said, opening my eyes again.

"What is it?"

"Is Alfred mad at me, too? I was riding bareback that day at Seagull Rock, and you know how he hates it when I…"

I couldn't believe it. Bruce actually looked like he was going to burst out laughing! However, he promptly returned to his usual serious attitude and merely said, "Go to sleep, Dick."

I closed my eyes. And this time, I kept them closed.

Me: Okay, I know Friday isn't the day that I usually update my stuff (Saturday or Sunday are my days), but since I've been getting death threats from my reviewers, I figured it would be safer to update a bit earlier.

Dick: Death threats?

Me: Yeah. Take a look. (shows him the reviewer page)

Dick: That's a good idea. If you kill me off, then I'll kill you off.

Me: HOW? You'd be DEAD.

Dick: ...I have my ways...

(Suddenly looks really nervous, like that time when she watched part of the torture scene from Marathon Man right before going to the orthodontist. Which is a really bad idea, by the way, although if you wanted to get revenge on somebody, that's a great way to do it.)

Me: I wish you wouldn't say that, Rob.

Dick: Let me say it again then...

Me: (runs off in terror)

Reviewer Replies

Alexnandru Van Gordon-You have a point there... POISON? You want me to be POISONED? Gee, I don't know if I want to talk to you anymore after that! ;-)

Onthnis-Don't worry, Panamint has no intention of letting this story go without an update for two weeks ever again. Have fun on your vacation!

kokomocalifornia-Thanks for reading her stuff, and the plot twist and all that sinister stuff comes later (I wasn't really supposed to tell anybody that, but who cares?)

Mysterious Jedi-Africa? Whoa. That sounds like it's going to be an interesting trip. 8) And I've always been rather partial to the 'reconciliation' chapters, too. For obvious reasons.

60's-bat-fan-Well, judging by the way I'm talking to you right now, Panamint must really value her life. And she REALLY hopes that this update was quick enough for you!

Cry me Tears-Hey, good for you! I've been waiting for ages to hear somebody say something like that to TAP. Congratulations, and here's the update.