24. Heartache

"CONNER"

"How is he?" Cassandra Wonder Girl Sandsmark looked up from her bedside vigil of Conner Kent, Superboy.

"Better," was all she said before turning her eyes back to the unconscious figure. J'onn and Tim had worked non-stop for almost five hours, including a major operation to repair all the internal damage and to stop the bleeding.

Currently he was in a state of forced coma, with J'onn regulating his brain activity to allow his body to recover from its wounds.

"Wonder Girl, you should get some rest. I will remain here and let you know as soon as something happens," offered J'onn Jones.

"Thankyou J'onn, but I'd rather be here," Cassandra shook her head, gently squeezing Conner hand, which held in her own.

"Cassandra," J'onn spoke softly as he addressed her by her real name. "Go to Tim."

Once again, the blonde-haired beauty shook her head, her beautiful face looking years older due to worry and fatigue. Having gone almost forty-eight hours without sleep was starting to show its effects.

Diana J'onn contacted Wonder Woman telepathically. She needs to take a break. If nothing, else take her out for a walk. Her mental turmoil is making it difficult for me to work

Understood Wonder Woman replied as she laid a hand on her younger counterpart's shoulder.

"Cassandra, come lets get some coffee. It will help you refresh you mind and then you can come back here."

Looking up once again, Cassandra gazed at Diana, then J'onn and then back at Diana again.

Hanging her head in defeat, she stood up and silently walked out of the door.

I'll try and see if she gets some sleep Diana relayed to the Martian as she also left the infirmary, leaving only silence and the mechanical sounds of the various machines connected to the unconscious Superboy.

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Once outside, the two started towards the main cafeteria, tension thick between them.

"Cassandra," Diana finally broke the silence. "What happened?"

At getting no answer, Diana decided to let the matter lie for a later and less pensive time.

"Conner…" Cassandra started to answer. However, a loud and angry voice from inside the room they were crossing answered it for her.

"HE IS HER HUSBAND DAMMIT," Tim Drake bellowed, his outburst having no affect the man standing in front of him. "He's…her….husband," he repeated softly, his voice cracking from frustration, fatigue and pain. "…her…husband."

Both Cassandra and Diana stopped in their tracks. Cassandra stopping because she wanted to hear everything and Diana, because she wanted to stay with Cassandra. However, the next voice she heard made it personal for her too.

"And…" Batman's graveled voice sounded clear in the empty corridor.

"And? What do you mean And?" Tim Drake looked up incredulously at the shadowed form of his mentor and adopted father.

At getting no answer from the caped crusader, Tim closed his eyes and took breaths to calm himself.

"And," he finally started. "That means our relationship….Cassandra and mine is over."

"Oh God!" Cassandra gasped in horror. She knew that her actions with Conner had caused a strain on Tim; but never had she thought that the situation might worsen to such an extent.

"Did she say so?" Batman's question raised hopes for both the eavesdroppers.

"No," Tim shook his head

"Have both of you discussed it with each other?" Bruce offered as a second question.

"No," this time was sadder but at the same time angrier.

"Why?" Batman asked calmly.

"Because I don't want to," Tim's blunt answer surprised everyone. "I don't want to make a fool out of myself. I don't want us to be like YOU." Tim spat out.

Batman's silence signaled that he wanted an explanation for the younger man's allegations. However, the erstwhile Robin and present day Oracle was a student of the Batman and a very good one at that. He maintained his silence, forcing Batman to speak first.

"What do you mean like me?" the question finally came.

"I don't want to become a bitter loner, who couldn't even tell the woman he loved that he loved her, all due to his own pride and misgivings…..and when she left him, he settled down for the one that was left behind. The one he did not even like in the first place. I don't want me and Cassandra to be like that. I don't want her to settle for second best and I definitely don't want to be with someone who belongs with and loves another. I don't want her pity…"

"…Like me," Batman supplied the unspoken words, Tim's angry silence acting as a confirmation.

"Anything else?" he finally asked. Again, all he got was silence.

"You say you don't want to be like me," Batman repeated the offensive words coldly. "That means you will not leave her stranded like I used to," it was said without any sarcasm. "That will also mean that you will respect her wishes as well as your own. That will also mean that you won't have to experience what its like when everyone you know, leaves you. That will also mean that won't have to experience what's it like to bury your family and friends with your own two hands," his voice grew colder with every word. "And, that will also mean that you won't be lucky enough to know what's it like to have a family of your own."

Everyone heard in shocked silence at the intensely closed man lay out his heart in the open for his son.

"On the good side, you won't have to bury her if she dies and leaves you alone once again," his words struck deep in the hearts of all the three listeners. They all knew that he was talking about Shayera now.

"What Diana and I had, may or may not have been love," Diana's ears perked with personal interest. "I don't know what would have happened if things had gone differently. Its all in the past and there's nothing we can do without it. What we can do is try to save the future, both of this planet and ours. You say, you don't want to be like me, then don't be and talk to her. Because we all know, closing up and hiding is something that both all of you have learned from me."

That being said, he started to walk towards the exit.

"And Tim," he stopped at the door. "Don't you EVER say anything about my wife. We might not have been each other's first choice, but I can say this much, at least for myself….it was the best one I made in my whole life. I didn't settle for Shayera, I was lucky to have got her, both as a teammate and as a wife, lover and mother of all my children…including you."

"Bruce…I-I'm sorry," Time apologized softly. "I shouldn't have…shouldn't have said that."

"Yes, you shouldn't have," with that, the Dark Knight left the room, sensing but not sparing a glance at the two dumbstruck women at his back.

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"Diana," Cassandra towards to an equally teary eyed Wonder Woman. "What am I going to do?"

"What am I going to do?"