It felt unreal, I was seeing the actual Batcave. I was INSIDE the actual Batcave. To my right was a platform with a fucking plane! I didn't even know Batman had a plane. To my left was a motorcycle. Not as impressive as the plane, but cool nonetheless.

The cave stretched much further than I could see from the car, but I was already blown away.

I pushed the car door open and stepped out, keeping my weight off of my injured leg. An old man I could only assume was Alfred approached the car, pushing a stretcher.

"Batman is in the driver's seat" I informed him.

Alfred nodded as moved to open that door.

Jason exited the car and slammed the door a bit harder than necessary.

"Do you need help with him?" he asked, directed to Alfred.

"That would be appreciated" Alfred replied.

The two started getting Batman out of the car. I would've helped, but they could probably handle it, and every step felt like getting stabbed. I simply stayed leaning against the car.

They managed to get Batman onto the stretcher and Alfred rolled him towards an area of the cave filled with screens and computers.

Jason said something to Alfred, I didn't hear it, but Alfred then returned to me.

"I've been told you're injured as well"

"Yup, got shot in the leg" I replied, gesturing to the cloth around my leg.

"And what of your head?"

"My mask got torn, I had to improvise, my head is fine" I promised.

Wanting to get it over with I pushed away from the car and carefully shifted some weight onto my injured leg. Not a good idea. My knee buckled and I was sent crashing towards the floor. However, something stopped me. Alfred had caught me and helped me back up. He offered his shoulder as support as we finally made out way over to Jason and Batman.

"You're being awfully nice to a criminal" I noted.

"Criminal or not, you saved two lives today, that surely accounts for something, no?" Alfred replied.

That really hadn't sunk in properly until that exact moment. I guess I sort of did, huh?

Alfred helped me to a chair. Getting the weight off my leg was a relief, and I slumped back against the backrest.

Alfred opened a cabinet and retrieved a box I assumed was some sort of first aid kit.

"This should relieve some of the pain" Alfred offered me a pill. The bottle was clearly visible in his hand, which eased my suspicions, as it was a drug I recognized.

"Thanks"

"What about you, sir?" He asked Jason.

Jason shook his head.

"I'm fine"

"Alright then" Alfred began to assess Batman's injuries.

I decided to get some rest. The fighting had tired me out quite a bit, as one would expect. I fidgeted with the side of the chair and felt my fingers brush against a lever. The backrest shifted and allowed me to feel a bit more comfortable. I closed my eyes and even though the pain would keep me from falling asleep, I would at least give my body a little break.

I heard Jason's chair shift, maybe he'd gotten the same idea. The kid was probably exhausted.

The sounds of the cave were strangely relaxing. There was the sound of wings, and while a bird was the most likely answer, I hoped it was a bat. Imagine how cool that would be. There was also water beneath us. The cave seemed to have been built next to some sort of underground water source.

Alfred was humming something, quietly, inaudible at times. He seemed far too calm for the situation, but maybe he was just very good at masking the distress. This was probably not the first time Alfred had to patch Batman up.

I considered lifting my head to see what exactly Alfred was doing, but my body felt heavy. I only seemed to sink deeper into the chair as I let the cave sounds soothe me.

It might've been because my mind was distracted, or maybe the painkillers were a bit stronger than I remembered, but the pain in my leg eventually started to subdue, and I let out a yawn.

Okay, as much as I craved sleep, it was not a good idea to fall asleep in the enemy base, I concluded, and reluctantly opened my eyes. They wanted to immediately close again, but I blinked a couple of times, and they eventually complied.

Alfred seemed to be almost done with Batman, as he was already putting away some stuff. Batman still laid unmoving on the stretcher. It was eerie. He was usually this unstoppable almost supernatural being, his mere presence sending criminals into a panic, but here he was, unmasked, missing his body armour, covered in bandages. And he was just a guy, be it a very messed up guy who should go to therapy, but, a guy.

"How is he?" I asked.

"He's been worse" Alfred admitted with a sigh.

"So he's gonna be fine?"

"He'll recover" Alfred promised.

It was weird. I'd always been taught to hate Batman, to want him dead, but he was so different when he thought I was just a normal kid, so...not Batman? Hating him had too quickly become impossible. But I still didn't think I cared, at least not until that explosion. Like, how could I not care about someone who saved my life, more than once, might I add? And learning Batman's identity, letting me see him as a normal human (with a bit more money than necessary). Yeah, no, I was screwed. There was no way mom, and especially dad ever found out about any of this.

Jesus fucking christ, yet another secret, yet another thing to withhold from them. I didn't know how much more I could handle before I just cracked.

Suddenly Batman stirred, and let out a quiet pained groan.

Alfred's head snapped to Batman, and he immediately rushed to his side. Batman tried to sit up, but Alfred gently stopped him, rolling his eyes, this seemed to happen a lot.

"Glad to see you awake, master, but please be careful"

Batman mumbled something incoherent and his eyes flickered around the room, eventually spotting me.

He once again attempted to sit up, but Alfred held a hand against his shoulder.

"Master, you'll rip the stitches. I assure you everything is okay"

"The kids-"

"They're okay. They got you here" Alfred assured.

Batman's hand rose to his face, and I could see the panic as he realized there was no mask.

"Yes, they know. We'll sort that out later. Now, you need to rest" Alfred's voice was stern, and Batman sighed, and relaxed, but a glare made it clear he did not like it.

"Now, since no one is dying anymore, someone was shot, no?" Alfred addressed me.

"Mhm"

Alfred lifted my leg onto a chair and brought over the med kit.

He offered to knock me out while he took out the bullet, but, again, I didn't fancy being asleep in the enemy base, so I just bit down on my glove and tried not to scream.

After what felt like way too long of forceps digging around in my leg, the bullet was gone, and Alfred made quick work of wrapping it up.

"Keep it elevated for a while, and don't move it too much" Alfred advised.

"Will do, thanks"

I massaged my jaw, it hurt after being clenched for so long.

I'd been able to ignore it while Alfred was working, but I'd been feeling a gaze burning into me, coming from a certain bat.