Bleeding

Rose

Love conquers all

By: Rosa Du Grey

Chapter Three: Waking Up

I woke slowly. My front slowly throbbed, registering a faint pain from where the bullets had ripped flesh. I realized I wasn't bleeding anymore, which was good. The confusing thing was that I was lying on what felt like a hospital bed. A constant beeping assailed my ears. Wincing even with my eyes closed, I made an irritable noise as the thing's beeping just sped up. Warily, I cracked an eye open. The lights were dim enough to allow me to fully open my eyes without repercussions. The room was still; except for the beep of what looked like a heart monitor and the faint glow of the moon on the black TV screen. A solitary nurse passed by my room after peering into the full length plexi glass window next to the door. She apparently didn't think it was anything serious that I was sitting up after I had been shot twice in the abdomen.

A glance around from my new position revealed no one in the darkened room with me. I didn't find being alone in the room too disturbing. Carol probably couldn't be woken. I'm usually the only one who can get away with waking her up before twelve noon without hearing about it until midnight. I smiled as I thought of days in college when I had had to roust my roommate for her classes. It had been incredibly annoying at the time, but now I could look back and laugh. Not so much when Carol went back to her old habits, but still, my college days were when I was most alive. I frowned when I thought of that. Oh, how ironic... The days I was still in hiding being the days I lived the most. My life, until now, has been peaceful. I guess I've forgotten how to deal with conflict.

I twitched as I heard male feet land on the linoleum floor. I could tell the difference between male and female because of the pattern of stride and often, male feet came down heavier than female feet. Depending on the woman's weight, of course. My eyes flicked warily about as I heard the footsteps growing closer in the now eerily silent hospital.

The speedily increasing beep-beep-beep of the heart monitor was growing irksome as well. It sounded in my ears as my heart began to thud. Where the hell are the cops?! I thought they'd be guarding me after something like this... After all, it seems a particular madman might just be out to get me. I rose from my bed, wincing at the soreness of my legs. The footsteps grew closer as I tugged the monitors off of me carefully. Wincing as I tugged out the IV carefully, I froze as I heard the footsteps grow far too close for comfort. A wet smack and a few seconds later, the footsteps were receding down the corridor. Realizing I was wearing nothing but a skimpy hospital gown, I rooted around in the closet for my clothes. Surely they didn't toss them...

Oh rats. It seems they had. At least, my shirt and bra were nowhere to be found. I groaned as pain shot through my middle when I leaned over. Lord, I'm going to hate myself in the morning for this curiosity. ... .I slid on the pants I found, regardless of how stinky they smelt. Probably from the Joker-gassed idiot on the subway... I prowled toward the door, opening it with a creak that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Who left doors squeaky in a HOSPITAL, of all places? Wouldn't they be better maintained? I poked my head out the door, choking as I smelled blood. Holding my nose, I gathered my wits in time to see the bloodied face of a cop smiling back at me.

I screamed, scrabbling backwards. No! Nononononononooooo! Not again! Not again! Whyyyy?! The female cop had been slit open from her chin to her waist, revealing all the vital organs inside. She had the cracked smile of someone who had been Joker gassed. Oh my fucking god... Joker's been here... He's after me! I was only faintly aware of the fact that my body temperature was rising.

I stood up, turning on my heel and moving to the window, wild thoughts racing through my head as my body shook like a leaf. I was scared out of my mind what I might find in the other halls of the hospital, so my wild thoughts were wandering where they had only wandered when I had been at my very, very lowest point in life. I had hit rock bottom once before. I was getting there again. My heart pounding even faster, I stared out the window into the embrace of the night city. Slamming up the window sill, I stared out, letting the wind caress through my hair, sending it behind me like a ridiculously jaunty banner. One little step... That's all it would take... One step and all this pain would be over... Joker wouldn't be able to pursue me into hell...

Would he?

I shuddered, preparing to heave myself out the window. I was of no use to anyone. Batman shouldn't have saved me that day... I wasn't worth the effort of saving...

I screamed aloud as a dark figure swooped into the window, knocking me backwards and onto my butt, despite years of balance training. My tear stained (I hadn't even realized I was crying at that point) eyes looked up to see a figure that was once in a lifetime glimpse for most Gothamites.

The Batman.

He was an imposing figure, even as he just stood there. His white eyes were focused on me intently as he just... Looked. As if to say How dare you attempt to waste what I gave you! I started to shiver silently, frightened by how silent he was. He reminded me of an imposing column of black stone. A very well built stone pillar, at that. My cheeks heated at the naughty thought. Well, what girl DOESN'T have naughty thoughts about darkly handsome hotties once in a while, I tried to reason with myself as he just stared.

"Come with me. It isn't safe here."

What? Am I hallucinating?

"Wh-why?"

"You saw the guard, didn't you?"

Damn. I hate it when he answers a question with a question... Wait, I should answer anyway.

"Yes."

Batman simply gave me a look, as if that explained it all.

"Where are we going?"

Batman then gave me a "Stupid!" look, or at least I could have sworn he was giving me such a look under the mask. I sighed. I really did need to stop trying to guess what he was thinking.

"Okay, I get it. No questions like that. Anyway-"

CRASH! The windows next to the hospital doors blew out and I practically jumped into the Batman's arms. He caught me, turning immediately and making his exit through the window. I was too frightened to scream as, in a whirlwind of sensation, we fell into the waiting Batmobile. I was still trying to catch my breath as the lid of the car slid over us and Batman started the car. I jumped as the engine purred to life, power in every nuance of sound. I sighed, not noticeably over the hum of the engine as Batman pressed the gas pedal. We went along with mind blowing speed, me still trying to calm down from our hasty exit. I glanced over at Batman, who gripped the wheel tightly and simply stared ahead through the semi-tinted glass.

Once my heart began to return to a normal rate, I relaxed into my seat. Batman would protect me. He protected all of Gotham. How hard could it be to protect one woman?

Oh, if only I knew...

I focused on the road we were eating up at an unbelievable speed. Once the day and night I had caught up to me, I started to shake weakly. Wrapping my arms around myself, I tried not to have a nervous breakdown in front of my hero. Trying to ease my breathing, I barely noticed when he glanced over at me. Before I knew it, a blindfold was around my face. I yelped and tried to take it off.

"Don't do that. Keep that on until we reach a safe spot."

"A-alright..."

I left it alone. I soon had other things to occupy my mind as I felt the Batmobile rock under the impact of what felt like a bomb. I stayed silent as I watched Batman press several buttons on the dashboard of the Batmobile, and gunshots fired behind us. Stiffening, I wondered if it was the Joker who had caught up with us. I couldn't see a thing with the damn blindfold over my face... This was frustrating. I have to know! Is that psychopath chasing us? Or is it someone else who just spotted the Batman and decided to take a couple potshots? Agh, I can't stand not knowing! Fuck this blindfold. Ignorance isn't bliss after all... I tore the blindfold off. I ignored Batman's obviously- for him- irritated expression in favor of wiggling around to peer around, trying to get my bearings. I had to know whether or not that damn crazy was chasing us or my mind would start inventing things I really didn't want to follow right now. Too damn scary.

I was soon given the answer when I spotted, dimly through the tinted glass, a massive, garishly purple truck speeding alongside us. The thing had a crazily grinning white faced clown on the front. I shuddered, the memory of the guard's corpse coming to mind. I didn't want to die like this... I WOULDN'T die like this! I started to feel hot inside the interior of the car. It felt like the walls were closing in, suffocating me and squeezing a vise around my head. Groaning faintly, I doubled over, yelping when my head banged into the sleek side of the Batmobile at a sharp turn. Straightening up with my head smarting, I squeezed my eyes shut. Seeing was so overrated... ow... I never asked for a psycho clown to chase me... Why the hell is Joker interested in me? Interested enough to kill...

My eyes snapped open when I felt the Batmobile wracked by a shuddering explosion, the vehicle nearly flipping. Amazingly, I was completely silent as I saw images flash before my eyes. My mother, both alive and happy and that particular image that was burned into my brain. My father, both the loving man I knew and the cold, indifferent soul he had become after my mother' s death. My stepmother, yelling obscenities as she chased after me for some small misdemeanor. Carol, the wild blonde of our college days and the older, still crazy blond that had been sleeping on my couch not an hour past. How I'd miss them...

It was only the incredible reflexes of the Batman that kept us from rolling over; he drove against the wall for a while, then getting us back on solid ground as lasers fired off at the purple truck, popping their tires. I stared blankly ahead, trying to regain my wits as we sped on ever faster into the black night of Gotham.

Batman's POV

Her flame colored hair still danced in his mind, tweaking and yanking at his usual calm, inside and out. It wasn't just her hair. Her impressive courage under fire; even when the car had nearly flipped, she had not screamed, or even uttered a sound as he knew may females would. She didn't cry when shot, and those Grey eyes were disturbingly perceptive. The first time they met, he could have sworn those piercing eyes saw under his mask. He knew it was just a feeling, nothing more. The girl couldn't possibly have x-ray vision as Clark had. He had no meta-human readings off her when he scanned her briefly with the sensors installed in the eyes of his mask. Then again, there could always be an equipment malfunction, but he doubted it. He could make sure once he got back to the cave.

Rosa Ross, twenty eight years old and employed as an assistant librarian in West Gotham Elementary. He had no trouble discovering that she had lived in Gotham for ten years, went to Gotham U for college and majored in archeology and ancient history. About her life in Gotham, everything was an open book. Nothing for her to hide.

However, go back ten years and nothing at all. It was as if Rosa Ross had never existed. He was still bothered by that. He hadn't time to truly search and hack for her records with the Joker loose. Joker was wreaking all sorts of havoc since his last escape from the revolving door at Arkham Asylum, not the least of which being wreaking havoc with this young woman's life. The Joker's thugs had very nearly gunned her down in the subway system only two days ago. And there she was on that ledge, about to throw herself off. Stupid woman. Taking your own life solves nothing. And from what I read about you and that day on the subway, you have far too many people who care deeply for you to go messing about with suicide. A little boy loves you enough to beg for your life, and you intend to throw it away?

He shook his head, a slight to and fro movement. He couldn't focus on the interesting holes in her past or the personality defects that, admittedly, intrigued and irritated him. He needed to get her to a safe spot unless he wanted Joker to get to her.

He didn't, seeing as the psychopath getting to her would be a highly undesirable result. Setting the autopilot for one of his hidden bases within the city, he glanced over at Rosa. Her face was white and she stared ahead blankly, her normally piercing gray eyes hazed over. There was a sheen of sweat on her pale skin and her breathing was noticeably elevated. Mentally he swore. He should have checked her over for the signs of any type of shock first. Increasing the Batmobile's speed, he pulled over into an abandoned parking lot, the pavement cracked with grass slowly reclaiming the concrete. He parked easily, fishtailing into a stop. He heard Rosa's audible gasp, and knew that had at least partly woken her from the stupor she had been in.

He leaned over, putting a gloved hand to her face. This was usually enough to get most people's attention, but her eyes were still glazed. He sighed, an inaudible sound. He hated to resort to this, honestly. He never liked doing this to women. Especially those who were with him through no fault of their own.

SMACK!

Rosa's POV

I yelped as I completely came out of the daze I had slipped into. Batman was gazing fixedly at me, to see if his remedy had worked. I had felt the numbness dissipate and sharp pain in my head replace it. I winced, placing a hand to my temple. He ignored me, starting the Batmobile again. I numbly listened and watched as he started off again, only to fishtail- as if he was trying to shake something off. Worried and unhappy, I squeezed my eyes shut tightly.

Sometimes ignorance was bliss.

Some time later, after several bone-jarring maneuvers, I managed to gather the courage to open my eyes fully. We were hurtling along a darkened road with only the headlights to guide us. My eyes widened when I realized we were barreling down the little-used road toward a solid rock wall.

I shut my eyes again. Quick.

I'm sorry... Not much a/n since updated laaaaaate... So sorry I haven't updated in so long, but here is a chappie for you who still read this story of mine... I promise I haven't forgotten it. :) Leave a review?
-June