When Dany woke up, she was in a bright room, with an incessant beeping right next to her. She couldn't help but wonder if the shock and fear she felt at that moment was the same one that Wally experienced when he woke up in the hospital after falling from the warehouse. She looked around, only to find plush toys and balloons sorrounding her bed, all of them having some kind of get well message. Her eyes widened when the door opened, only for a tall dark haired man with blue eyes to enter. Dany quickly tensed, remembering everything that had happened to her, but the man only gave her a calming smile.
"Don't worry, Dany. You're among friends, no one's going to hurt you again." He said, in a voice that reminded her a lot of Batman's.
She still eyed with wide and worried eyes, and asked, "A-are you Jay's dad?" In such a broken voice that it made Bruce's heart tug.
He nodded, then started walking towards her. He sat down on the side of her bed and grabbed her hand. "How are you feeling, Dany?" He asked, voice sounding as if he actually cared.
Dany stared into his eyes, wanting to see if he was telling the truth. His eyes held pain, sadness, worry, and so much more things, even if he kept his face straight. Dany decided, right then and there, that even though the Bat had done so many things, he could be trusted. Jason trusted him at least this once, so she could too.
"I am feeling like crap." She answered honestly, then hissed in pain when she tried to move her left hand.
"Don't." He warned, then explained, "The Joker got some good swings at you. Managed to break a lot of bones." He told her.
She looked up at him with unshed tears, then said, "Don't. I... I don't want to know..." She sighed, then looked away to not let him see her moment of pain.
Bruce couldn't blame her. She had gone through so much, and at such a young age. Maybe Jason was only a year older when it happened to him, but Dany had already gone through so much. But, Bruce was just thankful that the people that had found her after she ran away weren't some crazy psychopaths... Sure, Benny was a gang leader, but he was so much nicer than any of them expected.
"Your father and mother are out there waiting for you, along with your friends." Bruce told her, deciding to change the topic.
Dany smiled at him thankfully, then said, "You think you could send them in? I mess them all so much." She explained.
Bruce nodded, then got up and walked out of the room. While he was out, Dany couldn't help but frown, she always thought that if anything like this happened, the first person she would see would be Wally or Jason. But, there was something telling her she wouldn't see them. But, she wiped the frown when Benny and Virginia burst into the room, both of them crying about how happy they were to see her. After them came Raquel, Angy, Deshawn, Conner, and Kaldur, Wally and Jason no where in sight.
But, she still smiled and assured all of them that she was fine. As Dany ate the bad food the hospital staff had given her and the kids fought over what show they should see, Benny pulled Bruce to the side.
"Thank you." He told Bruce, making Bruce's eyes widen in surprise.
Was everything he knew about Benjamin Siegel wrong?
"I mean, Dany's been through so many things, and the Joker..." He sighed, having to take a while before breaking down crying. He was just so happy to see his daughter again. "Thank you." He finished, then turned to Dany as Conner and Deshawn got in a 'brawl' over the remote.
Everyone there could tell it was just for fun and they weren't really fighting, but it was a way to get back to their routine. It was a way to get back to being their definition of normal. Benny walked up to Virginia and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissed her on the forehead, then turned to Dany.
"How you feeling, kiddo?" He asked, using the same nickname he used whenever he was worried.
She smiled up at him, then tried to raise her left arm. "I can't move my arm. What do you think?" She asked sarcastically.
He chuckled at her, then looked at the door as it opened. In staggered a dark haired man with bloodstained and tattered clothes, all the while nurses tried to get him to a room to check him. He was swatting them away, then flipped them off and told them to get back before he did something he would regret. Then, he staggered over to Dany's bed and let her see his green eyes.
"How you doing, kid?" He asked in a hoarse and breathless voice, but still managed to smirk at her.
Dany gasped at him, then quickly threw her arms around him and squeezed. "My God, Jason. I was so worried." She whispered.
He patted her on the back, then said, "There ain't no reason for you to worry, Dany. I always come back, just ask Bruce."
Dany decided to ignore what he was hinting at and squeezed him harder. "What did you do to him?" She asked, then let him go.
Bruce was ushering everyone out of the room, already knowing that these two would actually need some room. He had already ordered Tim to cut the cameras, so they wouldn't have any problem when it came to talking about that.
Jason frowned and sat down hard on the bed, hissing at the pain from his side. The Joker had managed to knick him with the bullet, but he was okay. He had managed to get away.
"I..." He sighed, knowing that she would hate to hear what he did. "I killed him." He said in a voice that was barely a whisper.
There was a sharp gasp from Dany, which made Jason look up at her, only to find her hand over her mouth and her eyes watering. "Y-you shouldn't..." She choked from behind her hand. "Have killed him." She hissed the word.
Jason frowned, and was about to say that it was what he did, but she cut him off. "It's not the same to kill scum as to kill the Joker. How many people will be after you now?" She asked.
Jason let his head drop, but still smirked. She didn't care about killing the Joker. She only cared now because he had a huge target on his back. "Well, all of the people that he was working with at the moment and the ones that wanted to kill him themselves." He answered.
She let herself smile at his answer, then asked the question that Jason had been regretting. "Jailbird, where's Wally?"
Jason looked out the window, enjoying the rising sun, and turned back to Dany with a frown. "I don't know."
Dany felt the air leave her when he said that. Jason didn't know? Jason knew everything that was going on with them. Where could her brother be?
"He left a letter at the cave, he pulled a Dany." He explained. It was an inside joke. Pulling a Dany meant running away.
Dany's eyes widened and tears started falling without her permission, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
"He said to not show the letter to anyone, but let them know. He wants you to know that you're the best thing that ever happened to him and he wants you to live happily..." He said, his voice starting to crack. How could this idiot leave them now? "He thinks that you have so much potential and he's holding you back. He loves you, Dany." He told her, his voice betraying his straight face.
And she started to sob. Jason quickly pulled her towards him so she would be comfortable while she cried, and told her whatever he thought he should hear. He wanted to be out there searching for Wally, but right now, Dany needed him more. Dany was the one that was broken. And something told him that she would never be the same after this.
After fifteen minutes of Dany crying, she finally picked herself up and tried to curl in on herself. Jason stood up, hissing quietly at the pain; he knew his wound wasn't going to get any better if he didn't get any medical attention, but he couldn't bring himself to care; and walked over to the door.
"I..." He started, trying to compose himself. He'll admit it. He let a few tears loose while Dany cried. "You're parents are here." He told her, but continued before she could protest. "But, before that, I've got a surprise for you." He told her, then opened the door.
Dany's eyes widened when she saw the two people that stepped through the door. One was who she had remembered as a boy, her older brother, Stuff. The real Dani. He was of Chinese decent, having the narrowed eyes, but he didn't have an accent anymore. He came in wearing a suit and jacket and a bright other was her best friend and guardian angel, Greg. She could tell Greg was still in shock from Stuff's appearance, but he was ecstatic about seeing her. Greg was okay! And Jason was slowly creeping outside as they reunited to tell Bruce about what happened. He was going to take Wally's advice. He was going to try to his best to reconnect to the rest of the Bat family.
"Greg! Dani!" She exclaimed, wanting nothing more than to jump them and hug them until her arms were numb, but she could barely move.
Fortunately, both men understood what she wanted and ran up to her, both of them taking a side of her and crushing her in a hug. She could care less at the moment about her wounds. Her brother was alive!
"But, I thought you were dead." Dany said, staring up at her brother in surprise.
He smiled down at her sadly and shook his head. "I had to lie, lil sis. Siegel cut a deal with me, if I 'disappeared' he would help me get Wendy back. And, as you know, I love her." He told her. "I'm so sorry for everything I made you two go through." He said, now speaking to Greg as well.
He knew that he caused both of them a lot of pain, only from the reaction he got from Greg when Jason reunited them. A smack to the back of the head, a tight hug, and an unusual kiss to the forehead. Greg really had missed him.
Dany smiled up at him, then turned to Greg. "So, you done with your revenge?" She asked.
He smiled down at her and shook his head. Of course that was what she was thinking about now. "Yuh know it, Danielle. Now Ah got mah family back, ain't nothin' gonna change that." He told them, then ruffled both his 'kids' heads.
Someone knocked on the door, making the moment leave, and Dany said that whoever it was could enter. In came a red headed woman with tears streaming down her face, only to be followed by a man. Dany's real parents. Right now, seeing both her parents crying, she felt all her anger disappear only to be replaced by happiness. How much they had changed in nine months. Mary's hair was longer, her face older, her body skinnier, and her demeanor so much more broken. Rudy wasn't any better off.
Greg and Dani stepped away from the bed to allow the actual parents to get their share of Dany, and smiled at each other. Dany hugged back and cried as her parents held her, and couldn't help but think that things would turn out alright. Even with Wally gone, even with all the trouble she knew she was in with the League, even with everything, she knew, deep in her heart, everything would turn up all right. She smiled up at the four people standing around her, and promised herself she would do anything and everything in their power to keep them as happy as they were today.
And that is that. Dany is back home, Wally is missing, and Jason is happy. How happy I am with this story. I give all my thanks to everyone who has been reading this from the start, and really, I hope you never stop being so suportive. You are all the best readers I could have asked for. I will start working on the sequel as soon as possible, and if you give me ten reviews, I'll post it tomorrow.