Short and sweet. More drama next chapter! Sorry this is short. I wanted to update and had a busy day yesterday. Enjoy! - D
We headed down to the cave after I had changed into a pair of his jeans and an old dress shirt of his. They were both equally baggy. The cave was dingy and dark, just as you expected any cave to be. There was a large, bright, well lit room at the end of the hallway, which was lined with various Batsuits and other weapons. The Batwing sat in the middle of the floor, Lucius crouched down before it, scraping some residue off of the front of it. Bruce was sitting down at a large desk in front of a floor to ceiling monitor, checking through a map of where they had been and where Ivy had been spotted. Selina was packing various things into the Batwing. I crouched down next to Lucius and stared at the mossy like material splattered all over the front of it.
"Venus doesn't know about you. Does she Bruce?" I asked, staring at the suit on the wall beside me. I certainly hope not, considering I just royally pissed her off.
"No. Of course not," Bruce answered, turning in his chair to look at me. "Selina told me if I told her that she would kill me." Selina laughed lightly as I breathed a sigh of relief.
"That I did," she quipped with a smirk. Bruce smiled at her and watched her curiously. This is serious you guys. Why do I feel like I'm the only one that knows that?
"Have you guys tried checking in to different laboratories or factories to see if anyone is manufacturing any growth serums?" I questioned.
"No, but we should," Lucius replied with a nod, scraping more material off of the Batwing.
"Can you start calling places, Lucius? Let Holly finish that up. Call up a few places and name drop us. Let them know we're looking to invest in something serious, so they can't hide anything," Bruce added, turning back to his map. I prepared more slides as Lucius left the room. I pulled on a pair of gloves to transfer them to the table that a microscope set up on it, when my pager and Liam's both buzzed. What is it now? Good god.
"911 emergency, need all md's to ER," I read out loud, pulling my pager off of my hip. I met Liam's gaze from across the room. Oh, no. Bruce turned another monitor with the news on.
"Two city buses have collided in the heart of downtown. All persons are being taken to Gotham Medical…" read the news ticker at the bottom. I hung my head as images of the crash site were being displayed. More problems.
"I'll drive," Liam spoke, pulling his keys out of his pocket.
The hospital was atrocious. The announcement on the news had sent people rushing into the hospital, trying to find loved ones. After a blood alcohol test, the driver of one of the buses was drunk out of his mind at the time of the crash. People were everywhere, screaming and crying for help. I helped any person I possibly could, avoiding the weird looks from the other doctors and nurses as I walked around in Liam's clothes. The rush and sense of need in the OR was indescribable. I had two surgeries back to back. One on a woman with a shattered femur and another on a man who had a compound fracture of his radius and ulna. Liam played assistant for me on both of them since our help was limited. After 12 hours of nonstop work, we were headed back to his car. I shuffled my feet as I held onto his hand loosely. "Let's just head back to my apartment," I sighed, leaning against the seat of his car. I didn't want to drive all the way back to the mansion when my apartment was a few streets over.
"That's fine with me," Liam mumbled, starting the car.
We slumped lazily into my apartment. I ordered a pizza and threw my cellphone down onto the counter. I really need to start eating healthier. I've been eating a lot of crap.
"There's stuff to drink in the refrigerator. I'm going to shower before the food gets here." He nodded and plopped down on the couch, turning on the news. I showered, trying to clean myself thoroughly, but not waste a lot of time, either. I pulled on a pair of silk pajama bottoms with a tank top and walked back out into the living room, towel drying my hair.
"My turn," he told me, kissing my forehead as he walked by. I had I been in a better and much more uplifting mood I would have been sneaky and tried to catch a look, but I didn't have the energy. My body collapsed on the couch as I watched the news in a daze. I watched a replay of the wreck from the traffic cam and sighed, turning the channel to live news. The media and drawing out the same old news. Batman and Catwoman were all over the screen, swerving in and out of traffic, chasing after a 'lead' in a stolen car. The doorbell rang and I met the pizza man. I paid him, tossed the pizza onto the table and found a six pack of Newcastle ale I had stashed away in the back of my refrigerator. I put some plates on the table and turned to meet a shirtless, dripping wet Liam, only covered with a towel from the waist down. I flushed looking at him.
"This is a clever way to get me naked," he teased. I laughed sarcastically as I searched my dresser for a pair of worn out basketball shorts that I wore to exercise in sometimes. I tossed them to him and returned to the dining room. I sat down and opened a beer and took a few swigs of it, waiting for him to return, when he came out I stifled a laugh. They fit his waist, but they were too short, coming up three inches above his knee. "It's a little drafty," he said with a laugh, I opened a beer and handed it to him. He looked down at the label and smiled. "This is my favorite."
"Mine too." He smirked as I placed a piece of pizza on my plate.
"I'm beginning to like you more and more." My cheeks flushed. Damn, I need to get used to this.
"I drank this on campus every day."
"What else did you do?"
"What didn't I do?" he asked, teasingly, raising an eyebrow. I laughed as he smiled. "Well, my mates and I would play a lot of football, we'd go into town and get piss ass drunk, we'd take a ferry to Germany or France for the weekend, or we'd go skinny dipping…" He paused and rubbed the back of his head. Liam, skinny dipping? I pushed the thought from my mind immediately as I felt the redness creep back up. "We were wild."
"You sounded wild." He met my gaze and his smile grew.
"What was your college life like?" he asked. "Was it wild?"
"No," I answered. He narrowed his gaze. "I was that nerdy girl you saw at the library buried in her books, studying her ass off." I didn't have friends and wasn't ungodly gorgeous in college, Liam.
"I would have helped you study."
"Oh, would you?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. Don't think so fast, sir.
"Yes."
"I wasn't a very nice person in college, Liam," I admitted with a frown, spinning my beer bottle in my fingers. "I was still gaining trust with people and trying to discover life beyond what I had experienced."
"I still would have helped you," he repeated, grabbing my hand. I looked down and smiled shyly. With the way he looked, I might have passed out if a man had talked to me like that in college.
"I bet you were the cute, popular guy." He threw his head back and laughed.
"Do you?"
"Yes! I saw that picture of you before you were sent into The Pit." He smirked and folded his arms over his chest.
"What about it?" Modesty does not look good on you, Liam. You know you were a stud… and still are.
"It was cute – I mean you were cute – Not that you still aren't," I stuttered. Goddamn it. Talk about foot in mouth. He laughed and shook his head. I walked over to the washer and threw our clothes in and turned it on, feeling him watching me.
"It's not all what it seems."
"It's not?" I asked, flipping down the lid.
"No," he laughed. Mhm. "I was considered ordinary in the UK."
"Well," I stated, sitting down on the couch. "I do have to apologize, Liam, but I think I'm going to have to move." I can only imagine how hot the men are over there if you're considered ordinary. He laughed, pulling me into his lap. He hugged his arms around me, kissing my cheek through a laugh. I held my hands on his bare chest and pulled back, watching his eyes squint and twinkle in the light. I leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips. His arms wrapped around my waist as he leaned into the kiss. His mouth opened and mine followed, pushing and twirling his tongue with mine. He let out a low growl and pulled away from me. Did I fuck up?
"I don't want to get carried away," he whispered, taking in a deep breath as he held my face. "And if you continue to do that – I won't stop." I nodded and fell into the cushion beside him on the couch.
"I'll sleep out here tonight," I yawned, stretching out my arms and legs.
"No, you won't," he scoffed.
"Liam, you're my guest, and you're not sleeping on the couch." Don't argue with me, I'm tired as fuck.
"And you're the woman." Oh, really?!
"What does having a vagina have anything to do with this?" He laughed and grabbed my hand.
"It's guy code."
"Mhm," I mumbled, sleepily. "Why don't you just sleep in bed with me." He eyes widened and stared at me as I giggled helplessly. "Can you keep your hands to yourself?"
"Yes," he answered quickly, with a smile.
"Then, let's go," I prodded, pulling him by his hand. He stood up willingly and followed me into my bedroom. We slid into my bed next to each other, I rolled onto my side as he did. He smiled and pushed a stray piece of hair behind my ear.
"Seems like we're both pretty stubborn," he whispered. No shit.
"I know," I agreed, smiling.
"I'll get used to it." My smile grew. What is happening to me?
"Me too." He laid down on his back and pulled me onto this chest, one arm behind me, the other at his side, holding my hand on his chest. I could hear his heartbeat strong and fierce in his chest. He kissed the top of my head and twirled my hair between his fingers. "Thank you," he muttered.
"For what?" I asked, tracing designs on his chest with my fingers.
"For giving me a chance to show you who I really was." I smiled and pushed up to look at him. "Your words – that day I woke up – they've haunted me." I bit my lip. Great, now I feel guilty. "I asked Bruce to show me what I've done and I'm not proud of it." He swallowed and closed his eyes. "That man is not who I am," he stated, firmly. I know it's not. I could hear the frustration in his voice. "When I saw you worked there at that hospital, I had been there for almost a week. I saw you, but stayed out of sight. I knew you would explode if you saw me. Thankfully, you always walk with your head down." No shit.
"I know," I added with a small laugh.
"That day… day I heard that commotion and I was outside of Mr. Summer's room. I busted in and saw you on the floor, turning blue and unconscious with no one helping you at all – I knew I had to help you, just as you helped me." Tears rimmed my eyes as I listened to him speak. "People spoke so terribly of you and tried to say you deserved it. I just didn't understand why they would say those things when even after you did what you did for me, you helped me again." I rubbed his cheek. "After your confession to me the other night…" he stopped and rubbed my cheek in the same way I was his. "I understand where you are coming from, because I was the same way. I was just like that." He kissed my cheek briefly. "It's your wall, Holly. And you do it to keep people out."
"The anger and brashness?" He nodded.
"Yes. And I don't care about your wall," he whispered, stroking my hair. "It's what's behind it that's drawn me to you." I leaned down and kissed him hard.