It doesn't surprise me at all that Crock lives. He's been a fighter all his life. His mind—his heart—may decide to give up, but his soul never will.
I admire that.
I'm the only one in the room when he wakes up. It took some work—some skillful deflecting of the doctors, a suggestion here or there that Artemis, her mother, and Jade (who I'm letting think has fooled me with her disguise) should talk—and an educated guess on my part when Crock would come to. Of course I was right.
I am the goddamned Batman after all.
(And Dick thinks I have no sense of humor.)
Crock groans softly as he opens his eyes and looks at me. "Damn. There is a hell after all."
"That was a damn fool thing you did, Crock."
He can't shrug (we've bound his hands) but he makes a good try. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Why, Crock? You hate the thought of prison that much?" As I said, Crock's always been a fighter. I can't imagine him giving up.
Crock says nothing for a moment. He looks away. "The Archer was right."
"Right?" I know Ollie. I know what he probably said.
"Artemis is better off if I'm gone."
"You think so?" There's a trace of anger in my voice. I'm surprised at my own reaction. "You think she's better off without her father?"
"Look at me, Bats. You know who I am. You know what I am. It would have been better for everyone if I hadn't made it. I got nothing to give them."
I stare at him, and my fists clench. "No child should ever have to deal with a parent's death from anything other than natural causes."
A gunshot. Sometimes I still wake up to the sound of that gunshot …
"Yeah, well, no kid should ever have to deal with me as a father either."
"You saved her."
"Yeah. This time." Crock sighs. "I got nothing, Bats. I am nothing good for her—for Jade, for Paula."
"You're her father, Crock." I want to grab him and shake him. I want to beat the hell out of him. Is he that blind? "She needs you!"
"For what?"
"To be there! To be alive! To love her!"
"To let her love you."
"Paula …"
She's in the door looking at us—at Crock.
"Perhaps I should go—"
Paula ignores me. Crock ignores me.
"I let you have your way in this, Lawrence. I let you push our daughters away. I let you hide your heart from them because you believed it was the right thing to do. No more."
"Paula—"
"No more, Lawrence! I am done with missing my husband! I am done with my children being estranged from their father! I will not permit it! No more! We will be a family, Lawrence! You will be my husband! You will be their father!"
"Paula, it's too late—"
"It's never too late, Daddy."
"Artemis…"
She's standing in the doorway, hugging herself, and she's doing her best not to cry. "Batman's right. You're my father. You'll always be my father. You don't have to be perfect—you just have to be here."
"I ain't a good man, Artemis. I've done terrible things. You know that."
"I know." Artemis walks over to him. "But you can do better."
I see Jade watching outside the room, and I walk outside the door.
"You should be there, Jade."
She jumps, but then shrugs as she realizes I could have taken her down anytime I wanted. "I don't belong with them. I never did."
"Says who?"
"Mother is devoted to Artemis. Father was willing to die for her—she's so easy to love, so easy to like. She's never had to try to earn anyone's love. It just comes naturally to her. That isn't me. It's never been me. That's why I'm alone."
"They love you. He loves you."
"Not as much as he loves her."
"He never forgave himself."
"What?"
"He hit you. He never forgave himself for it. He thinks you never forgave him for it."
"Mother said he wanted us to hate him." I notice she doesn't say whether or not she's forgiven him.
"He did." I look over at the room. Paula and Artemis are hugging Crock.
And Jade is watching.
"You think they don't love you. You think they don't want you. You're afraid."
"I fear nothing, Batman. Not even you."
"Everyone fears something." Even me. "You're so afraid of being alone that you choose to be."
"My father is a criminal, a common thug. The only reason my mother isn't rotting in jail is because the law took pity on her. My sister …" She trails off.
"Your sister loves you. Your parents love you. And you love them—you just don't want them to know it. You're his daughter all right."
"I am nothing like him."
"Aren't you? Your father spent most of your life running away from the thing he wanted more than anything else—his family. You're doing the same thing. Go to them."
"I won't." A whisper. "I can't. It's too late."
"That's what he said." My head says I should put this girl away now while she's vulnerable. She has the potential to be so much deadlier than her mother ever was—than her father ever was. She's dangerous.
But she's still little more than a child.
"Jade, you nearly lost him. This may be the only chance you have. Are you going to waste it?"
She looks at me for a moment, and then turns and starts to walk away …
And then she pivots and runs into her father's hospital room.
I double check to make sure there's no one around, no camera to record it. And then I do the thing that Clark says I never do.
I smile.