A/N: Alright, so I lied about this being the last chapter. The next chapter, which I'm about to post after this one, will be the last chapter and which is where I will put my little ending speech.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone from the DC Universe.


Resurrection
The Temporary End

A haze clouded her mind when she came back to consciousness, but the longer she remained in the bed, unmoving and disoriented from the morphine, the more memories that came back to the forefront of her mind. The teenager rolled over in the lavish and large bed, blinking at the alarm clock resting on a nightstand across from her, counting the hours of sleep she had accumulated and blamed the twelve-hour sleep cycle on both the morphine and sheer exhaustion. Taking a deep breath, she brought in the scent of soup that rested on the other side of the room accompanied with crackers and a glass of water. Her stomach growled at the sight, but she had no motivation to get up and walk over to it and the more she thought about her encounter with Ra's al Ghul, the more her hunger dissipated.

The door to the bedroom opened and she watched as the butler of the manor walked into the room with a fresh bowl of soup and a small saucer stacked with cookies. Alfred moved over to where she rested without a sound and when he noticed she was awake, he gave her a small smile. Anastasia leaned up and cringed as her legs throbbed with dull pain which caused him to respond by pulling back the covers and checking her bandaged legs. The two shared a simultaneous sigh when seeing a small red spot beginning to seep through the white.

"How are you doing, Miss Anastasia?" Alfred inquired while reaching into the nightstand to grab at some medical supplies. "Should I alert Master Bruce and young Master Richard about your waking or should I allow you some more time alone?"

Anastasia responded with silence and glanced down at both her uncovered legs–one burnt and one decorated with a stab wound. When he had disinfected them and wrapped them back up with bandages, she rolled out of the bed with his hand on her arm to keep her steadied. The two of them stopped for Alfred when he reached out to grab the white pills he had placed with the food and water and handed them to her. She downed them without the water, cringing at the disgusting taste, and then moving on and out the door.

Dick was waiting outside the bedroom door for her and when he saw her, he took place for Alfred who gave them both a knowing smile before heading down the staircase. When her best friend put his hand at the small of her back and a hand on her upper arm, she shifted under his grasp because her already uneasy stomach started rolling around inside her. Dick sent her a little smile and she sent her own tight one in response, taking a deep breath to try and calm her suddenly racing heart.

"A, you have one terrifying grandfather."

Anastasia was surprised for a moment, but realized that her grandfather would show up in Gotham at some point since her mother and father had been incarcerated. "Yeah, he has that air about him. Let me guess, it was the fire, right?" When her grandfather walked into any room with a burning fire, the flames reacted to his presence–moving along with his breathing, spiking with his temper and dwindling with his sadness.

"I'm guessing he does his best work with fire?" Dick inquired.

"You'd be guessing right. Babushka is the best with water. I still don't understand how the two of them have been married as long as they have–being the natural opposite of one another."

Her best friend glanced over at her for a moment before looking back at the staircase. "Are you okay to go down by yourself? I could carry you down them, you know." He suggested with a smug grin.

"What a gentleman," she retorted sarcastically. "I'm hurt, Dick. I'm not helpless. I can get down them just fine." She took a step down and cringed as pain shot up her legs and he sent her a look. "Oh, shut up and help me. Not carry," she hissed.

"Sure thing, A," Dick laughed while wrapping his arm around her waist again and helping her down the staircase. "Since your grandparents have a natural element, does that mean you have one, too?" She nodded in affirmation. "Is it earth?"

"How'd you guess?" She grinned. "Ded told me that he knew I would be my best with earth because of my eye color–they're green, if you didn't notice. In my family, you don't get your eye color from your parents, but from your element. Amber is fire, blue is water, green is earth and gray is air." Dick nodded along with her explanation and then she chuckled bitterly. "But all it seems like I can manage out lately is fire, though."

Giving her a small smile, he wrapped his hand around her own which made her calm down but made her heart race at the same time. "We can help you here, Ana. If anyone can understand what you're going through best, it's all of us."

"I know that, but…you know that my grandparents have custody over me now that my parents are being thrown in prison. I'm probably going to have to go to Russia–" his gaze fell to the ground and she placed her hands on the sides of his face, making him look back up at her. "This is something we all need right now. My grandmother has never been the same since we lost Karina and after everything that's happened…we need each other." She wrapped him in a tight embrace. "Can you understand that, Dick?"

There was hesitation on his part for a moment before he returned her embrace with a quiet sigh. "Of course I can, Ana. I guess…I just wanted more time to make up for all the hurt I've caused you."

"What?" Anastasia leaned back from him with furrowed brows and a look of confusion stretched across her face. "What are you talking about?" The door to the side of them opened and she glanced over at her grandfather and Bruce who walked together. She glanced back at Dick with a frown. "We're going to talk about this later." She huffed and then turned toward her grandfather. "Can I talk to you, ded?"

"Of course, my Anastasia," the older man hobbled over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It is good to see you as well." He remarked sarcastically as she led him back into the same room he had just walked out of.


The sun was just beginning to rise when she awoke and she remained in bed, surprised that she had been able to sleep at all considering the twelve hours she spent unconscious the day before. When she leaned up, her back ached from the strain of sleeping on a couch since her legs were not up to the task of walking up and down the staircase to get to a bedroom. As she shuffled out of the room, she headed toward the kitchen for a drink of water but found the dressed butler of the manor sipping on a cup of tea in a room with a large window that looked over the grounds.

"Good morning, Anastasia." Bruce called out from behind her as he walked into the room with Alfred, holding his own steaming cup of coffee. "You're up early." He commented casually.

"Um, yeah," she rubbed the back of her neck and limped over to the chair he offered her, shoving his helping hand away playfully. "I think I've slept enough for a lifetime and my back wasn't agreeing with the couch either–oops."

Anastasia cringed when she was met with the fierce look of Alfred. The older man stood up and cleared his throat to which she shook her head and forced a meek smile. "With my legs being hurt…well, it's easier being down on the first floor. I didn't want to bother you and Bruce with making me some stupid accommodations."

"Until you are retrieved by your grandfather from Russia, you are going to live here, Miss Anastasia. And I might be so bold as to say that you are a part of our family, so a request for us to help make you more comfortable would hardly be out of our way. Excuse me," he grabbed his cup of tea. "I will go and arrange something for you right away. Also, we will be going out to shop later for some clothing appropriate for a young lady."

The teenager blinked as he walked out of the room and turned to look at Bruce who was giving a small smile. "You've known him long enough to know that you should have just asked for some help." He sipped at his coffee. "How are you feeling?"

"Are we talking physically or mentally?"

"Since you've brought both up, we'll talk about both."

"I'm fine." She replied while sinking down in her chair with a pout.

Bruce sent her a look. "You're lying, Anastasia."

"I'm…managing. Is that better?" The look never left his face and she sighed. "I think I'm not scared of what happened with Ra's–as crazy as that might be. Really, I'm still terrified over what I almost did. If he hadn't talked when he did…I would've killed him. I'm scared about the things I'm capable of."

"As far as Ra's al Ghul is concerned, I'm going to protect you from him. You've turned on him and he will send the League of Assassins after you, but I'll never let him hurt you." She gave a weak smile and he glanced out the window. "I understand your fear of yourself better than most. Do you know why I've never taken a life even when madmen like Ra's or the Joker turn around and murder more innocent people?" She shook her head and he frowned. "I'm terrified of what I'll become–that if I go down into that place, I'll never come back."

The dark-haired man lifted up from his chair, walking in front of the window and she stood up to walk over to his side. "Does it bother you? Looking at me and seeing the exact same thing when you look in the mirror?" She asked after a tense moment of silence.

"No. It makes me work harder to prevent it from happening again."

"You can't save everyone."

"I can try." The mood seemed lighter, but the frown was still on his face. "I'm sorry, Anastasia. I should have protected you. I should have told you about Ra's–trusted you to make the right decision. I should have protected your sister and prevented any of this from happening."

Anastasia crossed her arms over her chest and sighed in frustration. "Everyone keeps apologizing to me today. My grandfather confessed that he told Ra's about me–they used to be business partners, you know, until he found out what Ra's did to me and cut off the longtime partnership. But you two talked about that, didn't you?" He nodded and she chuckled bitterly. "Everyone can blame themselves for what happened to Karina, what happened to me, but you know something? I'm sure Ra's al Ghul would have come after me no matter what. He would keep going until he got me where he wanted me to be."

"I could have–"

Reaching out to wrap her arms around his large frame in a tight embrace, Anastasia cut him off from speaking. "It was never your fault–Karina, your mom and dad–we couldn't stop it from happening to them." He returned her hug and she sniffled against his chest. "You can blame it on the wrong place, wrong time or not being strong enough, but it couldn't be stopped and that's not our fault. I think if I've learned anything from all that's happened, it's that."

"Yeah," she breathed out shakily against his shirt, "It's not our fault."


A week later, when Anastasia was resting after a stressful time returning to school, she was on her bed and painting her toenails while Dick worked on his homework. When he turned over, he made a face at her.

"Don't be such a girl, A."

"I am a girl, Richard. Shut up or I'll make Alfred hold you down while I paint your nails. And I'll hide the nail polish remover so you'll be fighting crime with pretty pink fingernails." She huffed and wriggled her pink toes. "I'm preparing for flip-flop season…whenever it comes." Spring still struggled to come to Gotham, but the days were beginning to warm up. The heat was something she thrived in.

"I wear plated gauntlets."

"Oh, excuse me, your highness. Plated," she snorted and he glared at her. Her response to the look was to give him a beaming smile. He pouted and the two of them continued to give a variety of strange expressions.

After a passing Bruce commanded Dick get back to work and stop flirting, both blushed and she shifted too quick, making a sharp pain run up her legs. She groaned and lifted up her pant leg, absentmindedly running a hand over the scarred skin in the shape of a handprint that wrapped around her ankle.

"Does it bother you?" Dick frowned.

"What? Oh, the scar," she glanced down at it before shrugging. "Not really. It reminds me that I survived. They both do." She rubbed at her thigh where the stab wound rested.

Her friend responded by making a face. "I should have been with you and Bruce. I wanted to protect you. I suck at being a best friend."

"If it makes you feel any better, I think you're a good best friend. And our situation isn't exactly normal and any other person would've bailed when they found out I can shoot rocks at them. And, by the way, that one night in the construction site…sorry," she whispered.

"You should be." He commented while turning back to his work.

Anastasia rolled her eyes and swept her gaze over the door where a familiar woman was standing at the doorway next to Bruce. Her mouth dropped and she shoved at Dick to get his attention while scrambling to roll the cap back on her nail polish. The dark-haired woman took a step forward, putting up a hand to signal Anastasia could stop her shuffling around.

"Anastasia," Wonder Woman acknowledged with a smile. "We were never formally introduced, but I am Diana of Themyscira–Diana Prince when going through the normal routine of man's world."

"I'm, uh–" Dick cleared his throat to cover up the snicker and she kicked at him with a non-polished foot. "My name is Anastasia Azarova. I was the…girl with anger issues and also the girl who was bleeding all over you which I apologize for, ma'am."

"I've handled worse, I assure you." She glanced over her shoulder at Bruce. "Do you and Richard mind leaving us alone for a few minutes? I would like to talk to her in private."

Bruce sighed and nodded toward his ward that scooted off the bed and followed him out of the room, leaving the two women alone. Diana glanced at her with a smile while going to sit on the edge of the bed with the younger woman.

"I'm here with a proposal. Bruce explained to us your situation and I wanted to offer you a place to learn to control your rage–which I saw too much of in you. Themyscira is a place where you can learn to battle but also make peace with your inner struggle. You can become a sister to the Amazonians."

Anastasia hesitated and rubbed at her upper arm, clearing her throat. "Thank you for the offer, but…I'm going to Russia with my grandfather at the end of the school year. I need my grandparents and they need me. And as for fighting, well…I'm going to learn how to control my power there. My family is full of people that can use the elements." She explained.

Diana smiled at her and the teenager gave a weak smile in return. "But maybe…one summer, when I'm better, I can come and learn from you?"

"Perfect. I'll be keeping in touch with you."


When the sun was beginning to set and she was seated under a tree on the grounds, her best friend walked up and took a seat at her side. There was nothing but silence that passed between them, but she leaned her head against his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her waist and she felt at peace. The peace was something she thought she would never feel again because it seemed like all she had ever known was that anger simmering under the surface of her skin.

As the two of them sat under that tree in twilight, she knew that everything would be alright. She had lost her little sister and she had fallen far and hard because of her rage, but she promised she would grow from it.

Anastasia Azarova had been reborn and though she had almost ruined her second chance at life, she would keep up on her promise to keep people from experiencing the same pain she had.

It was her promise to Karina and she planned to keep up on it.