Chpt.19
Damian found Livy later at night on top of a rooftop. She was dressed as Little Red, and was laying on her back, staring up at the night sky.
There seemed to be a certain calm about her, but at the same time, some tension. Damian didn't know what was going through her head, but she looked pensive.
"You do know that if I was an enemy, I could have easily killed you." Damian stated as he stood next to her. Livy chuckled but didn't move from her spot.
"That is assuming that I didn't hear you coming, which I did." She smirked, but then went back to gazing up at the sky.
"What are you looking at?" Damian questioned as he sat cross-legged next to the girl. He looked at where Livy's eyes were but couldn't see anything.
"I'm just trying to see stars." Livy informed.
"Stars?"
"Yeah. Stars. The city smog blocks a lot of them out. This place that Jason and I stayed at in Australia was the perfect place for stars. There were thousands of them that we could see. We'd see some shooting stars too." Livy smiled, and Damian rolled his eyes.
"You sound childish. Stars are nothing but suns in other galaxy's and a "shooting star" is just an meteor burning up in Earth's atmosphere." He stated in his haughty voice.
"Shut up." Livy mumbled. "I like stars. I don't care what they are in reality. They are beautiful to look at and make me smile… I wish I could see them here… I miss them." Livy let out a heavy sigh. "I miss a lot of things."
"What are you babbling about?" Damian questioned, but it came out harsher than he meant it to.
"I never stay in one place for too long. I think I've stayed here really long so far and…"
"You can't leave." Damian stated firmly. Livy's eyes flickered over to him and she raised an eyebrow.
"Why not?"
"Because… think of those prostitutes that need you. They have come to depend on you." Damian stated. "They are so pathetic that they would perish in this world without your help."
"Then why can't you help them? Besides, I just got Lancy a modeling job, so she'll be alright. And I talked to Meg today and she just managed to find herself a well-paying job too. The girls will be fine."
"So you are willing to leave your precious Lancy?" Damian inquired in a biting tone.
"What the hell are you talking about? Lancy's my best friend." She paused for a moment then whispered, "I would probably be helping her if I left."
"What does that mean? I saw you kissing her!" Damian exclaimed, and Livy looked at him shocked.
"Me kissing her? You mean, her kissing me."
"What-"
"Damian, she confessed her love to me, then kissed me. I don't swing that way so I had to let her down." Livy shook her head. "I know that I hurt her feelings. Hell, she was crying a bit, it broke my heart. She's one of my best friends, and I hate seeing her upset, but that's what I did."
Livy sighed heavily. The calm and peacefulness about her when she was looking for stars was gone and was replaced by a look of stress.
"And now I miss seeing other places and this city brings back memories… god I don't even tell Jason, but the memories aren't good ones." She shuttered a bit. "I'd hate if he thinks that I wasn't entirely over my PTSD…"
Damian watched as the confident person he knew as Livy start to shrink and shrivel up until she was hugging her knees, crying in small hiccups into them.
Damian slowly brought his arms around the girl, and held her in an awkward hug.
"You shouldn't cry." he whispered.
"I know." Livy sighed as she wiped away some of the tears with her sleeve. "It shows weakness and all that."
"No." Damian stated shaking his head. "It's just…" It's just that I hate seeing you so distraught. Damian thought.
"It's just what, Damian?" Livy inquired when a long moment went by without him finishing his sentence.
"It is just a stupid thing to do." Damian informed in his arrogant voice, and Livy rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, Damian. I wasn't expecting any empathy from you." She stated, drying her eyes. "Hell, you probably want me gone." The moment the words left Livy's mouth, Damian shouted,
"I DON'T WANT YOU TO LEAVE!"
Livy flinched at the unexpected yell, but then hardened.
"Why? Why do you even feel that way about me when all you do is fight with me and berate me?"
"Because-"
Damian didn't get to finish, cut off by Livy's cell phone ringing.
Livy picked it up quickly to hear Meg screaming,
"RED! LANCY'S ON FIRE!"
Livy didn't respond.
To her, it felt like time had just froze in place and her heart stopped beating. She immediately sprinted toward Lancy's house. Luckily she wasn't very far away.
Damian had heard what Meg had said through the phone, and remembered that there was a crazed man who was on the loose, setting random people on fire.
Batman had been tracking him since he started his burning spree, but the crazed man always left without a trace.
He followed behind Livy, and the two of them reached Lancy's apartment, breaking into the room to see Meg crouched over Lancy's body that was hardly recognizable due to the burns.
There was a large puddle of water around Lancy's body, and Meg was sobbing.
"Sh-she was screaming. I-I tried to d-dump w-ater on her. There… there was s-so much fire… and the man…"
"Someone did this to her? Which way did he go?" Livy questioned quickly.
"O-out the window. He j-just ran." Meg stuttered. "Red… I think… I think Lancy's dead."
"I'm going to kill that man." She growled. Livy wanted to cry. She wanted to sob and hug Lancy and try to make things better. However, Livy knew that the only thing she could do was to find the man who hurt Lancy. And end him.
"Little Red-" Damian started, seeing the murderous look in her eyes, but she cut him off.
"Stay outta the way, Robin." Livy said in a cold tone, then jumped out the window to find whoever hurt Lancy.
Instead of following her, Damian turned to where Meg was crouched over Lancy's motionless body.
"Let's get her to a hospital and see what we can do." He stated, as he gently lifted the girl into his arms. He could see that there was other liquid besides water on Lancy. The crazed man most likely doused the girl in oil then lit her up.
Damian sprinted to the hospital with Meg running behind as he held Lancy's body gingerly in his arms.