Chpt.30

"Thanks for letting me stay the night, Bruce." Livy said once she and Damian were back at the Manor. "But, I think I need to get back to the hospital."

"Are you sure? You don't need to leave right away." Bruce informed, but Livy shook her head.

"I don't want Lancy to be alone for too long. I'd feel more comfortable if I was with her." She then grasped Bruce's hand and shook it. Livy would have hugged him, but she didn't feel like she completely trusted the man. A handshake felt like the next best thing. "Thanks for letting me stay. It was… nice."

"You can always stay another night." Dick informed as he walked over and hugged the girl.

"Thanks, Dick. I might take up that offer, but not today. I just… I just want to be with Lancy. This one man at the church I went to was talking about how when someone is injured, you need to be there for them. It just… it made me miss Lancy even though I was only away for a night."

Bruce, Dick, Damian, and Tim knew that they couldn't force Livy to stay.

Once Livy was out the door, Tim looked over at Bruce.

"I'm assuming you have a plan to make sure she doesn't go after Joker?" Bruce looked over at Tim, then at Damian.

"Keep an eye on her, Damian." Bruce stated, and his son nodded, then ran out of the house to follow after Livy.

As Damian headed towards the hospital, he tried to think about what he was going to say when he saw Livy.

Maybe… maybe I can talk to her and try to pick up where we left off in the conversation we were having. He thought.

He entered the room to see Livy talking to Lancy as she was changing into some jeans and a t-shirt and out of her floral dress.

"Do you know how to knock?" Lancy inquired with a scowl. Livy's face turned bright red as she ran behind Lancy's bed to finish changing.

"I didn't think that she'd be changing outfits!" Damian shouted.

"You're such a pervert!" Lancy exclaimed.

"It was not my intention to walk in while Livy was indecent." Damian debated and Livy stood from behind the bed, dressed entirely.

"Well, what do you want?" Livy questioned, her arms crossed over her chest while she glared at the boy, her face still red.

"I…" Damian took in a deep breath. "I was hoping to finish the private conversation that we were having." He informed, and Lancy looked at the two.

"Well, if you two want a private conversation, you can't do that here because I'm kinda hooked to this bed." Lancy stated, pointing at the I.V in her arm.

"It's okay, Lancy." Livy shrugged. "There wasn't much left to say." She turned her back to look out the window and, more importantly, away from Damian.

"What the hell do you mean?" Damian growled as he stepped closer towards Livy. "There was much that went unsaid. You're happy when what? I want to hear your answer."

"What do you care? Wasn't that a ploy to get me at you Manor so Bruce could interrogate me? you were just trying to kill time." Livy informed, still with her back to him.

"No! I wasn't! I wanted to talk to you because I wanted you to know that I…" Care about you! However, Damian couldn't get those words out. "That I value you as an ally."

Damian walked up behind Livy and wrapped his arms around her.

"You're happy when you're what, Livy?" he questioned in a soft voice in her ear.

Livy swiftly turned around in his hold and punched him in the face.

"I'M HAPPY WHEN YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!" she yelled, her face red and her hands were shaking.

"You… you don't mean that." Damian whispered. The punch was more than just to the face. Damian felt his stomach sinking in sadness and anger starting to boil.

"I think she does." Lancy said from her bed, and Damian snapped as his hurt feelings turned to rage.

He turned to smack Lancy and brought his hand down.

However, his hand didn't make contact to the healing burnt flesh of Lancy's skin. It struck healthy skin.

Damian's eyes widened when he realized that Livy ran in front of Lancy, and he had struck her instead.

"Livy." He whispered, immediately wishing he could take the action back. "Livy, I'm sor-"

"Get. Out." Livy growled with a large red mark burning her cheek.

"Livy…"

"GET OUT!" she exclaimed, and he quickly ran out of the room.

Once he was out of sight, Livy broke down, sobbing. Lancy patted her back, trying to soothe her friend.

Lancy could tell how hurt Livy was and how she felt towards Damian. Lancy knew the look that Livy got in her eyes when he was around. It was the same look Lancy got in her eyes when she saw Livy.

Damian didn't leave the hospital. He promised his father that he'd keep an eye on Livy, so he planned to do so. However, he was doing so outside of Lancy's room rather than inside.

Damian felt his phone vibrating and he answered it.

"What, Grayson?" he questioned.

"I was just wondering how everything is going. Is Livy there? Can you put her on so I can say hi?" Dick inquired and Damian could see his "older brother's" childish smile.

"No. I'm outside her room. It was made clear that I wasn't wanted." Damian tried to sound strong, but his voice cracked at the end of the sentence.

"Damian, what happened?" there was concern lacing Dick's voice.

"I didn't mean to slap her." Damian whispered with guilt apparent in his tone. "Not that hard."

"I'm coming over there." Dick stated. "I'll talk to you and then her. I'm sure it's some sort of misunderstanding."

Damian didn't bother to answer and hung up, running his hands through his hair.

"Hello Gotham!" a familiar voice exclaimed over the television, interrupting whatever was being played in the Hospital. Damian's eyes widened as he saw Joker on the screen, beaming ear to ear.

"Long time no see! It feels like it's been ages since I last played a prank on my Gothamites and my dear old Batsy." He chuckled and Damian watched as Joker panned the camera out to show a map of Gotham.

"So to celebrate my latest breakout, I'm throwing myself a party!" he laughed as he blew a horn and threw confetti in the air. "And for my party, who doesn't love a few explosions? First, I'll start with blowing up a building here." He informed, pointing to the Children's Hospital. "Then I'll blow up this building here." He pointed to Gotham P.D. "Then here." He pointed to Gotham University. "And why not here, too!" he smiled, pointing to the hospital that Damian, Lancy, and Livy were in.

"You have six hours to make sure all these buildings are vacant, but I don't think you'll be able to evacuate everyone in time." Joker chuckled. "It's party time!"

With that, the feed went out.

Maybe Livy didn't see the feed. Damian thought hopefully, but his hopes were smashed when Livy sprinted out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Damian questioned as he followed after her.

"Don't talk to me! Make yourself useful and start helping people out of the building."

"Livy, where are you going!?"

"TO FIND THAT MONSTER AND FINISH HIM ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Livy screamed, then turned on her heels to leave.

"Wait!" Damian exclaimed, and Livy turned around.

"What!?" Livy snapped, turning around again to face him. Damian's heart sunk a bit when he noticed Livy's face starting to bruise.

"You want to help these people, don't you? Instead of tracking a man that it'll take hours to find, we need to find the bomb he plans to use to blow up the building. So instead of looking for him, right now let's find the bomb." Damian explained quickly.

Livy was silent for a moment, then sighed.

"Fine." with that, Livy went searching the building and Damian followed in suit.