Chapter 26: AfteRshock
Autumn's POV
I pushed Bruce out of the room. I locked the door. I cry.
I sit at the corner and hug myself.
"Mom...mom...I wanna go home...please mom...why didn't you take me with you? Nico...why did you go? Nico...why did you leave? You didn't have to die...I miss you little bro...Dad...why did you save me? Why didn't you just let me burn like you wanted me to?
I hate you dad…when you left...you took everything away from me…
Why am I always the unlucky one?
If someone out there really is watching...then why did he let this happen to me?
Why did he let me be?
I don't blame Carter for telling me those things. They're true. I can't change the truth.
All I can do is lie to myself.
Dad never lied to me. He never lied to me once when he told me that Sheila abandoned me. He just told me the truth straight forward. He didn't even stagger. He just told me the truth. Because he knows that the truth hurts more than the lies.
I wipe my face. And I let my head rely on my palm as my elbow relies on my thigh as I sit in this indian position staring at the ground.
The room is overflowing with silence now.
I sit still.
But even as this world is quiet, I can hear screaming in my mind.
I stare at my left arm, at the scars, at my battle scars.
I stop crying. "There is no point in feeling sorry for yourself. All you can do now is fight!" The commander yelled.
"YES. SIR!" I yelled.
I take slow breaths. Carter obviously doesn't understand my life.
I was abandoned by my own mom. I was left alone to train. When my dad came back, I was left for good. I was found. But my brother left. I was abused by my Papa. Then my Momma left. I fought. I was betrayed. I was left. I was burned. I was buried.
I wipe my tears. "Stay strong. Crying is for fools." I say to myself.
She thinks that I deserve this. Maybe I do...maybe I do deserve this.
My mouth drops and it falls open as I stare at the wall.
Maybe I do deserve to suffer. Maybe Batman should throw me in Arkham. What for? I'm already living in a prison.
A prison that I built, where no one can break through these gray gates made out of silver. A prison to keep me away from everyone else, a prison to keep everyone else away from me.
A prison for The Phoenix.
I am afraid of caring for these people like a family. I act selfish and arrogant around them, like I don't care about them at all. I am afraid to have a mother, and a father. Because I know that I will just lose them. I already lost my little brother. My dad, my mom, my other mom.
I can't lose my big brother.
I should leave. But will Jason's family keep him safe while I'm gone? Will he go after me and go back to being The Red Hood and get himself killed? What if he goes back to that insane man?
Where will I go? I have no one left…
I stare at the scar on my arm.
"So kid. I never caught your name." Kid Flash says as he watches Leslie patch me up.
I stare at the wound. "Why do you need my name? You gonna send me to Blackgate too like what your friend will do to my Papa?" I scowl.
"No. I'm curious, you know."
I sigh. It's not like I'll live long enough for him to take me to juvie.
"Autumn."
"Huh, Autumn. Cute name."
"Sure whatever." Wally West. Stupid name.
A/N: No, we personally don't think his name is stupid. But this is Autumn! So don't take any offense about this, don't lash out and please don't flame just because of this little comment coming from Autumn.
"Look, I don't know why you even care about kids like me...street kids."
He sighs. "I don't think you get it. We told you earlier. It's because of kids like you, why we became heroes. To protect you."
Sure, cause protecting means locking up the baddies just so they can break out all over again.
"Yeah, that makes sense."
Leslie stands up once she finishes fixing the wound up. She smiles warmly at me. "It's a good thing you came to me Autumn. You could have lost a lot of blood if I hadn't stitched it up quickly enough."
I smile back at her. But it's fake, I can't smile genuinely...anymore. But I truly am thankful. "Thanks. And I'm sorry I had to disturb you at this time." She doesn't sense my fake smile, but she keeps on her warm smile.
"Don't worry about it." She pats my messy hair.
Kid Flash turns to me. "Want me to walk you home?"
"No." I state harshly. I hate heroes.
"C'mon. We'll walk. I promise I won't run."
I glare at him. "Fine."
I start walking out the door of the clinic. But I stop and turn to look at the doctor who helped me.
"Thank you and goodnight." I smile and she waves happily at me.
I turn back and walk out the doorway.
West appears right beside me as we walk. "Don't you need to get back to your friend?"
"Yeah but, I can't just let a girl roam around the streets of Crime Alley all on her own way past midnight." Oh believe me, I'm not just a little girl.
"So...why did your own mom did that to you?"
I sigh. "Why in the hell should I tell you that?"
"Cause I'm irresistible. Even to kids. It's impossible to not wanna talk to me!"
"Really? I doubt that."
"C'mon. You owe me one kid."
"No I don't."
"Who brought you to the clinic in a nick of time?"
"I could have done that myself!" I growl and narrow my eyes at him.
"You know who you remind me of? Batman." I narrow my eyes even more. He takes a tiny step back. "Yeah, totally Batman. You know, except he's about this tall." He raises his arm. "Wearing a cape and a cowl. And well, he's much bigger and probably stronger than you are. But I can't help it in saying that you two are kinda alike."
I glare at him and clench my fists. "Well, you got the Batglare down."
"Don't ever compare me to Batman." I let him out of my glare and I continue walking.
"Why not?"
"Just don't."
"Then, when will you tell me about your mom?"
"I told you already, she's sick."
"I don't think a sick person could do that to you." He points to my arm.
"Whatever. She is, okay! It's not her fault! I wouldn't blame her for taking too much drugs…"
"What?"
"None."
"What about your Papa?"
"What about him? He's ruthless, arrogant, the exact opposite of what a Papa should be."
"Then why do you still call him Papa?"
"He told me to."
"But like you said 'he's not a good dad.'"
"Well, I'm not denying the truth, cause it's hella true. But, I have to do whatever he says because my mom told me to do so."
"But-" I stop in my tracks when I see police cars by our apartment. I see Red Arrow at the top of the building, holding his bow.
"Well, I have to go." And in a gust of wind, Kid Flash is at the top of the building.
I watch as Papa gets pushed in one of the police cars. Mom is yelling at the policemen. When did she get up?
I glare at the archer and the speedster at the top of my building. By taking away Papa, they made Momma unhappy. I don't like it when my mom's unhappy.
Under the shadows, I can see the guilt plastered right across Red Arrow's face. I can imagine his eyes under his mask full of pity.
I don't need his pity! I don't need any of their pity! What I need is for heroes to disappear from this world!
I blink. I glance at the window. The sun is gonna come up soon. Okay, maybe in around two hours.
But I can't sleep. No matter how tired I am.
I'm afraid. That I'll fall into another one of those nightmares. Actually...nightmares is just a fancy word for 'bad memories.'
****Break****
Jason's POV
Sleep. Yeah, not my thing.
I hold onto my mug as I stare at the counter.
Life has never been easy for me. I guess you could say it's a curse.
I don't think life will ever be simple.
I look out the window of the diner. The sun is about to come up, and I haven't gotten any sleep at all. The window starts to get misty and wet, covering my view of the empty block in front of this diner.
LIfe was never easy…
It sure as hell wasn't easy when I lived with my parents. It didn't get much better when I moved into the Manor. Or dying then coming back. Then becoming a criminal. And after moving back in the manor with my sister.
No...life will never be easy.
My sister isn't getting along with my family and my dad. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm gonna do with The Red Hood, will I continue him? Or will I kill him?
I take a sip of coffee. Maybe I'll continue him…
I guess I'll just have to stop killing and running drug businesses.
The drug thing is simple. But the killing...I still don't approve of Batman's methods. Then there's The Jo- NO JASON DON'T THINK OF THAT!
I take a sip of coffee and then put it down and look at the mist forming on the window. I press my finger on the cold glass and write. Todd was here.
I smirk at the 'work of art.'
I look back down at my mug. "Mind if I sit here?" I look up.
There's a skinny guy, with ginger hair and pale white skin. He's wearing a hoodie and tattered jeans.
"Nah." I say looking back at my coffee, he sits down in front of me.
"Nice arm by the way." I say without looking back up at him. I smirk when I sense him flinch and hold his robot arm that's hidden under his jacket.
"You better work on hiding that thing." I advice, still holding my cold cup of coffee.
"So what is that thing for?" I look at the guy. He looks kinda familiar.
He smirks. "Satisfaction." He says, looking at it.
"So what, you a cyborg or something?"
"No, nothing like that." This guy is definitely familiar.
"Really? Cause it's obvious that there's hidden weapons in that thing." I whisper with a smirk.
He leans back. "Yeah, so? I'm not planning on blowing up an empty diner." I shrug casually.
"You got a name?"
"Roy Harper." Now that name rings a bell.
"Jason Todd."
"Jason Todd…" He mumbles, looking at the mug in my hand. He furrows his eyebrows.
"Have we met before? I think I know you somewhere." I narrow my eyes at him.
He shakes his head. "No...you must have met the clone…"
"What?"
He looks back at me. "I've heard of someone like you." He furrows his eyebrows at me.
He squints his eyes. Then his eyes widen even more. "Holy s***." He comments, staring at me. "You're Jason Peter Todd."
"Yeah, that's me. How do you know my full name?"
"I've read about you."
I cock my head. "What?"
"I've seen pictures of you. Not to mention that hologram." He looks at the table, trying to remember somethings.
Then his eyes widen ever more as he stares at me. Then they return to normal size. "You're supposed to be dead." He says silently, but I read his lips.
I stand up and leave my cup on the table. "You know what. Get off my back. Cause you don't know me." I start walking backwards and my back hits the door. I turn around and break into a sprint.
Who's this guy? How does he know who I am? Do I know him?
I just keep running down the streets. I look back to see if he's following, he's not behind me. But when I look forward.
There's an arrow that just hit the ground, and in seconds, pink foam locks me onto the ground.
This Roy guy jumps in front of me. He's wearing a suit and a mask now, showing off his robot arm. Wait when did this guy get the time to change?
"Answers. You're supposed to be dead. Robin." He narrows his eyes at me.
Dammit. "Look, I don't know who you think you are. But I haven't been called that in years." Including the years that I was dead. Because less than a year after I died...I was replaced by a new Robin.
"Yeah, whatever. But how the hell did you survive? Where have you been hiding?"
"How do you know about me!?" I growl.
"I've heard about you, during my time with the Team. You're dead. You even have a memorial. Are you a clone?"
The Team...right Batman couldn't have told them, because he's Batman. "Hell no, I'm not a clone."
He narrows his eyes under his mask. He touches his ear with his finger. "Batgirl." He doesn't take his eyes off of me. "I got someone you might want to see." Big mistake telling this guy my name.
I struggle and I hear small cracking noises as I grind my teeth.
Then the hard foam bursts and I kick this guy in the face as I flip. I run away from Roy Harper.
Up a building and over each fire escape. Until I'm sure that he's gone.
Damian's POV
Sparring with the weakling. I know I am better than Drake.
He kicks but I jump up and kick his face.
But I need to keep on training, if I am going to be even better than all the past Robins.
It's been one week of school. I cannot believe I am still friends with this kid calling himself 'Scott.' Drake has his own group of friends called 'smart asses'. Chris is always with this other guy who has the same name as Drake over here, other than the fact that they have the same first name. I am sure that this Tim H. is much better than this weakling that I am sparring with right now.
Todd hasn't talked much about anything since last week. He seems to only scowl as he walks down the hallways.
Grayson is…the usual. Always prancing around and living in some sort of rainbow fantasy.
And Autumn. Well. I don't give a damn about that insignificant girl. She eats alone at school. Good. She deserves to always be alone. In her room. At school. Outside school.
She should just be locked up in that room for good and never come out so that I don't have to see her pretty-evil face again.
"Is...is that all you've got?" Drake asks, panting.
I get into a fighting stance and wipe the sweat out of my hair. "What Drake, you getting tired already? You weakling! No wonder Father picked me over you!"
He clenches his teeth and advances at me, yelling.
****Break****
Autumn's POV
Chores. Gets my mind out of everything.
I sweep the floor of the hallway.
I stop in front of a room. I stare at the shiny gold door knobs. I put the broom on the wall and make it lean. I slowly open the doors. I look around the room.
There's a huge romantic bed, a huge desk, and window allowing sunlight to flow in. I walk in quietly. Behind the bed, hanging on the wall is a huge picture of a man and a pleasant looking woman holding each others hands.
A shrine is built for the memory of these two people.
The woman is smiling warmly as she holds her husband's hand, she's looking straight forward and her blue eyes are sparkling, she doesn't seem to be wearing way too much make-up, just enough on her lips and cheeks.
The man, had a bushy mustache and dark, jet black hair. His eyes look hard, but his tiny smile says otherwise.
They're both wearing something elegant. I look at the bottom of the picture. Thomas and Martha Wayne.
Bruce Wayne's parents.
I start moving away from the painting and towards the door. I'm not supposed to be in here. I back away from the room and out the doorway.
I close the door quietly and grab the broom from the wall. I turn around swiftly, and I nearly bump into Mr. Wayne's chest.
I nearly wince but I only let out a small breath.
"What are you doing?"
"Sweeping the floor, Sir."
"Why?" I know he doesn't mean it, but he asks me harshly. I know it's not unusual because sometimes that's also how he speaks to his children.
"Because I'm helping Alfred." I sidestep and hold on to the broom and I turn the other way. avoiding his piercing eyes. He doesn't say anything and he just lets me walk.
I run down to Alfred and further away from Bruce. I slow down once I spot Alfred preparing breakfast. I keep the broom.
"Miss Autumn. Could you please go down to the cave and check on Masters Tim and Damian?"
"Yes Alfred." I say softly and I make my way towards the study, where the grandfather clock is.
How do I know that the entrance is there? I saw it, when I was roaming the halls.
I open the clock and walk into the dark cave.
I hear the bats squeal louder as I walk in. Then I hear a grunt and a yell. I go to the sparring room and find Drake and Dami rolling on the ground grunting and fighting.
"Yo. Breakfast." I say. But they don't listen.
I shrug and I turn around. Oh well, if they wanna kill each other then whatever. It's none of my concern.
Autumn! Alfred told you to get them! If they kill each other then Mr. Wayne will surely blame you! Then you'll get into trouble!
Shuddup! Wayne already hates you! If Drake and Dami kill each other then it will save you the trouble of killing them yourself!
No Autumn! Don't kill them!
Autumn, just leave them. It's not like they'll do any harm to each other.
Autumn! Alfred told you to go get them for breakfast!
No Autumn! Just leave 'em! They don't care about ya, so why should you care about 'em? It ain't your concern if they hurt each other!
Oh, God. Shut up different sides of me.
I turn around. "Guys, breakfast. Now." They stop in midair and they stare at me.
"You two are acting like children. Fighting over whatever you're fighting over. Alfred wants both of you to go upstairs and take breakfast. Now."
They stand up. "Why should we listen to you? Cross?"
I roll my eyes. "Whatever. Then don't listen to me. But I'm here to tell you that Alfred wants both of you upstairs and eating breakfast. Now."
I turn around and walk out of the sparring room and to the entrance and up the stairs. Into the manor and walking out of the study. I notice the distant footsteps behind me.
I walk into the kitchen, then to the dining room.
Dick's POV
A hero. That's who he was. A friend.
I stand in front of his grave, right beside Artemis. We both just stare at his name. His grave is right here. But we buried an empty coffin.
I look down and frown. It's a nice day, just like the day that we buried...Jason. Five years ago.
Last year...Wally sacrificed his life for the world. Everyone on earth got to live another day. But Wally had to give his life up for everyone else.
He was really talkative, and annoying, loud, but kinda funny, he was annoyed whenever I would mess up the english language, and he loved food. I wonder how his last meal was. I hope he enjoyed it...because no one knew that it would have been his last one.
But what if...he were still out there? What if he could still be breathing and running somewhere?
There was no body…
And in the world that I live in, no one's really dead unless a body was found. Even if you watched that person fall to their doom. Maybe after months...he could still be alive.
I mean...my brother. He literally came back from the dead…
Batman has an actual son…
And now our enemy is living under our roof…
All those things are impossible...maybe the universe can bring back my best friend too…
Suddenly I get a call...I look at my phone and I let out a small smile.
****Break****
Tim's POV
"Daaaad!" I walk out the dining room and look for Bruce. "Daaaaad!" I yell, holding my broken trophy.
"Shut up Drake!" Damian runs after me and I break into a quick sprint rushing up the stairs and into Bruce's study.
"Daaaad!" I rush in through the door and find Dad working on some papers in the dark. He looks up at the two of us.
"Shut up Drake!" Damian says, nearly tackling me. But I move out of his way. He jumps up and tackles me to the ground, making my broken trophy roll on the floor.
We roll on the ground, I try to punch him and he tries to kick me. I grunt when he hits my chest. He bites his lips when I punch his chin.
"Enough!" Bruce stands up and we stop in mid air. (The second time we stopped in mid air today). "Get up. Now."
We stand up and face Dad with slightly wide eyes.
I hear footsteps behind me. "Woah. Never mind. I'll talk to you later Dad." I don't need to turn my head to know that Chris was about to walk in. But she walks out. "Whew..." I hear her sigh as she walks away from this room.
Bruce rubs his head. "It's not even twelve yet and I already have two fights on my hands."
"Two fights?"
"That's not important now." He looks at both of us. "What's important is the reason why you two are fighting."
I bend down and take my broken trophy that rolled on the floor. "Damian broke it!" I look at Damian and point at him.
"Tt.' Damian frowns in that 'Father will favor me because I'm his real son' kind of way.
"It is just a stupid trophy!"
"No it isn't! I worked hard for this last year! During the science fair!"
"See, there we have it. The weak but smart ass Drake! What can you do? You're just a detective! That's it! You're a weakling! You can't do anything but observe your surroundings and you can't do anything about it!"
"Stop!"
"Why is that trophy even important to you!?"
"Because I worked really hard for it!" Actually...it was to make Bruce proud.
"That's all your good at! Winning unimportant science fairs! And observing bugs! Isn't that why you won the fair! Because you did some sort of experiment with bugs! Well guess what Drake, you are one!"
"Stop it. Now." Bruce yells and we turn to him.
"That's enough! Damian! Don't say that to Tim. He is your brother! Whether you like it or not! You cannot change that! Tim worked hard to get that trophy! Now I want you to say sorry and help him fix it."
"Tim." He turns to me. "Apologize to Damian. You two shouldn't be fighting. You're brothers!"
"Brothers don't steal things from each other! They don't break each others things on purpose!"
"What? You still mad about not being good enough to be Robin! I didn't steal the mantle! It's been mine all along! You only forced Bruce to make you Robin that's why you became Robin!"
"You may be Dad's blood son! But you're not his real son! I don't see why Dad would ever be proud of you! You're just too arrogant and rash!" I yell letting a few tears drop.
"You let your real father die! You're just going to fail Father! That's why he replaced you with me!" Damian screams back.
"You're not even supposed to be Robin! You're just gonna end up like Jason! Dead!" I yell.
"ENOUGH!" Bruce yells with so much force. We stop and I wipe my eyes with the back of my wrist.
"Both of you! Stop! None of those things are true!"
He walks to us and holds our shoulders. "None of that is true. I don't know why any of you would think that. But that's not true. I never meant to replace anyone. And I'm proud of you. Both of you." He says and we both look up at him with teary eyes.
"I'm proud of all of my children. None of you made any mistakes, none of you failed. I'm proud of you both. Remember that." I look up at Dad.
"I love you two. You're both my sons. By blood or not. You understand?" He hugs us both.
Then he lets go and looks at both of us and kneels down. "Now apologize to each other. For lying." I look at The Demon. "I'm sorry." I mumble.
Damian furrows his eyebrows. "Fine. Drake. Apology accepted." Then he looks at me. "But never breath a word about this to anyone." He scowls with those wet eyes of his.
Chris' POV
Ahhh...the smell of freshly microwaved popcorn. My comfort food.
I was able to delay my talk with Bruce, thanks to my annoying brothers. So I decided to make a bag of popcorn and watch some tv and text people.
I empty the popcorn into a bowl and head to the tv room. What time is it? I look at the clock. 11:32. Aw, nothing I like is on...everything is on in the evening. Might as well binge watch The Big Bang Theory.
I'm so glad I forced Dad into buying all of the seasons on DVD.
I put season 5 into the DVD player (I picked it at random) and pick a random episode. As it starts loading I check my phone.
Laurel: "I'm bored."
I reply. "Sucks for you."
I stuff a handful of popcorn into my mouth.
I look back up at the screen.
Oh Raj, you're so stupid...
I look back down at my phone. Now she's just sending me a bunch of Spongebob memes.
Next person!
Oh wait, all of a sudden I'm not in the mood to text people. So I'm gonna act like a normal person and eat popcorn while watching a hilarious episode of The Big Bang Theory.
"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA OH SHELDON!" I love it when he makes innuendos without even realizing it.
"Miss Christine, you are dropping popcorn everywhere. Pick it up or I will turn off the television." I didn't even notice Alfred come in.
"Yes, Alfred." I pick up the tiny pieces I dropped onto the carpet and throw them into the trash can next to the couch."
When he leaves, I turn my attention back to the tv.
I was gonna binge watch, but by the time the episode ended, I had already finished my popcorn. I guess I could make another bag. I just hope Alfred doesn't catch me. Apparently I eat too much popcorn...
Well I'm sorry if it's my comfort food and it makes me happy cause it's very delicious!
I walk out of the room and as soon as I open the door to the kitchen, I hear a loud, booming noise coming from the study. Dad's yelling again...wonder what's happened this time.
He's probably gonna start yelling again when it's my turn...
I wash my bowl. I'm no longer in the mood to eat anymore popcorn. Might as well just go and wait for my turn...
I head in the direction of the study and bump into Tim and Damian on the way there. Damian has a grim expression on and Tim looks like he was just on the brink of tears. Yikes, what happened in there?
I slowly approach the open door to the study.
"Dad?" I knock on the door and peep my head in. He's sitting at his desk, his hand on his forehead and his elbow on the desk.
"Well if you don't wanna talk to me today because you've had enough arguments I can just go."
"No. Chris. Come here."
Shoot. So close.
I slowly walk over to Bruce's large desk and take a seat.
He takes a deep breath. "What happened this morning? Why did you suddenly lash out at Autumn like that?"
I stare into his blue eyes. I have to maintain eye contact, but it's hard.
"I can't stand her." I don't move. I just keep staring. I try not to portray any emotion in my voice, like I've practiced so many times before.
"Did you even try to accept her into the family?"
"No. I already know that there's no use trying."
"Yes there is. Autumn's going to be living with us from now on, and that means she's part of the family. You have to accept that. I won't be able to tolerate you insulting and picking fights with Autumn."
"I can't." I say that a little harshly. "Autumn will never be a part of this family. She'll never be part of any family. She doesn't even know the meaning of the word. I meant every single thing I said to her."
"And she meant every single word she said back to you. Didn't you hear what she said? She doesn't want to break this family. She's trying to help us by shutting herself out."
"Have you ever considered the fact that maybe she's lying? Maybe she doesn't wanna break this family, because this family is already broken. On the outside, we all seem happy and whatnot, but we all have our problems. All Autumn's done is break us even more than we've already broken ourselves."
A pause. The tension in the room is uncomfortable.
"Which is why I'm trying to fix this family up."
"How? By bringing that monster into the family?!" I'm losing my temper.
"She is not a monster. Don't call your sister a monster." His voice hardens.
"She's not my sister! She's Jason's sister, and no one else's! She'll never be my sister!"
"She is your sister. The moment I took her in, she became your sister. She became Dick's, Tim's, and Damian's sister, too. She became my daughter, even though I don't treat her like one. Autumn is in this family now. I don't want to hear you talk about her not being part of this family ever again. Understand." He glares at me as my brain processes what he just said.
"Fine." I look down at my hands, which are trying not to swing up and hit something.
"Good." Bruce leans back in his chair.
Instead of leaving, I just sit there, staring at my hands, grinding my teeth, trying not to yell at Bruce.
Why doesn't he see it? He knows that none of us will accept her into this family. We made that point pretty clear.
What the hell is wrong with him? Sometimes Bruce just annoys the crap out of me.
I look up at Bruce. He's just staring at me. I'd better go.
I quickly stand up, and I feel a pain in my side. Almost forgot about that... My hand flies to my side as I turn to leave.
"You okay?"
"Wonderful." Hmph. Like he cares.
"One more thing. You lied."
I stop mid step and turn my head so that I can see him in the corner of my eye. "About what?"
"After you went after Phoenix on your own, Tim asked you if she said anything to you and you said no. But this morning, you said something that she told you that night. Why did you lie to us?"
"Because I'm not the person you think I am." And with that, I leave the study and my father behind me.
****Break****
Jason's POV
I'm walking down the road and holding my arm. So I'm gonna go home with a bleeding arm from that Roy guy. Speaking of which I need to ask The Replacement about him. He looks really familiar.
But how will I explain this to Alfred? 'Hey Al! I kinda got an injured arm cause some douche found out that I was dead so he went after me and put me in pink foam but I ran and got a deep scratch on my arm from the expanding foam. So can you please patch me up?' Yeah he'll believe me.
Bruce will probably think that I tried to kill a bunch of thugs. Then he'll ask me where I went to. Then he'll not believe me.
I could go to Leslie's because her clinic's not too far. But she could tell Bruce.
I need to get this deep cut patched up. Stupid hard foam. I never even knew pink foam could cut someone.
Then a girl walks up to me. "Chloe?" She has a tiny smile on her face.
She looks at my arm. "Come. My mommy can help you!" She says happily.
She holds my sleeve and pulls me towards the clinic. Oh yeah, Eliza. She could help.
We enter the clinic. "Mommy!" Eliza pops out of nowhere with a look of shock on her face.
"Oh my gosh! Jason! We need to patch that wound up!" Women...being so...womanly…
She drags me to one of the cots, she cuts the sleeve with a pair of scissors and immediately cleans my wound.
"That's quite deep." She says, dabbing the wound with cotton. "How did you get it?" She doesn't take her eyes off of the wound.
"Foam."
"Huh?"
"Hard foam. Shatters like glass."
"Oh. Why do you always get into trouble so much?"
"This is Gotham. Who doesn't."
She hums at my point. "But still. It's best you be careful. So that I wouldn't have to patch you up everytime."
She applies burning medicine to my wound. I hiss as I look at it. "Sorry."
"It's okay. I've gone through worse."
She stays silent. "How did your daughter find me?" I look at the little kid with short hair sitting on one of the chairs.
"What do you mean?" She starts stitching the wound up.
"She just bumped into me and then she brought me here. You let her go wander around the streets?"
"No. That is why I am going to scold her when I'm done."
"So she just leaves the house without our permission?"
"That's why I have to keep the doors locked at all times." She wraps my arm in bandages.
"So how is your sister?" She asks, standing up.
"She's...uh...honestly...I don't know…" I get off of the cot.
"I see. She's a good person. Your parents taught both of you well." She smiles warmly at me.
"Yeah. Our parents must have…"
Dick's POV
I stare at her as she watches the sun setting. Her red curly hair flying as the wind blows, her eyes reflecting the sunlight, her gentle breathing stronger than the waves of the sea. For once, the water in the docks here in Gotham looks clean and beautiful.
That's what Barbara does to me and my day. Whenever she's around, she always makes the day lighter, all the tension can just fly up in the sky and disappear, being with her makes me forget all my pain and sadness.
Well, most of it…
I sigh and look down. "What's wrong?" She asks, running her hand down my arm.
"I was at Wally's grave earlier...Artemis was there too."
"Dick...I know what it's like to lose someone close to you...but...you have to stay strong." I look at her, her eyes glistening as her smile warms up my chest.
"For your dad...for your brothers...and your sister."
I sigh. "I know Babs...but Wally...he's my friend."
"Dick." She gives me that look that says 'let's not talk about this now.'
I smile.
I touch her face and she leans on my touch. "So how's it going in the manor? I haven't visited in a long time." She asks, holding my hand and bringing it on the floor.
I look at the sea. "I don't know Babs. There's always tension. Yelling. It's weird...Jason hasn't said a word about much. Maybe I was wrong Babs...Jason's changed. Red Hood or not. He's changed."
"Dying and coming back will do that to a person."
I sigh and look down at the wood. "I wish...I wish I was the one who died in that explosion instead of Jason. Then he wouldn't be feeling any pain right now." She takes my jaw and makes my face turn to her.
"Don't say that Dick. There are things that were meant to be. Things that we can't change no matter what. That's just the way the past goes. It won't be changed. That's why you focus on the present. Don't look behind you, Dick. Look at what's in front of you. Jason's back now, you and Bruce aren't fighting anymore, plus you have a new addition to the family."
"She's not family." I look back at the sun.
"Dick. Look at me." I turn my head to her. "Stop. Looking. Behind. You. It won't get you anywhere. No one wants to walk backwards. Just move forward. At least forward will get you somewhere."
I look down. She holds my chin, she leans in and her lips touch mine. Her lips loft and gentle. She wraps her arms around my neck and I hold her hips as she sits.
I close my eyes and live in the moment. Slowly, gently, she pulls away. I open my eyes. Her soft and shining eyes meet mine. She smiles with her pearly whites.
"I love you Bird Brain." She smiles, touching my nape, sending chills up my spine. I smile back at her.
"I love you too."
Autumn's POV
"Excuse me! Sorry!" I skate and maneuver around the crowds of people.
"Hey!" They all yell back.
I wanted to talk to my friends, I have a story to tell them! It's really awesome and funny! I read it online...hehe.
I swipe my foot on the ground and push me and my board towards the direction I wanna go. I turn left, down an alley and just keep going. Hoping not to run into any thugs. The alley is dark compared to the other streets, but there's still a little sunlight that can light my way even as the sun is about to set.
But that's when I feel something heavy bump into me. My board slides forward and I fall backwards. I rub my head as I sit on the dirty ground.
"Hey watch where you're going!" I bark as I blink my eyes and stare at the person who bumped into me.
He's right in front of me, sitting on the ground, rubbing his head. "So I have to be the one to watch where I'm going? You're the one who wasn't looking so you bumped into me!" He looks at me.
His hair is jet black, facing up and kinda spiky but sorta short and disheveled, he's got a bit of reddish highlights at the front of his hair.
"Why don't you watch where you're going you klutz!" He scowls, starting to get up. He's a bit taller than me, maybe two inches taller. He has kinda dark olive skin, stormy gray eyes and jet black straight eyebrows that makes him look constantly pissed off.
"Oh so, I'm the klutz!? I was just here skating down the alley and then you just happened to show up out of no where!?" I bark back, starting to get up. I hiss once the pain in my ankle shoots up my leg.
I look at him. He's wearing a dark blue polo coat with his rolled up sleeves and a light blue shirt inside. He's got denim jeans and a black piercing on his right ear. He bends down to pick up his shades.
I limp towards my board. "Dammit!" I look at him, ignoring my ankle. "Ughhh! Look what you did to my board!" I spit and he looks at me. "You scratched it!"
"So? It's just a scratch!"
"Yeah but it's new!"
He rolls his eyes. "I don't have time for this. I have somewhere to go to." He turns around.
"Damn you!" I bark. I look down at the board. But then I fall on the ground. "S***!" Stupid ankle.
I hold my ankle and I start hissing.
"That douche." I mumble.
"Yeah, cause a douche like me would come back." I look up.
"Why are you still here? I thought you had somewhere to go to?" He holds the back of his head. "Yeah well, if I left you here you wouldn't be able to get up. And well, my conscience won't be clear if I left you here" He bends down and outstretches his tan hand.
I scowl and slap his hand away from me. "I can handle it myself."
"I'm already helping you, and that's how you're gonna act?"
"You're the cause of this in the first place!" I bark.
"That's why I'm gonna help you!"
"Ughh! I don't even know who you are! Why should I let you help me? You could be a kidnapper for all I know!"
"Yeah, cause a thirteen year old like me can kidnap an annoying and feisty girl like you. Really makes sense."
"Hey it could happen!"
"Yeah, keep dreaming." I glare at him and he smirks and looks to the left showing off the shape of his jawline then back at me still with that annoyed smile.
He keeps his hand outstretched.
"I can get up on my own!" I start to push myself up and slowly stand up. "See I didn't need your help!" His eyes suddenly widen as I lean on the wall.
I hear a banging of trash cans and some yelling.
"Oh crap."
At the end of the alley, there's two thugs taking a turn and pointing at us. "There he is!" They start running towards us, swinging their guns around.
He grabs my hand and starts pulling me away from the wall. He runs, dragging me along with him.
"Holy crap! Where are we going!" I look back and the thugs are pointing their guns at us.
"She's with him!"
"Hell no! I'm being kidnapped!" I yell.
He pulls me, and turns left towards where I came from. My board…
He keeps on dragging me along with him. The thugs start to shoot at us. I see the bullet that's about to hit him on the head.
I grab his collar and pull him to the right, behind a wall.
We stop and pant as we stick our backs to the wall. I look to my left to peek and still see the thugs walking this way. They're using their guns to shoot at us.
I can't show off my skills without my uniform. So we have to run.
I turn my head to the right where he's panting already. "There." There's a huge locked screen gate blocking our way, but we can jump over it.
"Let's go."
I run towards the screen gate and climb it, then I jump. I grind my teeth feeling the pain in my right ankle.
I look up and he's already jumped down. "Let's go!"
"Wow, you sure can move." He says, standing beside me.
I glance behind us and see the thugs running towards us. I grab his hand and run. "Faster!" I yell, still ignoring the pain in my ankle.
We turn left down another alley. "Wait!" He pulls me back and we stop. "A bike!" There's a pink motorcycle parked at the corner.
My shoulders drop. "Really?"
"You wanna die?" Maybe...but let's not answer that question.
He runs to the bike and starts to hot wire it. "Gah, it's not working."
I shove him away. "Give me that." I take the two wires and hot wire it correctly.
"Oh, I'm driving."
"It doesn't matter! Let's go!" He hops on and I get on right behind him.
He revs up the engine and we start moving with a roaring noise. "Hey!" I look up at the apartment building window, where a man is sticking his head out the window and scowling at us.
I smirk and salute to him before I turn to hold onto this guy that I don't even know.
I tense when I hear gunshots behind us. I look behind us and sure enough the thugs are right there, behind us. In a car.
"Faster!" I tug at his polo.
"This is as fast as this bike can get!"
I turn my head back to the car. I glare at the wheels, and slowly the wheels burn and hot rubber melting fills my nose.
I do the same with the guns. Then I hear some yelling.
I turn back towards the road with no concern about what's gonna happen to them. As we get further and further from the screeching and yelling, I can feel a cold sensation return to my heart.
"I know a shortcut to get out of here." He says.
"Name?" I demand.
"R." He says.
"R? What kind of a name is 'R'?"
"You wanted my name and so I gave it to you. Now, what's yours?"
I look forward. "Autumn." I answer.
****Break****
I sit on the back of the bike as R looks for signal on his phone.
The sun has set and we're stuck here in an empty road, near a cemetery. There are no lights at all, no people (unless you count the dead ones buried and the two of us). The grass of the cemetery is tall and wet and there are a few trees by the edge of the road. I may know Gotham pretty well, studied its nooks and crannies.
But I've never seen this place before.
"I thought you said this was a short cut?" I spit.
He just continues to look for signal, raising his Nokia up in the air. "You said this was a shortcut, but it's like we just got further away!"
"It's already dark out, the bike's out of gas, there's no one around and we're near a cemetery! I don't know this place and the worst part is, it smells like death!"
He turns around. "Are you sure that isn't just you?"
I furrow my eyebrows and breathe.
"Can you shut up! I'm looking for signal and trying my best to find a way back! But all your doing is sitting there and complaining!"
"God." I throw my head backwards and look at the sky, then back at him. "Well excuse me! My ankle is swelling! All because you weren't looking from where you were going and running from those guys! Who were they anyways?"
"Er...my ex-girlfriend's brothers, they got mad at me. That's why."
Guys these days. Into so many girlfriends at such a young age, and into lying way too much. I roll my eyes. "Whatever."
I roll the sleeves of my jacket up. He smirks at me, looking to the left, then back at me. "Why not just take off your jacket cause it's so warm?"
"Nah, I want my jacket on."
"Okay, whatever." He looks back at his phone, searching for signal.
I get off the bike ignoring the pain and I limp forward, ignoring his glance. "Hey where are you going? You're foot's going to swell!"
"So?" I just continue limping. "It's your fault!" I clench my jaw.
"Wait!" I stop and turn to him. Still ignoring my ankle.
"Why should I?"
"We should get some help first. We don't even know where we are!" He says looking for signal on his phone right beside me.
I roll my eyes and cross my arms. "You should just sit back on the bike and let me do this! We've been here for two hours now!"
"God, don't be so impatient!"
"Oh, so you call yourself the most patient person in the world?"
"That's not my point!" He rolls his eyes and turns his back on me, looking for signal.
It's silent for a while, and all I can hear is the sound of the loud chirping of the crickets. I clench my jaw and turn to my left looking at the graves as the wind carefully blows into my ears. We both stand under this tree.
Then a small bright light appears right in between my eyes. It starts to fly away from me and to R's ear.
I walk towards it and start clapping my hands around it, trying to catch it. I move around trying to catch it. I turn around in my place trying to catch it.
He turns to me, pocketing his phone as I move around to catch it in my spot. As I swing my hand to try and kill it, he holds my wrist. "Hey." he just holds my wrist.
I stare at him and he stares at me with tough looks on both our eyes. He looks at my wrist after that short I pull my hand away from him.
I start looking around. Fireflies start to surround us, the trees spitting out these lights.
I furrow my eyebrows at the bugs. "Don't kill it." He says, putting his hand in his pocket.
I smile and look around.
"Looks like they multiplied...it's so bright." I smile, still looking around. They look like stars flying in midair.
"I never knew that fireflies still exist here in Gotham." I move back slowly enlightened by the lights flying around.
My back gently touches his. We turn around looking at each other with annoyed looks. He stares at me for two seconds and I give him a disgusted look in exchange. I quickly look back at the fireflies.
"Someone used to tell me...you can wish on a firefly if you catch it."
"So did you wish?" He asks.
"Yeah...but my wish never came true." I turn my back and look around.
Ah, mom...good old mom. She taught me a lot of things. I smile at the memory then look at R again.
He's holding something in his palms and squeezing his hands tight and closing his eyes tightly and whispering.
I smirk. He's just whispering and I just try to hide my laugh.
Then he lets the firefly go in front of my face. He puts his hands in his pocket and stares at the fireflies.
"What did you wish for?"
He looks away from me and smiles. "I wished...that my life will change. That the lives of my mom, my dad, my sister. I wish that our lives will get better." He stares at the sky smiling.
I chuckle and look at the floor. "Seriously? I already told you that I didn't get what I wished for. Then here you go, still wishing?" I smirk and he looks at me. I mock him by copying what he did earlier.
"Hey! You believe what you wanna believe, and I believe my stuff."
I look at him and smirk. "You know. You can't get anything without a little hard work." He rolls his eyes at me.
I start moving forward. "C'mon lets go! Hurry up!" Then I trip. Great.
"Dammit!" I stare at my ankle and hiss.
He walks towards me. "See it's swelling already!" He says, bending down.
"Yeah! This is your fault!" He stares down at me first.
"Come on." He bends down and starts to pick me up. I try to scoot away from him.
"No! Don't! Don't touch me! Go! Go away! I can get up!"
"I know you can. But if you do, your foot will start swelling up even more!" I try to get up, but my foot doesn't want to cooperate!
"Gah!" He bends down again.
"Don't I said!" I try to elbow him, but he picks me up.
I stare at his hard face and he stares into my eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that?" I look away. "You think I'm hot, don't you?"
"What the- HELL NO!"
I try to push him and get out of his grasp. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" He just holds onto me. "Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!" I yell.
"You know. You're really light." I just keep on struggling. I reach up for his neck and I start to mess up his hair and yell, but he doesn't let go, he only smirks.
"Let's go!" He says, smirking and facing forward, walking while carrying me as I struggle and continue to mess his hair up.
A/N: BTW credits to the movie Warm Bodies for R's name (that's not his real name). If you don't know that movie then no problem. But still, you have no life if you don't know that movie!