Chapter 24: Ink

"Oh, Sarah! Thank God you're alright! You had me so worried!" Dinah said, hugging me extensively to the point that I almost passed out. I gasped as she let go of me, which didn't seem to be noticed by her worried and tear struck eyes. Through the few weeks I had known and lived with Dinah, I had to admit that she had grown on me. The motherly, semi-traditional type that loved almost everyone she met. It was a lot different than my personal experiences with mothers.

"I just took a few days off, that's all." Dinah seemed to not hear me as she stared at me weakly, her hands grasping tightly onto my forearms. Her usual lightly-tanned complexion seemed pale in the natural light of a quiet Sunday morning. I noticed Oliver standing weakly to the side, the t.v. control lying on the floor near his feet. He had obviously dropped it.

The door burst open and Dinah let go of me in time for me to swing around quickly, about to take a fighting pose. My eyes widened to see the whole team - Diana, Batman, and Barry included - burst through the doors, surrounding me. I felt gagged in the larger than usual crowd with Miss Martian hugging me and everyone else talking. Dinah obviously noticed my eyes as she intervened.

"Okay! Okay! Let's give Sarah some space. She doesn't want to be...surrounded like that." Dinah said, watching my eyes go back to normal. I still felt gagged, not being able to respond or even speak. I swallowed hard and felt everyone's eyes on me. I wasn't usually so afraid of being in a crowd - I had after all been in Moscow for over two years, getting away with wearing a pound of makeup and a fake dirty-blonde wig - but this, this was not what I wanted at that moment and I couldn't take it.

I pushed everyone aside, making my way to the stairs and running up them, slamming the door behind me once I got to the guest room. I could feel everyone's eyes on the door as I held my back against it, my whole body shaking. I felt exposed, not only after my recent disappearance, but with the fact that Roy's eyes seemed to be on me at all times, and with my sudden collision with the broken-hearted man the day before, Roy's eyes seemed to be one of many bad things to come.

I shivered as I thought about everything that had happened in the last three days. Kidnapped, knocked out, blackmailed, and regretful wasn't exactly on my list of easy things, even for someone as trained and skilled as myself, but that wasn't going to stop my enemies.

I sighed as I crawled onto the cream colored sheets of the queen sized bed and laid down on my stomach, pulling up my left sleeve of my shirt so I could see my wrist. I rubbed my lips together as I stared at the black ink.

För evigt och alltid...

I stared at the Swedish words and swallowed hard. Forever and always...

"If they mess this up then everyone's screwed!"

"Yeah, right. You said that last time."

"And I meant it until you practically tackled me!" He laughed.

"It was for both of our goods." I smiled and laughed.

"First, tell me if this is going to hurt."

"I thought you were tougher than that." He smiled as I glared at him. "Well, to answer your question, it's only a little pinch."

"ID please." The bulky man asked. I smiled softly, pulling out the card and handing it to him. He inspected the card carefully, handing it back to me with a straight face. "Well then, Happy Birthday."

"Thank You." I said, smiling. I sat down in the chair and got comfortable, putting my wrist out in front of me as the man took it. I felt a small pinch and my body twitched. "Holy shit, I was not expecting that." The man laughed.

"First time?" I smiled.

"Isn't it obvious." I said, nodding toward my bare arm. He laughed.

"Well, in that case I recommend a picture next time. I'd say you're more of a dragon girl than a flower girl from the looks of it." I laughed.

"You got that right." I said. He quickly finished, wiping my skin with the cloth and showing me.

"Good?" I smiled, looking at the black ink that shown brightly on my pale skin in the florescent lights.

"No. Perfect."

I smiled softly at the memory and began to frown.

"I wish..."