"Master Bruce, is this really the time..." Bruce turned, throwing a bat glare at the butler, telling him to be quiet. Of course, Alfred had grown used to this, and he stood and faced the man in all his english glory, lips pursed, a burning look in his eyes. "Cobra needs to be interrogated." he ground out in his batman voice.
He didn't think he could take being Bruce Wayne, father of a child a child he'd nearly killed, tonight.
"Yes. And there's a little girl in there who needs her father." Alfred said vehemently, pointing towards the infirmary door.
"The last thing she needs is me." Batman said, looking distant for a moment before turning on heel with a snap of his cape, headed towards the Batmobile.
"No. The last thing she needs is a father who walks out on her. She's lost one father- isn't that enough?" Alfred asked, looking seriously at the boy he'd known since he was born.
"Batman is NOT her father." and he was gone.
She woke up gasping, her ribs burning. It'd been so vivid, so real... "Dad?" she called, nervous. All she really wanted was her father.
She stood, feet cold on the stone floor of the batcave. She walked out carefully, looking room was dark, no one was there, and she didn't want to bother Alfred. Knowing the faithful butler, he'd most likely just gone upstairs to bring down a snack or something for her.
The Batmobile was gone. Her heart sank slightly, but she should've known.
Hero duties came before, sometimes... It still didn't make it any easier, though. She headed back towards the infirmary, bare feet slapping on the floor, before she climbed back onto the bunk, wrapping herself in the sterile, thin white sheet and turning to face the wall.
She heard Alfred enter the room and look at her, but feigned sleep. She didn't really want to talk to anyone right now- she just wanted her Dad.
"Why did you do it?" Batman growled angrily.
"Why not? A god must have... means... to control his subjects." Cobra glared at Batman, golden irises and narrow, red pupils accenting his muscular figure. The arrogant lunatic really thought he was a god. "Your son was lucky to have caught me. I almost doused him in the drug as well- and then what would've become of your precious daughter?"he sneered, and Batman whirled to face him.
"Leave my partners out of this."
"You mean your offspring, no doubt. I can see your daughter was wounded- there's dried blood on your gloves." Cobra smirked. "Your daughter is the favorite."
"I have no favorites." Batman growled, not even sure why he was engaging on this topic of conversation. He loved BOTH kids more than life itself, but still, he loved them each for their quirks and creativity.
He wasn't even sure he HAD a favorite- when they were together, they all seemed to bundle into one heap of love and joy. But now he felt guilty- had he been playing favorites?
"Of course you don't. Which is why you've no doubt tended to your daughter and left your son alone to spend the night awake. Did you even speak with the boy?" Cobra sneered. "A son you hate, and now you have your daughter's blood on your hands. I hope she didn't die- I'd enjoy taking her from you again."
Batman felt his blood boil, then. He'd spoken to Dick, reassured him tonight. He NEVER played favorites.
True, he pushed Scarlet harder than Dick, watched her more carefully, was more protective, but only because he'd seen all the awful things that happened to young girls in Gotham when they didn't guard themselves well...
He whirled with the speed of a cheetah, backhanding Cobra into the wall.
The golden-tanned man hit it with a shockingly loud crack and slid down it, sitting on the floor for a moment, hands still cuffed behind his back, shocked.
"Who was your contact? Where did you get the chemicals?" Batman hissed.
Cobra simply reached up and touched his cheek where he'd been struck- the area was already reddening, it'd be bruised later. The man's face contorted into one of rage. "You have marred the face of a god!"
"You're insane." Batman hissed, eyes narrowed. "And if you ever touch either of my children again, EVER, I will hunt you down and prove you're mortal- I'll prove you can die."
And with that said he turned, marching out of the room and disappearing into the night, leaving a stunned madman behind him.
He stood in the doorway of the infirmary, watching her sleep.
She normally slept on her stomach, face in the pillow, but with her broken ribs, he knew that'd be exceedingly painful. With the stab wound to the back preventing her from lying that way either, she was tossing and turning, whimpering in pain every now and then.
It broke his heart.
Suddenly she rolled the wrong way and snapped up into a sitting position, crying out in pain.
"Scarlet!" Bruce's instinct took over, then, he ran to his daughter as she struggled to catch her breath, holding her as she gasped, a terrified look in her eyes.
"Breathe, Scarlet, breathe, it's all right..." he said calmly, gently pulling her close to him.
She finally caught her breath. "Dad?" she asked quietly.
She rested a pale cheek on his kevlar armor, shifting in a way so weight wasn't put on her injured ribs. "W-why'd you leave me?" she asked sleepily, wrapping her arms around his torso.
"I had to interrogate Cobra. I was afraid you'd be... afraid of me." he admitted the last part quietly. He'd never really admitted he was capable of fear before, let alone to his nine year old daughter, but he'd finally done it.
He waited, worried about what she'd say.
"Wasn't you, Dad. Drugs make people do crazy things..."
Bruce had to chuckle at that, then, since Scarlet had coined that phrase after she'd seen a man who was high as a kite running around, barefoot, in December, singing Mariah Carey's Touch My Body at the top of his lungs.
"Yeah, I guess they do. How're you feeling?"
"Better, now that you're home..." she was cut off by a huge yawn, and Bruce had to smile slightly, before the mood was somber again.
"Were you having nightmares- about me, hurting you?" he asked quietly.
"Only one. And it went away." Scarlet said calmly, nuzzling even farther into her father.
Bruce smiled. "Get some sleep." he said, deep voice reverberating in his chest as he spoke.
Scarlet smiled, and Bruce realized she liked the noise it made with her ear pressed against it. So he absently kept talking until she leaned heavily on him, completely asleep.
It was almost one in the morning, he was tired, too, and he had a board meeting at Wayne Tech tomorrow.
Still, he didn't have the heart to leave her, and despite how uncomfortable it was, he fell asleep in that infirmary chair,mladen in his Kevlar and with one of his most loved companions.
Alfred smiled when he found the two like it in the morning, he'd have to wake Bruce soon so he could get ready for his meeting... Still, he had a few minutes. He may or may not have snapped some pictures to email himself later.