Ch 11

**Author's note: I know the last thing anyone wants to be reading is a cringey author's note. But I feel the need to apologize if anyone is a fan of my story. It has been almost 5 years since I last worked on it. A lot has happened to me, as I'm sure many people. I am coming back to this story though, because I just can't leave it unfinished like this. Thanks for reading, and if anyone is a fan or a former fan of my stories, thank you so much for keeping with it, even with that huge cliffhanger that I just left the story on. That is horrible of me. I am back and determined to finish this soon, which is honestly my only story that I am actually proud of, both online and offline. Without further ado, I present, chapter 11. If you enjoy, please leave a review or send me a message. I just want to know that somebody still reads my stuff **

I felt warm. Dark and empty, but warm. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't find the strength. I tried to push myself up with my arms, but they didn't move at my command. I wasn't even sure if I was laying face down, I guess. My mouth wouldn't open for me to cry out or breathe, but I didn't feel like I couldn't breathe.

The only things that seemed to be working were my ears. I heard birds chirping. Though the sound was pleasant, it seemed far away, as though I were listening in to their sweet song, a bystander. Not part of their world.

A soft, familiar voice whispered to me.

"Danny…" she said calmly. It was a happy voice. One which made me realize my heart was still beating. I was still alive.

"Danny…" the voice said again. I had to get up. I felt an overwhelming need to wake up.

"Danny, get up!" The voice yelled, though it sounded like it was in the distance, near the birds. My eyes flipped open and I took a few gasps of stale air. Where the hell was I?

The place was familiar though I hadn't ever been here. A forest. It would've been lush and green, but everything seemed to have this weird gray tint to it. Even the slight mist that rolled through the woods.

"The afterlife." I whispered to myself. Was I dead? I couldn't have been, my heart was still beating. I could practically hear it. The wound on my gut was also gone, which didn't happen to those who died. They retained the wounds that killed them.

Suddenly, the wind rushed from behind me, blowing the fog in front of me away. In a clearing not too far, stood a woman dressed in purple and black leather. She had the same gray tint that everything else had, like some kind of camera filter, but I know who she was right away.

"Helena?" I croaked out, though my voice was barely a whisper. Even though it should've been impossible for her to hear that, I saw a smile flash on her face. She beckoned me. I stood up and started walking towards her, but as I closed in, she started running.

I gave chase. I knew that's what she wanted. I was only barely able to keep up with her. Though my gut appeared unwounded, I felt great pain where Ra's had plunged his sword in.

Finally, she stopped and entered a small cabin. I recognized the place as soon as I saw it. It was where we had first made love.

I cautiously entered the place. I really hoped this wasn't some trick put together by Ra's, a thought that hadn't occurred to me until this point.

"Hello Dayhound." Helena smiled as she sat down on a small sofa on the other side of the room. I couldn't help but gush and smile back at her. I felt weak, though not just from the sword wound I had sustained.

"Helena…" I finally managed to say through my weakness. She laughed, then stood up. She walked towards me and kissed me lightly on the lips. It was... bittersweet. A wonderful, familiar kiss, one that made me feel warm and weak, but it was hollow. I knew that I wasn't supposed to be here.

"How is my hero?" She asked me, sitting me down on the sofa. She sat on my lap and stroked my hair softly. For the first time since I'd arrived here, I noticed to bullet wound in her chest, "my God, Danny, you've gotten old."

"I'm only 25." I said, smiling.

"Have I really been dead for that long?" She asked me, "You look older than 25. Life really hasn't been kind to you, has it?"

I shook my head and frowned. Something felt wrong. I knew that all of this was real, but I felt bad, as though something bad was about to happen.

"I suppose life wasn't too kind to either of us." She said after my silence, "It's ok though, because we are finally here together again."

I couldn't help but smile at her. Even with the gray filter, she looked so beautiful. My heart started beating faster, and the blood gushed in my ears. Something was wrong. I felt like I was being torn apart. A man in the wrong world.

Helena must have noticed my distress because she asked me what was wrong.

"Helena… I don't know how to say this…"

She sighed, then looked down at the ground.

"There's someone else, isn't there?"

"I… no! Well… yes. But-"

"God… I knew it. I mean, I couldn't expect you to stay single forever. I just… I don't know what I expected."

"Helena, no! Listen to me!" I shouted. She looked at me longingly, though there was a worried look on her face. I grimaced. "No one, and I mean no one, can replace you. You were… are the love of my life. No one will ever replace you."

"Promise?"

"Of course! I would die for you. Hell, I killed for you. I promise, after I come back, I will be with you. But there's something else."

"What is it?" She asked worriedly. She did seem more relieved, but the worry in my voice brought that feeling into the room.

"I am not supposed to be here."

"Danny, look, we all go through this…"

"No Helena, listen to me. I am not dead. Not completely, at least."

"Danny…"

"Feel!" I said firmly. I grabbed her hand and placed it on my chest. She looked horrified as she felt the erratic beating of my heart.

"You need to get out of here." She said. Her voice was filled with fear, though not of me.

"Helena, what is happening?"

"I don't know how to explain, but you can't be here. You need to get back. Otherwise… well, something bad happens. I don't know exactly what, but somehow I know that something bad happens when living people are here for too long."

She grabbed my hand and practically pulled me out of the room.

The monochrome forest seemed darker than when we had come. More sinister. Helena seemed more panicked, though I felt calm. Maybe I wasn't calm, but my heart rate was slowed. Was it slowing down?

"Helena where are we-" I started to say, before being cut off by a horrible white beast tackling me.

It's long fangs tried to gnaw at me, but I grabbed its humanoid face. It punched me with a spider like arm, but I sent an elbow at its head. It staggered off, hissing. Helena screeched at it, but it just hissed at her.

Suddenly, as a ghost in the night, a large shadowy figure flew down, landing atop the creature. It hissed and howled, but the shadow snapped its long neck, and it dissipated into the gray grass.

"Batman…" I whispered.

I almost saw the older man smile as he stepped into the moonlight.

"Hello Daniel." He said. His voice sent chills down my neck, but it surely was the Dark Knight. The real Dark Knight. Not my ripoff version. The one who could've defeated Ra's without Alfred dying. The one who could've saved Barbara and the Commissioner.

"Bruce… I am so sorry."

"Why? Because you somehow got trapped here?" He asked me, "We'll get you out, don't worry."

"No, i failed you." I said.

"What do you mean?"

"Alfred… He… My enemy, Ra's al-Ghul, he-" I said, nearly choking up. I couldn't get the words out.

"Danny… don't blame yourself. Let go of the guilt. You aren't responsible for our deaths. Let go of guilt. Of hatred. A true hero doesn't have enemies, remember that." he said softly, until more creatures howled in the forest.

"Go! Find the Arbiter!" He ordered us, "I'll hold them off."

Helena grabbed my hand and we sprinted into the dark forest. I hoped he would be ok. I wasn't sure if one could die again. This was Batman though. There's no way he wouldn't be ok, right?

Helena led me to a cave. She smiled, though it was a pained smile. I knew this is where we had to part.

"This is where we part." She said sadly.

I hugged her tightly.

"Helena, I love you."

"Danny… don't forget me. Please. Even with your new… wife… and son…"

I stared deep into her eyes, and for a moment, I saw the ocean blue that they had once been. Not blue like the real ocean, but like the ocean in a painting.

"I could never forget you." I told her, wiping away her tears.

"I miss you so much." She said, biting her tongue, "Every moment I am here."

"I will come back to you. I promise."

She kissed me softly, then ran off into the night. I didn't blame her. It was hard. I didn't realize in that moment that she'd said son.

I took a deep breath and entered into the cave.

There was a long man in a large pillar of light, pacing back and forth. Other than that light, the cave was completely dark. As I neared, I recognized this man. It was myself, dressed in some kind of gray and white robe.

"Ah, the conduit finally returns." He said as I stepped into the light. His voice was the same as mine, but somehow different at the same time. It was a voice lost to me in the past, yet strangely familiar. "I was wondering when you would show up. I had figured the Keepers hadn't eaten you, but you were taking so long that I wasn't sure. I was beginning to think I was trapped here."

"Who are you?" I asked slowly. I felt more slow around this man. It felt as though time had slowed just a tiny bit.

"I am you, of course!" He chuckled, "well… sort of. I am what makes you, you, I suppose."

"The Arbiter of Death?" I asked him. He smiled, though it looked painful.

"I suppose you might call me that. You can just call me Death, if you wish. I have inhabited your body for 25 years, after all. I suppose we are on a first name basis"

"You're… I don't know what I am even trying to ask…"

"You're trying to ask if I am real. Yes. Very real. And of course, your follow up question something along the lines of how my Spirit is separate from yours. It's not that complicated, Daniel, really. You may be my physical reincarnation, but you are not my spiritual one. Though our spirits are connected. That is why you're here, actually. You are still alive. Barely, but still alive. I, on the other hand, am very much dead. When my Spirit was dragged here, yours was too, because I am a part of you. To be completely honest, I am not sure if you or Kameron would have survived past the womb if it were not for Life and myself."

"What?"

"Never mind all that." He said, grimacing. "It is past your understanding."

"How did I survive? When Kameron died.."

"He killed himself, yes. The Arbiter of Life, however, escaped. Left to reincarnate into someone else. We don't have to worry about him much. You survived and I didn't, because I wanted to try something new.

The way he said New sent chills down my spine. He was a sinister man. I could feel it. The evil around him. That had been inside me?

"To keep my explanation short for your… simple mind, I used my life force to preserve your spirit instead of mine. I was hoping that I could easily go back to you once your life was saved, but it wasn't that simple. In order for either of us to return, you need to give me your life force."

"Won't that kill me?"

"Of course It will!" He roared. He smiled a twisted smile and approached me. "But you need to think for a moment, Daniel. Your life will be over. You'll be here with The girl, your mother, Batman, and the Butler. Even your brother, though he will be harder to find considering half his head is gone… But I will return to your body in your stead.

It made a lot of sense, and seemed very appealing, but I just felt bad about it. I couldn't trust this guy…

"Think about it, Daniel!" He said, clearing sensing my concern, "no more hurt. No more sadness. No more hard life. No more pain. I promise I will take good care of your body. I will brush my teeth, shower, all that human stuff. It is the chance of a lifetime."

"You must think I am an idiot." I finally said. He looked quite taken aback by that comment, but said nothing, "I haven't forgotten what Trigon said. You're not a good man. You're an evil force."

"Wilson, would you believe me if I told you I have changed?"

I shook my head. He looked pissed for a moment, but then laughed and shook his head.

"I suppose you should know me better than that." He finally admitted, "25 years after all…"

"New deal." I said. "I go back to my body, stop Ra's, then live out the rest of my life without you."

"Do you know how to get back?" Death asked. I instinctively shook my head. He laughed.

Another light appeared in the cave, this one illuminating a chess table and chairs.

"Do you play?" He asked, though it seemed like he was joking. He knew me. He knew that I had played chess with Alfred almost every week since becoming Batman. He sat down at the black end, motioning for me to sit at the white.

"You do realize there is only one way this can end." Death told me as I took my first move.

"The game or our… disagreement?" I asked him, narrowing my eyes as he took his. I quickly realized that he knew me perfectly, but I didn't know anything about him, despite the fact that he was me, in some messed up way.

"Both." He answered simply, "Do you know why, Daniel?"

"Why?"

"Because I know you." He said confidently, "You're tired of life. Tired of being the hero, but unable to stop. Eventually you'll realize that the longer we spend here (which could be an eternity, by the way), the less time we have to stop Ra's."

"That's why you should tell me how to get out of here." I told him. He was slaughtering me in the game, but I was starting to form an idea. I just had to see if he could read my mind while separated from me, or if he just knew me well.

"Why would I do that though? Then I would be trapped here forever. We can't have that! You won't be able to stop Ra's. You already tried."

"You seem to underestimate me."

"Wilson, my boy, I know you! You aren't a better fighter than the Demon. You'll just get killed again, then humanity's last hope is gone. Check."

He fell for it. I knew that he had no way of knowing what I was thinking. I moved my queen quickly, taking out the bishop that had my king in check. I almost let my emotions get the better of me, but I managed to control it.

"That's why I do need you." I said, smirking, "But I can't let you win here."

"Daniel, remember the prophecy, it is the Arbiter of Death who is meant to kill Al-Ghul. I am the only one who can. Check again."

"That's why," I told him, sliding a rook slowly across the board, "I have a new proposition for you. Checkmate."

He looked at me, his gray eyes filled with shock. He looked down at the board, then back at me, then to the board again. I had won. Beaten him. I smiled sinisterly. He laughed.

"It seems I underestimated you." He said, smirking, "Let's hear this new proposition then, shall we?"