Chapter Fifty Five

In Pieces

June 23rd

The first thing Morgan noticed when she woke up was how groggy she felt. She spent almost a full minute simply blinking at the ceiling, slowly waking fully. Her eyes still felt impossibly tired, so despite being awake by now, she let them slip shut again. Eventually, she found the sense to realize that she had absolutely no idea where she was and how she'd gotten there.

Her limbs felt unbelievably heavy so she didn't move right away. Rather, she worked slowly on bringing feeling back into her body. She wiggled her toes and her fingers and took deep breaths. She tried to move her arms next, but found her right arm heavy and stiff and weak. As she tried to move it once more time, it gave off an odd twitch that made Morgan suspect it should've hurt but that she was on some sort of pain killer.

That would certainly explain the grogginess as well.

She turned her head and opened her eyes to figure out why her arm couldn't move. That's when she noticed all the machines she was surrounded by, as well as the tubes in her nose and her arm.

What the..?

She really should've realized long ago that she was in a hospital bed at a hospital or infirmary somewhere. The annoying beeping sound her heart rate monitor made should've clued her in immediately.

Not really considering that it might've been a bad idea, Morgan pulled the tubes out of her nose, shivering and grimacing at the unpleasant sensation. Once the tubes were done being all up in her face, she looked at her right arm and finally understood why it wasn't moving.

It was encased in a thick, white cast. With startling clarity, Morgan remembered what had happened. She'd fallen from that building to save Nightwing, and had gotten her arm hurt in the process. M'gann had asked if she wanted her to make her go asleep and Morgan had said yes.

And here she was.

Wherever here was, anyway.

Morgan wasn't even certain what day it was.

She groaned under her breath and blinked several times again as she tried to rid herself of that groggy heaviness. Her head felt so heavy Morgan was afraid her neck wouldn't even be able to support it if she tried to sit up.

She lay for a few more minutes, waiting until that heaviness lifted just a little bit.

Once she wasn't afraid that her neck would just snap in two if she sat up, Morgan did just that, pulling herself into a sitting position with only her left arm. Thankfully, her right arm was already in a sling so it didn't hang limply by her side, but rested against her chest.

Morgan finally focused on the needle nestled in the crook of her left elbow and involuntarily gagged at the sight. She really did hate needles. Once again not considering how it was probably a bad idea, Morgan yanked the needle out, cutting off whatever medicine or what it was that had been sent into her body. Apart from the grogginess, she felt mostly fine, so she guessed she didn't really need whatever the tubes and needles had been providing her with.

Recalling what she'd been doing before she'd gone unconscious, Morgan realized that she had no idea how the whole 'saving Earth' business had went.

Well, she was still alive, so she guessed Earth was too.

She still really wanted to hear what had happened. And she kind of wanted to know where she was.

So Morgan pulled herself up further and swung her legs over the side of the bed, pulling off all the wires that connected her to all the machines around her. the heart rate monitor finally stopped its incessant beeping once she cut the connection.

Her feet touched the metal floor as her hand braced her against the bed, trying to pull herself into a standing position. She did manage to, but her legs felt like jelly and she had to take a moment to simply stand there and wait for them to get used to the idea of walking. Blood rushed from her brain and stars danced in front of her eyes, slowly retreating. For a moment, all she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears.

Then the sound disappeared and she became aware of the low hum of what could only be an engine.

Now more curious than ever, Morgan found the strength to stay on her feet without having to lean against her bed for support, and she walked slowly towards the door of the infirmary she was in.

Upon reaching the metal doors, they automatically slid soundlessly apart, allowing her entrance to a hall with one wall made entirely by glass.

It took her a moment to realize that she was staring into space from where she stood.

She was in space.

Flashbacks of the War World made her dizzy for a short moment before she shook them away. Wherever this was, it wasn't the War World. That spaceship had been stolen by Savage days ago. It wasn't near Earth anymore.

And Morgan knew she was near Earth because she could literally see the planet hovering beneath her from where she stood.

Freaky..

She became aware of voices to her left, so she decided to go that way.

Seconds later, she found herself in a large – more like enormous – room with steel floors and tall windows all around. In the middle of the room stood Black Canary, The Atom, M'gann and Connor. They were talking about something displayed on the holographic screens that Morgan knew so well by now.

She felt an instant relief course through her once she realized she was among friends. The sight of the four heroes was indeed a sight for sore eyes.

Her footsteps must've alerted them because the four heroes suddenly turned and spotted her.

"Morgan!" M'gann was the first to react, flying towards the other girl. As M'gann got closer and Morgan got a better look at her, she couldn't help but notice that she looked.. odd. Sort of weary. The Martian was usually really bubbly with eyes alight with life. But that light seemed subdued, her overall appearance more.. tired. And sad.

Morgan wondered with mounting dread what had happened.

"What happened?" She asked, simply because she didn't know what else to ask. It felt like the only appropriate question. She wanted to know what had happened to her. What had happened with the rest of the MFD's. Why M'gann looked like she'd been crying.

"To the MFD's? To me?" She decided to specify because 'what happened?' was such a vague question really.

"After the fall, you broke your arm in three places." Connor answered, having approached the two girls. Morgan raised an eyebrow in surprise, almost impressed. Three places?

"And we moved you to the Watchtower so you could get treated." M'gann explained, sounding worried despite the fact that Morgan was fine now. "You'd lost a lot of blood.. You recovered just fine, but for some reason you wouldn't wake up."

Morgan frowned. "Just how long was I out?"

Connor looked at her with that serious face of his. "Three days."

Morgan's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Three days?"

That explained why her legs felt like they'd forgotten how to walk.

Her two team mates nodded, both looked strangely solemn.

Morgan paused and wet her lips. They hadn't answered her other question yet.

"And.." She pressed her lips together, somehow hating how she knew she wasn't going to like what they'd tell her next. "And what about the MFD's?"

"They're all dealt with. We're safe." Connor said it in a way that made it seem like it was a bad thing and Morgan sensed there would be a 'but'.

"But.." M'gann went on. She bit her lip as if searching for the right words.

Morgan closed her eyes and braced herself for bad news.

Please don't tell me the reason Nightwing isn't here is because something happened to him.

"There was an extra MFD at the North Pole. It had already gone into chrysalis when we reached it." Connor took over. "Flash and Impulse tried to neutralize its energy by running counter. It wasn't enough and Wally – Kid Flash went to help them. It worked, but Kid Flash was hit with too much energy from the MFD and he.. he disappeared."

"What do you mean 'disappeared`?" Morgan asked almost angrily.

"He's gone.." M'gann found her voice again, looking like she was forcing back tears. "Dead."

Morgan took a startled step back.

No..

With was Artemis all over again, she realized.

Morgan hadn't known Wally that well. But just like with Artemis, she'd like the guy.

She looked at her two friends and realized that they'd knowing him for years. They'd just lost one of their best friends.

Taking in a deep breath, Morgan closed her eyes and shook her head. She was so utterly sick of all of this death and destruction. Sick of having to go through heart ache after heart ache and knowing people expected her take it all in stride because she was a superhero and that's what superheroes did.

She was sick of being a superhero.

Morgan's heart sank even further into her stomach when a new thought occurred to her.

Dick..

He'd lost his best friend.

And Morgan was aware that she'd be sad that Wally had died. But she wouldn't be absolutely devastated the way she knew Nightwing would be.

"I need to get to Earth." Morgan finally said. "I have to see Nightwing."

Connor shared a worried look with M'gann.

"He refused to leave while you were unconscious, but after almost three days, Black Canary and Batman ordered him to go and rest." M'gann explained softly.

"We don't know where he is." Connor finished for her.

Well, Morgan knew.

"You don't know where he lives." She shot back, sounding unnecessarily fierce. "I need to get to Earth. Now."

Knocking on his front door three times, Morgan mentally prepared herself for the sight that would greet her. If he was even home.

Would he be exhausted and numb? Would his eyes be red rimmed and wet from tears? Would he be hiding behind his 'I'm-Nightwing-and-I-can-deal-with-anything' mask? Would he be cool and composed when, in reality, he was breaking inside?

She held her breath as she waited for him to answer, all too aware that she was standing in her Sparrow suit in plain sight and broad daylight, without her mask on. She really hoped he'd answer the door because she'd like to avoid getting seen. Well, she was wearing a plain white t-shirt on top of the suit, something she figured she'd been wearing while her arm was getting treated and they'd had to take off the upper part of her suit. The right sleeve of her suit was still hanging limply by her side and she was grateful for the t-shirt because most of her collarbone and the right side of her chest would've been visible without it.

Her left hand picked nervously at the cast on her right arm, the weight of it unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

Morgan instinctually breathed out a sigh of relief and closed her eyes, sagging, when she heard movement on the other side of the door. It unlocked and was roughly pulled open.

She'd never seen anyone change their facial expression so fast. First, he'd looked angry, almost scary, like he'd expected it to be some door-to-door salesman who'd come to bother him. Then, as soon as he saw that it was her, his eyes grew soft and sad again and his brow smoothed out somewhat, his jaw unclenching. He looked torn between relief that she was apparently up and about again, and the absolute sorrow he felt at the loss of his best friend.

She felt her heart clench painfully at the sight of him. He had deep bruises under his eyes. His mouth seemed to be in a permanent frown, his hair looking disheveled and unwashed. Morgan could see a bit of stubble outlining his jaw, proving he hadn't shaved in several days. His entire body screamed of exhaustion and sadness.

He let out a strangled sound and immediately grabbed for her, pulling her to him and squeezing like he was a toddler trying to stave off a nightmare, and she was his teddy bear.

Morgan had the sense to close the door behind them with her foot as her hand dug into his hair, wishing she could've used both of her arms to hug him properly.

They stood there for a long time. Eventually, once Morgan noticed the slight shaking of his body, she knew he shouldn't be standing here anymore. She pulled away slightly and kept a firm grip in his hand. Neither had said a word up until now, but as it became clear Morgan was leading them to his bedroom, Dick finally spoke up. He'd gotten the wrong idea.

"Morgan, I-"

"Shh.." She soothingly interrupted, looking reassuringly back at him with a small, fragile smile. "Just.. lie with me."

He looked very uncertain, but eventually his exhaustion and perhaps his need for human contact – something Morgan knew could be incredibly soothing – won over and he crawled underneath his covers with her. His arms snaked around her waist again and Morgan melted into his embrace, hoping it would bring him at least a tiny bit of comfort.

She wasn't good with vocal comfort. But she'd give him this, hoping her company would somehow be enough.

His head rested against her collarbone and the top of her chest, his fingers fisting handfuls of the back of her t-shirt on each side of her wings. His breathing was shaky and he was clinging to her with a sense of desperation that made a lump grow in Morgan's throat. Normally, his proximity and embrace would've made her flush or made her pulse quicken, but now she felt only sadness.

She started stroking his hair, the unwashed strands ticking in odd angles. "Go to sleep." She softly ordered.

If this was what losing your best friend felt like, Morgan thought as she kept stroking his hair soothingly, she hoped to god Dick never died.

She didn't think on that for long. Right now, she was more focused on doing her part in bringing the pieces of her mentor back together. Morgan wasn't stupid, she knew she couldn't singlehandedly put him back together, he'd have to much of that himself. The notion that you needed a boyfriend or a girlfriend to 'fix' you was just stupid anyway.

But she'd help. She'd do what she could to make the next few days as easy for him as possible.

And then she was leaving.

July 4th

It was a weird feeling, standing amongst trees, smelling the grass beneath her feet, and yet not be on Earth. Morgan pried her eyes away from the holographic memorial of the second Robin and cast her eyes onto her planet, living on peacefully and safely beneath the careful eye of the Watchtower.

The Reach was leaving the planet for good tonight, escorted by the Green Lanterns. How fitting that their removal happened right on independence day. How ironic.

A strange weight was lifted from Morgan's chest as she recalled the sight of the last few of their ships leaving their orbit, surrounded by small green escorts. It was a weight that had settled the night Mount Justice had been destroyed, one she'd gotten so used to she'd almost forgotten it was there. And now that it was gone, she felt lighter. Less bound by gravity.

It was finally well and truly over. She drew in a deep breath, feeling like it was the first free inhale she'd had for months.

Morgan pulled lightly at a thread on her cast, a small smile crawling onto her lips at all the silly autographs, drawings and messages her team mates had adorned it with. She'd sworn painful death on anyone who so much as dared to think about drawing a dick on it, so the drawings were all cute things like flowers and smiley faces – simply because it was only the girls who'd chosen to draw anything after her threat.

She was also glad Dick had had the sense to write his full name.

The cast was the strange proof of how much of a family she'd found on the Team. They were all like her siblings and she absolutely hated that she was leaving them.

"Welcome to the Team, Virgil." Cassie spoke up, breaking Morgan's line of thought. She looked over at the three younger heroes, surprised that she hadn't even noticed them arriving. They were standing close to her and everything too.

"Call me Static." He replied enthusiastically.

"Catchy." Tim complimented. "Soo, what about your pals? I take it they declined?"

Morgan's brow furrowed as she finally bothered to really look at her team mates. Robin and Wonder Girl were standing rather.. close.

And she could see their intertwined fingers.

She had so called it.

Morgan pushed herself off of the tree she was leaning against and headed for the mission room. Nightwing and Aqualad should've been done talking by now, and Morgan needed to talk to their leader as well.

As she entered the mission room, she instantly spotted their tall figures, as well as several of the members of the League. In a way, she felt proud to have been part of a group like this, and yet she felt incredibly humbled and small as she made to walk past Superman, Batman, Black Canary and Captain Atom. She felt tiny and insignificant next to people as powerful and influential as that.

"Sparrow, right?" Someone spoke up, and it took her a moment to realize it was Superman.

She frozen in her spot for a second before turning and facing him. Having absolutely no idea what to say – how did you address the most powerful person on Earth? Mister? Sir? – Morgan just said "Hi."

Which was super lame, but she'd never considered herself a great conversationalist anyway, so whatever.

"Nightwing says you've progressed very well." Batman took over when Superman looked taken aback by her moronic greeting. Morgan was happy for it, though who would've ever thought Batman could defuse tension?

She blushed, both because she was pleased that Nightwing had complimented her, and because she had four Leaguers watching her intensely.

"Eh."She shrugged, the movement reminding her of the cast on her arm. "Not good enough to not break my arm in three places, but ya know.. What can you do."

They must've sensed she was joking, because smiled pulled at their lips – with the exception of Batman. She was pretty sure the guys face would get a heart attack if he tried to make it smile.

"Still, we expect great things from you in the future." Black Canary encouraged.

Morgan inwardly grimaced.

"Now you're just putting far too much pressure on my small shoulders." She smirked at the older blonde, who rolled her eyes but smiled back fondly at her. After the whole fiasco with Black Canary taking over Nightwing's mentor duties, Black Canary had taken to look in on her every once in a while. Morgan had grown fond of the older woman. If she'd had to chose anyone as her mentor other than Nightwing, she'd probably have chosen Black Canary.

"Morgan,"

Speaking of mentor..

Morgan turned with a ready smile on her lips as she peered up at the fast approaching Nightwing.

"You ready?" He asked.

Morgan nodded, feeling a strange, melancholic happiness coil in her stomach.

He looked up at the Leaguers. "Sorry to interrupt, but we've got to get going."

He very naturally placed an arm around her shoulders and Black Canary sent Morgan a knowing, raised eyebrow. Batman looked like he was trying very hard not to scowl more than he usually did.

Realizing that this might've been her last chance for get this out, Morgan fixed the Leaguers – mostly Batman – with a serious look.

"I just want to say thank you.. For giving me this opportunity. It's meant more to me than you'll ever know."

After a few contemplative seconds, Batman inclined his head. "It's I who should be thankful." He cryptically answered, though Morgan partly thought she understood what he was saying.

Thank you for having taken care of him.

She offered him a wry, carefree smile and let her mentor turn them around, approaching Kaldur.

"You are leaving as well?" He stated more than asked once they reached him.

Morgan shrugged ruefully. "There's a lot of legal stuff after my dad's death that I've been procrastinating on."

It was true. Apparently, he came from a pretty wealthy family and had had quite the life insurance. And there was some stuff in his will that was hers too. Morgan was his sole heir – since nobody knew about Rachel's true heritage – so she was getting quite a hefty sum. Not that it really compensated.

She smiled sort of sadly. "It hit me that half of my blood is Danish, but I've never actually been to the place. I'm going over there. Meet my grandparents. Sort out my dad's will. They're hosting a funeral for him even though his body was buried in Gotham."

"How long will you be gone?" Kaldur asked next. Morgan was glad he didn't try to protest, though she didn't think he'd be the type to persuade her stay when it was clear she was needed elsewhere.

"Only a few months. I don't think all that will and life insurance stuff will take too long. Besides.." She couldn't help but shoot a tiny glance Nightwing's way. "I've got something to come back to."

Almost as if sensing what she meant, his hand brushed against hers, his little finger briefly intertwining with hers like they were doing a pinky promise.

Morgan's eyes flickered to the slowly growing group of superheroes behind them. Right before Nightwing and she had approached him, Kaldur had called for the Team to meet him in the mission room, and here they were. Most of the Leaguers were there was well.

"I will look forward to have you back on the Team." Kaldur pleasantly said next.

Morgan smiled. "And I'll look forward to getting back." She promised. Truth was, she wasn't actually one hundred percent sure that she'd be joining the Team when she got back.

She'd gotten a taste of the superhero life. And it wasn't as glamorous as she'd first assumed.

And now she needed to take a few steps back and properly realize what it was she wanted.

If she wanted the life she was currently leading.

Morgan took a deep breath and stepped towards the gathered Team. Some of them she'd probably see again before she left, but she'd rather not care the chance and miss saying goodbye properly.

"Well.." She started out, unsure how to proceed with all of them watching her. They already knew she was leaving, she'd told them earlier. Perhaps they were waiting for some sort of heartfelt goodbye speech.

She took a deep breath and quirked one corner of her mouth into a smile. "I'm really gonna miss all of you."

Cassie and M'gann hugged her first, then Beast Boy and Batgirl. And then it just sort of progressed so – even though she really wasn't a hugger – Morgan decided that, screw it, just hug all of them.

Once she felt appropriately squished, Morgan walked back towards Nightwing and Aqualad.

"We'll see you, Kaldur." Nightwing said as his parting words, taking a step back as he made for the door to the transportation room.

Morgan followed after him, reaching three steps before she paused.

"By the way," She spoke up, turning to face Aqualad again. "I'm sorry for threatening to rip your gills off." She smirked at him and he let out a small chuckle.

"You were in the right at the time." He assured her.

Morgan mock saluted him and the Team, her smile growing when the others smiled and waved their goodbyes, calling to wish her luck on her travels.

Nightwing was waiting for her by the door to the transporter room, watching as Batman spoke to the Team.

They both paused to listen to his words.

"Having stopped the Reach invasion and broken the Light in half, the Team will now operate out of the Watchtower, side by side with the League. Not because Mount Justice was destroyed.. But because you earned it."

Morgan almost got a heart attack – was he smiling?

"Holy shit, Batman's smiling." She hissed at her mentor – well, technically he was now her former mentor – punching him repeatedly in the arm.

He cracked his own smile and grabbed hold of her hand to stop her abuse on his arm, not letting go again as he laced his fingers with hers.

The Leaguers had left by now, and Morgan studied Kaldur when he with practiced ease launched into leading the Team, assigning squads and sending them on missions.

Nightwing smiled and sighed deeply. "Business as usual." He sounded pleased before pushing off of the wall he'd been leaning against.

They walked out of the room hand in hand.

"So I guess that date's going to have to wait, huh?" Nightwing asked with her a sort of sad smile on his lips, letting her know that he was only half joking.

"I don't see why it should." Morgan grinned up at him. "My plane doesn't leave until the fourteenth."

So, I realize there's a pretty big time gap between Morgan waking up and then the fourth of July, and to all the people who might feel disappointed I didn't include any scenes of what happened in those days, it's because it's a time I plan to touch down on in the sequel.

Writing sad Dick is difficult, because where is the line? How do I avoid making him too sad and how do I avoid making him too stoick? IDK. I hope it was fine.

I've been offered some singing lessons with two of my friends from church, and we have to bring a song each and sing it to each other.. And I'm stupid enough to have chosen Defying Gravity, which is making me ridiculously nervous. I mean, I've been singing it probably over a hundred times when I'm alone, but in front of others? Aw crap.

Funfact: A few numbers: On my word document, the story is 573 pages, and if I enter the 'book feature' it's 921 pages long. The story, currently, is exactly 264.633 words long, which actually makes it longer than the longest Harry Potter book, Order of the Phoenix, which is 257.045 words long. Which just makes me realize that I made all of you sit through one huge ass fanfic. Seriously, what the heck. (I feel like the funfact should've been something really profound or important because this is, technically, the last chapter, unless you count the epilogue)