ANGELS WEEP || bruce wayne

the fourth

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The rain beat down in a torrential pour, flooding the city in a slight film of brown rainwater. Her living room carpet was ruined, filled with people bleeding and sopping wet, turning her nice eggshell carpet into a patchwork of red DNA and evidence of the street they were dragged through.

"Well, that's unfortunate." Lorenzo joined Stacey in surveying the carnage before them. Makeshift cots were stationed across the room, supporting everyone from homeless people who were jumped to important businessmen who were intercepted by one of the many gangs who operated under the surface of Gotham.

"Yeah," Stacey answered, hands on her hips. The rush of adrenaline was gone, and in its place sat a tiredness that settled in her bones. She wondered if she would finally be able to sleep, but she doubted it. Even when she felt this tired her mind was still plagued with nightmares that she couldn't escape. But this feeling, the feeling to have helped so many people. She let a private smile grace her face.

It had been weirdly quiet the last couple hours. In the past weeks it had been busy almost constantly until the early morning, but it was only midnight and the barrage of people had come to a complete halt.

Someone called Lorenzo over and Stacey stayed by the open door to watch him attend to her, no longer caring about the intense rainfall that separated the outside from the inside. He helped her up. The woman looked stronger now that Stacey had patched her up, cleaning and bandaging the scratch marks deep in her neck.

The woman looked at Stacey as she passed. "Thank you, angel. Thank you so much for saving me."

Stacey looked to the side for a second, unsure how to answer. "It's no problem, ma'am, just trying to help the city."

She gave her a warm smile as the woman walked out into the rain, Lorenzo helping her put the hood over her head while simultaenously sliding Stacey the phone before helping the woman into the night to find a taxi.

The phone ran, the sound echoing throughout the room and causing the people around her to cringe at the obnoxious ringtone.

She stepped onto the patio to answer it, sliding her umbrella open, though she was already thoroughly soaked from helping people in earlier.

Heavy breathing sounded through the speakers, thick and labored. Lorenzo climbed up the steps to join her as a deep, struggling voice rang out into the night.

"Third and Main. I think- I think he's hurt real bad. He's just laying there, on the bank of the canal. Oh, god-"

"Can you find any identification? Is this someone you know?" Stacey asked into the speakers upon seeing Lorenzo's prompting hand.

"It's- it's-" The person took a short breath. "It's the Batman. He's just laying there. Your poster said something about him-"

Stacey and Lorenzo looked at each other, in shock.

"We're on our way." Stacey spoke into the phone, "Can you stay with him?"

"No, I can't, I'm late for work. He's at Third and Main, floating in the canal. I've gotta- I've gotta-"

They hung up, the line going dead.

"Oh, God, what are we going to do?" Stacey started panicking, almost tempted to revert back to her younger self and begin praying.

"Okay, calm down," Lorenzo grabbed her shoulders, ignoring her grimace. "Third and Main is a couple streets down, we can take him if we both work together. There isn't anyone out at this time."

"And leave all those people in there? In my house? Alone?"

Lorenzo sighed. "You locked the door to the upstairs?"

Stacey nodded. "I'm not that stupid."

"Okay. Do you really want to do this?"

"I mean, legally I have to, the Hippocratic oath-"

"I'll let them know that we're leaving. None of them had terribly life-threatening injuries, we'll just get out as many as we can and go get him."

Stacey was shaking, her adrenaline kicking in for the second time that night. "C'mon let's do it. We have to help him."

Lorenzo gathered everyone up, reassuring them that they can come back to be checked up on the following night or the night after. They thanked Stacey relentlessly as they left, giving her hugs or kisses on the cheek. Stacey hated every minute of it, her flesh crawling as they touched her, but she accepted their thanks. It felt good to help so many people.

The last person hopped into a taxi and Lorenzo helped Stacey throw together the first-aid kit.

Then they ventured out into the night, trying not to look suspicious as they rushed through the streets. The rain soaked them through, and Stacey wished she had goggles so she could see through the downpour.
"We're here," Lorenzo said, scanning the dock above the canal for any sign of the vigilante.

Stacey surveyed the dock below, the place itself providing a nice view of the city during the normal Gotham overcast day. Now the only thing left to see were flashes of red light and an overwhelming darkness coming in from all around them.

"There!" She shouted over the rain, pointing to the bank of the canal. A large form was laying there, still, as the canal rose higher and higher around him.

They walked through the squelching mud until they were at his side. Lorenzo looked around their environment for any threats as Stacey knelt next to him, fingers scrambling around in his helmet to try to find a pulse. It was there, but weak.

"He's alive, but not for much longer. Can you help me get him up?"

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A/N:

Any feedback or comments are always appreciated! Hope you're liking it so far!