We Were Born Sick • Gotham Fanfiction •

XXVI: Bedroom Hymns

"We always see our worst selves. Our most vulnerable selves. We need someone else to get close enough to tell us we're wrong. Someone we trust." ― David Levithan

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Sitting up in his bed, Bruce reached for the light on his bedside table as he announced, "I'm still awake."

With a small chuckle, Bird walked the rest of the way into her younger brothers room and stopped next to his bed as she admitted, "I was just coming to check on you before I went home."

"I'm fine." He assured her, looking down to the dark blue plush comforter on his bed as he pulled in a breath and thought out loud, "When I was younger, I couldn't understand why you never wanted to be at home. Every morning on the TV and in the newspaper it was all bad news, more muggings and murders and then nearly every night you'd sneak out to go into the city and I never understood why."

Bird's eyebrows lowered in confusion and concern as she stared and waited for him to go on, it was clear he had more to say.

"I think I can better understand it after today." He admitted, adjusting on his mattress to sit up farther. "There's an entire other world outside of these walls. I can see the appeal of it now, the freedom of being out in the city like that."

"Bruce, you were nearly killed today." She said, shaking her head back and forth.

Breaking his eye contact he argued, "You've had worse happen to you in Gotham and it didn't stop you from going into the city."

Her jaw tensed at his words and she took a moment to pull in a deep breath before she spoke.

"Bruce, you are thirteen years old. Alfred and I both told you to run, but we didn't mean disappear into Gotham for most of the day. There are so many pay phones or places you could have gone into and used a phone to call Alfred or Jim, or me! You can always call me and I will come get you, no matter what. You had us completely worried sick, we didn't know if you were hurt or worse! You cannot just take off like that, it was dangerous and stupid and..."

Her voice trailed off and he slowly nodded as he guessed, "Irresponsible?"

"Oh my god..." She breathed, sitting down on the foot of his bed with a dazed look in her eyes as she realized, "I sound like mom. I've been on the opposite end of lectures like this more times than I can count."

He watched as his sister seemed rather distressed by the revelation and her face contorted with a stunned expression before she rubbed her hands over her face and sighed, "I don't want to do this, I don't want to yell or lecture you. You know right from wrong; you know better than to run off like you did today."

"I got caught up in the moment." He admitted, "I wanted to call someone at first, let you know I was alright, but then we were far enough in the city that Selina was sure we weren't still being followed and being in the city started to be... fun."

"I understand that." Bird nodded, knowing she was in no position at all to lecture him over things that didn't come close to what she was doing at his age, "You just... you can't do stuff like that, okay? And if you get into some kind of trouble, you can always call me."

He nodded, he did feel guilty knowing how he'd caused everyone to worry about him by running off with Selina, but even knowing that he wouldn't take it back.

"I won't do it again." He promised, "It was an experience I'll never forget though. It was nice even, to feel so... alive."

Her head cocked to the side as she watched him and her heart fluttered in her chest with a sense of fear. That was exactly what she thought as a teenager too, that being in the city –being that close to danger made her feel alive in ways that being in the walls of Wayne Manor never could.