Necromancer | Daughter of Batman

Chapter XVII

Bruce stood up as Dick rapidly approached him. "Where have you been, Dick?"

"Thinking, now get out of my way." Dick placed his hand on Bruce's arm, his eyes firmly set on Kim's hospital room. Bruce held his position firmly.

"You ran off, and for what? To find Jason? You should have been here." Bruce growled.

"Let me see her!" Dick pushed away at his father. Bruce crossed his arms and sighed. Slowly, he stepped away, opening a path to Kim. Dick grasped the knob, but paused. He stared deeply into the room, which was completely darkened by both curtains and an absence of lights. "She called me the night they took her. I was out with Kori. I didn't answer." He felt a frog rise in his throat. "I failed, Bruce. I should have been there." Silent tears streamed down his cheeks. "I couldn't stand to see her. When you found her naked, bleeding, and starving, I..." His voice cracked. "I couldn't take it..."

Bruce approached the boy from behind. He placed his hand on his shoulder and pulled him to face him. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around the man he raised. "Hey..." He whispered as Dick returned the embrace. "I'm proud of you. You've always been there for her, kid... It's not your fault."

"What if she dies...?" Dick whispered.

"She won't. She might just be... different. She needs her family." Bruce pulled back and wrapped his hand behind his neck. "And you need to see her. Go."

Dick wiped his eyes and nodded. He turned around and opened the door. He smiled and sobbed quietly at the sight of his younger sister laying on her back. Her chest rose and fell, and her face, despite all she'd been through, appeared peaceful. Clark mentioned she'd recently woken up, and was on the road to recovery. Yet, here she was, covered from her neck to her feet in bandages, and lacking any clothing as a result. Dick sniffed sharply and knelt down at her bed. "Kimmy..." He whispered. He placed his hand over hers and squeezed it. Kim stirred and opened her eyes. Dick covered his mouth as her blue irises locked onto him. "Hey..." Kim smiled softly, squeezing Dick's hand in return. "You okay?" Immediately, her face crumpled. Tears streamed past her temples and into her ears. "Hey, hey... What's the matter?" Dick reached over and held the top of her head. "You're home, Kimmy. You're home."

Several weeks passed since the incident in London. Kim was seemingly in good spirits, however, her bad habits of failing to eat continued. Dick stood quietly in the kitchen. As Bruce walked toward the coffee maker, dressed for work. "Where's Kim?"

"Sleeping." Dick crossed his arms and leaned on the counter. "I think."

"Damian?" Bruce opened the refrigerator.

"In the cave, training, sir." Alfred flipped a pancake. "I've made Kimberly's favorite. I do hope she eats these. She skipped a lovely dinner I made for her last night. Damian quickly snatched up her plate."

"What about breakfast and lunch, Alfred?" Bruce placed his hands on the counter.

"I was able to get her to eat about half of each. She also has a few candies brought by Connor." Alfred tossed the pancakes onto a plate and set them on the island.

"Good." Bruce picked his briefcase up off the ground and headed toward the front door. "I'm off to work. Dick, why don't you try taking her out for some crusades tonight?"

"Uh, yeah. Will you be—" Dick sighed at the sound of the door. "Okay." He looked toward Alfred. "Think we should wake Kim up?"

"I have a feeling she's already awake." Alfred placed the hot pans into the sink. He looked toward the entrance to the kitchen, finding Kim walking toward the room, freshly showered. "Good morning, Kimberly."