Necromancer | Daughter of Batman

Chapter XXVII

Kimberly awoke with a start. She pressed her hands on the cold, hard concrete of the cell in an attempt at getting up. She shook her head and looked around. Connor was sprawled across the ground, as opposed to his normal position alongside her. Protecting her. "Connor..." She whispered. "Connor?" She curled her lips in disbelief, and crawled to him. She placed a hand on his chest. "Connor?" Connor weakly gasped for breath, his body bearing the weight of injuries inflicted during his time in the cell. Kimberly, tears streaming down her face, clung to his trembling hand. He bore new scars, ones that glowed green from deep beneath his skin. "No, no..."

"Connor, please..." she implored, her voice choked with anguish. "What did he do...? What did he do?"

"He came here last night..." His pale lips quivered as he managed a faint smile, "Kimmy, I'm not gonna last long."

His injuries told a brutal tale – deep bruises marred his once vibrant skin, evidence of the relentless torment he endured. Kimberly, desperate for a miracle, whispered words of love and encouragement. "Don't say that." Tears welled in her eyes. "You're going to be fine."

Connor's labored breathing slowed, each exhale a painful reminder of life slipping away. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his eyes searching hers with a profound sadness. "I'm so sorry, Kimmy..." Silent tears streamed down his face.

As the minutes passed, Connor's grip on life weakened. Kimberly, overcome by grief, held him tighter. "Please, Connor, hold on," she begged. She lowered her forehead to his. "Please don't leave me here..."

But in the hushed confines of the prison cell, his last breath escaped, leaving behind a silence that echoed with the weight of loss. As Connor's final breath escaped, Kimberly's world shattered. "Connor." She cried. "Connor, wake up!" She sat still, shocked and speechless. "No, no..." She closed her eyes tightly. She lowered her head onto his lifeless chest, wailing in agony that echoed through the prison cell.

Hours passed like an eternity as Kimberly clung to the only connection she had left with him. The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest had ceased, replaced by a cruel silence that resonated with the emptiness of her grief.

Her screams pierced the air, a desperate attempt to reach him in a world beyond her grasp. The pain was palpable, an unrelenting ache in her soul. Tears flowed endlessly, merging with the scars of their shared tragedy.

As the hours turned into an endless night, Kimberly remained locked in that heartbreaking embrace, unable to face a reality without him. The prison cell, once a confine of despair, became a mausoleum of their shattered dreams. In the stillness, she lay, burdened by the unbearable weight of loss, yearning for a world that would never be the same again.

"Fuck!" Kim sat up sharply. She looked around, finding herself in the bedroom she and Connor shared on Mount Justice. Connor lifted his head from his phone with concern.

"Another one?" He raised a brow and swung his legs over his own bed.

Kim breathed heavily. She nodded softly as she composed herself. "Yeah. Yeah, just a nightmare."

"You fell asleep." He held his hand out to her, guiding her to stand up. "Your Dad wants you home before the weekend hits. There's going to be snow."

Kim stared deeply into Connor's eyes, eternally grateful that he still stood before her, alive and well. She nodded with acknowledgment. "Okay. I'll see you this weekend, then?"

"If I can fly through the snow, sure!"

Kim shook her head and giggled. "I'm holding you to it."

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