Oracle

Chapter 22

Sal grumbles as he stitches Helena's side back together, "I told you to be careful."

She winces, "And I was until the Boy Wonder showed up."

He pauses, bracing himself for her Italian fire, "That was because I called the police and reported the break-in."

Helena stares at her supposèd bodyguard, "You WHAT?!"

"This is just a game to you. I thought having an actual encounter with Batman or Robin might change your perspective on all of this."

"By sending me to Blackgate? Great plan, Sal."

He presses his thumb onto her wound making her cry out in pain, "This is exactly what I am talking about. You are like a rabid wolf going after its prey. You must think before you act, or you will most certainly be killed." He removes his thumb and continues his stitching, but less gentle than before. "All the training in the world cannot help someone who chooses to use force over intellect. The fight is all about a balance between the two, and I thought hell, maybe Batman and Robin could demonstrate that for you."

"I work better alone."

He chuckles, "This cut on your side and the friend stitching you up is not helping your case. You have not actually worked alongside anyone, Helena; you do not know if you would fit on their team or not."

Helena bites her lip as he finishes his work.

"I suggest that you take the cash in that box and use it for a suit, one that will be harder to cut than an old sweater." He stands and begins to leave.

"Aren't you going to clean this?" She asks, looking at the stitching on her side.

"You work alone, right?" He smirks without turning around, "I'm sure you can figure it out."

The metal door shuts behind him with a thud. "Dammit." She curses under her breath as she is left alone again.

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The laughter echoes through my head as the Clown's face in front of me shifts with my blurring vision.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock..." The Joker sings.

His face fades away into darkness but his sing-song laughter remains, bouncing off the walls of my skull.

Then my vision sharpens as I hear his voice clear as day to my right, "Time to get up, Barbara."

My body instinctively forces itself to my left, as I see a figure jump back to my right. Suddenly, I notice I am in my bed. My eyes are wide, and my heart is still trying to run away from the threat.

"Barbara?" I hear a woman call.

My mind is racing, trying to piece it all together. As my vision sharpens, the words slowly drip from my mouth, "It was a dream."

My body is still frozen in place. Waiting for this to be the dream... "Barbara?" I slowly turn my head towards the voice and see that the woman I had heard is Dinah. She looks concerned.

My memory comes back to me as I focus on the objects around me, and my eyes close as I realize that this is the first time Dinah has had to deal with one of my "episodes." I instantly feel ashamed; like I should be "over it" by now... like I will always be broken mentally in addition to my physical disability. I focus on the wrinkles on my blankets to avoid her gaze. I cannot imagine what she thinks of me right now... nor do I want to find out.

I am brought out of my thoughts as Dinah clears her throat, "Your tests are done... I think." She forces a smirk, "You know how I am with computers."

I smile at her for a moment as I the thoughts about what transpired in the dream world drift away. "I hope to god you didn't touch anything..." I joke as I slide myself into my chair.

"I might have watched a video of baby pandas going down a slide."

"Oh, now that is something I need to see..."

We smile together as I let her push my chair through the apartment and into the Clockroom. Even though no words are exchanged, I just know that she is there for me... but truly there not out of pity or something. She's here at my side helping me through all this stuff, not just the PTSD, because that's what true friends do. They are there in the toughest moments without expecting some thing in return.

I smile a little wider as I feel my eyes start to water. I gently reach over my shoulder and put my hand on hers. "Thank you."

She stops pushing my chair, ending up in the middle of the giant clock's shadow. She puts her chin on my shoulder and wraps her arms around the back of the wheelchair to give me a big hug.

"Anytime, Sis." She smiles in my ear. "Anytime."

In this instant, watching the sun rise over the ocean through the clock with my best friend, it seems like there is nothing we cannot do as long as we have each other.

I smirk, "Now where are those pandas?"