Shadow Of The Nightshade

Three words.

×××

Shadow
(8 minutes earlier)

For the first time I could remember in a while, I woke up in a dim room, on a soft bed.

I really only wanted to shut my eyes and enjoy it.

It was like the mattress swallowed me up and despite feeling like every single bone in my body had it's own special pain assaulting it, I sighed in contentment. It had been so long, it seemed, since I had been here.

My time at Nanda Parbat and The Foundation overlapped with my time here and I suddenly felt like crying.

I guess this place was  heaven. A short sob escaped my lips before I could stop it and a warm hand slipped into mine, making me freeze in fear.

'Nice to see that you're awake,' the calm voice chuckled and I unconsciously backed away from her, but I didn't let go of her hand. I was too scared to.

'C-Canary,' I looked up slowly and saw the worry rooted in her baby blue eyes and I felt cold again. 'I'm sorry.'

She just looked confused as she shook her head slightly. 'For what?'

'Killing all those people,' I mumbled, really hoping this wasn't another dream Gabriel was using to mess with me.

Watching an emotion I was too slow to recognize flit through her eyes, she gently let go of me and I suddenly felt empty.

'Shadow,' she started with a sigh. 'It doesn't matter anymore.'

My jerked up as I looked at her in surprise. 'W-What?'

'You've changed,' Canary looked away, maybe in disappointment. 'The Shadow I knew wouldn't be apologizing to me. .   In fact, there would be nothing to apologize for. Right now all I see' she said slowly, 'is a shell of who you once were.'

I flinched at her words because it was the painful truth and it hurt. My eyes fell to my chest and I stared at my hands. I guess she's right.

'I can help, but only if you want it.' She said earnestly, putting her hand on my arm.

Staring at her intently, my shoulders sagged. 'Why are heroes so warm?'

Black Canary smiled. 'It comes in the job description.'

A moment of silence passed before she broke it with a question. 'What happened to you?'

'My life,' I scoffed bitterly, my pale fingers scratching at wrist as I glared at them.

'Want to talk about it?'

I shook my head and looked up at her. 'I want to die.'

'Hey,' she stood up. 'Don't say that.'

I could already feel my wrists burning up with the small nicks I managed to make with my fingernails. Gabriel had never given me the chance to kill myself, maybe now that I was far away I could. . .

'Shadow,' Canary held up my hands, her fingers tightening around my wrist.

I stared steadily into her eyes.

'Don't touch my blood,' the warning came a little late.

She collapsed to one knee, her palm speckled with blisters as she tapped on her comm. 'Batman, get to the med bay, we have a situation.'

After those words rushed out her lips, she collapsed completely, her body twitching in pain.

I grimaced in guilt, but had no problem lengthening the cuts. It helped that I coated my nails in poison beforehand, at this rate I'd be dead before anyone could save me. The solution to most of my problems and to everyone else's.