Locked Hearts

Chapter 17

   I had managed to avoid Bruce and Dick for about an hour, but I knew my luck would run out.
   About two hours into my search is when my luck ran out. I turned the corner in an old office building only to be pinned to the wall by Dick.
   "Get off", I hissed.
   "Bluebird?", Dick sighed and let me go. Bruce was shaking his head behind him.
   "Why are you here, Bluebird?", Bruce asked me, keeping his expression calm.
   "To help search. I'm not standing around waiting for you two to find him", I answered.
   "Bluebird, this is dangerous", Dick reached to put a hand on my shoulder.
   "I am well aware of the dangers. This man killed my parents. I am not letting him take another person from me", I crossed my arms.
   "Fine. But you do this my way and if I tell you something, you listen", Bruce ordered.
   "Agreed", I nodded and looked around, "I take it you guys have throughly searched this building."
   "Yeah. There's nothing here", Dick answered.
   "Then let's move on. There's a specific building I want to check out", I looked at Bruce, "If that's okay with Batman."
   "If you think they could be there, then let's get going", Bruce gestured for me to lead the way. The three of us left the building and moved on to the building I wanted to search. It was a combination of an abandoned office building and lab. It was secluded and the windows were blacked out for the lab. Nobody would suspect a thing was going on inside it.
   "This is actually a good place to look", Dick grinned, "Nice one, Bluebird."
   "Let's just searching", Bruce walked past us, his cape billowing behind him. I rolled my eyes at how cliche it looked.
   "He meant to say 'great job, Bluebird' but you know how he is", Dick whispered as we followed Bruce.
   "Thanks", I smiled slightly and frowned as we walked in. There were about 5 men, armed with guns, standing in the room. The three of us acted quickly. I ran at one of the men, ducking low as he swung where my head had been. I swung my leg, tripping him by kicking his leg out from under him.
   "This means he is upstairs!", I called. I kicked the man before he had the chance to get up or fight back. I turned back to find that Bruce and Dick had taken care of the other 4.
   "There are going to be more men upstairs", Bruce said.
   "So we will take them out", I ran towards the stairs, but Bruce slipped past me and walked up them ahead of me. I rolled my eyes and followed him up. He was right. There were 10 more men in the room. But I paid them no mind when my eyes landed on a beat up Damian.
   His eyes locked with mine, "Run! You can't be here!"
   "I am not leaving you!", I called back and dodged an attack from one of the men.
   "Please!", Damian pleaded and I froze. Damian never pleaded. With anyone.
   "Damian", I teared up.
   "You really shouldn't go, Elena", Cole stepped out of the shadows to up to Damian. He pulled a knife out and pressed it to Damian's neck. Damian let out a growl.
   "Let him go, Cole!", I ran towards them.
   "Stop fighting and come with me then", Cole smirked at me.
   "I-", I looked at the knife on Damian's neck, and the blood dripping down where the knife was digging in.
   "If you lay a single finger on her, I will rip your guts out and shove them down your throat!", Damian growled.
   "Come on, now, Elena", Cole pressed the knife deeper. I dropped my arms and slowly walked over to Cole.
   "Elena!", I heard Dick call my name, but I couldn't bring myself to look at him.
   "Elena! Just run!", Damian squirmed and Cole pulled the knife away from his neck.
   "I'm not letting him kill you", I whispered as I passed him.
   "Dammit!", Damian struggled.
   "Good girl", Cole gripped my chin and made me look up at him.
   "Leave them all alone. And please... let me say goodbye to Damian", I whispered.
   "You have two seconds. And don't you dare try anything", Cole warned.
   "I won't", I moved back to stand in front of Damian. I crouched down and cupped his cheeks.
   "Elena", he whispered, "Don't."
   "I can't let them hurt you anymore", I whispered, shaking as I cupped his cheeks.
   "Elena, don't you dare leave me", Damian shook his head.
   "I'm so sorry", I kissed him and slid my hands down to his chest. A small knife slid from my sleeve and I used it to cut the rope tied around Damian.
   "Dammit!", Cole tried to reach for us. Damian wrapped his arms around me and we jumped out of the chair and away from Cole. Damian landed on the ground, me on top of him. I climbed off him and he stood quickly. I stood beside him and we faced Cole.
   "You didn't think I believed that you wouldn't hurt Damian, did you?", I shook my head, "I'm not that stupid."
   "Kill them! But keep the Princess alive!", Cole called to the men.
   Damian did his best to keep up, but I could tell he was struggling. I stuck by him the best I could.
   "Bluebird, Damian, get out of here!", Bruce called and I nodded. I grabbed Damian's hand and ran for the stairs. I punched a man that got into he way. He stumbled to the side. I dragged Damian down the stairs. He wasn't even trying to stay and fight.
   "We need to get home", I turned to Damian, to find him swaying on his feet. My eyes widened and I shot to catch him. His body weight took me down with him. I grimaced as my head hit the ground and Damian landed on top of me.
   I gently pushed Damian off me and stood. I carefully wrapped one of his arms around my neck and lifted him. I grimaced, knowing I wouldn't be able to carry him for long.
   I dragged him out of the building and gulped. I found Bruce and Dick's motorcycles. I climbed onto Dick's, knowing he would be more forgiving of me stealing his than Bruce.
   I positioned Damian in front of me and took off. I did my best to keep from tearing up as I drove towards the manor. I called Alfred on the bike as I drove. I was grateful Bruce made sure they had that feature.
   "Master Dick?", Alfred answered.
   "I stole his bike. Alfred, I have Damian. He's hurt pretty badly. Make sure you are prepared for him when we get to the cave", I spoke quickly, the panic I was feeling bleeding into my voice.
   "I will be ready", Alfred said before hanging up.
   I pulled through the entrance to the Batcave and pulled to a stop when I reached Alfred. He swiftly lifted Damian off the bike and turned, walking to a table. He got to work checking Damian for anymore wounds than the visible ones.
   "Is he going to be okay?", I asked, shaking.
   "I will make sure he is", Alfred stated, continuing his work. He cut Damian's shirt off him and pulled started cleaning off as much of the blood as he could. He then moved on to stitching the worst of the cuts.
   "It's bad, isn't it?", I asked.
   "Yes. However, Master Damian is a Wayne. They're far too stubborn to just die", Alfred said his words quietly, but firmly. He was trying to convince himself as much as me.
   "I hope so", I whispered and watched Alfred work. He was moving swiftly and with precision.
   "He will", Alfred said as he stepped back. Damian was covered in bandages and had an IV connected to his arm.
   "How bad is he, exactly?", I asked, staring at Damian.
   "He is in rough shape. He has multiple broken bones, I had to stitch up as least three places that looked like stab wounds, and he has bruises and smaller cuts all over his body", Alfred answered, "On top of that, he is severely dehydrated."
   "This is my fault", I whispered, taking my mask off to wipe the falling tears.
   "This is not your fault. This is Cole's fault", Alfred set a hand on my shoulder, "Go shower and change. I will stay here with Master Damian until you get back."
   "Okay", I whispered and walked upstairs. I showered in Damian's bathroom, pulling on a pair of Damian's sweats and one of his graphic t-shirts. I walked back down to the Batcave to find Bruce and Dick were back. Bruce was talking with Alfred. Dick was sitting beside Damian.
   "Elena", Dick mumbled as I walked up. He stood up and pulled me into a tight hug.
   "Alfred said he would be okay", I whispered, hugging him back.
   "I know. But I also know you're currently blaming yourself. This isn't your fault, okay?", Dick answered, still holding onto me.
   "But it is. He was after me. He wouldn't have gone after Damian if it wasn't for me", I broke down, sobbing.
   "No. Just because he is after you doesn't make this your fault", Dick whispered, "This is his fault. And we will stop him from hurting you or anyone else ever again."
   "But what if he still ends up hurting someone?", I asked, "All because of me?"
   "No. What he does is no because of you, okay? No more blaming yourself. Remember who you are. You are a Princess and you are Bluebird. Both of those require a lot of strength. And you have that", Dick whispered softly.
   "I don't know that I do. The man I love got hurt because of who I am", I buried my face into Dick's chest, "Damian could die because of people who were after me."
   "Oh shut up, Elena. I can't believe you think I would die from that", Damian's voice was scratchy.
   I pulled away from Dick and ran to Damian's side, "Damian!"
   "Are you so much of an idiot that you think I would actually die on you?", Damian asked weakly.
   "Shut up", I sobbed. I knew better than to throw my arms around him.
   "Be careful, Master Damian", Alfred walked over and helped Damian take a few sips of water.
   "What happened after I passed out?", Damian asked, his hand finding mine.
   "Elena got you out. Bruce and I stayed back to fight. We nearly got Cole, but he slipped out of our grasp", Dick answered as he walked over, smiling weakly, "Nice to see you awake, Damian."
   "Whatever, Grayson. We both knew I would wake up just fine", Damian rolled his eyes and coughed. I took the water from Alfred and helped Damian drink it, careful not to give him too much yet.
   "What exactly did Cole do to you", I asked, frowning.
   "He tried to beat the hell out of me. Tried to get me to tell him the best way to lure you into a trap. I suppose he doesn't know you as well as he though he did", Damian looked at me and smirked, grimacing slightly.
   "Stop trying to act all tough, Damian. I get it, you're strong. But if you push yourself too much, you may not recover", I sighed, bending my head down to kiss his hand.
   "I'll be fine, Elena. You worry far too much", Damian smiled, moving his hand to cup my cheek and wipe away the tears that were still falling, "I'm okay now. I'm alive and well."
   "You are far from well, Master Damian. And you are to rest until I give you permission to do otherwise", Alfred warned.
   "I don't need to be told what to do", Damian huffed.
   "This is not up for debate. You will rest", Alfred's voice was stern.
   I couldn't help but smile. I had Damian back.