"So let me get this straight." My nan began and turned to Gray, Ben, and John who had all moved to sit on the right side of me on a teal coloured couch in front of a huge window in my hospital room. "You three coerced my granddaughter into letting you guys train her to box because you thought she needed to learn how to control herself."
My pops looked at John so he could say, "And you have a crush on her."
My nan turned to Scar who was in the corner to the left side of the guys. "You tried to teach her how to drive illegally because you simply wanted to."
Finally, she turned to Elle who was on the other side of the guys. "And you're that bitchy bully that's been tormenting her for years, but as it turns out, it was some big misunderstanding and now you want to be BFFs."
My pops looked at me.
"Have we forgotten anything?" He asked with a quirked brow, making me roll my eyes.
'So dramatic.'
"Well, when you put it like that, you make it sound like it's a bad thing." I replied sarcastically, making my pops let out a laugh.
'Even though it was. Kind of.'
My nan then gave me a look that said that she was going to take me out of the woodshed if I didn't shut up, but when my pops put his hands on her shoulders gently, she relaxed a little.
"Yes, well I would say that it was a bad thing considering you got shot." My nan retorted, not missing a beat.
"And got into a car accident." My pops pointed out while still massaging her shoulders.
I shrugged nonchalantly. "Worse things have happened." I remarked coolly, knowing I had them there.
Pops nodded in agreement. "You're not wrong there, peanut."
I scowled at the old nickname, growling under my breath at the old memories it brought back. "Call me that again and I'll get nan to make you sleep outside." I gritted out, causing my pops to throw his head back and laugh loudly.
"Try all you want, peanut. Your gran loves me too much to do that." He remarked.
It was my turn to quirk a brow. "You willing to bet on that?" I inquired smugly, knowing I would inevitably win.
I always do.
Pops considered it until my nan punched him in the stomach with her elbow, noticeably not pleased with my pops actually thinking about taking me up on my offer.
"Don't. Even. Think. About. It." She hissed out while throwing him a glare over her shoulder. It didn't faze him as he put his hands up in surrender and chuckled lightly.
"Okay, mijn liefje. I won't." He claimed innocently, but when he threw me a subtle wink, I knew it was still on as my gran went red at the Dutch nickname for 'love.' Seeing the wink as a challenge, I threw him a smirk of my own, letting him know I wasn't going down easy.
Before either of us could say anything, a random cough came from the doorway of my room, making most of us jump with surprise.
And when I say most of us, I mean Gray.
So...it made one-eighth of us jump.
Wait...did I do that right?
...
Yeah, sure. Why not?
My nan and pops moved to the side a little bit so that I could see who walked in and it was none other than Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoke, and John Diggle.
Kidding! If only.
It was actually Dean, Claudia (his girlfriend), and Ray.
When I saw the three of them walk in, a wide smile split onto my face so broad that I thought my face would fall off.
"You look like hell, G." Ray bluntly noted in his usual unfiltered way. I watched as Dean subtlety hit his arm, causing Ray to let out a yelp of surprise. "Hey! I was just telling the truth!" He protested childishly.
It didn't work on Dean, however.
"Next time, just don't say anything at all." Dean retorted while giving Ray a decently scary glare.
Claudia laughed at her boyfriend's actions as she put her arm around his waist, making Dean relax slightly. "Honey, play nice, would you?" She inquired sweetly, her Georgian accent flowing smoothly. "We don't need a brawl breaking out in a hospital again." She pointed out and I perked up in response.
'Again?' I wondered silently, though it didn't really surprise me all too much.
Dean...
...well...
Dean is like a puppy; he can be so sweet and loyal and gentle and kind.
BUT, fighting in The Ring can take a toll on not only your humanity, but also your patience.
Yeah...so he loses his temper on occasion which is why we rarely take him to fights.
And not only is he working a lot, but he also just loses it sometimes and gets asked to leave.
"Grace?" I vaguely heard Claudia speak up, making me break from my train of thoughts. I looked away from my lap to look at her and she wore a concerned expression, like a mum of sorts. "Are you sure you're okay, sugar? We heard you took quite a hit." She continued slowly, almost hesitantly.
Her amber-brown eyes held unshed tears and it only just hit me how bad everyone thought my condition was.
'I-I only got shot. And in the shoulder, at that. It wasn't like it hit anything vital.'
I didn't want them to get the wrong idea, so I tried to correct the situation as best as I could.
"Oh, don't worry, Claude. It was only a flesh wound." I told her softly, trying not to like I was downplaying it.
Though I kind of was.
"It barely grazed me, if I'm being honest." I continued rushedly, not wanting her to worry even more.
Claude gave me an unconvinced look. "Are you sure? Because the way Ray described it-" She began, but was cut off by Ray.
"Hey! I was only reporting what lover boy over here was freaking out about." Ray protested in his defense as he pointed his thumb at John who sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Ray, all I told you was that Grace had been shot." John declared simply. "You're the one who started freaking out, thinking that she was in critical condition." He continued while giving Ray a pointed look.
Ray opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. So, he let out a huff and threw his hands up in the air.
"Well, it's not my fault that I was worried! It was the adrenaline." He attempted to say in defense, but it's safe to say that no one bought it.
"Sure, Ray." I told him sarcastically. "Sure."
Ray simply turned on me and glared into my soul.
"None of this ever would have happened if you hadn't let yourself get shot so..." He trailed off as if to prove his point.
I rolled my eyes.
'My mentor is an idiot.'
"ANYWAY," I started, wanting to change the subject, "where are Bertinelli and Theo?" I questioned, turning to look at John.
He gave me a tiny smile as he said, "They're both locked up with life sentences."
"And since this is Berti's second time in the clink after escaping the first time," Scar piped up, "he's been ordered to solitary confinement."
I slowly grinned, quite content with how the whole thing played out.
"I just..." I exhaled deeply and let out a breathless chuckle, "I can't believe that...it's all over." I finished with a huge smile on my face as I looked at my friends and family in front of me. "My mum's murder is in prison for good, you guys are all safe, I don't have to keep looking over my shoulder."
I froze.
"I-I don't have to keep looking over my shoulder."
The realization hit me like a fucking freight train.
'My family is safe, we are all safe.'
I had to remind myself to breathe so I wouldn't, you know, die.
"We...we're all safe." I whispered as I fell back against the hospital pillows. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw John step towards me and grab my hand.
"Yes, Grace. We are." He told me, reaffirming me as if he knew how impossible that sounded. Tears prickled in my eyes when I looked up at him to see him already smiling down at me with warmth and love in his eyes.
Love.
Huh. That's something I never thought I would find again after my mum and dad died.
'And yet, here it is, right in front of me.'
At that moment, I had no clue as to what would happen next. My celebrations might have seemed premature considering Bertinelli broke out once and could quite possibly do it again.
But I knew that even if he did, I would take him down again. And again. And again. No matter how many times he tries, I will always be there to stop him.
Why, you ask?
Because.
I'm the Argentum Pugnator.
Or Silver Fighter for all you non-classical Latin speakers.
Shit. That would have been such a badass moment and I just went and fucked it up. Fucking hell.
You know what? I'm going to try this again. Bear with me here.
And at that moment, I had no clue as to what would happen next. My celebrations might have seemed premature considering Bertinelli broke out once and could quite possibly do it again, blah blah blah.
But I knew that even if he did, I would take him down again. And again. And again. Yada yada yada. No matter how many times he tries, I will always be there to stop him.
Why, you ask?
Because.
I'm the Argentum Pugnator...bitch.
God in Heaven, that was cringy as hell.
Okay, fuck this. Cheerio!
THE END