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CELLA SAT MOTIONLESS in the batcave, being told moments before who batman really was, her, dick and bruce had been suited up for hours trying to track down claude since his unwanted visit.
both teens had told the man all they had known, plus all the times claude had appeared in her dreams.
according to bruce, their main focus now was to find out the identity of the girl who posed as cella in her casket.
the girl felt like she'd been drained of any energy she had as she scrolled through the pop up screens on a table in the cave, ignoring the constant worried glances dick had been giving her.
together, her and claude's powers had been far to strong for her mind, it made her feel vulnerable as she assumed all of this was happening because of her and if it were to stop she'd have to defeat him.
"are you going to keep staring at me and not say anything?" cella asked, continuing to scroll through online files.
"are you going to tell me what's wrong?" dick countered.
"not right now, dick." she sighed tiredly, not facing the boy as he rounded the table and stopped next to her. "that's not going to make me look at you." cella spoke, resting her head in her hand.
she knew it was frustrating for the boy but she didn't want to let out all her baggage in the middle of the batcave, especially when bruce was busy working a few feet away from them.
"you're going to have to tell me."
"i never said otherwise." cella said. "if you went back to your work maybe the time would go by faster."
"i want to help you, cella." he pleaded, ignoring her words entirely, the girl closed her eyes at his dramatic tone, "please let me in."
"dick ..." cella breathed out.
"we'll be right back." dick called, looking down at the girl, grabbing her hand and pulling her outside the main room, giving her no time for protest.
dick pushed her up against the wall, both hands landing on either side of her head, his gaze hardened.
"i won't let you push me away because of him." dick stated plainly, taking in the girl below him though he knew it wasn't the time.
"i don't want him to hurt you." cella pleaded quietly, finding herself wanting to squirm under his gaze. "i don't even know if i'm strong enough to get rid of him — i don't even know what he wants."
"so we figure it out together. i help you train, nothing has to be figured out over night, cell." dick intertwined his hands with cella's, letting his forehead touch hers, he wanted her to know every emotion he felt when he was with her, when they touched. "you aren't alone in this, i won't let you be."
cella allowed herself to melt into the taller boy's body, their emotions going back and forth as if they were connected by a stream, everything flowing as it should.
"i'm scared." cella admitted, her head falling to his shoulder as one of dick's arms wrapped around her lower body, the other going to hold her head.
"i know." the boy was equally scared, if not more. he didn't have much experience with loving someone so close to his second life, he didn't have the smallest clue what he would do if everything went south.
he couldn't see himself loving anyone else.
he didn't want to love anyone else.
AFTER THE CONVERSATION, the pair had been called back in the room by bruce, neither of them tried to question how close they were becoming in such little time, they welcomed the comfort when they knew they needed it, they weren't ready to question what it really meant yet.
"you both need to be back by ten." bruce warned, suiting up as he walked over to the batmobile.
the man had given them both separate tasks, claiming it'd be easier to get the smaller pieces of information separately and regroup.
dick was against it completely.
"you can't be serious?" he argued, following the man around the cave while cella checked her daggers. "every time she's alone he corners her."
"i can handle myself for a hour, d." cella coaxed, her hand rubbing the back of his neck as he stopped to stand next to her.
"not asking dick." bruce yelled, shutting the batmobile's doors and taking off with a loud roar.
cella watched the boy's head hang low though he leaned into her hand. "i won't be gone long."
"that's not the point." he groaned as he went to get his belt, fuming silently to himself.
"what is the point?" cella sat on a nearby counter, sharpening one of her daggers that had been beat up more than the rest. "if this is about earlier —"
"how do we know he won't take you?" dick questioned, pacing in front of the girl, "how do we know he won't get to you before you make it back?"
cella gestured to her new gear, courtesy of batman himself. "i'll be fine dick, i'll be back before you both." she insisted, her heart fluttering when dick stood in between her legs.
"before me cella, i mean it." he tried to sound serious but all cella could hear was the pain and fear in his voice.
cella leaned forward to place a lingering kiss on his forehead, dick's eyes closing at the new feeling. "before you." she agreed.
THE TEENS WENT THEIR SEPARATE WAYS, both waisting no time in getting what they needed and getting out.
the distance between them only made them feel more connected to each other as they both realized how much they relied on the other's presence.
the time apart seemed like eternity and dick was more than ready to embrace the girl in his arms as he parked his bike in the cave, jogging to get to the main room in anticipation but only finding bruce sitting at a screen watching surveillance cameras.
his heart skipped a beat, "where is she?"
"taking time to think." was all the man said before handing the boy wrinkled sheets of paper and leaving the cave without another word.
they were birth certificates, the first one was a girl, claire barlow, she was a year younger than cella. the second was for a boy, claude barlow, only claude was thirty years older than cella and the girl, but even then his birth certificate looked forged. dick looked through the remaining papers, them being the same birth certificate for the same person only the years went back as far as the start of gotham.
dick walked around to where cella had sat earlier, taking in the autopsy of the girl in her supposed casket, the girl looked younger than cella, her curls looser compared to cella's tighter ones, her eyebrows lighter and thinner.
dick let out a shaky sigh, "she had a sister."
dick ran to find cella, panting as his head continued to whip around as he ran through the manor looking for any sign of the girl. he was about to start yelling her name when he heard the sound of rain beginning to pour down from an open door.
"cella?" he questioned, watching as the girl sat with her back to the open door, her clothes already soaked as she sat on the balcony unbothered and unmoving.
"he killed her." cella spoke after a few silent moments. "he killed the sister i never got to know and used her to fake my death. he made me believe i killed my parents when it was him." she spat.
dick sat next to her, his once gelled hair falling in his face from the rain, though he didn't care to move it. he'd never seen cella this way before, he knew how much she hated the rain and here she was rotting in it.
the boy didn't feel any words were right for the situation so he just sat quietly, his shoulder against hers as the rain fell down on them.
"i'm going to kill him." cella confessed, her face void of any emotion, a look dick hated he knew so well. "i'm going to kill him and send him back to wherever he came from."
dick didn't comment on the girls words, he only stayed by her side, he didn't hug her or try to hold her hand, that's what he needed, not her.
he knew there was no turning back from what she felt, no way to tell her otherwise, he knew she wasn't going to hear him out though it hurt to accept.
so he sat with her, letting the rain hit them with patterned stings as cella put up walls, a front she was trying to find comfort in given her new knowledge.
a front even dick grayson wouldn't decipher.