Wincing slightly as you sat down on your bed, you took of your shirt, revealing bandages as well as a few scars from what was visible of your torso.
Looking down, you saw that one of your two puncture wounds had stained the bandage around it with blood.
'Thought so'
Unwrapping the bandage that was tightly wrapped around your torso as to help hold your ribs in place as they had not fully recovered, you winced at the feeling of them unevenly being given room to breathe.
Carefully unwrapping the stained bandage, you made your breathing slow as to make sure no blood spilled out while you grabbed a cloth on the table you had prepared.
'Shouldn't have thrown that overhand. Static was doubting me though, so I take that back. I'm glad I threw that overhand'
Gently, you pressed it against your stab wound, although calling it getting stabbed instead of getting impaled didn't sit right with you.
'Never thought I'd live to see the day I got stabbed with an icicle again. Fuck Canada'
Holding it there for a few minutes, you couldn't help but sigh. 'At least the other stab wound isn't acting up. Freeze really penetrated me so hard that I'm still feeling it even though it's been weeks'
'Wait.........was that gay? Nah, I'm just overthinking it' You shook your head.
Taking off the cloth, you got another one and wet in a bowl you had filled with water, before wringing it and then cleaning the area around the wound where blood had dried up.
'That suit, whatever it was, was beyond dangerous. Being able to create ice or even blasting it such force it terraforms areas......Freeze wasn't- isn't supposed to be that strong'
Taking another wet cloth and cleaning the wound directly, your eyes showed that your mind was somewhere else entirely.
'He's supposed to have a gun, not a gun that can transform over his suit and enhance it. Worst part is that we had to leave it with Black Mask according to Hugo. Although, he did say it would be fine since Freeze told him it wouldn't activate. Hugo has too much trust in that fucker' A scowl crossed your face at that last thought.
Taking it off the table, you rubbed a thin layer antibiotic ointment over the wound gently before wrapping it in a bandage to put pressure on it.
'If I had a hot nurse to fix me up then maybe I wouldn't be feeling so shitty right now' Groaning, you looked down at your body.
'I'll fix the rest of me up after I shower, I'm feeling extra lazy right now'
Looking at the clock on the pristine white walls of the room, you saw that it it read 7:00 PM and smiled slightly.
'Yeah, night showers are always the best. Especially when I do it for three hours'
'Wait a second' Looking down at your newly wrapped wound, you held your head with both of your hands. 'I'm gonna have to undress all my hard work?! Fuck I'm so stupid'
Your expression changed as you smiled slightly. 'Just think of it as treating myself, I deserve it after such a hard.....day.........'
Changing your view to your hands, your smile completely changed. 'What the fuck Y/N' Was what you thought as you finally confronted what had been on your mind since earlier. Something you had tried to distract yourself from.
'I almost killed Freeze, our main lead to the other Lords. I'm getting too carefree- no, I'm getting too used to showing anger' Temptingly, the knife embedded into your hand seemed as if it wanted to come out.
'Ever since I got here, I haven't thought it necessary since people don't actually know me. There wasn't a need to be on guard. No one here knows anything about me. But they're starting to'
Freeze's words about analyzing how you viewed the world came to mind. 'They're starting to know me, why? I don't want to talk about it, to be put under a microscope and analyzed. They have to know that, so why......'
Darkly, your eyes looked up at the closed door. 'Why does their curiosity matter more than that? Why does curiosity in general triumph every other fucking feeling a person has. It's always because they're curious'
'Curious because they want to see how far the can push a person's limits. Curious to see if they can make something new altogether. Curious on how one thinks. Curious to see if they can break them down. Curious enough to hide things from each other'
You thought of Jack's hat, the one which you had found previous to the raid hooked up to a bunch of machines. 'Hugo'
'I don't know what to do'
Falling back onto your bed, you looked up at the ceiling. 'I still have to talk to him about the hat, that and our conversations have made it clear he won't stop digging. I should kill him'
Sitting up quickly despite the pain it caused, there was a startled expression on your face.
'No, no I shouldn't. He's given up a hand, and saved my life multiple times. I trust him with my life, just not with the life I've lived'
Stretching your arms, you found the pain in them to abnormal, mostly due to the fact you hadn't fully recovered muscle-wise from that pure exertion of force you used to cut down Freeze. However, there was also the case that within the past month alone you had been shot and/or stabbed there multiple times.
'And that's more than enough'
Bringing the tray on a cart, you rolled it down to the bathing area of the Asylum. Specifically, the inmate-side, which along with most of the Asylum was being kept clean by automated robots sponsored by WayneTech that were still running even after the outbreak.
There was of course the option to use the condition-wise better staff showers, but the way it was all set up made you uncomfortable. The way everything seemed to fit in place, it was too perfect for your liking.
Walking in, you found the decently big room the same way you had every time previously. White floors, walls, and ceilings with perfectly symmetrical lines down the floor as to carry all water to the drains.
There were numerous showers side-by side, with shelves underneath them as well as a few benches spread out around the room.
It was open, disorganized, and in your opinion a hundred times better than the other option.
Still, you decided this time to enjoy a bit of luxury and walked towards a portion of the room separated by half a wall, and within it being a single shower with a decent amount of space.
'Probably meant for the bosses of the Asylum'
There was even a mirror and sink in the corner of the area, which after turning on the water was where you were now.
While the water heated up, you started with unwrapping a few of the pads/bandages along your arms. Taking them off revealed new scars, but also showed old ones.
Taking off the rest of your clothes as you were already half naked, you then focused on your mid-section.
Sighing at the fact you had to once again unwrap the bandage that was essentially keeping your body together, despite already doing that most days since waking up, you groaned.
Doing so, you let it drop to the floor knowing it was going to be cleaned up later.
Holding you gut with one hand for support now that you were standing, you took of the bandage around your first puncture wound, and then did the same for your second.
The plethora of scars that dawned your upper body revealed themselves fully, varying in shape and cause entirely.
'11 more times'
Stepping into the now hot water, you initially let it run down your torso, washing away the treatment you had done earlier. At the same time, it also washed any of your still aggravated wounds, causing blood to fall down onto the floor before being drained.
'Just 11 more fights like that. Yeah right, fuck this place and their weirdass technology' The thought of Freeze's gun morphing came to mind.
Repeatedly, water fell onto your body, going through your injuries with a sting before falling onto the ground.
The sound of the shower was continuous, echoing throughout the empty room as you put both your hands in front of you to lean on the wall the shower was attached to.
Your breathing was slow, a consequence of the steam and warm atmosphere due to the intense heat of the water.
Not moving, you simply stood there, allowing the water to go down your body while you breathed. There was no attempt from you to reach for the rag or soap on a nearby bench, you were just still.
Gazing at the ground from your position, you watched again and again as droplets from your hair hit the ground. In doing so, with every drip your eyes seemed to get cloudier.
In succession, your breathing picked up. Still deep but more shallow than before, less controlled.
Partly, your mouth opened and your breaths changed so that you were inhaling and exhaling through them, which truly showed how unrefined each one was.
One of your hands scrunched up into a fist as you used your forearm to lean against the wall, although you didn't seem to notice.
The I ever breathing continued, getting louder and more uncontrollable until-
"You were never good at being left alone with your thoughts" A male voice spoke.
Instantly, your head whipped around as the dagger in your hand came bursting out, drawing blood as you wildly stared behind you.
At nothing.
Almost narrowed, you glared at the very spot you knew the voice came from. In spite of that, the space was completely empty.
Holding your hand, you winced at the ever so familiar feeling of a knife piercing through your skin from the inside, still not moving your gaze.
Taking a deep breath out, with your now non-injured hand you ran it through your hair as the knife retracted.
'A year's gonna feel longer than I thought'
Sleep that night went as usual, not a lot of it. The reason for that wasn't just because of the constant pain of your injuries, but more than that.
From the mutters coming from the bed beside yours, it seemed Static's sleep wasn't as peaceful as you thought it'd be.
"Hey, you told Hugo about this right?"
"Why're you asking me this now instead of earlier"
"Because the more I talk to you, the more I realize you probably didn't"
Nodding at Static's words, that didn't help the former? Hero's faint hope of you actually speaking to Hugo continue on.
"In my defence" You held a palm up. "You have to take the blame with me now if he ever finds out"
"That's not a defence, that's a threat Y/N" Static exclaimed.
"Nope, the threat is my defence. Therefor, I'm defending myself by pressuring you"
"You just said a longer version of what I s"-
"Do you want the food or not"
Static turned to see you mere inches from his face, a glare holding unfathomable emptiness behind it at the thought of not getting groceries.
"......Yeah" He muttered, and the both of you continued down your stroll in the Yellow Zone.
Like last time, you disguised yourself while Static put his hair up, a small but in this world very deceptive tactic.
Now, walking along the streets of the part of Gotham mostly unaffected by Jack's death, you took it in.
You hadn't the last time you had been out, as you were too excited at being able to get out of the Asylum without going on a suicide mission. Neither had you before your bounty was placed, as you were still reeling from coming to a new reality.
It was dirty. The place wasn't that well maintained, but still with every run-down shop you both passed by there would be another gothic building which displayed a once more beautiful city. Now though, even those were starting to dull.
Despite being only late in the day with the sun still up, occasionally you would hear sirens or the yell of someone, either from alleys or buildings.
The people that walked by too, also seemed somewhat unaffected by the change the rest of Gotham was going through. Or at least the natives to the area did.
Some were going to their jobs, while others sat on the side of the street, homeless due to either once living in the Red or Black Zone and opting to leave everything behind to get away from there.
They were spared no sympathy by passersby's though. After all, it was Gotham.
You could see it in the gazes of those you passed. There was a certain hardness to them, a lack of the leisurely and soft faces that seemed foreign to you when you initially started to travel the world with your newfound freedom back on your own earth.
From your view, you could tell that the city had changed them. Even to the point where if they're not directly affected, it was as if the Joker never died.
'Gotham changes people I guess. What a city' Chuckling a little, you turned to your side only to find Static gone.
Stopping, you looked a little ways behind you to see him giving one of the homeless people on the side of the street a one hundred dollar bill.
Not to your surprise though, at this gesture the man grabbed onto Static's sweatpants, and from simply looking you could tell he was begging for more money.
He was desperate, and you could see it wasn't out of malice. And Static, who could also see this, gave in and gave him a few more bills, to the man's joy.
At that moment though, instead of seeing that, you saw something different. It was a sight you swore to yourself right then and there to prevent.
Walking up to you, Static sighed in embarrassment as he turned his pockets inside out.
"Sorry, I know that was for food but"-
Rolling your eyes, you reached into your own pocket and placed a few bills in his pocket.
"You brought some too?" He questioned, but you just smiled and turned around.
"Of course. Figured you'd give everything away"
Watching your distancing back, or rather your black hoodie, Static's head tilted to the side.
"That didn't make any sense, we didn't even know"-
"Just shut up and accept my benevolence!" You yelled out from further ahead, and the former? Hero stared at you for a moment due to your choice of words.
Static bolted after you a few seconds later, realizing you were entering a store unsupervised.
Trying to calm himself, Static pushed the memory of your guys' trip to the store out of his head, although that was hard given the black eye he had which stood as a constant reminder. It also didn't help that due to being in the White Room, said black eye stuck out even more.
'Stay calm, stay calm' The former? Hero attempted to appease his emotions, and did so.
In unison with that, the way longer than normal dagger of electricity in his hands died down in intensity, it's end pointing at the ground.
'My powers are linked to my emotions, I know that....from personal experience'
Like always, the weapon fell apart into nothingness, but a new one took its place a few seconds after that.
'Intense emotions influence things like large-scale blasts, but in order to manipulate my energy to the point I need to right now means staying calm. Then, I can lessen the mental strain of creating each force field to form my weapons'
Static's energy wasn't materializing a dagger, but rather a half-shaken sword with an erratic and unrefined outline.
'Stay, calm'
His rhythmic breathing reflecting this, Static's weapon slowly started to take more of a shape.
Instead of an amalgamation of electricity, it instead took on a more solid blue, yet that was only on the outside. It was almost as if Static had made a weapon of glass that was hollow inside, and said glass was made up of broke pieces half-hazardous glued together.
Still, it broke apart after trying to hold it's shape, like always. A result of Static trying to create his first perfect weapon.
'Again'
The process repeated itself, but once again the object Static focused on making didn't come into being.
He kept going though, continuing with scrunched eyes as he could feel whether or not his energy was taking shape or not.
Then, something different happened. At the very tip of his weapon, Static could feel it. The blade he was trying to create's point had formed.
With his eyes closed and a smile on his face, Static could sense that it was only a small area of the sword, but if the rest of his weapon was fortified to that degree then it could actually withstand a few blows without instantly dissipating.
'It's a start!' He proclaimed inwardly as he opened his eyes in satisfaction to properly gaze upon his first step, only to see said point a few inches away from Mr. Freeze's neck.
Eyes widening, Static didn't need to look to see that the area around him wasn't white, but rather desolate with debris and ice, further pushed by the crater he was now in.
The Lord's capsule was shattered, and through that Static saw that his condensed tip was against Freeze's neck, drawing blood.
Choking on his breath, Static's lungs refused to comply with him as he froze completely.
Mouth slightly agape, he could only stare at the Lord beneath him, who still in his critically injured state seemed to exert a pressure that Static had only felt twice before.
Once with you on that rooftop during the heist, and the other-
Opening his eyes after envisioning his first experience with such an undeniable force of nature, Static saw that he was sitting up in his bed.
His brain not catching up with what he was seeing, the former? Hero stared seemingly through the uncharacteristic wall across from him. Accompanying this was breathing that matched his heartbeat, erratic.
Unable to even formulate a thought, he continued to catch his breath as if he had run a marathon only his lungs froze from the effort halfway through, and now he was left to deal with the consequences.
Bringing a hand to his head to appease the migraine that had burrowed its way into his brain earlier in the day, Static didn't seem to notice through the throbbing pain that it was even worse than earlier.
A hand going to his right eye, the former? Hero pushed down on the area right under it with his fingers, putting pressure on part of his skin that had turned a different colour due to the impact he suffered there during your guys' trip.
It was nearly healed due to Static's incredible healing factor, but the newfound and different sensation of pain from it was enough to snap his body out of it's automated state of panic.
Gasping out as if he was being choked previously, Static took back control of his breathing with heaved inhaled and exhales until it finally fell into a state where he didn't have to manually breathe.
Attempting at calming his mind, the former? Hero couldn't suppress the thought that burst through the others.
'Again?'
It was despairing the way the single word was spoken, as if so many more were behind it.
Looking over to his left, Static saw that your bed was empty, as well as your I.V. which Hugo forcefully hooked up to the two of you each night gone.
There was no reassuring sight of you sleeping soundly, which only made Static's clouded mind more agitated, more rippled rather than calm.
'I can't sleep like this'
Moving his legs off the bed, Static stood up with a bit of strain and held onto his I.V. pole with one of his hands, his body still sore from injuries he suffered today and prior.
'Yep, never going shopping with Y/N again'
The only sound accompanying him being that of his pole rolling alongside him, Static exited the room and started to drift through the Asylum.
Just a few weeks ago the place seemed so unbelievably cool. To him, it was where numerous Villains of myth had spent years each, a place where the most feared Hero's gallery of foes were forced into.
Exploring it initially was fun, but the more he did the more uncomfortable it felt. Most rooms were identical, everything looked simply and lethargic, and besides a few choice upgrades in security measures it was pretty normal.
Normal, except in a way it wasn't. Static wasn't sure if it was because there was no staff, no inmates, and no security left, but the place felt hollow. He found himself getting lost on a few occasions even though he had this place memorized.
It seemed so easy to lose yourself in a place where everything's the same. So much so that Static wondered how this place was even supposed to help people.
'Maybe it wasn't built to help people..........or maybe they just couldn't......'
Even with that though, Static couldn't help but find himself where he was now. The empty doorframe leading to a balcony, that balcony.
Stepping outside, Static was greeted with the cold, yet surreal view of Gotham at night. Slightly to his right, was you.
A somewhat small plastic table, along with four or so chairs that had been set up around it were on the balcony. You yourself had the metal bat you retrieved from the Auction, as well as bullets both real and rubber laid out on the table along with your two trusty firearms.
Asking his silent question with his gaze, you nodded in confirmation, and Static took a seat adjacent to you, looking out over the waters.
"You too?" The former? Hero chuckled, and the you shook your head.
"Nah, just a habit" Shaking your head, Static looked at you, interested and a bit humoured.
"It's a habit to wake up in the middle of the night and admire your arsenal?"
"No, just to stay up the night before a mission. Check over everything before resting, that kind of thing. Sorta a ritual I do now I guess"
Static cocked his head to the side. "How come you didn't do that with the Auction? Or our Raid?"
"That's because I was going with you and Hugo. More of a solo thing, and I couldn't sleep during the day those times because I had to discuss with you guys" Shrugging, you held the metal bat in your hand, pressing the point that would turn it into a small, metallic stick.
"Plus it's an excuse to put off sleeping. Don't really get much of it anyway if I'm not at death's door"
Scoffing agreement, the former? Hero smiled slightly before that expression fell.
A quiet you didn't seem to notice stretched between you two, only interrupted as Static took a breath in to begin speaking.
"Don't" You objected, causing the man to pause and his mouth to close slightly.
"I'm sure you didn't come out here to talk about whatever's bothering you, so don't force yourself. Confronting something before you're ready to face it can make you stronger, but if it's too early you'll get crushed" Shrugging, your gaze seemed to be beyond Static.
"Like after the Auction. If you're ready, talk to me about it. If not, I'll still be here. Don't really got a choice" Opening your arms as if motioning to the very situation you two were in itself, you both shared a disheartened chuckle.
Taking your advice to heart, now that you had mentioned your ritual Static had a few more questions.
"You said you usually did this before missions right? Did you do crazy shit like this often or...?"
Pausing for a moment, Static noticed a sharp glint in your eyes that wasn't there previously.
"Yeah, pretty often. Most were pretty insane"
"Jobs, or like what we're doing now?" He pushed slightly.
"Jobs usually. When it came to more personal missions I was usually the one trying to escape. There were a few times I went out because of vendettas though"
Nodding his head, Static didn't want to pry so he didn't push on what said vendettas were.
"When did you start? Habits like this don't usually just...happen"
The question was innocent, but it caused you to look at the ground for a few moments before answering in a completely normal voice.
"Two years ago. Something happened and from then on I had to be more prepared, and at my best at all times. Usually ended up like how we are now, though" You laughed at the irony, and so did the former? Hero.
Noting that although you were hiding it, you were getting uncomfortable, Static dropped the topic and instead stared at you as you loaded a mag, his eyes going to your bullets.
"Hey Y/N?"
"What's up?"
"You sure?"
Stopping what you were doing, you followed Static's lingering gaze to your laid out ammunition, where you were currently loading a specialized magazine with rubber bullets.
"Static?" You questioned, looking to him in disbelief.
"Oh no- I meant if you're sure, y'know with how your body is right now. It's still too dangerous to accept this favour"
"Oh yeah.....I'm sure. It'll be a walk in the park" A bit hesitantly at first, you responded with a bit more confidence at your misunderstanding of Static's question.
"Good. Anyways I think I'm good enough to get some sleep, night Y/N" The former? Hero stood, stretched a bit, and then grabbed his I.V. pole in order to help himself back into the Asylum.
"Hey Static" Due to your question, Static stopped right before he left the balcony.
"I know I said to not force yourself, that you could be crushed if you confront it too early. Just...just know if you wait too long, it'll be too much to stop"
Not answering for a few moments, Static nodded his head. "Alright, as long as Hugo isn't in the room" He chuckled, and so did you as you watched his retreating figure.
Taking a sip from the wine glass you had on the table, you continued your faint laugh.
"Yeah, waiting too long is bad. Pretty fucking bad"
You stared at the seat across from you, where the woman with crimson hair had replaced Static, her smile ever so present even through her scribbled out eyes.