-Lexi's POV-
"Bruce, Dick needs you downstairs. Superman just called on the computer." I told him as I passed his office. He sighed, thanking me for telling him and walked sluggishly out of the room. Feeling tired from my mental breakdown just a few moments ago, I plopped down at the dining room table. Glancing up, I peered into the kitchen to see Alfred, Barbra, and Tim baking cookies. Well actually, Alfred and Babs were making to cookies, while Tim just kept eating the dough.
"Tim, cut it out! They're going to be done in like thirty minutes!" Barbra scolded, swatting his hand away. Tim stuck his tongue out at her childishly before taking yet another scoop of dough and quickly ducked out of her reach when she tried to hit him. He stuffed his prize in his mouth and then walked out into the dinning room, swallowing the dough whole and grinning when he saw me.
"Hey Lex! I take it that Bruce's idea worked?" He questioned, sitting down next to me, nodded at my new shades.
"Yeah, I can see." I replied, laughing at the wide smile the stretched across his face.
"That's great!" he exclaimed, wrapping me in a tight hug, but quickly releasing me when I winced. "Oops, sorry about that. Forgot about the bruises."
"It's alright," I assured him, frowning slightly. I raised my arms in front of my face to inspect my body, wondering how bad the damage really was. I gasped at the scars that stretched up from my wrist to the crease of my elbow, and the kaleidoscope of black, blue, purple, and yellow bruises.
"What's wrong?" Tim inquired.
"I look awful," I stated, knowing that if my arms looked like this, then the rest of my body was probably just as bad.
Tim was about to respond, but Dick sauntered into the room. "No, you look beautiful, as always," he corrected. I rolled my eyes at him. "It's true!" Dick insisted. "Right Tim?"
"Right!" Tim chorused. He was about to add something else, but Barbra entered, carrying a tray of warm, freshly baked cookies.
"He's right Lexi," she grinned, before turning her attention to Tim, who was trying to sneak six cookies off the tray. "Tim, we've talked about this! Take two, and come back for more if you're still hungry! Do you want to get fat? And not to mention the cavities!" He ignored her and bolted from the room. I laughed as I heard him run upstairs and slam his bedroom door shut, no doubt locking himself inside.
"There's that smile," Dick whispered in my ear. It made me wonder how long it had been since I'd smiled.
"Lexi, I like the shades. They suit you," Barbra commented, pushing the tray of cookies toward us. She frowned as she watched Dick take two, and me not take any. "Don't you like chocolate chip? Dick said that they were your favorite."
"Oh, I do," I shrugged. "I'm just not hungry."
"You should eat. You've lost so much weight. There's no way that's healthy." Dick told me, crinkling his eyebrows like he always did when he was concerned.
"It's not everyday you hear someone telling you to gain more weight," I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Some girls look better with some fullness in their face, you know," Barbra insisted, pushing the tray towards me again. "Take as many as you want. Please? For us?" Both she and Dick gave me the puppy-dog look and I gave in, taking three and biting into one.
"Ohmygod," I moaned at the sheer deliciousness. "Babs, if you ever decide that crime fighting isn't for you, go into the baking business. Like, seriously."
"I'm glad you like them," she smiled.
"So Dick, what did Superman want?" I asked him in-between bites. I watched curiously as he shot Barbra a cautious glance before turning to me.
"Oh nothing, just something about needing to switch sifts at the Watchtower," he said.
"You know," I said, taking another bite of chocolate chip goodness, "You should work on your lying skills. I can see right through you. So what are you trying to hide from me?"
He sighed. "It's really nothing, and you have enough to worry about.."
"Tell me," I insisted.
"Alright..." He groaned. "Apparently, the Warworld has been spotted. It's still quite far away, but it's no doubt headed towards Earth, or at least one of the planets in the Milky Way. And there's a sudden spike in crimes from villains like the Joker, Poison Ivy, and Count Vertigo, but those are probably just unrelated crimes." I clenched my fists at this.
"Savage is coming?" I asked.
"Yes... At least, we're assuming it's him. Could be one of his allies. Or maybe someone stole the Warworld from him." Dick shrugged. "There's nothing for you to worry about. The Justice League will take care of it. And the ship is still quite far away. It'll take another day or two to get here."
"I'm not worried. I'm glad."
"Why would you be glad?" Barbra asked.
"Because now I can get my revenge and my memories back."
"Lexi, we can't do anything rash..." Dick warned.
"Rash? You call wanting to get back at someone who helped someone else turn me into a monster and paint my face black and blue with bruises rash?" I snapped.
"No, I was just saying that maybe you should stay on the sidelines for this. You're still weak and hurt, and we haven't gotten you're power under control yet."
"We can force him into telling me how to use my 'powers'!" I argued. He just looked blankly at me. "Ugh, fine." I stood up.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"To call Aqualad. I know that there are Atlantean healers. Maybe one can fix my ribs." I shrugged. "Alfred?" I called to the kind old butler who was still in the kitchen. When he poked his head out, I said, "Could you make me something to eat? With lots of protein? And carbs?"
"Of course, Alexia." he agreed.
"Thank you," I smiled.
"I thought you weren't hungry?" Barbra asked.
"I need to build up strength and muscle if I'm going to get back in the field."
"You're not," Dick snapped. "Just let us deal with this! You don't need a healer either! You just need to let your body rest and heal naturally. Please Lexi, I don't want to risk losing you again."
I understood where he was coming from, and it touched my heart, but all I cared about was stopping Savage. "It's not your choice. It's mine. It's my life, and my body. I can do whatever I want."
"No Lexi, it's our life. If I lost you again... I don't think that I could live with that. "
"Whatever," I huffed, turning to stomp out of the room and go upstairs, but I stopped and snatched four more cookies off the tray before continuing up to my bedroom, ignoring Dick's calls. Once I was in m room, I flopped down onto the bed and sighed, scarfing down the cookies quickly. I knew that Dick was just worried, considering last time, I went missing for six months and came back looking like I'd been through hell (which I probably had), and with a newfound uncanny ability to read and manipulate people's nightmares. But it was just something that I needed to do.
"Lexi?" Barbra's voice called softly from the other side of the door.
"Come in..." I sighed. She opened the door and slipped inside, carrying a glass of milk, which was just what I needed after those cookies.
"Hey," she smiled sympathetically, passing me the glass. I took it gratefully and gulped it down, then looked at her expectantly.
"Did he send you up here?" I asked knowingly.
"No, he didn't. But he was going to come up and talk to you himself. I told him that it would be better if I came instead. Your welcome."
"He just doesn't get it! I mean, I understand why he doesn't want me to take part in this, you know? I see where he's coming from. But I can't just sit here! He took me away from my family and loved ones for six months. I need to help take him down. It's jut something that I need to do for myself."
"I'm not saying that you shouldn't! I'm not going to try and stop you. But you just need to be easier on Dick. He took it like a bullet to the head when you were missing. He took a few team members out into space to search for you, and when they came back empty handed, he just about went crazy. About three months ago, he stole the Batplane and was gone for two weeks. When he came back he wouldn't tell us where he went, but that he was searching for you. He never gave up."
I sat there wide-eyed. "I guess I owe him an apology?"
"Only if you mean it," she shrugged, standing up and heading towards the door. "Just know that he loves you, okay? Talk to him. He's probably freaking out in his room right now."
"Alright," I agreed. "I'll go talk to him." I followed her out the door and we went our separate way, her going to nag Tim some more, and me heading in the opposite direction to Dick's room. "Dick?" I called, knocking a few times when I realized that the door was locked. I heard some shuffling around and then Dick came to the door, looking quite dejected. "Hey..." I mumbled sheepishly. "Can I come in?"
"Of course." He told me, moving aside so that I could squeeze past him, then closed the door behind me. I sat down on his bed and he sat down at his desk. "Look Lexi, I'm-"
"No, wait. Me first." I said, cutting him off. He motioned for me to continue. "Listen... I'm sorry Dick. I know that I was being insensitive. I didn't think of what you might have gone through when I was gone... Barbra told me everything."
"It's alright Lexi... really, I should've tried to be more understanding towards you. I know the feeling of wanting revenge. It would probably be good for you, to give you closure. I just... I can't lose you."
"So we were both at fault," I decided. He nodded in agreement.
"Come here," he said, opening his arms to show that he wanted a hug. I grinned and stood up, walking over to him and allowing him to envelope me in a hug. "I love you."
"I love you too," I told him, dragging him over to the bed so that we could cuddle. Once we were situated, I looked up at him and saw him smiling down at me with watery eyes. "Are you crying?"
"Maybe..." he said sheepishly. "I'm just so happy, Lexi. You don't know how awful it was, not knowing whether you were alive or not." Not knowing what to say, I just scooted closer to him. After a few minutes like that in silence, I thought of something.
"Dick, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Where did you go when you stole the Batplane to go looking for me?" I wondered. He was silent for a moment then shook his head.
"Crazy," he breathed, placing a kiss on my head. "I went crazy."
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Another update!!!:D Enjoy! Some Dexi momentssss <3 new cover by @revelation_heart