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NIGHTWING'S POV
I change the cloth out for a fresh one, tossing the blood-soaked one on the floor beside me, and press the new one to her wound, holding it as firmly as I can.
I didn't want her to fall under because you always try to keep someone talking, but she was in so much pain that I hope it doesn't wake her.
It just makes this so much harder, not hearing her snap back at what I say sarcastically. Because if she is snapping back at me, if she is still making jokes, it means this isn't as bad as it could be. And now that she isn't talking, she isn't moving, and she is barely breathing, I feel incredibly helpless and worried that she isn't going to wake up again.
"How is she doing?" I look up to see Wally. He comes and sits down next to me, his eyes on her pale face.
"Ok, still bleeding, but slower I think. She is pretty cold though." I tell him, feeling her cold body. She has snuggled as far into me as possible.
"Good, will she be ok?" He asks.
I nod, "I think she just needs stitches, but I need an actual doctor to make sure. Luckily, it looks like she hit the one area in the stomach where she wouldn't cut anything dangerous, but I don't want to chance it."
Because I can't imagine her not being okay. She is a pain in the ass, but she is more than that too. She is a lot more than what she lets us think she is, what she gives herself credit for.
She saved Haly. She saved him after only a few days of knowing him and somehow also managed to make him love her. And she has saved countless others, on the team and not.
"Luckily." He repeats, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I don't know what their past is, but I doubt it was luck. She probably wanted to watch her bleed out." I clench my jaw at the idea and look down at her, her breathing uneven and shallow.
"She took the knife out, so you are probably right. The knife would have stopped the blood. It would have been better than this."
I look back at him because I can't think about the idea of her dying. Not while she could bleed out in my arms if something goes wrong.
He looks at me for a moment. "Do you-you care about-about her?" He broke off, hesitant like he didn't know if I would get mad.
"I care about everyone on the team." I state, not giving it much thought. Not wanting to.
He nods, "But, I mean, you guys have been enemies forever. And I saw your face when you saw the stab. You weren't just being the leader, you were actually worried she would die. You are worried she will die."
I stay silent, mostly because I know it's true. I was worried. Scared. She would die. I was actually scared she would die.
And I still am.
"Guess she grew on me." I say, not wanting to answer the question I think he was actually asking.
"Yeah, I think she's growing on all of us. Even Conner!" He laughs, trying to make me feel better and changing the subject.
"We are here." Artemis says rushing in, frowning when she sees Catgirl unconscious on my lap, "Is she okay?"
"Bee over-exaggerated, probably just to get me in the room. But Bee wasn't far off, I need to stop the bleeding and I need an actual doctor to make repairs to anything inside that she might have hit" I tell her.
Wally mutters, "It worked." But Artemis doesn't seem to hear.
I start to get up, trying not to wake Catgirl but realize it's too late when I see her eyes widen, meaning she is waking up.
That's a good sign.
She lays her head back on my chest, as I walk into the Cave, but I don't get far as Batman stops me in the main room.
So Wally did call him. I just hope he brought a surgeon friend.
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CATGIRL'S POV
"What happened?" Batman demands, causing me to look at him.
"Cat-"
"I am fine." I cut off Nightwing, "Just a scratch."
"Why is Nightwing carrying you then?" He deadpans.
"Nightwing really wanted to carry me," I lie and when he doesn't smile at my joke I say, "I am ok," I tell him, but mostly myself. It's what Ben always said,' You will be ok.'
God, I miss him.
"Prove it. Walk." Batman watches as Nightwing lets me down gently. I take a step forward and instantly regret it.
Pain burns in my stomach-side, as black fuzzes dance in my vision. I stay there, not being about to see, and my ears growing hot.
"What are you waiting for?" Batman asks.
"The fuzzies to go away," I answer, not knowing any better. I have lost a lot of blood, and am kind of wosey.
I hear Bruce sigh and say, "Nightwing take her to the Medicine Bay. Dr. Thompkins will be in shortly."
Nightwing's hands grab my waist, making me jump slightly because I can't see anything. He picks me up again, the movement hurting, making me bite my lip to keep in any sound before he starts walking.
"I might throw up on you," I mutter, dizzy from the up and down.
"You absolutely will not."
"I might do it on purpose now." I joke, before closing my eyes and laying my head down again.
I hear a door open and feel him move to the corner of the room. He starts to set me down, and I tense.
"It's ok, I am just going to set you down. I will try not to hurt you." He says softly.
I thought he hated me, why is he helping me? This is the most we have talked since Rogue left. Partly my fault but.
I nod and bite my lip as he, gently, sets me down. I hiss in pain as my back meets the bed.
He mutters an apology and goes to get the right tools. I lay my head back and sigh.
"Shouldn't you not care if I am hurt? Or want me hurt?" I ask.
"Why would I do that?" He asks, confused.
"We were enemies." I point out before adding. "I thought you hated me."
"I don't hate you, Cat." There was a pause, "And were. Not anymore if that's ok with you." He asks and I nod, "Is that what you want?"
"I don't know."
He raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? I don't know."
"I can't think straight. But, right now, I don't want you to be an enemy. You can ask me later." I tell him, smiling slightly.
"I am going to hold that against you." He says, coming over with the tools.
My head rolls to the side to look at him,"Did you get Rogue?" Please, please, please.
He frowns slightly but he says, "Yes, she is going to a very secure prison." He assures me.
I nod, "Good."
"What happened between you and her?" He asks, getting a needle ready.
"That's the thing with the whole,' can't think straight' thing," I mutter while watching him. "You will have to wait."
He smirks, "But you will tell me?" I nod," then I will hold that against you too."
I smile weakly," I will count on it."
"Do you want me to put you under now, or wait a few minutes for the actual medical doctor?"
"The one that is talented, funny, and not bad looking?" I ask with a small smile.
He smiles softly, catching onto my joke before trashing back, "He is already here."
"Dang, my vision must be really bad if I can't see him." I say jokingly before I say, "What do you think I should do?"
He laughs at my comment before he says, "For this? It's a stab, not a cut, it's going to hurt. It is hurting you right now, and you still need to go under regardless. I'm asking if you want me to do it or-"
"I trust you," I say, and he looks at me a little surprised. "Wow, I must be very loopy." I laugh but wince when my stomach moves.
"I wouldn't do that." He warns, frowning again, his hair falling over his mask.
"Right." I breathe out," but I guess I do trust you. You could kill me right now. But you won't, would you?" I ask, tilting my head slightly.
"No, I wouldn't. But you are very loopy. I know because you just said you trust me." He points at me.
I put a hand on my heart pretending to be hurt, "But you don't say,' I trust you too'? I see how it is."
"God, you are loopy." He laughs and cleans my inner-elbow area. He finds a good vein and gets the IV ready. "But, yeah, I guess I trust you too." He looks me in my eyes. "Ready?"
I nod and hold in a breath, looking away. I feel the needle break my skin. He tapes it in place and gets a fluid bag. He attaches it to the IV and waits.
"One last thing, Birdie," I say, my speech slightly slurred.
"Yes, Cat?"
"No peeking under my mask, I trust you, but the mask says on," I mutter tiredly, the pain becoming dull now. "You may be my pretend husband, but that doesn't mean you can know yet, honey."
He laughs when I call him husband, "Of course, love. I wouldn't dream of it." He says and I feel him place a hand on mine.
The world starts to blur, and things seem to repeat. I close my eyes, not putting up a fight. For once, I trust the doctor. And if he messes up, I can kick his ass.
I listen to my heartbeat and feel him squeeze my hand before everything goes blank.
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Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The machine drones. As my senses come back, I find I can't open my eyes. I am too tired. It's too hard to talk, blink, breathe, it's all too tiring. I stay that way for a few minutes before I start to hear people talking.
"Where are the others?"
"We didn't think it would be a good idea for them to see her like that."
"Agreed. I doubt she wants us to see her like this."
"At least we left the mask on."
"How did it go?"
"Good, she will make a full recovery. Is Rogue in prison? She was a little worried before."
"We made sure she was in a prison cell."
The sentences repeat themselves in my head. Finally, it all clicks together. Rogue.
I gasp and my eyes fly open, but I can't move, my stomach feeling very heavy and very sore. I look around frantically, and can feel an IV pumping cold fluid into my veins.
"Hey, hey, Cat..." A voice says, "You're fine, we are in Medicine bay." Nightwing comes into my vision.
I relax slightly, lying my head back down but my stomach screams in pain.
"How do you feel, on a rate of 1-10?" Wally asks.
"I would say a 4 to seem cool and tough but it's actually an 8." I force out, my mouth dry as a bone.
"That bad?" He asks.
"I was just carved like a pumpkin on Halloween. It doesn't feel like the best thing ever." I mutter, closing my eyes for a moment.
"I will turn up the pain killers," Nightwing says, pushing some buttons on a machine.
I looked around the room, which had several other beds that I failed to notice before,mine being the corner bed.
Aqualad, Bee, Mal, Conner, M'gann, Artemis, Wally, and Nightwing were all staring at me.
"You guys are alive," I say smiling weakly.
"We are alive? Girl, you had us scared to death, we thought-"
"I'm fine." I cut her off, "Cats have nine lives, remember. I guess now I'm at 8." I feel the cold fluid of the IV pushing through my veins and making a face.
Artemis raises an eyebrow, "What's that face for?"
"The painkillers are killer cold." I look down at the IV for a long bit, watching it as it pushes the liquid into my vein before I plop my head back down and look at them, "So, is this a party?" I ask. "It looks like a party."
"We wanted to see how you were doing," Bee explains, worry on her face.
I remember how she looked at me when she realized I had been stabbed. They were all so worried.
"Thank you, but I am perfectly fine." They all raise their eyebrows at me in a 'really' look.
"You were stabbed." Mal points out.
I put up a peace sign, "But I am alive. Look on the bright side. I mean, hey, the little witch is in a prison cell. Talk about happy endings."
"You were listening?" Conner asks.
"Yeah, but I was too tired to process everything. That, and I couldn't open my eyes." I say and put my hand up to feel my face, pulling open my eyes before I put them in front of my face to examine them, "Or talk. Or think." After deciding they are in good condition, I drop them to my sides and ask, "So, do you guys want to do something or?"
"What do you want to do?" M'gann asks.
"Watch Spongebob. Oh, oh, scooby-doo. I wonder if Batman ever watched Scooby-Doo and was like this is what I want to be when I grow up." I say before looking at Nightwing, "Did he? You can tell me, I won't tell another soul, Scout's honor."
"You aren't a scout."
"You can't prove that."
I turn back to the group in front of me, all looking confused before Nightwing says, "She is on painkillers. She is loopy."
"No, your loony-tunes. Hey! Harley loves that show!" I say happily. It wasn't so much the pain killers as me in pain. It's so painful.
"Great!" M'gann claps.
I turn to Wally, who is sitting in a chair on the side of my bed, beside Nightwing.
I imagine what they would do if I threw something at them. Would they scream? Move away? The possibilities are endless.
What if I screamed? What would they do then?
"Umm, why are you staring at me?" Wally says shifting uncomfortably.
I smile at him, "Wouldn't you like to know." He raises an eyebrow at me and opens his mouth to say something, but Nightwing just holds his hand out so he stops.
"Why so grumpy, Mr. Serious?" I ask him.
"I'm not grumpy."
"That's exactly what every grumpy person sets when you call them grumpy." I point out before turning to Conner. "You get it, don't you?"
"Uhmm... sure?" He agrees.
I turn back to Nightwing, "I rest my case." Before asking, "How long was I out?"
Nightwing shakes his head slightly at me before he says, "Just a few hours, it took a while for you to wake up. You will be very tired." He sighs, "The doctor Batman brought in helped make sure everything was good, and that you were lucky she didn't hit anything major."
I scoff at that, "That's not luck. It on purpose."
"That's what I said," Wally says.
"High-five!" I say holding my hand out and when he goes to slap it, I move it away. "Too slow."
His mouth falls open at that and Artemis starts laughing.
"That's embarrassing, dude, you are Kid Flash." I point out. "You always have to expect things."
He shakes his head laughing slightly, "I think it's safe to say she is feeling better."
Mal snorts, "I'll say."
"Sooo," Wally says, "what happened between you and Rogue?" Wally bluntly asks.
He probably thought I would spill everything, but that only cleared my mind.
I tense, and look at my lap whispering, "I forgot I promised that..." I look back up to them and say, "Umm, can we talk when the whole team is together. Because I am not going to repeat it."
When I look back up, I find they are all looking at Wally, mad because he broke my fun mood.
"Ok." He says, "Sorry, I didn't mean-"
The door bursts open and Black Canary runs in her eyes, finding me, "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I smile weakly at her.
My emotions suddenly start weighing me down, like a sinking ship and I am afraid I am going to drown. Stupid pain killers
She smiles sadly, and sits on my bed by my feet."I am so sorry. It's my fault. I made you leave your knives."
"No, it wasn't your fault. It was mine, she baited me," I say thinking back to the fight, "and I bought it. I got distracted."
I feel so stupid to have fallen for that. Baiting is my game.
"It's our fault too," Aqualad speaks up. "We should have trusted you wouldn't have killed her. And we shouldn't have even questioned you going on the mission."
"Are you guys just saying this because I almost died?" I smile jokingly, but they don't smile this time.
Tough crowd.
"How do you feel?" She asks, breaking the silence.
"Ok, but I need to ask you something," I say looking at my hands.
"What is it?" She asks, a frown on her face.
"Don't kill me," I pause, "sorry, bad choice of words, don't hate me, but could... could I talk to her?" I ask looking up at them.
Everyone stares back as if I am crazy. I may be.
"Why would you want to talk to her?" She asks, not understanding.
"You know why." I say looking down at my lap again, "I need to know why." I say not meeting her eyes.
I need to know why she hurt and killed him. Why she decided to take my only biological family member away from me.
"No. I understand, but no." Canary shakes her head, " She wants you died-"
"No, she missed the organs on purpose," I say my eyes snapping to hers, "it's not luck. Everything she has done is for a reason and she wants me to be miserable. And I want to know why." I cross my arms, "I deserve to know why." My voice almost breaks.
"I know, I know" her voice softens along with her expression as she says, " I know what she did to you, but it's too dangerous." Canary argues.
"She is in a cage. Besides, she is only dangerous when she has weapons." I state.
"She has super strength." Conner points out.
"No, she has Kobra Venom." I say, "And she didn't know how to fight before she came here." I admit. "The only reason she can fight is because of him." I point to Nightwing.
"Me?" He repeats, astounded.
"Yes, she was actually smart. She befriended the one person who could beat me. She sparred with you, and learned." I explain before adding, "I took a kick to the face because of it so thank you."
"Great, anything else I did?" He runs a hand through his hair. Which distracted me.
No, you were just used as a pawn to get me mad and it worked because I thought she was going to kill you.
"No." I lie before I look back to Canary, "Can't I take someone with me?" I ask.
"You can't even walk." She points out.
"I mean-"
"You can't walk." Several voices pipe up together causing me to frown.
"Well, I noticed. What if I wait a few days? Deal?" I put my hand out.
She sighs knowing I won't give up, "Deal, but you will take someone." I nod. Before she asks, "When are you going to tell everyone?"
"Could you? " I try to tell her with my eyes that I can't. She doesn't get my signal. Or she ignored it, probably the latter.
"No, it's your secret."
I sigh, "What the heck. Sure, today, right now. I mean it's not like I'm emotionally unstable or anything like that."
"You don't have to right now." She says.
"This is one of those things that you have to do fast, when you are ok with it. I am not ok with it, but I won't think about it. Maybe more pain killers would help." I joke, trying to be ok with this.
"Ok, where? We could do it like one of our therapy sessions, and the team in the back." She suggests.
"Ok, but-" I look down," I don't think I should walk." I was also in a paper nightgown, but half of my suit was on, the other half hanging on my waist.
"I don't think that would be good," Nightwing confirms making me look up at him.
"We have a wheelchair. I can go get it." Mal offers, leaving his girlfriend's side.
"We will get all of the team in the therapy room," Artemis says and she and Wally walkout.
M'gann sits on my bed with me, "Do you need anything?"
"Not to have to share this with everyone." I say and she frowns before I say, "I'm fine. You guys were dragged into it, you might as well know."
"You don't have to tell us." She says.
"I do, otherwise I will forever be the crazy chick on the team." I joke before I say, "It's okay. I have a little trust in you guys now and you also saved me from dying so I think the least I can do is answer a question."
M'gann nods before asking again, "Are you sure you don't need anything?"
"I need to know if she can keep liquid down, we can try food later." Nightwing jumps into the conversation.
"I will get her water," M'gann says to him, getting up and leaving.
Conner looks to me, "I'm glad you are okay. And that you feel comfortable enough to tell us what happened." I smile at him before he looks between Canary, Nightwing and I awkwardly and says, "I am going to help M'gann..."
Poor awkward boy.
When it's just Canary, Nightwing, and I, I look at Canary, and whisper, "Help, I don't like doctors, dressed like birds!"
"Ha. Ha." He fake laughs.
Black Canary chuckles, "So, are you ready? Everyone will know now."
"I guess, not thinking about it, remember."
"That's a good strategy." She admits.
"Thank you, but I need one more person in the room." She raises an eyebrow, "Batman, I want him to know..." I cut off, not wanting Nightwing to know that I trust Bruce. Or know Bruce for that matter.
"Ok, I will call him." She walks out of the room with a smile that I return.
We sit in silence for a few moments before Nightwing asks, "Does this mean we get to know your name?"
"Hell no. Sorry, only Rogue. Besides, you don't have anything to hold against me about my name. Just Rogue." I smile smugly.
"Ok, ok." He laughs. He sits down where M'gann was and leaned in pretending to tell a secret. "Remember, I have a few things to hold against you." He whispers softly.
I look up into his mask, making eye contact as I say, "I am counting on it."
Something flashes in his eyes, but it is soon gone and instead, he looks down then back to me, "Cat, why was there another cut? Did she do that?" He asks quietly as if to not scare me away.
I realized that he must have seen it when he was stitching me up. Oh, I really hope M'gann dressed me in this gown. I feel my cheeks burn, slightly. I push that always and focus.
"Yes, a long time ago," I answer.
He frowns at me, "It was recently stitched back, when did that happen?"
I bite my lip before muttering, "Last week." I don't bother to lie anymore about it.
"Why did it need to be stitched again?" He questions.
"Rogue, broke the skin during the sparring match." He clenches his jaw, but before he can say anything, KF comes running in, making him stand up. Mal follows shortly after with the wheelchair.
I push myself, as far up as I could. Mal brought it around to the side.
Nightwing slips his arm around my lower, "Do you want to try to walk?" I nod and he pulls me into a sitting position.
I take a deep breath and push myself up, but sit back down when I see black fuzzies. I let them clear before pushing up again, Nightwing helping me the whole time.
My stomach feels like it's going to drop to the floor, but I just put one foot in front of the other, taking slow and painful steps. It feels like a stab of pain with every step. I turn and sit, slowly, on the wheelchair. I grab a blanket, and cover myself.
"Is everyone in there?" I ask as Mal wheels me in.
"Yeah, we are all in there," Mal answers as Nightwing and KF talk about something behind us.
We turn the corner to the main room. It is empty, I guess everyone is waiting. We go to the hall and turn into the peaceful room.
I look at the floor, not wanting to see everyone and suddenly really not wanting to tell them this.
He rolls me in, right by the green chair, that I would have sat in if I were meeting Canary.
Mal, KF, and Nightwing join the others.
"Where do you want to start?" Black Canary asks, walking me through it.
I look at my hands, "Well, what did she tell you guys?" I ask, not turning around.
Robin spoke up, "That she beat you at everything and went to the same school. That and you-umm"
Artemis cut in, "That you both fell in love with the same guy and he chose her, and you were jealous." She says bluntly.
I look up at Canary and we both laugh because that is very much not it. When I stop I say, "I think I should start at the beginning, the very beginning."
Here goes nothing. I take a few breaths before I say, "When I was little, both of my parents died. That's how Catwoman found me. But. My brother, he wasn't with us when my parents were killed so when Catwoman took me in, he was adopted by another family. I didn't think I would ever see him again. When I was in the third or fourth grade, I met Rogue. She was nice at first, but I got better grades, was a better friend, and I beat her at everything. Not the other way around. She started being an asshole, but I just thought it was a phase. I was around 12 when I found my brother again, and we became inseparable. Finally, I got tired of Rogue, and we stopped talking." I take a deep breath, already choking up. "A few months later I found out that she was dating my brother. At first I was ok with it, but she didn't treat him right. She messed with his heart, breaking up and coming back, time-after-time again. I got mad, because it was just revenge for her. This happened over a few years, and he finally got over her. I was so happy about it and thought that everything would get better. Man, was that stupid." I laugh bitterly before continuing, tears in my eyes, "When I was 15 I got a phone call in the middle of the night. It was Rogue, saying that she had him and he wasn't safe. I ran to the building where she had him and looked everywhere for him. When I found him, he was tied up, and Rogue wasn't there. He told me that it was a trap and to go back, but I wouldn't leave him. Rogue, she stabbed me with a knife, just like yesterday, but it wasn't as bad. It wasn't too deep. She had him at gunpoint. She yelled all of her reasons, but I didn't hear. My brother," I pause biting the inside of my cheek and closing my fists, "he wasn't scared. He said everything was going to be ok, that I was going to be ok... I tried to save him, but she shot him in the stomach. After that, I yelled at her to go, and she did, she moved away. And I couldn't save him." I don't let the tears fall. My voice is raspy from almost crying. "She took my last biological family member. She killed him." I let one single tear fall, as I realized something.
She got what she wanted. She broke me.
I am broken.
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A/N:
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catwing?
nightcat?
brick? (their real names)
which one?🤔🤔
also who is your favorite yj character? (besides the robins) 😯
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thanks for reading, don't forget to vote & comment !!
xoxo, author