TO ADD TO YOUR MISERY, IT WILL BE TIME SKIPPED TO A WEEK AFTER THEY'VE BEEN ABUCTED BY FEAR.
(And they maybe kind of confessed their love for each other. Yeah. I told you this was a sort of love story. ^.^)
~~
"Don't do this Fear. They'll come for us. You know they will. They'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU! You'll see Hell before I do." I struggled against my chains, which were connected to my wrists, which in turn were cut and bleeding from my previous struggles. I couldn't melt my way out, either. The jerk slapped a Belle Rev collar on my neck.
He came up next to me, putting his blade under my chin, cutting me. Gold spilled from out under the blade, making a waterfall where it fell in drops. I was covered in gold, too.
And it's all my blood. I lost too much, too many pints, gone. Some of it was in my hair, dried and crusty. My back had too many cuts, I couldn't feel anything in my limbs but numbness and a searing pain in my skull every time he cut me. The little ones always hurt the most.
My wounds were trying to heal, but no such luck. Even still, I'm suprised I'm not dead. The team is coming, I know it. It's been how many days? A week, I think. We've been gone a week, with no food and water, and it's all Fear's fault. He did this to us. To me. He'll be the one to kill me. To kill us.
Robin was next to me, dead or unconcious. I can't tell. I'm hoping for unconcious.
I turned my head, escaping the hold of his knife. Fear grabbed my hair, and yanked it. I let out a yelp, and let the invisible tears fall from my eyes. Blood mimicked the tears, and fell down my face. I could almost hear Megan, reaching out from her mind to mine, to Robin's. I pushed with all the strength I had, and called out to her. She found me, I'm sure of it. I told her to come, find where we are, and get us out. I feel like I heard her respond, and Fear let go of me. He sunk into the shadows, somewhow knowing he either lost, or won. That wasn't enough for me.For the beast inside. It broke out of it's cage.
My mind went blank, and the beast took it as it's cue to take control. I scooped up the knife Fear dropped, and looked him square in the chest when I threw it. Before I knew it, the blade peirced his skin, and he was on his knees. He was going to die today. Because of me. Because I let the beast run free. No way my father will survive a third round.
I ripped myself away from this nightmare, getting myself back into order. I'm in control again. When I looked back at him, he had a horrible smile on his face, or maybe he was gritting his teeth in pain. It doesn't matter now. I killed Fear. I killed my own father.
I ran over to him, and studied his face. He lifted one of his hands, and broke the collar on my neck. He pushed hair out of my eyes, and looked at me in the eyes with a glint I couldn't place. "Oh, daughter. It was nice seeing you grow up. Even though I haven't been there for you, I just want you to know that Fear will always linger. Perhaps, I can dance with you in Hell, when you arrive. Oh, I must be going now. My time is done. Goodbye, my sweet jewel. Until next time." I kneeled next to him, and tried to remail calm when his eyes got that glossy look. One I've seen too many times before.
I haden't even realized I broke the chains while I shot up from my spot on the floor moments ago. I carefully removed the blade in his chest, and closed his eyes. What did I do? Why did I do it? I looked over at Robin, who was awake, and watched as he broke his chains. He ran over to me, sat on the floor, and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. One I really needed. I leaned back into him, and he leaned onto me.
I did the one thing I never knew I could do. I cried. Robin cried with me, too. There wasn't any noise. We just let the tears fall to the ground, in pure, white noise. I guess the water helped kick-start my system again, because my cuts and bruises were slowly fading. I just transferred it over to Robin, who didn't complain. He looked better then me, but he's more important to the team then me. I guess it was enough, beacuse his wounds closed completely. That's good. He could live. I'm almost close to being dead, but it would hardly matter. It would mean I didn't cheat Death for the 3rd time in a row.
I heard shouting from outside, but it may have been my inagination, considering I haven't slept for a week and all this crying made me even more tired than before. I was just about to close my eyes when a door was kicked down, making me jump with suprise. I thought it was the cops, but it was just the team, with a very worried-looking Megan. They eyed the room, then saw me in Rob in's arms, and started to panic. Badly. "Oh my God, you're okay. Or, not okay. Just, alive. I don't know. We need to get you to a hospital, fast. Who knows how much longer you have. It wouldn't be long, considering your eye. Come on, guys! Get them to the Bioship!" Lave it to Aqualad to take charge of everything. No wonder he's the leader.
Conner came over to pick me up, but Robin insisted on carrying me. He scooped me up bridal style, and ran into the Bioship as fast as he could. The team was waiting inside, and as soon as Robin's foot left the ground and touched the ship, the door closed and we were speeding off to the nearest hospital.
I could barely breathe. My eyelids were getting heavy with sleep, and were threatening to close. I kept them open, because Robin and Wally were whispering it, making sure they stayed open. I didn't want them to close, but my mind betrayed me. They were too heavy and my body was screaming for sleep. I slid them closed, for just a second, but as I drifted off into sleep I heard shouting, cursing, and felt the ship go faster.
The ship made a sudden stop, and I was lifted again, then placed onto something soft, and cusiony. While back at Fear's house, or, my house, I guess, I changed into a different pair of clothes, so if I was taken to a hospital, no one would figure it out as quickly. A mask was placed onto my nose, and it smelled of strawberries. A sleep mask. They got me to a hospital. Thank God.
It lulled me into a dream, the fantasy stretching it's fingers toward my conciousness, and I gladly accepted it.
~~
I opened my eyes to an overwhelmingly bright light. As my eyes slowly adjusted, I stretched my fingers, but found two different hands holding them. Or, more like clinging to them for dear life. Dad and Dick were both holding my hands, and they were sleeping. They were cute when they slept. Boys always are. Dick didn't have his sunglasses on, they were on top of his head, messing up the already messy hair.
I looked down at myself, and saw I was waering my favorite pair of pj pants, and my lucky yellow shirt, that was perfectly unharmed and unstained. Thank God. It was better than any hospital gown anywhere.
The heart monitor thingy was beeping, and it was really annoying, so I decided to screw with they boy's minds. I made my heart stop, which in turn made the monitor make an even more annoying beep, and both Dad and Dick shot up from their sleep, with a scared expression. My heart started again, and they slowly sat in their chairs, which didn't look very comfortable. Dad stroked my face with a soft smile, while Dick held my hand even tighter than before. I gave them a small smile, and looked out the window to my right. It was snowy outside, and frost covered the edges of the glass.
The veiw looked different, since usually I could see Wayne Tower from a distance, if I were in Gotham. Which I am not. "Mind explaining what hospital I'm at, and why?" Dick spoke first.
"You're at the Star City hospital, since it was the closest, and you're here because you needed medical assistance. Badly. We knew it would've been better then taking you to the cave or the Watchtower. Besides, they were able to stop the bleeding. The doctors said you were lucky to be alive, after what happened to your eye and all." Dad shushed him, and I looked from him to Dick then back again a few times.
"What, in the name of my father, happened to my eye? And don't lie. You both know when I knoew you're lying to me." Dick looked out the window, and Dad avoided looking at me. Something's up.
"Well, Fear, he, um, cut your eye, and the wound was deep, so now you have a scar. At least you aren't blind. The blade only touched your eyelid. Suprise." Dad mumbled it, forgetting I had the equivalent sense of sound to Superman. I sighed, and shook my head.
"It's cool, Dad. Really. The next things I want to know is: How long was I out for, When will I be released, and what day is it?" More mumbling. Yhe doctor came in, and I was suprised. She was a vampire, like me. I met her back in Transylvania, before I joined the team. We became fast friends. She was a doctor there, too.
"Crystal. It's good to see you're awake. They were so worried you weren't going to wake up. I assume you're feeling better, considering you're not screaming and yelling like last time you fought him. That's good to know. Oh, and you're leaving today, two days before Christmas! How exciting." I nodded, and the boys gave me confused looks.
"Guys, this is Cheyanne, a friend of mine. I met her back in Transylvania, before I joined the team. She was a doctor for vampires, nursing them back to health." They nodded, slowly getting it. Boys.
"Wait, back the truck up. I missed my birthday, Haloween, and Wally's birthday? Not fair. How long was I asleep for?" She made finger movements in the air, like she was adding. She probably was.
"A month and a half. Besides, nothing big happened in between, so you're good. Nothing to worry about." Huh. Okay. That's cool.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed, and sat up. I started to pull random wires and needles from my skin. I stood up, and tried to get the blood going back into them. It felt better to be awake and moving. I was stiff.
I walked over to the door, and opened it. No one was following me, so I turned back around. "Aern't you coming? I want to go home and see my friends before they think I'm dead." They slowly stood up, and and I waved goodbye to Cheyanne. She smiled and waved back.
The three of us made our way to the ground floor, where there was a giant mob of people and reporters. I caught one woman on the tv screen, with a picture of me with Dick and Wally at the mall the day I fugured out they were Kid Flash and Robin. You know, the one where I flashed a dazzling smile at them? That one. I actually looked pretty in that picture, too. The headline read "Crystal Wayne leaves hospital after violent kidnapping." Oh. That's what they told them. Nice coverup, guys.
I spotted the black limosuine in the heart of the crowd, and braced myself for many camera flashes and questions. I grabbed Dick's hand, put a game face on, took a deep breath, and pushed open the doors. The crowd surged forward, and I practically dragged Dick to the car. When we did manage to get there, I yanked open the door, pushed Dad and Dick inside, and jumped in after. As soon as my foot left the pavement, Alfred strated to drive like a madman and got the hell out of there. It was like a roller coaster.
We soon made it home, where I stormed to the Batcave, and changed into my new costume. Now, you're probably wondering, new costume? Yeah, it needed a major makeover, and it had to look like I was Batman's other partner. Besides, that's what my plan was. While I was stuck with Fear, I figured out I could make my own outfits without buying them. No need for shopping anymore. Holla!
It consisted of a catsuit, that went up to the middle of my neck, and had the same colors as before. Black, grey, and dark red. Perfect for fighting and stealth. My gloves were similar to Robin's, except they had no fingers, and they were grey instead of black. And yes, I do have a cape. Which I'm proud of. It went to my ankles, and the outside was grey while the inside was red. It made me feel like I could do anything! The middle of my suit was black, that had a ripple effect, so it looked like I were the shadows itself. The rest was grey with this swirl pattern, and the boots were the same ones from before, because I loved those things. My mask and my utility belt stayed the same, with the ends as a curled effect, and my hair being whatever I felt like. I was proud I came up with this myself.
When Dick came down, he looked at me then did a double check. "What in the world?" I smiled at him, and did a heroic stance. "You like it? I thought it was time for a change. Besides, I feel like I can do anything in this."
He gave me a thumbs up and a smile, and went to change into Robin. A minute later he was, and went to grab his mask. "Allow me." I said mysteriously, and snapped my fingers, and his mask appeared. He touched it, and smiled even wider. He heled out his hand for me to take. "Shall we?" I took it, and laughed as we stood in front of the tubes. "We shall."
We stepped in, and reappeared in the cave, with the whole team watching the news. Time to make ammends with Zatanna.
"Hey, guys. I'm alive. And kicking butt." They surrounded me, and pulled me into a group hug. "Wow... hugs... people... touching me... I don't like being hugged, guys. Break it up. I get it, you're happy I'm okay, but seriously, this isn't as bad as before, so, stop it." I finally pushed them off me, and walked over to the kitchen, where I made some tea.
Man, I missed my tea, and my Nutella. The team all hung out with me, while I told them why I changed my outfit, and them trying to hug me again, which didn't work. At all.
Meg'ann made cookies, which I gladly took, and ate them with joy. Wally, oh don't even get me started on him. He was running around, and yelling, and well, being Wally. Zatanna ignored me, as usual, so when everyone left to do their own thing, I caught up to Zatanna just as she was about to go into her room.
I touched her shoulder, and she turned to look at me, then went in her room and locked her door. I know she was on the other side, though.
"Please, let me explain." I heard her sigh. "You have two minutes. Go." So, I started to explain. "Well, I honestly didn't know your dad would take the helmet. I thought I would be able to have enough power to take it off, but, I didn't. I'm sorry I was the one to make you lose your dad, I honestly know how it feels. So, I understand that you're mad at me, but maybe sometime in the future we could just, start over?" I heard the door unlock, then I was face to face with her.
"I understand. I thought you knew he was going to take it, so I blew up at you for no reason. It's my fault, really. So, yeah, I'll take up that offer about us being friends." She extended her hand toward me, and I galdly shook it.
"Well, hi, I'm Nightwalker, but you can call me Night. I'm a vampire, and I guess now me and Robin are dating or something, but yeah, nothing unusual." She laughed, and caught my drift. "Well, I'm Zatanna, but you can call me Zee. I'm a magician, and I'm currently single, so, that's good. Right?" I laughed back, and we started to walk to the Living room, where Conner was watching static on the tv, and Meg'ann was making dinner. The usual.
I tried- key word: tried- to jump onto the couch, ninja style, and ended up comletely missing the couch and falling onto the coffee table, which was thankfully clear, and then slid off of that and fell on the floor with the table falling on me. And it crushed me. "Ow." The team ran in, saw me on the floor, then went and sat on the couch. Like bosses.
"Hey, guys! Guess what? Me and Zatanna made up! We're now besties! Isn't that awesome or what?" They ignored me, and I pushed the table off me, and stood up, in front of the TV. I shook my head disapprovingly, and went to help Meg'ann with dinner.
What? I was hungry.
~~
I opened my eyes to frozen rain. My curtains were all the way open, and so were the windows and the doors to my balcony. Cold air was sweeping in, carrying snow in it's wake. My room was already cold to begin with, but now I could even feel the temperature dropping even lower. I shivered, and pulled the blankets even closer to myself.
I finally decided to get out of bed, after about 20 minutes of figuring out what day it is. I untangled myself from my fluffly blankets, and went into the hallway. I closed my door, and walked down the stairs, my stomach hungry for food.
I entered the kitchen, and saw Dad and Dick sitting at the island. I grabbed my Nutella spoon, and the whole jug of Nutella. I thrust them up into the air, and screamed "Sustinance!" I then opened the lid and shoved my spoon in it, then scooped a huge glob of it. I walked around to the last seat on the end, and plunked down. I ate my food in silence, and looked out the window, staring off into space.
"Crys? Earth to Crystal! Wake up!" A hand flashed in front of my face, and I snapped back to reality. "What? I was daydreaming. It was a good dream, too." I said in a whiny tone, even though I didn't really mean to. I was just enjoying the silence. "Well, it's Christmas morning, and this is usually when we exchange gifts. Besides, we have to go to the cave afterwards, so I wanted to do it now." Dad folded his hands over the table, taking on his official tone. I liked that tone better than Batman's, but eh.
I smiled, and went into the living room, where the tree was sitting. I helped them decorate it last night, since they waited for me to come home from the hospital. I also went to the mall and other expensive stores to get presents. I picked them well, too. It's perfect! But yeah, no. I'm leaving this rant.
I ran and crashed on the couch, while looking at my nails. It was a very 'popular girl' thing to do, but I couldn't help it. Girl's intuition, I guess. Alfred, Dick and Dad came in after me, and Dick pushed my legs off the couch so he could sit down. I gave him a glare and put my feet on his legs, so they would annoy him. He, didn't care.
Alfred sat in one of the fancy leather chairs, and Dad mimicked his actions. I ran back up to my now icy cold room, and grabbed all of the gift bags. I closed my door again, and ran back down the stairs. I had snowflakes all over my hair and shoulders, so I quickly brushed them off.
~~
After a bit of gift exchanging and smiles later, we did go to the cave, where the same thing happened. But with more laughs. And smiles. Yeah. That's what happened the whole day.
~~ (The next day) :P
"Team, to mission room." We all sighed, and dragged our feet to the room. I switched out my shades to my mask, and my fluffy sweater and black jeans to my hero costume. I pulled my hair into a high bun, like those girls who make it look cute. Mine was just messy.
Batman was looking at the news, and it showed a few villains fighting the League. He turned to look at me after a minute. "Nightwalker, did you know you have a billion dollar bounty above your head?" I crossed my arms, while the others stared at me with wide eyes.
"No, I didn't. I was aware of the fact that I was being targeted by many villains, but I never knew they put a bounty up." I shrugged my shoulders after, just to show I didn't care. Batman glared at me, and I just have him an eye roll.
"You should care. It's over 12 billion, and every viallin wants it. And, you probably know why I'm here." I gave a long sigh, and dropped my arms.
"Yeah yeah, what mission do you have for me today? Because I'm so not busy enjoying the fact that I'm alive and well, so, fire away." He pulled up the computer, and it showed Count Vertigo. He was sitting on the glass ceiling of Wayne Tower looking totally BA. Like he was waiting for something. It probably was bad. At least the snow stopped.
"I want you to go and take him down. Alone." My eyes widened. "You want me to... to take him down? Alone? Are you crazy or something?" I clapped a hand over my mouth instantly feeling guilty. I nodded and flew out the bay doors, on my way to Gotham.
~~
I cursed when I touched my ear for the comm, but found it missing. I felt in my pockets, and found one, thank God. I heard the Team in my head, and they were trying to defend me.
"-besides, it looked as if she didn't mean to say it to Batman, because she had that look of regret on her face. Who knows why she has that bounty on her head. It must be important, if every villain wants her dead." I rolled my eyes at them, attempting to dodge a flock of birds.
"Hey, I have an idea! Why don't you ask her yourself? You never know, she might be hearing your every word!" I said it with a hint of distrust, but only because I was mad I had to do this by myself.
"Sorry, Crystal. I thought by now you would have disconnected, seeing as you're almost to the tower. You mad?" I hit my head, and landed at the base of the tower. I made sure to make it very majastic, too. People stared, took pictures, that sort of thing. I put my hand up to pretend I was talking to someone. Which I was, of course.
"Okay, Batman. I'm here. Any specific way you want me to take him down? Or just the usual?" I heard him grunt from the other side, which probably meant we forgave each other. "The usual. And don't get hurt." I nodded, and flew back up to the top. I circled it a few times, just to get Vertigo's attention.
I put my game face on, and landed a few feet away from him. "Well, if it isn't Bounty Girl. I knew you'd be visiting me soon. I'm ready to get paid for killing you." I smirked, and put my hands on my hips.
"I'm sorry, but you won't be getting your bounty money today. You're going to Belle Rev, so why don't we end this now before anybody gets hurt?" He smiled, and pulled out his sword. "Consider it ended, then." He ran at me, and there was metal against skin. I put my hand up to block his blade, but he cut it until it hit my bone. I ripped my arm away from it, and waited in the air until it healed.
I threw my fire at him, hoping to at least trip him off. He just dodged them, and where he stepped cracks formed. It was in a circle, and it looked like it was about to break. Vertigo looked as if he didn't care. Neither did I, at the moment. I landed on the cracked glass, and my wings disappeared. Virtigo eyed this with curisosity, which only gave me more time to prepare myself for his attacks.
We both charged at each other, and when his sword came close to my forehead, I ducked and kicked his feet out from underneath him. He landed sideways, and grabbed my ankle. I fell to the glass, my face giving it a high five. Vertigo got up, with my ankle still in his hand. The glass broke, and I had no choice but to look down through it. It was a clean fall, from here to the ground floor 50 stories below.
He held me over it, while laughing to himself. With his other hand, he pulled a needle from one of the hidden pockets, and inside was a clear liquid. He moved me back over to the unbroken glass, and injected the liquid into my neck, where a vein was visible. My vision swam, and everything became blurry. "How's that, little hero? Does it hurt?"
It did, in fact, start to hurt. I gathered all the remaining strength I had, and kicked his hand with my other foot, making him let me go. My back crashed onto the glass, and that broke underneath me, from the sudden wheight. I was free-falling to the floor, and it was coming fast. I closed my eyes, and didn't feel anything as I heard screams when my body hit the floor with a thud. Using that as an oppertunity, I shot up and ran out the doors, only to be met with blurriness and an agonizing pain on my back. My wings came back, and I instantly made them take me into the air, where I flew in the direction I precieved as forward.
I came to a large open feild, but I only knew because it was white. I made a crash landing, and fell onto my back. I hissed in pain, and rolled over to my stomach. My arm found it's way to my ear, and I pushed the comm, calling the cave. I was about to pass out from pain.
"What happened to you? First I see you winning, then he has you by the ankle and you kick yourself away, only to land in the glass too hard, which broke, and you fall 50 stories and fall on your back, then you get up and fly away like nothing happened? Vertigo got away, because you let him! Where in the world are you?" I melted the snow around me, and rested my head on the grass.
"Well, Robin, I'm not really in the mood to be yelled at. My back hurts like I was dipped in acid, I was injected with something that made me all blurry, and It's really cold out here, so I might get frostbite. Could you come and get me now, please? Before I pass out and get covered in snow and possibly die?" He mumbled a quick yes, and I let my hand fall to the grass.
I closed my eyes, and fell asleep right then and there, because I didn't really care. At all. So, cue the whole team coming, finding me asleep, fixing my back, yadda yadda yadda. You know how it goes. I'm going to sleep. Bye.
Crystal, out.
~~
*EDITED*
Eh. Vote, comment, follow, stuffs like that. I'm too tired to do this, so, yeah. Peace, love, and STAY WHELMED!
~Luv