The school day started out as any other would, after a hectic weekend and a spa Sunday the school week was lined up to be pretty normal. But knowing Gotham, nothing is ever normal. They started construction of a new hospital, and they asked my Mom to work out of our house until she had an office to work from.
My Dad had been around more, Gordan finally agreeing to give him more time off because he was sick of my Mom's calls to the station about his absence at home. The GCPD still aren't any closer to catching the maniac that killed the mayor, robbed several banks now, demolished the hospital, killed 500 + people, is holding three major business executives hostage, and vandalized the amusement park.
Back to the school day. I arrived at school on time, for once, and went inside. Immediately I saw Karen and Jared making out at the end of the lockers by the door, I literally groaned when I walked past. Karen pulled away from Jared and looked at me. At first, not knowing who I was she was pissed, so her expression was nothing less than an angry snake about to bite you in the neck. When she realized it was me, she was still pissed, just a different degree of pissed. She walked away from Jared and fell into step with me.
"Problems?" She asked hotly.
"No, just. You and him. I'm not shipping you guys too hard." I sighed, glancing over my shoulder to make sure Jared wasn't following us.
"Ah, I see. You're jealous." She teased, I felt the tips of my ears turn pink.
"Yes, and no. Because you have a relationship." I paused, "While I'm over here, old, alone, done for." I said gesturing to myself.
"Oh, come, on." Karen nudged me gently, "You know who-" She stopped, "Nevermind."
"What?" I asked, intrigued. She shook her head, closing her lips tight. "What." I pressed, she shook her head again and looked at the ground. We stopped, coming to my locker. "What!" I demanded.
"Nothing, I'm not allowed to say." She said, I gently pushed her.
"Tell me." I begged.
"I cant." She persisted, I gave her a look. You know the, 'I know you're holding something from me, and know that the information may, or may not ruin my life' look. She was stubborn, and didn't give into what I wanted.
"Come on, Karen." I groaned, shoving my backpack into my locker.
"I can't, Jared told me I can't repeat anything he tells me about other people." She claimed, lowering her voice.
"And what is he going to do if you do?"
"I don't know. I don't really wanna find out." She whispered, frightened.
"Is he threatening you?" She shrugged.
"Depends on what you consider 'threatening'." She said, I saw Jared walking down the hallway and nodded in his direction. She turned and waved goodbye, hooking her arm in Jareds and falling into step with him. I gathered my books and headed to the library, it was nearly full. Only God knows why it was, but the only seat that was open was crowded by books and stray papers. I plopped my books down and opened my book, I started reading but was distracted by all the commotion going on around me. I sighed, extremely annoyed with all the talking going on. I noticed the guy down the table, head in his hands, rocking back and forth. I got up and grabbed my books, walking out of the library. I suffered through my classes that morning, that is, until the lock down. Over the P.A. the automated voice repeated.
"Hard lock down, hard lock down. Hard lock down, hard lock down." There was an intruder in the building, shots had been fired. I heard them down the hall. My class sat in silent fear, stock still in silence. I looked around, and decided to take action. I got up from my desk and went to shut off the lights just as the gunman burst into the room knocking me to the floor and shooting all my classmates, I fell to the ground and watched in horror as the masked man sprayed bullets at them. He was dressed in black, his face covered with a red hood. I layed on the floor, with the dead students around me. I slowly got up, my heart pounding in my ears. I didn't dare turn around and see the blood bath behind me. I walked out of the room and peered down the hallway. I saw Red Hood walking down the hallway, nailing anyone who crossed his path. I stepped out into the hallway and turned the opposite direction. I started to run, as fast as I could down the long straight hallway. I heard another gun, a bullet missed me by inches. There was more than one gunman in the building. The screams of my other classmates echoed through the hallways. Someone grabbed my waist and stopped me, they started to drag be backwards. I wanted to scream but didn't get enough sound out for anyone to notice me. The person clamped a hand over my mouth and dragged me into the dark faculty bathroom.
"Shh!" The person hissed, he spun me around and slammed me against the wall with his hand still over my mouth. Another gunman passed the bathroom not bothering to even turn his head. I stared wide eyed out of the door. The guy who saved me looked out the door also, Bruce Wayne took his hand away from my mouth. I didn't have anything to say. He stuck his head out of the bathroom entrance and looked both ways before waving me forward.
"How many-"
"Shh!" He hissed, he stepped out into the hallway and looked back to me. "Come on!" He whispered, I followed him down the hallway. The screams and gunfire didn't cease, we ran into many students who were making their way to any exit from the school. We followed them out, I looked behind me and saw Bruce being held up by a gunman. Bruce disarmed him and slammed him into the ground. He did a fancy move and broke the guys arm. I stopped and watched Bruce run outside into the chilly noon air. He yelled at me to run, and I did. I ran next to him and then behind him as he caught up, following him to his car. It was a beat up car, which surprised me. He opened it up and told me to get into the passenger seat.
"What are we going to do?"
"Get the hell away from here, that's what." Bruce declared, putting the car in reverse and slamming the gas. He put the truck into drive and sped out of the parking lot as fast as he could.
"Where are we going to go?" I asked, looking at his fear stricken face.
"I don't know." He sighed blowing through a stop sign, almost causing an accident. The gas pedal was still pressed firmly to the floor and I could feel the vehicle picking up speed.
"Would you slow down?" I begged, gripping the handle of the door so hard that my knuckles turned white. He quickly looked over to me, his green eyes searching my face, lingering it seemed, on every feature.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry." He apologized easing on the brakes, going just over the speed limit.
"Thank you." I said, relaxing my grip on the handle. "Now what?" I asked, mostly to myself.
"I can take you home if you want?" He suggested, I nodded.
"Sure, but hang on a minute." I needed to think for a second. As I collected my thoughts, a shiny new Volkswagen pulled into the parking lot. I saw the passengers and the driver, Karen was one of them. I burst out of the car and sprinted towards them. I banged on her window and she screamed from inside the car.
"Thank the Lord, almighty!"
"Oh my God! Karen, are you okay?"
"Oh my God! Are you okay?" She asked me.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm all right." I said, we were about five or six miles away from school. The driver put the car in park and leaned back into the chair.
"Who brought you here?" Karen demanded.
"Bruce." I said quietly,
"Just a minute, Jared." Karen said impatiently. Waving the drivers hand away.
"Wayne?" She asked.
"Yeah, he saved my life." I said, thinking about the bathroom.
"He did?" She asked, there was a grunt of frustration. "Hold on, Jared." She said, hitting his arm. "Sorry, Jared is being." She sighed, "Annoying." She started to say something but was cut off. "I am trying to have a conversation here, Jared. Just hold your fucking horses and let me finish talking!" She yelled. "Come back to school okay?" She said, "Your Mom showed up and asked me if you were okay. She's kind of loosing it over there. Or she was, I don't know whast she's doing now." Bruce called my name from his truck, motioning me to come over. I said goodbye to Karen and ran back over to Bruce. My first thought was about my Mom and returning to school, but I didn't want to go back there. Then I thought about my brother.
"Can we go pick up my brother?" I asked.
"Yeah, sure." Bruce said, starting the car. We pulled out of the parking lot and headed in the direction of the Middle/Jr. High school.
"So, how did you get away from that last gunman? I saw you disarmed him pretty easily." I looked at him, for what seemed like the first time. He had green eyes, and short brown hair quiffed up in the front. He was wearing a fancy blue shirt and khaki pants with nice brown dress shoes. I thought he looked pretty well dressed, even if he can afford to wear clothing once. We pulled into the school driveway and I watched for Dean. It was a gamble that he would even be released from school this quickly after the high schools school shooting. Bruce didn't answer my question because he pointed out that many kids were exiting the building. I got out of the truck and stood next to it while I waited to see Dean. When I did, I called his name. He ran over and gave me a quick hug
"So what happened at school, that they are letting us go?"
"Four masked gunmen showed up at our school and started blow the place up." I nodded, Dean became very interested in who else was in the truck. He looked into the drivers seat and put his hands on the window.
"Who are you?" He asked, I put my forehead in my hands. I knew, that I was going to get crap about this. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. The thought only dawned on me then, that picking Dean up from school with Bruce Wayne as our chauffeur was not the brightest idea.
"I'm Bruce." He said, rolling down the window. "I'm taking you both back to the high school." Bruce declared, Dean shrugged his shoulders and yanked open the truck. We both got in and Bruce slowly pulled away from the curb. Police cars and fire engines lined the street. They were slowing traffic, and allowing students back inside the school zone. Ambulances screamed passed, followed by an unneeded fire truck and a cop car. We sat silently as Bruce got us back on school grounds. He pulled into a parking spot and parked the car. "You should call me or something when you get home."
"But I don't have your number." I explained, Bruce held up a finger and reached for my knees, he opened the glove compartment and pulled out a purple sharpie. He reached for my hand and wrote down his number.
"Now, call me when you get home." He ordered, I nodded. Dean and I left, I gave Dean my keys and told him to go unlock the car. I walked over to the drivers side of Bruce's truck and told him to roll down his window. He did, and leaned a bit out the side.
"Thank you, Bruce." I said, Bruce smiled.
"Sure, not a problem." He said, his green eyes sparkling. I laughed to myself, he was charming.
"No, Bruce. I'm serious, if it weren't for you. I would be dead." I said looking straight into his eyes.
"Don't over react, Catrina. But all in all. You're welcome." He said, he sat back in his truck and thought for a second before leaning out again. I had already turned to leave. "Go, and have an evening with your family." He began, "Make sure they stay safe." He said, he revved his engine and drove away. It dawned on me that I needed my backpack.
"Looking for this?!" Karen yelled from behind me, "Turn around." She ordered, I did and she stood there a few rows away with my backpack. She was leaning against the Volkswagen car with Jared behind her. He had his arms protectively around her waist, she wriggled free and walked over. "We need to have a girls night." She whispered in my ear as she gave me a hug.
"Whenever is all right with me."
"Lets make it a date."
"Later, I'll call you. I'm just gonna go home and tame the waters." I was referring to my mother. She chuckled and squeezed me tight before letting me go.
"Seriously though, we need a girls night." She said, she looked back at Jared then at me.
"Okay." I said, she told me, to tell my Mom that she was all right and that she loved her.
***
When Dean and I walked in the door, my Mom was in tears, on the couch, with tissues all over the living room. She was a complete mess.
"Mom?" I called out, I heard her sniffle and quickly get up. She ran to me and grabbed my shoulders.
"Are you okay?!" She yelled, I nodded my head.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Tell me what happened." She demanded, I hugged her first and rubbed her back. Dean joined us and got sucked into the hug vortex. He groaned with dismay and tried to get away, but I held onto his head.
"Mom." Dean started, "I can't-" He stopped, "breath." He finished. We dissembled and then sat down on the couch with my Mom in the middle. She had her arms around us and we watched the news. There were a total of five gunmen that were inside our school. Over three hundred kids were either wounded and in the makeshift hospital or dead. They wouldn't release any further information until a thorough investigation had been held. They caught two of the gunmen, they were both students. They were two kids I had never even heard of, druggies, low lives. Kids who don't have the greatest mental health or home life.
"This is so horrible." My Mom wept, "Who would do such a thing?" She continued. She spoke to herself about what happened. The house phone rang and I went to answer it, Karen was on the other side. She started babbling on about Batman, I put the phone to my shoulder and let her talk. "How is she holding up with that boyfriend of hers?" My Mom asked as I pressed the mouth piece into my shoulder.
"Oh, you know. 'I love him, he loves me. We're gonna be together forever!' Kind of crap she pulls every time. But I havent heard as much as I normally do about stuff like that." I said, puzzled. I cut Karen off and asked her about our girls night. I hung up the phone and right away it started to ring again. The house phone started to ring and I picked it up again. It was Dad who asked for Mom. I stretched the chord of the phone and handed it to my Mom.
"Hello?" She answered, "Yes, they're home. They're all right." She said, to my Dad. "Okay." She handed the phone to Dean. He talked a bit, didn't say much. Mostly said that he didn't really know what was going on. Then he said goodbye and handed me the phone.
"Hey Dad."
"Hey Cat, so what happened?" He asked, his voice calm.
"Can we not talk about it now? When are you going to be home?" I asked.
"Hopefully for dinner." He said, "Say, what's baby Momma makin'?" He asked.
"I dont know, you wanna ask her?" I asked.
"Sure."
"Here Mom," I passed her the phone, she hung up the phone and set it on the coffee table it dragged itself towards the Jack and I pulled it towards me.
"So what am I making for dinner?" Mom asked, getting off the couch.
"Pizza." Dean said before I could get noodles in the mix.
"Okay." Mom said going to the kitchen. She started to rummage around the kitchen and get the pizza ready. Dean and I stayed on the couch and watched Friends, Dean hogged the blanket and we bickered a bit.
"Hey Mom," I called into the kitchen.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"Can Karen come over Friday?"
"Sure."
"Cool."
***
"I'm coming home, to a happy, healthy family. With dinner on the table." My Dad exclaimed, walking into the dining room. My Mom placed her drink at her place and sat down. My Dad kissed the top of her head and sat down next to her. "I'm happy that my family is here." My Dad said. We sat down and began to eat, the pizza was amazing. Thanks to my Mom and her wonderful pizza making skills.
"So, Catrina. I know that you've been avoiding talking about what happened at school today. But could you share your side of the story?" Mom asked. I nodded, swallowing my bite of pizza.
"I was in English, and nobody did anything. They just sat there with bewildered faces, I was the only one who did anything. I went to shut off the lights and one of the gunmen came in and pushed me over with the half open door and shot everyone. Well, as many as his gun took out." I said, I continued with my story and told them how Bruce saved my life. My Mom jumped right in.
"We should have him over for dinner." She said, she took a drink of her water and set the glass back down. Dean snickered and took another piece of pizza. I glared at him sideways, my Father caught this.
"What else happened?"
"They picked me up from school."
"Her and Bruce?" Dad asked, his face becoming devilish.
"Yeah, you know, for a pretty rich boy. His car's a piece of shit."
"Dean!" My Mother scolded, Dean jumped in his seat and looked at her with surprise. "Watch your mouth." She warned.
"Sorry," He cleared his throat. "His car is a piece of crap." He said, popping the 'p'. Mom stuck her tongue out at him and he the same to her. My Dad and I snickered behind our hands at them until they stopped and we started talking about random stuff. Conversation fell quiet and I remembered that I would call Bruce to tell him that I was home safe. I pinched myself for not remembering earlier. I excused myself and went to the phone that hung between the living room and kitchen.
"No phones at dinner, Catrina." Dean scolded, I rolled my eyes and picked up the phone.
"Yeah, Catrina." My Dad chimed in.
"Sorry, I forgot that I promised Bruce that I would call him when I got home. He wanted to make sure I, we were safe." I said putting the phone back on the jack. It would have to wait even though I was done with dinner.
"Ew! Cat's got a boyfriend!" Mom teased taking her plate and her drink to the kitchen.
"No, I'm forever alone." I corrected, "I thought we established that a long time ago."