Life in the Batfamily

Chapter 17

"There has to be something we can do!" Kori shouted. "What else can we do? We've tried all we can think of. Rachel can't even fully heal him." Vic said. "The only person who might have an idea of what we can do was.." Donna started to say. "Yeah Emily would know what to do. But, she's not here. But I know she wouldn't want us to be arguing. She would want us to work together to find a way to save our friend.!" Roy stated. "Roy is right. I will keep trying to wake Sunfire." Rachel said. Wally West's phone started to ring in his pocket. "Hello." Wally said into the phone. "You want me to what? Uh, yeah I can do that. But why?" Wally asked the other person on the line. "Who was that?" Gar asked as Wally hung up. "It was Dick. He said that he wanted us to stay here. There's something he needs to tell us." Wally explained. The team agreed they would stay and wait for their leader. The door opened and Dick stepped into the room alone. "Hey guys." Dick said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "Dick, are you okay?" Donna asked him. Dick let out a sigh. He had been hurting from his sister's death, and decided to shut himself off from everyone else. "Yeah, I'm, I'll be fine. Emily wouldn't have wanted me to act like this." Dick answered. "Yeah, she probably would have punched you." Wally said with a small smile on his face. "Hey, Dick. What did you want to tell us?" Wally asked his friend. "Oh yeah. Well, something happened at the manor." Dick stated. "What Damian and Tim are fighting again?" Roy joked. "Ha, no. luckily, no. It might be better if we just show you." Dick replied. "Wait, we?" the titans asked. The door to the living room opened again, and none of the titans could believe their eyes. "Hi guys." Emily said, waving.

"How are you-" Gar started to ask. But he was cut off by Wally's screaming. Wally ran forward, and hugged his "sister" as hard as he could. "Hahaha! You're here! I knew you wouldn't stay dead!" Wally shouted happily as he hugged Emily from behind. "Hi Wally." Emily said, turning her head a little so she could see his face. Emily managed to get one of her hands loose from Wally's grip. She then patted Wally on the head just like she used to do when they were little. "You bats have to be immortal. There is no way you could survive this life unless you were immortal." Roy teased. "Sadly, no. Apparently, I actually have some good luck in me." Emily replied as she tried to release herself from Wally's grip. "We all saw you die. How is it possible you're here?" Vic asked. No one spoke. Dick and Emily looked at each other. "You guys aren't the only ones with a messed up family or childhood." Dick said. "Before our parents died, the court of owls had visited the circus. Haly Circus was responsible for giving the court their talons. They had chosen two kids to become their next talons." Emily explained. "How does that relate to you though?" Gar asked. "That's why they were happy." Rachel said. Everyone stared, confused at the girl. "When we were looking for you two, I saw you fighting the talons in the courtroom. For some reason I could sense the joy they felt as you tried to fight them." Rachel explained. "Yeah, emphasis on tried." Emily said sarcastically. "Talons are known to have a chemical in their bloodstream called electrum. With electrum, the talons can't die. They will continue to regenerate unless the connection to their electrum is broken or they are exposed to extreme cold." Emily continued. "That's why you're here. You were next." Donna said. "And, you thought your future looked bad." Emily said to Donna. "The only reason Emily is alive is because Bruce spent days, weeks trying to activate the electrum the court installed inside a compound tooth they placed on us when we were little." Dick added. "None of that matters though." Roy stated, looking at Emily. "Roy's right. Emily, we know you are upset to hear this. But, if we have learned anything from you, it's that we decide for ourselves what our life will be." Kory said. "It's time you take your own advice." Donna said. Donna walked over and gently placed her hands on her friend's shoulders. "You decide whether or not this will change who you are. You can choose who you want to be. That's what you told me." Donna said to her friend gently.

"Did you stitch up what was causing the bleeding and the wound?" Emily asked. "Yes but we can't figure out why he won't wake up." Donna explained. "The antidote didn't take full effect. Benny's body isn't affected by human medicine." Emily answered. "Like the time, Slade tried to use tranq darts to knock him out, so that he could get to you." Donna added. Emily nodded her head "yes" in response. "You know, all the years I've known him. I don't think I've ever seen him this peaceful." Emily said. Emily gently grabbed Benny's hand as she examined his face. Benny's face showed no sign of worry. Benny wasn't there when Emily had stabbed herself to save everyone. "Well of course. He was always worried about one thing and one thing only." Donna said. "He was worried about you. And to him, you were safe." Donna finished. Emily turned her head away from Donna as she tried to hide how red her face was turning. "Well," Emily said, letting out a giant breath. "Let's do this!" Emily said cracking her fingers. Emily grabbed the unconscious Benny's hand and closed her eyes to focus on what she was about to do. Emily's hands started to glow a bright bluish color as she focused her energy on helping the person who she cared so much for. "It's working!" Donna gasped. Benny's heart rate and breathing were starting to change. Benny's heart rate was moving a bit faster. A couple more seconds of Emily using her somewhat new powers, Emily let go, breathing hard. Donna raced over to her friend's side, and guided her to a chair by the bed. "You stay here. I'll go get you something to drink." Donna told her. Emily just nodded yes as she tried to catch her breath. Donna left, leaving Emily alone. Emily looked over at the comatose Benny. "I was a terrible teammate. And, I was a terrible girlfriend. If I had been paying more attention, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. If I was paying attention and was thinking straight I would have helped you right away instead of pushing off my responsibility onto somebody else!" Emily said, looking down at the ground. "Why do I always have to switch? One minute I'm worrying about my friends, and then the next all I seem to care about is the mission." Emily continued. She let out a sigh and looked up at Benny. "All I know is that when I saw you lying on the ground, bleeding. I was furious. Another villain was hurting the people I cared about because they needed me to help them, and I had enough of it. I understand if you hate me. I thought some of the team would. I mean it's because of me they were all captured. But, in those final moments before I sacrificed myself to stop Vanessa, I told myself that by doing this you and everyone else would be safe." she said, starting to whisper. "I just wanted you to be safe." Emily whispered as her heart started to fill with pain. "Emily." Someone said.