Milk And Cardamom | S. Brown ✔

[47]

His eyes fluttered open and his brain had switched once again into a fight or flight mode. He couldn't get up and panicked, thinking he was strapped to something.

However, that wasn't the case.

Lucas looked down at the sleeping figure beside him, her arm draped over his chest, golden blonde hair splayed out on the pillow. He was about to get up but stopped, relaxing as he realized that it was Stephanie and seeing her was an assurance in itself that he wasn't in any danger.

He took in a deep breath of relief as he rested his head back, the panic gradually fading.

A blanket covered the two and he looked up to see he was still in the medical wing of the Bat Cave. Gradually, he was able to recall last night's events and his eyes flickered towards the imprint of his fingers on her neck once again, the faint red turning into a light purple.

A wave of guilt washed over him, recalling the scene vividly; his fingers tightened around her throat, her green eyes wide in alarm and yet her hands had still reached out towards him to steady him.

He had hurt her and though he hadn't been in control of himself back then, he still felt terrible that he had caused pain to her.

Stephanie was a blessing he was certain that he didn't deserve. Or rather a blessing that he could not allow to get ruined due to himself.

Gently lifting her hand off him, he sat up and seeing that the IV was finished, he took the needle off his arm, fingers pressing slightly to release the sting. But before he could get off the bed, Stephanie seemed to have woken up as well and her hand tugged at his arm, stopping him.

Tired green eyes connected with hazel as she sat up, a questioning look fluttering on her features, "where are you going?"

"I want to go home," he replied, "Dad and Cami would be so worried."

"We called them, they know you're safe and you will be going home soon," she assured him.

Though Luke had noticed that there was something different with Stephanie. She seemed troubled and exhausted at the same time.

It was almost as if she was tensed and worried about something. The anxiety was eating her up from the inside but she was trying her best to not let it show.

His hand gently cupped her face, turning it towards him and asked, "Steph, are you okay?"

"Just tired..."

His fingers trailed down to the faint bruise on her neck, "I'm sorry..."

"Stop apologizing," she spoke up, her head resting against his shoulder, eyes fluttering shut out of fatigue, "please, I don't have enough strength in me to deal with this too."

"But what happened?"

She couldn't tell him that Tim was missing because in that case, she would be risking exposure of their vigilante identities. "Nothing..."

The door opened and both of them looked in the direction of the entrant; a woman with long silver hair that concealed one eye, making the other stand out strikingly.

Lucas remembered seeing her earlier as well, back in Deathstroke's hideout and the name escaped him in an uncertain whisper, "Rose?"

"Good morning," she smiled, placing the breakfast tray on the table in front of the bed, "thought you two must be hungry too so I brought breakfast for all of us."

Lucas saw that she hadn't changed much since the last time he had seen her and remembered her clearly, about ten years ago. Her hair had grown longer, reaching down to her waist but other than that, she was the same Rose Wilson; his sister and friend.

"You haven't changed at all," he mumbled and she caught his gaze, features softening as she shook her head.

"Yet you've grown a foot taller than me," she remarked, handing him the cup of milk, "that's a huge change."

She had pulled the chair up closer to the table and set the tray down on the bed instead, picking up a sandwich from the plate and gesturing the two to eat as well. Steph took the cup of milk but didn't eat much, her thoughts still deviating towards Tim.

"I'll just be back," Steph stood up and placed the empty cup back on the tray then walked out of the medical wing. None of them stopped her though Rose had a slight suspicion that the girl knew the premises and the people much better than those two did.

"How are you feeling now?" She turned to face Luke instead.

"Awful," he replied, head lowering in shame, "I hurt all of you."

"Lucas, you were not able to control yourself back then," she resumed in a soft tone, "you didn't intentionally hurt us."

"When he knew the serum doesn't work on me, why did he still inject me with it?" A frown took over his features, hazel eyes flashing in anger, "I could have destroyed everything. Just like... Just like I did before."

"I don't know why he did that to you," Rose remarked, "we don't even know where he is right now and what he's up to. He vanished that night. Along with Red X."

"Red X?"

"Yes, a vigilante who helped me get you out of Father's captivity. Sadly, he couldn't get himself out in time. But so far there's no knowing whether he survived or not, there has been absolutely no trace of them both."

"And who's this Red X?"

"The same vigilante who operated in this city as Red Robin," she replied, knowing that her assumption regarding him had been correct, "he was the one who told me that you had gotten taken by Father and he offered to help me retrieve you."

Red Robin had helped Lucas out twice before as well and he remembered that clearly, he seemed to have been a good friend to Alex and Dora too so finding out that he was missing was not a good news.

There was a while of silence between them until Luke spoke up, "when can I go home, Rose?"

"Nightwing said he will take you back himself," she answered, "but they have to make sure you're stable before they release you."

"Right," he nodded, looking up to see that Steph had returned and the vigilante Nightwing was right beside her.

He approached him and asked in a gentle tone, "Lucas, how are you doing today?"

"Better than before."

"Good. Steph told me you wanted to go home and I will take you there myself. But first we will have to perform a few tests on you to make sure you're okay. If you're done with breakfast, we can go get it over with right now."

He stood up, eager to go back as soon as possible, "sure."

"Alright then, follow me."

***