The Blue Sparrow

Chapter 14

Roy’s P.O.V.

    I sat down on my dingy sofa and relaxed. I just got home from stopping a drug deal and there were more guys than there should’ve been. Suddenly my phone rang; I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Ollie. I growled. ‘What does he want?’

    “What?” I answered coldly.

    “Thank God you answered.” He sighed. “Listen, I need you to come to the manor.”

    I scoffed. “Why? So I can be your sideki—”

    “It’s Lorelei.” He cut me off. I froze. “Roy, you still there?”

    I shook my head to clear my thoughts before I answered. “Y-Yeah, I’m still here. What happened? Is she okay?”

    “You’ll have to come see for yourself. It’s not good.” He said. That was all it took.

    “I’ll be there in five minutes.” I said and hung up. I quickly changed into some civvies and headed towards the manor. Once I got there I headed straight in, not even bothering to knock. Ollie greeted me at the door. “Where is she?”

    “Upstairs in her room.” He replied. I pushed passed him and quickly made my way towards her room. As I got closer, I could hear her crying. I carefully opened her door and saw her knees pulled up to her chest, balling her eyes out. I approached her and sat beside her on her bed. I gently grabbed her shoulder and she froze. She slowly looked up at me with tear-filled eyes.

    “Please tell me this is real.” She whispered. It broke my heart to see her like this; so fragile and broken.

    “Yeah, of course I’m real.” I replied. “What happened?”

    “I-I” She couldn’t finish her sentence as she started crying again. I pulled her into my lap and rocked her back and forth to try and calm her down. It seemed to work since she stopped shaking. “I-I watched you die.”

    I was shocked. “What do you mean?”

    She looked at me as she explained. “We were put through an exercise where no matter what we did, we’d fail. And I failed you.”

    I cupped her face gently. “Hey, you could never fail me. That wasn’t real. I’m here with you now and that’s all that matters.”

    She nodded and hugged me tightly, afraid that if she let go I’d disappear. “Please don’t leave me.”

    “I won’t. I promise.” I replied as I kissed her temple. Maybe I should take Dinah’s advice and tell Lorelei how I feel, but now’s not the time. She needs time to recover. I gently laid down on her bed and cradled her in my arms. She eventually fell asleep still hugging me and I couldn’t help but smirk. A few minutes later someone knocked on the door; it was Dinah.

    “Did she tell you what happened?” She asked to which I nodded.

    “She said she watched me die.” I explained. She looked at me shocked.

    “God that’s awful.” She said, looking down at Lorelei. It was silent for a few moments before I spoke up.

    “I was going to tell her.” I suddenly blurted out.

    “Tell her what?” She asked.

    “I was going to tell her I love her.” I answered. “But now’s not the right time; not with how broken she seems.

    “With just how broken she seems, it might be the perfect time. It would help build her back up; to get over what she saw. And when she needs you, you’ll be there, like you always are.” She said placing a hand on my shoulder. “When you get the chance, tell her.”

    And with that she walked out of the room. I got comfortable in bed, and with every little movement I made she’d tighten her grip on me. Once I finally laid down, I kissed her forehead and fell into a deep sleep.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A week later

Lorelei’s P.O.V.

    We were all sitting just outside the therapy room that Dinah set up, and right now she’s talking to Dick. He’s been in there for about thirty minutes now and I kept going through the events of it all. Not only did I watch the man I love die, but I lied to Dick before and it just added to the guilt that was piling up on my shoulders. Suddenly the automatic doors opened and Dick walked out with Dinah right behind him. She looked at me and said, “Your turn Lorelei.”

    I sighed and followed her into the room and sat down across from her. I didn’t say anything for a few minutes, causing Dinah to sigh lightly. “Look Lorelei I know it’s tough. When you watched Roy die—”

    “It’s not just that.” I interrupted. “I didn’t give myself time to even grieve, because I had to put them before me, but…”

    “But?” She asked waiting for me to finish.

    “But I feel like I let them down, like I let Dick down.” I finally looked up to meet her gaze. “Right before I died I told him I would be right behind him. The look he gave me broke me even more than I already was.”

    “You did what you thought was right, like any leader would. You put your team before yourself. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself Lorelei.” She replied.

    I felt a stray tear escape down my cheek and I made no move to wipe it away. “I feel like I failed them; as their leader and their friend. How do you get over something like that Dinah?”

    She reached over and placed a comforting hand on my knee. “I don’t know, but one thing is certain; admitting it is the first step. I can assure you none of them would ever think you could fail them. Not now, not ever. They look up to you, and that’s always a good thing.”

    I simply nodded and stood to leave when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and noticed Roy calling. I answered it as soon as I left the room.

    “Hey.” I said.

    “Hey.” He replied. “Look, I know now’s the absolute worst time to ask you for help on a mission, but I could really use it.”

    “Tell me where to meet you. I’ll be there.” I replied.

    “The docks.” He said simply.

    “Great.” I said. “See you soon.”

    I hung up and quickly ran over to my bike to head to the docks.