Death Is Not Forever

Chapter 8

A night later Jason jumped back into the apartment window and froze, he could feel it; someone else was in the apartment with him. He slowly took out a knife as he looked at the shadows carefully, then he saw it, the discoloration of the one closest to where Skye laid.

            “Come out where I can see you.” Jason ordered and moved closer in a protective stance.

            Nightwing obeyed silently and came out with his hands up, though he did keep his eyes on his adoptive sister’s pale form. Jason lowered the knife slightly as he saw a lack of threat from the intruder.

            “How did you find me?” Jason hissed half angry with himself than Nightwing.

            “After you left the grave yard I followed you.” He explained. “I just wanted to know if Skye was truly gone.”

            “You said I was telling the truth.”

            Nightwing kneeled down by Skye’s side and checked her pulse. “You are a talented liar… I had to be sure.”

            “Well she’s alive happy?” Jason snapped. “Get out.”

            “She needs a hospital.” He argued. “I’m not leaving without her.”

            “If you keep this up you’re not leaving at all.”

            Nightwing picked up Skye and walked towards the door. “If you really cared, you would let me leave with her so she could be checked out by real doctors.”

            “You can’t…” Jason had forgotten about the knife as he thought of all the people out there who would want to see Skye dead. “If you do… Ra’s, Joker, Harley, Black Mask… they’ll go to the hospital and kill her.”

            “At least she has a chance there.” Nightwing shot back. “Here she may as well already be dead.”

            “Don’t say that!” Jason shouted and would have attacked if there weren’t a risk of finishing off Skye by accident.

            Nightwing turned around before pausing and looking back at Jason once more, as if waiting for another fight whether it was physical or verbal, before leaving to go to the hospital with Skye. He only hoped that it wasn’t too late. As he quickly made his way down the stairs and out into the alley nearby where he had hidden his motorcycle, he turned around as he heard footsteps running to catch up behind him and found Jason running up to him.

            “You aren’t going any where without me.” Jason told him as he slowed down.

            Nightwing hadn’t expected him to come around to the hospital idea so soon. “Fine. Just keep up.”

            Jason walked down the alleyway and threw a tarp off his own motorcycle. “I don’t think that will be a problem… But you aren’t going to show up in your Nightwing suit, are you? That will raise unwanted attention.”

            He hesitated, Jason was right; it could bring unwanted attention that could put Skye in danger. “I’ll follow you to the hospital, to make sure you actually take her there, then I’ll come back after changing.”

            “Fine.” Jason took Skye from him and gently carried her over to his bike where he sat her in front of him so she wouldn’t fall off as he drove off.

            Jason drove through the back streets of Gotham, Nightwing a few cars’ lengths behind him, until he stopped outside the emergency room doors. He picked Skye up, catching a glimpse of Nightwing disappearing around a corner, and walked inside to where a nurse quickly saw him and ran over.

            “What happened?” The nurse asked immediately as she looked at Skye’s unconscious form.

            Jason quickly formed a lie in his mind. “We ran into some robbers while walking home… I gave them the money before they could do anything else to us.”

            “What has this city come to?” The lady shook her head. “You can’t even walk home in daylight anymore without being attacked!”

            Jason let the nurse take Skye away on a gurney and put his hands in his pockets as he followed. “Can you help her?”

            “Yes, yes of course…” The nurse gave him a reassuring smile but her voice didn’t sound so sure. “May I ask if you were hurt?”

            “Just some light scratches.” He shrugged and watched as some doctors ran over and took Skye away.

            The nurse nodded and gave him a sympathetic look. “I’ll send someone to get you when they finish with her, just wait out near the doors you came in.”

            Jason turned and sat down silently. To pass the time however he took to observing the people around him, most were too busy working to notice but he did catch one person give him a suspicious look before walking off with a continuous look over their shoulder. He was about to follow them, as they gave him a bad feeling, but at that moment Dick walked in and sat down next to him.

            “What’s the news?” Dick questioned as he gave him a brief glance.

            Jason scowled at him. “I’m not sure yet, they’ll get us after the surgery.”

            “Don’t have to bite my head off.” He muttered. “It was you who let her get in this state.”

            “Stop telling me that.” Jason hissed venomously.

            Dick went silent and leaned back in his chair. Jason watched him stare at the ceiling for a few more minutes before turning back to observing people as they went about their jobs, the entire time he was mentally hoping that Skye would pull through, and not just so he didn’t have to hear any more comments from Dick either.