Light Amidst the Chaos

Ch 33

I stared at Jason's heart monitor. I felt so awful for what happened to him, it was my fault. I should have listened to Bruce when he tried to talk me out of it. I should've have infiltrated the league without understanding what we were fully up against. I felt so stupid and so guilty.

Everyone was all banged up and bruised. Dick had quite a few torn ligaments and a nasty bullet wound from where he was shot. Kory had a few nasty laserations covering her body that needed a lot of stitches. Rachel was all bruised and had the nastiest split lip I had ever seen. Gar's arm was in a sling, the major artery had been cut. Luckily Clark was able to fix it but Gar needed to refrain from using his arm for awhile.

Conner was okay for the most part. Since he was Superman's son, he was hard to really harm. However, he suffered some internal damage so he's benched for the time being. Damian was in and out of consciousness and was sick. I'm not sure what exactly Talia did to him but he was showing flu like symptoms. It worried me.

I had Bruce put Jason and Damian in the same room so I could observe them both. I've grown attached to Damian and I think he really could use a friend right now. Rachel is a frequent visitor and watches over Damian. I could tell she really has grown a liking for him. It was cute.

I have a few broken ribs and my hands were all wrapped up. I exerted so much power that I hurt myself in the process, more than the last time it happened. I ended up burning my hands and wrists pretty badly. If Clark hadn't of stepped in and got me out, I probably would have died.

Maverick has been wondering in and out the last few days. He sits on the floor between the beds and "reads" stories to Jason and Damian. Usually it's all made up and doesn't have a plotline whatsoever, but it was really sweet. I was just happy that he was safe and completely unharmed.

"Hungry?" Bruce's voice rang out in the doorway.

I looked up from Jason's heart monitor. "Sure."

He walked in and handed me a tray that had a few slices of pizza. I grabbed a slice and bit in to it.

"Any changes?" Bruce asked, looking at Jason's monitor.

I shook my head. "Neither one of them have any changes."

He hummed. I could feel him now looking at me. He had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Loreli-"

"-I know, you were right." I put my pizza down and wiped my hand on the napkin. "I should have listened to you. If I had, they wouldn't be hooked up to these damn machines..."

"I didn't come in here to say I told you so." Bruce said, pulling up a chair. He sat down next to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "I came in here to tell you that it's not your fault."

"But it is." I replied, setting my tray on Jason's bed. "I went in weapons blazing and didn't have any idea what I was up against. It was a total shit show, Bruce. Now look where it got us. Everyone's a mess, Jason's in a coma, Damian is sick, we accomplished nothing." I ran a hand over my face.

"I was your age once going through exactly what you're going through right now." He stated, rubbing my shoulder. "I understand and it made me learn from my mistakes. This wasn't a mistake, rather a lesson learned the harsh way. There was nothing you could have done differently to reverse the outcome."

I shook my head. "I could have stayed here, should've stayed here."

"But you're stubborn, curious, and you don't give up. It's who you are. It's both your blessing and your curse." He explained. "You can use it as an advantage or let it consume you. Your choice."