Just Breathe: A batsis story

14 - Tick Tock Part 3

Chapter 14: Tick Tock Part 3

"Alyna?" Tim questioned from across the hospital room scaring her half to death as she didn't know how long he had been there. How long any of them had been there. Jason and Damian had fallen asleep in their chairs, and the coffee table in the center of the room was littered with empty cups of coffee.

"When did you get here?" Alyna furrowed her brows, at some point last night she had drifted off to sleep and now she was sitting in the same room only she wasn't alone. As if the white walls, sickening smells of chemicals, Maggie almost dying, Bruce finding out her secret identity, and the memories resurfacing, weren't already overwhelming Alyna.

"How are you feeling?" Tim questioned as he reached across the table trying to comfort her. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it, jumping out of her seat to avoid his touch. Her chair fell over with a loud clang causing both the sleeping boys to wake up and instinctively reach into their pockets for their weapons. The four of them stood still in a standoff, no one willing to let their guard down.

"S-so, he told you then..." Alyna stuttered. They didn't need to respond; she already knew he was going to. Besides, the look of betrayal in Jason's eyes was more than enough proof. The only reason she hadn't already turned invisible and taken off was because Maggie was still here. She couldn't just leave her, not when she needed her.

"He did," Jason said after a minute.

"So you're really Vestige? Why are you going after Xenon? Why didn't you tell us? Did you tell anyone about our secret identities? Does Ms. Gardner know?" Tim, staying true to his character, was rapidly firing questions that were too personal for her to answer. Her mind was swamped with words and images. Being in a hospital only made it ten times worse as sudden flashbacks pulled her into hell and back; Dimitri torturing her, the fear-stricken faces of all the Xenon corp. grunts she killed, Matty's murder...

"Tim," Jason shushed his brother as he cautiously took a step toward Alyna. He knew what it was like to be trapped in your own mind, to see all the bad things start to blur as they moved so quickly. How cold and numb it made you feel. Although Jason was still hurt by her deception, he couldn't let her suffer the same way he did.

What he did next took both his brothers by surprise; he hugged her. At first, she squirmed under his grasp, her fist hitting his chest. Her punches were hollow though, and eventually, she stopped hitting him altogether and just cried. Jason did his best to be comforting, it was never something he was good at. Tim made his job a bit easier by hugging her too, forming a small hugging pile. Damian just patted her back, he had never hugged anyone before and wasn't planning on starting anytime soon, but he did feel compelled to try and stop her pitiful whimpering.

They stood there for who knows how long till Bruce walked back into the room. Surprised to see his sons trying to comfort the girl despite her secret, he took a step back and waited for her to steady her breathing.

"Thanks," She whispered before turning to face Bruce.

"Maggie's awake and asking for you," Was all he said before turning around and walking back out the door. Unsure if she was supposed to follow him or not she hesitantly moved towards the door. Surprisingly Bruce was waiting for her out in the hall. Alyna didn't trust him, and she knew he didn't trust her. But Maggie trusted them both and she was what was important right now. He led her down the hall a bit into the ICU ward of the hospital where Maggie was lying down. One of her legs was elevated and in a cast while the other just idly lay there against the bed.

"Alyna!" Maggie cried as she saw her.

"Mum!" Alyna didn't hesitate to run into her open arms and hug her as gently as she could. Maggie's eyes widened and filled with tears of joy at the sound of Alyna calling her 'mum'. They both started sobbing before lightly laughing and pulling apart. "I'm so glad you are okay, I didn't know what to do,"

"Don't worry about me, I'm tougher than I look," Maggie smiled as she laid back down moving her pillows to prop herself up. "We'll have to go find Poki, I tossed him out the kitchen window when I got trapped..."

Alyna let out a breath of surprise. Despite being trapped in a burning building Maggie still remained selfless, choosing to save her cat in what could have been her final moments.

"I wasn't gonna let one of my kids die before me," Maggie smirked as she placed her hand over Alyna's.

"One of your-" Alyna started to question but stopped once she realized what Maggie was saying. Maggie thought of her like a daughter, just like how Alyna thought of her as a mother.

"I love you kiddo," Maggie softly cried as the two hugged again.

"I love you too, Maggie!"