"at some point you became the reason i breathe,
and since then every breath becomes another
reason why i love you."
in which her world starts again on her seventeenth birthday.
lowercase intended
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DICK HAD BEEN UP FOR HOURS. he had fallen asleep to cella playing in his hair, the two spent the night talking for what had felt like forever, he had been trying his hardest to relieve the girl of her troubles if only for a night.
he assumed it wasn't good enough.
bruce and dick had been in the batcave all day, bruce had even called on wally west to help out as he was at least vaguely familiar with the girl, he just wanted dick to feel like someone was there — even if it wasn't cella.
as dick went over cam feeds and traffic cameras, waiting to hear any news from wally as he ran around the city he had to stop himself from lashing out at the obvious pain in his chest, his frustration with the girl written all over his face.
"anything you need i'm here," is what he had told her the night before as they laid in his bed, under the covers as if no one would find them.
he felt foolish.
foolish for thinking the girl's anger would stop her from doing something stupid, he knew that feeling of guilt never went away, the high of wanting to avenge someone you loved.
he only hoped he didn't have to avenge cella.
he had been skeptical to admit his feelings to himself, knowing what it truly meant for him to like cella, to love her, but even he couldn't hide that from himself.
cella, the girl he loved more than he could put into words. dick had fallen for her hard, their shared moments was all that played through his head when they were apart. even when he slept he still saw her. she was in all his future plans, every place he wanted to visit she was already there.
but now he didn't know where she was, he didn't know if she was alive or dead or in need of help, it was picking at him like a pestering child.
he let his regrets consume him, feeling sick as he remembered how close he was to her lips but didn't let himself press them together, all he could do now was imagine and recall all the times he let their fingers intertwine to ease her anxiety or just make the situation better.
he wished she was here now to hold him and tell him it'd be alright, he missed her voice and the way she whispered his name like he was something dangerous that she just had to have.
he missed her warmth and the feeling of her fingers dancing across his scalp, he wondered if he'd ever sleep the same again without her in bed next to him.
his worries only gnawed at him further as the minutes passed painfully slow and he felt too tired and unbothered to even move from the chair cella had learned to call her own.
he created scenarios in his mind, desperately longing to see her safe and unharmed in his arms.
"come back to me." he whispered in the empty silence of the cave, hoping somehow she'd hear his pleas and his nightmare would go away.
CELLA CURSED TO HERSELF as her hand came down from her head covered in blood. "you said we'd meet," she spoke gingerly, "not you hit me and leave me on the floor."
"you have a sense of humor, child." claude mused, standing above her as she took his hand to stand. "i told you i'd meet you, even with the little information you gave."
"well i didn't exactly have an itinerary planned out." cella muttered, following after the man, taking in the space she was in. "where are we?"
"you ask many questions." he noted.
"i ask them to be answered." she retorted, earning a smirk from claude.
"we're in your house my dear — well my house, then your mother's, and now mine again." he explained loosely.
a shudder ran down cella's spine at his words. "what do you mean your house?"
claude gave the girl a brief look over, causing her to walk around the room to shield herself from his amber colored eyes.
"your mother really never told you anything did she?" claude asked, getting no response from cella as she stood in front of her mother's painting, she was sure there was never a more beautiful woman.
cella heard the floor creek beside her, reminding herself she was there for information and needed to keep a level head, she didn't want to do something she would regret and leave dick without an explanation as to where she went, she knew he must've been worried sick but she needed this for herself.
"i met your mother when she was young," claude started, admiring the painting as cella listened to him intently. "i fell in love and i knew she was the one the heavens sent me to birth my child."
cella chewed at her lip, suddenly feeling sick at his words.
"unfortunately, your mother was not in love with me, she was seeing someone else, so i left." cella felt claude distance himself from the painting, walking to a covered window across the room.
"i left her not knowing she had birthed my child only to have one of his seed." he jeered disgustingly, "so naturally, i took the child."
"your child?" cella whispered cautiously as if she didn't want to be heard, she felt she knew where the story was going and she could feel her head spinning from it, though she didn't know if it was because of the conversation or the amount of blood she was loosing from being hit.
"i think you know the answer to that." claude smiled. "i kept her comatose for as long as i needed, then i killed your mother, she didn't deserve the life she lived, neither did that sap mortal of a man."
"that's my father you're talking about." cella spat, facing the taller man with a challenging glare.
"i am your father!" claude roared, his voice filling the room, "not that half wit human."
cella felt her hand begin to shake in anticipation, "you killed my family all because my mother wasn't in love with you? you got rid of what could have been the best parts of my life!"
"i helped you!" claude yelled, making cella jump as a crack of lightning shook the room, making her head pound harder than before. "i got rid of what made you weak!"
cella shook her head at his words, hot tears beginning to fall down her face but she didn't stop them. "no, no you stole them from me. you stole my family, my love because my mother didn't love you." she raged, "you couldn't handle rejection so you killed three innocent people in claim that they made me weak, well you're wrong." she moved to stand in front of claude, not backing down when the thunder roared outside. "love doesn't make you weak, it gives you a reason to live."
claude's finger came up to tap cella's chin, "why do you think you still live and breathe child?" he questioned with a smile, "long after i am gone someone needs to trace our power back to its source," he explained, "me."
cella stumbled back, her hand going straight to her head as she could hear ringing and claude's voice became a thick muffled sound.
she blinked rapidly, feeling herself loose conscious and all control of her body but she didn't fight it, she just wanted to rest.
