Water Bender of DC

-{ Healing }-

-[ Gotham City General Hospital, Gotham City ]-{ Tonraq }-

It's very disorienting to wake up in the arms of someone comforting when the last cohesive memory you have is being locked in a cage. I looked around slightly putting together the bits and pieces of memory I have. Then I realized some things. That I was still in Gotham. That I was freed. That I was with Bruce, Alfred, and Dick in a hospital. And the fact that Bruce came for me.

'He was worried about me. He cares about me.' I thought to myself as emotions flooded through me. And before I could stop and gather myself I began to cry. Then I felt the arms around me tighten a bit, and out of reflex I froze and tried to forcibly calm myself.

"Shh shh. It's alright. You're alright, Tonraq. You're safe now. No one is here to hurt you." I both heard and felt Bruce speak quietly to me, as he rubbed my shoulders, which felt really nice. I didn't calm down till a few minutes later, and during those minutes I remembered what I had said to Bruce. The last time I woke up I was sobbing and apologizing to Bruce for two separate reasons, and now I was debating on whether to tell him the meaning behind them or not.

Then someone walked into the room and it didn't seem like it was Dick or Alfred. Dick was light and playful. Alfred was surefooted and had a certain ridgged grace. I looked over and saw a woman in a white coat holding a clipboard, while looking unsure of what to do under both our gazes.

"Um. . . Hello, I'm here to check on you, and look over your injuries since we had to get everything done quickly earlier." She said in a faults happy tone. I didn't move or respond so she awkwardly came over to the bed and asked for my arms. I hesitated but reassured myself with the presence of Bruce, as I carefully sat up and let her examine one arm at a time. Then she moved to my legs, then my abdomen, and she finally finished with my throat and face.

"Well, good news, it definitely doesn't seem like anything is broken. Other than that there's some bruising that's gonna last awhile, and there are some cuts on his arms, but those don't need stitches or anything." She sumed up as she waited awkwardly. I just ignored her in favor of leaning back towards Bruce.

"Thank you, doctor. Can we leave soon?" Bruce asked her politely as I stayed quiet.

"Yes, you all can leave soon. I just need to get the discharge papers together." She briefly explained before finally leaving the room. After a couple minutes I relaxed and began to think about how I wanted to explain my past to Bruce. I just felt bad that he had to deal with all my problems while having no explanation given to him.

"Everything is fine. Go at your own pace. There is no need to rush." Bruce said quietly as I tensed since I failed to notice that my thoughts showed on my face. I'm usually really good at hiding my emotions and thoughts, but then again this is Bruce we're talking about. I just nodded in understanding and relief, as the doctor came back in to hand the papers over to Bruce.

"Here you are, and I hope you recover quickly." She addressed Bruce first with the papers then addressed me with a smile before she walked back out. And with that we were finally able to leave the hospital.

-[ Wayne Manor, Gotham City]-

When they got back to the manor Dick ran into Tonraq for a hug, as he flinched but slowly returned the hug. Both Alfred and Bruce noticed this as they looked at each other to confirm what they saw. When their eyes met they indeed came to the same conclusion, which was the fact that this incident knocked them back a few steps in their progress with Tonraq. But they accepted it and  went about their usual routine to give Tonraq time to work his way back up again.

Thankfully Tonraq hadn't completely started over with them, but some things still returned, like his reluctance to ask for things,  his careful actions, limited speech, evasion of both physical and eye contact, as well as his hesitance with water. But after some time in the manor a couple of the things went away, which was just the speaking bits. He did eventually build up enough courage to ask Alfred for a snack, and had a few short conversations with everyone in their home. But even through all this something managed to both surprise and worry them even more.

The three wanted to check on Tonraq before they went about their night, so they quietly opened the door to his room and looked in. They were met with the sight of Tonraq sitting on the floor, in a pair of shorts with no shirt, with a bowl of water in front of him. Tonraq was facing away from them as he dipped one of his hands in the bowl, and when he brought it back out a layer of water coated his palm, but it was glowing and moving along his palm. They continued to watch him curiously as Tonraq brought his palm to his forearm moving it around the bruised area. When he took his hand way to put the water back the bruises were gone and not even a scar was left.

They continued to watch Tonraq work on healing himself, but as he moved about they noticed a couple other things. Along Tonraq's back there were a few scattered scars that were faded enough to indicate that he got them during childhood. And when Tonraq got to his neck he hesitated, but soon continued as he removed his necklace only to just hold it in his hands for a bit before setting it down gently. Then Tonraq gently brought the water up to his neck to heal the handprint that was left behind. When Tonraq finished that he put his necklace back on and moved to his face.

Soon Tonraq finished his work as he placed the water back in the bowl with a far off look in his eyes before getting up with it in hand. When he turned to take it to the bathroom he was met with Alfred, Bruce, and Dick standing at the door. Tonraq immediately froze, letting the bowl slip from his hand, as a look of complete fear crossed his face. Tonraq looked between the spilled water and the trio at the door, but he seemed to not quite see them, while moving his mouth, but no sound dared to come out.

Bruce took a step forward as he was worried about why Tonraq looked so fearful, yet not quite here at the moment. But as Bruce took that step Tonraq shrunk in on himself as he tripped over himself trying to back up. Bruce got even more worried but soon stopped as Tonraq flinched seeming to prepare for impact. And at that moment everyone present wished for the chance to be alone with the man responsible for making this young man so small.