Out of My League

Chapter 27: The One that ALMOST Got Away

In another life I would be your girl

We keep all our promises, be us against the world

And in other life I would make you stay

So I don't have to say you were the one that got away

The one that got away!

- The One that Got Away by Katy Perry

Dick's POV

Everything hurt as I slowly came to my senses.

It felt like my body was on fire, but as I found the strength to open my heavy lids, the pain seemed to diminish. When I succeeded in blinking a few times, the pain simply originated at the left side of my body. I froze as the memories suddenly came back, and I recalled the blade going through me. That explained the hospital- like room. I must've been in the Watchtower, recovering. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to really recall all that had happened. If I was alive and recovering that meant we succeeded, right? Still, I felt like I was forgetting a vital piece of information. And while my heart screamed at me to figure out what it was, my brain remained foggy.

The door to my room swung open, distracting me from my thoughts and the growing headache I was causing myself. When Bruce poked his head in, a sigh of relief escaped me, and a smile tugged at the corner of my lips. My adopted father seemed happy enough to see me up and functioning, but his blue eyes remained troubled as he returned my smile.

"It's good to see you up," he said in way of greeting as he walked into my room and plopped onto the bed beside me.

"You saying that makes me feel like I'm fourteen again instead of twenty- four," I replied with a teasing tone, hoping to banish the troubled look that haunted him. Maybe he was still torn up about Talia being the mastermind of everything.

Unfortunately, my teasing didn't work. Bruce frowned, and I knew what he was about to say wouldn't be good. My heart rate picked up, and the monitor beside my bed registered it. Bruce didn't seem to notice as he was lost in thought, but if he did, he didn't say anything. Finally, he met my eyes again, and I was thrown by the overwhelming emotions that I saw swimming behind them. Bruce wasn't just troubled. Something was tearing him apart. I immediately thought my initial assumption had been wrong, that we had failed to save Damian. What if Talia lost it and stabbed him after she stabbed me? Or what if some accident happened and-

The sound of Bruce's voice broke through my jumbled thoughts. "How much do you remember of what happened?" he asked, again taking me by surprise. He sounded calm for some who looked so... not calm.

I shrugged and told him most of what I recalled when I woke up. "I feel like I'm forgetting something important, though," I admitted as I finished answering his question.

"Dick," Bruce said, and the way that he said my name really made me worry. "I need to tell you something."

"Uh, okay," I replied uncertainly. "Go ahead, Bruce. You know you can tell me anything." I tried to sound soothing, so that he wouldn't be so wound up in telling me what the hell was going on. Unfortunately, I was starting to get tense myself. If Bruce didn't say what he wanted to tell me soon enough, I may have a stroke.

He took a deep steadying breath. Wow, it must really be bad to have Bruce acting this way. "It's Asteria," he began.

But that's as far as he got.

Suddenly, what I had been so desperate to remember came back in full force. It rang through my ears like I was right back in the plane, hearing it ricochet around me. The sound of Asteria's pained scream and me being able to do nothing about it. I threw off the covers draped over me, surprising Bruce and making him stand.