Batman & Robin And Me .:rewritten:.

XX. Reunited & Resolute

I WANTED TO CRY. INSTEAD, I carefully folded the note and slipped it back into its envelope. Then, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and got up.

Headache! If my brain could speak, that's what it'd be saying. Just so you're aware, we have head pain, we have head pain, warning, warning--

I growled irritably and closed my eyes, trying to supress the nausea. Shaddup, brain.

Looking down, to my dismay, I realized I was wearing one of those hospital gown abominations that have no backside to them. Dashing to the closet (and accompanied every step of the way by pounding in my head) I grabbed a robe and threw it on with fumbling haste.

I have to find my brothers. I told myself, even though the rational part of my brain that was being crushed by the headache was insisting, No. You're going to get right back into bed and not cause any trouble--

I headed for the door anway.

The hospital was very, very large, and very, very white. My room was one of many lining adjacent halls. To my right was a hall that ended in a big glass window overlooking the front area of the hospital and the park beyond it. To my left, a large commons area sprawled, complete with tables, arm chairs, and a kiddy table.

I slowly walked towards it, headache lessening to the point where I didn't feel like I had klaxons going off in my head.

Two little blonde boys sat there, working on coloring books. One was frantically scribbling like there was a time limit, and the other was trying very, very hard to stay in the lines. I completely forgot my headache as I dashed for them, almost scared they would disappear if I waited too long.

They both turned to me with big grins, and I slid to a sitting position beside them. Immediately, two pairs of arms were wrapped around my neck.

"Sis!" Roger squeezed a little tighter.

Andy pressed his little cheek to mine. "You're a superhero!"

"Hey, keep it down, you guys." I squeaked, returning the hug.

"We were so scared." Roger whispered. "We were trying to find a police, like Mom said to do. But then, boom!" He threw his arms up in the air to illustrate the amazement. "We see the Batmobile. And then guess who steps out of it."

I shrugged, grinning. "I have no clue."

"Batman. It was so cool! He had a cape, and a mask, and pointy bat ears, and he let us ride in the back!"

Andy nodded emphatically. "In the back. I wanted to sit in the front."

I grinned again. "Andy, you're not getting in the front until you're thirteen. That's nine years away."

"Well, I wanted to sit in the front," he repeated, stubbornly. "But Robin was up there."

"Yeah!" Roger cheered. "I wish I was Robin, so I could be in the Batmobile all the time. He had such a cool cape--" his voice dropped to a whisper. "--It felt like metal."

The smile was starting to hurt-- I'd missed them so badly. "How did you figure that out?"

"Oh, I felt it when he wasn't looking. It was easy, he wasn't doing anything but staring off into space."

"He was sad." Andy chimed in. Then, as an afterthought, "but I wanted to sit in the front seat and look at the buttons."

"He was?"

"Yep." Andy pried his arms from my neck and turned back to his vigorous coloring.

"How's my girl?" The voice came from right behind me, and I pivoted on my heel in surprise.

"Dad." My eyes misted over and a dozen words rose up in my throat all at once. Missed you so badly are you okay guess what I've been doing--

"I'm alright." I hadn't heard my father's clear, rich baritone in days, and it brought a watery smile to my face. "Harm, darling, I'm fine."

I realized that I was shaking visibly. "You sure?"

His dark eyes crinkled. "Yes. Your mother and I have been okay to leave for several days now. The blast barely hurt us."

Knowing my braver-then-bears father, "barely" meant "really", and "okay to leave" meant "ready to leave", which is an entirely different animal...but I was too happy to see him to argue.

"I've been very worried for you."

"I've been very worried for you!" I exclaimed. "Don't worry, I'll explain everything."

"You're ready to go home, then?" He asked, watching me with worry. "They said they can get us back."

It took me a moment to answer, but when I did, it was firm. "Yes."

My dad hugged me, and then we all walked up to see my mom.

I didn't want to go. Not really. This city--maybe even this whole world, with its larger-than-life buildings and brighter, more colorful people, contrasted with my own world and its muted, flat monotony. Gotham seemed to have an element sorely lacking in the real world; something like magic. An assurance that the good guys would win and Batman would come to save you if you were being mugged in a dark alley.

And I would miss him. Maybe most of all. His unexplainable magnetism, and his gorgeous brown eyes, and his dark, wavy, hair. The unending patience in the face of my inexperience. The assurance that I felt around him--I knew he would never do anything against his conscience. His confidence, not only in himself and his own abilities, but in me. (I might not miss the bumbling school-girl I tended to behave like when I was around him, but that was my fault) I would miss the safety of knowing the Dynamic Duo was behind me.

But I would go. And I would go for one simple reason--Dick wanted me to. I had shown that I was a liability to them. I put them in danger, and I hurt him. And if I could make his life even a tiny bit better by doing the hardest thing I'd ever done, I'd do it, and be happy doing it.

The happy part could at least be faked.

*angry goblin voice*: Give me my votes, my pretties.