Lost Stars

Chapter Four

-Athena's POV-

I hopped on a boat in Metropolis late at night. I had stayed in the village outside of the League of Assassins HQ for a couple days. Ultimately, I had to leave when assassins started raiding homes looking for me. Luckily, while I was there, I had built up a little more meat on my bones. I was still weak, however.

I entered Metropolis with my head down. Not that Supes would be checking the security cameras for me, but I didn't want to risk it. I shuffled on the boat.

From where I stood, Gotham looked dazzling. The water beneath me was pitch black, reflecting the night sky. I gazed forward. The air was warm but the breeze on the water was cold.

Gotham looked like a city of stars. The bright, florescent city lights gave me a deep feeling of nostalgia and innocence. It reminded me of Dick. Looking at the city, I felt like I was finally about to get the old happiness I had so long ago. The city promised me that all the torture I had gone through was worth it. I shivered, but not because I was cold.

As we got closer, I could see the Bat symbol in the sky. I smiled. The thought of Bruce and the rest of the Bat family warmed me to the core. I was coming home.

I stepped off the boat and took a breath of Gotham air. I took off my hood and stared up at the skyscrapers. I jumped off of the pier and landed in the sand. It was so nice to be out of a cell. It was so nice to see a city. It had been a while.

I heard footsteps. Boots moved through the sand. I looked over my shoulder and saw four figures all dressed in black. The assassins were barely visible in the dark. They had encircled me, with my back to the ocean. They knew I was too weak to swim.

"Nightingale," one of them spoke; a man, "we were expecting you."

"Indeed," another one; a girl, "Ra's had us stationed here ever since your escape."

"So predictable," a younger man, "Ra's would be disappointed. You were trained to keep your enemies on their toes."

The last one didn't speak. He just pulled out his katana. My breath quickened as I quickly glanced between all four of them. I knew this was going to end in a fight. I couldn't talk them into letting me go.

"If you hand yourself over easily, Traitor, you can receive your beatings back at HQ instead of on this beach," The woman said.

Adrenaline and fear coursed through me. I was angry with myself. I had never felt fear. But, ever since I escaped, fear seemed to follow me wherever I went.

The assassin stepped toward me, her hand extended out. She reached for me and I cut her hand off with Talia's dagger.

"AHH! You traitorous bastard!" She screamed, running toward me. I kicked her in the face as the others came forward. I sliced one in the arm and came blade to blade with the other. I managed to duck underneath his arm and slice his ribs. Another assassin grabbed me from behind, so I jerked my head up and broke his nose.

The last one kicked me in the knee and knocked me to the ground. The adrenaline in me wasn't enough to make up for my lack of strength. I had a tortured, broken body and I still hadn't eaten a decent meal since I escaped.

I couldn't get up. Just like in my cell, the boot of an assassin met my side, knocking all the wind out of me. I choked as blood filled my throat. The assassins pulled me to my feet. The girl punched me in the face over and over with her non-cut-off hand. My eye started to swell up and my lip was split.

They kept punching and punching so much that my vision started to blur. I felt my eyes roll back in my head. Suddenly, the punching stopped and I crumpled to the sand.

After I passed out, I couldn't be sure what actually happened.

My vision blurred in and out.

I blinked my eyes open and I saw a pair of black boots approaching me. Then, I passed out.

Arms carried me and I saw the bodies of the four assassins laying in the sand. I couldn't tell what had killed them, but I knew they were dead. I let my limbs go slack as I was carried. My head rolled with every step the person carrying me took. Then, I was gone again.

My last flash was short. I opened my eyes just brief enough to see that I was inside of a car that was moving very fast. The city outside of the window was blurry partly because of my brain and partly because of the speed. I let my eyes close.

When I awoke again, it was permanent. My eyelids felt heavy, but I managed to open them. My eyesight was still blurry, but I blinked it away. The room was bright white and clean. It smelled like bleach and the lights were blinding. I was in a white gurney. IV's were running down my arm. I started to panic.

The assassins had gotten me. I was back in the League of Assassins. I was about to be tortured. Brainwashed. Forced to relive those awful memories. I started jerking around, trying to escape. I started to hyperventilate. I grabbed my IV, trying to rip it out of my vein.

A hand covered mine. I followed the hand up to a familiar face. That's when I realized that I hadn't been captured. Dick's soft, blue eyes calmed me down. I let myself relax and saw that there were no restraints.

I looked down at where his hand covered mine. He pulled away his hand like it stung to keep it there. He backpedaled away from me and sat in the chair across from my bed.

It was unreal. Dick was here. He wasn't haunting me in my nightmares anymore. He was here. It was him, for real. I laid still in my bed, completely aware of the man in my room.

I could feel his eyes on me. I looked over to catch him staring, but he would look down at his feet. I licked my lips. They were cracked and cut. Dry blood crusted them. I didn't know how long I had been out. I also didn't know how I ended up in the hospital.

I looked over at Dick again. This time, he met my gaze. We stared at each other for a few heartbeats. He took a deep breath. "Hey."

~~~~~Another short chapter! I'm sorry guys lol. The more I write, the less I write y'know? It's weird, when I first started on Wattpad (and really when I first started to write long narrative stories) my chapters were short. The more I wrote, my chapters got longer and longer. Now, they are short again. It's so weird. I hope you guys like this story and give it love!~~~~~~~