Batgirl

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Bruce is still troubled... I see reports now and then of criminals in ICU awaiting their trials. It is not as bad as it used to be, but he still isn't himself. I haven't talked to Dick in a while... should probably do that. I stare down at the silver ring on my finger. Don't know how I'm going to explain this to him...

I still am not too sure about it myself. I mean, yeah Jason is sweet and cute, but... ugh, come on Barb! He's probably married now; it's been three months. I sigh as I throw my hair up, anxious to go to sleep and not to think about anything... but I'll probably just end up staring at my ring for hours until I doze off. I plop down on the couch in a t-shirt and sweats, grabbing my glasses as I turn on the TV.

I yawn as I hear the door bell ring. Who could be here this late? I go towards the door when I hear a loud bang and wood splintering. An unbearable pain shoots through my stomach as I fall to the floor, my head tucking, ready for a roll back to my feet... only my legs don't kick up when I go to sit up. I look down at my legs to see a large, dark red circle around my gut. Pressure, put pressure on it. I immediately cover my stomach, hoping it's over the wound, gasping at the pain. I freeze as the door slowly opens. There is someone standing in the doorway, but I don't need to see him to know who it is.

"Knock, knock." The eerie voice of the Joker laughs.

I try to scoot away, but I can only pull myself with an arm since my legs won't move. I have to get something in my hand.

"Why do they always run? BAHA! RUN?! HAHA! Oh I just crack myself up sometimes."

If I can reach the phone on the end table, I can use it.

He gasps, "Oh, no, no... we can't have that."

The purple suit comes into my vision as he kicks the table away, the phone sliding out of reach. Suddenly, I notice a piece of metal in his hand - Blunt object: Crowbar. That's how he killed Jason Todd. I instinctively protect my head with my arms. He slams the bar down several times on my forearms and the sides of my shoulders, trying to hit my head around the cage I made with my arms. The final strike to my left arm did it. I cry out in pain as I hear a crack.

"Don't make it so hard on yourself, one hit on the head, and it will all be over-"

"Never," I grunt as I grab the legs of the end table with my right hand and slam it into the back of his knees. He topples over me as I grab his ankle and bend it the way it doesn't go. He howls in pain as I desperately pull myself towards the phone. Before I can reach it, something slams against my cheek, and everything starts to blur.

He chuckles, "Say cheese..." my vision is clouded by a series of bright, white flashes. "The Bat might not go insane, but your daddy WILL go insane," He laughs again. I see the outline of the phone in between the flashes and reach for it. "I'll make sure of it."

Must... fight... within inches of the phone, the back of my shirt is pulled. I cry out as the distance between me and the phone increases.

"Now, now, I thought I told you to smile!" He whips me around to face him and the glowing, mad red eyes. I snarl and spit in his face. He is silent and the smile on his face falls. "Well that was RUDE!" He throws me back down on the floor onto my broken arm, making me yell out again. "Looks like I need to teach you some manners!"

His laughter echoes through my ears as I am struck in the head, and everything goes black.

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"Barbara? Barb are you home? Your TV's on so I know you're here..." I faintly hear. My eyes are very heavy, and everything hurts. I use all my energy to grunt, so whoever it is can find me, wherever I am. "Oh my god! BARBARA!" I feel someone grabbing my body, putting pressure on my stomach, which erupts in pain. I moan in agony.