No Heroes

One Step At A Time

After Chapter 16: Selina

Selina came into consciousness with the graciousness of a rock. She felt as though had been through hell, but her body screamed at her to assure otherwise.

She opened her eyes, ignoring the stab of pain behind them. It was dark, and she wasn't in the same room anymore. The feeling that she had was a familiar one. It wasn't one that she liked.

"Bruce?" Selina called into what seemed like oblivion. No answer.

The doctor said that you might not be able to walk again, Alfred had said.

She was back in that hospital, in the dark and alone. No one was there, and no one would ever be there.

Not again. Please, not again! Not-again-not-again-PLEASE....

She began to adapt to the pain, and felt some semblance of coherence return to her.

You're not at that hospital. Bruce didn't leave you. One step at a time. You're at the GCPD. You were with Tabitha and Jeremiah in his cell. Now, you're in the Captains Office. Why is that? Where are they? Where is everyone?

She went to get off the couch, momentarily forgetting about her current condition. What ended up occurring was that she rolled off of the couch and onto the floor.

Ow, she thought. She waited her body to regain feeling. When she felt ready, she sat up and stretched out her arms, followed by her legs.

As soon as she felt confident enough, she went to stand. The first few steps were pitiful, but she remembered what it was like all of those months ago with Alfred. One step at a time.

She cautiously made her way to Jeremiah's cell, and found it empty, just like the rest of the GCPD. That can't be good. How long have I been out?

She looked at the clock. It had only been a half an hour or so since they walked into the cell. Unless she had been out for over 24 hours, which she and her pain ridden body highly doubted.

"Tabitha?" Selina called. No reply.

Am I dead? Selina was second guessing herself now. Over the past weeks, the GCPD has never been this empty, this quiet. Harvey was always spilling coffee on Jim. Lucius would be explaining one of his cool gadgets to her, or Tabitha and Barbara would be arguing about a movie that Selina had never seen. Bruce would be sitting at a desk, always serious, trying to point something out to Jim and Alfred.

The silence was unnerving. The surprise was beginning to be replaced by worry, and she thought of the roof.

She made her way to the stairs, unhappy at how far it seemed. She had to walk up eight flights of stairs. Damn. She went one step at a time, thinking as she went.

You would think that allowing yourself to be electrocuted would warrant some kind of presence.  Selina was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't sensed one coming up behind her. 

She was only in the third flight when she felt a tug in her hair.  Not a tug, a yank. Selina felt her legs leave the steps and the familiar pound of her heart that came when there was nothing hold her up began.