Ablaze: Told Twice Book 2

The Girl Who Couldn't Lose Either

No one was answering their coms. Sakura watched with a furiously pounding heart as Batman received not a single response from one of their team members. A tightness settled in Sakura's shoulders because she was uneasy. She knew that Batman said that running around Metropolis looking for Clark would be a waste of time but it was better than doing nothing, and she knew that if Batman found where he was while she was there, then she would be a lot closer than Gotham.

"I'm heading to Metropolis."

Sakura could see Bruce stiffen and if she had to guess she'd say he was angry. She didn't know what to do to make that right. She only knew that if Superman needed her, then she had to be there.

"You don't know where he is—and it's not safe for you out there on your own."

"I can take care of myself."

"Not from this, you can't."

Something about his words made her uneasy. His face gave nothing away which, to Sakura, was an indication of something significant. "What did you do?"

"What I had to." The terse reply sent Sakura's pulse skyrocketing. Her first instinct was to lash out, but she knew better with Bruce. To lash out meant there was a chance she could lose him forever, and that wasn't something she could afford to do.

"Alright, then what do I need to do to fix it?"

Sakura could practically hear him grinding his teeth when he said, "You need to go to Metropolis. Keep your com on you at all times and when you go-be discreet. It is entirely possible that someone is just waiting for you to show up and if they do..."

"I'll be careful, DB."

Bruce nodded curtly, and Sakura grabbed a com and ran up the stairs to run out the front door. The kunoichi bumped into Alfred before she could do that and Sakura knew she had to stop.

"How is he?"

Sakura laughed mirthlessly and the image of digging Bruce out of the ground burned behind her eyes. "Awful. A man called Bane almost buried him alive."

"What?"

Sakura nodded to confirm her words. "I found him and dug him out of his parents grave, but I didn't have time to figure out what Bane did with the bodies and rebury them."

"I'll take care of it."

Sakura laid a hand on the man's arm. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. I do this because I want to."

Sakura's lips quirked. "Yeah, I understand that."

:::

The trip to Metropolis didn't take long, but it felt like an eternity. Under her breath, Sakura kept saying Clark's name hoping that he would tune in and hear her. It didn't happen.

Luckily, Sakura happened to pass by an electronics store that was playing the news live. Superman was on the television, and from the looks of it, he was at the Daily Planet. Sakura snorted because of course that would be where he was. She wasn't sure what was happening there, but she figured she could figure it out when she got there.

Sakura didn't hesitate to dart away. She contacted Bruce along the way.

"DB? Can you hear me?"

"What's the situation?"

"I've found Superman. He's at the Daily Planet. There's some sort of situation there. It was on the news."

"Station?" Sakura relays the information as she keeps going. When she hears Bruce say sharply, "Kunoichi, hurry!" She amps up her speed automatically.

"What's going on?"

"He's about to get shot."

Sakura scoffs because they both know that a bullet is going to do very little to Superman. Sakura arrives in time at the Planet to hear the gun go off. She raised her head, expecting to see Superman fighting a villain only to see his body hurtling to the ground. Sakura heard several people scream-one of which being her. Sakura rushed to him, hoping she was predicting his trajectory correctly. He didn't slow down, and that caused the panic within her to spike even higher. Thankfully, she managed to catch the Man of Steel before he hit the ground.

Sakura heard several gasps, but she ignored them as she lowered Superman to the ground. Her eyes immediately went to the wound in his chest. He was bleeding. If she weren't a medic, she would have frozen at the sight because Superman being hurt from a bullet wound was nonsensical.

"Kunoichi, talk to me. What's going on?"

The crowd began pushing in on her trying to get a better look at the fallen hero. Sakura yelled sharply, "Get back!" It did little good. Instead, Sakura ripped open Superman's uniform to get a better look at what was going on.

"Kunoichi, I need you to talk to me."  Sakura worked on pulling herself together so she could deal with the situation in front of her. 

"Superman's been shot, but I don't understand how this could happen. It's just a bullet.  He's never had this problem before."

"It's a kryptonite bullet. You'll have to remove it."  Sakura blanched.

"How do you know that?"

"Because it was my plan to use it. Now get the goddamned bullet out of him Kunoichi. Now!"

Sakura felt tears spring to her eyes at his words, but she didn't hesitate to do her job as swiftly and efficiently as possible. Yet she couldn't help but wonder as she worked why Batman would want to kill Superman.

Sakura extracted the Kryptonite bullet and was at a loss of what to do with it. She couldn't come up with an answer on her own before Clark's blue blearily eyes focused on her. Sakura took his hand in hers and squeezed.

"Are you alright?"

Clark's brow furrowed. "What happened?"

"Kryptonite."

"Why do I still feel so weak?"

"Because I still have it. I don't know how to get rid of it."

"Bring it to me."

Sakura hesitated, not knowing whether or not that was the best course of action but Clark said, "go," and she knew she had to at the very least, get the rock away from Superman.

"You know where to meet me," Sakura told Superman. She took a small step, looked back, and said, "You'll be alright, without me?"

Clark smiled. "No, but you should still go."

Sakura could feel herself blush.