Cardinal

Chapter Six

I closed my eyes as I waited for Robin to scream at me. Surprisingly, he pulled me into an embrace, "Ness, I seriously thought I was going to lose you, and by the looks of you, I was close to it. I can only imagine if I had gotten there a few minutes later than I did, you probably wouldn't be here." he said, squeezing me lightly in his embrace. I was speechless, but I hugged him back.

We hugged for a few more minutes before he let go. "Anyways, let's take a look at your wounds." he said, leaving Raven outside the room.

"Are you going to get Raven?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head before he replied, "Not right now. I will in a minute." he said, as he bent down to view my ankle. "It's swollen again." Dick said, touching it lightly. It didn't hurt that bad when he touched it, but it did ache a little. I flinched a little, but he didn't notice.

"I'm sorry about this, but.." he cut himself of, moving my foot slightly to the side. I cringed, biting my lip to keep from screaming.

"Dick, stop." I said, holding my breath.

"I barely even moved it." he replied, carefully placing it back where it was to begin with. "I'm thinking Raven can heal it back to the way it was before. I'm not going to make her do it today, considering she has used so much energy already, so you're going to have to deal with it for tonight." he resumed, looking it over carefully. "You'll still have a nasty bruise there, but it'll heal. Now I want you to do something for me, alright?" he asked, looking up at me.

"Dick, you're a hero, not a doctor. Don't act like you know what you're doing." I said, stating the obvious.

"Trust me, Sis, I know what I'm doing." he said. "Can you move your foot towards me?"

I did as he said, trying to move my foot, but I couldn't. It was entirely too painful. "I can't move it any farther than I already have." I whined, feeling a small pounding sensation start up in the back of my head.

"Just try a little more, Ness." he replied to my whine. With a sigh, I closed my eyes and forced myself to move my foot forward. I winced, moving my foot a small centimeter at a time, moving it as close to Robin as I could. It didn't go as far as he wanted. "Nope. That's all. No further than that." I refused through clenched teeth.

"Okay." he agreed, resting my foot on his knee as he reached for a bandage. He wrapped my foot like he did before when we figured out that it was fractured in the first place. I flinched back a little as he started out with the wrapping.

As soon as he was satisfied with his work, he walked himself out the door to grab Raven. Before entering the room again, he whispered something to her confidentially. I looked suspiciously at him.

Robin walked near me, turning my head to the side, observing my cheek, "I don't think this wound would take much healing. We could probably let it heal on it's on instead of having you heal it Raven. The ankle is definitely going to need your touch." he said, still observing my cheek.

He looked at my neck, "This one on her neck can heal itself, too." Robin continued, moving his eyes down to my collarbone. He touched it lightly, and I winced. Harley must have must have cut a little too deeply there. Raven watched silently, taking mental notes of what Robin was saying.

Robin gave me an apologetic look, "Sorry." he said.

"It's all right." I replied to him, shaking my head.

He paused, noticing the blood on his sweatshirt that I was wearing.

"So, you swiped this one, too?" he asked, as small grin coming to his face. The sweatshirt was his, and it said Gotham Academy. We both had our journey through Gotham Academy. We went to Gotham Academy for the first couple years with Bruce. Dick obviously went for a longer amount of time, considering he was Bruce's sidekick for a few years before I came along. I only spent three years there. It was not a memory I wanted to remember. Dick had gotten the sweatshirt almost forever ago, or so it seemed. He had only worn it a couple times, and he also left it at the Manor. It was another of his many grey sweatshirts.

"Oh shush, Robin. You have plenty of sweatshirts." I said, "Plus, you don't even wear civilian clothes that often. Usually you only wear your uniform." I added.

Robin shrugged, "Guess I shouldn't have left it." he said, trying to wipe some of the dried blood away. It was useless, really. The blood would most likely stain the sweatshirt.

"Is there anything else? Any open wounds where we can't see?" Robin asked me, searching over me quickly once again.

"Not that I know of," I said, "A raging headache is coming on and a few bruises, but nothing a little Tylenol can't help." I replied, answering his question.

"Well, let me ask you something. What all happened?" he asked.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Sarcastic comments thrown back and forth, a few knife marks, being thrown against a wall a few times, kicked, punched. All normal things with Mister Jay and Har." I replied, trying to make it sound better than it actually was.

"Quite normal." he said, tapping his finger to his lip a couple times. "Hey, Raven, do me a favor and check her head. She complained of a headache." he said, looking back at Raven as he walked over to a supply cabinet. He grabbed a flashlight before making his way back over.

Raven, on the other hand, was behind me as soon as Robin had said for her to check. She moved my hair, being careful of not touching any wounds if there were any. "There are no wounds, but it does seem like there will be a bruise." she said, moving my hair back into place.

I glanced back at Ryan after glancing at Raven. He shined the flashlight in my eyes. "Um, could you not blind me?" I asked, a hint of sarcasm in my voice. I narrowed my eyes.

"I'm checking to see if you're sensitive to light." he said, continuing to flash the light in my eyes.

"Well, of course I'm sensitive to the light. You're shining it right in my eyes, smart one." I retorted, pushing the flashlight away with my hand.

Ryan glared a little, flipping the switch on the flashlight. I gave him a sarcastic smile.

"I'm just checking for signs of a concussion." he said, placing the flashlight on the side table.

"Rob, I think I'd know if I had a concussion. I know the symptoms and have felt them before. The only thing I have even relating to a concussion is the headache. My vision is fine, I'm not nauseous. I'm perfectly fine." I said, taking back my last comment, "Okay, maybe not perfectly fine, but I'm okay." I finished, smiling at my worried brother.

"I'm just making sure. Symptoms don't always show up right away." he said, trying to act as if he knew everything. I rolled my eyes.

"I know you are. I'm fine. I promise." I looked at him.

"Fine. I'll leave it alone." he put his hands out in defeat. He walked back over to the medicine cabinet, taking out a bottle of Tylenol. He walked to the sink, taking a plastic cup and filled it with water. He brought the water and Tylenol to me, giving me two caplets and the cup.

"I don't know if it will help, but it's worth a try." Robin said as I took the medicine. Thankfully, I didn't choke on the medicine.

"Did Bats ever get back?" I asked. I could see Robin wasn't too fond of the question I asked.

"Yep." he said, blankly. He didn't say anything after, which was a signal for me to shut up about it. It should have been anyways. He turned his attention to the medicine cabinet.

"Is he going back to Gotham, or what?" I questioned.

"Nope." he said through gritted teeth. His hands clenched the counter.

"Then what is he doing?" I continued to ask.

"He's staying overnight. Geez, Car, don't worry about it. It doesn't even matter. Not like he really cares or anything. All he cares about is catching the criminal." Robin exploded. At that point, I knew Bruce had said something that he hadn't liked.

"I was just asking." I sighed, "Robin, you know that isn't true. He obviously cares or else he wouldn't have come." I argued, defending Bruce. Raven watched, silently making her way out of the room. She quietly shut the door after her.

"The hell he care. I'm baffled that you actually think that." he said, turning on me. His face showed annoyance. "He's not as great as you think he is, Vanessa." he said, trying to keep his anger from spilling out. He used my actual name. The only time that he ever used that was either when he was introducing me, or he was pissed.

"Disrespecting your father, are we?" I heard from the shadows. Bruce appeared from the shadow, wearing his uniform.

"Damn it, Bruce, how do you do that?" I asked, astonished by his presence.

Bruce looked away from my brother, turning his attention towards me. "Language, Vanessa. Watch it." he replied, snapping a finger at me. I raised an eyebrow at him as he turned his gaze back to Dick.

Dick glared at Bruce, "It's not your choice, Bruce. She should be the one to choose." he said, clenching his teeth together.

"She's sixteen. I'm her father and mentor, therefore, I will choose for her." Bruce shot back. They were obviously talking about me, but I hadn't a clue on what about.

"Her age doesn't matter. It was one mistake. Your decision shouldn't be made up solely based on one mistake." retorted Dick, stepping closer.

"Choose what?" I chimed in, truly confused on the whole situation.

"She wasn't ready to come here. She needs more training before she continues. It has only been a week since she left, and this has already happened." Bruce gave, the both of them ignoring my voice.

"It's happened before, too. It's not like she purposely got herself kidnapped. Joker is crazy, Bruce. You never know what he's thinking." My brother gave, defending me.

I stood up, pressing my ankle to the ground in order to gain attention. I hissed in pain. Both of the two looked at me, immediately rushing to my side. "Thank you for finally paying attention to me." I said, grinding my teeth together as pain shot up my leg. They helped my sit back on the bed, "Now can one of you fine gentlemen please tell me what the two of you are arguing about and why it involves me."

Bruce was the one to speak up, "You're coming back to Gotham with me." he stated, his face as serious as could me.

"W-what?" I asked, my eyes widening beneath my mask.

"You heard me. I'm taking you home." he replied.

"And when were you planning to discuss this with me?" I asked, taking my mask off. I was getting fairly annoyed with the thing.

"There is nothing to discuss. I've made up my mind, and it's final. Alfred will be here with the car in the morning."

"Excuse me?" I more stated than asked. I heard Dick snicker from my left.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked, taking a glance at Dick.

"Of course there is something wrong, Bruce." I said, feeling the ache in my head resurface, "I'm not going back. Not now. I just got here after a year without seeing my brother. I'm not leaving him."

"Oh yes you are, Vanessa. Don't try to defy me." he said. I could feel the anger bubbling inside me as he spoke.

"The hell I am. Defy you? This is my life, Bruce, not yours. You don't choose everything for me. Yeah, I may be sixteen, but I'm still my own person. I'll make my own decisions. I don't need your help deciding on this. If I needed your opinion, I would have asked." I stared at Bruce.

He glared at me, "You are just like your brother when it comes to these things." he rubbed the back of his neck, obviously stressed about the whole situation.

"I told you she'd refuse." Dick gave his word, smirking towards his father.

"Shut up, Dick." Bruce said, turning his glare towards him.

"Don't tell him to shut up. Every word that came out of his mouth is true including the words about you. You aren't as great as I thought you were. Times have really changed you, Dad." I said.

A hint of shock flew over Bruce's face, but he covered it up with a hard look. "Do as you wish, Cardinal." he said, vacating himself from the room. I knew I had hurt him at that point, or else he would have called me Vanessa.

"Sorry, Ness." Dick said, putting a hand on my shoulder to comfort me.

"It is what it is, I guess." I said, sighing deeply.