" Willow, go home. "

A twenty seven year old doctor stared blankly at poorly lit vending machine that was in the Accident and Emergency ward's break room. Faint, dark circles had formed underneath her eyes as she had continued her double shifts, day after day, for nearly a week straight. Her fading eyes caught sight of a still viable container of orange juice within the contents of the vending machine, jackpot.

The voice pleaded again from behind her, this time becoming louder, and more pushy. A cold hand extended forwards, touching Willows shoulder, prompting her to temporarily go into the real world. Willow turned to see an upset young woman, to whom she'd developed a close relationship to. The vibrant red head stared at her with a tough glare and thin, strained lips. She had repeated herself a few times, before becoming impatient enough to physically touch her colleague.

" Meryl, I'm fine. "

Willow pressed, forcing a small smile onto her face, before turning back to the machine. She paid for the drink, and left the room. The temperamental red head was hot on her heels, her red hair pulled up into a messy, bumpy bun. The young doctor herself, looked exhausted, but was pleading with her friend to go home. Finally the two of them stopped abruptly in their tracks, only conversing once more before Willow finally decided to call it a night.

" Honestly, you're going to run yourself into the ground, and then who do I have? Eric? "

Willow smiled, grinning from ear to ear as she choked out a short, abrupt laugh. The two of them looked over to the nurses station to see a young male doctor, who could barely put on a pair of sterile gloves. Who had also, on occasion, misdiagnosed patients and recently, had nearly operated on the wrong person.

" You're so bossy.. "

Playfully she mocked her friend, making sure to look back to see Maeryl's waning face. Willow smiled and shot Meryl a coy look, finishing her juice before taking one last look at the Emergency Room.

" I'm good here, if you stay any longer you won't wake up until your next shift on Wednesday and what's the point of that? " Meryl paused and took a deep breath, speaking out of exhaustion and honesty, " Go out, find a cute man and bring him home. For me, please, someone needs to get some around here. "

Willow nodded silently and winked at her friend before finishing up her reports and eventually leaving the E.R. She'd spent nearly sixteen hours in the Emergency Room, and was practically a walking corpse. She was ready for some deep sleep in a dark, quiet room.

Willow walked along a quiet sidewalk just a block outside the hospital's entrance. Her tired feet barely left the ground as she shuffled along, too tired to notice the crowd of people emerge from the block, and begin to shift the opposite way. Everything was so cloudy to her.

They don't tell you enough about the emotional toll that being a doctor can cause. They prepare you for the medical aspect of nearly everything, the warning signs for different illnesses and the way you're supposed to heal a patient. But the emotional shit you carry with you? They don't teach you how to heal yourself. Mothers who had tried to kill themselves, children who had been shot or older citizens who had decided to take their own lives rather than burden anyone else, she'd only been a "doctor" for a short time, but Willow had seen more than enough. The nightmares of having to resuscitate a young child or remembering how fucking long it takes to get blood off of your skin after it had set for more than just a few minutes, everything accumulated over time that she'd been exposed to, she wished she could just let it roll off her shoulders.

But she couldn't.

Her peers had told her that having that empathy towards people had made her a better doctor, more caring and thoughtful. The type of doctor you want to have, but in all reality, she wished she was more like the rest. She didn't want to carry this shit around.

Being busy was all that she really had for right now, Gotham General hadn't been her first pick, but the pay was much better than the surrounding cities, and it was rumored that if you can survive in the hospitals in Gotham, you can survive anywhere.

She'd interned at a few other hospitals, Central City, Coast City and Midway as well. All were wonderful, but for some fucking reason, some bat-shit crazy reason, she'd decided on Gotham. She was so sure of herself when she'd first come her almost six months ago, but now, she was beginning to let the weight of the job get to her. Maybe Star City would have been a better place, she'd heard it was dingy like Gotham, but with better people. Maybe someday.

It was almost three am, and for most people, this wasn't the best time to be out in the open. Gotham was known for housing degenerates and criminals, and they all liked to come out at night. But the young doctor was tired and in her own world. She had on a light jacket and struggled slightly with the small bag that hung of off her arm. Willow's luminous green eyes caught the lights from the flickering fluorescent street light above, showing a fire that she was sure had left her. A late night bus rolled up to her stop, and with a small, happy sigh, she smiled at the slowing bus. The tall extended door to the bus opened and she was greeted by a Bus driver who paid her only a moments notice before looking ahead of him at the road.

She was halfway home.

She was almost there, almost home. Willow went to step up onto the bus when there was a small explosion shock that went through Gotham's streets. There was a shrill shake against the pavement that was underneath her flats, prompting her to nearly fall forwards into the entrance of the bus. She barely caught herself, her flat palms catching the sides of the door and holding her weight steady until she was ready to push herself back up.

Her tired body was flushed with a temporary dose of adrenaline, and as she looked all around her, she noticed that there was a small panic brewing in the streets.

" You gettin' on or not, lady?! "

The Bus driver yelled down at the young woman who was strewn between the side walk and the bus. Willow's mind raced as she pushed herself up. She needed to get on this bus, and she needed to get home. What ever was going on would inevitably get worse, and she was too tired, too fucking-far beyond the point of tired, to deal with anyone else's shit.

But this little knick at the back of her conscious made her hesitate. With wide green eyes, she looked up to the driver for a moment, as though asking him to make the decision for her.

And unfortunately for her, he did.

The driver started the bus back up and startled the young woman off of the doors to the bus, the driver closed them and drove away without her.

Willow stood at an absolute standstill. Each breath she took seemed to take more and more out of her, as she looked around her, realizing that there was something burning in the distance. Her fight or flight instinct took over and her body began to move on its own, unfortunately for her, it was moving in the direction of the burning buildings, rather than away from them.

There were a few screaming people gathered out in front of her, small crowds of Gotham's citizens were huddling together in terror and awe as another explosion went off, this one louder, and stronger than the last. She had to temporarily lean against a street post to keep her balance, but within a few moments the shockwave was over.

Willow rushed past more people, some pleading for her help as some others became separated from their families. The distasteful, dreary lights of the city's streets weren't enough to provide ay real guidance to the citizens, which put them further into panic. The early morning sun hadn't begun to peek its warm rays over the city, and until then, the city was going to be a clusterfuck. She couldn't help but look over her shoulder for a moment and stare off into the distance behind her, knowing how absolutely busy the hospital was about to be.

Willow continued through downtown Gotham, faintly hopeful with how little damage was actually done, it appeared that the shakes were superficial, and that nothing too serious had happened. The only real structural damage she had come upon was a large building that was burning down.

The sight was something to see. She was sure that her tired eyes were exaggerating, as she watched as blue and red lightning seemed to be clashing around the burning building, encircling it and clashing at different points along its walls. She stayed a good distance away for a few minutes, watching as people ran past her, some screaming at her to move, but she didn't hear them. Finally Willow began to walk forwards, just 50 yards from the burning tower in downtown Gotham, her eyes fixated on the otherworldly display above her. It wasn't lighting that was fighting, it was two people.

Two metahumans were moving so incredibly fast that they appeared to be lightning itself, as she she walked closer, she soon felt her fatigue begin to melt away, as her curiosity overtook all of her senses.

She was absolutely awestruck.

There was an incredible heat and wind that resinated from the burning building, and the closer Willow got, the more illuminated her features became. Her pale skin was warmed by the flickering light of the structure, as her beautiful, bewildered eyes looked on with panic. The flames from the building were practically white hot, screaming and whistling with their own strength. The bright lights from the engulfed building, lit up the entire block, and seemed to draw Willow to it, like a fly to the flame. Her lips gaped slightly, her eyes widened in near hysteria as she continued on towards the danger.

The lighting clashed once more, this time with such force that the ground beneath Gotham shook once more, and the fire at the base of the building was put out in one, huge- otherworldly instant. The clash of the lightning sent both of the metahumans in different directions, breaking more buildings and sending what was left of the city block, into shambles.

Willow stopped in her tracks, the young doctor looking all around her, as a sudden scream caused her to nearly fall over. Feverishly she found the source of the scream, while out in the distance spotting a man in a black suit.

" Holy shit. "

Willow's voice cracked as her exasperated breaths and bewildered eyes could barely contain within her. She watched as the two metahumans fought along the skyline in front of her, while Gotham City's Batman was standing not even a few yards from her. This whole night had turned wild.

The momentum of the entire block went to a startling halt as one of the speeding metahumans was thrusted from one of the buildings and sent into the pavement below. Willow's entire body fell to the ground as the thundering sound of the meta's body connecting with the street, caused a massive quake to shake past her. She fell abruptly, but didn't take her eyes off of the sight in front of her. The meta human with the glowing red lighting vanished quickly, leaving the other presumably dead.

Almost everyone was gone from the street now, aside from her, the vigilante Batman and the gaping hole in the street. She was beginning to catch her breath, taking in all of the sights and sounds around her.

There were car alarms going off in the distance, and the constant sound of sirens was practically nonstop. The street that they were on had street lights a moment ago, but the moment the meta human was thrown into from the building and connected with the street, the entire block had lost power, but was still visible thanks to the surrounding areas.

She breathed out in short, hot breaths, her exhale just barely visible in front of her, as the air in the city had begun to change with the season. Willow had caught her breath, pushing herself onto her feet. She couldn't help but think that she should have run.

She wasn't meant for this kind of saving. Her abilities lied within the hospital, and saving people who had been shot or needed surgery. These people, these meta humans, were on a whole other level.

Instead of running away, she of course, she ran towards the carnage and chaos. That little, hesitant feeling in her stomach was silent, the one that normally told her when she needed to be afraid or run.

In the few moments it took her to reach both the man in the bat suit and the crater in the ground, the scene had changed again. She stood, helplessly watching as the Batman had slid down into the crater to grab what ever was left of the meta human that had been forcefully pushed to his/her death

She'd only been in Gotham for half a year, but had yet to see the illusive crime fighter, so seeing him for the first time, this close, was a shock. He was much taller, and much thicker than she'd imagined. There had been stories of how he could fly throughout Gotham, like a bat, fighting criminals and clearing the streets of evil. But, seeing how dense his body mass was now, she was having a harder time believing the rumors.

The Batman used all of his strength to pull the meta from the crumpled hole, and practically threw his limp body across the street and onto the side walk. Willow was frozen for a moment, unsure in her place in all of this. She refused to leave, and as the meta human's body came to a rolling, sullen halt, she finally gained enough courage to approach the two of them.

Willow would like to think she looked professional, brave and maybe a little intimidating when she was in the zone, but in all reality she looked like an anxiety racked mess. She worked feverishly. not thinking of her next move, because her body was already doing it for her. Willow had pushed past the bat masked vigilante, the man seeming shocked, having not noticed the young doctor standing just outside the war zone.

She pulled a small flashlight from her pocket, while she knelt down and tried to take in the situation. The meta human was a male and in red suit. His body was strewn a bit unnatural, which had begun to turn her stomach. She sent a hard glare over her shoulder at the man in the Batsuit, who had so carelessly thrown his injured friend around like a play thing.

" You're a doctor?! "

The man in the batsuit had to practically scream over the loud sirens and sounds going off in the distance. His voice was low and distorted, and Willow only nodded, before turning back to face the man who was in need of her help. Her hands worked endlessly, touching the smooth, surprisingly tough surface of his suit, trying to find some kind of seam for an opening.

" I need his suit off- I can't-, " Willow was losing her breath as she was trying to speak, " I can't do anything with him like this. "

The Batman mumbled something loudly to himself, too incoherent for her to understand, but angry nonetheless. It wasn't even half a minute later that a large, military style vehicle flew past them and quickly turned around. The black vehicle was exotic looking, and the moment the vehicle stopped near them, The Batman bent down and scooped up his friend and Willow followed him, as he put the injured meta human into the vehicle.

Willow paused just outside the vehicle, her eyes looking beyond it for just a moment as she tried to process everything that had just happened. She didn't have enough time to let her mind wander, as The Batman was angrily, and impatiently, telling her to get in.