Recovery

The Watchtower

May 28, 13:09 EST

Annabeth was resting in her bed, her breaths coming and going easily. Nightwing was silently sitting beside her; his sunglasses covered his eyes from view.

There was a soft vibration in his pocket and he exited the room, answering it as he closed the door.

"Yeah?"

"Hey Dick, is Annabeth okay?"

The said ebony sighed. It was John Blake, Annabeth's boyfriend and a recently promoted detective at that.

"Um, John, listen.. Annabeth is," he stammered. He heard John's deep sigh on the other end.

"Don't try to sugar coat this, Dick. I know the job and responsibilities you two have. Just tell me flat out: Is my girlfriend alive or dead?"

"Yes John, Annabeth is alive. But she's not okay injury wise." Dick replied.

"How badly is she hurt?" John with a worry laced voice.

"She's suffered a...uh, a large gash to the right side of her body and some bruising. But the bruising is already healing because of her accelerated healing, but the side injury is something I'm more concerned about." Nightwing said, he peaked into her room before continuing.

"It seems that since her side has the largest injury, it caused her to lose the most blood-she even had to get a blood transfusion-and that may be slowing down the healing process for that specific injury."

"Can I see her? I know it's a lot to ask for but I just need to see her..." John's voice trailed off toward the end.

"John, I know you care a lot about Annabeth and I thank you for it, but you need to know that even though you know about our line of work, you can't know everything there is to know about it." Nightwing said with a sigh. He noticed Black Canary and Red Tornado making their way toward Annabeth's room and he signaled them to give him a minute.

"Look John, if Annabeth's recovery progresses the way it currently is, she can come home tonight. But I can't promise anything." Nightwing said quickly.

"Some Leaguers are there aren't they?" John said with a chuckle. Nightwing looked at his phone to make sure the video chat wasn't on by mistake.

"How did you-?"

"I'm a detective, Dick. Give me some credit for it." John said with a laugh, he said goodbye and hung up.

Black Canary and Red Tornado stopped outside Annabeth's room; Black Canary gave him a smile.

"Was that Nightingale's...?"

"Yeah, he worried sick about her and wants to see her. But he knows the reasons why he can't." Nightwing replied. He smiled to himself. "He's a good man; I can see why Gale loves him so much."

Black Canary smiled again and gestured for them to enter her room. The two Leaguers ran a few tests on her vitals and it all came back good.

Just as Red Tornado was applying clean gauze, Annabeth began to stir. She blinked a few times and looked around the room.

"Hello Nightingale, how are you feeling?" Red Tornado asked, continuing the application. Annabeth yawned and shrugged, earning a look from the android before his continued and finished off by standing up and stepping away.

"A bit nauseous and sore," Annabeth replied, wiping at the corners of her eyes. She looked at Black Canary expectantly.

"We've ran tests on you while you were resting and you're in the clear. Your largest injury is your right side and that itself seems to be clearing up. Red Tornado and the Atom checked for possible radiation from Blue Beetle's plasma gun, there were no traces of and radiation." Black Canary informed her, Annabeth picked up on the hesitation that the blonde attempted to hide.

Annabeth allowed Black Canary to do the routine checkup; her blood pressure, lung clarity, hearing and eyesight.

"Everything seems fine, so there's a possibility you can go home today." Black Canary said with a smile. Annabeth smiled as well.

"Good, I just want to go home and rest."

"Here's a change of clothes, Captain Atom wants you to inform the Leaguers present on what happened in the Warworld." Nightwing said, tossing a black bag toward his elder sister. Annabeth caught it with ease and gave a shrug.

Black Canary and Red Tornado made their exit and Nightwing was about to do the same until Annabeth stopped him.

"Dick, this is all my fault." she said softly. Nightwing turned and removed his glasses.

"Anna B-"

"If I had told you John's theory, then none of this would've happened." Annabeth interrupted. She clasped her hands tightly. "If only I had said something sooner, then maybe all of this wouldn't have happened. The team wouldn't be missing...Jaime wouldn't have turned on us, everything is my fault."

Dick sat beside Annabeth and pulled her close, rubbing his hand on her back. Annabeth's body shook and she sniffed. Then Dick's mind returned to John's theory.

"What did John say?"

"The day after I went back for my tablet, I told him what happened and he said that the Scarab could've done it. I never even thought of that, and he wanted me to tell you, but I didn't..."

Dick took in a deep breath. He leaned back and kissed her forehead.

"Look, Anna B, none of this is your fault. I don't blame you for it; it could've happened even if we knew about this. So don't blame yourself." Dick reassured, "It was a simple slip up."

"A simple slip up that caused my team to go missing!" Annabeth protested.

"We'll find the team, don't worry. Just get changed and meet me in the main hall." Dick replied, he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and exited the room. Annabeth took a few minutes to calm down and went to take a shower in the en suite bathroom.

She stepped out twenty minutes later and looked down on her wound. It was close to being healed, she supposed the caked on blood just made it seem worse. Pulling on the dark colored light weight shirt, she slipped into the cargo pants Dick packed for her and tied the laces on her sneakers.

She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and was horrified with what she saw.

Her eyes were red and puffy, light bluish purple bags formed under them. Her face was pale, even after coming out of a steaming hot shower. Blue eyes seemed dull in comparison to the ones that Annabeth Wayne always wore for a new day at Wayne Enterprises.

"I look like crap." she muttered, she ran cold water over her face and patted her cheeks twice, taking in a deep breath.

The redness disappeared and the color returned to her eyes, but her face was still pale.

"Blame it on the blood loss." she told herself. The brunet then set out to going to the main hall.

She was greeted by Flash and Wally; the younger speedster held her in a tight hug. Annabeth wanted to hug him back but he was leaning onto her injury.

Wally sensed her discomfort and apologized immediately. Flash patted her shoulder.

"Good to know you're alright, Annabeth." Flash told her, smiling gently. Annabeth nodded in return.

"Yeah,." she said. The brunet smiled to the rest of the Leaguers present and noticed that even Roy was there. She walked over to him and raised an eyebrow.

"I heard from Ollie that you were seriously injured and I came to check up on you." Roy said, placing his hands into his back pockets.

"Thanks."

"You helped me out when I needed it. I'm just repaying the favor." Roy replied, smiling at her. Annabeth gave Captain Atom the footage from her mask.

"This is going to be your best bet if you want the answers to your questions." she said with a shrug. Cap nodded and ran the footage.

As the Leaguers were busy with the footage, Annabeth's phone vibrated in her pocket. The caller ID made her eyes water slightly.

Nightwing looked away from the video before him in disgust, watching Blue Beetle attack the team wasn't something he'd like to see on repeat. He glanced back to where Annabeth was-should've been.

The zeta beam, however, was just powering down. He shook his head and returned to the video.

Gotham City

May 28 13:30 EST

Annabeth ran from the elevator to the Batcave and into the living room. She stopped at the door way and took in deep breaths, her lungs burned for fresh air as she hadn't stopped running since she left the Watchtower.

Sitting on the expensive leather seat was John's shaking form. His head was bowed down and his left leg was bouncing uncontrollably, his hands were clasped tightly in-between his legs. The GCPD emblem was visible on his work jacket.

"John," she breathed. The said ebony looked up; relief flooded his eyes as he sighed.

Alfred, who Annabeth hadn't previously noticed, gave her a relieved smile. The English-men walked up to her and patted her shoulders.

"Thank Goodness you're alright, Madam." he said with a teary smile. He kissed her forehead, something he's never done before, and exited like the proper butler.

Annabeth's eyes filled with tears and she walked toward John, who at this time had stood up.

"Don't ever scare me like that again." he demanded, taking her face in his hands and squeezing gently. He wiped under her eyes, catching the tears and hugged her tightly.

"Sorry John," she muttered, holding his jacket within her fists tightly," But scaring your loved ones are in the job description."

John gave her a bittersweet laugh. He pulled back and kissed her sweetly.

"I know that, but just try not to die on every mission you go on." he asked. John licked his lips and spoke.

"I had a bad feeling all shift and I just needed to hear your voice to make sure you were okay. I called you so many times, and when you didn't pick up I got frantic. So I called Dick and he told me what happened...I tried not to let him hear me on the verge of having a nervous breakdown, but he probably did anyway. It got to the point where Gordon sent me home because he just knew I was distracted."

"Gordon's that good." Annabeth commented with a laugh. John laughed as well.

"No kidding." he sighed and sat back down on the couch, bringing Annabeth with him. They remained like that for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company.

"Everything is going to get tougher after today." Annabeth remarked. She sat up and stared at him intensely.

"The risk is going to get higher and I can't always guarantee that I'm going to come out unscathed. Right now, I'm even wondering if I'm going to come back at all after these missions." she laughed bitterly.

"Today I escaped with an inch of my life, but who knows if tomorrow I won't be able to escape. Can you really deal with me living a life like this? Are you going to be able to stay with me while knowing I might not come back? If not, then this is your chance to walk out of this life."

Annabeth felt her heart tightening. Of course she didn't want John to leave her life! In fact, he was the first 'outsider' she allowed to be aware the family secret. John didn't treat her like Annabeth Wayne, the daughter of the Gotham City millionaire, but like a normal person. He always took her out to simple dates, like movies and nice walks in the park, something that Annabeth would've done every day if she didn't have 'Wayne' as a surname. All of her other boyfriends tried to spoil her with expensive things, but John spoiled her with love and simple gifts. Annabeth tried not to let her hesitation show, but she was sure her eyes were tearing up a bit.

John glared at her and squeezed her hands tightly.

"If you're trying to scare me, then it's not going to work." He promised firmly. "The day I found out who you were, the day I found out that I loved you was the day I promised to stay with you, and even if this is the kind of job you're doing. Do I like it? No, not in the least. Can I do anything about it? Not the last time I checked. But can I support you, treasure you, and love you even more? You better believe I can and I will."

He held her face in his hands and gave it a gentle shake. "So don't try to get me to run away. I'm staying."

Annabeth hugged him tightly and felt suddenly weak emotionally. She mentally prayed that the invasion would be over soon.

"Anna B, at the end of the day, I'm always going to stay with you." John promised her, kissing her temple.

'But I doubt I'm going to stay with you...'she replied mentally.