Confrontation #185

"The Joker...?" Selina asked, her eyes widening at my words, and Jason displayed the same reaction. They both looked confused, and I couldn't blame them. The Joker had been lying low for a while now.

"Who else...?" I said, shaking my head with a grimace as I stepped into the room. "That's Barbara Gordon, right...?" I remarked, gesturing toward the unconscious redhead lying on the sick bed, to which Selina nodded.

"Give me a list of people who are crazy enough to attack the police commissioner's daughter..." I said as I turned toward Jason, giving him a meaningful look.

"Who also happened to be Batman's sidekick," I added, shrugging as I watched as the color drained from his face at the casual reveal of his and Barbara's secret identities.

"I can name more than a few..." Selina muttered, seemingly unfazed by my words, which wasn't surprising. I imagine she's accustomed to me knowing shit I had no business knowing by now.

"How many of them are in Gotham...? And how many of them are capable of going through with it...?" I replied, shaking my head with a sigh as I scratched my head.

I only needed to look at the medical report to know the Joker was behind it, even with my limited comic book knowledge. But even if I didn't have that, there were only so many people who'd casually cripple a superhero and a member of the Batfamily like it was nothing.

It was a simple process of elimination, and only one name would stick out; the Joker, a fact Selina and Jason soon realized, considering their rapidly shifting expressions.

"Go get Batman. I want nothing to do with the clown," I said, firmly shaking my head before the two could say anything to dissuade them from even asking me.

"Batman is... preoccupied right now..." Selina replied through gritted teeth, and I raised an eyebrow at her words but said nothing and waiter for her to go on.

Selina knew me enough to realize I won't involve myself with the Joker unless I had no other choice, and she wouldn't push the matter. However, I still needed to hear out the favor she wanted to ask, which likely had something to do with Barbra Gordon.

"And I didn't call you to deal with whoever did this to Barbra..." Selina added, surely enough. "She's been shot in the spine and lost too much blood...." she went on as she approached the bed.

"The doctors managed to stabilize her condition, but she isn't out of the deep waters yet..." Selina continued as she took the medical report from beside the bed, which I'd already memorized, and gave it to me.

"They said Barbra might not wake up and would never walk again regardless..." The Brunette remarked, wincing as she spoke, her expression concerned.

"I don't know if you can help her, but if it's something you can do, then please..." Selina concluded as she turned back to me with an urging expression.

"I can see what I can do... but I'm not making any promises..." I replied with a sigh as I put away the medical report, having skimmed over it for appearance's sake.

I sat on the chair next to the bed and channeled energy into my hand as I put it on Barbra's, deliberately making the process visible with a brilliant golden light show.

I closed my eyes in concentration as I channeled the energy into Barbra's body to scan it and quickly learned everything there was to know about her injuries.

"The spine is damaged, beyond repair..." I said as I opened my eyes and removed my hand from Barbra's, turning to Selina and Jason with a blank expression.

"The bullet splinted on her spine before flying out... fragments got lodged into her lung and intestines..." I added as I retrieved a pen and a piece of paper and started writing a new medical report.

"Which the doctors missed, by the way..." I went on, clearing my throat before going on. "They are harmless for now, but they could cause internal bleeding and eventually death..." I continued, and two's expressions worsened with every word I spoke.

"I can't find any physical reason why she's in a comma, so it's likely a psychological side effect of the assault..." I said as I looked at Jason, who seemed to realize something based on his horrified expression.

"As in a shut-down defense mechanism because of severe trauma..." I concluded as I finished writing my findings and put away my improvised medical report.

"Do you mean Barbra's been...? By the Joker....?" Jason said, his face shocked and his voice trembling, and I couldn't blame him since the idea sent shivers running down my spine as well.

"No. There are no signs of rape," I bluntly replied, putting an end to that line of thought immediately as it was not particularly pleasant to even entertain in passing.

"But whatever the clown did..." I added, hesitating for a second before shaking my head and swallowing my words. "Well, you two know Joker better than most people," I concluded, my expression hardening.

"Can you... can you help Barbra?" Jason said, getting to the point and changing the subject as he was likely even more comfortable with it than I was.

"I can stabilize her condition and extract the bullet fragment from her organs, so she'll live, at least..." I replied, raising my hand and cutting Jason off before he could say anything.

"I might be able to jolt her brain out of the defensive shell with pure energy..." I added as I raised my hand, channeling energy through, to which it shined brightly.

"It's not guaranteed to work, but there are zero risks in the process. Of course, you can always get a psychic," I went on as I dissipated the energy in my palm and put it in my pocket. "So there's no worries on that end..." I concluded with a shrug.

"That's good to hear... but what about her spine...?" Selina asked after a second's pause, nodding as she regarded me with a grateful smile, to which I could only sigh.

"I can't do anything about her spine. The bullet gouged an entire chunk of her sacral vertebra on the way out..." I replied, shaking my head. "My energy heals damaged cells. I can't regenerate bones from scratch..." I added as I raised my hand that had a missing finger.

"Is there really no way to heal her spine...?" Jason asked from the side, his expression having improved significantly after hearing Barbra will survive and wake up eventually.

"There's always a way..." I blankly replied. "For example, I might be able to create a synthetic device to replace the damaged parts if I sink enough time and effort into it," I added with a shrug.

"And before you get your hope up... I won't do it. I have my problems to worry about..." I replied, again cutting off Jason before he could speak, and he quickly swallowed his words. Though he still seemed unconvinced.

"Even if I were willing to put in time and effort that I didn't have to spare, mind you..." I said, pausing for a second to think. "It would require a level of medical expertise, which I don't possess..." I added, shaking my head as I gestured to the side.

"And I doubt even the best available surgeons could do it," I concluded in a matter-of-fact tone, much to Jason's dismay, as he did not seem to understand the hints I was giving him.

"Grayson didn't say it was the only way, Jason... it was just an example of many..." Selina interjected from the side, explaining my words to Jason, who didn't seem to be in the best condition to process anything.

"More or less. As I said, there's always a way. Magic, superpowers, alien technology, you name it..." I said, shrugging my shoulders, to which Jason seemed to deflate as he sighed in relief.

"So what will it be...?"

...

The Batcave

As he walked toward the bat computer with Alfred trailing behind him, Nightwing barely reigned his temper as the caped crusader continued to work, ignoring their presence, despite being fully aware of it.

"We need to talk, now..." Nightwing said as he stopped a distance from the supercomputer, to which Bruce stopped working and turned to face him.

Looking at his mentor's haggard appearance, unkempt beard, bloodshot eyes, and dark circles forming under them, Nightwing froze, only to gather his bearings after a second.

"I don't know what you're doing here, Bruce. But it has to stop," Richard firmly said, decisively waving a hand to the side. "You can't stay here all day doing god knows what..." he added, gritting his teeth.

"The city, the people, they need you, Bruce. Everyone. We need you..." he added, his expression turning urgent as he stared deeply into his mentor's sleep-deprived eyes.

The only answer he received was silence, and it drove him mad. "What the fuck is your problem...?" Richard exclaimed, finally losing his temper after watching Batman turn back to the supercomputer.

"While you were here doing whatever you're doing, Babs got shot!!" he bellowed as he stormed toward the supercomputer and forcefully turned Bruce toward him.

...

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