After checking on Bruce, Gordon, Brian, and Jarod burst through the door and looked around. "There!" Brian shouted as he pointed to a car that was leaving the lot at a faster speed then it should have.

"Dang," Gordon said as he ran toward his car. He opened the door and grabbed the radio. "Dispatch, we have an escaped prisoner on the loose. He just left the hospital and is headed for the downtown area. Send cars to intercept."

"Ten fore, Commissioner," a woman answered over the radio.

Gordon put the radio back then walked back to Brian and Jarod. "You two try to catch up to him."

"What 'bout you, Sir?" Jarod asked.

"I'm staying here. Bruce is a good friend of mine, and I want to be here in case Steve has the nerve to try to finish what he started."

Brian and Jarod nodded then ran to their car. Gordon watched them as they left the lot then went back inside to see if they found anything out about Bruce.

Gordon walked into the waiting room and saw Alfred talking to what looked like a doctor then looked over and saw Barbra trying to comfort Dick.

He walked over to Alfred and the doctor. "Who knows when he'll wake up," Stanburg said.

"What happened?" Gordon asked.

Alfred and the doctor turned to him. "Master Bruce is out of surgery, but he is now in a coma," Alfred answered.

"I see," Gordon said. He looked over at Dick and Barbra. "How's Dick?"

Alfred sighed and shook his head. All three of tem then walked over to the two. "Dick, he'll be fine. Bruce is one of the strongest guys I know. He'll probably be awake and back to his regular activities in a few days," Barbra said.

"She's right," Stanburg said. Dick looked up at him, his eyes full of hope. "Bruce may be in a coma now, but he could wake up first thing in the morning asking for you again."

Everyone looked at Stanburg confused. "Again?" Barbra asked.

"Mr. Wayne was half conscious during the surgery and kept callin out Dick's name," Stanburg explained. "We got him stable and replaced the blood he lost so he's out of the woods."

"Then why is he in the coma?" Dick asked.

"It was probably a combination of the blood loss, worry, and injuries," Stanburg answered.

Dick looked down sadly. "Mr. Stanburg, could we see Master Bruce?" Alfred asked. Dick again looked at Stanburg hopefully.

"I'm sorry," Stanburg said, "he's in recovery. You'll have to wait until we move him to a room."

"Very well. Thank you," Alfred said.

Stanburg nodded. "Well, I have other patients to check on." He then left the room.

Alfred sat down next to Dick. "Don't worry, Master Dick, Master Bruce will be back to normal soon."

They all waited about two hours before a nurse came in. "Mr. Pennyworth?"

"Yes?" Alfred asked as he stood up.

"Dr. Stanburg told me to tell you that Mr. Wayne is now in a room. I've came to take you to him," the nurse said.

"Thank you," Alfred said then all four of them followed the nurse to Bruce's room.

As they walked, Barbra grabbed Dick's hand. Dick looked at her and she gave him a smile. He gave her a small smile back and squeezed her hand. "Thanks," he told her quietly.

When they got to the room, everyone filed into the room and the nurse stopped in the doorway. "Visiting hours end at eight," the nurse said.

"Thank you. I'm sure we'll be gone by then," Alfred said.

"Nurse, could you find Dr. Stanburg and ask him to come to this room? I need to talk to him about having a cop or two here," Gordon asked.

"I'll see if I can find him," the nurse responded. She then left and closed the door behind her, and everyone started talking to each other.

Dick let go of Barbra's hand and walked up beside Bruce. "Bruce, I'm so sorry." He looked at the others and realized they weren't paying attention to him then leaned in closer to Bruce. "This is all my fault. I've been nothing but a problem since you took me in. This whole Steve problem really put things into prospective for me. I should've never left Steve. None of this would've happened and..."

Barbra cut him off by pulling him back and slapping him so hard across the face he fell down to the floor. The sound of the slap caused Alfred and Gordon to look over at the two in surprise. "Dick Grayson, we've already discussed this!" Barbra yelled.

Dick looked up at her surprised and a bit scared. "Barbra!" Gordon yelled as he and Alfred walked over to the two.

Gordon tried to pull Barbra away from Dick, but Barbra just shoved him away. "No, dad!" she yelled. "He's already heard what I think about the entire situation! He's being stupid and selfish!"

"Please, Miss Gordon, we are in a hospital," Alfred said hoping to calm Barbra down a little.

"I don't care!" Barbra yelled.

"Alright, Barbra, I think it's time to go," Gordon said as he practically carried Barbra toward the door. "We'll be back sometime tomorrow to check on him."

"Very well. Good evening, Commissioner," Alfred said still kneeling next to Dick. Once Gordon and Barbra were out of the room, Alfred turned to Dick. "My word, Master Dick. What on earth did you say to make her so angry?"

Dick looked up at Alfred then stood up. "Nothing, Al." He then looked over at Bruce. "Let's just go home."

Alfred watched as Dick walked toward the door, not even glancing back at Bruce or saying goodbye. "Very well."

YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ

It had been three days since Bruce went comatose. Dick was there every day from the time visiting hours started until visiting hours ended, never leaving Bruce's side.

Dr. Stanburg and Alfred were talking by the door and watching Dick. "There have been no signs that he'll wake up anytime soon?" Alfred asked.

Stanburg sighed. "No, and it doesn't make sense either. His injuries are healing well, the blood we used was a perfect match so his body's not rejecting it. Honestly, I can't figure out why he went into the coma in the first place."

Alfred looked at him worried. "What do you mean? I thought you said it was a combination of blood loss, worry, and his injuries?"

"I thought that was all it was, but after looking at the matter closer, it just doesn't add up," Stanburg answered.

"What are you saying?" Alfred wondered. "Are things worse than we thought?"

"I believe so. I'm gonna have some tests done. I'll let you know what the results are, but I don't think we should tell Dick," Stanburg said looking over at Dick.

Alfred also looked toward Dick. "Yes, that would probably be best."

"What would be best?" Gordon asked as he and Barbra walked up to the door.

"Good afternoon, Commissioner, Miss Gordon," Alfred greeted.

Dick turned around when he heard Alfred mention Barbra. "Hey Alfred, could you give me and Barbra a minute?"

Gordon and Barbra looked at Dick confused. Alfred just turned to look at him."Of course, Master Dick," Alfred replied then turned to Gordon. "We'll talk out in the hall."

Gordon looked a little uneasy about leaving Dick and Barbra alone, but followed Alfred and Stanburg anyway.

"Could you step out too?" Dick asked the cop that was standing in the room.

The cop looked toward Gordon and Gordon just nodded. Soon all three of the adults were out the door and the door was shut.

"Everything ok, Dick?" Barbra asked concerned.

"Barb, I'm sorry about everything," Dick began.

Barbra sighed angrily. "Dick, if you even think about..."

Dick put his hand over her mouth, which surprised Barbra a bit. "Will you let me finish?"

Dick removed his hand. "Fine," Barbra replied the anger back in her face and voice, her arms crossed over her chest," but if you say one more time that you regret leaving that psycho's house..."

"I know, I know, but just listen, ok?" When she didn't say anything, he figured it was safe to continue. "I do blame myself for everything that's happened, but..." he said raising his hands up in front of him when he saw her put her arms down and take a step toward him, "I thought about it and you're right."

Barbra crossed her arms again, but continued to say nothing. "I realize now that just because Steve is attacking you and Bruce all because he blames me for what happened to him, doesn't mean that it's actually my fault. He could've started over but instead decided to take it out on me."

Barbra smiled and relaxed her stance. "So you won't keep apologizing for leaving Steve's?"

"No, but I will apologize for not listening to you guys."

Barbra came closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Apology accepted," she said then kissed him.

Dick felt at peace with himself, more than he had since this whole thing started, but something cold and hard touching his head reminded him that things were far from over.

Barbra could feel the tension in his lips and broke off the kiss. She gasped when she saw Steve standing there with a gun pointed at Dick's head. "Steve," she said unable to believe that he was actually standing there.

"So you'd rather kiss him than me?" Steve said angrily. "I'm much more experienced than he is, as you clearly know already."

"Yeah, but I love him," Barbra said anger coming into her voice. "I never loved you and I never will."

Steve growled in anger and hit Dick in the head with the gun. "I will make you love me!" Steve yelled angrily as he grabbed Barbra by the arm.

Barbra was staring wide eyed at Dick as he landed hard against the wall and slid down it. He was unconscious and bleeding from spot Steve hit him. "Dick!"

YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ

"So you think Steve might have drugged Bruce when he shot him?" Gordon asked.

"Yes, it's the only explanation for why Bruce is still in the coma," Stanburg replied. "I'm having my team do tests for it as we speak."

Before anyone else could get a word out, they all heard a thump. "What in the world?" Gordon asked.

"Dick!"

"That was Barbra!" Gordon said.

"Steve," Alfred said, but everyone was already heading for the door.

The officer assigned to protect Bruce threw the door open and they all walked in to see Steve holding a struggling Barbra with one arm and his other arm pointing a gun at the unconscious Dick.

Stanburg immediately moved to go to Dick's side, but Steve didn't want that. "Move, Doc., and I'll kill him," Steve said menacingly.

Stanburg froze and looked at Steve. "But if I don't treat that head wound, he'll die."

"As if I care," Steve said uninterested. "I came here to kill him anyway."

"Then why go through all the trouble of kidnapping my daughter and shooting Bruce?" Gordon asked.

"Because, Gordon, I wanted to show Dick what happens when he doesn't listen," Steve said with a smirk. "Plus, I fell in love with her."

Gordon was really angry now. "Let her go and surrender!"

"You really think you're in any position to give me orders?" Steve asked amused. "If you take one move toward Dick, I'll kill him. If you try to shoot me, you could shoot your daughter instead. Do you really want to risk that?" Gordon just glared at him. "Now I want both of you to put your guns on the floor and push them over here." Neither cop moved. Steve glared at them and cocked the gun. "Now."

"Commissioner, please," Alfred begged.

The officer looked toward Gordon for his orders. Gordon just glared at Steve then took his gun out of its holster, placed it on the ground, and pushed it toward Steve. The officer followed his lead and did the same.

Steve smiled. "Good." He pushed Barbra toward her dad and Gordon caught her before she hit the ground. When they looked back up, Steve had Dick over his shoulder and was at the window. "If you follow me, I won't hesitate to kill him."

"But you already said you were going to," Stanburg said.

"I did, but I've got one final thing I want Dick to see before he dies," Steve said then pointed his gun at Bruce and fired.

Barbra screamed and Stanburg ran over to Bruce's side. "He shot him in the chest again!" He then ran to the door and yelled for his staff to come and help.

"Steve, you'll..." Gordon began, but when he looked back at the window, both Steve and Dick were gone.

Gordon and Barbra ran over to the window and searched the area, but didn't see them anywhere. They were gone.

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