Extra early update! Because you guys are ama-zing!

And extra long chapter for you guys because we hit 22k! This might be my longest chapter yet.

(I think this might be a record, 3 chapters under two days.)

~

[ a l i n a ]

"Here you go, Your Highness."

I nodded, accepting the hot cup of milk. Ra's Al-Ghul sat on the sofa across of me, so did Talia, who sat next to her father. She had been glaring at me for the past thirty minutes.

My leg had been bandaged, and they gave me new clothes, as my old ones were stained in blood.

We sat diplomatically in Ra's office, on the top floor. To be honest, I had every reason to walk out of this, but I needed to finish this. Once.. and for all. That's all I keep saying.

Although there was no way I'd let Talia walk away freely. She had done too much.

I still couldn't believe what had happened.. I killed people. The one rule that put me together.. had now been broken.

All because of her.

"I apologize sincerely, Miss Vanderbilt, for what happened." The old man spoke, his grave voice sending chills. His eyes, deep and calculative, somewhat like Damian's. He is his grandfather, after all.

"You cannot apologize for me." Talia cuts him, standing up. She paces around the room, a glint of anger in her eyes. "My plan was impeccable! And you, out of all people, had to destroy it, Father." She seethes, her breathing uneven.

"Your impeccable plan would have cost thousands of lives, Mother." A deep voice I recognized spoke from the doorway. Turning my head around, an immense feeling of relief dawned on me as my eyes met with Damian's green ones.

"Damian." Talia breathed out, as he strides towards me, taking me in his arms, pulling me in for an embrace. Relieved, I closed my eyes, pulling away, as he now faces his grandfather.

"Welcome, Grandson." Ra's spoke, as Talia gapes, dumbfounded. "You did this?" She asked Damian, disbelief in her voice.

"He wasn't the one who brought me back to life, Talia, if that's what you're asking." Ra's cut her off as she was about to yell. Damian sits next to me, grasping my hand. A part of me was intensely relieved that he did. I needed support right now.

"Then who did?" She asks, pacing around. "That's for you to find out." He replies, sipping his tea.

The woman in front of me lifted her chin up, taking the seat next to her father.

"I have never agreed with that plan of yours, child." Ra's began, looking at his daughter. "Drugging humans, giving them abilities which came with too many disadvantages.."

Humans? I thought I was the only one? Could there be more?

"My scientists perfected the formula. Alina's disadvantages, in which are night terrors, body aches, and hallucinations came from her past and trauma." Talia defended herself, sitting straight.

"Past and trauma? Tell me now, Talia, who murdered my parents? Are you going to take responsibility for it or make your father apologize for you again?!" I seethed, standing up.

"How dare you. I'll kill you, you little unthankful bastard!" She rages. As I was about to walk forward, I felt a hand putting me in place, gripping my shoulders tightly. Damian.

"You will not raise your voice at her, Mother, or you'll have me to deal with." He threatens her, and I contain myself from lunging at her.

She seats back down, disappointment and anger shown clearly in her eyes.

"You're defending her." Talia scoffs, disbelief in her tone.

A crazy part of me thought of this as a family reunion, somehow. It was almost like facing two crazy in-laws..

In-laws.. The word made me shudder.

"After all you've done, I have every reason to." Damian answers calmly, his fingers grasping mine in comfort. He looks straight at his mother, then his grandfather.

"I expect this funny business to be put to an end tonight, Talia. Set the girl free." Ra's spoke one final time, before standing up.

"And Alina, my apologies." He spoke to me softly, before leaving the room. I retained myself from scoffing.

This is it. I'm.. free? No more hiding. No more.. Talia.

My eyes find Talia's, who stood there, clenching her jaw.

"All of this.. for nothing." She states in disbelief. Damian stands up, so do I.

Talia stares at me, this time without any trace of anger. She almost seemed.. sorry?

"I murdered your parents because they weren't about to surrender you." She spoke softly. My eyes blink, without tears.

My parents.. gone. Because of this woman.

Talia's hand sneaked up to her jacket, grasping something inside. Damian's arm went in front of me, pulling me backwards, thinking she was about to hurt me.

.. but she didn't.

Instead, she pulled out a letter.

"Your mother gave this to me before she died. This is her last wish for you." She hands me the letter, which I accepted.

My fingers shake as I noticed my mother's familiar cursive handwriting. Putting the letter in my pocket, I couldn't say anything. This moment, that I've waited for so long.. I just couldn't react.

"I guess this is it then. Goodbye." Talia spoke harshly, before leaving the room, leaving me and Damian alone.

"Are you okay?" He asks me, pulling me closer to him. I rest my head onto his chest, feeling his warmth engulfing me.

"I'm..tired." I murmured softly. Damian chuckles.

"Let's go. Home."

"Thank you, Damian."

-

- few hours later -

The warmth of the covers engulfed me, as I sigh in content. My eyes were still heavy due to the sleep I had, as I try to wiggle to find a new comfortable position.

Yawning, I gave up on taking extra sleep. Last night, we went back to Gotham, to Nathan's penthouse.

He had been a mess, and let's say, once he saw me, he hugged me so tight that I almost couldn't breathe. Almost.

Taliana was also there, crying about how I was so stupid and how I shouldn't go into the Joker's lair on the first place. She was right, in a way.

Damian gave me some aspirin, and I went to sleep immediately after. He told me he had something to take care of, and he'll be back to see me today.

"Jesus, you sleep a lot." A voice I didn't recognize spoke, and I immediately sat, looking around the room to find a.. boy?

His face was familiar.. somehow I couldn't tell who it was. Maybe the effects of the antidote Talia gave me was still lingering.

The boy steps forward, into the light, a huge grin plastered across his face. The moment I saw that face, his face, my heart bursted in warmth and love.

How could I ever forget that face?

"Michael!" I gasped, pulling the covers away, scrambling my way out of the bed. He runs towards me, taking me in his arms. Kissing the top of his head, I rock him back and forth.

Tears blurred my vision, as I kept my hold on him.

And for the first time in what seemed like forever, I sobbed. "I love you so much. I love you so so much." I kept whispering, sobbing as he cried in my embrace.

Another figure enters the room, and despite the tears flooding my eyes, I recognized who it was.

Nathan.

Smiling, he walked over to us, as he took both me and Michael in his hold. "I'm here." He muttered dryly, fighting back the tears.

"I won't let anything happen to you both ever again." He murmurs, pulling away.

"Guess it's just us three now." Michael pulls away, his beautiful blue eyes reminding me of my father. Of home.

God, how I wish he was here. I could almost feel his presence, lingering in this room. My father.. he deserved better.

"Not just us three, Michael." I correct him, as Nathan chuckles beside me. 

"I'm hungry." I mumbled, standing up, finding Ariana on the doorframe. Her arms were crossed, and a tiny smile formed by the edge of her lips.

I guess this is a family reunion.

I walked over to her, and she hugs me shortly, before laughing. "You're an idiot." She smiled. "Come, I'll show you the kitchen."

~

Nathan's penthouse was quite spacious. Three bedrooms, four bathrooms, two lounge rooms, and a kitchen.

Large windows, marbled floors, and even a swimming pool on the balcony.

What aggravated me was the security, who were present in almost every room. After my complaint, Nathan told them to leave.

"I wish I had my playstation with me right now." Michael grunts, as he sat beside me, on the sofa. Taliana laughs as I change the TV channels. Still the same boring shows.

Glancing at the clock, I remembered that I had a meeting in half an hour. Brushing it off, I focused on my little brother, currently reading a book.

A part of me was relieved that my little brother was okay, but another part was concerned. He was kidnapped by one of the worst villains, and yet there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him.

I just hope they haven't scarred him. In both ways. Like they did to me. I bit my lip, remembering my scar, below my chest.

The Joker had cut my skin, extracting my blood. He stitched it back up, with me being sober. It was one of the most painful experiences I had in my life. He wanted to test my blood; to see if Talia really had drugged me.

And it did.

When he was about to do other inhumane things to me, Talia rescued me, saying that I was hers to deal with. I wasn't seventeen yet at that point, so she brought me back home.

The look on my father's eyes as he saw what had happened to me.. He was furious. That night, he kicked my mother out of their room. I have never seen him in that state.

As for me, I had slept in Ariana's room, not wanting to be alone. Luckily, I had my two cousins to help me get through it.

"Alina!" Liana's voice brought me back, as I stared at her confused face. I gasp, realizing what I did.

The TV remote was completely shattered, without my consent. Blood was running out of my bleeding fingers.

"Jesus." I muttered, standing up, rushing to the bathroom to clean myself up. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I haven't noticed the broken remote.

"You need to control your powers." Nathan's voice trailed behind me. Rolling my eyes, I scoffed.

"These are not powers. They're more like.. a curse." Cleaning my wet hands with a towel, I exit the bathroom, heading towards the front door.

"And where are you going?" Taliana asks, hands on her hips.

"To see someone." I mutter, taking my coat, putting it on. "Nathan, I need your car." I tell him as he looked at me worryingly.

"At least take some bodyguards with you." He mutters. I brush him off, grasping his keys on the table.

~

Stopping the Lamborghini, I step out of it, squinting at the harsh sunlight. Locking the car, I put the keys in my pocket, as I zip my coat.

The air was chilly, and I wasn't risking any chance of getting sick. Staring at the beautiful view before me, I sighed in content.

Gotham's bay would be one of my favorite places to visit. And right now, I was waiting for someone. Not just anyone, to be exact.

"Alina Vanderbilt." A gruff voice spoke behind me. Turning my head, my eyes met with his amber ones.

Right on time.

"Bruce Wayne. Or Batman." I mutter, shaking his hand. He chuckles, sitting down onto one of the benches. I did the same.

"I think we're way past formalities here, Alina. And I was quite surprised when you contacted me." He smiles lightly.

"Jason told me everything. I'm sorry for your losses. I know what it feels like to lose your parents." He continued, a tone of sadness in his voice.

"Thank you." I mumble, slightly aggravated by my hair, blown by the wind.

"So.. Abilities, huh? Do you know how to control them?" He asks, intelligent eyes staring back at me. Just like his son.

"No. I was hoping you'd know a bit about that."

"I might be able to help. But I think Damian's has more skills on that category. He does have powers, to be frank."

That was true. After being brought back from the dead, Damian gained powers. Although he never speaks about it, or ever shows it off. He chose to forget about them.

"True."

"Speaking of Damian.. Thank you." He smiles, a genuine one at that. I stared at him confusingly, tilting my head.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw a change in him. I think it's because of you." He tells me reassuringly, as I kept a smile to myself. I didn't really know what to say. Could Damian really..?

A girl can only hope.

___________________________

So... I got a new E-Money card. To control my spendings.

I still have my credit card, but ohh lord, the amount of money I spend with it is inexcusable.

And yes, you can guess. Go ahead. What's the design I picked?

Just.. I have no words. Lmao.  I have issues.

Anyways please don't forget to vote! Next update will be as usual, next week!

(Unless if I decide to become Santa again and write another chapter. Jeez, I really need to stop with this Santa thing.)

Thank you for reading!

Love,
     Soph(ia)