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Chapter 26 - Start

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START.

A funny word really. The start of life, the start of a day. Usable in nearly every situation. For me, the start of the end of the best days of my life. Or, how I preferred to think of it, the start of an adventure.

I woke up the next morning and immediately checked my phone for the time. The irrational fear I slept through the days I had left was overwhelming, making me nauseous.

8:42 AM

I sighed in relief, doing the math in my head. I had around five days, ten hours, and thirty minutes left. Man, it felt like I had sold my soul to the devil. In a way I had, to save all of my friends' lives. It was worth it, but that didn't stop the fear.

Swinging my feet over the edge of my bed I jumped at the cold shock at hit my feet from the floor. Taking my time to acclimate, I walked to my closet and pulled out an outfit. I set it on my bed and went to the bathroom to shower.

After my shower, I returned to the clothes I chose. White shirt, red skirt, and black nylons. I pulled the outfit on and did my hair. I hung up my damp towel in the bathroom and proceeded to do my makeup.

"You seem to have dressed to impress today Miss. (Y/n)," ALICE commented.

"Well, I'm presenting my plan to Bruce today. Might as well look professional for the businessman," I shrugged, grabbing my phone and searching for a pair of shoes.

I finally settled on a pair of black ankle boots. Comfortable, but formal enough to pass in a board meeting setting. I felt older than I was, despite the fact I had turned sixteen the day before. I would be a businesswoman and present my idea.

"ALICE, call Wally please," I made the request before I left my room and walked to the kitchen. I found a recipe book in the cupboard and tracked down a pancake recipe.

"Hello?" Wally's voice was bleary with sleep, coming from my phone speakers. I paused, I could get used to his morning voice. Listen to it for years on end. Shaking my head, I put myself back on course.

"Wally I need you here in five minutes," I ordered, pulling out flour and sugar from a floor level cupboard.

"But it's Sunday," he complained, groaning tiredly after. There was a thump, he slammed his head into his pillow.

"I'm making pancakes," I tempted, smirking. I could get him to do anything if it involved food. Anyone could get him to do anything if it involved food.

"Be there soon!" He beamed before ending the call.

I shook my head with a smile, tracking down the bowls and measuring cups. One for the dry ingredients, one for the wet.

Once I had everything out I followed the directions exactly, mixing everything together in the larger of the two bowls before spreading it out over a pan on the stove. I poured some batter into the pan.

"Where's the food?" Wally popped up in front of me. I smiled brightly, taking in Wally's appearance. Clad in civvies, his hair was unkempt, messy from sleep and obviously unattended to in his rush.

"Being made," I assured, flipping the current pancake on the pan, "Go ahead and sit down while you're waiting."

"So why did you call me to the cave so early in the morning? It wasn't just for pancakes, was it? Not that I'm complaining about you making me pancakes," Wally sat on one of the bar stools.

"It's ten, first off," I rolled my eyes as I played a pancake, "Second off, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"You aren't breaking up with me, are you?" He asked nervously, a sad look crossing over his face.

My breath hitched at the thought, breaking his heart. I would, but never because I wanted to, "No! No! I want to do a few things now that I'm above ground, and I want you to be with me while I do them."

"Like what?"

"Oh, normal things. Travel, swim in an ocean, get a tattoo-"

"Are you crazy?" He yelled, zooming over to me. I added another pancake to the plate, holding it out to him as he freaked out.

"Two actually, they're going to be small, coverable. I won't regret this Wally. This is something I need to do, trust me on that."

"Fine," he nodded, albeit hesitantly, "But it's Sunday, and I can't go with you without missing school if you want to go this week, and if I miss school, my parents... They won't be happy."

"I'm talking to Bruce after breakfast about all of that. I need a guardian with me when I get my tattoos after all. He'll cover everything if he says yes, and he will. I promise."

"Great," he speedily ate his pancake, holding his plate out for more. I rolled my eyes and put yet another pancake on his plate before putting two on mine.

"I need the zeta code for the Batcave so I can talk to Bruce,by the way, I'm assuming you know what it is."

Wally choked on his bite of pancake, coughing heavily and hitting his chest. After a minute he calmed down, taking a deep breath and clearing his throat.

"What makes you think I know the Batcave code?" I sent him a warning glare, and he shrunk back, "Yeah, alright. I'll put it in for you once you're done."

"You're going to want to pack right after this," I ordered, pointing my fork at him, "We're going to be leaving later today. The trip will be... five-ish days long."

Once Wally and I finished eating, we put our plates in the sink and walked to the zeta-tubes. Wally put in the long code for the Batcave, then put in the location for Central City so he could go home and pack once I went through.

"Good luck," he smiled as I stepped through.

Closing my eyes, I waited until the humming in my ears stopped. I was standing in a dimly lit, literal, cave. Several computer monitors were along one wall, glass cases with Batman and Robin uniforms on another. In the middle was the Batmobile.

"I somehow thought this would be like a vampire's lair," I mumbled to myself with a smirk.

"What are you doing here?" A deep voice spoke, reverberating through the cave. It didn't hold its normal Batman gruffness, but that didn't make in unassertive either.

I looked towards the entrance to the cave where an outdated elevator shaft was resting, still in use. Bruce was inside, arms crossed and dressed in his- surprisingly comfortable looking- casual attire.

"I need to talk to you," I explained shortly. Bruce stepped out, taking long strides across the large cave to get to me, "There are some things I want to do, and I need your help to do them."

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to go to London, Paris, and Greece, I want to dance in a ballroom and fly on a plane... and I want to get a tattoo."

Bruce stared me down, silently. My heart raced, would he deny me my last chance at getting a taste of the world? Even if he didn't know about my predicament, he couldn't be that cruel. Finally, he spoke, breaking the tension.

"Fine, I'll cover everything. You'll get a private jet, hotel bookings for high-end hotels in each country, one of which will have a ballroom, and as for the tattoo... I will allow you to get one and be your guardian, but when you regret it, you can't blame it on me."

"Great!" I beamed. He said yes, he actually said yes, "Last-minute details, I want to do this with Wally. I need you to come up with something to tell his parents for the next five days."

"Come back in half an hour, we'll get the tattoo first."

"Great," I turned to leave, "One more thing. Why say yes to all this? Aren't you worried I could run away or something could happen while it's just me and Wally?"

"I trust him to handle you, and I trust you to handle him. You've been locked up your entire life," the ghost of a smile appeared on Bruce's lips, "You deserve the chance to live a little."

I couldn't stop the grin threatening to form on my face, "Thank you, Bruce."

~*~

"This is going to hurt, honey," the tattoo artist warned as she pulled both of my hands towards her. On my right hand's pointer finger I was going to get a sort of heart music note, and on my left hand's wrist, I'd be getting a tattoo that said free in cursive with a bird attached to the end.

As soon as the needle made contact with my skin, I reached out for Wally's hand and squeezed it tightly, most likely breaking something in the process. Bruce subtly knelt down and placed an inhibitor on my ankle so no shadows would come out and try to kill the artist, or even better, so I wouldn't accidentally rip her shadow out.

"I have zero pain tolerance," I whimpered as she finished the one on my wrist and moved on to my finger.

Twenty minutes later and the artist had finished, giving me a cream that I'd have to put on the tattoos. I asked her if I could still do things like swim, and she said it was fine as long as I avoided direct contact with the water and washed the skin later.

"I can't believe you just did that," Wally told me when we were in the car, driving to the private jet we'd take to Greece.

"I can't either," I laughed, staring at my wrist and finger. They hurt like hell, but that's what I expected.

The car stopped at the airport, in front of a small, sleek jet. Bruce, Wally, and I got out, handing our luggage to the workers handling the plane.

"Here," Bruce handed us a duffle bag, "There's more than enough money in there to last you in each city, you don't need to switch currencies. The hotel you'll stay in at London has a ballroom, it's booked for the days you're staying there. M'gann and Artemis were contacted as well, and gave me the idea for this."

Bruce reached into the car and handed me a larger bag, "Don't open it until you're going to dance."

Wally and I nodded, peeking inside the duffle to see what Bruce gave us. Piles of money, and travel guides to each country. The man was a saint, honestly.

"Thank you, Bruce," I whispered, stepping forward and hugging him tightly. He tensed up, but hugged me back. It would be the first and last chance to hug him and truly thank him for what he had done.

"Have fun you two, you better learn something while you're gone."

I looked to Wally with a sad smile. The last week of being free, only a month of being free in the end. Time goes by fast. But thanks to ALICE, I knew what to do with that time.

"Come on," Wally grabbed my hand, practically vibrating with excitement, "Let's go on an adventure."