Chapter XXXII

Weiss' eyes slowly opened.

The world was a blur of darkness, and slowly began to come together. Weiss felt weird all over. She felt as though she had been on fire, and it was just put out. And yet she felt oddly good, especially in comparison to what had happened earlier.

Her vision finally cleared, and she realized she was staring at the ceiling of a cave, where dozens of bats hung from the roof.

"How do you feel?"

Weiss turned to the sound of a dark, haunting voice, and found herself face-to-face with Batman. He stood tall in front of the Batmobile, his cape draped over his body.

"Where are we?" she asked, confused. "Why did you bring me here?"

"If I hadn't, your mind would be lost. You were poisoned."

Weiss looked to see she had been laid down on a table, and her bolero had been taken off. She tried to pick herself up, but the attempt to do so only brought pain to her arms.

"It was . . . It was Dr. Crane--"

Batman ran to her side, gently grasping her shoulders, and keeping her from sitting up any further. "Rest. Ruby has Crane."

Weiss made eye contact with Batman. She recognized those eyes. She didn't remember whose they were, but she knew she had seen them before. They were filled with so much affection and concern, and it gave her this feeling, as if she was safe. She let her arms go limp, and made no effort to stop him when he laid her back down.

"Is Ruby your friend?" she asked.

Batman took a step back, gazing down to her. "I don't have the luxury of friends." He lifted a syringe in his left hand. "I'm gonna give you a sedative. You'll wake up back at Beacon." He held his right hand out to show Weiss four more syringes. "When you do, get these to your friends, and them alone. Trust no one."

"What are they?"

"The antidote. Three for your friends to inoculate themselves, the other for mass production."

"'Mass production'?" Weiss repeated as Batman stepped up beside her with the sedative.

"Crane was just a pawn. We need to be ready."

With that, he injected the sedative into Weiss, and the world quickly began to fade black around her. It was in this moment she realized she hadn't thanked him for saving her, but it was too late at this point. The last thing she saw before everything went black was those blue eyes gazing down at her.

Bruce reached up for his cowl, and pulled it off his head. He looked down at Weiss' unconscious form, wishing she hadn't brought herself into this. But it had been her decision, and he couldn't stop her from making decisions. He was just glad she was alive, and that he hadn't failed her.

He caressed her cheek once, before walking off to get out of his suit and back in the manor.

Now for the hard part . . .

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