Milk And Cardamom | S. Brown ✔

[09]

She had no idea where she was.

All she could see was the white blankets of snow spreading beneath her feet endlessly as she moved forward, not knowing where she was going but it seemed as if an invisible force was pulling her towards itself.

Miles of snowy plains later, she spotted a small warehouse, located in the middle of nowhere. Intrigued by the strangeness of the situation, she didn't stop and neared the sole structure.

Her hand reached out towards the door but she halted, hearing sounds from inside. One sickening crack after another as if someone's bones were being smashed ruthlessly.

Punctuating those sickening cracks was a high maniacal laugh that sent a shiver down her spine.

Before she could do anything, the door opened and she instinctively backed off seeing the chalky white skin and green hair of Gotham's clown prince.

Joker stepped out, his chilling laugh echoing in the wilderness but he hadn't seen her. Or rather he couldn't for she was there in a dream.

She realized that she was having a vision.

Before the maniac could close the door, she rushed in and darkness struck her. Slowly but steadily her vision adjusted and the first thing she caught sight of was the dark red liquid pooling around her feet.

Blood.

Horrified, her eyes followed the trail to a familiar red suit and caught sight of Robin laying on the ground almost lifeless.

"Jason! Jason, no..."

She had rushed towards him, her hands trying to lift him up but she couldn't do so for she was not physically there.

"Don't die, don't..."

However, a flash of ocean blue glistened in the murky red as his almost lifeless body struggled to get up. His hands were cuffed behind his back, his bones had probably been smashed to smithereens from that metal crowbar lying not far away from him, dripping in red.

But still he struggled and despite all the broken bones, he rolled over managing to get his hands that were handcuffed at the back up front.

With tremendous effort he stood up, but the injuries were too much for him to handle as he collapsed face first on the ground once again but he had not given up yet.

His eyes were fixed determinedly on the warehouse's exit and thus he dragged himself across mustering all his remaining strength to somehow reach the door.

She wanted to help him but couldn't and not being able to do anything except watch him fight against the agonizing pain tore her apart.

A trail of blood followed him as he dragged his broken body towards the door, hands finally reaching out to grip the handle as he hauled himself up. But it was locked from the outside and even though he tugged hard at it, the door didn't budge.

He let go of the handle and made himself lean against the door for support, his back resting against the steel panel of the door but aching agonizingly due to all the harsh beating he had sustained. 

Her hands reached out towards him, cupping his face but she knew he could not feel her there. At the current moment, she was the one dreaming and there was no knowing when the vision would end, snapping her back into reality.

Worse still, there was no knowing whether the vision had taken place in reality already or thee was still some time left.

But then a ticking sound began to resonate in the warehouse and Jason's eyes darted round, landing upon a bomb and a set of explosives in the corner.

She watched helplessly as his steel blue eyes dimmed, witnessing death hovering in front of him. And that look of defeat was what she had never seen before in his eyes, a broken expression that made her want to tear the world apart and search for him to somehow save him from that dreadful fate.

The ticking ended and dark orange splattered all across as the warehouse exploded.

"Jason!"

She struggled to see through the flames, her hands not feeling the heat but her heart sinking from the horror. She couldn't bear it if he died and yet there was no way he could have survived the explosion.

He had already been beaten to a bloody pulp, there was no way he could still be alive.

In her reckless attempts of searching for him, she caught sight of his charred body at last though before she could reach out to him and check whether or not he was alive, everything dissolved into darkness.

Rose sat up with a jolt, her features terror stricken and her hands reaching up to her mouth to stop the scream that threatened to rip apart from her.

She had just seen him die; she had just seen him get tortured mercilessly then blown up.

That vision finally confirmed why she felt something would go terribly wrong on Batman and Robin's current mission.

Robin was going to die. When and where, she didn't know, but she knew enough that her visions always came true until or unless she intervened herself.

She didn't even care that she wasn't wearing the eye patch over her damaged left eye nor did she care about the fact that everyone else would be asleep by then.

All she cared about was to somehow stop the vision from coming true as she dashed down the stairs, calling Nightwing as he was the only person who could give some information as to where Jason was at the moment.

"Nightwing!" Her voice thundered as she searched for him yet came face to face with Beast Boy.

Garfield's eyes widened seeing her as such but he quickly composed himself, "everything okay, Rose?"

"No, where's Nightwing?"

"He went to Gotham," Raven spoke up as she had come out hearing the commotion as well, "he said he had to be there as Batman wouldn't be."

The words ticked in her head irritatingly, "wait, Batman's not in Gotham?"

That would explain the snowy plains she had seen in her vision, the two were definitely not in Gotham.

"We don't know," Raven's reply was nonchalant but she could clearly see that something was wrong with Rose.

The girl seemed completely unhinged, twice scarier than they had ever seen her before. Almost as if something very precious had been stolen away from her and she wouldn't rest until she got it back at any cost whatsoever.

"Rose, what happened?" Kori asked as the three watched her take out her swords and her suit, left hand clutching her throbbing temple as one word echoed in her mind repeatedly.

Bosnia.

Batman and Robin were in Bosnia and if she tried harder she might find out the exact location as well.

"Where are you going?" Garfield tried to stop her but the blade of her sword landed against his throat, making him freeze in uncertainty, "Rose, we're your friends. Why are you doing this to us?"

"Please don't stop me," her voice shook as she retrieved the sword from his throat but still held it in her hands, poised to strike, "let me go. I don't have enough time..."

"Enough time for what?" Kori stepped closer but didn't reach out to her as she retreated further, "what's going on?"

She didn't answer, retreating until she reached the exit. "I'm sorry," she spoke up at last, right before leaving, "but if I don't go now, we'll all lose a very dear friend. And I can't let that happen."

***