Espera | R. Grayson ✔

[42]

Green eyes fluttered open and the first thing she saw was Richard's icy blue irises looking down at her in concern. A sigh of relief escaped him to see her gaining consciousness and his fingers entwined through hers.

"Hey..." 

Her other hand reached out towards his face, lightly touching his cheek as if to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. When he didn't fade away, she let her hand rest there a little longer.

He was saying something to her, probably asking her if she was in pain or not but she still seemed half numb. She could hear words such as deep cuts, blood loss and poison but the rest flew past her.

"Are you... Okay? Your wound..." She asked him instead, trying to sit up but pain shot up her back, making her give up the decision of sitting up just then.

He could see that she hadn't heard him clearly the first time so he just nodded in reply to convey that he was fine.

Though she was surprised when she saw her father next and retrieved her hand from Richard immediately. It was then she noticed that she was in a hospital and Richard wasn't the only person with her at the moment.

"Dad?"

The voices had started to get somewhat clearer as her senses started to function gradually. Though she was glad to see her father there for her, deep down a nagging feeling was perturbing her on how Jim would have reacted to Richard's presence there.

But then to overcome that worry were a lot of other thoughts that had started to resurface. Such as what Lavina had done to her that had rendered her powerless immediately, whether she had been caught or not, why was Barbara in the hospital and how long would she have to be there etc.

"Barbara, how are you feeling now?" Her father asked and she was able to hear him then.

"I'm numb... Mostly."

"You'll recover soon," he reassured her, "the doctors had to give you painkillers to numb the pain for now but it will get better with time."

"What happened...?" Her eyes flickered back to Richard, "where did she go?"

The look on his face clearly meant that he would tell her later as he just shook his head and said nothing.

She had a lot of questions and Jim could see that very well so he decided to clear up a few thongs that he could. "Miss Bartinelli called me after she and Grayson brought you to the hospital. They have told me all that happened today and I am shocked to know that you kept so much from me."

Her eyes flickered in panic as well as an apology, "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. I thought my daughter could trust me with anything. So not knowing such a lot had been going on with you shocked me."

She tilted her head to look at Richard, "what did you guys tell him?"

"Almost everything," he replied sheepishly, "there was no other way your father would have believed that we weren't the ones who had hurt you."

"And where's Helena?"

"Waiting outside with Jay. It's a hospital, y'know, they can't allow too many people in at the same time."

She looked back at her father who had been closely observing their interaction. The expression on his face was blank, quite unreadable to what he was thinking.

But since they had told him everything she felt as if a lot of explanations were still due. However, she didn't feel well enough to deal with that at the moment and thankfully, Jim understood that as he didn't ask further.

Through his own observation, Jim had reached the conclusion that Richard genuinely cared for Barbara.

He had seen the man be much more worried for Barbara even though he had been injured himself, entreating the doctors to look after her first. The concern Jim had seen in those blue irises couldn't be mistaken for anything else.

Deep down, he knew why his daughter hadn't told him about Richard and he felt as if it was his fault for not being able to convey to her that her happiness mattered much more to him than the perception people would have on her relationship with Richard.

But with the way things were turning out, neither of them had gotten a chance to clear stuff up to one another. Hence, finding out the truth from Richard and Helena had been rather shocking at first, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had to convince Barbara what he really thought and felt about the matter.

He knew Richard was Batman and by then he had also come to know that his daughter and her best friend were helping him in saving the city. It was no different from his own mission of keeping Gotham crime free back in the days when he was appointed the Police Commissioner so obviously he wasn't going to be the one against them.

Though a lot had changed since then, seeing his daughter share the same views and strive for the betterment of the innocent people made him proud of her.

"Dad... Are you angry at me?" Her eyes were uncertain as she asked, not knowing how he would respond to the question.

Much to her surprise, a faint smile flickered on the old man's face as he shook his head, "of course not, Barbara. Why would I be angry at my daughter who's doing such a lot for the city? If anything, you've made me proud of you."

She looked relieved to hear that, the worry from her eyes lessening considerably.

"But that doesn't mean I will allow you to get hurt like this," Jim resumed, "your safety comes first and you shall not put yourself in danger time and again."

"I know," she nodded, "I will try my best not to."

Jim's eyes flickered towards Richard who had stepped back and was about to leave the room in order to give the father and daughter a moment to talk freely without him intruding in. However, he stopped upon hearing Jim's voice.

"Grayson, I have to talk to you too."

"Yes Sir," his hand left the door handle and he turned to face them, somewhat nervous as to what the man had to talk to him about.

So far Jim had handled everything much better than he and Helena had expected him to but he was still dubious of what he would say to him at the current moment.

He hoped it wouldn't be something like him asking him to stay away from Barbara since that had become quite impossible. However, surprise took hold of him when he heard Jim's words.

"I appreciate what you all are doing for the city. And I want you to know that you have my support in this."

Barbara too hadn't been expecting that as she asked, "really, Dad?"

"Absolutely," he nodded, "just because I am a retired Commissioner doesn't mean I will stop looking out for my people."

Richard felt a kindred sense within those words and a smile tugged up on his features at last, "thank you, it really means a lot to us."

Jim Gordon may not be in an authoritative position currently but his support could help them a lot in the mission to keep the city safe. And both Barbara and Richard were well aware of that fact.

Since he had been a police Commissioner, he could no doubt help them out in understanding and solving the technicalities of the risk they had taken. Plus, they could definitely use an experienced mindset in going up against Gotham's notorious criminals. 

As well as a certain elite businesswoman who was much more complex and secretive than she let it show on the outside.

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