Ch 3

I survey the room once again from all angles and notice a horribly unpleasant sight from behind me. 'Oh my god... ' I think In surprise at the sight before me. My body...I see my body lying on the warehouse floor with my eyes closed shut. No no no! I laugh to myself as I crawl next to my body. I try to touch my face but my hands merely pass through as if it were nothing? "What on Earth?" I accidentally question aloud in slight panic and curiosity.

'This is so weird...what's going on?' My mind begins to drift from past memories and experiences in an attempt to decipher the issue. Suddenly the world became ice cold and progressively more dark. Instinctively my hands huddle together to regain some warmth in the freezing temperatures. Breathing became troublesome and shaky as I was forced to freeze my lungs with the frosty air. My hands unclipped my hood and cape and briskly covered my mouth and nose for protection. Tiny dots slowly began appearing from the edges of my vision. "What's happening..." The sentence I speak comes out in almost a whisper. The world around me suddenly got so dark and cold and everything was spinning wildly.

'Go..''What are you doing...''Go back..''You...dying'

The voices? What is going on? Why are they back again? I just want to be left alone. I need to get out of here. I couldn't decipher what the voices were attempting to say because my mind was busy trying to figure out what was happening.

"Emily!" A strong voice shouts in anger. I didn't respond though, distracted with a pain in my chest. It was almost like my heart was being crushed. My lungs felt incapable of their job and were giving up. "Emily! Ugh you little-" A strong pair of arms grab my shoulders and shakes me with a rough pull.

Due to the harsh awakening my vision cleared slightly and I saw the face of a woman in her early twenties. Her eyes were a vibrant green and her hair was brown with a slight fauxhawk ponytail. She had a few piercings on her ears and slight barely noticable freckles along her cheeks. She looked a little like... "..Jade..." I whisper in a barely audible voice. Her presence brought a slight warmth to me, however I felt like I was fading from consciousness.

"Emily listen to me. You are dying. You've stayed outside your body far longer than necessary and your body is shutting down. You need to return to your body before your body goes into actual dead mode girl. Now go to your body and concentrate. You want to return. You want to go back to the land of the living. Now get your ass over there and live again! ...I love you Em..." The voice faded away almost instantly. Was she? She can't be. I don't have time for this! I've got to go. I crawl towards my lifeless body with newfound determination. I have to do what she says. Concentrate. I want to go back...I want to go back. I close my eyes and hover my hands over my bodies heart. "Take me back." I demand with an assertive tone. I feel a warm rope like feeling travel up my arms but I keep my eyes closed. I need to go.

My eyes snap open and an intense fire burns my insides as I jump in shock. My breathing comes out rapidly, desperately trying to obtain the air it missed. "Jade!?" I shout in surprise quickly trying to locate the familiar rebel face. 'She's not here? So then-' my thought is interrupted by the voice of Bruce. "Get out of the way!" I immediately do as I'm told and jump to my feet. Not even a second later the reptile has Batman cornered. Croc wraps his ginormous hands around Bruce's head and begins to apply pressure mentioning something about steroids and munchies. Alarmed by the situation at hand I quickly charge towards the two with a few batarangs in hand.

"Arhhhgg" Croc wails out in pain as his body receives multiple high voltage shocks. I trace the line of fire back to a beautiful woman with brunette hair and green eyes. She glances at me for half a second before returning her gaze back to Bruce. The air around her seems strange...I don't like it. I get bad vibes. I take wary steps sideways towards Bruce's general direction.

After a moment of speaking with Bruce she glances at me again in curiosity. "A child? Is she another orphan you picked up along the way?" Batman glares at her and doesn't answer the question. "What do you want Talia?"

Apparently this Talia lady has some business she wishes to discuss with Bruce. In other words, Bruce turned me away and requested I head back to the cave. Did I complain? No. I followed his instructions and returned to the manor. Why? I had a lot on my mind and needed some time to think.

A while later I finally made it to my destination. "Hello Alfred! Please don't kill me!" I pleaded in dramatic suspense as I fell to my knees and folded my hands. Alfred chuckled at my behavior and simply pat my head. "Ms. Presley I already knew you were going to sneak out without permission. I allowed you to leave. Otherwise I would have hunted you down and hid your costume. Now you might want to get changed young lady because your parents should be here approximately 30 minutes late as usual." I nervously chuckled at his comment. 'He allowed me to leave? He already knew my plan? He's crazy good.' I think to myself.

With a tired sigh I marched up towards my guest room and changed into my previous clothes. "Man today was just weird..." I think aloud. "I could've sworn I saw Jade....was i dying?" I continued speaking my thoughts. I'm not sure what exactly happened but it was real. It certainly wasn't a dream. It couldn't have right? It all felt so vivid. I saw myself. My body lying on the ground lifeless. There was no pulse detectable. Jade...er that lady, said something about me leaving my body for too long. So I drifted out of my body? She said if I didn't go back I would go into 'actual dead mode.' The thoughts were a bit overwhelming at the moment so I decided to venture off to find Alfred.

Upon finding the one and only butler I see that he is in mid call so I wait. "Well Ms. Presley it appears that we will be recieving a visitor." Alfred informed me after ending his call with Bruce. "A visitor? Who do you think it is? Is it Talia?" I question Alfred. The elder quirked his eye in confusion at my interrogation. "Talia? How do you know of her?" Alfred asked with narrowed eyes of suspicion. "I- well when I was out with Bruce she showed up and saved Bruce. I don't really know much about her." I answered truthfully. "If you say so young Miss, but be careful hanging around Bruce. His life is  not one with friendly faces and friendships." Nodding my head in understanding, I follow Alfred to the batcave awaiting the new visitor.

At some point in time I got tired of waiting and unknowingly fell asleep in Bruce's work chair.

(3rd Person POV)

Alfred sighed at the young girl's carelessness. He quickly finds a spare blanket laying around and lightly tucks it around the sleeping child before him.

After about five minutes of patient waiting, Alfred hears the roar of the Batmobile. The flashy vehicle glides to a stop onto the circular platform and waits as it spins. "Welcome back, sir." The elderly man greeted. Seconds later a young boy exit the vehicle. "I presume this is the young man of whom you spoke?" Alfred asked with a quirked brow. The boy glanced at the aged man. With a wary eye Damian returns the greeting, "Hello Pennyworth. I've heard of you." Alfred accordingly responds with a slight bow to the boy. "At your service, Master Damian."

"Where are the rest of your servants?" The boy, also known as Damian Al Ghul, asked looking around the cave. Alfred quirked a brow in dry amusement towards the pampered child. "I am the sum total." The elder answered flatly. Damian quickly glanced at his father, "You have only one servant?" The boy questioned in absolute appalling shock. Bruce returned it with a stern look as he answered, "He's not a servant. He's a friend." Damian rivaled his father's glare for a brief moment in return but soon dropped the battle and walked the opposite direction. "So this is the fabled Batcave. Grandfather told me all about it." Damian commented while walking closer to Bruce's work chair.

Just as Damian was going to sit in the chair he noticed a girl sleeping there. The boy examined her briefly with confusion in his eyes. "Why do you have a deceased girl?" Alfred quirked a brow in a confused state of concern. "Whatever do you mean by that, young master Damian?" The butler asked in genuine curiosity. Damian scoffed in annoyance. "I mean, Pennyworth, why is there a girl lying in this chair with no pulse?" He rephrased while feeling her neck for some sign of life. Alfred immediately rushed over to the pair of children. Damian was indeed right. Alfred tried to find some sort of life within the young girl but was unable. "Master Bruce! Emily's not breathing!" Bruce's heart dropped and within seconds he was at their side trying to find the girls pulse. "No, no, no..." Bruce muttered repeatedly.