Harsh lights forced Harper to open her eyes. The hospital glare made her wince, and the first thing her body could comprehend was the tight constriction around her torso. The second thing was the warm feeling of a calloused hand in hers.

Dick was sat in a chair beside her bed, securely clasping her left hand in his. She smiled a soft smile as she met his eyes, "Hi."

"Hey Harp. How you feeling?" He grinned at her.

"A bit rough, but you and I both know I've been though worse."

She noticed him wince at the memory and bring up her hand to his chest. "Look, I know you hate hospitals, but you were unconscious for so long. Y-you scared me, and I just had to be sure and-"

"Hey! Hey, it's okay. I understand." She smiled at him reassuringly.
Moving to get up off the bed, she winced as a twinge of pain shot up from her ribs. Her chest was bandaged tightly, securing her ribs in place.
His hands were quick to dart to her shoulders as he stood up, gently pushing her back down as he said "Woah! Hey, take it easy. Lie back down, you gotta go slow."

Harper had only ever seen him this worried once before, so she knew that something very bad had happened whilst she was knocked out.

Grabbing his wrists in her hands, she looked sternly at his eyes, "Dick. I'm okay. Just give me a hand up."
He hovered over her, his hands still lightly resting on her shoulders. Their faces were so close that she could almost see every individual eyelash on his eyelids.

"Are you sure? Because the doctors said you have a mild concussion and bruised ribs and multiple cu-"

Laughing, she pushed herself off the bed with her hands, tilting her head up enough to surprise him with a kiss on the cheek.
Shock crossed his face and she laughed at his dropped jaw, finding herself shocked by her own unabashed bravery.

"Now, woman up and give me a hand."

"'Woman up'?" He eyed her sceptically as he helped her sit up.

"Trust me, women go through more pain on a monthly basis than men ever will."

"Fair enough." He accepted with a shrug.

After getting dressed and gathering her belongings together- all the whilst Dick was catching her up on the situation- Harper checked out of the hospital.

Gently setting herself down in Dick's Porsche, Harper complained to Dick "I still can't believe I have to leave her with Hank."
Sighing, she continued "Ugh, I'm gonna miss her."

Hopping into the driver's seat, Dick replied with a laugh, "Look, I know the bike meant a lot to you, but you can't ride it with bruised ribs."

"I know." She looked dramatically out the window and sighed for exaggeration.

Dick rolled his eyes and began driving.

~time skip~

Dick's POV
After Perez's call, Dick was heading for the gas station that Rachel was last seen at.
Speeding as fast as he could, he opened his mouth to ask Harper if he could turn the radio up, only to notice that she was fast asleep.

Smiling at her exhausted form, he turned his gaze back to the road, pushing his foot further down onto the pedal.
His Porsche soared faster.

~time skip~

Sitting in his car with the security tapes from the gas station, Dick debated as to whether to wake Harper up or not.

Gazing softly at her, he noticed her shivering and curling in further on herself. Taking off his jacket, he wrapped it around her, settling on letting her sleep a little more.

~time skip~

Harper's POV
Harper woke up slightly before Dick parked up at the roller rink.
He explained how he had tracked Rachel down, and they both agreed that it would be easier if Harper stayed in the car; her presenting the statement that she would only slow him down, and him saying that he was worried in case she hurt her ribs again.

After he left, she noticed his jacket wrapped around her and smiled. It smelt like him: a warm and comforting scent that reminded Harper of home. The light fragrance of wood smoke, and delicate mint.
She shrugged the leather jacket tentatively off her shoulders, and set it back on his seat, careful not to disrupt her torso.

In any case, when she spotted them walking out of the rink, she clambered to get out of the car slowly.
Standing up beside the open door, Harper caught Rachel's eyes and gave a swift wave.
Noticing the woman walking with them, Harper gave her a studious stare, deciding to wait before making a judgement on her.

Becoming slightly anxious at the obviously growing tension, Harper suddenly flinched when all the car windows exploded, simultaneously setting off the car alarms.

The sudden movement caused a rugged tremor of pain to escape her ribs. Clenching her teeth, Harper breathed slowly to allow the pain to pass. Looking up at the oncoming group, Harper noticed Dick's extremely concerned expression, and tried to give a smile to calm him down. She wasn't sure if it worked, as all he did was furrow his eyebrows further.
Climbing into the the car again, Harper greeted Rachel, "Hey, Kiddo. Good to see you."

"Hi Harper," she grinned, "it's good to see you too." Rachel climbed into the back of the car, giving Harper a light side hug after seeing her reaction to the explosion.

"Hi. I'm Harper Croate. It's nice to meet you." Harper raised her hand forward to the unidentified woman.

"Kori Anders. I think." Kori shook her hand.

Deciding to let it be, Harper nodded, allowing the woman's identity to remain a mystery.
From the sounds of it, it sounded like even she didn't know. They began driving.

~time skip~

On arrival to the convent, Harper made her way to the infirmary section to get herself checked up. She needed to get her bandages for her cuts changed anyways, but her main goal was to check her ribs were okay.
Dick had offered to go with her, but Harper had politely and wisely suggested he talk to Rachel instead.

"Well, Miss Croate, you're fully checked up. All bandages replaced and cuts cleaned. Your ribs seem to be healing unusually quickly, but here are some pain killers to take until then."

"Thank you, sister." Harper replied graciously as she slipped her shirt back on over her scar-ridden back.
The jagged skin was unnaturally taut at spots, forming mountains of angry crimson tissue. In other areas, the milky flesh sat uncomfortably loose.

The nun gave a sweet smile back before exiting the room.

When she left, Harper came across Dick in the hallway.
Greeting him, she let him know what they had told her.
She started to brainstorm, linking Rachel's powers to the possibility of her own fastened healing, but the familiar roar of Dick's Porsche distracted him.

Flicking his wide eyes back to her, he silently asked for permission. "Go." She rolled her eyes.
She knew how much he loved that car.

And anyways, she needed to make a call.

~time skip~

Stormy clouds swallowed the fragile blue of the sky, blocking any weak sunlight that tried to come through.
Holding her phone to her ear, Harper gazed around at the bland and grey scenery, assessing her surroundings as her training had engrained into her. A flash of a moving green mass caught her eye suddenly, but was gone just as quickly.

The ringing jingle of the phone was cut off by the deep timbre of a familiar voice, "Harper. I thought you would ring soon."

Sighing, Harper rubbed her head as she replied "Should I even bother updating you on a situation that you somehow already know about?"

"No," he laughed, "Probably not- that would be a waste of both of our time. But you already knew this. So, why are you calling?"

Harper silently cursed his insight, and closed her eyes as she paced. Fumbling to start, Harper stayed silent for a minute.

"Harper, you know that you can talk to me. If something has happened-" Bruce Wayne's concerned tone shone through. Something he rarely displayed.

"No. Nothing bad has happened. I just..." She interrupted him.
"Were you ever angry with Dick after he left?"

"...For a time; when I saw how he had left you. But then I realised that you were most certainly strong enough to look after yourself, and I knew to try and understand his motivations. Why do you ask?"

Ignoring his question, she pressed on "Have you forgiven him?"

Her raw voice shocked Bruce, but not so much that she couldn't hear his solid response: "There was nothing to forgive, not for me at least. Have you forgiven him?"

"I want to. But I don't know if I can, or should."

"Harper Croate, you can do whatever the hell you put your mind to. And if you want something, you get it. Don't let this be different."

Smiling at his sage yet terse advise, she replied "Thanks Bruce, I-"

A violent and booming burst of flames from the building cut her off. She quickly went into business mode, as did Bruce. Over the phone she could hear his  steely voice, "Is everything okay?"

"Nothing I can't handle. If I need help, I'll call." She began running towards the convent, "Bye Bruce."

His reply was unheard as she put her phone back in her pocket and hung up.
Rachel was still in there.
Harper's legs flew under her as she sprinted painfully to the convent; every slam of her foot against the pavement sent a bolt of pain to her ribs.
She didn't care, Rachel could be far worse off...

She kept running.

A/N
The picture attached is the jacket Harper always wears.
Every read, comment and vote is greatly appreciated! Updates will be slow for a while, but I have the next couple of chapters mapped out already, so hopefully they'll be out soon!
Hope you enjoy it so far 🥰
Xx