Harper's POV
The bruises on her body were slowly fading, leaving kisses of yellow and purple on her skin, yet Harper's mind was already sharply focused on Chicago, not Milwaukee.

The kitchen table fell host to the group's argument; Rachel fighting to interrogate Dr Adamson for herself whilst Dick fought against it over concerns for her safety.

Kori was heavily on Rachel's side, and for good reason in Harper's mind, however Harper understood where Dick was coming from.
"Dick, I know you're concerned, but Rachel has to do this. We need to know what our next steps are. And like Kori said, one word from Rachel and she'll kick his ass."

This comment of support earned a smirk from Kori as Harper stared at Dick, openly encouraging him to agree.
A final pump of Rachel's eyebrow encouraged him to give in to the gang of girls, sighing as he relented, "Five minutes."

~time skip~

When Rachel came out from the bathroom with blood on her hands, the 3 adults in the room darted towards her- concern painted on their faces.
After telling them what happened with a shaky tone, Dick and Kori went back in to continue his interrogation; Harper remaining with Gar and Rachel in the living room.

"H-harper? How did I do that? That's not normal, I-i'm not normal." Rachel sounded scared, instigating Harper to guide her to the sofa.

Setting her down gently, Harper silently went back to the kitchen to get a wet cloth. Carefully, Harper washed the blood from Rachel's hands, speaking softly as she did so: "You healed him Rach. You took his injuries away, his pain away. So, no, you're not normal; but that's not a bad thing. You have a gift, a strong and useful one; you even healed me, without either of us realising it."

This realisation caused Rachel to raise her eyes from their joined hands to Harper's kind eyes.
"I healed you?" She sounded like a timid animal, with wide and uncertain eyes to compliment it.

Smiling at her, Harper continued to clean her shaking hands as she replied, "On the rooftop at Hank and Dawn's, my ribs were very badly bruised, the doctors all thought it would take a few weeks to heal properly, yet as soon as Dick and I found you, I began to heal faster. Within 5 days of being around you, you had healed me... You're powerful Rachel, and with that power, you can do so much. Just promise me that you'll never misuse this gift."

Staring into her gravelly gaze, Rachel nodded her head. Smiling, Harper replied, "Good... there, all cleaned up. You're free to go."

After this, Harper kissed Rachel's forehead before walking back to the kitchen to rinse the blood-stained cloth. Rachel stayed in the living room with Gar.

~time skip~

When Kori and Dick came back out, it was with the worrying news about Rachel's birth mother, causing Rachel to fall back into emotional distress.
After discouraging Rachel from running after her mother- who's name, they had found out, was Angela- she stormed off, only for Gar to follow her.

Whilst Kori and Dick researched the facility Dr Adamson said they were holding Angela, Harper gathered her gear and rejoined them after they discovered that the kids had run off.

"We need to move now." She rigidly spoke, already heading towards the elevator. Rachel and Gar could already be in danger, and were definitely in above their heads.
She holstered a gun on each leg, ensuring she also had 4 knives attached on her waist and arms; she liked being prepared.

Following after her at a quick pace, Dick and Kori simultaneously spoke, "Agreed."

~time skip~

Torches lit the dusty abandoned site, allowing Kori, Dick and Harper quick flashes of sight. Pacing through the building, Harper stayed silent as she searched for her 2 kids.

Upon entering a damp tunnel, the air began to smell stale and humid, Dick's echoing voice contributing to the feeling of being trapped in the confined space; if she was still claustrophobic, Harper would probably be freaking out right about now.

The sound of squeaking rusty wheels caught their attention, drawing their focus to a disheveled and unconscious Gar in a wheelchair. He looked like something straight out of a 1960s horror movie.

"Gar?!" Dick called concernedly.

"Don't worry. He's just taking a little nap," an unfamiliar female voice called out from behind them.
Darting around quickly, Harper drew both her guns and directed them threateningly at this unknown woman.

"What the hell did you do to him?!" Harper growled, before adding "Where's Rachel?"

"The girl is safe." Was all the woman in the lab coat surrendered, "For now. I don't want to kill either of them..."

The sounds of guns being cocked at Gar drew their attention behind them, now noticing that they were surrounded.

"But if you make a move, I will give the order."

It seemed that this now pissed off Kori as well, causing her to raise a glowing hand, only for Dick to stop her, pointing out gas pipes above them.
"Gas lines- you'll burn us all up."

Finally relenting to being outnumbered, Harper slowly let her hands fall, holstering her guns again. Making eye contact with a stressed Dick, she saw his jaw lock as he stared down the woman in charge.
Harper let out a sigh as she knew what was coming... the oncoming guards began to move towards them.

~time skip~

The room they had placed her in was padded, almost clinical if it weren't for the alarming dried stains and peeling paint.
She had given up on using brute force to escape and was now searching the leather straps for weaknesses, yet was still unable to find any.
Just as she was debating on whether dislocating her thumb was worth it to escape, the unconscious man before her began to awake.

Trying to lighten the bad situation, Harper halfheartedly smiled at Dick as she whispered, "Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty."

Apparently not taking her badly timed and insincere humour too well, Dick got straight to business, trying to pull his way out if the restraints.
"Are you okay?" He grunted out, still twisting in his chair.

Unsettlingly calm, she answered, "For now."
Before she could go through with her dislocation plan, the door burst open loudly.

White garbed wards rushed in, half of the men drawing Harper's chair backwards as the other half approached Dick threateningly, needles held in gloved hands.

"Hey! No! What the hell are you doing! Leave him alone! Get the hell off of him!" A scared Harper yelled, not feared for herself, but rather for Dick. She struggled futilely against the leather straps, ensuring she would have red and stretched marks on her wrists and stomach.

As they continued to pull her out of the room backwards, Harper felt something sharp prick her neck; the last thing she heard and saw was a struggling Dick, fighting against his assailants, swearing at them angrily.
"What the fuck is that?! Don't you fucking touch me! Get the fuck off of me! Leave her alone!"

His focus seemed splayed, just like how Harper's vision was spinning, complimenting the ringing in her ears. Dick's voice grew fuzzy as her eyelids fell heavily closed against her eyes.
Her head fell limp against the seat.

~time skip~

Waking up, Harper noticed she was still being transported-wheeled on her chair down a dark and musty corridor. Twisting her neck to get a better view, Harper noticed that the only restraints against her body were now the handcuffs, pulling her arms taut behind the seat...

If there was one good thing to come from her bad experiences, ignoring her now exceptionally high tolerance to pain, it was the fact that- essentially and literally- she was a professional escape artist.

Smirking at this, she decided to toy with the lone guard who was wheeling her chair.
"I'm going to start a countdown, and you're going to have 2 choices; stay and get your ass whooped, or leave and I'll let you go unharmed." Her voice held a sing-song lull.

Scoffing at her, he stopped wheeling the seat, pacing to get a frontal look at her. Backslapping her harshly across her face only elicited a smile to cross her lips, contradicting his would-be-insult of: "Psycho bitch."

"Three..."
She wriggled her fingers loosely. This would hurt, but the pain was nothing for her.

"Two..."
2 sharp cracks were heard, drawing a furrowed brow on the guard's face.

She smirked threateningly up at him, "One..."

Leaping from the chair, Harper knocked out the guard with a swift and violent headbutt, like the deadly strikes of a venomous snake.
Kneeling down to steal the keys from his belt, she made sure to slap his face, and whisper mockingly, "I really don't like being called that."

Snapping her dislocated thumbs back into place against the cold concrete floor, Harper stared grimly down the hollow hall, debating which way to go.
Swiftly, she decided to return the way she came, her rushed feet hitting the concrete creating slapping sounds.

After 5 minutes of searching for the cell they were holding Dick in, or any other member of her group, Harper ran into Rachel and Gar- literally.
An unknown woman also stood beside them.
"Harper?!" Gar asked, wide eyes betraying his nerves. Blood stained his mouth, raising Harper's eyebrows but now wasn't the time to question these things. Besides, she had a fairly good guess of what had happened and, if it was right, she didn't blame him.

"Hi." She nodded at him with a rushed and worried smile, still bouncing on her toes- ready to run. Turning to face Rachel, Harper pointed to the woman with her chin, "This your mom?"

Stuttering with delayed shock, Rachel replied "Yeah."

"Hinicetomeetyouimharpercroate," Harper rushed through the introductions, "We gotta go, kiddos, now."

They still have Dick, he could be hurt, or worse... Harper stopped this rather unhelpful train of thought and brought herself back into reality.

Leading the way down the corridor, Harper swiftly put down 2 guards who spotted them, violently smashing their heads together before they could call for backup.
Their bodies crumpled to the floor unconscious, as Gar gazed in awe, "I didn't know you could do that!!"

"Yeah, well, now you do. Come on, we've gotta help Dick." She hurriedly breathed out.
Rushing through the empty control room, Harper was panicking yet steely in her resolve.
She was going to save him, and he was going to be alright.
Dealing with the handful of goons in the hall, Harper flung open the door to the cell Dick was in.

Not letting the eerie sight of his drugged form stop her, Harper dashed froward, throwing herself beside his chair as her shaky hands fumbled to undo the restraints.
Silent, stressful tears began to trace her eyes, dropping down her cheeks as she struggled to control her erratic breathing.

Looking up, she saw a shocked Gar and Rachel frozen in the doorway, with Angela looming silently behind them.
"Gar, Rach, get over here. Help me with this." Her voice shuddered as her uneven words let them know how scared she was for him.

His eyes were still glazed, unblinking as Rachel pleaded with him: "Dick... Come on, we have to go." 
When no reply came, she looked to Harper, who had finally finished undoing the buckle around his head.
Her hands were clasping his face, as she blinked back more tears.
"They drugged him," was all she managed to say, scanning his face for any signs of reaction.

An unhelpful Angela threw her thoughts in, "They may have broken him, Rachel. They do that here."

Fiercely, almost angrily, Harper spat at her "No! Some stupid drug isn't going to be what takes Dick Grayson from us... from me. He's stronger than that," Now she turned to Dick, shaking his face as she begged him, "He's a fighter, aren't you? So prove me right, Dick, fight this. Come back, please..."
She whispered one last part, only for the two of them to hear, "I need you."

Rachel joined in now, equally as desperate, "You are stronger than them, you're stronger than anyone I've ever met. Now we have to get outta here, we can't do that without you. You promised! You promised you'd never leave me... you promised."

Harper closed her eyes in denial when she saw no sign of life in his eyes, placing a comforting hand on Rachel's shoulder as she hung her head.

A small voice caught their attention, whipping their eyes towards Dick again, "Yeah, I guess I did."

Rachel stepped back in relief, smiling as she wiped away her tears. Harper simply pressed a rushed kiss to his forehead as she breathed "Thank God."

He flashed his charming smile, "Hey Harp. I need you too."

"Hi." Was all she could squeeze out from behind her beaming smile.

Gar quickly got Dick up and standing, supporting him as Harper led the charge through the facility to find Kori.
Gar had found her weapons, and as they ran she was methodically reattaching them to her holsters.
Now that they had Dick, Harper was more controlled, more focused and not as emotionally stressed.
Not to mention that she was no longer having a meltdown.

They just had to free Kori and escape.
Easy.

Bursting into a surgical theatre, they saw Kori strapped onto a surgical table, and quick images flew through Harper's mind of herself in the same situation.
Only, in her experience, she wasn't rescued on time. She wasn't about to let that happen to Kori.

"Get the fuck away from her, you sick bastards." Harper angrily spat out as she and Dick began their violent spree, dealing with the sickos doing this to their friend.

When Gar was tasked with removing the intubation tube, Harper- aware of how uncomfortable this was going to be- held her hand.
"Just look at us, Kori. Look at Rachel."

Once the tube was out, Kori shot up, coughing and spluttering, fumbling to get off the table.
Helping her down, Harper took it upon herself to ensure Kori was stable. Throwing the elder woman's arm over her shoulder, Harper let her lean against her whilst Dick now took up leadership of the escape.

~time skip~

"Come on. We can get out through there, hurry." Angela said.

Harper, no longer supporting Kori, held a steadying grip on Dick's elbow, guiding his still weary body through the dark tunnel.
2 guards appeared at the end of the hall, their silhouettes swaying slightly.

Dick pulled forward, breaking out of Harper's supportive grasp, intending on dealing with this problem by himself.
"Dick-" Harper tried to argue.

Reassuring her with a trusting look, Dick nodded as she backed down, letting him do this alone.
"I got this." He said confidently.

"I know," she hesitantly smiled, before she broke a pipe off the wall to hand to him.

Taking it from her hands with one last nod, he began taking out the swarms of security, as Harper shot at the oncoming assailants, who were still to reach him.
Any that were too close to Dick for her to be sure it wouldn't hit him, darted for him only to be put down quickly and violently.

Once all were on the floor, moaning and wailing over their wounds, the group began moving forwards again.
Timidly, they walked past Dick, "Get out of here," he ordered.

When Kori walked past, a hissing sound became apparent and the 3 adults hatched their plan.

As the last one to pass by Dick, Harper took him by the hand and dragged him along with them; they left the horrific building together.

The midnight air welcomed them coolly, dark blues enveloping them before a vibrant orange shot out from the Asylum. The explosion threw all but Dick and Harper off their feet, a victorious Kori walking through the flames, unscathed.

Turning to look up at Dick, Harper smiled in relief, they were okay. He was okay.
Smiling down at her, gently, he pressed his lips to hers, enveloping her in a sweet embrace. She smiled into the exchange, tilting her head up to kiss him back. As his emotion and stress began to tumble through, he poured all his worry into the kiss, and it became more urgent.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you? God, Harp I was so worried about you, when they dragged you away, I-" His caring voice drifted to her ears, an avalanche of anxiety.

Interrupting, she replied, head still tucked into his chest, "Dick, I broke free before they could do anything. I'm fine, I promise." She reassured him by rejoining their lips with an equal amount of urgency and trust.

"Good, I won't let anything happen to you again, I promise." He said.

Unwilling to break his fantasy bubble with the reality of their dangerous lives, she simply let it be.

There was one last thing they had to do before leaving, and Harper made sure to stand right there with him, as Dick set his Robin suit alight.
Kori came up beside them, letting them know that it was time to go, and as one last act of defiance and renewal, Dick threw his mask into the flames as well.

"Let's go home," she whispered, still smiling as she eventually pulled away.

Nodding his agreement, they walked on.

~time skip~

The steaming mug in her hands was almost hot enough to burn Harper's hands, yet she was able to set it down before it did.
"What's that?" Kori's scratchy voice called out from where she lay on her bed.

Straightening up from where she had set down the mug on the bedside table, Harper replied softly, "Chamomile tea with honey. Trust me, this will help soothe your throat."

Lifting the mug from the table, Kori thanked her, before quizzically raising her eyebrow and asking "How do you know?"

Smiling kindly, Harper replied, "I went through something a couple years ago, it was bad. I was held against my will for a few weeks, beaten, burned, electrocuted... tortured in every way humanly possible," she swallowed, bad memories bubbling below the surface, "Trust me, I know what being intubated feels like."

Gobsmacked by this revelation, Kori struggled to reply, "Harper... I-i'm sorry, I didn't know. Why, why did they do it? What were they looking for?"

Turning to leave, Harper spoke wistfully, "I don't know, I never found out," before opening the door to leave, she added, "Not sure I ever want to."

Understanding her discomfort to continue, Kori said goodbye with a nod, and "Thanks for the tea. If you ever want to talk, I'm here."

"Thanks. And it goes both ways."

Going downstairs, Harper went to the kitchen to make up 2 cups of hot chocolate before taking them to the living room.
Gar and Rachel sat on the sofa, curled under blankets she had given them earlier, watching crappy soap operas on TV.
Angela must have been in the shower.

"Hey kiddos, got you a treat- just, don't tell Dick. On-the-run-pizza aside, he can be a bit of a health freak." She joked, handing them a mug each.

"Thanks Harp." Gar grinned up at her. He seemed to be in better spirits than earlier.

"You're welcome, Gar," She smiled at the charming youth, "I want you both to know how proud I am of you. You were so brave and strong back there. Not everyone would have been so level headed, and I'm sorry for my mini meltdown- Dick and I have been friends for a very long time. He means a lot to me."

"I think we all saw that," Rachel giggled a bit at her understatement, "And you don't have to worry about that, you're one of the strongest people I've ever met. Thank you for always being there for us."

Kissing both their heads in turn, with a gingerly motherly fashion, Harper smiled at the girl before standing up, "Always, sweetheart. Oh, and here, you can use my Netflix account, happy binging!"

Leaving to laughter and a duet of 'thankyous!', Harper threw a wink back at them before one voice called out: "Harper? How did you do that back there? Can you finally tell me who you are?"

Gar's inquisitive voice pulled her back just enough to call, "I was the Guardian."

His face froze in admiration, before his jaw fell in awe, with Harper simply shaking her head and laughing, "Goodnight!"

Climbing the stairs, Harper drew her jumper off over her head, leaving herself in just a thin black tank top.
She had one more stop to make before going to bed- Dick.

Knocking on his bedroom door before entering, Harper sat down on the bed, exhausted from the day.

Steam rolled out of the ensuite as he opened the door, a white cotton towel wrapped around his waist.
Laying on her back in the bed, Harper simply laughed as she saw him: "Now, this is a familiar sight."

Unable to hold in his mirth at her comment, Dick laughed as he dried his hair.
"Up for a round two?" He smirked, half-teasing, half-serious.

Suddenly shy, Harper blushed furiously before regaining her composure and sitting up on the bed. Sitting on her knees, she placed her hands around his neck as he put his on her waist.
"Is that an offer?" She whispered.

Swooping in for a kiss, Dick pulled her close to his chest as they both fell sideways onto the bed, giggling and smiling. Using his arms to support his weight above her, their bodies were intimately close.
"Only if you want it to be," he replied between kisses.

Grinning up at him, her eyes seemed to glow with a fiery passion as she kissed him hard.
"What do you think?"

A/N
The song attached is what I imagine playing when Harper, Gar and Rachel are running through the Asylum and rescue Dick and Kori.

Hey guys! Sorry for the reeeaaaaallllllyyy irregular updates but I've been struggling with motivation recently. 😔
Anywhooooo, I hope you guys enjoyed this update, and are having a great week!
Stay safe,
Lyra ❤️