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These last few months have been… rough. Losing Jay had only been the start of what was probably the worst time of Rachel’s life, and wasn’t that saying something considering she thought the exact same thing when she finally got the news. Up till then it was her parents' deaths, it was watching the rope snap, seeing them fall and not being able to do anything to help them. It was wondering if she had just said something nobody would have died that night.
But Bruce had helped her accept it wasn’t her fault, that it was Zucco to blame, that she could be something better than even him. But Jayden… Jayden was her sister, she was her baby sister, out of everyone in the world if she refused to get help from Bruce or Alfred why wouldn’t she come to her (she could have helped, she could have been there, Jay could still be alive if she had just reached out. Why didn’t she, did she not spend enough time with her, did she think she’d rat her out to Bruce, what did she do wrong…?).
And then Bruce… he wasn’t okay after Jay’s death. He pushed everyone away, even Alfred. She tried, she really tried to get him to talk to her, to anyone, but every interaction between them would devolve into an argument and after the 100th fight she couldn’t take it anymore. She just needed a break, she just needed some time away to grieve her sister, before coming back and trying to help her father. Bruce would be fine if she left for a while, he was Batman for god’s sake.
He wasn’t. He wasn’t fine.
He went after the Joker and neither of them survived. Part of her wanted that maniac dead after what he did to Jay. So he couldn’t hurt anyone else again like what he did to her family (and maybe it said something about her that she only wanted him gone after her sister was killed, but she couldn’t help how she felt).
If she knew it would have cost her her dad, she would have done anything to stop it.
So here she was, trying her best to hold it together after the deaths of two of the most important people in her life. Trying to juggle Wayne Enterprise and the cowl, because Gotham wasn’t ready to be without a bat. Rachel wasn’t Bruce, he did his damndest to make sure she would never be, but she could try.
She could try to learn how to run one of the most profitable companies in the US, she could try and be the hero Gotham needed, she could try and fill the void Bruce left in the League.
That last one didn’t pan out so well, Clark said she needed a break. Part of her was pissed, they let Wally in after Barry’s death (not true, and even then Wally didn’t have nearly the amount of shit she had on her plate now). A bigger part was relieved.
Still, after another tedious business meeting she barely understood, after another night fighting crime and coming home bruised and battered, after hearing Theo argue for the thousandth time that she could help Rachel on the field (she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t considering it, Theo was good and at the very least smarter than her (she could admit it) but she couldn’t, not now, not after everything that had happened recently. If she wanted to help she could stick to helping Barbara) she was exhausted.
So when aunt Kate came and told her to take a break, she took it with little argument. Visiting Bruce and Jay one night couldn’t hurt could it?
It could, of course it could. Part of her wondered if this would be the night Bane remembered who Bruce was and she’d come home to find Alfred and Kate’s bodies broken on the floor. If this was the night Barbara was compromised. If this was the night Theo had enough and just went out on her own. But god, she just needed this one night alone with her family…
—————
Rachel was almost at the cemetery when it happened. A girl, short hair in a black funeral dress, shambled into the street, clearly not okay. Rachel could forgive the driver in the car ahead of her (A125-6B78) for not seeing her, it was dark and raining, Rachel barely saw the girl herself.
She couldn’t forgive them for speeding off afterwards, especially when she got out to help.
“Hey, it’s alright. You’re going to be okay, I’m gonna get you to a hospital and…”
The girl turned to face her and Rachel felt her brain freeze.
The girl’s body was stained with mud, her hands shaking and bleeding with splitters piercing them. There was a cut on her head that was trailing blood, most likely from being hit by the car. But even through her wet hair, and the mud, and blood, Rachel could recognize that face.
“Jayden…?”
Her cloudy eyes seemed to focus at that, landing on Rachel’s face.
“Ch… Chell…?”
Rachel’s grip on her sister tightened. Okay. Okay, Jay is… Jay was ali… Jay was hit by a car. Jay was hit by a car and was clearly not okay even before that.
Before she could think on it any further, Rachel scooped Jayden into her arms and rushed her to her car. She had to fight her sister to do so, as she panicked as soon as Rachel lifted her, screaming and trying to claw at her face. She couldn’t do much outside of trying to restrain Jay’s arms and promise her that everything was going to be okay.
After Jay was strapped in and Rachel was behind the wheel racing down the Gotham streets, she realized another problem.
She couldn’t take Jay to the hospital could she? They’d ask questions she couldn’t answer, they might try to take her away. But the hospital was closer than the manor, Jay was bleeding from her head and might not make it home, and if her sister died… if her sister…
She squeezed the wheel, before going with her gut and picking up her phone.
After a few rings, her call was answered.
“Miss Rachel?”
“Alfred, I need you to set up the medical wing, asap!”
—————
Jayden was going to be okay.
She passed out in the car and Rachel had burst into the manor in a full blown panic attack, terrified she had gotten her sister killed again, but after the initial shock and a few hours with Alfred, Jay was sleeping in her bed recovering from… everything she went through that night.
As Alfred was working on Jay, Kate had dragged her off to check on the graves… just in case. Theo had snuck in the car when they weren’t looking, so she came as well.
When they got there part of Rachel wanted to vomit. Bruce’s grave was untouched (her heart broke, but maybe it was too much to ask that he came back too…), but Jay’s…
Jay wasn’t okay, not just physically but mentally. She didn't recognize Rachel again after saying her name and she didn’t seem to realize where she was in the car. The thought of her baby sister waking up in her coffin and having to dig her way out…
If it wasn’t for Theo and Kate being there with her, Rachel probably would have had another panic attack.
But it was okay now. Jay was here, right in front of her, sleeping soundly.
Rachel couldn’t go back to her room, it was probably just paranoia but her sister just came back from the dead, let her have this.
She was just about to pass out when Jayden began to stir.
“Whe… B… Bru…”
“Hey, hey Jay. Look at me.” Rachel hushed, gently tilting Jayden’s head to look at her, “It’s okay, you’re okay. You’re safe Jaybird.”
Jay’s eyes seemed to focus on her face again.
“Chell…?” Rachel nodded her head, giving her sister a small smile, “Wha.. wha happened…?”
“We’ll talk about it later, alright?” Rachel shushed, pulling the covers tighter around her sister, “Just get some rest.”
Jayden nodded her head slightly, still mostly out of it, gaze scanning the room, but not actually taking anything in.
“Where…” Jayden whispered, “Where’s Bruce…?”
Rachel felt her heart stop.
“Dads um…” Tears were filling her eyes. She shouldn’t tell her, not right now. But the words were falling out her mouth before she could stop them, “Dads gone, Jayden…”
Jay stared at her blankly for a moment, tears silently started building in her eyes.
“...oh…”
As her tears started to fall, Rachel brought her hands up to try and wipe them away, before carefully pulling her sister in for a hug. She rocked them back and forth, promises of “It’s going to be okay” falling from her lips.
She knew she couldn’t promise that, not really. But her sister was in her arms again after being dead not even a day ago, so for the first time in a while Rachel let herself believe her words were true.