The Lazarus Effect

Thirty-Seven

"Lex," I whispered shaking my head. He lifted his hand aiming his gun at Annie. She cried out. 

"Tell me where she is, Ilyasviel or I will paint the two of you a pretty red," 

"Lex, I can tell you where she is,"  I said my voice thick with emotion. 

"We have the house surrounded," the sound of commissioner Gordon's voice did nothing to make me feel any type of relief. If anything it made all of this so much worse.

"Where is she? Did Bruce take her somewhere?" 

"What?" 

"I know she told you about him. I saw the picture of the three of you in the paper. Where did they go, Viel?" 

"Lex, she's gone," I said softly. He narrowed his eyes at me lowering his gun. 

"What?" 

"It was an accident, Lex. The black mask crashed my debut as Bruce Wayne's daughter. He was looking for some kind of drug schedule. There was a bomb. The ceiling caved, a piece of wood pieced her lung. By the time help came it was too late," he searched my face probably hoping I was lying. 

"No," he shouted making us all jump. "No," 

"I was with her when she died, Lex," I whispered tears streaming down my face. "She's gone," 

His eyes took a wild turn. He began to pace back and forth holding the gun against the left side of his face. Mumbling that he couldn't believe she was gone repeatedly. I watched him try and piece together what I had just said before he turned to me aiming his gun at my face. 

"She wasn't supposed to die," he finally said. "She was supposed to live. She was supposed to see you become everything you ever wanted to be. We were supposed to be there for your wedding, for your first child," 

"Lex," I whispered needing him to stop. I didn't want to hear any of those things, especially not from him.

"She wasn't supposed to die," he shouted. 

"She wasn't," I whispered trying to take even breaths. 

"He's not going to hurt you," Set whispered in my ear. 

"I'm sorry," I said trying to swallow the knot in my throat. "I couldn't protect her," 

"What?" he looked up at me his wild eyes boring into mine. He walked over to me and knelt down in front of me. "No, that's not on you, Viel. You're the child. You're the baby. We protect you. That's not your job," 

He pushed the hair away from my face. His hands shaking as he wiped the tears from my face. He took a deep breath before he told Annie and Collin to get the hell out of the house. They didn't hesitate to run out. 

"What now?" I whispered. 

"Have you been alone all this time?" he asked. For an instant, the anger in his eyes slipped away. One might even say there's compassion in his eyes. 

"No, I have Bruce and a little brother," 

"Okay," he nodded. "She'd be proud of you. You know that right? You were the most important thing to her. I just want to make sure you're safe," 

"I am," 

"Put your hands behind your head," someone shouted. He stood up and pressed a kiss to my forehead. He handed me the gun.

"Good," he put his hands on his head. 

The officers rushed in and brought him down to his knees in front of me. I just sat in the chair as they took him. At some point, the gun was taken from me. Jason, Dick, Tim, and Damian rushed in once the house was cleared. Jason knelt down in front of me.