9529/Knightfall: Their Worst Fears

Knightfall: Their Worst Fears
Date of Scene:	11 October 2019
Location:	Gallery, Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Barbara tells Talia Bruce's condition. Carrie and Damian work with the doctor to try to save Bruce.
Cast of Characters:	Oracle, Talia al Ghul, Robin (Wayne), Carrie Kelley, Nightwing
Tinyplot:	Knightfall

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Oracle has posed:
They said they should draw straws, but Babs volunteered for this mission.

She's wearing her green tanktop with Bruce's dried blood down the front and a pair of skinny jeans with the same. Her hair is pulled back into a ponytail, but several loose threads have come free, hanging around her face and the sides of her red-framed glasses over green eyes.

By way of the BatComputer, once Babs got it reboot, she knows where Talia is and heads up to Bruce's room with the kind of ease that indicates she's no stranger to these halls. Standing outside the doors with her fingers tucked down in the back pockets of her jeans weighing the chances that this might turn violent in her mind.

Fairly high.

Mental accumen.

Babs reaches for her glasses, folds them in both hands, and hangs them from her tanktop. "Talia.. I hope you're decent, I'm coming in." Pushing the door open with the tips of her fingers. "It's Barbara.." Afterthought.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Bruce Wayne's bedroom is as opulent as one might expect, including a large balcony with double doors out to it that looks over one of the most beautiful views of the estate.

Talia al Ghul is sitting out on that balcony. She's wearing a pair of black leather pants and a bustierre made of the same material. The swords that Damian gave her are on a stand in the room, while her compound bow and three quivers of arrows are close at hand at well just inside the doors to the balcony.

She hasn't moved from the spot for hours, having brought a stool over so she's sitting on a level with the railing. Looking out at the manicured lawns below. Her hair is left free to blow about her in the soft wind.

There's no answer from Talia as she hears Barbara's voice, or the sound of the door opening. Talia's gaze drops and her eyes close.

Oracle has posed:
Weapons in range. That's good information to have. Babs keeps tabs on those swords as she passes the massive bed in the masters room, passing through the shadows of the dark room effortlessly on her way towards the double doors that lead out onto the balcony overlooking the manor. She's smart enough to keep a few steps back.. enough distance that, if she had to do so, she could defend herself.

She doesn't trust Talia.

It's clear in her demeanor.

But she's never hidden that fact either.

She still deserves to know.

Babs looks out over the grounds beyond the balcony with a pensive, even distant expression on her pale face. "We got Bruce back to the Cave. Doctor Thompkins is down there working on him now.." She begins quietly, jaw tightening beneath the flesh of her cheek. "We lost his heart beat several times." Her voice is quiet, matter of fact.

"If you want to see him one last time... now is probably the time."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia doesn't look up until the part about the doctor is there working on him. She'd expected if Bruce was ok, it would be he, or Alfred that would come to tell her. The moment it was someone else, her heart had fallen away.

But the news that he still lives brings Talia to her feet. She doesn't manage the first of what was going to be hurried steps though, before Barbara gets out the last part. A sob erupts from Talia.

The steps that would have been hurried, turn into an outright run, grasping the door jamb to swing herself through the open doorway and make the turn into the hall without losing any of her speed. The sound of her boots running on the expensive flooring will quickly be lost unless Barbara rushes to keep up. Talia hadn't known the way into the Batcave before this stay, but has learned it since. Though she may not know the fastest route, heading for the library.

Oracle has posed:
"Talia..." Babs holds up a hand, head tilting slightly when the woman starts running through the halls, "Oh..." Turning a little bit to watch her take off in the direction of the hallway rather than the knife drawer. Both hands smooth back her red hair, push bangs out of her face, and then drop down to snap out her glasses to replace them back on her face. "Yeah, I guess that's a close second to what I expected.." Under her breath.

She does pick up the pace to keep up with Talia, but she's not outright running. She knows the Mansion better, she knows all the shortcuts because she's been using them since she was a teenager. Stepping out of rooms linked together infront of the Daughter of the Dragon, "Slow... down.. You need to know what you're walking into.. I'll take you, that's why I came up here, but if you rush in there and interrupt them..."

The hell is this. She should be using Bruce's abscence to kick this woman, the hell, out of the Mansion.

Instead she's showing her the way down to the Cave. "Come with me, but fix your face. Your son is down there and he just came close to losing his father.. if you show up crying like a bitch, he'll come apart..." Her voice goes cold, "And he can't come apart. You tracking what I'm laying here? This shit is chess, not checkers.

"Get it together."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia might be startled when Barbara beats her to the library, but it doesn't show if so. The redhead's words do stop Talia short though. There are tears in her eyes but still unshed, but Talia scrubs a hand across the back of her eyes before straightening.

"Lead on," she says in a voice which is slightly less than its normal level of confidence. Though one could starve on the difference. Talia will follow close on Barbara's heels though. Thoughts of what she might do if she misses Bruce by moments pass through her head and then are pushed aside as the Eurasian woman follows.

Oracle has posed:
"Good." Babs doesn't hold them up any longer than that, rushing through the halls down to the cave with the kind of swiftness only Batman can teach and experience finding all the passages of the mansion can strengthen. Until, shortly there after, they immerge into the scene of chaos. "He's over in medical.." Headed in that direction where Doc Thompkins and Carrie are administering medications, while Damian, in a torn Robin uniform, is pumping on his fathers chest.

The Monitors all read PEA (pulseless electrical activity).

Ruh Roh.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul hurries over, and as they reach the medical area and she sees Bruce, Talia rushes past Barbara and over to his bedside. She reaches down to fell his neck for a pulse even as she eyes the medical monitors.

Talia's throat tightens to the point she can't speak. She looks on, silently willing breath back into Bruce's lungs as Damian is performing CPR. The woman has seen, even spoken to, Carrie before, so it is obvious enough which is the doctor. "Save him. Save him now," Talia says, as if giving the command would make it so.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian was straddling Bruce's body, kneeling on either side. He's operating at the correct 100 BPM, silently counting in his head. After thirty compressions, he performs a rescue breath, and repeats the compressions. "More PEA, fight it, damn you!" He keeps the rhythm, another thirty, and a breath.

  Damian had thrown his cape to the side, his suit had been roughed up, a one and one half inch hole with dried blood leading to Damian's bare skin, close to his gut.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
While Damian performs the compressions and CPR, Carrie measures out syringes at Dr. Thompkin's request. One after another is filled and lined up for her to inject Bruce with when the right time comes. "Chemical cardioversion," she announces to the newcomers to fill them in with what, precisely, was going on at this moment. "Heartbeat is irregular and we're having to reset his heart to the proper rate."

Else it would keep happening. Losing him like this. Repeatedly. Another syringe is filled and set down only for her to pause to stare at the arrangement on the usually sterile stainless steel tray by the bedside.

"Everything's ready to go." It's only then she risks looking up at Talia with an emotionless expression, then over to Barbara, as she explains, "Once he's reset Dr. Thompkins is inducing a coma so we can get him stable." At least this was the game plan she'd been told on the fly.

Oracle has posed:
"Good catch with the irregular heart rate." Doctor Thompkins says to Carrie, glancing up at the monitors as Damian continues to press down upon Bruce's chest, keeping precious blood moving to vital organs while his heart isn't doing the job. A constant O2 sat of 99%-100% sustained. "Barbara, could you grab 1mg of Epi?" Despite the chaos, despite the obvious gravitas of the situation and Talia's commanding tone, Lee Thompkins is like a Sargeant under-fire, strolling across the battlefield so casually as to be haphazzard.

But she knows her craft.

"Yes, ma'am." Babs rushes over to the crashcart and pulls out the prefilled syringe, passing it over to Carrie over Bruce's waist once she's assembled it, "Damian, let me know if you get tired." She doubts very seriously that this is anytime soon. "Talia, keep talking to him..." Babs says begrudgingly.. "It helps..." She hopes.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia's sloe eyes look across what everyone is doing, though she only manages a few seconds for each person before her gaze goes back to Bruce each and every time. She walks over closer to the bed, leaning over it as she reaches a hand out to Bruce's face to touch it.

"I gave you permission to... go do this," Talia tells him. Ok, it wasn't really permission. She just accepted it was what he needed to do, and she supported him. But he can't argue the difference at the moment, so she wins.

"But I did not give you permission to leave like this. This is nothing compared to what you have been through, Bruce Wayne. I did not... I will not have you thinking that you can just leave your son like this," she tells him. Talia's tone might sound impersonal to some, though her eyes are windows into what she's really feeling, no matter what she manages in her tone.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin keeps the compressions going, hoping for a beat, or something shockable that he could stand up and clear for. Dutifully, giving breaths every thirty compressions.

  "I'm...fine." Is all he says while he's pumping. He was honestly more worried to overexert himself and break his father's hyoid bone, or worse. He could only guess what kind of damage is done internally, but exploratory options were out of the question right now. Talia's comment concerning himself...is touching. But there wasn't time to stop for anything at the moment. Though if there was a lull in the dull roar, they could probably hear sharp sniffs from Damian and stray tears dropping onto Bruce's chest.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley reaches over, careful not to interrupt or get in the way of Damian's chest compressions, to accept the syringe of epinepherine from Babs. "I think we're ready," she informs matter-of-fact with a look toward Thompkins to ensure that this was the proper time. It would start with the injection. Thankfully it wouldn't be direct to his heart as it would be in so many movies. He had an IV hooked up to one arm already, and it's this that she moves to insert the needle into via the drip feed.

"Ready, Damian? He may jerk from this," she warns. "On three."

"One..." The needle slides in.

"Two..." A deep breath as she tries to match the injection with the speed of compressions. Down, up, down, up...

"Three!"

The plunger is pushed flush momentarily replacing the blood infusion with the epi.

Oracle has posed:
Babs is there by the monitors, watching them like a hawk beside Doctor Thompkins. The pair of them probably appear the most outwardly controlled of the whole lot, Babs specifically looks distant... almost robotic in the way she looks between monitors and Bruce on the table. Her expression is hard lines, her eyes focused and clear behind her red framed glasses.

"Damian! Hold compressions.." Babs calls out, reaching up to lay a hand on the youngest Waynes' shoulder. She watches those monitors a moment more, Lee gripping Babs' shoulder as they both stare... Sinus Rhythm! "I've got him!" She shouts, glancing back, Lee is already moving towards the ventilator to near the head of the medical bed near Talia, "Excuse me, Ms.. I need to hook him up." Connecting the equipment is fairly simple, he's already been intubated. "Carrie, start a Levifed drip, start it at 5 mikes." Smiling, professionally, but reassuringly to her young assistant.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul moves out of the way. She is not unskilled in medicine, but for now the others seem to be working together as a team. She doesn't interrupt what they have going, moving to hover at the foot of Bruce's bed instead.

Talia's eyes go to her son, watching him working to save his father. She looks back to Bruce. Thoughts are tumbling through her head. Thoughts that only one man would have much chance of ever hearing.

Let him hear them.

Nightwing has posed:
Dick Grayson arrives in practiced silence and stealth. While instinct encourages him to run to the side of his beloved mentor.. his father. He knows good people are already working on his resuscitation. There is nothing more he can contribute. Instead, he slowly approaches. Stoic and determined. He was already prepared for the worst. Bruce had predicted so much. His hand raising to remove his mask, he stands quietly and observes the medical procedures, murmuring almost inaudibly beneath his breath. 'Come on Bruce'

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian had stopped looking at the monitors, looking down at his hands as he compressed. But he sharply looked up when Barbara told him to hold.

  Please let it be it. Please.

  When sinus rhythm is called, he practically folds back and catches his breath. The weight lifted off his shoulders, Damian had a brief respite, finally.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley lets out a breath of relief herself when he's hooked up to the oxygen. That was good. This was a start. She reaches out to squeeze Damian's shoulder wordlessly even as she glances past toward the others gathered here hoping for Bruce to pull through with a nod.

It wasn't over. Far from it. It was headway though so that the real work could begin.

"We're going to need a lot of coffee," she mutters as she falls back toward Leslie's side to pick up the roll of assistant once again.

Oracle has posed:
Babs has strikes of dried blood down her green tantop and the front of her jeans, but she looks... surprisingly calm. Unnaturally so even. Staring at the scene playing out like a medical drama, rather than her mentor. Both hands come up to smooth her face, then back over her hair to brush back bangs from off her cheeks.

That's when she spies Dick.

Wrapping around Leslie Thompkins who is busy hooking Bruce up to the ventilator, tight smile for Damian and Carrie who have been bare none life saving assistance to the doctor, she makes her way towards her eldest brother. When she reaches him, she tilts her head back, blinking green eyes that are glossy, but look nowhere near ready to shed tears. "I'm glad you're here, Dick..." Glancing back at Bruce, then back to her brother.

"After you've spoken to Bruce, we need to talk."

Nightwing has posed:
Dick offers a sigh of relieve at Carrie's announcement than gazes down toward Barbara, his own eyes threatening to turn glossy. He leans down and offers her a brief hug than looks toward Bruce. He swallows and then stands up straight again. "In some ways, we've already talked. Bruce prepared for everything. He had a message ready for me in this eventuality. That's Batman. There's always a plan."

He reaches down and rests a hand on Babs' shoulder. "No guarantees on when he's going to wake up. We have a city to protect and a legacy to uphold."

He gazes toward Damian momentarily. His little brother had a task and already a small victory. He would be alright. Attention returning to Babs, "Once he's stable. Let's talk."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian slid off the bed, standing up and removing his red tunic, browned with his blood, and darkened by Bruce's blood. His green gloves were stained much the same way, and he suddenly felt the need to get all of that off of himself.

  He practically runs to the armory, he will need a lot of body wash to feel clean again. He kept quiet for now, he lacked the ability to process his feelings at this point, not sure what he was experiencing.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley steps back just a few feet to survey the area. She still looked numb as her green eyes roam over the scene. Damian's flight. Babs and Dick hugging. Talia simply standing there staring and willing Bruce to survive. Dr. Thompkins doing her job.

Unlike the others, Bruce wasn't her father. She hadn't grown up with him. She was the newest, and the one with the least emotional connection... At least that's what she's convinced herself of as she takes a shaky, deep breath. Someone had to be strong here besides just the doctor. She had the least to lose... Right?

"Someone should check on Alfred," she 'suggests' in a tone of voice that indicates it might not be quite a suggestion. Babs and Dick are given a look again along with a nod. "Damian will be fine. You should check on your son in a short while, Talia." Otherwise... Ah. She turns to take off her own gloves intending to clean herself a bit as she asks, "What now, Dr. Thompkins?"

She would soldier on. Until she couldn't anymore. Or didn't need to, one way or another.

Oracle has posed:
Babs nods to Dick, returning the hug when it's given, and then sliding away to go check on Alfred when Carrie suggests it. When someone is right, they're right, it doesn't matter what tone they take. Babs is pragmatic like that. "Find me later, Dick. I'm going to go check on Aflred and then I have to pick up Charlie. I haven't been able to reach her all night." Which has been one more thing to worry about.

Is Babs worried?

Only those who know her best would know for sure.

Nightwing has posed:
"Let me know if you hear from Batgirl, Barbara. I'll do the same." Dick may be worried, but his tone is professional. Dick nods to her, glances toward Carrie, offers her a faint reassuring smile and then walks in Damian's wake. Less intruding and more remaining in hearing range, one might guess that he was trying to position himself in case he's needed. A brief detour is made to ensure the coffee pot is primed and ready. As far as he was concerned, Alfred had the night off.