Back at the Watchtower

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

Others were wounded worse, somehow. Ralph's legs needed some serious emergency care, but with his physiology, he was able to get out of there before some of the others. Certainly its not as if they had bedspace.

Now he's been sitting and rocking his daughter... his daughter who's going to live, for a few hours. He hasn't said a word since the fight, not even to Sue or to Allanah. He hasn't even shifted expression really, even when they were treating plasma burns.

But he was deperate to see Allanah, to hold her again, to know that she had somehow made it where so many others didn't.

Comments

[mrs-dibny.livejournal.com]

Sue wants to be with Allanah and her husband. she needs to be there. Her heart and dreams certainly are. Unfortunantly, the rest of her has collapsed. Using the green lantern ring, even with a stubborn and defiant streak 10 miles wide and no fear due to some hocus pocus, Sue Dibny was just damn lucky to be able to use that ring at all.

That's why when she wakes up, she feels like she's gone through senior exams, labor, and 5 of the worst hangovers she's ever had.

"...Allanah?"

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

One arm stretches out, cradling their daughter, and holding her out in front of Sue. His arms, thankfully, are fine. His legs are all bound up, and an iv of gingold extract is hooked to the other. After bleeding it out his pores, and the coughing up blood bit, it needs to be controlled... but he'd have died as a normal human a while ago.

[mrs-dibny.livejournal.com]

Ralph? Normal? Perish the thought.

"She okay, sweetheart? I'd open my eyes, but there's this little thing called 'throwing up'."

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

His voice is shaky and weak, but he talks.
"She'll live... she... we almost lost her."

[mrs-dibny.livejournal.com]

"Bastard..." she mutters. "I tried though Ralph. I tried to save him after all that. Constantine...You gotta believe me."

Not that she'd cry much over the fact, but her husband taught her better than that.

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

He nods, looking at his wife, and pushing Allanah into her arms. "I know Sue, I was conscious, I heard it... I was just... in shock, I guess. I... could have killed him... stopped him then... but I just... just couldn't do it... and couldn't think of anything else."

[mrs-dibny.livejournal.com]

"Hey, how my baby boucy ball, huh?" She says it all in that cute little baby talk she swore she'd never use. "How's my widdle baby bouncy ball?" Allanah squeals a little, happy to be with Moma.

"'Course you didn't, hon," she says matter-of-factly. "You know better."

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

He nods, head in one hand. "I know... and it almost cost everyone their lives."

[mrs-dibny.livejournal.com]

"And what then?" she asks. "Then we're back to mind wipes and blurred lines between who's up here and who's a psycho running around in his underware."

"No one said the word we want for her was going to be an easy one to get."

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

He nods, still not looking up. "I know. But if it hadn't been for... what happened to you... he would have gotten free. I... I don't know. And we still have to make an announcement to the UN... we're going to have to lie... but if no one explains, people will assume the worst."

[mrs-dibny.livejournal.com]

"No," she corrects him. "I will be going before the UN. And I will tell them what happened to me and why Dr. Light felt that this justified killing thousands of children." She holds Allanah a little closer.

"Ralph, remember? I asked to do that kind of political work. Diana and the League, including you, signed off on it. I didn't let Luthor use what happened with Light as a political tool and I won't let it happen here. He was right in the fact that we shouldn't have done that, but for everything else, even his reasoning, was dead wrong and I won't have you sucked into feeling ashamed for something that isn't yours. God only knows how much I used to do that for both of us."

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

Ralph nods once, leaving his hand resting on both Sue, and his little girl, their little girl. "Its... going to take a while on this one. He... he destroyed us. And there was nothing we could do. And then... oh god... I was going to surrender to him, to that monster... instead of killing him. Let him kill me... Ollie, Wally... the rest. To try and save the innocents. And... it didn't matter to him. How do we deal with that kind of monster?"

[mrs-dibny.livejournal.com]

He should know this one. He told her this as part of his 'get to know the Methodists I grew up with in Lake Woebegon or whatever," thing.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." She sighs. "That's how we deal with any of this crazy, crazy stuff, Ralph."

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

He nods, trying to pull things together some. Healing is going to take a long, long time and he knows it. The mental as well as the physical. "Yeah... you're right. I know you're right. I just don't know how I can face some of the others now."

[mrs-dibny.livejournal.com]

"Might help to face them as a friend first, honey." She breathes through pursed lips. "Every since all that ugly got out that's the sort of thing we've been short on."

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

He nods. "Tomorrow. At least anyone who'll come see me. They say it'll be weeks before I can walk again. Days before they'll let me off painkillers once they found something that would work. Tonight... I just need to spend some time with my girls."

[mrs-dibny.livejournal.com]

She sniffs. "The only reason they'd stay away is to recover and deal with their familes - same as we'll be doing."

She raises on finger, walks over to the diaper bag and pulls out Allanah's pacifier and their emergency Crackerjack box and then settles into his lap.

"Okay, wiseass," she teases (because he never says "girls," unless he's teasing her a bit) and rattles the box. "But only if you guess the prize right."

Never been a problem before. Shouldn't be a problem now.

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

It never has been before. He considers it, trying to put his mind to work. As soon as it goes very deep though, he finds a lot of things he doesn't want to deal with. Not yet, not tonight.

"I'll... try and guess tomorrow." he offers, looking at Allanah. At least they have a tomorrow.

[mrs-dibny.livejournal.com]

Damn...she didn't see most of it, but this had to have been a real problem if she can't tease Ralph out of something.

He can't take tomarrow, Ralph.

"It'll be waiting for you," She hands Allanah over to her Daddy. So will I... She kisses her knight in purple armor.

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

Real problem is putting it mildly. The fact that he had seriously considered killing someone - knew how he'd do it, and came close, should say just how bad it was.
He takes his daughter though, resumong rocking her, soothing her back to sleep. "Tomorrow." he agrees quietly.

"Sue... I love you."

[mrs-dibny.livejournal.com]

"I love you too, Ralph." One last try for a joke. "Face it, you're stuck with me."

[itsastretch.livejournal.com]

He lays down beside her, figuring out how to stretch to manage it without disturbing the weird leg casts they hay him in, forming a nice little bed for Allanah in his chest.

He doesn't laugh, but he manages a small smile. "Good." he replies, snuggling in.