Helena stayed true to her word and began to try her level best to open up to Alex. The more she began to trust him, the more she found out how wrong she had been in shutting him out initially.

But with time, she figured out that despite Alex giving off the impression that he could be there for everyone he cared for, he needed someone to do the same for him. In the next few months, life took a terrible turn for them when Tim aka Red Robin went after Deathstroke to free Lucas from his captivity.

Dora's Coffee Haunt had been ruined from the aftermath of Deathstroke's attack and Dora was in the hospital, injured due to Shadow Walker. Alex had gotten injured as well but he was worried senseless for his younger sister, unable to even think about his own weakening state. Out of the shop's crew, Tyler too had a fractured arm and the Bat vigilantes had brought them all to the hospital after Deathstroke and Shadow Walker fled, taking Luke with them.

Red Robin had once again paid no heed to Batman's warning of not endangering himself by going after Deathstroke on his own but right then he was determined to bring Luke back so he had left. 

Helena came to the hospital soon as she heard what had happened and found Alex with his mother and George Wilson, the three of them evidently anxious. She could see Dora wasn't with them nor was Luke and that made her get worried too.

She knew Lucas had been staying with the Beaumonts after his encounter with Deathstroke at ACE Chemicals and precisely that was what had caused the entire destruction on the coffee shop as well as Alex's currently injured state.

"Alexander!"

Alex turned around to see Helena, she had reached out towards him hands fastening on to his arms, grey eyes noticing all the injuries. He nodded as if to assure her that he was fine but she could sense the worry coursing through his veins.

"Dora's in the ICU," he spoke up at last, "she got hurt severely."

"Don't worry, she will be fine," she remarked gently, "sit down. You're tiring yourself out and you have to be there for Dora when she wakes up, right? Don't overexert yourself."

Helena made him sit down on the chairs fixed at the side of the corridor then went to talk to the doctor herself. Upon learning that they might need a blood donor for Dora and they couldn't let Alex donate blood as he was already injured, she gave her name in as the donor instead.

She knew Alex was extremely worried for Dora and she wanted to do all she could to make sure that the girl survived. She was led to a ward where she was asked a few basic questions about her health history while one of the nurses checked her temperature, pulse rate and hemoglobin level.

A syringe was injected into her arm and the required blood was retrieved then the nurse covered the area with a bandage. Helena returned to the corridor after a few minutes.

Alex had been worried what took her so long but then he noticed the bandage on her arm and realized that she had signed up as the blood donor for Dora. She sat down beside him but said nothing, however he spoke up, "thank you."

Grey eyes met his honey shaded irises as she smiled softly, "you don't have to thank me, I care for Dora too and I promise you, she will be alright soon."

He took in a deep breath, head resting back against the wall, "I hope so. I can't bear to lose her."

"You won't lose her," she replied, hand gently entwining through his, "everything will be okay soon."

***

Fatigued brown irises fluttered open at last, her senses numb from the pain and anesthesia. A cloudy haze disturbed her vision and she had no idea where she was.

The last thing she remembered was terrifying darkness eating her up and the last voice she had heard was of Tim's before her senses had extinguished. Everything else was drenched in incoherence.

Blinking multiple times to adjust her vision to the blinding white light, she saw that she was probably in a hospital. An IV was injected into her arm and almost her entire body was covered with bandages. She felt awfully dizzy and drained out, unable to sit up by herself even.

A nurse came to change the IV and noticed that she was awake so she lifted her bed in a sitting position. Her lips parted to speak and the woman drew close to listen.

"Alex..."

She looked at her, "you want me to call Alex? Your brother who's waiting outside?"

Dora merely nodded in reply, it was difficult for her to speak as her throat was raw and she felt terribly fatigued.

"I will call him right now, okay? Relax, you're going to be alright soon," she assured her in a soft tone and then after changing the IV and making sure that Dora was alright, she stepped out of the ICU.

Noticing the nurse come their way, Alex stood up immediately and so did Camille.

"Your sister has gained consciousness," the nurse informed them, "she wants to see you, Mister Beaumont."

Alex nodded but Camille's grip tightened on his arm so he asked, "can I take my mother in as well?"

"One person at a time please. She was requesting for you specifically so I advise you to go first."

Alex turned to face his mother, "Mum, let me go see her first. I promise I will come back soon so that you can meet her too."

She let go of his arm and Alex stepped through the doors into the ICU. Spotting Dora's bed in a corner, he went towards her and seeing him safe and sound in front of her, Dora let out a sigh of relief.

She had been extremely terrified that he might have gotten hurt a lot and losing Alex was a fear that she could never overcome. Back when Scarecrow had used the fear toxin on her, that fearful scene of losing Alex had kept haunting her for months and she could not bear for it to be real.

Her hand reached out towards him and he carefully took it, cautious not to cause any pain to her.

"We were all so worried for you, Dora," Alex admitted, "it's a relief to see you awake."

"Where's Luke...?"

He thought whether or not to tell her but her grip tightened on his palm so he replied, "the vigilantes went after him, they will find him."

"Is Tim here...? Stephanie...?"

"Steph is waiting outside, she came just about now. I don't know about Tim," he answered.

Dora realized why Tim wasn't there. He must have been with the vigilantes who went after Deathstroke to retrieve Luke from him.

"Dora, Mum has been very worried for you too. She wants to see you but only one person is allowed inside at a time," Alex resumed softly, "can I send her in?"

Dora nodded, letting go of his hand at last. He stood up and left the ICU, her brown eyes following his retreating figure. Seconds later, the door opened and Camille stepped in.

The woman was relieved to see that her daughter was recovering and she sat down beside her, talking to her in a soft tone. But her words were flying right over Dora's head as her thoughts were drifting again and again towards Tim and Luke.

If Tim had really gone after Deathstroke, there was no knowing what could happen to him and there was a high chance it was going to be extremely dangerous for him and the others to get Luke out.

All she could hope at that moment was that no other life got endangered due to the sick plan Deathstroke and Shadow Walker had devised together.

***