So I already posted this on Tumblr, but I figured I might as well post it here. ENJOY.
Things weren't supposed to turn out this way.
It had all seemed so simple in his head. Go to Blüdhaven. Kill some mobsters. Easy. But then Nightwing had to go and get involved. And now they were in an increasingly grim situation.
Red Hood was lying on his stomach with his arms stretched out over the edge of a skyscraper. One hand was gripping Nightwing's left wrist. The other was gripping his forearm just above his other hand. Nightwing had a grip on Red Hood's own wrist and one hand on his forearm. They'd been like this for about ten minutes. Ten stories below was one of Blüdhaven's busiest streets. If Red Hood let go, there was no way Nightwing would survive the fall. And yet he couldn't pull Nightwing up. The fight he'd had with him had been thoroughly exhausting. Their similar training made them evenly matched. Now both of them were so tired they couldn't lift Nightwing back up. Their exhaustion coupled with ten minutes of gravity trying to do its job was making everything look all the more bleak. Red Hood's arms felt like they were going to come out of their sockets. But yet he tried to lift Nightwing again anyway.
"Ok." Red Hood growled. "On three. One, two, three!" He tried to yank Nightwing up. Nightwing tried his best to pull himself so that Red Hood wasn't doing all of the work. But the muscles in their arms quivered in exhaustion and gave out. The grip he had on Nightwing's wrist relinquished slightly. He began to slip, but Nightwing reached up and grabbed his arm again. Red Hood gritted his teeth in frustration. "God damn it-! This…this is why you shouldn't have come after me…!"
"What can I say? Blüdhaven's my city now." Nightwing responded with a slight grin. He tried to pull himself up again without assistance from Red Hood. But he was forced to abandon that effort fairly quick. With a shaky sigh he spoke again, "Ok…ok. This is looking bad." He glanced down at the street below. "And that's looking like a really far drop."
"Don't look down!" Red Hood snapped. "I can see everything fine, and trust me, you don't want to fall!" His mind was racing. Surely there was some way out of this. If he had a phone, he might have been able to risk letting go of Nightwing with one hand to call someone. But who? Bruce was all the way in Gotham. The Blüdhaven police force was useless as they come. "Damn it, ok. We're going to try again." Without waiting for a response he began trying to pull Nightwing back up.
When the effort failed, Nightwing looked up with him with an odd smile on his face. "Jaybird, I think we both know what's going to happen here."
"Yeah. We're going to get you back on this roof and I'm going to knock you out." Red Hood replied stubbornly. Some part of him was trying to come to terms with the fact that Nightwing of all people had given up. "Now shut up, I need to think."
Nightwing shook his head. "We're both exhausted. I'm not going to be able to get on to that roof again."
"Shut up! Don't you dare talk like that-"
The elder of the two didn't listen. He began talking very quickly, speaking loudly so that Red Hood couldn't shout over him. "I need you to watch after Tim and Damian. I know you three never really got along, but I just need someone to make sure they're ok. Don't worry about Babs. She's tough, she can look after herself. I know she can." Nightwing smiled again. "Ok? Just say ok, Jay. Please?"
"Fine. Fine, I'll keep an eye on them. But I won't need to." Red Hood shook his head in disbelief. Nightwing was never the type to talk this way.
"Yes, you will. And Bruce…" Nightwing's voice trailed off slightly. Finally he said, "Tell him thank you. For everything. For taking me in, for training me, for making me into Robin…I owe my entire life to him. He gave me a family again. A reason to live. A father. And some annoying little brothers." This time he grinned and laughed a bit. "Tell him for me. Ok? I mean…I never told him. You know how he is. Anyone even so much as mentions the L word he hightails it to the Batcave and broods for a few hours. But I love him a lot. I love Tim, and Damian, and Babs…" Suddenly the grin faded from his face. Perhaps it was because he was realizing how much he would leave behind when he let go. For the second time in his life, he wouldn't be able to say goodbye to his family.
It finally dawned on Red Hood that the situation was far more bleak than he'd wanted to see previously. "Look, Dickiebird, you're going to-"
"No, I'm not." Nightwing's voice was quieter. Much more resigned. But then the grin appeared again. "And you…look. You can put a bullet in every person in Arkham and I would not care. Ok…I mean, I would care. Because it's wrong. But you're still Jaybird to me and I'll love you anyways. Ok? Just say ok."
Red Hood gritted his teeth in frustration. "Ok…"
"Now, I need you to do me a favor." Nightwing said, keeping his voice even and calm. "I'm going to let go. And I want you to shoot me before I hit the ground."
"What? No, Dick, I kill criminals. I couldn't kill you-"
"I can't die like my parents, Jay. Please." There was real pleading in Nightwing's voice. "That's probably my worst nightmare."
"Not only do you want me to drop you off the side of a building, you want me to shoot you too." Red Hood knew he would do it, though. He had no ill will against Nightwing. They had different ways of going about things, but they were still technically brothers.
"Think of it as a favor to me." Nightwing chuckled slightly. Laughing even in the face of death. He looked up at Red Hood with a small smile. And then he let go.
Despite the fact he knew it was coming, Red Hood still tried to hold on to him. But his arms were too weak to hold him in his grip. Nightwing slipped away from him and started to fall. His hand was shaking from the strain when he pulled his gun off his belt. Nightwing was falling fast, his back to the ground. Red Hood gripped the gun with both hands to keep his aim steady. There was a loud BANG as he pulled the trigger. A flash of red came from Nightwing's chest, his body leaving the blood behind in the air. His controlled fall suddenly became a free fall.
Red Hood looked away before Nightwing hit the ground. There was a loud crash from the impact. Down below a taxi honked its horn. Its tires squealed as it tried to avoid the mysterious fallen object and crashed into another taxi going in the opposite direction. Red Hood curled his shaking hands into fists. "God damn it…"
Shaking all over now, he stood up slowly and looked towards the sky. It was a perfect night once you were high enough to escape the smog. The air was crisp and cold. Red Hood let the wind hit his face as the chorus of sirens started. He didn't look down again. If he did, he didn't know what he'd do. So he wiped away the few tears in his eyes and began planning his trip back to Gotham. Not even the feud he had with Bruce would keep him from attending this funeral. Nothing would.