He caught sight of the redhead disappearing around the corner. He followed. She glanced nervously around before exiting the hatch. Brainiac 5 was by now, extremely suspicious as to what her motives might be. She's going to Florin Brainiac surmised. Stealthily, he followed her. She had been acting strange ever since their battle with the Fatal Five. He thought back to that day…
They flew through the wreckage caused by Validus. Suddenly there they were: Validus, Mano, Tharok, Persuader and the Emerald Empress with her Emerald Eye. The legion flew into battle: Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl taking on the Emerald Empress, Superman, Invisible Kid and Lightning Lad battling Validus while Cosmic Boy, Timberwolf and Chameleon boy flew at Persuader. Brainiac engaged Tharok, who he silently admitted to himself, was almost as intelligent as he was. He caught sight of Mano battling Nightwing. He had her backed up against the wall but that was the last he saw before focusing all his attention on Tharok…
The Emerald Empress used her Emerald Eye to teleport the Fatal Five away. Brainiac flew over to Nightwing who was kneeling in the exact spot she had been battling. Strangely thought, she was completely unharmed. She was staring into space with blank eyes. Brainiac shook her "are you all right?" he queried. She looked at him blankly before she shook herself "I-I'm alright" she said quietly as she got up and flew away…
What had transpired between the two that had caused her to act that way? Brainiac continued following. He had been right like he knew he would be. The redhead alighted on the leafy planet and made her way through it. Brainiac followed her until a purple spotted Burlack plant divided them. When he made his way past it, he had lost her. Brainiac decided to keep on searching.
Meanwhile…
Nightwing knew he was following her. She hoped she had lost him because finding out her little secret would not bode well for her…or for him. She sat down in the clearing and waited. She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew he was shaking her awake. She looked into a pair of soft brown eyes framed by long, dark brown hair and she flung herself into his arms, being very careful to avoid his right hand. They kissed deeply. When they finally pulled apart Nightwing spoke "you're gonna get me in trouble one of these days" she teased. He gazed into her violet eyes "only if you tell" he teased back.
He held her, forgetting everything. Forgetting the way his people had mistreated him, forgetting his problems, forgetting he was considered one of the worst murderers in the galaxy…he let her soft, sweet smell of strawberries envelope him. She was his saving grace. Without her he had been lost. He held her as tears began dripping from his eyes. Nightwing felt the wet drops on her head. She looked up at him "what's wrong?" she said concerned.
He simply shook his head as tears continued to fall "you don't know how grateful I am to have found you" he began "I had nothing to live for after I obliterated my planet, until I met you" he looked into her violet eyes "if I get caught…I'll be imprisoned. I won't get to see you again…and we can't keep fighting each other. I might hit you during one of our battles. I'd never forgive myself if I hurt you" he held her tighter.
Nightwing gazed into his eyes remembering the battle…
They had been fighting for who knew how long when the tables finally turned…in his favor. He backed her against a wall. She tried to run but was thrown to the floor; he landed on top of her. Dazed from the impact, it took a minute for Nightwing to realize that the weight on top of her had not relented, but rather he had straddled her hips, pinning her legs to the ground. She gazed up at him, accepting her defeat, when the most unexpected thing happened: he took off his helmet for a moment and she gasped at how handsome he was. He pressed his lips to hers and all thoughts fled. The kiss was so powerful and so full of emotion it made her heart stop. It was sweet yet spoke of great pain and loneliness, of ridicule and abuse and above all a great longing for closeness. It was over to soon. He put his helmet back on and the next second he vanished along with his teammates…
She gazed into his brown eyes and said four simple words: "I love you Mano"