A/N: Yay for new ideas that appear but have hardly any relevance to what I'm writing right now. *sigh* Well, this idea popped up as I was listening to Comatose by Skillet, and bam. Here we go.
WARNING: This is my first attempt at writing angst. Ugh. Bad attempt at angst writing up ahead!


DICK GRAYSON

"What's got you so troubled, handsome?" Verena questioned me. I hadn't realized I was daydreaming until I noticed that I was just stirring my milkshake with my straw, looking out the window. What was I even looking at?

I turned back to look at the blonde that sat across from me. Her green eyes shined as she waited for my response. "Am I boring you that much?" she teased.

The corner of my lips curled into a smile that I learned over the years made her heart skip a beat. "Never," I declared. "I don't even know why I'm zoning out when I've got you with me."

Her cheeks flushed a light pink, and I internally chuckled at her innocence.

"Wipe that smirk off your face before I do it for you, Grayson," she warned, though her eyes and lips told me she wasn't serious.

That did it.

I laughed, making her reach over and smack me. That only succeeded in making me laugh harder.

"The Joker's been spotted on Amusement Mile."

I stopped my laughter and immediately shifted into work mode. "Be right there," I responded quickly. Tossing a quick twenty on the table, Verena and I slipped out of the booth. "Keep the change," I told the waitress that was serving us as I passed her.

Verena and I quickly found an empty alley to change in. She slipped on her mask, and I heard the revving of our bikes approaching.

We looked at each other before nodding, slipping out of the alleyway and perching ourselves on our bikes. I revved the engine, and took off, with my girl right beside me.

It only took us about fifteen minutes to arrive to Amusement Mile in Gotham, since we pretty much broke every speed law there was.

"Batman," I said, walking up to him.

Batman nodded curtly in greeting before pointing out, "Joker's inside."

"Jeez, isn't that obvious?" Verena muttered beside me. We looked up at the flashing lights that read Joker's Funhouse.

"You take the south, I'll take the north, and you take the west," Batman ordered, looking at Verena and then me.

The two of us nodded before we stormed into the building. Immediately, we were greeted by Joker's cackles over the sound system.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Bats and the Brats," Joker's sickening voice filled the area. "Try to find me if you can…"

The three of us split up, heading down different hallways. Immediately, I was greeted with the sight of multiple goons. I pulled out my eskrima sticks, and quickly went through them with ease.

My speed didn't drop as I flipped over some goons, knocking them in the back of the head with my weapons, and I launched a flash grenade, blinding them as I worked quickly, taking them all out.

I noticed a higher floor and saw a clown with an overly large gun. The weapon cocked as the gun aimed at me, and he stuck out his tongue. He aimed, and fired, but I tumbled away from the attack.

Ugh, I hate clowns.

I quickly found a route to climb up to the second floor, and stalked towards the clown, who pulled back, raising his arms in defense.

As I got closer, his face morphed into a sickening smile and he pointed the flower he had on his chest at me. I ducked before springing up, giving the clown a nice uppercut that left a sickening crack.

I think I broke his jaw, but whatever.

I walked off down another hallway, and was greeted with multiple images of me. Silly mirrors. Terrific.

I reached forward, and noticed something moving out of my peripheral vision. I whirled around, throwing a kick at the goon that was coming towards me.

He fell to the ground, unconscious.

He was dressed in an outfit that was made to resemble mine, and my nose wrinkled. He did not look good in tights. Thank God Verena always said my ass looked fantastic in them… as well as everything else.

A smirk grew on my face as I thought about her wreaking havoc on these clowns (no pun intended), and I gave a roundhouse kick to another henchman that looked like me.

How many people were willing to work for the Joker, anyway?

Growing tired of this maze, I pulled out an eskrima stick, and hit it against the glass. The mirror shattered easily, and I repeated the process until I found a way out, knocking out anyone that was in my way.

I met up with Batman as I ran down a hallway and he gave me a quick nod. The second we opened a door though, I heard a beeping sound.

"Get down!" Batman ordered, and he covered us with his cape as I ducked down.

An explosion rang, and rubble hit me roughly, but not enough to crush me. Batman stood up, and I followed. I hit the side of my head, trying to cease the ringing of my ears. I looked around to assess the situation.

The ground beneath us began to shake, and I shot a grappler up, and swung myself away just in time for the ground below us to collapse.

I landed easily next to Batman, and heard the sound of loud cackling.

I moved my head upwards, and saw the Joker, standing above on a platform, his crazy green hair mixing with the moonlight, giving it an ugly shine.

"What's this?!" he cried, before looking down at us with those crazy eyes of his. "One little Bat… There's another little Brat… but wait! Where's the other birdie?"

Fuck.

I whirled my head around so quickly I thought I'd break my neck, as I searched desperately for a flash of yellow and red. Where was she?

Batman and I ran over to the rubble, and I began to furiously dig as fast as I could while the Joker cackled heinously in the background.

Shut up.

Shut the fuck up.

Verena.

Verena.

Where are you?

"Hahahahahahah!" the Joker laughed ceaselessly.

My fingers touched something soft, and my eyes widened. I pushed back the rubble, and I felt something slippery. I wiped it away, and spotted a familiar scar.

"No," I whispered softly. I furiously pushed away the rubble with a heavy grunt, lifting away the part of the ceiling that prevented me from getting close to her.

The laugh was even louder and more obnoxious, and I wished he would run out of air and choke and die.

This wasn't Verena.

No.

The body that laid before me wasn't her.

She looked so… broken. Her skin shone brightly because of the remains of a small fire, as well as the moonlight. Her face was covered in crimson liquid, and her hair was so filthy it was almost black, not even resembling her shining blonde.

I slipped my arms under her, lifting her up with ease. She was completely limp.

The Joker laughed maniacally, and the fire crackled as it slowly began to die away, but I could only hear the soft drips of Verena's blood hitting the ground.

I faintly heard and enraged snarl before Batman thundered, "JOKER!"

That seemed to signal the Gods, as thunder boomed, further emphasizing Joker's cackles. I felt the downpour immediately. The sky darkened without a second though, and with the rain, the fire died, leaving us in near darkness.

My mask's night-vision activated, and I saw the blood being washed off of Verena's face, revealing her smooth skin to me.

"TWO BIRDIES DOWN, ONE MORE TO GO!" Joker screeched out before he proceeded to laugh again. He was ceased temporarily by Batman punching him, but continued to laugh.

I held Verena's body tightly to me, as I fell to my knees. Pain shot as I fell against the rough rubble, but I ignored it. No pain could match what I was feeling right now.

My tears mixed with the rain that fell, and I cradled Verena's body, willing for her to wake up somehow.

I placed my head on her chest, willing to heart just a small thump, no matter how weak it was.

Nothing greeted me.

I felt even worse than when Jason died.

I felt like a part of me was ripped away.

I felt like the reason to live had disappeared.


I let out a gasp, my eyes snapping wide open and I sat up quickly.

Oh God.

What the hell just happened?

I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling the hot dampness of it.

A dream.

A dream.

It was only a dream.

"Dick?" I heard a soft, familiar voice question.

Through my heavy breathing, I turned my head to look at who called my name.

Verena sat on our bed, her hair disarrayed from sleep, her green eyes cloudy, but slowly focusing. She rubbed one of her eyes sleepily, before blinking to fully focus.

I reached up forward to touch her, my hand cradling her face. I panted heavily, my heart running a thousand miles a minute.

She reached up to cup my hand that was holding her. She looked at me softly, understanding me without words. "I'm alright…" she reassured me.

I swallowed the air in my throat heavily.

"I'm alright," she repeated. "It was just a dream."

"Just a dream…" I repeated, sighing heavily. I turned to the nightstand, to get a glimpse at the time. 3:51 AM glared at me in angry red font. I hadn't even been asleep that long.

My eyes then glanced over at the picture that sat right next to the alarm clock.

My blue eyes shined back at me, as I held Verena around her waist, close to me as possible. Her green eyes sparkled back at me. Jason stood in front of me, beaming at the camera, his own crystal clear eyes practically glittering.

I swallowed heavily again.

"I miss him…" I choked out.

"I know," Verena agreed, pulling me to her. "I do, too…" she said softly, digging her face into my muscle-shirt-clad chest.

I used my index finger to lift her chin so she could look at me. Her emerald gaze wavered slightly as she fought the tears that were beginning to rise.

With all the love I could muster, I captured her lips with mine. I felt wetness on my cheeks, and wasn't sure if it was my tears or Verena's.

We broke away a minute later, gasping for breath. I pulled her close to me, desperate to feel the comfort that her presence gave me.

No words were spoken. None were needed.

We sat there, holding each other, until the sun rose for a new day.


A/N: This series will be marked as "Completed" because I don't know exactly when it'll be finished. I'll just update this when I get a new idea. And yes, this does take place during Season 3-4 of the Lovebirds series, after the death of Jason Todd (which I will be writing). Review, guys!