A/N: And here it is, Chapter 2 in all it's glory. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 2
There are some things that completely amazes you about Bruce Wayne. On one side of his life he's a known philanthropist, a mysterious man with many lovers and a man drenched in his riches. Yet - to Diana's surprise - she's never expected a mere mortal resist the temptations of wealth and commit the other side of his life to serving justice. Bruce Wayne. The Dark Knight. Batman. Whatever you call him, mask on or off, there is no denying that he was remarkable.
Diana too was named of many things. Wonder Woman is one of them. When she first laid a foot on the mortal world, they judged her. Then they praised her. Admired and adored. Worshipped. At first she failed to understand, but now she has learnt that her abilities are what keeps in them in awe. Then she fell in love with them. All their vices, evils and flaws and their ability to learn - learn in such a way the Gods will never learn. They are already perfect - Gods cannot change. The children of earth can.
Say what they will about Bruce Wayne. He is a child of earth - down to his skin he is powerless compared to Diana, Superman, the Flash and others he surrounds himself with. Yet, he is one who quietly leads - despite his many secrets and flaws - she respects him for that. For being that quiet leader - the silent thinker.
Though there are also times which she cannot agree with him. Including now.
"What do you think you're doing with the girl?" Diana demanded, stepping into the control room. He remained silent, and this is one of the times where she wished by the Gods he wasn't a silent thinker. "Batman. What are you doing with -"
"Nightwing has the girl." his eyes remained on the holographic screen, rewinding and then replaying, pausing and then playing a piece of CCTV footage.
"That girl is innocent - you can't just invade a civilian's life."
"We're in need of some answers. Somehow, she's related to the attacks."
Diana had enough. She rushed up behind him and grabbed his shoulder, turning him vigorously to face her. "That girl has done nothing. Let her go."
She just knew that beneath his cowl he was frowning at her, his eyes squinting. "She may be innocent - but she's more than just a part of this." he motioned at the screen behind him.
Diana watched carefully, walking past him to see the footage better. It was the girl. She was beautiful with dark hair, young - possibly no older than fourteen. The girl had her eyes closed, lying down with her hair slicked back perfectly, in what looked like a hospital. The room she was in was whitewashed, no sign of any other colour. Even the doctor who was checking her vitals signs lacked colour except for a pale blinding white.
And the girl in the bed, she continued to lay there. The sound of the machine continued to beep, yet she seemed as good as dead. The doctor walked around the bed, prodding her skin and writing things down on a clipboard. Diana was mildly disgusted - there seemed to be no care for the young girl at all.
The doctor spoke. "Vital signs, looking good. Ready for insertion of R-K. Test subject Nine." Next thing Diana sees is the doctor, holding a syringe filled with glowing red fluid, tapping the sides of the glass. And she watched how he injected her with the fluid. Still no sign of pain or movement.
The screen had changed image, the camera directly facing the girl who was now awake and sitting at the other end of a table. The girl had a pen in hand and she was scribbling away.
"What's that you're doing Miss Lago?" a woman asked.
"Drawing…" the girl replied, not bothering to look up as she continued to scrawl away.
"And what is it that you're drawing?"
"What I - What I felt." she stopped for a moment. Not looking up at the camera, her face hidden behind her hair. Her voice sounded vulnerable. Then she took her drawing and scrunched it up into a ball.
"Why did you do that Nicole?" the lady prodded. Diana wanted her to shut up, and instead take the poor girl in her own arms.
The girl didn't respond for a very long time. Her head still bowing down low. She was sobbing… sniffling and rubbing her eyes from time to time. Until… until her hands - they started to glow red.
And that's when she revealed her face. Her eyes. They were a fiery red too. A glowing, almost white-hot red. You could hear the lady behind the camera gasp. The footage ended - yet Diana could still imagine those searing red eyes burn through the screen.
"By the Gods…" she looked behind her. She looked at Batman, her eyes filled with tears that never fell. "What did they do to her?"
"R-K. An abbreviation for Red Kryptonite. They inserted her with it - part of a British intelligence led experimental programme."
"Red Kryptonite? What - how! Does Superman know about this?" No-one's aware such a thing exist - only everyone knows that green kryptonite is Superman's greatest weakness to his physical abilities.
"No. Diana - I need this to be between us."
There it is again. A lack of emotion. A lack of trust between peers.
"It's not that I don't trust any of you in the League. There needs to be some precautions first. Some researching into things before we act." he said, voice deep and somewhat reassuring. Yet Diana still finds it a hard time to buy into his secrets. "And we all know, Superman is a man who runs on his emotions."
It's like as if he read her mind, as if much better than even J'onn himself can do - a martian who has meta-human abilities. Though, she has to give in. There's no telling what Superman will do - he's just as stubborn as Batman.
Nicole woke up from a crazy dream. She got out of bed thinking she'd been abducted by this towering man, wearing a black suit with a blue bird on it. And her coffee table…
She rushed to the living room, panic rising in her chest, but once she spotted her coffee table there sitting in the centre of the room right where it's meant to be; in front of the telly and on top of her cream-woollen rug, Nicole had finally managed to let out a sigh of relief. The dream, it was almost too real, probably from the lack of sleep and that incredulous party. She looked down at herself wondering how she even managed to get some pyjamas on.
The morning went on as usual as any other day, the scent of fresh coffee flooding the kitchen and the sweet delicious taste of fried bacon and eggs. It was a Saturday today, which Nicole likes to spend time having a lie-in or a nice long run in the Gardens, right at the heart of Metropolis.
She switched on the television which immediately turned on to Channel 52. Breaking news: Man of Tomorrow saves lives from Shipwreck. She took a sip from her coffee, watching from her kitchen counter. America sure does love their superheroes. Huh. Superheroes. Mentioning the word felt funny, not in a laughable way but something that still felt unfamiliar - when she was living back home in London as a little girl, Batman was still a myth. Now you see him everywhere in Gotham. Nowadays there's even a chance you can run into a group called the "Bat-gang" somewhere in Hackney, London - a group of devoted vigilantes who swear an oath they'll protect their borough. Soon enough, the trend of seeing the Bat-symbol as a sign of fear became an internet sensation being subject to memes or a latest fashion trend.
Nicole was a skeptic. Whether or not you're a superhero - the world will always find ways to abuse good men, whatever their cause. The phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and held it to her ear, asking for who it is.
"Honey, why haven't you called!"
She pinched the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb. "Er, yeah I'm sorry Mum. Everything's just been so busy at the lab - been working full days and sometimes nights."
"Well that's a shame, love. But make sure you're getting enough to eat! You need to watch your health, do you understand?"
Mum continued to ramble on about the vitamins Nicole should be taking and making sure having a night out with friends is alright every now and again. Nicole protested that she was fine just the way things are, and that she's coping with the rent and her monthly budgets.
"My baby's all grown up." Her mother cooed. For some reason - she still can't get over the fact it's been over two years. "Speaking of which - it's impossible that a beauty like you doesn't have a special someone yet, eh?"
Nicole's mind suddenly remembered last night at Luthor's party. She hoped afterwards that she had met him much sooner - Dick Grayson seemed like a nice guy. And nice guys are much harder to look for these days. Nevertheless, there's no need to tell her mother about a shortly shared moment.
"Mum, I really need to go - I have to get on my research soon." she interjected, hoping her Mum wouldn't notice she's blatantly avoiding the subject.
"But aren't you going to say hello to Madi? Oh and you're dad - he's been waiting to talk to you for ages."
Nicole sighed. The thought of talking to Dad is almost too unbearable. Every time her mother would insist on showing him on camera, Nicole would almost choke up into tears, but hearing his voice would be much worse. Her Dad was only 47 but he sounded too fragile… too broken. His mind shattered into pieces.
"Niki! Where are you gone? I went to wake you up this morning but you weren't there!"
She didn't speak, only listened to his dying voice.
"Niki? Where did you go? Come back home, your mother n-needs help cleaning the house!" A pause, and all she could hear was his raspy breath. "Julie! Julie - where are my rubies? My rubies Julie! Julie!"
As soon as Nicole heard the word, anger started welling up inside her. "Dad." her voice was monotonous. "Dad, give the phone to Mum."
He ignored her as he continued to call for Julie, adamantly asking for a dose of rubies. And then he went quiet. She can only assume he was being given what he was wanted. Nicole swore to herself, slamming her palm against the marble counter. "Goddammit!" she hissed, pain and anger convoluted into one.
"Niki."
"Mum, don't you dare-"
"It's Madi."
"Madi?" Nicole hadn't heard her sister's voice in a long time. Who she still remembered as nine year old girl seemed a lot older, and somehow a lot wiser. A great reminder of the guilt she feels from leaving home. "Madi, put Mum back on the phone."
"She's… she's busy." Their father's cries could be heard again, much farther away.
"Then you tell me, Madi. Where the hell is Mum getting rubies for Dad, huh? I thought I left knowing he's not laying hands on them again!"
"I know! I know… I was the one. I gave them to Mum."
No - not Madi. She couldn't have taken them - could she? Would she even try? Madi knows how highly addictive they are, even if they're exposed and left out to be diffused in the air, tiny micro - particles of those damned red crystals can still be ingested. Which is why they have to be perfectly sealed when they are being sold around the streets. It leaves a recognisable trace if not carefully packaged.
"How did you get them then?"
"Everyone at school talks about a guy who sells them. And Dad… he was getting worse. All his teeth has fallen off now, so he's got to have false ones. His hair is almost gone too. And there was one night where Mum woke up because he was having a fit and blood was running through his nose-"
"You need to throw it. Burn it. I don't care how you do it - keep it away from Dad. Keep it away from everyone in the house."
"If we don't give it to him, he'll die." she began, "You probably don't care anyway, you never did. This is me trying to help him live and you're all the way there pursuing your life, pursuing your stupid dreams while you just leave us here to rot and Dad turn into a bloody skeleton!"
"He'll die either way Madi!" she screamed through the telephone. Her half empty coffee cup that was on the edge of the counter, crashing to the ground. The mug shattered in small and large shards of white ceramic, the contents splattering along the tiles and wooden cupboard doors. Nicole gulped, tears already staining her cheeks, her lips and chin. She repeated herself, a lowly whisper, slightly taken aback at the harsh truth.
"He'll - he'll die anyway."
Madi hung up.
A few minutes later the telephone rang again. She chose not to answer it. The answering machine did the job, whilst she cleaned up the mess in the kitchen. Nicole was on her knees wiping the cupboards and sweeping away any pieces from the broken mug. Her mother was leaving a voicemail, but still she didn't listen. Nicole just let her speak and ramble on.
"Niki. I don't know what Madi told you, but you shouldn't blame her. She just did what she thought was best for her father. He's fine and well you know, so you don't have to worry about us!"
"Julie - you haven't given me any of my rubies yet. I get headaches without it -"
"Shhhh! Not now, Geoff. Please, just try and talk to your daughter. Say goodbye to her. Niki. Please… call us. Talk to your father - he wants to hear your voice.
"Take care, love. I - uh - I hope that you're happy there. Bring us there for a holiday will you? It'll be nice for Madi to go see the world, and maybe she'll be lucky as you and get to live for herself soon. She's a smart one Madi, always a girl you can rely on. Takes it from you I guess.
"Alright - that's us gone. I need to cook dinner soon. When should we talk again? Love you Niki - please don't forget that. We love you so much."
Dick Grayson was a fascination to Barbara Gordon. He lived up to the symbol that was he wore on his chest, a free bird. Even though he grew under Batman's wing, Dick finally found the courage to find himself - he never was and will never be like Bruce Wayne. Despite Barbara holding the name of Batgirl, the start of her fight against crime wasn't motivated by the same dark past that Bruce and Dick shared.
They were like father and son, and Batman too grew on her with everyone in Wayne Manor becoming part of a family - whether it was by blood or not. Her father, Jim "Commissioner" Gordon didn't even know about the nights she'd spend there, and even though she still hated lying to him, Barbara was happy where she was. She felt like she was making Gotham better little by little, helping to lift the weight off of her father's shoulders. The rooftops became her playground but Grayson - they were more than a playground. They were his home, jumping mid-air from building to building was like skipping on the pavement.
"You can't even keep up!" he laughed. Dick was silent and stealthy too. If not for the years she practiced honing her sense, a passer-by could immediately miss him in the shadows, and even she found it difficult to spot him in dead of night.
"Shutup, Grayson." she muttered to herself, following the sound of his voice. "Where are we going anyway?"
"Batman's orders." he stopped on the roof of an old apartment buildings, and looked over. She walked up beside him, putting her hands on her hips and raising her eyebrows in question.
"Don't lie to me Dick. What's this really about?" Except that she needn't to question, nor did he have to answer because she finally saw the crux of the matter, the thing that made Dick's brows furrow and grind his teeth - a set of bad habits that she's come to learn - for weeks, plus with the occasionally goofy daydream smile.
The problem here lies, was a girl who looked around their age. Almost in their mid-twenties, but not quite. Beautiful, with dark hair and brown eyes and carrying bags of groceries with struggle. She stopped by the doors to the apartment building for a rest, and took her phone out, and began to dial a phone number. The same girl that Batman and Dick, excluding Barbara have their focus on right now. She noticed the way Dick watched her intently even with the mask on. A sign of a baby crush.
"God, if you really want to ask her out that bad then why don't you just give her your-" she began to jester, until Dick's phone rang through one of his hidden compartments. Both their eyes widened; Barbara in shock of who she thinks is calling him, and Dick in fright that his incredulous ringtone of a remix of Drake's One Dance would be heard all the way down in the street by Nicole Lago. Who also happened to ring someone on her phone. They watched as her head quickly shot up to look above her. Luckily, both Barbara and Dick were covered by a chimney if someone looks up from an angle way below.
Answer it, or turn it off dumbass! Barbara mouthed. Dick went for the former, and brought the phone up to his ear and cleared his throat.
"Hey." he began, lowering his voice at the expense of Barbara rolling her eyes.
"Hi - still think you can come by tonight?" she heard Nicole from below. If there's nothing else that can surprise Barbara.. She bets that Bruce - or in fact no-one else since she too had no idea - about his little encounters.
"Yeah - I'm just on my way. I'll be there in fifteen." Another reason to open her mouth wide in shock. He was ditching her!
"Wow, that's pretty soon. I didn't even get to cook yet."
"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure we can think of something to do in the meantime."
Barbara gestured gagging motions at the slightly suggestive tone in her voice, almost afraid of what Nicole's response would be.
She heard her chuckle quietly to herself below, "Uh-huh. But I'm starving. I don't think I'll be able to have time for the both of us if I don't eat soon. I'll see you." Thank God that she didn't succumb to his charm! Another reason for Barbara to gag - watching Dick almost on the brink of some serious phone intimacy made her sick.
"See you, Niki."
They waited for the sound of a door closing. Once you get Barbara starting on a rant - it's almost impossible to stop her - like an angry bull charging at a matador's red sheet.
"So you brought me here to third wheel!" she began, throwing her hands in the air.
"It's not like that Barbara - I'm telling you it's Batman's orders." he argued, starting to remove his suit where he was wearing a plain white t-shirt and jeans.
"How did you even wear that without sweating bricks? You know what - forget it. Is it really Batman's orders to have a dinner date with one of his targets?"
"She's not one of his targets - she's just a part of all this. Besides, I'm just getting the intel he needs."
"Uh-huh tell that to Batman." she remarked. "There's no intel left on her - you told me you saw the video yourself. That was her one and only involvement."
"There's more to it." he muttered under his breath. "If Batman's keeping you in the dark about it, there's a chance that there's something he's not telling me."
"There's more to it. Huh." she repeated mockingly, "Just admit it - you're into her.
He rolled up the Nightwing suit, which when concealed from the burning blue symbol looked like a rolled up parka jacket, and stuffed it into the backpack he was carrying.
"Yeah, so what if she's cute?" he replied, suddenly sounding like his whiny fifteen year old self. Barbara grinned in joy and seized the moment to tease him, pointing at him with a hand to her stomach.
"Ha! I knew it!" she said, plastering a smirk on her face. "Dick Grayson - you need to control yourself."
He ignored her teasing. "I need to go." Dick slipped the backpack on one shoulder.
"Well, I guess that's my cue too-" she said starting to walk away.
He called out her name. "Babs." She stopped, and he threw something tiny towards her. A microscanner. "I wasn't joking about getting intel."
She held it up to her face, squinting her eyes to get a better look at it. "What do you want me to do with this?" she questioned him.
"There's an abandoned warehouse in downtown Metropolis. Heard from a guy, who heard from another guy that some drug dealer supposedly linked with the Mexican cartel, wants to introduce the red crystals to the East Coast. Unfortunately enough - people are buying and want to buy this gunk. It's not your average marijuana or the typical Class A drug - it does something more."
"And your girlfriend here…is she an example of what something more can do?"
"She's the only one who survived the high dosages of Red Kryptonite they gave her."
"What!?" Barbara sputtered. She's not liking how she's mostly being kept in the dark about this. She lowered her voice to a whisper, "What - what do you mean kryptonite? There's a new drug in the streets going around that's alien? Does Superman even know about this?"
"You know how Bruce is."
"So no. Superman's gonna freak 'til he finds out what's starting to flood his streets." she sighed whilst slipping the microscanner in her utility belt. "Alright, alright. I'll do the dirty work for you while you go enjoy a hot date."
"I figured you wanted to get your hands on something new, since Bruce isn't eager to let you in on it."
Dick was much further away now, she walked along the rooftops thinking about the man he had become. Despite how irresponsible, romantic, annoying Dick Grayson can be - he knows where his heart lies. Underneath the mask, the suit and all the layers of Batman is the simple boy called Dick Grayson - a trapeze artist who has itchy feet, who can't be in one place at once, who'll flirt with anyone - even a rock, who's serious when it needs be but most importantly - a master of playing faces.
"You owe me, Grayson. Big time." she smiled to herself, climbing higher and higher along to the rooftops.
Dick never had much time to watch movies on Netflix and just chill. Being a crime fighting hero requires a lot of fighting, so at the end of the day sleeping is a gift from heaven. Sometimes he wished he had super-strength, just so he can't feel all those aching muscles that have been over-stretched whenever he's kicking someone to the face whilst doing double flips in the air.
"You're tense." Nicole said, looking up at Dick. Her head was on his lap, her legs curled up underneath a blanket, whilst Dick relaxed comfortably on the couch. Strange that it was almost a month ago that she threw him across the same coffee table right in front of them now, which he then had to quickly replace while she was out. It wasn't easy trying to find the exact design of coffee table. Good thing they had a very generic style.
He was fiddling with her long dark hair, and his mind wasn't focused on the Godfather at all. It was too busy thinking about who he'd come across tomorrow; Paragon or a pair of amateur burglars, including what else Bruce might want about Project Rojos. It's a blessing that he's even had a chance to have a date with someone who doesn't know his identity as Nightwing - they're usually hard to come by, fearing whether he's on the brink of getting his night time adventures discovered.
"What?" he asked like a dumbfounded puppy, trying to untangle his fingers from her hair. Damn, it's feeling like one of those Chinese finger traps.
"I said," she replied, pronouncing every syllable slowly "You're tense." He raised his eyebrows. Nicole sat up, putting her hair to one side and reached over to Dick's shoulders.
"You're muscles. They're tense." She began to tighten and loosen her grip several times as she began massaging him. And it felt so good. He closed his eyes loving the feel of her soft, warm hands. She lifted them from his shoulders.
Dick's eyes shot wide open. "Hey, why'd you stop?"
"Take your shirt off, and lie on your front. It'll be easier for me." she said nonchalantly.
Getting distracted isn't usually part of the plan, but if a really pretty girl tells you take your shirt off, because it'll be easier for her to massage you on your fifth date - Dick Grayson approves of the distraction. Either he had another goofy smile stuck on his face or something written across his forehead because suddenly Nicole has her arms folded across her chest and looked at him as if he's stolen a cookie from a jar.
"Keep your thoughts clean, Dick Grayson." she mused.
"Well," he stood up and stretched, then decided to put on a little show. Dick started to remove his t-shirt over his head. Nicole sure as hell not missing the sight of his body - there definitely no denying he's hot. "When you put it that way, it's really hard not to not keep it clean."
Nicole motioned him to come back to the couch so she can sit above him as he lays himself down on his front. She rubbed and knead his back from the neck to the waist, trying to relieve the tension in his muscles. Dick had his head in his arms, hearing the muffled groans when she would successfully relax his muscles.
"Gosh, how often do you train?" she curiously asked.
Dick brought his head up to speak. "Too often." he said, a smile forming on his lips as Nicole loosened the muscles around his waist, which had been bothering him for weeks.
Nicole was momentarily silent, running her hands along his bare skin she noticed the faint traces of multiple scars, her fingers stopping at a slightly raised and longer scar than the rest. The healed skin reflected like the surface of water. She opened her mouth to speak, wanting to ask how he got them. Nicole began to worry, but refrained from the thought and decided that it may not be best to ask about his past - it's probably too soon to delve into questions. She continued to move her hands all over his back, massaging him gently. The sight of the painfully long scar scratched at her curiosity.
"Well you sir, need to have an ice bath after you do. It'll be good for the tension." she finally said after a few minutes of silence. Dick suddenly twisted his whole body around and pulled Nicole's arms gently towards him, their noses almost touching. Her eyes widened at the sudden movement, realising that maybe she shouldn't underestimate his flexibility despite his physique.
"I'd rather have you relieve the tension." his breath that smelled like mint toothpaste as it tingled against her lips. His voice was a low grumble, the feel of his warm bare skin against her palms, hair ruffled in just the right way with his deep-blue eyes grazing along her body like hot embers - Nicole just realised the extent of how much Dick Grayson is driving her mind crazy.
She was waiting for it. For his lips to be against hers - she was almost about to break away after what seemed like an eternity. Until he finally loosened the grip on her arms and let his hold fall to her wrists, and brushed his lips against hers. It started off slow and sweet, an innocent type of bliss. But both knew they wanted more. Nicole's legs were tangled with his own, and she could feel her heart skipping beats as she felt his hands wander along her body, her stomach, waist, then her thigh.
Before they knew it, they were in the bedroom. Clothes sprawled on the floor, duvet covers surrounding them like clouds, each other's hands in their hair, sweat dripping from their bare skin and the sound of their breaths, inhaling and exhaling rhythmically. He was gentle yet each movement wasn't timid of pleasuring her to great extents, and in return of the favour, she pleased him in a passionate manner with the sound of his name on her lips playing like a melody to his ears.