Here is the third chapter and I hope you all enjoy the read.
Laurel grunted as her fist connected with the perpetrator's face, sending him reeling backwards into the side of car. He was momentarily stunned, but when he regained his wits, he charged back at Laurel with a punch which she easily dodged. She retaliated with a boxing combination that ended with a right uppercut. He hit the grown even more stunned than before. Laurel stood above him, starring down at him with cold, green eyes. He looked to be groggy and out for the count. However, considering what she caught him doing, on top of the need to work off the worry that had been clinging to her insides, she was far from finish with him.
She straddled him and then began to rain down hard lefts and rights into his face. Letting out harsh grunts as she did. With every punch she let out the anger and disgust she felt for the would be rapist, her ever growing hatred for Ra's Al Ghul, and the anxiety she felt from hearing no word from Nyssa who had went back to face her father two days ago. She was so enraptured into what she was doing that Laurel didn't notice the damage she was doing to her knuckles nor the calling of her code name. She was only snapped out of her trance by two strong arms wrapping around her and pulling her off her target, "lay off, Canary!" the person scolded.
Laurel broke free from her grasp and turned to look Huntress in the face. She looked at Laurel with hard eyes, "you need to cool it. That was uncalled for",
Laurel looked at her with wide eyes, "uncalled for? You saw what he was going to do!" she shot back.
"The guy is scum but you don't get the right to do that. On top of that, we both know what this truly is about", Helena retorted strongly. Laurel huffed and rolled her eyes and began to walk down the alley. Helena sighed and began to follow after her. She caught up with her by the time Laurel had reached the end of the alley and began to head towards her parked bike in front of the alley. She moved to block Laurel's way and look her directly in the eye. Laurel frowned at her friend, not feeling up to having this conversation but she made no move to go around her.
"What?" she huffed.
"I get that you're upset and worried. I've been there but you can't go around beating people half to death to deal with it. Trust me, that's not a road you want to take",
Laurel looked away as she felt the brunt of her emotions hit her. She knew that Helena was right but it didn't lessen what she was feeling, "it's been two days", she said her voice breaking at the end of her sentence.
"I know", Helena replied softly, "but Nyssa is a big girl and I'm sure she's okay. From what you have told me, I'm sure she can take care of herself,"
Laurel let out a humorless chuckle as she met Helena's gaze with tears in her eyes, "what about tomorrow? Or the next day? And the next day? Do you think she will be okay, then?"
Helena didn't know how to answer that and simply looked at Laurel with sympathetic eyes.
"Every second that passes increases the chances that", Laurel paused for a moment and swallowed thickly, "that she's not coming back", Laurel balled her fists up as all of the horrific possibilities that could have happened to Nyssa ran through her mind. It was only then that she felt the sting of the damage she did to her knuckles. She winced at the stinging pain and held her hands out in front of her, seeing the damage. Both of her hands were covered in blood and would take days to heal. Seeing the damage as well, Helena grabbed Laurel's hands to inspect them closely.
"C'mon, let's call this in and head back to patch these up,"
Half an hour later, Laurel sat in a chair in the Birds of Prey HQ (or the Bird's Nest as Cisco called it) as Helena worked on her damaged hands. She was lost so deep in her unpleasant thoughts that she barely registered the sting from the alcohol wipe. Helena's worried eyes flickered for her hands to Laurel's face momentarily. She could see the dark circles under Laurel's eyes and the desolation that shined within them. Breaking the silence, she spoke softly, "you know, I am really forward to meeting Nyssa. Hopefully she can take away your broodiness," she joked. Laurel didn't seem to hear her as she continued to stare down at the floor, her expression unchanging.
"I keep thinking it over and over. Her chances of coming back on her own are slim to none. Firstly, she could be executed if she hasn't been already. Secondly, there's no way he would let her just leave again", Laurel stated, looking up at Helena.
Helena looked at her curiously as she reached for the bandages to wrap up Laurel's hands, "what exactly are you getting at, Dinah?"
"We bring her back", she stated simply.
Helena looked at her in disbelief, "are you insane? That's a suicide mission",
"Nyssa going back to get her father off my back was a suicide mission. Her choosing not to kill me was a suicide mission. Hell, all of us going up against Prometheus was a suicide mission. On top of that," Laurel paused momentarily, "I don't think I could survive another loss. Not her," Laurel stated earnestly. She had lost so much in the last ten years. While now clean, her depression and addiction was always around the corner considering the things she saw and what she went up against as the Black Canary. Losing another loved one, especially Nyssa would break her.
Seeing the expression on Laurel's face, Helena felt herself melting and let out a sigh. They were all going to die in Nanda Parbat, "we're going to need A LOT of help on this", she said dejectedly.
A spark ignited within Laurel's dead eyes, "I know. We have Ollie's team, Zindah, and some friends that owe me one that I met in Gotham",
"Batman? What favor could he possibly owe you?"
"Not him exactly, but some associates of his. One goes by the name of Nightwing and the other Oracle"
"Oracle? You know him too? People have been trying to figure out who he is for years now. You've seen him?"
Laurel nodded, "yep, and it's her,"
"Another Felicity?" Helena asked now very intrigued.
"Not exactly. They have very different personalities. You'll understand if you get the chance to meet her",
Helena made a face at that but then shrugged it off. She then finished wrapping up Laurel's hands, "alright then. When do we start?"
Two Days Earlier
Nyssa walked down the hallway to the grand room with fire flowing through her veins. There were no words to describe the rage she was feeling. She was now certain that she hated her father, she flat out hated him. What he sent her to do was despicable. She stopped in her tracks for a moment as she tried to reel in her emotions. She closed her eyes and balled her fists at her sides and took in a deep breath. She failed to complete a mission, which meant that she was in enough trouble as it was. Coming at him with an attitude would only make things worse for her.
Feeling her emotions under more of her control, she began walking once again. Once she reached the room, she tried her best to not glare at her father with the hatred she felt for him, He had his back to her and didn't react to her presence but she knew that he was aware of her. "Father", she said quietly, feeling the explosion that was bound to happen underneath the surface.
"Is she dead?" he questioned with his back still to her.
"Laurel is alive. Did you really think that I would do it?" she said, her voice remaining eerily calm.
"I was hoping that my old daughter would have risen again. That you would have become that woman you once were before meeting Sara and continue to be this weakling", he replied turning to face her finally.
"I am not weak", Nyssa replied her voice stronger now as she balled her hands up at her sides and dug her fingernails into her palms.
Ra's tilted his head slightly at her, "you are. At first, it was Sara. Your devotion for her blinded you. You began to think and act with your heart rather than your mind. When she passed it only became worse. Part of me hoped that taking away your birthright would bring you to your senses but it didn't. Instead, you began to fraternize with the other Lance girl. She only made it worse",
"You're wrong. They made me stronger", she retorted with emotion.
"It only makes it worse that you think that. Have you not seen yourself, girl? Ever since you have been back you've been moping over that addict," Ra's stated coldly.
Nyssa's eyes narrowed at him dangerously as she felt the volcano inside on the brink of implosion, "don't talk about her like that," she stated with a warning in her voice. Ra's eyes formed into a glare as he took a threatening step towards his daughter.
"Mind your tongue, girl",
Nyssa stood up straighter and she gathered the courage to truly stand up to her father. She fought off the familiar tingle of fear that her father had always been able to make her feel. "No. I have respected and feared you my entire life. Not anymore. You sent me to kill Laurel knowing very well what she means to me. You went way too far",
"I did it for you. So that you could rid yourself of this weakness and once again be worthy of being Ra's Al Ghul but I can see that I was wrong to give you this chance,"
Nyssa stopped short as her mouth fell open in shock, "what?" she was so taken aback that she hadn't realize that she was speaking in her native language.
"I was going to give you your birthright back in return of killing Laurel,"
Her birthright. It used to be her entire identity, the Heir to the Demon. Even when she was with Sara it was still all she saw herself as. It wasn't until she left the League and Laurel befriended that she could slowly start seeing herself more than that. Despite those two years away from her father's rule, it was still hard to see herself more than what her father had always equated her to her entire life. But that wasn't what she wanted anymore. Finally having her wits about her, she replied, "even with that knowledge I would not have done. Laurel is everything to me",
Her father looked at her with utter disappointment. A look that used to make her feel such shame and like a failure. But now, she was indifferent to it, "I was hoping that it would not have to come to this. But you will be what I want you to be, Nyssa", She looked at him confusedly. Before Nyssa could respond, she felt a sting in her neck as Ra's shot her with a dart that caused everything to fade to black.
"I can't believe that you were able to get Bruce to let us borrow all of this stuff", Laurel muttered to Dick, ensuring the others couldn't hear her utter the secret identity of Batman.
Nightwing gave her a charming smile in return, "what belongs to him belongs to everyone in the Batfamily. The Bat Wing, the Batarangs, Bat Mobile, and Bat bikes you name it. On top of that, Bruce is always willing to stick it to Ra's in any way possible,"
They were all currently on a huge fighter jet that was equipped with everything that they could possibly need for this mission. Everyone was seated and buckled in against the walls while Lady Blackhawk was in the cockpit flying the jet with Artemis keeping her company. Dick and Co. had brought many weapons, equipment, and even vehicles that may come in handy. For this mission they had to bring many other people along. This list of people going to Nanda Parbat was Nightwing, Huntress, Lady Blackhawk, Arsenal, Speedy, Artemis, Robin (Tim Drake), Batgirl (Stephanie Brown), Black Bat (Casandra Cain), and Oracle who was back at the Bat Cave ready to give whatever help they needed from there.
"With the group and equipment that we have, I think we might actually have a chance," Laurel said with hope.
Nightwing raised an eyebrow at her, though she couldn't see due to his mask, "you went on this mission with the intention of dying?"
Laurel shook her head, "not really. But I couldn't just sit back at home twiddling my thumbs while Nyssa's chances of coming back diminished day by day. I had to at least try to bring her back,"
Nightwing nodded in understanding. He unbuckled his seatbelt and stood, "alright listen up," he began getting the attention of the others, "we will split up into pairs. Each pair will be given one of these," he stated as he held up a small device in his hand. He turned it on and a mapped popped up, "this is a map of Nanda Parbat. Use it to make your way around the place. Once and if you find Nyssa Al Ghul, let everyone else know through the comms. We will wingsuit it to ground and split up from there. Any questions?"
"I have one", Cassandra spoke up quietly, having everyone turn to her, "do we get to pick who we partner up with? I choose Spoiler",
Robin spoke up with a dissatisfied frown on his face, "no fair Cass. You always get to partner up with Steph," he complained.
"Hey, there's enough for me to go around", Stephanie spoke up with a grin on her face.
"Enough", Nughtwing said with a shake of his head, "The pairs have already been created. Black Canary will be with Huntress, Batgirl will be with Black Bat, Robin you're with me, Speedy will be with Arsenal, and Lady Blackhawk will be with Artemis. You are paired with the person you will work best with, due to experience together, personality, and what the other can bring. Everybody good?" everyone nodded and Dick to his seat again next to Laurel and Huntress.
"You planned all this?" Helena asked him, leaning past Laurel.
He shook his head, "nope. Oracle did",
"I've got to meet her", Huntress said impressed as she sat back.
Laurel relaxed more as she felt their chances of completing this rescue mission rise but there was still the question of whether or not Nyssa was still alive. She pushed those thoughts away and tried to think positively. She was going to find Nyssa alive and well and they were all going to bring her home.
Please leave a review telling me what you think.
Well, this story was supposed to be a one shot. Then people wanted more so I made a second chapter but the way that ended absolutely called for a rescue mission with a large party. Hence we now have the Birds of Prey and Bat Family heading to Nanda Parbat here. I figured that there was no way in hell that Ra's would just let Nyssa leave if he didn't execute her for not completing a mission.