Chapter 3

Noa leaned against the door of the motel bathroom. Even though Dick had voiced his concerns, Rachel was currently eating as much junk food as she could handle while watching Game of Thrones.

"I'm gonna take a shower," she told the teenager. "Don't answer the door for anyone and maybe save some of that for later. Otherwise you'll get a stomach ache."

"Okay," Rachel said through a full mouth.

Closing the door behind her, Noa stripped out of the clothes she'd been wearing since she they left Detroit and stepped into the shower. She was nearly halfway done when she heard a scream come from the other room. Without rinsing the conditioner out of her hair, she wrapped a towel around herself and sprinted into Dick's room. Noa skidded to a stop and fixed her gaze on Rachel, who was sitting against the desk with her knees pulled tight to her chest. The girl was crying as she scribbled something on a notepad.

With one glance around the room, Noa realized that whatever had scared Rachel was no longer a threat. She let out a quiet sigh before she crossed the room and knelt beside her, placing a hand on her wrist to stop her from writing the crosses. Rachel placed her free hand on top of Noa's. Her grip was so tight, it was like she was hanging on for dear life.

"Rachel…"

She looked up at her, tears still brimming her eyes. "I don't get it?"

"What?"

"You just met me and you already care about me."

Noa pursed her lips and gave a single nod. "But that wasn't the question was it?"

It hadn't taken her long to notice Rachel's gift of empathy. All she needed was to touch someone, skin to skin, and she learned more than she probably wanted to know. The first time she'd properly touched Noa, she'd sensed her hesitance about who they were going to go see. At least, that's all Rachel told her about.

"How is it possible?"

"You trust me, right?" Rachel nodded. "Well, it's like that. You just met me, too, but when Dick and I found you in the church, you knew we came to help. When I saw you in that room I could tell that you weren't a bad person. You might have something bad in you, but it doesn't define you. Also, I sensed that you were really scared of something and… it reminded me of myself when I was your age."

"What were you scared of?"

Noa's eyes went to their hands. Rachel would sense if she tried to lie. Swallowing hard, she decided to tell the truth. "My grandfather. He was a… bad man. A scary man. Not just for me, but a lot of people. Even when I was a kid, it was obvious there weren't many people who could protect me from him. There were even fewer who wanted to try. It wasn't until I met my foster father—"

Rachel smiled. "Bruce Wayne."

"Yeah, Bruce," Noa said, returning the girl's gesture. "He saved me… protected me when no one else could. He gave me a home and a family, which is something I'll never get to repay."

"Is that what you want to give me?"

"No lying," Noa silently promised herself before taking a deep breath.

Using her other hand, she slid Rachel's disheveled hair behind her ear. "Honestly, I'm still a kid myself and I recently had a big change in my life. I'm trying to figure out how to adjust to it, but I promise you that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe and in the meantime, I'll do my best to be the family you deserve. We got a deal?"

The teenage girl gave a quick nod of her head and leaned forward to wrap her arms around Noa. "We have a deal."

She waited until Rachel let go to motion to her hair. "Now, I have to finish my shower. Do you think you'll be okay if I leave—"

"No, you can't leave me again!" Her eyes grew wide with fear.

Noa sighed as she glanced over her shoulder. "Okay, I have an idea, but it's a little unorthodox."

Rachel smiled weakly. "I'm like the definition of unorthodox."

Dick placed the pizza down on the table when he noticed the overturn chair in his room. Glancing at the papers on the table, he realized that someone had looked at them before he got back. He walked to the attached room and stepped through the door hesitantly.

His eyes narrowed when he saw Noa and Rachel lying on the bed with at least a dozen pieces of paper that had crosses drawn on them lining the edge of the mattress. Noa's arm was wrapped securely around the younger girl, but both of them were focused on the television. Dick only broke their attention when he knocked on the door.

Rachel looked at him and smiled. "Hey, Dick."

"Hey, Dick," Noa said with a smile that was too wide. "Took you long enough."

Dick narrowed his eyes, trying to read Noa's expression as they kept the conversation going. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's okay," Rachel chirped and returned her gaze to the tv. Noa gave a faint quirk of her head, gesturing to the other room. If Dick wasn't already watching her, he would've missed it.

Catching on to her hint, he nodded.

"I left the pizza in the other room. Noa, do you think you could help me with it?"

Rachel's head turned toward the older girl. "You need two people to carry a pizza?"

"Well, we also need plates and sauce."

"And soda," Dick added.

Noa slid her arm out from under Rachel's head. "But we'll be right back, I swear."

"Be careful of the—"

"Papers. I got it."

Dick watched as Noa stood on the bed, gracefully jumping over the papers and landing on the floor without knocking a single one out of place. She grabbed Dick by the arm and pulled him into his room.

"What the fuck happened?"

Noa smacked him hard on the chest. Despite her anger, she managed to keep her voice at whisper volume. "You said you'd be gone ten—fifteen minutes tops. It's been almost an hour, Dick!"

"I'm sorry. I had to check in on the case back home." He gestured back to the room Rachel was in. "What happened to her?"

"She got into your computer, saw the paper work on the guy she killed, and lost it, apparently. I was in the shower when I heard her scream and I found her drawing those crosses." Noa ran a hand through her hair and she sat down in one of the chairs at the table. "I calmed her down, but she wouldn't even let me finish my shower. Not until I agreed to let her sit in the bathroom and put those crosses around her."

"Jesus Christ."

Noa huffed a sigh. "That kid is living in constant fear, Dick. And it sure as hell isn't of the people trying to kill her. She's terrified of herself."

"I know. I just—how are we supposed to help fix something when we don't even know what's wrong?" Dick leaned forward, placing his hands on the back of the chair in front of him.

"We learn as much as we can about her, about her family, about her past. We put the pieces together like a puzzle so we can see the whole picture. Until then, we try like hell to keep her alive."

Noa waited until she saw Dick nod to grab the pizza and plates and shuffle back to the other room.

"Don't forget the soda," she called over her shoulder. Dick swore under his breath as she walked out of view.

He forgot the damn soda.

"I can't believe I fucking agreed to this," Noa muttered as she stared at the apartment building in front of her. She looked down when she felt someone take her hand. Rachel stood beside her, a sympathetic smile on her lips.

"You don't want to be here, do you?"

Noa sighed, returning her gaze to the building.

"No, not really."

Rachel cocked her head suspiciously. "Why not?"

With a rough laugh, Noa met her gaze. "Now, that really is too complicated to explain."

The younger girl scrunched her nose and released her hand. "I believe you."

"You guys got your stuff?" Dick asked from behind them, breaking Noa's train of thought. She reached down and grabbed her bags off the sidewalk.

She stayed a few feet behind Dick and Rachel as they made their way up to the third floor of the apartment building. It had been years since she'd seen the other pair of vigilantes, but it felt like it was just last week that Hank was ranting about how he was going to beat the shit out of Dick and Dawn was crying to Noa about how the boy they loved broke her heart. The four of them parted ways shortly thereafter and she hadn't heard from either of them since. She'd honestly never expected Dick to suggest the couple as an option for help, but when given the chance, she couldn't think of an alternative choice.

"So, who are these guys?" Rachel asked as they shuffled down the hall toward the door marked 304. Hank and Dawn's apartment, no doubt.

"Old friends," Dick said, but Noa couldn't hold back a harsh scoff. He shot her a look before continuing. "Truth is, we haven't seen them in a long time."

"Oh, I wonder whose fault that was," Noa pondered aloud, earning another glare from Dick.

"Noa, could you at least try to be civil?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm always fucking civil, especially when it comes to our two favorite friendly neighborhood vig—"

"—Noa."

Sighing heavily, she gave up. They were trying to shield Rachel from all the vigilante drama, but there was no way they'd be able to keep that secret from her for much longer. She gave Rachel's shoulder a squeeze and lowered her voice. "This is gonna be fun."

"Noa, please."

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall beside Rachel, crossing her arms over her chest. Dick knocked and stepped back with a deep breath. Noa looked up when the door swung open and standing there was Dawn. Even as she gaped at them, she was still as beautiful as ever with her platinum hair and doe eyes. It was easy to understand why people instantly fell in love with her.

"Hey," Dick said, breaking Dawn out of her trance. The older woman gave them a polite smile, but it was obvious she was still in shock.

"Hi…"

"Dawn," Noa greeted after giving her a couple seconds to regain her composure. Dawn stared at her, the confusion contorting her features even more.

"Noa?"

She looked to Dick for an explanation, but he remained quiet like usual. It was only when Rachel stepped forward and introduced herself that she broke her concentration on her ex. Noa didn't miss how the teenager extended her hand, holding Dawn's for a few moments in what seemed like a typical greeting. She knew what Rachel was actually doing, though. The thought put a smile on Noa's face.

"Can we talk?" Dick asked.

"You're about four years too late, but sure," Dawn said, making way to let them inside her apartment.

Noa did Dick a favor and kept quiet as they placed their stuff in the living room. When Dawn suggested they talk on the roof, Noa joined them, but opted to stay with Rachel. They situated themselves by the large cage filled with doves, giving Dick and Dawn their space to talk.

"What did you see?"

Rachel only shrugged.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Noa cocked an eyebrow. "I thought we weren't supposed to lie to each other."

"Her and Dick," Rachel said with a sigh. "They were…"

"Together."

"Yeah."

Raking her fingers through her hair, Noa glanced sideways at Rachel. "You have any questions for me?"

"I kind of got the idea that you and Dick were…"

"Together?"

"Yeah, but ever since we started on our little roadtrip you two have barely spoken to each other, unless it's about me. It's just a little—"

"Confusing, I know," Noa said, nodding. She fought the urge to look over her shoulder to where she knew Dick and Dawn were sitting together. "It's that way for me, too. I'm sure you've noticed that Dick's not the kind of guy that talks about his feelings. That makes it difficult to know what's going on inside of that thick head of his."

"Why don't you just ask him?" Rachel questioned.

"Because as much I'd like to think I can always tell when he's lying, I know I can't. Truthfully, I'd rather not know at all than to go on believing that he trusted me only to find out it's a lie. I just…" her sentence trailed off when she failed to put the rest of her thoughts into words.

Rachel reached out and took her hand, holding it tightly between her own. She closed her eyes before speaking. "You don't want to get hurt again, but you love him too much to let him go."

"Pretty pathetic, huh? I'm twenty-three years old, but I still feel like that kid who used to chase him around the manor, begging him to let me catch him."

"You're here, though. That must mean you've caught him, right?"

Noa exhaled slowly as she pushed a loose strand of dark hair behind Rachel's ear. "You know, you're way too smart for your own good."

She tried to return the smile that Rachel gave her. Even though Noa had come out of the conversation feeling better, the problems were still there. Maybe they always would be.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing here, Dick?"

She glanced toward the door to the roof, sighing when she saw that Hank had finally arrived home.

"Fuck me," she murmured. Noa looked back at Rachel when she felt the girl release her hand.

She shook her head. "I don't even know what to do with that."

Noa winced. She realized that Rachel must have seen or felt whatever came up when she saw Hank. "Sorry."

"Well, you were right. This is complicated."

She returned her attention to the group behind them just in time to see Hank staring at her and Rachel. She offered a weak wave, but instantly regretted it. There was no way a simple wave would make him forget everything that had happened between the four of them.

"Noa?" The older man asked, just as confused as Dawn had been when they first got there.

"Can we just go back inside, please?" Dawn asked before leading Hank back into the apartment building.

"And it's about to get even worse, I think," Noa murmured as she stood from the crate they were sitting on. After exchanging a knowing look with Dick, she took Rachel back inside with her. If she were lucky, maybe they'd go the rest of the stay without having to confront the elephant, or elephants, in the room. Being blissfully ignorant actually sounded nice for once.

Despite the numerous warnings Rachel had given Noa, rooming with her hadn't been difficult. The girl didn't have a single nightmare so she got a reasonable amount of sleep. It was the only way she managed to slip out of the room early with the sole intention to be the first one in the bathroom. Unfortunately, she didn't make it halfway before running into someone. She was even more unfortunate that it happened to be Hank.

"Hey, kid," he said after slowing to a stop. He was probably heading to the kitchen before she walked into his path.

"Hi, Hank."

Shifting his weight, he rubbed the back of his neck. "We should probably talk, right?"

With a sigh, Noa nodded. "That would probably be the healthy, adult thing to do, which I am now apparently."

After Hank poured them both a cup of coffee, they decided to sit at the table in the kitchen. Noa bounced her leg as she tried to think of the best way to start the conversation. No matter what, it would still be awkward.

"We heard about your grandfather," Hank said, breaking the proverbial ice. "Dawn and I… we were both sorry that we weren't there to help."

"Even after everything that happened?"

"That had nothing to do with Dick, Noa. We should have put our friendship with you before our past with him and come help you."

Noa shook her head as she stared at her cup of coffee. The conversation definitely wasn't going the way she'd expected. Looking up at Hank, she quirked an eyebrow. "So, you're not angry at me for what happened?"

"You didn't do anything wrong. Neither did Dick or Dawn, technically."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about that, Hank." Noa angled her head toward him.

He shrugged. "You were a kid… and really drunk that night. You were trying to cause them pain and, honestly, so was I."

"It doesn't excuse what I did."

"Maybe not," Hank said. "But I don't hold it against you and neither does Dawn."

Noa raised her head, her eyes narrowing. "You finally told her what really happened."

Images of that one night four years ago flashed through her mind. She could remember drinking way too much in order to forget her heartbreak, then her getting a cab to Hank's apartment, and coming onto him way stronger than she ever would have if she was sober. Hank stayed true to upstanding nature and let her sleep off the alcohol in his bed. Unfortunately, the couch was too small for him so he took the other half of his bed, placing a ridge of pillows between them. When Dawn made a surprise visit the next morning, it happened to look like Noa and Hank had spent the night together and neither of them chose to own up to the truth. At the time, causing Dick and Dawn some pain or discomfort was more important to them.

Hank nodded as he glanced over his shoulder toward the bedroom. "Yeah, I didn't see any point in lying to her."

"That's good, Hank," Noa said. "You two deserve to be happy and that's a lot easier without a bunch of lies and secrets hanging over your head."

He seemed to notice the accidental double meaning before she did. Leaning forward, he lowered his voice. "You still love him, don't you? Even after everything…"

"You still love Dawn."

"It's not the same, Noa." Hank put a hand over hers. "You deserve better than him."

"Who's to decide what I deserve? Dick and I are alike in a lot of ways, but the one way we're not is that I still have faith in what I do when the sun goes down. He thinks it's wrong and corrupt while I'm still here putting my faith into the idea that we're doing the right thing." Noa sighed as she sat back in her chair. "What the hell does that say about us? About me?"

"If you think him suddenly trying to find some high moral ground to stand on makes him better than you, you're wrong. Even if he's successful and sticks to this new belief of his, it won't change what he's done."

"At least he's trying to do something he believes in. I mean, I am too, but suddenly what we believe are two very different things," Noa said. "I've loved him since before I knew what love meant, but so much has changed now. Even if he decides that he loves me too and wants to be with me, I don't think we'll be able to get over the fact that he would always hate the part of me that wants to be Halo."

Hank shook his head.

"He could never hate you, Noa. When someone looks at you the way Dick does, it's impossible. He'll always care about you, no matter what you do at night."

"Hank's right, Noa."

She looked up to see Dawn standing at the edge of the kitchen. Noa hadn't noticed when she'd first walked up, but she'd obviously been there long enough to hear the gist of the conversation. The older woman sat down in the seat beside her boyfriend and gave Noa a comforting smile.

"You know Dick's not the kind of guy who explains what he's thinking or feeling, but he has a lot of tells in the way he acts. The way he acts around you—the way he's always acted around you shows how much he loves you. I don't think that one lifestyle choice will be enough to overcome that."

Noa wet her lips before returning her smile. "I hope you're right."

"Maybe next time try breaking a plate… or a cup. Something that doesn't shatter so easy," Noa said as she continued to pick glass out of Rachel's hair. Despite the broken window, it was fun watching her break up the fight between Dick and Hank and scaring the shit out of the two grown men. Slightly terrifying, but fun.

Rachel sighed. "I don't know how to control it."

Noa put a hand on her shoulder, leaning forward so the younger girl could see her face. "I was kidding, but I used to be like you when it came to my powers, too. It'll get better, eventually."

"How did you learn to control it?"

"Practice," Noa said. "And Bruce was a lot of help. He had my gauntlets made so I could control the strength of my powers when I used them."

Rachel turned her head. "I don't think practice or those gauntlets will help in my situation."

"Maybe not, but the more we learn about your abilities, the better we'll be able to understand it. Then, we could try to find a way to help you."

"You sound very optimistic."

"Well, someone has to be and I'm pretty sure it's not going to be Dick."

"True."

Noa huffed a sigh after pulling out the last piece of glass she could find in Rachel's hair. "Okay. I think I got it all."

"Thank you." Rachel said before leaning back against her. Noa wrapped her arms around her, hugging her close.

"We'll figure this out, kid. And even if we can't, I'm not going to let you go through it alone."

"You're the only one who hasn't done that."

"What?"

"Lied to me," Rachel said. "I don't even have to touch you to know you're telling the truth."

Noa rested her head on top of hers. "To be fair, I wasn't always the most truthful person. When I met you, you were already scared enough of yourself. You didn't need another reason to doubt what you're being told. I thought it would be easier to tell the truth from the start."

"I wish Dick felt that way."

"He does, Rachel. He just… hasn't had much practice being this person."

"He hasn't had much practice being himself?"

"Being this version of himself," Noa said. "Remember when I said that I had a big change in my life and I was still trying to adjust to it?"

Rachel nodded.

"Well, Dick chose to make a big change in his life about a year ago and he's still learning how to adjust."

"Why's it taken him so long?"

Noa pursed her lips. "I think it's because a part of him didn't want to make that change, but he knew it was the right thing to do. It's hard for him to leave his past behind."

"And you're a part of his past he didn't want to let go," Rachel said without any doubt in her voice. The older girl shrugged even though she couldn't see her.

"I was… and still am, I guess."

"Hey, guys."

Rachel and Noa looked up to see Dick standing in the bedroom doorway. She waited until Rachel sat up to face him.

"I'm sorry about the window," Rachel said.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"He's right," Noa said, rubbing the girl's shoulder softly. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"But I—" Rachel stopped when a knock came at the door. Dawn smiled as she walked into the room.

"How are you doing, sweetheart?" She continued when Rachel shrugged. "Hank is sorry. He can be a real asshole sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Noa joked, earning a small smirk from Dawn.

"We should get going, Noa. Hank already put your suit in the car."

The younger blonde sighed before nodding. She gave a quick hug to Rachel and slid off the bed.

"Wait, you're going with them?" Dick asked as he stood up.

"Yeah, whether Hank wants to admit it or not, they need help and I'm not going to let them do this alone."

"Okay, now you really should call this off," Dick said, turning his attention to Dawn. "It's still too dangerous, even with the three of you. I'm not going to let Noa get herself killed just because—"

"In case you forgot, Dick, we were trained by the same person and I am just as good at what we do as you are." He opened his mouth to say something, but Noa continued before he got the chance. "Also, I don't need your fucking permission or opinion to do jobs, okay? You lost that privilege the second you left Gotham."

"Noa, I—"

"Save it," she said, holding up a hand. Turning on her heels she walked out of the room to follow Hank to the car. "I'm going."

He looked to the other blonde. "Dawn..."

The woman shook her head. "She's right, Dick. It's her choice and she's made it. We'll be back in a couple hours tops. Try not to worry too much."

Dick clenched his jaw as he curled his hands into fists as he watched Dawn and Noa leave the apartment. He desperately wanted to believe that they could handle themselves, but something in the back of his mind was telling him that the job was bound to go wrong. The last thing he wanted was to put the Robin suit back on. He already broke the promise he made to himself once, he didn't want to do it again unless absolutely necessary. But if saving his friends didn't meet that standard, then he didn't know what would.

It only took a few minutes to scope out the large industrial warehouse. There were less than ten guys inside and all they had were a few guns. Noa was ready to go in when Hank and Dawn stepped in front of her.

"You're staying out here," Hank said. Noa opened her mouth to argue, but Dawn beat her to the punch.

"You were right to tell Dick what you said back at the apartment, but he was also right. We shouldn't bring you in unless it's essential. You're not in Gotham anymore. You shouldn't have to put yourself in danger every night if you don't have to."

"But I want to do this. I want to help you."

"We know," Hank told her, "and you'll be right here in case we need it. Just let us go in first, check it out, and take care of the muscle. Then you can come in, I promise."

"And if I say no?"

Hank and Dawn exchanged a look before Hank stepped toward her. "We know you're an adult now and you think you should be able to make these kinds of choices for yourself, but to us you're still that kid that used to tag along on missions. Our main goal was to fight, obviously, but we always tried to look out for you. That hasn't changed. Let us look out for you one more time."

Noa exhaled slowly. She could see that they were really just trying to look out for her, whether she needed it or not.

"Fine." She looked between the two older vigilantes. "But if you run into trouble, do not fucking hesitate to call for me."

Every second that ticked by felt like minutes. Noa huffed a sigh as she leaned her head back against the car, counting the stars to pass the time. It wasn't the first time that she'd been left behind during a job. It used to happen a lot more when she was younger, but even when she partnered with Bruce and Dick, it still happened from time to time. Each time they claimed it was to protect her.

"This is such bullshit," Noa murmured under her breath. Hank and Dawn had been in there too long without a sound. She pushed herself off the car and leaned through the window to grab her gauntlets. Quickly, she pulled her suit, which was lowered to her waist, on the rest of the way before placing the gauntlets on her arms.

She went in the same way that her friends did, through the back door. Proceeding toward the center of the warehouse, Noa cautiously kept one arm raised. She wasn't going to let anyone get the drop on her. Even if it was supposedly safe.

The soft hum of people talking in the distance reached her ears a few moments later. She continued in the same direction of it until she could see what was going on. Noa ducked behind a row of boxes before she could be spotted, but not before she caught a look at Hank and Dawn huddled together in front of the truck with Hank clutching his side. He was probably injured and the fact that they were surrounded by a dozen or so armed men didn't help any.

"Noa."

She whipped her head around, but the momentum of the sudden movement caused her to tip backwards. A hand shot out at the last second, catching her by the arm before she could fall and blow her cover.

"It's me," the familiar voice met her ears. "Dick."

"Jesus-fucking-Christ, haven't you learned by now not to sneak up on me? I could've blinded you or worse," Noa said, being conscientious enough to keep her voice at a whisper volume.

Dick scoffed. "And risk being exposed, I doubt it."

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

"Yeah, but we got bigger things to worry about."

Noa peered between the boxes to see another man join Dawn and Hank and he was waving a pair of garden sheers around.

"Hm, that can't be good."

"You go right, I'll go left," Dick said before disappearing.

"Sure thing, Dick," Noa mumbled as she hurried to get to a better advantage point. From experience, she knew that Dick would want to make the first move. She just had to wait for the signal.

Noa kept hidden until the bloodshed started. Dick came out swinging, putting his signature shuriken into one man's eye and stabbing the leader with his own garden shears. She took that as the signal and went to work.

The man in front of her had a gun strapped to his belt along with the one he was holding. He was so preoccupied by his acquaintances getting stabbed he didn't notice when Noa grabbed the weapon from his waist. Using it as a blunt object, she hit him twice with it. Once on his lower left leg, hard enough to break the bone, and once on the back of his head to knock him out. She wanted to make sure that even if he did wake before they were gone, he wouldn't be able to follow them.

Turning her attention to the next man, she lifted her hand and shot a powerful beam of energy into his chest. It threw him onto his back and she followed it up with two swift punches to the face. With the extra weight of the gauntlets, it knocked him unconscious.

When she spun around again the last man standing already had his gun pointed at her. Noa directed a strong beam of light at him. The flash momentarily blinded the man and she took her chance, charging at him before he could recover. She landed a few punches to his face and torso and grabbed the gun in his hand. Spinning on her heels, she pulled the man's arm over her shoulder and jerked it downward, snapping the bone quite easily. He finally released the weapon and Noa swung around to hit him with it. When he was flat on his back, she started to bring the butt of the gun down on his face for good measure. She only got one hit in before Dawn called out her name.

"That's enough," the older woman said. "He's already unconscious."

Noa rolled her eyes and tossed the gun aside so she could help her friends. Since Hank was still clutching his chest, she assumed he was injured.

"You know, a thank you would be nice," she mumbled. "Or even a 'oops, we were wrong, Noa.'"

"Thank you, Noa," Dawn said with a huff. "Now, please help me get Hank up."

Together, they managed to help him off the ground and turn him around toward the exit. Noa let out a quiet sigh of relief when Dick appeared in front of them. The blood on his face and suit wasn't his, that she was sure of. He bent down and pulled the shuriken out of the first man he'd taken down.

"You're welcome," he said before turning and walking out of the warehouse.

Noa pursed her lips to hide the smile that was tugging at the corners. Maybe it was wrong for her to be happy that Dick was fighting with her again. Especially when all he wanted was to leave it behind, but she was afraid if it came to that, he would leave her behind too. While Noa knew she wasn't ready to let him go again, she couldn't say it would be the same for him and the thought worried her more than she cared to admit.