He's getting too close.

The Joker's attacks before seemed like warnings, the diner, the bounty on his head; Nightwing was cautious, but not overly concerned. Until they begin escalating.

The attacks are hitting closer to home, with more people pulled into the fight. They'll wind up dead, collateral damage; if he isn't careful.

Dick stepped up to the front door of Will's small house, lined up in a nice neighborhood with other little houses. He knocked on the door. Someone scampered up to the door, and after a few seconds of pulling at the door handle, Lilly got the door open.

"Dick!" she cried, hugging his legs. He laughed, hugging her back as best he could.

"Hi Lilly!" he pried her off of him and knelt in front of her.

"What do you wanna play first?" she asked.

"Hold on Lilly," Molly called from inside. "Let Dick come in first." Lilly pouted and grabbed Dick's hand to pull him in the door. He smiled and followed her, glancing at Molly.

"Hello, Molly. You look lovely," Dick put one hand on his hip, Lilly still dangling from his other.

"Thank you." She smiled. "It's good to see you again, it's been so long."

"That is not my fault!" Will yelled from somewhere in the house. Dick laughed.

"It's not," he agreed. "I've been busy. Going through a rough patch." Molly smiled knowingly.

"No one can expect you to get better in a month," she said gently before turning her head. "Will hurry up or we'll miss our reservation!"

"I'm coming," he cried, rushing into the room. Dick laughed.

"You haven't gotten any more punctual," he smiled.

"Hey, I'm on time more than you." He smiled and kissed Molly on the cheek.

"You have our numbers, right?" she asked Dick.

"Yeah, I have them both." Lilly tugged on his arm and he smiled.

"I wanna show you my Elsa doll," she told him, running off to get it.

"In bed by eight, Lilly!" Molly called after her. "Just try and get her down by nine," she told Dick quietly. He laughed.

"Of course, Molly. You guys are gonna be late. I'll see you when you get back," Dick hugged her. "You kids have fun."

"Thank you," Will told him, grabbing Molly's hand. They were heading out the door as Lilly scampered back into the room dragging her doll.

"Bye Mommy! Bye Daddy!" she called. Dick stood beside her on the stoop as they drove away. He looked down at Lilly, his hands on his hips.

"Well what now, sweetheart?" He smiled as he guided her back into the house and closed the door.

"This is Elsa," she said, shoving the doll into his arms. "She's the ice queen."

Dick laughed, examining the doll. "She's pretty."

"Uh huh," Lilly noded wisely. "I'm gonna be her because you can't handle that much power, but you can be her sister, Anna." She pulled Dick into the living room. "Come on, I'll show you!"

Dick followed her and sat down on the couch. He turned the doll over in his hands, smiling a little. "What do you mean show me? Is it a movie?"

"Yup." She pressed play on the DVD player, the movie already inside. Running back, she curled up beside Dick, her head on his leg. He smiled and relaxed into the couch, stroking her hair.

When the movie was over, Dick scooped Lilly up. She'd fallen asleep halfway through, and he didn't wake her as he carried her upstairs to her bedroom and tucked her in with her Elsa doll. He left the door ajar and went back down the stairs, glancing at his phone. It was almost nine, and Will wouldn't be home for another hour. Dick's head was hurting again, so he went into the bathroom and dug around for some aspirin, taking them dry. He returned to the couch and sat down, closing his eyes and waiting for the pain to ebb away. His phone buzzed on his leg.

Good evening, Richard came Damian's text. Dick smiled a little.

Hey. What are you texting me for? Did Bruce lock you up again?

No. But we have some interesting information.

Dick frowned, texting Damian back. What might that be?

You know that the Joker is targeting you, correct?

Yeah, I found out today

Father wants you home immediately.

Dick scoffed. Of course Bruce was worried about him, and he should be glad that he cared so much, but for some reason, the text only irritated him.

Tell him Im busy

You know he won't accept that as an answer, Richard.

I know, but I am. just deflect the question and say I wont text you back

stop texting me back, Richard!

Dick laughed a little and put the phone down beside his hand, closing his eyes again and leaning his head back against the couch. He liked Will's house. It was small and welcomingly decorated, perfect for a little family of three. As he dozed off, Dick suddenly heard glass smash upstairs. He shot off of the couch.

Oh God, no… he'd warned Will that this would happen. Dick raced up the stairs and burst into Lilly's room as she screamed, flames from the smashed bottle on the floor spreading over the carpet. Dick grabbed Lilly out of her bed, snatching up the Elsa doll, and ran from the room. He covered her face as another bottle flew in through the kitchen window and the entire counter was suddenly alight. She screamed into his coat as he ran to the front door, tugging at the handle.

"Son of a-" he yanked at the door, but it still wouldn't open.

"Dick!" Lilly wailed in his arms, and he put a hand on her head.

"It's gonna be okay, Lilly, shh…" he turned and headed for the back door, but flames had spread in front of it, burning the paint from the wood. The fire was spreading faster and faster. Dick made sure Lilly's face was covered, and he took a step toward the door. Gunfire exploded across its outside surface. Dick breathed hard, stepping back as Lilly screamed and cried in his arms. He looked up the stairs, made a split second decision, and then ran up them. He burst into Will's bedroom and then closed the door behind him, hoping that he could keep some of the flames at bay that hadn't yet reached this room. He put Lilly down.

"It's gonna be okay, Lil, I've got you." he said earnestly, wrapping his cargo jacket around her and covering her head with the gray hood. He stuck the Elsa doll in the pocket of it, and then lifted her onto his back. "Hold on as tight as you can, Lilly. As tight as you possibly can."

Lilly's arms tightened around his neck and she wrapped her legs around his waist, burying her face in his shoulder. Dick picked up the nightstand and smashed through the glass in the window, and then stepped up onto the windowsill. It was a far jump to the next house, but he didn't have a choice. He took a deep breath, braced his hands on the sides of the window, shattered glass cutting into his palms, and jumped. His hand barely caught the roof of the house next door and Lilly's arms were jerked of of his neck with the force. She screamed as she began to fall and Dick grabbed for her hand. He missed.

Without a second thought, Dick dove after her, catching her and rolling over just in time for his back to hit the grass. All of the air rushed out of his lungs and he felt some of his ribs snap, his head whipping back and smacking on the ground. He cried out and Lilly screamed.

Dick coughed, his head spinning. Desperately, he curled up around Lilly and rolled to get up, taking off at a dead run across the lawn. He jumped the neighbor's fence, running into the street where fire trucks were already beginning to arrive; a neighbor must have called 911. The Joker's men had left already, but Dick didn't want to take any chances. He knew he didn't have long until he passed out from the concussion, and he stumbled onto a lawn across the street before falling. He wheezed, Lilly sobbing on his chest as his vision blurred and darkened from the edges. Firemen ran towards them from across the street as he slipped into unconsciousness.


The pain Dick could handle. His hangover was still pretty bad, there were stitches in the back of his head, four ribs had broken, and his chest hurt every time he breathed. He'd dealt with worse pain than this before. What he couldn't handle, however, was the nurse trying to put an oxygen mask over his face.

"I'm fine," Dick snapped, pushing it away from his face and trying to sit up for the third time.

"You shouldn't get up, sir- Mr. Grayson-!" the nurse pulled him back down again, a hand on his chest. "Now you have a concussion pretty bad, so don't get up just yet, we need to check a few things over! I know the medication makes you feel better, but-"

"-I didn't accept any damn medication!" Dick said in exasperation. The nurse glared at him.

"We need to make sure you're all right before you get out of here and start jumping out of windows again, Mr. Grayson."

Dick groaned loudly, and she glared at him again.

"Dick!" Will cried slamming into the room. The nurse started to protest, but Will ignored her as Molly came trailing in after him. "What happened? Are you okay? Lilly? Where's-"

"-Lilly!" Molly cried, seeing her daughter sitting perfectly fine in one of the chairs, clutching her doll as a social worker stood over her shoulder. Molly ran over and pulled her into a hug, crying into Lilly's hair.

"Is she alright?" Will demanded, acknowledging the nurse for the first time.

"She's fine, Sir. Not a scratch on her." The nurse turned back to Dick, and he hissed as she picked up one of his bandaged hands. "Oh don't be such a baby. You wanted to walk out of here, a minute ago."

"I'm fine!" Dick cried again.

"What happened?" Will asked, putting his shaking hands on his face.

"He saved me and Elsa," Lilly piqued. Molly picked her up and carried her over by Will, unwilling to let her go. "See?" she said, giving the doll to her father.

"I see…" Will mumbled.

"You're Mr. Collins?" A fireman stepped through the door. Will nodded.

"What happened?" Molly asked him. He tucked his helmet under his arm and mopped a hand over his face.

"Well someone set it on fire from the outside," he began.

"They were throwing molotov cocktails through the windows," Dick muttered from the bed. "When I tried to get out, they'd blocked the front door and had gunmen at the back."

The fireman nodded. "We arrived on the scene in time to see this young man jump out of the second story window with her on his back. He caught the ledge of your neighbor's house and the girl fell, and he-" the man glanced at Dick- "jumped after her. Fell two stories, but she fell on him, so she's fine. We thought he'd be out cold, honestly, but he got up and ran across the street to safety before passing out." Molly clutched Lilly tighter.

"Thank you," Will breathed, pinching his eyes closed. Dick nodded and then cried out as the nurse bandaged his other hand.

"We got the fire put out," the fireman continued, "but the damage was complete. There isn't much left." Will nodded once as the man left. He held his arms out, and Lilly stretched out to him. "You're okay, right?" He asked her.

"Yes, Daddy," she said, although her eyes were still a little watery. "That one lady said everything would be okay as long as you came back to hug me." She wrapped her little arms around Will's neck in a tight hug. Dick smiled a little and looked down.

"Can I go now?" he said quietly to the nurse, not wanting to interrupt their family moment. The nurse pursed her lips.

"I think so, Mr. Grayson." She smiled. Dick got up and slipped on his shirt, ignoring the stabbing pain in his back where his ribs had broken, and then he stepped out of the room, leaving his jacket wrapped around Lilly's shoulders. He went to the front reception area to fill out his paperwork, and as he finished, Will walked up to him.

"Dick…" Will cleared his throat. "Thank you. If you weren't there… thank you."

"If I wasn't there, I don't think it would have happened, Will." Dick said shortly. "I told you it was a bad idea."

"You have no way of knowing if the Joker knew you'd be there. He could have been going after me again, so I am going to continue being grateful." Will clapped him on the shoulder with a smile. Dick winced and rolled his eyes.

"All the same. I'm going to disappear to the Manor. I think you and Molly need to take a vacation from Gotham for a while. Until I take this bastard down." Dick looked at him seriously, leaning against the reception counter. Will nodded.

"Well it's not exactly like we could go home anyway," Will smiled sadly.

"I'll pay. Just get out of here," Dick sighed and looked down. "If you're safe, that's one less thing for me to worry about." Will nodded.

"I'll let the Commissioner know what happened, but I think he'll agree."

"Good." Dick hugged him gingerly. "Have fun on vacation."

"Be careful, Dick."