The club we went to was definitely alive. The coloured lights shining all around the room, the music making the place throb with indi and pop fusions in every corner. Most of the walls were covered in flat screens, displaying videos of the artists playing and every so often different couples dancing somewhere in the club itself.
I scanned the room uneasily, feeling as if a threat could pounce out of the crowds at an moment.
"Are you sure it's safe?" I yelled into Cassie's ear who was staring around the place as if it was wonderland. "Going to a club in Gotham?"
"Sure! I mean no one would expect you to show your face here and honestly Em, you don't look like you tonight. Only people who know you personally would recognise you."
I tried to take her encouragement to heart, but there was no untangling the knot of tension in my stomach. I was just grateful that Sadira was safe back in Happy Harbour where no one could touch her.
"Relax," Cassie called. "Everything's gonna be fine! I've got your back if anything happens!" Across the room a really handsome guy caught her eye. She waved shyly at him which made him grin and incline his head towards the bar. I sighed internally, she really wasn't making me feel any more secure. "Let's get a drink, have some fun!"
As I allowed her to push forwards towards the bar I tried to swallow the irritation of once again someone telling me to have fun. I had fun! Occasionally… ok maybe Sadira was right when she nearly let out about only going out because of Jackdaw but that still counts!
Doesn't it?
Lost in thought, I pulled myself up onto one of the bar stools and beckoned the bar man over. Liking the look of the drink a girl beside me was drinking I asked for two of those.
"I.D.?" He grunted, eyeing me up and down.
I locked eyes with him. "I forgot it. But I don't need it, right?" His eyes glazed over and he nodded. He made the drinks and handed them to me. "They're on the house?" My voice didn't falter and he nodded again before returning to other customers. I handed one of the drinks to my companion.
"Man," she eyed my longingly. "That power is awesome."
I shrugged, at times like these, I really couldn't argue. We downed our drinks pretty quickly before turned to her.
"Tequila?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. She grinned and nodded eagerly. As we waited for the barman to get this round I turned to her again.
"So um… what's up with you and Superboy?" She choked on her last mouthful of cocktail, a look on her face made me add hastily, "I know it's none of my business, I just noticed you guys hang out a lot." Jeesh, why did I even bother? I thought girl talk was one of the things you do on nights like these.
"No, um… it's fine. We're just friends, not from lack of trying on my part." She smiled weakly at me. "He's… young."
"Young?" I snorted. "He's our age!"
"Yes he looks our age. He's a clone you see…"
I gaped at her. "Wait… what?"
She sighed looking like she'd rather not talk about it but not that my attention was caught she could tell I wasn't going to let this go. "Nightwing, back when he was Robin and Kid Flash found him five years ago in a cloning Pod in a huge science facility called Cadmus Industries. We found out he had been grown artificially, a clone of Superman, fed information of the outside world for months. It wasn't until the two guys let him out that he actually started living."
I couldn't help letting my mouth drop open a little. Wow. I mean, a clone. Who would have thought… the rest of the memories I got from him made more sense… the long space of blackness… just, wow.
"So, I guess I've kind of only been hinting things, I mean really he's only six years old – "
"That's bullshit," I said louder than I intended. She jumped and raised an eyebrow at me. "Well, he's had six years not to live, but to adapt to who he is. That's more than enough time Cass."
"I guess…" she didn't sound sure. For the first time I felt like she peeled away the rumbustious, smiley nineteen year old and I saw deeper, the true Cassie Sandsmark. She must really like Conner.
And just like that it was gone, I'll give her credit, she could paint a fake expression on way better than I could. This one glanced over my shoulder and grinned mischievously.
"Let's not think about the mutant boys for a while," she leaned in to say the words in my ear. Just then the handsome and very human guy she spotted when first arriving approached us.
"Can I buy you a drink?" He asked her, a crooked smile on his lips. I'll admit it he was gorgeous. Dark, chocolate-like complexion and amber eyes. His dazzling white teeth stood out in stark contrast to his skin. Cassie giggled and nodded.
I wanted to groan, what was I going to do now? I couldn't hang around these two all night. Being a third wheel was about as appealing to me as a kick in the gut. I excused myself from them, giving Cassie the bathroom excuse. I could see I was forgotten the second I was out of sight as they started talking in each other's personal spaces.
After relieving my bladder and fixing my makeup I was at a loss at what to do with myself. I considered dancing but I doubted I could pull off dancing alone without looking like a compete loser. After a very short deliberation I decided to go to my only not distracted friend in this joint. Alcohol.
After my third tequila I was sure I'd imagined it. I'm I wasn't a light weight but there was no way I could be that unlucky and the faint rush of heat to my face was an indication that I was nearly tipsy. It didn't explain the delusional feeling I got when I caught the sight of Jackdaw stepping out into the smoking area.
Before I could stop myself I was charging outside, the cool air hit me like a brick wall and I could feel the tequilas go straight to my head. I strode steadily towards him as he asked the people around him for a light. I pushed one of the girls on my way to let me keep her lighter and kept walking until I was behind him. Reaching around his back I lit the cigarette poised between his lips.
"Thanks," he said smoothly. I recognised the man-whore quality his voice had taken. He turned around and the second our eyes met I saw the heat vanish to recognition. There was no time for him to school his features however as before I could stop myself I slapped him across the face so hard my hand stung.
"That's for handing me over to Slade you back-stabbing son-of-a-bitch."
I could feel all eyes turned to look at us. Even the security guard at the far end of the area. Guards in Gotham can sense trouble miles away.
"Good to see you Em," his cocky attitude was put back into its rightful place. He was rubbing his cheek which was more than a little pink. "Unexpected, but good all the same."
"Save it Jay," I hissed. "You can't smooth talk your way out of this one."
"What do you want me to say?" He fired the question at me. "I was told to get you out by yourself, use the contacts to make sure you're what they thought you were and leave. It was a job Fraya. You would have done the same thing if it were the other way around."
I glared at him for a full minute, allowing the words to register in my slightly foggy mind.
"Are the others here with you?" I asked much lower in volume.
"Nah… I'm alone tonight. It's not really their scene."
"You could be lying to me…"
"Guess you're gonna have to trust me..." His voice was more like a dare.
Knowing I was rarely able to resist his challenges I locked our eye contact.
"For the rest of our conversation you will not lie to me," he scowled as the urge to obey swept over him. He wasn't expecting me to be here, that means he was without the protection of those irritating contact lenses. "Now, are you alone?"
"No," he spoke through gritted teeth. "Bomber and Jones are in the lounge chatting up some humans they met."
Dread clenched in my stomach but I made sure to stay calm with him watching me. I needed to find a way to grab Cassie and get out of here.
"Walk with me," I ordered. I needed to get out of the prying eyes of security and humans. Luckily, this particular club's smoking area was situated on the street so after slipping through the barriers and taking a hard left we were standing in a quiet alley.
"Just like old times," Jackdaw's seductive note was back. Reaching from behind me he trailed his finger-tips down my arm.
I shrugged off his touch, ignoring the heat it brought out on my skin. "Knock it off," I snapped.
"Just speaking the truth," he grinned sarcastically making me scowl.
"What does Slade want with me?" I demanded.
He smirked. "You didn't order me to actually answer you," he said closing his eyes tightly. "Just when I do I have to speak truthfully."
Damnit… I thought, furious at myself for making a rookie mistake. He wouldn't open his eyes even if I forced him and I needed the eye contact.
"I could always beat it out of you," I pushed as much bravado as I could into the words.
He snorted. So quickly I barely realised what he was doing he threw off his leather jacket and stretched out his wings.
Yes, that wasn't misprinted. I meant wings. Black, shiny feathers gleamed in the street lights, his powerful five metre wingspan cast a shadow over me.
"I'd like to see you try," his voice dark and threatening. "My guess is you have yet to absorb your kid's machine powers, without it you don't have any offensive abilities. I can easily defeat you with my eyes closed."
He was right of course. Although I'd been training non-stop with Nightwing for hand-to-hand I would still pose zero threat to a guy with heightened senses and wings.
"What are you gonna do Jay?" I asked, trying but failing to sound cocky. "Hand me over to Slade for the best price?"
Honestly, although the question was meant to make him feel pathetic I would have thought that was his exact plan. I wasn't expecting him to sigh, lower his wings and open those grey eyes again.
"No…" he admitted. "I don't want to. Whatever shit you've gotten yourself into I want no part in it."
"So you don't know what Slade wants with me?"
Jackdaw glanced around the alley. There was a certain stillness that was chilling there, he could sense it too. It was almost like someone was watching us.
"I might have an idea…" he spoke quieter making me lean closer to him so I could here. I opened my mouth to push the information out of him before he cut me off by leaning in to whisper in my ear. "Not here! The walls have ears in Gotham, you know that. Meet me in my old place down at the – "
"I remember where it is." I said glaring at him when his lips quirked into a smile.
"Of course you do. I've got a job until Tuesday afternoon so I'll meet you there at midnight?"
"Fine, but I came here with someone how can I get out without your boys seeing us?"
"A guy?" he asked his eyebrows raised.
"No. Not that it matters, can you distract the two idiots or not?"
"I can," he said smiling. "You know I'm awfully good at distractions." he let his face brush off mine for a little too long before darting out of reach. "Give me five minutes. I'll see you Tuesday then?"
Without thinking it through I nodded quickly.
"Great! I'll see you then," so quick I couldn't even think about pulling away he pressed his lips against my own. And jogged back towards the club.
Four minutes fifty-eight, Four minutes fifty-nine… I chanted in my head trying to breathe evenly before tearing back down the alley where Jackdaw and I walked what felt like hours ago. When slipping back through the barrier I slowed to a brisk walk. It didn't take long for me to spot the long blonde hair once back in the club. Especially seeing as it was whipping around the dance floor surrounded by interested males. I barged through them grabbing her wrist so tightly she spun around glaring at me.
"Oh!" her face smoothed out into a smile. "Hey Em!" She yelled over the pounding rhythm. I could barely hear it over the rushing of my ears. "Having fun yet?"
"We've got to go!" I screamed at her. Her expression seemed to crumble.
"What?" I wanted to knock her over the head. She was clearly too drunk to process my 'danger' tone.
"There are people here who might recognise me!" I pulled at her arm towards the exit.
"Hey," the guy that had spoken to her at the bar came over. "Leave her be if she wants to stay here! No need to kill her fun."
I snapped, it had to have been that damned noun. I rounded on the guy yelling into his face.
"You've just realised that there's a wedding ring on her finger," I yelled at him. "and she looks about twenty years older than you!" His gaze flickered over to her bare left hand then her face and shuddered.
"Hey!" Cassie whined. "Fraya! Why did you – "
"We're leaving now, Cassie!" I focused my gaze on her. She stopped pulling against my grip and allowed me to drag her out of the heat and noise of the club.
It was only when we hit the cold air that she sagged in my arms and I realised something.
"Cass! " I groaned. "How the hell are you supposed to drive us home in the jet?"
"It has Auto-pilot," she mumbled.
"Ok, well where did you park it?" Her answer was a choking noise. "Shit!"
I only just pulled her to the gutter when she started vomiting. I sighed at the heavens. Now I remembered why I hated having fun.
Just then I heard an extremely loud engine pull up behind us, it then revved twice. I was about to turn around and give whatever jackass who thought it was funny to rev at a vomiting girl the finger when I realised I knew that particular jackass.
"Thank god!" I called at Nightwing who got out of the dark vehicle. "Help me with her would you?"
He strode over in his full night wing costume, I could see all the people around me turning to stare. The females did more than that, I noticed a few were mentally undressing him with their eyes. Huh… I thought as he helped with Wonder Girls weight. Swinging one of her arms over his shoulders and I took the other, we half carried half dragged her to the car. I glanced at him around Cassie's bobbing head.
I really hadn't noticed before but Nightwing was hot. I mean, yeah I couldn't see a quarter of his face due to his mask but what I did see was impressive. Strong, angular nose, prominent jaw. Though the mask covered his eyes I could still see the brightest blue irises and could burn in anger, a strange thing for such a cold colour. With those facial features matched with a body wrapped in muscle and latex –
"You're staring at me," his voice broke through my thoughts.
"What?" We'd reached the car, he'd somehow managed to open the back door while holding her. I helped slide Cassie – now unconscious into the back seat.
"Why were you staring at me?" He pressed.
"I wasn't," I lied blatantly. Before he could call me on it I slid into the passenger seat. A moment later he sat in beside me and turned the key in the ignition. The engine purred to life making me want to fall asleep with Cassie but I told myself to remain focused.
"I thought you were going the Central city with the others?" I asked absently, staring at the traffic flashing past us.
"Decided I'd stick around. Good thing I did too."
"What do you mean?"
"Did you really think you could take on Slade's right hand man by yourself?"
I turned to gape at him. "That was you in the alley?" He didn't even need to answer. "I can't believe it! Jay was about to give me information!"
"Jay?" He scoffed. "You're on first name terms with him?" I couldn't stop myself, I blushed, thinking how much more than first name terms I was with him and of course he caught that. "Wait, please don't tell me you're involved with Jackdaw."
"No," I bit back. "Not anymore anyway…" I wanted to kick myself. It must have been the after effects of the tequila that made me unable to shut my mouth.
"Anymore?"
"Look, it's over now and anyway? Why the hell would do you even care?"
"I don't…" he trained his full concentration on the road. "It would just be nice to know the kind of friends you've made over the years."
I gritted my teeth, if it was any other testosterone boosted bozo I would have said he was jealous. "I've never called him a friend."
"Oh? You prefered boyfriend? Soul mate? The team's run into him before, the guy's an asshole."
"I know plenty of assholes, and much to my luck one of them currently driving the vehicle I'm sitting in!"
Behind us, Cassie groaned, cutting the heated tension between us. I sighed, was I ever going to be able to converse with this guy without raising my blood pressure? I severely doubted it.
"She better not get sick again…" Nightwing muttered. His tone less heated. "Batman will kill me if the leather gets ruined…"
Something finally clicked with me. I frowned, fully taking in my surroundings for the first time. The dashboard was covered in lights and buttons with uses I could only imagine.
"Wait a second…" the realisation dawned about five minutes too late. "Is this… no, it can't actually be the Batmobile."
He threw me a frown. "Why can't it be? I was his side-kick for most of my teens, I've known him longer than my own parents. Seems logical that I drive the Batmobile when he doesn't."
I shrugged. "I guess I never really thought about it before." I shuffled in the leather seats. "It's more comfortable than I expected it to be."
"You can't expect this thing to be uncomfortable, I mean, he's Batman."
"True… wait, did you say you've known him longer than you've known your parents?"
"You caught that did you? Yeah, my parents died when I was nine, Batman has looked after me since then and I'm twenty-one now so…"
"Oh…" I really didn't know what to say to that. "Well, that was lucky I guess."
Obviously that was the wrong thing. "Excuse me?"
"Well… if your parents didn't die then you never would have met Batman and trained to be Robin before becoming Nightwing and join Team Beta, therefore not have ever aspired to be what you were born to be."
"You think I was born to be a Masked vigilante slash orphan who trusts no one and spends his mornings training his days on missions and nights off driving drunk heroes home?" The bitterness rang out around the vehicle. I turned slightly to gaze at his profile.
"Oh please," I sighed, surprisingly calm in contrast to his tone. "I don't feel sorry for you. I'd bet anything I own that you are not the only orphan living back in H.Q. we all have baggage like that, it's what drives us to do what we do in the first place. And you trust people. You trust Batman and more than likely Kid Flash, you guys are obviously close and the training? What else would you be doing if you didn't have it? I don't think you'd even know what to do with yourself on a day off, even a night off drives you insane."
"You think you have me all figured out don't you?" His volume had retracted considerably.
"Yeah, I do."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Because, there's only one reason why you make me so angry every time we have a conversation."
"Only one?"
I gritted my teeth. It was refreshing not to be yelling at him and I'm trying to keep it going as long as possible. "We're too alike."
I thought he'd instantly deny it, the thought of being like me being a ridiculous notion. But I think he too must have come to the conclusion so instead he stayed silent, focused on the road ahead. The lights of the passing cards reflected in his eyes.
"You're doing it again," he said after a few more minutes.
"What?"
"Staring."
I jumped and instantly turned my head to look out the window, pressing my forehead against it was soothing against my tequila fuelled foggy brain.
"No I wasn't," I lied again and closed my eyes. Easily allowing sleep to suck me under, aided by the gentle hum of the Batmobile's engine.
