AUTHOR NOTE: Hey everybodyyyyyy!
I'm so sorry I haven't updated sooner; shit's been going on in my life and I've been a bit distracted, so haven't been able to write effectively. YJ Season three is looking less and less likely to happen (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) which gives me even more reason not to let you guys down and keep going with this fic :)
You may notice that this chapter has a 'part 1' on it? these next two chps are kinda like a mid season finale type thing, so I want to cram in as much as possible. You may also notice that only one setting is used in this. This is cause the Batfam is so messed (still love em) that there's so much i needed to address. I'm gonna start work on part 2 immediately after publishing this :)
Also, i have a confession to make... I've recently started watching this french show called Miraculous Ladybug. It's childish, cliche-central, sucky plotlines and yeah... AND I LOVE IT! I DONT KNOW WHY BUT I LOVE IT! #FeedAdrien k i feel better now. probs gonna start writing some little fluff stories for this sooooooo, yeah
On a good note, SUICIDE SQUAD IS OUT IN TWO MONTHS WOOOHOOOO! so excited. AND BVS ULTIMATE CUT (CONTAINING BABS OMG IM GONNA DIE) IS COMING OUT JUST BEFORE. *faints out of inability to wait any longer cos it's so exciting*
JUSTICE LEAGUE HAS STARTED FILMING. DARKSEID'S DADDY IS THE VILLAIN
WONDER WOMAN FINISHED FILMING. WONDER GAL IS BAE
Without further ado, ENJOY CHAPTER 10: PART 1
CHAPTER 10: Six Feet Under (Part 1)
GOTHAM CITY
September 13, 18:59
'Am I straight?' Dick Grayson said, facing his younger brother, Tim Drake, as he tried to adjust his sky blue tie.
Tim scoffed. 'All the women in there'll be hoping you are. Your tie isn't crooked, by the way.'
Beaming, the young man slapped his brother playfully. 'I can't believe that after all these years, we've finally gotten rid of Mr Uptight!'
He blushed softly. 'I-I'm not uptight! Just… cautionary… and careful…'
'Mhmm', he mumbled, not believing a word the teenager said. 'And, he's back.'
Looking to the mirror to fix his own appearance, Tim growled, 'Whatever…'
After a few moments of silence, Dick turned back to him again as he ran the smallest amount of gel through his thick hair. 'So… Is Cassie coming tonight?'
'To be honest, I'm not sure', Tim replied calmly. 'Said she was training with Diana earlier in the afternoon, and thought she might be a bit pushed for time, but she also said she'd do everything in her power to make it.'
Dick smiled. 'I think you've got yourself a keeper, Tim. Don't screw it up.'
'Actually, I think she wanted to come so badly to let everyone know I'm taken', he chuckled. Then something occurred to the younger hero. 'But what about you? Are you and Barb showing off as an item tonight? Or has Starfire disrupted whatever balance there was between you two?'
Furrowing his eyebrows, Dick looked to the younger boy, genuinely confused. What on Earth was he talking about? Whatever had gone wrong with him and Barbara in the past was put behind them, they'd moved on, and they were okay with that. Well, Dick was okay with that. Sort of. But what did Kori have to do with any of it?
'Starfire?' Dick asked.
'Dude, everyone can see she's really into you. Including Barbara', Tim answered as Dick practically face-palmed himself.
'Gah, seriously, I'm just helping Kori settle in; can't you see that?' he exclaimed exasperatedly. 'She's been through so much in her life, I'm just trying to make her feel like she's welcome and safe somewhere, for once. Babs' supposed to be the rational one… besides, she's told me time and time again that I'm not ready for her. So, sorry to come off as a dog once more, but I'm trying to live my life and if that involves liking Kori, then so be it!' he nearly yelled, somehow managing to stay somewhat silent with the waiting guests outside.
'Did I hear correctly, Mr Grayson?' Tim said a mocking smile, not affected by the outburst in the slightest. 'That you like Ms Koriand'r?'
'Shut up before I gel your hair', he said half-jokingly. Tim still snickered, but slunk back to behind the curtain fold as they listened out for the commencement of the gala.
They didn't have to wait too long, as the cliché sound of trumpets sounded. Dick and Tim looked to one another, eyes rolling at their adoptive father's antiques. The sound of clapping soon echoed around the room below them, and they soon heard Bruce's 'billionaire Bruce Wayne' voice boom through the ballroom.
'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! I'd just like to start off by thanking all of you here tonight for your generous donations. All proceeds will go the Wayne Family Foundation, a charity for the families of Gotham who've gone through extreme distress and loss in their lives.' The billionaire looked down for a moment, hands tightening around the lectern, leaving some members of the audience sympathetic or uncomfortable. Dick, however, knew it was all an act.
Looking up again, Bruce continued on to say, 'Now, I don't want to steal too much of your time, but I'd also like to thank the people who made tonight possible. Mrs Felicity Stanford, the owner of this impressive facility, Commissioner James Gordon, for providing us all with the best security this side of Metropolis tonight, and every other night. Mr and Mrs Bertarelli, for the amazing catering services and dishes served before you. And finally', he paused, looked toward the curtain, lifted his hand in welcoming and smiled the first genuine smile the boys had seen all night, 'my two wards, Richard Grayson and Timothy Drake, for all their care, spirit and support through the years. These boys have been the best family I could've asked for. I'd like you all to help me welcome them here tonight.'
The second the two walked through the curtain, applause rose up in the crowd, along with a few girly squeals and wofl-whistles as they walked over toward their father figure. Knowing his teeth had been brushed to perfection, Dick raised a waving hand, the other stuff into his pocket, and flashed a winning smile at the people below.
'Becky, OMG, Dick Grayson just looked at me!'
'Shut up, Jenny; Tim Drake winked at me!'
Turning to his younger brother, the teen shrugged his shoulders. Dick couldn't help but chuckle.
As they came to stand by Bruce, the older man rested one hand on each of the boys' shoulders. Looking to both of them, Dick knew that Bruce couldn't hide the look of pride on his face. No matter how they'd drifted apart through the years, both of them knew there'd always be a special bond between the two of them, one that could never be destroyed.
Bruce made eye-contact with their audience once more and addressed them, saying, 'I think I can speak for the three of us when I say how grateful we are for you all here tonight. Now please, let the ball commence!'
Immediately, the crowd dissipated and small clusters were made, a few couples swaying as the music picked up. Bruce then turned to the two of them, and normal-Bruce was back in his place.
'I meant all of that, by the way', he said in his deeper, darker tone, yet love still managed to climb into it as well. 'I'm incredibly proud of the both of you, but I need you to continue to make me proud. Whilst this is a social fundraising event first and foremost, I also need you to be on alert throughout the night.'
'Consider it done', Tim replied with a respectful nod.
'Sure thing, Bruce', Dick said. 'I'll see if I can find Barbara as well. She is part of the team, after all.'
'Of course', he said, before patting both their shoulders and making a move towards a group of swooning women.
Dick turned to his younger brother to start some small talk as they walked down the grand staircase, but Tim's phone interrupted his thoughts, and as the 16-year-old pulled it out, his face lit up. 'Cassie's here!' He immediately cast his eyes to the crowd as they continued to walk down, until his mouth dropped as he locked his eyes onto something. Or someone… Dick thought with a smirk. Following his line of vision, he spotted Tim's blond girlfriend at the glass door, looking as pretty as ever with a baby pink, knee-length dress, with her hair swept up neatly into wavy ponytail.
Looking back to his side, he saw that Tim had already left, and was halfway across the room. Go get her, tiger.
Letting out a sigh of contentment, he made his way down the staircase, his hands stuffed into his pockets. As he reached the floor, he looked around, seeing if he could recognise anyone. Celebrities, rich people, fangirls, members of government, Dick got tired of looking until his eyes made someone.
Walking over, he raised a friendly hand and called out, 'Hey Comish, how're you tonight?'
Jim Gordon turned around and his face lit up, a toothy grin smiling back at him. 'Dick Grayson, well I'll be darned! What brings you back to our quaint, humble city?' he joked as he shook the young man's hand gingerly.
'Definitely the tranquillity of Gotham', he chuckled back. Glancing around briefly, he then turned back to the older man. 'You haven't seen Barbara by any chance, have you?'
''Fraid not, son. You'll let me know if you find her though, won't you?'
'Of course, Jim', Dick promised. 'I'll look around now. See you later, Comish!'
With that, he walked off, still keeping his eyes peeled for the red-haired woman. Suddenly, the song changed, and Dick felt himself start walking to the beat of a more orchestral version of Lana Del Ray's 'Young and Beautiful'. He walked through the crowd, most of which had paired off and begun dancing with their loved ones. Looking around, he saw Tim and Cassie, the former's head resting on the latter's chest, eyes closed and smiling peacefully as they swayed with the song. It was cute, and Dick couldn't help but remember back to the times when Barbara had been his date, and they'd been in the exact same position.
Thought you said you remembered what was happening on Sunday ni- wow…
Dick's own thoughts trailed off as he stopped short, unable to do anything but take in the sight before him.
There she was. Barbara Gordon, wearing the dress Dick Grayson had so sweetly bought for her. He knew it was going to look good on her, he just didn't realise how good. Tiny toes peeped out from gold heels, which were almost concealed thanks to the floor-length, sparkling, navy blue dress that highlighted her curvaceous, yet muscular body. The straps at the top hung off the sides of her bare shoulders, which then took Dick's line of vision to her face. Blue eyes were dusted with dark, navy eyeshadow, mascara made her already-long eyelashes stand out, and a deep red lipstick matched her hair, which was all falling over one shoulder.
Dick, realising he was currently at a stand-still, moved to talk to the stunning, young woman. Stunning. Gorgeous. Exquisite. Ravishing. Striking. Dazzling. Whatever word he thought of, it wasn't enough to describe the incredible beauty before him. As he neared her, she saw him, flashing that pearly-white smile that attracted so many. Gulp.
'Hey Babs', he greeted, grinning at her, trying desperately to keep his cool. 'I see you wore the dress.'
'What, this old thing?' she joked, marvelling at the flowing gown. 'But yeah, I mean, you went to the effort to actually buy it and I'm not gonna lie; when you first told me, I thought it was gonna be the dodgiest, sluttiest thing but this', she glanced down at it once more. 'This is incredible. You really outdid yourself, Dick. Thank you', she whispered, sincerity clinging on every word as she hugged her best friend. He didn't wait a second to hug her back.
The embrace was over far too soon, however, as the ginger girl pulled back, taking in the surroundings before them. 'Looks like Bruce and his decorators outdid themselves too! This place looks amazing…'
Dick couldn't stop himself. 'Not the only thing that looks amazing tonight.'
Turning to look at him, Dick was surprised to see her laugh. Smiling, she looked up at him, her sky blue eyes shining. 'Can't stop being a womaniser for one moment, can you?'
There was no mockery, no disgust, no sarcasm in her words, only light-hearted teasing. He smiled softly, looking at her giddy face as she eyed off the entire ballroom. His eyes trailed down her body, taking in every dip, every curve, every mole on her fair arms, until he reached her hand. It was right there, it wasn't like he hadn't held it before. Man up, Grayson…
Her eyes widened, her body stiffened, and she turned sharply at the zing of electricity that came from her hand. Glancing down, Dick stifled a chuckle as she saw his hand encasing hers, her mouth making an 'o' shape. When she looked back up at him, shock was still written clear on her brilliant, blue eyes.
'M'lady', he mused, lifting her hand up to his lips, touching her soft fingers ever so lightly. A mischievous smile and quirked eyebrow masked his insecurities about what he was about to do. He still didn't understand why he was so nervous this time.
'Would you care to be the first woman here tonight lucky enough to dance with Bludhaven's Most Eligible Bachelor?' he asked with a wink. Satisfaction flooded his heart, making it flutter as she looked away, pinkness dusting her cheeks.
Clearing her throat, Barbara straightened up and curtsied, playing along with his charade. 'It would be your pleasure, Mr Grayson.'
'My pleasure?' he chuckled as they made their way to the floor.
'Yes, your pleasure. After all, it's not every night that you get to dance with the Commissioner's overachieving, stunning, and badass daughter', she smirked with a sideways glance at her best friend.
'Actually, yeah', Dick admitted, humour still driving his actions. 'I can vouch for all those things.'
She giggled, before both realised they'd made it to the middle of the dancefloor, just as the chorus of the song lifted.
Clearly confident in herself and her actions, Barbara faced him, eyes locking on his as she placed her free hand on his shoulder and raised their locked ones up. Dick felt his own free hand lift itself up, before coming to rest on the dip of her waist. And with that, they began gliding across the dancefloor.
Dick couldn't seem to take his eyes off her, no matter how hard he tried. Barb always managed to snag his attention when he least expected it, but tonight, there was some beauty, some radiance about her that stopped him from looking anywhere but her. Could be the dress… maybe? he thought, yet another little voice in his head popped up, saying, Dude, you've seen her dressed up like this more times than you'd like to count. Maybe, just maybe, it's 'cause she finally got under your skin.
But Babs' always been under my skin. But tonight, it's like-
She's got you wrapped around her little finger, yeah. That's 'cause you are, Grayson. Ain't nothing ever gonna change that.
'Dick!'
'Huh, what?' His eyes widened as the voice called him back into the real world. He looked down, and his eyes immediately crossed as he realised Barb was just an inch from his face. Seeing she'd brought him back, Barbara lowered herself back to her slightly elevated stance, a foot from him now.
After chuckling softly, she looked up at him. 'I asked you like, ten times if you'd heard anything about Hood?'
'Uh… Robin, Hood?' he asked sheepishly.
This received a face-palm from his partner. 'Yeah, sure, Robin Hood, because he's on our hit-list- no, you idiot, Red Hood. You know, the guy we saw parading around with a dozen heads?'
It was Dick's turn to face-palm. 'Yeah, right… sorry, forgot about him for a moment.' He sighed, looking away, eyes narrowing as his gaze mazed through the people around them, as though the brown, black and red clad culprit would suddenly burst out from them. 'And no, nothing since Tim brought that USB drive back.'
He looked back to the now very serious Barbara Gordon, steel blue eyes softening. 'But c'mon, Babs, even if it's just for tonight, let's enjoy the moment. No work, no Batman, no villains hell-bent on creating destruction, just the two of us. Haven't had a lot of that recently, and I've missed it. I've missed you.'
The fiery red-head hadn't been entirely focused on his words, as she gazed around the room, and Dick's shoulders slumped when she said, 'Adorable, Richard, but right now, I have a bad feeling that some crazy business is about to go down. Come on', she instructed as she pulled away, heading for the staircase.
Dick shook his head, but pelted straight after her. 'Seriously, Babs, did you have all of the chill pounded out of you at birth or something?'
'I have chill!' she protested, still keeping focus on the ascending stairs before he, leaping them two at time, while Dick took three to catch up. 'I just get into the zone when a mission calls, which is what used to happen to this other person I know, before they went all AWOL and crazy. Now, they have too much chill.'
He groaned. 'At least let me run back to grab Tim and Cassie.'
She wheeled around to face him. 'No way! They're having a little romantic moment, and you are not going to spoil it for them.'
As she spun back to recommence sprinting, Dick rolled his eyes. 'Oh sure, they get to have a moment, but if your girl's a redhead and nearly 21, then absolute, definite no.'
'I'm not your girl', Barbara retorted.
Dick simply scoffed. 'Yeah, good luck telling that to our parental figures.'
'What's my dad and Bruce got to do with this?'
'Just about everything. You know they see us as a couple, right? I believe the proper, scientific term for it is 'shipping'.'
'Right, of course they do… by the way, though, if I'm your anything', she mused as she pulled out her uniform, 'I'm your sugar momma.'
Dick couldn't help but scoff as he fitted his domino mask to his face. 'Is that so? Care to elaborate?'
'Well, it's no secret that I've saved your butt on multiple occasions, both physically and financially. We both know where you'd be without my constant funding. So therefore', she drawled, pulling her inertrite-lined head piece over her eyes before holding her hands out plainly. 'I'm your sugar momma.'
He laughed. ''Kay then, sugar momma, would you care to explain why exactly we're missing out on the party again to run along rooftops when there's no obvious reason for us to?'
Rolling her eyes, she clipped her utility belt on and replied with, 'Because this sugar momma currently has that feeling of sheer panic in her stomach, kinda like what you feel when you haven't finished a paper that's due the next day. Not that this sugar momma has ever actually experienced that.'
'Anyway, back on topic… I'm curious and, believe it or not, I really would like to enjoy the rest of the night, dancing without a care, and the only way I feel I can do that is to check that everything's okay this side of Crime Alley.'
Dick looked at her incredulously as he pulled on his boots. 'Wait a second; you mean to tell me that we're missing out on champagne and laughing at rich, old people because you have a hunch?'
'Yep.'
Dick could've strangled her there and then. Or laughed his head off. He really wasn't sure.
Looking on at she adjusted her bright yellow gloves, he finally fully took in her new getup. The combination of dark grey, yellow, black and dusty purple worked incredibly well with her fair skin and fiery hair, which had somehow gotten redder over the past year. Her clear blue eyes had become electric, radiating with a passion for everything she did. There was no denying that Barbara Eileen Gordon was a beauty; with or without the mask.
'Dick!'
'Huh, yeah wha?' he muttered, coming out of his daze.
Barbara, now fully donning her Batgirl attire, scoffed and looked over the young vigilante. 'Very coherent use of language, Grayson. I just called your name for the fifth time, asking if you were ever gonna finish becoming Nightwing, or do you need a hand putting your gwoves on?' she mock-pouted.
All flustered behaviour gone, Dick replied with a confident smile, wiggling his eyebrows. 'Would you, m'lady?'
Rolling her eyes, she made her way over and took Dick's hand in her own. 'What would you do without me?' she added with a sigh as she fastened the strap of the glove on.
'Haven't a clue.'
'Neither do I', she said as she finished, completing Nightwing's look.
Realising their hands were still held, Batgirl looked up at her partner and saw she was so close, she could actually partially see through the white cover of his eyes to see him staring back at her longingly. An unspoken conversation passed between the two young heroes, one full of many stolen glances, missed opportunities, unwarranted arguments, before all of it cleared, leaving only them in the there and now. That moment right then was all that mattered.
Batgirl saw his line of vision move from the locked position of her eyes to the curves and crevices of her lips, which she subconsciously licked. Nightwing's eyelids begun to slowly close and he leaned in toward her, and an anticipation-filled fire blazed in her stomach. She felt her eyelashes flutter, her mouth open slightly as she leaned toward him as well, tilting her head to the side slightly. Their locked hands separated, letting Nightwing's glide toward her waist, and Batgirl's toward the crook of his neck. The last thing she saw before her eyes completely closed was his lips, his soft, pink, welcome, enticing lips, moving gently toward her own.
!Crash!
Are you fucking kidding me…?
Batgirl's eyes immediately snapped open at the sound to see Nightwing had already turned toward it, white slits narrowing. The horrendous sound was immediately followed by screams and desperate cries for help, along with more smashing glass and… gunshots.
The two heroes shared a knowing and slightly pained look before taking off. We're talking about that later, Wingnut, let me assure you of that.
They careered toward the top of the stairs, only to be greeted by Gotham's elite cowering on the floor and under furniture as a central figure demanded the attention of anyone who dared to look their way. Batgirl narrowed her eyes: Red Hood.
Teeth pulled into a snarl, she vaulted herself over the railing and catapulted to the ground below, landing in a crouch. She whipped out a batarang and held it at the ready, maintaining that same fearless, terror-striking air that she'd worked so hard to perfect.
'Hey, Stop-sign! Isn't this venue a little too proper for your tastes?' Nightwing quipped above her.
The masked man turned toward them, completely unsurprised or even worried by their arrival. 'Ah, Batbitch and Prickwing; was wonderin' when you'd show your ugly-ass faces.'
Batgirl was slightly thrown by this new, yet seemingly experienced villain's disregard for famed heroes, but she held her ground and shifted her shoulders, like a lion preparing to pounce. Without moving her head, she cast her eyes up to see Nightwing now balancing on the railing like a cat, clearly relaxed as he stared down the man.
'Forgive me for being curious, it's the kid in me, but you seem to be pretty chilled for a guy who's being faced down by Gotham's finest.'
He scoffed absent-mindedly as he reloaded the gun. 'If you two dipshits are all I have to worry about, then of course I'm gonna be chilled.'
'Uh, dude… ever heard of Batman?'
A wicked, distorted laugh sounded from his throat. ''Course I heard of Batman. Boy, have I heard of Batman.'
Where in the world was Bruce anyway? Probably escorting people to safety, maintaining his cover and being Bats at the same time. Tim and Cassie had most likely joined him.
'In fact, I have a little secret that you kids might like to hear.'
Batgirl had had enough. Bolting to her feet, she hurled the batarang toward his helmet, having it narrowly miss him. He didn't even flinch.
'And why should we listen to a goddamn word you have to say, huh? We know what you've done, we've seen what you've done, we have evidence for what you've done. What makes you think that we should even bother hearing you monologue when we can just take you in?' she said, seething.
She swore she could've seen a smirk beneath his helmet. 'You know, I did always admire your ferocity, BG. Kinda reminds me of a tiger.' She sucked in a breath as he began moving towards her.
Looking up, she saw a defensive look come onto her partner's face. As they made eye contact, she mouthed a short wait as Red Hood continued toward her.
'But eventually, tigers get older, slower, weaker, unable to even care for themselves. And they get shot. And die. And get hung up in some old man's closest like a trophy', he hissed in a whisper as he approached, until eventually he stood a few feet away from her.
Jesus, this guy's had proper training on how to scare the living daylights out of people, she thought to herself. I sure as hell ain't showing him that though.
'Am I supposed to feel threatened or something?' she asked plainly, a smirk plastered on her face.
'Maybe not.'
Um… what?
'But you should be in a second.'
What is he going on- oh.
In slow motion, she watched as he pulled out his handgun and pointed it straight to her forehead. As his thumb moved toward the trigger, smirk still clear on her lips, she reached for her utility belt with lightning speed, whipped out a batarang and sent it flying directly into the barrel of the gun.
She shoots, she scores.
The gun went off, sending a ripple of screams through the crowded civilians, and it immediately malfunctioned, exploding in his hands. Red Hood stepped back in shock, eyes blinking rapidly as he tried to get away from the cloud of gun powder in his face.
Flicking her line of vision up to Nightwing, the two shared a curt nod, and sprang into action.
Batgirl began a swift approach toward the stumbling villain, gaining enough momentum to push off into a twisting handspring atop his shoulders, spinning him around. He stumbled once more before shaking his head, clearing it, and rounding back onto the heroine again, guns blazing. Completely forgetting about Nightwing.
The Bludhaven resident gracefully flipped down onto the hard floor, then ran up behind the unsuspecting man and tackled him in a headlock. Nightwing had the advantage of height, being slightly taller than Hood, but the well-trained killer simply sprung up and flipped himself backwards over the circus boy, reversing their roles.
Batgirl's breath caught in her throat as she swivelled around to see the villain trapping her partner, one strong arm held tight at his throat, the other with the handgun to his temple. She struggled to maintain her composure as a choking sound was squeezed out of Nightwing's throat.
'Take another step closer, and I'll blow his brains out', he said calmly. 'Assuming there are some up there.'
Taking a deep breath in, she forced herself to stand upright, hands resting easily on her hips. Making eye-contact with Nightwing, she saw him offer a small, yet genuinely cheeky smile, enough to remind her of something. He's a performer. He could get out any time he wanted; he's just choosing not to.
Not giving Hood a chance to think, she swung out her grappling hook, having it perfectly circle around with his upper thigh. A pained grunt came from his mask as it cut into the skin, and he released his grip on Nightwing's neck. The former then immediately grabbed the gun and pointed it to the ceiling, elbowed the Hood in the side, causing him to fire the round of shots until the gun was clear.
It was two against one; and no matter how good the Red Hood was, Batgirl and Nightwing were just better. Giving the rope a tug, Batgirl pulled on the grappling hook and Red Hood came tumbling toward her. The second he was at her feet, Nightwing proceeded to hogtying the villain with reinforced-titanium, rope-like tendrils, leaving him completely immobilised.
The two heroes came to stand beside one another, exchanging a fist-bump as they stared down the bounded man.
'It's alright everyone!' Nightwing addressed the crowded mass who were slowly stirring from their huddled positions. 'Bad guy detained, heroes outnumbering, you're all safe. You're free to carry on with the rest of your evening.'
A few claps sounded from various places in the room, until suddenly the entire area erupted in applause. Batgirl scoffed and rolled her eyes as her partner bowed extravagantly, along with winking at a few, swooning women. The redhead simply gave a two-finger salute, shot her grappling gun up toward the skylight above her, and let it carry her and the squirming villain up to the open night-sky above.
'Talk.'
'Make me, bitch.'
'Well, that's a bit rude, don't you think?'
Swerving around from her place on the rooftop, Batgirl turned to see Nightwing walking over toward the secluded spot where she'd decided to initiate the interrogation.
Smirking, she returned her attention back to a very disgruntled Red Hood. 'Well, now that my partner's here, I very well can. Red Hood, Nightwing; he'll be playing good cop tonight. Me? Very much bad cop.'
''Am I supposed to feel threatened or something?'' he answered mockingly.
In a flash, Batgirl hurled a batarang toward his slumped body, resting against a wall. Once more, he didn't even move as it ting!ed against the side of his helmet. 'Who are you? Who do you work for? What are your motives?'
He scoffed, his chest rising briefly as he took in a breath. 'Pretty sure you already know the answer to the first one. Second; self-employed, but willing to work for someone if I get paid good. And I'm doing what you do, only more effectively.'
'Well, that's a load of BS', replied Nightwing as he came to stand beside Batgirl, arms crossing just like hers.
'How so?' The masked man turned to face the towering vigilante. 'I know how you lot work, I know that for every villain you spare and lock in Arkham, Iron Heights, Belle Reve, wherever, another ten escape and kill millions of innocents. I know that you all second-guess yourselves every once in a while, saying 'is it worth it?'. I know that you've all been tempted to cross that line you can't turn back from. I know how you can't sleep at night, always thinking about the final look that person had on their face before they carked it. I know you all inside out, but you don't know a damn thing about me. You never did.'
Batgirl's eyes widened in surprise and she knelt down to twist his jacket in her hand to pull him close, gritting her teeth as she did so. 'How do you know all of this?!'
'You wouldn't believe me if I told you.'
Nightwing knelt beside his furious partner, all humour gone as he whispered menacingly, 'Try us.'
'Fine then.'
'We're waiting…'
'Batman and you two.'
Batgirl glanced to her side to see the same dumbfounded expression on Nightwing's face that she imagined was on her own. After years of training and fighting beside the big old Bat, they knew how to perfectly decipher if a person was lying, just by their tone and body-language. Red Hood had just laid his cards on the table; he wasn't telling a single lie, and he obviously wasn't planning to either.
'How?' Batgirl snarled, leaning in closer to him to the point in which she could see her furious expression perfectly reflecting off of his facemask.
'Be a little more whelmed and I might tell you', he said, a smirk clinging on his words.
Batgirl took in a sharp breath and turned to Nightwing, whose mouth hung open in disbelief at his words, his eyes looking like they were about to pop out of his head and through the mask at any second.
Batgirl watched as his shoulders tensed and moved out of the way as he grabbed the Hood by his jacket and held him above the ground, sending him the most almighty Bat-glare.
'Who are you?' he spat, fist tightening around the brown cloth with every word.
Red Hood simply chuckled, though it came out more like a rasp thanks to the headgear. 'I don't want to ruin the surprise. But by all means, you fucktards are welcome to find out on your own accord. I know how much you detectives love solving a mystery. Especially one with a shocking twist.'
Batgirl felt her heart pounding in her chest and rising in her throat as Nightwing dropped him, his hands shaking as he reached for the mask. Her stomach began to squirm in anxiety as she watched her partner's unsteady hands feel around the Hood's headgear, and a cold shiver past through her body at the sound of a click, which was followed by a soft hiiissss…
She raised a tentative hand to her mouth and held it over her lips as they quivered, watching on as the mask slowly pushed itself further away from his face.
There was a moment where nothing happened, where neither Batgirl nor Nightwing could hear anything but the sound of their own accelerated heartbeats.
'Well, Nightwing, are you gonna chicken out now, or you got a tiny ounce of courage left somewhere?' the man's voice taunted, and for the first time, undistorted. It sounded hauntingly familiar.
Batgirl's brain racked through all the memories she attained over the last few years as Nightwing's hands grasped the helmet, until she arrived at a handful of them. She forgot how to breathe.
Her wide, fearful eyes took in the image of Nightwing removing the mask, and she'd become so focused on what was before her, she didn't even hear Nightwing's gasp, the clank of the headgear hitting the ground, or his jagged breathing.
'Hey Dick. Hey Babs. Remember me?'
Jason?!
DUN DUN DUN! they knoowwwwwwwww! ooo, i had chills writing that last part
Yes, it was incredibly Bat-central, but idc, i love them all. and dont worry, theres plenty more bat related drama to come *wink*
OMG THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE AHHHHHHHHH
i don't really have much more to say, other than...
QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER: Favourite DC Graphic Novel?
Eg. Killing Joke, Flashpoint Paradox, For The Man Who Has Everything, etc...
Remember to Review, Favourite and Follow 3
Much love,
~SpitfireWestAllen15
