AN: Thanks for the reviews, guys. Don't worry, Damian isn't going to die. I really wish they can bring him back in the comics.
-X-
Barbara was in the cave, watching on the computer screens with apprehension as the Batfamily fought to protect Gotham from the Court of Owls. The list of the Court's targets was on one screen, with colour coding to indicate if the Batfamily were successful or not: green meant the target was saved, red meant that the target had been killed and blue stood for unknown status. There were already eight names in red and ten names in green, with at least another twelve still unaccounted for. Barbara was just hoping that the green would outweigh the red in the end and she was biting her nails, her nerves on high tension, praying that everyone would survive and be able to save as many as they can. She was so wrapped up in watching the screens that she didn't know she had visitors, a Talon slowly creeping up behind her and silently drawing his sword. He sliced the sword at her neck and at the last second, Barbara dropped to the ground, snatching the pair of escrima sticks from underneath the computer table and she quickly got to her feet in time to block the Talon's next strike.
"Nice try. Next time, you're going to have to a lot better than that," Barbara said, striking the Talon across the face, "You tripped the silent motion sensors."
"Then you know I'm not the only one," the Talon said.
Barbara whirled around and barely blocked a second Talon's sword, as he kicked her in the stomach. Collapsing to the ground, Barbara lashed out with a kick to the first Talon's ankle, but it barely slowed him down, as the second Talon kicked her again. Then, the two assassins stood over her and aimed their swords at her chest, prepared to use the killing blow.
"Any last words?" one of the Talons asked.
"Activate cave defence," Barbara said.
The Talons frowned at each other, as gas was issued from underneath the computer, also coming in from the corners of the cave, filling the caverns and invading the lungs of everyone inside, sending them all into a deep sleep.
-X-
Stopping the Talon's swing, the Red Hood booted the assassin in the stomach, as another Talon slashed at him. Quickly drawing his knife, the Red Hood blocked the blow and slashed for the Talon's throat, but the assassin dodged nimbly out of the way, as a third Talon kicked him in the face. Falling to his knees, the Red Hood gritted his teeth when pain flared in his back thanks to the dagger and he rolled forward to avoid a sword, lashing out with the knife, then grabbed the Talon from behind and stabbed him in the chest. Shoving the body aside, the Red Hood threw his knife, but a Talon deflected it, giving Jason the chance to whip out his Raging Taurus, setting the weapons to all four barrels, then fired. The Talons dropped around him and the Red Hood smirked, retrieving his knife and going to the building edge, where he could see Nightwing fighting off Talons on another rooftop.
"Don't die, John. Not until I kill y-"
He was hit from behind, falling off the rooftop, but he twisted in the Talon's arms, elbowing the assassin in the face, then drew both his knife and grapple gun. He stabbed the Talon, causing the assassin to let him go and he grappled his way to safety, landing on another rooftop. Seeing that it was the same one as Nightwing, the Red Hood fired his guns to remove the last of the Talons, catching Nightwing's attention.
"Jason? What are you doing here?" John asked.
"I'm here to settle some unfinished business between us," Jason replied.
"Now's not the time."
"Now is the perfect time, John. I mean, not only did you keep me a secret from your friends like you were ashamed of me, but you didn't even avenge me when the Joker nearly killed me and took me away from you. Do you know how traumatised I was from my near-death experience, the complete agony I went through to rehabilitate myself? I went through hell! And you! You just carried on like I never existed."
"I'm sorry I failed you, Jason," Nightwing said, "You weren't ready to take on the Joker and that fault is my own. And then when I lost you, I almost lost it. I came so close to killing the Joker."
"What stopped you?" the Red Hood asked, "It's not like he deserved to live."
"No, but I don't have the right to end his life. If I had killed him, it would have made me no better than he was and he would win. We are not judge, jury and executioner. That is not how we do things."
"No, but I do. While I was recovering, I realised something, that by having the one rule, we were restricting ourselves. This whole Batman thing is about fear and striking fear into those who prey on the fearful. The criminals aren't dumb; they've grown used to your act. This is what's needed to make them fear setting foot on the streets again."
"It doesn't have to be like this," Nightwing said, "Let me help you, Jason. Please."
"It's far too late for that."
Whipping out a gun, the Red Hood shot his former mentor in the shoulder, then charged at him, but Nightwing caught him across the face with one of his escrima fighting sticks, then slammed him in the stomach. The armour protected the Red Hood from being winded, as he caught Nightwing's leg and spun around, his elbow aimed for Nightwing's face, but the elder man blocked the move and put him in an arm lock. However, before the move could be completed, the Red Hood slipped out and spun behind Nightwing, grabbing his wrist and shoving hard against his injured shoulder, forcing his former mentor to double over, while sending a wave of pain through his body.
"Gonna cry uncle?" the Red Hood sneered.
"I think we're past sympathy at this point," Nightwing gritted his teeth.
He hooked his foot around the Red Hood's ankle and shoved hard, ignoring the flash of pain in his shoulder and managed to throw his former protégé to the ground.
"The person you should be angry at would be Leslie Thompkins," Nightwing said, "She's the one who drugged you, faked your death, lied to me and smuggled you out of Gotham. Not me and not the Huntress."
"I think I'm past caring at this point," the Red Hood said, whipping out a gun and firing.
-X-
"How did you guys know what was happening?" Jesse asked.
"The first Talon who tried to kill Helena had a chip on him, containing the list," Batman replied, "However; it had been heavily encrypted and took a long time to crack. We're here."
The Bat landed atop Lincoln March's office and Batman held onto Jesse as they descended to the ground, before entering the dark, empty building. A Talon was in the foyer, standing guard and saw the pair enter, hurling a throwing dagger at them each. Jesse and Batman narrowly avoided the blades, ducking behind support posts for protection, as the Talon then drew her sword.
"I'll hold her off and anyone else that comes," Batman said, "You get to March."
He stepped out from behind the post, scoring a dagger in the abdomen, as Jesse ran for the main office. The Talon went to meet him head-on, raising her sword, but a batarang deflected her weapon, allowing Jesse to slip past, as Batman then tangled with the Talon. Hearing the pair fight and although he wanted to help Batman, Jesse knew that he could handle himself. Lincoln March was the main priority, even though Jesse wasn't very fond of the man for his anti-Huntress stance. Still, the man didn't deserve to die –
A Talon appeared out of nowhere, swinging his sword and Jesse thanked his quick reflexes for diving him away from the blade, firing off a shot that caught the Talon in the chest. However, the assassin tried again, but another four bullets later and he was done, as Jesse slowly got to his feet, breathing heavily. On the lookout for any more sneak attacks, Jesse reached March's office and listened through the door for any indication that the politician was still alive. Upon discovering that the door was locked, Jesse took a few deep breaths and kicked the door off its hinges, bursting into the office with his gun aimed out in front. Lincoln March was there, alive and well, but at the mercy of a Talon, who whirled around to face the intruder, only to score a bullet to the head, dropping him instantly.
"Are you okay, Mr. March?" Jesse asked.
"Y-yes, I'm fine, thanks to you," March replied, "What the hell is going on? Who was that?"
"That was a Talon, an assassin for the Court of Owls, who wants to kill you."
"Actually, he was my bodyguard."
Jesse, who had been checking the office for any further threats, frowned and turned around to face March, who cocked a handgun and fired two shots. Everything was in slow motion as Jesse felt the pain of the bullets slamming into his chest, a look of surprise on his face while March had a stern, yet victorious smirk. Then, Jesse crumbled to the ground, blood seeping from his wounds and even though he put his hands on them to stem the flow, he knew it was too late. His life was slipping between his fingers; everything was starting to go dark, as March stood over him and cocked the gun for the finishing blow. Jesse struggled to keep his eyes open, struggling to survive, Helena's beautiful face flashing in his mind. More than anything, he wanted to be with her right now, to be in her arms, to hear her whisper 'I love you' into his ear. But he knew that was never going to happen, as his breathing began to slow. There was sudden movement, a dark form tackling March and the pair crashed against the wall of the office, but Jesse wasn't caring. He could feel the cold pull of death tugging on his soul and he knew it was time. Even though he didn't want to go and fought to stay awake, knowing that if he closed his eyes, he was a goner, Jesse found himself falling to the abyss. His hands slipped from his wounds, falling to his sides as his own blood pooled around him and with his final breath, Jesse gasped 'Helena', with her being the last thing on his mind before he surrendered to the darkness and fell into the abyss for good.
-X-
AN: Got the torches and pitchforks ready? Yes, I did just kill off Jesse. As much as I could have kept him alive, a battle like this one cannot be fought without tragedy. Someone always pays the ultimate price, much like Rachel did. However, the Huntress isn't going to be facing off against March to get her revenge as she doesn't know yet and will be battling against Red Hood instead. Also, I decided against using March's comic book history, seeing that it would make him too old of an antagonist.