Over the next week, Dick's sleeping schedule were out of whack. He slept when he wasn't eating or training, making sure that Ace had access to the outside if he wanted to go out. The wolf rarely did go out without Dick, only when he was sure that his Alpha wouldn't need his help.

Dick's training focussed on not losing control of his emotions as Ra's believed that he might waver if he saw some of his family in bad condition- which they may be in. That thought made Dick work harder. He also worked with Ace in their newfound connection.

They figured out that Ace could use his connection to the Lazarus Pit to enhance his strength and heal much quicker than a normal wolf, as well as enhanced intelligence. He became quite interested in the smell of the Pit whenever Dick was near it; Dick would always pull him away from the waters instead of letting him in. He wouldn't take any chances.

After seven days of impatiently waiting for a location from Ra's, Dick was finally rewarded only 30 minutes after he had woken up on the seventh day.

"Grayson. We shall provide you with a plane to get there and back to Gotham, as your time with the League of Assassins has ended for now." Ra's nodded his head in respect. "You have surprised me with your resilience when with me. Know that you, and your partners, have earned my respect."

Dick blinked and smiled softly. "Thank you Ra's. It hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be here. See you round."

Dick pulled on his Nightwing suit and fastened his katanas over his shoulders and clicking on his belt. He slid on his gloves and patted Ace's ears, mostly to calm himself down; this was going to be a difficult battle. After Ra's top computer people had done some research, Savage's team seemed to be composed of Sinestro, Grodd, Joker, Black Manta, Luther and obviously Savage himself, along with a horde of robots.

Dick, now Nightwing, knew that he wouldn't be able to take them all out if they were coming at him; he would need to separate them, avoid as many as possible, and get everyone out. He also knew that Luther was in his New York apartment for another three days- one less person to worry about.

Around halfway through their journey, Ace approached Nightwing and wagged his tail, trying to relieve some of Dick's stress. Nightwing gave a weak smile and a sigh.

"I can't believe you wanted to leave your home for my pack Ace… you could have stayed instead."

Wouldn't be home without Alpha- Alpha's pack is my pack. Helicked Dick's gloves hand to reassure him. I also cannot let you face enemies by yourself.

After another few hours of travelling, Nightwing checked that stealth mode had been turned on in the jet and blew out a nervous breath.

"Here we go Ace; time to kick some bad guy ass- you sure you don't want to stay in the jet?"

Ace jumped on the chair Dick was on, tipping them over. In between Nightwing's spluttering, Ace licked his face until he was sure the vigilante knew his answer.

"Okay, okay- Ace! I get it!" Dick laughed as he sat up and pushed the big wolf off him. He ran a hand through his hair and slid the face mask over his mouth and nose as they approached. Nightwing slowly landed the plane on the furthest part of the island among the trees.

The two exited the plane and closed the platform after them, sliding into the shadows of the trees. Along with Ra's, Dick had planned the arrival of the plane about two hours after the sun had gone down, giving them maximum darkness to hide in. The calculations proved them right as the only light Nightwing could see was the moon above them.

Ace padded in front of him, constantly checking for anyone coming towards them, but no one came. They approached the cave opening and Dick grinned as he saw Grodd pacing outside of the entrance of the caves. Why did everything have to be in cave? He heard his subconscious ask. He shook his head and looked at Ace.

Ace would draw the gorilla out into their territory, and Nightwing would join him to take Grodd out. The wolf dipped its head and snuck around behind Grodd; Nightwing watched as Ace darted out and bit at Grodd's legs and side to irritate him. Grodd yelled in frustration and swung at Ace, who disappeared into the trees. Grodd, predictably, followed him. Nightwing bolted after the wolf and gorilla as they streaked through the forest of thick trees. He stuck to the higher parts of the trees, almost sailing through them along a Ribbon. Keeping an eye on how close Grodd was getting to Ace, Dick silently descended down to reach for the helmet on Grodd's head. He got closer, before Grodd spotted him.

"Nightwing? You shouldn't be here! He said that you were dead! No matter, you will be soon." He struck out at the blue bird, missing by a hair.

"Hiya Grodd," Nightwing grinned, "think you could give me that helmet, or should we take it from you?"

Grodd scoffed, "you think you could take it from me? You aren't skilled enough for that human. You should pray I don't bash your head in." he paused for a second as Nightwing leapt back out the way, "did you say we?"

Nightwing's grin widened. Too late Grodd realised his mistake and whirled around, only to get a face-full of Ace, scratching and clawing at the gorilla as he scrambled to get his teeth around the mechanical helmet. Grodd roared and tried in vain to grab the big wolf, but it was too late. Nightwing ran at the monster gorilla and ducked under the angry punch; he wrapped a shadow Ribbon around both of Grodd's ankles and pulled hard. He fell face first onto the ground and Dick pressed a pressure point on his back to knock him out.

Ace wagged his tail as he approached Dick, who was tying Grodd up. They made their way back to the cave entrance exactly on time with their schedule of getting in. Soldier robots stood inside the cave; there was no getting in that way. In research, Dick had found that the bunker had a number of 'collapsed' tunnels leading into the mountain, used when it was being mined. Most of them had just been sealed off, but two hadn't. One was a way into the centre of the mountain, where Dick could find out where Savage could find out where the JL had been taken.

Ace nudged away a rock to reveal the entrance to one of the cave tunnels. With just a few tugs to the wood covering it, it gave way with minimal noise. Nightwing climbed inside, Ace right behind him. They slowly made their way through the rubble-filled tunnel and approached the end of the timber supported parts. Ace pawed at an area that was blocked off.

Here, he said, pressing his nose against the rock. I hear less here- but this smells like pack. Like Alpha's… mate.

Nightwing nodded and whispered, "okay- let me through. I'm going to try and burn through the rock- is anything on the other side?"

Ace shook his head and stepped back. Nightwing took off his gloves and placed them on the rock next to him; he then placed his hands on the wall, closed his eyes and thought about Jason- about how Savage's robots had hurt him. Rage flooded through him and he felt the rock shift under his hands. He concentrated until he was sure the wall had a big enough hole to get him and Ace through. As he opened his eyes, he was aware of a slight green tint to their surroundings, he looked at Ace and saw his spiral from his ears to his paws was glowing slightly, but Ace didn't seem concerned. He just padded silently into the room.

Nightwing followed, and he realised that they had broken into a cell- how ironic. He looked out the unlocked cell door- security cameras. That wasn't unexpected. He got out a device Bruce always had on him, put his hands on the floor and snaked a Ribbon under the crack in the door; it slid along the shadows in the corridor and slowly attached the device to the camera. Dick watched as the green light started flashing and then flickered back to green- footage looped and playing back. Perfect.

Dick opened the door quietly and made his way towards the electricity box at the end of the corridor; he fiddled with the wires a bit and an image came up on screen. It was the room where the JL was being held captive. He saw Jason, anger and grief splashed across his face- in fact everyone seemed like that- why were they like that?

Dick looked for the room that they were in- bingo! Blueprints. They would be helpful to get his way around. Ace suddenly began to growl and Nightwing shut the box quickly, moving back into the dark, unlocked cell to see who was coming past. Two robots walked past the door and Dick struck quickly- he placed his still gloveless hands on the robots' backs and they disintegrated under his touch. Nightwing smiled in victory and turned around. Ace came towards him with his black gloves; Dick placed his gloves on his hands and stroked Ace's ears softly.

"You ready Ace?"

Ace bared his long sharp teeth in a grin and shook his fur. Ready when you are Alpha.

Dick smiled widely, and the pair made their way silently through the dark corridors.

Savage didn't know what was coming for him.

Okay so I actually did this twice because I didn't like the first draft- sorry I didn't get it up yesterday. I really hope you are enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. Next will be Sinestro and then the final battle. Are there any suggestions for a particular idea anyone wants? I'm happy to do what the readers want! Thanks for reading!

-E xx