Dick walked down the dirt road and was promptly approached by two cultists just before the clearing where the mansion stood.
"Your weapons, now," the shorter of the two ordered.
Dick sighed and laid his rifle on the ground, noticing one of the men flinch when he realized it was one of the cult's own guns. He removed his handgun and a knife as well, before standing back up and nodding to the men. They didn't bother searching him, and he thought maybe the rifle had been enough for them, and maybe they just didn't want him to have any sort of automatic weapon.
The shorter man led him toward the mansion while the other trailed behind them both, watching Dick closely. The mansion was torn apart from the battle, and the once pristine building now lay riddled with bullet holes and chunks of the front side were missing from various explosions. The yellowed paint of the building was smeared red with blood.
The first cultist shoved Dick hard into the mansion and he only just caught himself from tripping over a dead body. He glanced down and saw that it was the remains of the old German. The man had been cut to pieces, but there was a faint smile on his face. Dick sighed, and closed the man's eyes with his hand. After a life of evil, he had at least died honorably.
The man pushed Dick again, forcing him deeper into the ruined hall. They made their way back to the library only this time Dick found the room in shambles, and where the table had once stood sat Wally and Artemis. They were strapped down to flimsy chairs, and Wally was bleeding from his lip, while Artemis had fresh bruises all over her skin. At Dick's unannounced entrance Wally shot up startled.
"Nightwing?"
Dick just held his finger up to his mouth to quiet his best friend and a figure appeared out of the shadows, tall, dark and menacing.
"Nightwing is it? We finally meet."
The man must have been around Bruce's age, and had the same threatening demeanor.
"Ra's al Ghul. I can't say it's a pleasure."
Ra's sneered. "You're lucky I'm allowing this, boy. I could have killed them and hunted you down myself, but I'm giving you the opportunity to save them. Be grateful."
Dick swallowed. "Cut them loose, and I'll give you the journals."
Ra's stared daggers into Dick's blue eyes, but motioned for his men to comply. Dick searched the room and noticed there couldn't be more than fifteen of the league members left. One of them cut Wally free and then immediately got to work on freeing Artemis. She slumped forward in the chair and Wally rushed to catch her and held her in his arms tightly.
"Now the journals," Ra's demanded.
"Let them leave first, so I know they're safe."
Ra's frowned. "That wasn't the deal, Nightwing." In a single fluid motion Ra's pulled out a gun and shot Wally in the upper back.
"NO!" Dick screamed, hurrying to the redhead. Time moved in slow motion as Artemis rasped out a cry and Dick dropped to the floor with his best friend.
"He isn't dead yet. Give me the journals and I can still save him," Ra's offered without changing his tone.
Dick tore his eyes from his bloodied friend's body and glared up at the demon who'd played him and beaten him with ease. Without arguing, Dick unstrapped his backpack and produced the three leather-bound books and his hands shook as he handed them to the demon.
"Good… now let's see where these rituals are…" Ra's flipped through the first volume scanning and passing through it to the next book. He stopped midway through and smiled maliciously. "Here we are."
He dragged Wally by the hair from Artemis's grasp and though the beaten blonde tried to object, Dick pulled her back, knowing they needed Ra's to perform the ritual for Wally's sake.
He laid Wally down, and stood over him with the book open. Through a large hole in the library's wall, Dick glimpsed auburn colored hair. Ra's began chanting and Wally's mouth opened in a blood curdling scream, but the demon continued, ignoring the writhing redhead at his feet. Dick held onto Artemis, feeling her shake in anger and fear.
Ra's chanted louder and Wally's yells amplified in the damaged room. A yellow light appeared in the book, illuminating Ra's, and Dick gasped in awe. And then it cut out. The chanting, the screaming, and the mystical light all stopped at once and the library was left in silence once more. From the ground, Wally let out a soft moan, but slowly sat up on his own.
"What happened?" Wally asked groggily.
"I saved you with Rasputin's power. You have been blessed today, boy," Ra's snarled.
"Only because you shot him!" Artemis shouted in anger.
Ra's ignored her and fingered through the other books while Wally crawled over to his teammates.
"Are you ok?" Dick asked, yanking his friend's shirt up to reveal a fresh scar where the bullet had only minutes earlier pierced his skin.
"Peachy, I'm just sore."
Artemis tugged Wally away from Dick and hugged him.
"This is all very touching, but I'm afraid our business here is done," Ra's began. "You have done well in securing and handing over the journals and I have fulfilled my promise, but I can't have you interfering in my plans. Not now that you know of the journals' power."
He raised his gun again, taking aim at Dick's face. Dick stared into the gun barrel, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the auburn hair disappear from the library's hole.
"That's too bad, Ra's, I thought we were getting along there for a minute," Dick flashed a grin. "I guess it's time for us to leave."
Ra's scowled, but before he could pull the trigger, the back wall of the library blew up sending him and a few of his men flying through the room. Barbara leapt through the now giant hole in the wall, and began firing off shots into the stunned cultists.
"Get up, we've gotta move!" she yelled to her team.
Dick helped Artemis up, supporting her weight while Wally stumbled along beside them.
"Great timing, Oracle," he managed while staggering through the hole. Barbara grunted and kept shooting at the recovering cultists. The team blundered around the outside of the mansion, pressing to the walls and inching toward the front of the house.
"Wait, I can walk on my own," Artemis insisted, pushing away from Dick.
He merely nodded and handed her a spare gun from Barbara's pack.
Barbara tossed her own sidearm to Dick and a knife to Wally and the team maneuvered around and onto the front path. No cultists were there as they must have been drawn inside by the explosion and sudden gunfire.
"We need to get back to the dock before they do," Dick said, beginning to jog lightly. Barbara joined his pace, but Artemis couldn't keep up, so Wally simply scooped her up bridal style and ran along with the others. If Artemis objected to his treatment, she didn't say anything.
They made it to the dock without any interruptions, and Dick began grabbing all the grenades he could find from the fallen cultists.
"What are you doing?" Artemis asked as Wally let her down.
"We've gotta destroy their boats, we can't just let them return to civilization with the journals," he replied, still collecting grenades.
"Wait," Wally started. "We can't just leave them here with the journals. Even if we destroy their boats, they could find another way back."
"What? You want to face them down? Are you crazy? We're outgunned, Artemis is injured, and they have a way to heal any injury," Dick argued.
"Not if we shoot to kill," Artemis said taking Wally's side.
"We just got you both back, charging back into a fight is the last thing we need," Barbara said crossing her arms..
"Come on, you guys have to see it. If the cult gets back with those books, all of humanity is screwed. I understand the risks, but we can do this, together," Wally pressed on. "The odds are stacked against us, but when has that ever stopped us before."
Dick's blue eyes locked onto Wally's green ones. Dick knew he was right, but he didn't want to lose his family, not again. Wally held his gaze, his face firm and Dick sighed, giving in. "Fine. Together."
"Got any ideas, boy wonder?" Babs asked.
"First, stop calling me that," he scoffed at her. "Wally do you have any remote explosives left?"
"What are you thinking?" Artemis asked.
"Yeah, I've got two," the redhead replied checking the weapons cache on their motor boat.
"Plant them on two of their boats. We'll take off in ours when they get to the dock. Once we're far enough out on the water, I'll detonate the explosives. We'll have to deal with their last boat, but we shouldn't be outgunned by then," Dick replied.
Wally grinned at his friend and began rigging the explosives as close to the boats' fuel tanks as possible.
"Artemis, we've got another sniper rifle on board, are you ok to shoot?" Dick inquired.
She only snorted.
"I'll take that as a yes then. Wally get our ride ready. Once I've destroyed the other boats, we'll have to improvise to take out the last one."
"Dick, they're coming!" Barbara shouted.
The team scrambled aboard their motor boat, and Wally revved the engine. They peeled away from the dock with bullets whizzing around them as the cult closed in. Dick, Barbara, and Artemis fired shots back at the advancing men, and noticed only about a dozen in total remained.
The League of Rasputin reached the dock and loaded into their own boats. Unfortunately, Dick spotted Ra's get into the last one that they hadn't loaded up with explosives. The cult followed their wake, and the bigger boats began gaining on the smaller motor boat.
"I'm not going to get too far from them!" Wally shouted over the racket from the gunfire and boat engines. "Their engines are stronger, and you need to be close enough for the detonation to work."
Dick nodded and abandoned his gun to prepare the detonation device. They were nearly a half mile from the island now and Dick's thumb itched over the button. A bullet cracked into the boat inches from Artemis's head and Dick grimaced. The boats drew closer and closer and their shots began to find their mark, digging into the small motor boat's body.
"Wally, how much closer do they have to get?!" Dick cried.
"Almost there!" he shouted back.
Artemis and Babs were forced to duck down, and Dick lowered into a crouch too as the cult began to pull even with them and firing at will.
"Now!" Wally roared.
Dick pressed the button and the two closest ships instantly erupted in flames as the explosion's fire fed off the boat fuel. The boats blew up entirely causing plumes of fire to shoot up into the air. Dick felt heat sear his face and he was knocked down hard to the boat deck.
His ears were ringing as he pushed himself back to his feet and Artemis and Babs were struggling too, but Wally had kept the boat steady through it all.
"Nice one, Nightwing!" Wally said admiring his handiwork.
"We're not done yet," Dick replied.
Artemis had already retrieved her gun and returned to firing at Ra's boat. She hit one of his followers in the chest, sending the man flying off the ship and leaving only three remaining. The cult stopped firing at them, instead lurching forward toward the smaller motor boat and the men ducked for cover from Artemis's shots.
The boat grew larger and with a more powerful engine it swiftly caught up to the motor boat.
"They're trying to ram us!" Wally warned his team.
Dick glanced back at the larger vessel, and realized the redhead was right.
"What do we do?" Barbara asked him desperately. Their little boat would surely flip if hit, and they'd be left in the water like sitting ducks.
"Do we have the grapple guns?" Dick asked Artemis.
She nodded and then frowned. "You can't honestly be thinking of using them."
He ignored her and grabbed the two grapplers from the box, handing one to Babs. "Aim for the ship, and hold on tight," he ordered. He packed a sidearm into his belt and made sure Barbara did too.
"We'll see you guys on the other side," Dick called casually while walking toward the side of the boat.
Wally grinned. "See ya in a flash."
Artemis still looked unhappy with Dick's plan, but merely clapped them each on the back. "Don't die."
Dick grinned and Barbara looked absolutely terrified. "C'mon Babs, you've already gone cliff diving today, how much different can this be?"
She glared at him. "I really don't like you sometimes, Richard Grayson."
He smirked, aimed at the approaching boat, and fired. His harpoon pierced the boat's body, but instead of releasing the cable and tying it down, Dick waited for the cable to go taught as Wally careened to the left, creating more space between the two vessels. Dick immediately felt the gun tug in his hand, but allowed it to carry him forward to the edge of the motor boat. Beside him, Babs had done the same.
"I hope you're ready."
Barbara forced a smile on her beautiful face. "What's one more leap of faith with you, boy wonder."
And they jumped, flying through the air to the League of Rasputin. Dick grinned against the crazy wind, but just as soon as he'd gone airborne he began to feel his descent toward the water. Dick frantically pressed the retraction button on his grapple gun and just before he hit the water he soared back up as the gun reeled him in.
To his right, Barbara let out an overpowering whoop of adrenaline as she flew through the air and he cackled along with her. Within seconds they were hanging onto the side of the larger boat, pulling themselves up and over the ridge.
"Told ya you'd like it."
She rolled her eyes.
They startled Ra's on the main deck, finding him crouching low with one of his henchmen while the other was a few yards away steering the ship.
Ra's stared at them confused to where they'd come from, and Dick found the look on his face to be priceless. "How?" he gaped.
Without answering the crazy leader, Dick pulled his gun and fired off a shot into his right-hand man's face, leaving only Ra's and the driver left. Barbara pulled her gun on Ra's before he could react and the older man was left glaring them.
"The journals please," Dick said smiling.
"You will pay for this, you insolent children," Ra's snarled.
"No, I don't think so," Dick replied. He walked forward and ripped the books out of the man's hands. "But, thank you very much."
Dick turned back to Barbara, but felt movement behind him. Without hesitation, Barbara fired off two shots while Dick whirled around in time to watch Ra's drop dead with a knife still in his hand.
"Thanks for the save," he said to her.
She nodded. "Anytime, now how do we get off of this thing?"
"From the blood of the damned, we will rise!"
Dick jumped at the unexpected shout, watching the remaining cult member release the boat's wheel and drop a grenade at his feet.
The boat blew up, and they were knocked off their feet. The ship instantly tilted forward and began to sink, but Dick managed to steady himself and rise. To his side Barbara had been knocked backwards, and was bleeding from her head where she had slammed into a side rail. She lay unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. Wally had turned around and brought their motor boat back toward the larger craft, but kept his distance from the sinking ship.
Dick grabbed Barbara up and put her over one of his shoulders, using his hand to hold her in place. The thick journals were in his other hand, making it impossible to shoot the grapple gun back at the motor boat.
"What are you waiting for? Get out of there!" Wally screamed.
But Dick hesitated, knowing that to make it, he'd have to let the books go. He'd have to let go of their power and the ability to save his family and countless others from suffering. He met Wally's green eyes once more. Dick thought of Kaldur. He thought of Wally only weeks earlier, pale and dying. He looked at Barbara now, bleeding and out cold.
"Dick, they're not worth it," Wally pleaded.
He sighed and took one last look at the journals before tossing them down back towards Ra's. He aimed his grappler at the motor boat and fired the harpoon. When it sank into the boat he again retracted the cable, and held tightly to Barbara as they flew through the air like trapezists to the motor boat. He clutched the gun as Wally pulled them back up and onto the smaller boat.
They landed with a heavy thud on the deck, each of them on their knees and panting.
"You did the right thing, Dick."
"I know, but thanks for helping me see it."
Wally grinned and hurried back over to the controls, steering away from the sinking boat, the journals, and the remains of the cult. As he pulled away a second explosion rocked the sinking ship, destroying the cult and journals permanently.
Dick propped Babs up against the side wall, and her eyes fluttered open. He grinned at her tired face. "We won."
She sighed and slumped back against the boat, content to rest now that it was over.
Meanwhile Artemis meandered over to Wally, and he glanced up from the wheel. She reached over to him and using his shirt collar, pulled him into a kiss. His eyes widened, but then he relaxed and neither broke apart until Dick began whistling at them, and Barbara had to slap him to stop.
"I thought you weren't into redheads," Wally mumbled against her lips as they separated.
"I'm not, but the five bullet holes thing is kind of hot."
He grinned at her. "So, does this mean I get to see you shirtless?"
She laughed. "Don't press your luck, Baywatch." But she winked at him as she went back to check on Barbara. Wally watched her saunter away and smiled.
"Not a bad day," he mused as he steered back toward the harbor, praying that he'd remember the way. "Not a bad day at all."
AN: This one was fun to edit, hope you liked it