Clara's POV
"Excuse me?" Batman said, his voice barely a whisper. I could tell it scared everyone, seeing him show any kind of emotion. He held up his hands to mock exasperation. "So you're telling me that the simplest mission I've ever assigned to you failed and that 14 people are now dead?"
Everyone stared at their feet in shame. I glanced sidelong at Dick, taking in his black eye, split lip and bleeding nose. Batman hadn't given us a chance to clean up before he lectured us.
"Hit the showers and head home. All of you."
The silence in the room was unbearable as we walked through the hall. I changed out of my dress, which was covered in blood, dirt and who knows what else. I stepped into a light blue romper and pulled my hair out of its fancy updo.
I yawned as I wandered towards Dick's room. It took me a while to decide if he deserved an apology or not. He did. I rapped gently on the door. "Come in," he said from inside.
I eased the door open and saw him scramble for his mask. When he saw it was me, the mask dropped out of his hands. I tried to ignore his bare torso. It felt wrong to even look at him.
Instead, I studied the bottle of rubbing alcohol on his dresser. He had been cleaning his wounds. The ones I had given him.
"I can heal you," I blurted. "If, you know, if you want."
He shook his head. "No, it's fine."
I took a deep breath. "Hey, like, I'm sorry for beating your ass today," I said, scratching the back of my neck.
"It's okay," he said quietly. I turned to leave. "No, Clara, wait," he said. "I… I have something to tell you."
I turned back to him. He ran a hand through his hair. "It… It wasn't my choice to… you know. End things. Between us."
"Whose choice was it, then?" I asked quietly. He froze, unsure whether he should tell me this or not. "Batman," he said finally.
I stumbled back. All the hurt I'd cause him…The world spun. A tiny voice screamed in the back of my mind, telling me it was still his fault because he chose Batman over me.
But that wasn't fair. All I wanted was someone to blame.
Before I knew it, his fingertips were gently brushing across my jaw, tilting my face up to his. It took all the energy I had to keep the hopelessness from seeping into my expression. His other arm snaked around my waist, pulling me against him like he had so many times before.
I met his gaze, placing a hand on his chest. With a jolt, I finally realized that he was going to kiss me. He leaned closer, his breath filling the space between us.
That's when something crashed into the side of my head, and the world went dark.
Zatanna's POV
After Batman scolded us for what seemed like hours, I went back to my room to change out of my dress. The dress that Night Wing hadn't even noticed. My fists curled in anger. He and Clara weren't even supposed to be a couple anymore. So why did their outfits match? And why was he always looking at her?
I changed into a silk nightgown. Maybe I could stop by his room and see what he was doing… I wandered over to his chambers.
The door was wide left wide open. I was about to walk in when I spotted Clara. In Night Wing's room. I froze. What was she doing here?
I peeked through the door. She was held between his arms, one of her hands on his shirtless chest. I put a hand over my mouth, holding back tears. Quietly, I slunk away from the room. It was time to make a new plan, because this one just wasn't working.
Batman's POV
Once the Team had silently trudged back to their rooms, I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. It was time to talk to Dick. About Clara.
Security footage had captured Dick starting the shooting by murdering Baxter. Because Clara was dancing with the man.
I marched swiftly to his room, passing Zatanna on the way. What was she doing in this wing? The door to his residence had been left wide open. I peered through the doorway.
The sight that met me was alarming. Clara was crumpled on the ground with blood flowing freely from her head. The window curtains fluttered in the cool breeze from the open window. I knelt beside the girl, checking her pulse. It was steady.
I walked to the window and glanced down to the sharp rocks below. Where was Dick?
Clara's POV
I woke to a pounding headache. My hair was sticky with blood. Someone was softly swearing beside me. I cracked my eyes open to see Batman looking out the window of Dick's room. The rest of the room was empty.
"Where's Dick?" I asked, slowly getting up.
Batman turned to look at me. "I could ask you the same thing."
I glared and crossed my arms, almost wincing as I did so. "Why would I know?"
His mouth was a grim line as he gestured around him. "You were here when he was taken. Or perhaps he left."
I narrowed my eyes. "Why don't you review the security footage?"
He took a step back in surprise. I wasn't supposed to know this information. "Why don't I," he said, and he gestured for me to follow him.
He led me back through the halls, into a wing that I had never been in before. We finally came to stop at a door. It scanned his eye and the lock clicked off. He opened the door with ease, summoning me inside.
It was something of an office, with a desk and computer, and crime boards hung on the walls. I sniffed the air. It smelled like a dentist's office in here.
He sat down in the swivel chair, leaving me to peer over his shoulder at the footage. It started with Dick entering the room. He peeled his shirt off and rummaged through a drawer to pull out the bottle of rubbing alcohol I had seen on his dresser. Batman skipped through the footage until I walked into the room.
I stiffened, hearing our conversation played over the speakers. It came to the part where I was cradled between Dick's arms, and I was just about to tell Batman to skip ahead. That's when I saw two people creep through the window.
One of them slunk behind me, holding a semi-automatic rifle. He slammed the butt of the gun into the side of my head, and the other covered Dick's mouth and nose with a cloth that was likely laced with a sedative. They both leaped out of the window, dragging Dick's unconscious body with them and leaving me in a heap on the floor.
"They did a pretty sloppy job," Batman and I said simultaneously. I scowled at him and crossed my arms. "It's almost as if they wanted us to know who they were," he continued, eyeing me suspiciously. "Do you recognize them?"
"No," I lied smoothly. Of course, I knew who they were. That was the Cheshire Cat and a no-name assassin, and both of them worked for the League of Shadows when I left.
Batman continued to look at me skeptically. "I can run their faces through the database," he said and he abruptly got out of his chair and left the office, taking me with him.
In the mission briefing area, Aqualad and Superboy were sparring while Artemis was talking to Wally. M'gann and Zatanna were nowhere to be seen. It was strange to see so much action so late at night. When Batman and I walked into the room, everybody stood to attention.
"Good evening, sir," said Aqualad. Batman inclined his head in response, and the fighting resumed. Batman pulled up a holographic panel of the Cheshire Cat and Ian Roberts.
He coughed once to clear his throat, and everybody directed their attention back at him. He clasped his hands in front of him.
"Tonight," Batman began, "Night Wing was abducted from Mount Justice by these two assassins, prominent members of the League of Shadows."
Hushed murmurs spread over the collective. I crossed my arms and looked at my feet, waiting for them to blame me.
"Why would they do that?" Aqualad asked quietly.
I jumped in before Batman could answer for me. "Because of me," I said with authority. "I… used to be one of them."
Night Wing's POV
My nose and lungs stung from whatever chemical they had made me inhale. Before I opened my eyes, I already knew where I was. In one of the League of Shadows' hideaways.
Dread filled me when I thought about Clara. Was she okay? The last thing I remembered was the man banging the butt of his gun into her head, and feeling the small of her back against my hand.
An unimpressed sigh came from somewhere around me. I looked through the bars of my cell to see the Cheshire Cat stalking towards me. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"You know," she began, "Clara could have her pick of men in the entire world." She paused.
"Why would she ever pick you?"
I stayed silent, watching her sullenly. She reached a finger through the bars and grazed my cheek with a long nail. I could feel blood dripping down my cheek.
"Hm," she said, letting the scarlet drops run down her finger. I pulled my face away from the bars with a grimace. She feigned shock.
"How dare you look at me like that," she said. She tapped some numbers onto a keypad and the door unlocked with a hiss. She walked in. "It's time you learned your place." She slipped handcuffs around my wrists.
Before my brain could register it, her fist slammed into my cheekbone, forcefully enough to make me stumble backwards. Black and blue spots filled my vision.
She grinned and backed away from me, shaking out her fist. "Lucky for you, I brought a friend."
Another man unlocked the door and walked in. It was the one who had hurt Clara. He kicked his leg out and his foot connected with my ribs, knocking the breath out of me. I fell to the ground, hitting my head on the concrete. My hands were still cuffed.
The man pulled me up by my shirt and punched me across the face. I was starting to get dizzy from the pain. He dropped me, only to swing his leg up and kick me in the gut. I flew across the room, slamming into the wall and then crumpling to the ground.
I saw the Cheshire Cat walking up to me, and I finally gave in to the darkness clouding my vision.
Clara would have been able to stay conscious.
