Clara's POV
When I entered the private training room, I saw Wonder Woman, who was pummelling a punching bag faster than the eye could see. For some reason, I felt the urge to bow down to her. Maybe it was because she was the only one in the whole Justice League that had any balls. What was she doing here?
When she heard me walk in, she straightened and grinned at me. "Hello Clara," she said. I smiled back at her, and for once in my life, it was genuine. "Hi."
She approached me and shook my hand. "I hear tonight you're going on a recon mission, to find out the best way to rescue Night Wing." She gave me a look that said she knew what I was actually going to do. "Just in case you run into any trouble, it would be my honour if I could spar with you. To prepare yourself for what you might face."
I could've jumped up and down. Sparring with Wonder Woman was one of the best gifts she could ever give me. "The honour would be all mine."
I slipped out of my hoodie and readied myself on the wrestling mat. She attacked deftly and aggressively, swinging a fist for my face. I ducked back and did a back handspring over the foot that swept for my ankles.
Covering my face with my arms, I took the blows that she delivered with utter precision. I kicked for her ribs, but she caught my ankle and swung me into a wall. I got up just as she drove her first to where my face was a moment ago.
I slipped behind her while she was recovering and pulled her into a chokehold, pushing her head down with my other hand. She struggled for a little while before tapping out.
She whipped around and grinned at me. Of course, she went easy on me for the first round. We continued like that for the better part of the hour. After she beat me every single time, she taught me the moves that she was using and how to get out of them. All it took was a little strength and a little speed, which I had plenty of.
Once she deemed our training session done, she dismissed me. After cleaning myself up a little bit, I headed for Zatanna's room. There was one last thing I had to do before I suited up and saved Dick.
I knocked lightly at the door. She opened it almost immediately, frowning a little when she saw it was me. "Can I come in?" I asked. She nodded reluctantly and opened the door wider for me to enter.
I decided to be quick and straight to the point. "Tonight, I am going to save Dick, and I'm not going to come back." I trusted her with this information. "I'm going to need your help."
She listened intently while I told her my plan. "I'm going to need a getaway car driver."
She nodded slowly before asking, "What's in it for me?"
I sighed. This was the hard part. I wasn't ready to give up Dick, but it was for the better. "I know you're in love with Dick." I allowed her some time to be shocked before continuing. "The Shadows want me. Once I'm gone, you can have Dick all to yourself." She raises her brows.
"But I need you to make sure that you put me back in the building once I fall unconscious from healing Dick." I held her gaze until she nodded.
"Thank you." I left the room.
I headed to my door, knowing that it was the last time that I would ever see it. I dressed quickly, pulling on a nondescript black longsleeve, then tying my hair back. I slipped into black leggings and threw on my combat boots.
I strapped a long sword against my back and tucked daggers into my boots. I shoved throwing stars and a small crossbow into a holster, and I threaded a lock pick into my neckline and the waistband of my pants. It was time to go.
I crept out of Mount Justice, taking one last moment to watch the sunset that I would never see again. I headed to an abandoned telephone booth to use the zeta tubes.
I reappeared in downtown Gotham, a few blocks away from the Shadows' hideout. I made my way across the city, sticking mostly to shadows and alleyways. I tried to ignore the cool breeze that nipped at my nose. It was nearly winter. I peered around the corner and finally caught sight of my destination.
I scanned the building for the regular patrols, taking note of their positions and their weapons. I climbed up a ladder on a neighbouring building and leaped off of the roof. I grabbed the edge of a windowsill and pulled myself up, silently sliding the unlocked window open.
I dashed through the empty halls, keeping my footsteps as silent as possible. I made it without confrontation to the door that lead to stairs that spiralled deep underground.
That's when things went south. Just as I pushed open the door, patrols walked around the corner and saw me. They were dead before they could even scream. I ran into a few more people as I silently sprinted down the stairs. None of them were alive long enough to get the chance to call for backup.
I told the tiny voice in the back of my mind to shut up, that it was okay to kill these people. They were assassins and would not hesitate to hurt me or anyone that I cared about.
I finally made it into the compound. By now, patrols appeared often, and I littered a trail of bodies in my wake.
That's when I spotted Dick's cell, in the middle of a row of hundreds of cells. I was home-free. They hadn't even given him the dignity to guard him with more than a keypad and five guards.
This time, I tried to just knock them unconscious instead of killing them, but it took too much time. I only had three minutes to get Dick out of here, and it would be harder to fight with him slung over my shoulder. All I had to do was make it to the getaway car that Zatanna would have parked outside for me.
I was gently pulling Dick out of his cell when I heard footsteps behind me. I didn't have time for this! I whipped around and threw a dagger at where their neck would be, but my attacker caught the handle and dropped the knife to the ground. It was the Cheshire Cat.
"It's nice to see you around here again, Clara," she said. She slowly drew her long sword and I pulled mine out of its sheath. I had to fight her quickly. I thought back to the hand-to-hand combat that Wonder Woman had taught me, but I drew a blank.
She charged, and our swords clashed. I pulled away and thrust my sword at her midsection, but she dashed away. With a flick of her wrist, she sliced through my bicep and pinned my sword arm. With my other arm, I grabbed a dagger out of my belt and made to slit her throat with it, but she blocked it with her sword. I brought my sword down across her thigh. She moved out of the way just in time for it to not slice her leg clean off. The cut was deep, but she didn't seem to feel it.
She put her sword back. "Hm. Now, this isn't fun at all. How about… we try it with fists." I sheathed my sword as she charged at me. I moved out of the way and behind her, pulling her into a headlock. She grabbed a dagger from her belt and flipped it into my stomach. I cried out and she threw me over her head. I crashed into the wall and ducked just in time to avoid the dagger that she made to carve my eyes out with. I rolled away from the wall. I was too exhausted to beat her. She held me at dagger point as I circled her, calculating.
She dashed behind me and I swung around and kicked her in the head, but it was too late. She had already severed my hamstring. I screamed and fell to the ground in front of her. I had been defeated.
She held the point a millimetre from my exposed throat. "Just do it already," I barked through gritted teeth. She sighed and dropped her arm.
"I heard you saved my little sister more times than she could count," she said tauntingly. "You know I don't like owing anybody anything. Now we're even."
I nodded slowly and dashed to Dick, throwing him over my shoulder. I glanced back one last time to see the Cheshire Cat altering the security footage, but it wouldn't matter. I would be back here in a few minutes.
I limped as fast as I could and managed not to run into many other people. I barely had the strength to slit their throats, and the sound of bodies hitting the floor was way louder than it should have been.
I made it back outside and nodded at the inconspicuous car that pulled into the alley. I limped up beside it and opened the door. Zatanna made a face at how gruesome I looked. I didn't have time to assess all of Dick's injuries before I started to heal him.
"Clara, you're in no condition to use your powers," said Zatanna. I snapped out of my trance. "I don't have a choice," I bit back, and I went back to healing Dick.
I didn't have the energy to cry out for all the pain I was inheriting. I collapsed against his chest and passed out.
Zatanna's POV
I glanced back at Clara, who was laying, unconscious, on Dick's chest. I felt only a twinge of jealously, but that was because I knew Dick would soon be mine.
I waited for a moment to see if she would wake up, but she didn't. I began to feel uneasy. Was it the right thing to just haul her unconscious body back into the facility, leaving her to face the horrors that the Shadows would implant into her mind? What were they going to do to her?
I cursed at my conscience for acting up when I was so close to achieving my goals. I decided that I was going to tell her that I couldn't lift her out of the car. That seemed plausible.
I pressed on the gas pedal and sped off into the night, feeling free of any regret.
