YJ between season 1-2 (Kaldur is already on Manta's side), Batbrothers
Humour, hurt/comfort
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Guess how it all started. You're right, a covert mission! *Clearing throat* Sorry for stating the obvious. So, what do you think went wrong this time? Well, the title kinda gives it away... but I'm gonna tell you anyway! I don't know about you, but I ate all the popcorn last time, so I brought cookies! Who wants one? Good, now that everything is taken care of, let's get started.
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Rain. Nightwing hated rain. Is had been raining when his parents had fallen to their deaths and it had been raining when Bruce'd told him that Jason wouldn't be coming back home. Rain meant pain and in Gotham, it was always raining.
Bruce had once taken him to Ireland and the other tourists he'd met had been complaining about the bad weather, but Dick had just said, "Everybody has something to cry about, what makes you think the sky doesn't?" One tourist- a middle aged woman- had looked at him like, what the fuck?
Yes, Dick was a very poetic person. Well, not really, but do you know this moment, when you just want to say something, no matter how brainless it sounds? No? Well, I do and Dick apparently does too, but back to the story.
Rain was dripping from Nightwing's shoulders as he stood on a rooftop, observing the dark and misty streets of the town he once called home, the city that had been his for so many years.
"Why do we have to patrol when it's like 33 degrees?" Complained Wally, who stood next to the former Boy Wonder. He could hear Artemis groan. "Because Batman is out of town and told us to patrol Gotham until he's back. I mean, come on, we have the most experience and are the original team members. The band's back together, it's gonna be fun!"
Wally stuck his tongue out at her and pouted.
"Uh, Wing, why do you look so... annoyed?" M'gann sounded slightly worried as she pulled everyone's attention toward the twenty-four year old. The hero didn't turn around and kept his eyes on the seemingly deserted streets of Gotham. He wasn't happy that Batman had asked the team to come to Gotham.
Gotham was a dangerous place and if you don't look out, the city will consume you. "There are rules in Gotham," he answered in a monoton voice. "One, don't get distracted. That's always ending with death and believe me, you don't want to die in Gotham.
Two, don't talk while on patrol. There are ears everywhere and no matter what, do not say your real names or get captured. There's no thief nor rapist that would hesitate to hurt or kill you."
Robin, who stood next to him, glanced at his older brother knowingly and Wally gulped at his usually always hyperactive and enthusiastic best frien. Dick was likea completely different person here and Wally didn't like it one bit. What was this city doing to him? As he threw a quick glance at Tim, he realised that both birds were much more serious and sad when they operated in Gotham.
"We only have to check the southern parts of the industrial area, then we can call it a night," said Wally yawning, changing the topic in an attempt to break the awkward silence that followed Nightwing's statement.
Nightwing and Robin exchanged slightly panicked glances. "Maybe we should leave that part of the city alone for now. It's almost sunrise. We can go there tomorrow night again." Conner shrugged unimpressed. "Sunrise is in one and a half hour. We shouldn't take that long to get to there." M'gann nodded. "Superboy is right. We should be able to check the industrial area in an hour top." Wally groaned. "Can we go then? I wanna go to bed!"
He grabbed Artemis and sped off. The others quickly followed, leaving Robin and Nightwing alone on the rooftop. "Should we follow them?" Asked the younger boy uncertainly. They really didn't want to, but did they even have a choice? Dick sighed.
"I guess. Let's just hope he has finished his business there and is already gone. I really don't know how to explain to the team how we know him."
"And why we tolerate him."
"Yeah. That would be awkward."
Tim crossed his arms. "I just hope we won't find any bodies, I hate awkward moments."
"Me too, but we should go now, because it would really not be good if the team meets him while we're not there..."
The two members of the batfamily took out their grappling guns and jumped off the rooftop.
"What took you so long?" Complained Wally as Robin and Nightwing finally cought up with them. "We, uh, had to stop a robbery on our way here."
"Sure," muttered Artemis sarcastically. If the bats had secrets, then there was nothing anyone could do about it, so why wasting time asking questions? This was their city, meaning their rules.
And that was the moment the sound of a gunshot reached their ears. Tim and Dick looked at each other wide eyed and sprinted towards the sound. "You've got to be kidding me," groaned Dick, jumping down a rooftop, grabbing the ledge of a broken window and used the momentum to change directions and swing through the broken glass. Tim followed suit and landed quietly beside him. "You think that was..."
"Yes."
"Damn."
The team landed behind the two bats and Megan asked, "Where did the shot come from?" Conner pointed to his left. "Somewhere down there."
"Then let's go!" Announced Wally and disappeared in a flash.
A few minutes later- Wally had been waiting for them patiently (note the sarcasm)- everyone gathered in front of a metal door. "Why does all the bad stuff happen in abondened warehouses? Seriously, that's so getting old!" Whisper-yelled Wally. Nightwing shrugged. "Don't know, but we should think about our next move-" Conner kicked down the door, "carefully," finished Dick his sentence with a sigh.
Why did Batman have to be on a buissnes trip this night?
The door led to a dark hallway, lined with other metal doors. "Which door?" Asked Artemis, notching an arrow. Conner closed his eyes and concentrated on his hearing. "I can hear four heartbeats behind the third door on the right."
The team crept forward and Nightwing slowly and quietly opened the door just far enough for him to squeeze through. He hold up a hand to sign the team to wait and looked around. In front of him were two metal containers and the walls were lined with old, dusty boxes and a lonely fork-lift truck. "What's behind the containers?" Asked M'gann suddenly from behind him and Nightwing jumped.
He turned around to see the others standing there, weapons drawn. "I told you to stay back," whispered Dick angrily, glaring at them. "And we ignored you," retorted Wally also in a whisper, shoving past his leader.
Then, a second shot rang out. "Damn it," cursed Nightwing quietly and crept forward, the team right behind him. They hid between the two containers and Artemis gasped at what she saw. "Aren't that my father's henchmen?"
Five men, although two were already dead, were inside the room. Two- the dead guys- were simply hanging limp in their chairs, chest and wrists bound. Two other men were sitting next to them, also bound, and they looked like they had a little accident, resulting in wet pants. In front of them stood a guy with a red helmet and a brown leather jacket and, to the team's confusion, a blood red Bat-emblem on his chest. He was holding a smouldering gun and was pointing it at the third guy's head.
Conner growled. "We've been looking for this men for weeks and now the Red Hood is killing them? They were our only lead!"
"Not so loud," scolded M'gann, hoping that the ani-hero hadn't heard Superboy. Luckily, he hadn't.
Wally poked Dick's shoulder and whispered, only auditable for him, "What the hell is he doing here? And why is he killing again?! I thought you said he'd stopped." Wally was the only one- except for the Batfam, of course- who knew about the tragic story of Jason Todd. He even met him a few times after he became the Red Hood, when Jason came to visit Wayne Manor. To Dick's dismay, that didn't happen very often, just for Alfred's birthday and for emergencies, like one month ago. It had been Damian's eighth birthday and he'd read this book, where you sacrifice one family member to some goddess on your eighth birthday, so Damian had tried to kill Tim and Dick had to call Jason for back up, much to Bruce's discontent. In the end, Jason had been chasing Damian around the manor, screaming something about killing him, while Damian ran for his life. It was quite entertaining, actually.
"'Wing?"
"Huh?"
Tim groaned. "You space out now?!"
"Sorry. I was just thinking about Dami's last birthday." Tim snort, but quickly covered his mouth. "That was not funny. The Demon Brat almost killed me."
"That was the funny part."
"He-"
"Guys," interrupted M'gann urgently, "listen. Hood is talking to Sportmaster's men."
"What did you say your name was? Kevin?"
"N-no. My name is Gert."
"I don't care, I'll just call you Kevin. So, Kevin. You know what I want to know. The drugs, where are they?" There was an obvious threat in his voice and Megan shivered, even though she wasn't the one threatened.
The guy wimphered. "I- I don't know, really. You have to believe me. Please!"
"I do," said the former Robin darkly, "and that's why you are worthless now." He pushed the gun to the scared man's temple. "Any last words?"
From behind the containers, Nightwing grabbed a Wing-Ding and threw it with perfect accuracy. The weapon knocked the gun right out of Red Hood's hand. "I'd like to have some last words," growled Nightwing, coming out from his hiding spot, escrima sticks gripped tightly in his hands and a scowl on his face. "Oh man," whined Jason, "now I don't get any of Agent A's cookies and Bat's gonna use me as a punshing bag again!"
Robin face-palmed. "You do realise that cookies are the least of your problems at the moment, right?"
The villain shrugged nonchalantly. "Meh, what do you wanna do? Call the police, tell 'em I was a meanie?" He snort. "Hasn't stopped me before and by the way, 'Wing still owes me one because of the whole 'Kill Robin' thingy."
With a jerk of her bow, Artemis aimed right between the young man's legs. (What?! She didn't know whether her arrows could hit through the metal of his helmet or not!) "How do you know Nightwing and what do you mean, he 'owes you one'?"
Jason rolled his eyes, even though no one could see it, and growled, "You may wanna point that thing-" he pointed at her bow, "somewhere else." Artemis didn't move and Hood sighed. He glanced at Nightwing, who shook his head ever so slightly. He didn't want Jason to reveal himself to the team and Jason didn't want that either, so he just said, "I know a lot of things, but I'm not your enemy, so just let it go and I'll be on my way."
Conner snort humorlessly. "You just killed two men in cold blood, who were our suspects, BY THE WAY!" Hood frowned. "Oh, they were your suspects? Well, you still have two to interrogate, don't you? It was nice seeing you all, but I really have to go now. Plans to make, people to kill, you know, the usual."
He took out a grabbing gun and fired at one of the many broken windows, giving a mocking salute to a fuming Superboy.
Conner was just about to grab his ankle, as Robin accidentally tripped over his own bo-staff and fell into the half-cryptonian, taking him with him to the ground. Miss Martian, who's eyes had began glowing, was also accidentally ran over by Nightwing, who lost his balance and crashed into Artemis, who had just notched an arrow, and they both tumbled to the floor. "Sorry, Arti," apologized Dick, "me and my clumsiness." She raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Since when?"
Dick shrugged sheepishly. "A few seconds ago?"
"At least we still have Sportsmaster's guys. That's good, right?" Tried Tim to lighten up the mood. Conner growled. "You two are even stranger than I thought." Dick shrugged. "Batman's influence."
"I'm so going to tell him that," laughed Wally and Dick grinned. "Don't you dare."
"Guys!" Growled Artemis, crossing her arms. "Concentrate! Supes, can you carry those two-" she pointed to the still bound men, "out and Miss M and I'll burn the bodies. Night-clumsiness, Robin the I-can't-fight-with-my-own-weapon Wonder and Kid I-just-stand-around-while-a-villain-escapes Flash, why don't you three idiots go back to the mountain. You did enough for today."
The three boys quickly left the warehouse. "I think she's angry."
"You think?" Retorted Dick sarcastically, rolling his eyes at his best friend. "She called us pretty interesting names." Tim laughed. "Yes, and Jason's so not getting any of Alfie's cookies for the next three weeks." The other boys burst out laughing. "Yeah, probably. Bat's gonna be so pissed when we tell him that Red Hood killed our suspects."
"Yup. The last time Jason killed someone, Bruce forced him to play darts with him. Guess who was the target." Tim toppled over, clutching his stomach as laughter racked his body. "I wish I'd filmed that."
Jason, who had heard all that, decided that it would be a good idea to stay away from Wayne Manor for the time being, just until he wouldn't be used as a human target anymore. Maybe three month? Yes, that sounded about right.
So, how was this? Pls give feedback.
