CHAPTER SEVEN - Freedom
A month later, they arrived at the office to find it already unlocked, though the lights were off, and entered cautiously.
"Maybe we should wait for Farah?" Todd suggested as they approached reception.
"You might be right." Dirk agreed.
"Hey Dirk." a familiar voice greeted them, and they both jumped out of their skin.
"Bart?" Dirk answered.
The lights turned on as Farah arrived. "What are you doing in the dark?" She asked, then saw Bart and drew her gun.
"Are you here to kill me?" Dirk asked and Bart rolled her eyes.
"For the last time No I am not gonna kill you - Jeez. How many times I gotta tell you that?"
"Well, you are an assassin, and you were waiting for us in the dark in a super creepy way." Dirk pointed out.
"Yeah well I'm not here to kill ya."
Farah lowered her gun, but did not reholster it.
"Then if you don't mind my asking, why are you here?"
"I killed Ken. Oh, and, everyone else at Blackwing. I thought you'd wanna know."
Todd stepped forward, hope in his voice "Wait you mean... Blackwing is gone for good?"
Bart shrugged. "Maybe. If they wanna start it up again they're gonna need a whole new set of people."
Todd and Dirk exchanged a look of hopeful joy.
"This is the best news ever. Bart thank you for coming to tell me that." Dirk said.
Bart shrugged. "I guess I'll be going now. Got more people the universe wants me to kill."
They all sensed a sort of despondency in her, but it was Dirk who truly recognised the loneliness.
"Bart? Do you ...want to join the agency?" he asked, not entirely sure what she could do, but absolutely sure they could make it work somehow.
Bart looked touched by the question, there was a softness in her expression that Todd had never seen before that made her look like a regular human.
"That's really sweet of you to ask and all, especially since I can tell you're still scared of me. But I got some stuff to do. Bye Dirk"
She got up and moved past him towards the door. He handed her an agency business card. "Well, if you ever need a holistic detective you know where to find me."
She took it and smiled at him lopsidedly. Then she gave him a hug that startled all of them, apparently not minding that Dirk was extremely tense throughout all of it, and left them.
Dirk turned to Todd with a grin on his face, and Farah joined them in high five celebrations. They looked, and felt like the day Todd and Farah had found Dirk in the car: Free.
The three of them moved into an apartment with three bedrooms, meaning no one had to take turns on the sofa. They cared for each other through pararibulitis attacks, panic attacks, nightmares, and anything else that tried and failed to diminish their happiness.
But ultimately, they were free, they were together, and they were far stronger than the sum of their parts.