Chapter 5!
And... I actually don't think I have anything to clear up this time. Huh. That's nice.
Oh, and we're back to shorter chapters. Sorry. I thought it was longer, but I guess I wrote bigger in my notebook than the last chapter or something, because they took up pretty much the same number of pages... oh well. This is kind of just an in between chapter giving more insight on Nightwing anyway.
The still unconscious members of Young Justice were resting comfortably in the infirmary. Raven had suggested that those not seriously injured should be moved to separate guest bedrooms until they woke ump but Nightwing had insisted that they should all stay in the infirmary together.
"They were just attacked, and won't know what's going on. They'll panic when they wake up, except for Artemis. If they all wake up together, in an infirmary, and see the others around them, it'll help calm them down. Trust me."
The Titans were currently hanging out in the main room. Beast Boy and Cyborg were, as always, playing video games. Starfire was flying around the tower somewhere. Raven was reading and sneaking occasional glances at Nightwing, who was in the kitchen cooking for their guests. She could feel a lot of different emotions coming off of him through their bond. Worry, excitement, nervousness, elation, sadness, happiness… a million emotions a second.
Raven frowned; something was different about him. She thought for a moment, and her eyes widened. It was a good change. The strange hollow feeling that Raven had once though was loneliness but later realized was so much more was gone. Well, almost gone. But he felt more… whole. Complete. Like a missing puzzle piece had suddenly been found.
She thought for a few more moments and then returned to her book. If the presence of these strangers made Nightwing happy, she wouldn't object to their presence at the Tower. She would help with anything they needed. After all, it was nice to feel Nightwing being so happy and non-brooding.
Suddenly, Nightwing cocked his head to the side just as Raven sensed something odd through their bond. It was like 6 other presences had appeared in his mind. Nightwing didn't seem to mind though. His smile widened and he started piling food onto several trays. He caught Raven's eye and waved her over. He picked up two of the trays and asked Raven, "can you levitate the other trays to the infirmary? They're awake." "How do you know?" Raven asked, frowning, "Residual mind link." He answered, tapping the side of his head. "Miss M used the link on us so much it practically became permanent. Unless we deliberately block each other out, we can always talk mentally through the link. None of them thought to block me out, so I can hear everything they're talking about. Of course, for all they know, I'm in a different country or dead or just out of range, so that's not surprising."
At Raven's questioning look, he added, "I asked Artemis not to say anything. I want to see their expressions." He grinned wickedly. Raven quirked an eyebrow- this was not the Nightwing she knew. Then again, she thought as she levitated the rest of the trays and followed after him, noting the new lightness in his step, maybe this new Nightwing was better than the old one.
Nightwing pushed open the door to the infirmary. He was unbelievably happy to see his old friends and more-than-friend. He couldn't stop a smile from spreading across his face. "Food delivery!" He announced to the young heroes in the room. "Figured you might be hungry. This one's yours Artie-" "Don't call me Artie, shrimp." "-Not such a shrimp anymore, am I? I'm taller than you. Here's yours Megs. Raven, that one's Conner's, that's Kal's, the black one's Zatanna's, and the others are for Kid Bottomless Stomach over there. Everyone happy?"
The Team- minus Artemis- stared at him. "OK, who are you and how do you know our names? And where are we?"
"All excellent questions." Nightwing grinned. "Wanna play 20 questions to find out?"
And he's starting to act more like the mischevious 13 year old. Yay!
Review!
Oh, and I totally made up that thing about the mind link. I just figure there had to be some sort of side effect.