Chapter 42

Nightwing sighed and thumped his fist against the safe door. "Well, this is just like I remember it."

Batman cast him a scathing glance. "Just have a look at the bomb, would you?"

"What's that voice I hear?" Joker's voice cackled through the radio. "How absurd, have I captured a bird?"

Nightwing rolled his eyes as he headed over to the bomb sitting on the floor not far from the hostages. "Witty as ever." He cracked several light sticks of his own, placing them on the floor beside the bomb before studying it carefully.

"What do you want?" Batman asked into the radio as he untied another hostage.

"Well, now," Joker replied. "It just wouldn't be a very Merry Christmas if I didn't give myself a little Christmas present, would it, Bats?"

"And what would that be this year?" Batman muttered, unimpressed.

"That you have about ten minutes to live," cackled the Joker.

Nightwing frowned, getting to his feet and crossing to the safe door.

"What are you doing?" Batman droned.

"That thing has half a dozen triggers and a massive amount of explosives," he replied as he ran his fingers around the edge of the safe door and felt along the walls beside it. "I really don't want to touch it. There is usually another way out of these safes."

"Ooh, the little birdie has a point," Joker said through the radio. "Such a bright little birdie. Only I disabled the mechanism." He cackled again. "Merry Christmas, Bats."

One of the women began to wail.

Batman sighed and went to have a look at the bomb for himself while Nightwing continued to look for another exit.

"Contact the Titans. We only need one to come, don't want too much notice. Cyborg would be best and Batgirl can lead him here." Batman reached into his belt, pulling out a pair of pliers. "I'll try and disable this thing."

Nightwing nodded and pulled out his communicator, pressing the button. The communicator buzzed slightly but nothing appeared on the screen. He let out a sigh. "We're being jammed." He turned and leaned against the safe door, one foot propped up and his arm across his chest. He jabbed his chin toward the bomb. "How long we got?"

"Nine minutes."

"There'll be a pissed off Tamaranian here in five," he muttered and closed his eyes.

TTTTT

"Aww c'mon," Victor said, throwing his hands in the air. "I bet Kori and Rachel captured Dick and Gar with their womanly wiles, leaving you free to attack me! You can't tell me that's not cheating."

"As I heard it, only Dick and Kori got distracted, and Rachel got the drop on them. Besides, you ended with the most flags. Why are you so upset about it? Would you have liked to be detained by womanly wiles too? Are you the sort of person that gets easily distracted by a kiss?" A sudden thought crossed Barbara's mind and she smirked at him. "Or perhaps you're just jealous because you didn't get one too?"

"Pfft," he muttered, dropping his eyes from hers. "As if."

Barbara tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "Look, why don't we organise a rematch. Perhaps a three way battle would be easier, that way no one can distract their partners."

He wrinkled his nose. "That would mean I'd get stuck with you."

She narrowed her eyes. "Would that be such a bad thing?"

A glass shattered on the ground by Kori's feet and Barbara whipped around to face her. The other Titans heads snapped toward her instantly, concern etched on their faces.

Kori's face went impossibly pale, her body stiff and she closed her eyes. Victor went straight over to her, taking her by the elbow, with Rachel and Garfield not far behind.

"Kori, are you okay?"

She waved him away and gestured to her head vaguely. "Shh."

The other Titans went still and watched her carefully while Barbara looked on in confusion. What was going on? There was some sort of secret the Titans had, something that concerned Dick and Kori but no one was saying anything.

Kori's head came up; her expression dark and she locked eyes with Barbara. "We have the orders," she said softly, her eyes never leaving Barbara's. "Victor, Rachel and Garfield, you are to remain here, do the keeping up of appearances, but be prepared in case you are required. Either Richard or I will contact you in ten minutes. If you do not hear from us, head downstairs. Barbara and I must go right now."

Rachel nodded immediately. "Be careful."

Kori lunged forward and grabbed Barbara by the wrist. "We shall," she murmured before dragging Barbara away. "Please be quick, we do not have the luxury of time."

Kori dragged her down the corridor outside the ballroom and ducked quickly into a side room, locking the door behind them. "I told him to be careful, but does he listen?" she muttered to herself before striding across the room and pressing a small button near the fireplace. A wall hissed and retracted and Kori pulled Barbara into the small passageway.

Barbara blinked in surprise, she'd known there were secret passageways throughout Wayne Manor, but she'd never know exactly where. A sharp spike of jealously surged through her. She'd been a part of Dick's life for a lot longer than Kori and she'd never been privy to this kind of information.

Kori paused in front of a wall blocking the passageway, peering curiously at the console beside it before confidently punching in a series of numbers. The wall retracted to reveal a long pole heading down hole in the floor. "Come," said Kori as she flew down the hole, holding a star bolt in her hand for light.

Barbara sighed and jumped on the pole, allowing herself to slide down it. It was longer than she expected it to be, but suddenly the walls around the pole dropped away and she was in the Batcave. Kori waited for her to reach the floor before she grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into the air, flying through the cave with such familiarity it made Barbara want to scream. It just wasn't fair.

"Nightwing and Batman are trapped within a safe at Gotham Bank," Kori said softly. "The… Joker? Has planted a bomb in there and they have eight minutes remaining. We need to change quickly and then you will direct me to the Bank so we can rescue them."

Kori landed near the Bat computer, removed her hologram ring and gathered her clothes from the small shelf where Batman had asked all the Titans to leave their uniforms. She peeled off the genie hat and began to strip, pulling on her regular uniform.

Barbara's eyes widened and she headed for her own uniform, ducking behind the console to change. "Why can't you find your own way there?" she asked bitterly as she pulled on her uniform. "You seem to know your way around here quite well."

"No," Kori replied quietly. "Richard knows his way around here well. I am simply following his directions." Barbara heard a soft sigh. "Richard and I share a bond, called the a'tiyk valm amongst my people. For Tamaranians it is an empathic bond, but Richard and I share the telepathy."

Barbara poked her head out from behind the console as she pulled on her cowl, seeing Starfire all dressed and ready. "You can read each other's thoughts?" Batgirl asked in surprise. That sure explained a lot.

Starfire nodded and held out her hand. "We must go. Do not be afraid. I will not drop you."

TTTTT

Nightwing sighed. "Well that was fun," he muttered as he pushed off the wall and headed over to Batman. He knew Starfire was going to be angry with him, he just didn't think she was going to be that angry. "Any luck?"

Batman grunted at him as he examined the mechanism of the bomb. "Joker's getting trickier. You were right, half a dozen triggers."

Nightwing glanced over at the huddled hostages. "Don't worry," he called. "We'll be out of here soon."

"And how, exactly, do you plan on getting out of here?" Batman muttered, peering at him curiously. "No communications remember?"

Nightwing tapped his nose secretly as he gazed over Batman's shoulder. "Trade secret."

TTTTT

"Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod," Batgirl chanted, her hands clenched painfully around Starfire's wrists as they rocketed through the night sky above Gotham City.

"Are you well?" Starfire asked with concern, glancing down at the pale faced girl.

"This is scary stuff," she blurted. "You're going so fast!"

Starfire frowned, she was actually being quite careful. Nightwing usually loved going fast when she took him flying. But perhaps Batgirl had a different reason to appear so panicked. "Do you have the trouble with heights?"

Batgirl shook her head. "Not usually. I can't believe Dick actually likes this!"

Starfire gave a light laugh. "He would be quite bored by now. He is, as you say, a 'speed demon'."

"You can go faster than this? Oh my god!"

"I can also do the acrobatics if you like," Starfire said with a mischievous smile. "Richard does especially like my dives and loops. I get many of the 'whoops' from him."

"No!" Batgirl blurted. "Don't you dare!" She chewed her lip. "God, I can handle Batman in a playful mood when he decides to freak me out by spinning the Batplane, but that's only cause there's something to grab on to. The only thing I've got here are your hands. This is too much freedom for me. Talk to me, get my mind off this."

"What would you like to speak of?"

"Why do you call Dick, Richard?"

Starfire frowned. "That is his name."

"Yes, but I've never heard him allowing anyone to call him that. I tried once and he snapped at me."

Starfire was confused. "But he said he liked it when I called him Richard."

Batgirl gave a small grunt. "You must be something special then. How did you and Dick get together?"

Starfire raised her eyebrows, before shrugging. Why not, it did not hurt to tell her. "We had just defeated a criminal called Ding Dong Daddy, who had managed to steal briefcase of importance to Robin. I had seen a picture book while he shared with us the contents and was curious as to why he never spoke of his family. He shared with me his pictures and I gave him a Tamaranian memory device called an e'ara, it is the silver band around my arm, he has one too."

"Yes, I saw that. On his uniform."

"That is it. We spoke of family and trust and he allowed me to remove his mask for the first time. He has glorious eyes. And then he kissed me."

Batgirl raised her head up in shock. "He kissed you? Wow. He made the first move, he has changed."

"Why is that surprising? I would never have kissed him first." Except, of course, to learn the language, but she wasn't about to tell Batgirl that. The more she thought about it, the more she believed that he and Batgirl were probably still a couple when she'd first arrived on Earth and just the thought of that made her uneasy.

"Why not?"

"Tamaranians do not kiss to display affection."

"Really? That's strange."

"Many of your Earth ways are strange to me too." Starfire was silent for a moment. "May I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"When did the two of you do the 'breaking up'?"

Batgirl chewed her lip. "Things had been going down hill for a while before we broke up. He left Gotham so angry, swearing never to return. I guess it would have been a month or two after the Titans were created, cause I knew-" Batgirl shrieked in terror as Starfire forgot to fly momentarily and dropped from the sky.

Starfire shook her head, lifting them back into the sky once more. "I offer the sincerest of the apologies!" she exclaimed. "Oh, I fear I have done something dreadful."

"You mean, other than nearly dropping me?" Batgirl's face was white with terror.

She nodded meekly and began in a rush. "Tamaranians have the ability to learn other languages through lip contact which is the reason kissing does not display affection for us although I have since learnt how much it means to humans. When I first came to Earth I was unable to speak the language and my hands were bound in a metal that I was incapable of breaking. Robin was the first to show the niceness to me and I…"

"You kissed him," Batgirl said flatly before she began to laugh. "We're a right pair, aren't we? Kissing each other's guy, even if it is the same one."

Starfire blinked in surprise. "You are not angry?"

"Nah, it was too long ago. And you just told me you didn't know what it meant when you first got here. I could have some serious fun with Dick over this though."

Starfire laughed, suddenly relieved. "I am sure he disapproves of me telling you."

"That's why it will be so much fun. Oh please, let me tease him over this!" Batgirl grinned mischievously.

Starfire returned the grin. "I believe that you are right and it will be fun." She gestured with her head. "Is that the place we are seeking?"

Batgirl nodded. "That's it. Land on the roof."

Starfire gave a sharp nod and dropped out of the sky, placing Batgirl silently on the roof of the Gotham Bank.

Richard we are here.

Good, he sent quickly. We've got four minutes left on the clock. Understand what you need to do?

Yes, she replied tartly. I shall be quick. Starfire and Batgirl crept to the edge of the broken sky light, peering down into the bank curiously.

Be careful too, they had guns. They might be still around.

Yes Richard, Starfire sent patiently.

"I can't see any people down there," Batgirl whispered. "I thought you said Nightwing and Batman bound some criminals up."

"That is what he said," she replied softly. "Perhaps this Joker has freed them." She frowned as she looked down at the empty bank room below. "We do not have time to wait. I will journey to the safe, hide yourself amongst the rafters."

"Are you sure you can do this?"

"If I cannot pull the door off like he requested, I will simply melt the door and take the bomb into space. Do not fret and stay safe."

"You be careful too," Batgirl replied, giving her a brief smile. "The Joker tends to be tricky. I'll watch your back."

Starfire nodded and dove through the skylight. She slowly floated to the ground, her eyes darting around the darkened room. She hovered slightly off the ground and licked her lips nervously, swiveling her head around. Nothing moved amongst the shadows, no sound emerged from the dark at her appearance so she floated to the safe. The handle of the safe was broken and the joints of the safe were welded shut.

Reaching up a hand she knocked on the door twice. A returning knock came quickly. She cracked her knuckles, glancing around the room once more. She planted her feet and dug her fingers into the metal safe door.

The metal door groaned beneath her hands and she gritted her teeth, confident in her own strength as she pulled. Nightwing was on the other side and he needed her, nothing was going to stand in her way. A loud creaking sound echoed through the bank before the door began to crack.

She groaned through her clenched teeth, the muscles in her arms tense as she leaned away from the door. There was a harsh ripping sound as the metal of the door creaked and groaned beneath her fingers. Small shrapnel of metal flew from the welding as it began to give way.

That's it, Star, I can see a crack. Keep it up.

Easy for you to say, she muttered into his mind. The creaking metallic sound stopped as she pulled her fingers out of the door to shake her arms and loosen the muscles. She twisted her neck from side to side before she dug her fingers back into the door. Her eyes began to glow with green fire as she pulled against the door once more and it groaned and writhed beneath her hands. Why do you humans insist on such heavy doors?

They're supposed to be unbreakable.

Now you inform me! Richard you are in for the spanking once I get you out of there.

I'll look forward to it, he replied playfully.

She took a step backward, the door bending and creaking as she heaved against it. She groaned against her teeth once more, the sound bubbling up from her stomachs. There was a sudden crack as one of her handholds gave way. She muttered Tamaranian swear words under her breath as she tossed the piece of metal away. She glanced around the room once more looking for hidden figures before she dug her fingers back into the door, creating a new handhold.

Three minutes Star.

Stop the bothering. I will have it open with the spareness of time. Starfire's arms shook from the pressure she was placing them under. More groaning and metallic creaking erupted from the door and above her the concrete wall began to crack. Several of the hinges began to splinter.

A sudden sharp crack sounded and something went ting against the metal door. A burning pain flashed through her ribs. She sucked in a gasp of breath, her hands coming loose from the door. She clutched at her ribs, feeling a sudden wetness. She winced as she probed herself trying to discern the damage done.

Star! What was that?

"Well, well, well," a voice chuckled. "How did such a pretty young thing become so strong?"

She twisted around, her eyes glowing green. A man stood before her, dressing a strange purple suit. His face with completely white, his hair was green and he had a strange toothy grin plastered across his face. This would be the Joker. Several men stood behind him, tapping various crowbars and weapons in their hands. All of their eyes were fixed on her and one of them held a gun pointed in her direction and she knew it was him that fired.

Starfire?

"Oooh, glowy eyes," the Joker chuckled as he tapped his crowbar against his hand. "Very sparkly. And what's your name, toots?"

Starfire!

It is the Joker.

Run Star! Go now!

I will not leave you.

A smoke bomb landed on the floor between Starfire and the Joker, creating a smoke screen between them.

"Go Star!" Batgirl shrieked from somewhere in the room beyond the smoke and there was a thunk as a body landed on another one. Starfire instantly swiveled back to the door. She dug her fingers back into the door, pulling with every ounce of her strength she contained. There was a sudden metallic tearing sound as the door was heaved from the hinges. She roared as she lifted the door above her head before placing it on the floor beside the hole.

Nightwing surged out of the safe, his face full of concern, his hand landing on her hip. He paled at the blood trickling down her side and she smiled for him. "It is simply a scratch," she murmured. "Go, help Batgirl. She is distracting the Joker."

Nightwing lifted his head, looking around the room in panic, before he looked back at her, his hands going to her side as he tried to get a closer look. "You sure?"

She gave him a shove, angling her side away from him. "Nightwing, go!"

Batman loomed out of the safe as Nightwing dashed into the smoke, carrying the body on an unconscious woman over his shoulder with six other people following behind him closely. At Starfire's concerned look he said; "She fainted." He peered at her wound intently. "Reseal the safe shut. We can't stop that explosion. You have two minutes."

Starfire nodded. "Yes, Batman."

Batman considered her carefully before gesturing the hostages to head to the window. He passed the lady to one of the men. "Hurry up," he muttered to them. "Starfire, the window."

Starfire tossed a well-placed star bolt at the glass, shattering it and turned back to the safe. She quickly checking inside for any hostages that may not have come when Batman asked them too. She picked up the door and placed it over the opening that she had created. She held it there one handed before using a continuous beam of her star bolt from her other hand to began melting the edges of the safe back against the metal wall it had been torn from.

Batman was still looking at her and she glanced at him. "I am fine. I will get this closed in time. Go and assist Batgirl."

He gave her a sharp nod before disappearing into the smoke.

She concentrated on keeping the door in place while she melted the edges.

Something smashed hard against her back and she felt several ribs creak. She cried out at the pain that splashed across her back. The force of the blow slammed her into the safe door before she fell backward onto the ground. The metal door creaked in protest as her support was lost, but was held fast against the wall by the makeshift mending she had been able to complete before being struck.

A figure loomed over her.

The figure raised a crowbar above his head, bringing it slamming down on her head. Pain exploded through her head, jarring down her spine and she felt wetness leaking down her temple. "So, you thought you could release the Bat and his little birdie did you, toots?" he hissed as her vision spotted and her head rang. "Thought you could spoil my little Christmas present to myself and get away with it?"

The Joker hit her again on the head and everything went black.

TTTTT

Nightwing leapt through the wall of smoke, his heart pounding in his chest. Batgirl didn't stand a chance against the Joker. He was relentless, very vicious and chaotic. That was the worst part of him, his unpredictability caused by being completely and utterly insane.

He jumped the first man that he came across within the smoke screen, smashing a flying kick into his face. The next one received a double punch to the head, before he was out of the smoke.

A crowbar swept toward him and he dodged out of the way, pulling out his sticks and faced off with the guy that held the crowbar. The guy spun his crowbar before him, a lurid grin on his face while Nightwing held his sticks loosely in his hands, his eyes narrow as he waited for the first move.

The guy charged forward, swinging his crowbar and Nightwing fought to suppress a sigh. Deflecting the crowbar with one stick, he smashed the guy over the head with the other, before kicking the crowbar out of the man's hands and into the head of another guy that tried to sneak up on him.

He turned to face the room, his eyes darting around rapidly. There were several unconscious bodies, but Batgirl was nowhere to be seen.

Batman surged out of the smoke beside him, his eyes quickly scanning the room. "Not good."

There was a cry of pain behind them and something went thump. Nightwing felt a bolt of panic. "Starfire!" he blurted before dashing back through the smoke.

He was confronted with a grinning Joker looming over the body of Starfire lying on the ground. One of his henchmen stood behind him, the limp figure of Batgirl draped over his shoulder, tapping a crowbar on the back of his leg. The Joker lifted his crowbar and smashed it over Starfire's head.

Nightwing saw red.

He launched himself at the Joker, blindly lashing out at the Joker's head. The Joker ducked out of the way with an agility that was surprising, smacking Nightwing on the back with his crowbar as he passed. Nightwing hissed in pain, turning back toward the Joker in time to see Batman swoop down and gather Starfire into his arms and vanish into the smoke.

"Naughty little birdie, to ruin my fun so," Joker drawled, tapping his crowbar against his hand. Joker frowned and licked his lips. "Wait, you're not the little red one. Look like him but you're not him. Aww how sweet, did the baby bird try and grow up?"

Nightwing sneered. "Fuck you, Joker."

"Tsk, tsk," the Joker grinned, waggling his finger. "Such manners. Didn't the Bat teach you to play nice?"

Nightwing turned his head slightly; keeping an eye on the minion that held Batgirl. "Why? When have you ever played nice?"

The Joker mock pouted. "Aww, I'm hurt."

Nightwing snarled. Two small pellets bounced at his feet, cast from somewhere above and he pivoted sharply, leaping away before there was an ear-splitting explosion and the world went white.

His ears rang and his vision spotted before a strange metal object loomed out of the brightness. A sudden sharp pain and his last view was of the Joker prancing up and down, his head thrown back, laughing like a maniac.

Author's note: Joker was written before Heath Ledger's incredible portrayal. May I ever write a character that awesome.