Chapter 40: Mind Screws All Around Part: 1

Authors Note: Thank you all for your feedback and support I loved everything you reviewed to me. I liked how everyone responded to Hitgirl and Reaper's on off relationship. That was all Jedimasterchris's idea but looking back I am glad it came out alright and I am also happy how everyone responded to Ally's motherly/big sister role towards Sarah and Hilary and the rest of the girls that made me happy. Okay, this time I really like to thank Lightseeker for helping me with like seventy five percent of this chapter. Thank you for the ideas and layouts and of course most credit also goes to JediMasterchris1 for the love plot and I wrote it so…yeah. Enjoy! Also, Illusive mans Red Crosshairs story and JediMasterChris1's story both awesome go have a look.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.

Flynn had been sitting in the kitchen of the Mansion H.Q for a few hours now. He had awaken around six and couldn't go back to sleep and decided to make some coffee. He couldn't get Hilary's crying face out of his head ever since he last saw her. He knew he had to make up for it. He was broken from his thoughts when he heard the sound of someone pouring a cup of coffee. He looked over to see Hilary dressed in a long T-Shirt and socks and nothing more. Aside from being half naked she didn't look too good. Her long black hair was messy and tangled and her beautiful violet eyes were red from crying for a long period of time.

Flynn knew he had to say something and whether she listened to him or not or even forgive him he had to know. Were they really over with or could he fix this?

"Hilary." He started but was immediately cut off as she raised her hand.

"Flynn, I really don't want to talk right now." She groaned, her voice sounded so dead and exhausted. "I couldn't sleep and I smelled the coffee so I decided to get a cup." Flynn raised an eyebrow at how accurate her senses where.

"Your room is like fifty feet away from the kitchen, can you really smell that far?" He asked.

"Comes with the privileges of being an assassin." She said. "If I'm in a familiar place with a familiar smell and someone alters that smell I'll pick it up. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try and go back to bed."

"Wait, you don't have to talk, but at least listen." He pleaded to her. She stopped and took a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. She still kept her eyes trained on her mug as he explained. "Look, first off I do want to apologize. Not for just blowing off dates to tend to Croc or my other duties but for not taking your feelings to heart. It was stupid and very hurtful to you and for all that I've done I am extremely sorry."

He looked over at her to see if his words were having any affect. She still had a depressed look on her face, but he saw her playing with something in her hands. Maybe she was anxious to see where this was going or maybe she was just doing it out of boredom, either way he continued.

"Okay, um…Logan Crow he's started up his own gang of mutants from what Seth told me and he is at war with Blackbeard." He explained. "If I can find Phantom he can probably lead me to Blackbeard. I want to help you avenge your mother, not because I have to, but because I want to." He looked down at her hands to see her fidgeting more and more. "When I first met you I did mean all those things about you being a beautiful woman and how I did see you as a woman and not a monster. I meant every word, but then when you started to take an interest in me I didn't know how to feel. I was paranoid, I lost my father and family, I lost my other father Waylon and my friends and then I met Jayden. He was so good to me. Taking me in and training me to be his partner, but when I thought about how good things were going for me with him I got scared that something would happen and he'd wind up leaving me."

"You thought you were jinxed?" She asked still not looking up.

"Death follows me where ever I go." He muttered. "I didn't want it to take Jayden away so I left him. That and I wanted to make a name for myself. Then I met you. The only woman who ever showed an interest in me. I remember when I first saw your eyes, your beautiful violet eyes." At that she looked up at him and her red eyes look less red and puffy allowing her dark eyes to light up her features. "I thought you were the most beautiful woman I ever met. Then later that night I had a dream where you were in trouble and I was chasing after you. When I found you, you were screaming and crying for me to help as Death dragged you off into the shadows. Afterwards, like all the other times I woke up feeling afraid and lost like all the other times."

"So, that's why you were never interested in you know, being a couple?" Hilary asked weakly.

"Yeah, I didn't want to cause anyone any harm because of my bad luck and misfortune." Flynn muttered. "So, I busied myself with Reaper and my research at Jayden's company so I wouldn't be bothered by you or anyone for that matter. But I want to change." He looked deep into Hilary's eyes and she looked into his light hazel eyes seeing nothing but determination. "I want to help you with your revenge Hilary. I want to bury our past and create a future with you. I don't want to spend the rest of my life wandering rooftops with a scythe or hiding in a lab. I want you and only you…if you'll have me."

Hilary was in shock at what she was hearing. No less than six hours ago he was neglectful, arrogant and cold. Now here he was consoling her and pretty much telling her he wanted to be with her for the rest of her life. She fought back the tears that tried to break through her tough girl persona and tried to respond to Flynn.

"D-Do you really mean that Flynn?" She asked in a shaky voice. He raised his right hand in response.

"On my parent's grave." He said with a smile.

"Prove it." She said with no hesitation. Flynn's soft expression went to shock as his eyes widened.

"Um…are you sure, I mean I don't." He was cut off when she put her index and middle softly on his lips.

"I said prove it, not talk." She said with a sly grin that sent shivers down Flynn's spine. He had just noticed that she had long since gotten off of her stool and was now standing in front of him.

He looked down at her long toned legs and her slender but well-toned body. She was a Valkyrie, his Valkyrie. He timidly placed his hands on her slender hips and pulled her close to him. Her skin felt so soft and warm under the thing T-shirt as he ran his hands up and down her body. She wrapped her slim hands around his neck and stared deeply into his eyes. When he felt like he was ready he removed his hands from her hips and cupped her cheeks. She slowly pulled her close to him his head was swimming at what was going on right now. Both of them felt a jolt strike their hearts when their lips finally met.

They pulled away for a second and then finally continued as they sucked on each other's lips. Hilary let out a small moan and Flynn went further as he pushed his tongue through her lips. Hilary was feeling nothing but happiness for the first time in her life. She didn't care anymore, about Blackbeard, about all the evil in the world or even her desire for vengeance. She just wanted this moment to last as long as possible. Flynn on the other hand didn't have a single thought in his head. Usually when he was alone he would either have visions of evil or ideas for inventions, but now he was a clueless as a young child. His mind was clear of regret and ideas that he never felt before. The only thing on his mind was Hilary and nothing else.

His tongue danced with hers until she started giggling feverishly. Flynn heard her and broke away a little to see her once sad and pale face was now happy with a cute pink hue. She gave him a cute sly grin and looked at him playfully with those beautiful eyes of hers.

"Flynn Anderson, I never knew you were such a fiend." She said in a lustful voice.

"Hmm." He hummed as he buried his face in her neck. He kissed her gently while smelling her fragrance. She smelled sweet it was hard to describe but it was like she had just taken a walk on a crisp autumn day. It was a fiery smell that suited her personality just right. "What do you mean, we're just kissing."

"Oh really," She asked coyly. "Try wiggling your fingers."

He really didn't know what she was getting at but decided to humor her anyways. His eyes widened in shock and panic when he realized what she was talking about. His face went red causing Hilary to giggle even more especially when she felt his fingers squeeze her sweet spots.

He looked down at her chest and saw his left hand massaging one of her breast through her shirt while his right hand somehow managed to lower itself from her face and worm its way between her black panties and her ass. He accidently gave it another squeeze and was at a loss at what to do.

Hilary saw the desperate confusion in his face and couldn't help but find it cute. He didn't know he was groping her bare butt. She rolled her eyes at his obliviousness and pried his hands off of her. Truth be told she didn't want it to end especially when both her private areas felt cold at the loss of his touch, but she didn't want Flynn to be too embarrassed.

"When did I, you know?" He asked sheepishly.

"About five seconds after we started to French kiss." She said as she started to straighten herself out. She saw that his eyes were still on him and decided to tease him. First she massaged her breast getting a heavy sigh from him. She smiled at the reaction he was giving her and then started to rub her bottom. "You have a very firm grip. My poor butt might have a bruise. You wanna check for me?"

"I-I um…" He stuttered. He couldn't believe how different she was acting out of her Hitgirl outfit. Was this really the same girl? Hilary definitely couldn't help herself as she laughed uncontrollably.

"I'm only teasing." She chuckled while wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. "I'm not that easy."

Flynn didn't say anything and just hugged her back enjoying the warmth of her body. It was official right then and there. He would want to do this with her for the rest of his life.

"Flynn, I down loaded Blackbeard's data on a Flash drive." She said in a more serious tone. "It was mostly financial records but then I found what look like a journal entry. It seems that your buddy Phantom is in fact starting up a gang and is at war with Blackbeard. He had a scout follow Phantom around and he found out that he was going to attack Killer Croc tonight." Flynn's eyes widened as he looked down at her.

"When?" He asked.

"Six o'clock tonight." She said.

"Okay, we'll let the team know later." He said as she nodded to him.

They turned off the coffee pot and Flynn was about to go to his room when he felt Hilary tugging on his arm. She led him back to her room and once inside she shoved him onto his back.

"I thought you weren't easy?" He asked while trying to control his heart rte.

"I'm not." She stated bluntly. "You're getting in my bed not my panties…again."

Flynn blushed at the memory of his devious hands as she climbed onto the bed and crawled to him on all fours. Her body hovered over his as she leaned down and kissed him passionately. They stayed like this for a few minutes before she pulled the soft blanket over them and snuggled up against Flynn, who at this point had wrapped his arms around her, protecting her from whatever was out there.

"So…I'm forgiven?" He asked.

"Forgiven, now sleep please." She asked in a sleepy voice. Flynn passed out like a light while Hilary slowly drifted away listening to the gentle beat of his heart with only one thought in her mind.

"I always get my man."

(!)

The Shadow Warriors were all down at the garage of the mansion getting ready for their fight with Blackbeard and Man-Bat along with Phantom as well. Hitgirl was checking her silverballers and a pump action shot gun making sure they were clean as a whistle when Reaper came up to her. She looked up at him to see that he still had his hood down and his mask off. She gave him a small smile as he leaned down next to her.

"Listen, I know we are all a team here, but I don't want their help in taking down Phantom or Blackbeard." He whispered to her.

"You want Phantom for yourself." She stated which he responded with a nod. "I don't blame you. So do I. So what do we do?"

"Well, I figure they are going to go after Man-Bat first seeing he's sort of a hostage in all this." He explained. "But knowing Shadow, he'll want to send some of the crew with us. So when I see a chance we'll break away from them and go after Blackbeard and Phantom."

"What about Riddler?" She asked.

"Shit, forgot about him." He snapped. "Okay, leave the improvising to me alright. I will figure something out."

"Okay." She said. Reaper couldn't help but smile. He looked around quickly and leaned in planting a small kiss on her lips. She let out a breath when he pulled away. She then felt something in her heart. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. Was she nervous, angry, excited…in love?

(!)

In the dank sewers of Gotham, Croc was stomping away in the tunnels with no real goal other than to eat something or someone. While he was walking he started to pick up an unusual scent. He turned around and his yellow eyes widened to see Phantom and a few of Damian Cole's splicers standing with him.

"Waylon!" Phantom exclaimed. "Long time no see."

"What do you want Crow?" Croc snarled.

"Oh, you know just starting up the old gang course a lot of the old gang members can't be here due to the fact that I killed every last one of them for not joining me."

"Tch, and they say I'm a monster." Croc growled. "But why are you here?"

"Well, you know since I started up our gang of reject again I decided to be the leader of this new gang." Phantom said playfully. "But then I remembered you said that I wasn't fit to be the leader of our old one unless I beat you in a fair fight. So after some thinking I decided what the hell? Might as well give it a try."

"What a coincidence, I was just looking for something to eat!" Croc roared.

Phantom flexed his arms out as two combat knives slid out of his sleeves and into his hands. Croc charged at Phantom and the two engaged in battle. Croc was strong but he couldn't match Phantoms speed and agility especially in the cramped tunnels of the sewers.

Phantom slid past Croc and swiped one of his blades across his waist. Croc let out a growl as he turned towards Phantom, his yellow eyes glowed in anger.

"Huh, I guess living like an animal has really affected your mind." Phantom stated while holding his bloodied knife up.

Croc let out another roar and lunged his claws out trying to cut Phantom. He just kept skipping back toying with Croc every time he missed. Eventually he finally hit a dead end and Croc let out a chuckle.

"End of the line Crow." Croc growled.

"For you." Phantom stated.

Croc roared and brought his claw down towards Phantom's head. Phantom leaped up and climbed over Croc planting an explosive on the roof above him. Croc tried to get away but his claw was stuck in the wall. He looked up when he started hearing being and then the beeping stopped and the wall collapsed around him. Phantom and his crew stared at the wreckage falling around him as it buried his former leader. Once Croc was buried Phantom turned around and led his team out of the sewers not even sparing a second glance back at his fallen leader.

He and his crew popped open a man hole and they each climbed out only to be greeted by a row of black trucks and cars. The crew was dressed in black casual clothes hoodies, leather jackets and black pants with boots. They were armed with a variety of handguns and machine guns as Blackbeard stood in the middle of it all. He grinned mischievously as he took a drag from his cigar.

"Well, I see you finally killed the alligator man." He mused while blowing a puff of smoke.

"He was a crocodile you dumb bastard." Phantom insulted.

"Oh well damn me to hell, but you did cost me a few of my men a few nights ago. And I'm here to collect." He said, dropping the cigar and stomping it into the ground.

"You really think you can match me and my gang of mutants?" Phantom chuckled. "You are nothing but a captain," His blades slipped in his hands. "Without a ship."

Phantom dashed towards Blackbeard who drew his cutlass and blocked his twin knives. Blackbeard pushed him off and took a few swings at his head, the tip of his blade missing by mere inches. Phantom was too quick to for Blackbeard and reached up on his sleeve holster and pulled out three throwing knives. He threw them and they flew through the air, but Blackbeard's reflexes were also just as good as he raised his sword and swiped the knives away.

"You're pretty good." Phantom complimented.

"You're pretty handy with a blade yourself." Blackbeard shot back. "But if you'll excuse me I need to go. I feel that there are unwanted eyes on us."

"You're not going anywhere."

The two leaders and their crew turned to see Hitgirl and Reaper aiming their guns at them. Reaper had his scythe-gun and Hitgirl had her obsidian pump-action shotgun. Shadow and the rest of his team stuck to the rooftops incase Man-Bat tried something. Shadow made sure they were covered as he gave Red a sniper rifle and told him to keep watch.

"Who are you two anyways?" Blackbeard asked, actually curious as it was just these two and not the whole team.

"Allow me to explain my lowly simpleton." Phantom said while earning a glare from Blackbeard. "This is Flynn Anderson. He's just some whiny brat who can't handle the fact that I'm better than him in every way."

"Says the guy who runs away every time I see him." Reaper said. "But hey, not your fault, everyone runs when they see death." Phantom narrowed his eyes under his mask as he heard Blackbeard laugh.

"And what about this lovely piece of ass you have here." Blackbeard motioned towards Hitgirl who had her gun trained on him. "What do they call you?"

"Hitgirl." She said in a monotone voice.

"Classy name." He scoffed. "Well, I'm sorry but we are going to have to cut this meeting short. Mr. Phantom and I were just about to go to a more secluded area and finish our little scuffle."

"You're not going anywhere." Hitgirl snapped as she tightened her grip on her gun. This only caused Blackbeard to chuckle darkly.

"Oh but I am my dear." He snickered. Just then something crashed out of a building and the air was filled with screams. The two looked up to see two female civilians being held by their shoulders by Man-Bat's talons. He let out a high pitched shriek and flew away while the rest of the gangs broke away. Everyone scattered as Phantom disappeared down into the sewers and his team separated while Blackbeard got into a black hummer and speeded off. He almost hit Hitgirl, but Reaper pushed her out of the way in time. The two quickly got up and ran towards Reaper's bike while he contacted Shadow.

"Shadow, you and your team follow Man-Bat." He said as the two got on the bike. "We'll follow Blackbeard."

"Alright and hey no heroics alright." Shadow snapped. "I know you have your little revenge thing going on but we take them in together. You find him you contact us and do not engage."

"Alright!" Reaper snapped as he shut off his mic. "Fucking guy man, I love him like a brother but sometimes he pisses me off."

"He's just concerned for you." Hitgirl reassured as she hopped on the back. "Now let's go!"

Reaper nodded as he punched in his code and activated the bike. He engaged the hover mode on the bike and the two flew after Blackbeard. Reaper was careful to stay above far enough to stay out of sight. It took a good ten minutes but they eventually made it to an old boat yard that was abandoned when Joker crashed a yacht into it in order to kill the mayor. Reaper set his bike down on the outskirts of the yard and waited for Blackbeard to make his move. It took a little while longer but then they saw a familiar white cloaked man and his mutant flunkies entering the yard as well.

Reaper looked to Hitgirl and nodded as the two made their way in. They slowly approached the front gates of the yard and saw two of Blackbeard's men guarding it. Reaper hid behind a corner and pulled out a small disk from his cloak. He then placed it on the ground and slid it towards them. It made its way between them as the two noticed it, but they were too late when it opened and gave out a few dozen sparks. The two thugs let out grunts before falling down unconscious.

"They'll definitely feel like crap when they wake up. Hitgirl chuckled.

"Yeah, let's go." Reaper said as he picked up the disk and walked inside. The boat yard had seen better days before Joker's stupid plan as the two made their way in. The two warriors made their way in taking out any wandering guards along the way. As they made it deeper into the yard they started to hear what sounded like a brawl.

"Do you hear that?" Hitgirl asked.

"Yeah, sounds like a riot." Reaper stated as he drew his scythe and assembled it into his gun.

The commotion led them to a warehouse where they each took point on both sides of the door. Reaper slowly opened it to see what was inside. When they started to move in his earpiece started to make a cackling noise.

'Re-er…You need to...et up.'

Reaper recognized the voice being Shadow's and placed his finger on his ear piece.

"Shadow, listen we are at the boat yard outside of Gotham." Reaper explained over the noise in the other room. "What's the situation with Man-Bat?"

Reaper only received static when Shadow tried to call back. Reaper cursed under his breath and went over to join Hitgirl as they went further into the warehouse. When they arrived they saw all of Phantom's men and Blackbeard's men standing around the two leaders who were dueling in the center of it all.

The two young warriors looked at the speculation in discuss. They knew that Blackbeard said he'd want to finish their fight, but this was just ridiculous.

"What a bunch of stupid pigs." Hitgirl snarled while readying her shotgun. "Now or never Reaper. It's your choice."

Reaper never took his eyes off of Phantom. His speed and reflexes have increased over time. Also, Blackbeard wasn't too bad with a blade himself, but he was more of a brawler than a swordsman. Reaper went through their statistics in his head. They were both highly trained to take out the grunts and with their skills and equipment they could easily outmatch these two.

But, Reaper still couldn't get over Shadow's call. The curiosity of what Shadow was trying to tell him was killing him. It had to be nothing though. He convinced himself that if there was any real danger Shadow would have sent back up. Reaper took a deep breath to calm his nerves and nodded towards Hitgirl.

"NOW!" Reaper shouted.

The two jumped out of cover and ran towards the two fighters. They aimed their guns at the two who were oblivious to them and were ready to fire when something fell between them and their targets. Metal canisters the size thermoses started fall from the ceiling and pour out purple smoke.

Hitgirl and Reaper caught full blast of the smoke and the two started to feel drowsy when Reaper's earpiece went off again.

"Reaper, Hitgirl." Shadow shouted from the other line. "Phantom and Blackbeard have formed an alliance. They are working together. It's a trap!"

Both Reaper and Hitgirls eyes widened in shock as they looked back over at the rumble which had now stopped. Everyone turned to the two warriors and they were even more shocked to see that each and every one of them was wearing a gas mask. They were small and covered only their mouths and noses but they were enough to protect them from the gas.

The two warriors suddenly felt their eyes get heavy and their bodies began to lose energy. Their weapons slipped through their fingers and they fell to the ground with them before blacking out.

Reaper started to come to and realized that his hands were restrained. He still lay on the ground and was having trouble moving thanks to the gas. His vision was still blurred from the gas but he saw Hitgirl still unconscious and lying next to him.

"Boy isn't this sweet." Reaper's head snapped over to Phantom who was brandishing his knife. "A lost boy and girl hoping to get their revenge only to get captured by the very people they were trying to kill."

"You," Reaper snarled. "You knew along that we would be gunning for you!"

"Of course," Phantom chuckled. "You could never let go Flynn. You were always Croc's bitch and if I ever laid a hand on him you and your whole damn team would be gunning for me. So, I needed a hand."

"That's where I came in." Blackbeard said walking up to Reaper. "You see Phantom here told me that you and your team would be after me next for stealing territory from Mask and pretty much placing a target on my head. Even with Man-Bat and Riddler's help. So we needed to come up with a plan to take you out bit by bit."

"Lucky for us, Hush told me who Shadow was and I told Riddler that he used to be Sparrow." This caused Phantom and Blackbeard to chuckle. "I'll never forget that look on Nigma's face when I told him. His grin would have matched Joker's. He said that when he was Sparrow, he would always fail his riddles and always get captured and make things worse for Batman."

"So, we devised a plan to lure Shadow and his Neanderthal friends to Edwards play house." Blackbeard explained. "We've actually seen your team kid. The only smart ones who could match Nigma are You, Breeze and that robot of yours."

"Actually, there's also Whisper who's been a pretty good detective so far." Reaper stated. "Also, Ronin is pretty skilled and since Breeze and Thanatos are with them their probability just went up."

"Don't get coy boy." Blackbeard snarled. "You and the Shadow Warriors are done."

"You know the last guy who said that, got a bullet in his head." The voice of Hitgirl chipped in. "His name was Hush, though Phantom wouldn't know, because his ass was halfway around the world before we even got close to him."

Shut up!" Phantom snapped but was stopped by Blackbeard who looked at the girl questionably. He walked up to Hitgirl and grabbed her by the shoulders. He then took her mask off allowing her raven hair to unfold around her.

"You, your that girl from all those years ago." Blackbeard chuckled. "What are the odds?"

"That I would find you or your odds of living past tonight." Hitgirl snorted. "You murdered and dishonored my mother. You kidnapped those strippers and other young girls and sold them to slavery after torturing them. I swear you will die by my hands tonight."

"No my dear." He said as he pulled out a silver custom made .45. "You are the one who dies tonight."

To be continued…