Since my story is starting to wrap up, I put in my works cited at the end of this chapter. This is kind of shorter, but I felt like it had a lot of information. Just a few more chapters now!
Reviews please! :)
Nightwing groaned. He could feel the left side of his head was swollen, and there was a warm, wet feeling on his scalp. He shifted around, feeling the tightening of a chain around his body. He was tied to a folding chair in the center of an ill-lit room. He jerked his arms around, feeling no give. Damn, and he would be tied with metal. Red Hood, or Jason, knows all of his tricks, and knows that he has tools to get him out of certain situations. But this is one he wasn't prepared for.
He squinted around the room, one that he did not recognized. He wasn't in that large open area where he found Starfire. Starfire. She was caged, she had been panicking. He could remember back when they were the Titans how much she feared being captured and trapped. It reminded her of her days at the Citadel or with the Psion's. It had been worse in the first few years as a team, but together, they had helped her get better in situations where criminals would restrain them.
The only light was coming from the broken window on the far side of the room, and from what he could see, his folding chair was the only piece of furniture. He would've believed he was alone, if not for a small whimper coming from the corner of the room. He jerked his head up, staring into the dim corner. He gasped as he realized it was Starfire in the small cage. He whispered for her, and she continued to whimper. I swear to God, if he hurt her… He growled to himself, his skin on fire with anger.
Dragging his heals on the ground, he scooted himself closer to her. The sound of the chair squeaking as he moved woke Starfire up completely. She frantically glanced around the room, assessing any threats. He could hear her breath quickening as her hands grasped the metal bars of her cage. She still looked like Kori; Jason hasn't taken off her holoring, but he knew that she was Starfire anyway. He sat over her, trying to get her attention, wishing that he could reach out to her. Damn chains.
"Dick? God damn it, I've been trying to get a hold of you for an hour!" shouts Oracle in his ear. She must have heard him as he was speaking to Starfire.
"An hour? Where the hell is everyone then?"
"Something's happened… its Selina." Nightwing's heart dropped. When he didn't respond, Oracle said, "She's been shot."
"H-How? Where? Is she…?"
"She was shot in the stomach. I don't have any information on her condition just yet. Raven transported her back to the manor and was assisting Alfred until Dr. Mid-Nite got there. Bruce ordered for Beast Boy and Cyborg to go back as well. They put up a bit of a fight." Nightwing nodded, even though she couldn't see him. "She'll be okay, Dick."
"Yeah," he croaks. "Where's Bruce?"
"On my way," said the Dark Knight. "What's the situation?"
"I just woke up, as did Starfire. I'm chained to a chair, she's in some kind of metal cage, one that she couldn't break. I don't know if we're still on the third floor, but that's where I was last."
"Okay," was all he said in response. Nightwing went back to Starfire, whose eyes seemed glazed over as sobs bubbled out of her chest.
"Star," he said a little more strongly. "Look at me." Her eyes roamed the room, her instincts telling her she wasn't safe, that death could be near. "Starfire!" he shouted. She looked up at him, startled. "Hey, you're okay."
"I must-" hiccup "-escape. They're going to kill me-"
"Listen to me, Star," he says, before purposely tipping his chair. He slid on the ground so they were face to face. "No one is going to hurt you. Look at me." She glanced at him briefly. "Keep your eyes on me, Star. Don't pay attention to anything else." She locked her eyes on his mask, chest heaving, and breath erratic. "Take a deep breath." She inhaled, eyes not leaving him. "Good. Now, Batman is on his way." Starfire nodded.
Nightwing put his focus on the chain, trying to make his hands smaller to slip through the restraints. He jerked his arms around, trying to see if more movement would loosen up the knots.
"It is welded," says Starfire quietly. Nightwing looks over at her, confused, but then she points at his chains. He looks down to see the chains melted together. Well that's great.
"Can you use your eye beams?" Starfire bits her lip.
"I do not know."
"Your powers run on righteous fury, right? Not happiness?" Starfire nods. "Then why wouldn't they work?"
"I feel weakened. It is… a strange feeling." Nightwing studied her. She did seem a paler orange.
"It's okay. I don't want you trying anything if it will drain you. Maybe I could just shimmy out of them." He wiggles around on his side, seeing if the chains will slide up. But they're pretty tight. Starfire's eyes turn green. "Seriously, you can just rest." But she shoots an eyebeam at the floor.
"Hold still." He does as he's told, watching as she works. In a few seconds, she stops, laying her head back down on the cage floor. "I do not think I broke all the way through."
"Just relax. This could be enough," he says as he tests the chains. She had severed a few of the chains near his upper arms, but more towards his abdomen, the chains were only cut halfway. He pulled the arm he wasn't laying on upward forcefully. The metal bit against his skin, but after fighting with it for a little while, his one arm was free. He breathed out, relieved. Starfire smiled over at him.
"See? We'll be outta here in no time." He pushed back against the chair, trying to roll onto his back, and it closed underneath him. Be braced his feet against the ground and lifted up his bottom. With the help of his free arm, he released the other one. With the chair being flat, he sucked in his stomach the best he could and forced the chains down his legs. He could feel the metal leaving bruises, but he'd worry about that another time. When he was completely free, he let out a deep breath before springing into action. He analyzed Starfire's cage, finding a padlock holding the small door shut on the other side. He grabbed a pick from his gauntlet and went to work, fiddling with the lock until it popped open. He helped Starfire scoot out feet first.
"Nightwing, I'm on the third floor," says Batman.
"I'm free, and Starfire's about to be. I'll figure out where we are in a second," he responds.
"Allow me to escort you," says a deep voice from behind him. He turns to see the door open, allowing more light into the dim room. A mask less Red Hood stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. "Right on time. C'mon. We gotta meet Dad," says Jason. Nightwing felt slightly confused. What the hell is his game? His hesitation caused Jason to lift his hand, revealing a gun. "Seriously bro. Let's go." Nightwing raised his hands in caution, showing cooperation, before he helped Starfire up. Jason smiled. "Nice to see you two together," says Jason as they walk down the hallway. "I always wanted to meet you, Starfire." She growled, but Nightwing gave her a sharp look. "Don't feel like chatting? Whatever. I've only been dead for, like, two years bro. Not many people come back from that."
The hallway leads back to that same open room on the third floor. Jason walks in behind them, gun at their backs, until they reach the very far side of the room. "We really didn't have to make this so difficult. I just have something to discuss with Bruce, and if all goes well, we'll be out of here." Nightwing glares at him as he leans back against the wall, between a large fireplace and a closet door. "Nice view isn't it?" asks Jason. Nightwing looks beside him at the wall of glass, through which you can clearly see the water. It looked stormy outside; the waves were large and ominous. "Go ahead, take a seat," he says, signaling to the two chairs at a small table. "He should be here any minute."
"I'm here now," says Batman as he enters the room. "Not much security here, Jason." Nightwing's eyebrows furrow. There had been a few people around earlier.
"Sent them home. Don't need them anymore." Batman seemed to look Jason over as the room became silent.
"Jason, let them go. Your quarrel is with me."
"Ehh, Dick could be at fault, too." Jason looked at him pointedly. "And as I said before, I might just wanna keep Starfire." Nightwing reflexively stood in front of her. "She wasn't too happy to see Red X earlier. Trouble in paradise, I guess."
"Jason, I don't know what you've been doing here, but it needs to stop. You're not a criminal, and you've proven that. You've been partly working against Black Mask. I know you're still good. So just put the gun down, and let's all leave here."
"I don't know what's clouded your judgment more. Your guilt or your antiquated sense of morality." Batman stared, stoic and silent, at the boy who was once his son. "Bruce, I forgive you for not saving me. But why… why on God's earth is he still alive?!" Nightwing looked between the two of them. Was Jason talking about him? That's when Jason suddenly kicked down the door he was standing beside, revealing the Joker. He looked beaten, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, rope burns around his wrists where they were tied. But the son of a bitch had a grin on his face.
The madman busted out laughing, wiggling on the floor of the closet. "You gotta give the boy props," he chokes out amid his laughter. "He came all the way back from the dead to make this all happen." His laughs became louder, and Nightwing watched as Jason's face twisted in anger. He bent down to the Joker and touched the gun to his forehead.
"You will be as quiet as possible, or I'll end this now," he says.
"Well, you're no fun," says the Joker, pouting mockingly. Jason kicked him in the side before standing back up to face them. Starfire gripped at Nightwing's arm, and he heard a small whimper escape her. He glanced down at her briefly mouthing, "It's okay".
"Ignoring what he's done in the past," says Jason, now pointing the gun at Batman, "blindly, stupidly disregarding the entire graveyard's this asshole has built, the thousands who have suffered… I thought I'd be the last person you'd ever let him hurt. If it had been you that he beat, that he killed, there would have been nothing stopping me from avenging you. From hurting him the way he hurt you. I would send him straight to hell where he belongs!"
"Jason, it's not like-" started Nightwing, but Jason cut him off.
"No! This is between me and Dad." Nightwing narrowed his eyes, but didn't speak.
"You don't understand," says Batman quietly. "I don't think you've ever understood."
"What? Oh, that your moral code just won't allow for that? It's just too damn hard to cross that line?"
"No! For the love of God… it would be too damn easy. A day hasn't gone by where I haven't thought about subjecting him to the worst of pains." The Joker chuckled, but abruptly stopped when Jason shot him a look. "But if I do that, allow myself to go down into that place… I would never come back."
"Why? I'm not talking about killing innocents, or thieves, or rapists. This isn't about Penguin, or Dent… this is him." He pointed at the Joker. Nightwing noticed that his hands were slightly shaking. "Just him. And doing it because he took me away from you!"
"I can't. I'm sorry." Batman kept his gaze on Jason, watching his every move. His body language shows that he could snap at any moment, and they had to be ready. Nightwing reached around to Starfire, moving her fully behind him.
"Damn, you just can't win with this one," teases the Joker. But Jason ignores him this time.
"Well you won't have a choice," says Jason. He reached around, taking out another gun and tossing it to Batman. Nightwing watched as the gun flew, Batman clumsily catching it in his hands. He stared down at it for a moment, before saying, "I won't."
"This is what it's all been about. You. Me. And him. Now is the time you decide." Jason moved to the closet, picking the Joker up in a headlock. "If you won't kill this worthless, psychotic piece of shit, then I will! And if you wanna stop me, you're going to have to kill me."
"You know I won't."
"You have to! I'm going to end his life and the only way to save this deranged bastard is to shoot me. To kill me! 'Cause this won't be the end of it, Dad. If I don't get him today, you can be damned sure that I'll get him tomorrow. And I'll keep hunting." Jason's chest heaved, sweat beading on his forehead. "So make your choice. Me or him."
Batman looked down at the gun in his hands. After a few silent moments, he let the gun drop to the ground. Jason was visibly trembling with anger as Batman turned his back to him. He made eye contact with Nightwing, trying to tell him to get out.
"Decide! Do it now!" shouted Jason as Batman began to walk towards the door. Nightwing walked backwards, keeping his eye on Jason and shielding Starfire just in case. Jason jerked his head towards Nightwing, and what Nightwing saw in his eyes put him on alert.
Jason pointed the gun at Nightwing. "Fine, Bruce. Then you have to choose a son." Batman froze, and spun on his heals to face him again. "Would you have avenged him? The precious little golden boy, the perfect one. Would you kill him if Dick were the one who had died?"
"Oh X'hal…" Starfire mumbled something in Tamaranean against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm back behind her, holding her to him.
"Jason, I wouldn't have wanted him to," says Nightwing.
"You don't know what it's like to wake up from the dead to find that your supposed father did nothing! Like your life never really mattered!"
"Come on, Jace! Heroes don't kill, but it's not like we don't mourn. I was a mess, Dad was a mess. Selina and Alfred couldn't even hold it together all the time. We wanted you back, but killing the Joker wouldn't have done that."
"It wouldn't have made you feel better that my killer was dead?" Jason looked between his brother and his father. "That he had gotten the suffering he deserved?"
"It's not that he doesn't deserve it, Jason," says Batman. "That's just not what we do."
"And why not? Our job was to protect Gotham. The city would be safer with him dead."
"That's not our decision." Jason shakes his head, a chuckle escaping his lips. In a swift motion, he directed the gun back at Batman and pulled the trigger. Nightwing moved toward him, ready to take it in the place of his father, but Batman dipped down, swiveling out of the way of the bullet. Nightwing put on the brakes, watching as a batarang was launched from his hand, lodging into the barrel of the gun just as Jason had pulled the trigger again. It fired back as Jason cried out in pain, the gun flying from his hand. The Joker fell to the ground, laughing manically. A bit of blood dripped over Jason's hand, which could possibly be broken.
"Get the Joker," says Batman as he moves in towards Jason. Nightwing walks to the Joker, reaching down to lift him up.
"Ah ah ah," he says tauntingly, lifting up his freed hands.
"What the hell?"
"I have tricks of my own, my boy." He opened up his hand, revealing some sort of button. "And here's one more!" The Joker, with a grand smile on his face, pressed down on the button. Immediately, a ticking could be heard from what seemed to be the fireplace. Nightwing looked over at Batman who braced Jason's arms. "Ten seconds, my friends." He was counting down on his fingers laughter bubbling from his stomach.
Eight. Nightwing punched the Joker.
Seven. He shared a meaningful glance with Batman, as the moved toward the other side of the room.
Six. Batman called for the batplane, even though he knew there wouldn't be enough time.
Five. Nightwing stared at Starfire as he ran, taking her in.
Four. Starfire's heart stopped, feeling nothing but regret for the time lost with the boy next to her.
Three. Jason apologized.
Two. One.
Fire burst through the fireplace, the force of the explosion pushed them back. Their bodies hit against the glass wall, shattering it to pieces. Starfire tried to fly, but still couldn't feel the happiness, and the five of them flew through the broken glass, landing in the water.
Works Cited:
Batman: Under the Red Hood
Deadly Little Lies - Laurie Stolarz
Batman Wikia
DC Wikia
(I was reading Deadly Little Lies and it gave me an idea when I had a case of writers block. I used the wikia pages to try and stay close to comic book storylines. Some of my extra characters like Katherine Rioridan came from the comic books. But I created their personalities. Also, some buildings and places that I named I got from the wikia pages. )
