Chapter Fifty Three
A Good Night
June 19th
Morgan fidgeted in her spot against the rough wall of the naturally-made tunnel they were hiding in, feeling nervous and determined at the same time. Of all places to hold a summit, the Light and the Reach had chosen a volcano in Santa Prisca.
She couldn't decide if they were being theatrical or just plain weird. Either way, the volcano seemed like a strange choice.
As the two baddie-groups kept negotiating, she could hear Black Beetle's gravelly voice echo throughout the volcano, reaching all the way to their hidden spot. The sound gave her goose bumps when she was inevitably reminded of the death she might suffer by his hands.
To save her.. son. Honestly, that part still freaked her out too much for Morgan to really think much about it. She preferred to pretend she didn't actually possess that piece information.
Stupid Impulse for running his mouth.
Only mere minutes ago, the sounds of a scuffle going on in the meeting cavern could be heard, a scuffle that apparently resulted in Ra's Al Ghul discovering Tigress' true identity. And then Deathstroke – although Morgan already knew that was actually M'gann in disguise – had shot both Artemis and Kaldur.
Now, the video tape revealing all the Light's and the Reach's secrets against each other was playing. Morgan couldn't help smirking slightly as the alliance between the two groups was destroyed for good. She'd sleep better at night, knowing that they weren't working together anymore.
It was strange to hear Kaldur speak and not be filled with anger and fear from it. The last time she'd had dealings with the Atlantean, she'd threatened to rip his gills off right before he blew up her home. She'd hated the guy quite passionately back then. But now, she kind of looked up to him. He had had the courage and cunning to play at being part of the Light for months without being discovered. He'd sacrificed a lot to bring them down. And Morgan respected that a lot.
Especially because she herself was very interested in bringing the Light down. They'd killed her father. And now they were going to pay for it.
Morgan could hear M'gann reveal herself, her voice shifting from Deathstroke's to her own.
"For we value our true friends." Kaldur spoke.
In front of her, Nightwing, also in a crouch, motioned for their team to prepare themselves.
"On my mark." He whispered. A rush of excitement and nerves coursed through their small Team as Sparrow, Robin, Batgirl and Kid Flash all rose from their crouches and followed his lead.
"And unlike you, we are not short on them."
"GO!" Nightwing ordered. Batgirl, Robin and Kid Flash all rushed out from their hiding spot. Morgan made to follow, but Nightwing's hand snaked around her bicep to keep her back.
"You stay close, you hear?" He ordered.
Morgan smiled a crooked smile at his blunt protectiveness and nodded. "As you say, team leader." She responded in a voice that could probably be considered flirty.
He smiled funnily at her before letting go of her arm and running to catch up to the others.
Morgan entered the main room just in time to hear Kid Flash's "Hey baby! You miss me?"
She chose to assume the greeting was aimed at his girlfriend.
On the other side of the cavern, Bumble Bee, Superboy and Guardian were blocking the other entrance, sealing the Light and the Reach inside.
There was a short pause as Savage seemed to weigh the new turn of events. "Well played. Well planned." He admitted. "But the Light always comes prepared."
Behind them, the tunnels were cut off as huge stone doors slipped shut. Morgan looked up at the huge, round moon when, above them, the top of the volcano suddenly opened up, letting in a string of black clad Light-troopers. The soldiers surrounded the squads immediately, Morgan taking an instinctive step backwards.
"I've had my fill of your interference." Savage darkly announced. "Do not expect to survive."
To be honest, Morgan was a tiny bit worried. Yes, she knew most of the troopers were actually the Team in disguise, but there were still quite a few extremely ruthless and highly trained killers in the room. She wondered if that future where she died by Black Beetle's hands wasn't that unrealistic.
"Kill them all." Savage ordered. "Superboy may present a problem. But we'll deal with him when the other children lie bleeding on the ground."
"This guy needs to chill out." Morgan mumbled under her breath. The guy spoke with such darkness in his voice, it would've sent chills down her spine if she hadn't known his 'troopers' were more likely to attack him than them.
"Still you refer to us as children." Aqualad said before Savage had the chance to order his troopers to get to it. "No wonder our successes mount; you consistently underestimate us."
As if one, most of Savage's backup team pulled their masks off, revealing their true identity to be that of the rest of the Team. They immediately attacked the Light and the Reach, and it didn't take long for Sparrow, Batgirl, Kid Flash and Nightwing to join the fray.
Two of the troopers that hadn't been undercover Team members charged towards Nightwing and Sparrow. She'd promised to stay close by him, so that was what she'd do. Sparrow didn't even get the chance to engage any of their opponents as Nightwing had knocked them out in three seconds flat.
She stood for a short moment, taking in how absolutely flawlessly he'd dealt with them.
"Did I ever tell you how unbelievably hot you look when you beat up bad guys?" She said.
Nightwing smirked at her. "You can tell me all about it when we're not fighting for our lives." He answered before running further into the Cavern. Sparrow followed after him, taking to the air to get a clearer view of their situation. The Team was doing pretty good from what she could see. Pride swelled in her chest when she realized that she got to be part of such a marvelous group of people. They were truly extraordinary.
Below, Nightwing engaged two troopers again. He was so focused on staying out of the reach of their swords, he didn't notice the third guy sneaking up from behind.
Fortunately, Morgan had noticed him. She stop beating her wings abruptly, letting gravity do its work as she aimed straight for the guy.
She landed on his shoulders, flattening the guy to the floor, and kicked his sword out of reach.
Nightwing, after having dealt with the two others, turned at the sudden commotion behind him and, seeing the threat already dealt with, sent her a small smile in thanks.
She returned the smile. Suddenly, Nightwing's smile disappeared and he launched himself at something behind Morgan. She turned just in time to see him incapacitate a soldier that had been trying to sneak up on her.
Maybe it was a bad idea for the two of them to stick close together when they fought. They got distracted.
Morgan turned her back to Nightwing as she ran for another trooper, ripping his sword from his hands with her telekinesis before jumping up to kick him in the face. Landing in a crouch on his unconscious body, Morgan looked up as a voice started speaking.
Above all the chaos going on around them, Savage's next words rang out. "It is true. The Light has always underestimated you young heroes." He admitted. "But no more. It is time."
A short guy dressed in a suit with his hair designed into two spikes appeared by Savage's side. It took her a moment, but with the cat in his grasp, Morgan recognized him as Klarion the Witch Boy. He brought his hands forward and suddenly the sword M'gann had been aiming at Savage was transformed into a fiery serpent. It went after M'gann immediately, distracting her for long enough to let Savage and the new man disappear in a circle of red at the snap of the man's fingers.
"Cowardly meat!" Black Beetle roared at Savage's escape.
"Sparrow, behind you!" Nightwing suddenly called out, snapping Morgan out of her distracted state. She'd been too busy watching what transpired in front of her to worry about the threat that was still very much present.
She turned on the spot and flew out of the way, missing the sword aimed at her stomach only just. Using her altitude, she landed behind the soldier and kicked him in the back before seizing hold of his arm to launch him into the nearby wall.
By the time she got to look up at what was going on again, she gasped to see Black Beetle's blade having pierced through Ra's Al Ghul's chest from behind. He'd stabbed another person, just like that.
No wonder he was the one to kill her in that other future. Or maybe this future. She didn't actually know yet. Morgan forced herself to stop thinking about it and instead focused all of her energy on fighting the remaining troopers and villains.
Only a few minutes and two unconscious troopers later, Morgan looked up once again to see Black Beetle fleeing the scene himself with the Reach scientist in his grasp. The Ambassador had been left behind. He was pursued by M'gann and Jaime, but after sending out a blinding light to keep them distracted, the Beetle had disappeared. Morgan felt anxiety clutch her chest at that. She'd so hope that Black Beetle was dealt with today. For her own peace of mind.
Silence and a strange calm settled over the Team as the last few remaining villains had been dealt with and detained.
They'd won.
The Light and the Reach had been dismantled for good. Morgan had finally gotten her revenge.
"We did it!" She cheered, quite unable to believe it herself. "Yes!"
Nightwing sent her a dazzling smile, and it was that smile, combined with the relief she felt, that made her act a bit impulsively.
Morgan ran the four steps that separated them and launched herself at her mentor, kissing him immediately, in front of everyone else. He caught her, wrapping his arms around her waist, and swung her around once, responding to that kiss just as eagerly as he would if they were alone.
She pulled back and Nightwing let her touch ground again, unwrapping his arm from around her and taking a small step back so they weren't standing flush against each other.
As if only now remembering that they kind of had an audience, Morgan looked at their team mates, already feeling a blush creeping up her neck. Half of the Team was looking at them with a look that clearly said 'whaaaaat?' like they had no idea where that had come from. The other half was looking at them like 'I friggin' called it.'
That second half of the Team was what made her blush quite fiercely. But she didn't care. They'd won. And Nightwing hadn't reacted badly to her kissing him in front of the others even though they'd had a silent agreement to not let anyone know about the kissing.
Their hands clasped, Morgan smiled widely up at her mentor, but he didn't see it as he was looking worriedly at Kaldur, who was standing over his unconscious father. Morgan winced at the sight herself. She thought she had a complicated history with her father, but honestly, she had nothing on Kaldur. At least she and her dad had been on the same team somewhat at the end. He'd died trying to make her safe. Aqualad had to knock out his own father to get safe.
Nightwing walked towards his friend, and because their hands were still intertwined, Morgan was pulled with him. A few paces from the Atlantean, Morgan slipped her hand from Nightwing, feeling like she'd be intruding on a private talk between the two leaders of the Team.
"I had hoped to end this tonight." Kaldur said as Nightwing came to stand beside him. "But Savage escaped with Klarion. As did Black Beetle with the Reach's head scientist. Luthor and Queen Bee never showed. And even Ra's Al Ghul will no doubt-"
"Are you kidding me?" Nightwing interrupted Aqualad's – in Morgan's opinion – depressing complaints. "Kaldur, you won!" He cheered.
"Won?" Kid Flash said as he approached, hand in hand with his girlfriend. "Dude, you triumphed!"
"You've crippled the Reach and literally broken the Light in half!" Artemis went on. "Even took down Deathstroke before the summit began! And since we holographically recorded the entire deal, we'll be able to use their own words against them to clear the Justice league!"
Morgan took a quick step to the side as Beast Boy barreled by her, running the few remaining feet to hug Artemis closely from behind.
The blonde let out a surprised chuckle. "What was that?" She asked the green boy, who was still hugging her.
"I'm still just so glad you're alive!" He said, looking up at her with damp eyes.
For an instant, Morgan felt bad for having known this for months while the others were allowed to think she'd died. But she squashed the feeling down. Everything had worked out perfectly in the end. Artemis was back to resume her normal life with her boyfriend, and nobody had to mourn her anymore.
Beast Boy released her and motioned enthusiastically towards Kaldur. "And that Aqualad's not a traitor!" he pointed sternly at Nightwing who took a small step back in surprise. "No more faking anyone's death for at least a year, okay?" He ordered.
"Yeah, seconded." Wally agreed as he wrapped a protective arm around his 'resurrected' girlfriend.
Kaldur sighed, almost in defeat. He sounded truly exhausted. "Agreed."
Nightwing placed a hand on the taller man's shoulders. "Kaldur, this has been a good night." He urged. "Maybe the best we've had since the three of us took off for Cadmus five plus years ago."
Wally walked up to place a hand on the Atlantean's other shoulder. "Yeah, c'mon. Enjoy the moment my friend! You've earned it."
Morgan felt a small smile tugging at her lips. She hadn't been in the gig for very long, but she could recognize how satisfying it was to have finally dealt with a long-term threat. She could only imagine how much more satisfying it would be if they'd been trying to deal with these people for five years.
The smile faded when she saw Kaldur's gaze land on his father's unconscious form. True, Aqualad had succeeded in many ways tonight. But he'd lost his father in the process.
She knew that, no matter what, the victory would be bitter-sweet for him.
It was with an incredible amount of relief that Nightwing stepped forward and shook hands with Kaldur. "I am now officially returning command of the Team back to you." He stated.
It felt good to see Kaldur back in his old Aqualad suit, flanked by his king who no longer thought he was a traitor to his nation. It felt good to know that Kaldur could finally live again. That his name had been cleared and he was considered a hero rather than a villain.
Overall, Nightwing just felt good. Tonight had gone so much better than he'd allowed himself to hope for. For the longest time, it had felt like the Team had managed to take one step forwards, only to discover that enemies had taken three steps and then forced the Team to take two steps back. He had felt like they were fighting a battle that they'd lost before they'd even started.
But tonight, they had succeeded. And Nightwing finally allowed himself to be happy, but exhausted. He'd been frustrated with their situation for the longest time, and forced himself to ignore his own fatigue, but now.. Now he was going to be happy and go home and sleep until he didn't feel exhausted anymore.
And then he was taking Morgan out for that date.
He'd actually yet to figure out what they should do on the date. Maybe go to a circus – because how ironic wouldn't that be coming from him – or something like that. They'd hung out casually so much, he felt like they needed to do something special so it didn't just feel like any of the other times they'd spent together.
"Congratulations, kaldur'ahm." Aquaman told his former protégé, breaking Dick out of his dating-thoughts.
"This is unnecessary." Kaldur insisted. "You have done brilliant work leading the Team under the most trying circumstances."
Brilliant work? Sure, he'd gotten them all out okay and he'd put together a lot of clever plans. But he'd been leading the Team while simultaneously lying to them and operating behind their backs. He hadn't trusted them the way they'd put their faith in him. He'd been leading the Team like Batman would've led the Team. And Nightwing wasn't Batman. He didn't want to be Batman.
To be honest, Nightwing wouldn't have called his work brilliant. More like calculated.
He didn't let anyone else know this as he covered his thoughts with a smile. "Which is exactly why I'm thrilled to have this particular monkey off my back." He joked. "Job's all yours, pal."
He'd only just gotten the words out when a boom tube opened up right above them. Expecting an attack, his trusty eskrima stick in hand, Nightwing was frankly surprised when the tube simply dumped Black Lightning, Captain Marvel and Black Canary, all unconscious, before disappearing.
It took a moment, in which Aquaman crouched by the three Leaguers to ensure their well-being, for Nightwing to realize what that implied. These three weren't just random Leaguers, but the once that had been guarding the key-chamber on the War World.
His worst suspicions were confirmed when he turned around to see the very same ship take off.
"The War World's been activated!" He exclaimed in disbelief. "It's leaving Earth's orbit! Heading out into space!"
His hold on his eskrima stick went slack as he straightened and let his arms hang limply by his sides, not quite believing how utterly obsessed the universe was with ruining his good mood.
"Uh.. " He wondered. "Is that good news, or bad?"
Obviously, the War World leaving Earth was totally fine by him. The thing was ugly to look at anyway. He was more worried over who the heck was piloting it.
Okay, so he also knew the answer to that question. Savage had already admitted to being in possession of the crystal key, so it was probably him. Most likely him. And Nightwing wasn't sure if he was particularly fond of the idea of that crazy bad guy being in possession of a huge hunk of a gun. The War World could obliterate practically anything. The idea of that thing in the hands of Savage was going to give him nightmares.
But part of Nightwing recognized that there was nothing he could about it now. The War World was already gone from view, and they had no way of following it.
Aquaman assured him and Kaldur that he would take care of the unconscious Leaguers, and Nightwing left the Watchtower a moment later.
Savage and War World-centered nightmares or not, he was going to sleep.
June 20th
Was it weird that he almost felt physically lighter? Dick swore there was a certain spring in his step that hadn't been there before.
Maybe it was because he was so relieved to have finally given back command to Kaldur. Maybe it was because they'd finally taken out the Light and the Reach and that Kaldur, Blue and Green Beetle were off to take out the last Reach ship, dealing with Black Beetle for good. Which meant him killing Morgan in the future would become an impossibility. Maybe it was because he was actually on his way to see her. Maybe it was because they'd sent M'gann and Connor to Rimbor with the new evidence to clear the League and bring them back.
Maybe it was a combination of all of those things. Either way, for a moment, Dick didn't care that the War World had been nicked by Savage. He didn't care that Lex Luthor and Queen Bee were still about. Nothing could bring down his spirits.
Dick took a turn on the docks, finally arriving at the Warehouse.
He slipped inside, the smile on his face blossoming even more as he caught sight of Morgan sitting by the kitchen table. Her bangs were pulled back with a few hair clips, but the rest of her mane remained big and untamable. She had her nose in a book, her blonde eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration as she read intensely, her silvery eyes flickering along the pages. She'd gotten tanner the past few weeks – not much because she hadn't lied when she said she couldn't really tan. But it was just enough color to make a small clutter of freckles appear on her nose and cheeks.
Okay, he'd allow himself this one time to think her hair looked like a halo of sun-kissed silver and all that crap. She looked pretty freaking cute in her purple, off-shoulders t-shirt, faded blue short and unnecessarily obnoxious neon green flip flops, with that concentrated-yet-strangely-peaceful look on her face.
Something in the book must've been funny because her eyes lit up and she bit down on her bottom lip to suppress a smile that managed to escape anyway.
His own smile turned positively soft as he finally stopped studying her and approached her instead.
Morgan looked up as he walked up and sat down on the other side of the kitchen table, smiling widely at him with shining, teasing eyes. "Hey there, fearless leader." She greeted with a crook to her smile.
He almost shuddered at the annoying nickname Arsenal had given him back when the delinquent youth had still been a part of the Team. He wondered if Aqualad would have kicked him off the Team as well or if he'd have given him a second chance.
Nightwing didn't shudder, however, because it had been Morgan and not Arsenal calling him the nickname. And coming from her, he didn't mind as much.
"Not anymore." He corrected her, shrugging casually as he stole her glass of juice and took a large gulp.
She sent him a disapproving look at his thievery but chose to latch onto his words instead. "What do you mean 'not anymore'?" She asked.
He set the glass down again. "I've returned leadership to Kaldur. I'm not the leader of the Team anymore."
Morgan looked torn for a moment as if she couldn't decide if that was a good or a bad thing.
In the end, she could probably see that he was happy about it and smirked lightly at him, raising a teasing eyebrow. "Does that mean I don't have to take orders from you anymore?"
He leaned forward, resting his arms on top of the table, regarding her with an admittedly flirty look. "Not a chance. I'm still your mentor." He reminded her.
She slipped a bookmark onto the page she'd reached before snapping shut the book and placing her arms against it as she leaned over the table as well, greatly reducing the distance between their faces. She cocked an eyebrow at him again.
"And what would my mentor have me do then?" She asked in a low voice.
He crooked a smile at her, his eyes darting to her lips. "I think I could come up with a few suggestions."
"Ugh, can you guys go do that somewhere else?" Impulse complained loudly from the couch area of the Warehouse.
Nightwing looked up at Bart, realizing he hadn't even noticed the boy until he spoke up. He'd been a tiny bit preoccupied. With staring at Morgan.
Huh.
By now, the rest of the Team obviously knew that something was definitely going on between the two of them. Not that Nightwing really minded. it wasn't something he'd been planning to keep a secret, at least not once all the craziness with the Light and the Reach was over.
"You're the fast one, why don't you just beat it?" Morgan loudly shot back before hopping off her seat and walking up the steps towards the couch Bart was reclined in.
Nightwing followed suit, grabbing hold of her hand halfway up the stairs. She gave his hand a short squeeze as they reached the top or the stairs, her green flip flops slapping against the steel steps.
"I'm trying to stay updated on the Reach's situation, unlike you two useless lovebirds." Bart returned accusingly, watching the news program about Reach leaving Earth permanently and the General Secretary resigning. It wasn't like nobody saw that one coming. Generally, not a lot of people tended to get more popular by letting an alien race take over the planet.
Nightwing rolled his eyes. "I'm already updated." He defended himself. "As we're speaking, Aqualad, Blue Beetle and Green Beetle are aboard the last Reach ship to take down Black Beetle."
"I cannot wait to see that guy dealt with." Morgan sighed happily.
Neither could he. Nightwing had always absolutely hated that annoying pestilence, and knowing he would kill Morgan in another reality only made those feelings stronger. He'd sleep better knowing the guy was no longer a threat.
He tugged at her hand as the two of them descended the stairs again.
"So, where were we?" She asked once they were down in the kitchen.
"I believe I was going to ask you to come spar with me." He answered, smiling broadly. She smiled back just as enthusiastically, flicking her head towards the exit in an 'let's go then' kind of way.
They were about to leave the Warehouse when the Zeta tube suddenly turned on. Blue Beetle and Aqualad emerged a moment later.
"Nightwing!" Blue called.
Dick let go of Morgan's hand, approaching the two. "How did it go?"
He felt dread pool into his stomach at the obviously worried looks on Kaldur and Jaime's faces. Something had gone wrong.
"Black Beetle has been dealt with. But another threat has arrived." Aqualad informed him.
"Black Beetle activated some sort of doomsday plan. In less than a day, Earth will be destroyed if we don't do something about it!" Jaime frantically explained.
Oh. Well, sure, of course. Why not. Not like they'd only just saved Earth.
"We have to get to the Watchtower so we can inform the rest of the League and form a plan to thwart his attempt." Kaldur told him.
Nightwing sighed but nodded in resolve. "Let's go."
He turned back around and took a few steps forward to reach Morgan. It was pretty obvious that sparring wasn't happening after all. "Rain check?" He asked.
Morgan rolled her eyes even as she smiled at him like he shouldn't even have to ask. "Of course." She assured him. "Earth comes first. Good luck."
He swooped down and stole a quick kiss from her – for good luck he told himself – before leaving with Blue Beetle and Aqualad. It made him strangely happy, like a pool of warm liquid settled in his stomach, that he could do that sort of thing in front of the others now.
New chapter as promised. We're almost finished, you guys!
Fun fact: I watched 'When in Rome' the other day and realized that the main characters height difference is basically exactly what I pictured for Dick and Morgan. So, if you want to see how short she is compared to him, go check out that last scene where they stand in the fountain.