The next morning, on day three of Nightwing's island turmoil, he awoke to a clear and beautiful day. His body was sore. He was starting to feel the effects of sleeping on a hard surface for two nights. He slowly rose to his feet. He walked through the forest, past a couple of trees onto the beach, and stared out at the ocean.

The Pacific Ocean. The largest ocean in the world and more than thirty percent of the earth's surface. A vast, open mass of water that was so large and all-encompassing that every landmass on the planet could fit on its surface with room to spare. Nightwing almost fell to his knees at the thought of it. How is Batman supposed to find me in this mess, he asked himself. Quickly, he slapped himself across the face. There was no time to think like that. There was no time to even think about Batman. Batman didn't matter. All that mattered was him, Harley Quinn, and this island. And that island, he said, pointing at a flat landmass to his right. And that island, he repeated, pointing at a much larger but much farther island to his left.

He had to go for the smaller island first.

Nightwing took a lap of his current island. There were no animals and no sources of food or water – besides some fruit. The island was nothing more than a forest (about the size of a small town) surrounded by white beaches. The land was too rocky and hilly for him to try and build a shelter. The small clearing he'd set up camp in was the only piece of flat land on the entire island. On top of that, the rocks were volcanic – black and sharp. It got to the point where he couldn't even see what was at the centre of the landmass without proper footwear. There was no use.

He woke Harley up, fed her, and told her that he was leaving for the smaller island so she had to move herself to avoid getting sunburnt. She said something into her gag. Nightwing reluctantly ungagged her. "What the fuck happens to me if you die?"

Nightwing grinned. "Then I guess you die too. So you better cross your fingers and hope I don't die," he said before gagging her again.

His suit had already started to stiffen from all the saltwater, so Nightwing discarded it and tossed it on the floor. He removed his mask too and placed it on top of his clothes. He waded into the waters before diving in and swimming.

It was a long and exhausting swim. Luckily, the waters were still and the skies were clear, otherwise he never would have made it. As he crawled onto the flat shores, he took a few moments to compose himself. He was on an atoll. This island was all grass and sand – no trees, no rocks. The circlet of land was thin and looked like it'd been freshly wettened.

Nightwing approached the atoll's lagoon and stared into its vividly blue waters. His eyes widened. "Why are there so many fish here?" he asked aloud. The lagoon was relatively shallow, but there had to be thousands of fish. Fishes of different kinds and species. Some were large and bullied the other fish as they swam through, whereas some were so tiny that he had to squint to see them. Regardless, they were plentiful.

Nightwing looked up at the clear skies. He wasn't a religious man but even he felt like he needed to thank someone for this gift. He looked around for some way to retrieve these fish. A net? A spear? Anything. He ran all the way around the atoll but couldn't find anything. Not even a long stick that he could whittle into a spear. He needed to swim back to the main island to grab a spear and get these fish.

He was exhausted though, so he took a few minutes to sit and analyse his surroundings. He was in an archipelago. It was a chain of small islands. From here, he could see four – besides the one he was sitting on. There was the main island (the one he'd crashed onto), the big island he saw before, another large island behind the main island that looked flat, and a fourth island behind the atoll that looked like a slightly bigger atoll. There were probably a dozen more, but Nightwing was a survivor not an explorer.

He swam back to the main island.

Harley Quinn was waiting for him on the beach. She'd somehow managed to roll from the campsite to the beach and wait for him. Nightwing was breathing heavily as he waded out of the water and walked up to her.

"What's up with you?" Nightwing asked. He was dressed in nothing but his boxers as he stood over her. Athletic physique glistening in the sun. She exhaled harshly. "I'm not taking your gag off, you're just going to bite me again," he said.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her. She shook her head. "Thirsty?" She hesitated but shook her head nonetheless. "Bored?" She nodded. He told her that was unfortunate before walking past her. She sat on the beach and watched him. He pulled a sharp but thick piece of metal from the jet and tied it to a stick to create an axe. Nightwing then spent a few hours chopping down trees to build a raft. He stopped to eat something, then fed Harley Quinn.

He told her about the atoll full of fish. For once, Harley actually spoke with him instead of just going on and on about how 'Mr J' was coming to kill him. She asked him why there were so many fish in that one lagoon. Nightwing didn't know but he assumed there must have been a large hole in the island underwater that they could swim in and out of. He told her that he was building a raft to make it easier to traverse between the two islands with as many fish as possible. "You know, this would be a lot easier if I had an extra pair of arms," he told her.

"Then why dontcha uncuff me," she grinned.

"No, because you're just going to try and fight again," Nightwing said, raising the spoon to Harley's lips.

She took a bite, "Then you can just knock me out again."

"Don't talk with your mouth full. Plus, I was only able to knock you out because you were restrained. I'm not going to underestimate your fighting ability, Harley," Nightwing told her.

Harley closed her eyes and mulled over the situation for a moment. She admitted that they had gotten off on the wrong foot. They were on a desert island, so there was no point in fighting anymore, she said. "How can I make it up to you?" she asked.

Nightwing cocked a brow. "That's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You try to rip my throat out for three days straight, then all I have to do is ask and you immediately fold?"

"I don't enjoy being in these cuffs, sweetheart. I'm willing to play nice with you if it means I get to walk free. You're treating me like an animal here, kid."

Nightwing squinted. "Okay…" he said. "If you can show me your usefulness, then I'll let you go free. We still have half the day to go. I'll build this raft. I'll need you to get me some firewood for tonight's campfire. If you can do that, then I'll trust you from now on."

He grabbed his utility belt to get the keys to the restraints. He warned her though, if she tried anything funny, she was going to be chained and gagged until the end of her days. She promised him that she wasn't going to try anything. She tried to spit on her hands and have him shake it but even she wasn't flexible enough to make that happen.

Nightwing unlocked her cuffs.

She massaged her bruised wrists and ankles. "It feels good to be free," she said. She raised her hands and told him that she wasn't going to attack him. Nightwing nodded. She disappeared into the forest to look for firewood. Nightwing worked on the raft, making sure to keep his eyes up for Harley Quinn, who was now loose on the island.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" Nightwing whispered, zipping up his gruel and moving the food and water deeper onto the island. "That's if I live long enough to regret it, that is…"

An hour later, the raft was ready. Nightwing called for Harley to come down to the beach. He heard her shriek penetrate the forest. She crashed onto the floor.

Nightwing rushed to her. "Harley Quinn, are you okay?"

She looked like she was in pain, grasping her left elbow tightly. She winced with every bit of movement. "I don't think so, ya know. Shit." She claimed she'd fallen out of a tree. Nightwing wondered what on earth she was doing in a tree. Harley said she was gathering firewood.

Nightwing told her she was supposed to be grabbing dead logs and branches that had fallen over. She told him that she thought the higher ones were healthier so they must have been better for starting fires. Nightwing chuckled. At least she meant well.

He walked with her back onto the beach. He unzipped her suit down to her navel to make sure the bone wasn't sticking out. It wasn't. He tried his best to ignore the fact that she was only wearing a bra under the red and black suit. He told her that she would be okay. He tore some of his suit and grabbed a few planks. He made her a makeshift sling to keep her left arm in place.

"How does that feel?" he asked her.

"Surprisingly better," she said. She shifted her shoulder a bit until she was comfortable. Harley Quinn grinned. She told him to come closer. He shook his head, no. She promised she wasn't going to hit him or anything. He hesitated but he took her word, seeing as she was in an arm sling.

She kissed him on the cheek.

He put his hand on his cheek and stared at her. Nightwing froze, trying his best to hide the red hue that was forming on his face. "What was that for?" he asked.

"I don't know, I just have a thing for men who take care of me."

Nightwing cleared his throat. He tried to speak but he was like a schoolboy, blushing and twiddling his thumbs. "Well, next time a simple 'thank you' will suffice."

Harley Quinn laughed. "Hey, you're pretty good at that, Boy Blunder. Where did you learn that from?"

"I was trained by Batman," he said. Fair enough, she said. She rose to her feet and so did he. He told her that she would have to contribute to the island in another way, seeing as her arm was out of commission. She looked him up and down. "Not like that, Harley Quinn." He walked away from her.

"Harley…" she said.

"What?" He stopped.

"You can just call me Harley."

"Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'? As I said, we got off on the wrong foot. I'm tryna create a sense of trust here, and I feel like the first step to trusting each other is being comfortable around each other," she said. Nightwing cocked a brow. He didn't like this new Harley Quinn. He preferred it when he knew she was trying to rip his head off. Now he had to second guess himself. "Well, are you just gonna stand there with your mouth open or are you gonna tell me your name?"

"Dick."

"I'm not calling you 'Dick'."

"Why not? It's my name."

"Yeah, sure. You want me to walk around this island calling you 'Penis'?"

"No, don't call me 'Penis', just call me 'Dick'. It's short for Richard."

"Richard! That's a real name. Richard what?"

"Dick Grayson."

"Richard Grayson."

"Dick Grayson."

"We're saying the same thing right now, kid…" she said, with one hand on her hip.

"Ugh, I don't have time to argue with you," Dick said. He turned to the raft. He told her that her right hand was still available so she should join him on the atoll. She asked him what an atoll was. "Jump on the raft and I'll explain it to you."

Dick grabbed two wooden spears and an oar. He hopped on the raft with Harley and paddled across the stretch of water with her. The sun was starting to set so they had to move quickly. Dick made sure to give her a lengthy explanation on what an atoll was and how they formed. "So, you're telling me this big island was once a volcano?"

"All of these islands were, I presume. In fact, some of them might still be active, considering how small some of these islands look." She wondered if they were in any danger. He told her that they had nothing to worry about. He said it with his chest, and with so much confidence that Harley didn't even question him.

They made it to the atoll and Dick pulled the raft onto the grass. His brow furrowed. Somehow the tide had risen all the way up to the grass already. It didn't matter. They were here for the fish and as long as the tide didn't disturb them, they were golden.

"Holy shit, that's a lotta fishies," Harley said.

"Yeah, and we don't have much time. So get stabbing," Dick said, handing her a spear.

"Wait, you want me to just stab at these fishies, don't you got a net or something?"

"Nope." He immediately started plunging his spear into the shallow pools and pulling out fish. To him, it was as natural as breathing. All he had to do was line the tip of the spear up just above the water's surface and when the fish stopped moving for a second, he moved. Every single time. He penetrated the water's surface and emerged with a fish.

He turned to Harley just in time to see her throw her spear into the water out of frustration. She kicked at the fish, scaring them away. Dick approached her. "Fishing ain't my thing," she tried to fold her arms but winced upon trying to move her left arm.

"You seem a bit frustrated," Dick told her.

"You think?"

"Go sit by the raft. I've already caught enough fish to last us through the night," he said. "I'll catch one or two more and catch up to you."

Harley didn't argue. She jumped out of the water, kicked a rock away, and stomped back towards the raft. Dick stabbed a few more fish and used his torn suit as a bag. He counted eight fish. Four for him, four for her. It wasn't long-term thinking – like Batman always preached to him – but at the moment, all he could think about was tonight and not eating any more disgusting gruel. He would come back tomorrow, he told himself.

Dick jumped out of the rocky coral pool and returned to the raft.

"Harley!" he yelled the moment he spotted the blonde woman chugging down gallons of water from his canteen. He ran over the grass onto the raft and ripped the water from her. The canteen was empty. He couldn't believe his eyes. He lifted the water carrier over his mouth and turned it upside down. Nothing but a few drops of water landed on his tongue.

He dropped the canteen onto the raft. "What's wrong with you?" Harley tried to plead her case by repeating just how thirsty she was. She claimed Dick had drank a lot more water than she had. He was hogging all the water, she said. "No! Genuinely, what's wrong with you? Were you born this way or have you specifically trained yourself to piss me off in the most efficient ways possible?" shouted Dick. She told him that she didn't mean to drink it all. She just saw the canteen on the raft and took a sip. The sip turned to a gulp and the gulp turned to a chug. "No! Shut up! Let me talk! Let me talk for one minute! Don't you understand the gravity of the situation we're in right now? We're going to fucking die and it's all your fault. Every time I spend hours meticulously calculating ways to keep us alive, you spend minutes – nay, seconds – screwing us over!"

Dick saw nothing but red. He said some things about her that he shouldn't have said. But it didn't matter anyway, she'd drunk an entire canteen of water empty. A canteen that was meant to last them just under a week, and she'd gulped it down in minutes. That was what he got for taking his eyes off her for a minute. "That's my bad," she said. He told her to shut up again! Every word that came out of her mouth was grating and annoying. It taunted him, even when what she was saying wasn't meant to be taunting. He told her to keep quiet if she didn't want to get gagged. "But I really didn't mean to…"

"Well, that isn't going to bring the water back!" Dick yelled. "Look around you, Harley Quinn! We're surrounded by saltwater! Saltwater! Salt! I.e., water containing a high concentration of salt! We can't drink this stuff! This was our lifeline and you took it from us!"

"I know, but can't you find a way to pull the salt out of the water?"

"Of fucking course not!"

"Batman probably could, can't you–"

Dick covered his face with his hands. "Harley Quinn, I almost just punched you in the fucking mouth. Please… please can you keep quiet and take two steps backwards for me?"

Harley did as she was told. Dick stepped off the raft and took a lap around the atoll. He had been on this island for three days and two nights and never had he truly felt like he was going to die here until today. He stood at the eastern tip of the atoll with his hands on his hips staring at the sun, which was setting over the main island to the west. He sighed. What was he going to do?

What would Batman do, a little voice in the back of his head asked. Dick grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked on it. He needed that little voice to be quiet for a moment. Batman wasn't here. Who cared what Batman would have done. He needed to think about what Dick would do. Dick Grayson. Nightwing. "I need a night to think."

He stormed back to Harley, who was sitting cross-legged on the raft and told her to get off. "What?"

He picked her up by her right arm and cuffed her. Then he cuffed her ankles. "You need a night to think about what you've done," he told her. "I'll be back for you in the morning, but I need some silence on the main island and I need time to think about where we go from here – that's if there's even a place to go from here."

Dick hopped on the raft and sailed away. He refused to look back. He didn't look back because he knew that if he did he would realise how fucked up what he was doing was. He needed to stop acting like a hero for one night and be a survivor.

Harley Quinn lay on the grass and watched as Dick's silhouette got smaller and smaller. She rolled over onto her back and started to cry. The sky grew darker and her loneliness grew more intense. She didn't mind being alone at first, but after opening herself up to Dick, being left on this island alone was enough to break her. She closed her eyes and cried until her tears stained her cheeks and made her eyelids so heavy that she had to shut them for the night.

She opened her eyes less than an hour later. She was drowning. She lifted her head and took a deep breath in. The water had come up to her chin. Fish swam past her. They swam out into the ocean when the waves receded, then came rushing back past her as the waves crashed onto the shore. She was sent flying through the water and slammed onto a rock.

She let out a guttural scream as she tried to lift her left arm high enough to catch onto the rock and hold it with her right hand. Agony coursed through her entire body. The waves were much higher as they banged into her face. She threw her neck up to breathe.

A fish slapped her into the lagoon.

The enclosed basin of saltwater, rocks, and fish acted as a whirlpool. She was thrown around like clothes in a washing machine, occasionally cutting herself on sharp volcanic rocks hidden under the surface. The island had become completely submerged, turning the atoll into a prison. She held her breath for as long as she could but she could feel her lungs getting tired.

They burned. Her body was being thrown from one jagged rock to the next, knocking more and more wind out of her. She was exhausted. She wanted to be somewhere else – in Mr J's warehouse, in Arkham Asylum, lost in the maze that was her mind – anywhere but here. But each slam, each bang, each cut brought her back to this ravenous vortex. The salt clawed its way into her wounds. She wanted to scream but she knew that would be her death.

Why keep death waiting though? If it was going to happen anyway, why extend the suffering, she thought. She wanted to let go. Her lungs were on fire. She wanted to disappear into a realm of silence and peace. Oh, how she wanted to exhale so badly. But something told her to hold on. As much as her body and her mind wanted her to quit. To let herself disappear. Some primal instinct told her to hold on for another second and another second and another second.

A hand reached into the whirlpool and pulled Harley to safety.

Dick dumped her onto the raft. She took a deep breath in and filled her lungs with oxygen.

"Harley, I'm sorry," Dick said. "I didn't know the atoll flooded at high tides. I didn't know, I promise."

She didn't want to hear from him. She just wanted to breathe.

He took them back to the main island and uncuffed her. She pushed him away from her and trudged up the beach to the forest. "I'm sorry!" he repeated. He ran after her, making sure to stay just out of pushing range. "I let my emotions get the better of me. That was wrong of me. I shouldn't have left you on the atoll and I spent the whole night sitting here watching over you. The moment I saw the island start to flood I came over. Harley… I'm sorry."

Harley stopped at the edge of the forest. She looked back at him. "There's no need to apologise, sweetheart. At the end of the day, you're just a man. It's in your nature."

She walked away.