Chapter Text
January 21. 11:05 pm.
Coast City. California.
It was cold for a Californian January. The wind was high, and smell of the ocean was strong.
The team had been tracking this meta human trafficking ring for weeks. And they were finally about to take it down. Nightwing stood on the roof of an old where house, staring across the street at what looked to be an average grocery store.
It was, in fact, not a average grocery store. The building was merely a cover, designed to throw off suspicion. Far beneath the small building was a meta-human trafficking facility.
Nightwing (Through mental link) "Alpha in position. Beta, Gamma, confirm status."
Aqualad "Beta in position. Awaiting clearance to engage."
Miss Martian "Gamma in position as-well. Also awaiting clearance."
Nightwing (Taking deep breath) "Alright lets do this. Remember, they my have metas under mind control so move with caution... All teams engage!"
All three of the teams moved simultaneously. Nightwing (Dick Grayson) and Artemis (Artemis Crock) moved from their location on the where house roof, to the rooftop of the grocery store via grappling hooks. Aqualad, (Kaldur'ahm), Kidflash (Wally West), and Superboy (Conner Kent) burst through the west side wall of the small store. Simultaneously, Miss Martian and Zatanna blasted through the opposite wall . Nightwing and Artemis broke through the skylight and landed in the center of the room.
Alarms should have started blaring, but there was only silence. Nightwing had already hacked the trafficking depot's security, turning off any alarms, cameras or warning systems.
Near the stores checkout counter stood three people, dressed in what looked like store uniforms. Each of their faces went white. One of them ran to a speaker module and and started shouting into a microphone.
"We have a breech on level..." he didn't finish
Nightwing threw a Wing-Ding, knocking the microphone out of the "employees" hand. Kid-flash dashed across the room. Going so fast that practically invisible. In seconds he had all three of workers tied up and out of the way.
Nightwing (Now speaking verbally) "All right lets move. Metas are being held about 150 feet below."
Kid-flash (having already found a way down to the second floor) "Here's our way down."
Their 'way down' was an elevator shaft running so deep that the bottom was nowhere in sight.
Superboy "How far do you think it goes?"
Nightwing (Backing up a few steps) "I guess were about to find out."
He ran forward and leaped into the darkness.
The rest of the team stood in silence.
Wally (stepping closer to the edge) "Dick?"
A grappling kook shot up and caught the beam above him. The cable went taunt and a slight whirring noise could be heard from far below.
Conner (looking down the shaft) "So... do we go down or..."
Before he could finish Kid-flash blurred past and descended into the darkness.
Artemis (Already starting the descent) "I guess that mean were going down!"
Nearly 150 feet below Nightwing landed on the top of a stationary elevator. He secured the cable and swung down through maintenance door, landing inside the elevator with grace and control. Kid-flash, Artemis, Superboy, Aqualad, and Zatanna dropped down beside him. Miss Martian stayed above, ready to extract with the Bioship.
Wally "Alright, now what?"
Dick (reaching for the elevators control panel) "Now, we get to work"
The elevator door slid open. Revealing a long corridor.
Half a dozen guards stood toward the far-end. They turned then froze. Not quite sure what to do about the obvious intruders.
Once their minds stopped loading, they raised their weapons and opened fire.
The team reacted immediately. Aqualad manifested his water bearers and blocked most the shots. Artemis laid down cover fire as Wally sprinted ahead. He moved towards the guards at near light-speed, dropping 4 of them in half the seconds. Nightwing landed on the other two, Escrima Sticks crackling with electricity. He dismantled the guards with precision strikes to, pressure points, and nerve clusters. They went down hard, but alive.
Always alive.
Nightwing (turning to the team) "Kid-flash, Artemis, Zatanna locate the meta-humans and get them to the Bioship. Superboy, Aqualad, and I will locate the laboratory and extract any information we can.
The team split.
Zatanna "Nightwing said that the Metas are most likely being held in the in the north-east wing."
Kid-flash, Artemis and Zatanna worked their way to the holding room. Moving with natural efficiency that came from years of teamwork.
They approached the holding room door with caution.
Artemis (notching a arrow) "Once we breach this door. Be ready for anything."
Zatanna (Stepping back and making circular motions with her hands) "Then brace your selves! Rood eb denepo!"
Purple sparks danced around her fingers. The door creaked then blew off its hinges and clattered to the floor.
The door opened up to a large room. Cages filled with meta-humans lined the walls. They were packed together like animals. Men, women, children...
About ten security guards stood near the loading dock. When the door came down their heads snapped towards the intruders. They raised their guns and started shouting orders, telling them to stand down.
Kid-flash moved, and three guards went down. The remaining guards opened fire. Bullets sparked against metal and ricocheted round the room.
Zatanna (raising her hands) "Dleihs morf stellub"
Purple shields manifested around the cages of meta-humans
Artemis returned fire, arrows cutting through the air. Some exploded into foam, while others stunned the guards with electricity. Guards dropped as the prisoners watched with scared eyes.
In all honesty the fight was over before it had even begin.
Wally (skidding to a stop next to Artemis) "Well that was easy!"
Artemis (not lowering her bow) "A bit too easy if you ask me."
Zatanna (stepping towards the cages) "Maybe, but lets not wast any time talking about it. Skcol eb denepo!"
The locks on the cages sparked purple and fell to the ground.
Artemis (opening a cage and kneeling down by a small girl) "Hi there, we here to help you. You all need to come with us so we can get you out of here."
The rest of the cages came open and the prisoners walked out timidly. They lead them to the elevator shaft, Wally leading the way, Zatanna helping guide the group, and Artemis bringing up the rear.
They reached the elevator without any further issues. They begin lifting out the meta-humans, one by one, again and again. Six left, five, four ,three.
Artemis (not leaving here post by the elevator door) OK, somethings up. There is no way we've cleared out all the guards. What is going on?"
Zatanna (hauling up the last of the meta-humans) "Your right... I hope the others aren't have too much trouble."
The "others" were in fact having lots trouble.
When the team split Superboy, Aqualad, and Nightwing headed to the South-West wing of the complex. They moved from point to point fighting through security and beaching doors
Nightwing (entering digits into a wrist mounted control pad) "We locate the lab, hack though firewalls, extract the needed information, then get the heck out."
They continued to the lab room, running into security personal here and there but nothing they couldn't handle. As they approached the laboratory, they rounded a corner and came face to face with a dozens of guards. They stood in ready for the intruders, having anticipated that they would try to get to the lab.
A second passed, then two, then chaos.
Muzzles flashed as the guards opened fire.
Aqualad shot up water bearers for shielding. Bullets glanced off and scatters around. A few of the ricochets caught the guards in arms legs and other exposed areas. Not lethal, but enough chaos that the firing let up slightly. At the pause in action Superboy made his move. He closed the gap in less than a second. Diving head first into the small army, Aqualad and Nightwing followed.
Once the team was in hand to hand combat range of the guards, the firing ceased.
Superboy (throwing a guard into three others) "This isn't (grunt) in our favor!"
Nightwing (taking down multiple opponents) "Ya, no kidding. Superboy, Aqualad can you get me to the lab?"
Aqualad (using his water bearers to push back a half dozen guards) "We can try!"
They cut through the guards like Moses parting the waters. Metal stick flashed with electricity, water turned hard as steel slashed, and fists pummeled.
They pressed forward, leaving unconscious guards in their wake.
After nearly five minutes of brawling, they broke through the defenses. They reached the door, half the security guards lay unconscious on the floor. The other half was still standing.
Aqualad (to Dick) "Superboy and i will hold them back, get through that door and hack the main-frame."
Nightwing (placing a breach on the heavy laboratory door.) "Right, won't be but a moment"
He clicked a button on his belt. A controlled explosion engulfed the door. Sending it flying into the room, where it promptly knocked out one of the guards waiting inside.
Nightwing ran into the room and out of sight.
Conner and Aqualad held back the remaining guards. Buying time for Nightwing to extract the info they needed.
He had gotten into the main frame, disabling firewalls and reworking antivirus routs. He located the folder with the required info and begin to extract it onto a external drive. 10 %, 30%, 50%, 70% 90%.... WHAM.
Something slammed into him, something going so fast he didn't se it coming.
Nightwing flew across the floor, rebounded and came up on his toes in a combat stance.
Standing where he had been a second ago stood a hulking figure, male, early twenties, dressed in simple tactical gear. Defiantly a meta-human
The meta-human moved again. Dick brought up his escrima sticks trying to block the blow, but he was too slow. A solid hit landed on his chest. He staggered back a few steps. They circled each-other. Then engaged again
Dick waited a few second, letting him land a strike as he read his attacks. Then he countered, dropping to a knee and trying to sweep him off his feet with his other leg. Dicks led slammed against the meta's shin. It felt like he had kicked a steel post. Pain erupted through his leg, the meta didn't even flinch, much less get knocked down. Dick used his good leg to push himself back.
Dick (mentally) "Oh great! Speed and super strength!"
He forced himself to stand despite the pain.
Nightwing cursed under his breath. This could be bad, really bad.
The meta-human charged. Nightwing braced, holding up is escrima in a defensive position. The attacks came quick and hard. Not quite natural speedster and superhuman level, but still more that Dick could handle... Though he would never admit it.
The first attack came as right hook. Dick barely managed to redirect the blow. He followed up with a swipe towards his neck. Dick ducked back just enough to doge it, but before he could regain his balance, the meta punched again. This time landing it directly on his chest. His kevlar reinforced armor took some of the impact, but not all of it.
He spun, kicking Dick across the room. He landed hard on the floor, before he could get up, the meta was on-top of him. He landed a solid blow to his head, Dicks vision blurred. The blows came faster now. The meta knew he had the upper hand. Dick was pinned on his back, blow after blow landed across his ribs and face. On punch landed on his left should, pain burst through his body as the limb when limp.
Dick right hand stopped trying to block the blows and reached out to where one of his escrima sticks lay. He gripped the stick and switched taser to max. He drove it into the meta's ribs. He yelled and stopped trying to beat Nightwing to pulp. Dick took that moment to use the rest of his strength to throw the meta off of him.
Dick clutched his shoulder and gritted his teeth, determined not to let the pain get the better of him. The speedster cam at him again. Dick blocked the first strike but the second got past him. The blow landed on his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs. The meta rammed into Dick, slamming him against a wall. Then he lifted Dick off the ground, one hand on his throat and the other arm around the ribs. He started crushing Dicks chest and cutting off his air flow. Dick struggled, unable to breath. The meta human tightened his grip. POP! There went a rid, then two more. What had hurt before was now agonizing. Dick couldn't breath, couldn't move and couldn't call fore help. His vision started to darken. He started to struggle less. Just as his conciseness was slipping away,
WHAM!
Conner slammed into the meta-human shoulder first. Sending him flying into a wall. He stood just in time to catch a blow from Aqualad. Conner's fist found his jaw, he stumbled back. Aqualad tripped him by shooting solid water at his feet. He landed on his back just to get body slammed by Conner. Three punched later the meta was unconscious.
Dick lay on the floor bleeding from multiple injures
Conner (kneeling down beside him) "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! Why didn't you call for backup?!
Dick (chest heaving) "I h-had it (HACK) handled."
Conner (aggressively) HANDLED! Your lucky...
Aqualad (placing a hand on Conner's shoulder) Enough! "Richard, hold still. You've lost a LOT of blood, we need to get you out of here."
Dick (trying to sit up) "W-We need to get the info from the..
Aqualad (voice stern) NO. were getting you out of here."
Dick wanted to argue, wanted to finish the mission. He tried to sit up again, but his body screamed in protest.
Nightwing (reluctantly) "fine."
Above ground kid-flash, Artemis and Zatanna finished loading the freed meta-humans into the Bioship.
Zatanna (glancing at a clock) "its been 15 minutes. They should be back by know."
M'gann (reaching for a com link) "I'll check in and..."
Zatanna (standing up) "Wait there they are!"
Conner and Dick appeared out of the building. Dick leaned heavily on Conner's shoulder, he was dragging one leg and was covered in blood.
Aqualad followed.
Wally (stepping toward the window) "Took them long enough!... Oh shoot! Dick looks like he's hurt.
The radio buzzed to life.
Aqualad (voice steady but urgent) Nightwing is hurt, bad. Prepare the medical bay!"
Zatanna (grabbing the com from M'gann) "WHAT! what happened. How did..."
Aqualad (interrupting Zatanna) "No time to explain! Open the main dock entrance"
As Conner and Dick approached the Bioship, the main door opened with a swoosh. Wally speed down the ramp, Zatanna flowed.
Wally ran to Dicks other shoulder and helped him onto the Bioship.
Zatanna (voice filled with worry) "Dick! What happened!"
Aqualad (voice stern) "Not now! Just help us get him to the medical bay!
Zatanna complied reluctantly.
They reached the medical bay. Conner and Wally laid Dick on a bed.
Dick tried (and failed) to suppress a sharp yell.
M'gann was the most medically oriented one of them. She worked efficiently, treating his wounds, bandaging his ribs, bracing his dislocated shoulder, and splicing his near broken leg.
Zatanna helped M'gann when she could, though she mostly just stood by Dick side.
Aqualad radioed batman, reporting what had happened and asking if order had changed. Batman gave little response, but clarified that they were still to take the freed meta-human to a safe house where other league personal would take over.
The Bioship hummed to life as they took off.
January 22. 3:40 am.
Bioship, over the USA.
M'gann sat in the pilot seat, controlling the ship with minimum effort.
Conner sat to her right, arms crossed expression unreadable.
Right of him, Aqualad stood with perfect posture.
Artemis sat towards the front, bow resting against her shoulder. Wally unintentionally vibrated in his seat next to her.
Both Dick's and Zatanna's seats were empty. She had been adamant about staying with him.
In the med bay, Dick lay on a bed, shirtless and bandaged. Pain visible only in his eyes.
Zatanna sat in a chair next to him, saying nothing. Her fingers interlaced with his, like they had been a thousand times before.
Then she broke the silence.
Zatanna (voice thick) "You should be more careful you know."
Dick (interrupting her) "Zee, I'm fine.
Zatanna "No! You are not fine, you could have been killed tonight!
Dick wasn't sure what to say. She was right, tonight could have been the end.
Zatanna "If Conner and Kuldar hadn't shown up when they did..."
The implication was clear.
Zatanna (voice thick) "Dick, I love you. And I know we cant let that change how we do things, but you could at least be careful! Fore years now you've been trying to keep up with super-humans. You always know what to do and when to do it. You never let the pressure get to you, never let the mission go for your sake. You'll drive yourself into the ground and still tell us, me, that your fine. Dick, your only human."
Those last word resonated in his head. "only human".
Maybe she was right.
Meta-humans were more common now than ever.
Maybe it was only a matter of time until he just wasn't enough.
Maybe one day he would slip, hesitate, or just not be good enough.
Dick (sighing) "Maybe your right. Maybe I should step out of the spotlight, let the more powerful members do the heavy lifting. You know, i really thought I could beat him. But after all my years of training, with Batman, Blackcanary, other league members..."
Zatanna (moving closer) "Dick, that's not what a meant..."
PING, Dick phone dinged.
Dick (looking towards his phone) "Oh, could you hand me that."
Zatanna handed him the phone.
Dick looked at it the message.
His blood ran cold.
3:43 am. Unknown number.
"Hello Richard. Its been a while. We need to talk, soon. Give me a call. - S
PS. Get better soon.
Slade Wilson, Deathsroke.
A well know and feared mercenary, enemy of the Justice league, know operative of the light.
For years now he had been trying to recruit Dick as his apprentice.
Dicks mind started spinning.
What did he want?
Why did he insist and bothering Dick?
How did he know he had gotten hurt!?
Zatanna saw something flash across Dick eyes. Fear? Anger? Hatred?
Then his expression snapped back into place. But his eyes still held something.
Zatanna (concerned) "Whats wrong?"
Dick (setting down his phone) "Nothing, just Bludhaven work stuff.
He was good at lying, he had years of practice.
But Zatanna knew him better than that.
Zatanna (stern) "No, its not nothing. And its definitely not just Bludhaven work... You can tell me. You don't have keep secrets."
Dick looked down.
He couldn't tell her about Slade, not yet. Not till he knew what to tell her.
Dick (looking her in the eyes) "Zee, I'm sorry, but i cant tell you, not yet. And not because I don't trust you, I do. I want to tell you, really. But I cant, not until I know more. Until then I need you to just trust me. OK?"
Zatanna (hesitant) "OK... But you will tell me, eventually?
Dick (without hesitation) Yes, I will.
Zatanna "Just promise me that its nothing too dangerous."
Dick (lying) No its not dangerous, just... complected.
Zatanna (griping his hand tighter) "I love you Dick."
Dick (smiling) "I love you too."
Without warning Zatanna kissed him. Hard and passionately.
Dick winced.
Zatanna (pulling back) Oh, sorry!
Dick (pulling her back in) "Don't be..."
Dick had more problems that he knew what to do with.
The presser that came from leading the team.
Being solely responsible fore Bludhaven.
Trying to live up to Batman's and the League's expectations.
Trying to juggle hero work with civilian life.
And then there was Slade.
Always is the shadows of Dicks mind.
Always pressuring him.
Always awaiting a answer to his offer.
A offer that Dick had always declined, though each time he was harder than the last.
But here.
In Zatanna's arms.
All the worry. All the pain.
It just seemed to melt away.
Tomorrow would come.
Slade would come.
But right now.
This was all he wanted.
Zatanna had always been there.
She had been there for him when he became Nigtwing.
She had been there for him when Jason died.
She was there for him when the Reach invaded.
She was there for him when he sent Aqulad under cover to infiltrate the light.
She was there for him when he faked Artemis's death.
And she was there for him when they thought they lost Wally to the speed force.
And she would be there for whatever came next.