Chapter Text
“Mphp,”
I crouch lower behind the ledge of the roof, my partner, Theodore “Apollo” Russo, are waiting and watching on.
“Mphp,”
I hear sounds of laughter and wind swooshing into the night, a few roofs away, coming towards us.
“Mphp,”
The chilling air seeps into my top, and I tense up, unconsciously leaning towards Apollo for his warmth I so desperately crave on this cold night.
“Mphp,”
The voices get closer, and I dare say I can hear their footsteps only a building away.
“Mphp,”
I can make out voices now as I reach for my dagger in my belt, wrapping my hands around the handle and slowly pulling it out.
“-oh c’mon, Red! Live a little!”
“-what if I slip?”
“-can it, Drake, if I hear one more whine out of you,-”
“No names on the field!”
“Mphp!,”
“Cut it out!”
I snap a Apollo, annoyed at hearing him make the sound a fifth time. Apollo and I freeze, and my face goes pale when I realize my mistake, and the voices from the distance go silent. Shoot. Apollo and I quickly grab our weapons as we stand and dash towards where we last heard the voices, and we see two figures coming at us as well. I’m determined to get this assassination done with; we can’t risk failing Ra’s again, or he’ll have my head. One of the figures, a tall male at 5’10. He’s wearing a black and blue spandex suit with a blue bird logo on his chest. He has a domino mask on and holds two escrima sticks in his hands. The other man, slightly shorter at 5’5. He’s wearing a red and yellow suit with a yellow cape and black cowl. He holds an escrina stick as well. I recognize the first one as Nightwing, a vigilante in Bludhaven, the neighboring city to Gotham. I wasn’t planning on killing them, but they’re getting in the way of my initial target, so I’ll do what I have to do in order for this mission to go relatively smoothly. Apollo, on the other hand, has always been a kinder soul, plus his head isn’t on the line.
“C’mon, give us the boy and his protector, and we’ll let you go with a warning.”
He says to them, adjusting his grip on his sword to seem less threatening, yeah, because two assassins could look genuine while pointing a sword at somebody. Our only goal here is to kill Talia’s previous ward, Jason Todd, and bring her son, Damian Wayne, back to the League. The two men share a look, and Nightwing shakes his head.
“Sorry, no can do, love.”
He says before he takes a step back, and I feel somebody tackle me from behind. We hit the ground hard, and I gasp as the wind gets knocked out of me. The person pins me with my hands above my head, so I wrap my legs around his waist, and roll us over so I’m on top, but thats short lived when a metal disk hits me, and the force throws me off of the person. I grunt when my head hits the concrete floor, sending my vision into blurred swirls and I fight to hold back a groan.
“Nyx!”
I hear Apollo call out to me, or I think I did. I open my eyes in a squint, facing the harsh lights of the city, to see the man who tackled me, the one and only Batman, grabbing zip ties out of his belt.
“Don’t lay another hand on her, father!”
I hear a boy call out. I see a blur of red, yellow, green, and black rush towards me through my squinted eyes. Is that... Damian?
“Robin!”
Batman and Nightwing bark at the same time, warning Damian to stay back. I feel someone's hands grab my head, lifting it and I feel a sharp pain when they touch the back of my head, feeling the warm liquid run down my head.
“Habibi, what have you done?”
I hear him say as I close my eyes, not being able to stay awake for much longer.
“shh...don’t let Apollo take you,”
Thats all I manage to say before I black out completely, defenseless in Damian’s arms.
---
I awake to the unmerciful lights of an infirmary. Wait- an infirmary? I try to sit up, but am immediately hit by a wave of nausea. Where's Damian? Or Apollo? I try to weakly rip the IV out of my arm, but a hand pulls my hand away from it. I snap my head to face Damian. I let out a shaky breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
“Habibi, what happened to you? Why are you in Gotham? Are you alright?”
I’m overwhelmed by his questions, and I can’t do anything but let out a small chuckle.
“...Dami...did you get hurt?”
I ask instead of answering him.
“wha- no, Nyx I didn’t, you on the other hand...”
He trails off, leaving me think about what just happened.
“Now what happened?”
He tries again, not letting me ignore his questions any longer.
“I... I failed too many missions, Ra’s will have my head if I fail another, and I was tasked to bring you home and kill Jason Todd.”
I answer, disappointed in myself for failing so many missions, and guilty for admitting I would have killed Jason and taken him. Damian has an unreadable expression on his face, which scares me slightly.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t recognize me, and would kill me for trying to take you, or would have escaped, or Jason.”
I tell him, explaining how I didn’t want any of this to happen and him not get hurt, him and Jason. They’re like brothers to me, from our days training in the League together.
“oh Habibi...”
Damian whispers, disappointed yet worried.
“what did they do to you? You would never let Ra’s control you, no matter how many times he threatened us.”
Damian reminisces.
“You left. When you and Jason left he-”, my voices choaks, “he took it out on me. He’ll kill me if I don’t return with you and Jason’s head-”
I gasp out, panic, and worry are evident on my face.
“No. He won’t hurt you. I won’t let him”
Damian promises but I just squeeze my eyes closed. If only it was that simple.
“oh Dami...”
I whisper quietly to nobody. Damian gets onto the cot I lie on, and he hugs me, and I hug him back, and a few loose tears fall from my eyes.
“Oh my gods... is- is Damian hugging somebody?”
An amused voice says from the doorway. I look up to see a man wearing black shorts and a white tank top. He has black shaggy hair and he’s holding a roll of bandages. This must be Nightwing.
“Richard. Nyx, this is Richard Grayson, my eldest brother. Richard, this is Nyx.”
Damian introduces us as if we didn’t recognize each other.
“Nice to meet you, Nyx. I was just stopping by to put these up,”
He says, gesturing to the bandages he’s holding.
“-and let you know your friend,”
“Apollo.”
I interrupt him.
“-rightttt, Apollo, is being held in a bedroom in the manor. Damian insists he won’t try anything, but he got a few nasty hits in on Tim, Red Robin, after you went out.”
I nod. I assume Tim, this Red Robin character, was the vigilante I didn’t recognize last night.
“mhm, he’s just worried for me. Completely harmless. He cried when I ate a sandwich because of the “poor mama pig” who apparently lost her son to that slice of ham.”
I deadpan, gettinga. chuckle out of Richard.
“Completely understandable.”
Damian says, and I giggle. I forgot he was Vegan like Apollo.
“yeah well, you can call me Dick, Nyx. Dinner is in twenty, you and your friend are invited.”
Richard, Dick, says before he waves and walks away.
“Yes. Richard is correct. I suggest you put on the clothes I left on your bedside and join us upstairs. You will need to bring the IV with you.”
Damian informs me, and I nod along.
“Got it. See you in twenty.”
I say as he climbs off of me and leaves the room, not before looking back at me one last time. Once he’s gone, I grab the sweatpants and t-shirt Damian left for me and pull the portable IV pole with me to the small bathroom in the medical room. I change into the black sweatpants and t-shirt, careful not to mess with the IV much as I change. I put on my sneakers that Damian left by the bedstand before I head out of the room to go upstairs. It takes me a good minute to climb the stairs with the IV- they should really invest in an elevator- but I get upstairs and make it to the dining room right before dinner. Its a large dining table, but there are only five people seated when I walk in. Damian, Apollo, Dick, and, I assume to be Tim and Damian’s father, Bruce Wayne, AKA Batman.
“Nyx. I’m glad you made it.”
Bruce says as I take the open seat by Damian and sit down.
“Yes. Thank you for inviting me.”
I say politely. I’m relieved to see Apollo safe and unharmed, and apparently, he has the same thoughts.
“Ja- Nyx. Love. Are you okay? I can see the rat didn’t mess you up that much.”
Apollo says, obviously throwing daggers at Bruce for messing me up so much. I notice he almost called me my name. I don’t like that very much.
“Watch it.”
I warn him before answering his question.
“And yes, I’m fine, Apollo. I just hit my head, I’ve handled worse.”
I tell him, attempting to ease his nerves. Damian cringes when I say I’ve had worse injuries, and I feel a pang of sympathy for him. Before Apollo can respond, Tim speaks up, having stayed silent for far too long.
“Love?”
He asks, wondering if what Apollo called me means anything.
“uh, yes. We’re dating.”
I answer, a tad awkwardly. Damian's jaw clenches.
“Him? Habibi? You chose the worst gunsman in the entire League of Assassins.”
Damian grows, clearing, not approving of my taste in men.
“Hey! You listen here, you-”
Apollo yells, ready to get onto Damian for insulting him.
“Quiet.”
Bruce warned quietly.
“Yes father.”
Damian says, and Apollo huffs before leaning back in his seat, eating his dinner.
“So... how do you three know each other?”
Tim dares to ask, eating his food quietly.
“We were raised together in the League. Jason took care of Nyx and I, while Apollo was just another kid in training.”
Damian answers, eager to make Apollo mad, and it works. I speak up, stopping Apollo from making whatever comeback he was going to.
“Yup. Speaking of uh, Jason, is he... does he stay around here?”
I ask. I haven’t seen him in ages. I don’t think he’d want to see me, seeing I stayed with the League when he and Damian left, but I wonder. Dick answers me with a smile on his face.
“Oh, Jaylad? Yeah, he lives in Gotham, he’s actually on his way! We told him when Damian told us you two were from the League, so we thought he’d want to see you!”
Jaylad? Thats his nickname? Seriously? And he’s coming here? Now? Oh no... what if he’s just coming to kill Apollo and me?
“Dick, don’t scare her-”
Tim starts to say, but its too late when we hear the front door open hastily and boots coming towards the dining room. I hear the door open, but I don’t dare turn around, scared he’ll kill me right here and now. I take a shaky breath before reluctantly turning to face Jason. He has an unreadable expression, but I think I see a tear come from his eye? He wouldn’t be feeling sorry? Right? Why would he? Before I know it he’s across the room and scoops me up in the biggest and warmest hug I’ve ever had. I hug him back. He buries his face in the crook of my neck, warm tears soaking my shoulder.
“Jax... I can’t believe you’re alive”