Espial

iii

enigma
ɪˈnɪɡmə/
noun
a person or thing that is mysterious or difficult to understand.

It had been approximately 48 hours since his first meeting with Espial. Dick had spent most of that time investigating her on his computer, hacking into government databases for prisoner files and offences committed by civilians. Nobody seemed to match her description (short lilac hair, dark eyes, pale skin, short to average height, he guessed). Truth be told, the description Dick could piece together wasn't overly specific or helpful either; he just didn't know enough about her to narrow down the search.

He was certain he had never come across her before, masked or unmasked. The only thing that had initially put him onto her trail was the tip-off from one of his many spies and allies in Blüdhaven. They had remarked that a certain purple-haired woman had been spying on certain high-ranking officials in the city, including the mayor of Blüdhaven himself. Dick had then set up motion detectors, cameras and bugs around the mayor's residence in an attempt to catch her or find out who she was, but it appeared to only be a one-time offence. That was a week ago, and Dick's curiosity had only increased as the days went by. Eventually he had to find out for himself, and couldn't believe his luck when a random motion detector went off in Avalon Heights, tipping him off as to where he would find her for their first encounter. The rest was history, as they say.

After several moments of frustrated silence, Dick thumped the desk in front of him. Damn it. Why was she so hard to find? It seemed like she had Batman-level of evasion and security when it came to files and records.

Perhaps he just needed to have another scope of the city. Changing into his suit, Nightwing leapt out his window and began scaling the highrise opposite. Once he reached the rooftop, he began surveying people in his vicinity.

After about fifteen minutes, Dick had had enough and was seriously contemplating giving up on Espial entirely. Well, that was until he heard the faintest of yelps. His keen senses told him it came from his six, and Dick quickly made his way to the docks behind him, mere minutes away from his current location. Hesitating and sticking to the shadows, the young Grayson made his way around the perimeter. When he heard a pained gasp somewhere above him, Dick climbed the boatshed's roof.

What he saw made him pause with uncertainty.

She had collapsed on the edge of the roof, arms wrapping themselves around her stomach. Her whole left leg was slick with blood and her suit had definitely seen better days. A trail of dried blood had oozed out of the corner of her nostrils and mouth. Her entire being screamed agony.

Espial looked so small. She was curled into a ball and Dick couldn't help but fear that she could die. Rushing over to her, he bent down and gently reached out to her shoulder only to dumbly retract his hand again.

"What happened?" It was dumb asking if she was all right (newsflash, she clearly wasn't) and Dick didn't like wasting time asking stupid superfluous questions. It looked like she had been attacked.

"I had a little run in with an old friend. Don't worry about it." She winced, beginning to loosen her hold on her torso as she exposed ripped flesh and rivers of blood. Smoke had dissipated from her voice once again, strain replacing it instead.

"I take it that bringing you to the hospital is out of the question then." He remarked, not even wanting to move her. He also guessed that whoever was hunting her down would expect her to be lying low and recovering somewhere, which is why a hospital was a super obvious place to be.
"Bingo." She uttered, glancing at the bloody mess of her sternum.

"Come with me. I can get you help." He assured her. Why was he helping her again? She was clearly a criminal and deserved everything she got.
And yet... and yet Dick couldn't help but want to help her, to hurt whoever it was that had done this to her.

"I can't. I don't know if you're dumb or just plain suicidal but you shouldn't be seen around me. They might see." She said cryptically. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, as if watching a memory of a time long ago.

"Who's they? Esp- I mean... erm, ma'm- I can help you. I'm not afraid of being seen helping you." Dick said incredulously. An uneasy feeling was creeping into his chest, tight and winding like a vine.

"But I'm afraid." She whispered, meeting his gaze once again. She leaned in close to Dick and he couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful she was despite the weird situation they were both in. She could literally die any time soon and he was just blinded by how pretty she was.

Slowly, agonisingly, Espial drifted closer and closer to him until her lips were brushing his. The young Grayson felt his heart rate spike and his Adam's apple bob up and down stupidly. He closed his eyes when her soft lips pecked his, and dumbly opened his eyes again when he felt her draw away, only to be faced with cold night air and a view of the city in front of him. She had disappeared again, the only evidence that she had been there was the pool of dark blood in front of him.

Begrudgingly, Dick retreated back into the shadows, feeling more pissed off than ever.

♛
Sorry for the wait, major writers block and school dragged me. Thanks for reading so far~