Of Fire and Flames (A Nightwing Love Story)

Chapter Three ~ Engulfed

She touches my shoulder...I panic....I burst into flames...No!

I bolt awake, only to find my nightmare has become my reality. My beloved theater, my home is engulfed in flames and it's all my fault. I grab my pack and pull the neck of my shirt over my nose to try and prevent some of the smoke from entering into my lungs. My efforts, though pointless, make me feel a little better, a little more human.

Fire can't hurt itself and since there's a fire constantly raging within me...It's really pointless. Though the danger of crashing through the now weakened floor boards is a reality I'd rather not face. I run over to the fire escape and run down it as quickly as I can. I have to get away from here, before the fire reaches the gas meter and even more importantly, before law enforcement...or Batman shows up. Once my feet hit the pavement I run, and I don't look back.

***

The only thing is, Ella didn't know she was being watched. Nightwing had been on patrol in that section of the city, so when he heard the alert he had quickly made his way to see for himself what was going on. But he wasn't prepared for what he saw, a beautiful girl with bright blue eyes and fiery hair running out of the building, completely unharmed. And what shocked him even more was the fact that she left a trail of fiery foot steps behind her.

He began jumping from rooftop to rooftop, following her. Trying to figure out who she was, what she was doing, whose side she was on. Because for all he knew she was working with The Light....but if she was, then who was her mentor? None of the known members could do anything like this. She was an enigma to him, and he was going to figure her out.

***

Since the fire three days ago, I haven't stopped running, haven't eaten or rested and I don't know how much long I can keep doing this. My body is exhausted and if I push myself much more I know I'm going to loose what's left of my control or just simply pass out from exhaustion, but the thought of what I did to the theater keep coming back to mind...and I just keep telling myself one more block. I can make it.

I take a left into an ally but come up to a dead end, I'm just about to drop when I hear someone call out, "Stop!"

No! I was careless and now someone's found me...

"We just want to talk."

I whip around and see a bunch of kids about my age standing there, a boy in a superman shirt, a girl with green skin, a green boy with a tail, and a boy about my age in a black suit with a blue bird on it....oh no. These are the sidekicks of the main heroes!

"L-Leave me be! Please, I d-don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Have you seen what you did to that building?! You're just lucky that no one was in it!" the boy with the superman shirt yells at me as he starts to charge at me.

My eyes widen and I think I might of even whimpered because not even a second later the boy with the bird suit stops the first boy from coming at me.

"Not the time Superboy," he mutters before he turns to address me, "We're not going to hurt you. Just tell us who you're working for and we can get this mess taken care of."

Working for? What on earth does he mean by that? Is he trying to ask if I'm someone's sidekick? No...that wouldn't ever happen. I'm unwanted, unloved, and untouchable- A hand on my shoulder snapped me out of my thoughts. And just like the last time this happened...I panicked. I burst into flames and not just part of me like I usually do, but my entire body.

"No! S-Stay back!" I call out to them, trying to warn them but they take my warning as a threat and the next thing I know the person that they called Superboy is attacking me.

I try to get away but my back hits the brick wall of the ally. But that doesn't stop him. He keeps coming at me and hitting me until I can't see straight. The one in the bird suit calls out for him to stop but by the time he does it's too late for me. My knees buckle and I start fall as blackness over takes my vision and the pain ebbs away into the night...

*Nightwing*

I rush to the girl's side and catch her right before she falls to the ground. I lift her up into my arms easily, she's much too light. I don't think she's been eating. I turn to glare at Superboy, "What were you thinking?!"

He shrugs, "She was going to attack us! If you hadn't been ogling her then you would've noticed that she BURST INTO FLAMES!"

I was about to yell back at him when Miss M got in the middle of us and shoved us away from each other, "That's enough! Both of you. We need to get her back to the cave and I think it's about time we called Batman in on this."

I nod and carry her to one of the Zeta Beam sites and zeta back to the cave. Without stopping to talk to the others I take her back to the infirmary, which honestly is the equivalent to a full hospital, and lay her gently down on one of the beds. That hot head really did a number on the poor girl...I just hope she's alright.