NightQuinn

Warzone Of Thoughts

"Dick you have ten seconds to explain why she's here before I put a bullet in her skull." Jason growled. There was a second of silence before Dick realised there was only nine of them left before Jason pulled his trigger. "Okay, Jason, just put the gun down." Dick's speech was frantic as he tried reasoning with his brother. Harley didn't dare say a word in fear of making the situation worse. "Five seconds." Jason cocked the gun. Dick knew that no way with words could fix this, this was an actions speak louder than words situation.

Dick stepped forward quickly, pressing the barrel of Jason's gun against his head. "Dick, don't!" Harley called out. Jason began shaking slightly.

"Dick. Move. Now." Jason hissed through teeth so gritted they just might shatter. "Get out of my way."

"Jason, I need you to put the gun down so we can talk about this. So I can explain." Dick said. "If you shoot her, you've gotta shoot me." After a deep breath, Jason lowered his weapon.

"Explain. Now." Jason demanded.

"Okay, I will, just drop the gun now, please." Jason conceded after Dick said this. "Thank you. I'll explain. A little while ago, Bruce asked me to investigate Mercy Bridge, where I found her." Dick motioned to Harley. "She'd been asked to plant explosives for Joker, which she did. They went off and she got injured. I didn't see an option better than taking her to my apartment."

"Why the hell would you do that?" Jason interjected. "Do you realise who she is?"

"Maybe he did it because he's the only one out of you with a fuckin' heart!" Harley jumped in, just now taking her mind away from the fact that Dick had put her life before his own. "So, since then," Dick continued. "I've been making sure she's okay, she went through a lot with Joker and she's gotten past him now. She wants to help us, she wants to change." A silence fell across the room. Jason looked his brother in the eye, then to Harley. He wanted to say something but couldn't. He couldn't process what he was thinking. Saying nothing, Jason left. Dick considered going after him, but there was nothing Dick could say that would make Jason consider Dick's side.

Dick saw movement in the corner of his eye. Alfred approached from around the corner. He had heard what was said. He looked around, getting one last look before Jason left, then looking at the gun on the floor before his eyes rested at Dick and Harley. "Master Dick, I'm..." He struggled to think about the situation. "I heard what just happened and I...I think the best course of action is for me to call Master Bruce. You need to tell him what happened. Before this can become any worse." He said. Dick glanced behind him at Harley as she took a few steps forward and slipped her hand into his. Dick looked back at Alfred. "Call him." He struggled to say. Alfred nodded and walked back to his quarters.

Hours later...

Dick lay awake next to Harley. His mind was a warzone of thoughts about what he'd say to Bruce. He felt like his potential choices were zipping around his head, ricocheting off his skull. Suddenly the hurricane of emotions stopped. He decided what he'd tell Bruce. The truth. All of it. He'd say he lied about Harley had gotten away. He'd tell him that he'd been caring for her, helping her, trusting her, becoming friends with her, falling in love with her.

Harley, unbeknown to Dick, wasn't sleeping like he thought. She was also letting thoughts bombard her. She thought about what had happened. All of it. Back to when she first started to regret being with Joker. The night they killed Jason Todd. When Joker had asked her to help him kill Robin, who couldn't have been older than fifteen at the time, her stomach turned. She felt like giving up and leaving Joker then and there, but she had been too afraid of the consequences.

She realised that when she felt brave enough to give up on Joker was when Dick had taken her home. He was her way out. Her way to something new, a future, hopefully together. She couldn't cast her mind to a future with him, couldn't picture what it would be like. Mostly because she couldn't picture herself as a hero, but she knew she had it in her. the thought of her, by the side of Nightwing, stopping criminals was funny to her. She tried her best to hide it, but her laugh was audible. "Something funny?" Dick smiled. "I didn't even realise you were still awake."

"Sorry, I was just thinkin' about me helping you stop bad guys." She turned to face him and lay on his chest, intertwining her legs under his. "Imagine, me as a hero. Lil old me, fightin' crime." For a moment, her smile distracted Dick from the current situation. He felt his problems drift away as her sky blue eyes pierced through the peroxide blonde hair. Dick brushed her hair out of her face and planted a kiss on her lips. He was about to rest his head back where it was before she pulled him back and kissed him again. Lips, still locked, she climbed on top of him, ready to spend the night together.

Meanwhile, in Blüdhaven,

Bruce was sat by the window of the hotel room rented for himself, Damian and Barbara. His mind was lost in thought as he peered across the dire city. His phone began ringing, provoking his attention. Picking it up, he saw it was from Alfred. He answered. "Alfred?" He said, making sure not to be too loud as not to wake Damian or Barbara, both were asleep. "Is everything okay?" He heard his butler sigh.

"I'm afraid not, sir." He began. "Master Jason and Master Dick had a...heated debate. It's over a certain choice Dick had decided to make, he needs you, they both do. How soon can you get back?"

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Bruce hung up. He looked back across the city. "Oh, Dick, what did you do this time?"