Children Of The Night

Just Stay With Me (Part 1)

Jason Todd watched as the body of an old man dropped to the ground, blood pouring from a wound on his head. The man was nowhere near innocent. A murderer, raper, drug dealer. The list could go on. He could hear police sirens in the distance and twirled his gun, putting it back in it's holster. He took off, heading towards where he had left his way of transportation, his motorcycle.

Revving the engine, he drove off down the silent road. Something about this time of day just seemed so peaceful. So quiet. It was probably his favorite time of day, late at night or early in the morning. He loved everything about it, minus the crime. His eyes scanned the area as he drove. Apparently Nightwing needed help, and due to the lack of information, Jason couldn't tell how much trouble he was in. He had received the alert quite a while ago, but was too damn busy to help. He followed his location, revving the engine to drive faster.

An alley. Nightwing needed help in an alley? Jason got off of his motorcycle and began to walk into the dark alley, looking around. His eyes landed on a body deep in the alley, his back facing up. Jason approached the body when he made out two sticks. Escrimna sticks. He got close enough to the body to notice it was Nightwing and his eyes widened underneath his hood.

The bird's body was broken and torn. Gashes on his chest, back, arms and legs, and deep wounds almost everywhere. A large gash almost took up half of his face and a bullet wound was at his left leg. The hero was breathing unevenly, his chest rising shakily.

"Dick." Jason breathed, taking off his hood and discarding it on the ground. He sat on the ground, carefully repositioning Nightwing so that Jason supported his head with his arm and some of his upper body.

Nightwing opened his eyes slowly, blinking a few times. He winced in pain then put on a weak smile as he looked at his younger brother. "Hey, Jay." He spoke quietly, weakly. Nothing like the Dick Grayson everyone knew and loved.

Judging by how badly beaten his brother was, Jason knew he didn't have a lot of time. No time to ask how this happened, no time to ask who did and which way they ran, and no time to chase after the son of a bitch who hurt his bird. He carefully slid off his jacket and pressed it against the bullet wound, causing the older male to arch his back slightly in pain.

Dick's breathing became more uneven and his body grew limper. "Stay with me Dickie - Bird." Jason spoke in a gentle tone.

"Hmm.." Dick's eyes began to close. "Just ten minutes.." He replied weakly. Jason had already sent an urgent alert for help, Bruce should be here any moment now.

"Hey. Look at me. Don't close your eyes, Ok?" Jason pleaded gently. "Just tell me about your day."

Dick could only smile weakly and took a moment to reply. "You don't want me to close my eyes, cause you know something bad'll happen if I do." Something bad. Jason shook his head. Dick wasn't going to die. He couldn't. Things wouldn't be the same without the bird.

"Hey, Jay?" Dick asked.

"Yes?" Jason responded calmly, his eyes on the weak bird. Dick moved slightly, resting against Jason.

"Do you see the stars?" He asked quietly, his voice barely audible.

"No. Tell me where they are." The anti hero did see them, he just needed this conversation to go as long as possible.

"If you look up, you'll see one bright star, then if you look right, you'll see another.." Dick continued to explain what he saw. Apparently, the stars looked like Jason's hood, which brought a smile to the antihero's face.

The sound of an engine approaching was heard as a black vehicle stopped in front of the alley. Batman jumped out, running over to his two sons, he crouched down, looking over Nightwing.

"What happened?" He asked, scanning the bird's torn body. Jason looked back at Bruce.

"I don't know. He was like this when I arrived." Bruce nodded in response to the answer and carefully picked up his oldest son, placing him in the Batmobile gently. He jumped in and Jason ran off, getting on his motorcycle and following.