Fix You

It Ends Tonight

Yawning, Bill fought his fluttering eyelids, forcing them to stay open as he narrowly avoided stepping through a large puddle in the cracked sidewalk. It was another late night and Bill was ready to get home, the man worn out from dealing with angry clients and late Christmas returns. It seemed that everyone got dissatisfied with their gifts about a month or so after the holidays and expected that they could still return them, even if they'd been used to pieces. The costumers just didn't seem to be able to understand that they couldn't just bring back half a toy car and expect a full refund. Or any refund.

The sun was almost completely hidden behind the buildings now and Bill felt the familiar uneasiness creeping about that usually came when out in the city at night. Blüdhaven wasn't the nicest neighborhood and some even argued it was worse than Gotham, in terms of creeps and everyday freaks. Sure Gotham had the extreme psychopaths, but Blüdhaven was plenty stacked in mediocre grade rapists and serial killers. Even a grown man couldn't count himself safe walking alone through the back streets of the city.

Taking a deep breath, Bill reached into his pocket for his phone, swiftly unlocking it and opening his messages. Shari had texted him during his break, but he hadn't had a chance to reply. Hopefully she was telling him that the mechanic called and his car was ready to be picked up from the shop. They didn't live far from the electronics store Bill worked at, but the quickest way home was through the bad neighborhoods on the west side. Most of the buildings in the area were 'abandoned' and taken over by gangs, and smugglers, and others on the wrong side of the law. The slang name for the area was the 'Graveyard'. Of course, Shari had offered Bill her car for the day, but Bill had refused, not wanting Shari to have to take the subway to her job at the printing company. Besides, he'd told her, a little exercise was good and it wasn't really that bad of a neighborhood.

The message, as it turned out, was about the mechanic. His car was finished and ready for pick up any time before six. Bill glanced at the time: 5:30. He'd have plenty of time to make it over to Dave's before he closed up for the night. Picking up his pace, Bill continued down the crumbling sidewalk, a bit of a spring to his step. He was only ten blocks from Dave's Car Repair shop at most and Shari had also asked him to pick up some spices for a marinade she was planning to make with steak tonight. Bill barely noticed the shuddering in the ground as he walked past a building with an old rusty sign that said 'Cadmus Dental: Giving new life to your teeth'. He didn't give the faint crashing sounds a second thought and barely even registered the disturbance in the puddles he passed. His life was looking fine, much better than it had all day. It was going to be a good night; he just knew it.

oOo

"Wally, stop vibrating!" Artemis hissed, dropping her hand onto the speedster's knee. "You're making the little rocks rattle." She pointed to the tiny pieces of rock that were jumping up and down ever so slightly.

"Sorry." Wally stared dejectedly at the rocks for a second before his vibrating stopped. "I'm just nervous."

Artemis just nodded before returning her attention to the street in front of her. They were perched together on the flat roof of the laboratory supply shop, hidden behind a low hanging tree branch. Tonight was the night that the next pick up was scheduled for the little white lab delivery car. The three heroes and the cop had spent the day staking out the place and so far, nothing had happened. Since the street was so quiet, Wally and Artemis had been able to talk most of the time, so it wasn't nearly so unbearable, but they were all getting on edge.

Blake was back in the pickup truck waiting for the signal to pick the three heroes up once the car showed up. Roy was positioned across the street on the roof of an old apartment building. It was just the four of them. They'd considered telling the League, or Batman, or even the rest of the Team, but even the Flash had given them a pitying look when Wally had asked to use his truck. They hadn't told him the details of what they were planning to do, but Wally had let slip that they were using it to look into a lead for Robin. The older speedster had smiled sadly and agreed to let them take the truck, telling them to be careful and nothing more. It was then that Artemis had realized most people had given up.