Soft summer air.
The scent of grass.
Laughter as she sat atop Jason's shoulders, giggling as he goofed around with her in the meadows just outside of Metropolis.
"Jayjay?" She cutely called out his name, her voice tinny and small and ever so adorable.
"Yes, doll?" He set her down, plopping down next to her in the field. She snuggled up into him, and Jason felt his heart melt.
Oh, how this kid made him feel like the greatest brother in the world.
Her twin would've murdered Jason if he even dared tried to hug him, but she herself adored affection and often bounced around Jason for his hugs.
It was nice, hugging someone that meant the world to him, though he had no idea how she managed to steal away his heart in the first place. He couldn't remember how Aria and he had gotten so close, but he didn't care.
She was his little sister. Along with Cassie, of course, but Cassie could protect herself. Cassie had seen horrible things, had stopped horrible things, and Cassie was one of the strongest kids he knew.
Aria however, was the only innocent one left in their family, and Jason was determined to keep it that way.
"Jayjay."
"I'm listening."
"How come everyone keeps me away from you guys at nighttime? Why can't I help the city like you guys?"
Jason clicked his tongue. "Because you have no need to. We've got enough full seats, and we want to protect you from the nightlife in Gotham, mkay?"
"But I wanna feel useful too sometimes. It gets boring being a cornerman."
" 'Cornerman'? Did Tim let you watch MMA again?"
"...Maybe?" She laughed at Jason's sour expression.
"We keep you away from that world because it's very, very dark, doll." Jason brushed her hair behind her ear, pecking her forehead gently. "And you're our little sister, our little light."
"What's the point of a light if it's always in the shadows?"
"...."
"...."
"....."
She furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait a minute-"
Jason laughed hard, ruffling her hair. "Come on, doll, let's get ice cream."
"Ooh! Rocky road, please!"
*************************************************************************
Heels clicking against the dark grimy brick, Aria Al Ghul primly walked through the old subway tunnel. Sharp underground air swirled around her as she breathed deeply, strolling deeper through the black market weapons sale. Ignoring the several eyes that stared on after her and reveling in the infatuated glances of ogling men, she silently continued on, eyes tracing over every new state-of-the-art weapon that was out for grabs.
Now that she was in place for the first phase of their plan, Aria was back on the payroll, and she had another target to take out.
She loved keeping her hands full with things to do, but now she was ever the more amused. Her old city was ground zero for the plan, and boy, was it good to be 'home'.
Smiling, she picked up a heavy gun and aimed it at one of the targets. Ignoring the wolf whistle the vendor gave her as she leaned a bit backwards into a perfect stance to fire a heavy-duty gun, Aria got several bullseyes, blowing the heads straight off the dummies.
A passerby smiled, grazing Aria's butt with his fingers, a smirk over his features.
"Ladies should not play with those guns." He whispered in her ear.
Aria set her jaw, turning around to face the tall man.
"I never said I was playing." She darkly chuckled, pressing the weapon straight into the man's chest and firing.
Blood sprayed over her dark trench coat, and the hustle atmosphere of the market seemingly quieted down as everyone turned to stare at her.
Aria wiped the red off her face, pursing her lips and tossing two thick stacks of hundred-dollar bills towards the vendor.
With a very pleased lilt to her voice, she grabbed three of the heavy duty guns, and turned away from the shocked vendor.
"Nice doing business with you."
She stepped over the dead pervert and walked out of the market, happy to have found something that was her money's worth.
*********************************************************************
Nightwing huffed and puffed for breath, coughing intensely as the building burned around him.
He heard her screaming from the other room, and he shouted back to her, trying to keep calm.
"Just stay there, Anna, you'll be fine! You're gonna be okay!"
She sobbed in reply, and suddenly the gravity of Nightwing's situation slapped him in the face.
He was trapped.
Trapped.
There was no place for him to go, the rafters and ceiling burning furiously and collapsing bit by bit, blocking the exits. He dropped to his knees, coughing and trying not to breathe in the smoke, feeling his throat and lungs burn with every inhale. His leg ached, a deep gash in it spilling blood over the smoky floor.
He crawled forward, the heat making his skin swelter, the heat suffocating him even more than the smoke was.
He'd rushed into this burning building, intent on saving the little girl he'd saw trapped in her bedroom on the fourth floor, but now they both were gonna die.
Nightwing frantically looked around, trying to get over the hazy flickering reds and oranges, trying to get over the stinging smoke that caused tears to spring into his eyes which further blurred his vision.
The distress button of his was broken, so Batman nor his brothers, nor his friends could come to the rescue. It was him, and him alone, stuck in a fiery building.
Maybe there still was a way out.
He held his arm over his mouth as some sort of protection from the smoke as he peered upwards, heart dropping into his shoes as he saw the flaming rafter just above him.
It was going to fall, going to crush him, and Nightwing had nowhere left to run.
No way out.
At least, not for him. On the cracked, mini holo computer that Timmy had just integrated into his suit, he could see Anna still had an unobstructed way out.
He sucked in a breath, desperately calling out to the girl.
"Anna! Anna, sweetheart, listen to me. Listen to me, okay? You still have a way out of this, okay? There's a window next to you, sweetheart, I need you to jump. Can you do that for me?"
Nightwing called out, desperate to at least save her instead of himself, and the girl cried back.
"I can't! I can't jump! I knew it! I'm gonna die!"
"No, you're not, Anna, you're going to make it. You're gonna make it, sweetie, you just gotta jump."
"I can't!"
There was an unpleasant sound, and Nightwing stared at his mini holo computer, confused. He could see the structural integrity of the girl's room's ceiling failing drastically. They were only a wall apart, a full solid, concrete wall that Nightwing couldn't get through. He could scream and she could hear, and her sobs were quite tangible from where Nightwing kneeled.
His heart dropped even further as he saw the integrity percentage decreasing rapidly. She needed to get out of there, right now, otherwise she'd never make it.
"Anna! You need to get out of there, now!"
"I'm scared!"
Nightwing opened his mouth to say something to motivate her to save herself, but was taken over by a coughing fit. His lungs burned as he tried to talk, but he felt the dizziness grab him with a strong hold.
He gasped for air. This wasn't gonna work.
Suddenly, he heard a huge cracking noise, a strange swooshing noise and a scream, and Nightwing's eyes flew open.
No!
The ceiling in Anna's room quite clearly came down with a thunderous noise, and Nightwing felt utter dread and anguish tear through him.
She was just a little girl, just a little girl...
"Anna! S-Say something!" He groaned out, hitting the wall with his fist, hearing the dead silence save for the crackling of the flames and the creaking of the structure.
Silence, silence, silence.
There were no more sobs, nor even a cry of pain.
This little girl was gone, and it was because Nightwing wasn't good enough to get to her in time.
He heard the rafter above him crack as the flame crackled it's way across it, and he silently accepted defeat, feeling a tear trace down his cheek.
He could've saved the girl, he could've saved her.
His head thunked against the wall as he leaned against it, looking up into the eyes of his demise as he stared at the rafter. Any second it would fall and crush him, and Nightwing could do nothing about it.
He was tired, tired, so tired.
His head spun, the floor spun, everything was spinning as more smoke entered his system and more blood dripped out of the gash in his leg, as he coughed and felt his throat be scorched raw.
He was gonna die now. He wouldn't be able to save anyone anymore.
As he stared up at the rafter, waiting for it to crush him, he realized one thing.
Since he was gonna die now, who would set up the garden for Aria? Who would light her way home?
...Nobody.
Nightwing felt bitterness rise up in his chest and he shut his eyes, trying not to cry.
He was gonna miss everyone.
He heard the rafter creak as it finally gave way, and he kept his eyes shut, replaying images of his family, of his missing sister, of his brothers and of his friends in an effort to calm himself down.
He heard the strange swoosh again, felt a strange gust of air across his face and felt a weird spike of adrenaline as all of a sudden, he wasn't in the middle of a burning building.
His eyes snapped open as he turned around in confusion, breathing in fresh air as he stood on a roof just a few buildings away. A flash of green disappeared around the corner, but it was too fast for Dick to truly register it.
What the-?
What was even more confusing was the fact that the building wasn't burning anymore. He stared at it, wondering how in the hell a blaze like that extinguished itself in less than a few seconds.
He heard a familiar scream as Anna jumped into Nightwing's arms.
Okay, now this is really weird.
Nightwing picked up the girl and bounced her in his arms, soothing her sobs as he looked around.
How did he get out? He'd conceded to his fate, he had not moved an inch, yet here he was on a rooftop safely away from the fire, the girl he'd wanted to save safely in his arms.
Someone must've taken her out the window, because he was absolutely positive this kid was too scared to do it herself. And if that someone had taken her out the window, how come the kid was on this random roof with him and not on the street?
He made his way down to the street, limping, the girl in his arms the whole way as he silently thought to himself.
Someone saved him.
Either it was someone fast, or a teleporter, or something inhuman, because no normal human being would've been able to get him out of there that fast.
It wasn't Bart, or Wally, or even Barry, because if it was, they would be standing in front of him right now, gloating about how they saved Boy Wonder.
Speedsters were off the list.
It could've been someone from the Collector's Agency from Earth 19, but that was highly unlikely.
Raven could open up portals, but he'd have felt differently if he'd gone through one.
Nightwing set the girl down when they reached the street, waving off the applauds and cheers of the awaiting crowd. Watching Anna to make sure she safely reached her parents, which she did, Nightwing turned away, eyebrows furrowed as he lost himself in his thoughts.
"Who were you? And why didn't you show yourself?" He whispered to the air as he flipped out of sight, making his way to his Wingcycle, which was parked in a hidden spot by the small stretch of trees.
He looked up at the building one last time, muttering to himself, remembering the swoosh of air and the spike of adrenaline, burning those two characteristics in his memory.
************************************************************************
"What do you mean, that wasn't you?" Damian snapped impatiently, checking his wristwatch. He had been called away from his date with Rachel, and he stood over Dick, irritated beyond measure as Tim hacked into the security camera system down at Bludhaven. Dick sat in a cot that was wheeled to face the Batcomputer, healing up from his injuries.
"I'm telling you little D, I was trapped one second, and out on the roof the next."
"Don't call me little D. I'm seventeen, asshole."
It was true. Aria was 12 when she disappeared, and 5 years flew by so fast. Dick sometimes had to remind himself that yes, this tall, angsty boy was once his tiny little Damian, he had to remind himself that the new CEO of Wayne Tech was once his itty bitty Timmy, he had to remind himself that the ever more angry Red Hood was his Jaybird.
He had to remind himself that the Batman cowl was going to be his in a year, he had to remind himself that Alfred was ever so old but still quite spry.
He hated growing up, but not as much as he hated seeing others grow up. He knew that they often didn't come together, but for the serial killer case, Red Robin, Robin and the Batman had butted heads since it was so serious.
Everyone was so big now.
Everyone had their own paths to follow.
Dick wished that they'd never leave. He did have abandonment issues, ones considerably as worse as Jason's after Aria's disappearance.
Dick's and Jason's whole world used to revolve around their little Ari, and now they both were surprised they made it 5 years without her.
"Sorry Little D." Dick muttered, ignoring the sharp side glare Damian sent him. He missed the old Damian, one who wouldn't be so angry all the time. Tim clicked his tongue, calling Dick and Damian to attention.
"Were you in the Bayside Complex?" Tim muttered, staring at the burning building through the security cameras.
Dick nodded, leaning forward to stare at the Batcomputer, eyes spotting the blue and black figure that once was him. His eyes scanned the screen intently along with Damian and Tim, eyebrows furrowed.
Tim clacked a few keys on the keyboard, skipping some time, when suddenly Damian spotted something
"There!"
Tim hit the 'slow' button, just barely catching a flash of green lightning racing up and down the edge of the wall of the burning building, returning with a blur of a girl in its arms.
"What the hell?" Tim muttered, watching the security feed play slowly. The green blur then returned and phased through the blocked window, returning back into view with a black and blue smear that quite clearly was Nightwing.
Damian stood up straight, confused beyond measure. "Can't you get a closer view?"
"That's what I'm doing." Tim muttered, using enhancement techniques on the image of the green blur, typing rapidly. He zoomed in and tried to clear up the stray pixels, unable to truly get a clear image of whoever that was.
"It's a speedster." Damian muttered, glancing back at Dick. "Do you happen to know any green speedsters?"
Dick huffed. Looks like speedsters were on the list. But he wasn't sure which one it was.
" Well, Barry told me that the only time anything speedster related was green was post-Crisis, when the Specter's energy temporarily killed the Speed Force and there was green lightning everywhere." He replied, thinking hard.
"That was a malicious manifestation. Perhaps this speedster is malicious as well."
Tim snorted. "If they were malicious, then why would they save a little girl and Bludhaven's top vigilante from a burning building?"
That shut Damian up.
Tim sighed as he finally cleared up an image of the emblem on the speedster's chest, right above the heart. "This is the only thing that can be cleared to a visible , clear extent."
Tim blew up the image to max on the Batcomputer, and everyone stared at the emblem.
It was an intricate lightning strike symbol set in gold, black and green, and Damian found himself staring for very, very long. The lightning strike was in a Penrose-style fashion, sort of folding in and out of itself like an overcomplicated impossible triangle. Dick whistled softly.
"This is a totally new speedster, on a whole new level." He murmured, staring at the soft green glow that seemed to encase the whole speedster's body.
Damian stepped back, something not sitting right with this speedster in him. There was something they were missing, and that wasn't saying much, since they had practically nothing on her.
Tim sent a copy of the slowed down footage and the emblem to Bruce, for him to ask around the JLA and others if they could identify the speedster.
Whoever this person was, they were one hell of a speedster, saving three more people after Dick and Anna's rescue and extinguishing the huge roaring flame in less than a few seconds.
Tim bit his lip. "We've already got a serial killer on our hands, now we've got a never-seen-before speedster that glows in the dark? What's next?"
Damian turned away, tinkering with his watch. "Father always says that everything is connected. Perhaps if we find the speedster, we can use them to find the killer."
***************************************************************
Y'all here ya go I just had to overcomplicate this but I will start adding recap notes at the bottom just cause
anyways, here ya go
another crap chap
mwah, love you guys
Stay Tuned
- Jumpy