word count: 2.4k
~
'Where the hell are you?' Eleanor asked Dick as she lent on the motel wall, her phone pressed to her ear firmly.
'Chicago,' he replied as if it was no big deal. It was in fact a big deal.
Eleanor scoffed and asked, 'I thought you were coming back here?'
'I was, but then things got a little weird at our friend's apartment.' There was a small pause. 'His name is Dr Adamson, by the way. Doctor of what, I have no idea.'
'Oh let me guess this one, he tried to kill you?' Eleanor looked down the hall at the sight of something moving but relaxed when the person she thought she saw turned out to be the blinds moving in the air of the heater.
'He tried to cook me breakfast actually... His friends tried to kill me.' Dick sounded somewhat amused. 'Six of 'em. I got a feeling there's more where they came from.
Eleanor pouted her lips, impressed with him and his skills, although she wasn't about to tell him and let his ego inflate. 'You took out six assassins by yourself?' She asked.
'Robin's got some skills,' he said, which caused Eleanor to roll her eyes.
She could hear him grunting followed by the sound of the clinging of metal on metal, but when she was about to ask what he was doing, he beat her to it and asked for an update on the family.
'Um... they're all dead,' she muttered and glanced over her shoulder and into the room where Kory and Gar were still cleaning the mess of the remainder of the family.
'Kory,' he growled.
'No! She didn't kill them!' Eleanor jumped to the woman's defence. 'We just walked in, and they were like, dead. Their heads exploded.'
'Hell of a coincidence.' Eleanor rolled her eyes and groaned, knowing that whatever she told him he still believed Kory killed them just because she was told not to. 'Ah fuck,' he groaned quietly.
'Are you okay?' She asked in concern.
'Just dealing with something,' he replied distractedly. 'Look, you guys need to get out here. I'm at eight, eight, eight, North Lakeshore Drive. It's less than an hour. You'll be safe here.'
'Are you sure?'
'It's a safe house. Safe is in the name,' he retorted and Eleanor didn't have to see him to know he was wearing a lopsided grin.
She sighed and murmured, 'We'll be there.'
+
Shutting the car door after Gar had gotten out, Eleanor poked her tongue out at him and fiddled around her pocket for her phone that was buzzing— She was unsure of who would be calling her, but nevertheless, she was always open for a phone call.
Everyone waited at the gate of the house patiently whilst Eleanor answered her phone a short distance away.
'Hello?' She asked with a small frown after reading the unknown caller ID.
'So, you're back in the suit? Well shit, could have let me know so we can handle business as usual.'
Eleanor felt her blood run cold as the voice bounced around her head— it was too cold for her to be comforted by. She knew exactly who it was.
'How did you get this number?' She asked quietly, moving away from the group even further.
'It wasn't hard. You know the kind of people that I run with,' he said to her as if it was obvious. 'I know how to get what I want and when I want it too.'
She looked up at the sky, not believing her luck.
'And what do you want, Floyd?' She asked quietly.
'Oh just what I get paid to do... You hurt me and my family, Eleanor, you know I don't fuck when it comes to my family.'
'I didn't do anything to Zoe, you did that yourself. I would never try to hurt her and you know that,' she spoke into the phone violently, her words seeping with venom and hurt.
Floyd Lawton laughed on the other end of the line.
'I'll see you and your little family around, Crusader.' The line went dead as Eleanor pulled her phone away from her ear in pure shock. Deadshot knew where she was, he knew who she was with, and he wanted revenge. When Deadshot wants revenge, he gets it no matter the risk or cost, she of all people knew that.
She turned back to the group and walked over to them as they loitered around the now-open gate, tucking her phone into her back pocket as if nothing had happened.
'Let's go inside already,' she said and gestured for them all to hurry up, not giving them a chance to ask her what the phone call was about.
They did as she said and entered through the gate and into the building where they waited at a large wooden door. The door opened and they all carefully stepped inside the dark hallway. They looked at the expensive cars in the garage to their left before stopping at a monitoring system and an elevator.
Gar waved at the camera before Dick's voice spoke through the speakers.
'I'll be down in a sec,' he told them. Eleanor stood back a little and took in a deep breath.
Then a thought struck her. She didn't know what family he was talking about. What if he was going to go after her brothers and their families? She knew Floyd was above killing children, but that didn't mean her brothers were safe... It was in Floyd's nature to do something that cruel, even if he wouldn't be getting a payout from it. Getting revenge and attacking her family sounded like the sick sort of thing he would do.
She hadn't even noticed the elevator opened until Rachel grabbed her hand and pulled her inside it, not before hesitating at the action. Eleanor had them all slightly worried.
The elevator ride was quiet but Rachel and Gar noticed Dick continuously glancing down at Eleanor who was just staring at the wall in front of her, too deep in thought to notice anything. The two kids shared small smirks as the doors opened.
Dick led them out after the doors had opened, but Eleanor's pace was so slow as she followed behind everyone, Kory turned around and grabbed the girl's hand and began to pull the girl along before the doors shut on her and locked her in the elevator.
'Who are your friends?'
Everyone looked at the boy standing up from the couch with a beer in his hand.
Dick stuffed his hands in his pockets and said, 'Not important.'
'Who is he?' Kory asked and gestured to him as Dick shook his head.
'Not important,' he repeated, except more forced the second time around.
Eleanor finally snapped back to reality and was getting head spins from their interactions. The boy introduced himself to Rachel as Jason, and Eleanor began to wonder how many more stray kids was Dick going to try and help.
Finally, Gar commented on the second briefcase.
'I thought you were Robin?' Rachel asked and made her way over to the table with Gar.
'I am,' Dick said with a sigh.
Eleanor's thoughts travelled back to Deadshot and his new plans, instead of staying focused on the situation at hand which was Rachel. She had to warn her brother and make sure they all got to safety, possibly even leaving town was an option.
Gar laughed and asked, 'How many Robins are there? Because I would love to be one!'
Eleanor turned away when both Rachel and Gar sat down like obedient puppies after Kory told them to sit and stay silent. Kory looked at Dick and muttered, 'Bathroom.'
As they walked down the hall, Dick stopped and waved Eleanor to follow after them.
She shook her head and said, 'I have to go make a call, fill me in when I get back.'
He frowned and watched as she let herself out into the backyard through the door.
Eleanor dialled Scott's number and tried to quickly build the courage to tell him everything. He had to know it all, he had to know the secrets so he could keep everyone safe, so she knew she had to find the courage quickly.
'Hello?'
She sighed in relief.
'Scotty, hey. Listen, I need to tell you something important and I really can't have you interrupting me, so can you promise to keep all questions until the end?' She asked him, tucking her hand under her other arm to keep warm.
He laughed out of pure nerves. 'Of course. What's up?' He asked in concern.
'You know around when mum died, I was working for a man named Floyd Lawton? I was babysitting his daughter for a while... Um, Floyd is Deadshot and I was Crusader...' She licked her lips and kicked the floor gently. 'I worked for him for a while and I thought I was doing the right thing, but I wasn't.'
She had no idea how he was going to react.
'I've taken on a new case at work and I'm caught up in it all again. I'm in hot water... Scotty, my past is catching up to me and it's not good for anybody involved... Floyd is after me and everybody I love. He wants revenge for putting him away in Arkham, but his revenge involves you and everyone else. I really, really, need you to get your mum and dad, your brother, the girls and the kids out of Detroit sooner rather than later.'
There was a small pause as Scott cleared his throat.
'How about I don't question any of it?' He asked her, causing her to smile in relief. 'I'll get something lined up for us... I don't need to know what you're doing, or what you've done, El, but I need to know you're safe. You're all I've got left from mum...'
'Okay... You can't tell anyone I'm working. I'm supposed to be on sabbatical.'
'You've got my word. I'll go organise something now, okay?'
'Okay. Thank you, Scott.'
'Please be safe.'
'I will. Love you.'
'I love you, El. I'll keep in touch.'
Eleanor pulled the phone away from her ear and hung the phone up, sighing ever so slightly as her hands shook. She wondered how out of control everything was going to get now Floyd was in the mix. Only time will tell.
+
It was late into the night when Dick had gotten home. Kory, Rachel, and Gar were already asleep and in bed, meanwhile downstairs, Eleanor tried to get a grasp on some normality by making pasta from scratch. Cooking things from scratch had been a hobby of hers for a few years, but she stopped a while back once work had gotten pretty hectic and she was needed for more cases.
She had spent the whole day worrying about Dick, but she spent her time with the kids, teaching them how to cook properly, and they had successfully managed to pull together a meal everyone ate. She was now just prepping for tomorrow's dinner.
'What are you doing?' Dick asked and placed his suitcase down by the bench as Eleanor patted the pasta dough in her floury palms.
She turned around and said, 'Well when you roll with the group of people I roll with now, you kind of need to find a grasp on reality and never let go of it.' Hearing Dick quietly chuckle, she smiled. She tightened the saran wrap around the ball of pasta dough before glancing over her shoulder at Dick as he ran his hand through his hair. 'Where's Jason?' She asked.
Dick scoffed ever so slightly as he moved around the bench and leant back on it, crossing his arms over his chest.
'Not my problem,' he muttered. He looked at Eleanor as she began rolling out more pasta dough, shaking her head at his comment about Jason.
Eleanor froze as she heard a noise leave his mouth, a noise that she had never heard so distinctly before. She turned around with slightly wide eyes and a shell-shock expression on her face.
'Dick Grayson, are you laughing?' He nodded with a wide smile and gestured around his face then at hers, his wrist limp. 'Oh, so you think this is funny?' She asked and gestured to how messy she was.
Dick shrugged with a wide grin but it disappeared as a large ball of flour hit his face, falling onto his shoulders and chest. As he coughed, flour blew everywhere, causing Eleanor to burst into quiet laughter. She covered her mouth with the crook of her arm in an attempt not to wake anyone up.
'That's really mature,' he muttered and wiped the flour from his face. 'Real mature...'
'Sorry... I think it's hilarious,' she mused and turned back around to continue rolling out the pasta.
Feeling two hands gently grab at her hips, Eleanor spun around in surprise, but when met with Dick's lips on hers, she hummed and lent away for a split second to ask, 'Now, are you only making out with me because I'm the only one in this house willing to, or...' She trailed off with a laugh as Dick rolled his eyes and leaned back for another kiss.
Eleanor's heart felt as if it was bound to beat right out of her chest, and Dick knew this, he could feel it as their chests pressed against one another firmly. He put his hands under her shirt and grabbed her waist tightly before lifting her onto the counter.
What he wasn't expecting was for her to cry out quietly and pull away. He then remembered that she was only just shot a little over three weeks ago, meaning she would still be a little tender.
'Oh fuck!' He said in a hushed whisper, pressing both his hands into her sore side firmly, but gently. 'I forgot.' She groaned quietly and leaned forward, resting her forehead on his shoulder. 'I'm sorry,' he said again but was unable to stop the small laugh from escaping his lips at the same time.
'No, you're not!' She laughed and sat back up as Dick put both of his hands on her cheeks.
'You two love birds need to shut up otherwise I will burn this place to the ground.'
Dick jumped away from Eleanor and looked at Kory, stuttering over his words.
'Sorry,' Eleanor said quickly and slid off the counter. 'We'll be quiet.'
Kory gave them both one last sombre look before spinning on her heels and retreating down the hallway, muttering about never getting enough uninterrupted sleep.
'Does she...' Dick trailed off as they both continued to stare at where Kory was just standing.
'Scare me?'
'Yes.'
'Yes...'
~