"Jay, wait. I have an idea."

Being the person that he was, Jason ignored Nightwing for a moment in favor of dodging a blow from Superman. He wasn't trying to be rude, he just needed to get his priorities straight.

"What's the idea? Will it keep us from getting out skulls bashed in?" Jason asked sarcastically, twisting out of the path of an arrow.

"I need you to tell Batman something." Nightwing gritted out, and Jason looked over to seem him mid-flip, dodging Superboy.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?" Jason asked, dodging the bow staff of Robin, and hitting a pressure point on the back of his neck. One down, too many more to go.

"Tell him that if he lets us go, we can gather information about the Light for him!" Nightwing sent quickly, and Jason heard a small yelp from behind him. Two down.

"Batman, I have a proposition to make," Red Hood announced, fighting his way towards the black clad man.

"What it is?" Batman grit out, throwing a kick to Red Hoods head, missing.

"If you let Wing and I go, we might know how to get some information on the Light for you." Jason hinted, and Batman stopped attacking for a moment.

"Might? I want a guarantee. And I'd need to be able to contact you," he spoke, head tilting towards the raging battle behind them.

"Fine. We will get the information to you, and I can give you a comm to contact us. Is that enough?" Jason added sarcastically. This man was too much.

Batman stared at him for a moment, and Jason was starting to wonder if something was stuck on his helmet.

"How old are the both of you?" Batman finally asked, still ignoring the ongoing battle.

Red Hood froze for a second, not expecting that question, "Old enough," he replied, a hint of anger coming out of his helmet, "Now, do you want to shake on it or something?" Jason drawled, shifting his weight to a more relaxed position.

Jason was just about to reach Batman's hand with his own when he felt a sudden burning pain in his side.

Eyes widening underneath his mask, Jason grabbed at his side with his hand, stumbling back a bit. Something smelled, and it wasn't his jacket this time. He fumbled a bit more, looking for the cause of the pain, and finally collapsed onto the tile. Somewhere in his newfound haze of pain, Jason swore he heard someone scream something, sounding rather raw if he focused a bit more. Jason wasn't able to think much on it, as the approaching numbness soon took him into her sweet embrace.

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"NO!"

Someone yelled. Someone screamed. He wasn't sure who, because he was too busy watching his only friend collapse onto the floor.

"No," a weak voice, cracking and raw, whimpered at the fallen body.

His throat hurt, burned more like. Was it him? Was he the one that screamed? Dick thought he'd forgotten how, it must've been someone else. He ignored the shocked expressions as he rushed towards Red Hood's fallen body.

He knelt down at Jason's side and placed his hands over the wound, applying pressure. Something was starting to block his vision, making his sight blurry and unfocused. What was it? He wanted to take his mask off, had something gotten underneath during the battle? He tore his eyes away from Jason's bloody side and sent a chilling glare at Superman.

"You!"

There it was again. That raw and cracking, misused and beaten, weak voice. Only this time, it was filled with anger and hate, underlined by worry and shock. It must've been him, he hadn't seen anyone's mouth move this time. It was him.

Dick wanted to kill him, his redemption be damned. Dick wanted to rush ahead and slice Superman's throat, watch him bleed out on the floor. He wanted to kill him.

Superman burned Jason. He lost control of his heat vision and burned a hole through Jason.

A weak cough from below was the only thing that stopped him from attacking. Dick looked down at his hands, the blood was just barely seeping through his fingers, slipping silently onto the white tile.

If Jay died, Superman would too, Dick decided. It was only fair. A life for a life, after all, that's what the Court would do.

"Nightwing, let me have a look at him," Superman started, inching closer to the spot where Dick was kneeling.

Nightwing growled, low and threatening, raising himself to the balls of his feet. He removed one hand from Red Hood's side and grabbed some gauze from his belt. Just because he didn't need it, doesn't mean he shouldn't carry it.

Superman stopped his approach, raising his hands to show he meant no harm.

"Nightwing," Batman tried, keeping his voice calm and even, as if he were talking to a cornered wild animal. Dick whipped his head towards the man at the sound of his voice, "We need to take a look at him. He might die if we don't," Batman tried to argue.

Nightwing growled again, his unusually pointed canines on full display. He stuffed the gauze into Jason's wound, which was barely bleeding now, and started searching his belt. He had to have some sort of device he could call someone on. Jason had to have some kind of way out.

There! Nightwing grabbed the small half black and orange device, pressing the only button on it. He grabbed one of Jason's arms, throwing it over his head, before grabbing a leg.

"Nightwing don't! It'll make the wound worse!" Superman tried again, approaching Nightwing steadily.

"No!" Nightwing rasped, standing firmly with Red Hood thrown over his shoulders in a fireman's carry.

Jason was a lot heavier than Dick had expected, and he struggled a bit to get him on his shoulders. But he did. They were going to leave, and if Jason died, Superman would too. The Court had taught him how.

Nightwing started walking forwards, a destination set firmly in his mind. Those tube things. That must be how Jay got in, so it must also be the way out.

"My friend, please let us help!" Aqualad said, blocking Nightwing's path.

Nightwing shifted Red Hood around, holding his arm and leg in one hand, freeing the other, and opened his stance. Dick shook his head, and lashed out a well timed kick into Aqualad's side. The attack was swift and brutal, more Talon than Nightwing. Aqualad gasped and dropped onto the ground, holding his side.

Nightwing kept walking and watched Batman hold out an arm, blocking Superman from following.

"Are we really just going to let them go!?" Artemis screeched, and Dick wanted to cover his ears. God was her voice was annoying. He could see Superboy wince from the pitch as well. At least he was smart, keeping his distance from Nightwing.

"Yes," Batman replied, and Dick paused, risking a glance at the man.

Dick started to get an uneasy feeling in his gut. It's that feeling you get when you hear something you don't want to, and your stomach just drops and you feel sick. That feeling that makes you want to run away and hide, isolate yourself from everyone. That's how he felt when he looked back at Batman. But, he had to keep going, and that's what he did.

But, the feeling that Batman knew something never left.

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His arms and legs were burning as he ran through the darkened alley. They had escaped, but Jason was still really heavy. Nightwing stopped running for a moment and leaned up against the wall. He'd have to find somewhere to hide out soon. Dick knew that the Court had a few abandoned safe-houses hidden throughout Gotham, all he had to do was find one.

A thunk from behind had Dick ducking to dodge the edge of a sword -the weapon just barley missing his head. The sword that belonged to a large -more like massive- man. The man was dressed heavily in armor, painted orange and black, and was staring at Nightwing with a critical eye.

"Are you Nightwing?" The man asked, removing his sword from where it got stuck in the brick.

Nightwing nodded and moved to stand but instead, his left leg gave out and he fell to his knees. Dick tried to stand again, but was met with the same result. He couldn't do it, Jay was too heavy.

"Let me take him," The man offered, already grabbing at Red Hood.

Dick nodded again and was finally able to stand without the excess weight.

"What happened?" The man asked, once he had gotten Jason situated on his shoulders.

Dick shook his head and pointed to the man, hoping to get his name. The man seemed to have understood, and curtly replied, "Deathstroke," before walking forward.

"Follow me, I have a safehouse a few blocks away. We can talk there. Are you hurt?" Deathstroke asked, scanning Dick from head to toe.

Nightwing shook his head. He didn't think he was injured and if he was, it'd be healed soon anyway. He followed Deathstroke, sticking close to the man. Dick had a feeling that if he lost sight of him, he wouldn't be able to find him again.

They'd been walking for a good ten minutes before Dick saw anything alarming. He hadn't even been looking for it. It was just there, floating innocently on a small puddle in the alley. Any normal passerby wouldn't have even spared it a second glance, but Dick was the furthest thing from normal.

"Kid? Are you okay?"

And Dick looked up, Deathstroke was looking at him from the entrance of the alley, already turning to leave. He hadn't realized that he'd stopped walking. Dick spared Deathstroke another glance before looking down at the puddle again.

It was still there. He hadn't imagined it. This was bad, they knew where he was. Who he had become, unless they were after Deathstroke, which was highly unlikely. Dick hadn't seen the man's name on any list he'd ever gotten.

"Kid," And Dick looked up again, "We've got to go now, come on."

And Dick went, he left it there. He left it there even as the faint memory of a woman's laugh echoed in his brain.

He left it there, the small, white feather of an owl.

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-Flashback-

"My little Robin," a honeyed voice whispered into frozen air, "Come, let me show you something."

One for sorrow,

Hearing his Mother's call, the young boy ran over, plopping down beside her. The hill they sat upon wasn't far from the main tent, but is was still a ways away. Far enough that the rattling cages and laughing people could barely be heard, but close enough to still be seen.

Two for mirth,

The young boy looked excitedly up at his Mother, a wide grin plastered onto his face, "What is it?" He asked.

"Do you see those birds over there?" the woman replied, pointing out to a group of large black birds resting in the grass.

Three for a funeral,

The boy squinted his eyes and leaned forward, "Yes! What kind are they?" He asked, voice thick with an accent. After all, English wasn't his first language.

"That's what I'm going to tell you, Little Bird," She ruffled his hair, chuckling lightly, "Now, scoot closer and listen well." She told as the boy moved close, resting against her side.

And four for a birth,

"Yes Mama."

Five for Heaven,

"Now, those are crows," she started softly, "Did you know there is a rhyme to help you count them?" The woman asked, smiling brightly at the boy. Her eyes focused intently on his face for a moment, memorizing it. They didn't have much longer, after all, tonight's the night.

Six for Hell,

The boy looked back to the crows, a thoughtful expression on his face, "No...but what's that one, Mama?" He pointed a finger to the large white bird hidden within the others.

And seven for a secret never to be told,

The woman looked for a moment, her face going pale, "It's an owl."

Eight for a wish,

The child nodded his head vigorously, "Of course, Mama! But why's the owl with the crows?"

Nine for a kiss,

Looking back to the birds, the woman pondered for a moment, her eyes unfocused, almost staring past the group of birds, "Maybe they're friends, or maybe he's telling them something."

Ten for a bird, you must not miss.

-Flashback end-

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Okay everyone! Here's the next chapter. This one was much easier to write, so I think it's safe to say that my writes block has passed. Yay!  

Now onto the AU idea that I hinted at last chapter. I've decided to call the story "The Flying Trapeze" although I may change the name before I post it. I'm still not sure if it fits the tone of the story yet. Since I can't think of a summary right now, I've decided to add the first paragraph of the story here for you all to read, and hopefully enjoy. Let me know what you think of it and if you would like to read the story, or at least the first chapter.

Til next time,

Rachel

AU: The Flying Trapeze

Paragraph One:

Gotham was a terrible city when someone laughed on its street late at night. The sound would bounce and curl, twist and corrupt. Although, it was different for each laugh. Some hinted at things to come, and others, things of the past. Now, there was one laugh that Gotham had grown particularly fond of. Hidden in the midst of tragedy and pain, this laugh made a name for itself. Forcing young gang members to scatter, because they knew territory didn't matter to him, it never did. Sometimes, the laughter could be heard for miles, an eerie cackle that would worm its way into every crack and crevice that Gotham could offer. The laugh of a young Robin.