-Athena's POV-

I stared at Dick blankly. As in Dick fashion, he put everything out on the line. I nervously stuffed my face with the sugary desserts I forced Dick to buy me. He talked and talked and talked, apologizing to me and trying to get me to understand how utterly sorry he was.

I felt panicked. Inside, I felt like I swelling up and would blow up any second. I chewed slowly to try to distract myself. Everything he was saying was everything I had been waiting for. But now that I had made the decision to leave with Jason, I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear Dick's words...he was making me rethink my entire decision. I hated being indecisive.

I let my instincts take over, putting on a coy and charming attitude towards Dick. Because we had been disconnected so long, he didn't seem to pick up on it like he used to. Seeing the way his eyes dropped crushed me. I wasn't sure how he felt about me now that he knew the truth. I knew he didn't hate me -- at least -- but it seemed he was only after friendship. Yet, every time I spoke to him, he looked like I had slapped him across the face.

Not being able to take the pressure any longer, I flashed him a smirk and left the cafe. As soon as I was outside, I picked up my feet and basically sprinted down the street. The sun was going to set any minute now. It was already getting dark.

I raced to Jason's main weapon warehouse. I hadn't been to my own safe house in so long. I had moved all my weapons and most of my supplies into Jason's safe houses.

"Jason?" I called, unlocking the door and heading down into the secret basement. The lights were off -- except for the cheesy Robin action-figure nightlight I bought him for his birthday -- and Jason was no where to be found. I flicked on the lights. His bike was gone.

I sighed, tossing a punch at the nearest punching bag. It swung violently, but I didn't engage. Grabbing a Nightingale costume, I quickly changed out of my street clothes. I stroked the handlebars of the new motorcycle Jason bought me. I had told him it was unnecessary, but he refused to let me pay him back. With money, that is.

I rode through Gotham. The sun had now gone down and night fell upon the city. It was cold, dark, and dangerous. I weaved through traffic.

Suddenly, a red object appeared next to me. I turned to look, thinking I had finally found Jason. Instead, I was met with a long, shaggy haired, smiling idiot. "Nightingale!" Nightwing called, catching my attention, "Wanna patrol?"

I bit my lip to try to stifle a smirk, but it arose, and a grin broke out. "Yeah, okay!" I shouted back, trying to be heard above the traffic.

I followed Dick as he fly through the air. In classic Dick fashion, he did flips in the air, impressing the audience around him and trying to impress me. The actual tricks didn't impress me, but his peppy attitude did.

He led me all throughout Gotham until we stopped in front of the train station. I pulled over, sliding off and removing my helmet. My hair fell down my back in a long braid. Just like Dick, I hadn't cut my hair since I had left Gotham. What looked like all of the GCPD was surrounding a man in the middle of the station.

The man was holding his coat open with one hand and a little kid in the other. Pressed into the kid's skull was the barrel of a shotgun. My arms tensed almost immediately. Dick strode up beside me, favoring me with his care free smile. I blushed and looked down at my feet.

"What's happening, Gordon?" Dick asked, surveying the station. The train was being held hostage but otherwise, it looked completely clear. There wouldn't be that many casualties.

"Just let him blow up," I said aloud, "there's like, what? Thirteen people on that train?"

Every single person within my radius turned to look at me, eyes wide and mouths wide open. I shrugged. "What? It's true. The guy's gonna get bored anyway and blow up or demand for something we can't give him. Cut your losses."

Dick raised an eyebrow and ran his head through his hair. "Nightingale, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Am I the only one sensible?"

Dick grabbed my arm and pulled me from the group. I glared at his fingers as they touched my arm. "Athena, you sound like...like..." He looked off over my shoulder in thought, "...like Red Hood. Since when do you not care about innocent people?"

I was fuming. What was Jason even like? I knew he was angry, but we were both angry. We were angry at the world and the people that lived in it. We cared about the innocent....or did we? I realized that Jason did anything to justify his ends. He wouldn't actively seek harming innocent people, but he wouldn't alter his plan if only a couple were in his way. When I was with Jason, this approach made so much sense. When I was with Dick, it was appalling.

I stepped back and let Dick and everyone else handle the situation. Off on the side, I analyzed Jason's approach to missions. We had blown up Black Mask's building just to target Black Mask. I wasn't sure what the casualty count was, but there were a lot of workers in the building.

Why were we doing this? The question came up over and over. The more I worked with Jason, the more I felt disconnected from him and the mission. I felt like the mission was about riding Gotham of the evil within, but doing it in the way that Batman wouldn't. Jason didn't seem like that was the point. He had another motif and I was pretty sure I knew what it was...

After the fiasco with the bomb guy was handled -- they didn't end up taking my advice but instead handcuffed him -- Dick got a call from Batman.

"Red Hood just blew up a meth lab I was spying on!" Bruce sounded urgent and pissed off, "I'm giving chase now! Intercept him at the Northside!" Bruce ordered. Dick answered his with his promise of help.

He turned towards me, his mouth forming a silent question. I bit my lip. If I went back with Dick, Jason was as good as caught. But I wasn't sure how to mislead them. And Dick knew I was with Jason now.

He sighed. "Come on, you can at least pretend to help us find your boyfriend," Dick joked, bumping my shoulder with his. I blushed at the words 'your boyfriend' and frowned at the fact that Dick said it so casually. I was glad he was mature enough to move past immature jealously. But I didn't feel like I was.

"Alright," I agreed, reluctantly, "But if I try to sneak away, pretend you don't notice, okay?"

Dick laughed, genuinely. "We both know that if you tried to sneak away, I wouldn't notice." I smirked and pulled out my grapple gun. Dick and I shot off into the skyline, following the coordinates Batman gave us.

When we arrived, I caught a glimpse of Jason and Bruce throwing punches. I started to run forward, but Dick grabbed my arm. It was such a familiar gesture, that it sent little buzzes all throughout my body. He stopped me, holding me in place on both my shoulders. His intense, caring gaze was focused directly on me.

"If you join this fight on Jason's side, I will have to arrest you," Dick warned, his eyes quickly dropping down my face then back up, "and I don't want to do that. Go home. Please."

For a second I considered it. For a second. Just as quickly, I saw Jason fighting his ass off. Jay needed me. He was always there when I needed him so I owed it to him to not forget that. NO matter how increasingly mad I was getting about his secret goals.

"You can try and arrest me, Grayson," I smirked, "but good luck with that." I turned to leave again, but Dick grabbed me. His motion sent me flying back into him. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, my head tucked into his shoulder. His hug was warm. I didn't realize how much I missed it.

He let me go, giving me a slight shove towards the action. With a smile over my shoulder, I took off. I grappled above the two, landing a kick in Bruce's face. Jason high fived me when I landed beside him.

"Took ya long enough," he growled. When Dick landed beside Bruce, Jason turned towards me. Although his expression was hidden underneath his hood, I could tell he was pissed. Good thing I was too.

We both ran forward. Instead of separating, all four of us attacked each other. I didn't just attack Dick and Jason didn't just attack Batman. We would throw a punch and switch targets. "Just a few seconds longer," Jason whispered to me. I nodded. Leave it to Jason to always have a plan.

A bomb went off a few streets down. Of course, it drew Bruce and Dick's attention. With them distracted, Jason and I took off.

I threw open his safe house door, snapping it against its hinges. Jason slammed it just as hard. The room seemed smaller with the amount of energy rolling off of both of us. We hadn't said a word to each other. It was like the world was holding its breath, waiting for one of us to speak.

Finally, Jason did.

"I'm going to kill him," he said out loud, grabbing the whiskey bottle from the cabinet. He unscrewed the bottle and took a long swig.

I turned to look at him. "No."

Jason whipped around to finally look at me. His eyebrows were scrunched over his eyes in a mix of confusion and anger. "No?"

"No." I knew Jason wasn't referring to either one of the men we just fought, but rather the man which he had encountered again this week. The Joker. Jason had found out that Black Mask had played a part in releasing him from Arkham and had provided him with money to have to kill Jason and I. Jace hadn't talked about it at all. But of course, everything comes out eventually.

"Nightingale, I thought you wanted Joker dead."

"I did," I said, "I do. I want him dead more than anything else."

"Then why...no?"

I wasn't quite sure why I was saying what I was, but I was sure that I meant it. My mouth had taken over, revealing everything my brain had been thinking. "Jason, I thought you were going to kill him for the same reason I do. I want him dead because of all the people he's killed, families he's broken, life's he's destroyed. But, you don't."

Jason frowned. "I don't?"

"Not anymore."

"You're wrong," he accused, his voice gruff and devoid of any care.

"Jason, I know you. You want Joker dead for personal reasons, and I'm telling you now, it doesn't change anything or make anything better." Despite Jason's inflamed and wounding tone, I refused to let the sympathy drop from mine.

Jason rolled his eyes. "You sound just like Bruce."

To him, it was supposed to be an insult. But for me, Bruce was one of the wisest person I had ever known. "Maybe through all of this, Batman has been right. You won't feel any better once that parasite is off this Earth. You'll feel worse."

"Yeah? And how's that?" He said, condescendingly.

"You'll be empty and disappointed. I know you are telling yourself not to get your hopes up, but you will. And once you realize you don't feel different, you'll be filled with cold, hard emptiness." I looked away from him, drifting off into my own mind. Memories from Honor Island filled my vision. I cared about Jason. So much. I needed him to know what it felt like to get revenge. It wasn't worth it. I had killed my friends to avenge Coda -- and I regretted it everyday.

Jason glared at me. "You don't know that. He needs to be gone."

"He does," I agreed, "but killing someone for revenge changes your life. It changes you. You can't kill my uncle because he killed you. You can't kill him because of your issues with Batman."

Jason reacted like I had slapped him. He attacked with just as much ferociousness. "Sure I can," he bit, "it's not about that."

"Then what is it about?"

"It's about justice and--"

"This isn't about justice," I interrupted, "you can't kill Joker because you are upset." On accident, I made it sound like Jason's feelings were irrational. I didn't mean to, but I made it sound like I thought he was acting like a child.

He picked up on it. "Oh, and there he is."

"What?"

"Now you sound exactly like Golden Boy Dick Grayson!" Jason shouted, slamming the whiskey bottle down. It shattered, spilling the remaining alcohol on the floor.

I grimaced. "Here we go," I rolled my eyes.

"I'm the one who has different ambitions, right? But you're the one who's changing sides! I'm surprised Dick even let you come home with me. Wouldn't want you cheating on him with someone as shitty as me," he hissed, his eyes screaming at me just as much as he was. It was such a weird thing to see. For awhile, Jason's green eyes were a source of happiness and beauty. Now, there were almost yellow with anger.

I couldn't hold in my frustration now. "Shut the fuck up, Jason."

He laughed in a mocking way. "Oh yeah?"

"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about, asshole."

"I don't? You really think I didn't see you two before you came and fought?" Jason looked hurt, "You really think I didn't see how you both looked at each other?"

And suddenly, this wasn't about the mission anymore. Suddenly, this was about us. "It's not like that anymore."

"I know we weren't that serious, but was that all I was to you? A distraction to get Dick to give chase again?" He was still mad, but now, he was also wounded. I knew what my re connection with Dick meant to Jason. And I had done it anyway. What was wrong with me?

I shook my head. "Of course not."

"I'm not so sure," Jason mumbled, looking down at the shattered glass.

I stepped forward, reaching for him. But, I stopped. "Don't kill Joker," I said, strongly and finally.

"No," Jason replied.

We both locked eyes. I sighed, walking over to the door and leaving.

~~~~~~~~~~~Its technically not Saturday, but I fell asleep last night while writing most of this chapter, so I think it still counts. I have so much homework, oh no! Songs: Daydreamer - Adele. River and Roads - The Head and the Heart. Butterfly - BTS~~~~~~~~~~~~