Nightwing: Heartless

Part 39: Swinging

Willa swayed her head to the beat of the song playing as she finished the last of her citations for her final paper for sociology. She clicked save and did a little dance at her desk, stoked that the rough draft she had been working on for the last two weeks was done. Abby was at the library studying for her neuroscience exam and Willa was happy to have the room to herself. Which was why she wasn't expecting to look over and see a figure outside her window.

Willa gasped and almost fell off her chair leaping backwards. She grabbed her lamp and held it as a weapon but was just met with a cheeky smile on the other side of the glass. Willa lowered the lamp, relieved but pissed. She walked to her window, trying to see what Dick- no, Nightwing, was standing on since there were no fire escapes. She looked up to see him hanging on to the same grappling hook he had used to throw her out of the opera house window.

Dick raised his eyebrows, asking to come in, and Willa tried to open the window but it was sealed. It was a precaution against kids jumping out of windows, she guessed. She pointed to the latch and shook her head. Dick seemed to understand because he pulled out another gadget and hooked it up to the window. A low pop sounded and Dick pushed the window up before climbing in. "Hi."

Willa took in the whole costume. It was black, meant for stealth, with a utility belt and thigh holsters. The only distinction was the blue emblem of a bird on his chest, and the mask around his eyes. It was weird seeing him like this, weird and oddly thrilling.

"What are you doing outside my window?" Willa asked, smiling.

"There was a robbery a few blocks away, and now that you know, I thought I'd swing by... hang around for a bit."

"You're the worst."

"I know, why do you put up with me?" He pulled her in for a kiss.

"Is your friend okay? Miss Martian?"

"M'gann? Yeah, she's a tough one. It all worked out," Dick said, obviously relieved. That's why he was in such a good mood, Willa thought.

Willa walked back to her window, feeling a night breeze in her hair. "So this is what you do," she looked out into the city, "you swing through the city helping people."

"Sometimes I run," Dick shrugged and joined her by the window, "but yeah pretty much."

"That's amazing. A lot of people like to think they're good, brave, but few actually are," she looked at him, "you are."

He took his mask off, "you are too, Will."

"In a very different way. I don't look for trouble at night and swing towards it."

"Do you want to?" He asked with a mischievous grin, "not towards danger, of course."

Willa snapped her head back from the view to her boyfriend, "really?" She couldn't hide her excitement if she tried.

"Grab a jacket."

She ran to her closet and pulled on the first sweatshirt she found then jumped into Dick's waiting arms, laughing when he caught her, her feet a foot off the ground. He grinned and held her tight in one arm, recoiling his grappling hook and aiming it at a nearby building. "Hang on," he whispered in her air. Then he jumped.

Willa didn't scream. She wasn't afraid, she was breathless. The wind whipped her hair back and she gasped as the ground came rushing at them, but then they swung up and Dick shot the rope again and again, higher and higher, until the people on the ground were just specks. Willa took it all in, laughing whenever they dropped but never loosening her grip on Dick. He noticed and let them drop a little farther each time, looking over every time to see if she was okay.