Nightwing: Heartless

Part 67: Final Fight

The syringe flew out of Deathstroke's hand as a fist came down to his face. Nightwing looked up, shocked, as an arrow caught Lady Shiva in the shoulder and threw her back. Nightwing grunted and took the knife out of the ground and out of his shoulder as Aqualad found him and wrapped his arm in a sling.

SuperBoy cracked his knuckles as Deathstroke stood, no longer smiling and backed up. Miss Martian flew down and helped Willa to her feet, protectively leading her behind the line of heroes. Nightwing took his place in the center, limping from the wound in the thigh, arm in a sling, face bloodied, but eyes lit with anger. Artemis and Aqualad were on his sides, Miss Martian and SuperBoy on the ends, all ready for battle.

"Cute," Lady Shiva sneered and snapped her fingers. M'gann gasped as a burst of light went off and a circle of light erupted around her.

Superboy grunted as a dagger hit him in the shoulder, the end of the kryptonite peeking out. Aqualad doused the fire and helped M'gann up as SuperBoy took the kryptonite from her shoulder and threw it a football field away. Nightwing and Artemis gave his Team cover, Artemis in her old costume for the occasion. She blew their daggers off course as Nightwing swiped at their legs.

Shadows descended from the rooftops, surrounding them. Nightwing grimaced when he moved his shoulder but he ignored the pain and let the adrenaline fuel him. Protecting Willa was the goal. He wouldn't let her suffer any more.

Artemis went hand to hand with Lady Shiva as Nightwing, Superboy, and Aqualad took out as many Shadows as possible while Willa took cover. Deathstroke weaved within his soldiers, emerging for a swing and then disappearing, an ever present surprise.

Aqualad grunted as Deathstroke shocked him, laying down three discs that exploded to a net of fire, keeping Kaldur on his knees. Nightwing took the hilt of a sword to the head and stumbled, hearing Deathstroke do the same to M'gann as he did to Kaldur. Nightwing wiped the blood from his temple and ran to Miss Martian, freezing when he saw Deathstroke holding Willa in front of him, a human shield, and gun to her head.

Artemis cried out as Lady Shiva kneeled on her back and some kind of kryptonite gas detonated around Superboy. Nightwing's first encounter with Lady Shiva played in his head. This was the purpose, the Shadows knew it would end up like this, so they devised individual weapons to take out each Team member.

The unconscious bodies of the Shadow reinforcements lay limp along the ground, Nightwing's team exhausted and cornered, and Willa with a gun to her head. Nightwing did the calculations, he couldn't get to her before Deathstroke pulled the trigger and he was out of smoke bombs. Deathstroke smirked, he knew all this too.

Nightwing heard Artemis struggle behind him to get free but Lady Shiva just laughed. He kept his eyes on Willa. She didn't look afraid anymore, she looked angry. Nightwing grasped his last electric disc, too far away to incapacitate Deathstroke, tightly.

"Any last words to your lover?" Deathstroke taunted.

Nightwing held Willa's eyes, body tensed but he didn't see a way around the gun at her head. She swallowed hard and shifted her grip on Deathstroke's arm around her throat and grasped his wrist holding the hand.

"You're going to be okay, Will, just hang on." His desperation came through his voice, his eyes searching rapidly for more reinforcements but there were none. "You're going to be okay." Now he was trying to convince himself too.

Willa looked at him with her kind eyes, not even anger in them. "Nightwing," she said softly. Nightwing shook his head against the beginning of a goodbye, his throat closing up. "I," she continued and moved her hands farther up. He swallowed emotions and nodded, not needing words to express himself. "Behind you," she whispered.

Nightwing spun around, throwing his disc and catching Lady Shiva square in the chest, knocking her off Artemis, who launched an arrow that detonated into a net right after as Willa threw her weight back and used the momentum to twist the gun out of Deathstroke's hand. Artemis sent another arrow to short out the discs trapping Kaldur and M'gann. When Nightwing turned back Willa had the gun pointed at him now.

Deathstroke wiped the surprise off his face and smiled at Willa, "come now, sweetheart, give me the gun." Willa quivered and Dick could practically see how she fought his commands. "Give me the gun, bitch," he growled, his face darkening.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore," she said, chin raised.

"You should be."

Nightwing lunged a half a second before Deathstroke did, knowing he was too far away but reacting instinctively. The gun shot rang out, stopping him in his tracks. There was a silence in the moment before Deathstroke's body hit the ground, a bullet hole through his head.

Willa looked at Dick, eyes wide. He slowly took the gun from her hands and unloaded the rest of the bullets before tossing the gun away. Superboy coughed and got to his feet with help from Miss Martian. Aqualad and Artemis started tying the hands and feet of the Shadows on the ground.

Willa looked down at Deathstroke's body then back at Dick, but she didn't cry or shake. She was oddly calm, if a little shocked. She exhaled and slumped against Dick, letting him hold her weight and wrap her in a hug. "It's over," he whispered on the top of her head. He felt her shudder at the sentence. "Are you okay?"

"I killed him."

"Yes."

"He would have killed me."

"And my Team. Who knows how many more. And me."

She looked up at him, eyes clearer than he'd seen in a while, calmer than she'd ever been. "I save you, you save me, yeah?"

Dick couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled in his throat. It was a genuine laugh. Willa smiled and laughed too, resting her head on his chest. He led her away from the body and nodded a thanks to Artemis as she covered it with a sheet. Sirens sounded a few blocks away.

"You called the Team didn't you?" Nightwing asked, already knowing the answer. He had felt Willa slip his panic button out of his belt when they were surrounded.

Willa looked at the scene, avoiding Deathstroke's body and the puddle of blood. "Is it really over?"

Nightwing leaned her head on his shoulder and held her against the wind as she shivered. "Yes."