stranger things | dick grayson

forty one

word count: 1.2k

a/n: okay now THIS is exactly what you think it is

~

Jason threw himself forward and abandoned his phone by tossing it onto the desk, not caring that it bounced onto the floor.

'Holy shit!' The computer started beeping. 'Holy shit. Holy shit, I fucking got you!' He exclaimed and pointed at the screen where the small blue tracker flashed.

The feed from the monitors echoed throughout the Batcave, 'Oh, my God! It's the Joker!'

'I got three officers down! Hang on, Alvarez! I need a medevac right now, God damn it! This is Gotham—'

'We have a chopper in the area. Do you have eyes on the Joker?'

'No. Thank Christ. He's gone... Hey! Watch your back!'

Jason's grin fell as the feedback from the recording buzzed loudly in his ears, causing him to recoil from the monitors. The feedback was interrupted by the officers shouting and the Joker laughing.

'Where's Batman?'

He sat back in his seat before jumping at his phone to call Bruce. 

'I got him, Bruce. I got the Joker dead to rights, man.'

'What?' Bruce asked with heavy exhaustion in his tone.

'Some cops stumbled onto him answering a bullshit break-in call. The clown torched the pigs and left, right? But I tracked him with the audio from city surveillance and I triangulated his location. He's at the old amusement park near the pier. He's right fucking there, Bruce!'

'I won't be back until morning. Stand down, Jason.'

'Bruce, I...'

'Stand down.'

'Bruce, listen to me. I got this. I can do this... This is the Joker, Bruce. We missed our chance before— I understand I panicked and ran but...'

'All the more reason you're not going alone. Look what happened the last time you decided to go after him, you almost got Eleanor killed.'

'But Bruce I'm not afraid of him. I'm not afraid of anything anymore.'

'It's not about whether you're afraid or not.'

'When are we gonna get another chance to nail him like this?' His shoulders sank at another denial from Bruce. 'Okay, I got it. Loud and clear, boss.'

'I'll see you in the morning,' Bruce said, but Jason hung up without a reply.

Jason tossed his phone onto the table and stood up, cursing quietly to himself. There was no way he was going to let this go, if the Joker wasn't stopped now there was no telling what he could do to the people of Gotham before Bruce even stepped foot back in the city. He had to go now.

+

Pacing back and forth on the rooftops, Eleanor crossed her arms and latched onto her shoulder tightly. Watching Gar and Connor— and Krypto— speak with the police about the street gang they just took down, stopping them from selling the bioengineered strand of a virus to whoever they pleased. It would have wreaked havoc if it landed in the wrong hands— Unable to be stopped.

'They're doing great down there,' Nightwing said, still hanging in the shadows behind her. Eleanor didn't mind if she was spotted by the media, her face was covered and her hair was tucked away.

'I know. The press seems to love Kory,' she murmured and crouched down at the edge of the roof, watching the way Kory spoke with the news reporters. 'We did good in there today.' She stood up and turned around, seeing him cross his arms and lean on the wall. She pulled her mask above her head and let it rest there, surely making her look insane.

'Yeah. Yeah, we did. It's good to finally have you back on the team,' he said to her, watching as she awed and waved him off.

'Naw shucks, you!' She laughed and gently shoved him as she walked past, causing him to follow her behind her with a grin. 'Although the new suit is just... tight in so many places. My old suit was so much more comfortable.'

It wasn't Crusader's suit or even Sparrow's, but a brand new one that still had no name to go along with it. Eleanor wasn't sure whether she was going to give herself one or wait until she appeared in the media and just let them decide.

'Can't beat mine,' he said and turned around before twisting at an awkward angle, gesturing to his ass that was rather accentuated with the tight pants. Eleanor shook her head as she fought her laughter.

'C'mon, bring your perfect arse and let's go find the others,' she said and pulled her mask back down. With a smile, Nightwing followed after her.

The two waited until the press had cleared off of the scene before meeting with Kory at the back of the warehouse.

'Nice work back there. The reporters loved you,' Dick complimented as Kory flicked her hair from her face.

'Yeah, especially when you love them back,' she retorted, causing Eleanor to grin at her.

'Batman and I never waited around for the press back in Gotham,' Dick said and shrugged.

Eleanor had never had to deal with the press until she became a Detective. Always on the run as Crusader, the whole point of flying under the radar was to stay out of the public eye, and that's what they strived to do most of the time.

'Maybe that's why the press was so bad?' Kory asked, wincing deeply.

Dick chuckled and agreed in amusement before pressing his fingers to his ear and taking a step back, answering the person on the other line. Eleanor looked around before she tore her mask off and tucked it into the back of her belt, relieved to get some more fresh air— Well, as fresh as the air could be in the city.

'What?' Dick asked in shock, causing both Kory and Eleanor to snap their attention to him. 'I... Okay, yeah. Yeah, we'll be there.'

He looked back at the girls and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

'What is it?' Kory asked as she moved closer in concern.

'Jason's dead.'

Eleanor blinked once. Then twice. What did he just say?

Kory pressed on the matter as Eleanor's stomach slowly began to sink and twist, sending a wave of nausea to wash over her from head to toe.

'I- I don't know. We need to go to Gotham,' Dick said and looked at Eleanor.

'We? We, why me? Why not just you?' She stuttered out, her hands held out in front of her, almost as if she didn't know what to do with them.

He shook his head. 'I can't do this without you,' Dick said quietly, his voice wavering.

Kory turned away from the two with her hands on her head, attempting to take deep breaths but the air didn't quite reach her lungs. She turned back to face the young couple as they embraced one another quickly.

'I'll go with you,' Eleanor said quietly to Dick as he nodded in appreciation.

'I'll get the others home... Let me tell them, I don't want them finding out from a tabloid or some fucked up shit,' Kory said and crossed her arms.

'Thank you, Kory,' Dick said as Eleanor grabbed her hand firmly and squeezed it.

'Keep me posted, you guys.'

'We will.'

~