Of Fire and Flames (A Nightwing Love Story)

Chapter Seventeen ~ Joker Venom

I pull my covers up to my chin trying not to think. But clearly it's not working because thoughts of him changing his mind float all around me. I don't even see why he liked me in the first place. I hear the front door slam and I know he's left for the day. That's probably a good thing, maybe now I can get some sleep...

Tick.Tick.Boom.

I wake up feeling confused and disoriented. Where am I how did I get here? I'm strapped down to a metal chair in the middle of what seems to be an operation room from hell. I try to move but the clanking of metal stops me dead in my tracks. I look down at my wrists and ankles and realize that they're bound in chains. What the heck-

"Aw, I see my new play thing in awake. How are you feeling my dear?"

I glare at the deranged clown that is now standing in front of me, "What do you want Joker?" I spit out.

"Now that's rude. I bring you to my fun house to hang out and you're already insinuating that I'm up to no good, well you're right. Bring in the toys."

Two guards bring in carts filled with uncountable tools that I know are going to bring my destruction all lain out in front of a mad man. Other than the Joker's smile, their faces are emotionless, frozen on their faces. They circle around the chair that I'm strapped to, they eye me like predators hunting down their prey.

I try to ignite my flames but nothing happens and Joker smirks at me, "I was wondering how long it was going to take you to try that. Too bad it didn't work huh? When I heard about you from a good...friend of mine I made a new Joker Venom, but this one won't kill you. Oh no, that'd be too boring, this one strips you of your powers."

I manage to rasp out, "Why?" around the gag on of the new henchmen just stuff in my mouth.

"Because I'm going to give you a few options, tray one, tray two, or you can skip the trays and torture, earn your powers back and switch sides. I'll train you, mold you into the perfect villain, because with your powers and my instruction, you could be unstoppable." 

"Never!"

He gets an evil gleam in his eyes, "To bad, I lied you don't get a choice. Bring me the vial."

A woman that I recognize as Harley Quinn bounces into the room and kisses Joker's cheek as she hands him a vile filled with a bright green substance. I try to break my bonds but to no avail, Joker laughs manically as he draws the substance into a needle, jams the needle into my arm, and pushes the contents into my body.

I jerk around and try to get away but he slaps me and looks over at the guards, "You can have you're fun with her now, but remember I want her alive." 

***

The air is filled with the smell of mucky water. I'm sitting on the floor of a dark, cold room. A little window with three bars is allowing the glare of the moon to come through. It's the only light in the room. I try to get up to at least sit in the light, but my legs won't move. 

I finally get the strength to get up. The weight of the chains on my wrists weigh me down. I slowly walk across the room. My chains make an annoying dangling noise, which I know that would be the only noise I would hear for a while. I'm too weak to speak or do anything. Every move I make, makes the chains clank. I sit down right when I get to the light. I look down at my legs, which are covered in deep cuts and bruises. My arms are no different. I get up to walk to the wall to have something to support my back, since it had been whipped earlier. I run out of chain so it stops me with a jerk. I fall to my knees. Pain fills my body again and tears fill my eyes. 

No! No more crying over pain. This might be my new life. I have to deal with it, at least until the team realizes I'm missing.

I see something out of the corner of my eye. I look at the window and see a hand holding onto the middle bar. I can hear a sizzling sound as I watch the metal bar melt into boiling liquid. I won't believe it until I saw his face. I can hear a few whispers. What's going on? A few seconds later, the bars are gone. I see someone jump in from the window. 

"Ella?" I hear someone whisper. Whoever it is runs towards me. With the warm touch of his hands on my arms I know it's him. "Ella? Ella!" It's Nightwing; at this point he's shaking me. It really hurts. "Ella, please speak to me!"

"Ouch." I can barely talk, my throat is dry and sore from the Joker's men grabbing me by it earlier, "A-and since when do you call me b-by my real name?" 

Nightwing sighs in relief. He breaks the chains that hold me back. "It's alright. We're going to get you out of here." He slides his arm between the wall and my back and the other between the floor and the backs of my knees. I never thought that this would happen. I never thought Nightwing would carry me like this. He starts to get up as he holds on to me. "This may hurt." He says as he starts to lift me up higher to put me though the window. 

"As long as I get out of here, I'll be fine." I can't wait to get out of this 'fun' house. 

With a gentle shove from Nightwing, I was through the window and lying on grass. Superboy, Miss Martian, and Impulse are there, staring at me. Miss Martian can't seem to hold back her tears. She turns away to Superboy and she completely breaks down. Superboy hold Daisy with a worried expression on his face, she normally avoids him like the plague since their break-up. Impulse rushes up to me mumbling something about medical attention under his breath.  Nightwing climbs out of the window and kneels down on the ground next to me.

"It's worse than I thought," Nightwing announces. Impulse stops mumbling and looks at James. I force myself to sit up on my elbows, then my hands. 

"I'm okay."

"For goodness sake, you're not! Just look at yourself!" Miss M says, as she finally stops crying. I look down at my arms and legs. 

"Well I'm going to be fine. You guys are here now and we can get out of here." 

Everyone starts to walk back to ship, and now it's only the two of us left. 

"So... You came for me." I tell him, blushing so much that I bet my face is redder than Miss M's hair.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Nightwing asks, he reaches for my hand to hold it, "We need you," Nightwing glares at the building behind me before finally looking at me , "More importantly, I need you." 

I was about to respond to that but Nightwing starts to lean into me. Once I notice, I start to lean in too. I tilt my head and close my eyes. My heart starts pounding faster and faster. Our lips touch; we're kissing. I lean in closer to him and I can feel his warmth spread through my body. I can feel his heart beating against his chest and surprisingly, I don't feel any pain in this moment. Nightwing lets go of my hand and puts his hand on the back of my head. I reach up and put my arms around his neck. Five seconds later he stops. 

"We need to get back to the ship, before we get caught." Nightwing smiles at me, I try to get up to walk back with him, but nearly fall when I put weight on my legs, Nightwing stops me, "No, no, no. I'm not letting you walk with those cuts on your legs." I sigh but let him carry me back to the ship so we can get the heck out of here before Joker comes back. 

Even though I'm relieved that they found me, something feels off. I don't feel quite right and I have a feeling whatever he injected me with is the cause of it.