Nightwings Flight

Hope

15:00 SEP 30TH 2013 TERMINATOR MEDICAL ROOM

I Jolted awake to see the dented wall of the medical room, Ravagers voice coming from the other side of a white curtain to my left.

"Sorry I haven't visited you in a while Joey, I've been busy lately," he said, a whence of pain in his voice. "I bought you another one of those ASL books though, and I thought that maybe I could read it with you." There was a long pause before I saw the slouched silhouette that Ravagers voice was coming from standing up. "I understand, I'll just leave it here for you anyway. I'll talk to you later little bro."

The curtain was pulled open so that I could see Ravager in a white T-shirt, jeans, and a brown biker jacket.

"Sorry," I said, looking up at the blonde teen, his brown eyes almost spilling over with tears as he looked down at me.

"For what?" he asked, obviously trying to hide his emotion.

"I shouldn't have been listening in," I said, Grants right eyebrow raising slightly as I did. "And I should have taken the shot."

"Forget about that Renegade," Grant said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "You're not a killer, or my friend, I shouldn't have expected you to do it."

"Grant, I'm sorry, I didn't think that he would hurt your brother!" I said, wincing as I tried to support myself with my left arm.

"Don't you ever call me that again," Grant said, turning to the large metal doors and unlocking them with the keypad to the side of it. Grant then mumbled something under his breath that sounded like "You'd have shot him for your sister."

I stared at the door for a few minutes before I heard a slight tapping to my right. I turned my head to see Joey sitting in the bed next to mine, bandages wrapped around his neck.

"Sorry about that, I'm sure that Grant didn't want you to see him like that," I said, the boy smiling cheerfully, his bright green eyes closing. "You probably hate me, don't you?"

Joey shook his head quickly, furrowing his brow before moving his hands slowly into intricate shapes. I tried to keep track of the shapes, but I wasn't quite sure what any of them mean. He seemed to realize halfway through and then pointed to the left of me at my bedside table.

I looked over to see a stack of books with names like ASL FOR BEGINNER and HOW TO LIVE WITH YOUR DEFF CHILD. "Did you put these here?" I asked, looking back over at Joey as I picked up the first book.

Joey shook his head, a big toothy smile on his face. He then brushed his thumb against his forehead, placing it onto his other hand, both of them in the shape of guns.

"Well, I'm not really sure what that means, but, I'll get right to reading these," I said, struggling to open up the book. 'Dam, I'm so useless like this.'

15:14 OCT 14TH 2013 TERMINATOR CONTROL ROOM

Ravager

I walked into the control room, placing my helmet onto my head. "The Renegade is up," I said, stopping directly behind Deathstroke's chair.

"Good, too bad he'll probably be out of commission for even longer after what happened between you two," Deathstroke said, a hint of hostility in his voice. "How's the search for a new headmaster at the H.I.V.E. Academy?"

"I've narrowed it down to three possible options," I said, typing in a few commands on my right wrist guard to bring up the three files. "The first option is Queen B, but her price is extremely high, the Brain has also agreed, but he's most likely to cut us off, and then there's Brother Blood."

"I don't recognize that last name," Deathstroke said, not looking over at me. "Give me some info."

"He has the ability to affect peoples mind in a way that makes them want to obey his wishes, and he is currently high priest of the Church of Blood in Zandia."

"What are his terms?"

"He simply wishes to have his cult replace all none essential employees, and that he can indoctrinate any student he wishes," I answered, enlarging the picture of the man.

"I'd like to have an interview with this man."

15:35 OCT 14TH ROBIN OFFICE

Barbra

I sat in the room, looking around at the connecting strings of cases that Dick had compiled that he believed related to Deathstroke. 'Dick, I wish you were here, then maybe you could tell me what any of this meant,' I thought to myself, running my fingers through my hair. 'What happened to the days when I could tell what you were thinking just by looking at how you were standing?'

"Umm, friend Batgirl?" Kori said, peaking her head through the door. "You've been in here quite a while, do you require assistance?"

"No thanks Kori, I'm just trying to figure out what all of this means," I said, forcing a smile for the innocent Tamaranians sake. "Dick never used to confuse me this much."

"Who is this 'Dick' you speak of?" Kori asked, walking into the room and closing the door behind her.

"Sorry Kori, that's just Robins real name," I said, chuckling a little. "I forgot that he hadn't told you guys about that."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I've never been able to understand Robin very well," Kori said, looking over to a newspaper that had been pinned to a funeral invitation addressed to Wayne Manor.

"Batgirl, get to the medical ward now!" Ravens voice said over the intercom. "Gar woke up and he has something he needs to tell you!"

15:36 OCT 14TH TITAN MEDICAL WARD

I ran into the medical ward to see Raven standing in her casual wear next to Garfield who was wolfing down a large salad.

"I came as quickly as possible, what do you have to tell me?" I said, looking at Garfield as he swallowed a mouthful of food.

"When Robin attacked me, he told me something after he stole my comms," he said, looking up at me. "He told me to ask you what you what him and your father have in common?"

I stared at Garfield for a bit, trying to think of the things that my dad had that Dick did as well. It wasn't exactly a short list, but most of the things I hadn't talked to him about. The only thing that really came to mind was that they were willing to do anything for their family, even if it meant hurting them. "Raven, get victor down here, I need him to run some tests."