Generations

Chapter 18: Arise, Nightwing

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my sister, animefreak017 because she was the first person to read to the end of what I'd posted and commented! That and she has a story out that she'd like more reads for, so go check that out. 

Now on with the story...

Chapter 18: Arise, Nightwing

Sleep didn’t come easy for the family that night.

They were restless, worried, and scared. Each sound outside, each car driving by, each deep breath.

It filled them with fear.

They knew the Nightwings would be back, it wasn’t a matter of if, but when.

They were certain.

But could they win again?

They barely had before, they had nearly been killed. Jason fought with everything he had, but was easily overpowered. Heather and Simon struck by fear and the overwhelming might of that dragon, couldn’t protect themselves. Heather nearly died, Simon was taken from them.

If it weren’t for Dani coming when she did…

They didn’t want to think about that. They knew the consequences all too well, but they didn’t want to acknowledge how close it had been, how their worst nightmares nearly became reality.

Jason stared at the clock, seeing it was 4 in the morning already. He gritted his teeth, wondering why time had to pass so slowly. He almost longed for morning to come, and for his mom to tell him to get ready for school. But he knew that whatever came tomorrow, or later today as the case may be, would probably be even worse than the torture of the education system.

He thought about sleeping, fading away, and letting his body to fully rest. But he couldn’t, not knowing, he had to be on guard. The second he let himself fall asleep; the Nightwings would bust into their room and take Simon.

But even worse, if he did sleep, he might dream again. And he couldn’t bring himself to face those images again. He knew that would be all his dreams would be too, each image, his family dying, his town in ruins, his brother killed, he’d never forget those. And if that weren’t enough, there was the fear that next time those would be real. That he wouldn’t wake up and everything would be okay.

He had to be awake, be ready to fight.

No matter how much he wanted to sleep, or how tired he was.

“You awake Simon?” Jason asked, certain he was from the way his brother kept turning in his bed.

“Yeah,” he said pausing for a moment, staring at the ceiling, listening to the roar of the air conditioner. “Scared of the Nightwings?” Simon asked after some thought. He was, he saw what they did to them. Even Jason had to be afraid.

Jason swallowed, not thinking about being scared of them like before. He was scared of what they could do, of what would happen if he wasn’t strong enough to stop them. But to be scared of them…

“Yeah, I am.”

“What do you think is going to happen now?”

“Dunno, I mean, it’s not like they’re going to give up this soon. But we don’t know when they’ll be back.”

“It won’t be long,” Simon said, reminded of all those things he had been seeing the past few days.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Jason didn’t need any more convincing. Simon was never wrong about the future like this. Even if he couldn’t see much or know the details, what he did know, was sure to happen.