Ravenwing *Discontinued*

Chapter 9

Nightwing P.O.V

     After Nightraven passed out, I picked her up bridal style and carried her out of Scarecrow's hideout. It wasn't easy carrying her, as the fear toxin invaded her dreams, making her whimper and thrash around. I managed to get her outside, where Batman and Robin waited with Scarecrow tied up and unconscious at their feet.

     "Is she okay?" Robin asked, gesturing to Nightraven.

     "No, but she will be," Batman told him before I could reply. "The toxin should wear off in a few hours and we should be able to heal her shoulder as well."

      Robin nodded, looking worried. Somehow Nightraven had already become a huge part of our team, even though she'd only been with us a couple weeks.

     "Why is she unconscious Nightwing?" Batman asked. "What happened?"

      "Well," I began. "While we were taking care of Scarecrow, I heard her scream. Saving her was one of the main reasons we came, so I went to find the source of the scream." I looked down at Nightraven. "She already had the toxin in her system when I found her.  She had pressed herself against one of the walls with her eyes closed. She was swinging this," I managed to hand Batman the dagger Nightraven had dropped. "In front of her and already had the wound on her shoulder."

     "Where did she get a dagger?" Batman demanded.

     "How am I supposed to know?" I asked, annoyed. "I told you she had it when I got there."

     Batman looked like he was going to say something else, but seemed to think better of it when Robin shot him a look. I gave Robin a grateful glance as I continued.

     "Anyways," I said. "I grabbed her wrist and we ran. We were nearly out of the building when I felt her release my hand. I turned and she was trying to get away from me. I asked what was wrong - though I assumed it was the toxin - and she simply yelled at me to stay away, falling and dropping the dagger in the process. I pulled her to her feet and...." I paused, looking down at Nightraven. I decided to keep the last thing that she had said tp myself. "And she fainted. Most likely due to the toxin."

     Robin seemed to realize that something was off about the way I'd spoken, but I shook my head, silently hoping he wouldn't bring it up. Mercifully, he got the message.

     Batman simply nodded. "Alright," he said. "Get her in the car. Commissioner Gordon is on his way to pick up Scarecrow. We should head back to the cave."

     I walked over to the Batmobile and the door opened automatically. I gently placed Nightraven on the back seat and walked over to my motorcycle. I hated leaving Nightraven with Batman for the ride back, but there was no way I was riding with Batman.

     The entire way back to the cave, I was thinking over what Nightraven had said. She knew Jason? Was it the same Jason I was thinking of? Why was she so scared of him? I knew I wouldn't get any answers by distracting myself with questions though, so I set my questions aside. I would ask her later.

- Christina P.O.V -

     I won't terrify you with descriptions of everything I saw while I was passed out. Let's just say that when you've been alive as long as me, you've got quite a few fears. Quite a few very terrifying fears.

     Anyways, the only one you guys need to know about is the part about James (Jem). The fear that already came true. I explain the whole thing to Dick later in the story, so I'll just tell you the basics: Jem was my boyfriend; My father didn't approve; My father made sure we would never see each other again.

     But you don't want to hear about me. Back to the story.

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     I woke up slowly (the fear gas had already worn off) instead of jolting awake. I will admit that I did panic when I realized that I had an oxygen mask on and the was a huge pain in my left shoulder. I yanked the mask off and, with no regard for whether I needed it, threw it over somewhere without looking. I heard a sound of pain, and looked towards it.

     "Ow," muttered Dick, rubbing his head where the mask must have hit it. "What-" he cut himself off when he noticed I was awake. "Christina! You're up!"

      I winced at how loud his voice was and quickly took in my surroundings. Dick was still in his costume except for the mask, and we were in the Batcave. I was certain of that. After all, how many gigantic caves full of bats are there near Gotham?

     "Sorry Christina," Dick said, lowering his voice. "I'm just really glad you're awake."

     "So am I," I told him, shuddering slightly. "Believe me." Then I started asking all the questions I thought of to take my mind off it. "Wait, how did I get here? What happened to Scarecrow? How did my shoulder get hurt? Where's my mask?"

     "Whoa," he held up his hands. "Calm down. I'll answer your questions, but then I have one or two of my own."

     I nodded, agreeing to his terms.

     "Okay," he started. "When Bruce found me in the club, we figured out Scarecrow had taken you, so we went after him to find you. Scarecrow's in jail again. Your mask is over there," he pointed to a table a few feet away. "And I don't know how your arm got hurt. I was hoping you knew."

     "I might," I conceded, looking at the bandage. "What kind of wound is it?"

     "It looks like a giant bite mark."

     That both surprised me and was exactly what I had expected. "Then I do know. Scarecrow must have altered the toxin so the things that the victim sees can damage them in the real world. I have no idea how, but he did."

     Mercifully, he was a decent human being and didn't ask what happened to cause the injury. He simply nodded.

     "We knew he'd been making changes to his toxin," he explained. "We just didn't know what kind of changes."

     He paused here, as if not knowing what to say next.

     "So," I poked him on the shoulder. "You had a question?"

     He took a breath before speaking. Generally not a good sign.

     "I'm sure this is probably really personal," he began. I was right. Not good. "But you don't have to answer. I get that there are certain things that you probably don't want to talk about, and-"

     I cut him off. "You're rambling," I told him." Just ask the question."

     "Right, right. Well, before you passed out," he started. "And I mean seconds before, you said something that sounded like 'Jason, please' and I was wondering who the Jason you meant was and what happened that made you so afraid of him."

     I closed my eyes for a moment and considered my options. I could have said it was too personal (because it was very personal). I could have said he misheard me. I could have made up some story. There were so many options other than telling him the truth.

     Yet in the end, I chose to tell the truth. He had been nothing but honest and open with me. I felt like he deserved to have my trust. After all, I had told him nearly nothing about myself so far, and he still trusted me. So I took a deep breath and began to tell him the story.