Red Hood x Reader x Nightwing

Ch 10: Accept or Decline?

After a long, pushing day of school, and a shorter, quieter walk home, you came to the realization that you hadn't stopped in to see the millionaire that held your life in his hands.
     As per usual, your father wasn't home from work and he most likely wouldn't be for quite a while. Taking his absence to your advantage, you dropped your school bag onto your bed and rolled up your sleeve. Underneath was still the electronic brace, and you pushed a few buttons into it and the suit wrapped snug around your body.
     You took off your uniform and sipped up the back of the suit, before jumping out the window and turning on your rockets.
     You flew to the Lex Corp. building and flew up the stairs, rather than taking the elevator, and down a hallway  on the top floor into Luthor's office.
     "I'm glad you showed," he said, turning around in his chair, "eventually."
     A nod.
     "Good. Anyways, you're doing disgustingly well with taking care of these little villains I'm attacking you with," he said. Your brain went blank for a moment.
     "Excuse me?"
     He lifted an elegantly groomed brow. "What?"
     "You've been sending people to attack me?" you exclaimed.
     He chuckled. "Well, not all—"
     "Yeah? Well then who was a surprised even to you? Eh?" you demanded.
     "Mr. Freeze," he replied smoothly. "He, I did not send for you. And I only did it out of fun and games and besides, you defeated all of them, didn't you? I was just making sure you were noticeable to big ol' Batsy. They didn't hold back, sweetheart, no, that was all you."
     Your clenched jaw relaxed. "Anti-Flash isn't supposed to be in Gotham. That makes sense. Nor the Black Adam," you thought aloud.
     "No they're not. Anyways," he said, changing the subject, "I have news for you. My little mole in the 'Young Justice League' has informed me of talk about you and your public appearances taking an interest on the big leagues."
     "Wait. If you already have a mole... why do you need me?" you inquired.
     "Because he doesn't realize that he is a mole. All technicalities that we will discuss and deal with on another occasion." Lex smiled wide.
     "Oh, I think I get it. So what's the next step? Or do we just keep doing what we're doing until they say something?"
     He shrugged. "What do you think we should do, (Your Name)?"
     "Well, if you send in one of the big guys and tell them to go easy on me, that might spark some more attention," you suggested. You stood with your body relaxed, but completely and utterly still of any movement.
"That could work..." he said thoughtfully. His fingers twiddled against his lips. "What if you were attacked by the Joker... Hm? Thoughts?"
Your throat uncontrollably bobbed. If you were with Jason at the time, the Joker would get his throat slit—slowly. Or blown up. Or something crazy and reckless. The Prince of Chaos wouldn't be a particularly congenial option. You finally said, "No. The Joker is too unpredictable and relentless. I can't trust that he won't blow everything up."
Lex sighed and leaned back in his wheeled chair. "Valid argument, (Your Name). Very valid. Would Black Mantas be a better choice?"
You thought for a moment. You were a good swimmer, and had never experienced drowning. And it was better than the Joker. Why not?
"Sure," you replied.
He nodded, a smile playing on his lips. "Alright then. I will contact him tonight. Tomorrow, you get in. I may or may not send information on the situation. So stay ready. At all times." He waved you off. "Rest well."
     You didn't acknowledge him and simply walked out.
     Down the hall you watched Lex's assistant carefully through narrowed eyes, as she made her way to his office. She didn't look at you, but you knew she was aware of your careful stare.
     You made your way out of the corporation building and without thinking, turned the jets at the base of your feet on. They soared you through the sky and towards a sea walk, just on the coast of Metropolis. Landing, some stared, some didn't notice. Either way, it didn't make a difference to you.
     You leaned against a metal rail, feeling the salty breeze fill your senses with a calm whisper. You watched the blue waves curl against the sand, and saw something strange wash up on shore. Your toes curled and your hands became sweaty from uneasiness. You felt somewhat lightheaded, and couldn't place the cause.
Out from the crashing waves came a slender masculine figure with a very large, very wide head. A pair of two red glowing slots fixated on you.
You had never felt so queasy like this ever before—certainly not around villains. The eye slots glowed bright for a moment and a red laser beam fired at you. The shot grazed your arm, and you felt the pain rake your entirety. A scream filled the air from you and clutching your arm you stared at the man angrily.
Not caring about the consequences in those scarce moments, you found the button on your forearm and pressed it with all the energy you had. Then, in mere milliseconds, your white adapting suit slid over your skin and your shield grew from your arm.
The figure made what sounded like a laughing sound and began shooting at you again. The beams melted through your shield and your eyes went wide. You breathed one of Jason's favourite words and panicked. A smoke bomb found its way to your hand and you smashed against the sandy ground.
Turning on an environmental adapter you blended into your surroundings and fired your way over to the villain—whose name you couldn't place. You came up behind him and wrapped your arms around him, pulling the male into a full nelson. He grunted and began firing laser beams at random.
He bent over suddenly and flipped you over his back and into the sand. You let out a wail of discomfort, landing on your sizzling arm.
Something dark crashed in front of you. It swung at the male villain, sending him into the ground. Your eyes adjusted again and you saw Dick standing over you. But it wasn't Dick... it was Nightwing.
The villain got up off the ground and was instantly met with a foot to the chest. You kicked him into the rolling waves and Nightwing threw an electric pole in after him.
"Black Mantas," he said lowly as the villain seized in the water. "I want to know why he was after you. You mind helping me carry him into the jet?" Nightwing turned to face you and thumbed over his shoulder. "Good job, by the way."
You nodded and flung a small disk at Black Mantas. The disk engulfed him and rose him from the water and into the air with a wave of your hand. With the other, you rubbed the sand off your cheeks and watched Nightwing open the invisible jet. He looked back at you, half way up the stairs, and nodded for you to follow.
     Inside the jet sat Miss. Martian and Superboy. You swallowed nervously and sat Mantas where Nightwing gestured.
     "Hello!" Miss. M. smiled happily. "Welcome aboard! Sit in one of the chairs and we'll be on your way!"
     You glanced at Nightwing, who sat down and gave Miss. M. A thumbs up to start the jet. You saw a sort of seatbelt morf over Nightwing's chest, and hesitated sitting down. But he smiled at you, and you knew it was really just Dick. So you sat down as well, and though you knew it was coming, the seatbelt startled you.
     Miss. Martian chirped, "It's okay! She won't hurt you. Her job is to protect us and get us to places fast! That's all!"
     "She's right," Nightwing said calmly. "Let's get back to the mountain as fast as possible."
     "You betcha!"
     Miss. M., Superboy—without saying a word—and Nightwing take you to Mount Justice—a carved out mountain, Nightwing said, that was the original Justice League headquarters. It looked like any ordinary mountain, and you supposed that was the idea.
     Miss. Martian parked the jet inside the mountain, in a sort of garage, and opened the doors for the four of you to exit. You followed Nightwing down a few corridors and into a large space within the mountain—where none other than Batman and Superman themselves stood before a large cyber-screen.
     "Batman." Nightwing's voice was stern and so unlike Dick.
     "Did you bring the girl?" he asked equally as stony.
     He said, "Yes, I did. She's here." He placed a hand on your shoulder. You looked in his general direction, and the urge to hug him pulsed through you. But Superboy and Miss. M. were gone, also.
     "Good." Batman turned to face you, and you watched his swift movements in awe. You didn't mean to glower, but Superman noticed, and chuckled softly. "Your name is (Your Name), correct? And you school at Gotham Academy, and has been for two, three years? Yes. (Your Name), I have a proposition, an offer. If you say yes, it will be rewarding. If not, we will be forced to remove your skull from your body." His voice was so calm. Why was his voice so calm?
"He means we'll have to erase your memory a little, it's fine, no decapitating," Superman said quickly. You had so much valuable knowledge in your mind. Some recent and others not. But it was still valuable—to these people, to Gotham, to everything that you stood for. You knew what Lex Luthor was doing, you knew about the drug trades and robbery schemes and plans by Black Mask. You knew things that no ordinary person would—so even if you didn't want this life anymore, to give up on your dream house with your father and find another way—all of that information would be lost.
"I accept," your voice seemed strange, stronger. Was it because you were serving a good cause rather than bad? But you were still with Lex. Only...your heart felt lifted, felt lighter. You passed it as a positive feeling.
Batman nodded and said, "Good."
"Is there anything planned for today?" Nightwing inquired.
Another nod. "There's been a small attack downtown in Star City. But Flash is already on it. But we're thinking Lex Luthor has been up to something for quite some time now."
Superman added, "It's huge. We think he's trying to gain access into another dimension to collect warriors and fight against us... Or something like that."
You could recall something familiar, but nothing you could prove or explain in words. So you kept quiet and listened.
     "It's nothing that we can take care of at the moment, but for the time being, keep it in mind and stay on your guard." Superman finished and waved his leave. Batman stayed and continued to monitor the screen.
     This was it. You were in. You were part of the team now—right? That's what all this meant? If so, you'd go back to Lex Corp soon, and tell him the good news. For now, you would listen to orders and do as you were told. Not too far off what you do already, so the task shouldn't be hard.
     You were in.