NightQuinn II: Fear Itself

Make It Worth My Time

Rain fired down onto the grimy, shadow-filled streets of Blüdhaven, an already grim place to be, the weather worsening that situation. You couldn't go a street in this city without passing someone who has committed a crime in their time. These streets were dark, visually and literally. The dire storm viciously attacked the dirty streets. The whole city was a mess of rain, dirt and cigarette smoke.

So, it was of course where Dick Grayson and Harley Quinn were enjoying their date.

The two of them had been living together in Blüdhaven since they'd helped put the Joker behind bars about six months prior. They were staying together in an old Cobblepot mansion that Bruce Wayne had renovated for them. The mansion, now derelict due to the Cobblepot family not having the money to sustain the place, was ideal once re modelled. The formerly mossy, run down manor was now refurbished and refurnished, it was considerably smaller than Wayne Manor, but it gave Dick and Harley a home of luxury, while remaining away from the main streets of Blüdhaven, allowing them to be more secretive with their duty of protecting the desperate city.

Before the bout of harsh weather, they'd both been out to dinner together. It wasn't the weather on its own that bothered them, however. The problem came in the fact that too much contact with the rain would wash away the makeup Harley needed to cover her recognisable porcelain skin. Her iconic pale skin, peroxide blonde hair and standout features were a danger to Dick & Harley if they were to be seen by the general public.

Upon returning home, both Dick & Harley felt like heading straight to the bedroom and falling into bed, their lifestyle didn't allow for much sleep, though - in all fairness – sleep was only half the reason they'd want to get into bed together.

Hand in hand, they walked up the steps leading to their front door. Dick turned to Harley "Sorry we had to cut the date short." He said, realising both were upset they couldn't stay out much longer. "Ah, don't worry about it." She beamed. "Besides, we both know what stayin' on the streets in Blüd can do for ya."

After they'd got indoors, Harley headed up to the bathroom, where she washed off all the cosmetics she used to cover the aforementioned easily distinguishable snowy skin. Dick made sure everything was all turned off and left some food for Bud & Lou, their pet hyenas.

Then, Dick headed upstairs to the bedroom. His intention was to grab his Nightwing gear and head out to patrol the streets, but tonight's date with Harley had changed his mind on that, he instead planned on something he'd been thinking of for a while. "Tonight's the night." He thought. He left a light on in the living room downstairs and headed up to their room, where Harley looked just about ready to call it a night. "You mind just coming with me for a sec?" Dick asked. "It'll be, like five minutes." Harley rolled her eyes and stood up from the bed.

"Alright," She smiled. "just make it worth my time."

They both made their way down to the living room, where Dick pulled a book from a bookshelf, causing the shelf to move and reveal the stairs to a hideout. It was no Batcave, but something that Dick, Bruce and a few others had been working on for a while. Once it was finished, this would be where Dick and Harley would keep all their things for patrolling Blüdhaven, as opposed to their current situation of leaving their stuff lying around the house.

Together, they wandered through the floodlight-lit path, past the empty area where computers would go, past the empty stands for their costumes until they came to a small balcony at the end, from there you could see the ocean, and a few neighbouring cities over the horizon. Dick leaned on the railing of the balcony, with Harley doing the same to the left of him. "You see that, over there?" Dick pointed to the clump of light in the distance. "That's Gotham, and that," He pointed to another collection of lights. "Metropolis."

"You just bring me down here to show me that?" She asked, not taking her eyes away from the horizon. "Well, I was gonna do this while we were out, so I figured the view would make up for it." Dick explained. Interested, Harley looked to her right and her jaw nearly hit the floor as she saw Dick, on one knee, holding a small box in his hand, the box containing a diamond ring. Harley covered her mouth with both hands as her eyes widened, Dick blushed slightly, before he asked "Harleen Frances Quinzel, will you marry me?" Harley was already nodding her head before he even finished speaking.

After he'd asked, she hugged him tighter than ever before. She struggled to even get the words out as she held back a tear or two welling up in her eye, she hadn't pictured anything like this ever happening for her. She'd never once thought that she could live a life like this, or get the chance to experience love in this way. With her lips just next to his ear, she replied "Yes.", her voice little more than a whisper. "Of course I will, Dick." She pulled her head back slightly to make eye contact with him. "I love you." She said, her words much clearer now.

Dick's instincts were commanding him to reply with "I know", and he very nearly did quote Han Solo just then, but decided to just be honest. "I love you too." He smiled before placing a kiss on her lips.

A few hours later,

Dick lay awake in bed, with Harley asleep just next to him and with a smile on her sleeping face. Dick hadn't slept that night, he was probably just too excited to see what the future could hold for him and his now fiancé. He decided he'd do one of the only things that could settle him down: beating up criminals. Quietly, as not to wake Harley, Dick got out of bed and put on his Nightwing gear before exiting the house through the window.

Nightwing hadn't been out long before he found something. After he'd stopped a mugging and taken down a pair of vandals, Dick encountered a crime scene. He used his acrobatics to make his descent to one of Blüdhaven's many dangerous back alleyways. Three bodies all lay on the ground, one had been beaten to death, the other two were riddled with bullet holes. The most noteworthy part, however, was what was on the wall. Upon they grey wall lay a red symbol Dick knew all too well, but he still had to say it out loud to himself so he could believe it.

"Jason."