Saving The Heart

Part Six : Chapter Three

Guys this story has honestly brought me so much joy throughout the last few years and I just- ALSO I'M SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING AGAIN!

Damian had it bad. Of course, he had never actually gotten over Jon, more of convinced himself that he had. And right now, while Jon held on to him as they rode on towards the hideout, he felt like he might implode. "We're almost there," he said. It was dark.

"Good," Jon said. He gripped Damian's suit tighter for an instant before letting go. The brief change was enough to set Damian's heart on fire.

They pulled up to the location Batman had given them. A small apartment building stood as a silhouette in the true night, the moonlight and stars peeking out from behind its sharp edges. The boys hopped off of Damian's cycle and walked up to the entrance. The air was warm but crisp, and a soft breeze gave off a grim but welcoming feeling. Every light was out on the street.

"So what's the plan?" Jon asked finally. Even after a year they still fall into their same roles: Damian makes the plan, Jon brings the punch.

"Well our guy is either in there waiting for us or left his base abandoned," Damian replied. "The lights are out, so I think we have a pretty good chance of it being empty. I say we burst in and if he's there we beat 'em. We can take him on."

Jon nodded and took a deep breath. "Let's do this."

They walk right through the front door. The desk is empty and abandoned; probably why the criminal chose that run-down building. Damian wondered if it even still had running water. They climbed the stairs to the second floor; the only other floor. Only two doors were there, side by side. The boys looked at each other, unsure.

Jon reached for the door on the right. It opened easily but, the room was barren. Not even a bed or a sofa lie in the room, much less anything suspicious. Damian tried the other door to find it was locked. He gave Jon a look before kicking it down, kicking up dust and papers into the air. The boys coughed and swatted in front of their faces. When the dust cleared, it revealed two guns on the table, a marked map of Gotham on the couch, and a half-eaten box of takeout on the floor along with various piles of clothes. Damian crinkled his nose in disgust; whoever was living here was a heathen.

"I think this is our guy, Damian," Jon said, walking through the apartment.

"Names! There could be a camera with a recorder in here!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Jon ignored him and picked up one of the guns. "It's heavy. Whoever's using these is strong."

"Tt. Start collecting evidence," Damian said.

Just then the building began to creak, swaying a little. Both boys froze. The floor crumbled beneath them, along with the roof above them. They screamed as they fell to the first floor and began to get pummeled with debris. Damian groaned in pain as everything settled. He pushed as much debris as possible from off of him, gasping for air. Finally, he sat up, coughing. "Jon," he said into the rubble. There was no answer. "Jon!"

"Over here," Jon's weak voice broke out about ten feet away from him. Damian scrambled to his feet and over to where he heard Jon's voice. He began digging frantically with his hands. Eventually, Jon's face and torso appeared beneath him. There was a big stain of blood in the middle of the Superman symbol.

"Jon are you alright? Why aren't you using your powers to get up?"

"I'm trying..." Jon tried to lift his left arm but it just twisted awkwardly. Jon yelped in pain. Damian panicked.

"It's alright, Jon," he said. He moved around behind him and grabbed him under the arms. He pulled until Jon's entire body was out. "I've got you, Jon, just stay with me." He hoisted Jon up onto his back.

Jon laughed, which only earned him a cough skimmed with blood. "So much for code names."

Damian didn't laugh. He pulled out his communicator and called the Batcave. "Alfred! I need help! NOW!"