Two Threads of the Same Stitch

Revenge

Bruce POV

"It's Dick...something happened to Dick" Alfred's words shoot through my body, piercing my heart. His voice rings through my soul, until all I can hear is cloudy nothingness. My chest begins to tighten and my breathing shortens. Before I know it I'm on the floor, gasping for air. "Bruce! Babe!" I faintly hear John scream, but I can't make out his voice. His voice seems so distant and distorted, like he's in another room, or an entirely different universe all together. I look down at my hands, trying to come back to reality, but everything has been distorted, twisted and tainted. The world around me seems to have melted away. "Di-Dick....Grayson...my..so-son is- I can't- hel-" I sputter. Tears paint my eye lids as hatred, pain, sorrow, and regret rips through my body, threatening to tear me to shreds. My breathing gets worse, and I feel like the walls are caving in, my hands are shaking, my sight is blurred, everything is hell, and I can't control my body, I cant do anything.
And then everything goes black.

Nightwing POV
I wake up to a dark room, dimly illuminated by a single flickering light. I look around trying to grasp some sense of location. I look down, now noticing I'm tied to a chair. I try at the restraints, but to no avail. I search my brain trying to think, trying to remember what went wrong. "Oh I see your awake now." A voice sings from the darkness, startling myself from my thoughts. "Who's there?" I ask. "Oh that hurts, you don't remember me birdbrain?" The voice answers. I search my brain trying to think of where I've heard that voice...then it clicks. "Harley." I say in smite, clinching my fist. She steps into the light, walking towards my chair. "Ding ding ding! You got it right birdbrain! Long time no see." She spouts. "What do you want from me you freak, and why am I here?" I spit. "Ah ah ah! Be nice! You wouldn't want me to call you names and being rude now would you birdbrain? You're here because you have something I want." She says grabbing her bat out of the shadows, circling my chair. "And that is?" I question, with curiosity.

"Where is the bat?!" She screams hitting my knee with her bat. I grunt, but try not to show pain. "Why do you want to know." I grit through my teeth. She punches square in the jaw, making my mouth bleed. "No! You don't ask the questions I do! Bruce has my Joker, my Mr. J and I want him back!! So if he has something I want then the logical thing to do, is to take something he'd want. Which is you BIRDBRAIN!" Harley shoots at me. "You're delusional and pathetic! Joker doesn't want to be with you anymore! He's changed. So do what you want with me!! They'll find you, and your gonna wish you'd left me alone." I spout, spitting blood on her shoe. "Well that mighty bold of you. We'll see what happens won't we. LIGHTS OUT BIRDBRAIN!" and with a swift swing of her bat, everything goes black.

Bruce POV
When I wake up I'm on the batcave table, I look over to John working on the bat computer. "Ba-babe?" I mumble. He stops and looks over to me. "Good your awake." He says and continues to work. "Babe what happened, is Dick ok?" I ask remembering Alfred's words from before. "You had a panic attack, and blacked out, we brought you up here. As for Dick I've pinpointed his location, he's in Harley and I's old operating facility." John says. I start to sit up, as John leaves the computer and walks over to me. "Which means we need to go save him." John says looking me in the eyes.

"Your going with me?" I ask. "Of course, I need to cut Harley out of our lives completely, and as I'm pretty sure this is her doing, I need to be there to stop her. Forever." John says sternly. "What do you mean forever?" I ask staring into his emerald green eyes. He looks away, taking my fingers and interlocking them with his. "Look....I know your all antikill and all, but listen to me when I say this, Harley may seem stupid, but she's no where near. She can be smart when she needs to be, and if I don't kill her....she just gonna keep coming back, and each time is going to be worst that the one before. She's gonna escalate...to a point where...she could even kill Dick....or worse..she could kill you..." John chokes, his hands starting to shake. I can tell this really upsets him, and I know that I vowed to never kill anyone, but then again, deep down I know, when it comes to my family...I'd kill anyone and everyone to protect them. Without question. "I understand babe. And I agree with you." I reassure John, squeezing his hands. "Yo-you do?" John questions. "Yeah. I don't know if you remember but....the night I came to get you..from the asylum...I- you...those guards were hurting..and I. Well I was so mad at what they had done to you, so I killed them." I say, this time I'm the one to look away. "I know. I kinda remember a little...then again I don't remember much from that night. I was a different person then."