I Am Vengeance

Tick, tick, tick, where is that noise coming from? Sleepy eyes cracked open half expecting to see the bright light of the sun, but instead were met with dull fluorescent lights flickering above. Several tries later and the girl's eyes were open, still a bit foggy though. It took her a moment to register where she was.

Just from the looks of it she was in some warehouse, which explained the echo. There was no need to sniff the air with the foul odor of fish and polluted river water invading her senses. From those observations she concluded that she was in a warehouse near the river. Probably one that was abandoned as that was common for this city.

When she went to move she felt that she was unable to. At a single glance down she confirmed that she was indeed tied to a chair. The girl figured that she had been knocked out pretty good to not have felt the rope digging into her arms and legs since now that she was awake she felt the stinging sensation it brought on. This was not the first time she'd been tied to a chair before, and most definitely would not be the last. How she had got there was a different matter in itself.

Now that she knew where she was she had to know where that ticking noise was coming from. A quick glance around gave her the answer. Across the warehouse on a stack of three crates sat a clown clock wired to a bomb set to get off in… five minutes.

Instinct told her to panic, but training told her to keep her cool and figure a way out of this mess. After about a minute of twisting and squirming she had no luck. It seemed as if she had been stripped of her weapons. She then determined that there was no way out of this mess. She had a good run, but this was her end.

Eyes now closed, she hung her head in silent defeat. That was when she heard someone crash through the glass of the windows. Her head shot up to see Batman and Nightwing hurtle through broken glass and land several feet away from her. Quick to their feet they ran to her aid; Batman cutting the ropes around her arms with Nightwing cutting the ones around her legs.

"What took you two so long? Did you get caught in traffic?" Although she smirked as she spoke, she was more than relieved to see the dynamic duo.

"Well, you see…," Nightwing was cut short by Batman's deep, throaty voice.

"No time to talk. We have less than three minutes to get out of here." Both she and Nightwing put on more serious looks as they nodded agreeing with him.

She tried to stand up, but failed miserably as she went crumbling to the ground only to have Nightwing catch her in midair. He hoisted her up and into his arms as the two men made a mad dash to the door. Although she wouldn't admit it, her heart was pounding in fear of what would happen if they weren't able to get out in time. With their luck though, they were able to crash through the closed door and get far enough away to give them a chance to crouch down when the bomb went off. Thankfully the warehouse was by the river and the lock had been rusted over due to the abundance of moister in the air, which made their escape that much easier.

As the last debris fell to the ground the trio made to get up. Batman stood up with ease, but Nightwing paused as he hoisted himself up when he saw the position they were in. She lay on the ground underneath him staring up at him wide eyed. With the both of them wearing domino masks they were able to see the others face turning bright red.

"I--I'm so sorry Nightowl. I really didn't mean to…," he stopped as he stood up wide-eyed as he helped Nightowl to her feet.

"It's alright, really," she smiled as she brushed herself off. All the while Batman simply rolled his eyes as at the two young adults.

"Enough games you two," he said turning from the explosion to his former protégés. "Are you both alright?" The two of them nodded allowing him to continue, "Good. I don't know what the Joker was up to this time, but I will figure it out. Now, It's getting late. I will see you two later." With that said he pressed a button on his belt and seconds later the Batmobile zoomed past them screeching to halt near Batman. As soon as the compartment opened he jumped in and was gone before they knew it.

For a few minutes the two of them just stood there staring wide eyed at the dust trail that the Batmobile left behind. It was Nightwing who spoke up, "So, would you like to grab a bite to eat? I know this great diner that's open twenty-four hours."

"Not tonight, but can I take a rain check," she said as she yawned stretching her aching muscles. "I have school in the morning and need to get some sleep," she added as she straightened up.

"Yeah, sure, that's fine," he said with a smile trying to conceal his disappointment.

She pressed a button on her utility belt that she was grateful to have since she had no weapons or grappling chords on her. As quickly as the Batmobile had arrived, her own bike zoomed up and stopped in front of her. Tossing her leg over the bike with some difficulty she placed the helmet on her head and looked to Nightwing, "Next time, okay?" And with that said she zoomed off towards her small, one-bedroom apartment.

After a minute of staring at her retreating figure he too made his way home. Little did they know that someone masked in a red hood had been watching them the whole time.