Chapter 10
The huge glass window splintered, shattered, and fell. Sharp shards rained down in a shower and Dick rolled to avoid the worst of it.
He darted around a stop sign and did a back spring onto a nearby parked car. Two assassins waited on the other side of the vehicle, and he cracked the head of the closest one against the door.
Beyond the newly destroyed glass window, Jason supported Tim against his shoulder, assessed the situation, and fired his gun into the blanket of new opponents.
"You are so fucking late," Jason yelled, voice prissy.
Avengers stood in the atrium with drawn weapons and exchanged confused glances. At least two of them had weapons actively trained on Red Hood. Dick wouldn't pretend the view surprised him.
Jason had that affect on most people. He could be pricklier than a cactus and twice as dramatic as a Real Housewife.
Dick resisted the urge to wave and instead slid under a poorly placed punch.
"I know!" He roundhouse kicked the other assassin and used an Eskrima stick to disable a third. Dick slipped and skidded through the unexpected battlefield. "I thought you were going to be stealthy? How is every Avenger here and pissed at you?"
"This is not my fault!" Jason reloaded his gun one handed and made a disgusted noise. "And what the fuck? Did you call the entire League of Assassins on your flight here?"
"Hey!" Nightwing ignored the recrimination and called out past Jason. Captain America's head swiveled in all its golden glory and Dick could swear he heard a very quiet bugle start the national anthem. "I read you didn't learn to drive until you were over seas fighting the war. Is that true?
The Avenger opened his mouth to respond. His all American features drew together in confusion. "Wha- look out!"
Dick ducked under a newly toppled light pole and twisted his shoulders to throw a batarang. The opponent behind him crumpled.
"Thanks!" He saluted the national treasure, giddy with glee. Bruce's rule about the Avengers was downright cruel.
Captain America tilted his head and threw his shield into the wall of darkly clad opponents.
"Steve-" a woman he recognized from photos started, her own gun drawn.
"One threat at a time, Nat." He bent legs the size of tree trunks and kicked a nearby assassin clear across the room. "Just make sure they don't leave."
Her mouth tightened and she nodded briskly before saying something into an earpiece.
Dick moved closer to Jason and Tim.
"How is he?" The teen looked a mess and cradled a tightly wrapped hand.
"Initial reports pulled by Oracle were not entirely accurate." Jason's voice huffed out. He shifted the teen's weight and Tim watched them both with unfocused eyes. "He was on the wrong floor. His injuries worse. Initial exit pathways closed down. My earpiece stopped working almost immediately. You were at least fifteen minutes late. Fuck you all; how do you think it went?!"
Dick winced. "Oracle, did you catch that?"
"Yes," she answered dryly, "the schematics I found must not have been accurate. Let me see what I can do about communication."
Nightwing paused to dispatch a League member with a well placed throat jab. On the other side of the now ruined atrium, Black Widow moved lightening fast. Above her, Hawkeye picked off enemies with ease.
The entire situation made Dick's head spin and hands sweat. He was fighting with the Avengers. New York's finest. Batman was probably having kittens in the cave.
"And where the fuck did the League come from?" Jason growled.
"They were at my first checkpoint." Dick grimaced and tried not to think about how wrong things could have gone. He darted a hand out to catch an assassin in the jaw before she could move into Hawkeye's blind spot. "I didn't exactly have time to ask."
"So you brought them with? Like a fucking field trip?"
Dick huffed out a laugh and paused to watch Steve Rogers punch two guys in the face with one fist. The tight shirt he wore strained and for a moment Dick thought it might split right up the back. Unbelievable.
"Hey!" Red Hood hissed out. "Pay the fuck attention. What are you, seven?"
The oldest Robin tugged his eyes away from the surreal sight. "This is so cool."
"Nightwing!"
"I thought I could shake 'em, alright? And I didn't want to leave you without back up."
"Well-"
Black Widow waded between them and shot at an assassin hanging on one of the upper beams.
"What. Is. This." Her smoky voice cut between them easily and her no nonsense authority conjured up images of Barbara and Kori in Dick's head. She smelled like gun oil and smoke and her red hair glimmered beneath the lights.
"Uhhhhhhhh..." Dick was in love.
Jason frowned. "We don't have time for this."
Outside on the street, Dick heard what had to be Iron Man. Classic music blared. A car caught fire and from where he stood Dick felt the heat.
"Found them," Tim mumbled from Jason's shoulder, "or they found me. It's here and I couldn't just..."
Jason leaned down and listened as Tim spoke too quietly for Dick to hear. Their heads made a sea of dark hair and if he didn't know better, Dick would have sworn they were blood related.
Red Hood raised his eyes after several moments and met Nightwing's questioning face. His grim gaze made Dick's stomach roll. Now what?
Black Widow watched the exchange with lowered brows.
"We need to talk," she interrupted and drew both men's attention. Dick had stumbled into the Twilight Zone.
Jason huffed in irritation and gestured to Tim. "He can't be here."
Tim looked like he had slid all the way from injured and coherent to barely there shock. His eyes skipped between them but otherwise held little comprehension. The young vigilante would and could fight if prompted until he literally collapsed, Dick had seen it.
Now was not the time for it.
"I didn't bring him here." Her sarcastic tone dripped with disapproval. "Nor did I bring this army of..." She seemed to struggle for a word, "ninjas."
"Assassins, actually." Dick rubbed at the back of his head.
"Assassins?" She repeated, disbelieving.
Red Hood scowled and the arm supporting Red Robin tightened. Dick looked down briefly in embarrassment. The League could be shifty when it wanted and he hadn't been nearly prepared enough.
Jason glanced behind them and his look turned sour. He leaned in close to Black Widow and Dick got ready to intervene if one of them made an aggressive move.
"Take him." Jason handed Red Robin over to the Avenger as if the teen were a sack of flour. Black Widow shifted Tim but easily held his weight even with a smaller frame. She eyed Red Hood as if he had two heads. "I need both hands and he weighs a fuck ton."
She said nothing but her eyebrows rose in astonishment.
Nightwing interjected. "Perhaps everyone was a bit too... hasty? Can we call a temporary truce until the... er... ninja assassin situation has been taken care of?"
Jason rolled his shoulder and took out another gun. Without looking back, he waded into the fray. The assassin closest to him got a well placed kick to the knee cap and a point blank shot to the shoulder. Dick winced.
"Let's do this, Nightwing. Stop staring at her tits and get a move on. I want Replacement out of here," Jason called back.
He met Black Widow's gaze and blushed. "Errrrr.... Do you have a place we could-"
"Today," Red Hood interrupted. He stepped behind two men firing on Captain America and put the nearest one into the ground with a fist to the head.
She watched him from beneath the fall of heavy dark lashes. "Your brother sure has a mouth on him."
"Ugh, I know, " he responded automatically.
Black Widow chuckled and Dick opened and shut his mouth like a fish.
"Ignore that," he squeaked out.
"Did you just.....?" Oracle's computerized voice asked in horror.
If Bruce wasn't having kittens before, he certainly was now.