Nightwing: Heartless

Part 27: Invitation

"I can't believe we made it through the whole movie," Willa declared. Dick rolled his eyes but it was true. They had successfully made it through a whole two hours without Dick's phone ringing. And lunch before. And they were walking back to campus. It must be some kind of record.

The wind blew and the light coat of snow covering everything swirled in the air. Dick took Willa's gloved hand in his own and threaded their fingers together. Willa hugged Dick's arm. She hated the cold but when she was with Dick she didn't have to worry about being cold. He was always willing to keep her warm. He looked over at her and smiled.

"What?" She asked.

"You just look really pretty with snow in your hair."

After all this time Willa still didn't know how to take a compliment from him. "Thank you," she responded quietly. "Speaking of hair, did you see Abby dyed hers?" Dick raised an eyebrow. "She dyed it purple just in time for the holidays with her family," Willa laughed.

The campus was practically buzzing this time of year, which made it even nicer to get away for an afternoon. Everyone was cramming for finals before break and getting ready to move back home for a month. Abby thought the hair change would be a present for her parents. Her folks were in for quite the Thanksgiving surprise.

"Where is she from again?" Dick asked.

"Rhode Island. Chris is Pennsylvania, Lia is California, and Matt is South Carolina."

"So it'll just be us over break, huh?" He squeezed her hand. She squeezed back.

"Speaking of break..." Willa trailed off and stared at her feet. She could feel Dick looking at her. Why was she so nervous? "Um, it's not a big deal, and no pressure of course, you won't hurt my feelings-"

Dick stopped walking and turned to face her, "Will," he said gently.

She sighed, "would you want to meet my family over break? Not Thanksgiving or Christmas, but... one of the other days?"

She finally looked up and was relieved to see Dick with that annoyingly charming smile. He pressed his forehead against Willa's. "I'd love to." Willa breathed a sigh of relief. "Why were you so nervous?" Dick asked.

Willa shrugged as they started walking again, "I don't know, I didn't want you to get freaked out and think it was this big and step or something."

"I'm okay with the step," Dick said, "I don't know if you've noticed, but I kind of like you."

"Wow, this is awkward, cause I just invited you as a friend."

Willa burst out laughing at Dick's shocked face. Willa started to run away but he was too fast and picked her up, spinning her around as she squealed. "You're the worst," he said when he put her down.

"It's a good thing you like me."

"Oh, this is awkward, I just meant as a friend." Willa laughed again and Dick pecked her on the cheek as they started walking again.

Screams erupted down the block, near where a plume of smoke was rising. Willa and Dick both started running. The screams just got louder until they saw what was causing the chaos. An apartment was on fire and people were running out of the building, coughing. A crowd was gathering, embracing the victims and trying to find water. The fire department was on their way.

A woman holding a baby ran out as an oxygen bubble popped from inside, making the fire crackle and the smoke intensify. Willa caught the woman. "My mother, she's inside!" The woman cried, "she's in a wheelchair and I couldn't lift her. I had to get my baby-" a sob cut her off.

"It's okay, the fire department is almost here," Willa tried to comfort the woman but looking at the spreading flames she doubted whether help could get here soon enough.

"Is there anyone else still inside?" Dick asked.

"I think the woman at the end of the hall got trapped when the ceiling collapsed."

The growing crowd behind Willa shifted and she stumbled forward, still hugging the woman. When she turned around Dick was gone. She walked in a circle but there was no sign of him. "Dick?" She called but there was no chance of him hearing her with all the screaming and the sound of the fire. Sirens signalled help on the way, finally, but the building shook again, eliciting more screams. The woman cried out again, falling to her knees and holding her baby close to her chest. Willa knelt down beside her, feeling helpless.

"Look!" Someone shouted and pointed to the sky. A figure jumped from an adjoining roof, flying over the crowd and diving in one of the windows, shattering it. "It's Nightwing!"

Nightwing? Willa thought. Of course she knew who he was, she was a Gotham native after all. He usually ran with Batman and the Justice League. In hindsight it made sense he was the one showing up. There were so many super powered or extraterrestrial threats that the number of heroes who showed up for everyday crimes was dwindling. Nightwing was a constant on the streets. Willa guessed the rumors were right, he came out of nowhere. And just in the nick of time. The crowd gasped as smoke exploded through the open window but the hero didn't emerge.

It was like all one hundred people were holding their breath until Nightwing shot through a window on the floor above, swinging out on a line, two people hanging on to him for dear life. He landed gently and was immediately swarmed. The fire truck finally pulled up and started spraying water on the flames, trying to stop the fire from spreading anymore. Paramedics pulled up and took the woman's mother from the hero's arms, placing her on a stretcher.

No sooner were the two women taken care of was Nightwing back into the air, probably flying to another crisis. The crowd watched him go, in shock and awe. Miraculously, aside from smoke inhalation no one was injured.

Once everything died down, the crowd began to dissipate. The woman and her baby climbed into the ambulance with her mother, thanking Willa for her help. As the scene cleared Willa thought about her missing boyfriend. Where in the world...

"Will!" She spun around and saw him jogging towards her. "There you are!"

"Where did you go?" She smirked and rubbed some soot off his jaw, "and where did this come from?"

"I got separated from the crowd. I tried getting back to the front but I must have ended up on one of the sides when one of the explosions went off." He rubbed at his jaw with his coat, leading Willa away from the site to give the firefighters more room. "That was crazy. I'm glad everyone is okay."

"Me too. Pretty lucky Nightwing showed up."