Nightwing: Heartless

Part 37: Adam Phone Call

Willa's phone buzzing woke her up. She hurriedly declined the call then glanced to the side and saw Dick still sleeping. She slid out of bed and shivered in her t-shirt and shorts. She pulled on one of Dick's sweatshirts and padded out of the room to the kitchen. She was surprised to see her brother's name as the caller, Adam never called her. She called him back and was surprised again when he picked up on the first ring.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked into the phone, "it's like 10am. You're never awake before noon on a Sunday."

"It's good to hear from you Willa, I, um, this is kind of awkward."

Willa noted how he avoided her question. "What do you need?"

She heard him sigh on the other end, "I need some money. My scholarship didn't get renewed for this semester."

Willa sat down by the counter and lowered her voice, aware of how well Dick's hearing was. "Have you told mom and dad?"

"They can't do anything. Between your tuition and Grandma's bills there's nothing to spend, especially on short notice."

"Why didn't they renew your scholarship?"

Another sigh, "my grades didn't qualify, I got in with some not great people last semester."

"Adam-"

"I just need some money, okay? Can you help?"

"I have a few thousand in savings..." Willa bit her lower lip, knowing it couldn't possibly be enough. Adam's silence confirmed it. Her savings were also just that, savings, they were all she had. She was saving for grad school, a first apartment, a summer abroad, something. But her brother needed her right now. "I'll send it over."

This time she heard Adam breathe a sigh of relief, "thank you, that'll buy me some time."

"Time for what? Adam, who did you get involved with?"

"It doesn't matter, I'll send you my routing and bank account info to wire me the money."

"Adam-" but he had already hung up. Willa stared at her phone, debating whether to call him back. She tapped her fingers on the counter, not able to put a finger on it, but knowing something wasn't right. He was in trouble, and it couldn't just be financial. She opted to send a text instead: hey, let me know if i can help more. Talk to me pls.

"Everything okay?"

Willa jumped a little at Dick's voice. It made her feel a little better knowing he was actually trained to be inhumanely quiet. He smirked at her reaction, leaning against the doorframe in just his sweatpants. She raised her eyebrows at the sight, taking in his incredibly toned torso. "Not anymore," she answered coyly.

Dick laughed and walked over, giving her a good morning kiss, "what did your brother need?"

"How long have you been awake?"

"Since you got out of bed."

"And you decided to be a creep and eavesdrop?"

Dick shrugged, "habit," he wrapped his arms around her neck loosely. She placed her hands on his waist and he jumped back, "ah, cold hands!"

Willa laughed, "ooh, big bad superhero can't handle cold hands in the morning?" Dick took her hands and rubbed them with his own then blew warm air, heating them up. "Thank you." Dick kissed her hands in response. Willa turned her head, examining his shirtless form again.

Dick noticed, "enjoying the show?"

"This is the first time I've seen you shirtless," Willa said in reply, "and I'm equal parts offended I didn't know you looked this hot without a shirt and jealous you look this hot without a shirt."

"Why don't you take your shirt off and I'll let you know," Dick winked cheekily.

Willa swatted his arm playfully, "now there's no chance with you looking like that."

Dick chuckled, "if it makes you feel better, I've been training since I was nine, plus an acrobat before that."

Along his abs Willa noticed a patch of toughened skin, it looked like a burn. Now that she was eye level with his chest she noticed a lot of scars. Some on his shoulders, sides, the burn on his stomach. She traced the outline of it, "what's this from?"

"My first time up against Mr. Freeze, I think I was ten. Didn't move fast enough."

"And this?" Willa brushed a thin line on his shoulder.

"Stab wound from Ra's Al Goul."

He explained them so nonchalantly, the scars he acquired over the years being a hero. The scars he earned fighting as a child. The thought made Willa feel a little sick. Dick noticed but either misinterpreted the look or chose to change the subject. He stepped back and turned on the stove.

"There should be some pancake mix in the cabinet," he said and Willa got up to reach it, setting the box in front of him. She wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed a kiss to his bare shoulder.

"What about this one?" She traced a long white scar from the top of his left shoulder to the middle of his back. He tensed the tiniest bit and Willa immediately stopped touching it.

"Cut from a knife. Guy's name is Deathstroke. He works with the League of Shadows."

"It seems so personal."

"It is."

"What?"

"He's a skilled fighter, especially with a sword. He had a son, Ravager, that I went toe to toe with when I was starting out as Nightwing... he blew up a building while still inside instead of surrendering. Deathstroke blames me." His jaw was clenched, muscles tense, remembering.

Willa didn't know what to say, so she just stroked his arms until the tension left. "But you were just a kid. Starting out, right? No way you could have saved him."

"Starting out as Nightwing, when I was eighteen."

That didn't make any sense. "But you said you started fighting when you were nine."

Dick drew in a breath and turned around, "I forget you don't know everything. Before Nightwing, I was Robin. The first Robin, actually." Now Willa felt like an idiot. No wonder Nightwing was always with Batman and his lieutenants. Plus the bird emblem... it all made sense. Dick seemed to guess her thoughts and waved a hand, dismissing her oversight, "the goal is for people not to guess."

"You worked with Batman for nine years? Did Bruce kno..." her eyes widened, "oh my god!" Dick laughed and nodded. Willa took a step back, processing Bruce Wayne being Batman. It made sense. So much sense it was kind of obvious. "Why would a guardian ever let their child run into gunfire?"

Dick shrugged, "he saved me from myself, taught me to channel my anger at my parents' murder. He kept me from getting myself killed."

Willa swallowed, the concept still not sitting right with her. Everything Dick had said about Bruce being an unconventional parent: cold, distant, yet still caring. It fit the psyche of a grown man who dressed as a bat and beat people to a pulp. Willa watched Dick as he returned to making breakfast. The scar on his back, the ones all over his torso. She knew why he couldn't show her before, there would have been too many questions.

Willa had a scar on her ankle from climbing over a fence when she was little, Dick had scars from weapons, madmen, and battle. What does that do to a kid? Her heart ached with sadness for the sweet little boy who lost his family, the life he could have had. But now Dick was an adult, he could stop, but he didn't. Of course he didn't, he was frustratingly noble, a clear moral compass, the best guy she had ever met. Was that a consequence of his secret life too? Her head spun with all the what-ifs.

His phone buzzed and he snapped it to his ear, turning from her loving boyfriend to a stoic hero in a millisecond. He nodded as his jaw tensed again. Something was wrong. "I'll be right there," he said curtly and hung up then looked at Willa with the familiar apologetic eyes.

"Go," she gestured with her head, "I hope everything is okay."

"Not really," he went back into his room and came back out with a shirt on and a go bag, "Miss Martian's been taken." Willa pulled a hand to her mouth. "It's fine. Probably," he said to ease her worry. "I'll call you later. Stay as long as you want," then he pecked her on the lips and hurried out.