SID & NANCY. bruce wayne

Eight

"HE'S STILL NOT BACKING DOWN, IS HE?"

It's been a goddamn month since I temporarily removed the Joker's privilege of walking. And suddenly, he resurfaces again, now asking for Dick.

"Wait, Nex, what do you think this means?" Tim asks, leaning into the meeting room table across me. "Stick shift really took my legs out." he says, reading the Joker's text, tapping Bruce's phone.

"Joker drives stick shift? Or one of us drives stick shift?" Jason's finger rotates in a circle. Helena, Selina and Barbie all shake their heads.

"I wanna learn," Barbie says. "Driving stick is so hard." And that's when it dawned on me. Dick had been the one hitting Joker's legs, with sticks, trying to get him weak in the knees.

"No," I speak suddenly. "He wants Dick."

"What? How are you sure?" Bruce questions.

"Stick shift really took my legs out," I repeat. "Dick carries around sticks as his weapons. And that night, Dick was getting Joker weak in the knees so that you could easily put him down." I point at Bruce.

"Oh, shit," Jason hums. "Dick's hungover, though."

"That's good," I say. "We cannot risk it. I'm not losing my baby brother."

"Alright, we leave in ten. Go." Bruce dismisses, but I was still sitting there, deducing the worst.

"Hey," Bruce walks up to me. "We're not taking Dick. He'll be just fine at home with Alfred. I gave him a shotgun earlier."

"You're right." I smile.

"And I'm sorry if I was too forward with you last night," Bruce's head hangs low. "But I'm still sticking by what I said."

"I-I still don't know what to say to that, Bruce." I stutter.

Bruce sighs. "You take your time with it, then. I'll wait."

—

I was quiet the minute we left Wayne Manor. Jason and Selina tried making conversation but I only replied with one-liners. I couldn't quit thinking about Dick's safety. And Bruce's confession.

I was never really a huge fan of love. It started after Rick Flag destroyed every ounce of hope I'll ever have for a second shot at love. But Rick... what terrible thing could I ever say about him?

There's absolutely nothing. I loved Rick, and I know he loved me back. I guess some men are just bad at keeping promises sometimes. I was convinced I was going to be Finnexa Grayson-Flag. I was ready too. I was ready, to live every single second of my life loving him.

Until June Moone entered the picture. Doctor June Moone. Of course, at the end of the day, Rick would go for someone with a PhD, and not some girl who freeloads off of the richest man in the City. June was perfect, she was kind. She probably gave Rick butterflies. Unfortunately, Rick figured I wasn't good enough for him, so he asked for the ring back. And from then on, I rejected every single guy that wants to treat me well and take me on dates.

Jason Todd has tried, and I turned him down. Because who in the right mind would turn down the Red Hood? Apparently, Nexa Grayson would. It was initially Dick's idea to experiment whether if it's every single guy I'd turn down. I proved him right. Even my own brother, who thinks I'm the most annoying human being in the world on a daily basis, was sick of me turning into a living corpse; always cooped up in my bedroom, never leaving the Manor, never coming down for Family dinners.

I stopped looking for love because I wanted love to look for me instead.

"Hey, you okay? You've been really quiet and I don't like it." Helena cuts in, shooting her shot this time.

"I'm just fine, Hels. Thanks." I give her a weak smile.

"Is this about Dick?" Helena says. "Because you know he's safe, right? He's at home, with an armed Alfred. Do you know how rare it is for Bruce to give Alfred a weapon? He never does that."

I let out a slight chuckle. "You're right. Dick is safe."

"You know we'd do anything to keep you Graysons safe, right?" Barbie enters the conversation, appearing on my left side. "You and Dick are our favorite people in the world. It would kill us to lose either one of you." Barbie smiles gratefully.

"Barbie, thanks for loving Dick no matter how crazy he is." I smile, grabbing Barbie's latex-gloved right hand.

"I'll always love him no matter what. And I'll always love you no matter how many times you wanna get shot," jokes Barbie. "Now come on, let's go kill this son of a bitch. For Dick and Nexa, Hels."

"For Dick and Nexa." Helena repeats, her hand interlocking with mine.

Barbie and Helena's hands are in both of mine as we trail behind Tim, Jason and Bruce. I know they tell you not to bring knives to a gunfight, but we're the Bat Family.

—

Breaking Joker's arm has got to be one of the best things I've done as Razer Blade, although I've only been her for two and a half months. I beat the chemicals out of him, till at one point, Bruce had to pull me off of him so that we could leave.

"Put my brother's name in your mouth one more time, I'll put a bullet in your head." I threaten, his banged-up face inches away from mine.

"Razer, that's enough." I tried to shake Bruce from me but alas... I'm just a woman.

"So stick shift's your brother?" Joker says, he was impressed.

"I don't lie, Joker." I hiss, pressing a gun to his forehead.

"Razer, let's go," Bruce tenses one more time. "He's not worth your bullets, come on." That's when it hit me. It's true, the Joker is not worth any of my bullets.

But why do I bother? Because it's my brother that he wants.