Young Justice: Christmas

Let Them Know It's Christmastime...

The snow fell silently, making the whole world feel at peace.

Peace was something that Richard John Grayson hadn't felt in a long time.

It felt strange, as he watched the snow fall. He hadn't seen anything this calming or as magnificent as the first snowfall in his eighteen young years. The last time he'd seen snow was the day his life turned upside-down.

He remembered the arctic chill in his bones, the feeling of a knife in his gut when he heard that scream that almost made him feel as cold as the wind did.

His fist clenched tighter around the object in his hands. Slowly, he released his grip so that he could get a better view of the object.

"Souvenier." He whispered, just like he did every time he liked at it, just as a reminder. A reminder of the choice he made.

You see, Richard wasn't just your typical ward-of-a-multi-billionaire, he was also known as Nightwing, hero of Blüdhaven and former protégé to Batman.

Richard adjusted the domino mask over his eyes, making sure it was secure. His black Kevlar suit sported a bright blue bird symbol on his chest, the last thing that any criminal who threatened his city would see before being knocked out and dragged to Arkham or Belle Reve.

The comm in his ear crackled with static, alerting Nightwing to action on the police radio.

He shoved the object into one of the pouches in his belt, making sure it was secure before leaping off the fire escape and somersaulting onto a nearby rooftop.

Adrenaline was the only thing keeping him going. The cold nipped at his bare cheeks, turning them red. The wind tried to push him back, but Nightwing kept going.

He got there before the police did, running silently from shadow to shadow and taking out the gang-banger thugs one by one, watching the fear in each of their eyes grow.

He piled the crates of illegal cargo next to the pile of unconscious criminals, securely tied together.

He left no calling card, spoke no words. No laughter rang through the air, like he used to.

Richard's teenaged years seemed so far away.

He dashed away a safe distance, leaving the thugs and drugs for the police to take care of. He placed his hands on his knees for support as he took deep breaths to rest.

And then he heard laughter.

Not robotic laughter, like the signature he used to leave with his birdarangs, not creepy laughter, like the Joker, but a kid's laughter.

Nightwing looked up from catching his breath and saw a familiar warehouse up ahead, on a pier sticking out over the river between Bludhaven and Gotham. But unlike all the other warehouses lining the dock, this one was covered in colorful Christmas lights, and it even had a wreath hanging on the sliding door.

A group of kids were playing around the warehouse, accompanied by a huge, playful white wolf. Everyone was wearing thick winter clothing, everyone had rosy cheeks and noses, and everyone looked happy.

A skinny, dark-haired boy wearing sunglasses and a red winter coat helped an energetic blonde girl with earmuffs and a puffy black coat build a snowman.

A strange little boy with green skin had a long, floppy Santa hat to cover his pointed ears. He hid behind a snowbank with another boy who had floppy brown hair and red coat, and a boy wearing a blue jacket with matching earmuffs. In a nearby snowbank, two young adults bombarded the three boys with snowballs. One of them was a dark-haired, muscley young man, who only wore a brown leather jacket, unzipped, over a black t-shirt sporting the iconic red "S" symboll of Superman. His companion was a red-headed woman who wore a long pink coat and a purple knit hat. The giant wolf bounded around each of his companions with the energy of a puppy, trying to catch and eat the snowballs that were being thrown.

They looked like they were having fun.

Nightwing knew this group of people. For almost a year he'd been their leader, but he hadn't seen any of them, not even his little brother, in six months.

He slowly backed into the shadows, yet still continued to watch their fun and games.

They deserved this fun. This, and so much more. When he lead them, they hardly had any time for fun. Seeing this reminded him when he was their age.

He looked at the lights again, an inkling of an idea forming in the back of his mind. With hesitation, he turned and ran, hardly leaving footprints in the soft snow.

This year, Nightwing was going to make sure that the team had the best Christmas ever.

Hello! I know, I know, I'm crazy. But I need to write this story. I plan on posting a chapter each day (I plan on keeping them short) And have a total of twenty by Christmas, one chapter from the point of view of each team member. I expect I'll be doing a lot of updating over break :3

I hope you enjoy!

Merry Christmas xoxoxo

~Lizardgurl