no rest for the wicked [jason todd]

twenty four

THE SMELL OF KEVLAR

would be in her nose for years. Tye couldn't shake the scent and figured it would be a permanent thing to get used to, so she decided not to mention it toward Dick. He seemed busy anyway. Crouching on the edge of a rooftop, a hand over his eyes. He was scanning the area, his head gently moving back and forth. She could even see the muscle tensing in his arm every single time she even made a noise. A trained reflex she didn't think she'd ever developed now. He was a soldier to her.

The air was chilly now in the December season, and despite that, Tye felt like she was going to sweat to death. She could see the snow on the sidewalks and yet she felt as if she was standing inside the sun.

"We should have figured out what to call you," Dick's voice was calm and even a little lighthearted now. He turned toward her and she couldn't see the sparklings of his blue eyes, but she knew they were there. "I'm sitting here wondering how to talk to you when I can't call you your name now."

Tye's eyebrows raised up above her eyes, mouth forming a little 'o'. "Let's shoot with Blackbird for now," she said, "or Crow? Rook?"

His nose crinkled slightly as he laughed, head leaning back slightly. She wondered if there was a God and if there was, why he'd made the handful of people in her life look like actual angels. "Birds," he remarked with the smile still plastered on his face, "you got a thing for feathered friends now?"

She shrugged, moving closer to the edge of the building and dropping into a little crouch beside him. He returned his gaze back to the city, although his attention seemed to be divided. "You fit right in," he teased, "I'm kinda glad I got the chance to meet you, Rook. It's been a rough couple of years for all of us -- especially... You know who. I think he needed someone like you to come into his life. I think he needed the optimism of it all."

"Optimism is a key part of living life to the fullest," she told him with a gentle smile. "My mom -- she knew she was going to pass, so she wrote me a journal of all the life lessons she wished she could have taught me. That was one."

"Oh, shit, I totally forgot about that--" He heaved out a frustrated sigh, rubbing a hand through his hair. "I... I lost my folks too, by the way. I was, uh, pretty young -- thirteen. There was an accident." He turned toward her, a sad smile playing on his lips. Then he clutched one hand into a fist and pointed it toward her, saying, "Hey, sad orphans club, huh?"

Clutching her hand into a fist and giving him a fistbump, she laughed. "Sad orphans club," she repeated, "nice ring to it, huh? We should have weekly meetings."

"Bi-weekly meetings?" He suggested, but immediately his eyes snapped to a sound. Someone was crying out and yelling for help. "That's our cue. Are you sure you're ready to do this right now, Rook?"

"I have to be," she told him seriously, "someone's life is relying on us tonight, Nightwing."

Dick turned toward the noise again and he moved back on the building, enough so that he could jump and make it over. "Come on!" He called from the other rooftop, hands cupped around his mouth.

Tye's stomach dropped to her feet as she stood there, stepping back around the same amount he had. Run and jump, she told herself, her eyebrows pulled together. Just simple. Run and jump. So, she clutched her hands into fists and took off into the fastest sprint she'd ever taken, leaping off the building when she got close enough to the edge. She just barely made it, her hands grabbing onto the edge, but she pulled herself up over.

Her heart was beating fast, but she wasn't scared anymore. She felt alive. It was like she was living for the first time now.

He paused in front of her to listen for a sound again. He did, even though she didn't, and he took off another direction. Tye followed him as closely as she could but tried to remind herself not to feel bad. He'd been doing this for a long time already and she was new to the game. She tried not to make herself feel guilty about it.

Dick vaulted off a building to the ground below and she peeked down to see him. A gang of six or seven guys, a girl tied up in a truck. He was on top of the truck, and the guys had started to back up, but three pulled out guns and pointed them at him. He turned to look up to her and winked before he leapt off the truck toward the guys.

She took that as her actual cue and leapt down onto the truck, able to manoeuver her way onto the ground and round the truck, reaching for the girl. "Hey, don't worry," Tye said gently, reaching for the ducktape on her mouth, "We're here to save you." She reached for a knife on her belt and sliced through the ropes, leading her around the truck so she could run to safety.

Then, Tye narrowly dodged a punch to her head, turning to swing toward a guy who was a lot bigger. It worked that she was smaller though. She dodged his punches easier. She managed to jump up, grabbing onto a railing nearby, and swung her legs to kick him right in the face. Then, she used the height to launch herself back onto the ground, aiming a kick right to his groin.

He stumbled back, hitting one of the guys Dick was fighting. The guy immediately turned, only to stumble himself and fall to the ground.

Most of the guys were down now, lest for the gunman Dick hadn't noticed, the one pointing a pistol at his head. Tye took off for him immediately, ramming him into the wall behind him. She grabbed for the pistol but he shot, narrowly missing her arm. Despite missing, he moved and smashed the pistol into her nose. She struggled with him for the pistol but finally managed to bring her knee up into his gut. He groaned and the gun fell from his grasp.

Then, Tye reached for her nose, feeling for the blood there. "Nightwing," she offered, "are you good?"

He turned toward her, wiping a little bit of blood off of his split lip. "I'm good," he said in slight awe, "and you -- you were awesome, Rook."

A guy moved to get back up and Dick moved his boot to slam the guys head back down. "Tsk," he offered, "not yet. Bedtime." Then he turned toward Tye, adding, "GCPD is on their way now. Shots were fired so someone in the area called in. Oracle was tracking, they should be on their way." He put an arm around her. "That means we can go now."

"Wow," Tye uttered, "you do this every night?"

He only smiled back at her.

—
happy new year's eve guys! i thought you deserved at least one chapter before 2019!

sorry, i honestly was planning to upload a christmas special with cute bonding moments and stuff, but... i couldn't. my dad had a heart attack and time got away from me. sorry, hope you guys had an awesome holiday though!