This is the reunion of Jason and Rickie that is mentioned in Shadows In The Night.

On with the two-shot!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

The night started out normal. Or as normal as a night for Red Hood can get. A couple of gangs decided he was annoying, and taking their drug business, so they sent their men after him, tricking him with a fake drop at an abandoned warehouse. In Bludhaven.

Or at least they had tried to trick him.

Why had Jason agreed to go? He had a nagging feeling it had to do with the city's protector, Nightwing, who he hadn't seen for . . . Oh, five or so years (she'd be twenty-two now). Nope, it had nothing to do with Jason's curiosity about what she had done to get exiled from the sidekick squad (he only knew vague details; he wanted to know her side).

Nothing at all. If he ran into Nightwing, than it would be a surprise fight that he hadn't planned on having that night. Jason ignored the slight feeling of nervousness, ordering himself to man up. Nightwing was just a woman, not a super. Granted, a highly trained woman . . . who was once his sister in everything but blood . . . and would kick his a** for the 'just a woman' comment . . .

Jason told his inner voice to shut up as he decided to concentrate on the warehouse - trap - he was walking into.

The warehouse was in disrepair, and the cement floors were covered in various stains that Jason did not want to know the source of. The smell was musty, and wet. That made sense, since this warehouse was near the harbor.

Jason was expecting for men to jump out behind old equipment, including broken bulldozers, and rusty golf carts. They didn't disappoint. The off-task part of Jason wondered why there were here, but he couldn't focus on that right now. More men came in from the warehouse entrance, and Jason did a quick head count, losing after thirty or so.

Good, Jason thought. They don't stand a chance.

"Well?" Jason challenged them, his stance radiating arrogance. His tone was cocky. "Are you gonna stand there looking even stupider than normal, or are you gonna attempt to beat me up?"

Not to his usual standard, there wasn't even any cursing in it, but it'd have to do. And it did, as the first man came swinging at Red Hood with a baseball bat. At least it wasn't an effing crowbar, Jason thought to himself.

He neatly sidestepped, sticking out his foot to send the thug sprawling on the floor. If Jason was honest with himself, he expected something like this to happen, and since he was itching for a good fight, Jason came, thinking, to hell with it.

More men came it him, and one man had the guts to sprint at Red Hood carrying a knife. Jason could tell the man didn't have a clue how to use it, though. Training with a knife had taught him how to recognize who knew how to use one.

Jason slammed his fist into the guys face, blood flying as he knocked out a tooth, before swiftly kicking the next man. He grabbed the arm of the man who was rushing at him from the side, and flipped him. Before he did that, Jason felt a pinch on the weak spot of his armor, right at the elbow.

A needle. They injected something in him. His movements became a little sluggish, darkness tugging at the corners of his vision. He just came to the conclusion that they really did their homework, it was stupid of him not to use his guns, he was going to die again, when a figure dressed in a dark bodysuit just dropped from the ceiling and started kicking ass.

Wait, what?

Jason didn't have time to figure it out before he passed out.

He woke up to a bucket of water being thrown on his face. Coughing, spluttering, and cursing, Jason glared through blurry vision at the man standing in front of him. Black Mask. Vaguely, Jason wondered why he was here, unless . . . Black Mask hired the gangs. Dang it.

Jason did a mental assessment of his injuries, and decided the only thing damaged was his head, his pride, and the various places over his body where there was a bruise.

His vision was too blurry and the pounding of his head too painful to focus on his surroundings other than the blurry figure of Black Mask. It was kind of easy, since Black Mask was wearing a white suit with a, well, a black mask that looked like a skull.

"You," Jason didn't bother finishing his sentence. "Why'd you do it? I finally piss you off so much you went over the edge?"

Black mask chuckled, amused that he was figuring this out now.

"You know," Black Mask began, "I expected the fearsome Red Hood to have figured it out sooner. That girl figured it out sooner, and she came to warn you, or save you. Either way, my plans would have been made . . . invalid, had she arrived in time."

"Girl?" Jason stared blankly. Then he remembered the figure in the dark body suit.

"Yes, the girl. She was quite stubborn about giving up information. The information we did get, about her coming to warn you, is useless, but she does not seem capable of telling us more than that. So, to make sure we didn't kill her before we were done with her, we put her back in with you." Black Mask shrugged, like putting random girls in cells with the Red Hood was normal.

A coughing fit from across the cellar room. Jason's eyes flew towards the sound, and his mouth dropped. Nightwing. That was who the girl was. She was sitting with her back to the wall, and if the slits of white were anything to go by, her eyes were barely open. Jason went numb with shock. Mixed emotions flooded through him.

What was she doing here?

"Ah, I see you see the girl. Or should I say Nightwing? She has not been seen for quite a while, and to any of us who have been around long enough to try to remember, her return is not a welcome one. She has been, ah, forgotten by you hero types," Red Hood wanted to argue he wasn't a hero, "and criminals as well. Most believe she doesn't exist, and any who do know she exists knows she is an annoying pest," Black Mask spoke calmly, a note of authority in his voice. "Am I right, girl?"

Red Hood found himself vaguely annoyed Black Mask was telling some things he already knew, but Black Mask didn't know he knew Nightwing.

She didn't answer, and ended up curling into a ball on the floor. Black Mask delivered a vicious kick to her ribs, and Jason felt a surge of red hot rage go through him. He tried to move, but his hands were bound together behind his back, tied through a loop in the wall, and his legs from the knee down were tied together.

How had he not noticed that? Did they drug him, or something? Jason didn't feel drugged right now, other than the after effects of whatever they knocked him out with. Maybe he had a bad concussion. Dam. He hated concussions.

Black Mask raised an eyebrow, "Sensitive, aren't you? Unfortunately, the girl will be going in two days. Some find her more of a pest than others, and that includes a rather pissed off crime lord in Bludhaven."

The blood drained from Rickie's face. It was clear that she knew exactly who he was talking about.

Black Mask looked at Jason critically, and reached to take off his mask. Jason struggled, but his hands were bound to tightly.

"There," He said, "Now we'll be able to see your reactions."

Black Mask left with a victorious smirk on his face.

It was awhile before either of them spoke. Nightwing made the first move.

"Jaybird," She whispered, her voice hoarse. Jason went still at the nickname.

He felt like a little kid again.

Nightwing knew it had been a stupid choice on her part to go after Jason, but she couldn't just let him get killed. Through some of her contacts in Bludhaven, she found out about the meeting between the Red Hood, and Black Mask's goons.

Nightwing knew who Red Hood was, and knew of the rumors that it was a set up. She figured it was a set up also , and Jason being Jason, he knew that as well, but would go anyway and wing it from there. Heh, bad pun.

She went after Jason, because Nightwing guessed that if Black Mask was as pissed at Red Hood as the rumors in the Haven underground say, then he'd at least take some precautions with arming his men against Red Hood.

Unfortunately for her, being prepared for Jason meant they were somewhat prepared for her. Plus, she was sick. Miserably so. All her reactions were dulled. A goon had gotten a luck shot in with a needle-filled drug, and another had gotten a lucky shot in with their gun. She had crumpled, and a man took the opportunity to slam a crowbar into her gut, before she got kicked in the head.

After that, it was like she became everyone's punching bag. She tried to protect her head and face, not wanting to receive any fatal, or any further injuries to her head. Nightwing already had a massive head ache from the kick, and slamming her head into the ground.

She fell unconscious, and during that time both she and Jason were taken to Black Mask. She guessed they were at some hidden building halfway between Bludhaven and Gotham. Black Mask had seen fit to string her up like a punching bag, and ask her why she knew what was going on at the warehouse.

When she wouldn't talk, they said they'd torture Red Hood for answers. That made her panic. Nightwing couldn't let that happen to Jason, her little brother (though it had been years). Jason-Red Hood-didn't know anything. She stumbled out a lame answer, and after that they dragged her by her arm back into a cell with Red Hood.

Nightwing blacked out when she hit the floor until she awoke a short while ago when Black Mask paid a visit to them.

Apparently, she was going to Roland Desmond in two days. Ol' Blocky must be happy about that. She, however, had very different feelings about that. Desmond would kill her, no doubt about it. Jason looked relatively unharmed, but Nightwing was another story.

She had a few broken and bruised ribs, her head hurt like hell, her wrist felt sprained, she was pretty sure her ankle was badly twisted or broken, and bruises were all over her body. Cuts were, too, not to mention the gunshot wound on her side that someone had sloppily bandaged.

Nightwing wasn't sure if they had even taken the bullet out. Which was very dangerous. A bullet in her could lead to internal bleeding, and internal bleeding could lead to death. If sat up to go to Jason, she could die.

Nightwing took a risk, deciding she had nothing to lose. She hadn't seen Jason for five, almost six years, since she was seventeen. Joker had killed Jason when he was fourteen. She still remembered that day. It was one she would never forget.

Carefully, she sat up. Taking a shaky breath, she opened her eyes, and saw Jason chained across the room. They had clearly decided she was too injured to be much of a threat. Ha. Big mistake, though in her current condition they might be right. Oh well, she'd had worse and gotten out of worse with worse.

Wait - that just made no sense. Or did it?

. . . Maybe she hit her head harder than she realized.

Opening her eyes, she realized just how much trouble she was in as she looked around. Jason was tied up across from her. They were in what looked like a concrete cellar. There were no windows. Jason's head was hanging down, but she had a feeling he was awake.

Carefully, Nightwing sat further up, wincing at the bolt of red hot pain that went through her. She worked on evening out her breathing, remaining completely still for a few moments, then sitting further up again.

Then painfully, she dragged herself across the room towards where Jason was. Nightwing was intensely aware of how her every movement may or may not affect the bullet that may or may not be in her. But she had to reach Jason.

She hadn't seen him for almost five years. If she died today, then she would at least hug her estranged little brother one last time. She bit back a pained grunt as she reached Jason. He made no sign to acknowledge her presence.

His helmet was off, even though the rest of his Red Hood gear was on, minus the weapons. Her weapons, and her belt were gone, too. She curled up on her side again, and laid her head on Jason's lap. With her injuries, it wasn't the easiest position to get into, but she made it work.

Jason sat with his back to the wall, and there were no visible injuries on him other than the lump at his temple, along with some wicked bruises on his face. He was her brother, no matter how much he hated her, and she had a right to use him as a pillow. It helped that he was semi-asleep.

To her surprise, Jason let her lay her head in his lap. She felt him stiffen, then relax. She lay in a half asleep state, knowing that if she fell asleep she may not wake up.

Jason was aware of a person's head in his lap. Initially, he had stiffened, but then he relaxed, enjoying the comfort that another person was alive in this place. A peaceful feeling went through him. The coughing fit the person in his lap caused Jason to crack an eye open, startled.

Belatedly, he realized the person curled up next to him was Rickie.

Nightwing was shaking. She mumbled a few words, and her face was flushed, as if she had a fever. She looked a little pale, like she was sick. A few strands of dark hair floated in front of her face, and her black hair was in a messy pony tail. Blood was dried at her hairline, dirt smudged her face.

She cradled her wrist to her chest, and Jason was positive it was injured. Unfortunately, her body was turned away from him, so he wouldn't be able to check her wrist. He debated on what to say, seeing her half-lidded eyes.

Eventually, Jason just barely managed to painfully twist his arm out of its restraint (he tried and failed to free his other arm), and looped it around her, hugging her instead of saying anything. He was a bit shocked at his actions. Why was he hugging her? And then he noticed the peaceful expression on her face. It was completely relaxed. Her mouth was slightly agape, and Jason could hear her take a few shaky breaths.

She was so tiny compared to him. She seemed so fragile. Jason remembered the days when Rickie was a head taller than him. She wasn't anymore. He was taller than her, and it was strange for a person who had always called him little brother, always hugged him and pinched his cheeks, to be shorter than him.

An ache went through him as Jason thought about how much time he had missed with her. It had been years since he'd last seen her. Since before he died, actually. And that wasn't exactly his fondest memory, because she had been sick when Jason snuck off after Batman.

He had lied to her, and with Rickie being drugged up on cold medicine, she didn't bother questioning him. His last memory was of her hugging him, mumbling at him to stay safe, then falling back asleep on the couch. Jason had died later when the Joker had caught him. So much for staying safe. Jason closed his eyes.

Batman never got the chance to ground Jason for sneaking off after him. Rickie had never gotten the chance to yell at Jason for lying (probably coughing as she yelled). The realization slammed into Jason like a brick in a face.

Or maybe that was more like the second bucket of water that Black Mask, entering the room, had thrown in his face. Jason opened his eyes, the whites of his domino mask widening in miniscule surprise, before going back to normal.

With a scowl, he decided that the whole 'bucket-of-water' in the face thing was getting old. Another was a note to self: do not get lost in thoughts when held prisoner by a rival drug lord. Both of those things were anything a person with common sense would know. Jason never did have much of that, though. Lucky him.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Black Mask sneered. "Is the Red Hood and Nightwing dating? How . . . cute. Never pegged you as one for forbidden romance, Red Hood."

Red Hood's scowl deepened, and his look of disgust must have shown, because Black Mask just smirked. He looked at Nightwing, surveying her, and then surveying Red Hood. Jason's teeth clenched. Something about dating Rickie just felt . . . wrong. Dating his sister? Ew. They may not be blood related, but she was still his sister.

His little sister, Jason thought with an internal smirk. Time to get payback for all the years of being called little brother. Jason was slightly distracted as, unbidden, memories of the pranks Rickie played on him surfaced. He tried to focus on Black Mask, who was handing a bucket to a goon outside the door, but it was hard.

Once again, Red Hood paid a price for his inattentiveness. He was brought out of his thoughts when Black Mask yanked Nightwing up by her wrist. She stifled a scream, falling onto the floor as Black Mask basically held her up by her wrist. She reached up to pry his hand off, but her arm fell short, and a pained grimaced made its way onto her face.

A red haze came over Jason's vision.

With a jolt, Jason realized it was the injured wrist she had been holding earlier. Frantically, his eyes darted around, looking for anything, anyway to escape. His hands moved desperately, and Red Hood tried to think if there was any lock picks that they missed when searching him.

He couldn't find anything, so Jason chose to shout at Black Mask instead. "Leave her alone! Put her down!" Each command was more useless than the first. Desperate to stop Black Mask (who was now dragging Rickie to the door), Jason blurted out, "What are you doing with my sister?"

As soon as he said the words, he knew that made a huge mistake. He wished he could take back the words that had come out of his mouth. He hadn't meant to call her . . . Black Mask turned around slowly, looking at Jason with a calculating look. He dropped Nightwing like a sack of potatoes by the door.

"Sister?" Black Mask asked, intrigued. There was a menacing undertone to his voice that Red Hood immediately did not like.

He tried to take it back. He needed to, for both their sakes.

"Was that what you heard me say? Are you going deaf, Black Mask?" Red Hood asked with his usual attitude. Granted, it was a little toned down. No curse words or death threats in it.

Black Mask wasn't convinced. "Nice try, Red, but I believe I heard you call her sister. How . . . interesting."

A cold, sick feeling of dread began to settle in Jason's stomach. His eyes found Nightwing, who was huddled against the doorway. She coughed again, and took some more rattling breaths. Black Mask walked over to her. He was well aware of the power given to him by Jason's words. Jason had just given Black Mask leverage to use against him.

"Did you hear that, girl?" Black Mask asked her quietly. She didn't respond. "Sister, huh? You know, I was thinking of givin' you to ole Buster a day early, but with this bit of information . . ."

Black Mask rubbed his chin, and Red Hood knew he was weighing the pros and cons of not giving Rickie to whoever ole Buster was. A cold, triumphant smile wormed its way onto Black Mask's face, and he knew that the choice had been made. Jason had a feeling that it was not one he would like.

Black Mask nodded to himself. "Well, you're in luck, Nightwing. You get to spend some time with me, and my crew."

Jason was filled with horror, but it was replaced by rage. He started yelling again.

Rickie didn't have a clue what was going on. She could only hear bits and pieces of Jason's conversation with Black Mask, and then the iron grip on her poor wrist was back, and she howled at the unexpected pain, her face twisting in agony. Can't a hostage get a moment's peace around here?

She heard Red Hood yell at Black Mask to put her down, but she only heard a dark chuckle to her right. Nightwing, even in her battered state, quickly realized that his left hand was holding her right one. She could do nothing with that information that her brain had supplied however, as her wrist felt like someone was sticking it in a fire.

It burned. And it hurt. A lot.

Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, and her good hand her flew up instinctually to claw at the thing that was causing her more pain. Before, the pain in her wrist was a dual throb, but now, as stated earlier, it felt like it was on fire.

She felt her self being dragged on the floor, and then it felt like the rest of her injuries were on fire, too. She coughed, trying to get rid of the wet, burning feeling in her throat that was causing more tears to appear in her eyes. Not that anyone could see them through her mask.

Then the grip on her wrist abruptly loosened. She fell to the floor, choking, and spluttering, and her head landed by someone's feet. The feet were small, and wearing black combat boots. Nightwing, through the haze in her mind, slowly started to realize who the owner of the feet was.

Black Mask shouted in surprise, but Red Hood seemed to have fallen into a shocked silence.

She heard a familiar snotty voice say, "I do not care for that idiot known as Red Hood, Black Mask, but I believe you have overstepped your boundaries when it comes to Nightwing. Your territory is in Gotham, no? And Nightwing is a Bludhaven vigilante. I'm afraid that I must escort this imbecile to a nearby medical facility, and unfortunately I must take the idiot known as Red Hood to accompany me."

There was a shout of anger from Black Mask, and then a crunching noise, along with a thud. Nightwing guessed that Damian had punched Black Mask's lights out. White spots danced in front of her eyes, and she knew she'd end up passing out soon. Hopefully, she would wake up.

All the hits she took to the head cannot have been good for her concussion that she likely has. And passing out or sleeping with a concussion . . . Neither of those were smart choices. She breathed, her breath short. It was getting harder to stay awake.

Her eyelids were drooping, and she could feel herself slipping into unconsciousness. She fought to stay awake, but blackness overtook her vision. Nightwing's last thought was that at least she got to miss the lecture about how reckless she was.

Second half should be up soon. Review, please. Let me know what you think.