New Mt. Justice 8:49 pm

August 18th 2016

There was a flash of blond locks, swiftly moving to and fro. Cassie aka Wonder Girl, was frantically dusting and cleaning the entire complex from head to toe. She dashed from one spot to another quickly, and she seemed to Robin, Tim Drake, an unstoppable force of cleanliness. A young boy seemed to suddenly appear by Robin's side. The familiar bright yellow costume of Kid Flash, but it was not Wally West under the armor. His name was Bart Allen. Grandson of Barry Allen, The Flash. He stopped to watch Cassie beside his friend.

"So, how long she been like this?" The young speedster asked his friend.

Robin turned slightly toward the boy, but kept his eyes thoroughly on the girl before them.

"I'd say at least three hours now," he replied.

"Ok, so what's with all the Mr. Clean mode?" Bart asked.

Cassie flew past the two, gripping in her hands a vacuum cleaner, a mop, and a bucket. Tim turned fully to his speedster friend and shrugged. He honestly didn't know. Cassie had just burst out of her room three hours ago shrieking like a school girl. However, despite his attempts to see if anything was wrong she had completely ignored him and began to clean.

Almost an hour had passed, and Cassie's cleaning crusade had not gone unnoticed. Now beside Robin and Kid Flash there stood Blue Beetle aka Jaime R., Static aka Virgil H., Beast Boy Garfield Logan, M'Gann The Martian, and Superboy Conner Kent. They all watched pn as the blonde was now high above them near the ceiling, mopping the rafters. Bart munched on some popcorn and he turned his head back to the other members of the team.

"Popcorn anyone?" He gestured to them amusingly,

Recognized: Nightwing B01.

The nearby zeta tube lit up as the portal opened up. Nightwing stepped out from the other side and glanced over to find his friends all huddled together and just staring into space? No, he noticed they were looking above at the rafters. He glanced up and had to do a double take. The rafters were gleaming and shiny, sparkling almost. Nightwing stood there a moment, until Cassie finally hollered victoriously.

"Yes! It's all done!" She smiled as she floated down toward her friends.

Some of them had to stifle the giggles that threatened to come out. Although Cassie had succeeded in cleaning the entire place, she herself was now a dirty and sweaty mess.

"So, what's with all the cleaning today Cass?" Tim asked her, smiling softly.

Cassie's smile widened as she stared at her friends. Boy did she have a surprise for them. Nightwing drew closer to the others, his curiosity piqued by this spectacle.

"Diana contacted me today," Cassie began, unable to contain her cheerfulness.

"Donna's coming to visit!"

The team was taken aback by this bit of news. Besides Cassie, only the original members of the team had met and fought alongside the original Wonder Girl. They were now definitely excited.

"That is soooo CRASH!" Bart yelled out.

Conner Kent peered over the talking crowd to see Nightwing's face. It was a twisted mix of pain and happiness. Conner may have not been a rocket scientist, but he was certain even a jelly fish could see the signs. Nightwing had dated a few girls in the past. And each relationship seemingly ended the same way. Whenever Nightwing was depressed, he went to Donna to talk. Conner also took note of the fact that Nightwing was madly and totally in love with the first Wonder Girl. However, even though he knew this, why hadn't Nightwing gone after her? Sought to find happiness with the woman he was truly in love with? Conner then wondered if the reason Nightwing's other relationships never lasted was because he was in love with Donna.

Nightwing sighed as he turned away from the crowd. He headed down the west end corridor of the home of Young Justice. He remembered he was supposed to meet up with Kaldur for important business, but now his mind was in Donna mode. No matter what he tried, he could not stop himself from loving her. To Nightwing, the first Robin, and Dick Grayson, Donna Troy was the most perfect girl he had ever met. She was selfless, beautiful, and had just the right amount of toughness. But mostly, Dick loved her for being true to herself, for never being anymore than her. He admired and loved that about the woman. She was like a bright light that would shine through the blackest of nights. He knew she was the reason none of his other relationships ever worked out. And also it was why he was destined to die alone.

Nightwing came to a slow stop at the foot of Kaldur's door. He knocked a few times then he waited for a reply. The door slid open and Kaldur smiled at his long time friend.

"It is good to see you Nightwing," Kaldur greeted him in a cheerful tone.

Dick smiled to one of his oldest friends. Kaldur had become like a brother to him since the team was first formed, and the same would be said about the others shoes. The two hugged a brotherly hug and pulled apart.

"You said you had something for me right?" Dick asked.

Kaldur nodded his head and moved to let him inside the room. Inside was simple enough, Nightwing thought. Well simple maybe to an Atlantean. Kaldur led Dick over to the large computer monitor mounted onto the wall. Kaldur then sighed and shook his head, as if to question on whether or not he should show this to his friend. Especially Nightwing.

"This was left at the doorstep of the Hall of Justice. It was addressed to the team. And I believe more specifically to you."

Kaldur then clicked on a button and a video popped up on the screen and began to play. First Nightwing could hear a voice. He couldn't quite make it out, until he realized what he was seeing. It was a close up of the Joker's face. Nightwing shuddered at the thought of this monster trying to contact him. as the video played the Joker cleared his voice and starred at the two.

"Hello? Hello? Is this thing on? Oh! It is. Goody!" Joker grinned, and Dick could feel the blood rushing away from his brain.

"My dearest and bestest of friends! My Young rugrats of Justice. It is with a gleeful heart and happy tidings that I present the gradest show on Earth to you!"

Joker was twirling around and laughing on the video. Dick could only wonder what this mad man was up to now. Joker then moved away from the screen, to reveal a man tied down to a chair, dressed as Batman. He looked like he had been beaten badly, and blood dripped from his face.

"Ohhh Tsk tsk, unfortunately the real Batsy is such a party pooper," Joker suddenly came back into the screen and leaned in closer, his yellow teeth looked disgusting.

"That I had to settle on this FAKE!"

Dick could feel his fingers going numb, his fists were wound tight. Joker had always been a wild card. He was unpredictable, and even worse, he loved the killing. He reveled in the despair and agony of others. And for what? No one knew. If there ever was a monster the world could do without, it was Joker. Dick had hoped he would die one day, but he knew nothing that evil could stay dead. Joker grinned wildly at the camera as he backed up.

"People these days really need to lighten up. You're all so Serious!"

The Joker began to laugh, that sick laughter only he could produce.

"Let's just demonstrate on how we lighten the mood hmm?"

Joker then pulled out a sharp blade from his jacket. He held it up to the camera before moving his way back to the chair bound man.

"WHY SO SERIOUS? WHY SO SERIOUS BATSY!? HahahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH!"

Joker didn't stop. The man was gurgling and drowning in his own blood as the last bits of life left his body. When the Joker finished, he made his way back to the camera and smiled wide.

"I like your city, it's much nicer than Old Gotham. I think I'll stay and play alittle… hehehehHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHH!-"

The screen went fuzzy, signaling the end of the video. Nightwing hadn't noticed, but he had been biting down on his lip. Little trickles of blood dripped down onto the blue symbol on his chest. He turned to Kaldur and quickly turned to leave the room. With Bruce taking care of business in the Middle East, this was his problem. Now that the Joker had set his sights on Bludhaven, this was making it very personal. Killing an innocent man dressed as his mentor only added fuel to the fire that was now burning in Dick Grayson.

"Do you require back up perhaps?" Kaldur asked quickly.

"I'll call if I need it Kaldur," Dick spoke quickly and walked out of the room.

That monster was in his city. In some weird way, Dick welcomed him. Because he knew that because it was his city, he would take him down on his own turf. Bludhaven, Gotham's Corrupt and chaotic sister, a cesspool of violence and death.

Nightwing was heading back down the corridor, something had slipped his mind. What was it though? He turned to corner to step back into the living room area and was almost knocked over. Instead of finding himself on the floor, Dick Grayson found himself being held onto. He blinked as he realized it was Donna Troy. Hugging him close to her. A small smile crept to his lips as his arms found themselves wrapped around her. He held her back and took in her scent. God did he miss it so much. It was becoming obvious to everyone else in the room that the hug Donna was giving Nightwing was going to be much longer than any of the hugs she had given to them.

Cassie was smiling and blushing, then she grabbed onto Tim's arm and held onto him closely. This made the young bird's face turn into a scarlet color. They'd have to start calling him Red Robin if this kept up. However, Donna and Dick didn't seem to notice anyone else in the room at the moment.

"It's so good to see you again Donna, I've really missed you," Dick whispered softly to her as he pulled away just enough to see her face.

She smiled brightly to him, and Damn was she beautiful, Dick though to himself. When she spoke it seemed to him that an angel was singing to him personally, not a fully battle hardened Amazon woman.

"I've missed you too D—I mean Nightwing," She let out a soft giggle.

He couldn't help but smile much more brightly, she just had that effect on him.

"It's alright, most of them know that my name Dick, so it's fine now," he softly told her.

She nodded in relief and softly rested her head against his shoulder. She really had missed the now Man Wonder. Dick held her there not wanting to let go.

"Ahem… No hogging an Amazon babe to yourself dude," Bart said as he was standing right beside them.

Both Donna and Dick shot backwards from one another, and out of each other's arms. They then realized that they were the center of attention by all the looks they were getting from the multiple heroes' in the room. Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Donna.

"I.. Uhh. I have a mission that needs me right now. But when I get back, we could hang out if you want," he spoke to her softly.

Donna smiled and nodded her head, "Of course Dick, I'll be here waiting for you."

Nightwing smiled as he headed to the zeta tube, and with a flash of light from the opening portal, he was gone. He stepped out into the nighttime breeze of Bludhaven's slum district. He shot a grappling hook up onto a nearby building and was quickly on top of the roofs. As he ran into the cold night air he could only think to himself, even if we wasn't able to be with Donna the way he truly wanted to, we would make sure to cherish every moment he had with her. But first he had to deal with the Joker.