"Good job, Alpha, report back to the Tower." Nightwing clicked off the comms. Batgirl, Bumblebee, and Miss Martian saved a bridge in Tokyo before it collapsed. Wonder Girl was with Wonder Woman, Impulse was with the Flash, Blue Beetle, Lagoon Boy, and Superboy were training. Nightwing opened a screen in front of him to look for Robin's position. Weird, he wasn't showing up.
Nightwing fought a chill. If Deathstroke had made a move, taken Tim... he couldn't lose two Robins. Not after Willa... Dick's chest ached at the memory of Willa yelling at him, crying with him, how could Dick have been si stupid? He just believed she was safe for months with no contact? He had even gone on a date while Willa was in hell, protecting him. It was his worst nightmare come true, Willa being hurt to get at him.
Nightwing looked at Robin's last known location and headed for the zeta tube.
**
No sign of Robin. Nightwing had tracked for miles and there wasn't a clue, no sign of struggle. Nightwing rounded back to his original point and perched on the edge of a roof, overlooking the street. There was nothing really here, just a closed down restaurant and some abandoned buildings. What was Robin even here for? Was there gang activity? A drug deal. But none of those would be a problem for Tim.
A taxi pulled up below Nightwing as a night breeze rustled his hair. He squinted his eyes, shocked to see Willa getting out of the taxi. She looked around and walked a few steps hesitantly, looking around. This didn't feel right.
Nightwing dropped in front of her, catching her when she tripped on her feet and fell backwards. It would have been funny a year ago. "What are you doing here?"
Willa showed him her phone, "I got a text from my mom, she wanted to meet for dinner, but she's not here, and there are no restaurants..." She looked at him, eyes wide as they both thought the same thing.
Nightwing tightened his grip on her, "I need to get you out of here. Now." He hugged her tight and launched a grappling hook. His feet had just left the ground when a knife came out of nowhere and sliced the line. Nightwing turned them in the air, wrapping himself around Willa, so he took the full force of their impact. He rolled to his feet, firmly in front of her as Deathstroke emerged from the shadows.
"So predictable," he chuckled then looked behind Nightwing to Willa, "hey, sweetheart."
Nightwing felt Willa press herself to his back and shiver at the words. He shifted so he shielded her from Deathstroke's gaze. "Where's Robin?"
Deathstroke rolled his eyes, "perfectly fine. I just shorted out his tech here. Faked a text from mommy dearest. Now you're both here."
"It's me you want," Nightwing said slowly, "let her go."
"Not a chance." He charged, swinging his sword and forcing Nightwing to roll out of the way, away from Willa. He saw her dive and take cover while Nightwing charged back, trying to give her time to run. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," Deathstroke said and caught Nightwing's wrist, twisting and throwing him in Willa's path blocking her. "I need you to watch her die."
Nightwing saw red. Deathstroke already had the element of surprise and Nightwing was doing double duty, blocking Willa from attack after attack, often taking blows while she kept out of the way as best she could. How was he going to get her out of here? He shot a rope around Deathstroke's ankles and elbowed him in the temple. "Go!" He roared back at Willa.
He almost thought he had it. Then someone else dropped from a rooftop and Deathstroke used the distraction to flip their positions, pinning Nightwing on the ground with his weight. A familiar woman in red grabbed Willa by the wrists and dragged her back, kicking and screaming. Lady Shiva. Deathstroke smirked and punched Nightwing in the face.
"Maybe I should tie her up in that building then blow it up," he taunted. Nightwing struggled and kicked the larger man off, flipping to his feet and diving at Lady Shiva.
The assassin kept hold of Willa, dragging her around as she dodged and making Nightwing less aggressive with his blows with Will in the middle. Nightwing dodged Deathstroke's sword, now fending off two of them while trying to get Willa free. He locked eyes with her scared ones, grimacing at the pain in her face from Lady Shiva's grip on her wrist.
Lady Shiva threw Willa back into the wall and pulled out another sword, slicing Nightwing's leg when he was distracted. He cringed but kicked her legs out from under her, taking a cut to the shoulder from Deathstroke. He jumped and grabbed onto Lady Shiva's shoulders, twisting and pulling her to the ground but he cried out as a sword pierced his side, sending him to the ground.
Deathstroke drew his sword out and kicked the wound as Lady Shiva kicked him in the jaw, making him see stars. He tried to get up but Deathstroke's foot pinned his knee to the ground and he punched Nightwing in the temple, twisting his knee. He rolled over, still trying to get up but he yelled in pain as Deathstroke drove his sword deep into his shoulder, pinning him to the ground.
He kicked Lady Shiva in the face but just got one of her knives in his thigh. He heard Willa yell and looked over to see her cowering as Deathstroke stalked towards her. She was petrified. Nightwing roared and pulled the sword out of the ground, but he was wounded and too slow. Lady Shiva straddled him, pushing him down and driving the sword back in.
Deathstroke came into his line of sight, holding Willa by the hair. "I was going to kill her quickly, but she's just so beautiful when she screams," he traced a hand along Willa's lips. She bit his finger and he slapped her before regaining his composure. "You know, Willa here helped Joker perfect a little serum while she was with me. Very helpful. I think I'll let her try out the final version before I slice her throat."
"No!" Willa struggled against him but he was so much stronger. He pulled out a syringe and Nightwing watched the color drain from her face, "no, please, not again."
Deathstroke shot a smile at Nightwing, gloating. Lady Shiva leaned down, "I told you I would rip out your heart. And then you, the heart of the League, will die, leaving your fellow heroes truly heartless."
Nightwing struggled again but he couldn't move. He was bleeding out. He locked eyes with Willa, trying desperately to find a way out of this. She stared back, afraid, but determined. She looked resigned. She even gave him a small smile, as if to say it's okay. But it wasn't. He couldn't do this to her, not after everything she'd lived through. She didn't deserve this.
Willa slowly closed her eyes and fell to her knees as Deathstroke raised his arm to plunge the syringe into her neck.