SIXTEEN: Feeling A Little Blue

The mood was somber, to say the least. After spending several hours training, we shifted into research mode. It was Caitlin's idea to use Ivy as a guinea pig, and Ivy didn't argue. She had a natural immunity to poisons. The key to finding a cure might be inside of her.

I stood by and helped analyze the results. Most of the others were trying to rest, but I knew how important this was. Artemis stayed with me, insisting she didn't need to sleep. I had a feeling she was worried about nightmares, but I was smart enough not to call her on it.

Harley had stayed with us, too. She was holding Ivy's hand through the tests. Caitlin kept drawing blood, to the point where I was mildly concerned that Ivy wouldn't have any left, but she reassured me she wasn't going to exsanguinate her.

"Look at this," Caitlin said as she tested a sample of Ivy's blood against a bit of her own. She moved aside so I could look into the microscope.

"There are green cells attacking red ones," I said in surprise.

"Ivy's blood is red, but when it touches my tainted blood, green bits react and try to destroy my blood," Caitlin confirmed. "The poison replicates really fast, which is why Ivy was still affected on and off, but her blood is trying to fight it off. If we could perfect that fighting cell and then duplicate the results, we might just have a cure."

"Tell me what you need," I said. "I'll get it for you."

"Honestly, I need my lab, but failing that... I'll make a list of tools I need to run further experiments."

"Consider it done."

"Eventually, I'll need a live subject. I can't do it myself because I need to run the tests."

"You can experiment on me!" Harley said cheerfully, as if that sounded like a really fun time.

"It has to be someone who was infected with the poison," Caitlin replied.

"I'll do it," Artemis volunteered.

"Artemis, no," I protested.

"Caitlin and Ivy aren't options. Either I do it, or you use Billy, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to do that to him. Besides, the poison didn't work on Billy, so he's not really a candidate."

"But-"

"Nightwing... I can do this. I'll be alright."

I sighed. "I hate this," I informed her.

"I know. But don't worry. I've got this. And I trust Killer Frost not to screw me over because she needs the cure, too."

"She's right," Caitlin said. "I have a grip on myself for now, but it probably won't last forever. Eventually, one of my sides will become too amplified and will take over. I need the cure just like everyone else."

"Alright. Get me your list," I replied reluctantly. "I need some air."

I walked out of the House of Mysteries and stood near the door, hoping the house wouldn't change locations on me while I was outside. "Stay, Girl... Please?" I asked. It didn't immediately flee just to spite me, which I took as a good sign.

I stared up at the sky. Wherever we were was deceptively peaceful. Looking up at the stars, I almost forgot that the apocalypse had come and the entire world was in ruins. Then I saw something that snapped me back into awareness.

Bats.

I thought I was hallucinating when the first bat flew in front of the moon, but another followed, and another, and soon enough, a swarm of bats filled the sky and nearly eclipsed the moon entirely. When they finally moved past the moon, they flew in unison, very quickly, toward the same location.

Naturally, I followed them. I moved as fast as I could, keeping them in sight until they suddenly swooped down into the woods. I probably shouldn't have gone in alone, but this felt important. I knew in my heart they were leading me to something I needed to find.

It was dark. I could barely see anything, but I kept moving, hoping I'd find whatever the bats had been trying to show me.

One might accuse me of being insane in that moment. Maybe I was. A sane person probably wouldn't chase after a swarm of bats, especially if it meant leaving a sanctuary while facing the literal apocalypse. Insane or not, I knew this was something I had to do.

I felt like Bruce was guiding me. Considering I'd recently spoken with not one but two dead friends, I figured that wasn't out of the question. If their spirits had lingered, maybe Bruce's had, too.

As I moved deeper into the woods, I heard something moving in the trees. I tensed and braced myself for battle, but nothing happened. Then, rather suddenly, something jumped onto my back.

I started fighting the creature, which was definitely metallic in nature. Confused and slightly panicked, I did everything I could think of to get it off of me. Finally, I flipped it through the air and put some distance between us. 

As the blue creature landed on its back and I prepared to attack him, I heard a voice say, "Stop, Ese! Please!"

I hesitated, realizing he sounded both young and afraid. Bruce led me here, I thought. There's got to be a reason for that.

"You have fifteen seconds to tell me who you are and why you attacked me," I said firmly.

"Don't kill me, Ese! I'm Jaime. Jaime Reyes... I've been hiding out here ever since the whole world went loco. My suit brought me to these woods to protect me. It attacked you on its own because it sensed you were a threat," he explained. His blue suit retreated and I saw that he was just a teenager like me.

"Your suit is sentient?" I asked in confusion.

"Yeah... I can't always control it. I'm sorry, Ese."

The bats circled overhead as if to encourage me. Do you trust this guy, Bruce? I asked silently. I realized that didn't matter; I trusted him.

"It's nice to meet you, Jaime," I said, offering him my hand and helping him to his feet. "I'm Dick, or Nightwing... Formerly known as Robin."

His eyes widened in surprise. "Robin? No way!" His face lit up with all of the enthusiasm of a proper fanboy. "It's an honor to meet you!" He shook my hand eagerly.

Back in the day, before the world ended, I would have enjoyed that for a bit, but I didn't care about recognition or glory for all of my accomplishments anymore. None of that mattered now.

"Hey, Ese," I said with a reassuring smile. "There's no need for that. Only one thing matters right now... Are you ready to fight back against Lex Luther and Apophis?"

"I thought everyone was dead. The suit told me there was very little chance of anyone surviving," he replied. "Is it just the two of us?"

"Not quite, although I thought I was alone for a while," I admitted. "I've got a team, Jaime. It's an unconventional team, but it's better than fighting all alone... If you want to join us, I can bring you to a sanctuary. Are you interested?"

"Are you serious? I am so sick of living in these woods! Besides..." His eyes turned haunted. The pain I saw there told me Jaime had been through something extremely traumatic.

"Lex's machine killed my family," he said, barely getting the words out. "It happened right in front of me, but the suit was short-circuiting and I couldn't move... I was basically paralyzed and powerless to save them. The suit came back online right before it would have killed me, too... I would have let myself die, but the suit protects its host, whether he wants it to or not."

"I get it, Jaime," I replied sadly. "I lost Batman, and a lot of my friends... And way before that, when I was just a kid, I lost my family... I watched them die and couldn't save them. So I understand what you're going through."

Jaime wiped a stray tear from his right eye and sniffled. "Thanks, Ese. It's been hard to deal with this on my own, you know? The Beetle might be sentient, but it's not the same as having another human to talk to."

"Follow me, Jaime. We should hurry before the House of Mysteries decides to leave town."

"Can you explain that to me? I'm a little confused."

I laughed. "You're not alone in that," I admitted. "The House of Mysteries is magical, and I'm no expert in that area, but Constantine's letting us use it as our base right now. I prefer the Batcave, but the house's ability to move keeps us safer... At least, it did, until a severed head was delivered to us. I'm not sure how Malcom Merlyn managed to track us."

"He probably didn't, Ese. My guess is he has someone inside your team working for him. You better be careful."

I frowned. "I trust my team, Jaime," I said. That might be odd to say when I had people like Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Killer Frost, and John Constantine on my side, but it was the truth.

"Maybe this person doesn't know that they're helping the other side. I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but how do you track an untrackable house unless you have someone inside of it?"

He had a point. That didn't mean that I had to like it.

"I guess we'll figure that out as we go," I said. "For now, the House of Mysteries is still the safest place for us. I promise you'll have food and a bed."

"You had me at food, but a bed definitely sweetens the deal," he replied.

We headed back toward the House of Mysteries. The bats flew away, but a final one lingered in front of the moon. It was eerily reminiscent of the Bat signal.

I knew in that moment that Bruce was warning me to be cautious, and not to tell the team everything... I also knew that this was my team, and I wasn't a sidekick anymore. I would lead the team my way, and quite honestly, I was sick and tired of lying to the people I was supposed to trust. After all, trust goes both ways. If I didn't show them I trusted them, how the hell could I expect them to trust me?

As we reached the House of Mysteries, which was thankfully still in the same spot, I took a deep breath. Orchid let us inside and I looked at my team, now gathered in the living room.

"Okay, guys, this is Jaime," I said. "Settle in, because we have a lot to discuss."