𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, DICK GRAYSON

─ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

The following day, we decided to make a stop and settle down in a motel for the night. It was deserted and grim—the best alternative to hide when being hunted down by sociopaths.

"All right, guys, listen up. We're all in one piece, more or less," Dick said as the five of us piled inside his room for a small meeting. "We need to figure out where we stand and determine what's mission critical."

"'Mission critical'?" Rachel arched a brow, eating a slice of pizza while comfortably sitting on the bed.

"Is that a cop thing? Sounds like a cop thing," Gar questioned, holding the pizza box in his hand.

"I had some combat training when I was younger," Dick explained.

Rachel turned to Gar and said, "And he's a cop."

"I'm sorry, you were referring to 'we'?" Kory said, casually leaning against the wall as she was fiddling with her fingers.

"'We' as of right now are a group of people who share a common enemy."

"Which makes us what?"

Dick paused for a moment before speaking again. "Let's call it an alliance. One born of mutual need."

"And what is that?"

"To stay alive.

"In other words, we're a team," I spoke up, leaning back on the chair. "You're kidding, right?"

"No," Dick stared at me. "We have no idea how long we have until they find us."

"Then let's kill them next time so we don't have to worry about looking over our shoulder every time," I gave out a suggestion. The faster these sociopaths are gone, the faster my secluded life returns.

"No killing. We can't kill them," he argued back in slight anger.

"You said 'they'. Who are they?" Gar asked, stepping forward with the pizza box. Leaning towards Rachel, he asked, "W-what do they want?"

"We don't know who they are, but they want me," Rachel told him as I looked at his reaction, thinking maybe it was a bad choice to allow Gar join us when he's clueless about everything that is happening.

"It's because of her... abilities," Dick added.

"They make violence look like an art form," Kory reported, nonchalantly.

"The people that attacked us fought in unison. They were perfectly coordinated, we're not," Dick said, lowkey sounding like a leader. "We can't fight like that unless we learn each other's moves."

"Inspiring," Kory grinned, feeling moved by his words. "And how do you suggest we do that?"

"We stick together and we train."

After the meeting concluded, we left the motel and went somewhere remote.

Shoving my hands into the pockets of my jacket, I stood next to Rachel in the barnyard as Dick was in the front, facing the four of us.

"Okay, in order to work together, fight and defend yourselves like a coordinated team, we gotta see what each other can do," he explained to us. "Any volunteers?"