Something There 3/3
Title: Something there 3/3
Rated: Mature
Pairing: Piper/Trickster (potential Owen/Tim, and potential Catwoman/Riddler)
Disclaimer: I still don't own them, and I still don't make money off of them. (Woe, for dudes am I broke.)
Summary: Halloween Prompt Challenge: Hell on Earth
Total Word Count: 25,485
Part One
Part Two
It seemed the higher they climbed, the more Piper's head was beginning to hurt. Behind him, he could almost feel Trickster's fingers on his back, a presence that was trying to be comforting. "What are we going to find at the top of these stairs?" Cold asked as they continued to ascend them.
"The big guy himself." Trickster was quick to answer. "He's waiting for us."
"Did you see him for yourself, or did your contact tell you this?" Nightwing asked, cutting Cold off before he could ask the same thing.
"Both. He told me, and then I confirmed it." He sighed in impatience and annoyance. "Look, I have no reason to keep anything from you. He's up there, waiting for us. Something about he can't reverse it all on his own."
"What makes you so sure that he wants to reverse it?" Cold asked, this time barely beating Nightwing out from asking the same question.
"Because he..." Trickster seemed at a loss. "This isn't his place, he can't control it like he can control his own. I don't know. I just know he doesn't want his realm mixed with ours. Maybe he doesn't like peanut butter on his chocolate or something! I don't know. But I do know we don't have much choice in the matter, now do we?"
Piper felt a desire to put his hand on Trickster's shoulder and perhaps squeeze it in assurance. Something that was pretty much impossible at this point despite how solid he was becoming. And on the other hand? If he became completely tangible, then it would indicate that it was now too late.
Piper was between the proverbial rock and hard place. Because he desperately wanted to have Trickster be real to him. But at the same time for him to be so would mean the end of the world as he knew it. Even more people would die and suffer, and how could he wish that just because he wanted to turn and put his hand on Trickster's shoulder and feel it. To have him feel it?
In the end, if this was successful? He was going to have to say goodbye to Trickster yet again. He'd never see him again, if this worked. Despite his best efforts, he found himself slowing in step. Reluctant to keep moving forward. But move he continued to do, hand tight around his weapons.
He tried to concentrate on hearing the others, to check on them and make sure that they were all right. But it seemed as though more and more interference was building up around them, affecting their electronics. If that were the case, then time would come when they would truly be defenseless.
"Hidey ho good neighbors." The voice didn't sound quite right, and it wasn't even the right words. But Piper could still feel the drop in his stomach.
"Axel." Cold sounded as grim as he looked. "You're not Axel though are you?"
The form that appeared at the top of the stairs snickered. His head bent at an odd angle as he lurched toward them. "Ice him." Nightwing tried to order.
"You punned." Axel sing-songed. "Now you have to be punnnished."
Cold had already raised his gun and was shooting at the zombie, but despite his odd gait, the creature was still limber, and still wearing the airwalker shoes. "Naughty naughty." The creature taunted. "I'm rather enjoying this form. I think I'll keep it. He's not using it anymore." It tittered.
Cold re-aimed and fired again, but the thing that inhabited the boy's body bounced from wall to wall, until it was behind them, grabbing Piper up and pulling him down the steps.
"PIPER!" Trickster screamed.
Nightwing leapfrogged over Red Arrow, bounding up and over his head, then used Mark's shoulders to launch himself toward the struggling Piper. The three of them rolled down the remaining steps, onto the landing below while Nightwing wrestled with the creature that still clung to Piper. "Get OFF!" Nightwing growled, wedging himself between the two.
Piper could feel the cold slick hands on his throat, and felt repulsed in all ways. Even the smell was enough to make him feel like retching.
"Piper, Piper are you okay?" He could almost feel Trickster trying to shake him.
"I'm... I'm okay." He assured, though his voice was high and shaking.
"MOVE!" Cold yelled, and Nightwing immediately rolled off the creature that was attempting to slash at him with stiff, but broken fingers.
Ice formed on the body and then thickened. Cold didn't stop until the ice was a foot or two thick. Not wanting to chance that it could break through easily. "Can't kill what is already dead." He said bitterly. "Looks like his neck was broken."
Mark was covering his mouth with his hands, staring at the frozen body.
"Come on." Cold barked at them.
"But..." Someone started to protest.
"I said come on!" Cold turned and started back up the stairs. "If they're already starting to send out the 'level bosses' then that means we're close to our goal."
"This is not a game." Nightwing took Piper's arm and pulled him behind him as he started up the stairs, glaring at the older man's back.
"Life has always and never has been a game." He agreed and disagreed at the same time. "Right now, we don't have a choice. We're almost up there, keep your eyes sharp."
Arrow notched his crossbow, and carefully kept it pointed up so as not to accidentally shoot anyone.
"Hear anything, Piper?" Cold asked, glancing back at him.
Piper shook his head. "Static from the third floor down. Something is trying to cause interference. But all I hear above us is what sounds like wind."
"Wonderful." Cold's tone said it was anything but such. "Mark?"
"He's getting tired." Arrow protested, moving in front of the Weather Wizard. "He's done the lion's share of the work since we started this mess, even before we started. He's been the heavy hitter. He's about to crash! Let me go out there. Sure it's windy, so what. I'm not useless here." He insisted.
"He can crash later, when we have time." Cold argued.
"He's staying in here." Arrow stepped forward, glaring behind his mask.
"I'll just go out there and..." Mark started to speak.
"Shut UP!" Both men yelled at the same time.
"Oooookay?" Mark held up his hands and wandered off to the side, looking utterly confused.
Nightwing gave the two arguing men an annoyed look and instead went to the Weather Wizard. "Are you too drained to calm the wind?" He asked in a low voice. Piper listened in, and he could sense that Trickster was as well. He felt something 'hover' around his hand and as he looked down, he could see Trickster's fingers literally 'ghost' over his own.
Slowly, he looked over at the other man, afraid he would disappear on him again and he could see the faint smile on his face. For a moment, he couldn't help but return it. But then both of their smiles grew sadder until they faded.
"I can calm it." Wizard nodded. "But I am running out of steam."
Nightwing turned to look at Arrow who was turning red in the face, and Cold who looked like he was about to jam his gun up Arrow's nose. "Slip out, do it, come back. Don't linger. If you can't, get back here on the double. This is the last time we'll ask you to do anything, even if Cold disagrees. Does us no good if you collapse anyway."
Wizard nodded after a moment and easily slipped past the distracted men.
Piper closed his eyes at the faint pressure around his waist, straining his implants to hear what was going on outside, beyond the fight near the door. Nightwing hadn't stopped either man from arguing, and was obviously letting them distract each other.
The wind calmed, as suddenly as it had started and Mark was once more through the door, gasping. He was also shaking and had blood flowing from his shoulder.
"You went out there?" Arrow hollered as he rushed forward and put a hand over the wound. "Why the hell did you do that?"
"Calmed the wind." He said simply, but he was shaking as he said it.
"Through and through." Cold pronounced as he forced Arrow's hand off the wound long enough to check it. "You'll live."
"Nice." Arrow said sarcastically.
"We deal with it after we're sure the world isn't going to end." He growled.
Arrow tore a piece of cloth from Piper's cloak and folded it, applying it the best he could, letting Mark hold it in place. "Stay here." He advised.
"Probably safer out there with you guys. Axel-Zombie breaks through that ice, and he's probably going to try to eat my brain!" Mark snorted.
"Fine, but just... stay..." Arrow trailed off, because he could already see the look in the other man's eyes. "Look, enough of us have been killed. Stay alive."
"Even though I'm one of the bad guys?" He asked.
"I was in love with a woman that took out an entire country. I think I can have a little bit of compassion for a man that's been saving our collective asses all day." Arrow pointed out.
"You sure you're not LOOKING at his ass?" Nightwing finally deadpanned as he passed Arrow to go through the door.
"Oh good god. You're NEVER going to let that go." He yelled as he quickly turned around and ran after Nightwing.
"Okaaaaay..." Mark was once more confused and looked at Piper for assistance.
"Don't look at me. I might be gay, but that doesn't mean I understand what goes through their heads." Piper pointed out. "We're not a collective you know."
"Resistance is futile, we will be ass-imilated." Trickster quipped following as always behind them all.
"Oh, so you've finally accepted that you're hot for Piper's bod?" Mark asked, still shaky and a bit pale.
"I..." Trickster paused. "Can't. I'm dead. It wouldn't matter even if I did." He pointed out. "All it would do is bring more pain for when this was over."
"It already hurts." Piper whispered, looking away.
"I never meant to." Trickster told him.
"I know, neither did I." He wrapped his arms around him in a self-hug, and then forced himself to step through the doorway and onto the roof.
The roof looked, as expectant, nothing like it should. But even with the expectation that it wouldn't look like it should, it still did not meet the expectations they were... expecting?
The winds were died down, as Weather Wizard had accomplished. But the debris was still visible from where it had been swirling through. Most of it metal, jagged, and quite a bit of it had visible blood on it. More than what Mark would account for.
There was a structure on the edge of the roof, but it was not facing them.
With great caution they approached slowly, freezing in place as a hoarse voice called out to them. "Took you long enough." It sounded tired, out of breath, and weak.
"Who are you?" Nightwing asked, almost in chorus with Cold.
"I'm the guy you're lookin' for. Get me down." They'd just edged around as the man made his demand.
They weren't sure what they should have thought was there. They knew the 'dude in charge' was supposed to be up there. But this was not how any of them imagined he'd look or the condition he'd be in. It just proved over and over again that even without voiced expectations, they still kept expecting something. And was always disappointed that they were not met.
"Uh, I thought you were in charge? That's what I heard." Trickster called up to the figure strapped to the metal apparatus.
"Yeah, in my realm. Get me the fuck down, and we'll talk." The creature huffed at them.
"I thought you said you confirmed he was up here." Cold demanded of Trickster.
"I did. He's here ain't he?" Trickster said, defensively.
Multiple eyes blinked tiredly at them. "Can you fight about this later? We're running out of time, and I'd really like to go home myself." The creature sighed. "Could you please sort out your personal issues on your own time?"
It was difficult to tell where the sound of the creature's voice might be coming from, or how he was able to hear. And even Piper found it difficult to look him in the face, because there was something very disconcerting about that many eyes on one head.
It was Nightwing and Red Arrow that reached up finally to release the large humanoid.
"How do we fix this?" Cold demanded. "We were told you could tell us how."
"It's simple really." The creature rubbed his arms and Piper cringed to realize that it had eyes all up and down the length as well.
"When the gate was first opened." He continued after a second. "Two of my people were pulled through, and merged with two humans on this side. It started the 'flow' in this direction. To reverse the flow? You just need to send two humans, to my side of the gate, to start the flow back." He stared at them. And when he stares, it was with his whole body.
"Two people? Basically, what? You want them to commit suicide?" Cold asked.
The creature didn't answer. Just blinked. All over.
"And you're sure this will work?" Nightwing asked grimly.
He nodded. "Think of it like a tide. You're turning the tide back." He tried to explain.
"And the two that originally crossed over and merged with the humans?" Nightwing asked.
The creature shrugged. "Does it matter? I don't know their fate, nor do I know the fate of the two that will sacrifice themselves. But I do know if you don't send two of your number into my plane of existence and start the reversal, then you might as well kiss your ass goodbye, because my world will continue to flood yours. And then the barriers will completely break down, and there will be NO going back." He explained. "The glass between the aquariums will be broken, and it'll just be one large pool."
"I'll go." Arrow volunteered grimly.
"No." Nightwing said just as quickly. "You have Lian to think about."
"Lian will die if--" Arrow started arguing.
"I will go." Nightwing volunteered.
The arguing continued between them, oblivious to the Rogues who were left to stare among themselves. Wizard looked down at his feet, hands on his hips. Cold had lowered his gun, and it was easy to see that they were weighing the situation heavily. Which is why the both jumped when Piper spoke up and said. "I'm going."
Wizard frowned. "You're sure?"
"I'm sure." Piper didn't look behind him where he was sure that Trickster was staring at him.
"Piper--" Trickster started.
"You can't change my mind." Piper told him in a hollow voice.
"You could die. You think I want you to die too?" Trickster said frantically. "You think I died just so you could? Don't do this!"
"No. But I'm going to die anyway if this doesn't get fixed. We all are. I'm going." Piper told him grimly. "And don't try to guilt trip me. I never asked you to sacrifice yourself. I wish to god you never did! The guilt--"
"Piper, don't kill yourself over this. Look, I'm sorry. I don't want you to do this. I don't want you to die too." He was almost flailing in his desperation to talk Piper out of this. "You're walking into a hell realm, don't you get that. You're going to a Hell!"
"I'm already in Hell, and have been for a long time." Piper shook his head. "End of discussion."
It was about this time that Nightwing was basically stating the same thing in his argument with Red Arrow.
"How do we do this?" Nightwing asked, stepping up beside Piper.
"Gotta go through the original gate." The demon 'god' stated.
"And where is that?" Cold asked.
The creature hesitated.
"Where?" Cold growled.
"Um... basement." The multi-eyed creature sighed.
"Oh, you gotta be shitting me!" Wizard yelled among multiple protests.
"Hey, it isn't like I chose the design for this mess." The creature protested in return. "The idiots what opened the gate did it downstairs. I arrived up here and got tussled up. Let me assure you that when I get 'home' those that did the tying up are going to be punished. But don't blame me for this fuck up. I was happily sitting on my throne at home, watching my dancers. It's kind of a thing I do. Watching."
As if the zillion eyes all over his body didn't already give that away?
"Come on, time is wasting." The demon declared, turning back to the door and starting through it. "Well? Come on!"
"When we get back down to the same level as the infirmary, Wizard? You stay there." Cold instructed. "Get the shoulder looked at. Red might as well stay there too." He grumbled.
"And you?" Nightwing asked. He was trying to suggest that Cold stay behind as well, without starting a fight.
"Someone has to see that this goes through and either works, or doesn't." Cold stated. "If it doesn't? You two will be dead either way, and someone has to go back and tell the others it's time to duck and cover." He checked the cartridge on his gun to make sure it was powered up and then gripped it tight as he followed Many-Eyes down into the stairwell.
Wizard followed Cold, leaving Piper, Nightwing and Arrow to bring up the rear.
"You two are really going to go through with this?" Arrow asked.
Trickster's voice was absent and when Piper looked around, the spirit was missing. Piper swallowed, unconsciously. Closing his eyes briefly before opening them and walking down the steps.
On the one hand, was it fair to ask Trickster to watch him die? Had it not been hell on Piper to watch the reverse? On the other, now, without Trickster there, he felt more alone than he ever had.
But what did he have left after this mess was over? If he didn't do this, he'd be left behind again, with regrets. Feeling as though he'd once again failed, and this time having to deal with losing Trickster not once, but twice. Not to mention feeling like a coward for not stepping up.
The trek down the stairs wasn't nearly as nerve wracking for some reason. Though there was a moment of pause as they came close to the ice bound Axel-zombie. This was because despite it's encasement, it was clear that it was still animated. The eyes moved beneath the mask, though it was blurred and difficult to perceive. Little in the way of escape had been accomplished though, because it had no body heat in which to work.
They quickly passed it until they reached the third floor and that, that is when the buzzing filled Piper's senses to maximum. He covered his ears and shuddered.
"What is it?" Nightwing asked, grabbing him by the elbow and trying to steady him.
"Something has been disrupting electronics. My hearing--"
"Is it causing pain?" Nightwing asked quickly.
Piper shook his head, trying to steady himself. "Not yet, soon, but not yet. It feels like it is trying to vibrate my brain though." He admitted.
"Perhaps you should--" Nightwing didn't get to finish before Piper was interrupting.
"Doesn't matter, if this works, I doubt we're coming out of this alive. Who cares if it deafens me or causes brain damage?" He tried to keep his voice light, but it still shook the slightest bit. Or perhaps that was merely how he was perceiving it since it felt like everything was shaking inside?
Nightwing steadied him as they continued their descent.
"Did it work?" Owen was helping to guard the door of the infirmary as they reached it. Red Arrow steered Weather Wizard into the room, peeling the makeshift bandage off to look at it. Robin was nearby, sitting in a wheelchair that they'd manage to find somewhere.
Nightwing looked at the boy and Piper could see the twinge of regret on his face. If he didn't miss his guess, Nightwing was probably Dick Grayson. He reasoned it simply because of Bruce Wayne being Batman. Since they already knew this was Tim Drake then that meant these two were adopted brothers. Piper felt another stab of regret. His death would be unremarked. But Nightwing would be missed by his family.
"We're still working on it." Nightwing told him. "Just dropping Arrow and Wizard off, and then we're going back downnnnnstairs, to deal with the gate. It'll be all right. We have a plan."
"Who is the guy standing in the shadows?" Catwoman asked, warily stepping closer to them. She didn't want to get too far from where Riddler was still unconscious.
"Someone that is helping us." Cold answered. "Trust me, you don't want to look at him. He stares, a lot. It's creepy."
The statement actually managed to make Nightwing snort in wry amusement.
"You all doing okay?" He asked, looking at Robin and then the others.
"We've got it." Robin assured. "Riddler is still passed out, Catwoman is keeping track of his vitals. And Owen and I are keeping guard."
Owen gave a small tight smile, nodding. "We've got it." He echoed Robin and shared a look with him. There was a sense of familiarity now, and Piper felt they'd made a sense of peace after all.
"This is the plan. We're going to go down to the Gate and deal with what is down there." Nightwing was telling Robin. "We're leaving Red Arrow and Weather Wizard here, but if we're not back in half an hour. Bundle everyone up and get the fuck out of here." Nightwing's lips thinned into a grim line.
"Time is wasting." Many called from the hallway in the shadows.
"We have to go." Nightwing said. He reached out and hugged his little brother.
"You're not coming back, are you." Robin did not ask.
Owen and Catwoman both startled, looking over at the others. Neither Arrow or Wizard would meet their eyes. "What are you going to do?" Catwoman demanded.
"End this." Nightwing said.
"Come on." Many called. "Tick-Tock the clock don't stop!"
Piper slipped out the door, followed by Cold. He could hear the protests made by Robin and Owen, the raising voices, but he tried to tune them out. Concentrate instead on the static in the levels below.
Nightwing shut the door behind him, effectively ending the argument on his side. "I'm ready."
Piper tried not to hear the tears of others.
"So who was it exactly that bound you?" Cold asked as they carefully crept down the stairs, careful of any ambushes on the way.
"Hey, you get any kingdom, and you're bound to get people that want to take over. You telling me that as leader of the Rogues, you never not once was challenged for your position?" Many asked.
He pressed his lips together and didn't answer.
"Yeah thought so. It'll be handled. AFTER we deal with this situation." He swore, not bothering to look back at them as he hurried down the stairs.
"You ever get the feeling we're walking into a trap." Cold muttered to Nightwing and Piper as they followed warily behind the creature from Hell.
"Often." Nightwing admitted. "But if you mean right now? The expression 'hell yeah' comes to mind, without intent to pun."
Piper was finding it harder and harder to concentrate on the conversation, holding his hands over his ears as the static continued to grow. Going from the almost soothing gray it started with on the roof, to a slightly louder violet, and now throughout the spectrums until now it was starting to enter the much louder 'white' noise. He was getting a headache to end all headaches.
"Don't do this." Did he really hear that, or was he imagining it. It was hard to tell over the waves of noise coming up from the lower levels. "Go back. Let them do this and you go back!"
He felt the cold go through his arm and he saw that Trickster had returned. "I don't want you to die." He was trying to reason with him.
"I'm going to die anyway, if we don't do something soon." Piper raised his voice over what he could hear. Nightwing and Cold looked back at him, but Many-Eyes just continued the downward descent down the stairwell.
"I'm starting to be able to hear it myself." Cold admitted grudgingly as they went down yet another level. And if he could hear it, then that meant it was even louder for Piper, by quite a bit.
The door. It had changed since the last time Piper had seen it. But that was no surprise anymore.
Many opened the door, using his shoulder against it. Piper wondered if it hurt, to have his eyes pressed against the metal door like that, but the being didn't seem to be in any pain as he slipped through the opening and disappeared.
"We walk through that door, there's a good chance we're not walking back out. Ever. So anyone that's not sure about this? Go now." Nightwing said, and very pointedly did not look at Cold.
"Go Piper." Trickster begged off to the side. "Don't do this. It's not worth your life."
"I disagree. Saving the world? I couldn't save you. But I can do this." Piper argued. "At least, my death will have meaning." He whispered. "Let me have that."
Trickster faded from view, a sad look on his face as he disappeared.
Piper forced himself to cross the threshold.
"Glad you could join us." Many pronounced as he came into view. "Many would have fallen for the Shades and their lies."
"What?" Piper frowned.
Cold and Nightwing also looked confused as the entered the room.
Many snorted. "The one you call Trickster, hasn't been with us for quite a while. I'm not sure when he disappeared, but he's not been with us for quite a while. Or rather, with you, for quite a while. The one that was on the roof with us? Was a Shade. They lie. Or rather, they tell half-truths and twist them to suit themselves."
"Why didn't you tell us he wasn't the real Trickster?" Cold roared at Many-Eyes, pulling his cold gun on him.
"Didn't matter." He shrugged, blinking with his whole body.
"This ends now. We're getting out of here." Cold pronounced and reached for the door. Only to discover, there was no door.
"Welcome to my world." Many grinned, holding his arms open and gesturing around the black cavern that was opening around them. "Thank you for making it all possible."
He faded from view as Cold shot his gun, but it passed harmlessly through him. And now Piper could feel the rush of air around him, battering against them, pushing them deeper into the cavern. He tried to grab something, to hold on, but the walls were slick and oily and he was soon swept down into the cold darkness below.
Rushing past him, there were screams. He tried to crack his eyes open, to see where he was going. To face his death aware, but all he could see were various demons being pulled down with them, down down down into the Hell realm they came from.
They'd done it. They had reversed the flow.
He felt his head explode and light burst behind his eyes, and he knew no more.
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Darkness.
He knew he was dead. Had to be. Who knew being dead would hurt this much?
Opening his eyes for too long didn't seem an option. Sitting up? Less so.
Above all else, his head hurt the worst.
It was the pain that shut him down again.
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The next time he woke, he still couldn't stand to open his eyes. Not that it mattered. Because it was just as dark with his eyes open, as it was with his eyes closed.
He briefly wondered if he was blind now.
A heavy cold feeling in all his limbs and joints, he filed the questions away for later and let the lethargy take him back under.
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Singing.
It was soft, deep, and smooth. He couldn't make out the words, and he felt slightly disconnected from the entire situation.
"Con teeeee partiroooooooo... paesi che non ho maiiiiii..."
That's, not English. But, still, deep down the words were familiar. Familiar. They'd be more familiar if he could just wake up.
"Venduto e vissuto con te adessooooo si li vivro."
"Heyyyy, wake up sleepy head." Soft words. Accented English. That accent? The voice though, wasn't right.
He forced himself to open his eyes and then winced.
"Feel hung over huh?"
The noise he made was meant to be in the affirmative, but it was a rusty sound that revealed nothing of their intent.
Firm hands lifted his head and he felt the water flowing over his lips. "There you go. Took a pretty good knock on the head as we came down." Someone was wiping his lips and chin. Then his head was being gently laid against some cloth.
He concentrated on trying to get his stomach to accept the water and leave it where it was while keeping his eyes closed and concentrating on the sounds he could hear. The helper had already moved away, and was once more singing.
There was a murmur of voices in the close distances. But the words were just rumbled comfort for someone else. The sound of a crackling fire was in between him and them. He could feel the warmth of the fire on one side, and coldness on the other.
Before he could figure out where he was, he'd slipped into dark sleep once more.
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He could still hear the fire the next time he woke. The snap of wood as flames worked through the pile.
But the air felt different. Heavier somehow. Rain?
He opened his eyes a small crack. Yep there was the fire. And the sky was a dark heavy gray. But, they were under a shelter of some kind. He could also feel warmth behind his back and realized someone was breathing heavily behind him.
"You awake?" Same voice from earlier.
Turning toward it, he felt his heart trip in his chest. A sizzle of love and desire down his spine and in the pit of his stomach.
But it made no sense.
"There you are." The smile was pure mischief, and the eyes sparkled with joy. "Hey, with me now?"
But they were the wrong shade of blue. The hair the wrong color.
And yet... not?
"Confused." He nodded sagely as he turned back to the work in his hands. Needle and thread, green cloth. A... a puppet?
"Can you speak?" The other man asked quietly as he worked on his puppet.
Croaking.
"It will pass. You fell pretty hard. Not to mention the screaming. You just stripped your cords, it'll be fine." Sympathy. The black clad man crept closer with water and held it to his lips.
"Do you know who I am? Who you are?" The soft Italian voice asked.
He was confused and nodded, but then shook his head.
Hand on his hair, stroking it back. Then sat back on his heels. "The confusion will pass. Things are still settling in." He explained. "If it makes you feel any better? We're still working things out too." He tapped the side of his head.
He frowned at him.
He held up a finger and suddenly there were two puppets. One on each hand. One was dressed in yellow and blue with yellow hair and a cape. The other was dressed in black with black hair. Now that he could see it clearer, he could see that it was supposed to represent the man in front of him.
"Hi, I'm Trickster." Said one puppet.
"Hi, I'm Nightwing!" Said the other.
"I'm dead. Saaaadface." Said the first puppet.
"I'm alive. Weeeeeee!"
"Oh nuuuuu we're being sucked into Heeeeelllllll..." The puppets moved frantically in the air in a circle.
"Uht oh. What now?" The second puppet asked.
"Well, when the demons went out into the other world, they possessed bodies. Well, now we're going in reeeeeverse and the same thing is happening." Said the first puppet. "Hey, want to team up for the rest of eternity?"
The second puppet looked from the Trickster puppet to the prone man on the ground. "Well not particularly, but do I have a choice?"
"Sure you do. You can house Digger! WEEEE... viva la beer and hookers!" Said the Trickster puppet.
"Pass. Hop in! At least you were an acrobat too." The Nightwing puppet declared.
"Yayyyyyyy!" The puppets smashed together and he hid the Trickster puppet behind his back, but took the blue cape off of it and tied it around the neck of the Nightwing puppet. "During the day, I prank. But at night, I fight CRIME... with PIES and cool karate moves. Hiiii yah!"
He chuckled as he watched the play, his hand moving up to his head, feeling the knot there. He held his hand out and took his little finger, hooking it into a J twice.
"You got it. Though Dickie boy is here too." He assured. "We're sharing." He grinned. He reached out and touched the other's face gently.
He closed his eyes and made a soft mmm noise at the feel.
Something was definitely wrong, because he hadn't been this attracted to, or felt this much emotion for Nightwing or his body before this. And yet, it felt like he'd loved him for forever.
"Piper." He gently pressed a kiss to his cheek.
He opened his eyes, and realized... that wasn't right either. But soon...
"Joey." He said this time, and again kissed his cheek. "At least, the part of you that felt remorse and still cared."
Yes, yes, that...
Again, he did the sign for J, with a smile.
Yes. No? No. Yes.
He closed his eyes with a small whimper.
"It's going to be okay." James whispered, his black hair falling into his eyes as he leaned closer. "Rest. The adventure, is far from over." He pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "Far, from over." He assured.
Joey and Piper were nearly asleep when he heard and felt the body behind him shift and grumble. "Oi, pipe down over there. Bloody hell. Some of us are tryin' ta sleep."
"Digger, that was horrible. Go back to sleep." Another voice mumbled.
Looking up at James, he grinned. "I did say, the adventure is far from over. Digger's hitched a ride with Heatwave who had been kidnapped by a creature and dragged down when everything else was pulled down. Annnnd Sammy boy hitched a ride with Cold."
"Din't I say pipe down over there?" Digger growled.
Oh, that was definitely Mick's voice.
"Ignore him. He's just got a headache from the concussion." Len's voice sighed. "Everyone go to sleep. We've got a lot of traveling to do before we get to the portal."
Portal?
He looked back up at James.
James grinned. "Sleep. I'll tell you all about it later. But, we're going to go home. All of us. Together." He told him. "Just some of us are more together than we used to be." He grinned. "Ooooh I'm going to have SO much fun fucking with the Bats."
Still grinning and chuckling. James went back to sewing his Piper puppet while Joey-Piper fell into a content sleep. They both had their lovers back, and they both had a lot of walking to do.
Guess it's true what they say. There's never an end.
Rated: Mature
Pairing: Piper/Trickster (potential Owen/Tim, and potential Catwoman/Riddler)
Disclaimer: I still don't own them, and I still don't make money off of them. (Woe, for dudes am I broke.)
Summary: Halloween Prompt Challenge: Hell on Earth
Total Word Count: 25,485
Part One
Part Two
It seemed the higher they climbed, the more Piper's head was beginning to hurt. Behind him, he could almost feel Trickster's fingers on his back, a presence that was trying to be comforting. "What are we going to find at the top of these stairs?" Cold asked as they continued to ascend them.
"The big guy himself." Trickster was quick to answer. "He's waiting for us."
"Did you see him for yourself, or did your contact tell you this?" Nightwing asked, cutting Cold off before he could ask the same thing.
"Both. He told me, and then I confirmed it." He sighed in impatience and annoyance. "Look, I have no reason to keep anything from you. He's up there, waiting for us. Something about he can't reverse it all on his own."
"What makes you so sure that he wants to reverse it?" Cold asked, this time barely beating Nightwing out from asking the same question.
"Because he..." Trickster seemed at a loss. "This isn't his place, he can't control it like he can control his own. I don't know. I just know he doesn't want his realm mixed with ours. Maybe he doesn't like peanut butter on his chocolate or something! I don't know. But I do know we don't have much choice in the matter, now do we?"
Piper felt a desire to put his hand on Trickster's shoulder and perhaps squeeze it in assurance. Something that was pretty much impossible at this point despite how solid he was becoming. And on the other hand? If he became completely tangible, then it would indicate that it was now too late.
Piper was between the proverbial rock and hard place. Because he desperately wanted to have Trickster be real to him. But at the same time for him to be so would mean the end of the world as he knew it. Even more people would die and suffer, and how could he wish that just because he wanted to turn and put his hand on Trickster's shoulder and feel it. To have him feel it?
In the end, if this was successful? He was going to have to say goodbye to Trickster yet again. He'd never see him again, if this worked. Despite his best efforts, he found himself slowing in step. Reluctant to keep moving forward. But move he continued to do, hand tight around his weapons.
He tried to concentrate on hearing the others, to check on them and make sure that they were all right. But it seemed as though more and more interference was building up around them, affecting their electronics. If that were the case, then time would come when they would truly be defenseless.
"Hidey ho good neighbors." The voice didn't sound quite right, and it wasn't even the right words. But Piper could still feel the drop in his stomach.
"Axel." Cold sounded as grim as he looked. "You're not Axel though are you?"
The form that appeared at the top of the stairs snickered. His head bent at an odd angle as he lurched toward them. "Ice him." Nightwing tried to order.
"You punned." Axel sing-songed. "Now you have to be punnnished."
Cold had already raised his gun and was shooting at the zombie, but despite his odd gait, the creature was still limber, and still wearing the airwalker shoes. "Naughty naughty." The creature taunted. "I'm rather enjoying this form. I think I'll keep it. He's not using it anymore." It tittered.
Cold re-aimed and fired again, but the thing that inhabited the boy's body bounced from wall to wall, until it was behind them, grabbing Piper up and pulling him down the steps.
"PIPER!" Trickster screamed.
Nightwing leapfrogged over Red Arrow, bounding up and over his head, then used Mark's shoulders to launch himself toward the struggling Piper. The three of them rolled down the remaining steps, onto the landing below while Nightwing wrestled with the creature that still clung to Piper. "Get OFF!" Nightwing growled, wedging himself between the two.
Piper could feel the cold slick hands on his throat, and felt repulsed in all ways. Even the smell was enough to make him feel like retching.
"Piper, Piper are you okay?" He could almost feel Trickster trying to shake him.
"I'm... I'm okay." He assured, though his voice was high and shaking.
"MOVE!" Cold yelled, and Nightwing immediately rolled off the creature that was attempting to slash at him with stiff, but broken fingers.
Ice formed on the body and then thickened. Cold didn't stop until the ice was a foot or two thick. Not wanting to chance that it could break through easily. "Can't kill what is already dead." He said bitterly. "Looks like his neck was broken."
Mark was covering his mouth with his hands, staring at the frozen body.
"Come on." Cold barked at them.
"But..." Someone started to protest.
"I said come on!" Cold turned and started back up the stairs. "If they're already starting to send out the 'level bosses' then that means we're close to our goal."
"This is not a game." Nightwing took Piper's arm and pulled him behind him as he started up the stairs, glaring at the older man's back.
"Life has always and never has been a game." He agreed and disagreed at the same time. "Right now, we don't have a choice. We're almost up there, keep your eyes sharp."
Arrow notched his crossbow, and carefully kept it pointed up so as not to accidentally shoot anyone.
"Hear anything, Piper?" Cold asked, glancing back at him.
Piper shook his head. "Static from the third floor down. Something is trying to cause interference. But all I hear above us is what sounds like wind."
"Wonderful." Cold's tone said it was anything but such. "Mark?"
"He's getting tired." Arrow protested, moving in front of the Weather Wizard. "He's done the lion's share of the work since we started this mess, even before we started. He's been the heavy hitter. He's about to crash! Let me go out there. Sure it's windy, so what. I'm not useless here." He insisted.
"He can crash later, when we have time." Cold argued.
"He's staying in here." Arrow stepped forward, glaring behind his mask.
"I'll just go out there and..." Mark started to speak.
"Shut UP!" Both men yelled at the same time.
"Oooookay?" Mark held up his hands and wandered off to the side, looking utterly confused.
Nightwing gave the two arguing men an annoyed look and instead went to the Weather Wizard. "Are you too drained to calm the wind?" He asked in a low voice. Piper listened in, and he could sense that Trickster was as well. He felt something 'hover' around his hand and as he looked down, he could see Trickster's fingers literally 'ghost' over his own.
Slowly, he looked over at the other man, afraid he would disappear on him again and he could see the faint smile on his face. For a moment, he couldn't help but return it. But then both of their smiles grew sadder until they faded.
"I can calm it." Wizard nodded. "But I am running out of steam."
Nightwing turned to look at Arrow who was turning red in the face, and Cold who looked like he was about to jam his gun up Arrow's nose. "Slip out, do it, come back. Don't linger. If you can't, get back here on the double. This is the last time we'll ask you to do anything, even if Cold disagrees. Does us no good if you collapse anyway."
Wizard nodded after a moment and easily slipped past the distracted men.
Piper closed his eyes at the faint pressure around his waist, straining his implants to hear what was going on outside, beyond the fight near the door. Nightwing hadn't stopped either man from arguing, and was obviously letting them distract each other.
The wind calmed, as suddenly as it had started and Mark was once more through the door, gasping. He was also shaking and had blood flowing from his shoulder.
"You went out there?" Arrow hollered as he rushed forward and put a hand over the wound. "Why the hell did you do that?"
"Calmed the wind." He said simply, but he was shaking as he said it.
"Through and through." Cold pronounced as he forced Arrow's hand off the wound long enough to check it. "You'll live."
"Nice." Arrow said sarcastically.
"We deal with it after we're sure the world isn't going to end." He growled.
Arrow tore a piece of cloth from Piper's cloak and folded it, applying it the best he could, letting Mark hold it in place. "Stay here." He advised.
"Probably safer out there with you guys. Axel-Zombie breaks through that ice, and he's probably going to try to eat my brain!" Mark snorted.
"Fine, but just... stay..." Arrow trailed off, because he could already see the look in the other man's eyes. "Look, enough of us have been killed. Stay alive."
"Even though I'm one of the bad guys?" He asked.
"I was in love with a woman that took out an entire country. I think I can have a little bit of compassion for a man that's been saving our collective asses all day." Arrow pointed out.
"You sure you're not LOOKING at his ass?" Nightwing finally deadpanned as he passed Arrow to go through the door.
"Oh good god. You're NEVER going to let that go." He yelled as he quickly turned around and ran after Nightwing.
"Okaaaaay..." Mark was once more confused and looked at Piper for assistance.
"Don't look at me. I might be gay, but that doesn't mean I understand what goes through their heads." Piper pointed out. "We're not a collective you know."
"Resistance is futile, we will be ass-imilated." Trickster quipped following as always behind them all.
"Oh, so you've finally accepted that you're hot for Piper's bod?" Mark asked, still shaky and a bit pale.
"I..." Trickster paused. "Can't. I'm dead. It wouldn't matter even if I did." He pointed out. "All it would do is bring more pain for when this was over."
"It already hurts." Piper whispered, looking away.
"I never meant to." Trickster told him.
"I know, neither did I." He wrapped his arms around him in a self-hug, and then forced himself to step through the doorway and onto the roof.
The roof looked, as expectant, nothing like it should. But even with the expectation that it wouldn't look like it should, it still did not meet the expectations they were... expecting?
The winds were died down, as Weather Wizard had accomplished. But the debris was still visible from where it had been swirling through. Most of it metal, jagged, and quite a bit of it had visible blood on it. More than what Mark would account for.
There was a structure on the edge of the roof, but it was not facing them.
With great caution they approached slowly, freezing in place as a hoarse voice called out to them. "Took you long enough." It sounded tired, out of breath, and weak.
"Who are you?" Nightwing asked, almost in chorus with Cold.
"I'm the guy you're lookin' for. Get me down." They'd just edged around as the man made his demand.
They weren't sure what they should have thought was there. They knew the 'dude in charge' was supposed to be up there. But this was not how any of them imagined he'd look or the condition he'd be in. It just proved over and over again that even without voiced expectations, they still kept expecting something. And was always disappointed that they were not met.
"Uh, I thought you were in charge? That's what I heard." Trickster called up to the figure strapped to the metal apparatus.
"Yeah, in my realm. Get me the fuck down, and we'll talk." The creature huffed at them.
"I thought you said you confirmed he was up here." Cold demanded of Trickster.
"I did. He's here ain't he?" Trickster said, defensively.
Multiple eyes blinked tiredly at them. "Can you fight about this later? We're running out of time, and I'd really like to go home myself." The creature sighed. "Could you please sort out your personal issues on your own time?"
It was difficult to tell where the sound of the creature's voice might be coming from, or how he was able to hear. And even Piper found it difficult to look him in the face, because there was something very disconcerting about that many eyes on one head.
It was Nightwing and Red Arrow that reached up finally to release the large humanoid.
"How do we fix this?" Cold demanded. "We were told you could tell us how."
"It's simple really." The creature rubbed his arms and Piper cringed to realize that it had eyes all up and down the length as well.
"When the gate was first opened." He continued after a second. "Two of my people were pulled through, and merged with two humans on this side. It started the 'flow' in this direction. To reverse the flow? You just need to send two humans, to my side of the gate, to start the flow back." He stared at them. And when he stares, it was with his whole body.
"Two people? Basically, what? You want them to commit suicide?" Cold asked.
The creature didn't answer. Just blinked. All over.
"And you're sure this will work?" Nightwing asked grimly.
He nodded. "Think of it like a tide. You're turning the tide back." He tried to explain.
"And the two that originally crossed over and merged with the humans?" Nightwing asked.
The creature shrugged. "Does it matter? I don't know their fate, nor do I know the fate of the two that will sacrifice themselves. But I do know if you don't send two of your number into my plane of existence and start the reversal, then you might as well kiss your ass goodbye, because my world will continue to flood yours. And then the barriers will completely break down, and there will be NO going back." He explained. "The glass between the aquariums will be broken, and it'll just be one large pool."
"I'll go." Arrow volunteered grimly.
"No." Nightwing said just as quickly. "You have Lian to think about."
"Lian will die if--" Arrow started arguing.
"I will go." Nightwing volunteered.
The arguing continued between them, oblivious to the Rogues who were left to stare among themselves. Wizard looked down at his feet, hands on his hips. Cold had lowered his gun, and it was easy to see that they were weighing the situation heavily. Which is why the both jumped when Piper spoke up and said. "I'm going."
Wizard frowned. "You're sure?"
"I'm sure." Piper didn't look behind him where he was sure that Trickster was staring at him.
"Piper--" Trickster started.
"You can't change my mind." Piper told him in a hollow voice.
"You could die. You think I want you to die too?" Trickster said frantically. "You think I died just so you could? Don't do this!"
"No. But I'm going to die anyway if this doesn't get fixed. We all are. I'm going." Piper told him grimly. "And don't try to guilt trip me. I never asked you to sacrifice yourself. I wish to god you never did! The guilt--"
"Piper, don't kill yourself over this. Look, I'm sorry. I don't want you to do this. I don't want you to die too." He was almost flailing in his desperation to talk Piper out of this. "You're walking into a hell realm, don't you get that. You're going to a Hell!"
"I'm already in Hell, and have been for a long time." Piper shook his head. "End of discussion."
It was about this time that Nightwing was basically stating the same thing in his argument with Red Arrow.
"How do we do this?" Nightwing asked, stepping up beside Piper.
"Gotta go through the original gate." The demon 'god' stated.
"And where is that?" Cold asked.
The creature hesitated.
"Where?" Cold growled.
"Um... basement." The multi-eyed creature sighed.
"Oh, you gotta be shitting me!" Wizard yelled among multiple protests.
"Hey, it isn't like I chose the design for this mess." The creature protested in return. "The idiots what opened the gate did it downstairs. I arrived up here and got tussled up. Let me assure you that when I get 'home' those that did the tying up are going to be punished. But don't blame me for this fuck up. I was happily sitting on my throne at home, watching my dancers. It's kind of a thing I do. Watching."
As if the zillion eyes all over his body didn't already give that away?
"Come on, time is wasting." The demon declared, turning back to the door and starting through it. "Well? Come on!"
"When we get back down to the same level as the infirmary, Wizard? You stay there." Cold instructed. "Get the shoulder looked at. Red might as well stay there too." He grumbled.
"And you?" Nightwing asked. He was trying to suggest that Cold stay behind as well, without starting a fight.
"Someone has to see that this goes through and either works, or doesn't." Cold stated. "If it doesn't? You two will be dead either way, and someone has to go back and tell the others it's time to duck and cover." He checked the cartridge on his gun to make sure it was powered up and then gripped it tight as he followed Many-Eyes down into the stairwell.
Wizard followed Cold, leaving Piper, Nightwing and Arrow to bring up the rear.
"You two are really going to go through with this?" Arrow asked.
Trickster's voice was absent and when Piper looked around, the spirit was missing. Piper swallowed, unconsciously. Closing his eyes briefly before opening them and walking down the steps.
On the one hand, was it fair to ask Trickster to watch him die? Had it not been hell on Piper to watch the reverse? On the other, now, without Trickster there, he felt more alone than he ever had.
But what did he have left after this mess was over? If he didn't do this, he'd be left behind again, with regrets. Feeling as though he'd once again failed, and this time having to deal with losing Trickster not once, but twice. Not to mention feeling like a coward for not stepping up.
The trek down the stairs wasn't nearly as nerve wracking for some reason. Though there was a moment of pause as they came close to the ice bound Axel-zombie. This was because despite it's encasement, it was clear that it was still animated. The eyes moved beneath the mask, though it was blurred and difficult to perceive. Little in the way of escape had been accomplished though, because it had no body heat in which to work.
They quickly passed it until they reached the third floor and that, that is when the buzzing filled Piper's senses to maximum. He covered his ears and shuddered.
"What is it?" Nightwing asked, grabbing him by the elbow and trying to steady him.
"Something has been disrupting electronics. My hearing--"
"Is it causing pain?" Nightwing asked quickly.
Piper shook his head, trying to steady himself. "Not yet, soon, but not yet. It feels like it is trying to vibrate my brain though." He admitted.
"Perhaps you should--" Nightwing didn't get to finish before Piper was interrupting.
"Doesn't matter, if this works, I doubt we're coming out of this alive. Who cares if it deafens me or causes brain damage?" He tried to keep his voice light, but it still shook the slightest bit. Or perhaps that was merely how he was perceiving it since it felt like everything was shaking inside?
Nightwing steadied him as they continued their descent.
"Did it work?" Owen was helping to guard the door of the infirmary as they reached it. Red Arrow steered Weather Wizard into the room, peeling the makeshift bandage off to look at it. Robin was nearby, sitting in a wheelchair that they'd manage to find somewhere.
Nightwing looked at the boy and Piper could see the twinge of regret on his face. If he didn't miss his guess, Nightwing was probably Dick Grayson. He reasoned it simply because of Bruce Wayne being Batman. Since they already knew this was Tim Drake then that meant these two were adopted brothers. Piper felt another stab of regret. His death would be unremarked. But Nightwing would be missed by his family.
"We're still working on it." Nightwing told him. "Just dropping Arrow and Wizard off, and then we're going back downnnnnstairs, to deal with the gate. It'll be all right. We have a plan."
"Who is the guy standing in the shadows?" Catwoman asked, warily stepping closer to them. She didn't want to get too far from where Riddler was still unconscious.
"Someone that is helping us." Cold answered. "Trust me, you don't want to look at him. He stares, a lot. It's creepy."
The statement actually managed to make Nightwing snort in wry amusement.
"You all doing okay?" He asked, looking at Robin and then the others.
"We've got it." Robin assured. "Riddler is still passed out, Catwoman is keeping track of his vitals. And Owen and I are keeping guard."
Owen gave a small tight smile, nodding. "We've got it." He echoed Robin and shared a look with him. There was a sense of familiarity now, and Piper felt they'd made a sense of peace after all.
"This is the plan. We're going to go down to the Gate and deal with what is down there." Nightwing was telling Robin. "We're leaving Red Arrow and Weather Wizard here, but if we're not back in half an hour. Bundle everyone up and get the fuck out of here." Nightwing's lips thinned into a grim line.
"Time is wasting." Many called from the hallway in the shadows.
"We have to go." Nightwing said. He reached out and hugged his little brother.
"You're not coming back, are you." Robin did not ask.
Owen and Catwoman both startled, looking over at the others. Neither Arrow or Wizard would meet their eyes. "What are you going to do?" Catwoman demanded.
"End this." Nightwing said.
"Come on." Many called. "Tick-Tock the clock don't stop!"
Piper slipped out the door, followed by Cold. He could hear the protests made by Robin and Owen, the raising voices, but he tried to tune them out. Concentrate instead on the static in the levels below.
Nightwing shut the door behind him, effectively ending the argument on his side. "I'm ready."
Piper tried not to hear the tears of others.
"So who was it exactly that bound you?" Cold asked as they carefully crept down the stairs, careful of any ambushes on the way.
"Hey, you get any kingdom, and you're bound to get people that want to take over. You telling me that as leader of the Rogues, you never not once was challenged for your position?" Many asked.
He pressed his lips together and didn't answer.
"Yeah thought so. It'll be handled. AFTER we deal with this situation." He swore, not bothering to look back at them as he hurried down the stairs.
"You ever get the feeling we're walking into a trap." Cold muttered to Nightwing and Piper as they followed warily behind the creature from Hell.
"Often." Nightwing admitted. "But if you mean right now? The expression 'hell yeah' comes to mind, without intent to pun."
Piper was finding it harder and harder to concentrate on the conversation, holding his hands over his ears as the static continued to grow. Going from the almost soothing gray it started with on the roof, to a slightly louder violet, and now throughout the spectrums until now it was starting to enter the much louder 'white' noise. He was getting a headache to end all headaches.
"Don't do this." Did he really hear that, or was he imagining it. It was hard to tell over the waves of noise coming up from the lower levels. "Go back. Let them do this and you go back!"
He felt the cold go through his arm and he saw that Trickster had returned. "I don't want you to die." He was trying to reason with him.
"I'm going to die anyway, if we don't do something soon." Piper raised his voice over what he could hear. Nightwing and Cold looked back at him, but Many-Eyes just continued the downward descent down the stairwell.
"I'm starting to be able to hear it myself." Cold admitted grudgingly as they went down yet another level. And if he could hear it, then that meant it was even louder for Piper, by quite a bit.
The door. It had changed since the last time Piper had seen it. But that was no surprise anymore.
Many opened the door, using his shoulder against it. Piper wondered if it hurt, to have his eyes pressed against the metal door like that, but the being didn't seem to be in any pain as he slipped through the opening and disappeared.
"We walk through that door, there's a good chance we're not walking back out. Ever. So anyone that's not sure about this? Go now." Nightwing said, and very pointedly did not look at Cold.
"Go Piper." Trickster begged off to the side. "Don't do this. It's not worth your life."
"I disagree. Saving the world? I couldn't save you. But I can do this." Piper argued. "At least, my death will have meaning." He whispered. "Let me have that."
Trickster faded from view, a sad look on his face as he disappeared.
Piper forced himself to cross the threshold.
"Glad you could join us." Many pronounced as he came into view. "Many would have fallen for the Shades and their lies."
"What?" Piper frowned.
Cold and Nightwing also looked confused as the entered the room.
Many snorted. "The one you call Trickster, hasn't been with us for quite a while. I'm not sure when he disappeared, but he's not been with us for quite a while. Or rather, with you, for quite a while. The one that was on the roof with us? Was a Shade. They lie. Or rather, they tell half-truths and twist them to suit themselves."
"Why didn't you tell us he wasn't the real Trickster?" Cold roared at Many-Eyes, pulling his cold gun on him.
"Didn't matter." He shrugged, blinking with his whole body.
"This ends now. We're getting out of here." Cold pronounced and reached for the door. Only to discover, there was no door.
"Welcome to my world." Many grinned, holding his arms open and gesturing around the black cavern that was opening around them. "Thank you for making it all possible."
He faded from view as Cold shot his gun, but it passed harmlessly through him. And now Piper could feel the rush of air around him, battering against them, pushing them deeper into the cavern. He tried to grab something, to hold on, but the walls were slick and oily and he was soon swept down into the cold darkness below.
Rushing past him, there were screams. He tried to crack his eyes open, to see where he was going. To face his death aware, but all he could see were various demons being pulled down with them, down down down into the Hell realm they came from.
They'd done it. They had reversed the flow.
He felt his head explode and light burst behind his eyes, and he knew no more.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Darkness.
He knew he was dead. Had to be. Who knew being dead would hurt this much?
Opening his eyes for too long didn't seem an option. Sitting up? Less so.
Above all else, his head hurt the worst.
It was the pain that shut him down again.
-----------------------
The next time he woke, he still couldn't stand to open his eyes. Not that it mattered. Because it was just as dark with his eyes open, as it was with his eyes closed.
He briefly wondered if he was blind now.
A heavy cold feeling in all his limbs and joints, he filed the questions away for later and let the lethargy take him back under.
---------------------
Singing.
It was soft, deep, and smooth. He couldn't make out the words, and he felt slightly disconnected from the entire situation.
"Con teeeee partiroooooooo... paesi che non ho maiiiiii..."
That's, not English. But, still, deep down the words were familiar. Familiar. They'd be more familiar if he could just wake up.
"Venduto e vissuto con te adessooooo si li vivro."
"Heyyyy, wake up sleepy head." Soft words. Accented English. That accent? The voice though, wasn't right.
He forced himself to open his eyes and then winced.
"Feel hung over huh?"
The noise he made was meant to be in the affirmative, but it was a rusty sound that revealed nothing of their intent.
Firm hands lifted his head and he felt the water flowing over his lips. "There you go. Took a pretty good knock on the head as we came down." Someone was wiping his lips and chin. Then his head was being gently laid against some cloth.
He concentrated on trying to get his stomach to accept the water and leave it where it was while keeping his eyes closed and concentrating on the sounds he could hear. The helper had already moved away, and was once more singing.
There was a murmur of voices in the close distances. But the words were just rumbled comfort for someone else. The sound of a crackling fire was in between him and them. He could feel the warmth of the fire on one side, and coldness on the other.
Before he could figure out where he was, he'd slipped into dark sleep once more.
------------------------------------------------------------
He could still hear the fire the next time he woke. The snap of wood as flames worked through the pile.
But the air felt different. Heavier somehow. Rain?
He opened his eyes a small crack. Yep there was the fire. And the sky was a dark heavy gray. But, they were under a shelter of some kind. He could also feel warmth behind his back and realized someone was breathing heavily behind him.
"You awake?" Same voice from earlier.
Turning toward it, he felt his heart trip in his chest. A sizzle of love and desire down his spine and in the pit of his stomach.
But it made no sense.
"There you are." The smile was pure mischief, and the eyes sparkled with joy. "Hey, with me now?"
But they were the wrong shade of blue. The hair the wrong color.
And yet... not?
"Confused." He nodded sagely as he turned back to the work in his hands. Needle and thread, green cloth. A... a puppet?
"Can you speak?" The other man asked quietly as he worked on his puppet.
Croaking.
"It will pass. You fell pretty hard. Not to mention the screaming. You just stripped your cords, it'll be fine." Sympathy. The black clad man crept closer with water and held it to his lips.
"Do you know who I am? Who you are?" The soft Italian voice asked.
He was confused and nodded, but then shook his head.
Hand on his hair, stroking it back. Then sat back on his heels. "The confusion will pass. Things are still settling in." He explained. "If it makes you feel any better? We're still working things out too." He tapped the side of his head.
He frowned at him.
He held up a finger and suddenly there were two puppets. One on each hand. One was dressed in yellow and blue with yellow hair and a cape. The other was dressed in black with black hair. Now that he could see it clearer, he could see that it was supposed to represent the man in front of him.
"Hi, I'm Trickster." Said one puppet.
"Hi, I'm Nightwing!" Said the other.
"I'm dead. Saaaadface." Said the first puppet.
"I'm alive. Weeeeeee!"
"Oh nuuuuu we're being sucked into Heeeeelllllll..." The puppets moved frantically in the air in a circle.
"Uht oh. What now?" The second puppet asked.
"Well, when the demons went out into the other world, they possessed bodies. Well, now we're going in reeeeeverse and the same thing is happening." Said the first puppet. "Hey, want to team up for the rest of eternity?"
The second puppet looked from the Trickster puppet to the prone man on the ground. "Well not particularly, but do I have a choice?"
"Sure you do. You can house Digger! WEEEE... viva la beer and hookers!" Said the Trickster puppet.
"Pass. Hop in! At least you were an acrobat too." The Nightwing puppet declared.
"Yayyyyyyy!" The puppets smashed together and he hid the Trickster puppet behind his back, but took the blue cape off of it and tied it around the neck of the Nightwing puppet. "During the day, I prank. But at night, I fight CRIME... with PIES and cool karate moves. Hiiii yah!"
He chuckled as he watched the play, his hand moving up to his head, feeling the knot there. He held his hand out and took his little finger, hooking it into a J twice.
"You got it. Though Dickie boy is here too." He assured. "We're sharing." He grinned. He reached out and touched the other's face gently.
He closed his eyes and made a soft mmm noise at the feel.
Something was definitely wrong, because he hadn't been this attracted to, or felt this much emotion for Nightwing or his body before this. And yet, it felt like he'd loved him for forever.
"Piper." He gently pressed a kiss to his cheek.
He opened his eyes, and realized... that wasn't right either. But soon...
"Joey." He said this time, and again kissed his cheek. "At least, the part of you that felt remorse and still cared."
Yes, yes, that...
Again, he did the sign for J, with a smile.
Yes. No? No. Yes.
He closed his eyes with a small whimper.
"It's going to be okay." James whispered, his black hair falling into his eyes as he leaned closer. "Rest. The adventure, is far from over." He pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "Far, from over." He assured.
Joey and Piper were nearly asleep when he heard and felt the body behind him shift and grumble. "Oi, pipe down over there. Bloody hell. Some of us are tryin' ta sleep."
"Digger, that was horrible. Go back to sleep." Another voice mumbled.
Looking up at James, he grinned. "I did say, the adventure is far from over. Digger's hitched a ride with Heatwave who had been kidnapped by a creature and dragged down when everything else was pulled down. Annnnd Sammy boy hitched a ride with Cold."
"Din't I say pipe down over there?" Digger growled.
Oh, that was definitely Mick's voice.
"Ignore him. He's just got a headache from the concussion." Len's voice sighed. "Everyone go to sleep. We've got a lot of traveling to do before we get to the portal."
Portal?
He looked back up at James.
James grinned. "Sleep. I'll tell you all about it later. But, we're going to go home. All of us. Together." He told him. "Just some of us are more together than we used to be." He grinned. "Ooooh I'm going to have SO much fun fucking with the Bats."
Still grinning and chuckling. James went back to sewing his Piper puppet while Joey-Piper fell into a content sleep. They both had their lovers back, and they both had a lot of walking to do.
Guess it's true what they say. There's never an end.