Jason hated witchcraft. He hated magicians, and sorcerers, and particularly "holier-than-thou" newbie enchantresses who had a pretentious streak wider than Bruce's sense of "justice". The night he realized just how much he hated it, he had been patrolling the docks around Bludhaven. Jason had gotten some tips from his network that some sort of arms deal would be going on down there that he could bust up. Pretty run of the mill for his nightly adventures. As he watched from the top of a nearby storage crate, someone spoke from behind.

"Need any help?"

He whirled around and immediately pointed his gun in the smug, grinning face of Dick Grayson. He groaned.

"Get your own rooftop, boy wonder," he lowered his gun and turned back to monitoring the situation as Nightwing plopped down next to him, swinging his legs off the side of the crate.

"Hey, just because you got here first doesn't mean you're running this circus. I'm guessing you're here for the arms deal?"

Jason gave a noncommittal grunt.

"Well, I got a tip about it too, and it has ties to a case Red Robin is working. Since I'm in the area he wants me to check it out."

Jason scowled as he peered through his binoculars. "Cut the bullshit, Wing. You and I both know that Bats wants someone keeping an eye on me, god forbid I give someone a papercut. I haven't killed anyone in months and that should be good enough for him. I wouldn't even put it past you to have volunteered to stalk me. Batman's good little boy scout, through and through."

Dick huffed and turned to face Jason. "Despite what you love to tell yourself Jay, I actually care about you. Batman does too, he's just not good at using his words when it comes to anything that involves expressing genuine emotions. We just want to help you with whatever it is that you're doing."

"I don't need Bats' help, I don't need your help, I don't need anyone's help to do what I do, so I'd absolutely love it if you just left me the fuck alone."

Dick stood up and brushed himself off. "You know what? Fine, I get what you're saying. I'll back off. At least understand that I'll always be here for you, whether you want it or not. But be that as it may," he paused for a moment. He rushed to get the next words out quickly. "The dealers just arrived and the last one there loses so bye!" And with that he fell gracefully backwards off the storage crate.

"Son of a—" Jason threw his helmet on and followed his predecessor off the crate and landed silently next to him. As much as he hated to admit it, they knew each other's tactics well enough that they didn't need to discuss what they would do next. They moved silently into position as the thugs, six in all, inspected their newly purchased goods.

"Wow, look at the size a' these things!" Thug number one appraised the shipment. His buddy joined in. "We'll be able to rule the whole harbor with these puppies!"

Nightwing spoke up from the top of one of the surrounding storage crates. "I hate to break up this fun little gathering, but it sure would be great of ya to hand those over, you know how Batman would hate for those to fall into the wrong hands."

The thugs gasped and froze as they found Nightwing.

"Ah shit, quick, before—"

"I'm hurt 'Wing, I thought you liked my assistance, guns and all." The thugs whirled around to find Red Hood glaring down from the opposite crate. "Oh well, guess I'll just have to take my anger out on these guys instead."

The initial shock worn off, fight-or-flight kicked in. The thugs rushed to defensive positions around their shipment. Too late. Nightwing and Red Hood jumped into action: with only a few steps forward, Nightwing delivered a jarring kick to the chest of the first man. As the thug was sent crashing backward into another, Dick took advantage of the momentum, handspringing backwards as a bullet whizzed through the air where he had just been standing.

Through the corner of his eye, he saw the culprit jump as the gun was shot out of his hand by Red Hood, who barely paused to see his shot hit before grabbing yet another thug by the collar, throwing him into the two already dazed on the ground. Of the two left, one foolishly attempted to shoot Red Hood from behind, not noticing Nightwing until he had already been judo-flipped onto the pile of his associates.

The last guy, seeing his buddies sprawled about at varying levels of consciousness, at last figured out his only chance was flight and turned tail, gun lying forgotten on the asphalt. There was no way he was paid enough for—he collapsed to the ground as Nightwing dispatched him with a perfectly thrown escrima stick to the back of the skull. He dragged him back to the others just as Red Hood finished zip-tying them together.

"Jeez, I think crime lords need to start asking for resumes when they hire their minions, that was downright shameful." Nightwing secured the last two criminals to the other four as Red hood called an anonymous tip in to the police.

"It makes our job easier, so I'm not complaining. Let's see what it is they were trying to buy…"

They inspected the crate and found it to be filled with a couple dozen assault rifles, along with a large box of ammunition. Jason let out a low whistle.

"Well either these guys are preppers for the apocalypse, or they're planning something big. What did you say babybird had on these guys?"

"Not much, just that there's been lots of chatter going on in the Gotham underground about some newcomers to the scene getting this shipment, he figured it was something to check out. Clearly, he was right, but what I don't like is how little backup they sent for something so big. I mean, if you were to buy a bunch of weapons, wouldn't you make sure you had enough safeguards in place to not lose the shipment?"

"If I was buying this many guns, you guys would never know about it because I'm not an idiot. I see your point though, you think there's something more to this?" He began scanning the tall crates surrounding them.

"I dunno, I just… wait—over there, you see that?"

Jason caught sight of the figure just before they slipped around one of the crates a hundred yards down from them. He could hear sirens in the distance coming closer. "I think that's our cue to leave, let's go."

They quickly made their way over to where the figure had disappeared from, but there was no sight of them. Hood switched on the heat vision sensor in his helmet. He silently motioned the direction the figure went, past a few crates and up to the top of the long-term storage area with crates stacked ten high. They climbed to the top, where Hood found the heat signature brightly glowing. Nightwing, however, was scanning the tops of all the nearby crates. Hood turned to his glaring heat signature and tapped his shoulder, gesturing over to the figure.

"Dude, over there."

"There's nothing there, Hood."

"Are you blind? It's right there—wait hang on a sec." He switched the heat vision off and on and confirmed his suspicions. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted over to the seemingly empty space.

"You just gonna stand there and watch or do want to come out so we can have a chat?"

At this, the figure blinkered into visibility, revealing a short young woman dressed all in black. Her dark curls rippled in the breeze and she stood, smirking, her arms crossed. Nightwing and Red Hood took a few steps closer but kept their distance. Dick spoke first.

"Witchcraft, huh? You want to tell us why you were watching us just now?"

She cocked her head and spoke with a drawling voice. "And spoil the fun? I think not."

Jason, with his never-ending impatience spoke up. "Listen lady, we ain't free entertainment for you to watch at your own leisure, so tell us what you're doing here or leave."

She grinned. "Ah, but I have a personal invitation to be here, so I think I'll stay." Fireballs sparked to life in her hands, they arced through the air towards the two men. They deftly dodged the flames and went into ready stances.

Dick groaned as he pulled out his escrima sticks. "You ever heard of conflict de-escalation, Hood?"

They got into a flanking position as Jason replied, "I skipped preschool that day."

The mystery woman danced backwards, hurling a volley of fireballs toward them. They sprung away, easily dodging the first few, but as more followed it became clear she was only toying with them, effortlessly lobbing more in each of their directions. As Jason spun away from a bright orange orb aimed at his head, a searing pain caught at his wrist and he hissed in anger and surprise. He pulled his guns, pissed. There was no way he was gonna let this lady play with them like this! He shot twice, aiming for her thigh, but she dodged, sending yet more flames arcing toward him. But it was the distraction Dick needed—he flipped over the wave of flames, landing next to her and forcing her into hand-to-hand combat. It wasn't much of a contest at this distance, but she still had some tricks up her sleeves-quite literally. As Dick grabbed for her arm, it turned into a snake, fangs outstretched. His eyes widened as he tried too late to adjust his angle, and the brilliant white fangs sank into his arm before he could throw it away.

The witch saw her chance, sprinting away as Dick clutched his bleeding arm. Shaking his head to clear the pain, he vaulted after her, Red Hood already on her tail. She yelled something, disappearing from view, but they knew what to expect now and switched to the heat sensors in their masks.

At last, she chose poorly, turning in to a dead end. Dick and Jason slowed in their pursuit, stopping well beyond her reach as she spun to face them.

"It's over," Nightwing yelled, panting slightly. "You've got nowhere to go!"

She glared, completely out of breath, her eyes flashing back and forth between the two men. Her eyes shifted and began to shine with malice. Her arms slowly went up in the air in surrender, but as they walked forward to apprehend her, she brought her arms out in front of her, clapping once as she yelled a word in some unknowable language. A wave of purple light spread out from her hands, washing over Nightwing and Red Hood as they stumbled back.

At first nothing appeared to happen. Jason looked over to Dick and shrugged, apparently unaffected. They started forward again, but suddenly Jason began to feel dizzy, a numb feeling spreading through his limbs. He stumbled and leaned against a crate in an attempt to stop the spinning in his head, as Dick, usually impossible to trip up, fell to his hands and knees, his shaking legs buckling under his body.

"Wha- whadidya-" Jason slurred, trying to get the words out as he collapsed next to Dick. The witch leaned over them.

"Shhhh, you need rest, I imagine tomorrow's events will be quite… startling… for the two of you. See you boys around," she grinned, and with that left them on the rooftop. Jason tried to get up and go after her, but his vision was quickly becoming consumed by black spots. The last thing he saw before he went under was Dick's already unconscious form, the two of them vulnerable and helpless as the world faded to black.

A/N: Hey there! I hope you enjoyed what I've written so far, not only is this my first batman fanfic but it is my first fic period, so I'd greatly appreciate any
feedback that you guys have! I have quite a bit planned for this story, so reviews will help it to improve as I write more. Thanks for reading!