Dick grabbed the other pistol from the box as soon as he entered his room. His ruse worked well enough that he wasn’t expecting anyone to come knocking on the door behind him. He was able to decipher things a bit more, able to fill in the last tiny details of the plan. 

He had trained for this nearly his entire life without even knowing it. As he opened the window the slight breeze blowing in from the lake felt somewhat warm against his face, causing him to close his eyes for just a second and enjoy it. That was all the time he gave himself though as he carefully lifted his leg and stepped out onto the tiny ledge. His eyes fell to the ground beneath him but that didn’t bother him one bit. He had done this routine so many times he could have been doing it in his sleep and he had taken falls higher than this second story was too many times to count. 

Slipping onto his toes, he gracefully spun on the ledge, now facing the building instead of the lake. The breeze was constant which actually helped things, he could adjust to it without having to deal with an occasional gust here or there. Dick shimmied his way to the corner of the building, nearly the full length of the second floor before he began climbing upwards. The footholds weren’t the best, clearly the building wasn’t designed to have somewhat crazy people scaling the outside of it but, it was working well enough for Dick.

It didn’t seem to take too long, maybe a few minutes at most, before Dick pulled himself up on the ledge of the third floor. Pausing for a moment, he took a seat, letting his feet dangle over the edge. It was surprisingly calm out there. The view was gorgeous, an occasional bird flying into view. Dick could breath out here and there certainly wasn’t going to be anyone to bother him. 

He let his mind wander to what might happen once he actually got into the apartment as he rested. As much of an asshole as Sebastian Alcave was, Dick didn’t peg him for an idiot. He would have some type of safety measures within the place, be it stashed weapons strewn about or even a panic button. Dick certainly wouldn’t put that last part past him, Sebastian came across as the guy that didn’t want to get his hands dirty. 

Dick drew another deep breath as he stood once more, satisfied with the break and ready to commence the climb.

Letting his mind go blank as he continued his climb, it felt good to be out here. He hadn’t been part of a show for quite some time now and this was making him realize that he missed it. Of course, this was a little different of a rush, more visceral, more life threatening. It made him feel alive. 

His feet and hands moved as if they were one, swiftly carrying him up to the fifth floor, the breeze still blowing gently against his back. Pausing for a moment, Dick thought he could stay here forever.

That wasn’t the case though, far from it actually. He needed to take care of all of this tonight. That was the only chance that Jason and Emma had of being safe. Dick could give that safety to them. Not once had he been able too in the entirety of their short five years but that was something he could do tonight. He wasn’t going to let a little thing like climbing up the outside of a building five stories up get in his way. He had made it this far, might as well push forward with the rest of it. 

Sebastian was the kind of prick that needed the entire floor to himself. He loved his status symbols, that much was painfully clear. Peering in through one of the windows, all Dick needed to do was find an empty room, then he could skip in unnoticed and take everything one step farther. He could see the light shining underneath a closed door as he held his breath for a moment, pressing his finger tips against the outside of the window and gently applying pressure upwards. The window slid up easier than he expected, maybe things were turning out as they should. 

As soon as the window was opened enough, Dick pulled himself inside with a forward roll, landing quietly crouched into the empty room. He could hear voices coming from what seemed like down a decent sized hallway, a man and at least one woman. That was going to complicate things a bit but Dick had been somewhat expecting it. 

Dick slipped the blade from the waist band of his pants, staying low as he gently twisted the door knob and pulled the door open just a crack.

Dick peeked around the wood of the door, checking left and then right. The corridor was empty but he could see the light and hear the voices coming from the end of it, most likely the apartment’s living room. Dick still couldn’t make out how many voices were there, the music playing over the record player was drowning them out for the most part. Closing his eyes, Dick tried to focus only on the words being spoken. It was an acquired skill that he was now kicking himself for not continuing to hone.

He crept out of the door, being very careful with each and every step. It wouldn’t have been a terrible mistake to tip any one off before he had a better look around. He was starting to think that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to go rushing in like he did but it was far too late for that regret. 

For a moment Dick remembered the pistols that he had with him. If he had to use them at all then everyone in the outer hall was going to come running and they were going to shoot first and probably not ask any questions later. It was best to stick with the blades for the time being anyways, at least until everything went to hell. He didn’t have the fire power to get into a shoot out either. 

Dick calmed his nerves by controlling his breathing as he moved. He was deliberate in his steps, never having any wasted motion. Hugging the wall as he reached the end of the corridor, he peered around the corner for a flash second, spotting the back of three peoples heads as the sat on the couch in the spacious living room with their backs to him. Sebastian was sitting between a brunette and a blonde, his arms stretched over each of their shoulders. 

Fuck. That was going to make things a bit more complicated. Anything he did now would send them running and screaming, most likely announcing to the entire building of Dick’s arrival. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt the two women, they didn’t know the monster that they were around right now. They were innocents.

His heart thumped loudly in his chest. He was ok where he was right now, staying to the shadows but he couldn’t spend all night here. Eventually he would have to make a move. The thought occurred to him of just putting a bullet in the back of Alcave’s head from where he stood but, Dick needed the man to know why this was happening. Sebastian needed to know that it was a terrible idea to fuck with Jason and Emma, one with dire consequences for him. 

Dick slipped by the couch unnoticed, entering the kitchen and staying crouched, hidden behind the cabinets. 

Taking a long, deep breath to calm his nerves, Dick reached into his left pocket, pulling out a folded set of bills. As he crept towards the back of the couch, he tightened his grip on the knife in his right hand. A foot or two behind them now, Dick tossed the cash onto the coffee table in front of them as he brought his right arm up in the same motion, slipping the blade underneath Sebastian Alcave’s chin, lifting it up roughly.

Dick spoke quietly but with a fierceness in his voice, “Take the cash ladies. Quietly. Get up and lock yourself in the bedroom. Nothing is going to happen if you can follow instructions.”

It took a moment for everyone in the room to realize what was going on. Sebastian tried to open his mouth to speak but Dick presses the knife harder against his skin, drawing a droplet or two of blood, causing him to immediately shut up. For their part, the two ladies were calmer than he expected. They stood quickly, the blonde grabbing the cash before she was even fully standing and turning towards the bedroom without so much as a word, swiftly followed by her brown haired friend. 

As soon as Dick heard the door shut and lock behind them, he hopped the couch. He was now standing in front of Sebastian with the tip of the knife pressed forward against the man’s Adam’s apple. There was a long beat of silence as they stared into each other’s faces. 

Dick dropped the blade so it wasn’t pressing against his throat anymore but kept it still within striking distance, he wasn’t going to give the man much of a chance. 

The color had all run out of Sebastian’s face by now and when he opens his mouth to speak, Dick let him. He couldn’t help it but he was curious of what the fellow might say. “Wh-who-how did you get in here?”

”Oh that is really the worst of your problems right now, isn’t it Sebastian?” A somewhat evil smile spread across Dick’s face. He wasn’t enjoying this, not really, but when this was over it would mean that Jason and Emma were safe again. “Katrina asked me to swing by.”

Sebastian began stuttering. Dick had to give him credit, he put two and two together faster than he would have thought he could. Dick didn’t let him speak this time though, he cracked him with a hard left directly in the nose, sending Alcave’s head snapping back with a sickening crunch. The man was clearly dazed as blood poured out of his nose.

Just as Dick was bringing the blade back, he heard something he wasn’t expecting. The bathroom door clicked open, followed by a nearly inhuman scream. Well, that wasn’t good. His eyes shot up as he came face to face with another one of Sebastian’s ladies of the night. One that didn’t get the memo about keeping her mouth shut.

”This is for Jason and Emma.” Dick racked the blade swiftly across Sebastian’s throat, cutting deeply, spilling a large amount of dark red blood as the man gurgled one surprise. 

As soon as he did though, the door exploded inward, Sebastian’s body guards jockeying for position to see who was going to get in and shoot first. The confusion gave Dick enough time to sprint down the hall, just barely avoiding the first bullet that slammed into the wall behind him. He skidded to a stop as he swung the door he first entered open, quickly rushing to hop out of the window. He began his descent quicker than he would have liked but he didn’t have much choice in the matter now. He was down to the fourth floor by the time the other windows above him smashed out, raining down glass before they all started shooting at him. The way the building was built though, Dick had a bit of coverage as he climbed. Of course if any one of them was smart enough to run to the ground floor then he would be screwed but they hadn’t figured that out yet. 

The bullets kept raining down as he reached his room’s window again. He felt a hot sting in his back just as he leapt inside, the momentum taking him forward and his head cracked against the corner of the table there causing the lights to flicker wildly for him. He grabbed his things as quickly as he could, moving somewhat strangely as he staggered a bit. After slinging his bag over his shoulder, he grabbed a towel from the bathroom before stuffing it into the back of his jacket near his shoulder blade, the white hot burn of where he knew he’d been shot causing things to fade for a moment.

Dick gritted his teeth as he tried to act as casual as possible even with the blood pouring down the side of his face from the flesh gash in his skull. Keeping his head down, he managed to exit Lake View Manor in all of the chaos without being seen. 

Time to get the fuck home, Dick, he thought to himself as he kept his head down and his feet moving forward.