Dick felt more relaxed than he rightfully should as he waited on McLinchen. The roaring fireplace at the Owl N’ Thistle May have had something to do with that. Dick could feel himself taking a step closer in this race, this game. He no longer felt like he was a few steps behind. It cost him dearly but the price didn’t matter at this point. It was all about ending this, one way or another.

Taking a small sip of his drink, Dick watched the flames dance before him for a moment. In all of this mess he never really allowed himself to relax, for good measure too, there was no way of telling when the next move was coming. Hell, he thought he was safe at The Whitman but that turned into the least safest place for him then. If he was going to make it through this he was going to have to be much more careful. Unfortunately, that made him much more jumpy and on edge.

Dick’s hand shot to the shoulder holster underneath his jacket as soon as he heard the door click open, more so out of habit and fear than anything else. Dick didn’t like the feeling he was getting from all of this. It was unfamiliar and uncomfortable, two things that he needed to work around.

He relaxed a little as he watched a petite woman pushing through the door, assuming she wasn’t Kenneth McLinchen, he went back to scanning over the room, trying to pick out anything that might stand out or seem out of place. Nothing really popped but he still couldn’t seem to calm his nerves as he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, “Grayson I presume?”

Dick nearly jumped out of his skin as he hopped out of his chair, hand still hidden beneath his coat. He didn’t mean to, but Dick felt like he over played his hand now. After a couple of slow breaths, Dick managed to slow his racing heart, “McLinchen. Pleasure.” Dick’s words came out colder than he intended them too.

Dick motioned to the seat beside his, letting McLinchen sit before he did. He didn’t mean to but, his words came out rushed, “Do you have what we spoke of?”

”Easy, easy, all in due time.” The man’s voice was gruff, as if he spent too much time chain smoking cigarettes, “Do you have the agreed upon sum?”

Dick wasn’t exactly comfortable flashing around that kind of cash but he was backed into a corner here, if he wanted the information, it was going to cost him. He just wished it wasn’t so out in the open like this. Big risk, big reward he reasoned with himself. Somewhat holding his breath, Dick reached beneath his seat, dragging out a small briefcase. Using his foot, he slid it across to McLinchen’s right foot. 

”I trust it is all here?”

”I don’t have time to waste,” Dick answered almost incredulously, “Yes, it is all there.”

”Good. Everything you need is in this bag.” Dick was kicking himself for not even noticing it until McLinchen placed it on the floor between them, “Pleasure doing business with you. Best of luck.” 

As Dick was reaching to the pull the bag over, McLinchen was gone just like he came, silently and seemingly out of no where. 

It was probably for the best, the guy gave Dick the heebie jeebies.

There wasn’t a chance in the works that Dick was going to open up the bag there. Reaching into his pocket, he tossed a few hundred dollars onto the table in front of him and grabbed the bag, standing in one swift motion. There wasn’t any reason to stick around any longer than needed. 

Dick was still a bit nervous about being in Seattle after the events of his last visit. It didn’t help things that he had to constantly look over his shoulder. A light mist had begun at some point while he was inside. It was rather nice actually, it helped Dick clear his mind. Right now he needed somewhere quiet and out of the way. 

It didn’t take long of nervously walking before Dick found an old abandoned building and slipped inside unnoticed. He found a shadowy corner and opened the bag, pulling a smaller black bag out of it. Dick drew in a deep breath before pulling the zipper opened. There was a small business card inside accompanied by an untraceable revolver. Six shots wasn’t ideal but he would have his other belongings with him as well. It was manageable.

Dick tucked the card into his vest pocket before tossing the bags aside. He stepped out back into the streets but not before tucking the revolver into his waistband. 

There was only so much Dick could do at the moment with this information. It wouldn’t do him again to rush in blind, nothing would work out if he did it that way. He had to be smart about all of this. Time was sensitive but not so much that he rushed everything, all in due time. 

Dick pulled his jacket tighter to himself. He knew a little of Seattle streets but not as much as he should have. Admittedly, he hadn’t spent all that much time there. He at least knew the general direction and was content running through the plans as he made his way down the street. He was nearing the end of all of this, one way or the other. At least there was a bit of solace in that. 

He wasn’t exactly sure how long he had been walking for but his clothes were soaked and his hair hung wettly to his forehead. There was a dull ache that set in behind his eyes but he pushed that away like he did most things, he could worry about that later. Dick rounded the corner of the road, taking half a step back in the shadows as he saw a group of people huddled around talking. Dick was to far away to hear them through the rain but it seemed to be a rather animated conversation, as one of the men was waving his hands about as he spoke, a pistol in his right hand as he did. 

Looking down at the business card for a moment, he confirmed the address with a wry smile. He really couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad thing that he was there. There were only two ways everything could go and both of them were rather messy. He needed to be damn sure that he was ready for this. There was so much on the line now.

Dick let his mind wander for a moment as he hugged the shadow, Jason and Emma’s tiny faces flashing in his vision, white hot for a moment. Instead of pushing it away like normal, Dick embraced it, let it wash over him. He held it close to himself, just for a moment, only long enough that he knew why he went through all of this, why he was actually doing this. He didn’t necessarily need the reminder but it certainly didn’t hurt anything.

Trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, Dick lit up a smoke, using his body to shield the flame from the wind and rain. Leaning up against the building behind him, Dick kept an eye on the group as the continued speaking for a moment or two more before dispersing. Three of the men climbed into a waiting car and quickly drive off leaving the other four to spread out around the building, two stood by the front door while the other two each took a different side of the building heading towards the back. It helped that some of them drive away but he still had no idea how many were inside and it really could have been any number at all. Dick, unfortunately, would have no idea until he stepped inside. 

Dick took a long drag off of his smoke before tossing it away and silently shifting around the right of the house.

Dick caught up to the first man quickly enough, grabbing him from behind and covering his mouth with a gloved hand before plunging his blade into the side of the man’s neck. Dick didn’t give him much of a chance at a fight as he twisted the blade, lowering the gurgling body into a darkened shadow. 

For some reason, Dick was calmer than he thought he would be. Maybe he was just getting accustomed to this type of thing, god knows he had done it enough times already sadly. His breathing was normal and his heart beat was steady. Part of him was scared by that, none of this was normal at all but it seemed like just another walk in the park for him. 

Dick hugged himself to the side of the building as he moved. His best bet here was always the element of surprise. If he could down as many as possible before anyone noticed than it would make everything that much easier in the long run. He still hasn’t figured out what the true endgame was here but he didn’t need to focus on that at the moment. One step at a time. 

Sneaking around a small bush, Dick positioned himself beside the back door, a step outside of the porch light that shone like a beacon out into the misty night. Dick had hoped that he was well enough concealed as the second man rounded the corner. Holding his breath, Dick waited for the man to stop and light a smoke as he looked out over the back yard. 

Pausing for a brief moment, Dick waited until the guard’s hands were preoccupied slipping away his lighter. Moving swiftly, Dick went with the same move as before, clamping his hand over the man’s mouth before jamming the blade into his lower back four or five times before raking the bloodied blade roughly across the man’s throat. 

Letting out a small sigh of relief before dragging the still twitching body out of the way, the first step had been a success. Now he just needed to figure out his way inside.

Dick thought about smashing the window beside the door but after taking a slow, deep breath he tried the door knob and much to his surprise, found that it was unlocked. Maybe things were going his way. Pushing the door open slowly as to not draw any attention to himself, he stepped inside before locking it behind himself. The corridor he stepped into was dark, there didn’t seem to be any lights on in the place, at least not in the part of the house that he was in but he could hear a radio announcer from somewhere at the far end. 

Dick took his time carefully pushing open every door he passed quietly, making sure that he was going to get snuck up on in the place. He wished some light was on but he wasn’t in a rush and hugged the wall of the hallway, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dim light. The closer he got to the end of the hall, the more voices that he could here. They were talking about whatever was on the radio and good for him, no one seemed to be alerted to his prescience just yet. Dick gripped the blade in his right hand as he peered around the corner. Three rather large men sat with their backs to him, chatting away, each with a drink in hand. 

Slowing his breathing slightly, Dick took a crouched position. There was no need to engage them just yet, doing that would only tip off everyone else. There were too many to be able to use his knife affectively and gunshots would only bring everyone else in the home running. Staying low, Dick moved across the hardwood floor, being careful not to move to fast and have the creaking floor boards give him away. He noticed the bottle that sat on the table between the three men and thankfully it was nearly empty, most likely meaning the three guards had a healthy buzz on at the moment. 

As he made his way to the stairs, he swung himself around, pressing his back to the wall as he took slow, small steps up the carpeted stairs. If he could keep this up he might be able to slip out unnoticed but that was more of a pipe dream than anything else. Eventually everything wouldn’t be coming up aces for him and things would get dirty and nasty rather quickly.

Shooting a glance back down the stairs as he made it to the landing, he allowed himself a small sigh of relief. Another step closer, he thought to himself.

Pausing at the top step, Dick drew in a slow breath and listened. He wasn’t expecting a neon sign saying this way or anything like that but he didn’t want to be caught off guard either. Tightening his grip on the knife in his hand, he took slow deliberate steps forward. He could hear a pair of voices coming from somewhere upstairs but with the vastness of the home, he couldn’t fully identify where they were coming from. Making sure to keep checking over his shoulder, he pushed each door open with a creek slowly, the same way he did downstairs. Luckily enough they were all empty until he came to the last door on the left. He could hear the voices inside but because the door was closed he couldn’t tell how many or who they were. 

Dick leaned against the wall beside the door frame and closed his eyes for a second. His heart beat was still calm and controlled, if that started to go haywire he would have been in a spot of trouble now. Lightly rapping against the door a couple of times, he heard heavy footsteps moving towards him. As the door swung open, Dick lunges forward, burying the blade as far as it could go into another goons throat using his full weight behind it to take the man off of his feet and slamming his back into the floor much louder than Dick would have preferred. 

”You’re a persistent one aren’t you Mister Grayson?” The voice came from deeper in the room but Dick immediately knew who it was.

Pulling the blade back, Dick moved into the room as confidently as he could. It didn’t matter if anyone downstairs heard the thud, this was finally his chance. “We’ve got some things to talk about Pamela. One way or another, this is ending tonight.”

”I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Dick.” Isley spoke with the same even keel she always had, “You’ve done well to make it this far but what you fail to recognize is that I know you better than you know yourself. Do you really think I’d be unprepared for this.”

Dick stayed silent as he made his way around the outside of the room. He watched as she slowly stood, he raven hair pulled back in a tight bun, she turned to face him with a blade in each hand. Dick knew she wasn’t going to go down without a fight but he wasn’t going to make the first move, she would have expected that. 

A small, evil smile appeared on her lips, “If anything were to happen to me, well, I’ve given explicit orders to remove Jason and Emma from the board. As well as that old friend of yours. Master Bruce I believe.”

Her words stung Dick but he wasn’t about to show that to her now, keeping the same stern look on his face, “That is a risk I’m willing to take at the moment. Someone was eventually going to put a stop to you. Tonight, it’s going to be me.”

Pamela Isley chuckled lightly before she lunges forward, seeming out of no where, with the speed and quickness of a jungle cat trying to take down her prey.

Dick caught her right wrist in his left hand as Pamela lurched forward, sidestepping to his left as he spun, using her full weight to toss her back roughly against the wall with a loud thud. If her guards didn’t hear the first man fall they definitely heard this one. The blow didn’t seem to faze her one bit as she placed her heel against the base of the wall and pushed forward, slashing with her blades as she did. She was quicker than Dick had given her credit for, just barely stepping back from the swing, his shirt ripping as she raked the blade across his chest. It was a little to close for comfort as Dick took another step away from her. She certainly knew what she was doing, moving with the grace of a dancer and the savagery of a seasoned soldier. 

The thought quickly occurred to Dick to pull out his colt but she was atop him in a flash once more, using her forearm to push him back as she sliced through the air with her other hand. Dick was ready for it this time, catching her blade with his causing a loud metal on metal ting to echo throughout the room. She was good, very good, Dick had to at least give her credit for that. She moved as if this was what she was born to do. Dodging another arching swing, Dick knelt in one swift motion, producing his second blade that had been strapped to his ankle. He swing viciously with his left hand as she took a small step to the right, barely catching a piece of her arm that she didn’t even seem to notice despite the red mist that flew into the air. 

Pamela paused for a moment, letting out a small chuckle as she shot a quick glance down at her wound before turning her attention back to Dick. At this point Dick could hear the loud voices and heavy footsteps bounding up the staircase before a large boot sent the door smashing open wildly. 

”Stop!” Pamela cried out as her first henchman trained his gun on Dick, “I will take care of this myself.”

Dick had to at least give her a little credit, Pamela Isley May have been vicious but she at least had honor. She could have just as easily ordered them to open fire, ending this whole thing before it really began. For their part, her guards didn’t know what to do, standing there giving each other awkward confused looks at each other. 

Not wanting to take any chances, Dick took a couple of small steps to his side, placing her between the men with the guns and himself. She may have had honor but he couldn’t trust any of them too as well. 

Pamela began circling him a bit, as if she was trying to size him up more than anything. This was something that Dick had learned when he was younger, all the endless days of training, the flashes of pain when he had made mistakes. He was ready for this, more so than anything else he had ever done in his life thus far. 

As she lifted her foot to take another step, Dick pushed forward, aiming a stab at her midsection as he sliced through the air with his other arm. She parried his first blow but she didn’t seem to expect the next as the blade jammed into her forearm. Dick twisted the knife before pulling it back full force, eliciting a sharp inhale of pain from her as he did. It was the first time in any of their dealings together that she showed any type of emotion, the rage building on her face. Dick could see her flexing her hand as best she could, the blade still numbly in her fingers until she gave it up completely as she dropped it to the floor, clutching her arm tight to her chest as she did. 

It was another step in the right direction as Dick three one of his blades with full force at the first man to come through the door, catching him in the center of the chest and sending him sprawling back into the wall, a surprise of fear plastered across his face. There was no telling how this was going to go now and he wasn’t going to take any chances. He pulled the colt out from underneath his jacket, firing three or four shots through the doorway, the tell tale sound of two more bodies hitting the floor as he did. 

Shooting her a wry smile, he slipped the weapon back into his holster, “Looks like it’s just me and you again, Isley.” 

She didn’t respond, at least not with words, her face somehow looking red with anger but slightly drained of color at the same time. Her left arm was essentially useless at this point and Dick presses his advantage, moving towards her left with another downward slice that she just barley avoided. She must have known that this wasn’t going to be easy in any way shape or form but she made no move to attempt to grab any other weapons, even though there was a perfectly good pistol lying on the table in front of where she once sat. 

Dick didn’t really think that she was ready for anything that he could do and made the mistake of trying to catch her off guard with a lunge. She blocked him with her busted arm, burying her blade into his shoulder as she did and using his own momentum to send him crashing to the floor behind her. She gave him a knowing smirk as she watched him get back to his feet. She may have been wounded but she was by no means out of this fight. 

Taking a deep breath to try and slow his thumping heart, Dick let Jason and Emma’s faces flash before his eyes, heard their tiny voices in his head. This wasn’t about honor anymore, this was purely about their survival. Pamela gave him a confused look as he drew the colt once more, a yelp of surprise as he emptied the clip into her chest from five feet away. 

Her knife clattered to the hardwood floor as Dick stood over her now, the last bits of life trying to hold on as long as they could. “You fucked with the wrong family, Pamela. I’m sure I’ll see you on the other side.”

Reaching down, Dick picked up her blade and with the full force of his body, plunged it to the hilt into her throat, leaving her gurgling and choking on her own blood until her feet stopped twitching. 

Letting out a long sigh of relief, Dick slipped a hand underneath his jacket, pressing his palm against the knife wound that was trickling hot blood down his arm. He gave her one last look before he exited the room, heading down stairs as quickly as he could before slipping out of the home completely.