*Disclaimer: I own none of these fine characters.  They all belong to DC Comics 
and were created by various people far more creative and talented than I. I'm 
just a penniless fan who enjoys the exploits of the DC Heroes.

***

For The Possession Of Wonder
By Moon (koawisp@hotmail.com)

***

Once upon a time, during the Fourth Age of Heroes, a Demon fell in love with the 
green world that Man walked.  Wild with avarice, the Demon sought to slay the 
Race of Man and set his dominion over the world.  Brave knights and mighty 
champions sought to stop his evil, but the Demon was cunning.  He found ways to 
escape their justice, and to try again.
	This is the tale of one stormy winter's night when the Demon sped to the 
Realm of the Thistle to capture a prize long thought lost...

	Shielded from the storm waves by the bulk of his companion, the man made 
his way to the safety of the cave above.  Once inside, Ra's Al Ghul, the Demon's 
Head, strode right past the flock of dismayed body servants.  His mammoth 
bodyguard softly murmured, "Master, you are cold and wet.  Perhaps---"
	Ra's oasis green eyes blazed against his desert dark skin.  "There is no 
time, Ubu!  Against all reason, the creature chooses now.  If I tarry I will 
lose my chance!  I may not get another.  You!  Is everything prepared?"
	A hunched figure in white robes scurried to keep up with his master.  
"Exactly as you had commanded, Eternal One," he said bowing low as he walked.
	"Excellent.  Now take your men and guard the entrance!  There can be no 
interference.  Am I understood?"
	"Yes, Eternal One."  The man bowed again and hastened away, barking out 
orders.
	Master and bodyguard strode on until four girls veiled in virginal white 
greeted them at the back of the cave.  They prostrated themselves before the 
Demon's Head as one.  "Up," he said sharply.  "To your places!  Ubu," he said in 
a quieter voice.  "In our haste to come we may have left clues for the Detective 
to follow.  If he comes, the men will fail.  You must not.  Guard us well."
	"Yes, Master."  Ubu bowed deeply.  "I will."
The four girls positioned themselves at the cardinal compass points just outside 
an unbroken circle of pure silver.  At the center of the circle, blessed by the 
clean, cold rain and winds pouring from a hole in the ceiling, was an altar-like 
stone.
	It glowed with its own silver-soft light.
	Ra's Al Ghul paused to look up.  The hole gave him an unimpeded view of 
the stormy sky.  His lips twisted at the irony.  Centuries of waiting for the 
right lunar standstill, the right full moon, the right clear night when 
moonlight could bind the altar...nothing!  But now, on a Winter Solstice night, 
where the half moon wasn't even visible...now the creature came close enough to 
their plane of existence to be drawn out.  "How...whimsical," he muttered.
	"Eternal One?"  The girls spoke in unison.
	"Prepare," he snapped.  The girls faced the altar proudly.  Ra's Al Ghul 
knelt on the cold ground, taking care to stay outside the gleaming circle.  
"Sing," he hissed.
	Generations of family training had prepared the girls for that very 
moment.  With angelic purity, the four young girls sang with the cadence and 
words from a language long dead.
	The four were calling forth the unpredictable Re'em of old.

	Magic so ancient could not be hidden, and the Dark Knight did not hunt the 
Demon alone.  The Sea Prince, a mighty mage, hunted with the Dark Knight's own 
heir, beloved of the Oracle...

	Below the pounding waves, an Atlantean sub ran dark through the waters.  
Inside, Nightwing tapped the communicator placed in his ear.  "Nightwing to 
Oracle."
	"Oracle here," the synthesized voice promptly replied.
	Despite the situation, a smile tugged at the Titans' leader's lips.  
"Oracle, we need a detailed map of this section of the Scottish coastline.  
Tempest has a lock on something magical going down.  Old, powerful, and getting 
stronger. Sounds like Ra's is looking for more than a dip in his Lazarus Pit 
this time."
	"Are you sure?"
	"Got a gut feeling.  Sooo...tell our back up not to be late.  Soon as you 
give us our map, we're going in."
	A long pause.  "He wants you to wait for him.  With Troia on Themyscria 
with all the other Amazons, you Titans aren't up to strength."
	"Can't wait.  A spell can be stopped, but not necessarily undone.  We have 
to move now."  A smirk spread across the vigilante's face.  "If he wants in on 
the fun, tell him to hurry."
	Incoherent mumbling buzzed his ear.  "Didn't copy that," he said.
	"Nevermind!"  She blew a long-suffering sigh.  "Down load complete.  
Anything else, twenty-something wonder?"
	"Got it," Tempest called out.  "ETA, twenty minutes!"
	"Acknowledged, Tempest.  Sneak us in.  We want to surprise ol' Ghoul Face.  
Get ready, Titans."  Then he lowered his voice so only the mysterious 
information broker could hear him.  "Babs, we're going to be running silent 
soon---"
	"Just get that fine ass of yours home safe.  Magic and Ra's Al Ghul is a 
bad mix.  Be careful."
	A soft smile touched his face.  "Always."
	"Good luck, Nightwing.  Oracle out."

The Paladin knew not what the Demon had planned, but deep within the magic of 
his Gypsy blood, he could feel the evil the Demon strove to wrought...

	Mist filled the circle, enveloping the altar in a swath of white.  
	Abruptly, without missing a note, the four girls dropped to their knees, 
bare skin pressed directly against the silver circle.  Faces naked with rapture, 
they threw their arms up in welcome, their voices taking on a new degree of 
reverence.
	Stone faced, watching silently, the fanatical self-appointed savior of the 
world began to weep.
	The Re'em was coming.  Soon, so soon.
	A sudden shout of alarm brought Ra's out from his reverie.  Massive 
gunfire and the horrible shrieking crash of something large and metallic 
skidding across bare stone quickly followed.
	The girls sang on.
	Ra's Al Ghul spun to his feet.  An alien sub had beached itself against 
the cave's entrance.  The occupants sprang forth and engaged his men in combat.  
	"Titans together," the invaders trumpeted.
	Ah, he thought with annoyance.  The lesser heroes.  
	Working in tandem, an archer and a blur that Ra's identified as a 
speedster disarmed his gunmen with embarrassing alacrity.  A girl with skin the 
color of chalk held the defeated in a cocoon of energy.  Two other heroes shoved 
their way past the battle, heading directly for him.  Nightwing led the charge.  
He was troublesome child, but no threat.  But the one he led...Ra's blood froze 
as he recognized the tattooed face of the Squire's companion.  "You fools," he 
bellowed, eyes wide with rage.  "Forget the children!  Kill the Mage, KILL HIM!" 
The remaining men charged down the tunnel, firing upon the two like madmen. 
	"Tempest, give us an ice wall," Nightwing ordered.
	The Mage held up his hands, eyes glowing with purple fire.
	"For the glory of the Eternal One," Ubu screamed, and fired his automatic 
rifle into the ceiling above the Mage.  Rocks rained down on the boy. The Mage 
cried out, his magic going awry, sealing himself in protective ice as stone 
buried him.  The ice spread, forming the wall that the Titan leader had 
wished...only now he was cut off from his allies. 
	Ubu pointed his gun at Nightwing.
	The boy scowled. 
	The Demon's Head smiled.  "Hello, child."
	And the girls sang on.
	"I won't let you do this," the boy said.
	"You cannot stop me, child," Ra's said pleasantly.  "Your magical ally has 
been neutralized.  Without him, you are powerless to stop me." 
	"Really?"  Suddenly the boy dropped to the ground, firing disks from his 
gauntlets in a wide spread.  The gun was knocked from Ubu's hands.   Ra's was 
forced into the indignity of ducking.
	The disks ricocheted from the girls and altar as if a force field shielded 
them.
	Still the girls sang on.
	"Damn," the boy spat.
	"Infidel," Ubu bellowed.  He charged the boy like an enraged bull.  The 
Titan made a magician's pass, producing six small cylinders held between his 
fingers.  The boy waited until the last moment then sprang impossibly high.  He 
stabbed all six cylinders into Ubu's shoulders and expertly tumbled down the 
giant's back.
	The bodyguard swayed...then fell flat on his face.
	"Tranqs," Nightwing smirked.  "Always prepare for the thugs you know."
	"Fool," Ra's hissed, drawing the sword at his side.  He lunged for the 
boy.  The child twisted like a cat.  Two escrima sticks were suddenly in the 
boy's hands, trying to trap the wickedly curved blade.  "I bring back the Re'em!  
You should want my plan to work," the Demon roared, freeing his steel.  He 
struck again.  "I am bringing hope back into this sad world! Healing!  True 
beauty!  You and your mentor should be at my side forwarding my cause!"
	"We forward justice," the Titan growled,  "and I won't ever swerve from 
that path!  You're going down!"
	"Misguided," Ra's lamented with a snarl.
	Within the circle, the mist parted. A blaze of silver formed a path to 
light upon the altar.  The girls bowed, pressing the palm of their hands against 
the silver circle, their song climaxing into a wave of the purest joy.  The 
ecstasy of the music shocked the boy, distracting him.
	Ra's moved in with a strike aimed to behead him.
	Like a dream in slow motion, Nightwing leapt back. Kevlar and flesh ripped 
open as the sword swept across his broad chest.  Drops of crimson flew through 
the air...
	...Past the girls...
	...Past the silver circle...
	...and landed upon the glowing altar.
	The girls' song turned into a shriek.  The path wavered.
	"Sing," the Demon commanded.  "SING!"
	The singing resumed.  The path solidified.
	"Well, well," Nightwing smirked.  "I may not be a magic user, but blood 
does tell."
	Ra's glared murderously at the bleeding boy, this Heir of the Detective, 
child of the Rom.  "Gypsy," he hissed hatefully.
	"Ah-ah.  Say that nicely," the boy chided.  "So if my blood can interrupt 
your spell---"
	"DIE!"  Ra's lunged.
	The Titan spun nimbly out of the way, wheeling closer to the circle.  "---
What happens if I go inside?"
	"NOO!"  Ra's Al Ghul flung the sword at the boy, desperate to stop him.
	Nightwing dove into the circle.
	The girls shrieked like mad banshees.  
	All hell broke loose.

Fearing for his heir, the Dark Knight sped to the island as fast as his chariot 
could fly.  But alas, he was too late.  The battle was over, the Demon fled, and 
the Paladin...

	The Oracle sat in her Clocktower alone at dawn, with only the voices to 
keep her company. 
	They told her that a cave on the target island had been reduced to rubble.
	The voices told her that the Titans were trapped under the rubble.  All of 
them.
 	"Look for them," she told the voices.  "Bring them home.  All of them."
	The voices did their best.
	They found bodies in white robes, killed by the poison they had hidden in 
their own teeth. 
	Oracle shivered.  "Don't give up," she admonished, trying to hide her own 
fears.
 	The voices rejoiced!  They found three Titans unharmed: Jessie Quick, 
Arsenal, and Argent, who held the three of them safe with her shielding powers.  
	Oracle let out a deep breath, feeling her heart pound harder.  "Keep 
looking," she urged.
	The voices found the Titan Tempest, hurt, unconscious, and near frozen 
under an ice structure, but alive.  The rest of the Titans took their wounded 
comrade to his home under the sea for help.
	Oracle now felt her heart in her throat.  "Keep looking," was all she 
could say.
	The voices looked.
	They really tried.
	"Superman to Oracle," a sad voice said.  "We found four more of Ra's 
followers, dead.  They're...they were only little girls.  It's...how could he-?"
	"Easy, my friend," a deep, mellow voice soothed.  "J'onn here, Oracle.  I 
fear that Nightwing is no longer on the island."
	Oracle felt her heart constrict.  "You think Ra's has taken him?"
	"It is possible, considering Nightwing's connection with Batman.  Ra's has 
taken him before as a bargaining chip against Batman." 
	"Christmas," Flash grumbled under his breath.  "Something always happens 
to that guy around Christmas time!"
	"I wish Wonder Woman was here," Superman sighed.
	"I wish I was with Wonder Woman," Plastic-Man leered.  "All those Amazons 
doing who knows what at Solstice Rites!  Whoo-hoo!"
	"Shut up," all the voices shouted, including the Oracle.
	"Hey," Plastic-Man said defensively, "I'd rather be there than here 
breaking the news to Bats that his kid's gone!"
	"That's why I wish she was here," Superman said wearily.  "Everything I 
say to him always ends with---!"  He broke off and sighed heavily.  "He would 
have taken this better from her."
	"We need a lead," Green Lantern said.  "J'onn, you're a detective.  Find 
any clues?"
	"Under these weather conditions it's hard to---" He stopped.  "Batman's 
here."
	ith the flick of a finger, Oracle activated her communication link to 
Batman.  "Oracle to Batman."
	"Here," came the curt acknowledgment.
	"The League can't find Nightwing," she told him, thankful for the voice 
modulator that made her sound emotionless.  "They think Ra's has him!"
	"Ra's doesn't have him," came the hard, angry reply.
	Oracle slammed her fist against the arm of her chair.  "Dammit, Bruce, if 
you know where he is then tell me!  Where's Nightwing?  Where's Dick?"
	He didn't say anything.  Instead she listened to him furiously shove his 
way past sympathetic and apologetic teammates.  What is going on, she wondered?
	"Where's he going," Superman asked her.  
	She had no answer.
	"Hey," Green Lantern suddenly said.  "Where'd that silver circle come 
from?"
	"What?  What's going on," Oracle demanded.
	"Batman stepped into this clear spot and...well this silver circle 
suddenly appeared," Flash told her.  "He just walked to the circle's center.  
Now he's...taking off his cape...and...putting it on the ground?  J'onn, why is 
he doing that?"
	"I don't know, Flash.  He's shut his mind to me.  Batman has picked up his 
cape...odd.  He's cradling it."
	Cradling it...Bells began to go off in Oracle's mind.  
	"Well, he's coming back," Flash told her.  "Hey, Batman, mind telling us--
-Dick!"
	"Lantern, J'onn, help me warm him up," Superman snapped.
	The voices became a cacophony of noise.  From the confusion, Oracle 
managed to figure out that once Batman had left the circle, Nightwing just 
magically appeared in his arms, wrapped in the older man's cape.  She managed to 
make out he was hurt, unconscious, and suffering from exposure.  That was enough 
for her.  She wanted to scream, beat the League with her own hands for not 
noticing her lover right under their noses.  But that wouldn't help Nightwing.  
She took refuge in her Oracle persona's professionalism.  "Batman, do you want 
me to notify the nearest hospital that they've got incoming?"
	"No!"
	Oracle felt her blood freeze.  Batman didn't sound angry...
	...He sounded frightened.
	"Tell Alfred and Leslie to prepare for him in the cave," he said in a more 
normal voice.  "Superman, Green Lantern, Flash.  We need speed.  J'onn...find 
Ra's.  He has to be found."
	"We will try," J'onn promised.
	"Anything you want, Bruce," Superman said.
	"Take us home."

By nightfall the healers had done all that they could, but still the Paladin did 
not wake.  The Dark Knight consulted the Oracle...

	The red-haired beauty, Barbara Gordon, known also as the Oracle, looked at 
the man in the cave's shadows and asked, "You want me to what?"
	Batman pulled back his cowl to reveal the drawn face of Bruce Wayne.  
"Kiss him," he said tersely.
	Barbara arched an eyebrow at the older man.  "Not that I'm against doing 
it, but could you tell me why you want me to?"
	"Just..." He rubbed his face wearily.  "Please, Barbara.  Just do it."
	She sighed.  "Alright.  But you're not watching."
	"Barbara---"
	"No voyeurism," she scolded.  "Go get me some water or something. From 
upstairs," she stressed, crossing her arms.  The master of Wayne Manor 
recognized this stubborn sign and gave in with a grunt.  
	When Barbara was sure he was gone from the cave's medical bay she wheeled 
herself to the bed's side, grateful that it was low enough for her to lean over.  
Her green eyes softened as she looked at the bed's occupant.  Dick Grayson---
Nightwing---lay tucked under mounds of woolen blankets, looking for all the 
world like a little boy.  She brushed an errant raven lock from his pale 
forehead, trailing her hand against his cheek.  She smiled at the feel of rough 
stubble under her fingers.  No, she thought, not a little boy anymore.  He was a 
man now.  Handsome, roughish...and ever in a world of trouble for not being 
careful like he promised.  "Wake up," she whispered nuzzling his cheek.  She 
kissed his eyes.  "Please wake up.  Everything was supposed to be OK this 
Christmas.  Please..." She traced his lips with a finger, in her mind seeing the 
kilowatt smile that could always light up the darkest of rooms.  "Please, Dick."  
She kissed his lips.  "I need to see you smile."  She kissed him again.
	A discreet cough warned her that Bruce was back.  Blushing, she 
straightened up and wheeled around.  Bruce handed her a bottle of water and sat 
on the bed next to his son.  "Anything," he asked her, looking intently at 
Dick's face.  He pressed his fingers against the vein on the side of Dick's 
neck.
	"He didn't wake up or move, if that's what you meant," she told him.
Bruce just frowned, pulling out a penlight from his utility belt.  He pried open 
one of Dick's eyes.
	Barbara touched his arm.  "Bruce, I'm worried too, but ---"
	With a sudden sharp intake of breath, Bruce leapt back, eyes round 
with...horror?
	The bottle of water fell to the ground.  "No," Barbara exhaled.  "Please, 
God, no," she prayed frantically grasping Dick's wrist.  With shaking hands she 
felt for a pulse.
	She nearly sobbed with relief when she felt it, strong and steady.  
	"Bruce," she shouted angrily, "what is your problem?  You frightened ten 
years off my life!  I thought...I thought..." She pressed the heel of her palm 
against her forehead.  "Tell me what's going through that head of yours, Bruce.  
This is Dick.  I have a right to know."
	Bruce pulled back into the shadows again, masking his face in darkness.  
"Barbara...when you look at Dick...what do you see?"
	"See?"  She looked down at her boyfriend.  "I see Dick."
	"Barbara," he said warningly.
	She glared up, green eyes snapping with fire.  "I see the man I love pale, 
stitched up, stuck full of tubes, not awake, and I see his father acting like an 
obsessive, secretive, inconsiderate jerk.  That.  Is.  What.  I.  See."
	There was just enough light to see Bruce's jaw tighten.  He spun around 
and stalked out of the medical bay to the main cave.  With a curse, Barbara 
wheeled herself after him.  "Do not act all affronted with me, Bruce Wayne!  How 
many times do I have to remind you, you're not the only detective in Gotham."
	Bruce turned around, his face unreadable.
	"You think something's wrong with Dick," she pressed on.  "Something 
magical. That's why you're pushing the League into looking for Ra's Al Ghul.  
You don't know what's wrong with Dick, but you're betting Ra's does.  So I've 
got to ask you, why aren't you out there looking with them, and why haven't you 
called in a magic expert!"
	A tense silence sizzled between them.    
	"I...can't," he finally said.
	Her look became icy.  "Oh.  I see.  When my father got shot you stayed by 
his side and wallowed in guilt while the rest of us, including me, tried to find 
the shooter.  Dick gets hurt, and we have a repeat.  Well, fine.  Be like that," 
she said disappointment and anger making her words heavy.  She spun her chair 
around sharply.  "But if you won't call in a magic expert, I will."
	"No!"  In a flash, Bruce leapt in front of her.  "No magic experts, 
Barbara!"
	"Bruce!  You ignored an illusion that fooled the whole Justice League, 
including a telepath.  Unless you can dazzle me with some damned fine deductive 
reasoning, I'm going to have to conclude that you're being influenced by 
whatever hit Dick!" 
	"I am not being influenced or 'wallowing in guilt,' I---" 
	A sudden crash silenced the both of them.  
	An odd, animal bleating sent the both of them rushing for the medical bay.  
	Bruce got to the doorway a split second before her, and froze.  Barbara, 
in her haste to reach Dick, crashed into him.  Flailing, Bruce fell into her 
lap.  "Get off," she spat impatiently, shoving him hard to his knees.  "Dick---"
	The word dried up in her throat.
	The man she loved was awake.  
	He had ripped the tubes from his arms and, despite the bandages 
constricting his chest, he was finally flashing the dazzling smile she had been 
longing to see again.  Raven hair fell impishly over tired blue eyes, a come-
hither look all the more inviting due to the bed and his lack of a shirt.
But it was obvious to Barbara that all that charisma was directed at one of the 
unmasked teens at the end of the bed.  Specifically the one cuddling him in her 
lap.
"Pretty," Batgirl said with a dreamy look in her Asian eyes. 
"Umm, hi," Robin said sheepishly.  "We just wanted to check-up on Dick, and you 
two were, uh, discussing stuff so Batgirl and I just let ourselves in and-and-
Wow!  This is so cool," he finally gushed, beaming brightly.
"Likes me," Batgirl smiled, stroking the head bumping against her chest.
"Hey, he likes me too," Robin protested, reaching out to pat Dick's rump.
Dick's leg twitched in warning and he gave the boy a look.
"Likes me best," Batgirl crowed happily, rubbing her cheek against the back of 
Dick's head.  He snuffled her neck.  The assassin trained girl giggled and 
kissed his hair.
Robin threw himself against the pillows sulkily.  "No fair," he grumbled.  "I 
can't help it if I'm a guy."
Barbara felt herself reeling.  In a daze she released her chair's brakes and 
rolled backwards into the main cave.  "He said he loved me," she whispered to 
herself, clenching and unclenching her hands.  "He said he loved me."
Bruce was suddenly at her side, squeezing her shoulders awkwardly.  "Barbara, he 
does love you.  I..." He shuffled uncomfortably.  "I know this looks bad." 
She just looked at him with tear filled eyes.
"Very bad," he added with a wince.  
"Babs?"  Robin crept out of the medical bay, quietly closing the door behind 
him.  "Babs, are you crying?"
Barbara tried to cover her face and wipe away her tears.  "Hey, boy wonder," she 
said with sniffly false cheer.  "You know.  Guano fumes sting my eyes."
Robin looked skeptically at Barbara, then at his mentor.  "Uh, Bruce?  We know 
we got ourselves distracted and all by the little guy, but Batgirl and I would 
still like to see Dick.  Where is he anyways?"
Suddenly, Robin had the adults' undivided attention.
"Let me handle this," Bruce said before Barbara could interject.  "Robin, who's 
in there with Batgirl?"
"You don't know his name?"  Robin frowned.  "I thought you borrowed him from 
Wonder Woman's menagerie.  Or is he a Christmas present for her?"  He shook his 
head.  "Wait.  That doesn't make any sense.  Where would anyone find---Bruce, 
where'd you get him from?" 
"Robin," Barbara hissed impatiently.
"What?  What did I do?"
"Robin," Bruce said patiently.  "Describe who you saw with Batgirl."
The teen looked puzzled but he obeyed.  "A creature roughly goat-like in shape.  
Long, shining white hair covering what looks like bright mother-of-pearl scales.  
Silver cloven hooves.  No tail.  Large, glowing eyes the color of Earthshine.  
Oh, and of course, one spiraling silver horn in the middle of his forehead."  He 
shrugged.  "Not exactly what I thought a unicorn would look like, but hey!  I 
didn't know a sphinx had wings until I met---"
"Unicorn," Barbara yelped.  She glared at Bruce.  "Unicorn?  This is why you 
wanted to know what I saw when I looked at Dick, isn't it," Barbara demanded of 
Bruce.  "You knew!"
"I...not the unicorn part, no," Bruce said stiffly.  
"Bruce," Barbara said darkly.  "What do you see when you look at Dick?"
"My son."
"Try again."
He closed his eyes.  "I see my son, his skin glowing in the dark, and his eyes," 
he nodded at Robin, "Earth-shine.  But my son never the less."
"Whoa!  Have you two been sniffing Scarecrow gas," Robin demanded.  "I think I'd 
be able to tell the difference between my own big brother and a mythical 
creature...OK, that sounded wrong, but that is a unicorn in there, not Dick."
"We think Ra's Al Ghul hit Dick with some sort of spell," Barbara told him.  Now 
that she could focus on solving a case, her thoughts were clearer.  "Could Ra's 
have been trying to make a unicorn?"  
"I don't think Ra's is capable of creating a living creature," Bruce said 
clinically.  "Summoning is another matter.  However, I don't think Dick was 
meant to be a part of his spell.  Something went awry.  Ra's might not even be 
aware that his spell succeeded.  Partially," Bruce amended with a glance at the 
medical bay. 
"You think Dick's being possessed by the unicorn," Robin asked incredulously.  
"But why do we all see him---them---him--- differently?  Batgirl and I both see 
a unicorn.  Babs sees Dick.  And you see a sort of in between night-light Dick."
"All the myths agree that unicorns are rather partial to virgins," Barbara said 
with a hint of a smile.  "If anyone could see unicorns, it'd be our, um, 
innocents."
Robin began to turn as red as his tunic.
"And I," Barbara continued briskly, "am quite mature.  And for that matter," she 
said frowning, "so is Bruce.  In fact, if even half of what the tabloids say are 
true, there's no man more mature than Bruce Wayne.  So.  Why do you see a night-
light Nightwing?"
Bruce frowned and shook his head.  "I don't know."
"Maybe we should call someone like Captain Marvel's Wizard," Robin said.
"No!"
"Bruce, he's right."
"Barbara---" 
"No, listen!  I understand your reluctance now, Bruce.  Unicorns were one of the 
most hunted creatures in mythology.  Their horns weren't just a trophy; they 
were powerful sources of magic.  They could cure any poison, heal just 
about...anything."  She rubbed her hands over her wheels.  "Believe me...I 
understand the appeal.  And the temptation."
Bruce's eyes softened.  "Barbara."
"To have a way to walk again so close by..." She shook herself.  "But not at the 
cost of losing Dick!  What if he heals...someone...and becomes a real unicorn 
forever?  What if we only have a narrow window of opportunity to help him?   
Bruce, we know just enough to know we're in over our heads.  We need an occult 
expert, a magician, someone!  Just one person.  Not the whole arcane community, 
just one person we trust.  Unicorns are nice, but I want the man I love back!"
"So do I!"
"Then call someone!"
"Don't fight!"  Batgirl was suddenly between them, looking as stricken as any 
child, watching her parents argue.
"We weren't going to hit each other," Bruce scowled.
"Fighting not good," Batgirl admonished.  "Fighting with words...never win."  
She rapped her knuckles against her forehead.  "Both get mad.  Proud.  Becomes 
too stupid...to understand, to solve problem."
Bruce drew himself to his full height and loomed over the little Bat.  The girl, 
whose first language was the movements of the body and violence, could clearly 
understand the angry, silent lecture he was giving her on minding her own 
business.
Someone didn't like that lecture.
With a hoarse scream of rage, a pale skinned blur launched itself at Bruce.  
Robin cried out and moved to shield Bruce.
Batgirl was faster.
In Dick's mid-leap, she rolled onto him, grabbed him by the waist, and twisted 
him off trajectory.  She cushioned their fall with her own body.
"Batgirl, Dick, are you alright," Barbara gasped, wheeling towards them.  She 
reached out a hand.  "Here, let me help---"
Dick threw back his head, eyes wide and nostrils flaring.  His teeth snapped at 
Barbara's fingers, missing only because Batgirl held him back.  "Bad," Batgirl 
scolded.  "Oracle my friend.  Be nice."
He looked at Barbara disdainfully, snorted, and then ignored her completely.
Barbara felt her heart constrict painfully.
"That can't be Dick," Robin said.  "He'd never treat Barbara like that!"
"That's the unicorn acting," Bruce said, cautiously coming closer.  Dick eyed 
him suspiciously, tensing aggressively.  Batgirl rubbed her cheek against his 
hair soothingly.
"He really doesn't like you, Bruce," Robin observed.  "Maybe it's the armor?  
Knights and unicorns don't get along well?"
Bruce grunted.  
"Can't wait to see how he'll react to Azrael," Robin said sardonically.
"Why...why call him Dick," Batgirl asked, patting his side.
Before anyone could answer her, the computer began to flash Oracle's symbol.  
"Oh.  I forwarded all my calls here," Barbara told Bruce belatedly, wheeling to 
the consul.  
Bruce frowned.  "Feel free.  Robin," he said never taking his eyes off her.  
"Take...the unicorn back.  Make sure he's comfortable.  Tell Batgirl what's 
going on.  Wait for us."
"OK."  With much coaxing, the teens left with Dick in tow.
Meanwhile, Barbara had settled into full Oracle mode.  She flipped on the voice 
modulator.  "Oracle here."
"Oracle, its Black Canary."
On a normal day, the sound of her best friend and lead agent would have brought 
a smile to her face.   But not today.  "What can I do for you, Canary?"  
"All business?  Nightwing still not doing too good, huh?"
"No," she whispered.  "What can I do for you."
	"Well, this won't cheer you up, but it might help the Wingster.  Arsenal 
got the idea that Ra's might have hurt Dick with magic.  The Justice League 
agreed.  So, we got some occult folks to take a look at that silver circle---"
"Who?"
"Dammit, Br-Batman," Barbara gasped.  "I'm going to put a bell on you!"
Bruce ignored her.  "Canary.  Who?"
"Look, Bats, I know this is your kid who's hurt, but would it kill you---"
"Canary, this is serious," Barbara said, catching Bruce's agitation.  "Who?"
"Well, the Leaguers pulled in Zatanna, but she didn't recognize the descriptions 
of the singing girls or the circle.  She said she'd ask around.  I'm here with 
the uninjured Titans and Dr. Fate.  He said he might know what Ra's did, but 
he'll have to see Nightwing.  Between you and me, Oracle, this is the most 
excited I've seen him since...well, since before his wife got diagnosed.  I 
think this case will be good for him." 
Bruce and Barbara looked at each other with growing alarm.
Dr. Fate, an Adept of Order.  Perhaps the most knowledgeable ally they had of 
the occult.  
Dr. Fate, who's wife was in a coma with terminal cancer, despite all the magic 
he used to try and save her.
Dr. Fate, growing unstable and desperate with grief.
"Tell Fate to go to Hell," Bruce growled.  He cut the transmission. 
She pinched the bridge of her nose.  "Damn, by now Zatanna's asked the advice of 
every wizard and fakir from Gotham to Vegas."  She looked at Bruce with 
frightened eyes.  "Ra's is going to hear---Dammit, they're going to hunt him---"    
 	"Barbara," Bruce said intently. "Do you trust me?"
She frowned.  "Of course I trust you, Bruce.  You know that.  I trust you with 
my life, more than my life---"
"That's exactly what I'm asking from you," he told her, crouching to be on eye 
level her.  "Trust me with the safety of the man we both---" He swallowed hard.  
"Trust me."  
"What are you going to do?"
 	He took her hand in both of his. "Ra's knows who I really am.  He knows 
how to get in here.  When he hears that a unicorn possesses Dick, he'll come 
after him.  Dick can't stay here.  He needs a safe house."
"I'll find one," she said quickly, trying pulling her hand free.
He held on tight.  "No, Barbara.  I'm asking you to leave it to me."
Barbara didn't want to leave it to him.  If someone knew of Nightwing, they knew 
of his connection to the Bat.  Every hex-wielding nut job that wanted to bag the 
unicorn would target Batman first off for information, and some of them were 
real mind readers.  But Bruce had to know that.  He wasn't stupid.  
But when he was wrong...it was bad.
She looked deep into the intense midnight eyes of her former mentor.
Bruce squeezed her hands. "Please," he whispered.
Barbara pressed her forehead against Bruce's knuckles and sighed.
What else could she say?

Word spread quickly throughout the land.  Sorcerers and wizards from far and 
wide flocked to the City of Shadows, noble and evil alike, all sharing the same 
goal; The Unicorn.
So began the Hunt. 

By nightfall the next day, Gotham City was in total chaos.

Oracle sat in her War Room, surrounded by holographic panels full of fighting 
images from various sections of town.  When Nightwing's situation was fully 
explained to the well-meaning heroes, the guilt ridden Justice League, Titans, 
and Justice Society came flooding into the magic besieged urban landscape.  
Batman's sanctioning be damned, they had all said.  They weren't going to let 
his pride be the death of his own city and son.

"That's real laudable," Oracle had told them mildly.  "Especially considering 
the lot of you invited the fairy-dust squad to town!"

The blustering died down quickly and the heroes buckled down to business

"Oracle to Black Canary.  Status?"

"The Society has two teams looking for our wayward Dr. Fate, each with a Gotham 
guide.  I'm taking my team to Grant Park."

"Captain Marvel is already there, trying to straighten out Captain Marvel Jr. 
and Mary Marvel.  You're closer to Robinson Park, and a team your size would be 
more helpful there.  That's big territory and I'm getting reports of magical 
activity around the Reservoir there.  Is Sentinel the other guide? Hold a sec."  
Oracle switched channels. "Sentinel, this is Oracle."

"What can I do for you?"

"I need your team to keep an eye on Arkham.  Azrael's all alone guarding that 
place.  The last thing we need is for the Rouge's Gallery to come out and play."

"Understood.  Tell this, Azrael is it?  Tell Azrael we'll be there in five 
minutes."  

"Thanks.  Just look for a guy dressed like an angel armored in red, gold, and 
black. Oracle out."  Oracle frowned at a grainy security feed.  She punched 
another button.  "Zatanna, Oracle here."

"Yes, Oracle?"

"There's a disturbance at Blackgate Isle.  Looks like Abra Kadabra."

"Did I hear you say Abra Kadabra?"

"Don't laugh.  He enchanted the guards at the prison.  I need you to give the 
remaining Titans magical back-up."

"On my way."

Oracle took a deep breath.  "Canary---"

"Can you see this, Oracle," the normally brazen Canary asked soberly.  "It's 
almost Christmas and its snowing.  Couples ought to be shopping, skating, taking 
walks, kissing under mistletoe...Instead we got sick sons of bitches who sees 
people as---!"  She sighed.  "It's sad, girlfriend.  Damn sad." 

Oracle swallowed hard.  "What do you see, Canary?"

"We're at Robinson's main gate," the soft reply came.  "There's...it was...Dr. 
Midnite is taking care of...the remains."

"No," Oracle whispered feeling her stomach clench. 

"Where the hell is Batman," Canary snarled.  "He's always saying that Gotham is 
his town.  Well?  Where is he?"  

"Police Commissioner Atkins flashed the Bat-signal," Oracle said defensively.  
"I'm sure Batman is standing on Central's roof right now, apologizing for not 
being God!"  She slammed the connection closed.  

Oracle wanted to scream.

Someone died on her watch.  All because someone wanted her boyfriend bad enough 
to kill.

"Oracle?"  Black Canary had re-opened the channel timidly.  "Oracle?  I'm...I'm 
sorry.  It's just---"

"I know," Oracle said softly.  She took deep breath.  "It's hard.  It's 
OK...and...I'm sorry too."

"Oracle?  No one ever asked...are you OK now?" 

"Yeah, just tired.  As soon as Green Lantern handles that riot in Knights' 
Stadium---"

"Hey, gal-pal.  This is me, not the Black Canary, just Dinah your best friend 
talking.  Are.  You.  O. K?"

Oracle balled her hands into fists.  "No, Dinah, I'm not 'OK.'  If I was 'OK' 
I'd be out there kicking some serious butt!  But I'm not.  I'm still here in 
this damned chair, so no, I'm not 'OK!'"  

There was a long silence.  "Nightwing won't heal you?"

"The unicorn," Barbara said, stressing the difference, "won't let me come near 
him."

"But---"

"Dinah, we don't even know if he has the innate power to heal.  The one person 
he'll touch still has all their scars."

"Damn," came the soft but emphatic reply.  "All this blood for nothing."

Oracle bit her lip.  "Maybe not.  I've been doing a little research between 
disasters.  Magic users are notorious technophobes, so there's not much recorded 
on the net.  But I found enough to worry me.  The unicorn might be able to heal, 
but only as a living component in a spell."

"What does that mean?"

"Chopping off parts while he's still alive," Oracle told her with a wince.

"No, hell no.  We got enough of that down here already!"

The police radio crackled to life.  "Hold that thought."  Oracle listened harder 
and hastily flipped open additional channels. "Canary, I've got a lock on your 
missing boy!  Dr. Fate's on Central's roof attacking Batman!"

"Dammit!"  

"Sentinel, did you copy that," Oracle asked.

"I copy," the older man said grimly.  "Tell Batman to hold on.  I'm on my way."

"Black Adam's on his way too," Canary said.  "He should be there soon."

"Batman, Robin, its Oracle.  Do you read me?"

"Acknowledged," Batman grunted.  

"Keep Fate busy!"

"You try to keep him busy," a squeaky voice piped.

Oracle froze.  She tapped her headset.  "Who's this," she demanded, executing 
her voice identification program.

"Its, um, Robin the Boy Wonder," the squeaky voice continued.  "Yeow!  Boy 
hostage!  Let go ya bully!  Magic tractor beams!  No fair!"

"Release the boy," Batman barked.

Her eyes narrowed as her program completed its search.  She ran a check on the 
second voice.  "Batman," she said casually.  "What does Fate want?"

"He wants to know where I'm hiding the unicorn," Batman told her.

"Really?"  She boosted the range of Batman's receiver.  "Ask him why he wants to 
kill Nightwing."

Batman immediately obeyed.  "Why do you want to kill Nightwing, Fate?"

"This is not about killing him, it is about saving my wife," she heard the odd, 
deeply echoing voice say.  "I'm truly sorry, but I need to see him."

"You need him to die."

"He might live," Dr. Fate corrected.  "I dislike threatening a child, but I need 
to know where he is."

"You will not hurt Robin," Batman stated calmly.  

"I will!  Give me the unicorn!"

"J'onn, don't worry," she told the fake 'Batman.'  "Plastic-Man, do not blow 
that Robin disguise.  Help should be there soon.  Stall."

"Ahk!  Help me, Batman, save me!"

"Don't over do it either," she hissed.  Oracle massaged her forehead and glared 
at an overall map of Gotham.  Blips showed where her agents and allies were.  
According to the map, Batman and Robin were at Central.  This is a nightmare, 
she thought.  The real Batman and Robin were nowhere to be seen.  Neither was 
Batgirl.

Trust me with the safety of the man we both---Trust me.

She trusted Batman with Nightwing's safety, but in his zeal to protect his son 
he seemed to have abandoned the city.  And it was bad out there.  Real bad. 

It got worse.

The phone rang.

Oracle looked at her caller ID, and groaned.  Her father.  Only her Dad would 
want to chat when their city was being invaded.  She debated letting her voice 
mail take it, but then he'd probably brave the madness out there just to see if 
she was safe.  He was the former Police Commissioner who held Gotham together 
during the barbarity of the No Man's Land edict.  Not much scared him anymore.
She activated the private line.  "Dad, this isn't a good time---"

"No," an urbane, accented voice agreed.  "This is not a good time."

Oracle felt her heart freeze.  That was not her father.  "Who is this," she 
whispered, very frightened that she already knew.

"Let us not play these games, Miss Gordon.  Obviously, I know who you are, and 
you know who I am." 

"I don't know what---"

"Your father," the voice interrupted, "is a remarkable man.  And it 
is...Christmas soon.  Do you not wish him to spend the holidays with you?"

"Don't you touch him," she spat.

"If your security and my need for secrecy had been less, I assure you, I 
wouldn't have.  I must remember to cull the arcane population---" 

"What do you want," she demanded through clenched teeth.

"You know what I want."

There was a crash and the sound of her father shouting nearby.  "Barbara-honey, 
whatever it is, don't argh--!"

"Dad!"

"Gently!  Do not injure him," the voice admonished his minions.  "He will be 
fine. Quite spirited, is he not?    I can see why the Detective chose to partner 
with him in their crusade."

"They're not here," she said forcefully.  "He didn't tell me where---"

"Do not play the fool," the voice hissed.  "It does not suit you.  Do not tell 
me that they might be home, for they are not.  Neither are his servants home, or 
his squire and his family home.  But you are, as is your father.  Perhaps you do 
not know where they are, but you are...an information broker, I believe the term 
is."  His voice became hard as ice.  "Broker information for me.  You have ten 
minutes.  No rescue attempt will be tolerated.  Do not disappoint me."
The line went dead.

"Dammit, dammit!"  She slammed both fists against her chair's arms.  Her mind 
raced wildly, connecting clues.  Where was Batman?

A safe house.

Batgirl was missing.

Easy conclusion.  They were in Batgirl's cave.

Her hand darted out to make the connection.  She hesitated.  If someone tried to 
breach her security earlier, could they have tapped her lines?  She didn't have 
time to check but she wasn't going to risk leading the enemy to the secret cave 
either.  Instead Oracle opened another line.  "Oracle to J'onn."

"Here," came the gruff reply.  "You went off-line.  Canary was concerned."

"She had reason to be.  J'onn, I need for you to open a telepathic link to 
Batman."  She took a steadying breath.  "It's Ra's Al Ghul.  He has my father.  
He wants Nightwing."

And so the Demon and the Dark Knight finally met, but not on the field of 
battle.  In secret, they crept to a place of parley, where the eyes of Heaven 
watched on.

"An odd place to meet," Ra's Al Ghul observed, looking around the empty 
cathedral.  "You do not strike me as a religious man.  It is lovely though."  He 
fingered the beribboned evergreen branches that hung between the richly polished 
wooden pews.  "Yes," he murmured as he looked at the candlelit stained glass 
windows.  "Lovely."

"Where's Gordon," Batman demanded.

"He is safe in his home."  He nodded at his gigantic bodyguard.  "Ubu left some 
guards with him.  They are, of course, listening to everything we say.  Have no 
fear he will not be harmed.   As long as we get what we want." 

"Why, Ra's?  Why a unicorn?  You have your Lazarus Pits, what could you want 
with a unicorn?"

Ra's Al Ghul's eyebrows shot up.  "Surely, Detective, you have heard enough of 
the legends---"

"They're only legends," he spat.

"Some," Ra's acknowledged.  "The unicorn---very crude, 'one-horn.'---The Re'em 
were once guardians of the wild. They were fierce, powerful creatures of magic, 
and the earth prospered where they stepped.  They purified the waters, destroyed 
the plants of poison, and punished those who sought to desecrate their 
territories."  Ra's sighed dramatically.  "They were also incomparable in 
beauty."  He sighed again.  "The Re'em were hunted to near extinction.  But 
centuries ago, they fled into the ether, where they would be safe.  The Earth 
has deteriorated rapidly since then.  I have watched for the right signs, 
prepared for centuries, waited for the chance to return the Re'em to their 
rightful place."  His eyes glinted.  "Your fosterling interfered.  The Re'em 
returned as a spirit.  That it is Nightwing who must house the Re'em's spirit is 
only just."  A small, paternal smile graced his face.  "Rest assured, your 
student will be treated well in my care.  He will want for nothing."

"Nothing but his humanity," Batman said darkly.

"He will hardly miss that."  Ra's became as hard as granite.  "Your city is 
currently filled with fools who will kill him.  I will not.  Give me the Re'em 
and save your friend, and your fosterling.  Do not, and there will be two 
additional graves to visit before the year is done.  The choice is yours, but I 
advise you to hurry."

Batman stood grave and silent.  Slowly, his arm lifted, pointing to a side altar 
closed off by an iron grill.

Appearing from the shadows behind the marble Madonna and Child, Batgirl slid 
into view.  Pressing his head against her thigh, walking on his hands and feet 
in with odd grace, was Nightwing.

The Re'em.

"You put him back in his uniform," Ra's asked archly.  

"The mask is his protection," Batman said stiffly.

"And you, child?  You are the Detective's new pupil, are you not?"

Batgirl remained silent, stroking the still Re'em.

"Ah.  He has bonded with a maiden."  Ra's shook his head.  "I am sorry, 
Detective, but I must insist that the girl accompanies us.  A Re'em forcibly 
parted from his maiden will kill itself trying to return to her."

Nightwing took a protective step forward, glaring at Ra's.

"Just tell me this," Batman said thickly.  "If you could part the man from the 
unicorn...would you?"

Ra's cocked his head and considered this.  "If I could?  Yes.  It is hard to 
convince people that a mere man is really a creature of wonder.  But I know of 
no way to accomplish that yet.  It will take many years of study."  He nodded.  
"My apologies, Detective, but I must take your students now.  May I have the key 
to the grate?"

Batgirl held up a shining key.  With angry precision, she snapped the key in 
half and let the pieces fall to the floor.  She gave Ra's the one finger salute.
Ra's frowned.  "It is not wise to anger me, child.  As you will learn soon 
enough.  Ubu!  Fetch me the children."

Ubu bowed low and marched up to the gate and grasped the bars.

Under the full-faced mask, Batgirl smiled. She kicked the base of the statue, 
tripping a switch.

The iron grill became charged with spitting electricity.

The big bodyguard stiffened as stunning volts shot through him.  His eyes rolled 
back and he fell to the ground, convulsing.

"Betrayal," Ra's shouted.  "Kill the old man!" 

Synthesized laughter rang throughout the Cathedral.  Batman lifted his gauntlet, 
where the small green image of a stylized face looked back at him.  "It is not 
wise to anger the Oracle, old man," she mocked.  "Robin and Young Justice sends 
their regards!  The next time you want a hostage, don't keep him in his own 
home." 

Ra's looked at Batman with terrible fury.

Without warning the Cathedral's heavy doors flew open with a crash.  The ominous 
blue and gold figure of Dr. Fate floated in.  

"The Adept of Order?"  Ra's eyes glittered.  "I suppose, Detective, he told you 
the horn will grow back?"

Batman ignored Ra's.  "The Justice Society?"

"They are my teammates.  They will recover," Dr. Fate informed him.  "You will 
not want to watch, Batman.  Take the girl and leave.  I will deal with your 
enemy in recompense." 

"My enemy for my son?  No deal."

"I'm sorry, Batman," Dr. Fate said.  "But I have no choice."  He threw open his 
hands.

"Batgirl, move!"  Batman dove behind the main altar, evading the bolt of 
holding.  Batgirl flew into a blur of motion, striking the iron gate until it 
fell.  Dr. Fate turned to her and summoned a spell between his hands.  Batgirl 
and Nightwing ran from the altar before it became a cage.

Ra's flattened himself behind an arching pillar and watched.

Batman tumbled from cover, throwing batarangs in his wake.  "Oracle," Batman 
shouted.

"On it," the electronic voice said shortly.

Beams shot from Fate's eyes, stopping the batarangs in mid air. "None will step 
pass my barrier," Dr. Fate said.  The spell shot from his hands.  It flew like a 
heat-seeking rocket straight for Batgirl.  The girl twisted and dodged with 
incredible speed, but the bolt caught her and threw her against the pews.  She 
didn't move. 

Nightwing screamed.

"Batgirl!"  Her mentor ran to her, scooping her into his arms.  He sprinted for 
cover.

"I'm sorry, Batman."  Fate released another bolt, this time straight for the 
Detective.

Nightwing screamed again.  Lithe as a cat and quicker than Batman could move, he 
pounced on the bolt...and ate it.

The young knight's eyes began to glow, pulsing with the color of black lights.

Batman gasped and began to back away from his son.  "Fate," Batman whispered a 
slight tremor to his voice.  "Leave.  Now."

The Adept hesitated.  "I...can't."  He gathered massive energies to his hands.
A sheen of power flashed over Nightwing's body.  He lowered his head menacingly 
at Fate.

Without warning a discharge of taupe smoke burst behind Fate.  The smoggy hands 
of a young girl grabbed the golden helm and yanked it off his head.  
Fate's mortal host fell to the ground with a cry.

"I got it!  Oracle, I got it," the girl cried gleefully.  "Wait until I tell 
Robin!"  Then she spotted the angry Nightwing.  "Oh...Wow," she gasped.

"Secret!  Take Fate and leave," Batman yelled. 

Nightwing let loose a vengeful howl and charged.

The girl shrieked and grabbed the now helpless Fate.  They disappeared in a 
cloud of smoke.

The Re'em turned his wrathful attention upon the Dark Knight.

"Oracle to Batman," the hacker's voice buzzed.  "We have a problem.  We've got 
Fate, but the magical barrier hasn't gone down.  We think another magic user is 
with you."

"Yes," Batman said, slowly backing away from the heavy steps of the Re'em.  "I 
know."

"I'll send---"

"No," he told her softly, letting Batgirl down onto an intact pew.  "I'll take 
care of this."  He took off his cape and draped it over Batgirl.  "Trust me," he 
said, cutting off her arguments before she could speak them.    

She sighed.  "Is there anything I can do," Oracle asked.

Batman placed a gentle hand on Batgirl's forehead.  "No."  He stood up and faced 
the Re'em.  "Batman out."

Above them, the Cathedral bells began to chime the hour.

"Do you hear that," Batman asked, sweeping his cowl back.  "It's midnight.  
Christmas Eve.  My son loves Christmas.  Did you know that?"

The Re'em pawed the ground and snorted.

"I don't know why you chose my son to use.  Maybe you had no choice."  A fond 
half-smile touched his lips.  "He loves animals.  Could you sense that?  And a 
creature of wonder like you?  He'll give his life to save you.  Can you sense 
that too?"  Batman knelt before the Re'em.  "But you can't take him. His 
life...he's fought so hard to be his own man.  And he has someone.  So much has 
happened to her...she doesn't deserve to have him taken like this."  He touched 
his chest.  "I have no one waiting for me.  There are people who care about me, 
but none that need me.  Take my body."  He lifted his chin, exposing his throat.  
"Or take my life.  Either way, I won't fight you.  I can't."

The Re'em stepped closer.  He lowered his head.  

Batman closed his eyes.  

Ever so slightly, the skin on his neck indented.

Batman's eyes flew open in surprise before fluttering close again. A peculiar 
dreamy look relaxed the Detective's face.

Ra's stepped quietly from his hiding place and approached cautiously.  Was the 
Re'em still Nightwing, or did it inhabit the Detective now?

Nightwing backed away from Batman, who began to sway, as if listening to an 
ancient music.  Ra's went closer.

"Ra's Al Ghul, Demon's Head," Batman called out in an eerily echoing voice.  The 
Detective's eyes snapped open blindly as Nightwing's head turned around.

Ra's froze.

Two pairs of eyes glowed the color of black lights...and Nightwing looked 
directly at him, into him.  Ra's felt himself stumble to his knees.

"You have called me forth," Batman continued as Nightwing took precise steps 
towards him.  "And my judgement is made."

"Judgement?  What is this," Ra's demanded, crawling away.  "I called you to save 
this world!"

"To dominate this world.  To kill what is not your right to kill," the Detective 
continued.  "To pervert what should never be touched.  To enslave---"  Nightwing 
cornered him against the wall.  "---What must always live free."

"No!  I...I would have protected you!"

Nightwing snorted and shook his head.  "In times long past, far from here, I was 
an avatar of justice," the Re'em informed him through the Detective.  "You have 
called me forth to make a judgement, and I have done so."  

"No!  You are nothing but a wild beast!  I am the Demon's Head!  The Eternal 
One!  I will not---" He gasped as Nightwing suddenly lunged forward.  Though 
unseen, the unmistakable feel of a horn pricked his chest, above his heart.

"Your hypocrisy will not help.  You wish to live, and so you shall."  The body 
of Nightwing began to glow.  "But never again as the Eternal One."

Nightwing struck.

Ra's Al Ghul screamed as the horn pierced his heart.  Magic ripped through his 
body and he fell, still screaming.  Through pain-teared eyes he looked up.  

A beast, pure white and shining looked down at him with Earthshine eyes.  "Live 
and die as a mortal should, Ra's Al Ghul."  It clamped its mother-of-pearl teeth 
onto his collar and threw him onto the awakening Ubu.  "Never again will your 
Pits gift you with life."  It stomped a sliver hoof.  "Now leave this place."  
The Re'em reared and struck the air with the spiraling silver horn.  The air 
crackled with dispelling energies.  "Leave!"

"Master?"  Ubu looked at him with great, confused eyes.  "Should I---"

"No!  Let us leave, Ubu," Ra's gasped.  "Now.  Let the Detective and the beast 
deal with the hunters.  Let them die."  His lips curled.  "Let them rot."

The unicorn watched at their retreating forms.  Batgirl stirred.  She sat up, 
and with wordless relief, she threw her arms around the unicorn.  She stroked 
his cheek and hugged him tight again.  He nuzzled her affectionately.  She 
looked around and spotted her mentor.  She waved her hands before his 
unresponsive face.  "Why...eyes like yours," she asked the unicorn.  "Is 
he...unicorn too?  I protect him too?"  

The unicorn threw back his snow-white head.  Pure, delighted laughter filled the 
Cathedral. The creature swung his head around, striking the kneeling Dark Knight 
on the shoulders with the side of his horn once, twice.  Batman fell bonelessly 
to the ground. She dropped to her knees and anxiously checked his pulse.  "Good-
bye," Batman sighed.  She frowned and stretched a puzzled hand out to the 
unicorn.  He regretfully backed away.  The unicorn glowed impossibly bright, 
blinding Batgirl.  When she could see again, Nightwing laid next to his mentor, 
a cloud of white light lifting from him.  It caressed Batgirl one last 
time...then it shot into the sky, illuminating the night in a slivery flash. 
Batgirl pulled her mask down and lifted tear-filled eyes.  "Bye," she whispered 
softly.

The Demon was vanquished, the Unicorn returned to the ether, and the hunters 
driven from the City of Shadows.  The Paladin and the Dark Knight returned to 
their castle triumphant, and there was great rejoicing throughout the land...

"She's been awfully quiet," Dick Grayson observed.

"She's never been anything but," Barbara Gordon countered.

"I know but...more so than usual, you know?"

"Yes," Barbara said sadly.  "I know."

This year's Christmas at Wayne Manor was what Alfred referred to as, "Extended 
family only."  Former Police Commissioner Gordon sat in comfort, despite the 
bandage on his head.  He was regaling Wayne Enterprise's President, Lucius Fox, 
and his wife with the tale of his kidnapping and subsequent rescue.  Dinah was 
still in the foyer lecturing her two 'boys,' Arsenal and the new Green Arrow, 
Conner, to be on their best behavior and not to embarrass her or certain people 
since there were civilians there that weren't in the know.  Arsenal's little 
girl, Lian, and the Fox children were already rattling the presents under the 
tree as Tim Drake (Robin), and his girlfriend Stephanie tried to distract them 
with Christmas books.  Tim's father and stepmother were pouring over the CD 
collection, looking for appropriate dance music.  Stephanie's mother was busily 
taking notes as Alfred recited his recipe for Baked Alaska, while Dr. Leslie 
Thompkins fussed over Bruce, still pale and drawn from the unicorn's 
enchantment.  Dick looked even worse, but Barbara had made it clear, if anyone 
was going to fuss over Dick, it'd be her.  Leslie, wisely, smiled and let the 
younger woman have her way.  

Dick was currently on the couch using Barbara's lap as a pillow.  Both were 
observing Cassandra Cain, the young woman who wore the mantle of the Bat.  She 
hadn't said much in the past day, with the exception of a very brief report on 
what happened with the unicorn.  Jean-Paul, or Azrael as he was called, stood by 
her, awkwardly but determinedly chatting at her.  Finally, he threw up his hands 
and dragged her onto the dance floor, threatening to disco.  That evoked a smile 
from her.

"She misses him.  The unicorn," Barbara clarified.

"I know.  And...I know how she feels," he said.

Barbara frowned.  "I thought you didn't remember what had happened."

"I don't.  But...I don't need to remember what happened to know..." He sighed 
impatiently.  "I felt...good, Babs.  I don't know how else to describe it, but 
it was like..." He shook his head.   "I can't explain it."

"Well, you and Bruce look like hell."

"Thanks," he said wryly.  "That's just the thing a man wants to hear from a 
beautiful woman."

"That's me, an ego booster," she chuckled, stroking his head.  

"But that's something I don't get.  Bruce."  He looked worriedly at his mentor.  
"How come he saw me like no one else did?  And why did the unicorn enchant him 
in the end?" 

"Well, he always did see something in you that no one else could," she said 
lightly.  

"Ha ha."

"Seriously," she said.  "You two have always had a special bond.  Maybe that was 
enough.  Maybe the enchantment finally spilt over from you to him in the end 
because of that bond."

"That's a lot of maybes."

She just shrugged.

"Well, I'm just glad he's OK," he told her.

"I'm still thinking about hitting him," she said, watching as Dinah strode up to 
Bruce and hauled him stumbling and protesting onto the dance floor.  "He left 
the city alone with all those nuts running around."

"No he didn't.  He had you to direct all those guilt-ridden heroes.  You know 
that's his greatest compliment.   Trust."

She looked away.  "People died on my watch, Dick."

"It eats at us, that we can't save everyone.  But you kept the city together 
while all the magic nuts like Fate tried to nail my hide."  He nuzzled her 
belly.  "Put the blame where it deserves to go, Babs.  I know for a fact that 
Bruce is grateful to you." 

She held his hand to her cheek.  "I'm just glad to have you back."  She kissed 
his hand.

"How glad," he asked her, mischief glittering in his blue eyes as he flashed his 
kilowatt smile.

"You can unwrap your present at my place tonight," she whispered.  Her hand 
crept down.  "This time," she said, pinching his butt, "you will get that fine 
ass there."


*Author's note: 

	The term Re'em is found in the King James' version of the Bible.  The 
translation, 'oxen' or 'unicorn,' is debated.  

	The unicorns of the Far East were known to appear in courts to save the 
innocent and punish the guilty.