-Athena's POV-

I collapsed into my bed, clutching my phone to my chest. I sighed deeply and stared up at my ceiling. Cheap, plastic stars littered the usually dull white ceiling. Back when Jason and I were dating, he had bought me a bag of them for my birthday. I insisted he stopped there, but then he also bought me a model of the solar system for Christmas. Jason was fascinated with the Universe, but, that's besides the point.

Drinks with Dick had been the perfect night out I needed. My shoulders were stiff almost every second of every day. It was like I was being forced to walk the plank over and over again. But Dick had taken me to a karaoke bar. Despite Dick's advances towards me earlier, he didn't make any passes when we were out. It was like we were just good friends out to have fun. And I guess that's what we were. It was nice.

Afterwards, we took a taxi home and Dick walked me to my apartment. We stood in the light of my street light. Although we had gone to a bar, I had only had a few drinks. My face and body were warm, but I wasn't drunk. I climbed the stairs, Dick following me, but pausing to unlock the door.

I looked over my shoulder at Dick, who leaned against the brick of my entryway with his arms crossed. His head was angled down but I could see he was watching me. Pretty intently, too. "Dick, thanks," I said, not being able to find any other words. He raised his head.

"I had a really good time. I always do," Dick replied. A smile was oddly absent from his face.

Hearing the sincerity in his voice, however, brought one to mine. My eyes blurred the street lights. Dick's form stood out in the soft, golden light like an angelic being. I couldn't tell if it was a blush or the expansion of my blood vessels, but I was definitely feeling warmer by the second. I leaned against the other end of the entryway, mimicking Dick. He met my eyes.

And we held it. We didn't look away and we didn't say anything. The world spun around us.

Then his phone buzzed. I didn't want it to happen, but neither of us could stop it. I pushed off of the wall and tugged out my keys again. I saw Dick's fingers inch toward me before they pulled back. I unlocked the door. "See ya around, Boy Blunder."

A warm breeze flew in from the window. I unlatched it, staring out at the Gotham skyline. It was buzzing energy, similar to me. I was practically shaking still. I couldn't handle what was coming. Glancing at the stars, I clicked on my phone.

I dialed Jason's number over and over. It went to rang, rang, rang, then cut to voicemail.

So much for being there if I ever needed him...

"What is it, Athena?" A familiar voice called out from the space in my empty window. I sat up in my bed, pulling my legs to my chest and letting out a shrill scream. "Jesus, calm down," Jason crept from the window towards me.

I looked up into his face in the dark. Only his eyes were illuminated by the faint, green stars. He stared up, smiled, then glanced back down at me. "You kept them?" Jason sat at the edge of my bed.

"I have been calling you for days!" I shouted, slapping his arm. "Where the fuck have you been!? You have been MIA for almost three months even though you promised to stay in contact! I have been worried, Jason! Fucking worried!" I drove my fist into his shoulder, chest, and even face as hard as I could. He grabbed my fist tightly in his hand, bringing it down to his lap.

He calmed me for a second. "What's this about, Athena? Because I know it's not about me." The way he said it made my heart sink, but my anxiety quickly took over my emotions.

I sighed. "Ra's is coming to attack and we don't have enough reinforcements and he's going to kill me and then he's going to destroy Gotham and--" Jason grabbed the sides of my head. He held my cheeks in his hands.

"Calm down, okay? Just...shut up," Jason said, "everything will be okay. I'm here now."

A wave of nausea and exhaustion swept over me. I pitched forward, but Jason caught me. His legs dangled over the edge of my bed. Slowly, I laid my head down on his thigh and closed my eyes. One of his hands rubbed circles in my back while the other one wove its way into my hair. I let my eyelids flutter close.

That was the thing about Jason. He always knew exactly what I needed.

"Can you maybe stay for a little bit? I need your help, Jason, I really do," I spoke honestly. I felt the exact moment Jason tensed up. Because of where I was laying, I could feel every muscle in his leg. I sat up, knowing he wanted to stand.

He did. He ran his fingers through his hair, pacing towards the window. "Why do you gotta ask me something like that, Theen?" Jason bit his lip, "you know I can't answer how you want me to."

"What do you mean? What has been keeping you so busy, anyway?" I watched as he paced, "its not like you ever tell me things anymore," I mumbled.

"I...I can't, Theen. I'm sorry. If I come back here for more than--" He looked down at his watch, "--four hours, I will meet consequences. I'm sorry." Jason quickly got to the window.

I dashed after him. "Jason! I need you! Jason!" I reached after him, but he had already leaped out of the window. Swinging my legs over the side of the sill, I considered sliding down after him.

I sat on the window, completely blown away. I was fuming. I wasn't exactly mad at just Jay -- I mean, I was still angry as hell -- but my anxiety had taken over. Ra's could be here. If Jason had been and I hadn't known, how would I know if Ra's was? The idea stuck, screaming against my skull.

-

The day was here.

I had been out on patrol, just finished my mission. The adrenaline and joy of helping others was coursing through me, drowning a little bit of my worry. But good things don't last long.

A flash of a symbol -- a terrible symbol -- caught my eye. I swung down to the entry bridge to Gotham from Metropolis. Somehow, it had been blocked off.

I dropped down at the mouth of the bridge. Almost half of it was covered. Hundreds of assassins waited behind the two Al Ghul's. I was a good distance from them, maybe ten feet. The assassins stayed completely still, their eyes all focused forward, past me. The city gleamed in their blood thirsty eyes.

Unlike Ra's, I had no one at my side. I looked to my right and then left for someone to back me up. I felt utterly alone. I was still confused on who I was waiting for. Maybe I wasn't waiting for anyone. Maybe I didn't need anyone.

For a moment, I just froze. I was paralyzed, petrified.

The crowd seemed to grow and triple in size. Ra's glared at me, hatred that I knew all too well filling his features. Finally, something moved. Thalia gracefully stepped forward. At first, she just stood there. But then she approached me.

Thalia, strangely, looked exactly the same. Since that day she helped me escape my torture almost two years ago, so much had happened to me. My entire personality had been turned upside down. I had lost someone, found someone, and lost someone again. I had expected her to look just as grizzled and changed as I did. But she didn't. She still had a pretty, yet dangerous, looking face and she still wore the same black suit.

The only different thing about her was the expression on her face. It was one I had never seen on Thalia's exotic face. Care furrowed her eyebrows and desperation pinched her lips. "Athena, you know what is about to happen."

"Yes."

"It is not to late to stop it," Thalia glanced over my shoulder at the city that I loved, "it is not to late to protect those you love."

So many people came to mind. Bruce, Tim, Alfred, Barbara...Jason...Dick...Could I let this happen? Could I let this war tear apart this town; this town I loved with my entire heart? I had to do something.

Thalia stepped closer to me, putting her strong hand on my shoulder. "My father is very angry and vengeful. He has never been humiliated in the way that you have done to him. I managed to convince him to let it go. But then Jason came and did the same thing. This reminded him of your betrayal that much more.

"My father didn't come here for anyone else, Athena. He isn't here to hurt anyone. He just wants one thing. He always just wants one thing," Thalia pierced my soul. I knew it would come to this. It always did. It always would. Ra's just couldn't let me go free. He refused to let me break my shackles, the shackles that secured me to the life of slavery being his pet assassin. To be free of Ra's was the one thing I wanted more than anything in my entire life. Ra's just couldn't let me have it.

I rolled the idea over and over. Even though I had spent so much time worrying over this exact moment, I had never spent anytime thinking about the offer that I knew was going to be made. I guess it was my lack of self preservation.

I closed my eyes and flashes of the terrible tortures that haunted me pounded in my mind. Could I go through that again? I was so tired of being stretched to my limits. Receiving fresh scars was exhausting.

I looked up into Thalia's green eyes. I had gotten so used to seeing the color green as something worthy of a grin. But Thalia's eyes were moss green. They didn't have the same emerald vibrancy. "I can't go through that again, Thalia. I can't."

"You wouldn't have to," Thalia said, "I made a deal with my father. If you agree to come back, he will just convert you to his top assassin. Despite what you think, Ra's cares very deeply for you and your abilities. He won't touch you. You will be one of the most powerful people in the world, Athena."

Oddly, it was the part about being an assassin that scared me the most.

I looked past Thalia to Ra's. He stood with his hands clasped in front of him. Secrets and lies were hidden in the shadows of assassins behind him.

"This will end this war before it begins, Athena," Thalia added.

I had to go. Didn't I? I had no choice.

And that's when I realized. My entire life had been full of no choice. Ra's had been pulling the strings the whole time. My time with Jason had shown me that I could make my own decisions. I could be my own person. If I returned back to Ra's, I would never have another choice again.

I had always been convinced my life was a predestination. I was just cruising along, doing what everyone else told me to do. The moment I realized that wasn't true...my entire perspective blew up. I could freely choose who I was and what I wanted to do. I didn't need to do what other people told me to. I was living for me.

I was so scared. I had been since I returned to Gotham. I was once the girl who feared nothing and no one. Now, I practically cried at the sight of Ra's Al Ghul. I was tired of being scared. But did I have enough courage to refuse? Could I finally let my fear go and finally break away from the man who tormented me for my entire life?

Going back to Ra's had been the biggest mistake of my life. There was no way in hell I was going to do that again.

"I can't, Thalia," I decided, my voice the strongest it had been. Ever. That was the first choice I ever made that I didn't second guess. I was sure. For once.

Thalia's face twisted. "Athena, please," she squeezed my shoulder, "you could stop this war. You can protect the ones you love. You can protect yourself. Please."

The desperation in her voice was so unfamiliar, it pained me. I had never seen it before.

I shook my head.

The emotions drained from her features. She stepped back slowly, taking her spot at Ra's side. She leaned over, whispered something to him, and raised her hand. I pressed two fingers to my com.

"It's started. Everyone, it's started."