Disclaimer: Batman, Nightwing and related characters are the properties of DC COMICS. This is an original fan fiction story, not written for profit and not intended to infringe on their copyright.
Little Boy Blue
By: Shannyn Grayson Ivy
"Hey doll." Dick chimed into his cell phone. His three to eleven shift drawing to a close, soon Officer Grayson would be headed home and then back into the night as Bludhaven's defender, Nightwing. From Gotham City, thirty-five miles away, his girlfriend Barbara Gordon waited with anticipation for this phone call every night.
"Hey yourself, Stud. Coming by tonight?" Barbara breathed heavily and taunted. She knew they had no immediate plans to see each other until Friday. Three more days of phone flirting would have to see them both through.
"I wish babe. But I'm bushed. Think I'll turn in early." Dick explained. They both knew that was code for 'I've got to work the rooftops and alleyways tonight'.
"You're loss handsome." Barbara laughed. "Are you headed home now?"
"Yeah. Think I'll stop by the CoffeRUs Mart for some pick me up brew first. Then I'm headed out. Have you talked to the big guy?" Dick asked casually using code again. Deciphered meaning: 'Has the Bat got anything going on that I need to know about?'
"Nope, I haven't heard from him all night." Barbara reassured her love. She knew how hard it was for him to be away from home. Dick's biggest fear was that something would happen to his loved ones in Gotham and he wouldn't be able to get to them in time to help. Even though he had chosen Gotham's sister city, depending on traffic and weather it could take upwards of forty-five minutes to an hour to make it some parts of Gotham. In an emergency Bat situation that was often unacceptable.
"Okay then. I'm headed out. I just pulled up at the Coffee Mart." Dick explained.
"Well give me some sugar before you go." Barbara teased. When Dick didn't reply she frowned. "Hey FBW! What are you doing? Eyeballing the drive thru babe?" Barbara asked with a mock huff. A full three minutes later, Dick answered.
"Uh...sorry. Listen hon, I've… got to go. I'll call you later." Terminating the call without any further explanation, Dick stared down the barrel of a forty-five automatic and quietly prayed he would live long enough to see his red haired beauty to make it up to her.
VVVVV
Honking horns was Dick's first re-introduction to life. His head pounding, Dick blinked hard several times trying to focus. When he was finally able to, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. A semi truck was headed straight for him, honking wildly. From behind him, a car was closing fast in the opposite lane. Somehow he had landed himself right in the middle of the road. His heart now pounding even louder and harder than his head, Dick pulled his body into a loose ball, then placing his hands on the pavement he flipped his way across two lanes of asphalt before landing hard in the snow covered median.
"Woah. Don't want to do that again anytime soon." Dick mumbled to himself.
Trying to stand proved difficult as a wave of nausea overcame him. Falling back into the snow, Dick looked around for some landmark to tell him where he was. If he was just about anywhere in Gotham he could find his way. Batman had made sure that Dick studied the landscape and maps of the entire city. Dick had always regarded it as a colossal waste of time until now. Maybe all that crap he was made to memorize wasn't just busy work after all, still, all mental attempts to figure out where he was only proved depressing.
"Maybe I should have studied harder." Dick criticized himself, anticipating that it was exactly what the Batman was going to say.
A cold wind blew through him and Dick for the first time realized that he wasn't wearing his Robin costume, or regular street clothes for that matter. "What on earth?" Dick asked incredulously staring down at the police uniform he had somehow managed to find himself in. "Okay, maybe I'm dreaming." Dick reasoned and stood again. This time the full force of the wind made itself known. "Must have fallen asleep with the fan on." Dick joked to himself. As long as he could keep moving, keep talking, he knew he would figure all this out.
How much time passed he wasn't sure, time and reality seemed to float in and out of Dick's grasp. Finally he found himself on the other side of the street from a huge blue and white sign that stated "Welcome to Bludhaven". Dick's eyes grew wide and a bad feeling developed in the pit of his stomach.
Dick ran his cold stiff fingers through his blood-matted hair. Glancing at his watch, Dick noted it was well after midnight. Batman's going to kill me.
Dick's thoughts of doom were interrupted by a chirping sound originating from his pocket. Dick pulled the alien object out and looked at it skeptically. Deciding it must be a communication device of some kind, Dick found the button that made it stop chirping. Holding it up to his ear, Dick finally realized that it was a phone. Batman comes up with some weird equipment. Dick mused.
"BRO! You are sooooo in trouble with your old lady!" Tim teased. Barbara had called earlier and told of Dick's weird behavior. She was not amused.
"Who is this?" Dick asked cautiously.
"Duh! It's your favorite baby bro." Tim chimed. "You know- the good looking one of the family."
"I don't have any brothers. You have the wrong number." Dick retorted and turned the weird phone off. Mucking through the snow and freezing rain Dick used the compass on the key chain that he found in his pocket. He needed the fastest route back home. Maybe, just maybe if he was lucky, Batman would have a late night and Dick could make it home before he did. Despite Dick's dizziness, he quickened his pace. He felt sick to his stomach again but it sure beat being grounded for a year from the big guy. He was sure that thought would give him the strength he needed to fight the elements until he worked his way back to Wayne Manor.
VVVVV
Tim walked down the winding staircase that extended into the Batcave slowly. His earlier conversation with Dick had left him stunned. Had he caught Dick at a bad moment? Or, had he caught him at a moment when he was aggravated enough to tell him the truth? Did he really feel no connection between them?
"I can't believe I thought we were brothers." Tim mumbled. He felt as if everything he believed in had been a lie.
Alfred Pennyworth noticed his young charge's solemn look. Since it was after two on a school night, he surmised something was deeply troubling the young man.
"Master Timothy, I would think you would be in bed at this hour. Do you not have a math test second period tomorrow?" Alfred scolded with affection.
"I...couldn't sleep." Tim answered, never looking Alfred in the eyes.
"I see. Well perhaps I could call Dr. Leslie and have her prescribe something." Alfred baited. From behind him the roar of the Batmobile could be heard. Tim took a deep breath. Batman was going to have a cow when he found out he was out this late on a school night…
"No. It's not that. I just talked to Dick. I wish he had told me sooner. Wish you and Bruce had told me sooner." Tim rushed his thoughts out and could not keep the hurt out of his voice.
"My dear boy, what are you talking about?" Alfred asked concerned. Batman walked alongside the two eying his young partner. The boy was obviously upset about something.
"Slow down Tim. What's going on?" Batman asked in a gentle voice. Placing one hand on Tim's shoulder, Batman patiently waited for Tim to voice his anxieties.
"I talked to Dick earlier…he said we weren't Bro's. I mean if that's how he feels then that's cool. I just wish he had told me sooner." Tim explained and never looked Batman in the eyes. The hurt on his young face was evident.
"I don't know what's going on Tim but I do know Dick. He couldn't have meant that. Alfred, call Dick and see if you can get him to shed some light on his earlier comment. I'm going to change." Tim watched as Batman walked away confident that it had all been a misunderstanding. Tim wished he shared that confidence.
Alfred called Dick's cell phone and Tim found himself walking over to hear Dick's excuse. Had he just been playing? It hadn't sounded that way at the time. Still, Tim very much wanted to give Dick the benefit of the doubt.
"Hel...lo..." Dick answered apprehensively.
"Master Dick, I say, are you alright young sir?" Alfred asked worried.
"Oh, hi, Alfred. I'm glad it's you. Yeah, I'm okay. I'm headed home now. Please don't tell Bruce. Can you cover for me?" Dick pleaded and tried not to concentrate on his freezing fingers.
"Cover for you, sir? I'm not sure I understand." Alfred asked confused and shot a worried glance in Batman's direction. From the costume vault Batman paused before undressing and listened intently to the unfolding conversation.
"He's going to be furious when he finds out I screwed up this case. AND that I'm out passed eleven on a school night. Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase Alfred, help me out. I'll die if he grounds me from the suit." Dick confessed pitifully.
The look of concern on Alfred's face sent warning bells off to the Dark Knight whose interest had been piqued by the half of the conversation that he was hearing. Quietly, Batman whispered to Alfred, "Find out where he is."
"Master Dick, don't worry about anything. I will handle Master Bruce. Can you tell me where you are?" Alfred coaxed gently.
"I…I'm on my way home. I just passed the Gotham City limits sign. I don't know how I got to Bludhaven. Details are fuzzy, ya know? Oww…" Dick winced in pain.
"Are you alright, dear boy?" Alfred's voice level rose as his trepidation built.
"Yeah…I think so. My head just hurts really, really, bad. Can't remember where I put my coat and gloves Alfred. Bruce is going to be so mad." Dick answered sounding alone and scared.
"He's far from the tyrant you are painting him to be Master Dick. I am certain if you explain things that he will understand." Alfred soothed. This time when he shot a look Batman's way, he saw the underlining fear in a father's eyes.
"I hope so." Dick stated half under his frozen breath. It was getting so hard to focus.
"Alfred, I know I'm already late but I think I'm going to sit down for a few minutes. I'm so sleepy." The almost drugged sound of Dick's voice seemed strange. And for some unknown reason he sounded…younger.
"Sit down? Are you walking?" Alfred asked now extremely worried. The fallen temperatures had left the wind chill close to ten degrees. Had he walked all the way from Bludhaven? At the mention of Dick walking, Batman was up and in the Batmobile before Alfred even got his answer.
"Very funny Alfred. You know I'm not old enough to drive." Dick answered annoyed.
Confused but not wishing to alarm his surrogate grandson, Alfred played along. "Indeed but it shan't be long I would think. How old are you now, Master Dick?" From beside Alfred, Tim held his breath.
"I'm fourteen Alfred. Geesh, you're memory is getting as bad as mine." Dick teased. However his words were slow and slurred.
"Fourteen? My word but you are growing up fast." Alfred complimented Dick and then whispered to Tim to place a call in to Dr. Leslie. Tim ran to do just that. At least he was doing something. He felt so helpless. His surrogate brother was in trouble and nothing else mattered.
"Master Dick, I'm going to send Master Bruce to pick you up. A hot cup of cocoa should work wonders towards making you feel better." Alfred paced the flooring of the drafty cave wondering what could have happened to the man he regarded as his grandson.
"No. Please don't. He'll be mad…mad at...me." Dick explained just as the darkness was trying to take him.
"Nonsense. Now do not worry about a thing. Master Bruce will be arriving soon. For now, you must concentrate on staying awake. Do you understand, Master Dick? " Alfred asked in a gentle voice.
"Mmm'kay." Dick mumbled. Somehow the thought of having Batman there was very comforting. Dick closed his eyes and waited…
VVVVV To be continued…