'Wake up, rookie!'

Officer Dick Grayson jumped himself awake in the passenger seat. Sargent Amy Rohrbach –Richard's partner- was scowling at him from the front seat. Dick gave her a sheepish smile.

'Sorry, Amy,' he said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

'Do you sleep, Grayson? Honestly, this is the second time this week!' Amy said, pushing away brown hair that had gotten in the way of her glower. On anyone else, that sort of look might have worked. Unfortunately for her, Dick had spent the last half of his childhood around Bat-glare's, so Amy's barely even registered.

'Right, sorry,' he said, stifling a yawn. He'd spent the night before on late night patrols in the gang-populated areas of Bludhaven. Living a double life was nothing new for Dick- the ex-Robin was used to late nights and early mornings. But since moving away from Gotham and Bruce, he'd been on his own. Dick could hardly complain though. With his day job as a rookie cop and his night job as Nightwing, he got to fight crime day and night, undo all the work of the corrupt cops and got paid for it. Richard pulled a hand through his neat hair (messy hair was a Nightwing thing) and turned back to Amy, 'How long was I-?'

'Long enough for me to get this,' Amy said, holding up a cup of what Dick presumed was coffee. He gave her a grateful smile and accepted it. 'It's quiet today, so I'll let this one slide, alright, Grayson?'

'You can call me Richard, you know,' he told her. Dick didn't miss the smile that spread across her face even when she tried to hide it behind her own cup of coffee. Amy had been pretty stubborn in her endeavour to call him only by his last name, and apparently that wasn't changing anytime soon. Dick had just taken the first sip off his coffee –damn that was strong- when the radio flickered to life.

'Attention all units, we have 211 in progress on the corner of second street,' Amy looked up sharply, and Dick quickly put his coffee down, 'any available officers confirm.'

Amy jumped at the radio, 'Sargent Rohrbach and Officer Grayson close by. We are on our way, sir.'

The car roared to life. Dick quickly pulled on his seatbelt and sat up straighter, because the next minute they were flying around the corner like they were in the Batmobile.

'Corner of second,' he murmured, turning to his partner, 'that the jewellery place, right?'

'Right,' she said, and then frowned. 'How do you know that, Grayson?'

Oh, I stopped about three thefts there while I was busy being Nightwing in the dead of night instead of writing my police report. 'My ex-girlfriend dragged me there once,' he said in a sour tone (one he managed easily, since he was still tired). Richard had to pride himself on excuses; ex-partners were a soft spot for most people, and when they were brought up, the topic of conversation switched pretty quickly.

The second the police cruiser pulled up, Amy and Dick flung themselves out of the car and towards the store. Richard noted absently that whoever had broken in hadn't tried to be subtle. Carefully avoiding the shards of broken glass, Dick followed Amy into the dark shop through one of the many smashed windows.

As per normal, Dick wished that he had a wingding instead of a gun; he was a decent shot, but guns felt clumsy and did more damage. He was already planning ways to go after the men himself when a bang echoed from nearby.

Amy kicked open a door to her left, revealing the hog-tied store owner. Richard noticed tan marks from what he imagined had been very expensive rings, and as Amy knelt down to start untying the knots, a gunshot snapped Dick out of his reverie.

Dick pulled his gun up closer to his chest, checked his corners and then bolted with a: 'Help him, I'm going after them.'

He was out the door and through the back of the shop by the end of Amy's outraged cry. I'm going to pay for that later, he thought.

Bodies littered the alley outside. Richard immediately ran to the closets, checking for signs of a pulse, and he was thankful to see that there was one. They all seemed to have just been knocked out, which surprised him. Most Bludhaven criminals weren't above just shooting people. Dick also realised that the five, six, seven men on the ground were all wearing masks.

'Looks like someone didn't want to share their cut,' he murmured. That meant there was still a perp somewhere close by, and even as Richard realised that, his finely tuned ears locked onto the sound of a gun being loaded. He threw himself to the ground, the bullet missed him and hit the alley wall, and Dick was already firing in retaliation.

The dark shape on the other side of the alley ducked behind a bin, and Dick quickly picked himself off of the ground and gave chase. Bullets whizzed past his head, and Richard had to admit that whoever it was wasn't a bad shot. If he wasn't so good at dodging, every bullet would have met their mark.

Dick fired close to the guy's hand, aiming at both the gun and the bag clenched in his fist. It might have done some damage if the thief hadn't let go like Richard knew he would. He was a good few steps away by the time Dick had grabbed the bag and kicked the gun away.

They both skidded to a stop, and Dick kept his gun level. Richard stared evenly into the eyes of the criminal, waiting for him to make his move. The thief laughed, holding his hands up in too-casual surrender.

'You wanna go ahead and pass that back?' he asked, and Dick was struck by how familiar the muffled voice sounded. 'I'd heard you were a cop now,' the thief continued, putting a hand up to his mask and pulling it off with a quick tug, 'didn't think I'd run into you though.'

'Jason?' Dick asked, though it wasn't much of a question. With the scruffy hair and cocky smile, there was no mistaking his younger brother. Richard stared in shock- he hadn't seen Jason since he'd moved to Bludhaven. He looked at him for a second, and then swore violently. 'What the hell are you doing here?!'

'Getting paid,' he replied cheerfully, trying to grab the bag as Richard lowered his gun. 'Well, I will be if you pass that back.' Dick couldn't help the grin that crossed his face as he dangled the bag just out of Jason's reach, but it was quickly wiped away. Dick glowered at him. 'What?'

'It had to be today, in this part of my city, didn't it?' he said, more to himself than anyone else. 'What happens if you don't bring this back?'

Making a gun with his fingers, Jason "shot" himself in the head. Dick rolled his eyes and evaluated the situation. He couldn't bring Jason in, and they both knew it…. Jason hadn't killed anyone; he'd only knocked them out. Holstering his gun, Dick tossed the bag at his brother. 'What the- are you serious?!' His thieving little brother grinned.

Richard was immediately reminded of the time Jason had tried to steal one of Alfred's cookies and banned for the rest of the week, and Dick had smuggled one to him. He also remembered how much trouble he got in afterwards. 'Get out of Bludhaven, Jason,' he said tiredly.

'You've got to be kidding,' Jason said, laughing, 'Now that I've got an officer in my back pocket-'

'I'm not in your pocket,' Dick snapped. 'I'm giving you your first and last free pass because I don't want my little criminal brother to get shot in the head!'

'Come on, Dickie. I would have shot him first.'

'I don't care!' Richard barked. 'I'm only a rookie and I could lose my job for this! I'm sticking my head out for you-'

'I didn't ask you to-!' Jason started.

'And I didn't ask you to come and steal anything!' he said angrily.

'My means to an ends,' Jason said casually, and Dick fumed.

'Act like a criminal so you can buy things to kill them with?'

Jason gave him a hurt look, 'Ouch. Look, Dick, I'm taking this back, getting paid, and then I'm leaving, all right?'

'Whatever,' Richard said, sighing. It was quiet for a second.

'Are you doing anything tonight?' Jason asked softly, pulling something out of his pocket. Dick opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again when a folded piece of paper was held out. ''Cause if you're not, this is where I'm headed to get paid. I reckon Nightwing should head over there and pay some guys a visit.' Dick smiled and accepted it. '… After I get paid, of course.'

Richard laughed despite himself, and Jason gave a lopsided grin. Despite all their problems, they were still family. He tucked the paper into his pocket.

'Grayson!'

The two jumped. Jason pulled a gun out of who-even-knows-where and Dick had his own aimed at the other end of the alleyway before he recognised the voice. Amy. Damn it, Dick thought.

'My partner,' said Dick, lowering his weapon. 'Would you mind knocking me out? She's going to have my ass anyway.'

Jason cracked his knuckles and Dick pulled a face at him. 'See you next time, Wingnut.'

Richard saw stars.

RGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRG

'Grayson! Come on! Wake up!'

Richard's first coherent thought was that he was going to need some aspirin, and the second was that Amy sounded worried. A hand slapped his cheek. Maybe not that worried, he thought, and groaned when his head started pounding again.

There was a sigh of relief as he opened his eyes. 'Amy?'

'Jesus, rookie,' Amy said, her face swimming into focus.

'What happened?' he asked groggily, then flinched. Oops.

'What happened?!' she demanded, and Dick winced. 'You ran off and got yourself knocked out! You're lucky you didn't get shot! Do you realise how much paperwork that would have gotten me?'

The young officer choked out a laugh, 'Sorry.'

Amy harrumphed and helped him sit up. 'Recovering evidence isn't worth your life,' she said, grabbing his hand. Dick frowned, not having realised that he had a very expensive looking necklace clutched in his hand. Jason, he thought dryly. I probably should have mentioned that Amy doesn't take bribes. 'You've probably smeared off the fingerprints too,' she said in a half exasperated, half fond voice. 'Honestly.'

'Sorry,' he said again. 'Did you get those guys in the alley?'

Amy nodded, 'Some other officers turned up and took them in.' Dick winced as his head started pounding again. He noticed Amy watching him as she grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. He swayed unsteadily. She groaned. 'I'm going to have to take you home.'

'I can finish my shift,' he argued rather half-heartedly.

Amy gave him a look and shook her head. 'I can't have you slowing me down,' she said finally, 'and injured officers are required to go off duty.' Amy looked him over for a second, 'Is that the first time you've been knocked out?'

Dick frowned, 'What?'

'You seem to be taking it pretty well,' she elaborated, and he shifted uncomfortably.

'It's happened a few times,' Dick admitted. 'I did grow up in Gotham.'

She nodded, helping him into the car. Dick groaned again when his head started spinning. Amy smiled, shaking her head. 'Useless,' she said to herself.

The drive seemed to go forever- Dick had a sneaking suspicion that Amy was abiding by the road rules just to spite him, but he was too busy listening to his blood pulsing in his head to care.

'Thanks,' he croaked out, stepping onto the pavement, and feeling marginally better when Dick was reminded that he needed to get all the way up to his apartment.

Amy nodded, 'No problem,' she said. 'Go rest up or do whatever it is you do instead of sleeping. Report in the morning. Black eyes aren't a good enough reason to stay in bed, got it?'

'Black eye?' he said, reaching up to his eyes and flinching as his left eye stung. That was going to be a pretty impressive colour in a few minutes. Damn it, Jason. What happened to "watch the face"?

Laughing as she closed the car door, Amy quickly rounded the corner and disappeared, leaving Dick alone on the side walk.

Aspirin, he listed, trudging towards his apartment, sleep, food. Patting the piece of paper in his pocket absently, Dick smiled, Then time for Nightwing… And to find out where Jason is, he added, feeling his pulse in his cheek, maybe I'll shave his head while he's sleeping, or draw on his helmet in sharpie again.

In a small apartment on the other side of Bludhaven, Jason Todd shuddered despite the warm temperature.