A/N: This story takes place just before the beginning of Season 2, and focuses on the Bat-family. I added in several characters from the comics, since I had yet to see them in Young Justice. This story was actually written while suffering from my worst case ever of writers block on another story; a story I plan this one to tie into. Hopefully, I can finish my other story and start posting it before I get to the point in this story that ties into it. I will be trying to upload a new chapter every couple of days, but apologize if it takes me a little longer sometimes.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, Batman, blah, blah, blah; property of DC Comics.
Hunted
Chapter.1.
Gotham City
September 7, 2015 – 23:21 EST
A typical night in Gotham; cold, dreary, the sound of sirens can be heard in the distance. And, of course, a masked vigilante is traveling across the rooftops.
Except this vigilante isn't one of the regulars; this vigilante is new in town.
"What are we doing here?" Robin asks, sitting impatiently on a warehouse roof in the shipyards.
"We're working." Nightwing replies, sitting next to him, but using a set of binoculars to scan the roofs.
"I figured that." Robin replies. "But what specifically are we doing here?"
"How have you survived this long as Robin, if you're this impatient, and ask so many questions?" Nightwing asks. "Batman would never have taken that from me."
"What? You think I'm like this when I'm with him?" Robin asks. "I may not have as much experience as you did by my age, but I'm not stupid."
"So, you're just this annoying when you're on patrol with me, then?" Nightwing asks, putting down the binoculars, looking at Robin, and smiling.
"I just..." Robin says, and then looks down at his hands. "I just want to learn as much as I can from you. Batman is a great teacher when we're training, but, in the field, I think he forgets that I'm not you, sometimes. He expects me to know what to do, and when to do it, and I don't always know."
"He doesn't forget that you're not me, Little Bird; he was like that with me too." Nightwing says, picking up the binoculars and scanning the neighboring buildings again. "I messed up a bunch of times when we started working together, and it was always because he seemed to expect me to know the role he wanted me to play without him explaining it. But he never really got mad when I messed up, he would just explain what he had expected of me later, and I that's how I learned."
"Yeah, he does that to me too; but I just get the feeling that he doesn't trust me like he does you." Robin says, picking up his own set of binoculars, and scanning the rooftops.
"He trusts you, Little Bird; believe me when I say that." Nightwing replies. "It's because he trusts you that he doesn't explain what he expects of you; he trusts you do know."
Robin stiffens up, and points to a rooftop, several warehouses west of their position. "'Wing, look; we got someone on the roof."
Nightwing shifts his position, and looks at the indicated roof. "Where? Oh never mind, I see." He adjusts the focus, trying to get a better view. "I can't make out much; they're moving in the shadows."
"I definitely saw a cape." Robin says.
"Is Batgirl supposed to be out tonight? I thought she was taking the night off to study." Nightwing asks. He reaches up and presses his finger to his ear. "Nightwing to Batgirl; you there?"
He gets no reply.
"I don't think its Batgirl." Robin says.
"Well it's not Batman, and we're both here; so who else could it be?" Nightwing says, handing Robin his binoculars. "I'm going to go take a look; you stay on lookout, and watch my back."
Nightwing stands up, and leans forward, letting himself fall off the building. Before he can fall too far, he fires off a line, and swings up onto the next rooftop, where he rolls into a sprint, jumping off the next building.
Repeating his maneuver from the first swing, he eventually finds himself crouched in the shadows on the roof that they saw somebody. "You still with me, Little Bird?" He whispers.
"Got you covered, 'Wing." Robin replies. "Whoever it is, they're still hiding just behind that air vent to your right."
"Okay. Here's what we'll do; I'm going to circle around to the left, that way if they try to run, they'll have to run out into the open towards you." Nightwing says.
"And if they do run?" Robin asks.
"Then I'll chase them; but keep your distance until we know more. We don't know who, or what, we're dealing with here." Nightwing says. "If it looks like I need help, then feel free to jump in."
"Got it." Robin replies, cutting the link.
Nightwing circles around the edge of the roof quietly, trying not to alert his target. He is nearly there when he hears Robin say, "They just dropped into the air vent."
"What?" Nightwing asks, still stealthily approaching the air vent.
"I just saw them slip into the air vent." Robin replies. "What do we do now?"
"You better make your way over here." Nightwing replies. "I'm going to hop into the air vent, and see if I can find them; and you'll have to cover all the escape routes."
"On my way." Robin says.
Nightwing finally gets to the air vent, and finds that the grate has been removed, and placed on the ground. He examines it closely, and sees no sign of cutting, or force; but he does find several screws littering the ground nearby. "Whoever this is went through the trouble of manually unscrewing the vent." He says.
"Maybe they didn't want to risk making any noise?" Robin replies, over the communicator.
"Maybe." Nightwing says, picking up a few of the screws and placing them in a hidden pocket. "I'm going in."
"I'll be right here." Robin replies, running up to the air vent, and crouching down next to Nightwing.
Nightwing slides into the air vent, making sure to make as little noise as possible. "Little Bird, can you pull up the schematics of this place, and give me..."
"Way ahead of you 'Wing." Robin replies. "The vent you're in is the main vent for the entire warehouse. It branches off into lots of smaller side vents, but there is only one that is big enough to fit a human through. Head left until you get to the end; the t-section is the only other vent big enough. My guess is that whoever this is went right there."
"Why do you say that?" Nightwing asks a smile on his face from pride in Robin's ingenuity.
"It leads to the office section of the warehouse; just seems like the logical destination." Robin replies.
"Good job, Little Bird." Nightwing replies. "We'll make a detective out of you yet."
Nightwing silently crawls through the air vent until he gets to the t-section that Robin mentioned. He takes a quick glance around the corner and sees a shadow down to the right. "Just like you said, Little Bird; our cape is to the right." He whispers.
Just as he turns the corner, the shadow drops through the air vent, and into the offices below. He crawls over to the open vent, hanging off its hinges, and looks into the dark office. He doesn't have to look long, before he sees the caped shadow standing in front of a filing cabinet, rummaging through its contents.
He grabs the edge of the vent, and gently lowers himself into the room, dropping the last few feet to land in a crouch. He stands up and says, "I think business hours are between 9 and 6."
The shadow spins around, and he can hear a twang of an arrow being shot. Instinctively, he starts to duck, and roll out of the way, but he feels something stab into his left forearm before he can complete his roll.
He looks up to see a cape disappear into the air vent. "Robin, heads up; they're heading back out through the air vent. And they're armed; so be careful."
"Got it." Robin replies.
Nightwing doesn't bother checking his arm, and instead jumps up into the air vent. He rushes back the way he came, no longer caring about stealth, and jumps through the opening onto the roof; only to be hit in the head with something solid.
"Oh shit!" Robin says, rushing to Nightwing's side. "I thought you were the perp."
"Wait; nobody came through here?" He asks, holding the side of his head, and looking at Robin's collapsible bō like he would an assailant.
"Just you." Robin replies, rushing to the edge of the roof, and looking around. "I don't see anyone. No, wait; there." He points in the direction of someone running down the alley. "They must have gone out through the warehouse; I'm on it." He jumps off the roof, and fires off a line.
"No, wait!" Nightwing cries out, jumping to his feet, and rushing after Robin.
Robin has almost caught up with the perp, when a Wingding (Nightwing's version on a Batarang) cuts through his line, and he drops to the ground, rolling to help absorb the impact. He looks up, and sees Nightwing swing by, over his head, still after the perp. "What the hell?" He says into the communicator.
"I told you they were armed, Robin; that means you stay back until told otherwise." Nightwing replies. "You know the rules."
"Yeah, I know." He mumbles to himself, dusting himself off, and continuing the chase on foot.
Nightwing finally catches up to the perp, and releases his line just in time to tackle them. Once they stop rolling, Nightwing pins the perp down. "Don't move." He says.
"Get off of me, you big dope." The perp says, and he is surprised to hear that the voice is that of a woman.
He relaxes his grip enough for her to turn around while still pinning her to the ground. "You're a woman?" He says stupidly, when he finally sees her masked face.
"Yeah, and you're a dick." She says, lifting her knee up as fast as she can to slam into his crotch.
Nightwing's breath is knocked out of him, and he rolls over to his side; his hands covering his crotch.
The woman gets up, and runs away, before Nightwing can regain his composure.
"'Wing? Where is he?" Robin asks, rushing up to check on Nightwing.
"'She' got away." Nightwing replies, standing up, and remaining doubled over.
Robin figures out what happened, and laughs, "She kicked you in the nads? Oh man, wait until I tell Batgirl that you weren't wearing your cup."
"I am wearing it, genius." Nightwing replies, finally standing up straight. "Want me to kick you in the nads, and show you how little it actually helps?"
"So, what do we do know?" Robin asks.
"We report back to the cave, and try to figure out who our masked woman was, and what she was after." Nightwing replies, pressing a button on his gauntlet.
Moments later, the Batmobile comes zipping down the alley, and stops just feet from them.
The masked vigilante watches as the Batmobile drives off, from her hiding spot in a dumpster. "Damn heroes, ruining everything." She mumbles to herself.