Whatever Happened To The Boy Wonder?

Note:Like many I was far from satisfied by the sudden events of Flashpoint that brought an end to The DC Universe we knew and loved so well. This is my attempt to give my favourite characters the endings they deserve and not the pile of dogcrap which was thrust down our throats. Hopefully most of you will like this version more..

We begin with Nightwing ,my personal favourite character since the days when a young boy sat down in front of the TV screen and watched Robin's Reckoning from Batman TAS and instantly found his hero in the sunless streets of BTAS's Gotham .I've been through Dixon's great run ,I've been through Devin Grayson's garbage and Tomasi's All Star Run .I watched Morrison turn him to Batman and I watched Snyder turn him to something more. Its been an emotional ride with many lows and a few ups ,here I hope to provide an ending worthy of the Boy Wonder, The Knight in Bludhaven, The Leader of the Teen Titans and A Hero till the end, Dick Grayson.

PROLOGUE

I couldn't see. That was the first thing I thought as I tried to pull myself up from the concrete somehow, someway. The pain was blinding now and I could vaguely feel warm blood dripping down from my face even in the freezing downpour. I gently moved my hands over my jaw line and felt it again, the ugly broken fissure where there should have been bone. A bullet had passed through it not so long ago. How, why...I couldn't remember .I felt it again and this time I felt the bruises .Even through the Kevlar, I could feel each swelling, each blemish over the once silken skin. And something more...my stomach...no, don't think about that...ignore it..

"Well its been a pretty entertaining, kid. I don't know about you but damn, its been a great workout for me... Pity we gotta end this party now but we've had a great run ,you and me. You know this is nothing personal. At the end of the day,its just good business. I gotta do what I gotta do and you...well you're just collateral damage..."

Gotta slow the bloodflow somehow...something anything. A double fingered Katisi grip...learnt in the wastelands of Mongolia from a poppy farmer...balance the flow...make the incision..I ripped off my gloves now, they were useless anyway ...made the incision with my last batarang, felt warm blood gush over my numb fingers...so numb...so cold...

"...be grateful I don't have more time ,boy...oh yes, I remember every single time you ripped apart my life ,every single time you ripped apart my family...

THIS IS FOR ROSE!"

Something passed through my left leg. A bullet maybe, yes probably...I could barely feel it though...I could barely feel anything anymore...hold on..the batarang...

"Still fighting? What's left to fight for kid? The city's dead, the war's over, we won. Lets assume you get out of here somehow, someway, what exactly are you going to do? There's nothing and no one left to save..."

One last batarang...

"BATMAN IS DEAD!"

Throw it from the dark side...

"What are YOU going to do that he couldn't? Are you going to avenge his death?"

The light flickered one last time and lit up the battered sign...Park Row...Crime Alley..how fitting

"Or are you going to avenge the ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND miserable ,poverty stricken excuses for human beings that I KILLED in Bludhaven?"

"You're wrong."

"I'm sorry?"

"I said you're wrong you bastard! Batman is still alive!"

"What the...ah I see. Haemorrhage. Sad really. I'd have liked you to be coherent when this happened .I'd have liked you to know that in the end, for once...this was personal."

I could hear his footsteps now. I could make out the outline of a man approaching. Approaching for the kill.

I threw the last batarang. Slade fired.

CHAPTER 1:THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST

"What exactly did you say, Damian ?"

"Yes ,Mr Wayne ,could you please care to repeat what you said to Miss Ellingham here?"

"I told her the day I wanted a friend like her, I'd just have myself a little squat and sh..."

"That's enough, Mr Wayne!"

"...one out."

The little girl with the tight plait started bawling again, Principal Hawkins tried his best to maintain a stern expression and I cursed myself for the umpteenth time for introducing him to R-Rated American movies.

"Now Mr Grayson I know Damian has been homeschooled for most of his life but this level of anti-social behaviour is unheard of. This is the 4th such incident this week when a child has approached him extending the hand of friendship and Master Damian has...well rebuked their efforts rather vehemently..."

"I'm surrounded by morons and children."

"Yes quite. You see Mr Grayson ,I believe this outward hostility is rooted in deep seated insecurities stemming from the absence of a parent figure..."

"My father owns the school. You better hope he's absent when I get home or come tomorrow he's gonna fire your a..."

"That's enough Dami."

"Yes his ...I'm sorry, your father provides a lavish and comfortable lifestyle, but does he provide the warmth and love of a normal parent?"

"You better watch where this is going fat man..."

"Quiet. Please continue Mr Hawkins."

"And I don't even need to go to the absence of the mother..."

Huh. His mother. Nice person. Totally.

"Which is why I called you. By all accounts he is extremely close to you. The few times he does open up in class, he talks about his fictional adventures with 'Grayson' .Full of strange lands and supervillains. Time travel too would you believe it. Very entertaining..."

"Very."Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Dami smirking for the first time today.

"By all accounts, you're a well reputed fellow. Stint as a cop too I hear. Worked as a curator. A normal ,grounded fellow like the rest of us. Trying to be his own man. I like that. I like that..."

"Get to the point Mr Hawkins.."
"What I'm trying to say is I believe you should take a stronger interest in young Mr Wayne's life. Take him out to the local playground. Join the minor league. Meet other kids. Make him be a kid for a change."
"Well I'm sure Bruce can..."

"With all due respect Mr Grayson, there was a reason you were called. Mr Wayne may indeed own the school and yes he can fire me, but the first duty he gave me as the Principal of the school was to educate Master Damian at whatever cost .He told me to make no exceptions ,grant no favours, just educate him. There are many layers to the word ,Mr Grayson. For some .the word just means 'make sure he's top of the class.' Well Damian already is top of his class. But that's not all there is to education, is it?"

I looked at Dami studiously ignoring us both as he attempted to snare a fly with a paper clip.

"Have you spoken to Bruce...?"

"Mr Wayne did indeed speak to us and promised to get in some quality time with his son after he gets back from South Africa...in four months time."

South Africa. Leviathan again.

"Very well. I'll see what I can do. Come on Dami!"

Damian jumped at my voice and missed his target, the clip hit Mr Hawkins coffee mug, spilling the contents over the Principal's table and over what appeared to be a photo of his wife. Man was she ugly.

"Man is she ugly!"Damian exclaimed loudly pointing rather unnecessarily at the table.

"3 weeks suspension? And all for stating a fact!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Its the behaviour that went before the statement of questionable fact."

"A. You were thinking it too and B. what behaviour?"

"C'mon Dami is it really necessary to go around picking on kids just because they are kids?"

"What? I didn't go around picking on anybody! Its those autistic morons who approached me to mentally torture me with their nonsensical childish babbling! Any and all actions following said approach was due to the instinctive defense mechanism of my body to resist any attempt to lobotomize me."

"First of all, autism: not cool. Secondly lobotomize you? Seriously?"

"Unquestionably. This one guy literally turned me catatonic with one hour of babbling jargon about some retarded anime show about a boy named Ketchup and his toy mouse who battle other rodents and plants. He even showed some poko balls and trading cards .After an hour listening to his spiel I told him to shove the rubbish into the nearest thrash can and get the hell out of my face before I permanently incapacitated him and took the decision out of his hands."

"Now I know you're just using big words."

We were sitting by the lake now. As a kid ,when the Circus came to town ,I had heard many stories about the Haunted Lake of Evert Street. An old graveyard in the North Bank was probably the source of the legend. There were rumours of a Gallows where now the old boathouse stood. The lake was supposed to be the only place in Gotham where even Falcone's men feared to tread. An ancient legend, speaking of a Dark Avenger of the lake. Of course very soon, all other legends of Gotham were put to rest by the appearance of a whole new Dark Avenger.

It was always beautiful in the sunset. Not many people around either. The Old City was already shimmering to our right, barely visible anymore .Soon the lake would be covered by mist, swallowed by the relentless hunger of the creature that was Gotham at night. See there is something peculiar about this city, my city. It lies still like a beast stalking its prey. You never know when it will strike. During the day ,it sleeps an unrestful sleep, fidgeting and turning, with each turn the beast strikes a death blow. However it as at night that Gotham is a whole new creature, awake calculating, looking for its next prey. The dark in Gotham is not like the dark of any other city, it suffocates you torments you and shows you your worst, most animalistic inner nature. Maybe that is why we see psychos popping up here like Angelina Jolie adopting kids. In no other city would the concept of a Dark Knight have worked, here the fear is already present, you just need something to bring it out. Maybe it is the brutal ,bloodstained history, even before the Depression, Gotham had an evil name. Maybe it was because of the atrocities that were committed in Depression-Era Gotham, where riots were more common than wages and there were particularly nasty rumours of women and children being slaughtered for food if they went out alone at night. Maybe the final blow was the death of the Waynes themselves trying desperately to expand wealth equally and break the morbid air of doom hanging over the city. With the death of the Waynes, the rich boarded themselves up in the posh Inner Districts and South Mayfair, surrounded on all sides by the seven ghettos and the Roman's Territory, the worst of which was surely the East End.

In Bruce's time there had been changes. There were only 2 ghettos left now. The Roman was dead and his territories were contested by local gangs, powerful enough to slug it out with each other and ensure no one got more...not strong enough to challenge the authority of the one, true ruler of Gotham: The Dark Knight.

And yet...I can't help shake off the feeling that we are all just pawns on a giant chessboard, even Bruce. The City is something Ancient, something Evil from before our time, it tolerates and watches amused at our efforts to alter its true nature, It tolerates us and like the Great Beast, waits for its moment to strike.

"Are you even listening to me ,Grayson?"

"Mmm ..what Dami?"

"I said we should stop by that stupid cow Stephanie and plan out the routes tonight. Oracle will be there."

"Babs? Well i dunno..."

"Oh come on...get over your personal issues already! Women. Never get married Watson ,it saps the intellect."

"Oh wait ,I'm Watson now?"

"What do you mean now?"

I'd had a good day with Dami. We had lunch at my old school hangout where Damian had promptly announced after having a chocolate milkshake that if he wanted to drink rat's piss in a restaurant he would have asked Stephanie to come along. Delightful day as I said.

Dusk was already giving way to the night.I knew I should have spoken to Damian about his school but right now ,it was all too perfect. Just me and Dami. Two brothers chilling together .If only Tim were here. Last I heard he was supposed to be back today from his Top Secret(and that's Top with capital T) Mission for Bruce in Europe as part of Batman Inc. And that's why we were meeting at Steph's and not at the Batcave. Tim and Steph, well its complicated but I think they're getting serious this time. Tim's sorta moved in with Steph in the last few weeks. But if Barbara was gonna be there too...

"Ah what the hell. I'm coming in a moment. Start the car."

"Wow Grayson, you just gave me the keys to your car?"

"Just start it."

I took one last look at the lake ,taking it all in as the last vestiges of its beauty were swallowed up by the overwhelming darkness...something red..

"Damian! Get down here! There's something in the water! I think its a person. Oh my God..."

The body was drifting closer now. One thing I was sure of. It hadn't been there two minutes ago, before my exchange with Dami. Someone had purposely put a body in the lake in the last two minutes.

"Damian check the perimeter. See what you can find. Check if there's anyone new in the area. There was the old couple, the junkie,..."

"The skinhead, The two families, the woman in green and those three teenagers. Got it"

"Good .I'm jumping in now. Contact Babs. Go, go, go now!"

I dived into the icy cold water. For a few seconds ,my whole body went numb and the Beast sensed its prey .A violent tug from the bottom drove the wind out of my lungs. This was a lake ,by all accounts there should have been no problem other than the cold. And yet something pulled at me, wildly trying to snuff out the life that it held. I pushed with all my force. Something around my ankles snapped and I swam away with a weed still wrapped around it .The Beast had failed but now it was waiting for another chance, another moment of weakness.

I dragged the body away from the deep end, there was something vaguely familiar about it...the red..no time to think now .The Darkness was suddenly all around me out of nowhere...The Beast sensed blood...

I came up panting on the shore. The body was old .At least a day old. Stored in a wooden casket from the smell. And deposited here this very evening a few moments ago. Why?It made no sense. There had been several people around when the body first appeared. And even though they had refused to help, they had seen me jump in. The old couple had even helped me drag it up. What was the motive? Surely a better time and a better place could be used for disposing off a body. And then I saw his face.

It was Tim Drake. Red Robin

There was a note attached to his suit.

You're next.

Suddenly I heard a scream.

It was Damian.

The Beast had struck.

So guys this was my first attempt at a fan fic and I'd really like some comments and reviews and tell me how was it and where I went wrong ,please view it many,many times so I can write the second chapter double fast!