Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, it is the property of DC Comics and Warner Bros studios.
Was it all worth it?
That was the question that has plaguing Nightwing's mind for weeks now. Yes they defeated the Light and stopped the Reach's invasion but it came at such a great personal cost.
He had lied to his friends, manipulated the woman he loved, nearly got one of his comrades psyche permanently destroyed and almost got his best friend's girlfriend of five years killed.
Yet despite all that here he was patrolling Blüdhaven just like he did every night. Only now he didn't have to worry about being called in by the team. He knows that half of them probably hate him for what he has done while the other half can't even look him in the eye.
His position as leader of the team, the position he had wanted since day one was now gone. Any hope he may have had for membership of the league was gone as well.
His thoughts were interrupted though by the familiar crackle of static on his belt. Apparently there was an attempted bank robbery in the city center and six armed thugs had taken hostages.
There was another reason for his current thoughts. Even though the world had just faced an alien invasion people were still doing horrendous things to each other in order to further themselves.
Lately Nightwing had begun to question why he should even continue helping people if they are just going to destroy themselves anyway in spite of what the heroes have done. But then he remembered his parents and Bruce's parents and thought that he still had save people from going though that pain like he had. Those thoughts spurred him on to continue his nightly activities in search for a reason.
Every night he played the part of a vigilante searching for a cause or a reason that would put his unsettle mind to rest just so he could clearly say "this is why it's worth it".
When he arrived at the scene he saw that the news teams were already there. Apparently there was some big corporate person in the bank and was also one of the hostages. From what the police were saying the thugs were well armed and there was some chatter of calling in outside help.
However before they had even put out the call Nightwing was already inside the bank. He couldn't throw smoke grenades because based on their elevated heart beat they would start shooting at the first hint of trouble.
So he took them out, one by one. As silent as a cloud he got each and every one of the thugs before they knew what hit them. He released the hostages and was gone before the police came in.
In the morning the police will probably condone his actions but everyone would know it was him and some may praise him for what he did. However it did little to calm Nightwing's thoughts as he still went to sleep that night asking the question, was it worth it?, and every night he still wouldn't have an answer.