Okay, so I figure to sput Dick on to become Nightwing once he outgrew Robin, Batman and him would've had a few fights. This is my take on how he and Batman reconcile after that.
It was that day again. Nightwing didn't go out to see the team train today. He was too depressed.
Normally, he'd have someone to spend toda woth. But he didn't. Not since he'd broken off with Batman. The fighting had been too much to handle, they hadn't spoken in months... But that wasn't what this was about. His parents had died today, not his relationship with Bruce.
He pulled out the bottle he'd brought. Grey Goose Vodka. It was supposed to be wicked. And getting drunk was just one of the many ways a person could forget...
He poured a shot, tipping the glass back and forth lightly. He really shouldn't be dong this. Especially not at Mount Justice. But he threw it back anyways, eyes widening as he felt it burn and crisp in his throat, before it hit his stomach in a flurry of warmth that brought... happiness...
He poured another shot and downed it, and before he knew it, half the bottle was gone. He laughed. Speedy would never believe he'd managed to drink half a bottle... Wait, Speedy? Wasn't it Blue Arrow or something? He shrugged, shakily pouring himself another shot and downing it. Ahh, the butterflies... He'd forgotten what day it was, let alone what had happened.
He was locked in his room at Mount Justice, having a REALLY good time with a bottle of Vodka. He giggled like a little school girl and fell out of his chair. This was good. Compared to all those years when this had been a sad day, this was SO GOOD...
He stumbled to his feet and tried to pour another glass. This was getting fun.
"Megann, where's Nightwing?" Bart asked. "I got some new moves to show him."
"He's in his room, I think. He told me he wanted to be alone today." Megann said. Every year around this time he'd get depressed. It never failed, and Bart and Garfeild exchanged glances. They trained for another hour before walking down the hall toward Nightwing's room.
Gar hit the button, expecting the door to slide open. It didn't. He and Bart exchanged nervous glances. Nightwing NEVER locked his door. It was always open for them when they had nightmares or were bored or just needed someone to talk to...
"Nightwing- you in there?" Bart asked, knocking on the door.
There was a thud as Nightwing fell out of his chair again and nearly spilled his glass of vodka, but the boys didn't need to know that.
"I'm kinda busy right now..." Nightwing said, forcing the words to be clear. He couldn't let the younger heroes see him drunk, it would ruin his rep...
"Oh. Okay. See you, then." Bart said. He was about to walk away when they heard a hiccup and exchanged glances. Something seemed off. No, not just off, more like something wasn't right...
They both pressed their ears to he door, Nightwing was mumbling something that they couldn't make out, but it made them nervous... The normally light footfalls weren't there, but every now and then he'd laugh...
"Maybe he's watching cat videos on the internet?" Gar suggested quietly.
Bart shook his head. "No. This is NIGHTWING we're talking about, he doesn't DO cat videos."
Just then, Tim caught sit of them. He stalked over, looking annoyed. When someone tried to invade his older brother's privacy, he got mad.
"What are you doing?" he hissed.
"Nightwing locked his door and he's... something's WRONG." Garfield said.
"Oh." Tim knew today was the day Nightwing's parents had died, and he put his ear to the door. Normally he'd hear nothing but silence today, but he heard... unsteady steps, muttering...
"Something's wrong." Tim said. "I can tell. Go get Megann."
Garfield came back a few moments later with Megann. She knocked on his door quietly.
"Nightwing? Are you okay?" she asked.
"What? Oh... m'fine. Just go away." he said, like he wasn't really listening. There was a loud thud, then, and Megann jumped. "Nightwing?"
"I said m'fine! Go away!" Nightwing said. Megann shook her head, looking surprised.
"I sense... pain. Like somethings... wrong..." she said quietly, almost to herself. "His emotions are overwhelming..."
"Call Batman." Tim said urgently.
Megann nodded. Tim, knew things about Nightwing they didn't, she trusted his judgement...
She strode into the main room. "Sorry for disturbing you, Batman." she said.
"What's the situation?" Batman growled.
"It's Nightwing, somethings... wrong..." she said.
"I'm on my way."
"With the man... on the flying trapeze..." Nightwing said quietly. His hands had grown too shaky to pour shots, so he simply drank from the bottle now, smiling. He'd fallen onto the floor, but he didn't feel like getting up... Megann had gone away now, it was alright...
He'd been at it for two hours now, the bottle was almost done. He didn't know what he'd do after it ran out, but he wasn't really thinking clearly anyways...
He realized a hot bath would feel good right about then, but the bathroom off his room was a good ten feet away. He contemplated whether or not to give it a go- it would feel pretty nice, and maybe he could get Wonder Girl on the comm and ask if she had any bubble bath...
Batman walked through the watch tower, apprehensive, to say the least. He hadn't spoken to Dick since he'd become Nightwing, things were still cold between them. He'd expected Tim to be hurt or something, but not Nightwing. Which just made him even more worried. And he should've expected this, it was the day Nightwing's parents had died.
But he was worried. Megann hadn't been specific, but regardless of the fights he and Nightwing had had, Dick was still his son...
H zetaed into the cave. "Where is he?" he asked Megann. Some of the teens watched, slightly in awe a leaguer had come down to the cave.
"In his room. He locked the door..."
That piece of information made him even more apprehensive. Nightwing NEVER locked his door unless he was hiding something...
He hit the button, hoping against hope the door would be open. It wasn't.
He knocked. "Nightwing. Open the door."
There was no answer, and his fear increased slightly.
In his room, Nightwing was busy taking the last few swallows of Vodka from the bottle.
"Nightwing. Open. The. Door. Now." Batman ordered.
"Go 'way. 'M busy." Nightwing said quietly.
Batman stared. "Nightwing. I said open the door. Now."
Nightwing stumbled to his feet, swaying slightly. He was dizzy... he fell back to the floor, bottle shattering on contact with the ground.
Nightwing moaned slightly- he'd landed, making a pounding headache worse...
"Nightwing! Are you okay!? Talk to me..." Batman felt his fear go from an eight to a ten, which was saying something. He pulled the control panel out of the wall, hooking his wrist computer into it and starting to hack the doors.
"Batman, is everything okay?" Megann asked, looking slightly anxious.
"Everything is fine. Keep the kids out of this hallway." Batman ordered. "Now go." Megann left, but not before throwing a glance over her shoulder, concerned.
"Go 'way. I'm... busy..." Nightwing said.
"Busy doing what?" Batman asked, eager to keep the boy talking. Nightwing's door was more secure than he'd expected, he'd done a good job with the digital security.
"Busy gettin drunk." Nightwing said. Batman froze. In all the years he'd known Dick, the boy had never touched a drink, which was saying something, considering he'd lived out his teen years in Gotham.
Still, the doors opened and he strode in...
He saw Dick lying on the floor, a jagged bottle neck in his hand, broken glass around him...
"Go away. I- I don't want to talk to you." Nightwing said.
"You're drunk." Batman said matter-of-factly. The door to the room had automatically closed, and he was free to speak easily, now...
"So? I.. don't...need...your...help..." Nightwing muttered, staggering to his feet.
"You got drunk. Because you didn't want to face it." Batman said.
"I... I don't need a sermon. Get out." Nightwing slurred.
"We need to talk." Batman said, sitting down on his bed. Nightwing made no effort to move from where he leaned against the wall, showing how drunk he was.
"Why? So you can tell me how I DISAPPOINTED you again?" Nightwing asked.
Batman stared. "You never disappointed me..."
Nightwing shook his head. "Liar." he muttered, stumbling into the bathroom and vomiting. Batman stared. Since when had Nightwing thought he'd disappointed him?
He got up to follow the boy, but Nightwing turned and gave him a seething glare. "So... now you care..." he choked out between mouthfuls of vomit. "When... I'm weak..."
"You never disappointed me. I was secretly proud when I saw you'd made a name for yourself in Blüdhaven. The only reason I never contacted you was because I figured you would've called if you wanted to talk to me."
Nightwing looked shocked. He panted, chest still heaving slightly, before deciding to lay on the cool tile floor...
"You can't just lay there." Batman said.
"Watch me." Nightwing said calmly. He looked away and blinked hard. "My... my Mamica... she'd be so mad... she... she hated... alcohol..." Nightwing muttered, voice cracking. "A-and I drank it... the day... she died!"
He started to cry, and Batman stared. He wanted to take the boy- no, man, he was a man, now- into his arms. Because regardless of how many fights they'd had, Dick was still his son.
"D-don' touch me." Nightwing got out, before he sat up after after some failed attempts and started to puked again.
So Batman stood in the doorway and watched the boy cry. Normally, Nightwing would never cry in costume, or out of costume, for that matter, but it was probably the alcohol making him emotional...
Finally, he stopped puking and and decided to stumble to his feet. He stepped into the bath tub, leaning against the wall before he turned on the water in the shower. He sighed with relief as warm water cascaded over him, soothing the aches the alcohol had caused.
"What are you doing?" Batman asked, looking mildly amused.
Nightwing scowled. " 'M taking a shower." he said.
Batman sighed. His son was VERY drunk. "Don't you need to take your clothes off to shower?"
Nightwing's scowl deepened. "Did you just ask me to take off my clothes?"
"No. Do you really think that I'd want to see that?" Batman asked.
"Did you just call me ugly!?" Dick said. "I don't have to take this!" he stepped out of the shower and stumbled, Batman catching him.
"Since you can't walk on your own, you do." he said.
"Lemme go." Noghtwing slurred, falling onto his bed and crying again.
"I-I want my mom..." he muttered.
Batman hadn't heard his son say that in years.
"I... I want my Mom... Get out. Just leave me alone."
"We both know you don't mean that." Batman said, crossing his arms.
"So? Why are you here? T-to be glad you got rid of me when you did?" Nightwing asked, looking up shakily at Batman.
"You were the one who left." Batman said.
"Because- Because you said you didn't want me." Nightwing said. He hissed in pain- he had an awful headache.
"We both knew you'd outgrown being Robin. And I.. I was proud... that you had the guts to go out on your own. It's clear I didn't show it that way... And it's clear that I should've taught you how to drink before you left." Batman said.
"No kidding. Owww..." Nightwing muttered, putting a hand to his head. "Damn Grey Goose..."
"You drank vodka?" Batman asked, looking surprised. "How much?"
"The whole damn bottle..." Nightwing said, giving him a crooked smile. "Was pretty good, too..." he winced "Now it hurts..." he slurred.
"That's what happens when you drink." Batman said, sighing, pulling up the desk chair to sit beside the bed. "You'll have one heck of a hangover in the morning..."
"Ba'man?" he asked, looking over at his father with those puppy dog eyes.
"Yes?"
"Do you still love me?" Nightwing asked. Batman stared. His son was REALLY drunk. But the kid probably wouldn't remember any of this in the morning, so he could let his true feelings show.
"Yes, Nightwing, I still love you." Batman sighed. "Now try and sleep it off."
"Yo won' leave me?" Nightwing asked.
"No, Nightwing, I won't leave you." Batman promised.
"Great. Can you hand me the trash can?" Nightwing asked, sitting up shakily.
"Sure. Going to puke again?"
He was answered by gagging and sighed. "Great..."
Nightwing wiped his mouth. "That was nasty." he said when he finished. "Got anything to take the taste away? Brandy, maybe?"
"The LAST thing you need is more alcohol." Batman said. He was already thinking up a convenient lie for the team- they couldn't know their leader was drunk, regardless of the circumstances...
Batman's communicator beeped and he answered it.
"Is everything alright?" Megann asked.
"Nightwing's sick, but he'll be fine. Batman out." Batman said, ending the transmission. He went into the bathroom and found a glass, filling it with water. He slipped back into the room. Nightwing had rolled over onto his stomach and was moaning quietly, face smushed into the pillow.
"Nightwing, come have to drink this. Alcohol dehydrates you." Batman said.
"No." Nightwing whined. "I wanna sleeeep!"
"Nightwing, now." Batman said.
Nightwing took one sip of water before he passed out. Batman sighed. It was going to be a long night.
"Ugggg... Batman? What the heck happened?" he asked,moaning. He felt like he'd been hit by a truck. His head was pounding, light hurt...
"It was... that day. You got drunk and locked yourself in here with a bottle of Vodka. Tim knew something was wrong so he called me. You were drunk for the past few hours."
"That explains why I feel like puking, then. You- you didn't have to come." Nightwing said.
"I was the only one who could hack your door." Batman said. "And I was worried. Megann said there was something wrong with you, it was THE DAY..."
"Oh. Did... did the team see me?" he asked, sounding nervous.
"No. I made sure no one came in and you didn't break out. They all think you have a high fever and are delusional, which would explain all the strange laughing and stuff you've been doing in here."
"I was laughing? What did I do? I... I don't remember a thing."
Batman smiled slightly. "Sounds like the whole bottle of Vodka went through your system, then. You tried to take a shower while wearing your clothes, asked me if I still loved you, and accused me of calling you ugly, to name a few things..."
"Oh." Nightwing sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Do you still love me?" Nightwing asked quietly.
"Would I be here if I didn't?" Batman asked.
"Good point. Thanks. I mean, I know things between us have been... rough... but, thanks."
"No problem. Oh- and by the way- you never disappointed me." and he was gone with a sweep of his cape. Nightwing smiled. Somethings never changed. And that was the start of the lighter relationship between the dark knight and Nightwing.