Becoming Nightwing.

Damian took a deep breath as he approached the apartment. Today was a very important for this sixteen year old. Today was the day he asked his father for permission to succeed him. Before you ask no he was not asking Bruce if he could take over as Batman. Though Bruce was his biological father, he was not the one who had raised him from that naive eight year old he had once been.

In fact Bruce was no longer Batman so he really had no control over the current Batman's successor. But that wasn't why he was at this apartment in BludHaven. He had been working alongside the current Batman for a good seven years now and he was finally ready to branch out on his own. He had been ready for a good year now but he had constantly debated whether he should start a new identity like the Robins before him or if he should take up one of the empty mantles they had left.

Red Robin or Tim Drake had become the Falcon in an attempt to perform his own version of a Nightwing. Red Hood had become Renegade taking another of his father's former identities. He had made his decision almost three months ago but though he'd never admit it out loud he was scared of his father's reaction. He didn't want to end up becoming his own identity the same way he had, in a violent argument.

He took a deep breath and reached to knock on the door only for it to open. The door swung wide open to reveal a smiling Richard Dick Grayson. "Hey Damian." He said casually. "Hello father." Damian replied as Richard ushered him in. "So how long were you gonna wait before actually knocking on the door?" Richard asked closing the door behind him. "What are you talking about?" Damian asked to which Richard raised an eyebrow. "You were standing outside my door for five minutes. I was gonna just wait but you took so long that I decided to open it for you." Richard replied leading him over to the couch.

Damian sat in his spot on the edge of the couch. Yes it was his spot and some people had learned that the hard way. Like Kid Flash for example. He had requested he moved as nice as he could but the speedster refused to move. In the end said speedster learned how it feels to fall off a twenty story building. Don't worry he caught him before he hit the ground. Needless to say no one had the balls to sit in his spot since.

"Would you like something to drink?" Richard asked from the kitchen. "Water or Tea if you have it." Damian replied from his spot on the couch. Richard nodded and grabbed two bottles of water from his fridge. He tossed one to Damian as he reentered his small living room. Damian caught it with ease as Richard took his spot across from Damian in his old blue recliner.

Bruce, Tim and even Jason had all commented on how he should get rid of the thing. Richard had merely smiled and said it had character so no he would not remove it. Damian unlike his family appreciated the recliner. Richard usually never sat it unless he thought it was going to be a serious moment or back when Damian was little so he could sit on his lap. Richard obviously knew this was a serious conversation or else he would have sat next to his surrogate son.

"So Damian what's so important, that you have to show up at my place at nine o'clock at night?" Richard asked the younger man. Damian gulped and glanced at the door, it had so much simpler in theory. Asking his father if he could take up his former mantle, take his answer spend a little time with the man, then head out and do whatever he wanted. Now that he was actually here, he found it somewhat difficult.

"Is it Bruce again? Because I swear if he tried to kick you out again I'm gonna wring his neck." Richard told him growling at the thought. You see a few months ago Bruce had kicked him out because of an inappropriate comment he had made towards Selina Kyle. He had gone straight to Richard and boy was he pissed. It took everything Damian had to keep him from going over to the manor and strangling his biological father. In the end Damian had crashed with his surrogate father, using the room they had already been prepared for him.

"It's not Bruce." Damian said easing Richard's anger. "Ok. So you still haven't answered my question." Richard pointed out to Damian as he took a deep breath. 'It's now or never' He thought to himself. "The reason I'm here is because." Damian took another deep breath as his father watched him closely. "I wish to branch out and leave the nest." Damian explained composing himself.

To Damian's surprise Richard didn't have a look of anger on his face. Richard may have been trained by Batman but he didn't usually hide his emotions at least not from his family. "I see, so have you come up with a new identity yet?" His father asked calmly. "Actually that's the other reason I'm here." Damian explained calmly. "I wish to take over your previous mantle as Nightwing and I came to ask for your permission." Damian explained to which Richard nodded. He watched as his surrogate father stood up without a word and walked into another room.

Damian was tempted to go after him but he was still cautious at whether his father was angry or not, for asking such a request. "Damian come in here for a moment would ya?" Richard asked in an upbeat tone. Damian would forever deny being surprised at the tone as he walked into the room his father had. When he walked in there Richard stood there holding two costumes in his hands.

Both costumes were a Nightwing variation, all the same except for some minor details. On the one that hung in his left hand, held a blue bird with some light armor. The one in his right hand had a red bird and a little more armor then the other, not much but enough for a visible difference. "Red or Blue?" He asked with a small smile. "Blue?" Damian more asked then stated. "Got it, you want to go with the original color scheme." His father replied tossing the other one to the side. He held the costume out to Damian. Damian took it cautiously looking over it.

Upon closer inspection he noticed it was different then the Nightwing outfit hanging in the Batcave. It was shorter and the sleeves were shorter as well, almost as if it had been personally tailored for him. "Try it on." Richard told him walking out of the room. Damian stunned did as his father told him and changed from his civilian identity and into the Nightwing persona.

Once he was done he looked in the mirror and examined how he looked in the outfit minus the mask. It fit him perfectly which only made him more suspucious. "Nice, I guess Alfred was right in the measurements afterall." Richard's voice called from behind him. Damian turned to see Richard standing behind him holding a mask in his hand. "You had Alfred take the measurements? Why?" Damian asked to which Richard cackled at.

"Because I noticed you had the same look in your eyes as I did when I was ready to move on from the Robin persona." Richard explained leaning against the dresser that sat in the room. "I noticed it about a year ago and so I've been trying to prepare your for when you do leave the nest. I had a team right after I left the Bat's shadow, but knowing you I'd doubt you'll want to join one." Richard began as things began to click in Damian's head.

"That's the reason you've been allowing me to patrol alone more often and lead some of our busts isn't it?" Damian asked his father to which Richard nodded. "Ya, like I said I've been trying to prepare you, for when you're ready to truly fly." Richard explained opening the dresser up and removing the Batman costume it held within it. He donned the persona, all while holding the mask. He left the cowl down as he finished changing. "Thank you father." Damian said bowing his head slightly.

"Don't thank me yet D. As far as I'm concerned you're still under my protection. Until you find your own city and even after that I expect you to give me weekly reports." Richard told him to which Damian raised an eyebrow. "Find my own city?" Damian asked slightly dumbfounded by his father's statement. "Ya, I mean that is what your going to do isn't it?" Richard asked his young partner.

"Well my plan was to continue patrolling with you in Bludhaven and Gotham, only with doing more solo patrols and the persona change." Damian explained to his mentor. Richard thought about for a moment before smiling. "Alright then Nightwing what do you say, we go show the world the new you?" Richard asked pulling down the cowl to transform him into the Gotham's dark knight.

"That sounds most entertaining." Damian replied as he walked over the window. "Wait." Batman ordered him. Damian turned and raised an eyberow at his father. "What?" He asked obviously annoyed. Batman walked over to him and handed him the mask. "You're missing something." He told him with a batsmirk. Damian looked down at the mask before slapping it on his face.

"Then let's go Batman." Damian called out hopping out the window with Batman close behind him. They launched a grappling hook and began to sail through the air. For the first time since he had donned the Robin costume he felt as if he could truly fly.

From this night on, he wasn't Robin anymore. No he was following his father's footsteps and was now the fearless Nightwing. "Since I'm following your footsteps does that mean, I have to make those annoying puns you do?" Nightwing's voice echoed through the night.

Another one shot done. Nice I'm loving this father/son duo more then even Batman and nightwing! well it technically is batman and Nightwing but you get the point