Chapter 2
"Hey Wally, did you see Dick this morning?" Barbara asked after passing the TV room and seeing the speedster taking up the length of the couch.
"Huh, what?" Wally replied, eyes glued to the TV while taking handfuls from a giant bowl of popcorn.
Barbara snatched the remote, turned the TV off, and repeated her question.
"Ohh, you're worried he's gone off the radar without telling you," Wally teased.
She crossed her arms, giving him the famous Batglare.
"Okay, okay!" he exclaimed, hands raised in surrender. "I honestly don't know. He never said where he was going. Probably just went out for a patrol in Bludhaven or—"
"His comm has been offline since we got back. He doesn't do that."
"Look, he probably just wants some alone time. Guy has to get a break once in a while. Honestly, I still don't understand how he's even walking after four consecutive missions without any sleep."
Barbara sighed. She knew that nagging feeling wouldn't go away until she got to the bottom of this. Even if Nightwing was sleep deprived, his comm signal was the one thing he'd be sure to keep track of. It was habit. Batman had emphasized from the beginning that keeping the communication system open was absolutely essential. And Nightwing, who now had plenty of experience of his own to make decisions about mission safety, still enforced that as a rule for himself and especially the team.
"What about M'gann, have you asked her?" Wally said after the brief silence.
"Yeah, but she said she couldn't even detect his mind from here. So he's definitely not in Bludhaven."
"Well... like I said, maybe he just wants time off. Give it a day or so and he'll be back in no time. I'm sure he's fine, Babs."
Her brows creased, and after a moment she walked off, wholly unconvinced that Dick would just leave without telling anyone - especially her - that he wanted time alone. If Wally was right, she felt slightly betrayed that Dick didn't tell her he needed a break. Did he still have trust issues? Did she just have to accept that it's an inevitable trait Batman had passed down to him?
Wally was, for one thing, correct to think Nightwing was insane for going out after barely snatching two hours of sleep in the span of three days. Then again, it was no mystery as to why Nightwing didn't try to sleep more. Many superheroes, having had their share of disturbing experiences and missions, all had insomnia to a certain degree, but when asked to talk about it, Dick was particularly good at hiding his problems and evading the question.
Just this once, though, staying awake by patrolling and fighting crime in the dark, frosty streets of some filthily corrupt city wasn't enough. The cumulative years of restless sleep had caught up to him at last in the worst possible way.
A/N: By the way, this is probably written out of character, mostly because I don't exactly know enough about the characters to get their diction right. And yes, I know these are brutally short chapters. Nothing's really happening in this one and it's definitely not as exciting as the first... Just setting up plot for now. Thanks for taking the time to read, and if you feel like it, please review!
-Raven