Hunted
Chapter.4.
Gotham City
September 8, 2015 – 23:48 EST
Nightwing stands at the edge of the Gotham Clock Tower, observing the city; but he is being distracted by a disappointed Robin talking to him over his communicator.
"I don't understand why I couldn't come out on patrol tonight; I mean it was just the first day. It's not like I have any homework, or anything." Tim says.
"I know, Little Bird; but Batman said no. It wasn't my call." He replies.
"It's not fair." Tim says. "How am I supposed to get any better if I don't get to go out on patrol?"
"That's a good one; you should definitely use that one on Batman the next time you see him." Nightwing replies, sarcastically.
"Ha, ha, ha, 'Wing; you're a regular comedian." Tim says.
"I try." Nightwing says, smiling.
"I'm just so bored." Tim says. "I've gotten so used to sleeping late, that I can't fall asleep."
"Go see Alfred." Nightwing suggests. "He's got tons of remedies for that. My personal favorite, though, will always be a cup of his super-secret hot chocolate; after two or three sips, I'm out like a light."
"Yeah; I guess I'll give it a shot. It's not like I'm going to convince Batman to let me patrol now." Tim says. "Goodnight, 'Wing."
"Goodnight, Little Bird." Nightwing says, hearing the click signaling that Tim disconnected.
"Is he still mad at Batman?" Batgirl asks, stepping out of the shadows.
"No; he's not really mad, just a little upset." Nightwing replies. "We had a talk last night."
"Oh, was this before or after you got kicked in the balls?" Batgirl asks.
Nightwing spins around to see her covering her mouth as she laughs. "I can't believe the little punk told you about that." He says. "And it's not something that you should be surprised about; it's the most logical place to kick a guy if you want to hurt, and distract him."
"Trust me, I know." She says, stepping up to stand next to him at the edge of the Clock Tower. "What did you two talk about?"
"He feels that Batman doesn't trust him as much as he does me. It's almost like he feels he has to live up to my example, in order to be good enough for Batman." Nightwing says.
"He's not the only one." Batgirl says. "We both feel that way."
"Then you're both wrong." Nightwing says. "Neither of you have to live up to me; least of all Robin. He's already on his way to being a much better Robin than I ever was; and he'll be an even better Batman when the time is right."
"I always assumed you would take over when he decided to finally retire?" Batgirl says.
"I don't have what it takes to be Batman; I realized that years ago." Nightwing says. "I'm much better off being Nightwing, anyways. Besides, we both know that Batman isn't going to voluntarily retire. But when that day comes, Robin will be ready."
"You really think he'd make a better Batman?" She asks.
"Definitely." Nightwing replies. "He's already shown that he's got Batman's intelligence and intuition. Then add in the fact that, personality wise, he's more or less like me; and you have a perfect blend of the Dynamic Duo in one person."
"I guess." Batgirl says.
"Plus he's nearly got my devilishly good looks; so he's almost the total package." He says, turning to look at Batgirl.
"My, my, my; we definitely think highly of ourselves, don't we?" She says, trying to hold in her laughter.
"Not at all." Nightwing replies. "But tell me something, Batgirl; why are you always standing behind me? Do you like what you see?"
He watches as her jaw drops, and a slight flush appears under her cowl, before jumping off the Clock Tower, and swinging away; laughing the entire time.
"That's not funny, Former Boy Wonder." She says into her communicator, but the only reply she gets in more laughter; so she shuts it down.
A dark figure crouches in the darkness, in the alley behind a restaurant in Midtown. The restaurant has long since closed for the night, and everyone is gone home; which is exactly what the dark figure wants.
The regular night sounds mask the sound of the lock being picked. Just as the door opens, a voice says, "We really need to talk about your disregard for business hours."
The masked vigilante spins around, crossbow drawn, looking for the speaker. "Where are you?" She asks, not seeing him anywhere.
"Put the crossbow away, and I'll come out." Nightwing replies. "I'm a little gun shy after you shot me last night."
She places the crossbow back in its holster, and waits.
She doesn't have to wait long, as Nightwing steps out from behind a dumpster further down the alley.
"I didn't mean to shoot you." She says. "I thought you were someone else."
"Who?" Nightwing asks. "One of Mandragora's men? Or Mandragora himself?"
"You're well informed." She says.
"I try." Nightwing replies. "So, you mind telling me why you broke into the warehouse last night, and what you're doing here tonight?"
"I can't." She replies. "It's personal."
"I'm afraid that 'personal' isn't going to be good enough." Nightwing replies. "You are 'technically' breaking the law."
"What do you care? These men are criminals." She says. "I'm not doing anything you or your 'friends' haven't done yourselves."
"Except we do what we do to stop criminals, and bring them to justice." Nightwing replies. "We don't do it for personal reasons."
"My personal reasons are justice." She says. "I'm going to make sure these men pay."
"Sounds more like vengeance, than justice." Nightwing says.
"They're the same thing." She says.
"I used to think so too." Nightwing replies. "But I learned quickly that the line is very thin, and crossing it is the difference between being one of the good guys, and being just like the people you're trying to take down."
"I don't need any lectures from you." She says.
"Fine." Nightwing says, holding up his hands. "But I can't let you go in there."
"Then I guess we'll have to continue where we left off last night." She says, getting into a fighting stance.
"I can't let you go in there, unless, you let me help you." Nightwing says.
"What?" She says, relaxing slightly.
"Let me help you find whatever it is you're looking for; you just need to tell me what that is. I have a lot more resources than you do; I'm sure." He says.
"This restaurant is a front for Mandragora's organization." She says. "I learned that from the files in the warehouse."
"Okay." He says, walking pat her, and peaking inside the dark kitchen. "And what do you expect to find here?"
"I'm looking for the next bread crumb that will lead me one step closer to Mandragora." She replies, slipping past him, and into the kitchen. "I just have to look hard enough, and I'll find it."
Nightwing closes the door, and quietly follows her through the kitchen, and to the stairs leading up. "Offices would be the most likely place to look." He says. He steps past her, and leads the way upstairs.
He picks the lock, and opens the door, sliding in quickly, and allowing her to do the same. "I'll start with the filing cabinet." She says. "You check the desk."
Nightwing walks over to the desk, and picks the locks, opening the drawers, and rummaging through the contents, while keeping an eye on his 'partner'. He notices that she pockets a piece of paper, before replacing the file, and continuing to search.
"Find anything?" He asks a couple of minutes later.
"Nothing; you?" She replies.
"Just some employee schedules and some questionable adult magazines that seem entirely inappropriate for a restaurant environment." He replies. "Wait; I hear something."
She closes the filing cabinet, and listens closely. "I don't hear anything."
He grabs her arm, and pulls her towards the desk, where they stuff themselves in the small space underneath.
Just as they disappear, the door opens, and three men walk into the room holding guns, and flashlights.
"Nobody's here." One of the men says.
"Then who set off the alarm?" One of the other men says.
"I don't know; some punk kids, maybe?" The third one suggests.
"You mook, nobody in this neighborhood'd be stupid enough to break into the bosses restaurant." The first guy says.
"Well someone set off the alarm." The second says.
"Probably just faulty wiring." The first guy suggests. "Things ain't been that good lately; what with Falcone scooping up alla da bosses businesses."
"Yeah, maybe." The second guy says. "Youse guys go check the basement; Ima take another look around the first floor."
They hear the door close, and footsteps walking down the stairs.
"Well, this is kind of cozy." Nightwing says, his back pressed against the drawers on one side.
"You know, for someone who is supposed to be all about stealth, you sure talk a lot." She replies, straddling his lap, and pressing her back to the underside of the desk.
"It helps ease the tension, I find." He replies. "We can probably get out from under here, now; unless you'd rather stay here for a little longer."
"In your dreams." She replies, sliding out from underneath the desk.
Nightwing stands up, and looks around. "We should probably get going, before they decide to check the office again."
They manage to sneak out into the alley without running into any of Mandragora's goons, and climb onto the roof of a nearby building.
"That could have gone a lot better." Nightwing says.
"What do you mean?" She asks, turning to look at him. "We got in and out without anyone knowing we were there; that sounds like a success to me."
"You didn't bother disabling their alarm." He says, crossing his arms, and glaring at her. "That's an amateur move."
"Well excuse me for not having your years of experience." She says, crossing her own arms, and trying to glare at him. "But they didn't have one at the warehouse; so I assumed they didn't have one here."
"So, what's our next move?" He asks.
"I'm sorry, 'our'? There is no 'our'." She replies. "I appreciate your help tonight, but it was a onetime thing."
"If you say so." Nightwing replies.
She slowly backs away from him, towards the edge of the building. "You're just going to let me go? You're not going to try and stop me?" She asks.
"No; I'm not." He replies.
She takes one last look at him, before dropping off the building and into another alley, where she runs up to her bike, and drives away.
Nightwing parks his bike next to the Batmobile, and removes his helmet.
"Where did you run off to?" Batgirl asks, walking up to him, as he sits at the computer. "I continued our patrol alone, until Bruce showed up; he wasn't too happy that you left me alone."
"He's never happy." Nightwing mumbles.
"I heard that." Bruce says, stepping out of the shadows beside the locker room. "But I'll forgive you if you tell me where you were."
"I ran into our mysterious masked vigilante again." He replies. "I caught her trying to break into one of Mandragora's restaurants in Midtown."
"Did you arrest her?" Batgirl asks, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"No; I helped her." Nightwing replies.
"You what?" Batgirl asks, shocked.
"What did you find out?" Bruce asks, calmly.
"I found out that she's out to bring Mandragora down for personal reasons; she's not working for anyone." Nightwing replies. "Also she's a little inexperienced; she forgot to disable the alarm before going in. We had to hide from three of Mandragora's men."
"And what did you find out before they showed up?" Bruce asks.
"I can't believe this." Batgirl mumbles. "You actually helped her break the law?"
"Babs, we break the law all the time, in the name of justice; this was no different." Nightwing replies, turning his attention back to Bruce. "I found out nothing, but our femme fatale came across something while searching the filing cabinet."
"And I suppose you just let her walk away with it?" Batgirl asks.
"Give me a little bit more credit than that, Babs." Nightwing says, pulling out a folded up piece of paper. "I switched it for a little note I wrote."
The masked vigilante finally comes to a stop after driving around the city in a random pattern, hoping to lose any pursuers. She parks her bike, and covers it with a tarp, before walking into her kitchen. She removes her crossbows and places them in the drawer closest to the garage door.
After stretching out tired muscles, she reaches into the pouch she had placed the paper she took from Mandragora's restaurant, and pulls it out. She unfolds it and reads it, her face contorting with anger.
"Damn it!" She shouts, slamming the paper down onto the kitchen island. "That little …argh! He double crossed me."
She looks down at the paper, and reads it again. "Fine, Mr. Nightwing; I'll meet you again tomorrow night. But you better bring what you took from me, or we will continue where we left of last night."