Hey guys, been a while I know :) Sorry about that. Finals are this week and I'm going out of my mind from all the studying :p I'd actually been working on a different one-shot than this one, but after seeing the first episode of season two, this idea just kind of came to me and I had to get it out. This is set in the same year as season two, but not to worry, I'll be going back to 2012 soon enough. Hope you like it, enjoy…

New Spider in Town

7) Long Time No See

August 23, 2016, 10:09pm…

Heather crouched in the darkness, concealed in the shadows of a large gargoyle a top Wayne Enterprises, watching the pulse of the nightlife of Gotham. It had been years since she'd been here, but the city remained relatively the same. Dark, shadowy, and still with a layer of smog hanging over it, turning the night sky red.

Even with the new pollution laws in place and the more environmentally friendly technologies, Gotham is still as hazy as its reputation, Heather mused, looking up at the orange tinted moon, though it wasn't anywhere near a harvest. At least some things never change…

Behind her, she suddenly heard the muted, dull thud of boots on asphalt. Speaking of which, she smirked to herself. "I was wondering when you would show up," she said aloud, remaining in her kneeling position.

"You're standing on Wayne Enterprises' corporate headquarters," the other person pointed out bluntly. "You might as well have sent up the batsignal."

Chuckling now, Heather stood and turned to face the young man silhouetted in the shadows. "It's been a long time, Robin," she said simply.

"It's not Robin anymore, Heather," Richard Grayson finally emerged from the darkness, revealing his tight black body suit, a blue bird emblazoned across the chest. "It's Nightwing."

Heather placed a hand on her hip, surveying him critically. "Nightwing… I like it. It's – dark, mysterious. A good fit for you, Dick. Looks like you finally hit that delayed growth spurt you'd blabbed about for years."

He smirked. "Hey, I couldn't stay a skinny, thirteen year old kid forever. And look at you," he gestured at her new costume, "Not a sidekick anymore, are you?"

"No, not anymore." She stepped into the light from the logo of Wayne Enterprises. While the light was relatively faint, it was enough to show how vastly different her new costume was from her Black Widow identity.

Her look now consisted of a one shouldered black leotard, a red utility belt hung around her supple curvy hips, and thigh high black leather boots shined glossy and slick in the light. A hooded blood red cape hung from her shoulders to her ankles, black leather elbow length gloves and a red domino mask completed her outfit, and transformed her from Heather Parker to Fang, one of New York's many Meta vigilantes.

"I haven't been a sidekick in a long time…" She sighed and crossed her arms, shrugging. "Couldn't take orders from someone else anymore, it was time for me to make my own way in the superhero biz. Don't get me wrong," she added. "I miss being by Spiderman's side sometimes, but we both work better alone. Plus, there's less fighting at the Sunday dinner table this way, and that always makes my Mom happier," she smiled wryly.

The former Robin laughed slightly. "It would be a shame to spoil one of MJ's amazing dinners," he agreed.

"You know," he said after a moment, "We could use you back at Mount Justice. The new recruits need all the mentors they can get. You'd be a great teacher and a good influence, like you've always been," he stepped closer and offered his hand. "It'd be like old times," he grinned.

Fang, however, frowned and took a step back, looking away from her old friend and back to the city below them. "You know I can't do that, Dick. I can't go back there to that place in my life. There are too many memories in the Cave… things I'd rather forget."

"Heather," Dick placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, making her look back at his sincere face. "I know it's hard to remember what happened, but you can't let it rule your life."

"It doesn't!" She snapped and flicked his hand away edgily. "I just can't –" she stopped and sighed heavily, staring at her boots. "It's too hard, Dick. Even though he's not there now, I… I just can't."

He dropped his hand back to his side. "I understand. But you should think about it, all the same. We – Conner, M'gann and I – would love to have you back."

Before she could comment a metallic clang rang out, followed by the 'vuuup!' of a zipline. Both heroes looked to the left to see a figure approaching swiftly by grappling hook to their rooftop. "You expecting someone else for this party?" Nightwing asked.

"Me? No, I thought it might be someone you were waiting for. I know Batman's not in town right now," Fang replied.

He shot her a questioning look, and she waved dismissively. "I might have left Young Justice, but I still have ways of keeping tabs on League missions. You see, I had this friend who was a really great hacker, and he taught me how to create these things called electronic back doors…" she grinned impishly and he shook his head, presumably rolling his eyes.

"Still completely incorrigible," Nightwing said with a chuckle.

"Don't you mean, corrigible?" Fang retorted, laughing. "You will never live down butchering the English language, gypsy boy," she poked his chest playfully.

He grabbed her hand and smiled, "fine, just as long as you remember that you will never live down freaking out over someone touching your records, Miss OCD." He cackled at her scowl.

"They were alphabetized!" She protested irritably, only causing him to cackle even more.

About this time, the figure from the grappling hook had landed on the roof and ran up quickly. He stopped and stared, entering upon the picture of the two friends play arguing, with Fang glowering darkly while Nightwing cackled, still holding her wrist. "Nightwing! What are you doing here?"

Dick looked over and frowned slightly, releasing Heather's hand. "What am I doing here? You know you're not supposed to be out on patrol without Batman," he responded sternly.

Heather raised an eyebrow, though the expression was dulled by her mask. "Who's the runt?" She crossed her arms and slipped her hip out to the side, leaning her weight mostly onto one foot.

The small teenage boy stepped into the light with a glare. "Runt? I'm the right size for my age," He retorted touchily.

Heather took in his costume with slight curiosity and turned to the first Robin. "You got replaced again?" She asked tone surprised and yet a tad quiet, remembering the second young boy to don the identity of Robin. "I thought Batman…"

"We've been over this – it's not replacing," Nightwing cut her off, "merely passing the torch on. The Batman will always need a Robin. This is Tim, Bruce's latest protégé."

"Hey! Nightwing, revealing secret identities is so not cool!" The new Robin protested, stomping up to his adopted older brother with a pointed finger.

"Relax, short stuff," Fang said. "I'm an old friend of Dick's. We go way back." The two exchanged smiles.

Tim groaned. "Please tell me she's not a villain, Nightwing. Batman and Catwoman are bad enough, I don't want to have to deal with you flirt fighting too. It's so not gusting."

Fang cocked another eyebrow. "Gusting? Like, 'disgusting'? You've been giving him lessons, haven't you?" Nightwing smiled like the cat that just swallowed the canary. Then something suddenly clicked, "wait, Batman and Catwoman? I thought that was a rumor!"

Nightwing cackled gleefully. "Oh, it's no rumor. They go out about once a week… although her methods for attracting his attention are pretty unorthodox. She usually steals something and waits for him to find her. Then she puts whatever it is back and its pure radio silence for a couple of hours. He's refused to discuss it, even with me, which only makes me think it's pretty serious."

Fang laughed. "Wow, that's insane. But, I always thought there was something between Bruce and Diana?"

"Wonder Woman and Bats? Not likely," Nightwing replied.

"Learn something every day," she remarked, shaking her head.

Robin looked back and forth between the two young heroes in confusion. "Okay, now I'm totally confused. Who are you?" he demanded.

Heather smiled in a more friendly way this time. "Name's Fang, and no, I'm not a villain. I'm one of the good guys... one of the defenders of New York actually."

"Then what are you doing in Gotham? Batman hates Metas in his city," Robin crossed his arms and tried to employ a batglare, but it wasn't quite as effective as Batman's or even Nightwing's.

Fang smirked and decided to mess with the kid a little. He reminded her a lot of Harry – quick tempered and easy to rile up. "Who says I'm a Meta? Maybe I'm just like you, or Nightwing, or Batman, or even Green Arrow. Ever think of that, short stuff?"

Robin opened his mouth to snap back when Nightwing finally spoke up. "Relax, Tim. Like she said, Fang's a friend. We used to work together a lot when I wore that suit. Batman won't mind… especially because what he doesn't know won't hurt him." He smirked, leaving Robin gaping.

Fang gave her friend a fist bump. "I was hoping you'd say that. Last thing I need is a pissed off Batman breathing down my neck."

"So, why are you here anyway?" Nightwing queried at last.

Immediately, chatty, happy-go-lucky Heather was gone, replaced by a focused and grim Fang. "Right. Last week, Sandman escaped from prison in New York. Spiderman was otherwise occupied, so I took up the hunt. Sandman managed to slip through my fingers and has been lying low ever since. Two nights ago, I got some intel from a reliable source that he was spotted here in Gotham. Owing to previous experiences, I thought it best to contact the resident Bats and Birds of the city to both ask for permission to pursue my target and to request some backup. Interested?"

"You know I'm always up for a challenge," Dick replied breezily. "Besides, I know that without me you'll get lost or captured within fifteen minutes." A teasing note came into his voice, making Heather frown.

"If you'll recall, you were with me when that incident happened," Fang said, adding, "and I do believe you got chewed out just a tad more than I did too. What was the punishment again? Clean the batcave, the giant penny and detail all the batvehicles as well as Bruce's collection of toys? I just got docked a month of patrol time." She smiled sweetly at Nightwing's sour expression.

"Brat," He retorted halfheartedly.

She gave a small bow causing her cape to swish around her with a light rustle, "I try."

"What are you talking about?" Tim questioned, following the quick flowing conversation like a tennis match.

"Nothing," both heroes said at once.

"Anyway," Heather continued, turning with a swish of her cape towards the parapet. "My source said Sandman was spotted around Crime Alley. I want to get this over with quickly, so let's get moving."

"What's taken you so long to catch up with him?" Robin asked, following his brother and the strange young woman, curious despite his annoyance with said woman.

"Not all of us are the wards, or former wards, of billionaires. Some of us have to work for a living," Fang sent a wry look at Nightwing.

"Hey, I live off a policeman's salary now," the former Boy Wonder defended.

Heather rolled her eyes and shot out a webline to a building across the busy street. "Sure Dick. And those little gadgets you're wearing came from the tooth fairy, right? You're still a rich bat-brat, and always will be," she winked and swung off.

The two brothers watched her leave, quiet for a moment.

"You're actually friends with this chick?" Tim finally asked. "She's insane."

Dick cackled. "Yeah she is. But if she wasn't, she wouldn't be Fang." He shot a grappling hook and followed his old friend.

Tim shook his head, muttering to himself. "This is going to be one interesting night."

A/N: And there it is! What did you think? I know it might not have made a lot of sense, but I'll probably add another one-shot to follow the storyline later on. I hope I got Tim's character right. I know more about Dick than Tim (never watched much of BTAS when it was on the air, except for clips on youtube) so I apologize if he's totally OOC. Let me know how I did, 'kay? B-) See you guys later…