Hours later, Damian sat cross legged on the bed that had become his. He had left the curtains open, to allow in the lights of the city and to give his mind something to think about other than how utterly he had screwed up. He had already tried meditating to clear his mind but it was to no avail. Just as he had made up his mind to march into Dick's room and say something- anything- his phone vibrated, indicating a call.

Damian snatched at the phone and read the display. It was Barbara Gordon. Not wanting to be sent on any further guilt trips, Damian considered ignoring it. With a chuff of defeat, Damian slid his thumb against the screen, holding the phone out in front of him. Bab's image appeared, hair pulled into a high pony, wearing what appeared to be Wonder Woman pajamas.

"Barbara." Damian acknowledged.

"Damian." She didn't appear angry or frustrated or even worried. Her blue-green eyes merely stared at his emerald ones, level but unemotional.

"Are you going to tell me why you called or are you just going to stare at me?" Damian challenged, uninterested in whatever game she was playing.

"I just wanted to see for myself that you were okay. Dick said you were home and that you said you were fine."

"And…?" Damian said, searching for the 'but' that he knew was there

"He said something seemed off."

"And you concur?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"I suppose you think I deserve that."

"Judging by the tone of your voice, you certainly think you deserve something." Damian opened his mouth to reply but stopped, jolted by her conclusion. Damian had been raised to assess people, determine their strengths, weakness and abilities, to predict his opponents' every moment. Yet more than anyone Damian had ever met, Oracle seemed to elude his grasp, dancing just outside the line of his complete comprehension.

"Look, Damian. I didn't call to chew you out or berate you or whatever. I'm not your mom or your commanding officer or your babysitter. You're your own person, you're responsible for your own actions, right?" Damian sensed that it was a rhetorical question and so remained silent, allowing Barbara to continue. "That's what you're doing in Bludhaven. Trying to prove to Bruce or Dick or whoever that you're capable of taking care of yourself and making your own choices and being all mature and what not. Fine. I respect that. The quickest way to prove that? Step one: stop acting like you know everything. Newsflash: you don't. Step two: when you screw up, take responsibility for your actions. Don't blame someone else. Don't blame the world or your upbringing. Own up to it and learn from it. That's what Dick would do."

Damian blinked several times. "This has been surprisingly educational." Damian said.

"You're welcome." Babs said, understanding that Damian had come as close to a thank you as he could. The two sat silently for a moment. Barbara could practically see the gears turning in Damian's head. "What's your question?"

"Grayson… He's very upset with me, isn't he?"

Barbara sighed, nodding gently. She suspected it would be something like this. "Yeah, he's a little upset." Bab's confirmed, always a straight shooter. "But he won't be for long. Give him a bit of time. You know how he is, he feels everything externally, he wears his heart on his sleeve. He'll have his feelings and then he'll give you hug and then he'll be back to normal." Damian nodded. "'Night, Wayne."

"Good night, Gordon."

Damian tossed his phone onto the nightstand, leaning back into the soft, inviting pillows and falling into a light but restful sleep.

The next day was quiet but mostly companionable. Dick slept in late, just because he could, making himself a big bowl of cereal once he finally decided to roll out of bed. The boys spent the day on the couch; Dick familiarizing himself with the police reports he knew he would be appearing for in court the next day and Damian fulfilling some of the school work he knew his father to be monitoring. Around 6 that night, both had had enough of their busy work, opting instead to watch the local news for a little bit.

By 7:30 Dick was in the kitchen working on his famous shish kebobs which included mushroom, red and green bell pepper, onion, and chicken, for himself.

8:15 found the boys munching happily on their meals, dining table nixed in lieu of the floor directly in front of the television, their backs to the dining room table. Dick dropped his makeshift kebab stick- formerly a chopstick from Chinese take out- onto his plate, rubbing sticky fingers onto a napkin and turning to the the younger man. "Okay."

"Okay?" Damian wasn't sure what was going on, but the boys had refrained from talking since Dick had soliloquized the night before.

"What were you wearing the other night?" Whatever Damian had been expecting, this certainly hadn't been it. "Go get it, let me see." Dick said, waving his hand toward Damian's bedroom. Damian crossed the flat to his room, emerging almost immediately with an armful of clothes. Dick was up and closing the blinds when Damian dumped his pile on the floor where they had just been sitting, returning to his spot on the floor. Dick too returned to his seat, resting his back against the coffee table, legs extended before him and crossed at the ankles. He plucked at each of the items, inspecting closely and then placing them flat on his lap. "So you're going for red and black. I like it."

Damian plucked the mask from it's resting place on Dick's knee, inspecting it before explaining, "Yes, our father's knack for picking up strays has come in handy with providing me an ample number of choices."

"Yeah, well it looks like you two have that in common," Dick laughed as Alfred the cat brushed against Damian's back before planting himself on the pile of his clothes still resting on Dick's legs.

Wanting Dick to understand, Damian ploughed on, nearly ignoring the cat, save for a quick stroke across his spine. "Your suit is almost completely black, so I did my best to imitate that. I chose the red mask because-" Damian faltered slightly before continuing, "-because your mask is blue."

"And you chose Jason's boots because of the red piping- to match. Cute." Normally Damian would have taken 'cute' as an insult but coming from Dick, he knew it wasn't.

"I was thinking about the story you told me. About how you got your name from Superman- kryptonian mythology. Nightwing was a mythological hero who was rejected by his family and turned to a life of vigilante-ism, fighting for good. I read some of Superman's files in the League's database-" Dick raised an eyebrow at this, knowing full well that Damian didn't have access to League files, but letting it go. "I was reading up on his people's mythology. And while I find most of it to be nonsense, I found one character very interesting."

"Oh yeah? Who's that?" Dick asked, genuinely interested. It was nice to see Damian getting into things that didn't involve following dangerous criminals with no back up and no way to call for help.

"Flamebird," Damian stated. Although his gaze was steady, his voice firm, Dick could hear the slight edge of nervousness entering Damian's voice.

"The goddess?" This question elicited a small gritting of teeth from Damian. "What did you find interesting about Flamebird?" Dick changed courses.

"Flamebird was a minor goddess," He said, skipping over 'goddess' as fast as he could while still uttering it. "She was created by the sun god to constantly reshape the earth. Flamebird's initiative was to burn down what her brother- The Builder- had created, ever forcing him to re-invent, to make better what he had made before."

"She burned everything down?" Dick asked, unsure where this was going.

Damian let out a disdainful snort. Clearly he would have to spell it out for his brother. "She was a force of change for the better. Without her the world would have been in a constant state of stagnation. She was the catalyst which sparked change."

"Good changes- healthy growth," Dick elaborated, finally catching on.

"Precisely." Damian searched his brothers face for any hint disapproval but found none.

"I like it. It's a good sentiment." Dick approved, smiling.

"It occurred to me that perhaps I could do with a little… rebuilding," the younger deliberated quietly. In his agitation he stood and Dick followed suit, setting the cat back on the clothes which remained on the floor. "Perhaps there are still things that I need to learn. Perhaps…" Damian abandoned that train of thought, refocusing on the confused blue eyes searching his face. "I made a mistake- the other night. I should have… I should have done things differently. You are the catalyst for positive change in my life. Perhaps I can be this for others, with your guidance." Damian concluded, feeling slightly foolish. Dicks eyes were wide, lips still and sealed. He shouldn't have said anything. He should go back to Gotham now with as much of his pride as he could pick up off the floor. This whole venture had been foolish.

Damian was shaken out of his thoughts when he felt the hands of his brother on each of his shoulders. Dick was doubled almost in half, knees bent and shoulders slouching so he could be on eye level with the youngest Wayne. Dick locked eyes with Damian, forcing him to look back. Unable to find the words to express his gratitude, Dick instead straightened, pulling Damian into a very tight hug. Instead of protesting like he normally would, Damian allowed Dick to hold him for a few seconds, even going so far as to rest his head on Dick's chest, one arm loosely hung around his brother.

Pulling away, Dick ruffled Damian's hair and made for the backpack which was slung around the back of one of the kitchen table chairs. "Where are you going?" Damian asked, alarmed at the sudden change. The air was suddenly lighter, the room brighter. Had something so small as an apology caused so drastic a change?

"We," Dick corrected, turning to face his questioner. "Are going to the docks. Barb texted me earlier today, said that she had received those pictures you took and that she had information saying that another shipment of that same type and description is going to be coming into the docks off Avalon Heights."

"We're going to intercept a shipment?" Damian interrogated, unable to keep all of the excitement from his voice.

"Sometimes the best way to get information is to jump in and take it." Dick confirmed, tossing Damian his own backpack which had been resting on the floor by the leftmost barstool which Damian had claimed as 'his'. Damian stashed his suit in the pack and then the two rode the elevator down, strolled through the apartment's lobby casually and taking a sharp left on the outside of the building. Nightwing had been sure to purchase his loft in a building without security cameras, to make his vigilante habits harder to track. Dick knew where every camera on the block was and, subsequently, knew all their blind spots. One of which happened to be the ally directly next to his building, which happened to house one of his safety closets.

A quick glance around and Dick was punching the code into the keypad cleverly hidden behind a fake brick. The boys were suited up within seconds of the door closing. Dick performed a quick once over of Damian's outfit. Determining that it had sufficient protective qualities Dick announced, "We'll design an emblem for you once we get back tonight. If we're lucky, we might be able to churn something out by the end of the week, get you out of these hand me downs."

Dick thumbed a blue button on the wall to the right of the door. A panel on the floor lifted up, seams appearing where none had been moments ago. "Bruce helped me with his one. A sewage line runs directly under this building. For whatever reason, it was built with all the rest, about seventy years ago, but this one was left unused. As it is, it isn't anywhere on the maps. It runs all the way to 32nd so we'll pop up somewhere along that route and then make our way to the docks above ground." Dick narrated, following the tunnel with a practiced ease that came only with habitual routine.

The two were picking their way through stacks of shipping containers, stealthily making their way to where Babs was directing them, via coms. Apparently it was the second to last dock on the western side of the docks.

Once they had reached a distance Dick determined was ideal recon, Dick and Damian hunkered down on the top of a loading crane which was apparently unoperational and had been left to the side in wait of repairs. Damian wasn't entirely enthused with Dick's choice of perch, but was well used to the collateral which came with partnering with a former circus acrobat.

The first two hours of the stake out yielded nothing more interesting than the squawk of seagulls and the dull roar of machinery in the distance. Dick was just about to call and nag Babs about where she got her information when a figure emerged from the barge which they had been so studiously watching.

Damian pulled a set of binoculars from his tactical belt, zeroing in on the lone figure who was making his way to the dock side of the bow of the ship. "He's making a call." Damian reported, eyes never leaving his target.

"You wouldn't happen to be able to make out what he's saying?" Dick hoped uselessly.

"Not from this far away."

Fifteen minutes later, a functioning crane driven by a thin, seedy looking man came thundering up to the dock. The barge man and crane dude had a brief conversation before the crane worker lumbered back into his rig and began lifting shipping containers at the direction of his companion.

Three containers- all identical to the one Damian had seen the night before-soon rested on the ground to the side of the dock, waiting to be loaded onto semi trailers. The two men left their respective posts and met halfway, conveniently on Dick and Damian's side of the steel containers.

"Shall we go relieve those charming men of their cargo?" Damian asked, ready for a fight.

"Not yet. I have to do things a little differently here than in Gotham." Dick said, still watching the men. "Gotham is lucky enough to have Commissioner Gordon, who's pretty good about running a tight ship. Bludhaven's police force isn't quite so lucky." Dick sniffed, a hint of irritation entering his voice. "Blud's police force is about as corrupt as it gets. The scuzbags down here own at least 50% percent of the force. The other half know what's going on and choose to ignore it. They've got quite a few judges too, and much of the city's elected officials."

"Sounds like a mess."

"It is. It's one of the reasons I chose Blud. It needs a lot of help, but I'm willing to put in the legwork. That's why I joined the force, why I have to start from the bottom and work my way up. It's a chance for me to get a real inside look on what's going on. Who's running what, who I can rely on, who I need to target. I'm trying to keep my head low but being known has one of the only guys who won't take a bribe is not as low key as it sounds." Dick joked without much humor.

"So why are we waiting?" Damian questioned, shifting positions to get more comfortable.

"I want to try to get the drivers too. And if we could get a peek inside those containers, just to prove what we already know is in there, that would be great too. I've gotta make as big a paper trail as possible in case someone on the force is working with these clowns."

"The bigger the paper trail the harder it is to cover up."

"Right. And of course, you and I will be keeping copies of the evidence for ourselves just in case someone 'misfiles' it later." Dick scoffed, using air quotes for emphasis.

"In Gotham Batman and I would have just knocked these buffoons out and called the police." Damian noted out loud.

"Welcome to Bludhaven," Dick said, mocking travel commercials he had seen on TV with a sugary voice, "The dumpster fire sister city of Gotham. If you thought Gotham was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet."

Damian smirked, slightly amused by his brother's antics.

When three men arrived, each driving their own semi rig, Dick straightened, pulling the escrima sticks from the pouches on his back. Damian did likewise with the grappling gun hanging at his right hip.

When the three new arrivals convened at the back with the original two, Dick snapped a few pictures with a quick press to the side of his mask. Damian really needed to have his upgraded. Dick almost did a flip when the barge man opened the back of one of the containers. "Bingo, baby." Dick said to no one in particular, smirk loud and proud as he leapt from the crane, performing two aerial somersaults before landing with his feet on the nearest man's shoulders. A collarbone snapped and then another man screamed as Damian was upon them.

Alone the men might have lasted at least 30 seconds each but together the men were unorganized. Nightwing and the newly minted Flamebird made quick work of them, moving together with a fluidity and an unspoken understanding that would have impressed even The Batman himself. Without having to say it, each knew when to go high or go low, to sweep left when the other was punching right, to duck under his escrima stick or flip over his flash grenade.

The men were down and zip tied to each other within seconds. While Damian stood guard over the newly bruised and aching men, Dick sliced open the top of one of the cardboard boxes waiting in the still open shipping container. Dozens of vacuum sealed packages lay on top of one another. Dick picked up one of the smaller bags, tucking it into his belt for future analysis.

Dick's next move was to reach for his cell phone and dial a BPD detective whom Nightwing had many dealings and who was willing to work with the hero. Nightwing was assured that someone would be responding within minutes and that the drugs would be properly confiscated.

Not long after, Nightwing and Flamebird were scuttling through the abandoned sewer back to the security closet and Dick and Damian emerged, ready for a cold glass of anything and maybe a few celebratory s'mores.

A/N: Alright, another chapter down! We're getting pretty close to the end. Thanks to all those have been reviewing, especially Mikekit! You guys are very encouraging! Keep reviewing and keep reading. If you guys have any ideas for a story you'd like to write, PM me or drop a comment in the reviews.