The next day Bryce got up early and ordered breakfast. After she had eaten she got ready and headed out. She planned to go to Wayne Manor and talk to Dick again. She was sure all he needed was to really think about it and she would help him do that.
The large door opened moments after Bryce rang the doorbell. A tall man in a butler's outfit stood there.
"May I help you?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm looking for Mr. Grayson. Is he home?"
"He is. Who may I say is here?"
"Just tell him Bryce wants to speak with him, please." As the butler let her in, closed the door, and went to find Dick, Bryce twiddled her thumbs nervously. She studied the hall where she stood. It seemed old. A chill went through her and she rubbed her arms, feeling the goosebumps that had risen there.
Footsteps sounded on the stone floor and Bryce turned her head. Dick was walking towards her, the look on his face not one of welcome.
Today he wore a pair of blue jeans and an old, faded t-shirt. In some ways, in the far corner of her mind, Bryce wished he wasn't her father. He was very handsome.
"I'd like for you to leave," he said before she had the chance to speak.
"But I'd like to talk to you."
"I can't talk right now. I-" he had looked into her eyes. She was looking up at him, her eyes wet with tears. "You don't understand what's going on in my head right now Bryce. I'll talk to you when I'm ready." He placed his hands on her shoulder and turned her towards the door.
Bryce looked back at him as he put his hand on the door handle. He looked away from her as he opened the door and pushed her out.
That night Bryce was still angry about Dick not talking to her. She had tried calling him but he told her he didn't want to talk or see her and then hung up on her.
She was in a foul mood and wanted to let loose. Picking up a phone book she looked through the yellow pages for night clubs. She closed her eyes and picked one at random. This club was nearly across the city. She would have to spend some money on a taxi to get to it.
The club was loud and full of people. She found it odd that so many people wanted to come here when this part of the city wasn't the best looking. She figured it must be the price of the drinks that drew people to it. She had expected to pay more than what she did for one.
The night deepened and Bryce had had too many drinks. She was on one of the stages dancing and teasing the men that stood below her. The music thudded in her ears and the voices echoed. It was as if she was dancing in water as she saw her arm move slowly in front of her.
A touch on her side. She stopped dancing and turned to see a strange, but gorgeous, man standing there. He smiled at her and helped her off the stage. She didn't protest with her body but her mind started sending up warning flags as she saw she was being taken towards the door. She couldn't get her body to do what she wanted.
She was outside now, the air chilling her bones. She tried to struggle as she was being walked away from the club. The man had her arms firmly between his own arm and his body.
It was getting quiet. All she could hear were their footsteps on the pavement. He stopped by a car and one of the doors opened. Another man got out.
"What took you so long?" he asked.
"It was worth it wasn't it?" He gently shook Bryce.
"Eh just get her in the car."
Her mind was racing and she tried to free herself. Tried to use the self defense techniques she had learned after that night she had nearly been robbed. Her body wasn't cooperating.
As tears came to her eyes while the man forced her into the car all she managed to do was let out a small, strangled cry for help. It echoed off the dark buildings that surrounded her. No one would hear her.
The door shut with a jarring thud and Bryce was now sobbing. Then she realized she wasn't being held. She went for the door handle but it didn't work. She tried the other door, it too, wasn't opening.
"Child locks," said the man in the driver's seat. "They are a nice thing to have."
Bryce laid down on the seat and put her face in her hands as she continued to cry. How could she have let this happen to her?
Something slammed into the car. Bryce was startled out of her tears. She looked up and saw the man from the club sprawled on the windshield. The driver got out of the car to check and she saw something dart past and the man was gone.
Taking her chance, she climbed between the two front seats and opened the passenger door.
Stepping out onto the pavement she took a deep breath. The man on the windshield groaned and began to move. Bryce stepped back. All her training spun through her head but she knew she was too drunk to do any of the moves correctly.
The man saw that she was out of the car and tried to get up. Bryce stepped back more as he fell off the hood. As he stood up he was thrown back to the ground by his friend who had landed on him. Bryce looked up and saw someone descending from a fire escape. He landed on the ground between her and the men. His back was to her.
She studied him. He wore a skin tight, black suit that had some sort of blue design around the shoulders.
He turned his head so he could see her out the corner of his eye. She saw he wore a mask. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice a bit husky.
"Y-yes, thank you," she managed to say.
He didn't bother saying anything else to her as he approached the men lying on the ground. They groaned and looked up. Both began to try and escape but he grabbed them and threw them both into the car. Then he used their seatbelts to tie them up.
"I'll take you home," he said to her as he shut the door.
"What about them?"
"They'll be taken care of. Come on." He reached out and pulled her to him. "We have to take the roofs until I find my bike. I hope you don't mind heights." She shook her head.
When they got to his bike he handed her a helmet and she looked at him oddly.
"You want a ride home with me you put on the helmet." He swung his leg over the seat and settled onto the bike. Bryce slid the bulky thing over her head and fixed the strap.
"Where do you live?"
"The hotel closest to the airport."
As they rode off Bryce remembered what Greg had said about a hero protecting the city.
"Are you the Batman?" she asked and received a laugh.
"No. I'm standing in for him. You can call me Nightwing."
"A hero needs a stand in?"
"Even heroes need vacations."
Once she was back in her hotel room she turned to the tall man standing there, looking around.
"Thank you. I don't know what would have happened had you not been there." She looked at the floor, she wasn't used to showing gratitude.
"Next time you should think about drinking at home instead of going out to do it. This city isn't safe for those who can't protect themselves."
Her head shot up and she stood taller. "I can protect myself. I was nearly mugged back home so I started taking a self defense class."
"Nearly?" Bryce could tell he was raising one eyebrow.
"I was knocked out and all I can remember after hitting the ground was seeing a dark figure in a cape. Next thing I know I was back home."
"I see. Well next time if you go out don't drink so much or maybe even at all. You can't protect yourself if you can't function properly. Keep out of trouble." He turned back to the window and made to leave but Bryce stopped him.
"Are you always out at night?"
"Always."
"Will I see you again?"
"I hope not." And with that he jumped from the window. By the time Bryce got to it he was out of sight.
Greg sat across from Bryce the next day at lunch. She was retelling the story of what happened to her the night before. As she finished she took a sip of water.
"Nightwing, eh?" Greg said after a lengthy silence.
"Heard of him?"
"I have, but normally he's been reported as being seen in Bludhaven and even a few times in New York. I don't think I recall many times he's been here."
"Do you now much about him?"
"Not really. Ask me about Batman and I could tell you some things but Nightwing is a mystery to me."
Bryce was determined to get Dick to talk to her. He had stopped answering her calls so now she had taken to following him. She had nearly been caught on more than one occasion but had become pretty good at staying hidden.
It was one day that Bryce was sitting at a café table near a building Dick had gone into almost hours before. She had bought enough cups of coffee to keep her awake for months while she waited for him.
Just as she was yawning she saw the door to the building open once again and this time Dick walked out. Nearly upsetting her chair as she jumped up she laid some change on the table for the waitress and made her way to the crosswalk.
She stood by a crowd of people waiting to cross. As she craned her neck to see him she realized that he had disappeared into the crowd walking up and down the sidewalk. As she elbowed her way through the crowd someone shoved back and she found herself on her backside in the middle of the street.
A dump truck was speeding towards her. It honked and began to break but the oversized vehicle continued to skid. Bryce scrambled to get up. Just as she stood someone slammed into her, knocking her onto the sidewalk. She was crushed beneath them.
As the person got up she groaned and took a deep breath, finally able to breathe again. Turning to look at her rescuer she stared into a pair of blue eyes, black hair falling into them. Her heart skipped a beat as he looked at her angrily.
Grabbing her by the arm he pulled her up and dragged her off to a car parked not far from the crosswalk. Opening the passenger door she threw her in and shut it then got in on his own side.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked angrily as he turned the key in the ignition.
"What are you talking about?"
He turned to glare at her. "You know what I'm talking about. Why are you following me?"
"What else am I supposed to do? You refuse to talk to me!"
"Maybe there's a reason for it!" He pulled out into the traffic. "My life is complicated and I can't have old memories running through my head right now. I also can't have some girl who claims to be my daughter tailing me everywhere I go! A man needs his privacy!"
"Claims!" she cried. "You saw the birth certificate. I even look like you."
Dick sighed heavily. "Look I didn't mean it that way. I don't have time for a daughter. I don't have time for anything, really. I've got too much on my plate right now as it is. So just lay off, alright?"
The rest of the car ride was silent as Bryce fumed. When they reached her hotel she got out and slammed the door without another look at Dick. She didn't even take notice that he sat outside the hotel for a few minutes after she had entered.
In her mind, though, this wasn't going to stop her. She realized that it wasn't just a small feeling, wanting to know her father. She finally knew who he was and wanted him in her life no matter what.
That night she waited near Wayne Manor for Dick to come out. She knew he left the large house every night but she always lost him along the way. Tonight she was going to make sure she didn't lose him.
I was nearly midnight when the gates opened and Bryce heard the familiar growl of the motorcycle. She had bought a moped for herself. She knew it wasn't much for following him but she'd at least be able to stay close enough to know which direction he went in.
When he was far enough down the road she pulled out and rode off after him.
They were in the city and she wondered what he was doing. It had been over and hour and all he was doing was riding around. If he was going for a nighttime drive he could have gone down a country road outside the city in Bryce's point of view.
She was sitting idly around the corner while Dick sat on his bike a few yards away talking to a man when she noticed he looked up.
Looking up as well she noticed a light in the sky. It was barely visible due to the cloudless sky but she could just make out a bat shape in the round light. The sound of squealing tires caught her attention. She was about to lose him.
She raced off after him. He made hi way toward the police station and into and alley. She didn't dare go into it for fear of him seeing her. Instead she waited across the street in the opposite alley. Her heart beat heavily against her chest as she waited.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity she saw a different motorcycle pull out from the alley way. She recognized it as the cycle that Nightwing had given her a ride back to the hotel on.
Something in her mind made her start the moped and zoom off after the man. She soon found herself at the docks. The motorcycle and the rider were nowhere to be seen. What she did see were some very shady men talking in hushed voices by a boat. They were unloading some crates that appeared to be heavier than normal.
A noise made the men stop and look around. Bryce could barely hear one tell the others to hurry up.
She was becoming intrigued by the goings on of the men and soon forgot about what she was doing there. Just as she leaned forward to put her head in her hand and watch, someone leaped from the shadows to jump onto the box the men were carrying. They dropped it and scattered.
Bryce recognized Nightwing in his skin tight suit. He ran after one man and then another, incapacitating each in turn. When he finally had them all rounded up he waited for the police to arrive and then disappeared.
The sound of his motorcycle sounded far off and Bryce cursed herself for forgetting to start off after him. She did so now and followed the sound of his bike.
It wasn't long before she found him. His bike was parked on the street and she looked around to see him sitting on the ledge of a roof.
Without another moment's thought she hid her moped and made her way into the building. When she got to the roof she was happy to find that the door had been propped open. She could sneak out and hide without making a sound.
The light from a sign nearby lit Nightwing enough for Bryce to see his features. She stopped a few feet from him and hid behind a vent duct. As he sat there he sighed. Bryce could hear a weary soul in that sigh and her heart went out to him.
He pulled one foot onto the ledge and slid a finger into the side of a boot and pulled something out. Bryce couldn't make out what it was.
"Melody," he said, almost inaudibly. Did Bryce believe her ears? Did he just say her mother's name? Nightwing held the paper close to his face as he pulled up the mask he wore. Bryce nearly gasped when she saw his face.
It wasn't Nightwing on that ledge anymore. It was Dick Grayson. Bryce could see his blue eyes from where she sat.
He seemed so sad. She wanted to go out there and hug him. How much did he really love her mother?
It occurred to her that she should leave him alone for tonight. It wasn't right to hear someone's private thoughts. She carefully got up and tiptoed back to the door and headed down the stairs.
