Birds of a Feather Chapter 10
Author's note: Thank you so much everyone for your patience and understanding. Hopefully you really enjoy this chapter considering how long I made you all wait. Since I put up the update, I'll keep this note short. I hope you guys enjoy.
Nightwing crouched at the edge of an abandoned building that stood in downtown Jump City. A parking garage stood opposite, and just then several masked men were moving guns and duffel bags from a police truck into an unmarked van.
"Are the cops corrupt?" Robin broke the silence as he adjusted the sights on his binoculars.
"No. That truck must have been stolen." Nightwing responded, returning his own binoculars to his utility belt and drawing his grapnel gun. Beside him Robin mirrored his movements. They fired their grapnels in unison, and leaped from the roof. Nightwing planted his boot firmly into the chest of the nearest goon, and rolled into a crouch. Nearby, Robin was also rolling to his feet, bird-a-rangs already in hand.
The masked men were slow to react, but a few managed to grab guns from the van and two of them drew knives.
"You'd think these guys would be used to things like this happening by now. I mean you can see the giant T from here." Robin quipped, letting both bird-a-rangs fly. They slashed into the hands of one of the gunmen, who cursed and dropped the weapon. Nightwing leaped forward. One of the gangsters brandished a long serrated knife, and swung wildly. Dick grabbed his wrist and twisted savagely, breaking it cleanly. He jammed his elbow down against the man's chest just in time to deflect a second assailant's knife. The parking lot rang out with the sound of gunfire, and the two vigilantes took cover behind a stone pillar.
"Three O'Clock, sounds like a revolver." Robin glanced around the corner quickly, and turned back just as a bullet ricocheted off of the pillar they were hiding behind.
"Get ready, popping smoke." Nightwing drew two grey pellets from his belt and tossed them out. Smoke roiled from the orbs as they bounced along the floor, and Dick activated his detective vision. The gunman started to fire wildly in random directions, but Robin tossed a bola which wrapped itself around the man's ankles. He fell forward, dropping the gun as he did so. A few punches and kicks later, the thugs were bound together and handcuffed.
"Hey come take a look at this." Robin was poking around in the back of the van while Dick secured the men to one of the pillars.
He moved over to the van where the young boy was fiddling with the lock of a huge metallic brief case. He popped it open and pulled it forward so that it was fully visible in the light of the parking garage.
"It's a high powered sniper rifle." Tim said, moving his hand over the disconnected parts of the rifle.
"Not just any rifle." Dick said, lifting the stock to reveal a small indentation. "It's Slades."The mark was clearly visible in the light.
"You said he's back in Jump City. Shouldn't he be dead?" Tim asked, moving to the back of the police truck.
"We thought so. But he was seen in China a few years ago, and we know he accepted a job in Malaysia before that. Last year Green Arrow recorded a run in with Deathstroke…or at least someone impersonating him."
Tim called out from the police truck "How do you know it wasn't that Ravage girl you just accepted onto the team?"
Dick placed the rifle back into its case, and moved to join Tim. "It's certainly a possibility. There's nothing on record about her that I could find. She seems to have just appeared out of nowhere."
"Then why let her on the team?" the boy asked, looking to his older friend.
"You know what they say about keeping your enemies close. If she's behind all of this then keeping her in the tower will keep her off of the streets, and hopefully put a stop to any scheming. In any case I can't be certain that Slade isn't actually alive and back in Jump City." He moved to the front of the truck where a dead police officer was slumped in the passenger seat. Nightwing unbuttoned a small compartment on his wrist, revealing a small computer interface built into the fabric.
"This cadaver is pretty gruesome. Whoever did this certainly didn't mind driving around with a body that died hours ago. Somehow I don't think we've caught the mastermind behind this, Robin." Tim came over to inspect the body, and made notes on his own wrist computer.
"Any idea who the driver was?" He asked.
"There aren't any clues that wouldn't require a forensics lab, and JCPD wouldn't be too happy if I just borrowed their fallen comrade."
"Well…" Tim tapped on his display, and Dicks own computer screen flashed. "I found some info on the van, and I think we could use it to track our cop killer." He said, flashing a wide smile.
"Not tonight Tim." Dick responded, moving to the open ledge of the parking garage. "I want to get back to the tower. I have some…unfinished business there."
"Unfinished business? I thought the rest of your team could handle the rest of the testing!" Tim looked incredulous.
"I'm not worried about that, there are just some things I want to take care of before the nights over."
Robin stepped in front of Nightwing before he could draw his grapnel gun.
"There's a murderer on the loose, trading weapons and coke to thugs in the city! A murderer who was toting a weapon that belonged to the guy trying to hunt you down and kill you!"
"The police are on their way to the scene. They'll take over from here. Our killer knows we're on their scent, which means they'll lay low for the rest of the night. Even so, there's very little to go off of, and a slim chance we'll catch them tonight. I'll wait for the police reports tomorrow and then hack into their forensics files and get what I need from there."
He moved past the young boy, and drew his grapnel. Tim stood there, refusing to budge.
"Batman would go after him." The boy stated plainly.
Dick swiveled around instantly. "I am not Batman!" his shout echoed through the parking garage. "If you want to track this lead down then do it. Then you can go home and tell Bruce that I don't want his lackey following me around!"
Tears started to well up behind Timothy's mask. It occurred to Dick that the boy was still very young, and he instantly regretted his outburst.
"Tim…I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
"I'm not anyone's lackey." The boy responded. He hastily drew his own grapnel gun, and fired it at the adjacent building, whipping out of sight before Dick could respond.
Sighing to himself, Nightwing drew his own grapnel and launched it at the same building. By the time he reached the roof Robin was gone.
The drive back to the tower was long and mostly quiet. He briefly passed by a swarm of police cruisers moving in the direction of the parking garage, but otherwise there wasn't a single other car moving down the street in Jump City. When he arrived at the tower his eyes snapped to Ravens window, only to see that it was dark. He cursed himself silently, and pulled into the garage.
"Hey." Nightwing leaped off of the bike, drawing his batons.
"Calm down bird boy. I'm supposed to be your team mate, remember?" Ravage stepped from behind the tarp covered T-Car.
Nightwing didn't sheath his weapons. "I'm still not sure about that." He muttered through gritted teeth.
"Well I passed all of the robot's tests." She shrugged.
"Passing those tests doesn't change the fact that you're wearing Slade Wilson's armor. And the fact that you were skulking in the garage isn't helping your case." He responded.
"Okay. First of all, it's my father's armor. We went over that. You even gouged a nice deep scratch in it. Secondly, I wasn't skulking. I was waiting for you and your little brother."
Nightwing sheathed his batons, but kept his guard up. "He's not my brother. In fact it's none of your business. I don't know anything about you, so what makes you think I'm going to tell you anything about me? It could be that your father was Deathstroke's partner, or you could be some apprentice of his, looking for revenge."
Ravage scoffed. "Truth be told, I don't care what your weird relationship with the little kid is. Besides, if I remember reading the reports correctly, Slade died trying to save you, so why would I seek revenge if I were his apprentice? And why would I go to someone who declared themselves his enemy when he came back?"
Nightwing considered her words, easing up his tension only slightly.
"Look, if the armor is bothering you THAT much….I'll just take it off." Before he could stop her, Ravage unclipped her chest piece, letting it clatter to the floor. Underneath she wore a skin tight black turtle neck. Her body was trim and athletic, and she was smaller than she'd first appeared, less imposing without her steel and chainmail chest piece. She was attractive, but the more he looked at her, the more he thought of Raven asleep in the tower above him.
She flipped her ebony hair, and adjusted her shirt. "See? Normal person. I mean….a normal crime fighting vigilante bent on revenge for the death of her father….Well I wanted to talk to you about something…but I guess it can wait."
She moved to the door, but Nightwing grabbed her elbow to stop her. "I'm not saying I trust you…." He squinted. She looked familiar…as if he'd known her a long time ago. Take away the eye patch….different hair maybe….
"I'm not asking you to." She said bluntly, snapping Nightwing out of his reverie. "I'm telling you that the next time you go out on patrol, I'm going with you. I will find Slade Wilson, and I will kill him." She said seriously
"You need to understand one thing. Heroes do not kill. At the end of the day, I don't care who or what you are. When we find Slade, he will face justice, like every villain we've faced before him. If you want to stay on this team, you will accept that rule, or you will be locked away just like the rest."
She wrenched her arm away from him, and then placed her palm against his chest. "Whatever you say, bird boy." She winked slyly with her one eye, and reached for the elevator door.
Frowning, Nightwing parked his bike and double checked the garage for any tampering or foul play. Everything checked out, and the elevator was coming back down.
The elevator door opened onto the living room, where Nightwing found Beast Boy waiting on the couch.
"How was your patrol?" He asked absently, flicking through late night tv shows. The volume was muted.
"It went okay." He replied, vaulting over the couch to sit next to his team mate.
"That's good. We finished testing the new recruits." Beast Boy responded.
"Any plans on what to do with them?" He asked.
"Hm…"Beast Boy answered absently.
Dick let out a long sigh. "Look, Beast Boy….if this is about me and Raven…"
"I don't want to talk about that dude." Beast Boy cut him off. "I just don't. If you guys are gonna do that…fine. But you'd better take care of her bro. You'd better take damned good care of her, because if you don't….I will come down on you. I will come down on you like lightning and no amount of grappling hooks, or bird-a-rangs will save you from my wrath." Beast Boy looked to him seriously.
"Now that we've reached an understanding…" He continued. "I have no freaking clue what to do with any of the new recruits. I have no idea what I'm doing at all. I'm not a leader." He hung his head in defeat.
"Come on now, B. That's not true. You're killing it in mission briefings. You have a real knack strategy and mission planning." Dick reached over to rub his teammates shoulder.
"Yeah, Maybe." Beast Boy said after a while. "But this team building stuff…it's over my head Your speech at the pool party just reminded me of how much better you are at this."
"It just takes some practice." Nightwing responded. "Plus my mentor was really good at taking charge. Something he still feels the need to remind me of."
Beast Boy laughed. "Well the fact remains…" He mulled over his thoughts for a moment before continuing. "I want you to take over as team leader again. I know you might not be looking for that commitment, but if you're gonna be smooching Rae Rae all over my couch, I want you to make sure she's surrounded by the best super hero team possible."
Nightwing thought about it for a moment. This was as close to acceptance as he was likely to get from Beast Boy. "Fine." He finally responded. "Under one condition…." Beast Boy looked up to him surprised.
"I want you to be my strategic advisor on missions." Dick slid his mask off of his face. "And more importantly, I need you to keep an eye on some of our new members."
Beast Boy nodded. "I'm guessing you're talking specifically about the one who could use an extra."
Nightwing didn't respond immediately, but Beast Boy understood his silence.
"I'll have Cy rig her room. I'm assuming she'll be staying with us in Jump City. That just leaves the rest of them." Beast Boy grabbed a stack of folders from the coffee table, and passed them to Nightwing.
Dick flipped through the folders, each one with details on the new recruits. "Well judging by Cyborgs notes, I think we should set up a team with Artemis and Kid Flash. I don't think we could separate Miss Martian and Superboy if we tried." He kept flipping through each folder, stopping briefly to look at Ravage's file. She'd scored near perfect on every single test.
"Let's set them up at the tower in Star City." He said finally.
"Why so far?" Beast Boy asked.
"It's kind of personal, but I would like to see Superboy away from Gotham." Beast Boy gave him a strange look, but he continued. "Besides, Artemis told us she'd partnered with Green Arrow, and he's based out of Star City. She'll have connections there and the city will be familiar to her."
Beast Boy nodded in acceptance. "You know Cy wants to see Jinx moved here." Beast Boy said after a while.
"I know." Nightwing responded, and for once he could understand why. "But we're already overloaded here, especially with Ravage and Robin."
It felt strange to him to use Tim's code name; almost like referring to himself in the third person.
"Yeah, but you know he's going to see them added to our roster and wonder why it isn't jinx." The green changeling let out a loud yawn, and Nightwing mimicked him.
"I know. But he'll understand. Besides, Robin won't be staying long."
Beast Boy grunted. "Must run in the family…" Beast Boy shut the tv off and stood. "Well I'm going to bed. We can iron out details in the morning."
Dick watched him leave, before making his way to his own bedroom. It had been a long night, but his mind was still racing with questions. He disrobed and sat down at his computer desk. The computer file on Ravage was still open. He opened the only photo of her he had, and started playing about with the color and saturation. No matter how much he adjusted the hair color to account for hair dying, he couldn't place, nor shake his uneasy sense of déjà vu.
Dick found himself checking for Tim's GPS tracker, which pegged him within the tower. He let out a sigh of relief, and then chuckled to himself. As hard as he tried to convince Tim, and himself that he was nothing like their mentor, he couldn't help but draw the parallels between himself and Bruce. Here he sat, keeping tabs on his adopted brother, and relentlessly working to uncover as much information as possible on a girl he had no reason not to trust.
Rubbing his eyes, he climbed into bed. Dick Grayson's last thought before drifting off to sleep was not the mysterious Ravage, or the young Tim Drake. Instead, his mind drifted only to Raven, before he fell soundly to sleep.