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Dick recoiled at the force of her statement. There was no question in his mind about what she meant by that one little word. Staring at her now he found himself caught between fleeing the scene, playing dumb or just coming clean by ripping his mask off. Obviously that was never going to be a realistic option, but then neither was running.

He swallowed.

"I think we've already established that you know me – we did meet in the alley the other night after all. But you have me at an advantage – I don't know who you are," he said, forcing a playful smile which he hoped would cover his nerves.

"Cut the crap. I know who you are," she snapped, angry at both being deceived and now being treated like an idiot.

"Of course you do. The suit is kind of a giveaway."

The door swung open before Buffy could respond. Spinning around she frowned as she realised it was her friends, who had decided that she'd been away too long for a simple staking and taken it upon themselves to check up on her. Willow tentatively stepped out of the doorway, closely followed by the rest of the gang. Looking beyond the fuming girl, they froze when they saw her masked companion. Awestruck, Xander let out a barely audible "Wow".

With the slayer – whatever that meant – distracted, Nightwing saw his chance to make a discreet escape. Firing a line at a nearby rooftop, he deftly leapt up and hurtled across the skyline and into the night.

Buffy muttered a few choice curses, before glaring at her friends. Unconsciously stepping back under her gaze, Willow drew a breath before braving the temper of the blonde.

"Is everything ok?"

"Just peachy! I'm going home." Buffy answered, before stalking off into the shadows. The gang looked at each other.

"Is it just me or did she seem anything but 'peachy'?" Xander asked.

"She was tense," Oz nodded.

"I can't remember the last time she was that ticked off," Willow agreed.

"She was right about Nightwing. Did you see his body?" Anya piped up, seemingly oblivious to the mood of the slayer and the scoobies. Xander rolled his eyes, slightly put out that his girlfriend had been so obviously admiring someone he could admit was in a league that he could never even aspire to match.

"So what now?"

"I go back to my dorm and try to talk to her. You guys go to Giles and let him know what's going on," Willow said, taking charge.

"Do we even know what's going on?" Her boyfriend asked.

"No, but we should tell him that there's been another encounter with Nightwing. And that something must have happened because Buffy's pretty het up," she shrugged, before running off after her friend.

Once he was a safe distance from the Bronze, Nightwing came to a halt and activated his communicator.

"Hey Boy Wonder. What's up?" Oracle's friendly voice greeted him.

"Have you heard of a slayer?" Dick said, not even bothering with any pleasantries. Barbara Gordon frowned. It was unlike him to get straight to business without so much as a hello – that was much more his mentor's style, so it was unnerving when the normally high-spirited Grayson tapped into his inner Bat.

"Slayer?"

"Yeah. You think you could…"

"Do some research?" she finished his sentence. "Of course. You think that's got something to do with all the weird activity in Sunnydale?"

"I don't know. I don't know if it's causing it or trying to stop it. I just heard it mentioned and I need to know what it means."

"Sure. I'm going to need more information though."

"I don't have any more than that."

She hesitated before asking the next question. "Does it have anything to do with Buffy?"

"No." He wasn't sure why he felt the need to lie. Intuition maybe? A desire to protect the girl he was trying hard not to become attached to? He couldn't say.

"Listen, I have to go. Can you not tell him about this?"

"Ok. I'll let you know what I find out." She sighed, not quite sure what to make of the conversation. It was unsettling not to trade barbs, and she couldn't help but feel he was hiding things.

"How much did you hear?" She asked the figure in the darkness.

"What doesn't he want me to know?" Batman responded.

"I don't know. He's not exactly being forthcoming."

"Are you worried?" The veiled concern behind the simple question caught her off guard.

"Not about Dick. I know whatever's happening there, he can handle it."

"But?"

"I don't know. Something's not right."

There was no response. He had already left the room; she didn't need to look to know that. Sighing, she turned her attention to the matter at hand and begun her research.

Across Sunnydale Willow found the slayer tapping furiously at her laptop. She stood and watched for a minute before finding her voice.

"What's going on?"

"Huh?" Buffy looked up.

"What's going on?" the redhead repeated patiently.

"Nothing. Can you help me?"

"Sure. If you tell me what's going on. What did Nightwing say that's got you so angry?"

"Nothing. He didn't say anything important – it was just something I saw out there. I need to know more about Richard Grayson. What did you find out about him?"

Willow sat down on the bed. At Buffy's request she had started researching him after he sent the slayer the pretty vest, but then Nightwing had breezed into town and then the slayer had gone out for dinner with Grayson and it had been forgotten.

"I didn't get much. He was studying law at Hudson University, but he transferred here this semester. Mature student – took a couple of years out judging by his age," she started.

"His parents were John and Mary Grayson – the Flying Graysons. Richard performed with them as a young kid. They were the headline act for a circus.

"They were killed when he was eight - murdered during a show in Gotham. Then after spending a short time in child services he was taken in by Bruce Wayne," she paused for effect.

"Oh. Bruce Wayne? I know that name."

"You should," Willow laughed. "Playboy billionaire. One of the richest men in the world."

"Explains how he could afford this top," she said, gesturing at her outfit. "Why would a committed bachelor adopt a circus kid?"

"He didn't adopt him - just became his guardian. His parents were killed when he was growing up as well and he was there and saw it all so I guess he understood what Richard was going through."

"Anything else?"

"Not really. Straight A student, but that's about it. He gets pictured occasionally in the gossip magazines with different girls at different events, but not with the same frequency as Wayne.

"He lived in Bludhaven for a while, working in a bar. But it's strange. There's not much information out there, and what there is – like his school records – it's almost too accessible."

"Hmm," was the only response the computer genius got from the slayer.

"Can you get an address?"

"There should be one on his student record here," Willow replied, taking the laptop she began typing away furiously. After a while, she looked up. "I can't find anything. It's not on his enrollment and I keep drawing a blank.

"But we could try another way?" the budding Wiccan continued, reaching under her bed for her things.

"Magic? Are you sure you can do this?"

"I can try. But Buffy – what's going on? Does this have something to do with Nightwing?"

"No. I just, there was something about him earlier. I'm probably being paranoid, but I just need to know."