Hey guys. Thanks to those who reviewed last time and please do so again. I do not own DC Comics or any of their characters. Please excuse any mistakes I may have made. I apologize for the cliffhanger, but I'd like to think the updates make up for it. Anyway, thanks for reading and enjoy!
Last Time:
"It's not permanent." Richard said.
Gordon scoffed.
"It's always not permanent." Gordon muttered.
"Why is everyone saying that?! I'm not fit to be a hero." Richard responded.
"Why do you say that?" Gordon asked. "It seems every time something about this kind of business comes up you say that line. 'I'm not fit to be a hero.' So why is that?"
"I just…" Richard trailed.
Silence filled the space between them.
"You don't know why, do you?" Gordon asked.
"I just get a feeling. Every time it comes up and I know I did something bad, but I don't remember it." Richard sighed.
"Well, no matter what, you, kid, are a hero. I don't know what you did, but I know you'll make up for it." Gordon said.
Richard heard a laugh from the window. Both detectives spun their heads to the window. Deathstroke was already standing inside the room when they processed him.
"He'll pay off his debts in hell." He said menacingly as he drew his sword.
The situation did not look good. Richard was injured and unarmed; Gordon was way too slow to pull his gun and stood no chance against Deathstroke. Overall, the moment Richard realized all of this, he cursed. Gordon fired off a round and Richard pressed on the communicator in his ear.
"Deathstroke at the hotel! Need back up! Now!" He yelled as he watched.
Deathstroke's armor protected him against the bullets, and he simply walked up to Gordon and punched him unconscious. The older detective fell. Deathstroke turned to him, standing over the falled detective.
"You've been becoming a real thorn in my side. Having Batman on my tail along with the rest of the League, really? I was hoping you'd find me yourself, not ask for help." He said, sheathing his sword.
"What do you want?" Richard asked, accepting the situation.
"To talk, nothing more. Although, I guess I could really say I'm here to get you, Batman, the League, everyone off my ass." He said.
"How do you plan on doing that?" Richard asked.
Deathstroke pulled out a USB drive. The one eye Richard could see had a mischievous gleam to it.
"And showing me a USB drive does what exactly?" Richard asked.
"This" he tapped the drive, "has everything you need to know about those two years you don't remember." Deathstroke said.
"Is that the only copy?" Richard asked.
I know it's not, but let's see if he lies. To Richard's surprise, Deathstroke laughed.
"You're not that stupid. You are simply trying to determine if I'd lie. Of course not. I have a few other copies." He said.
Richard nodded.
"So what do you want for it?" Richard asked.
Everyone off his ass, but how the hell am I supposed to do that. Richard thought about how to get the heroes to corporate. Speaking of heroes, where are Batman, Robin, and Red Hood. They should have been here already.
"You already know the answer to that." He purred.
"I'm not sure how you want me to go about doing that." Richard replied.
He stole a glance at the window. No Batman or anyone. Where the hell are they?
"Wondering where the Bats are?" Deathstroke questioned.
Richard said nothing but looked at him. Deathstroke chuckled.
"They're a bit busy. Joker owed me so I called him up on it." He said.
That had Richard panicking a little.
"Don't worry I told Joker not to kill any of them." Deathstroke said.
"It's the Joker" Richard deadpanned.
"True." Deathstroke said and threw the USB drive at Richard. "Here."
Richard caught in one hand and inspected it. It looks undamaged. He looked back at Deathstroke, who was still standing over Gordon.
"How do I know what you say is true? How do I know two years of my life are on here? How do I know it's not all fabricated?" Richard fired off question after question.
"You will know, because it will probably trigger your memory. After that, you probably won't need that thing." Deathstroke answered.
Richard stared at the mercenary.
"So you're taking a gamble based on something you can't control. That seems awfully risky and very unlike you, a professional who must control every little thing." He commented.
Deathstroke had turned away from him and was walking towards the window. He looked over his shoulder at Richard.
"How do you know I don't have control over this?" Deathstroke said.
The grin was evident in his voice and Richard wasn't sure how to respond, so he didn't. He watched Deathstroke leave, leaving the detective pondering on whether or not to bite this obvious bait. Richard pondered the pros and cons as he painfully got off the bed and to Gordon's side. He shook the older detective. It took a few times before he woke. The older detective looked around warily.
"He's gone." Richard answered.
"What happened?" Gordon groaned as he sat up.
Richard thought out his response. What am I going to say? 'Oh, well the crazy mercenary gave me a flash drive that shows the missing two years that I don't remember. Of course, in return, I end the manhunt on him and help him. Haha!' That'll just make me sound crazy! He looked at Gordon.
"He just wanted to interrogate me about the Bats." Richard lied.
"Here I was thinking Deathstroke was after you." Gordon huffed as he and Richard stood.
"You know, I wouldn't have been surprised if he was. I'm pretty awesome." Richard joked.
"You should probably contact Batman." Gordon suggested.
"Right, yeah." Richard said and reached for his comlink. "Nightwing to Batman."
"Red Hood responding."
Richard looked at Gordon and mouthed Red Hood. In the background, Richard could hear gunshots, thuds, and grunts.
"What's going on? Where are the other two?" He asked.
"Busy. Joker decided to throw a party. What do you need?" Red Hood responded.
The question was followed by many loud gunshots. He's brought out his guns.
"I had a little run in with Deathstroke. We didn't fight or anything. Do you need assistance?" Richard replied.
Gordon gave him a stern look.
"You're injured, so don't think about coming here. What did Deathstroke want?" Red Hood responded.
"How about I go to the Manor and wait for you there? I'll tell you then." Richard responded.
"Yeah, okay. See you then." Red Hood ended their conversation.
Richard looked at Gordon.
"They're busy. I'm going to the Manor to wait for them. You should go home, maybe get that nose checked out. Deathstroke punched your lights out kind of hard." Richard advised.
"I've had worse, but okay." Gordon responded, but agreed nonetheless.
Both officers got their coats, guns, badges, and keys and left the room. Richard, mindful of his injuries, got on his motorcycle and started it. He nodded at Gordon, who was in his car, made sure he had the flash drive, and left for Wayne Manor. Richard neared the abandoned part of Gotham and could hear the fight between Joker and the Bats. He really wanted to help but knew that he would just get in the way with his injuries hindering him. He upped the throttle and zoomed towards Wayne Manor. Arriving in the circular driveway, he parked the bike and went up to the door. He knocked and waited for Alfred's polite greeting. The Batler, as Jason called him, opened the door and stepped aside to allow Richard in. He stepped in and hung his jacket up, putting his keys in his pant pocket.
"To what do we owe the pleasure, Master Richard?" Alfred asked.
"This." Richard said as he pulled the flash drive from his pocket.
"And that is?"Alfred trailed.
"Deathstroke gave this to me and said it had all I needed to know about those two years." Richard explained.
"Are you certain what he says is true?" Alfred questioned.
"No, but, in return, I said I would get everyone off his ass." They began walking to the Batcave. "If he lied then I'll bring in the calvary to hunt him down." He answered.
The two men entered the cave. Red Hood, Batman, and Robin hadn't returned yet.
"Shall we look at it now?" Alfred suggested.
Richard looked at the technology in his hand.
"...No." He answered.
"There's no need to be scared of a mere flash drive, Master Richard." Alfred advised.
"That's not it. I just don't want it to delete itself or something." Richard defended.
If that's even possible. Alfred's right, Dick. You're scared of what's on here. Just look at it. Richard's hand twitched. He turned to the computer.
"If you'd like, I could do it." Alfred said, attempting to ease Richard.
"...No, I need to do this." Richard replied, giving Alfred a thankful glance and small smile.
Leaning forward, Richard plugged the drive in. The computer took a moment to read the information before displaying it. The screen was filled with files. Lexcorp. Cadmus. Wayne Enterprises. Police Records. What is this? Richard continued to read the file names. William Cobb. Richard hovered over that one but read on. Tony Zucco… Richard took a moment to process the name. Why does that sound familiar? Richard puzzled, then he remembered. His eyes widened. ...He's the mobster. Without a second thought, he clicked the file. Information on Zucco's crimes and operation filled the screen. Gotham. Atlanta. Star City. Metropolis. Boston. Have I been to all those cities? Richard clicked the Gotham file. Bases. Business. Crimes. This is more of a criminal database. He clicked on crimes. The first file was titled Haly's Circus.
"Master Richard, are you sure that's a good idea?" Alfred asked.
"No." Richard said as he clicked the file.
There were documents on how much money Zucco got out of the Circus, how long it's been going on, how he convinced the Circus, and there were pictures of Zucco and various Circus performers. Towards the end of the file was a death certificate for Tony Zucco and a police report. Deathstroke said this showed the two years...Did I kill Tony Zucco?! Richard opened the death certificate. He and Alfred read it. Cause of Death: Fell 8 stories, died on impact. Fitting. Richard huffed a laugh. He backed out and opened the police report. Reason to believe foul play. Zucco was a mob boss with many known enemies, however, there is no evidence to support the idea. He and Alfred exchanged a look. Did I do that? Richard read on and found a peculiar word that had nothing to do with the report.
"Broken bird?" Richard muttered.
The moment he finished saying those words, a sharp, high-pitched noise shocked him. He clutched at his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. He could barely hear Alfred's worried words. He was about to answer when memories streamed into existence. He recalled himself talking, fighting, and going on missions with Deathstroke. He remembered training with William Cobb and who William Cobb was. Deathstroke was right, the drive did cause him to remember everything. The noise slowly stopped, as did the memories. When he came to, he was laying on the cold floor covered in a cold sweat. Alfred had his head in his lap and Tim, Jason, and Bruce were above him. Each of them talking to Richard. Their voices overlapping.
"Are you okay?"
"What happened?"
"What did Deathstroke do?"
"What's with the files"
"Can you hear me?"
"Do you remember anything?"
"Do you know why you collapsed?"
Richard was being overwhelmed with the questions and opened his mouth to answer.
"Can you talk?"
"Can you tell us what happened?"
"Did you hurt yourself when you fell?"
"How are your ribs?"
"How's your back?"
Richard struggled to respond. He looked at Alfred with pleading eyes.
"Gentlemen, perhap-" Alfred started, but was cut off.
"Where's Deathstroke?"
"What did he say to you?"
"Who's Tony Zucco?"
"You muttered William Cobb. Who's that?"
"Gentlemen!" Alfred yelled.
They stopped asking questions.
"Perhaps we should allow Master Richard a moment to collect himself. Being greeted by thousands of questions tends to overwhelm a person." He said sternly.
The bats look a bit guilty and helped Richard up. Jason just sighed and picked him up by the shoulders and told Tim to grab his feet. Together, they carried Richard to a medical bed.
"I can walk." Richard mumbled.
"You just got mindfucked. We're not letting you walk." Jason growled.
Alfred brought Richard a glass of water. He downed it in one gulp before looking at everyone. Bruce was standing at the door, Jason and Tim were at the side of the bed, and Alfred was standing directly next to Richard on the right.
"What happened?" Bruce growled.
Richard gulped.
"I'm a murderer, a criminal."