Chapter 25 - Manipulative Grayson x 2

Mar'i healed quicker than a regular human and for that, she was very thankful. She healed in over a week and it didn't take much convincing for her dad to let her go out again. It was difficult to tell if that was because he trusted her or if he had just had enough of her complaining about not being able to go out.

Maybe it was a little bit of both, although that was hard to remember when her dad kept making the comment, 'was I this bad whenever I injured my legs?'

The answer to that question was a resounding, 'yes'. From Alfred none the less.

Mar'i was healed and Nightstar was free to move around the city. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop, enjoying the sparkle of the lights as she leapt past.

"Round and round the rope goes, where it stops, nobody knows!" Nightstar sung as she tied a criminal to a pole. This way he would still be here when the police arrived and she wouldn't.

There was a groan and a flash of dark clothing from the nearby alley.

"What?" Nightstar demanded to know, hands on hips and eyes glowing behind her mask.

"I can't believe you both sing. You know that's the most annoying thing about your father, right?"

A synthetically altered voice. Not exactly the person she would expect to see in a well-off shopping area.

She greeted him enthusiastically anyway. "Red Hood!"

"That's me," he said, emerging from the darkness. "So, you're just taking out whatever crime you come across, yeah?"

"Pretty much," she responded with a shrug. Her father had made her promise not to do anything to 'strenuous' for a few nights, at least.

"Thinking of teaming up with the newest dark night?" he asked jokingly.

Nightstar's mouth twisted into a lopsided smile at the thought. She knew that Batman had been furious when Damian started patrolling in his own Batsuit complete with dark trenchcoat. He had started to cool down, mostly because he had been unable to catch Damian for more than a few moments.

"I thought Batman works alone?" she joked, "you know, except for Robin. And I'm not looking to sign on as a sidekick."

"Hey! Robin's more than a sidekick!" Red Hood instantly responded. A moment later he composed himself. "Don't tell your dad I said that."

"Sure," she responded, "but only because you're helping us with the 'New Batman' plan."

"Don't call it that," Red Hood sighed, shaking his head. "Not unless you want the original Batman getting the wrong idea. Didn't your dad teach you anything? Don't make the Batman angry."

"Like he isn't already?" she laughed.

Red Hood's glove squeezed some warmth into her shoulder as he moved closer.

"I can't believe your dad hid you away all these years. You're awesome, kid."

Nightstar grinned blindly, heart feeling swollen with warm feelings. It was nice being able to finally spend time with the family she used to only hear about in stories.

Jason had been sceptical of the plan when Dick first told him about it. It didn't help that he, Damian and Mar'i had crashed his apartment while he had been having a shower.

"You're going to what?" he questioned, unsure if he had heard right. It didn't sound like a good plan. "Didn't Bruce just forgive the brat for the last time he did that? And now you want to do it while he's still in the city?"

"It's not like we're asking you to help Damian or anything," Dick said, "just to, ignore it, I guess?"

"It's going to happen, with or without your consent, Jason Todd," Damian sneered, glaring across at his older brother.

"We're just letting you know. Better to find out now rather than when Bruce approaches you about it."

Jason had stared at her for a few moments. Then turned to Damian.

"Fine, whatever. Consider me informed."

Damian smirked. Mar'i smiled at him. It was one down and only two to go. However, Dick didn't seem to think so.

"You're okay with it?" Dick asked.

"Of course I am, you idiot."

"So, if Damian became a new Batman, you can get behind him?" Dick narrowed his eyes at Jason and Jason mirrored the motion.

Damian seemed confused for a moment. Mar'i was too.

"Are you asking what I think you're asking?" Jason responded with an angry tinge to his voice. "If it comes down to Bruce or the kid, I can't say which side I'd go with."

Wait. Had her father just asked whether Jason would side with Damian against Bruce, if it came down to that?

"Gr- Richard?"

"Jason, if you let Damian go out as Batman, knowingly, then you're siding against Bruce in this instance." There was a tense silence which Dick broke when he shrugged. "Just letting you know that this small action could be seen as taking a side."

"Now I see what you're after. In this instance, yes. The br- I mean, Damian can give this a go. I don't care."

Finally Dick smiled and nodded his agreement.

"What just happened?" Mar'i questioned.

Jason pet her head. "Don't worry about it. Your dad's just being manipulative. But, if this is how he's going to go about it, there's some hope for this plan after all. As long as Damian can handle being Batman."

"I'm not replacing father," Damian pointed out. "It's not like people won't be able to tell us apart."

"I'm not replacing father," Damian was forced to point out, again, just a few hours later.

Tim wasn't as easily convinced as Jason was. He glared at Damian and told Dick that the plan was stupid.

"Look the plan is-"

"Do you want to be Batman, then?" Mar'i demanded to know. She was tired of this. They were going round and round. Dick would explain the plan, Tim would question the plan, Damian would insist that Tim had it wrong and usually topped that off with some insult directed at the older but shorter man and then Dick would explain the plan again and the cycle would repeat.

"Bruce isn't going to let just anyone out as Batman," Tim pointed out.

"That's not an answer," Dick said. "Yes or no?"

Tim scowled at her and her father. Although unintentional, they were teaming up on him.

"No," he huffed.

"Then why can't Damian go out as Batman?" Dick asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Tim responded fiercely. "He's irresponsible and there's no way he can put up with the kind of stuff Bruce does and-"

"He did for a week," Dick said. "He kept the reports going and he managed to catch a serial killer we were just getting wind of."

Tim frowned but they could see that he did consider that point.

"We're not asking you to approve, just to not be surprised or help Bruce shut Damian down," Dick finished.

There was silence for a moment. Damian's face slowly turned from a frown to a scowl.

"Fine," Tim huffed. "I don't care what Damian does as long as it doesn't put anyone in danger."

"We are leaving Batman without a Robin," Mar'i pointed out as it was something she recalled her father saying. Tim had become Robin because Batman needed a Robin.

"But we're not leaving him completely alone," Dick reminded her in a serious tone.

Tim rolled his eyes and turned back to his computer. Dick splayed himself over the top of the chair, looking at the computer screen as Tim worked. Damian and Mar'i went outside.

Night was about to fall and they had one more stop to make.

Oracle was at her computer when they snuck in.

"Dick warned me you were coming," she said, not even turning around.

Mar'i was able to see the annoyed expression Damian made and hear the curse he muttered under his breath. Oracle chuckled as she swung around to look at them.