18 pages on word, and 9265 words with no A/N or anything. This chapter is sort of summarizes a lot, but not all the loose ends have been tied up, so don't worry. :)
ONE MONTH LATER
Dick was bleeding; that wasn't something new. He knew what blood was the moment he had stepped under that white and red striped tent at Haley's Circus. He knew its scarlet color that glinted off light and sparkled tauntingly like sea water. Dick knew the way it bubbled and flowed from the body. He'd seen it mix with dirt and wood chips and sad, horrified faces. Dick knew what blood was. He'd just never really seen so much of his own.
Sure, Dick had been injured but mostly by that point he would have passed out and tried his best do to die. So far, that tactic had done him well and he was quite determined to carry it on through his career of superheroeing or whatever it was he was doing. However, this tactic of passing out and not dying only worked when either Peter or Tony was there (and before that, Batman) and it seemed that it did not work with Natasha Romanov.
The assassin was tense, stubborn, and harsh and was repeatedly telling him what, how, and when to do things exactly. She was like Batman, but when she got that look in her eyes that said "I'm going to kill you", it probably meant it would happen. Batman had never been harsh, sure he had made Dick do mile-repeats and repeated numerous exercises for hours on end; but it was so he wouldn't get killed. Romanov was doing the same, except she was expecting him to be lethal. She had admitted that Bat's had trained Dick well, to the point that he was an exceptional opponent for even her (after ten minutes or so though, she'd win), and that she was ready to move Dick to the next level.
It couldn't be held against him, but Dick had explained why he and the League and most heroes of his world didn't kill— it wasn't their job. Romanov, Barton, Tony… they all worked for SHIELD, their job was to eliminate the threat to the public. Dick Grayson? He couldn't make himself go that one extra step, he couldn't cross that line that separated that gray area from the black. Tony didn't push him, in fact Tony himself argued that he should be given a break, and Pepper outright refused to have a part of it. Natasha and Fury wanted to push him and Dick felt himself wanting it; he wanted to go past that line. But just before he could, he'd back out. Romanov said nothing and only gesturing that he do it again.
So, he did it again.
And suddenly there was a lot of blood everywhere.
His mind flashed into that mode of panic where you sort of focus everything onto one thing, but don't so you're also sort of concentrating on everything else all at once? Dick knew there was a word for it, but he couldn't seem to think of it, because currently he was looking at something that looked vaguely like a broken hand. Except, it was broken… it wasn't broken at all…
He screamed.
He heard Romanov's calls, her pleading for him to be alright and reassuring him that there was someone on the way. Soon Dick was lying on her legs, cradling his arm against his chest and begging for the pain to stop. She ran her hands through his matted sweaty hair, muttering in his ear in Russian, which he vaguely understood through what little he spoke and the pain.
The next thing he knew, he was waking up in a hospital bed. There were soft gray walls, like the sky when it snowed ever so lightly on that winter day, and white sheets and a white ceiling. On his right, there were white monitors, and blue chairs with polyester coverings. There were two people, Peter and Tony. Peter was standing there with his arms crossed and an angry scowl on his face. Tony was staring at the ground, staring at something on the bed. Dick frowned. How long had he been in here? Tony looked tired and stressed and Dick could swear he could see little oils stains on his suit. Peter was wearing a suit (albeit, a cheap one, but it was a suit) with some sort of key card around his neck.
"Um…" Dick tried to speak, but if voice was cracked and hard, as if he hadn't spoken in a few months.
Tony's head snapped up and he looked so happy that he rushed forward and grabbed the cup to shove it in in Dick's face. The younger man grinned, taking hold of the cup with his right hand (his left seemed numb and he couldn't feel it). He drank from it, the cool liquid feeling like heaven on his throat. "Wow…," he muttered. "That feels amazing." Now that he could talk, Peter had moved over and was on the same side as Tony.
"Do you want me to call Pepper?" Peter wasn't look at Dick as he said this. Tony looked over.
"Hm? Oh, yes. Thank you."
Peter nodded and took out his phone, walking briskly out of the room. Dick blinked, and leaned forward as Tony propped up the pillows for him to sit up. Something felt wrong with his right arm and hand, but before he could go and look at it, Tony began to speak.
"I'm calling a doctor for you, so they can check you out before we leave. It's been a while, you know? Haven't been home for a few days. Pepper and I… we've been very worried. And Natasha and Steve too, they've visited a few times. They wanted to tell you that when you woke up but since they weren't considered family—."
Dick considered Natasha family, certainly, and Steve was well on his way to suddenly becoming Uncle Steve. But one question danced throughout his head. "How long have I been here?"
Tony sighed. "Two weeks."
Dick blinked. "Oh, thank God… oh thank God…" Dick sighed with relief. "It felt like it had been months. I was worried…"
Tony chuckled, resting his left hand on Dick's right. "Yes, we're not sure what you did… to… do what you did." Dick thought of his right arm that felt numb. "And the story we told to the doctors at the regular hospital… it was a little complicated. We're in SHIELD custody now and their doctors have been taking care of you."
Despite it being SHIELD, Dick nodded and grinned. He felt safe. He knew SHIELD hadn't meant any harm to him, now, and for some reason he trusted the system. He didn't understand why SHIELD wouldn't let Natasha or Steve in just because they weren't family. It was kind of ridiculous. He turned to Tony.
"What's my status?"
"Well," Tony breathed deeply before continuing. "Whatever move you'd been doing with those swords… you are no longer in one pieces."
Dick blinked, a suddenly dread beginning to settle in his stomach. "What does that mean?" he blanched.
Tony sighed. "Dick… you have no right hand anymore."
ONE MONTH LATER
The Robotic hand had taken some time to get used to. It felt odd and weird and cold against his pale skin. Tony said it was connected to his nerve endings, kind of like auto-mail. Tony and an expert team from Stark Industries had worked on it through the past two weeks, trying with failure and success to create a hand for Dick. It hurt every time he moved one of those mechanical fingers, when he tried to pick something up and curl a cold metal palm against something. He didn't want to say anything, he didn't want to seem ungrateful (he was very grateful), but it physically hurt him.
Nonetheless, it had been a strange adjustment. The robotic hand had made not only himself but everyone else around him feel uncomfortable. He hadn't wanted to touch people with it, its cold metal and wiry look made people wince. Steve hadn't look him in the eye, only almost crushing anything that was in his own hand whenever he saw Dick. Natasha had avoided him completely, and Dick felt that the assassin was blaming herself. He didn't blame her, no… it was his fault. If only he would have gotten that stupid move down beforehand they wouldn't be in this mess. Tony had kept asking him if it hurt and if he needed anything and Pepper makes fantastic hot chocolate and if he wanted any it wouldn't be a problem. Dick had only be able to laugh. It was fine, he would reassure, I'm just fine.
Isn't that the reactive response?
Dick looked at his new hand. He wore a pale glove that was secured on his wrist where metal met flesh. It wasn't that bad and it wasn't hurting him as much anymore. He smiled. He hadn't tried fighting it with yet, and honestly he was scared to. He'd never really been scared to try new things. Sure, jumping off of buildings at the age of nine had made him nervous, but he'd never been intimidated. The trapeze at the age of four had been scarier than that. But he'd never gotten a replacement part for his own body. He turned the palm toward himself and curled the hand into a fist, wincing as it strained his nerves and arm.
"Hey man, how you feeling?"
Dick let his arm drop as Peter walked up behind him. He looked up and smiled, giving a nod of acknowledgement. "Fine."
"Your hand?"
Dick looked at Peter. Dick knew the elder man felt uncomfortable talking about what had happened with his hand, but at least Peter was trying to make an effort. "It's fine… it hurts, just a little, but nothing I can't handle. I just need it to stop so I can get back in the game."
Peter's eyebrows shifted upward and he leaned back. "You're planning on continuing your training? I thought the Doctors and Fury want you to get used to your… hand."
Dick shrugged but frowned at the floor, tapping his metal hand against his knee. It was hard. "I'm right-dominant Peter. So what if I never get used to it? I can't go back in the game? That's not happening. This is my life, I choose it the moment I turned nine and became Robin. I choose it when I followed Batman into the streets of Gotham and danced around guns and bullets. This is who I am, and if they can't let me be who I am then I guess I'm going back out there and running and helping people. SHIELD can't stop me. I'd like to see them try."
Peter stared at him, his lips were pursed and his frown was evident through his eyes. It was a few moments before either of them spoke and the gray light from the New York sky danced through the living from of the Pent House. The month of July was cold and ashen and nothing good had come of it. Dick's birthday had past, but since no one really knew when it was nothing could be done about it. He knew Pepper would begin to interrogate him (in fact, she already had) as soon as possible and he was very close to telling her a bunch of stuff that only Peter knew. Well, in this dimension… Wally had been his brother but now he found himself hardly thinking of Wally or the team.
"I know what you mean," Peter said suddenly. "I mean… if that's what you want—."
"It is," Dick cut in briskly.
"—then go for it, you know?"
Dick nodded. "I do." He paused a moment, turning to look out the grey sky. New York was bustling, lights were just beginning to spring up in those tall ashen buildings. He sighed. "I want to start conditioning with you tomorrow, at that warehouse."
"Where you first began training me?" Peter questioned, blinking.
Dick nodded seriously. "Yes, it was a good place and let's hope to God that it's still open to two vigilantes."
TWO MONTHS LATER
Dick had seemingly graduated from college in those two months that he had been adjusting to life with a robotic hand.
He had taken tons of online courses, getting his major in Criminal Psychology and a minor in Business. He had passed both courses with flying colors and his other classes that were only required to graduate had been aced with no problem. Apparently his IQ was pretty high, because all of his teachers were amazed an awed and loved him. Everyone's explanation was that he was Tony Stark's son and the only thing he could reply with to that was that he wasn't Tony Stark's biological son. In fact, his biological father John Grayson hadn't even had a high school degree. His mother had been to high school but she had ran away before graduation. Dick didn't know where his smarts came from. Of course, he wasn't saying his parents weren't smart. No, his mom could've been a lawyer. His father could've been a history professor. He got it from them, definitely, and Dick would forever be proud of that. He just wasn't sure how it got to be so good.
He still honored his parent's deaths on March 21st. Nothing in all the dimensions and universes would ever stop him from that. There was no grave to visit, no circus to track… there was only faded images and scratchy recorded voices.
They would've been proud of him, just like he knew that when he had had that dream about he and Robin being one in the same so many months ago, he knew that it was the truth. He had graduated from College. He'd gotten a Masters in Criminal Psychology in two years. He was seventeen years old. His graduation party had been small and rewarding. Tony and Pepper had been so proud and Dick swore he had heard Tony mutter "that's my boy!" under his breath to Steve, who looked proud and uncomfortable all at the same time.
Peter looked very pleased and had planned an outing with Gwen, MJ, Harry, and Jodie, who had all met and were suddenly friends.
Dick was applying for jobs everywhere, his knowledge of technology was better than most (what fourteen year old could combine two completely different pieces of technology from different dimensions?) and Tony was offering him a job if he couldn't get one anywhere else and it seemed that everyone wanted the genius at their company. Dick was seriously thinking of going with Tony and though the man was no longer the CEO, he could still offer jobs. And Pepper had of course confirmed Dick's placement on the team at Stark Industries. However, Dick still had Genesis to worry about. The company was getting less and less active, and Dick was very frightened about what was going to happen after this… thing. Whatever was going on?
Peter was working at the Daily Bugle, which Dick thought was horribly ironic.
"Are you seriously working at the Bugle?"
"Apparently I have potential and MJ recommended me. Though, this one guy named Eddie Brock was toeing the line too but his pictures of Spidey were frauds, as I so happily proved. And he was excused from applying, or something."
"Huh."
"Yeah, he was apparently really mad. Not my fault he could've taken actually pictures but didn't."
Peter was still living with Aunt May but with his increased pay from the Bugle and community college being paid for with his scholarship Peter was contemplating moving into the Inner-city, closer to Dick and the city's citizens. It wasn't a bad idea but Dick had a feeling that his reporter/photographer's pay wouldn't pay for an apartment in Manhattan. He offered to pay for it, knowing Tony would happily comply so long as he got something out of it, but Peter was still thinking about it.
Dick's hand had been upgraded so that it had lock picks and a computer integral program that allowed him to access a hologram that was a computer. JARVIS was connected into it and it was a comm. link. They had to reconnect it to his nerves again and the pain flooded him as if he'd been hit with a cruciatus curse. But his body was more tolerant toward it and it was fine now.
Dick was living the life. Crime was low and they hadn't heard much from SHIELD.
The only thing left to do was begin training with Romanov again. She still avoided him but he was ready to take her on. His extensive conditioning with Peter was definitely doing something to him. Jodie said he looked firmer and his body felt strong and powerful. His reaction to danger was almost as in tune as Peter's Spider-sense. The only thing he needed to do was to become lethal.
It was something Richard Grayson was prepared to do. Though, having pulled Luke Skywalker on everyone and himself hadn't been the best idea, but Dick was ready to do anything to be great, even if it meant cross that line that was ready to ignore. He didn't want to kill mindlessly. He would justify it— he had to, or else he would be nothing than what he had fought against before.
EARTH 16 GOTHAM CITY, FOUR DAYS AFTER THE INCIDENT
Despite how many times she played "Almost Lover" by A Fine Frenzy and tried to deny its absolute control over her life right now, she knew it was right.
Barbara Gordon, Batgirl, a friend… a best friend… and an almost lover. Bruce had told her of what happened to Dick and the fourteen year old could only mentally scream out of frustration. She didn't want to seem pathetic. And she wasn't pathetic. Why was it that when a girl misses a boy she's pathetic? But when the boy misses the girl, he's adorable and cute? It wasn't right. She hadn't cried, she hadn't pulled out a photo album of old pictures. Because Bruce was going to bring Dick Grayson back to this world so that she could tell him that she had wanted to kiss him since they were ten.
Heck, she remembered that she had kissed him one time when they were eleven. They were in the gardens of the Manor and Dick was showing her this old abandoned part of the garden that the workers avoided because no one ever went back there. It reminded her of the Secret Garden, where Mary Lennox opened the door to a beautiful abandoned wonderland. Dick said this one behind the Manor used to be Martha Wayne's own personal garden. Ad so Barbara had walked through the roses and the wisteria and then turned and kissed him, smack on the lips. Dick had stood there in shock in the cool winter air, and as it began to snow the redheaded girl giggled and disappeared behind a large icy fountain and suddenly a game of tag had begun to occur.
It had been the first and last time Babs had kissed him. They were ten, kids… and they were still kids. They were older kids, but kids nonetheless. Still, the emotions that had unfurled since puberty (for her at least, he was still currently going through that phase of his life) hadn't left her and she felt deeply conflicted with him. And ever since she found out he was Robin and that he didn't want to let her into the business because she might get hurt… she had wanted to kiss him. Barbara didn't want anything to change between the two, they were best friends— more so than him and that Wally boy who kept trying to say he was (because he wasn't). She wanted to stay best friends and that was how it was going to be. She was Batgirl and they made a great team. Nothing was going to change that
Barbara leaned down on her bed before springing up and grabbing her grappling gun and suit. She had to get to the cave and monitor what was going down in Watchtower.
She had to know.
SOMEWHERE ABOVE NEW YORK CITY
"Miss Romanov!"
The redhead assassin turned around and frowned, staring at the lean ebony haired boy that was coming toward her. She stood still, heard head slightly turned up as he stopped in front of her.
"I want to continue training with you, please," Dick asked, breathing heavily. He looked like he had ran through the entire Helicarrier. The assassin pursed her lips and then shook her head.
"You know I can't do that Richard."
Dick sighed, glancing down at the ground before looking up at her. "Look, I know you blame yourself or what happened. Don't, it's not worth. Don't add more red to that ledger. There's no point. A day hasn't gone by when I blame myself for my hand, for my life. I blamed myself for a lot of stuff, and I can't do it anymore. My hand? That's not your fault. I don't it can be. Alright? Please, I want to do this. I need to learn. I'm ready to take that next step."
Romanov stared at him for a few moments before sighing. "I'll talk to Fury."
Dick nodded. "Do you mind… if we get started now?"
"Have you done any conditioning before this?" she asked, turning around and gesturing for him to follow. Dick pursed his lips and shook his head, unsure of what to say exactly. He and Peter's adventures hadn't been exactly legal (though, trespassing wasn't that bad) and he did break a crate full of imported goods from China and he regretfully did nothing about it but scream abort and run off down the docks.
"I have." That's all he said.
One of the things he liked about Romanov was that she didn't press. If you said something that was it, no questions asked unless it affects her or national security. Of course, this completely affected her. The assassin didn't want him getting hurt again, but that didn't mean that she had to pry.
"We'll adopt the old schedule again, if that works. I know you've got to work of course and since everything is so… handy dandy in your life right now—." That was a total lie. Dick's mind was flying with information he had learned months ago from Genesis. "—we should have any problem with getting together. Fury wants to start deploying you on serious missions though, so we do have to get you really prepared for that."
Dick frowned. He thought Fury wanted to wait till he was used to his hand but according to this… Dick suddenly smirked. "Alright, that works."
She chuckled, softly so that it was hard to hear but it was just loud enough that Dick could smile with her laugh.
As they walked down the hall, Dick's mind wandered back to Genesis. Ever since his hand problem, he hadn't been able to think about it much. Plus, searching for a job and graduating and setting down actual roots here had begun to taken up a lot of his time. However, what Dick learned from Fury's tests and the files he and Peter had stolen was big. He couldn't let it go. The knowledge sat there at the back of his mind and ate at him like a termite. That portal… it literally changed him mentally. It took away his sense of rationalizing. It took away his sense of trust. He couldn't function properly. It explained so much and it pained him to think that, no matter what he'd done… it would have been the same. It didn't explain why he did what he did, because it was probably his brain reacting to everything and how could he explain that? You can't fight your own brain when the thing you need to do so is just gone.
Of course, it seemed that the more integrated Richard Grayson became with this Dimension, the quicker he gained these abilities back. Even then so, the thought unnerved him and made him uncomfortable. He knew that fate hated him but… he often wondered what it would have been like had he stayed there. If the he and the team had never gone to that New York woods, he would never be here. Of course, since there was no reason to go to the woods that meant that in this universe Genesis wouldn't have existed. He frowned. Everything was so connected, and he really wasn't sure how he felt about that.
Maybe he would have gotten together with Barbara… maybe Wally and Artemis would have admitted their feelings. Hell, maybe they did. It had been five years. He desperately hoped that Babs found someone that would make her as happy as he had wanted to.
Even then so, Dick was rooted here now… and he was almost positive he wouldn't have it any other way.
He and Natasha began to get into clothes to train in, both of them silent as they walked onto the mat. Dick was grinning almost stupidly and, though he appeared giddy outside, he was all calm and collected on the inside.
Then the first punch came.
ONE MONTH LATER, OCTOBER
Dicks' training with Natasha hadn't gone unnoticed by Fury or the Directors (whomever they were). Not only did he train with Natasha, but with Steve and Tony as well. Tony made him cool gadgets and experimented and talked about all the things Dick would be able to do while going on patrol. In all honestly, Tony's excitement was infectious and Dick would find himself going out there happily and excitedly waiting to find out what his next new toy did. Steve was just a very interesting man to talk to and Dick thoroughly enjoyed talking to him about the forties and fifties, because he learned so much and he knew Steve appreciated Dick talking to him about everything he missed.
There had been one day where Dick taught him how to Twist and whatnot, because Mary Grayson loved to dance and she had taught Dick stuff like that when we was younger. He remembered it and, however awkward it had been, he had been willing to show it to Steve.
"Just get down low Steve!"
"Dick, I really don't believe this is possible."
"You're Captain America! Anything is possible!"
Dick smiled as he walked through the streets of New York. He often got Peter and himself coffee from the Caribou Coffee near Stark Industries. He was currently going over some Nano-bot blueprints for Tony when Peter came in talking about Gwen and how they were still going strong (how long had it been? Two years?). Of course, Peter and Dick still had Peter's own villains to care about. Doctor Octopus… you didn't hear much from them and most of them, Peter could easily take care of them. Though, he did cause extensive damage to the city that SHIELD was responsible for cleaning up but… it worked.
He had just walked into the building when his communicator went off, a little Kim Possible (he sort of hacked SHIELDS system so it was the default) theme going on. He sighed, transferred the coffee tray to one hand and then touched the comm with the other. "Hello?"
"Richard, report immediately… we've got a mission."
He almost dropped the coffee for a second as he heard what Fury said. He smiled and nodded at the woman in the elevator, and mouthed the word "pent house". "Really? Alright, should I get ready or am I being picked up or?"
"Be ready on the roof of the building. We'll be waiting."
"Right got it. Should I bring Peter with me?"
"SHIELD Agents only," Fury replied, with a tint of annoyance in his voice at the sound of Peter's name.
"Right, gotcha. I'll be there in a few minutes," he responded, smiling at the woman as she left for her floor.
He rode up the next few moments in his own comfortable silence, his mind curious as to what his mission could possibly be. Of course, it made no difference to him. Whatever SHIELD told him to do, he would do. More or less. He didn't trust that board of theirs, but Fury was trustworthy. Dick had been forced to train with him one day when Natasha had a mission (something in Swedish Intelligence oh my) and to say the least, the man was intense and awesome. Dick really respected him (plus, after hacking the files he knew all his war stories and everything, and it was hard to not respect him at all).
When he got to the pent house, he practically threw the coffee at Peter's face, running into the lab to change into his Nightwing costume. He passed Peter on his way out, who asked rather abruptly if Dick needed him, but the younger boy could only shake his head and run out to the roof, where Fury and Tony were waiting, along with Natasha and Hawkeye (what was his name again?).
"I'm ready," he inquired, glancing between the four.
Fury gestured to the empty space above them, grinning just a bit when he saw Dick's eagerness. "We'll be going up to the helicarrier for a debriefing. This place isn't secure enough."
Tony opened his mouth, looking quite offended, but before any of them knew it they were whisked up into the large floating platform. Dick stumbled slightly but narrowed his eyes and looked where they were. Around him were six platforms, with tall tubes around them. In the middle was a control desk, with the SHIELD emblem that was Dick's inspiration for his own outfit in the middle of the grey desk. A man was controlling it and he looked very relieved when they appeared. Dick turned to Fury. "What's this?"
"A sort of teleporter we're developing using technology that you and Mr. Stark have been working on."
Tony lifted his IronMan briefcase and shrugged. "We applied those nano-bots you were working on, but I'm going to need those prints you looked over today."
Dick blinked and glanced at Natasha and Hawkeye, who were still getting their bearings from the transport.
"How does this work?" he questioned.
"With the bots," Tony replied briskly, waving Dick away with a hand. "What's our mission?"
Dick's entire point in the mission was to get in with Black Widow, take out the badguys and get the information. Dick felt safe with IronMan and Hawkeye outside scouting the building. He was already in the computer room when, from across the hall, he heard a loud crashing sound and the shink! from some sort of weapon being drawn. He glanced at Black Widow in confusion.
"I'll go back and look, watch and make sure this downloads."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
He nodded and briskly stood up, carefully falling into the shadows masterfully. Across the hall was a door that said M. Holmes. Being in England was weird, but when Dick was little and Haly's Circus went here he enjoyed it. He shook his head— he had to stay focused. He glanced in the office, and it was quiet. Nothing had been touched. He narrowed his eyes and carefully treaded down the hall. There was another crash from the office right there and, grinning, Dick slowly cracked open the door.
On the floor, there was a man with a tailored blue suit sitting there with a basket of fruit, throwing it at a man with a skin tight red and black suit. His mask sort of looked like Peter's, only it was red and black and it had no webs. The man, who looked like an assassin with various weapons attached to his person and he was holding a pineapple.
"You threw a pineapple at me!?" The assassin exclaimed, sounding quite shocked and surprised.
The man on the floor only nodded carefully, his hand curling around a pomegranate. Dick slid in through the door and stepped into the light. He was holding his escrima sticks out when he appeared in the light and the red and black man who, even with the mask on seemed completely surprised.
"Hey… you…" he paused for a moment and then angrily held up the pineapple. "This guy threw a pineapple at me!"
Dick blinked. "Yes… well… I see that."
"Can you believe that? An actual pineapple! I could've gotten hurt. This is ridiculous. I come in to kill one guy and suddenly I'm being bombarded with fruit. I mean honestly, at least be reasonable about it. Fruit? No. Come on. I mean, it's like he's taking it personally or something."
Dick shrugged. "At least it wasn't a tomato. You didn't do a bad job of trying to kill him."
The man in the red and black paused a moment and the nodded, tucking the pineapple under his arm. "You're very right." He turned to the other guy, who was slowly inching his way toward the door. "Thank you." And then he threw his sword so that it would stick up on the man's left side, so he couldn't move closer toward the door no more. Just before it got to the man, Dick's escrima stick hit it and knocked it the side, so it hit the ground next to Dick's right foot.
"You shouldn't try to kill this man in front of me. I don't like that very much," he growled. The red and black man narrowed his eyes and his hand twitched for his other sword. Of course, this was a recon mission and he was only supposed to get information and he was sort of reminded of the Team. A recon mission was never just a recon mission and he supposed that Universal Law was, truly, universal.
The red and black assassin shrugged. "I've been ordered to kill this man. I don't care if you like that or not. Maybe I'll throw this pineapple at you."
Dick got down into a fighting stance and nodded his head slightly. The red and black man leapt forward and quickly unsheathed his sword, bringing it down on Dick's head. The younger man snapped his hands up with his escrima sticks and blocked the weapon, twisting his body and kicking the assassin the chest.
"Damn, that was good!" The assassin called out. Dick smirked.
"Thank you." He smashed his fist into the assassin's side. "I'm Nightwing by the way."
"Deadpool," the man answered before knocking his elbow into Dick's face. Dick stumbled back, spitting out blood and then jumped into the air, flicking on his electric setting on his escrima sticks and jamming them into Deadpool's shoulders. The man crumpled and passed out on the ground, dropping his sword. It was a short fight and, had Dick not have that setting, it would have been a lot longer. The man was already beginning to stir (must have some sort of regenerative agent in his body) and so Dick shouted for the suited man on the ground to run before taking off down the hall himself.
Black Widow was on the roof when he arrived. He had only been gone for five minutes but the assassin looked irritated and tired.
"Did you get the information?" he questioned. She nodded and held up a flash drive.
"What took you so long?"
Dick shook his head. "Assassin by the name of Deadpool. You know him?"
Black Widow frowned. "SHIELD has a few files on him, but nothing much. I've never ran into him. We've got to get back though, Tony's injured."
Dick jumped. "What?!"
Black Widow smiled just a bit, a calm reassuring smile. "He'll be fine, it's nothing major. We need to leave anyway." Dick nodded and the whisking feeling flooded his skin and bones and he opened his eyes to the blue lit room with the glass tubes.
He glanced at Black Widow before jumping out of the tube and running to the Med Bay. Two minutes later he was standing next to Tony's bed while the man slept. He was holding the Doctor's clipboard in his hand, going over Tony's information. He'd been taken out of the field the moment he was shot. It hadn't hit him, not in the skin at least, but only his suit, in a weak point. Apparently the facility they had to "invade" was expecting someone to be coming (this was probably the Deadpool character) and saw Tony. They were currently over the Atlantic Ocean now.
When Tony woke up, Dick Grayson was sleeping with his arms folded across his chest and they were over New York. The information had been given to Fury (and Natasha had relayed Dick's meeting with Deadpool, which Tony was none too pleased about) and now Tony was carrying Richard to his room. He had been discharged from med-bay when he woke up and when he was briefed on what had happened, shrugged it off and had decided to carry Dick home.
Tony walked into Dick's room. The coffee he had apparently been getting was on his desk and a sketchbook and the blueprints were precariously drooping over his laptop. Tony sighed, smiling, and turned out of the room. He walked out into the hall and down into the lap, picking up his IronMan brief case on his way in. He needed to go over the suit to see if there was anything wrong with it.
Tony walked down into the lab, only to find Pepper waiting there for him. "Pepper?" he inquired. "What's are you doing up? It's late. Did you wait for me? Aww—."
He paused abruptly when she turned to him. Her eyes were red and puffy and her hand was over her mouth.
"Pepper?"
"Tony I really need to talk to you, about Richard."
"What's wrong…? Wha—."
"I had a dream," she began, walking over in nothing but her nightgown and her bathrobe tightly wrung around her body. "And… I don't know. It was odd. It started off so odd. It was… this vortex, this bright vortex with lightning and it didn't seem I was moving. But I felt like I was in someone else's body, like I was looking through someone else's eyes, and they were communicating with me through their mind. I don't know. It was just odd." She paused a moment before continuing. "And then… I was opening my eyes, like the vortex had never happened and I had been asleep. I didn't know I was in a dream, thinking back on it, but… for some reason everything was off. The colors were supposed to be bright, but… they seemed pastel, almost melancholy you know? Like the sun was tinting it. And I knew that was wrong.
"I was watching this scene right? But I wasn't there, I couldn't speak or anything. I could only hear and move and smell. And Tony, oh there was this small little boy. He must've been about eight years old with the most gorgeous eyes and black hair. It was Richard. And, he was sitting at a table in this pastel trailer, eating a chocolate chip pancake. There was this woman, with golden red hair and his blue eyes. She sort of looked like me, I think. I think it was his mother. She was beautiful. She was singing, out loud but to herself. But you could see Richard was listening to her. Her voice was beautiful, just like her face… and…" Pepper stopped a moment before hiccupping. "She turned to Richard and asked him one thing. 'Richard, when you die, will you fly away home?'. And Richard… Richard nodded. And she said 'Good, my little bird, because I'll fly away with you.' And… little bird, Tony. Robin. Dick called himself Robin…"
"Because of his mother," Tony muttered. "I see. But… Peps… how did you see that?"
"I don't know but I saw… when she called him 'my little bird… my little robin'. I just… I don't know Tony. I woke up again, with those flashes of that vortex and… and a green girl yelling that I wasn't Robin."
Tony frowned and then stood up and walked over, and kissed Pepper on the forehead. "Get some rest, please."
She nodded and turned to go upstairs, stopping right at the steps. "Tony… do you think he'd mind if I called him my little robin?"
Tony didn't look at her as he answered. "I don't know Pepper. I really don't know."
TWO MONTHS LATER, DECEMBER 25TH
Despite it being Christmas, nothing seemed very festive. SHIELD had been deploying Dick on multiple missions against Genesis, along with Peter and Tony at his side. More heroes had been popping up. Mutants with powers (though, he did prefer the term Meta-Human, it just seemed nicer. Yes, you're human. Just a different type, and that's okay) were becoming heroes, and some were villains. Dick had ran into Deadpool not once more but twice. The assassin was still upset about the pineapple and Dick getting in front of his kill, but he seemed pretty relaxed about it and asked if he wanted to go out for coffee. Dick had thoughtfully and politely declined.
SHIELD's missions against Genesis had the desired affect— they were closing in on the organization. Dick was working closely with Fury and an unknown source (Fury called him Professor X which meant that the SHIELD director probably knew the man's identity) to stop the organization that was exercising its "right" to experiment on Mutants. Of course, trying to figure out how they created the ability to travel dimensions without any sort of alien technology or anything was difficult in itself. But the files all made sense when Dick read them, and he wasn't any sort of quantum physics expert.
Each night, going on a new mission with Peter into Genesis facilities and releasing people into SHIELD's custody to send them into either a) witness protection or b) back into the real world with protection and SHIELD monitoring them. Most of the experimentees took choice a. The ones who were changed, with their physical appearance altered (or already had been by sheer nature being an asshole) or mentally generally stayed with SHIELD. Some of them were mentally broken, or so altered physically that they couldn't compute or couldn't recognize anything.
They were… put down. Dick hated it, he hated the term. It made him so angry. They weren't animals, they weren't put down. They were killed. If they were capable of speech, most of them asked for it. But that didn't mean Dick had to like it.
The year was almost over and so far… after everything had gotten settled, it had exploded again. Genesis erupted. As did the news. Reports of children and even adults with genetic mutations were hitting the screens. Parents and adults were frightened and the Government was unsure how to handle such things. Dick had explained it to Tony and Steve one time, about what his US Government handled it.
"Look, it was simple. When it came down to it, these people were humans. Their bodies had just unlocked something that was in all of us. So, the Government was going to persecute them. They didn't want a repeat of what happened when, well you know—."
Steve nodded seriously.
"—so they let these people live. Most of them had normal jobs and families and they really didn't affect anyone really. Some of them were mad with power, became criminals and they were stopped by the people, those with powers and those who didn't have powers, that stepped up and did what needed to be done. So, it was balanced. It was exactly as it had been years before any of the Meta-humans had even showed up. And done. That's it. If someone was going to rob bank by walking through walls, well… then they're going to do it and there's no stopping them. People rob banks anyway, doesn't matter how they do it. They've robbed a bank, just like any other human being."
And it was so obviously clear that Tony sat there for like two minutes thinking about everything and then some and Steve nodded, congratulated Dick, and then walked away.
Still, Mutants Rights Activist Groups were jumping out all over the nation, and those against the mutants sprang up against those groups. Children were being killed and kicked onto the streets and people were being fired and denied simple, human rights. The entire premise was just downright barbaric and Dick wanted to just jump up and punch whomever the President was in the face.
But as Genesis got smaller and smaller, Dick felt it was helping. Even those children who weren't being kicked out of their families and who were being accepted were going missing. They were whisked up by winter winds and carried away with the snow. Dick worked harder than ever. His right hand had been replaced, and was now just much the weapons his escrima sticks were. If he said one word command, any word he wanted (apparently the word pickle was not appropriate and he had to change it), and electric pulse would surge through the palm and finger tips. He wouldn't feel it, but whomever he was touching would get the shock of their life.
By January, Dick wanted Genesis to be gone. At the latest, it'd be early February. He'd been here five years now (December 18th was the anniversary) and he felt he should be doing more. Home was here now, home was this Dimension, whatever it was called, and he should begin treating it as such. Not like he hadn't beforehand, but now it was sort of finalized.
Christmas was silent and went on. He got a few presents, from Tony and Pepper and Peter. Even one from Steve and Natasha, who gave him two throwing knives (apparently those were their next project). Steve had found a Glenn Miller CD for Dick to use and the young man gratefully accepted it, because his own father used to listen to Glenn Miller. Tony had given Dick some more weaponry and Pepper had presented Dick with a nice suit and tickets to see a concert with Jodi. Peter had given him two books: the original Sherlock Holmes and one on Quantum Physics. Dick felt the last one was a joke, but he still accepted it.
By the end of the New Year, Dick was learning how to throw knives expertly. He was quite good, because throwing those Winddings needed some skill, but a pair of knives was far more lethal and that's what he and Natasha were going for. It was still hard to let go of that value but he was ready. This place had changed him, there was no denying that.
No. There wasn't.
JANURARY 18TH
"Are they ready?" Nightwing questioned, peering out of the shadows.
"Yes, sir. We're ready at your command."
Nightwing nodded. "Right, I'll go in first. When I give the signal, I want you to give all you've got. This is important and we can't let them go away. This is the last facility, got it?"
The under ranking SHIELD agent nodded and repeated Nightwing's words into his walkie talkie. Nightwing jumped off the building and threw out his wrist, grabbing the cord that snapped out and attached itself to the Genesis building.
Paul T. Hammond.
Nightwing found him.
Nightwing landed on the building and rolled into an upright position, talking the cord off from the building and walking over to the vent. He scanned for motion sensors and cameras and quickly turned them off and replaced the feed. Now, there would be nothing.
"Heh," he laughed to himself. "I hacked the motion sensors."
Then he removed the vent and crawled inside, his lithe and lean body fitting in quite comfortably. He crawled through the vents, checking the map on his wrist every few seconds to check for Hammond's room. The scientist was still in his room, calmly typing on the laptop. Dick smirked without helping it. Good, he thought, I can surprise him. It's no fun if they know you're coming.
Nightwing was soon over Hammond's room and he heard the steady typing of fingers on a keyboard. It paused occasionally and not soon after the pause there would be the sound of a glass or coffee cup lightly hitting wood. Nightwing unscrewed the vent and fell softly into the darkly lit room. There were plenty of shadows, because Wing had made sure that part of the lights in Hammond's room weren't working that day. He unsheathed one of the knives Natasha had gotten him and, breathing calmly and steadily, threw it at the man's coffee cup.
The cup shattered and Hammond jumped, snapping his laptop shut so that there was no more light. Nightwing heard the clicking of a gun. He narrowed his eyes.
"Who's there?" Hammond shouted angrily and Nightwing could see him faintly lift it from the street light from the window. Wing blinked twice in a row and his night vision came on. Hammond was furiously pointing the gun everywhere, his hand trembling harshly.
"I wouldn't do that," Nightwing inquired. "You might hurt yourself."
Hammond shot in the direction of Nightwing's voice, but the young man was already gone from the spot. A second knife came out of nowhere and knocked the gun out of Hammond's hand. The man jumped, yelping loudly. "I've done nothing wrong!" he sobbed, falling back into the glass wall. It didn't break, thankfully.
Nightwing scoffed. "Really? Nothing wrong? What about experimenting on humans? Children? Don't lie to me, Mr. Hammond. I really don't like liars."
Hammond went silent and suddenly Nightwing heard a silent prayer under Hammond's breath. He walked over to the man, his tall body looming over him. "Anything to tell me, Mr. Hammond?"
"You… you're that Wing character from New York that works with the Spider one. But…" Hammond looked at the knife in Nightwing's hand. "But you don't kill!"
Nightwing grabbed Hammond and turned him around, putting the knife to his neck. "No, but I might if you don't talk. Why did you order those people to be hurt?" Nightwing growled, holding the knife tighter to the man's neck. Hammond was sweating, the hero could feel it against his hand. After a few seconds of heavy breathing, the man nodded.
"I… I was just following orders!" Hammond breathed. "I swear! They told me they would kill me!"
Nightwing tightened the knife on the man's neck. "The director's! It was the director's! Five of them, never saw their faces I swear! They gave me the orders and I carried them out with the organization! I swear! Please! Please don't kill me!"
Nightwing dropped him and then smashed his face onto the wall. He was being ordered. Hammond was being ordered. That meant they really hadn't cracked down on Genesis. They got the body, just not the head.
He touched his comm. link. "Get in here, take this place out."
"Rodger that sir."
Dick unhooked Hammond's laptop and attached it to his side, strapping it down onto his thigh. By the time he was out of the building, it already belonged to SHIELD.
By the time SHIELD had gotten through Hammond's laptop, most of the files had self-destructed. They had saved some files, some useful and some not, but still it hadn't been a completely bust. Genesis had dissolved and now most of its files that were on experimenting and dimensional travel were in SHIELDS hands. It was a good feeling.
February was flying by fast and after Genesis was destroyed, two villains had popped up— one old and one new. Someone called the Vulture, who quite enjoyed antagonizing Peter. And suddenly White Rabbit was back. Dick had been quite surprised, honestly. He thought that she was done. Half way through the month, Dick had already had two confrontations with her. She ranted about being thrown in jail and, honestly, he had better things to do.
When March rolled around, Dick had thrown her ass back in jail. He was investigating a lead on the Director's that Hammond had been talking about. About half way through February, he'd been killed in prison. Poison. It had been in SHIELD custody too, so that meant that there was a traitor. The investigation was shut down to anyone outside of the Avengers and a few select people. The assassination had been a major roadblock for the group, but Hammond had told them everything he knew, apparently, and there was nothing that could be done except follow what he had given them.
It was March 21st. Dick hadn't even realized the time. He was sitting at his desk, writing a report for Stark Industries when his phone buzzed. On his calendar, it told him it was his birthday. He blinked and looked up, shutting his laptop slightly. One year. Everything that had happened… one year. A very hectic year. He was eighteen now, and was legally an adult. He sat back down in his chair.
Huh.
Now he supposed he would have to tell Pepper his birthday.
][][][
Tony was working in his lab when he got a notification on his phone. JARVIS was programed to sync Dick's calendar with his and the boy had, mistakenly, put in his birthday for himself. Tony thought it was in case Dick forgot, but he felt that the younger man either wanted him to know or had done it entirely on accident.
He grinned slightly and then turned back to his monitors, which were currently synced with SHIELD's. For a moment, there was nothing on the holographic blue screens. Then, suddenly, a large burst of electromagnetic energy burst across the screen. Tony sat up suddenly, a small smile spreading on his face.
"No… it can't be." But it so obviously was. Tony jumped up and grabbed his suit. "JARVIS! Connect my suit to the monitors, especially the one connected to SHIELD's, this is important."
"Of course sir."
Tony jumped into the air and snapped his arms, the suit lighting up and racing toward his body. In mere moments, the metal encased him and he was connected to the mainframe and JARVIS. "Great," he muttered. "Now take me on route to the energy blast. I need to get there now, JARVIS."
Before Tony even really knew what was happening, he was flying across the New York skyline, his repulsors leaving blue trails of light behind him. In a few moments, he had landed.
There was a red and blue ship. It seemed foreign and out of place, almost awkward as it sat precariously on the building. Tony stood up and walked forward.
The door opened and Tony stopped short. There was a tall man, about Captain America's height, with a blue outfit and red cape. On his chest was a giant "S" shield. He was floating. There was nothing on him, no hammer and no repulsors. He was just simply floating. Behind him was another larger man, who was shrouded in black and had a cowl on his head. Tony couldn't see the rest of the outfit, but he was fairly sure it was gray and black. These two looked like polar opposites, but Tony knew exactly who they were. Superman and Batman.
He gulped.
Batman stepped forward. "I'm looking for someone named Robin, perhaps you've heard of him."
To be continued…