Author's Note:

May I remind you all, there have been several Red Hoods. I may or may not have Jason as this one.

Congrats to mangx3 for review number 500!

Chapter 36.

"Was your holiday not fraught with enough danger that you decided to come home and get yourself shot?" Alfred scolded.

"Nothing says 'welcome home' like a bullet to the chest," I mumbled, my hands curled into fists as he tended the wound. I was lucky the Red X suit was a two piece, all I had to do was lift my shirt instead of removing it, because I'm sure Alfred would've asked about the ring around my neck.

Alfred gave me a stern look. "You should wear more protection."

"I should," I agreed. "Once Bruce comes up with a more flexible solution to Kevlar, it's just not bendy enough."

"Star's gonna be pissed at you," Tim commented.

"Probably," I replied. "But I have all week to heal. Maybe she won't notice."

"Yeah. Sure she won't notice the fresh bullet burn on your chest and the little indented hole it made," Tim teased.

Alfred looked down his nose at me. "All done," he announced, placing a patch over the wound. "Please take some painkillers tonight and I wish to see you tomorrow to check your progress."

I sat up, shoving my shirt back down. "Thanks, Al."

We all turned our heads as we heard the rumble of the batplane entering the cave.

"Do you think he got him?" Tim asked.

I shrugged. "Somehow… I don't think so. There's something…"

"What?"

"I dunno," I said, pulling a face. "Just…" I couldn't really put words to the feeling. Something wasn't right.

Batman filled the doorway to the medic bay, just staring. Impossible to tell his thoughts. Unless you knew him. This was his 'I'm worried about you but I'm never going to voice my feelings' stance.

"I'm fine," I said. "Suit stopped most of it."

"Simply a small burn, sir," Alfred said, putting his medical supplies away. "Some minor bleeding. He'll bruise enough so that Miss Starfire can have stern words when she arrives home."

I scowled at Alfred while Tim laughed behind his hand.

"Did you get him?" I asked Bruce as he pushed back his cowl.

"No," Bruce replied. "You recorded?"

"Everything I could," I replied, tossing him the small card that held the video.

He closed his fist around it. "Let's look then."

Tim and I followed him to the Batcomputer, waiting while he inserted the disc.

Oracle flicked onto one of the screens. "I've got his description in Jeeves, Gretchen and the Batcomputer," she announced. "They'll let us know if he pops up anywhere else. Right there, Dick?"

I sat against the desk and rolled my eyes at her. "Fine."

"'Kay," she replied. "I've cut off his access to the police database, but I don't know if he's got any more doorways in. Running a trace now, but it's taking a while. He's crude, but he knows his stuff. I'll get him."

I gestured behind me, toward the evidence lockup. "We got two of his guns. I'll forensic them later," I said. "Already checked for tracers, none that I can see."

"Good, I'll be able to match up his weapons with the ones used on Redhorn," Oracle said.

"Somehow, I don't think this guy's responsible," I said. "Not for Redhorn."

"How can you tell?"

I waved my hand at her, not really able to explain.

"Ahh, gut feeling," she said.

"Just… something off," I said, folding my arms on my chest, winced, then curling my hands around the edge of the desk.

"Why'd he go for you?" Tim asked.

"No fucking idea," I replied. "Maybe past Red X had some dealing with him and he's holding a grudge… but I don't know." I hesitated, then thought it better to share. "He called me dick."

Bruce frowned at me. "So?"

"Not in the sense, 'you're a dick'," I said. "It was almost like… he knew it was my name."

Tim snorted. "Probably not. How many times has someone called you a dick while you're in costume. I bet its loads."

"There's usually a 'head' to go with it."

"Maybe he overheard you and Starfire going for it," Tim teased, fluttering his eyes at me, clasping his hands in front of him all girly like. "Oh, Dick, oh, Dick!"

"Right, c'mere you!" I snapped and went for him with a grin.

"Do you want to watch this or shall I send you home?" Bruce asked dryly.

I huffed, scowled at Tim and returned to my spot at the desk. "Go."

Bruce reviewed our footage first. Elbows on the desk, he placed the tips of his fingers together, his two index fingers against his lips, his thumbs tucked under his chin as he watched. "Thoughts?" he asked after a time.

"He's well trained," Tim said. "Talented, but lacking… I dunno… experience maybe. There's something slightly off."

"It's like he's not completed the training," I said. "Or only just finished it and it hasn't been allowed to become second nature. But then he does something and you can see— like that," I said gesturing the screen. "And you can see some things are ingrained."

"He's strong though," Tim admitted. "He wasn't holding back."

Bruce grunted. "Hmm. Babs?"

"I'm inclined to agree," she said. "He's talented. Perhaps not to your calibre, but he's trained."

"Don't believe us?" I asked.

"I do," Bruce muttered. "But then…"

"What?"

Bruce leant forward, hitting a few keys and brought up his own video recording. We waited, watching it in fast forward until he reached the point that he wanted to show us.

Red Hood leapt from building to building, taunting Batman. As we watched, he went for a rather large jump and Batman, obviously having enough of the chase, shot a grappling hook at Red Hood mid jump, catching his boot.

We watched as Red Hood swivelled in the air, a hunting knife slicing the rope of the hook before it went taut.

"Fuck me," I said. That took skill. Both Tim and I could do it with blindfolds on, but to see someone else do it, it was impressive.

"Dude… did he just… he cut that before it went tight."

"Not to mention actually having a knife that can cut through the cable," Bruce said.

"Not easy to come by," Tim agreed.

I narrowed my eyes at the screen watching as Red Hood jumped from building to building. He's quick on his feet as he makes the jumps. Not just fast. Agile. He's not thinking about making his next move. He's making it. Acting on instinct.

I thought we were the only ones that did that. I sighed and rubbed my chest.

Bruce glanced at me. "Go home. Take some painkillers. I'll analyse this and call you in the morning."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Promise?"

Bruce sighed. "Dick, he's in your town too. I'd rather not send you up against him unprepared."

"Thanks." I lifted an eyebrow to Tim as I picked up my Red X gear.

He nodded. "Coming."

Bruce gave an inquiring glance over his shoulder.

"Tim's staying with me," I said. "Since you booted him."

"I didn't boot him," Bruce said. "I just suggested—"

"Well, he's helping me," I said.

Bruce nodded. "Probably a good idea, with this guy on the loose. Tim'll be able to show you where he's been hitting in Bludhaven."

I rolled my eyes at Tim, waved to Babs and went to say goodnight to Alfred.

Tim and I didn't really talk when we got home. I was starting to feel it by that stage. A couple of painkillers, a quick rubdown since I couldn't shower. I did my hosting thing, Starfire'd have my head if I didn't make sure Tim had everything he wanted, but he sort of helped himself anyway. When I went to bid him goodnight, he was talking on the phone to a girl. I eavesdropped by the door for a moment, heard him call her 'Steph', gathering good brotherly teasing information of course, before I poked my head around, "No phone sex in my house," I quipped and ducked the thrown boot. "Do we need to talk about the birds and the bees?"

He gave me the finger. "Fuck off, Dick."

"See, when a man loves a woman—" and there was the matching boot, followed by a scowling Tim to close the door.

I slept well, although I attribute that to the painkillers more than anything else, and rose early. Did a light workout, not enough to pull the scabbing of my chest but it was actually nice to work with equipment for a change, I hadn't had much of a chance to the past two week. I changed my bandage, had breakfast and readied for work.

I checked Gretchen for messages, but Bruce hadn't sent anything through yet. I put in a reminder for myself to check at lunchtime. I checked the time on Ortacarr too, but it would be the middle of the night there, so talking to Starfire wasn't an option. Still, I recorded a quick message for her, not mentioning anything that had been occurring within Bludhaven because I knew she'd just come back, and send the message through to Ortacarr via the Justice League's communications network.

Tim came out, scratching his mussed up hair and yawning, staggering for coffee. He said he had class to go to today, but he'd be back in the evening for first patrol.

Can was at her desk when I got in, but since it was barely on eight o'clock, I knew the meeting the Captain called wouldn't start for a while. It's why I was so early. She waved at me, but didn't come over to talk, looked quite busy actually so I just left it. We'd probably catch up after the meeting.

I checked my mail, caught up on everything that happened while I was away. I checked on Wyvern's and my secret activity last night, there was no mention of a break in at the police station where the evidence was being kept. Maybe they knew about it, most likely they didn't.

I put Starfire's message for the Captain on his desk, which give him a start date for her and explained she was still off world at present due to a family emergency. He probably wouldn't ask how I got it, but I didn't want direct questions which was why I opted to do it when he wasn't around.

All hands on deck this morning, all the detectives, even those rostered off showed up for the Captain's meeting.

"Terrible," Taylor said to me as we crowded into the conference room. The senior detectives took all the seats, with the normal ones behind while us juniors had to huddle up the back and listen. Everyone was talking among themselves, the Captain still hadn't called order.

"Yeah."

"Did you hear the rumours?"

I lifted an eyebrow at him. "No."

He dropped his voice, casting a conspiring glance around. "They're saying Nightwing did it."

Fuck. "They?"

Taylor's eyes flitted on several of the seniors, Can included, a nervous giveaway for who'd been discussing that. "Just some of them. In the locker room."

"It's bullshit."

"They said there was evidence," Taylor said in hushed tones.

I narrowed my eyes. Evidence my ass, but if there was, it meant someone was impersonating me.

Captain Burke slapped his hand on the conference table and we all dropped into silence.

He cleared his throat a couple of times, his eyes on the table rather than on us. "As many of you are aware, Police Chief Redhorn was murdered on Saturday night. Acting Chief Nelson has made a request for honour guard for the procession at Redhorn's funeral, so if you'd like to volunteer for that, please see me afterward." He sighed, rubbed his forehead. "At this time, this station has been asked to step back from volunteering officers to help with the investigation."

I frowned. There was only one reason I could think why he'd been asked to do that.

"What?" Gingers asked, surprised, her voice the loudest of those asking the same questions. "Why?"

Captain Burke leant on the conference table as he talked, "As you know, Starfire will be starting work here next week as a translator, I have her confirmation paper work on my desk. The Acting Chief feels it will be a conflict of interest."

"So, there's proof of Nightwing's involvement?" Can asked, sounding a little too eager for my liking.

"There's… evidence he may have been present. At this time, I cannot say if he was involved. However, the Acting Police Chief will be making a public appeal for Nightwing to turn himself over for questioning regarding the incident."

Shit.

"You can't be serious," I blurted. "Nightwing doesn't use guns."

Captain Burke waved his hand at me. "Grayson, I know you're acquainted with Starfire and that's one of the reasons we've been asked not to supply detectives to help. All I know is they want Nightwing for questioning. If you have an idea of his whereabouts—"

"I assume he's off world with Starfire," I said, providing myself an alibi. Good thing I hadn't patrolled as Nightwing, I'd have to steer clear of him tonight. Fuck. "She told me before I went on holiday there was some sort of family emergency."

The Captain looked at me, narrowed his eyes and said, "Grayson, see me after the meeting please."

I nodded.

"Funeral possession is set for Friday," Captain Burke continued. "Each precinct has been asked to supply at least twenty officers. A lot of the uniformed have already volunteered but I'd like to be represented by a few detectives too. Strictly volunteer basis, so let me know."

He straightened. "There are already signs of mayhem in our streets," he said. "Looters, revellers, mourners. We need an increased police presence. I've increased the number of uniformed patrols we have in our jurisdiction, but I'm also increasing the plain clothed patrols. New roster and patrol routes will be posted. We need to be on the ball. Also, I want you to hit all the snitches you can with regards to the Redhorn case. Even if we're not allowed to work on it, doesn't mean we can't provide intel."

I flicked my eyes to Can, I didn't like the look on her face. Boded trouble. She was planning something, I was betting we'd be conducting research even without the Captain's permission. Interesting… I wondered at her motive.

But then, I was of the same mind too. This wasn't good.

When the meeting was complete, I waited until everyone filed out, the Captain standing at the front of the room, watching me.

"Sir?"

"Do you have any way of contacting Starfire?"

I scratched my head, looking uncertain. "Maybe. It's a long shot, but I'll see what I can do," I lied. I so wasn't bringing Starfire into this. Although, if I didn't tell her, she'd be very unhappy when she got back and found out I was keeping it from her.

"We'd like Nightwing to come in with little fuss," he said. "If there's anything you can do to smooth that transition, we'd be grateful."

See, I knew being openly friendly with Starfire would bite me in the ass one day. At least we didn't opt for the Dick stealing her away from Nightwing option. "Sir, it's a possibility that Redhorn's death is related to the Evans case," I said. "Not Nightwing."

"Grayson," the Captain said, resigned. "Possibility or not, investigators have to follow the evidence. I'm told there is compelling reasons behind their Nightwing theory. Are you sure he's off world?"

"I have no idea, sir," I said. "I just assumed. Has there been any sign of him lately?"

"He vanishes for weeks at a time, then we'll have a string of sightings all at once. He's a vigilante and dangerous, for all the good that he's done over the years. Maybe he's become unhinged, I can't presume to know. If you have any sway with him at all, or a way of contacting Starfire, see if you can convince him to turn himself in."

I swallowed. "I'll do my best, sir.

Ignoring the looks from Can as I exited the conference room, I announced I was going on coffee run and took orders from people. I realised how suspicious it would seem, me leaving after a meeting like that, but I needed to talk to Babs. First thing I did when I was out the door, was get her on my non-work phone.

"Hey, Dick, what's up?"

"Gilded cage." It's a code word. It basically means, Nightwing may have been compromised, in one form of another. I was fairly certain Babs would put it together.

She didn't fail me. Babs sucked in a gasp of breath. "What? You weren't even here!"

"Someone was. Keep an eye on the news. Babs—"

"I'll look into it," she promised. "Top priority."

"Thanks. I gotta call Bruce, he'll need a heads up."

"This is not going to end well."

"Nope. Anything you can give me would be great. Can you let Tim know?"

"Sure. I'll wire it through to Vic too, just so he's warned. Good luck with Bruce."

"Thanks," I muttered, hanging up and dialling Bruce.

"Dick, I don't have anything," he said when he picked up. "I said I'd call—"

"Gilded cage."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Then, "Evidence?"

"Presumably."

"Shit."

"Yup. News report should be appearing today."

"Thanks for the heads up. What are you going to do?"

"Don't know. Answer it probably. Depends how nice they are about it." I glanced up at the Starbucks sign. "On coffee run, gotta go."

"Be careful," Bruce warned.

"Always."

Loaded up with my stacks of coffee, I headed back to the station and handed them out. In a surprising show of restraint, Can waited until the last of the coffee was taken before she pounced on me.

"So, tell be about Tokyo," she said, shoving me onto the seat at my desk.

"Um… they all speak Japanese there?"

"Dick!" she scolded.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, yes. Kory was there. We sort of rekindled things a bit at the wedding and when she found I had holidays coming up, she asked if I wanted to come and see Japan with her."

Can was practically bouncing with excitement, I wasn't quite sure why. "Are you back together? When do I get to meet her?"

"I don't know and I don't know."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Why?"

"Taking things slow. We've been apart a while. We're just… seeing how things pan out."

"She probably wants some sort of grand declaration of love."

"What makes you think she hasn't had one?" I asked. Really, why does it always have to be the guys fault?

She smirked. "Oh, really? What'd you do?"

Really should have thought this through more. "Why the interest in my love life?"

"The fact that you've got one," Can said, smiling. "C'mon. Taylor talks about Natalie. Hackle talks about his conquests or lack of them. Rogers mentions Melanie all the time. You, not a word. And I had to find out from Wally that you had some sort of epic love affair with a high school sweetheart that lasted years and only ended because you took this job. Makes the detective in me want to look for answers."

I lifted an eyebrow, time to kill Wally. "Look, Can, there's really nothing to tell right now. We're still trying to reconnect. I'll let you know if that changes."

"Sooo…. Long distance relationship?" she asked. "Does she live in Tokyo?"

"No, she lives in Gotham."

"So, I can meet her!" She all but clapped her hands together, giddy as a school girl.

"Maybe," I said. "We'll see. Your coffee's getting cold."

She scoffed at me and whacked my shoulder as she headed for her own desk.

Lunchtime found us all crowded around the television in the break room as the Acting Chief made a public appeal for information into the murder of the Police Chief. Waiting anxiously, I hoped they weren't going to stupid enough to implicate Nightwing, that'd just counter everything I'd worked for, people would automatically assume the worst of me and the tarnish on my reputation would take ages to repair.

Seems, though, they had some pretty decent speech writers.

"We would also like to appeal to Nightwing to come forward and assist us in this investigation," the Acting Chief said. "We believe it would be prudent for the police force to work with our self appointed protector during this time of uncertainly."

Yeah. Sure they would. Come, Nightwing, work for us, after we lock you in an interview room and grill you for hours on end.

"Do ya think he'll come in?" Taylor asked.

"Doubt it," Hackle said. "He's an ass."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Really?" I'm the ass?

"C'mon. Bludhaven doesn't need the likes of him around," Hackle said. "Prissy little prick that thinks he can swoop in here and fix everything because he's so damn good looking. Not to mention Can's got a huge fangirl crush on him."

"I do not!" Can snapped.

That would explain why she was so interested in Nightwing.

"He's done a lot of good for Bludhaven," Gingers mentioned.

"You're crushing too," Hackle said with a snort. "It wasn't broke."

"It was getting that way," Kindal said. "We couldn't keep up with the murders, since he's been here, we're actually getting a breather on things. But it doesn't matter, if he's involved, he's undone everything he's worked for."

"Which is why he probably wasn't involved," Can said. "But we won't know for sure unless he turns himself in."

"If he's not involved, why would he need to turn himself in?" I asked.

"So she can tie him to the bed and have her evil way with him," Hackle suggested. "Why else?"

"You're out of line," Can snapped, pointing a finger at Hackle. "Cut the crap or I'll have you on grunt work."

Hackle snorted. "I really don't know why you've got such a hard on for him, Apple. I bet even Grayson could beat him in a fist fight. Tight wearing prick, it's just those fancy gadgets he's got. Of course people are gonna be scared of him if he can whistle and Superman will answer."

"And Starfire," I snapped, trying not to be defensive and not succeeding. "I bet that's why you're jealous, Hackle. Who's the one with the crush now?"

"Nightwing's a no good bastard," Hackle snarled. "Tell me this, how do we know he's doing good? How do we know that for sure? He's a vigilante, taking the law into his own hands, and we're just letting him do that. He's got no powers, he's got no right to be doing this. For all the rapes and murders he supposedly saves, what if he's the one committing all the rest? Dead men don't tell tales, remember? What if he's a mastermind criminal moonlighting for good so he can hide his true purpose?"

"Batman trained," Rogers included. "And we all know how vicious Batman can be."

"There should be a fucking warrant out for his arrest," Hackle continued, seemingly gaining support from my co-workers. "Not a fucking inane plea for his assistance."

Nice to know what he really thought, even if it fucking hurt. I knew there would be people out there that thought things like that. I knew. But… damn. I'd hoped not to encounter them at my workplace. And to have people agreeing with what he was saying…

"It's people like you that complain about the heroes," I snapped. "That suddenly about face their rantings when it's your life in danger. Superman shouldn't be out saving the world, he doesn't have the right, oh, wait, there's a massive meteorite going to destroy us, save us Superman. Nightwing doesn't do it for the praise, he does it so others doesn't have to. Because there are metahuman criminals out there that do not care that you have no powers. Or do you think you could handle it if Clayface or Mr Freeze turned up in Bludhaven?"

Hackle narrowed his eyes at me.

"Didn't think so," I snapped. "Don't let Starfire hear you talking of Nightwing like that. Remember her? She'll be working here soon. Are you going to harp on about the uses of heroes while she's around?"

"She's got superpowers, she's supposed to protect us—"

"No. She's not supposed to do anything. They don't get fucking paid for it. She chooses to. That's the difference." Glaring at him, I turned and stalked from the room.

I didn't say much for the rest of the day, not even when Can came over to check I was okay, telling me to ignore Hackle and that he was an idiot.

I was angry. Frustrated. I could see my reputation going down the drain. Checking online, there were already forums lining up to discuss whether or not Nightwing had anything to do with Redhorn's murders, rumourmongers making it all worse.

I wasn't as stable as I appeared. I knew that. Already I could feel my emotional control slipping. Things had been too much out of balance lately, and I hadn't had time to put it all back in.

Still, couldn't dwell. People needed me strong, stable, even if they didn't appreciate me.

There was a message on my answering machine when I arrived home, but it was just Tim saying he'd be late. He'd heard about the trouble and not to go out on patrol without him. Hadn't planned to anyway. There were several messages from Wally too, concerned about the news and asking me to call him. Which I didn't.

I checked in with Bruce, but he had no new leads for me. Neither did Babs. Glancing at the time, I sat at the console in my lounge room and sighed. Better get it done now, once I started going over the data we'd collected, I'd probably forget to. "Gretchen, start video message please."

"Recording."

I smiled. "Hey, Star. I hope you're having a good time. I went and ordered a trampoline for Othil today, you can tell him I'll be bringing it when I come get you. Also got those Tamaranian books you wanted out of the boxes for the children. Galfore's here on Earth, he says everything went well on Tamaran with Karras, I'm sure he'll have more information for you when you get back. Apparently he and Superman are having fun arm wrestling. Um… Tim's staying with me for a couple of days, there's something…" I sighed and leant forward, dropping my eyes from the camera to hold my head in my hands. "Redhorn's been murdered. Probably assassinated. Word on the grapevine is that there's evidence implicating Nightwing. Witnesses, video, someone impersonating me, I don't know. I can't get in there to find out and when I tried last night… we were attacked. There's a new criminal in town, he's shaking up the underground. We think. Bruce isn't certain. Fuck, Bruce isn't certain, how the hell are the rest of us supposed to know. We're chasing ghosts. There's been so many murders and deaths in such a short space of time, Bludhaven and Gotham both. And to have Nightwing implicated on Redhorn's murder… I've worked so fucking hard on him, to have it all reputation just vanish like that. You should have heard Hackle today, all his ranting about Nightwing and how the city would be better off without him. I help these people and to hear them talking like that about me…"

I sat back in my chair with a huff, cast my eyes skyward. "Nightwing's been asked to 'assist' with the investigation. We both know what that means. I don't know what to do, Star. I'm not nearly as emotionally stable as I'd like. Not for this. Not after what happened to you. I haven't… we haven't… " I leant forward on my chair, put my hands over my face. "I wish you were here. I need you here for this."

I cringed at how lame I sounded. Stupid moment of weakness. I was all over the place, not making sense. Starfire couldn't know, she'd rush back here. It wouldn't be good. "Fuck. Gretchen. Delete the video."

"Deleted," she said. "Might I suggest that you breathe?"

I rubbed my face. Sighed. Sat up properly and plastered a smile on my face. "Okay. Okay. Gretchen, new video."

"Recording."

"Hey, Star. I bet you're having a wonderful time. You're probably going to beg me to stay longer and I think you should… fuck…" I huffed. "Gretchen, new video."

"Recording."

"Hey, Star. Things are going okay here, lots of work to catch up on. It's amazing how much changes in such a short amount of time. I hope you're having a blast with your family. I got those books you wanted and I ordered Othil's trampoline. I'll set it up when I get back there. Galfore's here, he says everything went well on Tamaran, but he does want to talk to you when you get back. He and Superman seem to be getting on real well, lots of arm wrestling. I hope you're feeling okay, what with everything. Babs said 'hey', she's gotten a new haircut, looks really cute. Um… I really don't have a lot of time right now, playing catch up with both my jobs but I'll try and send you a bigger message a little later. Looking forward to seeing you on the weekend. Love you. Gretchen, end video."

"Recording ended. Shall I send it?"

I huffed, sat back on my chair and rubbed my face. "Shit. Alright, Gretchen, I want everything we've got on the Redhorn case and you can send that—"

"The first one was better."

I think my heart stopped.

Author's Note:

Cite: Under the Red Hood for the cable cutting scene. Comic lore cite: Some of Dick's thoughts when he's studying Red Hood.