Chapter 38 Red Pigeon
"This isn't a good idea, Bruce." Nightwing said to his communicator.
"I know your feelings on the subject, Dick. I have made the decision. It's not for you to decide." He heard Bruce say in his ear.
Nightwing shook his head. His long hair blew around his face, but this didn't obstruct his bird's eye view of the GCPD. It was a cloudy night. It was ideal conditions. The bat signal had struck the sky for the first time in a month. It was time to show the commissioner the new guy. It was a bad call, and Nightwing knew it.
"Bruce, I think you should reconsider. What if he goes berserk? It's like you are tying a nuke to a dog and teaching him to play fetch." Nightwing said.
"Nightwing is right, Bruce. He is dangerous. Why are you even bothering. What makes this one so important?" Oracle said into both of their ears.
"I have already discussed this at length with both of you. It is not a problem." Bruce said.
"I'll hang around for backup if necessary." Nightwing said.
"I told you, you are needed back in Bludhaven. I can handle him." Bruce said.
"You can't trust him, Bruce. He will turn on you in a heartbeat." Nightwing said.
"You shouldn't doubt him. He has more heart than either of you know." Bruce said.
"That may be true, Bruce. I'm just worried. I don't think even a good man could contain the power of the mark on his arm." Oracle said.
"This is a massive gamble ever moment he is out." Nightwing said.
"I'll let you know if anything goes wrong. Until then stay off the coms." Bruce said.
"Alright. I'll just… wait here then." Nightwing said, lazily draping a leg over the edge of the building and leaning against a gargoyle. He glanced onto the rooftop near the bat signal. The commissioner tipped his hat to him in a form of salute, and Nightwing saluted lazily back. The commissioner looked like he had seen better days. His hair was grayer than ever. The man had not lost any of his grit, however.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Nightwing said to no one in particular. He saw Bruce in a new suit introducing the new recruit to the commissioner. There was no knowing how the conversation was going from this distance. It was also impossible to read the expression on the new guy's face from this distance.
After a few moments, the new guy, the Winchester, offered his wrists to be arrested by the commissioner. The commissioner looked to Batman questioning. Bruce didn't move a muscle. Gordon fingered his cuffs and said something that Nightwing couldn't hear. The Winchester moved in and grabbed the cuffs himself and put them on.
The commissioner looked confused. This was a no brainer to Nightwing. There was nothing short of Bruce Wayne that would have stopped him from sending the evil scum to Arkham. It wasn't up to him. This was Bruce's decision. Bruce put a hand on Winchester's shoulder and started talking to Gordon. It was after a few moments that Bruce revealed the mark on the murderer's arm. Nightwing didn't care what it did to the man. It wouldn't make someone innocent a murderer. That's the kind of thing that is just in you, or it's not, and Bruce couldn't change that.
Gordon backed off, and shrugged. The cuffs fell to the ground. So that was that then. Dean Winchester was going to fight with them in Gotham against the likes of the Joker and Two-Face. It wasn't a notion that Nightwing relished, not that he would refuse. He preferred to be as close as possible. If the guy slipped up even once, he would be there. Bruce would have to understand, even if he didn't like it. There were some things you just couldn't fix. He was sure of it.
Nightwing stood and dove off the side of the building. In one graceful motion, he grappled up to the rooftop of the GCPD. All three of the men looked at him as he somersaulted onto the roof in typical acrobatic fashion.
"Hey everyone." Nightwing said, trying to look as impressive as possible.
"Everybody loves their spandex in this town." Dean said.
"You've got no idea." Gordon said.
"You have your report?" Bruce asked Nightwing.
"Joker is planning something underground. Two-Face seems to be helping him. I don't like it. They never work together. I guess they've been spooked." Nightwing said.
"I know by who." Gordon said glancing at Dean. "You sure you're up for this? I don't like letting you loose on them with that thing on your arm. You don't exactly have the cleanest hands."
"I don't do that anymore, Commissioner." Dean said, a little more officially than he intended.
"I'll look out for him, Jim." Bruce said smiling.
"It looks like they have teams of men routing machinery, chemicals weapons, all underground. I don't know where they could be setting up shop. Some of the henchmen seemed different somehow." Nightwing said.
"Different? How?" Bruce said.
"Like they weren't in control of what they were doing. It was almost as if they were possessed." Nightwing said.
"I was afraid of this." Batman said. He turned to Dean. "What can we expect?" Batman said.
"I don't know what they are doing, but those things take control of a human in the form of a column of black smoke. Salt works best, but iron will work just as well. They reek of sulfur, so if you smell that, you're getting close." Dean said almost under his breath. He wished Sam where here to have his back. It just wasn't the same.
"And the exorcism?" Batman said.
"Recorded on these." Dean said passing out recording devices.
"Wait, wait, wait… Exorcism? You're saying they are possessed by demons?" Gordon said incredulously.
"I don't know how they got here, or what they want, but they are ugly monsters. I've destroyed millions, but they just keep coming." Dean said hanging his head, heavy with the weight of years of experience.
"I don't know about this. This is a whole new level of weird, even for this city." Nightwing said.
"I know how it sounds, Nightwing. I trust his intell." Bruce said. He had his own theories as to how and why the demons were here. The reason they were dealing with the Joker was less clear. Why would the clown want to make a deal with a devil?
"Let's get to work. I'll take point. Robin, with me. Nightwing, you will come in from the west. Gordon, meet us from the East. Robin and I will charge up the center." Batman said.
Dean in red and black armor tried to make it more comfortable, but to no avail. At least it wasn't spandex, and it was more casual than the other costumes. It had a trench-coat instead of a cape for example. A hood was covering most of his face. He found the eye mask claustrophobic to wear, so he had an improvised metal mask instead.
"I think we ought to rethink the nickname. I sound like I'm a red pigeon in a park." Dean said.
Bruce smiled. "It suits you. You will grow into it." he said.
Nightwing laughed to himself. It was almost worth it to watch the poor guy deal with his new moniker.
"Let's go." Bruce said, diving off the building.
Dean shook his head. This over dramatic vigilante crap is something he could never get used to. Pulling out a zipline from his own belt which was mercifully black with a bit of brown, he launched it and awkwardly slid to the point hundreds of feet away down on the street level, landing with an awkward crunchy roll onto the ground.
"I gotta find another way to travel." Dean said.
"You just need more practice. Come on." Bruce said.