Summary: Takes place a few hours after the previous chapter
Disclaimer: I don't own DC
Dick smiled as he kissed Zatanna on the forehead one last time. What was meant to be a nice, peaceful breakfast turned into yet another makeout session in her now very disheveled bed with their discarded clothes all over the place.
"I love you." She giggled as he whispered it into her hair.
"So you've told me, over and over again." He smirked.
"Just making sure you remember." He looked at the time and frowned as he saw it was almost 10:30. "I kinda need to get back to the Manor now."
Zatanna fake-pouted, which Dick found adorable. He snickered as she stuck out her bottom lip and kissed her once again.
"When will you be back?"
"Well, if it were up to me, I'd stay here all day, but I should probably take Bruce up on that family dinner offer tonight."
"Then take me out again tomorrow?" He smiled.
"As you wish, princess." Dick got up and looked around for his clothes, only to realize the only thing he had available to wear was his Nightwing armor. "Uh…" Zatanna put her hand over her mouth as she giggled.
"Evig mih kcab sih sehtolc morf yadretsey thgin." Dick was instantly dressed in the same t-shirt, jacket, and jeans he had worn to dinner last night before their patrol session. He turned back to the beautiful raven, still lying in bed, and shot a warm smile.
"Call me?" He nodded.
"You got it."
Grayson cleared his throat before entering the Manor to be met with Bruce's knowing smirk. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I trust things went well on your date?"
"Wh-wh-why would y-you say that?"
"Apart from the fact that you didn't come home last night and you're wearing the same clothes you left in?" He turned beet red.
"S-sorry, I-"
"No need to apologize. I'm glad you two had a good time." Dick smiled.
"Thanks." He followed as Bruce motioned to the familiar grandfather clock
"So…we've certainly got a lot to catch up on."
Their way of catching up with each other often involved the Batcave's training room. Which was precisely where they were headed now.
Wayne threw the first punch, which Grayson blocked easily before countering with his own. "So, Cass finally got a girl?" Bruce side-stepped to avoid a sidekick and attempted to roundhouse, only for Dick to drop to the floor to dodge it and kick back up, landing on his feet in less than a second and going back on the offensive.
"Runs in the family. I presume Tim told you about him and Cassie." Dick smirked.
"He certainly takes after you." Wayne grabbed Dick's cross and flipped him over, but Grayson used his own body weight to keep them tumbling.
"How do you figure?"
"You know, smart, brooding, into Amazonians that could crush you into smithereens if you piss them off." Dick snuck out of his grip and rolled to his feet while Bruce kicked up.
"Stephanie is skilled, and she found out my secret a while back."
"Really?"
"Her father was Cluemaster." Dick frowned while flipping away from Bruce's advances.
"You mean that Riddler knockoff who died in an explosion a few years back?"
"Yes. When Cass told me more about her, I decided to let her in on the secret. I thought her being around influences like you or Diana would be good for her. Besides, Cass likes her. A lot."
"Yeah, I figured. So, you planning on adding her to the group?" Dick landed a solid kick in Bruce's chest, which the vigilante absorbed and powered through to flip Dick onto his back on the floor.
"If she wants to. Cass has been giving her moderate training, just for self-defense, but if she ever feels like she could make a difference like how we do it, then she is more than welcome to join us."
"That's nice. I kinda wanna talk more with her, she seems like a good kid." Dick rolled out of the way of Bruce's foot stomping down and swept his legs out from under him. "So what about you? How's wedding prep going?"
Bruce rolled away from Dick's kicks and stumbled back to his feet, wiping the sweat from his forehead and parrying all of Dick's jabs. "Good. We're almost ready, and with any luck, we're hoping to have it in a month or so."
"You pick a best man?"
"Well, I was going to ask Clark later today about that." Dick froze.
He didn't know why, but that stung a bit. Bruce must have realized, because he frowned and placed a hand on his son's shoulder.
"Dick, you know this wasn't an easy choice."
"N-no, no, I get it…best man's a best pal type of job. A-and you and Clark work together every day. I get it, we just…haven't spent as much time together as you two have." Bruce frowned.
"Dick, I still want you there. Please understand, this decision was one of the hardest ones I've ever had to make." Dick smiled.
"It's okay. I get it. Of course I'll be there." Bruce smiled, and Dick walked off to toss him a towel and water bottle. "So Alfred's officiating?"
"Of course. Diana chose Dinah as her maid of honor, and basically the entire League and team will be there for it."
"How're we gonna explain that to the public?" He smiled.
"We won't need to. Diana and Dinah are public heroes, so we won't need to explain why she's her maid of honor. And Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne have publicly been seen as good friend with one another, so nobody will question that either. As for the audience, Bruce Wayne is a benefactor to the Justice League, and Diana Prince is a founding member. The countless public heroes in the crowd will be easily explainable. Plus, with what a massive face in the global spotlight the head of Wayne Tech is, I reckon half the human population will be there to watch. Same goes for your wedding to Zatanna, I'd wager." Dick blushed a bright red, much to Bruce's amusement, but smiled nonetheless.
"Well, that settles that, I guess."
"Mhm." As Dick started to leave, Bruce frowned. "Going already?" He turned around and shrugged as he walked backwards.
"I'll be back for family dinner tonight, but I've got a lot of other people to catch up with today."
"Understood. See you then." Dick smiled and nodded before exiting the cave and heading for the showers.
Donna hugged Dick tightly, and he swore he heard his ribcage pop with how passionate she was being. She eventually broke off, much to his lungs' relief. "Good to see you, too, D."
"I'm so glad you're okay. I was worried for you when you left." He smiled.
"I'm good, Donna. Seriously. But I'm here for you, not me. How's retirement treating you?" She led him into her house, shutting the door behind them.
"Rather nicely. Will and I just bought a van." He started to laugh, and she slapped his arm. "Vans are practical!"
"Y-yeah, sure they are. Honestly, I thought you'd get bored by now." She rolled her eyes.
"Have you met Lian? Parenting her is harder than fighting Klarion. This is more than enough for me."
Donna led the young vigilante into the next room, where Will was sitting with a small child. If Dick had to guess, the kid was little over a year old, but he didn't know about babies?
The thing that surprised him more than the child was that Will had…a beard?! The redhead stood up and smiled as he approached Dick.
"Hey, buddy!" The brunette grinned, hugging the taller man.
"Hey, man. You…look good. Beard's certainly something." Will chuckled.
"Hey, if I'm going into retirement, might as well go all the way. Besides, this helps Lian distinguish me from Jim whenever he visits." Dick smiled.
"So you two're still close?"
"Yep, he visits once a week. He's practically Lian's uncle." Dick rubbed the back of his neck.
"What about Roy?" Will frowned.
"I'm gonna be honest, he wasn't the happiest with you after the team thing went down. I still think there's some hard feelings there."
"I know, a-and I was a jerk to him. I was just…worried, y'know? His actions had almost gotten Tim…a-and the others killed twice. If I could take it back, I would, but he's not exactly made it easy to contact him." Will placed a hand on Dick's shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. Roy visits every now and then, too. And he's on good terms with some of the others. I'm sure, if you explain it, he'll forgive you." The raven smiled.
"Thanks." Dick smiled at Lian, who crawled up to him and latched herself to his leg. He chuckled at the action, and Will grinned before picking her up. Donna came over to the two out of fascination with the baby. "She's cute."
"Of course she is, have you seen her father?" Donna and Dick both laughed as Will ignored them and rocked Lian softly. "Lian, this is your Uncle Dick. He's friends with Uncle Conner and Aunt Megan and the others." Lian stared at Dick and cooed, and he couldn't hold back the massive grin.
Donna snickered at Dick's awkwardness. "Well someone's never touched a baby before." He half-glared at her.
"Ha ha."
To be honest, Dick was beyond touched that Will referred to him as Lian's "Uncle". It reminded him of how Bruce referred to the various members of the League as his family back in his Robin days. Only now he was the uncle and Lian was the kid. It felt good. Like the next natural step.
"So, what's next for you two?"
"You mean other than watching this little rascal?" Will smiled. "I'm working on a security firm. Already got Jim and maybe Roy to join, and Donna's considering it."
"I am not considering it."
"She's considering it." Dick rolled his eyes.
"Harper family business?"
"Sorta, except we'll hire anyone. Don't suppose you'd wanna join?" He chuckled.
"Sorry, man, but I've already got a job." He shrugged.
"Your loss." Dick smiled, rubbing Lian's head gently.
"Well, I'd love to stay and catch up some more, but I got a few more things on my to-do list." Will and Donna both smiled at him, and the next thing Dick knew, he was dragged into a group hug.
"If you ever need anything from us, just call. Or better yet, visit." He smiled.
"Same goes for you. Let me know if you ever need a babysitter or something."
One last person for Dick to meet up with.
Detective Yin walked up to the familiar balcony at the top of the Blüdhaven Police Department, sighing. If this was some hacker punk trying to mess with her-
"Thanks for coming." Nightwing dropped down in front of her and smiled. She nodded and put the phone he had given her away.
"Glad to see you're still alive. Now where the hell've you been?" He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry I didn't leave a notice ahead of time. I, uh…I needed to be somewhere for a while." She nodded.
"Cuz of Kid Flash?" He raised an eyebrow. "The whole world saw his memorial service in Central a few months back. Happened a while after you left."
"Yeah…I kinda needed to get away after everything happened. But I'm back now. You have my word." Yin nodded.
"You know, it's funny. You left less than a day after one of my detectives did, for personal reasons, and now you're back less than a day after he is." His eyes widened.
"H-heck of a coincidence." She smiled softly.
"I don't believe in coincidence. But either way…thanks for coming back…Nightwing."
Yin smirked before walking back inside, leaving the vigilante staring at where she had stood in shock. He shook it off, smiling softly as his alert went off.
"All units, break in at Ann's Bakery. Requesting immediate response."
Dick leapt over the railing on the balcony, firing a grapple to the nearest building and swinging off into the night.
"Business as usual."
It was good to be back.
Sorry if this one turned out weak. Thanks to everyone for sticking with the story so far. Reviews always help, so I'd love it if you could leave one just to share thoughts or even criticisms. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions for chapters you wanna see. Next chapter up soon.