Nightwing: The Darkness
Chapter 11
DISCLAIMER: The characters and situations contained in this story are ©2004 by DC Comics Inc. and are used without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. This original work of fiction is ©2004 by Christopher W. Blaine and may not be reproduced without permission.
Nightwing called the meeting to order and remained standing as Wonder Woman read off the official minutes of the last gathering. Around the table was the current membership and he suddenly realized that he was in command of most likely the greatest force for good that had ever existed. Unlike the League incarnations of old, this was one made up mostly of battle-hardened veterans. The only exception was Green Lantern and what he lacked in experience he was making up for in enthusiasm, as always.
"Before we move on to any new business, is there any old business we need to discuss?" he asked.
Black Canary raised her hand. "I want to know why we are tapering off on our scouting for Obsidian," she asked. It was a question he had been expecting from her. The nights they had spent together watching the headquarters of the Young All-Stars had done nothing to improve her desire for revenge. Not that he blamed her.
"It has been three weeks and no sign of him, not a peep. We simply cannot maintain the vigilance that we have been," Nightwing explained. "The second we get a clue or a hint as to where he is, we'll be there. I want him as bad as anyone else, but there simply aren't enough of us to keep this up."
"We could call in the reserves," Power Girl suggested. She had been harping that point for over a week now and Nightwing saw in her another Copy Cat. However, Power Girl was the last person besides Wonder Woman that he wanted to tangle with.
"I agree we could call in the reserves," Nightwing acknowledged, "but to what end? How long do we keep the reserves activated, Karen? How long before they grow complacent and end up dead?"
The table was silent for several moments as each member took the words to heart and tried to come up with some sort of answer for their leader. All of them wanted to continue the vigilant watch for Obsidian, but their leader was correct when he pointed out there really was nothing more they could do. "The Batman provided us with some very well-intended information, but it was wrong," he said, not noticing the distressed look on Wonder Woman's face. If Batman had been wrong about Obsidian's next move, couldn't he have been wrong about some other things?
Black Canary asked Superman for his opinion. Nightwing graciously allowed the Man of Steel to speak his mind. "I think that Nightwing is correct; we are all exhausted. All of us have been running on empty for quite some time. I retired from all of this, remember?" he joked and the rest of the members laughed despite the seriousness of the situation. "I've got a wife at home that misses me."
"But he'll be back," Black Canary countered. "Shouldn't we do something? Anything?"
Power Girl put a hand on her shoulder but the Blonde Bombshell would not be silenced. "Let the Justice Society take point on this Nightwing," she pleaded. "I know we're not the Justice League, but we aren't pushovers either."
"I considered that, Dinah, I really did, but the point is that Obsidian will come after the League. We are the ultimate legacy of his father. The Society still exists, but we inherited the mantle of responsibility from the first heroes." It was one of his better speeches, Wonder Woman had to admit to herself. "We cannot shirk that responsibility no matter how easy it would be to do so."
"It isn't shirking," Black Canary countered, her ire up. This had been, Nightwing suspected, her plan all along. She knew, somehow, that Obsidian would go into hiding for a while and she wanted to use that lull to get the go ahead to let her Justice Society assume the case.
"Dinah, my decision is made. I'm the chair of the Justice League," Nightwing finally said. Black Canary pursed her lips and then nodded. "You're right, Dick; this is the League and it is yours. Effectively immediately, I resign from reserve status. I don't like a League that won't take action. This isn't the team I helped form."
"Dinah…"
"No, Diana," the heroine said to Wonder Woman. "I respect the hell out of all of you, even little Green Weenie there; but this is too serious. We have to hunt down Obsidian and stop him before more heroes die."
"If I might offer an opinion," Superman started, "I think you are too personally wrapped up in this, Dinah."
Black Canary laughed. "The man who would have been my stepson had his heart forced out of his chest and you think I should be objective, Kal? No thank you, sir; I'd rather be pissed off." She turned to Power Girl. "Karen?"
Power Girl regarded her Justice League teammates and then gave Black Canary a once over. Though she had been League first, her heart and soul belonged to the Justice Society. "I suppose I resign as well, folks," she said with a heavy sigh. Green Lantern's eyes followed her chest. She smiled at him despite his gawking; he was cute for a young fellow. She had once had a crush on Hal Jordan, the second Green Lantern. How many years ago had that been, she wondered as she began to count.
She shrugged her shoulders and stood up, giving the Emerald Gladiator a wink. She would call him later. "I agree with Dinah. It is true that the League inherited from the Society, but we inherited directly from Alan Scott himself. If he were alive, this discussion would not be taking place. None of you would dare to defy him."
"But he isn't alive, Karen," Wonder Woman pointed out, hoping to avoid a complete disintegration of the team. She had seen the way Power Girl and Green Lantern had been looking at each other and she feared that the ring-slinger would follow his pelvis instead of his common sense. "Nightwing is correct; we are just going to have to wait. Too long at high alert and our senses will get strained. We will miss something."
"You might, but we won't. I've been at this longer than you, Diana, and no offense, but I have a more optimistic outlook," Black Canary said as she turned around. Without another word she and Power Girl walked out of the meeting room, leaving the other members speechless for a few moments.
Nightwing cleared his throat. "If anyone else disagrees with my decision to stand down from priority alert, they can probably catch up with them," he offered. There were no takers.
He sat down and blew out and suddenly looked very old. "Diana, we need to activate three of the other reserve members," he said. "Unless you know somebody who wants to go active."
"How about Kon-El?" Superman asked, referring to his clone, the former Superboy. The perpetually young man now called himself Super-Hero and was operating out of Mexico City. He was also the husband of the second Wonder Girl, which gave him an even closer tie to the membership.
Nightwing shook his head. "We offered him a spot when you first retired, Kal," he said, using the Man of Steel's Kryptonian name. Green Lantern was not aware, as far as they knew, that Superman and Clark Kent were the same person. "He turned us down, claiming that Mexico needed him more."
"But he doesn't speak Spanish," Superman said shaking his head. Despite his tone, it was obvious he was proud of the other hero.
"The Huntress has asked to be reactivated; she was fond of Roy Harper herself," Wonder Woman said. Nightwing hesitated for a moment and then nodded slowly. "Helena would be a good addition; we've missed her sorely."
"Some of us have," green Lantern joked, but nobody laughed. Red faced, the young hero excused himself, stating it was time for him to assume monitor duty.
Red Tornado suggested two more additions. "Black Lightning's daughter and a newer hero named August," the android offered.
"Route it through Diana," Nightwing said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He then looked over at Superman. "We really appreciate the help, old man."
Superman smiled. "Always glad to help out; you know I hate to leave you in a lurch," he said.
"You're not," Diana said. "We know we can call you if we need you," she added.
There was a small ceremony of handshaking and hugs, with Superman saying he was going to go to the lab to finish a small experiment he was conducting and then he would leave the headquarters.
Nightwing took the weight bar and pushed it up again, performing another repetition. He considered using the Justice League weight room the only real benefit of being on the team. He was only here to continue Batman's legacy; it was the least he could do. He understood what his father had done and why, but it still did not sit well with him.
He should have been allowed to take his own punishment, but Bruce Wayne had seen a situation spinning out of control and had taken charge immediately. It was his way of dealing with things, taking order and forcing it upon chaos. But it had not been the right solution.
Or was he simply telling himself that?
Why hadn't he ever come out and told anyone what he had done? If he was so right, if he truly believed that he had been justified in what he had done to the Joker, why didn't he proclaim it to the world?
He pushed the bar up one more time, his biceps and chest burning with fire through the muscle tissue. It was time to stop, but he suddenly decided not to. He silently dared God to exact judgment on him. If he could make another rep, then he had been right in killing the Joker. If not, then justice would be served.
He pushed the weight off of the stand and held it up, slowly lowering it to his chest. His lungs begged for air and his legs trembled in anticipation of the push to put the weight into the air. He started to lift, asking God for a sign when it suddenly lifted off of his chest with no effort. It was as if he had developed Kryptonian strength in the matter of seconds.
Diana stood over him, the bar easily being pulled up in her single-hand grip. "Good Lord, Dick, what are you trying to do, kill yourself?" she asked as she laid the bar on the rests.
Nightwing slowly cursed silently as he got up and looked at her. "Just because you slept with my father doesn't make you my mother," he said angrily.
She deflected the verbal blow with a sarcastic smile. "I can assure you that no sleeping was taking place." She stepped away from the workout bench and watched his face. She had startled him and his reaction was not all that atypical for him. But the way his eyes flashed, the thought she could sense behind them told her a different story. Suddenly, the warning that Bruce had given her did not seem so far fetched,
Granted, most super-heroes were actors. They developed the ability to play two parts at an early age, or at least early in their careers. They were trained liars. She decided then and there that now was the time to begin her interview of the former Teen Wonder. "I came down to ask you your opinion on something," she said.
Nightwing tried to shrug off the anger and embarrassment. He had not meant to snap at Diana so. "Sure, what is it?" he asked.
"I was wondering about Bruce's arrest, seven years ago," she said, beginning her narrative. "He was arrested based upon physical evidence collected at the scene of the Joker's murder, correct?" she queried.
Nightwing looked at her and brushed the sweat from his brow. "Yes, Bruce's fingerprints were found at the crime scene and there was a video of him removing his mask to pay homage to the dead body of Commissioner Gordon. This is old news, Diana," he told her with the hopes of ending the conversation quickly.
Wonder Woman seemed unaffected by his attempts to make her believe she was stating the obvious. The Amazon moved towards the wall and leaned against it, her hands carefully playing with her magic lasso. He eyed the golden rope with distrust. "Something about that has always bothered me," she confessed in her most innocent voice. Over the years, she had discovered that once men heard her speak in such a manner, they seemed to become more receptive to her commands.
Nightwing did not look at her as she moved around the bench to stand only a few feet away from him. Instead he put his towel over his face and pretended to be drying the sweat. "I mean he is the Batman after all."
"And?" Nightwing's muffled voice asked.
"The Batman would never make mistakes like that."
He slowly pulled the towel down and she saw something in his eyes that she had never really noticed. His eyes were beautiful, dark with thick lashes, the kind most women would die for. Yet, there was a dead look to them, as if he were rotting away from the inside out. "He wasn't in the right frame of mind," Nightwing told her.
"That's the story," she said, nodding. "Bruce was supposed to be one of the best forensic minds in the world, yet he made some of the most basic mistakes. He took his gloves off and left fingerprints. He took his mask off. He stepped in front of an operating camera." Nightwing still said nothing. "Let's face it, Richard; if Batman wanted to kill someone, none of us would have ever known about it."
He remained silent, unnervingly silent as she explained her train of thought. She hoped for more of a reaction, but he was stoic. "I knew Bruce…I know Bruce, Richard…"
"It seems to me that maybe you're having a harder time with his fall than I am," he lied.
She felt the pain in his voice and even he realized that it was a terrible untruth and neither one of them believed it. Her hand patted her lasso. "Bruce Wayne would have never killed the Joker, not for any reason in the world. He believes too strongly in the concept that all life is important…"
"What about her life, dammit?" Nightwing said, standing up so quickly that Wonder Woman stepped back out of reflex. "What about Barbara Gordon? You remember her, don't you? She was the woman whom the Joker murdered! The victim!" He threw down his towel. "Bruce is not the victim here!"
"Do you think Bruce killed the Joker?" she asked sternly.
"Have you ever read the autopsy report on Barbara? Huh, Diana? I have," he roared, jabbing his elbow to his chest. "He cut a piece of her off every hour that they waited for the Batman to show up. It took twelve hours to finish the job, six hours for her to die. Can you imagine that, Diana?"
Diana felt her eyes water. She had not been fully aware of the torture that Barbara Gordon had endured while in the Joker's sadistic care, nor had she ever wanted to know. She had encountered the Joker on rare occasions in her career and she could not help but be glad the madman was gone. But that was applying Amazon law to the situation, not the laws that Batman, Nightwing and herself were sworn to uphold.
In the Patriarch's World, everyone, regardless of who they were or what they had done, had the right to a fair trial. "There is no denying that what the Joker did to many people was cruel, was evil. I understand that, Richard, but I also understand that Bruce was always able to rise above that. Many saw him as a creature of the night but in truth he was an avenging angel."
"It's obvious you weren't raised by him!"
"This is not the time to be discussing some issue you have about your childhood…"
"Why not? You seem to think because you let Bruce get into your pretty blue panties there that somehow that qualifies you as a detective," Nightwing shot back. His face was turning red, blood red as the fury welled up in him. "He was my father and all he ever had to do was make sure the Joker never got out again!"
"He couldn't control that; he did the best he could!"
Nightwing seemed ready to argue the point, but held his tongue. Again she could tell he was scrambling to come up with a lie to tell her, but his mind was too sharp. He knew he couldn't come up with one she would believe. "Just stay out of this, Diana."
"Aren't you the least concerned that Bruce is paying for a crime he may not have committed?" she asked.
"No," he lied again. There was no more conviction in his voice this time than previous. "As you said, he's the Batman."
Nightwing turned around to leave when Diana called after him. "Do you want to die, Richard?"
He stopped and his broad shoulders slumped. For several long moments he stood there, his head hanging low. Wonder Woman resisted the urge to go to him, knowing that he would use it as an excuse to dodge the question. She needed to keep her distance and her aim true. 'No," he whispered, slowly turning around. "I just don't want to live without her."
His eyes exploded with tears. "That bastard killed the only thing in this world that ever made me truly happy after my parents died. He took it away so he could be the sickest villain in Gotham City. For a title, that's all…he killed the woman I loved so that he could hold a title."
"And you truly believe that Bruce murdered him to avenge you? Richard, that makes no sense and you know it!" she said, still not quite sure of what to do. It was obvious that he had some real issues, but didn't that come with the job, she mused? Being a hero was not a walk in the park. It meant dealing with many dark and terrible things. "He thinks you want to kill yourself, Richard."
"Who? Bruce?" Nightwing laughed. "Maybe I just don't care if my next breath is my last. Maybe I've just started to realize that this life sucks and I'm hoping that in the next one I'll be reunited with the woman I love. Maybe you can all just go to hell."
"What about Bruce?"
"To hell with Bruce!"
"He didn't kill the Joker, did he?"
"He said he did!"
"Richard…."
"He confessed," Nightwing screamed. "Just leave it at that!"
"Who killed the Joker?"
"Batman."
"Who killed the Joker?"
"Batman, you bitch!"
"Who killed the Joker?" she asked a final time as she pulled out her lasso.
"I did!" he bellowed, giving in once again to the voices that begged him to tell the world what he had done. "I killed him!"
Wonder Woman's jaw dropped and Nightwing couldn't believe that she was so shocked by the revelation. He halfway believed that Bruce had told her truth anyway. Then he noticed she wasn't looking at him, but just over his shoulder.
Nightwing whirled to see Superman, his face ashen, leaning against the doorframe. "No," he mumbled, despair and pain in his voice. "Not you…" The Man of Steel looked at him with eyes that seemed to be examining a corpse. "You were the good one…"