"I am The Batman."
And with this dramatic effect phrase the Caped Crusader launched a pair of batarangs.
Two Face fired his gun, the bullet going to destroy the first one thrown by the vigilante but he did not have time to press a second time that the other batarang hit his hand, flinging the weapon meters away.
Batman performed several backward flicks, forward flicks, cartwheels and other fantastic acrobatic moves that only a Grayson could do to avoid the multitudes of bullets being fired at him.
He really wanted to see the stunned faces of the crowd in front of such an acrobatic Batman but he could not afford distractions or he would become a Swiss cheese.
Fortunately, he himself was in an area where it allowed him both to be a not-so-easy target meters and meters away from the audience, but still such that the criminals were aiming at him and not at the crowd, allowing the safeguarding of citizens first and foremost.
One thug screamed when a well-placed kick connected on his face, getting the attention of several thugs standing at his side.
Robin landed on two feet and immediately threw several smoke balls on the ground, and the next second the entire area was covered in smoke as both thugs and civilians coughed.
The Dynamic Duo took advantage of this situation to shoot down as many criminals as possible.
When the smoke dissipated, already half of the thugs had been taken down.
Two Face, taking advantage of being able to see again after the cloud of smoke and that Batman was not in sight, ran toward his gun. He made to reach down to pick it up when a well-armored foot placed itself on top of his hand and pushed its full weight toward it.
A resounding sound of broken bones resounded in the air and Two Face cursed thunderously, and the next second Batman delivered a hard knee to the face of the super-villain who staggered backward dazedly followed by a kick to the chest, throwing him away.
Robin threw four batarangs and disarmed several thugs as he easily knocked them out in quick hand-to-hand combat. Two thugs, however, stood behind him and were ready to shoot him when they were hit by rubber bullets, knocking them out immediately.
Red Hood showed up and kept firing in bulk with two guns, while his bullets effectively and a little lethally (only a little, though) hit the armed criminals, never missing one.
After all, he was one of the best shooters in the whole world.
"I saved your ass, Demon Spawn!" he shouted in the middle of the mess.
"-tt. I saw you coming, Hood. It was all planned." shouted back the current Robin as he threw a solid punch to the stomach followed by a roundhouse kick shot to the enemy's face.
Black Canary landed between two criminals seemingly out of nowhere and, taking advantage of their surprise, threw an elbow to the face followed by a right hook to the first one and turned 180° with a very hard roundhouse kick turned on the second one and then swept his legs.
Batman dodged a kick and blocked Two Face's punch and, with a grunt, lifted him up and then slammed him violently with his back on the floor, flipping him completely over. He took a quick look at the situation. "Now, Canary!" he ordered.
Canary finished taking down a thug and caught her breath and then released her canary cry that effectively stunned everyone in the area.
Taking advantage of the fact that the criminals were holding their sore heads in their hands, Red Hood, Robin, and Black Canary defeated the remaining henchmen.
Meanwhile Two Face, lying in pain on the cold street, whimpered in pain from the canary cry. The next second Batman thrust his foot into his chest, breaking a few ribs, and brought his own face closer to that of the former prosecutor until the only thing the supervillain could see were emotionless white eyes.
"The next time you say I am not Batman, I will break every bone in your body. One by one. Clear?" he hissed dangerously, his eyes narrowing menacingly.
Two Face nodded quickly and the Dark Knight punched him in the temple, knocking him unconscious.
When it was now clear that the threat had been neutralized, a chorus of cheers and excited shouts started from the audience for the four vigilantes.
"My God! Did you see how Batman fought?"
"Red Hood is so cool with his guns!"
"Robin is so tiny but also so strong and brave! I want to be like him when I grow up!"
"Like you could be even half of Robin!"
"Canary's scream shattered my eardrums..."
"But who cares about eardrums! Did you see how hot that blonde is?"
At this last comment Batman was tempted to throw a batarang grazing his head but restrained himself.
Gordon, Bullock and Yin immediately ran to put handcuffs on Two Face while the other cops dealt with his henchmen.
"Once again, thank you for your help Batman." said Gordon as he frowned at the supervillain who was once his friend and ally.
"Are you all right, commissioner?" asked the Caped Crusader in a less gruff voice than usual as, unnoticed, his eyes observed the purple bruise that had formed on the commissioner's right cheek.
The three were surprised by the question, and Dick was not so surprised. Bruce had probably never asked this question before.
Also it might have sounded a little strange coming from Batman but Dick ignored it.
He didn't have to be like Bruce to be Batman.
He had to be his Batman.
Gordon was the first to recover from his surprise and a genuine smile popped up on his lips. "I'm fine, thanks for the concern Batman. And again thank you for taking care of Two Face." his eyes went over the vigilante's shoulder. "And to you for worrying about his henchmen. Thank you also for protecting our citizens."
The other three heroes nodded respectfully at him. "That's why we're here, commissioner." Canary stated with a slight smile that Jim returned.
"We might as well have handled it ourselves." muttered Bullock frowning as he looked disgustedly at the four vigilantes, especially the "Monster Bat of Gotham" as he had called him years earlier.
If there was one vigilante whose hatred of Bullock skyrocketed, it was Batman.
Detective Yin rolled her eyes at her colleague's comment and approached with a composed air toward Batman until she positioned herself inches away.
Although the young detective exuded an air of calmness and composure, the Dark Knight noticed her slight anxiety and an amused smirk threatened to spring up on his face but he struggled to maintain a neutral facade.
Instead, curiosity pervaded him.
Ellen rarely ever met Batman, and those few times they did meet, Dick was pretty sure Bruce had completely ignored her.
So it was curious why she wanted to talk to him.
When Yin opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again, and apparently she didn't know exactly what to say to him either, Batman took pity on her and started the conversation himself. "I am surprised by your work here in Gotham, Detective Yin."
His comment surprised everyone and he allowed himself a mental smile when Ellen Yin's mouth opened wide in surprise and her eyes widened comically.
What he said, however, was true.
Dick, and consequently Batman, really respected Ellen and all her hard work that she did in Gotham. She was one of the few non-corrupt people within the city's police department and moreover she really wanted to reform and improve Gotham.
A very noble and thoughtful goal, well accepted by Dick himself.
Plus, it was now time for Batman to no longer rely only on Gordon but also to expand his circle of allies within the city's GCPD.
Commissioner Gordon would have to retire sooner or later, and if there was one person who could replace him and do an equally effective job as Jim, Dick would put his money right on Detective Yin.
Dick had studied her file while he was NIghtwing and still operating in Bludhaven about eight months earlier: he had discovered with some fascination that she was older than him by only three years and had joined the police force in her early twenties.
Despite her youth, she had nevertheless shown that she knew what she was doing, stopping various crimes efficiently, in addition to the fact that she was quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat.
Interestingly, she had left the Metropolis GCPD to join the Gotham GCPD.
This said a lot about her personality and for that reason alone Dick liked her.
Too bad Nightwing had never had a chance to meet her before.
And probably never will but that was another matter.
There was so much potential in her and Dick wanted to make the most of it for the welfare of Gotham, beginning with starting a partnership with Ellen and, who knows, maybe someday it would be as efficient as the one with Gordon as well.
"R-really?"
The detective's question pulled him from his thoughts and a small smile broke out that caught her off guard. "I mean it, detective. I'm glad Gotham has young talent like you. You represent the future of this city."
After all, vigilantes could not do all the work, otherwise the GCPD would be completely useless.
Dick was of the opinion that vigilantes and cops would have to be on good terms so that they could achieve their common goal: to make Gotham a better city.
But he knew he was dreaming too much though: there were many cops who were corrupt and who would like Batman six feet underground, and that was very difficult to change.
Although Bullock actually had never expressed a wish for the vigilante's death, Dick knew that he wanted Batman and the others to retire permanently, leaving the job exclusively in the hands of the cops.
Unfortunately, in this way Gotham would fall apart within a week.
It was too bad Bullock couldn't see it: despite his clear contempt for vigilantes, he was one of the best cops the GCPD had ever had.
Dick was unlikely to see him and his vigilante family working together, as opposed to Gordon and, hopefully, Yin.
So one of Dick's tasks for himself as Batman is to improve his relationship with the GCPD and to have another person he can rely on besides Gordon.
And Detective Ellen Yin was the best person to carry out that task.
An excited smile made its way across the young detective's features before it was replaced by a professional expression.
Another reason Dick liked the brunette.
"I'm glad to hear that." Yin stated with a small smile as she extended her hand. "I hope this is the beginning of a fantastic partnership." her brown eyes shone with pure hope and excitement.
Batman smiled back at her as he reached out his arm to shake her hand. "I'm sure it will pay off in the preservation of Gotham and its citizens." he took a step back until he was in line with the other three vigilantes who were watching him with curiosity. "Now, before we leave to continue the patrol" he pointed to the man in his thirties in the crowd who was earlier questioning his abilities as Batman. "you, come here." he ordered with a growl.
The man swallowed heavily and, with shaky steps, approached the Caped Crusader. " Y-yes s-sir?"
"What is your name?"
"Jonathan U-Urber, sir."
"Well Jonathan, after what you saw do you want to question my job again?" he growled dangerously, his white eyes piercing the poor civilian's soul.
"It's not your job." muttered Bullock but was ignored.
"N-no, s-sir."
"Good." he said as he patted the man a little too hard on the shoulder, nearly knocking him to the ground and wringing a few giggles from the others. He leaned close to the man's ear and whispered something to him and Jonathan paled noticeably as he nodded frantically.
"Now Batman, don't give him too many nightmares." Gordon stated with an amused smile, but when he and everyone else went to look at Batman and the other vigilantes, they were gone. He sighed. "I hate it when he does that." he muttered warmly.
"Does he always do that?" asked Yin curiously, and the commissioner chuckled.
"Every single time."
The Batmobile returned to the cavern with a loud roar that caused some bats hanging from the ceiling to whimper.
Batman and Robin dismounted and were joined by Alfred. "Glad you have no serious injuries, young masters."
Batman lowered his cowl, revealing bright but tired blue eyes circled by heavy dark circles. "The others? Everything all right?" he asked as he unfastened his cape.
"It's all right, Master Dick. In truth, you arrived last, though I am not surprised."
"-tt. We are Batman and Robin, we have more responsibilities on our shoulders: responsibilities that we are handling more than efficiently. The others would not be as good as Grayson and I are." declared Robin proudly as he removed his mask.
Dick ruffled his hair with a smile so bright and so proud that Damian could not help but reciprocate.
After changing into his Black Canary pajamas (which Dinah loved so much to see him wearing), Dick saw Damian yawning and crinkling his tired green eyes.
That sight made his heart melt.
Without saying a word, Dick picked him up and Damian, beyond a mini-shriek of surprise, attached his tiny arms around his neck and rested his head between Dick's chin and neck.
Damian could not feel safer when Grayson was with him.
Dick was sure that Damian had fallen asleep in his arms, and a sweet smile broke out on his face.
Dick carried him up to the younger Wayne's room, laid him gently on the bed and tucked him in. He hesitated before giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead, as Bruce used to do with him in his early years at Wayne Manor.
"I love you, Dami."
Dick was about to leave when a soft mutter came out of Damian, so low he could not have heard without his Bat training. "Me too, Grayson."
Dick had a huge smile on his face as he walked out of Damian's room.
It didn't matter what he was to Damian, if a mentor, an older brother or even a father or all three.
Whatever he was he liked it and would not have wanted it any other way, and he was sure his Little D would feel the same way.
When he entered his own room, he was not surprised to find Dinah still awake.
Neither of them could fall asleep when the other member of the couple still did not return from patrol.
He threw himself on the bed and immediately Dinah snuggled into his side, resting her head on his muscular chest. The blonde looked up to kiss him softly, and after about thirty seconds of struggling for kissing dominance, they broke away slightly.
"So? How's the whole fathering thing for Damian?" she asked with innocent blue eyes (although Dick knew her beautiful eyes were anything but innocent).
"I'm not even going to ask how you knew." he began, getting a giggle from the blonde. "Anyway, I don't know yet. I like what I have with Dami and for now I don't want to change it."
"You would make a great father for him." she said with a loving smile that led the 20 year old to kiss her lovingly and passionately.
"Maybe."
After seconds of silence, Dinah spoke, and her comment drew a laugh from the acrobat.
"Nice pajamas, however."
