A Bat Lost in the Dark by Xianpububbles

Nightwing watched furiously as Bruce waited until the last second to launch his grappling hook. It seemed as if Bruce was seriously contemplating the thought of letting himself plummet to the pavement. Maybe it was easier than whatever torment he was putting himself through.

Stupid old man, Dick thought as he followed Bruce along the rooftops of Gotham. The others didn't seem to notice, but Dick knew better. Bruce wasn't completely concentrating on patrol. He was distracted and becoming careless.

Dick had seen that exact fight scene a hundred times over. Bruce in the center of a circle of gangsters and the result was always the same; Bruce came out with barely a scratch!

But not tonight, tonight Bruce's body was there but his mind and probably his heart were somewhere else. He had allowed himself to be stabbed him in the shoulder! Yes, Dick shook his head, Bruce had LET it happen.

Back in the cave, Alfred began dressing the stab wound on Bruce's shoulder. Dick clenched his jaw watching Bruce slightly flinch as Alfred revealed his bloody flesh.

He hated seeing the old man like this. "You could have blocked it, Bruce," Dick finally spoke his mind.

Bruce squeezed his fist as Alfred tightened the new dressings. "It'll be healed in a month."

"But not before your next one..." Dick paced back and forth and tried to control the irritation in his voice. Bruce had always irritated him, but tonight it had gone beyond irritation to pure madness!

"I can't do it, Bruce! I can't patrol Gotham AND worry that you'll end up killing yourself in the next fight!"

"No one asked you to worry about me! Our lives are on the line every time we go out there and you know that."

"Not like this it isn't! Not when you don't even care about your own life anymore!" Dick was enraged and frustrated at the man who had been like a father to him almost his entire life.

Bruce glared back at him. Angry at his words, because he knew Dick was right. It was supposed to be easier. Once he removed her from his life, he could get back to the way things were. Before her smile, her eyes, her lips. He cursed to himself.

Dick was used to Bruce's silence. He could never get a straight answer from the man in all the years he had known him. But there was something else; something he could tell was different in Bruce's eyes. His words had invoked a memory. And by the look on the old man's face, Dick could tell it was about her.

Dick broke the silence, "Go back to your 'castle in the sky', old man. Get whatever it is settled. You're no use to us this way," Dick placed a hand on Bruce's good shoulder. Bruce looked up to see a pleading look in the young man's eyes.

He pushed off his hand. "Go home, Dick."

"Fine, continue to loathe yourself! See if I care!" Dick threw his arms into the air. "Stubborn old man!"

Nightwing left, anger steaming off him as he marched out of the Batcave.

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The next night, Nightwing returned for their regular patrol. Only Bruce wasn't in the cave. Did he go off without me? Was he THAT pissed?

He heard foot steps behind him. It was Alfred. "Master Wayne wanted me to inform you that he will be taking leave for a few days."

"What..." Dick paused. "Where did he go?"

Alfred cleared his throat, "He didn't say, Master Grayson. But I do believe I heard Mr. Kent's voice on the com link before his departure."

Finally. Dick smiled to himself and left the cave to go out on watch.

To be continued…

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AN: Reviews, as always, are welcomed.