Nightwing knocked out the last thug with a roundhouse kick. He smiled in satisfaction and tied him and another thug to a light pole, waiting for the police to arrest them.
Just as he was about to walk away, he heard a gunshot a couple of blocks away. He quickly ran toward the direction of the deafening noise and froze at the sight.
There was a total of five people: one was lying on the ground, unconscious; another, a woman, was crying huddled against a wall; then there were two men, one of whom was armed. He was pointing a gun at the fifth person.
But it was the last figure that surprised him.
It was Catwoman, who was holding her hand over the wound on her side. She was bleeding. It should not be lethal if treated early, but it could render her unconscious in a short time.
Then his mind snapped.
Catwoman. Hurt.
Somehow, that thought triggered a feeling in Nightwing that you don't have to deal with if you want to go on living: anger.
He threw a wing-ding at the gun-wielding criminal and heard with some satisfaction the scream of pain. He then sprinted forward with a speed that would have made the Flash proud and threw a punch at the second man's side. The blow took his breath away and broke some of his ribs.
The punch was followed immediately by an uppercut sending him across the block.
He turned toward the first man, who was still holding his broken hand. He grabbed his head and connected it directly to his own knee. Blood spurted from his nose and stained his Nightwing costume but he ignored it. Later he grabbed him by the head and slammed him violently against the wall causing him to scream in pain before he passed out.
He ignored the quickening footsteps that he knew belonged to the other woman who was now running away and turned his undivided attention to Catwoman, who was looking at him with wide and incredulous eyes.
"How are you?" he asked her gently.
"I'm fine." she replied as she firmly pressed her bleeding wound with one hand.
Dick huffed, not believing her at all. He walked over to her and crouched down to her level. "Here, let me help you."
"No but thanks, pretty kitten. I can safely return to Gotham and treat myself there." she insisted.
Dick rolled his masked eyes at her stubbornness. But she could not win against him; after all, he himself could be as stubborn as Bruce and/or Batman, if not more so. "I will not let you return to Gotham with an open wound. You will stain my city with blood, and I would like to avoid that." he joked as he took a roll of gauze from one of the many compartments of his suit.
Catwoman watched his movements. "What are you doing?" she asked, looking Nightwing straight in the eyes (or at least, where they should be).
"I want to make sure you don't bleed to death." he replied as he applied gauze to the wound.
The young thief winced slightly as the gauze made contact with the wound but quickly relaxed, trusting the vigilante.
In a few minutes the hero finished his own work and smiled slightly. "Well, that should do for now. Can you stand up?"
Catwoman tried to get up but felt a sharp pain in her left ankle and sat back down. "I think I sprained my ankle." she stated, as she mentally cursed herself for appearing weak against Batman's first partner.
Nightwing tightened his lips into a thin line, thinking about something. The thief saw that the young hero was struggling with himself, probably to make a decision she did not know about.
After a few seconds of silence, the vigilante spoke. "I will take you to the Nightcave."
Catwoman found herself surprised and confused. "Nightcave?" she repeated as she slowly scanned the word.
The acrobat smiled. "If Batman has the Batcave, then why can't I have the Nightcave?"
The thief blinked before chuckling. "I hope you didn't really call it that," as a response she got only a shrug. Then she opened her eyes wide as she fully understood the words of the boy beside him. "Wait! Will you take me to your refuge?" she asked incredulously.
Nightwing nodded slowly, losing his smile and turning serious. "Yes, I have to make sure your wound doesn't get infected and it will probably need stitches. As for Nightcave," he got a small smile from the girl. "I will have to blindfold you so that I will be sure that you cannot discover my identity."
There was a moment of silence, where the thief considered the idea. "I can still go back to Gotham," she said again.
"Yes of course, not only with a gunshot wound but also with a sprained ankle." he taunted her.
Catwoman narrowed her eyes, slightly irritated but in her heart she knew he was right. Reluctantly she nodded. Nightwing smiled slightly at her before pressing a secret button on his belt. The action did not go unnoticed by the thief. "What did you do?" she asked curiously.
He smiled broadly at her. "You'll have to wait a minute or so."
True to his word, a minute later a vehicle pulled up alongside them. It was none other than the Wingcycle. Catwoman was slightly impressed. "Catwoman, meet my bike, Wingcycle!" he exclaimed enthusiastically.
The thief could not help but laugh at the hero's childish antics. Then she stopped, realizing that she had to get on that vehicle. She looked into the vigilante's face and saw him widen his smile.
Nightwing chuckled and stood up, helping the thief to stand. He gently placed her on his bike. He took a bandage and put it on her. Then he climbed up and felt the girl's arms tentatively encircle his waist until he got a firm grip.
Next, he set off toward his apartment and parked a few meters away from it. He got out and helped the girl do the same. With one hand he held the thief, while with the other he pressed a button on his belt.
This started the bike and made it park in the "Nightcave" through a secret passage.
"You know, the fact that I can't see anything frustrates me." Catwoman admitted as the hero let her into his apartment, without getting caught by anyone else.
"We're almost there." he affirmed. They entered the living room. "Can you stand alone?"
"I can try." she replied.
He slowly removed her arm and the thief managed to stand. Nightwing waited a couple of seconds when he saw that her leg was struggling to stay straight.
"You can lean against the wall." he gently advised her as he helped her hold on to the wall. "Fine, stay here." he ordered and received a nod of assent.
He walked over to a bookcase. It looked like a normal bookcase but was actually made of a special kind of material that prevented it from being moved.
Only meta-humans with super strength were able to move it.
He moved some books around until he found a tiny button that only a few were able to find. He pressed it and moved a few inches away.
The bookcase moved to the side without making any kind of noise. Behind the bookcase was a titanium clad door and next to it a keypad. He typed in the code.
The day he was officially adopted by Bruce.
Which was also his birthday.
After typing the code, the keypad turned green. Next, a digital reader appeared. Nightwing took off his right glove to scan his hand.
The digital reader also turned green and finally a small camera came out of the ceiling. After putting his glove back on and taking a look at Catwoman, who still had the blindfold on, he took off his mask, revealing his bright blue eyes.
He did the digital facial scanner and a few seconds later the door opened.
Nightwing was very proud of his security systems, kindly made by Lucius Fox.
Putting his mask back on, he approached the woman and wrapped his arm around her. "Come on, we're practically there."
She nodded and the hero helped her into the room and, once inside, closed the door. As first thing he removed her blindfold. The young thief blinked a few times to get used to the light again. That done, she examined the room they were in.
It was a huge room. There was everything from training tools, to a medical corner with a small table and the rest, to a very advanced looking computer, to display cases with several spare Nightwing suits including supplies of wing-dings, escrima sticks, etc.
Catwoman was in awe. Her eyes scanned the surroundings and returned to look at the vigilante beside her who was smiling broadly. "It's not a cave though." she said, her green eyes sparkling with humor.
The boy laughed. "Good point, but I can't call it Nightbase or something like that. Nightcave has a better name." she chuckled. Later he took her to the medical area and gently leaned her against the medical table.
"Are you sure about what you're doing?"
First Robin smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry, I've known for years how to treat all kinds of injuries, including gunshot injuries."
She nodded, trusting him completely.
About two hours passed where he carefully cleaned the wound of possible infections, extracted the bullet and took care of the dislocated ankle.
Catwoman was now asleep on the crib from the sedation he administered, while Nightwing was sitting in a chair next to her in case she needed anything. Moreover, it is not as if he could leave the room and sleep in his bedroom.
Or at least that's what he told himself.
He was thinking carefully. He knew that sooner or later he would fall asleep in the chair and he didn't care.
After all, he had slept in far worse places.
Besides, he had sent Commissioner Johnson a message warning him that he would be taking a day off.
His mind wandered and his memories dwelt on the anger he felt when he found out that the criminal had shot Catwoman.
Catwoman had told him how she was trying to help that woman from a criminal when she heard footsteps coming from behind her and, once she turned around, that man had caught her off guard by shooting her.
He was slightly proud of her knowing that she was trying to help a civilian. He knew that if she had stopped stealing, she would have been an excellent vigilante.
He could tell that, after all, he and she were friends.
But that did not explain why he had become so angry.
He looked at the female figure lying on the crib. He studied her for a few minutes until he stiffened.
No! It couldn't be!
Nightwing wanted to argue with himself, wanted to tell himself that this was not true and that his idea was completely wrong.
But, remembering all the previous encounters with Catwoman here in Bludhaven, the puzzle was solved and every single piece fell into place.
Nightwing, the vigilante of Bludhaven, had fallen in love with Catwoman, the world's most famous thief.
Nightwing sighed irritably and ran a hand over his face, ignoring his racing heart.
Now some questions arose.
How long had he been in love?
What would happen if Batman found out? (He grimaced at even the thought).
And what about Selina?
He felt a twinge of guilt strike him directly in the heart.
Although it had been a few weeks since their first date, Nightwing, or rather Dick Grayson, was getting happier and happier in the company of his girlfriend.
He dared to say that he was falling in love with Selina.
How ironic.
Nightwing had fallen in love with Catwoman.
Richard John Grayson-Wayne had fallen in love with Selina Kyle.
It would have been fun if not for one small (but actually big) problem: he didn't know how to act.
And he couldn't tell anyone in his family.
Maybe he could tell it to Donna Troy or Wally West or Roy Harper or someone else, but he quickly discarded the idea.
He had already made up his mind.
For the time being he would act as if nothing had happened, as if he had not fallen in love with two different women with both his identities.
He sighed and his gaze settled once again on the sleeping figure. Now that he understood the true nature of his feelings for the young thief, he could absolutely see her beauty and every detail of her.
He had always admitted to himself that Catwoman was beautiful, but now that he could safely see her, he had to admit that she was more than beautiful... she was gorgeous.
Damn, he was already acting like a schoolboy struggling with his first crush (or maybe say his first two crushes).
Nightwing, at least, admitted that it could have been worse: he could have fallen in love with Poison Ivy or Harley Quinn (he barely suppressed a shudder at the idea of falling for the even crazier Joker's psychopathic partner).
Yeah, it could definitely have been worse.
He felt his eyelids slowly close and soon found himself asleep.