Should I be writing this? No, I have other stories to write. But I watched Titans recently and now I'm all in. Doesn't really follow any canon except my own. Dick is 23, Jason is 20, Tim is 17, and Damian is 13. Also, I tend to see Indiana Evans as Regan, Brenton Thwaites but with blue eyes as Dick, Curran Walters as Jason, Christian Bale as Batman, and Michael Caine as Alfred. I don't really have face claims for the others, yet, still working on it.
"'Get a Master's Degree,' they said," Regan mumbled, pulling her backpack up to her shoulder. "'We'll pay for it!' they said. 'It'll be fun!' they said." She sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose and back into place over her blue eyes. Making sure she had her pepper spray at the ready, Regan walked quickly to her apartment complex and all the way cursing herself.
The campus library had refused to let her leave with the book she needed for her essay, so she'd been forced to take all her notes there instead of sitting on her couch at home with a glass of wine. So here she was, walking home at 3 AM, and really hoping she didn't end up in a hostage situation; again.
But then again, thus was the price for living in Gotham.
Just as her apartment building came into view, however, Regan's dreams of her warm bed were dashed, because of course they were.
"Drop the backpack, and the pepper spray," a cock of a gun followed the demand.
Regan sighed. Turning around, the girl raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of her. It was a man in black jeans, a black sweatshirt, and he even had a black ski mask on his face, with holes cut for his eyes. The gun in his hand was a 40 caliber Glock, but his hand shook, like he wasn't used to handling it.
"Can I at least get my homework out of it?" she asked.
"I-What?" the mugger asked, confused. "No! Give me your bag!"
"Dude, teachers don't tend to buy the whole 'I got mugged and my homework was in the bag' thing anymore," Regan said. "Besides, I just spent the last 6 hours finishing my midterm paper, and it's due tomorrow, so please. Just let me keep my homework."
The mugger glared at her through the holes in his mask. "No! Now hand it over!"
Regan sighed, but finally slipped it off and let it drop to the ground. Luckily the paper was saved to her flash drive, which was on the keychain she was holding along with the key to her apartment and the pepper spray, but now she'd have to turn around and go all the way back to campus to print it again. Plus her laptop was in that bag, so she'd have to buy an all-new one. "There, you happy?"
Snatching the bag, the mugger took off running without a word, leaving Regan to roll her eyes. He didn't get very far, though, as something dropped, seemingly out of the sky. Directly in front of the mugger.
Regan knew instantly that it was one of the Bats, and it only took her a few seconds to recognize him specifically as Nightwing. The blue stripe on his suit flashed in the moonlight as he knocked out the mugger with a strong hit to his head. With the mugger now on the ground, the vigilante stooped down to scoop up the backpack. Turning, he found Regan watching with her eyebrows raised. He walked over to her.
"I believe this belongs to you?" he asked, holding the bag by one strap.
"Yeah, it is," Regan confirmed. "Thanks, my midterm paper's in there." She reached forward and took it.
"I heard your conversation with him," Nightwing said. "Any particular reason why you weren't scared of him?"
Regan shrugged. "Lived here my whole life, I'm kind of used to it at this point."
"He had a gun," Nightwing pointed out. "What would you have done if he had shot you?"
"By the way he was holding it, I doubt he was a repeat offender," Regan said. "His hand was shaking so bad I doubt he would have hit anything important. But thank you, for getting my bag back."
"No problem," said the vigilante. "You need me to take you home?"
"Luckily he chose to try me right in front of my building, so I'm good," she said. "Thanks, Nightwing, I owe you one."
The vigilante smirked slightly. "It was my pleasure, ma'am," he said, and his smirk grew. "Not every day I get to save a damsel in distress who's as pretty as you."
Regan blushed and a shy smile lifted her lips up. "Thank you," she said again. Nightwing's smirk changed to a genuine smile, he nodded, and then Regan blinked and he was gone. She smiled, then, and went into her apartment.
…
The next day, Friday, Regan sat down for her afternoon class- her last class of the week and before fall break- still dressed in the dress she'd worn to work.
"Hey, you were supposed to text me when you got home last night," her friend Sasha said. "What happened?" Sasha was a dark-skinned beauty, with curls she liked to keep natural and eyes that damn near looked gold. The two friends had met on the first day of Freshman orientation, and ended up being roommates. They'd stayed close all through college, and had even decided to do their Master's degrees together.
"Sorry," Regan apologized. "I totally forgot; some mugger who was new to the game tried to rob me; took off running with my backpack, and then Nightwing swooped in and got it back." She tried to say as nonchalant as she could, and grabbed her finished midterm paper from the bag now sitting at her feet.
"Wait, Rae, hold up," Sasha said. "Back up. You got mugged last night?! And Nightwing saved you?!" Her friend's loud shriek drew the attention of most of the class. Even the teacher glanced over.
"Ssshh!" Regan shushed her friend. "Yeah, when I was walking home, some mugger who had clearly never mugged anyone before demanded my backpack right in front of my apartment building. He wouldn't even let me grab my midterm paper, just took the bag and ran. Then Nightwing jumped down, knocked him out, and gave me back my bag."
"So what was he like?" Sasha asked, enthralled.
Regan snorted. "Dude's hand was shaking so bad that I doubt he could have hit me if he tried," she said.
"No, not the mugger!" Sasha exclaimed. "Nightwing! Is he as handsome as they say?"
Regan tried and failed to stifle a laugh. "I don't know, it was dark! And he had a mask over his eyes, it's not like I could see the top half of his face." She stopped for a moment and thought back on it. "Had a jawline sharper than a knife, though, and a little bit of stubble. And he called me pretty."
"He called you pretty?!" Sasha exclaimed, once again way too loud.
"Sasha, sshh!" Regan hushed again. "He probably calls every girl he saves pretty, makes 'em feel special."
Sasha opened her mouth to reply, but the teacher cleared his throat.
"As much as I am glad to hear that a mugger didn't steal your midterm paper, Miss Knight, I hope you don't think your experience means I'll go easy on you," the professor said with a raised eyebrow.
"Not at all, sir," she said, handing over the twenty page research paper.
He took it, and began the class.
…
After class, Sasha insisted on taking Regan to a club. There wasn't many clubs in Gotham, but there was one popular one that Sasha could get into; her brother-in-law was one of the bartenders, so he could get her- and therefor, Regan- in.
"I'm telling you, this club is amazing!" Sasha exclaimed as she stood in front of Regan's closet. She'd come over around 8 so the two friends could get ready together. Regan's dog- a black lab mix named Gracie- was curled up on her dog bed under the TV. "Evan says he's seen the likes of the Wayne kids in there, and sometimes even Oliver Queen when he comes into town."
"You just want to get with a Wayne," Regan teased.
"Well yeah, don't you?"
Regan smiled. "I had a couple of classes with Richard Grayson, back in high school," she revealed. "He was always nice the few times we talked. We had a science project together Sophomore year, did his half of the work and didn't make me do the entire thing, so I appreciate that. Absolutely smitten with that girl he was dating, it was so cute. And I've run into Tim Drake a couple times on campus. Guy's addicted to caffeine, but nice enough."
"And if we're lucky, we'll each be going home tonight with a Wayne," Sasha grinned. "Here, wear this tonight."
Grabbing a dress out of Regan's closet, she turned and grinned bigger than Regan had ever seen. The dress she held was black with silver sequins all over it, making it shine in the weak light of her bedroom lamp. She'd bought the dress when she first started college at 18, but now, at 23, she had only ever worn it once.
Now Regan didn't have an issue with dresses; the one she'd worn to work that day was a V-neck t-shirt dress, light blue in color, and ended right above her knees. Not conservative by any means, but also not nearly as revealing as the dress her best friend currently held in her hands. This dress stopped at mid-thigh, and was completely strapless.
"Oh, no, Sash, don't you remember what happened the last time I wore that?" Regan demanded, "I kept having to pull it up because I don't have the boobs to hold it up!"
"Which is why I brought this," Sasha carefully laid the dress on Regan's bed, and then pulled her bag over to her. Inside was the dress, shoes, and makeup she was planning on wearing that night. Also in there, was a strapless pushup bra Regan's size.
"Do you just carry around pushup bras?" Regan asked with a raised eyebrow and an amused grin.
"No, but I figured you might still have this dress, so I grabbed the bra before I came over here to make sure you could wear it. I also brought this." She dug into her bag again, and this time came out with double sided tape, so the bra would stick to her skin, and the dress to the bra.
"Ah, you're a lifesaver," Regan said, grabbing the bra, tape, and dress. She also grabbed a pair of black booty shorts from one of her drawers and went into the bathroom to change.
Coming back out a few minutes later, Regan sighed, running her hands down the dress.
"What do you think?" the blonde asked, looking up at her friend nervously. She'd stuck her contacts into her eyes, although she didn't really like wearing them. So, there was a bottle of eyedrops in her hand for her to stick into her purse for the night.
Sasha had dressed in a bright, neon blue dress that was just as short as Regan's. It had a tie that tied at her neck and no back, and the neon shade looked gorgeous against her dark skin. She was working on her makeup when the door opened, and she looked up. A smile brought her lips up.
"Regan, you look awesome! You'll definitely bring home a handsome man tonight!"
Regan had to laugh at her friend; she had no intentions of bringing a man home that night.
"I don't know about that, but at least I don't think I'll be flashing anyone tonight; that tape is strong as hell. Your dress is amazing, by the way, I love the color."
"Thanks, it was a Macy's find," Sasha answered, going back to her makeup. "Only 30 bucks!"
"Nice!" Regan exclaimed, grabbing her own makeup bag. Together, the girls did their makeup and hair, grabbed some heels, and their purses, and were on their way.
There was a line and a bouncer when they got to the club, so they shared a look and got in line. After only about twenty minutes, they finally got to the bouncer.
"Names?" the man asked, a clipboard in hand.
"Sasha Michaels and Regan Knight," Sasha said.
The bouncer checked his clipboard, eyes moving down the page.
"Ah, here you are," he said, placing checkmarks on their names. "Right on in, ladies."
"Thank you!" Regan said, smiling at the bouncer as she passed.
The club was already pretty packed when they went in, most of the tables already filled and a multitude of people on the dance floor. Music was blaring, and the bass was easily felt in their chests. Sasha glanced over at Regan and grinned, before grabbing Regan's arm and leading her to the bar.
"Hey, Evan!" Sasha exclaimed, spotting her brother-in-law. "Can Rae and I get some drinks?"
"Of course," said the man, "anything for my favorite sister-in-law and her friend." He smiled at them.
"Hi, Evan," Regan said with a smile. "Got anything with vodka back there?"
"I got just the thing for you," Evan answered, grabbing a couple bottles. One of which, to Regan's joy, was a bottle of strawberry vodka. He soon was placing a pink, sweet-smelling drink in front of her.
"Ah, thank you," Regan said, placing a twenty dollar bill on the counter while he made a similar drink for Sasha. "I'm gonna find us a table, Sash."
"Alright, I'll be right there," Sasha answered, waiting patiently for her drink.
Grabbing her drink, Regan turned. She only made it a few steps, though, when someone knocked into her, causing her spill a little bit of her drink onto her dress.
"Shit, sorry!" a male voice exclaimed, and then Regan felt warm hands on her hips, steadying her. "Are you alright?!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good!" Regan exclaimed. Making sure she hadn't lost more of her drink than she thought she had, she finally looked up at the man she'd run into. Richard Grayson.
It had been a few years since she'd last seen the eldest Wayne adoptee, but he looked mostly the same as he had in high school; his bright blue eyes still had that mischievous shine in them, and his black hair was still just as messy. He was dressed in a forest green button-up, the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and slacks. He was, somehow, even more handsome now than he had been in high school. If that was even possible.
"Richard Grayson," she finally said, surprise tinging her voice.
He smiled, "Yeah, and you're Regan Knight, right? We went to high school together?"
"I'm surprised you remember me," she said, "we only had a couple classes together."
"You were one of the only people who didn't give a crap that my father is Bruce Wayne," he said. "You tend to remember the ones who treated you normally. And please, call me Dick."
Regan smiled, then, shyly. "Alright, Dick," she said. "So, how's life treating you?"
"Pretty good," Dick said, bringing Regan over to an empty booth. "Bruce adopted a few more kids, so I have three younger brothers, now. And I joined the Gotham Police Department. Made detective a few months ago." They sat down on opposite sides of the table.
"Three younger brothers, that's exciting," Regan said, taking a quick sip of her drink. "And detective, that's impressive. I always figured you'd go on to do something amazing."
This time it was Dick who blushed. "Yeah, their names are Jason, Tim, and Damian; but Dami's actually Bruce's biological son. I love them, but they're a handful. And thanks," he rubbed the back of his neck almost nervously. "What about you?"
"I'm working over at the Gotham History Museum," she answered. "They're paying for me to get a Master's, so I'm doing that now, too." She laughed, then. "I actually was walking home from the campus library last night, and a mugger tried to run off with my backpack."
"Tried?" Dick's lips quirked up on one side.
"Nightwing swooped down and stopped him. Thank god, too, my midterm paper was in there; spent six hours writing that thing." She said it with such an air of mild annoyance that Dick laughed.
"To Nightwing, then" he said, holding out the beer he was drinking. "May he always rescue your midterm papers."
Regan smiled with a chuckle. "To Nightwing," she repeated. They clinked their glasses together, and then each took a sip. Just as Dick lowered his beer back to the table, a whirlwind in a tight neon blue dress that practically glowed in the dark lights came by.
"Regan, there you are!" Sasha exclaimed, "I've been looking for you!"
Regan laughed. "Sorry, Sash," she said, scooting over to let her friend sit down. "Sasha, this is Dick Grayson, we went to high school together. Dick, this is Sasha, my college roommate and best friend."
"Nice to meet you, Sasha," Dick said with an easy grin, reaching over to table.
"You too, Dick," Sasha happily took his hand. "Regan, where you have been hiding this handsome man?"
"Sasha!" Regan exclaimed as Dick flushed red.
"Well, I think I'll take my leave," Dick said, but there was a laugh in his voice.
"I'm sorry about her," Regan said with a mix of amusement and sorry on her face.
"No, it's alright," Dick grinned. "Regan, it was great seeing you again. Sasha, it was a pleasure meeting you."
"The pleasure was all mine," Sasha said, grinning very flirtatiously. Dick chuckled, and left their table. Sasha tracked his movements until he disappeared into the crowd, and then she turned to Regan. "Oh, my god. Regan!" she exclaimed. "He was so totally flirting with you!"
"Oh shut up, no he wasn't," Regan denied, "We were just talking about what we had been up to since high school, I hardly call that flirting."
Sasha tutted, "Girl, we need to get you laid so you can find out what flirting looks like," she said. "Come on, I wanna dance!" not giving her friend time to object, Sasha grabbed Regan's wrist and pulled her onto the dance floor.
The rest of the night went by in a flash, with the two friends laughing, dancing, and drinking. Regan left the club around 3 AM, alone. Sasha had found a man to dance with, and had been for the last hour. She'd whispered to Regan that she was going home with the man, so Regan had happily let her friend have her fun and left alone- after making sure Sasha hadn't been drugged or was being forced into something.
When Regan woke up the next morning, she moaned at the feeling of her dried out contacts, still in her eyes. At least she wasn't hungover; she'd pretty much sweated most of the alcohol out from dancing, but also had stuck to water for the second half of the night.
She quickly changed her contacts out for her trusty glasses, ate some food, and then spent the rest of her weekend watching movies and cuddling with her dog. Sasha texted her around noon on Saturday to let her know she'd gotten back to her own apartment safe… with the guy's phone number. His name was Kyle.