By the time the sun sets, I'm pretty confident I can pick any of Sionis's men out of a crowd.
"Dude, you have to stop making coffee." I say as Dick pours me another cup.
"You said that hours ago but you just keep drinking them." He replies, calmly sipping his own cup, swinging his legs up onto the table.
"Yeah but now my hands are shaking so bad I can hardly hold these files still enough to read." I reply, holding up one trembling hand as a demonstration.
"Hmm. Maybe you should ease up on the caffeine." He agrees, swiping my cup of coffee and pouring it into his own cup. "We should probably head out soon. Sionis has reopened the old Steel Mill he used to own, and uses it as a base of operations on that side of Gotham. That's probably our best bet on finding someone to interrogate."
"And you think one of these guys will just tell us about the arms deal?"
"Here's hoping." Dick says, raising his cup before draining it. "Time to suit up, new girl!" He jumps to his feet, making a beeline for what I assume is the bedroom. I grab my duffle bag and lock myself into the first room I find, which turns out to be a second bedroom.
Once dressed, I study myself in the full length mirror on the wall. I'm overcome by the strange sensation of not recognising my own reflection. In front of me is a woman, hair pushed back by the mask, eyes fierce underneath the cowl, looking intimidating in the black armour. She looks strong, and fearless.
She doesn't look like me at all.
I'm drawn out of my reflection by Dick pounding on the door. "You going to take much longer in there? Bad guys to interrogate, remember?"
"Keep your shirt on, I'm coming." I grumble, swinging the door open. Dick is standing there, all decked out in his Nightwing gear. "Dude. You look badass." I compliment.
"What, this old thing?" He waves a hand at me, grinning. "I could get used to you telling me how good I look all the time."
"Don't bother; I won't be saying it again." I poke my tongue out at him. "Come on, didn't you say something about bad guys? Let's go!"
¿?
Dick holds a finger up to his lips, telling me to keep quiet. The rooftop we're perched on gives us an unobstructed view of the back entrance to Sionis's steel mill. Voices float up to us from the five men standing in the dark, smoking.
"Nah man, I'm telling you, Bludhaven is way nicer than Gotham. Better people, better bars, better schools-"
"Better schools? Man, who the hell cares about schools?"
"I the hell do! My kid starts next year."
"What, you're gonna leave Sionis, leave Gotham, and go straight in Bludhaven?"
"Hell no. But maybe the misses and my girl live in Bludhaven."
Such normal conversations. It throws me for a moment.
"Can you imagine? Break a few knee caps, and then head home to tuck in the kid." They all laugh. I roll my eyes. That sounds more like the thugs I remember from my last visit. I point towards the man closest to the door or the mill, just putting out his cigarette.
"There. That's Jackson Mayne." I whisper to Dick.
"Good eye." He approves. "Next to him is Andy Owens. Recognise him?"
I nod. "Five against two. Think we can do it?" My stomach churns.
"Sure can, new girl. You got those batons I gave you?" He asks. I unsheathe the two batons on my belt, flicking them out to their full length. Adrenaline courses through my body, and suddenly, I am so ready for this. "Well, follow me!" Dick drops down silently to the fire escape balcony below. I jump down, slightly less gracefully, and land beside him. We scale down either side of the escape, pausing at the bottom. Dick raises an eyebrow, silently asking if I'm ready. I smile at him, and we drop loudly.
"Evening, gentlemen." Dick greets loudly while we stroll over towards the group of men. "We need information. Who wants to give it to us?"
In lieu of a response, one of the men charged Dick, who promptly dropped him to the ground.
"That looked like a no, Nightwing." I remark. "Maybe one of these other men can help?" I look around, twirling the baton in my right hand. One man makes a move towards me and in three quick steps I'm standing in front of him.
Before he can speak I hit out and land a direct hit in his side making him double over. My next shot hits his head- sending him to the ground, groaning and disorientated.
That opened the flood gates, with the remaining three men all charging at once. I end up trading blows with Mayne, a six foot man built like a line backer.
We dance around each other for a while both trying to land hits, and both succeeding to some degree. I get a lucky hit, striking Mayne in the mouth. He spits out blood and turns back to me with a new fire in his eyes.
He lands several good shots to my midsection, leaving me winded. The next hit sends me sprawling to the pavement. Mayne approaches me menacingly and in a panic I kick out, sweeping his feet out from under him. We grapple on the pavement for a few moments but I finally get the upper hand enough to land a solid knock to his temple. He rolls to the side, limp.
Panting, I climb to my feet. Dick is standing there watching me with his eyebrows raised. Andy Owens is passed out at his feet.
"You alright there, new girl?" He questions. I smile wryly.
"I managed. Which one are you going to interrogate?"
"We'll try this one." He says, kicking Owens gently. Owens stirs, groaning. "Get up." He growls, pulling Owens up by the collar. "We've got questions."
"Not sayin' nothin' to no one." Owens swears at us, spitting at Dick.
"Wanna bet?" Dick asks darkly. He punches Owens in the stomach, making him double over in pain. "It'd be easier on you to just tell us what we want to know." Another punch to the face and I hear a sickening crack. Owens's nose is broken. "Sionis has an arms deal going down. Tell me where and when, and the pain stops."
"Couldn't tell ya, even if I wanted to." Owens says thickly, blood gushing from his nose. "Sionis has been real tight on this deal. No one's talking about it." He spits out a mouthful of blood.
Dick and I exchange looks. Owens seems to be telling the truth. Dick swears and clocks Owens across the head, knocking him into unconsciousness.
"Well. That was kind of a bust. Want to wake up Mayne and see if he knows anything?" I ask.
"Not sure it's worth it. What Owens said makes sense. If Sionis is playing this one close to the chest it would explain why he's been so hard to track this time." Dick looks thoughtful. "We might need to go higher up the food chain, aim for some of Sionis's right hand men."
Mayne begins to stir behind us.
"Hey. You know anything about an arms deal?" I ask the semi conscious man. He groans in response. A swift kick in the head sends him back into unconsciousness. Dick raises an eyebrow at me. "What? I took it as a no." I shrug.
¿?
After Dick drives me back to Wayne Manor, Bruce spends some time patching me up. Split lip, bruises covering my entire torso and cuts across my cheekbone.
"Did you put up any defence, or just stand there like a punching bag?" Bruce asks, smirking slightly.
"Hey, you should see the other guy." I quip, then wince when Bruce dabs at the cut under my eye. "How come you never come home looking like this?"
"Practise." He finishes cleaning my face and puts the medical kit away. "I suggest a cold shower to ease the bruising you're going to have."
"I am so sore already, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to crawl up the stairs." I whine. Bruce gets a playful glint in his eye, and before I can say anything he swoops me up into his arms, bridal style, making me squeal.
"Put me down!" I laugh as Bruce climbs the staircase. "Let me go, Batjerk!"
"Batjerk is a new one." He chuckles and tosses me down onto my bed. "There. Now you don't need to walk up the stairs. Batman saves another citizen."
"More like Bruce Wayne kidnaps helpless victim." I retort. "I knew there was a dark side to this whole hero thing." I can't deny it was much easier than climbing the staircase though.
Bruce appraises my room and I'm suddenly self conscious of the mess. I have semi-clean clothes draped over the chairs in the reading nook in the corner. There are not-so-clean clothes in a pile next to the bathroom door. One shoe is at the end of the bed, and the other is nowhere to be found. I'm almost positive he's going to reprimand me about the state of the room, but to my surprise, he doesn't. Instead, he leans closer and reaches out, almost as if to touch my face, before he drops his hand and steps back. He walks away, stopping at the door to say goodnight before disappearing down the hallway.
"Good night." I say, too late for him hear, and flop back down on the bed, groaning.
It doesn't take long for me to fall asleep.
¿?
"New girl…" A voice whispers at the edge of my consciousness. "New girl… Hey! New girl!" I open my eyes, startled, and am greeted by Dick Grayson grinning down at me.
"Argh!" I shout, jumping out of bed and promptly falling onto my face at his feet.
"That was amazing. No really, your grace astounds me." Dick stands there laughing at me.
"Shut up Grayson. Why are you in my room? At the crack of dawn? Without coffee?" I demand, pulling myself up, wincing. Definitely feeling tender today.
"I let you sleep till six. That's hardly the crack of dawn." He says. "And your coffee is down in the kitchen. I was afraid if I bought it up here you'd drink it and just roll over and go back to sleep."
"Smart move." I mutter, finally standing.
"I'll be in the kitchen. If you're not down in four minutes, I'm coming back up here and pouring the coffee on your head." He saunters out of the room, closing the door behind him. Knowing him, he will follow through with his threat. With glee.
With that thought in mind I drag myself out of bed and through a cold shower, hoping to wake myself up a little. Every muscle in my body is crying out after the beating it took last night.
"Suck it up." I tell my reflection in the bathroom mirror. "If everyone else can do it, so can I." With that resolution in mind, I finally get dressed and make an appearance in the kitchen.
"Cutting it close, new girl." Dick chides, handing me a cup of steaming coffee. "This almost went on your head."
"I'd make you regret it." I threaten in return, taking a sip. The taste instantly improves my mood.
"You really think you could take me on? Think you could beat all this?" He asks, gesturing to himself and flexing.
"With both hands tied behind her back." Bruce quips, entering the room. "I'll be around tonight if you two need help." He adds.
"We should have it handled, right new girl?"
"Right. Nightwing and Batgirl, off to save the city." I reply, feeling much more confident now I've had coffee. Bruce smiles.
"Good to know. Let me know if you get into trouble." I give him a mocking salute, and he shakes his head at me.
"Seriously Grayson, why the hell am I up at this hour of the morning? I only just went to bed!" I complain once Bruce has left the kitchen.
"Because I just got in, and while you were catching up on your beauty sleep, I happened to run into Jimmy Doyle. Thought you might want to know." The name rings a bell.
"That's Sionis's top guy right?" Dick nods in confirmation. "And you interrogated him without me? Harsh move, Grayson."
"When I say 'happen to run into,' I mean that very literally. He was getting out of a cab when I passed him on my way home. It was fate!" He shrugged. "So I made an executive decision and got the information then and there. And considering there's an active warrant out for his arrest, I also took the liberty of dropping him off at the GCPD."
I consider this for a moment. I may not have been there for the action, but at least it's another bad guy off the streets. "Good job, Nightwing. You're a hero." I applaud, while Dick takes several exaggerated bows to an imaginary audience. "When you're finished with your invisible adoring fans, maybe you could tell me what Doyle said?"
"Two days time." He says, and I feel a pang of nervousness. "Loads of security and Sionis himself will be there. He's not leaving this deal to his underlings."
"Right. So we're going to need Bruce and Tim as backup?" I'm not really looking forward to having to work with Tim.
"Without a doubt. We'll need them."
"What are we doing tonight?"
"Scoping out the drop point. Making sure we get the best vantage points for the deal, as well as looking for any possible escape routes." A thought occurs to me.
"Are you sure Doyle didn't lie about the date? What if just you and I show up tonight and the deal is already happening?"
"I'm certain he wasn't lying." Dick says with a smile so sinister I'm glad I wasn't there to see the interrogation.
"Right. Well as fascinating as that information was, I am going back to bed. I need more sleep or I'm going to be falling asleep on a rooftop tonight."
"Sweet dreams princess." Dick winks, and I head back up to my room. The temporary buzz I had from the coffee is wearing off and its all I can do to climb back under the blankets before nodding off.
A/N: Another overdue update! Thank you to everyone who posts such lovely reviews, I read them all and they mean so much. You guys keep my motivation high.
Let me know what you thought!