Hey guys, I have finals coming up, so I'm sorry about the wait and the length of this chapter. I do not own DC Comics or any of their characters. Please excuse any mistakes I may have made. Thank you to all those who reviewed, please do so again. They help out a lot. As you know, italics is personal thought. Bold italics is electronic communication. Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Last Time:
"So you're worried about people figuring things out before you?" Tim asked.
"That's such a Bruce thing to do." Jason commented.
"Look, I know you're trying to help, and I appreciate it, but maybe this should just stay between us." Richard said.
The bats looked at each other. They made a few gestures and Alfred finished wrapping and securing Richard's chest.
"Are you just saying that so you won't reveal that you feel that you won't be much help because of your ribs?" Alfred cut in, interrupting the bats silent conversation and getting their attention.
Richard didn't respond.
"Ha! That's why?! Grayson, I've seen you fight. Those ribs won't hinder you much." Jason said loudly.
"Yeah, Black Canary told us all about that time in the medical wing." Tim smiled.
"Ignoring your injuries, will you go as Nightwing on this mission?" Bruce got serious.
Richard pondered for a moment before giving Bruce a determined look.
"If you can guarantee Deathstroke's capture, then yes." Richard said.
Bruce nodded.
A few hours later Alfred brought the Nightwing costume to Richard. The blue looked stunning against the black. I have to hand it to Jason. It looks great. Richard took the suit and boots and followed Alfred to the changing room. Bruce had told Richard to put all his equipment in his suit. First, Richard put the spandex suit on. To say Richard was uncomfortable in the tight spandex of the Nightwing suit was an understatement. He went on to take his escrima sticks and gun out of his jacket. His escrima sticks had two places to go. One was two clips on his back. The other was a pocket for each on his thighs. He chose to go with the pocket. With each stick in one pocket on each thigh, he looked at himself in the mirror. You can see everything… With a sigh, he left the changing room. As he walked into the cave, he immediately felt the four bats eyes on him. He braced himself for the laughter he was sure to get.
"Damn, Self. That's a damn good suit for him." Jason complemented himself.
"He needs a cape." Tim commented.
"I believe he looks fine without one, Master Tim." Alfred said.
"Right...well nice job, Alfred and Jason." Tim backed down.
Okay, now Bruce… The man was looking at him.
"Isn't it a little...bare?" He said.
"I do feel a little exposed, but I suppose it could be worse." Richard shrugged.
Alfred stepped forward and placed Richard's mask on. He stepped back. Jason whistled.
"Shit, man. You look good." He said.
"The mask looks perfect, Alfred." Tim said.
"I try my best. I am, after all, the Batler as Master Jason likes to say." Alfred smiled softly.
Bruce was nodding at Richard's Nightwing suit.
"Have you already put all of your equipment in the suit?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah. But" He went back into the changing room and picked up his gun before returning. He held it up. "What about this?" He asked.
Silence answered his question. He sighed.
"I'm a cop. I'm not going to kill anyone." He reasoned.
"Heroes don't need guns to do their job." Bruce replied.
"But they come in handy. I can't throw whatever you call 'ems." Richard responded.
"We'll teach you. For now, you'll just have to make do with the escrima sticks and your fighting skills." Bruce made it clear that there would be no objections.
"Then train me now." Richard replied.
"What?" Bruce said.
"Now. Let's start training now." Richard cleared.
"No." Bruce denied.
"And why not?" Richard challenged.
Jason and Tim looked at each other with the 'oh shit' looks.
"Because you're a cop. It'd take some time to measure where you are in fighting and how well you can throw." Bruce answered.
"I grew up in a circus. I sure as hell know how to throw knives; throwing…" Richard trailed
"Batarangs." Alfred supplied.
"Batarangs won't be that much different." Richard cast Alfred a thankful glance.
"On the contrary, batarangs are not balanced like knives. It's harder than you think." Bruce responded.
Richard huffed. This guy...
"You just don't want me in the fight." Richard accused.
"I don't want you in the middle of it." Bruce clarified.
Richard scoffed.
"That's that same thing." He said.
"Look, you are very inexperienced with this line of work. The hero villain world is different than the cop criminal world. You'll have to learn to adapt. Until you have done that, I'm keeping you out of the thick of the fray. You can fight in the edges of the fray." Bruce explained.
Shit, that's sound logical. Richard looked away in defeat.
"Fine, but I'm going on this...mission." Richard said.
Man, it's weird talking like this.
Bruce sighed and didn't say anything else on the topic but walked over to the computer.
"Masks. Batcave to Watchtower and Mount Justice." He said as he pulled up his cowl.
Two of the screens showed the other heroes. Superman and some of the League behind him on one and the teen heroes on the other. Richard noticed the heroes all look at him with an odd look then at the Bats. Batman noticed too.
"This is Nightwing. He'll be joining us on this mission. He's new to this, so this is the perfect opportunity to see what he's capable of." Batman explain gesturing to Nightwing.
"Is that who I think it is under that mask?" Superman asked.
Batman nodded. Superman sighed.
"Anyway, this is about getting Deathstroke the Terminator. As you know, I've already assigned the teams, now we need to make a plan. Deathstroke isn't going to be an easy catch." Batman said.
"Where is he now?" Green Arrow asked.
"All we know was that he was in Metropolis and is heading to Star City. As to where he's based in either city is currently unknown. I'm looking into it." Batman answered.
"Great." Green Arrow replied.
"Now, we need to figure out who's going where and doing what." Batman said. "To remind everyone the teams are: Alpha - Myself, Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, Aqualad. Beta - Superman, Superboy, Black Canary, Flash, Kid Flash. Omega - Green Arrow, Artemis, Miss Martian, Martian Manhunter. Obviously, Alpha has more stealth components, so I propose the following: Alpha sneaks into the base and locates Deathstroke. Once found, Beta and Alpha engage. Omega will keep all other hostiles out of Alpha and Beta's way. After that, Omega is free to join the fight. However, Wintergreen, Deathstroke associate, may be present, so Omega will take him is that is the case."
"Isn't that a little over board?" Aqualad asked.
"No, Deathstroke is a highly skilled mercenary and is not afraid to kill. He has military training. Wintergreen and him are military veterans and have a taste for cruelty. He has a healing factor, enhanced strength, agility, and durability. He is an expert swordsman, martial artist, hand-to-hand combatant and is extremely resourceful. He is on par with myself and, even with Red Hood and Robin at my side, we lost." Batman said.
Richard could tell some of the heroes were very nervous about Slade.
"Do we know anything about this Deathstroke other than what you just told us?" Black Canary asked.
"His real name is Slade Wilson." Nightwing answered. "He has white hair, an eyepatch over his right eye, our left. He is 6'4" with a muscular build...Blue eyes."
"How do you know all that? I mean that's all really specific. I don't even know all that about Captain Cold!" The Flash said.
Nightwing smirked.
"I have my ways and I've met him." Nightwing replied.
"And lost?" Black Canary asked.
Nightwing chuckled.
"I didn't fight him, I met him. He came and waiting for me in my room. He found me. We had fun times, but I did fight Wintergreen, and he beat my ass, broke my ribs by stomping on them, then said he was going easy on me."
"How'd you find Wintergreen and not Deathstroke?" Superboy asked.
"I wasn't looking for Wintergreen. I went to Deadshot to find out where Deathstroke was. Wintergreen had been trying to get Deadshot on board with something. He sensed me and a fight broke out. I...injured Deadshot's leg and went to fight Wintergreen, which was a mistake. Anyway, I called the Bats and they helped me. I also made Deadshot my acquaintance. He apparently likes me." Nightwing smiled.
"Oh yeah, he's crazy." Kid Flash muttered.
"If Deadshot likes him, he has to be some kind of weird." Artemis muttered.
"You do know that just because you say it quietly, doesn't really mean I can't hear you." Nightwing said.
Kid Flash and Artemis looked embarrassed.
"Sorry." They said.
Nightwing laughed.
"No, don't be. I'm very aware that I'm some kind of something." He said.
"Bats I like this one. Keep him." Red Hood commented, receiving a batglare.
"What? It's not like you haven't already decided to make him permanent." Red Hood defended.
"Hey, I haven't decided this is permanent." Nightwing said.
Red Hood and Robin exchange a look.
"I haven't!" Nightwing said, knowing what they were thinking.
"Oh yeah, he fits in." Black Canary said.
Nightwing groaned.
"I have things to do." Batman growled and ended the call.
"What things?" Robin asked.
"We're taking Nightwing out on patrol." Batman said.
"Okay, I thought you wanted me out of the fray and here you are throwing my in the middle of a huge mission and patrol!" Richard exclaimed.
Batman glared at him. Laughing, Red Hood clapped a hand down onto Nightwing's shoulder.
"This'll be fun." He grinned.