So, a lot of you are really excited about X's entrance. So, it's with great apprehension that I tell you that he will not actually be appearing in the chapter. *cringe* sorry. Next chapter, promise. He is sorta there- you'll see. It's not like he has nothing to do with it.
Anyway, I got this one done quickly so I decided to post it. Hope you enjoy!
EDIT: Ok, so roy23 pointed out that I wrote Robin instead of Nightwing during the notes part. *Facepalm* I don't even know how that happened. So, it's fixed now. Sorry for any confusion.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Man I hate these things.
Raven slowly walked back into the main room where all of the Titans were gathered. The other Titans looked up questioningly at Raven, clearly wondering what was really going on here. Raven shrugged. "He wants us to track down Red-X."
"Red-X? Why does he want that whack job?" Cyborg burst out. "Shouldn't he be more focused on finding Nightwing?"
"Just run the program, Cy." Raven sighed. "And pull up his profile; maybe there's a clue there."
Cyborg obeyed, grumbling. Within a few minutes, the finder program he'd designed was working on finding Red-X and he was pulling up X's profile page. He scrolled through it silently for a few moments, noting some changes that Nightwing had obviously made. He hadn't looked at this file in ages, but Nightwing, apparently, was on it quite often. "Huh. Nightwing obviously messes with this one a lot, almost as much as with Slade's."
"Really?" Beast Boy asked. "I didn't think X was that important."
"They have almost as complicated of a relationship as Slade and Nightwing do." Raven murmured, half to herself. "And we don't know the half of it."
Slade looked over at Nightwing. "Is it even possible to have a more complicated relationship than ours?" He asked, part sincere and part sarcastic. Nightwing laughed. "Nah, it's really not that complicated, once you know the background. They don't."
"Would you care to share?" Slade asked, not really expecting a real answer. Sure enough, Nightwing just gave him a 'no, of course not you idiot' look and turned back to the screen, snickering quietly. "Oh, they're going to blow a fuse when they see the notes."
Cyborg continued scrolling down the file. Suddenly, he paused. "Hey, look at this." He called, The other Titans gathered around to read the section he was looking at.
Powers: X does not actually have any powers; his powers come from his suit, powered by xinthonium, which he stole from Nightwing. If possible, please retrieve the suit and return it to Nightwing. He wants it back.
Psh, no you don't. If you did, you wouldn't have let me steal it in the first place, Bird Boy. -X
X- how did you even get on this? -N
Cyborg's not very good with security. You should put up some of your firewalls. Not that it would stop me, I know all your passwords. But they might distract Slade. -X
I can change the passwords, you know. Although you'd probably guess them. But you're right, if I really didn't want you to have the suit, it'd be in the vault by now. -N
The 'whelmingly penetrable' one?
Dude, NO USING MY WORDS TO CRITICIZE ME. I thought you thought they were stupid, anyway.
Oh, they are. SO glad you stopped using them.
Shut up.
The banter continued for a few more lines.
"What IS this?" Beast Boy exclaimed. "The files are not a chatroom!"
"I think it's more of a question of why Nightwing kept allowing Red-X to hack the database." Raven said dryly.
Slade nodded. "It's not something I would normally expect from you, Nightwing."
"It's different with X." Nightwing brushed off. "He just does that to bug me, he doesn't actually go into any other files. It's not like I could stop him, anyway. Like he wrote, he knows all my pass codes and could probably guess the ones he doesn't."
"You're close?" Slade looked over to see Nightwing's face soften. "Yeah." He said softly. "We always have been- well, except for a period in the middle. That was a complicated time, though."
Slade frowned. He hadn't been aware of the fact that Nightwing even knew X out of costume. A thought struck him- did X know who Nightwing was out of costume?
"Is there anything else?" Raven asked, scanning the rest of what she could see on the screen. "Friend Raven, there is something addressed to the Man of Bats here." Starfire noticed, pointing. Raven's eyes narrowed at the link labeled 'To Batman'. "Click it, Cy." Cyborg nodded and obeyed. Another window popped up.
Dear Batman,
If you're seeing this, it means you're prying. It's a given that you will pry. Please stay away from Red-X. He does not want to see you. I do not want you screwing up, again. Because you will. You did once already, which was a disaster, heavy on the dis. And it was not very whelming. I rather like knowing where he is, and being able to make sure he is alive and safe and traught, so don't mess it up. Unless you really need him for some reason, like Slade kidnapped me or something, LEAVE HIM ALONE. And no, he does not want to come home for Christmas, even for A's cookies. I already asked. Don't press the issue.
Sincerely,
Nightwing
Ok, so I hacked my file again and found this, and when I read it over I thought it seemed a bit mild. So:
STAY THE !&*%# OUT OF MY LIFE! YOU SCREWED IT UP ONCE, AND I DO NOT WANT AN &^%$%*# LIKE YOU ^*(&%$#%ING WITH MY LIFE! I AM NOT GOING BACK TO THAT #%#^ CITY, UNLESS IT IS TO KILL THAT #% $! CLOWN! AND, SINCE YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T WANT THAT, STOP BUGGING ME! AND STOP SENDING GOLDIE TO DO YOUR DIRTY WORK; IF YOU WANT ME TO COME TO CHRISTMAS SO BAD, ASK ME YOURSELF! I'm not going to come, by the way. I happen to like it here, there's NO CROWBARS. SO LEAVE ME THE !#$% ALONE ALREADY!
Sincerely,
X
P.S. Please tell A that yes, I do have enough to eat and a roof over my head. Now, STOP MOTHER HENNING ME. I get enough of that from Goldie.
P.P.S. GOLDIE, I THOUGHT YOU STOPPED BUTCHERING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!
-Jay
Well, that was… I'm not sure if it was overly harsh, or if the PS makes up for it. It did use an overabundance of curses, but that's just you. Whatever, it gets the point across. Stay away, Bats.
And Jay, I hope you realize I added those just for you. Love ya! :D
-Wing
The Titans gaped. "What… does that even mean?" Cyborg said, flabbergasted. "Christmas?" Raven just blinked slowly at the screen. "Maybe we should move on."
Nightwing was on the floor, laughing. "Oh, god, their faces!" He wheezed. "oh, my god. I have got to get a picture of that from the records and send one to X."
Slade raised an eyebrow at his antics. "What has gotten into you?" He asked in a slightly superior tone. Nightwing was acting like a child, after all, so he felt entitled to some superiority. Nightwing managed to stop having a fit for a moment to answer. "Nothing. Grew down a little, I guess. Started using my weird words again. Haven't had a laugh like that in a while. You do realize that I'm only seventeen, right?"
"Seventeen? Really? I thought you were older. Disregarding that, why on earth would X 'come home' for Christmas, and why are you telling Batman about it?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Nightwing said with a smug smirk.
Something beeped, and a new window popped up on the screen. "Star, tell Batman we found X." Raven said. "And show him the note, please." Star nodded and flew off.
In a few moments, Batman would smile for the first time since Nightwing was kidnapped. A few moments after that, he would actually break the I am the goddamn Batman, I don't smile facade completely and actually let out a chuckle. How was it that, even when he wasn't there, Nightwing always knew exactly how to make the Dark Night a little less dark, and bring some light to his life?
That was why they needed to get Nightwing back. They couldn't let that light go out, because once it did, they would never get it back, and the world would be that much darker.
So, there was some XxNightwing interaction, even if it was in the past. I couldn't resist adding all that. Sorry.
X will appear in person next chapter, swear!
If you have any questions or suggestions, please, ask. I love questions and suggestions. Don't be shy!
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