(Expect two of these tomorrow: one in the morning(ish), and one in the evening.)

A/N: Here's Part II and we get what's been going on with Robin (aka Nightwing.) Just in case you don't remember the date I started Part I with, it's the same date that I'm starting this part with. In other words, I'm taking you back in time to the date that Raven gets the call from Amos in Part I, before she gets to Blüdhaven. (Just so there's no confusion)

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Estranged
Part II: Robin

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November 12, 2015

"My demons and my angels reappeared / There are only traces of the man you thought I'd be..."
- Always At Your Side, Sheryl Crow & Sting

Detective Dick Grayson looked up indifferently from his computer screen when the file slid across his desk, knocking into his elbow. When he realized it was his captain that had thrown the brown file so rudely across his desk, his expression changed not one whit. "Have you taken to attacking me with file folders now?" he asked casually. He raised his eyebrows at the frown on his Captain's face. "Hoping I might bleed to death from a paper cut wound?"

Captain Elliot Meloni frowned even harder and crossed his arms over his chest, "Take a look at the file, Grayson."

Dick shrugged and looked down at the file by his elbow, reading the information on the cover upside down, "American Medical Association Conference..." he read aloud. "So?" he looked back at his Captain. "Did someone die of boredom at the conference?"

Meloni shook his head, more out of disbelief at Grayson's blasé attitude than in an actual response to his sarcastic inquiry. "The conference is in two days, but guess who drew the lucky straw for security detail?"

Dick leaned forward onto the desk, his bored expression hardening immediately, "I'm a homicide detective, Cap, not a babysitter to some stuffed shirt doctors."

"No one's asking you to babysit, Grayson, just check out the hotel's security..." Meloni sighed. "Apparently, the Mayor fought tooth and nail to get the conference held in our fair city, and he wants to make sure we do everything in our power so that those prissy doctors don't get hurt while they're here."

Dick opened up the file, his eyes scanning for the hotel name, although he was pretty sure it would be their most swank hotel. "They're at The Plaza," he said, thinking. "I can call Pete, he heads the security over there, ask him if he needs anything from us and ask him to go over his security plans," he looked up at Meloni, "Would that be enough or do I actually have to take time away from the real crooks to take a walk through?"

Meloni shrugged, "Use your infamous instinct, Grayson...it's your responsibility now."

Great, Dick thought as he watched his captain walk away. His responsibility. That meant even more work for Detective Dick Grayson and an extra area to add to Nightwing's patrol.

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He had meant to do at least one pass at the hotel and surrounding areas every night while the conference was going on, but on the first night of the conference, he had gotten a tip about a planned spree of Jewelry Heists and his every moment had been taken up dealing with those idiots one way or another. If it hadn't been about stopping them from attacking, it had been about putting them away or interrogating them after he had caught them.

What with one thing and another, the conference was over by the time Nightwing stood on a roof across the street from The Plaza. He hadn't heard of any trouble going on or planned for the conference attendees, though, so when he went to The Plaza it really had been more about doing something he had told himself he would than actually fearing for anyone's safety.

Most of Blüdhaven's criminal element didn't care about tourists unless they were stupid and strayed down a dark alley or happened upon something they had no business witnessing. They wouldn't really come for tourists at a hotel...especially not for a conference of doctors. Sure, they might be rich, but doctors weren't known for their propensity to travel with lots of jewelry or cash.

He wasn't worried, but as he approached the hotel's roof, he caught sight of something that almost made him let go of the handle of his grappling hook and go hurtling onto the sidewalk below.

In the periphery of his sight, a streak of pure, brilliant white flashed for a moment, contrasting sharply with the blue-black sky. He turned his head immediately, his pulse jumping into his throat at the thought that rushed into his brain, but even with his quick reflexes, it was gone before he could ascertain its nature.

He did his job, he always did. On the roof of The Plaza Hotel he checked doors and locks and listened for a few moments to make certain there was no trouble the way he had planned to, but all the while, he couldn't help but wonder whether he had simply imagined that flash of white or if she really had flown back into his life.

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For years, Raven had been Robin's anchor.

Before her, he had been adrift in a sea of someone else's dreams and desires. He hadn't been Robin then, even though he had taken on the mantle of Robin years before. He hadn't been Richard either. He had been the Batman's sidekick...Bruce Wayne's perception of what he should have been.

After Raven, he had a purpose.

He knew she didn't find that purpose for him. She didn't assign him that purpose, but in needing his help, in depending on him, she helped him find himself.

He had never known how to tell her how much she meant to him.

Not even when she was about to walk out of his life and leave him.

And when she was gone, he was left with nothing except Robin, a name that no longer suited him and a suit that no longer fit him. And as for his purpose?

If that really had been Raven in the white over The Plaza's roof, what would she think of his purpose now?

He scoffed as he thumped the petty hood's head against the concrete wall of the abandoned warehouse and watched the man's drug addled body slump to the floor.

'What purpose?' he wondered.

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He was so intent at scanning the area surrounding the wharf that when the buzzing came against his hip, he almost jumped. Of course, Nightwing didn't jump in surprise at anything, but he was sorely tempted.

Instead, he removed the console from his belt and stared at the blinking numbers. He sighed and tapped the button on the console that would open the line. "Yes?" he spoke in a normal voice, knowing the person on the other end would hear him clearly thanks to the marvels of technology.

"Grayson, I need you back here, ASAP," Captain Meloni groused onto the line. "Another costumed freak's been spotted and I need to get you on this right away."

Instantly on alert, Nightwing stood to his full 6 foot 3 inch height, "Where was she spotted?" he asked.

There was a pause on the line before the captain asked, "How did you know it was a she?"

Nightwing internally cursed his loose tongue. "My infamous instinct, remember?" he asked flippantly.

"When was the last time you got laid?" Meloni asked bluntly. "If you've got women on the brain this badly, I think however long it's been, you need--"

"Gee, thanks, Cap for the concern," he interrupted sarcastically. "Say, your daughter back from college yet?" he asked casually.

"You just look at her too long, Grayson, and I'll pull your balls out tchrew your tchroat," Meloni warned, his normally nearly non-existent New York accent thickening with the threat.

Dick chuckled, "So, you were about to tell me where this new costumed freak was spotted?"

"Fifth and Main, some tourists caught sight of a white cape and long hair on the tip of Channel 10's news antenna." Meloni scoffed, "Freaks all like heights, don't they?" he asked rhetorically.

There was a second where Dick wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Has she hurt anyone?" he asked.

"No reports of it..." Meloni allowed, "...yet."

"I'm on it," Dick announced.

"Are you coming in to the station or--"

"No time," Dick cut him off, "I'm heading straight to her last location, I'll call you with any further details as I get them." He cut off the connection before his captain had any chance of questioning him further and with practiced ease, threw a grappling hook at the top of the nearest building.

'If it's someone else trying to fuck with me...' he thought viciously, as he practically flew across rooftops.

He cut the train of thought off before it would force him to wonder what he'd do if it wasn't someone trying to mess with him...if it really was Raven after all.

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End Notes:

(1) Dick Grayson, Blüdhaven Homicide Detective: So, my major source of information regarding Nightwing, Kysra told me during a conversation about this fic that while in Blüdhaven, Dick joins the police force there. I just thought I'd use that. I don't know how important it's going to be for the fic, probably not too important, but there you go.

(2) Captain Elliot Meloni: Anyone guess where I picked up that name from? I'll give you a hint: It's an amalgamation of two names used by the same person. (one the name of the actor and the other the name of a character he plays...)

(3) A personal plea: I wrote some of this in the present tense, as notes before fixing it up to flow into the story's tense. I did the best I could trying to fix all the tense problems, but I might have missed some that my eye just skimmed right over. If anyone finds them, could you (a) forgive me for leaving it? And (b) let me know where it is so I can fix it? I'll consider it a personal favor. Thanks!

A/N: Other than that, I think people like my comedy more than my angsty-emotion-ridden stuff cause Stupid Cupid definitely got more reviews than this one did...