Batman and Superman were startled out of their discussion about the current issue with the Light by Nightwing sailing through the closed door, which splintered in a hundred directions while he slid across the floor and bounced off the far wall.

He was on his feet in an instant, though he staggered slightly. Batman had taught him well. Get up right away, showing a willingness to fight may make your opponent hesitate long enough for you to catch your breath.

The two men looked from Nightwing to the hole in the door, which Robin slowly and deliberately stepped through, trailing his staff behind him. There was a splash of blood on it which matched the cut above Nightwing's right eye.

Superman moved to intercept Robin, but Nightwing blocked his path, casting a significant look at Robin's left hand. A dull glow from his glove betrayed the hidden Kryptonite he held. Superman backed away. He could attack Robin from a distance, but not without hurting him. Nightwing stood back, letting Batman take over.

"What are you doing, Tim?," Batman asked.

"He knows," Robin nodded towards Nightwing "ask him!. He knows everything,"

Batman moved towards Robin, but was slowed by a handful of smoke pellets. When the smoke cleared, Robin was already gone. Batman went to the door and looked up and down the hall. Nightwing went to the nearest computer terminal, which registered Robin's departure from the Watchtower via boom tube.

"He said you know what he's up to," Batman turned to Nightwing abruptly "do you?,"

Nightwing looked past him, his face a picture of sad resignation.

"He's going home,"

"To Gotham?. Why?," a moment later, realization dawned "a programmed destination,"

"It calls to him," Nightwing said quietly "just as it calls me,"

"You?. But Atom said that poison was completely flushed from your system," Superman protested.

"Not completely," Nightwing told him "just enough to let me fight it,"

"Where is he going?,"

"I don't know the name of the place," Nightwing shook his head "I don't know where it is at all. Just a direction. But I can find it. Let me put a team together, I can bring him back,"

"No, he's my responsibility," Batman disagreed.

"With respect," Nightwing cut him off "he's a member of my team. This happened on my watch,"

Batman opened his mouth to protest further, but remembered bitterly the last argument he'd won with Nightwing. Nightwing had wanted to pull the team out of the Arrow County Correctional Facility, but Batman had overruled him. He'd had no right to do so, and it had nearly cost the team their lives.

"Alright," Batman said.

Nightwing nodded curtly to the two men, then hurried off to make a few calls. Already he was running down the list of those who could help in his mind. Miss Martian might yet be able to reach Robin. In spite of the Kryptonite, Superboy was their best shot at overpowering Robin. Robin's strength and speed was much greater now than it had been before, Nightwing stood no chance against him. Impulse- ...Kid Flash, could keep up with him. He resisted the temptation to add Aqualad and Tigress to the list, knowing that they would surely fight hard, but could do little against Robin in his altered state.

"You and your stupid secrets!," Superboy snapped.

Miss Martian was at the helm, Kid Flash positioned ahead of her, and both of them flinched, being caught between Superboy and Nightwing, who seemed to have utterly forgotten their presence.

"This is exactly why I left," Nightwing shot back "you needed someone you could trust, and that sure as hell wasn't me. What do you want?. You want me to say I'm sorry?. Well I can't, because I'm not. I wish to God I was!,"

"Why didn't you tell us this time?. What did you think you were protecting us from?!,"

"If you'd known, what would you have done?,"

"Locked you up so you couldn't hurt anyone!. That's what!,"

"Exactly why I didn't say anything," Nightwing told him "Robin needed help, and still does. I couldn't very well help him locked in a cage like some monster. I've got it under control, Conner,"

"So you say, but how am I supposed to believe that?," Superboy asked "after all the deception, all the lies, how can any of us believe a word you say?,"

"I can't answer that," Nightwing replied softly "all I can ask is that you trust me a little longer,"

Superboy frowned deeply, then sighed.

"So, anything else you want to tell us?,"

"He's carrying Kryptonite, so it would be wise for you to maintain your distance until one of us can get it away from him. You're our heavy-hitter, and best chance at stopping him,"

"What happens if we can't bring him in?,"

"Conner!," Miss Martian spoke for the first time, but Nightwing cut her off.

"We take him down, at any cost. We cannot let the weapon he's become fall into the hands of someone like Lex Luthor or the rest of the Light,"

"Wait, you mean kill him?," Kid Flash asked "you can't mean that, he's-,"

"I know exactly what he is," Nightwing said sharply "and that's dangerous. He hasn't lost any of his training or experience, but he's gained strength and speed rivaling Superman. And he's not through changing yet. When he's finished, he'll be perfectly designed for killing,"

"What are you saying?," Miss Martian asked, though she suspected she already knew.

"I'm saying that we have to take him down now, while we still can,"

06:30 AM

Nightwing had been disturbingly silent the last two hours. He had said nothing, nor had he looked at any member of the team, gazing past them in some kind of trance-like state. The only sign that he still remembered where he was and what he was doing was the occasional psychic message he sent to give Miss Martian course corrections.

The others weren't sure if he was hunting Robin, or for where Robin was going. It was hard for them to believe Robin was so far ahead that they hadn't managed to overtake him by now. On the other hand, wouldn't the wiser thing to do be to overtake Robin, stop him before he arrived at his destination?.

Nightwing's head suddenly came up, as if something had flown in his face and startled him.

"Hold it," he spoke aloud, his voice low.

"What is it?," Kid Flash asked uneasily after a moment.

"Let me out here," Nightwing said quietly.

"If you're going, so am I," Superboy asserted.

Nightwing turned as if to make an argument against this, but instead merely inclined his head in assent. Reluctantly, Miss Martian opened the ship.

"Stay here," Nightwing ordered "if we need you, we'll call,"

Kid Flash and Miss Martian watched them drop from sight, disappearing into the depths of a city whose name they only vaguely recalled, not far from Gotham.

"Yeah right," Kid Flash commented "if Robin's as dangerous as described, they'll never get a word in before he takes them down,"

"Have a little faith, Bart," Miss Martian said dryly "you of all people should know what Nightwing is capable of,"

"Yeah, that's what worries me," Kid Flash replied "how do we know the thing controlling Robin isn't controlling Nightwing too?,"

Miss Martian opened her mouth to reply, but then didn't. There was no guarantee, and Nightwing had so recently deceived them all, without the assistance of any mind-altering drugs. If they were wrong, if Nightwing had turned like Robin, then Superboy was already dead.

Robin cocked his head and cast an upward glance at the still darkened sky. Thoughtful for a moment, he considered the possibility that he could rid himself of his pursuers here and now, permanently. The damp air, carrying with it the threat of rain, brought also the smell of his brother, now a stranger to him. Nightwing, the black bird himself. No dark knight for sure, but dangerous nonetheless. And with him was another, one who was physically more than a match for Robin still.

Backing into the darkest recesses of the alley, he looked for a route of escape. Pulsing in his blood, calling like an echoed command, was the desire for violence, a lust for destruction which might only be quenched by the death of those living. The world would be a much better place if it were the land of the dead. The dead made no noise, had no words to speak or actions to perform. Silence.

Even now, the sound of vehicles, of machinery, of speech, of movement, of heartbeats reverberated in his head. He wanted that to stop. Noise, noise, all of it be damned. He looked up from his tormented musing, hearing in his mind the distant call. There would be relief if he got there. Relief, blessed silence perhaps. He had all but forgotten leaving the Watchtower, hardly even remembered that there was such a thing.

Later he might but, though his memory was intact, his mind had prioritized. The memories were all there, but he had no reason to access them. He had gone into the state of the hunted, a mode he resisted strongly. He wanted to be the hunter. And soon, very soon, he would be.

He caught sight of Nightwing as the team leader leaped down off a roof to land on a set of stairs designed to be a fire escape, but now rusted and worn and unstable. Yet Nightwing landed on the railing without the aged metal so much as registering a complaint, landing as lightly and precisely as his training as an acrobat and later a sidekick to The Bat demanded.

Nightwing looked down sharply, eyes as clear as a hawk's, alert for any sign of movement below. Nightwing was poised to strike, prepared to dive down and come in for a hard landing on anyone whom he saw below him. Like a raptor in search of prey.

On the roof, Superboy waited for a signal from Nightwing, watching the night world above for signs of disturbance and danger which Nightwing might be unaware of, having cast himself into the pit of the alley, where the walls blocked his vision and muffled sounds. That was why Robin was here, and not above. It was quieter here, here he could breathe.

Nightwing shifted his weight soundlessly, his body beginning to list towards where Robin was crouching in the dark, heart beating fast in anticipation of sudden fight or flight. Nightwing could not possibly sense him with his feeble human senses, yet the masked vigilante seemed to have an uncanny awareness of Robin's location.

And then it hit him, both literally and figuratively. Nightwing had gained the sixth, or perhaps seventh (Robin had lost count) sense that told one creature where the other was. Robin's eyes widened as the steel gaze of Nightwing locked on him and the black bird swept down to the ground with the abruptness and force of a diving falcon.

Robin barely moved back in time. He lashed out blindly and headed deeper into the alley. In the darkness, both were blind. Yet Nightwing didn't appear to require his vision when he caught Robin's neck and yanked him backwards. Robin twisted, dropping to one knee as the iron grip tightened. Shifting his weight, he threw Nightwing over his shoulder, holding the other's arm so that he could not right himself mid-tumble.

Nightwing hit the ground with a satisfying thud, the first sound he had made since the encounter began. Robin took the brief second to look up to Superboy, who was still maintaining his distance, though he was all too obviously aware of the situation. Too aware to get in range of the deadly rock Robin was harboring in his tool belt.

Realizing that Superboy knew about it meant Nightwing had not forgotten. Robin looked back at Nightwing, but his adversary was already gone. Robin didn't have to check his pocket to know that he'd been pick pocketed. He should have known better. He'd handled Nightwing as he might a simple criminal, without regard for the intelligence and knowledge of his foe. He was superior to his enemy, of that he was certain. But if he was careless, if he forgot who he was dealing with, he would surely lose.

A crash from behind told Robin all he needed to know. Before he could whirl to face his new opponent, he was grabbed around the chest from behind with crushing force. Then suddenly the grip loosened, and Robin turned and kicked, pushing off from his enemy and turning in the air to land facing Superboy, though he realized it was a mistake not to face Nightwing.

Superboy looked stunned, and confused for a moment, until he noticed a sickly glowing lump under the right sleeve of Robin's costume. Robin was no fool. He'd had but one piece to work with, but he knew how to break it apart without ruining its quality. True he'd forgotten himself and allowed Nightwing to pick his pocket, but he'd been prepared. The best way to hide your mistakes is to have plenty of backup plans.

Robin distantly wondered if Nightwing had signaled Superboy to move in, or if the hulking half-Kryptonian had simply acted on his own.

Though he heard no sound, Robin shifted and caught Nightwing on the attack, throwing his first adversary at his second. Dropping a small chip of Kryptonite and a handful of smoke pellets, Robin swiftly and silently made good his escape.

Nightwing, having been catapulted into Superboy only to bounce off and crash down on the pavement, got up slowly, dusting himself off irritably as he did so. He couldn't form the words he wanted to express his frustration and so merely growled.

He stumbled through the choking smoke and picked up the piece of meteor rock and placed it in the lead-lined pocket of his utility belt with the other one.

"Well I hope you're happy," Superboy coughed "I suppose you didn't see that one coming?,"

Nightwing blinked at him in the near-darkness and stood numbly for a moment. Then he shook his head as if to clear it.

"We'd better get back to the bio-ship. He's long gone by now,"

"Oh yeah?. And whose fault is that?,"

Nightwing made no reply. He had walked right into a trap, led Superboy in as well. Even knowing Robin's skill and training, he had made a foolish move and not anticipated the possible consequences. Was it because he wasn't being objective with Robin?. That seemed unlikely. Far more likely was that the pull he was even now allowing himself to respond to was clouding his thinking.

Robin's too, fortunately. So easily could Robin have ended his life not once, but twice. And all because Nightwing had gone on the offensive as though Robin were a mere villain.

"You're in charge next time," Nightwing said "I can't be trusted to make the right decisions in combat,"