December 31, 1999

7:11 PM

Gotham City

Dick Grayson

I had been around Gotham a few times since showing myself to Bruce as my new alter ego, Nightwing. However, tonight was New Year's Eve and I wasn't parading around town in tights, at least not yet. Instead, I had been called, not by Bruce, but by his newest protege, Jason Todd. I had met Jason a few weeks ago when I had returned to Gotham for the first time. He seemed like a nice enough kid, although if I had to be honest, I knew that he wasn't nearly as good as I was.

But, that wasn't as big a deal as to why he called me two days ago, asking me to meet him before patrols. Normally, I didn't go to the Cave before patrols, choosing to go to Barbara's apartment instead. Not living in Gotham meant that when I did choose to return to the city, I had to find alternative housing and Barbara had been kind enough to comply.

But tonight I would go to the Manor to meet with the kid. I pulled up the main drive of the Manor in my 1994 Ford Taurus as I watched Alfred Pennyworth step outside the front door. As I parked he approached the car door and opened it.

"Master Grayson." he said respectfully as I stepped out of the vehicle.

"You didn't need to do that, Al."

"I beg to differ, Master Dick." he replied as I shut the door and walked towards the front door. "Now, I believe that Master Todd is in the sitting room."

"Which one?" I said with a smirk.

"The front one." he said as he pulled the door open for me.

"Thanks." I replied to him before turning away and marching towards the front room. As I did, I still wondered what he wanted to see me about. When I walked in, he was sitting in Bruce's biggest chair looking at the painting of Thomas and Martha Wayne over the fireplace.

"You look like Bruce sitting there like that." I said as I walked in.

Suddenly, he turned in shock.

"Dick. I didn't expect you to come." he said as he turned the chair towards the couch where I sat.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I'm not sure. I just didn't think you would." he admitted softly.

"So what's on your mind?"

"Well, there are two things. The first one is easier."

"OK." I replied.

"The Joker." he said simply.

Wow. If there was anything that I thought he was going to want to talk about, it certainly wasn't this. The Joker had been noticeably dormant for the last few months.

"What do you want to know?"

"Bruce's files say that he killed your parents. Is that true?"

"Yes. He killed them while we were performing in Gotham. That's why Bruce ended up making me his ward."

"You mean he adopted you."

"No. He was awarded me by the state to care for me."

"That's not what your file says." Jason told me softly.

"What do you mean?"

"When I got access to Bruce's computer, I researched you. It says that you are legally his son."

My brain had stopped working. I was legally Bruce's son. That couldn't be right. If it was, why had he never told me? I couldn't worry about that right now.

"I can talk to him about that later. What's your question?"

Jason took a deep breath.

"Why isn't he dead?"

"What do you mean?"

"He killed your parents and he's tried to kill a ton of other people. Why isn't he dead?"

"By whom?"

"By us." Jason replied firmly.

"Jason, you know the rules."

"I know the rules." Jason replied strongly. "I think they're horseshit."

"You know that I thought the same thing. But after awhile, I understand what Bruce is talking about. If we kill, we don't become any better than just murderers."

"What about equal punishment? These guys kill fifteen people, they go to jail for "life?" How does that work?"

"It works because we already work outside of the system. But the criminals we catch still should atone for their crimes, but not from us. We aren't judges."

Jason stood up and began pacing the room.

"What was your other question?"

"What happens if I kill?"

This line of questioning was starting to scare me. I didn't even want to think of what would happen to him if he did kill, even accidentally.

"You would be removed as Robin."

"I'm not Robin. Not yet."

"Why are you asking me these questions?" I asked him fearfully.

"I found out that Joker's crew was responsible for my father's death in prison last week. They were killed under his orders."

"Does Bruce know?"

Jason slowly nodded his head in confirmation as he sat back down in the chair.

"He knows. He told me to forget about it."

"When was the last time you saw your father?"

"I visit him every week. I saw him on Wednesday of last week." Jason said, tears forming in his eyes. "He was talking about his upcoming parole hearing. He thought he actually had a chance of getting out."

"Wow. That's horrible." I said. "Jason, why are you asking?"

"Because I'm having a lot of trouble not racing out into the city and killing the Joker."

"Jason..."

"Dick, what happened to them?" he said, pointing to the painting of Thomas and Martha Wayne.

"Why does it matter?"

"I want to know."

"You mean to tell me that you've done all that research on me and you don't know what happened?" I asked in surprise.

"I tried. The files are locked."

Ah. Here comes Bruce's overwhelming secrecy. Always hiding behind something.

"Well that certainly doesn't surprise me." I replied.

"Really Dick, what happened?" he asked again.

Man, I never thought I would have to tell him this story. Or anyone really. My thought had always been that Bruce would have told him. However, I couldn't say that I was surprised that Bruce hid the truth from his newest protege. He probably thought that I knew too much to quickly and that's why I had rebelled.

"When Bruce was young, his parents took him to the movies. After the movie, they were on their way to where Alfred was going to pick them up when a man pulled a gun on them. He asked for the usual, wallets and jewelry. Thomas handed his wallet over to the man. However, Martha had a pearl necklace on that she hadn't given to him. He turned his gun on her and started ordering her to give up the necklace."

"Wow. What happened next?"

Suddenly, a much more powerful voice than mine answered.

"Thomas Wayne stepped in front of Martha, trying to protect her." Bruce said as he walked into the room and sat next to me. "When he did that, the mugger lost his cool and shot my father in the chest. At the sound of the gunshot, my mother panicked, screaming his name. To silence her, Joe Chill shot her to."

"Oh my god." Jason said with a horrified look on his face.

"My mother died instantly. However, my father held on long enough to give me on final sentiment: don't be afraid. Then, his eyes went blank and his head slumped to the side."

"I can't believe that."

"I didn't listen." Bruce admitted. "For years, I fought and worked my way to the top, driving myself to become better than anyone. However, I've always had that fear. It's what let me to suspend Dick when he got seriously injured for the first time."

"How did you get rid of it?"

"I don't think I have, to be perfectly honest." Bruce admitted again. "I'm not sure I ever will. But, I know that all I can do is keep trying."

"Either that or just starting drinking a lot." I replied with a usual wit.

"Very funny." Bruce replied before turning to Jason. "Go to the Cave and pull up every file that we have on the arsons. We'll be looking at that tonight."

"OK." Jason replied before hopping out of his chair and leaving the room. Once he was gone, Bruce turned to me.

"Are you going to be patrolling in the city tonight?"

"Yeah. Why?" I asked.

"I'm changing the test. I want him to find you."

"Really? That could get interesting."

"That's the point. You and I will be following up on these arsons and his only task will be to find you. Hopefully, we find the arsonist and he finds you."

"How easy do I make it?" I asked.

"Not at all. Move as quickly as you can. And he can't just see you, he's going to have to put a tracer on you."

"I like this."

"I thought you would." Bruce replied with a rare smile. "Go get suited up."

"Alright." I said as I stood up and made my way out of the room. Suddenly, I turned back to Bruce. "How much of the conversation did you hear?"

"I just heard him ask you what happened to them. That's what he asked you to talk about right."

What do I tell him? Do I tell him about Jason's confidential? Do I tell him that he's considering running out into the night after the homicidal clown that killed my family?

"Yeah." I lied. "That's exactly what he wanted to talk about."

9:21 PM

Gotham City Police Headquarters

Nightwing

I had been out on the town for about an hour now and decided I should probably do the first thing that Batman had ordered me to do: meet with Gordon. So, I made my way across the rooftops of Gotham City back to the outskirts of downtown where the GCPD Headquarters were located. After looping the video in Gordon's office, I snuck into the top window in the building, home to Gordon's office.

He was seated at his desk, looking over just the files that I wanted him to.

"Find anything?" I asked him, trying to scare him.

"You aren't quite as good as that as he is." Gordon replied without looking up. "I heard the window creak when you opened it."

"Damn." I cursed him. "Any word on the fires?"

"Two warehouses since Friday. Fires lit with aluminum powder mixed with potassium nitrate. That matches the other three."

"Do you find it strange that they only happen on weekends?" I asked him.

"I've noticed it." Gordon replied, finally looking at me. "What do you think?"

"Aluminum powder and potassium nitrate are commonly used in movies to create explosions. Movie studios tend to shoot four days a week and depending on the studio, Friday may be their day off."

"So we could be looking at a movie worker?"

"Yeah. What are the names of the warehouses that he's gotten?" I asked him, pulling out the new Palm Pilot that Batman and I have started using recently.

"This weekend, it was ones owned by Oxley Pharmaceuticals. The other three were owned by Connelly Film, Buckner Financial Group, and NewEffects, owned by Jim Henry. You know him?"

"One of Gotham's wealthiest. Media mogul who owns his own film, music, and newspaper companies."

"Correct. The other three are fairly easy to connect. Connelly Film is bankrolled by Buckner Finance and they often use NewEffects for their special effects. However, I don't understand the connection to Oxley."

As he spoke, I linked into the Bat Computer from the Pilot and started scanning connections. Finally, after a couple of minutes, I found something.

"Oxley and Henry were college roommates at New York University back when they were in school. Oxley is often one of the highest contributors to Buckner and Connelly."

"So is that the connection?" Gordon asked as I saw him eye the Pilot in my hand.

"I don't think so. These feel personal."

"I agree." he said as he stood up and moved to a board that had a map of town. On the map, there were marks of the five warehouses that had been burned to the ground in the last two weekends. They were all over the harbor with no apparent pattern. "Is there someone else?"

"I'm not sure." I replied. "It's possible."

Again, I went back to the PDA, researching news stories from the last few years. Suddenly, something of incredibly interest came up.

"Garfield Lynns. Heard of him?" I asked.

"No." Gordon replied without turning away from the board.

"He was fired from NewEffects ten months ago."

"OK?" he said, turning around and facing me. "What does that have to do with this?"

"Lynns was the head pyrotechnics technician at NewEffects until then. Suddenly, he was fired and replaced by Antonio De Rosa II, son of Tony De Rosa, the best friend of Joseph Connelly and one of the top stock brokers in the country. Lynns filed a wrongful termination suit against Henry but it was declined last month after Judge Faden determined that his contract didn't stipulate under what circumstances would be considered wrongful."

"Would Lynns be able to get ahold of these materials?" Gordon asked.

"They're fairly easy to get. But, they're expensive and we have no idea how much it would cost to get them."

"OK." Gordon said as he sat back down at his desk. "Where are you going to look first?"

This time, he didn't notice that I had already slipped out of that squeaky window.

January 1, 1999

12:06 AM

Batman

Wayne Tower

"They're fairly easy to get. But, they're expensive and we have no idea how much it would cost to get them."

Dick's voice spoke into my ear as I stood in the cold as driving snow on the very top of the building I owned. The headsets that Dick, Barbara, Jason, and I wore could all be linked up at any particular time. However, while they could only access them, I could turn their microphones on at any point and listen to their conversations. It allowed me to keep tabs on my proteges at any point. I listened to them so that I could get to work on what they were doing faster. It allowed me to cut out the briefing time.

"I have information on those fires."

"I heard." I growled into the microphone.

"Damn. Listening again?"

"Always."

"Great. Where are you going?"

"Lynns' apartment. Take Batgirl with you and check the burn sites. I'll let you know if I find anything."

"OK. Nightwing, out."

I flicked the switch on the radio, shutting my microphone off when I heard a small shift behind me. I quickly whipped around, Batarang in hand, to notice a seventeen year old, dressed in body armor and a cape, diving off the other side of the Wayne Tower roof. Jason had heard me tell Nightwing where he was going to go. He certainly was learning. Hopefully, he would find Nightwing and Batgirl within the hour.

Ignoring Jason, I turned back towards the city and withdrew my Palm Pilot. While Dick's version only attached to the Batcave's computer, mine was attached to both his and the Batcave's, allowing me to easily connect to the information he had just pulled up without having to search for it again.

Instantly, I pulled up the file on Garfield Lynns, which included his address. I noticed that it was fairly close to the docks. Obviously, if he was the culprit behind these warehouse fires, he was a relatively new criminal. He utilized materials that would be suspected of someone working at a movie company, he had just been fired from his job, and he lived incredibly close to the warehouses he burned down, which were all owned by people that supported the company he worked for. These couldn't be signs of someone who had been planning these jobs for a long time.

Once I was done figuring out my heading, I turned and sprinted off the side of the building. After forty minutes of sprinting across town, I reached the apartment building that Lynns lived in. When I got there, I grabbed the UV/Night Vision goggles that I hid within my cape and pointed them across the street, aiming them at the apartment that Lynns inhabited. With a quick scan of the apartment, I saw that no one was home and after putting my goggles away, I glided across the street and landed on the balcony.

With a quick check, I noticed that the sliding glass door was unlocked. Opening it quickly, I stepped inside. Once I was inside, I saw that Lynns was definitely our target. There were crates of aluminum powder and three barrels of gasoline and another of the potassium nitrate. On the wall, there were two things that got my interest. First, there was a large collection of pictures of fires. Some were simply of bonfires, the others were of large buildings on fire. However, it was the other item that really got my attention. There was a map of Gotham City with various buildings around the harbor circled. Five of the buildings had an X over them and I knew from their location that they had to be the buildings that this man had already burned down. The others had dates around them and one of them even had today's date on it.

"Nightwing, come in. I'm at Lynns' apartment. He has buildings around the harbor marked. The warehouse for Harrington Multimedia has been marked for tonight."

"Oh, so that's why it's on fire."

Damn. I was too late. I sprinted out of the room and out of the balcony. If I hurried, I could be at the warehouse in ten minutes.

1:02 AM

It had taken me twelve minutes. By the time I had gotten there, the building was completely engulfed in flames. However, this time, I wasn't watching the fire itself. From those pictures on the wall of Lynns' apartment, I had gotten the understanding that he didn't simply catch the buildings on fire for revenge. Instead, he also caught them on fire because he was a pyromaniac. Pyromania would control him. Lynns would also need to be somewhere in the area, watching his handiwork. Simply lighting a building on fire wasn't going to do it for him, he was going to have to watch.

So, instead of watching the building behind me burn, I watched the tops of the buildings around me, waiting for movement. I shut my headset off in order to concentrate. I waited for several minutes as the snowstorm that was supposed to blanket the city began to pick up. Within just a couple of seconds, all I could see what white. In response, I reached down to my utility belt and activated my new cowl lenses.

These lenses, inserted into the cowl, served a few purposes. First, they were completely reflective, meaning that no one could see through them. This feature blocked the common person from being able to see my eyes, further protecting my identity. Then, they also featured hands free UV/Night/Motion goggles that could be activated at any time. While I had been using my regular goggles for the most part, occasionally I switched to the lenses due to my ability to move and use them at the same time.

This was one of those times. As I looked across the rooftops, I saw heat rising from chimneys and heating vents all across the skyline. Suddenly, I saw something with a much lower heat signature stand up three buildings over. I moved quickly as I flicked off the lens, returning to my normal vision. The man that stood was definitely Lynns. He wore red metal body armor with what appeared to be either a gas tank or a jetpack on his back. Even from the distance, I could tell that he had something that had to be a flamethrower attached to each of his arms. He finished it off with a red glass mask that had the outline of some kind of bug on it.

A firebug, I could only assume. Suddenly, Lynns leapt off the side of the building he was on. Quickly, I flipped my headset back on and spoke up to Nightwing.

"Nightwing."

"What is it, big man?" Nightwing asked with his trademark humor.

"I've spotted Lynns on the roof of a building opposite the warehouse. He just jumped off the building. I'm assuming he's running on foot. Open your Pilot and you'll see that I've marked his apartment. I want you and Batgirl to follow him."

"Sounds good. What are you doing?"

"Just do it." I growled before hanging up. I didn't put up with his questions very often and I certainly wasn't in the mood to put up with it now. Instead of following Lynns, I leapt down from my perch and with a short glide, landed behind Gordon.

"Forensics in yet?" I asked abruptly.

"Nope." he replied without even looking away from the building. He certainly was getting more used to my interruptions.

"How long do we have?"

"The fire chief said that this fire is still at 2-alarm. It will be another hour before we can go through and determined what caused it."

"We know what caused it. We just need proof."

"Once you suspected Lynns, I got a judge to sign a search warrant for his apartment. Officers will be there in five minutes. What will they find?"

"What you need." I replied before disappearing into the night.

1:23 AM

Nightwing

I had been following this flame retardant nutjob for twenty minutes. I was lucky that I still had him where I could see him. The use of his jetpack and the continual use of grenades and flamethrowers meant that I couldn't get close enough to get a tracker on him. On the two occasions that Batgirl had tried to sneak around him to get in front of him, he had seen her and nearly burnt her alive. It was only her quick reflexes that kept her from turning extra crispy.

Finally, Lynns stopped the chase on a wide rooftop near the outskirts of downtown. Batgirl and I made our way to the opposite sides of him, doing our best to keep his attention divided.

"Give it up, Lynns." I ordered firmly.

"The name is Firefly, you little punk." he cried in a surprisingly firm voice. For some reason, I had expected a much weaker voice to come from his slight frame. Instead, his voice resonated deep into my toes. Something about that made me nervous.

"Don't make us ask you again." Batgirl added to my previous command.

In a flash, Firefly turned towards Batgirl, raising his right hand towards her.

"Listen, Bat-bitch, no one orders me around. I ORDER THEM!" he screamed before flipping back towards me and unleashing a hellfire blast from his left hand. Thinking quickly, I dove out of the way and reached into my belt for a WingDing, my own personal version of Batman's Batarang. Unfortunately, before I could get to it, another wave of heat reached me. This time, I didn't move as quickly. I felt the rush of fire wrap around me before I was able to convince myself to move.

Finishing my roll, I made my way to get up when an intense wave of pain rocked my body, sending me back to the pavement of the roof. I looked down to see that most of my suit was completely blackened and burned. What skin I could see was red at the least and that was only a small part of it. The rest of it was black and open. I knew I was in a bad way and I certainly needed help.

Struggling through the pain, I looked up to see Batgirl, fighting Firefly one-on-one. She dodged over numerous levels of flames as she weaved closer and closer to him. I knew that she needed to end things as quickly as she could. Lynns was obviously very good at controlling the fire that he created and I knew that eventually, she would be too slow.

That's when a voice spoke up behind me.

"I'll get with you in a second."

Suddenly, Jason came flying out of nowhere and charged directly at Firefly. As he did, I thought about the situation at hand. I had been injured before and I had even been at the mercy of some of Gotham's worst. Killer Croc had fractured three of my ribs at one point and The Riddler had kidnapped me and put me in the middle of one of his mind games. Thankfully, that meant that this wasn't my first time of desperately needing help because before today, it never came. One month ago, if this would have happened, I would be dead. Now, both Barbara and Jason were here to save me, much like I had been there to save Bruce from Mr. Freeze.

Jason ducked under a single blast of fire before reaching Firefly. The distraction of both of them had become too much, probably due to the surprise of Jason's arrival. Once he reached the pyro, he pulled the wires out of the gas tank attached to Firefly's back. Gas spewed from the tubes as they fell to the ground. As it fell, it crossed in front of one of the remaining streams of fire. In the blink of an eye, the fire traveled back up the stream of gas and into the tank.

Suddenly, the tank on the back of Firefly exploded, knocking me off the side of the building onto the fire escape below. The last thing I remember before passing out from the pain was the sight of two others jumping off the roof with another man in tow.

5:57 AM

I woke up in the medical bay of the Batcave, a strangely familiar setting.

"You suffered mostly second degree burns with a few third degree where the fire hit you directly."

I looked down towards my feet to see Bruce standing there. He had removed his cowl and his gauntlets but largely remained in his suit. This meant that he had only been home recently. A look across the bay to a clock on the wall said that it was almost 6. It had been a late night.

"How long will I be out?" I asked with effort. It certainly hurt to talk. I'm sure that over the next few days it would hurt to do a lot.

"Awhile." Bruce replied softly before making his way towards me. "However, I do have something I would ask you to do."

"What?"

"Break the bad news." he said as he laid something down on my legs before turning away. With great pain, I rose from my position and saw what was laying on my legs: my old Robin body armor.

He found me. He had won.

Looks like there was going to be a new Robin in town.