A/N: Guess who's back? If anyone's interested, I'll have a longer end note to explain why I've been gone the past few years. But otherwise, I hope you enjoy this episode, and the rest of Season 1, and feel free to leave me any feedback you might have! -BKA37

My name is Rick Grayson. Ever since I was young, I made a vow to entertain audiences, and performed with my parents as the famous Flying Graysons. But as fun as it was performing, it was time I began to settle down. I had to become something else. And this is my story.

-Bludhaven Youth Center-

Focus, Rick. You've done this hundreds of times before – it shouldn't be hard to show the kids this.

Richard "Rick" Grayson opened his eyes and exhaled a sharp breath. From his running man position, he took off, gathering the necessary amount of speed he would need. Feeling that he had enough, he leapt into the air.

One… two… three…!

C'mon!

Four-! And he stuck the landing, to the smattering applause of a group of small children.

"That was amazing, Mr. Grayson!" said one of the small children.

"That was nothing," Rick replied with a goofy grin. "Life in the circus teaches you to do that kind of thing. But that's why you've got to keep trying! Because the more you keep trying, the further you'll be able to push yourself."

The crowd of small children looked stunned. "So you mean, one day we'll be able to flip like you?"

"Absolutely. So just keep practicing!" Rick replied with a wink. Overjoyed and exhilarated, the children dispersed to expend their energy, as Rick watched on like a proud parent.

"Pretty motivational speech, Rick," a new voice chuckled from behind him. Rick turned around to see a redhead leaning against a concrete gym pillar, a bright smile on her face.

"I believe they can achieve it if they wanted to, so why not push them?" he answered, before drawing her in for a kiss. "So, what can I do for my favorite future police commissioner?"

"Just wanted to check in on how you were doing. I know leaving the circus was a big decision for you," Barbara Gordon replied, her face softening.

"Well, like I told my parents, it's time for me to settle down. I can't drag you around the country, especially when you're beginning to rise up the ranks of the GCPD. Besides, I like working here; the kids are great, and it's only an hour commute from our place."

Barbara cupped Rick's face in her hand. "I'm really glad to hear that, Rick. And even though it's hard for you, I'm really glad you decided to stay."

"Of course. Anything for the woman I love." Rick drew her in for another sweet kiss, eliciting a chorus of EWs from the small crowd of children that had been watching their exchange. The fiancés could do nothing but laugh at getting caught. Turning to the children, Rick instructed, "Alright, alright, go back to having fun, everyone! I'll see you all in a little bit."

Giggling amongst themselves, the small children went back to playing with each other as Rick returned his attention to Barbara. "So, I'll see you tonight?" Barbara teased.

"Gli Amanti at 7. Can't wait," Rick beamed. He gave her one more affectionate peck, before she waved and left the youth center's gym. Reinvigorated, Rick returned to coaching his young wards with passion.

By the time his shift ended at 5, Rick was positively bursting with excitement. He had facilitated a show and tell with the kids, and one of them had drawn a nice picture of the group with Rick, saying that he was the group's role model. It almost moved him to tears. Along with that was a phone call from his parents, saying that Haley's Circus was going to be passing by Gotham soon, and they would love to take him and Barbara out to dinner to celebrate their engagement. Everything was looking up for him.

Then things weren't.

Rounding the corner into the alley where his car was kept, Rick was surprised to find a hooded man standing in front of his car.

"Sir… can I help you? Why are you dressed like a Jedi cosplayer? And why do you have that gas mask on?" Rick asked, confused.

"Richard Grayson," the masked man stated menacingly. "You're a dangerous man. But you could be useful… to my master."

"Who… who are you? And how do you know my name?" Rick asked, alarmed. "Look… my fiancés' a police officer, and I've got her on speed dial!"

"This isn't the real you, Richard Grayson. But my master can show you. My master can help you become who you were meant to be… if you join him."

"S-Stay away!" Rick yelled. Without even giving him a chance to say anything more, he made a swift 180 and took off like a bird taking flight.

Who was that guy!? He thought to himself as he ran. How does he know who I am? Rick turned a corner. How did he know where I parked? He hid behind some garbage cans to catch his breath. Maybe I should call the police right now…?

A hand reached through the gap of the garbage cans and grabbed him by the neck, before lifting him off the ground. "You can't escape the Will of the God of Speed!" the masked man threatened.

"Let… let go… of me…!" Rick gasped. Undeterred, the masked man took out a glowing, white rock and held it to his face.

"My master would like to speak with you." The masked man pressed the rock to Rick's forehead, and a searing pain radiated from his brain. Even after the masked man released his grip and removed the stone, all Rick could do was scream in agony, as he was wrapped up by a comforting cocoon, his cries eventually becoming muffled and fading away entirely.

-X-

The first thing that Richard Grayson noted was the bright white light, followed swiftly by the sensation of floating. It was as if he was in a zero-gravity chamber – or at least, that's what he figured zero gravity chambers would look like from all those bank commercials he kept seeing on TV.

Following those two sensations, however, was pain: pain everywhere. Pain all over his body. Stinging pain, sharp pain, swift pain, lingering pain. As if he was shot, stabbed, and beaten to a nanometer before death. But that pain, at least he could register. That pain, at least he could make sense of. The pain that he couldn't understand was the pain within his own mind.

It was as if someone was fast-forwarding through ten different movies at the same time, and because of that it was creating both an intense heat and a splitting chasm within his head. Visions of things he's seen but never saw; lives he lived but did not. A big top tent with falling acrobats; a marriage ceremony to a green-eyed girl; a T-shaped building sitting on an island; an ammunition cache within a large bank vault; a base hidden within a mountain, accessed normally through teleportation tubes; an apartment with an open window and a pregnancy test.

Richard Grayson shut his eyes to try and comprehend everything. But try as he might, he just couldn't understand, no matter how hard he tried to process it all. They all felt so real that it was hard to separate what happened from what hadn't – if any of them didn't happen at all.

A growling, deep voice brought him back to his present. "Richard Grayson," came the booming voice. "Welcome to the Speed Force, my hell."

Opening his eyes, he found that he was… standing, for lack of a better term. And was face to face with a being that seemed as though they were chained up. Their body was a metallic white, with eyes as blue as the glowing rifts along its body.

"You sound like the voice for a popular horror actor," Richard Grayson quipped, still clutching his head.

"My faithful has brought you to me in order to be healed," the being continued. "My Ascendancy is underway, and you could be useful to my reign."

Somehow, the distracting echo of the being's voice helped ground Richard Grayson, and he began to look around. Unfortunately, he was simply greeted with confusion as he found himself in what appeared to be a vortex of stars.

"What is this place? You called it the Speed Force?"

"It doesn't matter to you. You need not know specifics."

"Oh, but buddy, it sure would help – argh!"

There was a fresh batch of memories now, somehow feeling more real than the others. A drug shipment busted. A sidekick gone berserk. A date with two women. A nightmarish wonderland. A showdown with a metahuman impostor. A gathering of a Republic.

"Have you figured it out yet, Richard Grayson? The things you are seeing?" the being taunted.

He remembered training with a Knight in Black. Scouring rooftops with a redhead in purple. Getting tacos on a Tuesday with a man only slightly younger than him. Crossing paths with a man with a red mask.

"Are you beginning to process the memories swirling in your mind?"

His muscles remembered running, fighting, wielding twin escrima sticks, and hacking computer terminals. His mind recalled seeing information normal people could never dream of, and witness battles with men who could run so fast they were a blur, and women who could fly as if they were weightless. His identity began to clarify, and with that clarity came understanding.

"Yeah… I think I'm beginning to," Dick responded. Turning his attention back towards the imprisoned being, he asked, "Who are you?"

"Savitar, the God of Speed," the being answered simply.

"God of Speed? I feel like you should be sitting on a throne then, not chained up like some scarecrow," Dick smirked.

"I will be free of this. The Flash has ensured that I will."

"Barry has? What do you – ragh!"

He remembered not being able to move his legs, and being told that the injuries he sustained had damaged his body beyond hope of full recovery. Frustrated nights at not being able to exit through the window; constant concern at the bullets sustained by Tim or Barbara or Bruce. A mixture of anger and sorrow as, from his wheelchair by the window, he saw his city accept a cadre of lunatics bearing the symbol of the alpha and the omega in red. They were hailed as saviors; they did not know they were the threat. And as Paragon made his speech on the TV, Dick could do nothing but hang his head in shame and defeat.

Yet, something felt… off about this last batch of memories. "I need you to explain something to me," Dick directed at Savitar. "I've made sense of everything, or just about anyway. All these memories belong to a multiverse of Dick Graysons, and it was only a matter of time until I reclaimed my own. But I also remember things that don't make sense with what I just underwent. I remember being wheelchair bound, and seeing the Republic of Tomorrow be accepted as heroes by Bludhaven. So why is it that from… wherever you pulled me out of, my parents are alive, I'm engaged to Barbara Gordon – which, to be honest, is not something I'd complain about – but most importantly, I can walk!?"

Savitar laughed. "A mistake made by Barry Allen. In your original timeline, those memories you ask of came true. But something feels different, does it not?"

"Something does, yeah," Dick begrudgingly answered.

"When Barry Allen created his mistake – Flashpoint – you were in a comatose state. And in your original timeline, you woke up to be imprisoned in your chair, like I am imprisoned here. However, inside the Speed Force, your body is in a state of limbo. Who knows what will become of you when you exit?

"However, I can guarantee your fate."

"What do you mean?" Dick cocked an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Become one of my acolytes. Serve the God of Speed. Your tenacity is as dangerous as any meta-human power, and it would serve me well. Think of this, Richard Grayson: serve me, and I can guarantee that you can walk again. Serve me, and I can guarantee you will have the power and more to crush all those who oppose you: the Republic of Tomorrow, the Bludhaven Police, and all else."

Dick thought back to the most recent batch of memories. It was a tempting offer, to say the least: he needed the power to defeat the Republic of Tomorrow. The threat they posed was far greater than anything else he had encountered within the city. And he couldn't just stand by and watch injustice unfold. He had to do something about it.

"Maybe… I should…" he muttered.

"I can grant your heart's desires," Savitar tempted. "All you need to do is kneel before your god. Kneel before me."

New visions entered his mind. He had the speed of the Flash, and the strength of Superman. With his newfound abilities, he whizzed about Bludhaven, cleaning up the streets and clearing out Republic of Tomorrow compounds. He laughed off bullets and put down Paragon with one arm.

Dick Grayson hung his head. He went down on one knee. "I…"

He would force the BPD to acknowledge him as a hero, and get rid of the corruption within the force. He'd be able to make it to his day-job and make it home to Babs. He would be able to save everyone. He'd be able to save Tad.

"Submit to me. Be my servant."

"I…"

Somewhere, deep in the recesses of his unconscious, a bat flew in the sky. Its eyes stared at him, his gaze piercing his soul.

"I… am a detective."

Dick Grayson stood up once more, raising his head. Staring straight at Savitar, he clenched his fist. "I am not your servant. My name is Dick Grayson. Ever since I was young, I made a vow to uphold justice, and lived under the shadow of a dark knight. But the dark knight has his city, and I needed my own. And now that I have one, I won't fail it. This is my city. My story. And now, it's time for me to rise."

With his resolve settled, he felt a sensation he hadn't felt before. A pulling sensation, welling within his body. And with it, a chorus of voices echoing: Well done, Mr. Grayson.

Savitar laughed at his speech. "You are a fool, Richard Grayson. With or without you, I shall escape this prison, and achieve my Ascendancy. No one can stop the God of Speed!"

"If anyone's gonna stop a speedster like you, my friend will. I can guarantee it."

The pulling sensation grew. His vision became blurry. The last things he saw were what resembled his suit, but slightly altered, as well as a new symbol: his blue bird, but with a tinge of red.

-X-

Beep. Beep. Beep.

A door opened, and Barbara Gordon walked in, carrying a bag of groceries. She set them down on a kitchen counter, before checking on the comatose man's vitals.

"Everything's still reading normal… as always," she remarked sadly. "Well Dick, I'm your guest today, so try not to bore me, alright?" she flashed a cheeky smile, hoping that one of these days, he would tease back, just as they had in the old days.

Knowing her shift would be long, she decided to prioritize information over grading papers, and turned on a nearby TV to the local news channel.

"And now, for the hour's top stories. Police Chief Delmore Redhorn held a press conference today declaring his department's victory over masked vigilantes. Stating that ever since the disappearance of the masked nuisance Nightwing two years ago, incidents involving vigilantism has significantly dropped, and peace and order has slowly but surely been restored to the streets. He has also taken this opportunity to announce his candidacy for mayor, promising to resign from his post as Chief of Police should he be successful. In other news, Star City's mayor Oliver Queen-"

"This is bad," Barbara shook her head. "If the intel is right… but we can't do much. We're spread too thin as it is."

Beep.

"Then maybe… I can help…"

Beep.

A soft voice. A finger twitched. Barbara's head turned. A weak smile as eyelids opened.

"Dick…?"

"Hey Babs. I'm back."

Note: Hey everyone, sorry for taking so long between the last episode and this one. Truthfully, it was a combination of being too busy with university and being creatively burnt out from doing a week by week deadline, balancing the story I was telling and keeping canon consistent with the larger Arrowverse as a whole. I had to walk away for a while to re-energize myself. But I never stopped thinking about Nightwing, and I've always been committed to finishing the season. And now, I'm here to finish the job. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to upload every week - I'm concurrently developing and writing this with my own original work for my FictionPress account - but I'm not going to go on as long a hiatus as that. So I'll do my best to do every two weeks, but honestly it'll just be whenever I finish a new episode. Which is hopefully every two weeks, but might be more or less. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the rest of the season, and I'll see you all soon. Take care, everyone! -BKA37