01: Skye Lovett

22:38 September 14th

With the phone to her ear, Skye Lovett used the other hand to search through her purse on her lap. The clock seemed to stare at her, making sure she knew she was late. Where was her damn keys? Damn this purse…

"Skye, you there? Are you sure you can come in tonight? You don't have to, but…"

"I'm coming, promise. I just need to find my… ah-ha!" Sky grinned happily as she finally dug the keyring out of the bottom of her purse. "Got 'em, I'm on my way." She hung up and stuffed her phone in her purse. Quickly shutting off the lights and locking the door, Sky hurried down the six flights of stairs to the parking lot of her apartment building. She would normally take the bus, but since it was so late, there was no way she would take that chance. Traffic was something she could do safely.

The club was busy tonight. Matthew - her manager - had called her in to help with the bartending and busing. It had only been open for a mere hour and it was already crazy? Skye was a little curious, but it was a Friday night. She had thrown on jean shorts and the usual black t-shirt with the club logo on it and thrown her dark blue hair up into a pony-tail. It was long enough to have a few inches hanging off, but her bangs would keep getting to her eyes tonight. No time to be fashion forward, she had mused. She really didn't wear make-up anyway.

Skye pulled into the parking lot twenty minutes later and hurried to the back door, where she was met by Matthew.

"You look like crap," she quipped. He rolled his eyes at her and led her quickly to the entrance of the main area. It was packed back to back with people dancing to top 40 dance movie.

"Looks like two bachelorette parties and a birthday," he yelled at her.

"Exciting!" Skye laughed as she stepped into the bar area and poked her fellow worker, Laura, in the shoulder. The tall, lean blonde turned around and looked thankfully at her. She was three years younger than Skye at 21.

"Skye Thank God, it's crazy!"

After two hours of throwing out drinks like crazy, breaking up three fights, and having a dance of her own, Skye was tired as hell. The club closed at one, which was odd in this area where other clubs stayed open until three in the morning. Whatever Matthew was doing worked, though, as the club was busy all the hours it was open.

"You sure knew what to do with those two guys earlier," Laura complimented as they finished their cleaning - wiping tables, mopping floors, and closing the registers. They both waved toward two other employees who were leaving for the night.

"Please, they were drunk, not stupid. As soon as I told them they were both here for the same birthday boy, they cooled down. What were they even fighting for?"

"A gift?" Laura shrugged.

"Laura, are you ready to leave?" Matthew came up to them quietly. Matthew and Laura were neighbors, carpooling to work all the time. Laura flushed little, but Matthew didn't notice. What an idiot, Skye thought with a grin.

"I'll close up, don't worry," Skye replied, taking the mop and putting it in the closet. "Go ahead."

"Alright, be careful." Laura kissed her on the cheek and Matthew waved. They left, locking the front door.

If she had told them what had happened last week, they would have never agreed for her to lock the back door on her own. Pushing her blue bangs from her face, she grabbed her purse and keys from her locker in the employee room - rather, closet as it was that small - and headed through the back door. She locked it and whistled as she made her way to her car.

Glancing to the left as she walked, Skye looked into the alley where were the man had attacked her. She had taken him out like a pro, called the cops, what she was supposed to do. She looked up at the rooftops, then turned around while still walking to her car, searching. She had done this each night she worked in the last week, looking for the man in black and blue that had saved her. Skye had no doubt he would have, but she had taken care of it herself. It seemed to amuse Nightwing, as he called himself.

Once again, the guy was a no show. The sky was dark with clouds and the air was humid but cool. Skye sighed, a bit disappointed, and unlocked her car. She opened the door, moved her eyes around once more, and then got inside. Nightwing was on her mind as she drove home.

Last week, as soon as she got home after dealing with the police, Skye had searched the internet for the guy who called himself Nightwing. She found a decent amount of information about his association with the vigilante Batman, along with a few whispers of him working with the Justice League. He was well known in Gotham City, but nothing was really outside of that city. Why was he here, in Chicago?

Even now, a week later, that question was still on Skye's mind.

02:11 September 15th

He saw her blue hair and realized who she was. Nightwing stayed high and shadowed as she scanned the area. He had come through three times this week, and each time the woman would gaze around, looking for something, before leaving the club. Was she looking for him? Nightwing felt a smirk on his face as he watched her sigh with disappointment and drive off. It wasn't like him to stick around a certain area of the city just to catch a glimpse of a woman searching for him, but it sure boosted his ego.

Maybe he'd pop by and show himself to her sometime. He watched the car until it was well out of sight, then was distracted by the wail of a security alarm a few streets away. he raced over and saw it was a low-level burglar who called herself Mistressia. He had caught her once before, but she had escaped police custody. Mistressia was an annoying teenage girl who seemed to need the thrill of crime to feel good about the world.

"Ah, it's you. Miss me, sweetheart?" The dark mask hid her face, but didn't hide her smirk and kiss she sent him. Nightwing rolled his eyes as she let him use zip-ties to bind her wrists behind her back. She looked back at him. "We should go out sometime." Sirens were screeching to a halt in front of the jewelry store.

"Not gonna happen," he muttered into her ear. He forced her to sit on the floor with his hand on her shoulder, then disappeared into the shadows of the alley behind the store as the police came inside. He made sure Mistressia was taken, ignoring the kiss she blew to him once more before being put into the car.

Nightwing had a feeling this woman was going to be a pain in his ass.