Nightwing; A Series of Doubts – Give and Take –
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Chapter 1: Home Sweet BludHaven
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I made no real mistake in wanted to stay a hero. Learning from Bruce and the Titans; my time coming to my own just before the age of eighteen now? You'd like to think that this boy wonder had his life all figured out.
That, you'd be right about if not for a certain affliction the week of my arrival to a city of smog and corruption known as BludHaven.
I'm sure it was a long time to worry about recounting my adventures as the latest hero, Nightwing. I was the star and everything revolved around my choice to protect Blud from crime lords and villains of all walks of life. Tiger Shark. KG Beast, Blockbuster, a Talon from the court of owls that wanted me to join when I'd lost my memory years later than this tale. So, you see, I had a lot on my plate. In order to bring order however, I had decided to become a part of the problem and join the force. To become a cop after…. something elsewhere left me too vulnerable to remember what it was like. I was raped, but it wasn't me. It was an alternate name, a face and…well, the story goes that in this universe, there are no censor bars to put up when the going gets tough.
Here is a story I had in my files of a kid who was me, not here but there, and he ran into a bit of a sticky situation.
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The rain was falling, the fog rolling by as the train out Gotham took its time reaching the destination its protagonist would have preferred.
By far, it was a risky choice to come here. Bruce had warned the boy wonder that he couldn't handle what the city had to offer. That if Gotham was a nightmare town, so too would Blud curdle your guts at every meal.
Sleep.
Eat.
Shit.
He just wanted to lay his head back, yet the face he carried was one that anyone might recognize from the papers.
Richard John Grayson; a.k.a still Robin for a time until he decided upon a new name to call himself. The new Robin right now was Tim Drake, who just so happened to be quite a wiz with computers and modrn tech. He was a genius was more like it! How could Robin number one compete with third times' the charm?
HE didn't want to, now or ever. Even if he and Kori had taken a break with their relationship, luck had it that Barbara Gordon his first crush would be setting up camp in Blud for her work outside of the university.
Dick was going into the academy to become a cop, or that was the plan. He still needed a job desperately. The income he had was no Bruce's. He'd saved all he could to have his gear brought over and to ask Bruce for an extension on his rent for a few weeks while he took his time getting situated.
He had a place, a bit run down but perfect for scoping out all he needed to in this…. underappreciated utopia.
The lights flashed on as the stop was getting closer. Dick huffed and sat upright to keep awake, rubbing his eyes a few times and taking a sip of water from a tepid bottle he'd brought with him. His things would be coming in a day or so, so he had to sleep on the floor of his new place until they did. No need to be robbed in the middle of the night.
The train screeched into the station as everyone shuffled to be first to the doors.
Of course, Dick knew how to navigate city. This would have been much easier; had they not had a delay in the middle of the day.
He checked his wrist watch.
Ten pm. By the time he made it on foot to his apartment a couple of blocks from the station, he'd have ten forty - five on his watch.
Best to take a subway –
He held in a breath.
Be mugged on the street, or in a subway car.
In the end, he took to the subway. That way there was no escape if someone did try anything that irrational on the still current back – up boy wonder.
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Blud was not big news to most Gothamites, he recalled.
Hands in his pockets, bag on his back, Dick Grayson went on his way and got his subway card loaded to his phone to be safe. Always, of course. Even in Manhattan he was the ultimate boy scout.
Getting off at the fourth stop, he rushed up the stairs and made sure to ignore his gnawing fatigue until he'd taken out his portal sleeping bag.
The door was on the eighth floor, hallelujah. So, Dick jammed his key into the lock and went on examining the room for any intruders.
What met him was silence, and he liked it. Very much.
Dick made sure to see about the refrigerator and pulled out a half-eaten sandwich from the subway station and a cold tea. He tossed both in and prayed that the sandwich would survive tomorrow's inspection. Nothing worse that dated lunch meat as he pulled out his cell phone and scrolled to see if anyone had…
He put down the device and yawned. Too late. He'd be up half the night with that serotonin distributor going strong.
A few moments later, he'd laid out his sleeping bag and anything he didn't want to lose. With a glass of water by the side of the wall, he just was done with worrying and curled up into his makeshift bed for some…. while…
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Sunlight peaked through the blinds, though our protagonist had decided to rise as he always did to greet the day; up before six, his idea was to get a jog in, see the city at daybreak another way.
Atop rooftops as the world awakened one by one.
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That was mistake numero uno. I took my Robin gear and my costume along, acted like this was already my city to hop from place to place. No way my bad day would come to kick m to the curb, had I realized how stupid it was to hope IN this city…
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The rumble of a train or the walking steps of business employees were well below him.
He was in the air, flitting about and getting the wind –
Ung! That stunk!
He landed with a plop and held the bridge of his nose with a huff. Grabbing an extra breathing apparatus, Dick made sure to stay out of the way of that dirty smog a twenty-four-hour factory was spewing into the city's already filthy air.
"Regulations under state law here would condone this as a crime." Dick got out a special device with a meter application as the antenna atop it lit up violently. "Yup, pollution levels. Better introduce myself." He nodded and dropped down in full boy wonder regalia. The factory wasn't even remote and the chemical smell had to have been reported by some other person, at least…
Or the cops here got too many "free funds" here to care.
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I was supposed to turn back, tell a real agency and go through the flow of political upheaval; I should have turned back, but you know? I was one stubborn kid. What? Is this the time I'm perfectly dreading up to my pixie boots? No, that'll come later…right now, this leads up to that part of my report.
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Walking down a closed space, Richard (as Robin we'll say,) saw a man taking a drag in the floor worker's uniform for what appeared to be the company that little bird was going to confront about their polluting smoke stacks. The male had a cap on that his most of his face, yet he had black hair and a saggy looking goatee. His eyes were pinned on the air and he had sighed, maybe for the reason that his job was terrible.
Robin took to his chest; puffing it out proudly, as this law-abiding citizen walked up to worker and cleared his throat. "Hello, sir. I'm here with something important to bring to the building manager's attention." He started off matter of fact - even feeling confident at first, until that dark eye…
"You should go home, kid." The man rolled his shoulders. How old was he again?
"Sir, look. This establishment is shooting off ozone – detrimental smog into the city's air. That is a crime and I'm here to enforce it. I'm Robin and I don't think your boss could forget my emblem if he tried."
"A fancy costume won't sway a soul here in Blud." The man took the cigarette from his lips and tossed it to the ground, crushing it under a steel toe.
"You work here, right? Just get me inside and I'll take it from here." Robin crossed his arms as the male turned his back to the boy wonder. "Getting yourself up there I thought would be a breeze. You and that big bat always make an entrance on the late night news."
Dick shook his head. No Bruce. He was starting fresh. There was always "Batman" before Robin.
Not now, he was going to show this city. Robin would swap his boots for something better come time.
"I am new to this city, can't make a splash until they get to know my style better."
"Thinking like a criminal, you mean?" Snorted the worker as Dick followed him, as if being led to the building instead of pushed away…. felt like a trap but this was his first act of putting himself out there.
"I'm working from the inside, or will be soon. Once I have a scope of this city in my pocket."
"I applaud, you for staying optimistic, or being realistic in your own way – though be warned." The man's serious stare turned to put the boy on the spot as they'd reached the back workers' entrance doorway.
"This city isn't like Gotham. They'll want a real answer as to WHY they should stop, or else they'll just keep polluting the air you and I breathe." As he opened the door for Robin to step through, the boy nodded and let the man open it in no haste. It was still early. The sandwich had kept and he had another hour before hunger took over.
"Are y –
The door shut with a slam, though more a click by the lock. The man on the other side, as if he were trapped inside the factory…
Great.
First order of business, don't look too desperate.
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Steps led to a few sets of doors, and before those doors he could see very alert security guards watching, waiting. Something in him screamed "don't run." Had this been a set up?
The second person he spotted of some influence over this place had a bit of a rep as he was up, glitz and no glam. The items in his hands looked pretty sketchy as Dick waiting by the belt to meet contestant number one.
He was wearing a gangster – style white, face as clean shave and long as someone important, or so he wanted others to believe by that slick hair pushed back. (Black Mask without the mask, Sionas.)
And yet, Dick felt a familiar edge, as if they'd not only met but fought…
His eyes grew. "Sionas."
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"Aw, lookie here!" The creep acted as if Robin was no foe, but a guest from a few years in the making.
"Boys, get the kid a coffee. My god! You look good, boy wonder. How long has –
"Your factory is an issue." Dick crossed his arms, knowing this could be a mess well after he gave Sionas his sentence. "It's polluting the air at too high levels and I need your "guys" to lower those levels by the next few minutes. School will start for the grade schoolers a few blocks from your building -do you even –
"Got the deed right here, kid." Sionas gave a grin and pulled a well stamped document from him white suit's inner breast pocket.
"Good, then have those levels resolved by today, and I won't have to come bac down here." Dick nodded at the paper, not feeling like that parchment was undeniable forged, but it could have been stolen along with this building. "Question; what are you creating in this –
"Developing a new solution for women ta' not feel so dang tired out all day, and men too."
"What….is that supposed to –
Sales was Sionas's game as he took Dick by the shoulders and led him over to his latest trial. "Batman outside in the car, kid? Should I bring im' in fer a tour, too?"
"I'm here as a solo act." Dick stupidly admitted to the crook, who pulled away. Acting impressed when he sure as hell couldn't be.
"Wow…. you took on this city, as a resident hero? I'm shocked kid, I really an' truly appreciate all you do ta' keep a working order." Was his arm bending a –
Dick looked behind him to see guns cocked up from the rafters and by the belt.
"Stepped into a trap. First rate rookie mistake, for a pro. You're losin' your edge, boy blunder." Sionas nodded to his workers as they set up to drag Robin way down, yet Dick was ready as he pulled out his new toys. Escrima sticks in place of his staff and a flash bomb, since more smoke sounded like a really bad idea at this time.
He swatted them all like flies, in the gut, over head as he found himself before Sionas with a gun in front –
Just for him.
"Go on, one move and you've got nothing. I'm the boss of this joint and YOU had –
"Kid, duck!"
Dick turned and dodge the fly by as the one thing that kicked Sionas in the shoulder was a blade. Sharp, right before a major artery as Dick fussed to figure out what assassin –
"You??"
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There, standing and keeping the goons from rising was the worker who had let Robin into the back entranceway.
Dick gasped and saw Sionas cringe. "I thought it was you, d –
"I'd rather remain anonymous, for now." The man shot a guard as he fell from the rafters onto the belt, headed for a fearsome smelting as Robin ran to pull the goon from a fate far worse than living in destitution.
"Who's side is he on??" Sionas's man looked at Robin and spat. "I coulda' died, boss."
Shut up and let the big men, speak!" Sionas fussed with his locks angrily before smoothing back his temper.
"Roman. My employer wants you out of this city in no shorter than those legs can walk out that door." The man raised a gun from his belt at the crime boss, who just snarled at the older man, knowing somethnig that Robin only wished he had.
"This is my kill, kid." The man told the boy wonder. "Get out of here and contact the local feds."
"I'm not going anywhere until Roman is back in GCPD custody." Dick refused. "He's still a Gotham problem."
"Am i a what?? I'm a gem of some city, for fuck –
"Shut it, or I'll do you the pleasure of splitting that jaw with a single bullet." The older man threatened the crime lord with a growl. "You can't take on this crook's fury, Robin. Just go and get the real heroes to shut this place down for good."
"I'm staying." Dick again shook his head. "And Sionas will answer to Batman's policy for criminal returns to HIS city. You, are the one that needs to put down that gun and let me do my job to stop this man."
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The worker sighed and moved his hand to his belt, yet Dick wouldn't fall for a standoff this early in the morning. "Kid, you can have him back once I beat some sense into his skull; because my job, is to evaluate and erase idiots like Roman so that they can't set up shop somewhere else."
"Are you two fighting over me?"
"NO." Both boy and killer shot at the clown. "I will take you down too if you refuse my orders." The assassin pointed his trigger finger held gun at the other older man on his shit list, yet he'd wanted the kid to be smart about his choices. He knew he wasn't some uneducated punk or even from a street gang.
What gave?
"And same goes for me and the Dark Knight's warrant against Sionas since say one." Spat the boy wonder ruefully.
Ah, pride of a hero. The worker sniffed and cocked his toy at the ready, hoping Sionas would cut off both before one could clobber the other away in hand cuffs. He was supposed to be getting a fat bonus for this one's capture…
"Then, I guess we all lose."
The thing that loon assassin didn't stop Roman from tugging out of his pocket, was a detonation switch.
Both men flinched instantly as Sionas just grinned from ear to ear at his secret weapon.
"That's just business, boys!"
The worker's dark eye grew as he ran back to fly into Dick, to push him away from the one perfect explosion that no idiot could withstand.
Unless you were Sionas and knew how to high tail it like a rat back through the sewers.
Dick and his accomplice fled through a burning door way, coughing each time some smog had expertly reached their lungs. The older man pulled out what looked to be a bit piece for breathing like Batman had on him at all times, as he placed it onto Robin's smaller face without bothering over the kid's batting arms in his way.
The boy's lungs inhaling it all, all before falling into the arms of a dedicated stranger who wanted Robin back on his feet by that afternoon.
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Dick awoke to the sun in his eyes and atop a spot just close…
Rooftop??
He touched his chest. Heart was fine, breathing…who, had saved him?
He looked up to find that the burning building had since fallen to carry its last winding gear, while the feds surrounded it as there was no way anyone could have escaped untouched by those chemically induced flames.
The one good thing about all of this, he'd by golly learned that any part of Gotham had still breached the walls of this abused city. Blud was a rest stop for guys like Roman and…that assassin who'd not pointed a gun on him. Even if he'd wanted to ….
Dick lifted himself up and got ready to swing back down to his terrace. The apartment complex was dull in the day time. White washed walls and a few things…felt out of place.
On the only table of the kitchen island, was a sticky note bled out in red ink. Dick squinted at it and saw a….
He paled.
A granola bar and an apple. How did the guy know that he had no food in his apartment?
~You can't save this city if I keep having to bring you back from the dead. Eat up and don't forget to contact the Bat. ~
"Who... how ?"
So, did he have to relocate or…
Had Dick made an unlikely new possible ally in this city of crime and corruption?
He picked up the shiny red fruit and decided that one bite wouldn't put him into eternal sleep. He was sure that the factory worker had a cover and that he'd have to be careful when stopping his real jobs.
Eliminating scum in the unsightliest, of ways.
A bullet to the skull, as Dick bit down on the apple and thanked his lucky stars for still being here. For still being ready to turn this city and its political views on corporate allowances right round.
Looks like he had a guardian angel, as the boy took a second bite, feeling fuller already.
Or, he thought upon his third crunch into the fruit.
His angel of death, ready to swoop in the moment he failed its expectations.
Along with this whole city's, and his father's.
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