Gotham City

Kingston District

2:20 A.M.

"Prodigal Son"

"So let me get this straight…"

A black baton with a blue taser wired around the tip was thrown effortlessly up and down in the air as its wearer continued to talk into his comlink.

"Poison Ivy, our favorite tree-hugging serial killer with lettuce for panties, managed to escape GCPD custody, zombify Robin to do her evil bidding, and even got one over on the old man, all in one night. And now with a whole army of Bane babies all juiced up on plant steroids at her disposal, she's trying to use Crane's formula to turn everyone within city limits into rabid, frothing at the mouth psychotics who want to tear each other's eyes out. Oh, and Bruce is poisoned and probably on death's doorstep as we speak. I miss anything?"

"You haven't even heard the worst part."

"It gets worse?"

"We need your help."

"That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea."

The former Robin, now solo vigilante, stood from his vantage point atop the stone gargoyle. A gentle nightly breeze whipping his raven hair back, he kept one hand still pressed against the earpiece while he stared at the concrete jungle below.

A jungle of bright lights and dark alleyways. Where good people hid in their homes, and criminal scum lurked in the out and about.

It was a city already on the brink of chaos, a city where evil became emboldened in the absence of the bat-shaped symbol in the sky.

And it was up to him to keep the balance.

Without the mask, he was Dick Grayson.

But with it, he was known as the protector of Blüdhaven. The first protégé of the Dark Knight.

Nightwing.

His costume was a sleek black, armored unitard that covered his entire body neck down. His signature blue bird symbol stretched from shoulder pad to shoulder pad, a symbol of justice independent from his caped former mentor. The domino mask concealing his identity stretched across his eyes while unkempt curls of black hair curled along his temple.

The handsome young man sheathed one of his twin escrima sticks- his signature melee weapons- behind his back.

Capable of emitting electrical discharges upon impact, the stun batons were also capable of being used as long-ranged projectile weapons.

A naturally acrobatic and gifted 'graduate' of the Dark Knight's intense training regime, he possessed a very athletic build, almost on par with the Batman himself.

"So how's Tim holding up?" he asked, visibly concerned for the new Robin, as well as his surrogate little brother.

"Where do I even get started? Physically, he's back to new. The Lazarus latte, for better or worse, performed as advertised. Mentally, well, he blames himself for everything that's happened tonight. He thinks that if he had never underestimated Ivy to begin with, then none of this would've happened," Barbara Gordon told him, her voice somber and candid.

Taking in her remarks, he provided a reassuring response. "Barb, we all make mistakes. Doesn't mean we can't learn from them. Tim's been rocking the hood for how long again? Kid made a rookie mistake underestimating her. I made plenty back in the day. Remember the Clock King? Dude wore a grandfather clock on his head, I mean, how can you not laugh at that?"

"Didn't he used to say-?"

"Hold on, let me get his voice right-" Switching to an overly dramatic supervillain cadence, the first Boy Wonder quoted one of the Dynamic Duo's old rogues, "Once the hand hits zero, it will be doom o'clock for you and your city, Batman and Robin."

She chuckled in his ear. "Yeah."

Grayson continued. "Anyways, look, kid messed up. It happens. Only thing that matters is we stop Ivy before her Mother Teresa Complex kills half of the population by dawn. No pressure."

"I wish I could share your enthusiasm. Just with Bruce out of action, and Tim not in a good place-"

"You got me, Barb. You always got me," he reminded her of their own history. "Your dad's still in Arkham City, right?"

"Yeah. Tim said she'd be running the dress rehearsal there before moving the show over here. When he was fully himself again, he mentioned that she planted bombs underground that would implode into the main pipeline, feeding in her Fear Gas straight to the water supply. She didn't tell him exact locations. Even when he was her acolyte, I guess she didn't trust him all the way."

"They never make it easy." Sighing, Nightwing thought of something, or rather, someone else. "Alright first things first: we need the old man back on his feet. Have you IDed the poison she used yet?"

"Oh, well, about that…" There was a growing unease in the hacker's voice.

Dick raised an eyebrow. "Barb?"

"So, you may wanna come back to the Cave. I might've left a few details out…"


"And I thought I was a hoarder."

Selina Kyle's voice carried a certain awe and amazement as she looked at the life-sized model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex posed on one of the brightly lit platforms.

The leather-clad woman stood surrounded by numerous artifacts and items all gathered over the years in the Dark Knight's crusade against crime.

Metallic infrastructure melded against the underground walls of the Batcave, bright lights from above shining down on her.

Still unmasked but with a metal knee brace comfortably fit around her leg, the brunette was in the process of, well, processing everything that her ears had heard, and eyes had seen.

There were computer monitors of all shapes and sizes plastered everywhere, crates of unopened Wayne Tech lining up some of the other platforms other than the one she was standing on.

"Miss Kyle."

Prompted by a voice from behind, Selina turned to see the steward of Wayne Manor.

In many ways, the man behind the Batman.

"Your tea." Alfred Pennyworth offered her a cup of freshly warmed beverage.

Wearing an impeccable suit with black bow tie, the British-born butler offered a hospitable smile to the master thief.

Slim and trim, his face was wrinkled and well-worn from the many years spent discharging his duties as Bruce Wayne's personal chauffeur, and Batman's closest confidant.

"Thanks." Taking a refreshing sip or two, Selina turned back to the statue of the prehistoric predator.

For a moment, she simply stared in subdued astonishment before Pennyworth provided some context.

"He commissioned that particular memento after seeing a similar model at the Cyrus Pinkney Institute for Natural History. His parents had taken him on a tour there in his younger years. Before, well…"

Selina looked over her shoulder as Alfred briefly cleared his throat. "A memory of a happier time in his life, perhaps."

"Hmmm." Turning back around, she looked to the left and saw a collection of suit display cases, all lined up against one another.

In each individual case, there was a Batsuit.

One from his first years.

Another more armored and bulkier variant clearly designed for extreme environments.

To the right of it, a more basic design riddled with bullet holes and burn marks, maybe the version prior to the one used in Arkham City.

Finally at the far end, there was one that seemed much sleeker than the current version, with ceramic plating along the torso area.

"You seem like you have a lot on your mind, Miss Kyle," the butler prompted her.

Selina had been mostly at a loss for words since arriving. Having more conversations with herself than anyone else.

Now, she supposed it was time for that to change.

"It's just- I mean I always figured he was getting funding from some billionaire. Didn't put it together that he was the billionaire," she mused aloud.

"Few do if it's any consolation. Master Bruce has gone to great lengths to elude the suspicion of others outside our circle."

"Yeah, he's really got the whole 'oblivious playboy' part down pat, huh?" she remarked.

"Master Bruce has become quite good at wearing more than one mask," was his slightly cryptic response.

"I can't believe I stole his Lambo at that gala and he never even…" Stopping herself, she looked back to Alfred. "You didn't hear what I just said, did you?"

"Hear what, Miss Kyle? My hearing is not quite what it used to be, I'm afraid," he smiled at her.

"Right." Walking towards him with greatly improved mobility thanks to the brace, the brunette crossed her arms against her catsuit. "How is he?"

"Barely alive. His vitals are holding but not much more. From all indications, the once-good doctor's poison has left him in a near comatose state," he reported sternly, having just left the medical bay.

She drew in a breath. "Shit."

"Indeed," Alfred affirmed with her.

"You don't seem, well, worried," she observed warily.

"Miss Kyle, with all due respect, Master Bruce has been almost dead before. Many times before, in fact. Even though I shouldn't be, his frequent dances with death do tend to make one desensitized after a while," he told her matter-of-factly.

"You must love your job, Alfred," she remarked with some sarcasm.

"Oh, this is more than a job, Miss Kyle. It's a promise." Walking past her, he started to descend the steps that led to the platform where the central computer was housed.

"Promise to who?" she called after him.

"That's none of your business." A growling voice came from behind.

Stalking down the steps that led to the cave's primary entrance from the Manor, Nightwing soon came face-to-face with the unmasked Catwoman. And she to him.

"Why hello there." In a snap of the fingers, her usual disarming charm was back.

"You can save it, Selina. Unlike Batman, serial kleptomaniacs aren't really my type," he offered a much harsher greeting once they were on the same platform.

"Well, this serial kleptomaniac did just save your daddy's life so-"

"He's not my dad." Grayson cut her off.

Sensing something in his immediate retort, she flashed a coy smile at him. "Not anymore, you mean?"

"Master Dick, I trust you're familiar with Selina Kyle." Alfred called to him while sitting down in front of the Batcomputer.

"Yeah." With a scowl, the former protégé of the Dark Knight looked her over with obvious distrust. "We've met."

"Not still mad I gave you the slip at that museum in Blüdhaven, are you…Dick?" she teased him.

"My friends call me Dick," he responded curtly.

"And what do your lady-friends call you?" she added ever suggestively.

Scoffing, he ignored the comment and continued, "Oracle filled me in on the way. I know what went down in Wonder City."

"You guys have just the cutest codenames. Since I'm meeting the whole family, maybe you could introduce me to-?"

"Not. Happening," Dick grated at her.

She shrugged. "Fine. By the way, did the report mention how your replacement tried to kill me- several times, actually?"

"He's not my-" Stopping himself, Dick took a step back and started anew with more restrained contempt. "You need to leave, Selina. You've done enough."

Now it was her turn to scoff. "No dear, I haven't done nearly enough. Not until I beat Ivy until she's red all over for what she did."

"She almost took out Batman," he pointed out. "What do you think she'll do if you try coming after her?"

"I'm not Batman, sweetheart. Far as I'm concerned, he's been handling her with kiddie gloves this whole time. Next time I see Red, I'm just going to empty a gun in her face and then eat a nice fruit salad over her dead corpse," she told him confidently.

"We don't kill," he maintained.

"Bet Bruce is regretting that now, huh?" she told him cynically, adding, "Look, she won't stop until she's dead, or we're dead. I, for one, have no plans of being devoured by one of her Godzilla plants, so I guess that narrows it down."

"You're as stubborn as him. No wonder." Brushing past her, he descended the steps to the platform below where Alfred was currently accessing files on the Batcomputer.

"He's lost it, hasn't he? I mean, we're trusting her now?" Dick demanded to know. "Please don't tell me you're with this, too."

"I trust Master Bruce's judgment," was Alfred's steadfast, almost expected response.

"She's a criminal, Alfred."

"Aren't we all, Master Dick?" the aged butler countered so calmly.

"To protect people, yeah, sometimes we skirt the law. But she- she just breaks the law. Steals from innocents," he again pointed out. "She's a damn cat burglar, Alfred."

"This cat burglar has ears, you know…" Her eyes gave a not-so-subtle once-over at his rear. "And eyes, too."

"Still not my type," he called over his shoulder, before continuing the conversation with the Englishman. "She did one good deed, Alfred. One. That doesn't erase what she did before."

"You're right about that." Coming down the steps as well, Selina spoke with more honesty and candor. "Look, I could give a shit about doing the right thing and being a self-righteous do-gooder like all of you. But Red threatened people I care about. And if what the Boy Wonder said was true, soon enough she's gonna do more than just that."

"Yeah, but we're gonna stop her. Not you." He gestured to himself and Alfred. "Us. Got it?"

"Master Grayson…" Turning in his chair, Pennyworth sternly addressed the former, first ward of Wayne Manor. "Under these rather dire circumstances, I'm afraid we do need her help."

To say Dick was taken aback would be an understatement.

Hiding his surprise with a bemused chuckle, he posited aloud, "Why is that?"

Alfred took a breath.

"Because I know how to cure him," Selina finally said.


Bruce Wayne was clinging to life with an ever-slipping grip.

His eyes were closed, his expression still carrying a subtle grimace even while not fully conscious.

Beneath his outer appearance, he was fighting a fight invisible to the outside eye, a fight that he only seemed be surviving, much less winning.

Laying barechested on a medical bed with his pants and boots still on, the scars of crime-fighting were etched along his sternum and forearms.

Slash marks, burns, barely healed blotches of skin, and even all that paled in comparison to the visible veins apparent over his skin.

Hooked up to various machines including a steady IV drip, the EKG monitors showed his heartbeat to be faint but beating. Barely.

Standing stoically by the side of his former mentor, Dick Grayson finally told Selina who was standing on the opposite side of the bed. "Okay. Tell me again."

With a sigh, she told her tale once more. "Back when the Sirens were still a thing, Ivy gave Harley a vaccine that inoculated her against every toxin, every poison that her twisted mind could ever think of. Her way of paying Harley back for some favor she owed her."

"And it worked?"

"Yeah." She nodded grimly. "Harley got jumped by a rival gang one night. Got beat pretty bad. Obviously Joker could give a shit. Eventually Red found out, made Harley take her to them. I followed and saw…something like this."

Noting Bruce's troubled breathing, even with all the medicine pumping into his veins, she elaborated, "Back then, she called it Juniper's Wrath. It paralyzed every man in that place once she got her lips on them. Crushed their lungs slowly. Imagine waterboarding without the water, and now you're starting to see why I never trusted the bitch."

"How long before they…" Dick reluctantly finished the sentence. "Checked out?"

"Too long. She made Harley watch. Told her if Joker ever did anything close to what those men did to her, she'd make the clown choke, too. Oh, and she also kissed Harley, too. Just to remind her how lucky it is to be the only human being she only somewhat tolerates."

Dick took all that in with sobering thought and contemplation. "What about you?"

"She made a second vaccine for this kitty. Of course, Red always had her suspicions about me-"

"Can't blame her there," Grayson couldn't help but interject.

"Touché." With a roll of her eyes, she continued, "She held it over my head for days. Told me if I wanted to not end up dying a horribly excruciating death in the event of her impending 'plantpocalpyse', I'd help her acquire equipment she needed to release spores into Gotham."

"Those spores killed hundreds," the blue-and-black clad protector gritted at her.

"Yeah. I know. They killed good friends of mine on the East End," Selina revealed bitterly.

Nightwing held his tongue. Smartly.

"Anyways, Ivy never did get around to giving me my vaccine, mainly because she got apprehended by the Bat and sent straight to the loony bin at Arkham. From what I heard, Pam was put in a solitary cell and only got crazier over time."

"This vaccine- does it still exist?" he wanted to know.

"As far as I know, yes."

"That doesn't sound very confident."

"You got any better ideas, sweetie?"

"Better than listening to a known manipulator and habitual liar, you mean?" he pointed out.

Selina only scoffed. "Look, I saw how it worked with Harley. I wouldn't lie about that. I also wouldn't lie about the fact that it took about twenty-five minutes for those men to die. Knowing Red, she's probably refined it since, so maybe your ex-father figure on the table here has even less time."

The vigilante still wasn't done with his questioning. "Why haven't you stolen it already, then? You've been sitting on this information for years, and never even made a move?"

"Let's just say her home security system is better than the shit you see on television," Selina told him irritably, rubbing the back of her neck. "I tried- once. I barely made it out with my life. Rule 1 of stealing other people's stuff: if you can't get the job done the first time, you don't try again. Obviously now, I'm making a bit of an exception."

The dark-haired young man kneaded his chin with his fingers, coming to a decision. "You know where this place is?"

"Yeah. I'll tell you on one condition, blueboy…" He looked up at her smiling expression as she finished, "I come with."

"Like hell you are," he scoffed.

"Usually, I'd agree with you, there. I always do my best work with solo heists. But for one, I owe the big guy. Two, if you die in that little house of horrors she's got, we're all dead. At least if we both go, there's a slightly better chance of pulling this off," she pointed out conversely.

Dick was still not convinced. "That is absolutely the-"

"- best idea I've heard all night," Alfred said, walking in with a fresh medical bag to replace the near depleted one.

Replacing the bags, the butler started to feed a new line of antibiotics into the vein of his first charge.

"Do hurry, you two. In his current condition, I'm sure Master Bruce would appreciate some expediency," he told them both.

"Guess it's settled then," she smiled.

Dick was fully prepared to disagree, his initial response right on the tip of his tongue.

But after taking one look at Bruce, he changed his mind. "Fine. I'll be by my bike. We leave in two."

Exiting to a new platform, he left Selina with Alfred who was now holding Bruce's hand in his.

The brunette looked at the butler, and for the first time, saw something that hardly required words to be understood.

She saw a relationship that she never had.

A father, and his child.


Author's Note: Nothing like a little existential fear of the Bar Exam to keep the creative juices flowing. Hope you are all doing well. Very excited to officially bring Nightwing into the fold. Who doesn't like Dick, right? ;) Anyways, thanks for the continued support. More to come soon (hopefully very soon). Reviews much appreciated!