Renegade stood over a rooftop of a dwelling and breathed in the smog characteristic of Gotham City.

This would be his first contract in Gotham.

And the first time he would enter the city without Slade's presence.

He felt a mix of nervousness and excitement overwhelm him.

This was the city that drastically changed his life. The city that not only took his parents away from him but also the same city where Dick endured things so extreme that he would not wish it on even his worst enemy.

Gotham was a fucking hellhole and no one could deny that... but at the same time it was why Dick was there at that moment, as the world's second deadliest mercenary ready to complete his first contract in that lousy city.

Before he left, Slade had repeatedly advised him to be much more careful than usual and that if he saw another Talon he should immediately leave the city and keep his communications on after completing his contract.

Dick shook his head amused.

Slade was really an overprotective dad.

Renegade roused himself from his thoughts, grabbed his grappling hook and fired it, flying from one building to another.

He loved this feeling so much, reminding him of the good old days of his childhood in the circus when he used to fly with his parents.

Or at least the few fragments he remembered.

Eventually Renegade stopped on a building, right next to the dwelling of his target. In this case his victim would be a woman in her 40s who was in charge of a drug trafficking ring. She was in charge of a specific type of drug that was circulating on the street and had already made many deaths among adults but also children.

And she did not care about any of that except for her lousy money she was making.

Renegade narrowed his eyes briefly before firing the grappling hook toward the window of his dwelling. He thus flew noisily smashing through the window and landing easily on the floor, pieces of glass bouncing harmlessly against his armor.

He stood up to his full height and watched in amusement as the aforementioned woman's face took on a shade ten times paler as she realized who she was staring at.

"Madame. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Renegade bowed dramatically and then straightened his back, a smirk between his lips. "But I fear such acquaintance will be short-lived."

The woman took several steps back, her wide eyes showing her fear and terror. "W-wait! I-I can pay you a lot of money to leave me in l-life! P-please!" she begged pathetically.

The mercenary rolled his eyes from under his mask. "I will have to be forced to politely decline for two reasons. The first is that my client pays much more than you do." he chuckled amusedly before pulling out a knife, casually but skillfully wheeling it between his fingers. His smirk expanded as he saw her begin to tremble. "The second reason is that your lousy drug trade has to end once and for all."

Without waiting for her response Renegade threw the knife. The next second the woman fell to the ground, the knife sticking out of her heart.

Deathstroke's former apprentice pulled out his work phone, took a picture of the crime scene and sent it to his client. He stepped over the ever-expanding pool of blood and began looking for clues that might help the police -or rather Batman- stop her drug trafficking.

It took a few minutes and eventually the acrobat managed to find a set of papers with the names of the people involved and the place and date of the next drug exchange written on them. He hesitated to leave the evidence on the victim's coffee table, knowing full well how corrupt and useless the local police were.

From his research only Commissioner Gordon, Detective Bullock, Detective Yin and a few other police officers were honest.

How disgusting.

Eventually he stowed the evidence in his utility belt, deciding to leave it either in Gordon's office or in his house, and went out the same window he had entered. As soon as he landed on the roof his phone rang. He pulled it out and smiled as he saw the $300,000 arrive in one of his many checking accounts.

Slade had pointed out to him that the pay was rather low but Dick had shrugged his shoulders, more interested in doing good with his killings than in the money itself.

Although Dick was only seventeen years old he had accepted so many contracts and completed them all that he had accumulated so much money that Renegade could have retired and fed four whole generations without problems.

Dick already knew that Renegade could never retire and he also knew that he would die just doing his job.

Not that the thought of death scared him but still.

He roused himself from his thoughts that were becoming increasingly gloomy and pessimistic and he stowed his phone, starting to head for the police station where he would sneak into the commissioner's office and deposit the evidence they needed to disrupt his victim's drug trafficking.

However, he did not get very far when suddenly he heard something so quiet that anyone but perhaps Superman would have missed it.

By now even Deathstroke was no longer able to sneak up on him.

Renegade turned sharply, three knives in each hand, and if he still had a heartbeat his heart would have stopped briefly in fear.

This was because the irrational and emotional part of his brain whispered to him that all around him hidden in the darkness were many Talons, perhaps William Cobb himself to bring him back to them.

Thank God that was not the case.

Renegade immediately relaxed when he saw The Batman a few rooftops away, completely shrouded in the shadows of the city, who was watching him clearly frowning, and the acrobat stowed his knives.

Now anyone else would have already crapped themselves in fear seeing the notorious Dark Knight a few steps away but obviously Renegade was not an ordinary criminal and he raised a hand in the air and shook it in greeting with a smile.

If possible Batman's frown increased, whether because he was discovered or because Renegade had just greeted him as if they were two old friends, Dick did not know.

Dick stood still and watched curiously as the Caped Crusader made his way up to his own rooftop, a few feet away from him. Batman glared at him with his familiar scary look -which Dick had called bat-glare, much to his father's displeasure- but Renegade crossed his arms, unimpressed.

"Are you going to stand there and watch me all night or are you going to say something?" Batman narrowed his gaze, sensing that for some strange reason his new enemy was not afraid of him, and Renegade smirked. "What? You've never met anyone who wasn't afraid of you? Then I'm happy to be the first, dude!"

Yes, he was proud of himself for having just called the most feared hero of all "dude".

"What are you doing here in Gotham?" growled Batman, perhaps hoping to strike fear into the young mercenary.

Unfortunately for him, he had no success and Renegade casually shrugged his shoulders. "I was just taking a night walk through the city. However, I suggest you tell the mayor to implant more night lights. You know, that would be very helpful in my very modest opinion."

"You're Renegade."

The mercenary blinked once, actually surprised that Batman recognized him despite the change of armor. He still pointed to the sarcasm. "And you are Batman." the Talon clapped sarcastically. "Does this discovery make me the best detective in the world?"

"You are the apprentice of Deathstroke the Terminator."

Renegade assumed a dramatically annoyed look, secretly also genuine. "Former apprentice." he dryly corrected him. "You know, by now all criminals have figured it out but it's clear that you heroes have a tougher head."

"What is your relationship with him?"

"No comment."

Batman emitted a frustrated growl. "I thought Renegade was just a legend, a myth in the criminal world."

The acrobat lowered his gaze to himself and then returned it to the vigilante. "I'm sure I'm very real."

Batman narrowed his eyes annoyed, realizing that the mercenary would tell him nothing useful. "Judging by your blood-soaked boots, I'm sure you've got a contract in Gotham and you've completed it."

The Talon looked down at his boots and noticed that Batman was right. "Wow. You really are the greatest detective in the world. But you have blood all over your armor too. Lots of blood." the young man pointed out helpfully. The hero remained silent and so he continued. "Hey, do you think you could help me become a better detective?"

The man ignored him and clenched his fists menacingly, squinting dangerously. "Surrender Renegade or I will be forced to make you."

Dick was not surprised by his threat and if he had been anyone else by now he would have passed out from fear.

Renegade aimed his gaze at Batman, got into a fighting stance and gave a shark-like grin. "Show me what you're capable of, Batman."

The vigilante did not let him repeat it twice and sprinted forward with a punch that Renegade easily dodged by moving to the side. Batman attempted to hit him with a rapid combined sequence of punches and kicks but Renegade blocked each punch and dodged each kick.

In the next few minutes the hero continually tried to hit him but Renegade was faster and more agile than him and his reflexes even seemed superhuman. Moreover, it seemed as if the young mercenary was able to tell where he would attempt to hit him.

All the time Renegade remained on defense without ever counterattacking, merely blocking and dodging his opponent's blows. Batman growled in frustration and turned, executing a violent 360-degree roundhouse kick.

Renegade ducked under the kick that barely grazed his hair, grabbed his leg that remained in midair and violently flipped Batman to the ground on the opposite side of the roof.

The Caped Crusader let out a groan of pain as his back crashed hard on the roof and he watched through the blurred view as Renegade approached him, crossing his arms. "I strongly advise you to give up and let me peacefully return home."

In response Batman rolled to the side and rose to his feet, grabbing two batarangs in each hand and quickly throwing them.

Renegade rolled between two, moved his head to the side avoiding the third and raised his left arm in which the last batarang stuck. The mercenary calmly pulled it out, noting that it had not passed the layer of armor, and studied the bat-shaped weapon in curiosity. "You know, I have to admit it's very cool."

The batarang in his hands suddenly began to flash and Renegade was about to throw it away when it emitted a small explosion, hurling it forcefully back. Renegade turned the fall into a backward somersault and with a backflip got to his feet, looking up sharply at the cloud of smoke.

Only to be greeted by a vicious punch in the face that snapped his head to the side, breaking his nose.

Renegade fell with a thud to the ground but made no sound of pain. Without wasting any time he scrambled back to his feet, feeling the dark blood dripping from his nose that was already repairing itself.

He watched impassively as Batman stopped, probably shocked both by the black blood and the fact that it was evident that the young mercenary's nose was reforming itself within seconds.

Renegade's smile slipped away and he lost all signs of levity. He cracked his neck noisily before clenching his fists menacingly. "I'm sick of you now." he declared coldly.

Without adding more Renegade sprinted in his direction. Batman dove to the side narrowly avoiding the punch and spun around with a roundhouse kick. Renegade easily blocked it by raising his left arm and launched a strong kick to the hero's other leg, just below the knee. The Caped Crusader fell with a pained grunt to his knees and he was hit full in the face by a vicious knee from Renegade.

The vigilante fell backward with his back on the ground and did a backflip, immediately getting back on his feet. Renegade threw a combination of kicks and punches at him, most of which landed, and not only did Batman find himself on defense much more than he wanted to be but he had a lot of difficulty holding his own against the mercenary, both in terms of the speed of the blows and their strength and finally also because of the different martial arts styles that Renegade was using and changing at a frightening speed.

Once again Batman fell painfully to the ground, spitting out a certain amount of blood, and Dick could already foresee the dark bruises all over the vigilante's body.

The Caped Crusader staggered dazedly as he tried to get back on his feet and swayed sideways, his balance precarious. At this Renegade tightened his lips and took a step back.

"You must learn to recognize your limits and back off. How many times in the last few years have you come close to death?"

Batman spat blood on the ground and emitted an animalistic, almost inhuman growl. "What the hell do you care?"

Renegade stared at him with a sad look of understanding, as if he knew a secret that even Batman himself did not know. "You have people who care a lot about you, Batman."

"You know nothing about me, Renegade." the Gotham vigilante declared coldly.

Renegade did not contradict him and curled his lips as he saw him position himself in a fighting stance despite struggling to stay on his feet. "Give up. You cannot win every fight, Batman."

Batman did not respond and once again sprinted toward him. The mercenary easily dodged the punch and reciprocated with an elbow straight to the back of the head protected by the cowl, greatly moderating his strength.

Batman fell to the ground and did not get up again. Renegade let out a sigh and lowered himself onto his level, looking at his unconscious figure with sad eyes. "If you continue at this rate you will die soon, Bruce. You won't always have someone to save your ass." he whispered softly.

Slade had warned him that in recent years Batman was following an increasingly dark path. He had not yet broken his number one rule -don't kill- but Slade told him that he would not be surprised if that happened sooner or later.

Bruce Wayne was retreating more and more into himself, showing less his face to the outside public and attending fewer and fewer galas, choosing instead to remain almost always at Wayne Manor, most likely holed up in his Batcave.

The billionaire was even decreasing his time spent at Wayne Enterprises in which Lucius Fox was lately increasingly taking a central role.

Bruce Wayne was increasingly becoming a mask while Batman his true self.

Dick felt a great sense of pity overwhelm him when his father finished speaking. He was filled with compassion toward Gotham's vigilante.

Dick quickly realized that Bruce had never really gotten over the death of his parents and the sense of revenge was consuming him inside, leading him down an increasingly dark path.

Dick had not only killed his parents' killer and gotten over their deaths but had been fortunate enough to have Slade as a parent to take care of him at times when he needed him most, especially in the episodes related to the Court of Owls and what they did to him.

In contrast, Bruce was completely alone, having with him only the presence of the butler who, however, could not work miracles.

Dick imagined himself completely alone in a huge dwelling like Manor Wayne with only the butler as other presence.

He would probably come out mad. And surely it was not so normal for a grown man to dress up as a bat to illegally beat up criminals at night but hey, Dick could not judge since he did not have the best coping mechanisms either.

He shook his head and stood back up, deciding to leave Gotham quickly.

Dick did not want to stay one more second in that city, not with even a bigger threat than Batman and his biggest nightmare.

Slade arched an eyebrow. "Are you telling me that you not only fulfilled the contract but also confronted Batman and took him down?"

"Pretty easily too." added Dick with a casual shrug.

"Well, I'm not surprised at all." Slade smiled and ruffled his hair affectionately.

Dick leaned back at his father's touch, barely smiling. "Bruce will get himself killed sooner or later with his stubbornness."

The more experienced mercenary rotated his eye. "You worry too much about Wayne. More than you should."

"I know what he went through." Dick whispered. "I know what it's like to see your parents die in front of you without you being able to do anything to help them."

Slade nodded slowly. "That doesn't mean, however, that Wayne becomes your problem. He is a grown man capable of making his own decisions and taking responsibility for them. He doesn't deserve your concern and all that you have done and are doing for him, even if he doesn't know it yet."

Dick sadly shook his head and decided to drop the subject, beginning instead to talk about his completed contract.

Batman awoke from unconsciousness with a concerned voice in his ear. He groaned in pain as he slowly brought a hand to his ear, turning on the communications.

"I'm fine, Agent A."

"Excuse me if I don't find myself agreeing, Master Batman, since you haven't given an answer in more than 10 minutes." replied Agent A dryly. "I'm curious who gets credit for knocking you out this time." he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Renegade." grunted Batman. "Apparently he actually exists and no longer calls himself Deathstroke's apprentice." he frowned when he heard only silence on the other end of the communications. "Agent A?"

"I see." affirmed Alfred Pennyworth, his impassive voice devoid of any clue to reveal his true thoughts. Before Batman could question him further, he continued. "I suppose you'll be back soon with all the injuries you've suffered."

Batman emitted an annoyed snort but did not contradict him. "Yes." and with that he abruptly turned off communication. He limped toward the part of the roof where had fallen the dark blood of Renegade -surely not human- and frowned when he realized it was gone.

Renegade had erased every trace that could have identified his DNA.

Great.

Batman growled before noticing a few pieces of papers on the ground. He picked it up, wincing when he felt his ribs protest at the movement, and read it.

He soon realized that they were evidence related to drug trafficking and indicated its members and the date and place of the next exchange. He frowned, realizing that Renegade had voluntarily dropped it.

He shook his head and decided that he would deal with it once he returned to the cave.