Chapter Twenty Three

Moonlight and Pizza

March 3rd

Okay, so he wasn't necessarily avoiding Morgan per se, he was just not prioritizing her company at the moment.

And if he'd severely slacked on their sparring sessions, it was only because he was too busy with Team stuff to train with her.

There had been tension since Impulse had foolishly almost called her Grayson – Nightwing had absolutely no doubt that he had been about to call her just that – and even if it truly had been a moment of stupidity and not because Morgan was actually going to be referred to as Morgan Grayson in the future, the damage had been done.

Impulse had, intentionally or not, made things awkward between Nightwing and the winged girl in a way that made him – him, Nightwing, fearless hero and leader of his team – run with his tail between his legs in a wonderful display of how much of a coward he could truly be.

Morgan hadn't said more than a few words to him since the new speedster had first arrived – Nightwing still wasn't sure how he even felt about that particular, weird happening, he'd been too busy keep his trainee at arm's length – and he hadn't exactly attempted to strike conversation either.

And the others were noticing.

Batgirl had approached him about at it and he'd simply lied, telling her that they'd been in a fight again. The lie was believable enough; it wouldn't be the first time they'd spent days silently sending each other frosty glares after an argument.

He could tell Barbara hadn't bought it. She knew him too well. And this time their avoidance of each other was different. There were no frosty glares, but redirected eyes. No sarcastic quips, but forced and awkward one-word conversations.

And god dammit if his jaw wasn't still tinkling from when she'd placed a chaste kiss on it over a week ago. It was annoying.

Eventually, thankfully, his common sense and his drive to keep his team as functional and happy as possible won over and he knew he'd had to fight through the awkwardness.

And the best way to fight through awkwardness was to pretend it wasn't there. He needed to hold a conversation with her for long enough for things to return to normal.

So, one night in the early days of March, he checked the Cave computer's log and was pleased to find that Morgan was all alone there, everyone else out for the evening, some on missions and some with their families.

Stopping by a fast food joint that he knew made the best pizza on the continent – he'd fight you over this is – he ordered two. His own favorite and one he assumed Morgan would like. She seemed like a meat-happy person.

After getting the pizzas he quickly found a small alley where he changed into his Nightwing suit – after Morgan had made him buy her a cheese burger menu at McDonalds in full costume, he'd vowed to never do something like that again.. there was far too much staring – and walked to the nearest Zeta tube that would transport him from Blüdhaven to the Cave.

He marched confidently, like a man on a mission – which he most definitely was – through the Zeta tube and found Morgan in the kitchen, frying an egg for what would become her lonely and disappointing dinner.

Slamming the pizza boxes harder onto the table than was strictly necessary – he blamed his steely resolve, it had gotten him carried away a bit – he fixed her with a stern look.

Morgan had jumped when the boxes had made loud contact with the table and she'd quickly turned to see what was going on.

Nightwing realized that, as he stood there, firm scowl in place, with two half-way wrecked pizza boxes from the abuse he'd put them through, he probably looked utterly ridiculous.

And not at all like someone who was here to defuse tension.

"I've brought dinner." He announced with no explanation.

"Uh, hi." She greeted slowly, probably trying to gauge what was wrong him. "There's no one else here, so.."

Nightwing realized that she was giving him a fair chance to boot it out of there like he had – like they both had been doing all week.

"I know." He squared his jaw, wondering slightly why he was still scowling when he was trying to make her feel at ease. "It's for you. And me."

Morgan paused comically as she was about to flip her egg over, arm stuck in an odd angle with the spatula clenched in her fist.

"Oh." She answered almost timidly and she straightened, looking sadly at her half-fried egg. "I guess this is pointless then."

She took the frying pan and sent the egg into the garbage bag before placing the warm pan in the sink carefully.

Nightwing was very thankful she wasn't questioning his motive.

"Where do you want to eat it?" She asked instead, untying the knot on the cream-colored apron around her waist.

"Outside." Nightwing decided quickly. The night was lovely and warm. So far, spring had been pleasant, as had most of the winter. Nightwing wondered if the mild winter would make people start freaking out over global warming all over again.

He told himself to focus.

"I know a good spot. Outside."

The good spot was actually a huge pine tree halfway up the mountain side that allowed for a stunning view over the ocean. The moon was round and big, illuminating the place so well neither teenager felt like turning on any flashlights.

Morgan had taking the two steamy boxes with her and flown high up, settling down on a large branch, her back leaning against the thick trunk. Nightwing climbed up after her and ended up on the neighboring branch, located to the right and a few inches below Morgan's, and because of Nightwing's natural height advantage, their heads were positioned at exactly the same height. Nightwing tried to remember the last time he'd climbed a tree for his own enjoyment and not as part of a mission.

He couldn't remember.

Morgan gave him the box that he declared his and they silently dug into their respective pizzas.

Should've brought water, Nightwing thought to himself ten minutes later as the glorious pizza made him thirsty.

They'd both slowed down their eating by now, full but unwilling to let the last pieces go to waste.

"So.." Morgan began, clearing her throat. "Good pizza."

Nightwing silently nodded, glad she shared his sentiment.

"The view is really nice up here." Morgan added.

"It is." Nightwing agreed. The full moon cast a silvery glow on the mountain side and the ocean looked like a polished mirror. The calming sound of the waves periodically crashing to shore beneath them was like a symphony.

With a sense of horror settling in his stomach, Nightwing realized that the night was positively romantic.

Which was the exact opposite of what he'd been aiming for.

He wracked his brain for something to talk about to avoid a 'peaceful' silence from settling.

Nightwing remembered a question he'd been meaning to ask her for quite some time.

Morgan was the kind of person that only divulged personal information in the right setting and with the right company. He hoped this was the right setting and he was the right company because he really did want to know.

"How old were you when you got your wings?" He asked, feeling like he'd taken a leap off of a cliff without checking if the water below was deep enough.

Morgan took a slow bite out of her pizza. She chewed thoughtfully on it as her brow furrowed in remembrance. Nightwing thought she might've been confused that he'd brought it up now instead of months earlier.

She took a small bottle of water out of the pocket of her large hoodie – the zipper was open, the large fabric hanging off of her small frame and pooling around her – and took two large gulps of the water.

She offered it to him next and he accepted it, too thirsty to worry about things like hygiene and sharing spit.

"They started growing when I was thirteen.." She revealed. "It was.." Morgan cleared her throat and in the poorly lit tree, Nightwing wasn't sure if the darkening of her cheeks was in fact a blush. "It was a few weeks after I got my period for the first time. And, you know, periods mess with hormones like nothing else and I think it kick started the growth. Somehow."

Nightwing understood the blush now. Talking about her period with him was probably not high on her list of things she wanted to do.

She drew her legs up against her stomach and rested her arms on her knees, eyes firmly fixed on the horizon. Her blonde curls shone like a halo around her face in the moonlight.

"My other power came a year later. At least, I discovered it a year later." Morgan went on and Nightwing paid rapt attention. She was opening up to him and he wanted her to know that he was appreciating it. The only other times Morgan had ever admitted anything to him had been in the heat of an argument, like when she'd admitted that she was afraid of leaving the Cave because her wings had gotten too big. He was happy that, for once, they were discovering things about each other in a friendlier environment.

"A bully at school was trying to roughen me up and he started pulling at my sweater. I was afraid he'd see my wings so I pushed him away.. sent him halfway across the hall and through a locker." She smirked to herself at the memory. "I'd only given him a small shove. It shouldn't have been possible."

"What happened then?" Nightwing worried that people had seen and figured out that she had powers.

"We were all alone in the hall." Morgan had guessed his thoughts. "He was a few years older than me. I think he was too embarrassed at being defeated by a short fourteen year old girl because he never told anyone."

She smirked slightly and turned her head to the side, making eye contact with Nightwing. He'd taken his mask off a few minutes earlier, finding it oddly restricting. They were alone and Morgan had seen him without a mask plenty of times, there was no reason to keep it on. It felt wrong when she was confiding in him and he kept on the mask, like he didn't trust her but expected her to trust him.

"The school board spent an entire month trying to find the vandal that had wrecked one of their lockers."

Dick let out a short chuckle. "I bet you were their last suspect."

"Totally." Morgan agreed. "Anyway, after the incident, I skipped school and went to this old, abandoned steel factory. Remember the one at the outskirts of Gotham?"

"Nichols and Sons, yeah." Dick remembered.

"I went there and I spent the next five hours trying to figure out what was going on. I soon found out what I could do." Morgan scratched briefly her hair and pulled a face. "I was beyond freaked. Not only did I have wings, I could also push things around with my freakin' mind."

Dick wanted to remind her that those were the qualities that had given her a spot on the Team and they were a good thing now. But he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to anger her.

"So afterwards I started isolating myself. I'd already severed ties with most of my friends, but after that, I simply stopped talking to people altogether."

"Isolation since you were thirteen." Dick mused to himself. "That doesn't leave space for a lot of friendships, no. Or relationships."

He wondered immediately afterwards why he'd brought that up.

"Nope." Morgan popped her lips at the word. "I've never had a boyfriend." She shrugged like it didn't bother her. "I'm not just a virgin, I'm, like, an advanced virgin. Purer than a nun."

"A super virgin." Dick agreed, keeping his tone light to match hers. Secretly, he wondered if the peck on his jaw line had been the closest she'd ever gotten to kissing a guy.

Morgan snorted out a startled laugh. "That sounds like a superhero name." She adopted a stoic expression and spoke in her best imitation of a trailer voice. "Super Virgin; terror of the night, protector of the innocent, unprotected sex's number one enemy!"

They shared a few casual chuckles.

"What about you?" Morgan suddenly asked. "Ever been in a relationship?"

Dick thought she had been about to ask him if he'd ever had sex and found himself very relieved that he had been wrong.

He wasn't a virgin. He was a nineteen year old, good looking boy, of course he wasn't a virgin.

The first time he'd ever had sex had been with Zatanna when they were both fifteen. It hadn't exactly been a success, more like a last resort to save a relationship that failed anyway.

There had been a few relationships since. Unlike Morgan, Nightwing hadn't been isolated for five years. He'd been living his life as any other teenage boy would.

Except for the added part of being a superhero on the sideline.

"A few." He admitted. "Mostly within the Team. It's difficult to date civilians."

"Yeah, I can imagine it'd be difficult to find anyone with enough shared life experiences."

"Exactly."

They were silent for another moment. Dick couldn't detect any underlying awkwardness and he thought his plan had been pretty successful. Though, his plan had been to bring things back to normal. They weren't really. Things were better. If they had been back to normal, Morgan would have aimed snippy remarks at him and Nightwing would have responded with a cold façade.

This was almost like a conversation between two friends.

Morgan was the first one to break the silence, her voice soft, bordering on vulnerable. "I've spent the last five years coming up with all these theories, worked on grasping how my powers worked and what had made the wings appear.." She stared at her hands as she spoke, her fingers spread out as if mimicking the movement she did when she used her power. "And all those unanswered questions are eating at me every day. I've accepted my wings and my powers as part of me now, almost grown fond of them even, but.. But I still can't help but wonder why? Why me? How did I end up with these powers? There has to be a scientific explanation to my questions, right? A reason for me to grow wings and develop telekinetic powers? They don't just appear at random, do they?"

Nightwing shifted slightly in his seat as he contemplated her questions. He and Batman had dug further into her absent father and found that they reached dead end after dead end. All they knew was that he had worked with crossbreeding birds, but that didn't necessarily mean he was responsible for his daughter's wings. There really wasn't anything for them to go on. They needed solid evidence so, after only a few weeks of research, Batman had decided to drop the case, at least until something new came up.

Nightwing had never told Morgan about any of this. He knew her father was a sore subject for her, and he liked to avoid bringing it up as much as possible.

Dick wished he had the answers to her questions. He really did. He could tell that they really were eating away at her.

Instead, all he could do was shrug and shake his head apologetically. "I wish I knew, Morgan. I really do."

Far, far back in a secret corner of his brain, a small thought made itself present. He barely even registered and he'd forgotten it as soon as it had presented itself.

Meta-gene.

March 5th

"Your dad is back in town."

That was all took. Those few words were all it took for Morgan's brain to completely short-circuit.

She was lounging on her mom's old couch with a stupid elf-hat on her curly head, half a cookie falling to the floor, escaping from her limp hand. The other half she had been in the middle of chewing and it was now unattractively on display as her mouth hung open in shock.

Morgan had suggested the belated Christmas and her mom had agreed to the idea right away. They were in the middle of watching Home Alone when her mother had sprung the news on Morgan.

"What?" Morgan asked, disbelief lacing her voice.

Her mom shrugged. "He approached me two days ago. He wants to see you."

Morgan felt anger squeeze its red-hot fingers around her heart. "Well, you can tell him to go stick it where the sun doesn't shine." She growled out after swallowing the cookie she'd had in her mouth. The treat had felt like ash in her mouth, all taste gone.

Abigail sent her daughter a disapproving look. "Morgan, he is your father."

Morgan stood up quickly, throwing the elf-hat off her head, wings agitatedly flapping behind her, nearly knocking the bowl of cookies on the coffee table to the floor.

"Some father." Morgan snorted, rolling her eyes. "He's been absent for eight years, what makes him think I want to have anything to do with him now?" She angrily pointed out.

Her mom fixed her with a saying look. "He said he believed he'd have the answers to a lot of questions you've been asking yourself for years."

Morgan froze in mid-step. She turned slowly and fixed her shocked, wide eyes on her mom. Her knees turned to jelly and she felt them buckle underneath her, only just managing to catch herself.

"Do- do you think..?" Morgan swallowed and pointed at her wings. ".. He means?"

Abigail stood up and embraced her scared daughter. "I'm not sure darling. But I think it's worth a shot, don't you? You don't have to have anything to do with him afterwards, but as long as you get the answers you need, wouldn't it be worth it?" She brushed a few curls away from Morgan's face and behind her ear, smiling fondly at her.

Morgan felt tears press at the corner of her eyes and she blinked rapidly. "I.. I don't know.." She whispered, feeling lost and ten years old again. Old wounds, wounds her father had left behind when he'd disappeared from her life so suddenly, were suddenly fresh and bleeding again. "I don't know what to do."

"My beautiful daughter." Abigail smiled softly. "If you chose to decline his offer, you shouldn't feel like you're condemning yourself. You can be whole and true without the answers to those questions. You don't need to know to live."

Morgan weighed her mom's words, thankful that she'd been gifted with such a wise and understanding mother.

"I'll speak with my superiors first." Morgan decided eventually. She knew Nightwing would have an idea what to do. "And I'll give you my answer soon. Tomorrow. Or the day after that. Do you have a way to contact him?"

Abigail pulled a paper out of the back-pocket of her jeans and smoothed it out, revealing a series of numbers in a far too familiar handwriting. "He gave me his number." She handed the paper to Morgan. She didn't take the offered slip. "Take it." Her mom encouraged. "It'll be much easier for you to contact him by yourself if you choose to do so."

Morgan nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat, accepting the paper and stuffing it into her pocket.

"I've.." Morgan took a step back and found the front door with her eyes. Licking her lower lip in thought, she said, "I've got to go."

Abigail smiled softly and reached forward, placing a kiss in her daughter's curly hair. "I know, Sweetie."

Morgan regretted leaving her mom so soon. They'd planned to spend the entire weekend together. Morgan had only been there for half a day.

"I'll.. I'll call you." Morgan promised after having gathered her things together.

"I'll see you soon, my sweet." Her mom promised, watching as Morgan slung her bag over her shoulder, puller her charmed pendant over around her neck, and walked out the door, disappearing down the dark corridor.

Morgan's head was racing as she headed for the nearest Zeta tube in Gotham. How did her father even know about her wings? They'd only appeared three years after he'd left them and Morgan hadn't seen him since!

Maybe he'd known that they were going to appear.

But how?

Maybe it wasn't even her wings he'd talked about, but her other power.

Or maybe he didn't actually know anything about either of them and just meant that he was willing to answer why he'd left for eight years without sending her a single letter, email or phone call.

Morgan decided to not jump to any conclusions, mostly because none of the conclusions she was tempted to jump to were pleasant. She'd talk to Nightwing about this and then she go on from there.

Morgan wondered when she'd become so dependent on his opinion and advice. It wasn't like he was some old wise mentor guy. He was her age. Somehow, it didn't matter. If she had to chose between getting advice from him or some old wise dude, she'd chose Nightwing any time. He was smart. And empathic. And that was all Morgan needed.

She kept the tears in, not wanting to look like she'd been crying when she found him.

Morgan arrived at the Cave and, not missing a beat, she marched towards the combined kitchen and living room, knowing it would be the place she'd be most likely to find any of the others.

Cassie, Mal and Barbara were sitting around the island in the middle of the room and all looked up when she arrived.

"I thought you were spending the weekend at your mother's place?" Batgirl spoke up first, eyeing the bag on Morgan's shoulder.

Morgan shrugged and dropped the bag onto the floor next to the island. "Something came up." She explained, mortified when her voice cracked halfway through her sentence. "Is Nightwing here?"

Cassie and Barbara exchanged a blank look as Mal answered. "I think I saw him in the main room half an hour ago."

"He's not there now, I just left it." Morgan clarified.

"Then I don't know." Mal said. "Sorry."

"Dammit." Morgan growled and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. The entire situation was making her antsy and she kind of felt like she wanted to cry but also scream and throw some stuff around.

"Morgan?" Cassia asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine." Morgan snapped quickly and slightly hysterically. "What makes you think I'm not?"

"Because," Batgirl spoke up suddenly, the same cautious tint to her voice. "You're shaking like a leaf."

Morgan realized that she was. Her entire body, from her toes to the tip of her wings was overcome with tremors and she wondered how she hadn't noticed before.

"It's nothing.." She persisted. "I just really need to talk to Nightwing."

Morgan wasn't sure how much she was supposed – or allowed – to tell her fellow team mates before consulting him first. He was her mentor and as such, unless he said any different, he made the calls. Only a few days before had Morgan decided to put her trust in his judgment, and she was staying by that decision.

Which meant she wasn't going to involve any of the others before talking to him first.

Part of her still wondered why her first instinct was to go to him because if she was honest with herself, it wasn't only to seek his council but also his comfort.

She wanted, needed Nightwing of all people to comfort her.

Barbara stared at her for another short moment before deciding that there really was nothing she could do except help the blonde.

She drew up the small holographic computer she had installed in the wrist of her suit. In a few seconds, she'd found the security camera footage of the Cave. Fast forwarding to the footage from the last thirty minutes, she located Nightwing leaving the main room and heading for the garage. "I'm pretty sure he's down in the garage." She finally revealed, turning to Morgan.

Morgan was almost overwhelmed with her gratitude towards the other girl and she almost hugged her before remembering that none of the bat-kids were huggers.

Instead she chose to sag in relief, sighing out a heartfelt 'thank you' before taking off at a jog down the hall and towards the garage. When the jogging wasn't fast enough, she took to the air, soaring through the halls at a higher speed than she'd been able to reach had she been running.

She burst through the doors and immediately spotted Nightwing tinkering with some small electronic device at a nearby table. "Nightwing!" She shouted, gaining his attention immediately.

He looked up from his work and, upon seeing the distressed look on Morgan's face, he dropped his tools onto the table and faced her fully, brow drawn. "Morgan, what's wrong?"

"My dad." She quickly clarified, landing right in front of him with a gust of wind that teased the long tufts of hair falling in his eyes. "He's back."

Nightwing opened his mouth to respond but Morgan cut him off. "That's not all." She quickly said, knowing that her dad returning wasn't much cause for distress in itself. "He wants to meet me and after I told my mom 'hell no' she said that he'd told her that I'd want to meet him because he would 'have the answers to questions I've been asking myself'."

Realization dawned on her mentor's face and Morgan raised both eyebrows in silent agreement to the conclusion she knew he had made in his head, nodding slowly. "I think he knows something about my situation that I don't."

"That much is clear." Nightwing agreed, voice thoughtful.

"And I'm not sure what to do." Morgan admitted. "I have absolutely no interest in meeting my dad after everything he put me through, but I really do want answers."

Nightwing was silent for a long while as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the table, contemplating her dilemma.

"I think accepting his offer would be best.." He eventually assessed. "For your own peace of mind. But you don't have to go alone if you don't want to."

He stood up fully and placed a hand on her small shoulder. "I'll come with you if it would make you feel better."

Morgan considered his offer and his advice, nodding slowly. "I'd.. I'd like that." She mumbled. Bringing Nightwing along with her would make the whole thing seem more professional and not as personal as a private meeting with her father would. It would be easier for her to maintain an emotional distance.

"Good." Nightwing straightened and dropped his hand back down to his side, nodding a few times. A tuft of black hair settled over the left eyehole on his mask and Morgan's eyes followed the movement, oddly captivated. "What's the game plan then?"

"Uh," Morgan shook her head to get it back in the game. "I've got his number. I can call him and arrange a meeting any time."

"We'll do it tomorrow." Nightwing suggested. "It'll give you time to get used to the idea."

Morgan nodded, knowing that his advice was sound. "Thank you." She said as he turned back to the work he'd been doing earlier. "You're a great help."

He offered her a brief smile.

Morgan, much calmer, left before things got too mushy.

And before he could notice the stupid blush creeping up the pale skin of her throat.

And thus we enter the realm of daddy issues. Prepare yourselves.

I personally really like the tree scene. It's cute. And it's great to see Morgan finally opening up, eh?

The second part feels a tiny bit rushed, but I wasn't sure what I should change. So it is what it is.

Anyway, due to getting a lot more reviews than usual on the last chapters, I decided to post early! Just to show that I really appreciate all of your lovely feedback! Your reviews make my day.

And I'm pleased so see that Bart's slip up had the exact reaction I had hoped for. You guys are awesome and funny :)

Fun fact: Dick thrives in warm weather, but Morgan burns so easily that she prefers winter simply because she doesn't need to apply sunscreen all the time then.