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Wings Of Glory.
Chapter One: Through The Fire And Flames.
Time: 08:45 PM
Date: December 4th
Location: BlüdHaven
The Cold Nighttime December air blew through Nightwing's hair and gently brushed his face. He was perched atop a crane that sat high on a building that was being built. He then heard his radio come to life.
"This if Firechief Briggs I need units from the 15th and 17th company to a fire to get their asses over to Maroon street," He heard this and sprang into action.
Nightwing stood up and did a Leap of faith off of the crane. As he fell, he shot his grappling hook and it latched to a building allowing him to swing. After swinging, he landed atop a building and proceeded to Freerun along the rooftops of various structures below him.
He vaulted over an HVAC vent and slid under an external ventilation tube. Nightwing then dove off of the roof and did a combat roll recovery followed up by sliding off of the edge and down onto the roof below. He could see the burning building as he was only about 100 feet away from it.
Luckily the flame engulfed building was not connected to any other buildings, thus the fire could not spread. Nightwing shot his grappling gun to the side of the building and pressed the winch button which pulled him closer to the building.
He pressed the button to unlatch the hook and then he combat rolled through the window. He saw a door to his right and tried opening it but it was locked so he kicked in the door and saw a mother and her two kids hiding in fear, trapped by the flames in the hall.
He looked back in the hallway and motioned for a fireman to clear a path. Once a path was cleared he led the family to safety. He opened the next door that he saw and rescued another family. Once the floor he was on was cleared, he moved up a floor. He went down the hallway to his right along with three firemen.
At the other end of the hallway, Nightwing saw the outline of a man but there was something off. Once the fire in the hallway was cleared, Nightwing rushed to the other end of the hall to see who this mysterious figure was.
His mind went into a state of tactical readiness once he saw the yellow and black suit along with the glowing red eyes of Firefly. The villain raised his arms so the wrist mounted flamethrowers were pointed directly at him. Nightwing rolled out of the way and tossed two Wing-dings towards Firefly,
One of them missed and the other one hit Firefly's arm, puncturing the suit and lacerating his arm. The wing ding also punctured the tube that sends fuel into the nozzles. FireFly groaned in pain and shot another flamethrower burst.
Nightwing did a flip out of the way and was barely able to dodge a wall collapsing toward him. Firefly activated his jet pack and hovered about two feet off of the ground. Nightwing slid under him and then stood up. He jumped onto FireFly's back and used a wing ding to try and cut the fuel tubes.
Once the tubes were cut, Nightwing did a kick flip off of FireFly's back. He landed with grace and charged toward Firefly who was turning around to face him. Nightwing tackled him and the impact of the landing damaged the jet pack. FireFly removed a small, hockey puck sized device from his belt and pressed it onto Nightwing's chest.
Firefly hit a button on his wrist and the device detonated with the force of half of one pound of gunpowder. Nightwing staggered backward due to the tiny explosion and saw that his kevlar suit absorbed most of the damage and had some burn marks. He looked forward and saw Firefly running down the hall toward the stairs.
Nightwing got up and chased after him down the stairs. Firefly opened a case containing an emergency fire ax and held it firmly. Nightwing grabbed two Wing Dings off of his belt and held them in a throwing position. He threw them and FireFly blocked them with the ax.
Nightwing leapt from the stairs and landed near Firefly who, using the sharpened end of the ax, swung it striking Nightwing's chest on the right side. The ax broke through the Kevlar and punctured Nightwing's skin and broke two ribs. A gush of blood poured out once the ax was withdrawn and Firefly ran off while Nightwing clenched his side trying to stop the bleeding.
Nightwing saw a first aid kit attached to the wall. He yanked it off of the wall and opened it. He saw only some basic bandages and some disinfectant. He opened the container of disinfectant and poured it onto the wound. He winced due to the burning sensation of it and then wrapped the bandages around the wound and he stood up. He limped to the nearest window and escaped the burning building.
Dick slowly made his way back to his apartment and once he was inside he changed out of his suit and collapsed onto the bed and passed out.
When he awoke he was tucked in and the smell of coffee drifted through the door. He sat up and checked the wound it had been properly sewn and cleaned. He stood up and slowly walked to the door. He brushed his messy black hair out of his face and opened his bedroom door.
In the apartment's kitchen he saw Barbara brewing coffee and cooking eggs. In a sleepy voice he spoke: "Babs? How the hell did you get here?"
"Well I heard about what happened last night and so I tried calling you to make sure you were okay and when you didn't answer I rushed over here and found you passed out and injured." She said, as she gently played with her tabby cat orange hair.
God she looks good. He thought to himself. Barbara picked up a mug and poured the freshly brewed coffee into it. She then handed him the mug. Dick took a seat at the kitchen table and soon Barbara followed suit and placed down two plates of eggs and bacon.
"Eat up, you need the food after what you went through," She said in a caring voice. Dick did as he was told and began to eat. He noticed Barbara kept sneaking glances at him while they ate.
"Babs, I just wanna say thank you for this. It means a lot knowing that you still care enough to check in on me when the man I once considered to be my father won't even acknowledge me." Dick said in a low voice.
Barabara, who was sitting next to him, leaned close and gave him a hug. "You're welcome... and Dick I would never abandon you, even if you sometimes annoy me beyond all reason." She said in a quiet and caring yet also playful tone.
Dick returned her embrace and took a moment to enjoy her presence before releasing her. The two finished eating and then somehow made their way back into Dick's bedroom. Barbara took a look at the damaged Nightwing suit. "You know..." Her voice trailed for a second. "These burn marks on your suit are almost in the shape of a hawk or a falcon,"
"That's actually a good design Idea." He said. Barbara sat down on his bed and took a good look around the room.
"So Babs, what've you been up to lately?" Dick asked.
"Nothing much, just putting some of the usual drug dealers and regular criminals behind bars." She answered.
"The state penitentiary must be getting pretty full." He remarked with a chuckle. Barbara giggled a little as well and then what seemed like a peaceful morning between friends took a turn for the worst.
Outside the window of Dick's bedroom, FireFly hovered there and had his flamethrower gauntlets pointed directly at them. He kicked in the window and without a second thought, Dick tackled Barbara to the floor to shield her.
FireFly activated the Flamethrowers and shot a burst of Flames towards them, Dick helped Barbara up and they bolted through the door. As Barbara ran through the doorway, Dick pulled her out of the doorway and against his chest. Right after he did this a massive burst of flames shot through the doorway.
They ran to the door of the apartment and ran out into the hallway. FireFly knew he would not be able to reach them before they escaped and so he flew off. Dick and Barbara ran back into the apartment in an attempt to extinguish the flames. Dick saw how his bedroom and everything inside would most likely be destroyed.
"Babs Call The Fire Department This Is Getting Out Of Control," He said to her. They closed the door and then went out into the hallway and began getting people out of the building. Within two minutes, the building was completely surrounded by the BlüdHaven Fire Department.
Dick's mind was filled with anger that not only did his apartment get burnt down but also the fact that he endangered people just by living there. Dick and Barbara did not exit the building until everyone was out.
Dick watched as his home burnt to a crisp and everything he worked for was destroyed by the flames that engulfed it. Barbara saw the look of anger in his usually calm eyes. Barbara hugged him in an attempt to comfort him. Dick hugged her back and the two stayed like that for a minute.
"You can stay at my place if you want," Barbara offered him.
"No, I don't want to put Gotham in danger from FireFly, I can live without a home for a little while." He responded.
"Dick I'm not letting you do something stupid like that. I'm gonna talk to Bruce and see if he would be willing to help you find a Place here in BlüdHaven." Barbara said to him.
"Look I know you and Bruce aren't exactly on speaking terms right now but you're practically like a son to him and he may not show it but I know that he regrets saying what he did and it's tearing him apart." Barbara pleaded with him.
Dick thought for a moment and then spoke: "Okay I'll call him," He said quietly. A few hours later Dick and Bruce agreed to meet at a local restaurant.
Dick watched as a Navy Blue Porsche 911 Turbo S pulled into the parking lot. Bruce got out and went into the restaurant and sat down across from Dick.
"I heard about your run in with FireFly." Bruce said.
"Yeah, he destroyed my apartment and everything inside it." Dick said almost under his breath.
"Listen Dick, I'm sorry about what I said to you, it's just..." He lowered his voice. "I know Barbara means a lot to you and I was just as mad as you were that night when she was taken by Black Mask, but the way that you almost killed him and it got to the point where I had to inflate his left lung because you collapsed it while Alfred and Gordon had to sedate you... Dick I saw you turning into a monster and I don't want you to go down that path."
Dick was silent and realized that he was the one in the wrong. "You don't need to apologize, I was the asshole and I shouldn't be the one blaming you for trying to protect me from myself." Bruce was speechless, he had never seen dick be so mature before.
"Well said. Now let's see what we can do about getting you a new place to stay. Also don't worry about the suit, we'll sort that out later."