Author's Note &
Acknowledgements As of this writing, Infinite Crisis and
the One Year Later storylines haven't happened yet, but I can't help
feeling worried.
So this fic was created as an expression of my hope of how Nightwing's
mob story mess could be resolved and how the 'new era' might begin.
DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to DC and not
me. I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale. All these
characters are used
without permission, and I'm not profiting from this piece of fan
fiction,
so please don't sue me. Securing
the Foundations By firewolf September 2005
@>;-'-
Nightwing saw the punch coming at
him with plenty of time to counter the blow. However, he made no move
to avoid it. To the people watching, it was a spectacular right hook
which sent the vigilante flying across the sidewalk and crashing
against the wall of the Bludhaven precinct.
The look of shock on the faces of
most of the people on the streets was expected; especially on that of
Captain Amy Rohrbach who hurried out of the building behind Wayne
Enterprise lawyer Rachel Green, a face made infamous a year earlier
when Bruce Wayne had been framed for murder, because the one who almost
broke Nightwing's jaw was Dick Grayson.
"How dare you?!" Grayson was fairly
shaking with fury as he was held back by his lawyer. "I know I had to
leave town for a while on Wayne business, but how *dare* you hijack my
life and endanger *my* *friends* and *family* by making your enemies
think I was *you*?!"
"Grayson, I--"
"What? You didn't think I'd find
out? You didn't *think*?" Grayson was fairly foaming at the mouth as he
towered over Nightwing's fallen form.
"I step off a Wayne corporate jet
from Asia to come to my precinct, thinking to slip back into the life I
had to put on hold-- only to be told by my lawyers that I've been
*fired.* That the building I used to live in was *blown up* along with
nearly all its occupants. That my circus was *fire bombed.* Plus
there's an arrest warrant out on *me* because I was supposed to have
*joined the New Jersey Mob*?" Grayson was screaming at Nightwing now,
oblivious to the fast gathering crowd of gawkers.
"But-- my God-- do you *know* what
kind of shock *you* caused *Bruce*-- my father? Can you even understand
what it did to him on top of all his other stress with the defence
contract hijackings which created those-- those OMAC *monsters*, not to
mention the rogue satellite reports? Can you understand *my* shock to
be told he's now in *Arkham* because...?" He trailed off, clearly too
overcome to go on.
"I-- I'm sorry, Grayson. As soon as
I learned you were back in town, I came back here to clear--"
"That doesn't bring back the lives
of all the people who *died* because they thought *I* was *you*! It
doesn't do anything for my *father* who's now sitting in *Arkham*
trying to regain his sense of *reality*." Grayson interrupted him
angrily. "Why?! God damn you. Why did you do this to me? Is this some
sort of revenge because I stole and nearly married your *girl*?"±
"No! This has *nothing* to do with
Starfire. We haven't even been together for years." Nightwing pleaded
to him in anguished guilt.
"I'm sorry, Grayson. Nothing like
this has happened to my plans before. We-- we just have similar builds
and you were in the Bludhaven PD. I thought I could borrow your
identity for a while. Given all the times we were on the news together
years ago when we were both courting Starfire, I *never* expected
anyone to mistake or believe you were me.
"Your family and friends were *not*
supposed to get hurt. No one should have even noticed what I had done."
Nightwing looked down in shame and embarrassment. "*No one* was
supposed to get hurt. No one was supposed to die...
"I'm sorry. I'm really, really
sorry." He said softly. "I don't know what I can do to mak--"
"After my wedding was utterly
destroyed and I saw my fiancée suddenly go through a personality
transplant-- I thought I had more than enough of the superhero
community." ¥ Grayson glared at him.
There was a slight commotion in the
crowd as the Martian Manhunter was spotted in the air above them.
Grayson had looked up to stare at the approaching JLA hero for a moment
before he turned towards Nightwing again.
"I've always known that Bruce
arranged a significant source of funding for the JLA-- and that-- I
heard, you are now in the JLA, Nightwing...
"Mr. Grayson--" The JLA hero landed
near them and tried to speak cautiously.
"I'm *not* cutting your funding, Mr.
J'Onzz." Grayson glared at new arrival. "I'm a better man than that.
I'll not derail my father's support of the ideals which the JLA stand
for.
"And Nightwing..." The voice of the
Wayne heir became eerily calm as he turned his attention back on the
hero still seated on the pavement. "I've looked up your history with
the Titans before, so I-- I *know* you actually do good work... But if
you ever-- *interfere* in my life again-- the JLA can kiss that funding
goodbye! So stay away from me. Just stay the fuck out of my *life*!"
At Green's urging, Grayson started
towards the waiting limo, leaving Nightwing staring after them. But the
fallen hero made one last attempt to be heard. "Grayson... I'm sorry."
There was no mistaking the soul
crushing regret weighing heavily in Nightwing's words. However, Grayson
clearly could not offer any forgiveness at this moment given the
misfortune which had been visited upon him and his family. In fact, the
young man looked barely in control of himself over the devastating news
he had been confronted with since his return to American soil. Now that
his anger had been spent, the Wayne heir looked as if he was rapidly
sinking into a miasma of grief and shock.
Noticing this, his lawyer took it
upon herself to answer for him. "'Sorry' won't help Bruce Wayne recover
faster and-- it doesn't bring back the *dead*, Nightwing..." Green
growled without looking back at him as she gently herded her shell
shocked change into the waiting limo. "You *remember* that the next
time you think about *borrowing* someone else's life."
Amy stared at the departing
limousine in shock. Until this confrontation, she had thought she knew
who her rookie was-- who Nightwing was-- Now--
"You little *shit*!" She rounded on
the vigilante who was receiving a hand up from his JLA colleague. "You
made me think-- you--"
"It was a mistake, Am-- Captain
Rohrbach." Nightwing couldn't look at her. "I hadn't meant to ruin his
life."
"Well, you haven't, you creep! If
Grayson hasn't totally given up on a career in law enforcement, *I'll*
make sure of that. He'll have a place in *my* precinct if he ever
thinks of coming back. I'll write him his ticket to any other Police
Department in the United States if he decides not to." She told him
coldly. "Now get the hell out of my city."
"Captain--"
"Nightwing," J'Onn's hand rested on
his arm. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I came to look for you because
there's been a JLA emergency. We're needed elsewhere."
As Amy watched, Nightwing's
shoulders slumped as he took out his JLA communicator to acknowledge
his response. "It-- was an honour to work with you, how ever briefly,
Captain Rohrbach." The words were softly said. "Goodbye..."
The sorrowful partner in Amy
couldn't forget how Nightwing, in Dick's guise, had saved her life and
that of her family. "Stay with the JLA, Nightwing. Planet wide threats
are probably what you're better suited at handling." She grudging
offered some encouraging parting words. "You already accomplished an
admirable amount in helping us clean out the BHPD. Time to leave us
little guys to fend for ourselves, it's our turn."
The JLA sanctioned vigilante nodded
at her kind words before his colleague took his hands to pull him into
the sky, leaving Amy staring after the heroes along with the rest of
the crowd and the Bludhaven press. The BHPD captain doubted that she'd
see Nightwing around Bludhaven again for a long while... if ever.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Several Hours Later
"So how was I?" Dick Grayson asked
Nightwing as he got off his bike in Robin's garage to approach him,
Robin and Batgirl.
"Beautiful, Mir. Just beautiful."
"Great! You have a good woman in
Rachel Green, Dick. She was so worried over you I thought I'd never be
able to slip away."
"She's a *very* good lawyer and as
close as we'd ever allowed anyone in confidence with us who aren't in
the community." Nightwing agreed as he removed his mask. "I trust Rae
explicitly; she even handled my adoption papers."
Robin kept looking from 'Dick
Grayson' to the now unmasked Nightwing. "Bro, I gotta tell you this is
down right creepy."
"Mirage is a very good mimic,
Robin." Nightwing grinned wryly. "An *excellent* mimic."
"You're never going to forgive me
for impersonating Starfire, are you?" § Mirage smiled at him sadly
as she adopted her own face and shape again.
"That was a long time ago, and I
think Starfire was angrier with *me* for not realising there *was* a
switch." Nightwing sighed sheepishly as he carefully touched his
bruised jaw. "In any case, you did me a big favour here, Mir. Thank you
for helping me out."
"My pleasure. But ouch! Did I hit
you too hard?"
"Well... I'm guessing you've wanted
to punch me for quite a while now, plus I did deserve it, didn't I?" He
gave her a rueful look.
"No comment, lover boy. I did spend
several days deceiving you."
"So-- we call it even now? I'd
rather not make it a habit to have you beat me up when I'm my other
alter ego." ±
"Sure..." His words succeeded in
drawing a laugh from her. "Dick--"
"Mir, any time you need my help, you
can just ask me, you know?" Dick took her hands in his. "I-- I'm sorry
I don't feel it enough to return your love, but it doesn't mean I don't
care.
"You're a Titan. And we do run our
own emergency babysitting schedules. Arsenal's certainly availed of
that service a lot. And I'm sure he'd welcome another single parent
around to commiserate with too."
"I'll keep that in mind." She gave
him a soft smile before leaning closer to plant a chaste kiss on his
cheek before she left.
"She impersonated Starfire for how
long and you didn't know?" Tim gave Dick an incredulous look after the
door closed behind the former Titan.
Nightwing buried his face in his
hands and groaned. "That was her power, okay? Near perfect mimicry."
"Impressive." Cass nodded
approvingly as she pulled off her cowl. "She can copy your body
language very well; better than the Martian Manhunter."
"Man, when I saw your picture in the
papers facing off Dick Grayson and with J'Onn standing beside you, I
didn't know what to think." Tim admitted admiringly. "That was smooth,
Bro."
"J'Onn is the more infamous
impersonator in our community." Dick shook his head as he turned to the
Bat Mobile to remove a case from the passenger seat while he started to
strip off the top part of his costume. "It *is* better for us to not be
that obvious."
"Bro, you realise though that you've
just trashed Nightwing's rep in this city." Tim asked him anxiously.
"Just as well that I'm leaving
Bludhaven in your and Cass's excellent care, isn't it?" Dick opened the
case to take out a black costume top which he pulled on.
"But--"
"Bludhaven holds too many memories,
Tim. Too many lives lost..." Dick sighed in regret. "And it's currently
safer for you and Cass to operate here than in Gotham. I'll just be
happy for that small accomplishment.
"Besides, after this bit of bad
publicity-- it is probably just as well that Nightwing's giving up on
cities and is just working with the JLA for a while, isn't it?" Dick
continued to remove parts of Nightwing's costume to replace it with
something else from the case.
When he finally turned to face them,
his entire carriage had been transformed. Grey had been exchanged for
black; the black bat one expected to see on his chest was now a
midnight blue in an iron grey oval; the serrated edged gloves, boots
and utility belt were midnight blue as well, as were the cape and
cowl.
Cass breathed in appreciation as she
took in the entire image. "Batman..." The change in colours was quite
appropriate given the darker age they were in after the Crisis.
"Are you okay about this move,
Dick?" Tim asked him soberly. "You've taken up the mantle previously
and I know you hadn't wanted to keep it then."
"Until such time as-- Bruce is ready
to come home..." Dick pulled the cowl over his head and face. "It is my
obligation to defend Gotham city in his stead. And it's not right if I
tried to do it as Nightwing. Gotham needs the Batman whether or not the
GCPD cares to admit it."
Cass smiled to see how the new cowl
now covered his entire face, much like hers, but still had the
distinctive shape and pattern of the original cowl with the familiar
Starlite night-vision eye pieces. "He will be proud."
"Thank you for saying so, Cass."
"She's not just saying it, Batman."
Tim corrected him seriously. "We *know* Bruce will approve and
appreciate what you're sacrificing of yourself to take up the mantle of
the bat again.
"But Bro, we *are* worried that
you're going to stretch yourself too thin being Dick Grayson with Wayne
Enterprise, *Nightwing* for the JLA, *and* Batman in Gotham City."
"You forget, I used to juggle having
the Titans, and later the Outsiders; my position as a rookie in the
BHPD; and the Nightwing gig in both Bludhaven *and* Gotham all at the
same time." The smile was apparent in his voice though his face was now
hidden. "At least with Wayne Enterprise, I can mostly dictate my hours.
And I know they'll initially leave me alone a lot while I get over my
shock of a 'ruined' law enforcement career, dead-- friends, and return
to a 'home-town' that is-- empty of Bruce and-- Alfred."
Tim and Cass stayed respectfully
silent as Dick took a moment to deal with the memories of his losses.
The two teens exchanged a look of worry for their older 'brother' as
they wondered how they could best help him. However, they also knew
that Dick would not welcome their presence in Gotham; not when Batman
still had strained relations with the GCPD.
"I have J'Onn's assistance too."
Batman reminded them softly. "None of the JLA was aware of how much
Bruce had been doing with the paperwork and administration to keep the
JLA Watch Tower operational. J'Onn has the excuse to make calls to
Wayne Enterprises as needed to pull Dick Grayson in for 'meetings' over
JLA funding and repairs.
"I'm confident the other executives
will express relief to have Dick Grayson consent to take the role of
Wayne Enterprise's liaison with the Superhero community now that
Optitron has to be dismantled and absorbed back into the father company
after the OMAC mess. The tax savings for funding the JLA, the
Outsiders, and the Titans are still substantial enough to be worthwhile
to Wayne Enterprise. It'll be a job in itself, so it won't be strange
if I don't spend all my time at Wayne Towers. Plus it'll be very
convenient since Dick Grayson therefore won't be missed if Nightwing
needs to be away on JLA business.
"In any case, I've already arranged
matters with J'Onn and Wally in the JLA. They understand why Batman
won't be a part of the JLA anymore and will respect my reasons for
keeping Batman exclusively in Gotham City. And everyone knows that
Nightwing will be operating just as Batman used to in the JLA, which
means unlike the Titans I'll never let Nightwing be in the forefront as
spokesperson. Where possible, Nightwing will take care of his duties
with the JLA long distance. Brother I makes it a simple task."
Tim couldn't help the shudder which
ran through him. "Are you sure you can trust it, Bro? I mean-- after--"
"My override codes were at the
program root level for a reason, Robin." Batman reminded him patiently.
"Bruce was rightly paranoid enough to make sure we had failsafe
protocols for *his* failsafe protocols. I'm just sorry I hadn't been
reachable to help Bruce stop the madness sooner.
"Lord's alterations were *purged*.
Brother *Eye* is no more. The satellite is benign again and under JLA
control now, though I still hold the ultimate failsafe codes." Batman
told them seriously. "The members of the JLA who know this are willing
to trust Nightwing with it, so let's leave it at that."
"And how are you staying in Gotham
then?" Tim asked directly. Without Alfred and with Bruce in Arkham,
there would be no one else in Wayne Manor besides Dick.
"I can't-- I'm not staying in the
'mausoleum' on my own, Robin." Dick's tone was strained under the cowl.
"As soon as it can be arranged, Dick Grayson is closing up Wayne Manor
and taking up residence in a converted penthouse in Wayne Tower. At the
least, it eases the business commute. Batman will use the subway rocket
to commute between the penthouse and the Manor's Bat Cave, and the
other satellite caves.
"I'll have time to settle in and get
used to it, Tim. The top Wayne executives, who stayed in contact with
me during the time when Bruce Wayne was accused of murder, have already
pledged their continued support. I can count on them to keep the
company going with, initially, minimal input from me. In Bruce's
absence I hold the Power of Attorney, so I will have to take a more
visible role in the company's affairs eventually...
"I guess-- it looks like Bruce won
after all-- I'm heading Wayne Enterprise whether I wanted to or not..."
"Dick--"
"We move on, Robin, Batgirl." Batman
interrupted Tim to take the few steps forward necessary which allowed
him to lay an arm around their shoulders. "Gotham and other innocents
in the world are more important to me-- to Nightwing-- to Batman.
"Everything else are hardships which
I'll eventually adept to."
Tim and Cass looked up at the new
Batman before they gave each other significant looks. How ever Dick may
try to operate on his own to keep them safely out of the-- *his* city,
they weren't going to let Dick isolate himself from them. Dick Grayson
was an individual who thrived in the company of friends and family,
they would make sure he never lost that. At the least, as Wayne
Enterprise's liaison with the JLA, the Outsiders and the Titans, those
friends there had excuses to stay in contact with Dick Grayson.
However, the two still made a silent
pact then to stay in close communication and visit Gotham in civilian
guise as often as possible. Of the once large Bat-family which
previously included Alfred; Oracle and her Birds of Prey; Leslie
Thompkins; and for a short while Sasha Bordeaux; only they were left.
And neither teen was willing to lose anymore of that familial comfort.
The End
§
The New Titans 86-89 & Total Chaos: The New Titans #90-92, Team
Titans #1-3, Deathstroke #14-16
± The New Titans #96
¥ The New Titans #100