The Next Nightwing

Prologue

Why does it always rain at funerals?

Dick looked up at the sky, rain hit his face in a sharp steady pattern before the droplets ran down his face, down his neck, soaking into his shirt collar. In some ways he was glad of the rain, it meant his lack of tears wasn't obvious to the many cameras that were flashing from the other side of the cemetery wall. He'd cried so much over the last week, now all he felt was numb.

He looked down to the little girl at his side. She stood straight and tall, holding her head up high, just as she had been brought up to do. Just as Dick himself had been brought up to do. Never show the papers how you are really feeling.

Amber sensed her father's gaze and brought her face up in his direction. The rain had plastered her long black hair to her face. Her expression was blank but her blind eyes held all the sadness of the world. Too much sadness for a seven-year-old. Dick had spent so much time surviving in his line of work, ensuring that he would never be the cause of that sadness in his child's eyes. He never dreamed it would be her mother who would leave them. Fate really was a cruel master.

'Can we go home now Daddy?' Her voice was but a whisper, as though she were afraid to wake the dead. A hand came to rest on his shoulder, he didn't need to turn to know who was on the other end of the arm. Bruce, as always, a rock in which to cling through the misery.

'Can you take Amber home?' Dick's eyes remained focused on the carved stone in front of him.

'Of course. Come on Amber.'

The seven-year-old took her father's hand and squeezed it, unknowingly following his gaze to where she knew the grave lay.

'Goodbye Mommy.' Then she released his hand, following her Grandfather to the waiting car just outside the cemetery gates. When they were gone Dick felt the pain beginning to rise again. It felt like a clawed hand punching through his chest and gripping his heart. It wasn't meant to be like this. Hadn't he suffered enough, to lose his parents so young? Hadn't his family suffered enough when his daughter had become blind? How many people did he have to lose before fate grew tired of dealing him these harrowing cards? How much more did the ones he love have to suffer? His only mercy was that it had been quick - the bullet ending her life so suddenly, so violently. One minute she was there, smiling and laughing at him in the car as he recounted his days as Robin to her, tales of Young Justice and the Teen Titans; then she was gone. His knees met the floor, not caring about the mud. He raised his hand to the stone before him, tracing the letters with his finger.

Cassandra Grayson

July 3, 1997 - November 22, 2033

Beloved Wife and Mother.

Dick recalled the calmness on his little girl's face, how she had taken everything that had happened and carried on bravely. She was old beyond her years; just as he had been. But he refused to let her lose anymore. He would do everything in his power to make sure she never knew the pain of being an orphan. He knew that broken look too well, he had seen it in Bruce's eyes, Jason's and even Tim's. He saw that look every time he looked in the mirror. The look that came with knowing you are the only one left. He would not let his daughter inherit that. He picked up a handful of dirt and gripped it tightly until the mud oozed through the gaps between his enclosed fingers.

'I promise Cassy, I will raise her away from the horrors of my past. She will never know the darkness we faced. I promise you that.' As he stood the rain began to ease. Finally, he turned to walk out of the cemetery; determination in his stride. Amber would never know the secrets of this family, she would never be dragged into the darkness. He would never reveal to her the identity of Batman. Never explain to her the truth about each of his brothers. She would never know about the time before her Auntie Babs was in a chair. And most importantly, she would never know the darker side of her father; the side of him that had left his mind and body scarred. This was it, he was finished. Nightwing was finished.