Nightwing: Sins of the Fathers

The Apartment Song

Melissa didn't sleep that night, and who could blame her. I could have done with a few hours to regain some semblance of energy, but it didn't feel right with the state she was in. We ended up talking all night about the most innocuous and inconsequential things we could think of, anything but the things she'd seen. I didn't care what we said as long as it made her feel better.

I threw together some omelettes the next morning at about 5:30am once we'd surrendered to the fact that we weren't getting any sleep. Roy wasn't around for some reason which I thought of as a blessing at first, but maybe it would have been good for Melissa to be distracted by his annoying habits. Also, I'd quite like to ask him why he hadn't been around to help Spoiler save me.

The omelette slid pretty effortlessly onto Melissa's plate, an achievement considering last time I made them they got stuck to the pan and ended up looking more like burnt scrambled egg with bits of cheese in them. She smiled thankfully, and I gave her a tender kiss on the forehead before returning to the kitchen to make my own.

Unbeknownst to Melissa, I was having a bit of difficulty holding up the pan with my left arm, thanks to her shooting me in the chest. It was such a small thing, but it felt very odd to have to rely mostly on one arm for the omelette-making process.

"Do you need some help?" Melissa asked, seeing that I had the whisk in my mouth while I cracked eggs into a bowl with one hand.

I said something that sounded like 'No, thank you,' through my clenched mouth and managed eventually to crack the eggs. Usually, I was a two egg kind of guy but decided on four in the hope that the extra protein would keep me going after the all-nighter.

"This is pretty great, Grayson, where'd you learn to cook?" Melissa asked with a little smile, some of the natural glow had returned to her face - a promising sign.

"My butler, of course," I replied with a cheeky raise of the eyebrow.

She smiled at me and continued to eat as I turned back to pour the beaten eggs into the frying pan.

I finally took a seat a few minutes later with another perfect omelette on my plate. As I raised the fork to my mouth, Melissa let out a loud sob. I immediately put down the fork and rushed around the table to her side.

"I'm sorry," She sniffled, "I just... Should have been having breakfast with my dad today that's all."

"It's alright," I reassured her, kissing her forehead and holding her.

Melissa stood and composed herself as best she could before saying: "I'm going to get myself cleaned up and get dressed, we need to be at the station in a few hours."

"Don't rush yourself. If you're not feeling up to it, we can always go later."

"No, thanks, but I think I need to do this as soon as possible."

I nodded in agreement, and she stepped into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Exhausted, I sat back down, picked up the fork and brought the sumptuous piece of omelette back up to my open mouth.

Then, the front door rattled as someone tried to open it. I sighed and dropped the fork on to the plate again. Once I got up and took off the latch, Roy bounded into the room... Fully costumed with a cloth sack over his shoulder.

"Morning!" He thundered with a beaming grin.

Eyes-wide, I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him over to the bookcase, "What the hell is wrong with you?" I whispered angrily, swinging the secret door partially open and shoving him inside, "Get changed and come back later... And leave through the roof, you moron."