Nightwing: Sins of the Fathers

The Masterplan

Upon arriving at the Wingcycle, Roy and I were treated to two unconscious thugs who'd tried in vain to steal the bike and were immobilised by the security lockdown system, one of whom I'd seen shortly before climbing up the fire escape. As was protocol, we dragged them to the sidewalk and woke them up, making the most horrifying threats we could think of before sending them running away with their tails between their legs. Roy found it all quite amusing, I laughed but it was a facade, I felt numb.

After mounting the Wingcycle, the small-talk between Roy and I dissipated pretty quickly. He fired the occasional comment about the scenery here and there, but by the time we reached the cave, we were completely silent.

Roy's response to the cave wasn't nearly as awe-inspired as Steph's, he looked around for a minute or two and nodded approvingly before pulling up a chair at the Batcomputer and firing up YouTube on the big screen.

"I'm gonna go throw this costume in the trash," I said, heading straight into the vault.

"OK!" Roy shouted.

The vault was as magnificent as I remembered, every iteration of Batman's suit, Batgirl's suit and my suits from my days as Robin were on display. In the centre of the room, Jason's costume was displayed in tribute. Of course, none of the suits in the first section of the vault were even fit to use as far as I could tell - there was an entirely separate room for storing current outfits.

The first room resembled a museum, the second one looked more like a very technologically advanced locker room, complete with large mirrors, long benches and showers - and a wall of storage drawers, each containing a different suit.

Barely through the door I began dismantling the battered Red Hood costume and hurled the parts on to the floor, separating myself from the identity. The Red Hood killed the Talon, Roy killed the Talon, not me, I couldn't, I wasn't capable of that. Every fibre of my being wanted to believe that, but I couldn't hide from it, I betrayed everything I stood for, but what the hell was the alternative?

I kicked the Red Hood suit into the corner of the room and grabbed a clean T-shirt and sweatpants from one of the shelves. I'd just finished dressing as Alfred appeared in the doorway and smiled, a look of sympathy, he'd spoken to Bruce already.

"Master Grayson, can I get you anything?" He asked politely, giving me an even warmer smile.

I sighed and sat down on the bench, "A time machine?"

"I'm afraid," Alfred said, taking a seat next to me, "Wayne Industries is a few years away from such a development."

"Shame, I could really use one right now," I said, trembling,

"Yes, it has been an especially difficult time for you recently," Alfred said matter-of-factly.

"To put it mildly," I laughed self-pityingly.

"Do you really wish you could change it? The past, I mean," Alfred said, "Isn't it better now, that you know the truth about your father?"

"Maybe before tonight, I might have been able to see it that way but..." I stopped myself.

"What happened tonight, Master Grayson?" Maybe he didn't know after all.

"I finished what my father started," I explained, "The Talon, the poor kid my father gave up in my place, I..."

Alfred looked at me understandingly and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I killed him," I said finally, the words croaking out of my mouth as if I'd had to force them out of my throat. I expected Alfred's expression to change, to feel some kind of judgement - but it didn't.