Deja Vu

Chapter 1: Gotham Rooftops

Dick lands on his feet, blinking rapidly. The world around him is... dark. And his head feels so fuzzy... What in the world...?

He looks down at himself to see that he's wearing his Nightwing suit and... whoa.

He stumbles back as the noise from the street below assaults his ears. His breath catches in the suddenly cold air that tears at his face, eyes wide. Had he just blanked out on the edge of a building??

He looks up, spotting the stars in the sky and... ok... ok. He's probably just patrolling in Bludhaven. Right?

He looks over his shoulder and more of the scene comes into view.

Nope. Definitely Gotham.

His heart flutters rapidly.

What is he doing in Gotham? Alone? And on a random rooftop?

He takes a shaky breath in, looking around him once more to get a feel for his position. He's south-west of Wayne tower and on one of the tallest buildings around. There's no hint of the others around though... so that's weird.

Frowning, he presses a finger to his ear, activating the comm.

"Uh... hello?"

"Nightwing!" comes an excited cry. Tim, his brain registers. "You're here?"

"Uh... yes?"

There's a grunt over the comms that Dick recognizes as Bruce. Is that an irritated grunt? Or is he just surprised? Dick's head feels too foggy to work out the difference.

"...you guys working on a case or something?" he asks, rubbing his eyes.

And where are the others?

"Yep!" Tim says happily. "It's a big one."

"Cool," Dick says, feeling more confused than ever. What time is it? And why does Tim sound...

Suddenly a wave of nostalgia hits him... and then comes the seeds of the worry.

"Hey... B," he says slowly. "Meet you back at the Cave?"

Silence on the comms.

Dick can feel sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"You're coming to the cave?!" Tim's voice rings out again, even more excited. "Cool! Could you show me some moves while you're there? I've been working on this one-"

And suddenly Dick feels the need to fall down and suck in some cool night air because he knows this isn't right.

"You're... coming back?" Bruce asks slowly, Batman's growl absent. And Dick feels like he's going to be sick.

Because he's been coming to the Cave regularly for years now. And he hasn't heard that soft tone of voice from Bruce since before...

Suddenly, while looking out at the lights, Dick realizes why everything seems so off. Gotham hasn't looked like this in years.

Sucking in a breath, Dick leaps to his feet, moving over to the glass windows of the building's side.

The reflection is minimal in the dull light, but even from the black glass's reflection, he can tell that his hair is slightly longer. His eyes have less bags. His suit... his suit.

Gasping, he looks down at himself again to see his old suit. The blue design reaches across his shoulders and spreads down to his fingers. Dick takes a deep breath and turns his hands over in front of his face. How long has it been since he's worn this suit. He tries for mental math, but his head still feels foggy... He knows... just knows this is going to be a hard day.

"B. The date," Dick says, voice tinged with only a little bit of panic.

There's silence for a moment before Bruce answers gruffly. He pauses, obviously waiting for a response.

But Dick can't. He could swear the ground drops from under his feet. Because he knows that date. And it's not going to be pretty.

"Nightwing," Bruce finally says, "status?"

Bruce is asking if he's ok. Bruce is asking...

Ah... man...

He did not ask for time travel to be on his plate today. And how did that even happen?!

"Uh... sorry, just trying to figure something out for a case. Mind if I use the Batcomputer?" Dick hopes the strangled sound of his voice doesn't carry across the line.

"B says yes!" Tim yells immediately and Dick can't help the smile that quirks the tiniest bit at the bright voice.

Gosh it's been a while since Tim sounded so happy about anything. Yep. He's definitely made it before...

Oh boy.

"Thanks," Dick replies before letting his hand fall.

His fingers tingle from nerves as he turns to the problem of getting off this roof. What equipment did he wear on his person 8 years ago?

He fumbles through the pouches on his utility belt, finding a few wingdings, some first aid, and... wow, that grapple looks outdated.

Dick sighs, pulling it out and briefly eyeing the piece of equipment. The coarse line runs through his fingers, but the bulky gear still fits into his hands as muscle memory takes over.

He takes a moment to refamiliarize himself with the feeling of the gear and chart a way home... a mess-up mid-air would not improve his night.

And then he steps up onto the rooftops ledge.

"Here we go," he mutters under his breath.

The grapple releases with a jolt and Dick's feet leave the roof as he begins to swing further into the past. Hopefully he can find the Batcave before Jason finds him.

(A/N Hello!  Thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed the story so far!  I always love to hear your thoughts and reactions, so don't be afraid to comment on and vote on the story if you've enjoyed it ;)  Part two is coming right up!  Thanks again and see you there!)