Nico Di Angelo in Gotham

Dick is not Emotionally Constipated like Bruce(aka 'Hey' part 2)

Dick's POV

It was... a night to say the least. Thanks for asking.

It was a normal patrol with Tim at first. You know the usual; beating up thugs, stopping bank robberies, etc.

Anyways, Tim and I were grappling from building to building when I saw a man that looked like a criminal. Not to say that there was a distinct type of person that looked like a criminal, but I was no novice when it came to crime fighting or picking criminals out from a crowd. It was in their stance, the way they held themselves, paranoid yet arrogant at the same time. The said criminal looking man was wearing what person with a less than average income in Gotham would, and yet he had Rolex, and what looked like a golden ring(it wasn't on his wedding finger). He sure looked like the average crook.

His eyes were dead set on an alleyway, and he was making towards it. His pace was fast and purposeful. Though I couldn't see into the alley, there was probably a person in it.

"Hey, Red I'm going to go follow him. You go back to the cave," I said to Tim, not looking at him, I knew Tim had analyzed the man and what he was doing faster than I did. "Okay Nightwing," Tim replied, he had cases to work on, and he knew that I could deal with an average crook.

So Tim grappled away while I jumped to the building next to the alleyway the man was heading too. I walked across the rooftops, following the guy, who turned into said alleyway.

In honesty he looked a bit surprised, but that was a valid reaction, because I was also kind of surprised too. Kids generally knew not to wander on the streets of Gotham at night.

He was somewhere around 14. But the kid looked malnourished, like he had never seen what a sandwich was in his life. His skin was a pale olive, like he never had seen the sun before, contrasting with black hair and dark eyes. His expression looked split in half, mostly he just held this look of nothing, numbness. But on the other hand, he looked as he were about to just break down into tears. I almost just dropped down from the roof and hugged him, but I held some restraint.

The boy looked dizzy, not even realizing that there was another person in the alleyway. Well, until the criminal looking guy spoke.

Then the guy said cringe worthy, yet normal criminal stuff. The guy looked like he was trying so hard to be menacing, but in the end he failed.

I mean sloppy moves and no weapon would do that, I guess.

I almost stepped in. I almost helped the kid, but his reactions were..... questionable. He was... angry? Confused? Amused?

Then I was about to step in when the mugger threw a sloppy punch, then two seconds later the man was on the ground.

"Thank you, for effectively wasting my time," the kid had said. It was cool, I had to admit. I filed the one-liner for later comments in a fight. I would definitely use that one.

For a moment I hesitated, then then hopped down into the alleyway, knocked the man out. Then I turned on my comm. Notifying the police the there was an unconscious goon in one of xxxx street's alleyways.

Then I followed the boy from above.

...

It was kind of boring, but it was even more confusing. The kid wove in and out of the streets of Gotham. Heading one way, then turning around when he realized it wasn't the place wanted to be. Then, finally the guy stopped at a wall, and I realized where we were.

Gotham Cemetery

Maybe the boy didn't know where he was.

But for some reason, maybe my Nightwing senses, told me that he did know where he was. And that was concerning.