Robin one shot part 3!

It cost me an arm but not a leg

TW: SERIOUS INJURY

It was supposed to be his night off but he was never one for a quiet night in. Damian called him around midnight asking if he could cover his shift since something came up. That something, as Dick found out through Bruce, was his cat getting sick. He said yes even with that added information since he knew the boy wouldn't be in the game if he was forced to be out at work. Besides, he had nothing to do. So, on his night off, Dick donned his Nightwing suit and flipped about Gotham. He was supposed to stop at around three in the morning so there went his hope for a decent night's sleep but maybe Damian could be called in for a favour in the future. He'd gotten through the night with little to show for it. It seemed that everyone heard Nightwing was in town and decided they'd have themselves the night off to plot or whatever criminals did when they weren't committing crimes. He was heading back home, filing the night away as a bust, but was halted by the glowing of a fire. A building block had been set ablaze and firemen were ducking in and out to save people. Ever the hero, he jumped into action.

"Evening folks, where do you want me?" he asked one of the free firefighters.

"Oh thank God, there are people trapped on the top floors. Think you can get up there?" He smirked and nodded, already shooting his grappling hook up to get up there. His suit was flame resistant to an extent. He couldn't chill in a fire for four hours but he could dip in and out to save families so he didn't see the job as anything more dangerous than a mugging. It took some manoeuvring around fires bursting out of windows but Nightwing finally managed to get inside the building and got to work finding people. He was wary at the fire licking the walls and eating away at their materials but he still didn't regard the fire on the same level as his more dangerous antics. It was just a building fire probably started from someone frying chicken a little recklessly or sleeping with their candles lit. This was all in a day's work in his opinion. How bad could it get?

Batman heard about the fire over the radio. He didn't think much of it at first since firefighters were already on scene and chose a robbery at Wayne Labs over it. He felt some guilt as he turned away from the fire but then he heard Nightwing was on scene and decided it would be well handled. The firefighters plus his protege? Everything would be okay. He trusted Nightwing to be on his game and he'd funnelled enough money into the city fire service over the years. They were trained well enough, weren't they? They'd be fine. Yet, there was this feeling that kept digging into him as he drove to Wayne Labs. One that told him something was off but he couldn't put his finger on what so he kept dipping into the channel for the fire every now and then for some reassurance. There were updates on civilians being helped out of the building by Nightwing and each of them had a few injuries here and there. He eventually turned off the report to deal with the robbers.

There was an almighty creak above his head as the fire ravaged the building much faster than previously expected. He felt terrible for pushing people out of the window when they were clearly terrified of leaping at such a great height but he needed to keep funnelling the civilians out before the whole place collapsed. Below they'd be captured by the firemen so he couldn't feel too bad when he heard them screech in fear. It didn't make him feel much better though. Luckily, the building was short compared to the apartment blocks surrounding it and he could see why. This place would never get clearance for such a thing when it was made out of pure fire fuel. He dreaded to think about the possibilities of what would happen had it been taller. Nightwing reached the top floor after helping someone else out of the window and he began to yell out for anyone and everyone left behind. His lungs and nose were starting to burn from the black smoke consuming the air and he was sweating buckets from the pure heat of the fire slowly cooking him alive. He felt like a lobster being boiled and he was sure he looked like it too. The last civilian had commented on his flushed cheeks and told him to get the fuck out of dodge but he was never one for self-preservation. "Hello? Anyone here?" he yelled but there came no reply. The fire had gotten to the top floor now and he knew that he should get out now but what if someone was unconscious in their flat and couldn't hear his calls? He couldn't damn them to burn.