Son of Justice

Chapter 9

Dick hated waiting, or sitting still, or being injured, or.... or everything he was ordered by Dr. Tompkins to do. Four weeks off his leg. FOUR! Than they'd revisit the injury and see what it looks like. At least it was a clean brake. Nothing that needed surgery for. It just had been such a shock of pain to his system that he passed out. The impact to his head along with the fire kept him out for a good twenty minuets.

He's texted back and forth with Kaldur most days because the man seemed to have the most time to talk. Also it was Kaldur who contacted him first to ask how he'd been doing. Nightwing had just started texting and texting and texting until he fell asleep the first time. Kaldur didn't seem to mind, probably thankful to get back to work.

Damian and Jason helped with Bludhaven with the added need of Cass. Poor fools. They wouldn't know what hit them. Dick debated texting Kaldur again the next day but his ADHD and boredom won out. Unsurprisingly it was seven hours until the man got back to him, replying with what they had for a mission that day. And they talked once more for hours.

When the four weeks were up, Dick was beyond ready to leave the manor and get rid of his crutches. But his family had hid his suit, his bike, and called his boss telling her he had shattered his leg and needed to stay off his feet and that he'd be back in, in five weeks at minimum.

Dick didn't care. He found an extra mask before slowly walking down the steps to the zata tube. He could have zata'd to Titan's Tower or even to his own warehouse in Bludhaven, but he chose instead to wonder to the Watch Tower. When the white faded and his name echoed across the halls, Dick sighed. He should have hacked the damn thing so it wouldn't call out his name.

"Tt, you should be resting."

Dick smirked slightly, "Nice to see you too, Robin." He looked down at his youngest brother.

"Are you hard of hearing? I will call Father." Robin threatened.

Nightwing reached out, tussling the black hair, "Sure. Sure. I'm just sick of staying in the house. I got approved by Agent 'A' to wonder up here."

Robin hissed again, "If you hurt that leg in any way-"

"I'm not going too." Nightwing countered already walking away from the conversation, "Call B' if you don't believe me." With a wave, Nightwing was gone around the corner, and out of sight.

Walking around the space base was the most free he'd felt in the past four weeks. But the slight ache in his leg said it was time to sit down. Dick debated sitting in the common room, only to shoot it down. The others would question him like no tomorrow and Batman had done it the past four weeks.

After some wondering, Dick found the person he'd been looking for. The man could live up to Batman's expectations of work effort, if Kaldur didn't mind never sleeping again. Dick walked up to the man's side, and promptly sat down in the vacant chair. Kaldur startled, his coffee splashing his hand.

"You should learn to control your emotions." Dick commented blandly, "Your vary easy to read."

"I was not expecting anyone." Kaldur whipped away the coffee with an acquired tissue, "If my memory serves me justice, I locked the door."

"You did." Dick nodded, leaning back and placing his broken leg on the table, "But your forget, this is a comment place for supper heroes. A small lock on a door means vary little to us."

"I thought it may give the impression I wished to be alone."

Dick grinned, "If you want to be left alone, you should have put a sock on the door instead. It also might invite others in."

Kaldur sighed, "I've forgotten that Bats tend to have dry and blunt humor."

"Yours is the same if I remember right." Dick leaned back with a sigh, "I hate being benched."

"Who's protecting your streets?"

"Black Bat and Robin. Red Hood too when he can. I feel bad for the criminals. None of those three are really the type to go easy on someone."

"I've noticed. Red Hood aside, Robin and Black Bat seem to have a vary efficient and brutal fighting styles. Styles I've only seen the League of Assassins and Shadows use." Kaldur gave Dick a knowing look, "Though that seems above my place to question, Batman."

Dick sighed, "It's not that, just... not widely known. Yes, Robin and Black Bat were trained by Ra's Al Ghul. But so was everyone else that is a bat. Except Signal. He's remained untrained as of yet. At least for a bat. Likes that day time too. Such a black sheep, our Signal."

Kaldur lowered his coffee from his lips, "All of the Bats? Including Batman?"

"Especially Batman. Ra's wanted Batman as his heir. Batman had other plans. Robin in a product of Talia Al' Ghul's and Batman's... relationship. Talia dropped him at our door, when Robin was ten and left." Dick stretched, hearing the large pop in his back, "It was a big adjustment for all of us."

"He seems... vary formal." Kaldur tired for neutrality.

"He was born a prince of assassins. It was a vary vary big adjustment." Dick thought a moment before admitting, "And he can still be a brat at times, but at least the stick up his ass isn't as deep."

Kaldur sighed, "All you bats are crude."

"We live in Gotham. This is tame."

"Batman and Tame, do not belong in the same conversation."

Dick snorted, "No, no they do not."

"How is the leg?"

"Fine. Healing. I'll live."

"They're worse things than death."

Dick laughed, "Yeah, it's called living."

Kaldur shook his head, but his lips curled into a slight smirk, "Do you remember who set off the bomb?"

"Yes." Dick admitted, "We were looking for him the past month."

"This 'prankster'," Kaldur guessed.

"Yes. He's goes after crypt politicians and business men. I'd have left him alone if those people weren't torchered into admitting their crimes. You know the saying, 'It will cost me and arm and a leg,'?"

"Yes. I do."

"Well a land lord raised the prices so much on his housing, that his tents went into det. So Oswald took the land lord, tossed him in a hole and dropped a wolf in with him. The wolf ripped off his arm to eat." Nightwing grimaced, "He also left a video recording of the man admitting to do thing that were illegal. He's got forty year in jail, because of the confession."

Kaldur grimaced as well, "I take it, you know something else about him."

"He wanted someone to pay for his father's death... but the man who did it, killed himself in prison, he was so repentent. So he shifted blame to the man's brother. The man was a mayor. Worked his ass off, worked around al this shit that happened with his brother and became mayor. With all that Oswald did to assholes and other corrupt people, everyone believe him when he said the mayor was syphoning money from the treasury. It didn't help that the mayor was hiding a wanted criminal as well."

Kaldur frowned, "He wasn't syphoning money?"

"No. But Oswald had cut all electricity in the city, and it was chaos. I was there looking for the criminal the mayor had been hiding. When everything was done, Oswald and the criminal were in custody, and the mayor was voted out. Over seventy people were killed, and countless others injured." Nightwing looked at his leg, "And now he's in my city."

"After you." Kaldur concluded, "And you have secrets he can find?"

Nightwing gave Kaldur a tightlipped smile, as Kaldur fit some of the peises together, "I got more secrets to be contained, and those secrets shouldn't ever reach the light of day." Getting up, he stretched and walked away, "See you out on the streets in an other three weeks."

"Have a good day."

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