Shatranj | D. Al Ghul

[02]

Richard had just returned to his apartment after a long and tiring day at work. He took off his cap and blazer, the dim light catching onto the GCPD badge as he placed it aside. 

Life had changed a lot for them all after Jason's death. Bruce blamed himself for taking Jason on that mission, he blamed himself for not reaching there on time and for not stopping the Joker. And that guilt of losing a son ate him up alive.

It had been eight years since that fateful night in Bosnia but somehow none of them could truly move on from it.

Apparently, it seemed as if things had come back on track after such a lot of time but in reality, that wasn't the case.

Richard had started working in the GCPD and his daily life had gotten even more hectic with saving the city in the daytime as a police officer and donning his suit at night as a vigilante. He had also shifted to an apartment close to the GCPD headquarters as he often worked late and it wasn't easy to commute back and forth from the suburbs.

After Jason, he had given up the title of Robin and eventually took up a new identity of Nightwing.

Robin's post, however, wasn't empty either as Tim Drake eventually filled Jason's shoes. He had gotten adopted two years after Jay's death and brought a little light into their increasingly dull lives.

But there was a hole left in their hearts that no one else could fill. Jason could not be replaced.

And so they were still struggling with the fate of losing him, especially Bruce as he blamed himself for Jay's death.

Then recently with the abrupt appearance of the Red Hood in Gotham, things had been in much more turmoil than usual.

Bruce was on edge again because it seemed the Red Hood knew him personally and held a very deep grudge against him. So Richard had an added responsibility of seeing to it that Bruce didn't lose control over himself along with all the things he was managing already.

He was like the adhesive to their family that was crumbling apart and he couldn't afford to break down himself. He was holding them all together along with Alfred and it was a heavy responsibility indeed.

He kicked off his shoes and collapsed on the couch, checking his phone to see if he had gotten any text from the family. There was one text from Tim telling him that Bruce had grounded him and he could not go on patrol. Other than that, there was nothing else.

He placed his phone down and closed his eyes briefly. If he was back at the manor, Alfred would have offered him warm milk and cookies then they could have talked about his day. But in his apartment, there was no one else to talk to.

He felt terribly alone and decided he should go to the manor for the upcoming weekend. Despite seeing them all on patrol, he missed them.

He had dozed off for some time until he was woken up by a sound outside. It seemed as if someone had slumped against his front door.

Richard looked at the time, it was quite late and he had to leave for patrol too. But then he decided to go and check who was outside first.

Cautiously he opened the door and saw a broad-shouldered man slumped against the wall. His face was turned away so Richard couldn't see who it was but he noticed the injuries and the sharp smell of cigarette smoke.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked gently, observing him to check whether he had any weapons on him or not.

He only got a muffled grunt in reply so he stepped out to see closely what was wrong with the man.

"Look, you're hurt. I can help you treat these cuts," he offered.

"I don't need help," he mumbled, fumbling with his lighter to light up his cigarette.