Nightwing: Heartache

Part 31: Reveal

November 23, 11:59pm
Gotham City

When Dick had told Barbara of his and Willa's fight at Taos, she had just laughed, which annoyed Dick even more.

'What?' he demanded.

'Oh nothing, it's just so puzzling what could be causing all that tension...' she laughed at him. Tim laughed at him. Alfred laughed at him. Dick ignored them all and went out on patrol.

Of course she can't just sit back, Dick thought. Wasn't he waiting for her to say something like that? Hadn't he caused it, forcing the Team back into Willa's life? He knew her. He knew how generous and compassionate, kind, and responsible she was. He knew how protective of people she was, especially kids, and all of that was before she knew Dick was Nightwing. So, yes, it made complete sense that Willa would see meta-teens, abandoned, scared, looking for advice, and immediately want to make their lives easier.

Nightwing dodged the punch at his head and easily stepped aside, flipping the man trying to steal a car over his shoulder.

It was annoying. It was inconvenient. It was stupidly obvious.

But what choice did he have? He slapped a pair of handcuffs on the car thief and disappeared into the shadows once the police were on their way. Did he ruin Willa's life again by coming back into it? But if he hadn't... the threats, the violence, was he playing into the Light's hands again or was he making sure they couldn't hurt her? It was hard to say. It was too big a risk to guess wrong.

Nightwing expertly climbed a drain pipe to make it to rooftop levels, running and scanning the ground below while listening to the police frequency. It felt good to be out like this. Not looking for a larger evil plot, just helping people where he could.

He made it to one of his favorite roofs. It was one of Batman's favorites too. He trained Dick on this roof. Taught him how to listen to the city, how to sit in silence, and how to jump off roofs safely.

But tonight, Nightwing didn't sit down. He didn't relax. Because he wasn't alone.

He scanned the roof, the darkness, completely still. His body was poised to take flight, but he couldn't see a threat. If it wasn't in front of him–

He dove to the side as someone landed right where he had been standing. Nightwing whipped out his escrima sticks, facing his attacker. It was the same Shadow from Malina Island, the same Shadow on Nightwing's tail for months.

The Shadow lunged, vicious and fast, swinging a dagger at Nightwing's stomach. Nightwing dodged, weaving around the blades and striking back. They matched blow to blow, but something was different. The Shadow swung to kill. Nightwing aimed for pressure points, flipping and dodging to wear the Shadow out. It was working.

The Shadow was sloppy, lunging and leaving himself open, trying to stab Nightwing. He was angry. Nightwing could use that.

The next time the Shadow struck with his arm extended, Nightwing glided to the side, caught the Shadow's arm and twisted him over his shoulder. He heard the Shadow scream through gritted teeth as he hit the ground, his shoulder out of its socket.

He thought he had the upper hand, a quick chop to the temple would drop the attacker, but the Shadow perfectly blocked Nightwing's strike, like he knew.

Irked, Nightwing flipped out of the way of the Shadow's kick, returning one of his own. And when Nightwing went for a jab to the throat, the Shadow did the same, which only resulted in them punching each other in the knuckles. Nightwing cursed in his head, making a quick decision before charging at the Shadow, faking a blow and ducking under his arm before using the Shadow's chest as a springboard to kick him into the nearby wall.

The Shadow fell to his knees. Nightwing spun around and kicked him across the face, sending his mask flying. Nightwing staggered back as the Shadow screeched and clawed at his face, jerking back to get away from Dick.

Nightwing ripped off his own mask. "Wait-" he tried to catch the Shadow's arm but the figure stumbled away, his body jerking, spasming, until he fell off the roof.

"No!" Nightwing ran to the edge, but the Shadow was gone. Vanished. He crouched down, catching his breath, but not from the fight. It wasn't a random Shadow. Never had been.

It was Jason.