Nightwing: Legacy

Chapter 3.2

Thomas went downstairs to finish up some final things in the armory of the cave. He was sat on one of the benches, wearing black combat pants and a sleeveless underarmor shirt.

He had two holsters strapped to his thighs, ancored to the belt on his pants. His boot was tapping on the ground while he was messing with the pouches on his battle belt.

Thomas was too focused to see it, but when Jason came in to check on him he stopped. The back wall of every locker glowed, giving enough light for Jason to see the scars on Thomas' arms.

A gash on his left bicep, his scarred knuckles, an 'X' on the side of his right arm. And the dots and cuts circling around his forearms.

He swallowed, stepping forward as Thomas finished loading the pouches on his utility belt, "you put duct tape on your heels? Those boots will make you blister."

"Yeah, it's already done."

"Did you-"

"Yes, Jason. Everything's tight. I've got spares, I've got a tourniquet, I've got extra ammo."

Jason paused, looking at Thomas' holsters, "you're carrying?"

"Only on the field. It's rare I fire them, but I like having them. Can't tell you why, just feels safe," Thomas said, but he knew exactly why, though he'd never tell.

Jason nodded, sitting down next to Thomas as the younger man spoke, "is everyone set?"

"Tim and Steph having their last date in case things go south. Barb is on the phone with her dad. Cass seems nervous, I don't know why."

Thomas didn't even look up at Jason as he stood, clipping on the battle belt. He started checking his gear, that his shirt was tucked in, his boots were laced properly, his knee pads tight.

With out hesitation he answered Jason's thoughts, "her mother is one of the League's generals. They haven't spoken since Cass left, well, they didn't speak, but you get the point."

"Shit, you're right."

"Don't worry, it could be worse. If David Cain was still alive then I don't think she'd be able to suit up."

Jason looked at Thomas, who had finished his gear check, "I didn't know you kept so many tabs."

"It's my job to know everything. And besides, even if you all didn't love me, I loved you."

It wasn't subtle at all, but Thomas still succeeded in trying to make Jason feel like shit for leaving him. Something in his head felt better, as if he was taking his pain and giving it to Jason.

Jason sat there, watching as Thomas walked away, grabbing one of his masks off of a mannequin. Jason looked at the suit, standing up to observe Thomas' first Nightwing suit.

He could see the inspirations in the suit. The material allowed for flexibility, and the range of motion necessary to pull off acrobatic stunts coined by Dick Grayson.

But there were other things, too. The design in the boots, gauntlets, and the ridges above the chevron were similar to something Stephanie Brown had done with her suit.

The red stripes at the hips, similar to Cass' suit. And the mask that was once there was in a similar shape to Tim's.

But the material, kevlar. Exaclty the kind Jason would have used for such a design.

The suit was a combination of the best qualities of each member of the batfamily's suits.

Jason looked at the suit next to it, and his heart ached a little bit. It was more armored, with a red chevron arcing over the shoulders. There were high tech gauntlets, and armored boots.