Nightwing: Legacy

Chapter 5.2

I'm not sure how much longer I can keep fighting. We're two battles in and I'm already at maximum bandwith.

Things hurt a lot. My brain won't shut up, always buzzing with something. My right leg is aching from the pressure I've put on it.

I want to give up. What's the point in fighting for a sick city? My family has been trying to cure it since they helped found it, and we haven't been able to.

So what's the point? I'm sure I'll die not having made a difference in the crime rates. My kids might follow in the same path. That is, if anyone ever loves me enough to share that with me.

I just want someone to hold me and tell me everything will be alright, but I'm afraid of letting someone that close.

And I'm still leaning against my mother's tombstone, looking at the piles of dirt covering my father and friend.

I buried them myself. And then I scratched their names into wood planks I dug into the ground until I can get headstones and the legal mumbo-jumbo taken care of.

I like to imagine my mom and dad are reaching out for each other, finding one another in whatever afterlife I have a hard time believing in.

They truly loved each other. Dad would always find time to make mom her favorite meals. And she would always be there to destress him.

I'll never have a love like that. I can't even love myself. I'm sitting here, screaming at myself in my head.

Evil. Weak. Disappoiment. No wonder they left you. You're no reason to stay. You're a worhless piece of shit who has no purpose in life. If you could call it a life. It's not even a joke. Jokes have meaning.

Stop! Please. Be quiet for one minute. Before I start wanting to kill myself again.

***

Nightwing stood with James Gordon and General Swanson.

"We're dealing with another chemical agent," Nightwing informed them. "In 2016 there was a deadly strain of Influenza that ripped through Hong Kong. It wasn't actually flu, the government just covered it up. The virus was actually called Alpha-Omega. It's something the Triad developed."

James sighed, "tell me you're working on a cure."

"Yes, Deathstroke was the only remaining ARGUS operative with the innoculation."

"Was?" Gordon asked.

"He took Batman and Penny-One off the board. I had to return the favor."

Gordon paused, trying to decipher 'Penny-One', and eventually he did, "I'm sorry."

"Wasn't your fault. Point is, I've got access to his blood."

"And you're sure you've got the cure?" Swanson asked.

Nightwing turned to him, "no. That's why I asked for an evacuation. And you couldn't get it started in time."

Swanson countered, "I had to verify your statement."

"Why would I lie? So I can take Gotham for my own?" Nightwing mocked him, adding another thought: "For years I've been Gotham's one and only protector. The only thing I'm hiding is my name."

He turned to James, "have you heard from Lucius? I'd like his help. He's had experience with this."

James shook his head, "he's not in the city. Took a bus to make sure his family got out okay, but couldn't get back inside."

"Alright, tell him to stay out. Speaking of family, Oracle's safe."

"Good."

Pops filled the air, like listening to a bag of popcorn cook in the microwave. Except that these pops were much louder. Yells, and screams, and orders were shot at the same frequency as the bullets.