Forever an Apprentice

Just the way things are

5 MONTHS LATER

"Hey." A figure casually lurked in the shadows.

"Wing?" Robin turned around almost excited.

"Yeah." His voice sounded sad, sorrowful and downcast.

"What's wrong?" Robin eyed him. He couldn't wait to tell me him the news, but why did Nightwing sound so sad?

"A lot of things have changed since I saw you last." Nightwing answered gravely.

"Yeah I know! Batman finally let me on the streets last night! After all these months of training, I'm finally out there with him!" Robin smiled brightly.

"I know. Alfred told me. I came to see it for myself." Nightwing sighed.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Robin asked seriously.

"After BeastBoy was injured with no chance of full recovery, we...the team...it fell apart. And to top it off, they didn't even trust me anymore. I meant to tell you sooner but...Starfire went back to her planet, Raven left to god knows where, and I think Cyborg stayed in Jump City. I've been hanging in Bludhaven." Nightwing explained.

"But BeastBoy's accident was over 3 months ago!" Robin furrowed his eyebrows in frustration over this new information.

"I know. I couldn't bring myself over to Gotham after it happened, until now." Nightwing sighed.

"So Slade really did win in the end didn't he? You swore you guys would never break up, no matter what happened, no matter what Slade did. But you did. Slade got the best of you after all." Robin shook his head in disappointment.

"You have no idea..." Nightwing thought. After everything that had happened...he couldn't believe Slade had won. "Okay look. That's not what I came here to talk to you about. I have to return to Bludhaven soon."

"Okay, what did you come here to talk to me about?" Robin crossed his arms.

Nightwing sighed and stepped forward and bended down to his level. "I wanted to give you some advice. Being Robin isn't a game. I know it may seem like one, but it's not. Lives are on the line. Make one mistake, hesitate even once, somebody or even yourself could die. You need to know that."

"I know..." Jason sighed.

"You'll be better than I ever was. You have passion and a good heart. And those are things I don't have anymore. I have Scars and I will always remember what it was like to be bad. It changed me. To the point were there was no return. I'll aways have that inside me, that evil. It's there, but I know how to control it. Never let evil get in you. Because once you let it in, it never leaves. Once you go down that path, there's no turning back." Nightwing let himself ramble on.

"Did it really change you that much?" Jason looked at him astonished.

"Yeah." Nightwing held a faraway look in his eyes. "I gotta go. Take care of yourself Jay." Patting him on the back, Nightwing stood up and slipped back Into the shadows.
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"Did you have a nice trip to Gotham?" A familiar voice asked from the shadows as Nightwing entered the dark room.

"It was fine." Nightwing slightly growled.

"Good. Because I need you to do something for me." A photo was slid across the table.

Nightwing looked at it with curiosity.

"Find her."

"Why? Why her?" Nightwing bit his lip.

"Don't question me. Just do it." He growled.