Nightwing Returns

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"Terrance Jason Grayson!"

He found himself drawn towards the ruckus upon hearing the shouting of children. No matter how much he distanced himself from his vigilante past, hearing children in potential trouble always drew him back into hero mode. Finding his son in the middle of said ruckus made his throat strain, yet Richard John Grayson heard the disappointed tone of his voice.

His mind flickered to his past, remembering a tone of voice he'd preferred forgetting, particularly since the thought of failure lingered at the back of his mind. In the past, he always found some way to drag himself home, his eyes glued towards the ground, unwilling to look him in the eye only to find himself greeted by silence. Dick found himself leaving Gotham behind completely after that failure.

Deftly, Dick reached out, grabbing his son's wrist as the boy attempted decking the other child again. "Terrance! Stop!"

The boy's head snapped to attention. The boy's robin blue eyes glared at his father in defiance, reminding the man of the person from whom Terry got his middle name. The other children scattered, making the acrobat think back to his own youth with his own father and the scuffles he found himself getting into. Sometimes, he didn't want to remember, yet he found himself thinking of his past right now, in that very moment.

With the agility of a Grayson, he scooped the boy over his shoulder, not caring one bit regarding how Terry started demanding his father put him down, going so far as to refer to him as a dickhead. Dick arrived at the family caravan, his calloused hand reaching out to open the door. He plopped his son down onto the bed, placing his hands onto his hips. The boy's mother looked up from the kitchen where she was preparing food. "What was that about?"

Terry folded his arms across his chest, his lip curling into a pout.

"Terry."

"They said..."

Dick took a deep breath upon hearing the boy grow silent. "Terry. What did they say?"

"They said all vigilantes are criminals."

Dick froze, glancing up at Helena. She continued whatever preparations she was working on, listening to the music over the radio. Taking a deep breath, his attention returned to his small son. "Where did this come from?"

"Everybody's talking about Batman and Superman, and how Batman's super scary, but Superman's some kind of extraterrestrial threat."

"No. I mean your worry that all vigilantes are criminals? Where did that come from?"

"Isn't that why you and mama quit, tati?" The words made Dick freeze.

"He knows." Helena piped up. "He found our old attire."

"How? Not only is that locked up, it's a place nobody would think hid anything."

"What can I say. He's your son."

"He's also your son Helena."

She turned, brushing a lock of blonde hair behind her ear – her current choice in hair color. "With that, you might as well bring up the fact he's their grandson. No, give yourself more credit for once."

Dick sighed, brushing back a lock of Terry's hair. "No. Neither of us quit for that reason."

"Particularly since your tati would jump in and rescue people with or without the suit."

"Then did you quit because you're afraid of Batman?"

"No." Helena said, but Dick said the exact opposite. Terry frowned. A sigh escaped her mouth. "Terrance, if Batman ever crossed the line – by that, I mean killing someone, your tati would personally see to taking him down. When your tati says he's afraid of Batman, he means he's afraid of Batman every crossing that line."

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