Ode to Nightwing

Chapter 14: Increased Tension

        I shuffle on the ground. It creaks in response, but only slightly. Tim almost coughs, but he holds it in, a pillow firmly in his grasp. 

        I suck in a breath as the door creaks open, allowing the light from the hall to find its way into the bedroom. I spot Dick's feet from under the bed, pressing my face into the bat-shaped symbol pillow that Dick had gotten me a few weeks ago.

        Dick shuffles and moves around the bedroom, checking behind areas and in the on-suite. He then heads back to the door, turning off the hall light before shutting the door loudly. 

        I wait for a few minutes, making eye contact with Tim before shuffling backwards, crawling out from under the bed. I get all the way out until something grabs my ankles and I'm yanked into the air, upside down. I drop my pillow to the ground , my outstretched arms still not reaching the floor. I look up at the ceiling, even though I'm looking down, and I see hands wrapped around my ankles, the hands belonging to Dick, who was perched on one of the platforms he had near the ceiling. He had used the rope cord to jump down and grab me.

        "How the heck man?" Tim calls up, having crawled out from under also. "You left the room."

        I sigh. "He did to turn the light off, so that when he jumped over the door and onto a perch, we wouldn't see his shadow."

        "Come on, Tim. She got that and you didn't." Dick stated into the shadows and both Tim and I look at him.

        "I'm offended." We say in unison before Dick allows both of us to touch the ground. 

        "I win. Victory is mine." Dick gloats and I frown at him. 

        "How'd you know we were under there?"

        "Tim's feet were sticking out." Dick replies and I take my pillow and smack Tim in the chest. 

        There was a knock at the door before Alfred entered, turning the light on to reveal Dick holding me back from attacking Tim with the pillows. "Miss Callie, Master Bruce has need for you." 

        Dick lets me go and I walk towards the door, throwing the pillow back at him, but he catches it. 

        "What does Bruce want to talk to me about?" I ask as we leave the boys' hearing range. 

        "We are to decide your outfit, and fit you into the Batgirl outfit so you will have something to wear until yours is ready."

        "Hey, Alfred?" I question.

        We begin to descend down into the batcave. "Yes?"

        "What do you think of the name Nightglider?"

        "It sounds tacky!" Bruce says from in front of the batcomputer.

        "I believe it is a strong name, Miss Callie." Alfred answers and I grin. 

        "Then Nightglider it is. I like it, and Alfred likes it, so it's all good." I giggle at Bruce, who was just shaking his head. 

        "Master Bruce has requested that the latest material be put into your new outfit." Alfred continues, and Bruce pulls up an image of his suit, the batcomputer talking. 

        "'Batsuit Version 8.03', an advanced suit designed with flexible plates overlaying a MR-fluid, magnetorheological fluid, armor layer. The tri-weave bodysuit consists of an outer and inner layer made from a titanium-dipped tri-weave fiber mesh. Sandwiched in between is the MR-fluid based liquid armor system. The proprietary WayneTech Smart MR-fluid hardens in response to impacts, specifically designed to provide superior shock absorption, as well as enabling greater force delivery behind counterattacks. The liquid body armor layer is also more flexible than the ceramic or fiber-based alternatives used in previous suits, allowing for greater maneuverability and faster elimination of multiple targets in quick succession." The batcomputer stops and I just stare in awe at the material. 

        "MR-fluid? You actually have that and have been using it in the suit."

        Bruce nods. "Yes. However, we haven't been using it for long. It's still new to WayneTech. I want your suit made out of the same material, and Fox will be working with the design features as well as Alfred."

        "Fox?"

        "Lucius Fox. He works with WayneTech and the Batman." Alfred answers and I nod slightly, trying to wrap my head around the cool gear that I was going to obtain.

        "So, I'm going to be getting cool gadgets and gear that you use?" I question Bruce, who looked uncertain. "What?"

        "The gear would have to be more suited towards your body mass, and your physical strength. You will need to increase your mental and physical prowess immensely if you are to take on any of the crooks running around Gotham." Bruce explains and I pout at him. 

        "Come on, I am plenty strong and plenty.... mental?"

        Bruce beckons towards me, gesturing for me to come at him. I raise an eyebrow and oblige, running at him and feigning left before going right, thinking that Bruce had fallen for it, but he punches my gut sending me up into the air slightly from the impact before he wraps his hand around my wrist and slams me down onto the cold steel ground, his boot pressed firmly onto the back of my neck. My arm was still in his grasp, and he could easily snap it with one flick of his wrist. Alfred was just standing by, as if this happened occasionally with the Bat Family. "From now on, you will be training my way. Dick has been babying you."

        I grumble a response into the floor. Bruce releases me and I sit up, rubbing every muscle I could reach because my whole body was suddenly sore, especially my gut and my neck. "He's really been babying me?" I mumble. "And all this time I thought he was actually proud of me."

        "Look what you did, Bruce." I look over my shoulder to see Dick standing by Alfred, Tim on the other side of him. 

        "She needs to be ready for the real world."

        "She shouldn't be going out there in the first place. You didn't even want her here and now you're putting her in a suit and making her fight crime with you, just like Robin." Dick was mad. 

        I stood up. "He isn't making me do anything. This is my choice. Not yours."

        He snapped. "If I didn't make a choice for you, you wouldn't be standing here right now!"