Ode to Nightwing

Chapter 15: Nightglider

        Silence. Silence was the only thing anyone could hear in the Batcave. Even the bats were silent, even though dusk was upon the world. Silence dripped and oozed from every crack in the cave. It leaked from the machines, which didn't buzz or hum. Everything was in shock. Everyone was speechless.

        I blinked slowly, swallowing back the bile in my throat. Dick was mad at me and all I wanted to do was fight alongside him. To fight crime with him. "Dick-" I begin, but he cuts me off with a glare.

        "I'm heading out. Don't wait up on me." He growls before heading out of the Batcave and up into the mansion. And then there was silence again. 

        "Callie, he didn't mean-" Tim starts, but I just shake my head.

        "He did. You know he did." I take a deep breath before turning to the three of them. "Now... How about we work on the design for my new outfit?" I fake a smile and Tim smiles back, Alfred giving me a small one as Bruce just looks for any cracks in my facade. "Come on. It'll be fun."

That Night

        I lay in bed, thinking about what Dick had said. He was right, that was his choice, to save me then from my choice, so why wasn't now the same thing? He was just trying to protect me from making another bad decision that could result in me dying. 

        But I could help others. I could protect them. I could save them from the nasty people in town, like my uncle and his associates. I wouldn't die a useless death if it meant helping others. 

        I screamed into a pillow before throwing it across the room, hitting the door with it, the pillow thudding against the ground. It was so unfair. He was right and I wish he wasn't. 

        A motorcycle's engine pulls into the front area, looping around, its light shining into the bedroom. It stops in the front, and I can hear the grand front doors open. I stuff my face into the pillow and drown out all noise, ignoring the fact that the bedroom door opened.

        It shut softly, the light from the hall diminishing. The footsteps were faint, but they were still there. I barely breathed, trying not to react as the figure sat on the bed, silent. 

        The silence droned on for a few minutes, neither of us saying anything, even though both of us wanted to. I could smell the alcohol. The alcohol that lingered on his breath, and the smoke from the bar that clung to his clothes. It was almost the perfect story, where the guy went out to a bar, hooked up with a girl, before coming back to break up with the one he cheated on. 

        But I couldn't jump to conclusions though. He could've just been at a bar. Which means he might be drunk. 

        "Callie..." His voice broke the silence and I stiffened, thinking that I would have to be the person to break the silence, to give in. "I shouldn't have said any of that." He whispers and I sit up, turning on the bed to face him. 

        "You don't have to apologize. You're right. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." My voice was softer than I wanted, and I cleared my throat. "Dick.... I can help. You know I can. And if Batman trains me then... Then I won't be immediately put into danger." He doesn't speak. "I know... I've heard the story about the accident with Barbara and the Joker."

        "It wasn't just her." Dick mumbles and I frown. 

        "What do you mean?"

        "The second Robin. Joker.... He ugh, killed him."

        "Oh my- I'm so sorry."