Vigilante Struggles

Chapter 30

"Can you find him?" Deathstroke snapped at the telepath. Psimon's head jerked up to look at Wilson. He could feel the rage expunging from him. His angry thoughts pricking at his own mind as he searches through the hallways for the muddled thoughts of Nightwing.

"Well?" Deathstroke demanded, he wasn't usually one to ask for a result twice.

"Yes, I have found him. He has begun to remember his true life. Oracle has caused major set backs on your plans sir" Psimon spoke. He was beginning to fear for his own life, powers or not he did not want to deal with Slade Wilson. Psimon heard Deathstroke growl.

"Son?!"

The shout was unexpected and Psimon jumped from the shock, he almost lost Nightwing to the corridors. He didn't dare think of what would happen to him if he did.

"Begin locking down his memories now, before he breaks free completely. Erase any evidence of Oracle ever being here. Confuse him"

"Yes sir"

"Son! HELP"

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What was he doing? It was like his body was just moving, like he was being controlled by some force he didn't understand. He could feel it in his gut that he was running in the wrong direction, that he should turn back to that girl in the wheelchair....Barbara? That was it, his mind was foggy and the closer he got to the end of that hallway the heavier his thoughts became. Soon he was forgetting why he was running in the first place.

Why was he in these halls? Where was his father? He looked down at his attire. Dark armour with a strange blue emblem, shouldn't he be in his Renegade uniform? He must be on some kind of a mission, but Dick couldn't remember why. Renegade allowed himself to finally slow until he was standing in the middle of the dark corridor. His hand reached up to rub the back of his neck. He knew he shouldn't stand so exposed in an unknown area, but he figured he needed to find out what was going on first

"Son!"

He was moving again before he could register whose voice he had heard. It didn't matter,

"Focus"

"Dick?!"

Another voice, more feminine. She knew his name, an ally maybe.

"Dick please!"

She sounded like she needed help. He turned to face the second voice, he needed to be sure. He began to move slowly towards the woman's voice. He felt something strange in his chest when he heard her call.

"Nightwing!"

He stopped, it was a trap. That was the name he used when he was manipulated by Bruce. He turned back towards the direction he heard his father from, or was this another trick? Would it really be that hard to set up speakers in this already high tech maze? Bruce Wayne was a millionaire after all.

Dick decided to stay in the hallway. He desperately grasped at his sanity as he was called from both ends of the hallway. The feeling in his head was indescribable, strange. He tried to think of ways to escape but as soon as those thoughts entered his head, they left. There had to be a telepath involved. He decided he would head away from the direction that made his head feel heavy.

"Renegade!"

He headed in the direction of his father's voice first. The heaviness in his head increased and he stopped. "So it was a trap" Dick mused.

That still left the problem of that girl. Dick walked briskly in the direction he had came from, figuring she wouldn't catch him in her wheelchair. The heaviness in his head was easing as he moved down the hallway. Soon the red headed girl moved into view. She hadn't  noticed him yet, maybe what she had said before was true. Although Dick didnt remember what exactly she said, he remembered the feeling. He felt safe.

"Nightwing?" She spoke softly. She pulls one wheel and turns to face him.

A surprising anger flickers in his stomach.
"It's not Nightwing" he growls.

"Dick, what did he do to you?" She sighs. Dick knew she hadn't meant it as a question but he answered her anyway.
"He saved me" he spit "he saved me from your lies"

She looks up quickly, staring into his eyes. "What do you mean?"
Barbara was feeling desperate, but if she could right what Dick believed she could get him back.

"I trusted Bruce, Tim, Alfred....you. I loved you but I guess the feelings weren't mutual."

"So Dick still knows us and our identities.  This isn't just a case of memory wipe, its memory alteration, if I can show him the gaps he'll figure out the rest himself "

"What did we do?" Being straight with him seemed to be the best option right now. His anger will do the talking.

"What? You dont even realise." His anger left him, and he frowned. He doesnt remember her directly hurting him. Come to think of it, he was finding it difficult to think back on anything. Dick stared at the woman. A deep feeling within him was warning him, he could see the inconsistencies. Taking in her furrowed features he could tell she was genuinely confused about this situation also, he wasn't alone. Is she a victim of Bruce's game aswell?

Barbara on the other hand, hadn't expected his anger to dissipate so quickly. She had to think of something else. She watched as he thought to himself, a firm frown etched into his features.

"Dick.." she had to get this going again, she got to him once and she had a sneaking feeling that the voice she had heard in her head was responsible for this relapse. "What did Bruce do? What did I do?"

A ripple of muscle clenching along his jawline was an indication of frustration within. She could tell he wanted to scream and shout, yell at the world, cry, anything. He wasn't even resorting to his usually tactics of rambling on and on until the matter was dropped.

"Dick..."

"He killed my parents" he mumbled.

Barbara was taken back. Bruce killing someone? That was wrong, but Bruce killing a child's parents in front of them, that's twisted.
"Impossible, what evidence do you have?"

Dick glares at her. "Evidence?! I have all the evidence I need. Does Matches Malone, ring a bell?" his nose flares, spit shooting from his mouth. " There is a voice recording of Zucco admitting that he was paid by a rich guy by the name of Matches Malone" a shake in his voice give Oracle hope.

Barbara thought hard, she needed to see this evidence. "Show me"

He pulls his arm up and messes around with the computer in his gauntlet. She watched as his eyebrows dipped, confusion growing. "What?... there's nothing!? I had it right here!"

"See Dick, Bruce didnt kill your parents, Slade is playing mind games with you"

"I know what I saw!"

His arm fell to his side defeated. He was lost again. He can't trust this girl yet he cannot trust his father either. His first priority was getting out of here.

"Right, we leave together."

Barbara could see the distrust linger in his eyes. She had to play this situation carefully, this was a side to Grayson that had never been directed at her. Truthfully it was a side she had never seen before and it frightened her. She could see his cold eyes whisking around the area and returning to her every so often. His body was tense and coiled like a snake, ready for attack. Hopefully this wasn't a side that had arising from his time here with Slade.

Barbara could still hear Deathstroke calling for Dick, and she could see the effect. He would hesitate a little, his stride would stutter. Every so often his hand would clench and relax. She was beginning to feel unsafe around him. It was a foreign feeling for her, this was Dick Grayson, he emitted a feeling of safe and warm. She would never admit it out loud but she was feeling vulnerable and scared. If Dick were to snap, she feared the outcome. In the matter of two hours he had displayed a marathon of emotions. In the blink of an eye he switched from crying and seeking comfort from her, to aggression and distrust towards her; from laying his head on her lap to remaining outside of her reach. For the first time in a long time Barbara Gordon didn't know what to do. She didn't know Richard Grayson.