Before The Truth

Ch 28

Nightwing sped to the location of the warehouse on his motorcycle. 'What is with criminals and their obsession with old warehouses?' Nightwing thought to himself as he arrived. He banished that thought and quickly shot a grappling hook to the roof.

There were many large holes in the roof of the building, and Nightwing huddled on the edge of one, peering down inside. The sky was dark and cloudy, but there was some light in the warehouse, coming from a small lantern that had been set on the floor.

Nightwing climbed through one of the smaller holes in the roof and dropped down into the rafters of the building. He took a minute to observe what was happening down below, and what he saw made his blood run cold.

Bane was standing over the body of an unconscious Batman. There were a few visible bruises on Batman's cowl covered face, but that seemed to be the extent of his injuries.

Nighwing's breath hitched as he saw Bane pull a knife out of a sheath on his leg. The knife glinted wickedly in the light from the lantern. Bane looked at the knife distastefully before grasping it with both hands and lifting it above his head.

Bane paused there for a moment before sweeping the knife downwards in a deadly arc. The blade shined as it cut through the air before stopping as it sank up to the hilt in Nightwing's chest.

Nightwing let go of the handle of his grappling gun as he stumbled to the side before falling to the ground. He had swung in front of Batman just in time to take the knife for him. He lay on the ground gasping in pain. Bane only stood there, still trying to process what had happened.

"So ninõ, you're back for more?" Bane asked in a mocking tone before chuckling as if Nightwing's pain was truly hilarious to him.

The next moment Bane was holding Nightwing in the air by his neck, slowly choking him.

"Now I can kill two birds with one stone." Bane said while smiling grotesquely.

Nightwing desperately gasped for air, Bane's fist gradually tightening its hold on his neck.

One of Nightwing's dangling arms brushed up against the dagger embedded in his chest and a desperate idea forced its way into his foggy mind.

With a cry of pain, Nightwing ripped the dagger out of his chest and stabbed it down into Bane's arm. Bane cried out in confusion and dropped Nightwing's body to the ground. Nightwing saw with blurry vision that he hadn't managed to hit Bane's arm at all. The knife was sticking out of the small box attached to Bane's wrist. The control to Bane's venom pump.

Nightwing watched in confusion as the tube leading up to Bane's mask filled with a purplish red colored liquid. When the liquid reached Bane's head the man screamed in pain. His muscles seemed to get larger and larger, but without the button to shut off the flow of the venom they didn't stop growing.

Bane collapsed and lay on the ground, screaming and writhing in pain. Nightwing struggled to his feet and hobbled over to where Bane was laying.

Every muscle in Bane's body was bulging, his eyes looked like they might pop out of his head. Nightwing did the only thing he could think of. He reached down and pulled the tube out of where it was connected to Bane's mask.

Nightwing shuddered as he watched Bane's body deflate. Bane lay on the ground, out cold.

Panting heavily and holding a hand over his stab wound, Nightwing walked over to where Batman was laying. Batman's breaths were even, and he seemed to be stirring. Nightwing fell to his knees beside his mentor. He quickly found Batman's pulse. It was steady and strong.

Sudden coughs wracked Nightwing's body and he covered his mouth with his elbow, only to draw it back flecked with fresh blood. He suddenly felt overwhelmingly tired and fell to the ground gracelessly. 'I'll just take a short nap.' Nightwing thought as his eyes started to slide closed.
—
When Batman woke up he leapt to his feet. His gaze immediately locked onto Bane's unconscious body.

Batman wasted no time securely restraining Bane. Only when he was done checking the tightness of the handcuffs and rope did he notice the faint sounds of labored breathing and soft painful coughs.

Batman whirled around and his heart dropped as he saw Nightwing's body laying in a pool of blood. He rushed over to the body of his son and knelt down at his side.

There was a gaping hole in Nightwing's chest. His uniform was already soaked with blood and it continued to pool on the ground. Batman quickly pulled off his cape and pressed it to his son's bleeding wound.

Nightwing stirred when he felt the pressure on his wound. His eyes blinked open and he was met with the sight of Batman leaning over him.

"Nightwing... What happened?" Batman asked with pain in his voice. While still maintaining pressure on Nightwing's wound, Batman reached up to his belt and pressed the homing button for the Batmobile.

Nightwing reached up and gently tugged off his domino mask. "Bane had a knife... he was going to..." He paused after saying this, tears forming in his eyes. "I couldn't lose another parent." He whispered.

When he heard this Bruce pulled down his cowl. Bane was still out cold, tied, gagged, and blindfolded in the corner of the room, so he didn't have to worry about his secret identity.

"Dick... you took the knife meant for me?" Bruce asked incredulously.

Dick smiled sheepishly which turned into a grimace. "B-Bruce... I'm s-sorry... for being angry." Dick said, reaching up and grabbing onto one of Bruce's arms.

Bruce cupped Dick's face with one hand and wiped a tear from his son's face. "There's no reason for you to be sorry. I'm the one at fault. I wrongly accused you... I pushed you away..."

"I-I forgive you." Dick replied, his voice was so faint it could barely be heard.

"Stay awake! The batmobile is on its way. Just stay awake!" Bruce pleaded as Dick's eyes began to flutter closed.

Rain began to pour into the room from the large hole in the ceiling directly above Bruce and Dick.

Dick's grasp on Bruce's arm began to loosen, and his arm fell limply to the ground.

"No!!! Stay with me!" Bruce shouted, panic evident in his frenzied voice.

Dick's eyes slid closed and his lungs rattled as he drew in a final breath.

Tears filled Bruce's eyes as Dick's body stilled.

Bruce frantically began CPR. He performed set after set of 30 chest compressions followed by 2 breaths. Bruce didn't want to stop, still harboring hope that Dick would revive. Bruce eventually looked at his watch, seeing that it had been more than 20 minutes he decided to call time of death.

Bruce's body shook with sobs, tears mixed with rain as they flowed down his face. He scooped his son's cold body into his arms.

Only then did it fully register to Bruce that his oldest was dead. The one who brought joy back into his life after all the years he had spent mourning his parents was gone.

Bruce held the still body of his oldest child tightly to his chest. Tears spilled down his face as he cried for the one he had lost. To Bruce it seemed as if the whole world was silent while he knelt on the ground and the heavens poured down their tears upon the body of the once bright and happy child and his guardian.

The end