Who: Dick Grayson and open to Bat Folks When: May 21st, 2016 Where: Bludhaven What: Just a day in the life of Officer Grayson. Then he stumbles on something interesting. (No, really, this is just a flurry of scenes I imagine Dick has to deal with while on the beat every day.) Rating: R, for language, bodies, and stuff (oh my!)
6:47 a.m
He had his jacket and hat under one arm, hair mussed, a file packet in his mouth and balancing a cup of coffee and two donuts on his forearm as he made his way to a desk.
"GRAYSON."
Darn. He dropped the file out from between his teeth, managing to catch it with the arm holding the coat and hat without spilling anything. Amy Rohrbach, now Captain of the Bludhaven police force. Much of which was his doing, removing the old corrupt captain and keeping her alive against Deathstroke so that she could witness in the trial, an effort that had taken the Bat family coordinating and Dick ending up scraping together money to pay Deathstroke off in the end. But that trial had taken out half of Bludhaven's police force, the officers needing to resign, or sitting in jail, or fleeing the country to avoid prosecution.
Which meant Amy had her hands full.
"Yes, Cap'n?"
"You're late. I tried to call you to let you know, I need you for a double today."
"Dou-! Today?" Crap, I didn't sleep last night!
"If you can't, give me a good reason, Grayson. Also give me a good reason not to write you up for tardiness."
"Uh... Wow, double, sounds great. I had nothing planned," he said lamely.
"Good. Get that donut and coffee down, cause there's already a list of things we need you and Dodson out there for by 8 a.m. Sorry, but we're that short right now."
He nodded. "Kay, Cap."
~~~
8:17 a.m.
"I ain't signin' no more papers! Fuck off with yer servin' and shit! And you can tell that bitch-!"
Dick stood there, letting the papers strike him in the chest and face. He just sighed. They were served. Whatever. They had three more paper servings to do.
~~~
10:24 am
Dick tried to get a word in edgewise. "No... No, Ma'am... I mean that this looks like the same egg splatters from a week ag-no ma'am, I am not calling you a liar. Yes, ma'am, I--no, I am not being disrespectful... Ma'am, I have pictures from last week that we can compare? ... No, ma'am, I do not want to see how your gout is doing this week."
~~~
11:16 am
Dick looked down at his personal cellphone while they were driving, looking to see who it was from. "Sorry, Dodson. Gotta take this. Hello? Yeah! ... That might possibly save my life if you could. I'm working a double... Yeah, I'm staying awake. I have a lot of caffeine... Yeah, I'll take whatever vitamins you bring... Aww, thanks, yeah, I'll take dinner, too. Yep! Love ya, bye!"
Dodson looked confused at him. "Who was that?"
"Oh. My mom, pretty much. He's going to bring me food. Well, he's not really my mom, but he's close enough, so--never mind, yeah, he's just mom."
"Oh. So your dad is...?"
"Ha! No, he's not in that kind of relationship with my dad. He 'moms' him, too. It's... uh..." The radio went off then. They were needed for a reported robbery. "Oh, man, they're starting on this pretty early in the day, aren't they?" Dick flipped the switch for the sirens. "Hold on."
Dodson grabbed at the dash and bar. "Nonono, don't you...!"
Too late. Dick yanked on the wheel and the car spun about. His foot pressed the gas to the floor, pulling the car out of its spin and it roared off in the opposite direction.
"I hate when you do U-ies like that!" Dodson snapped.
~~~
12:45 pm
They were just back up to two officers that were already on the scene. Dick looked at the mailbox piling over with envelopes and the state of the plants wilting that he could see through the window. Nobody could see anything through the windows, but there were flies in abundance buzzing at the glass panes and a pit in Dick's stomach that already told them what they would find.
The officers gave the final obligatory shout out that they were entering the home, ready to crash the door. Dick held his hand up. "Hey, hey, hey! I said I would get the door. Less property damage, guys."
The other officers glared at him, but they let him move forward and pick the lock. Then Dick swung the door open with a slight bow. The other two shook their heads and moved on. Then there was a confirming sound of disgust.
"Oh, that is ripe... Definitely DOA. Call it in."
Dick looked around while the two officers held cloth over their noses and crouched by the body. No signs of foul play. House was neat, but not cleaned in the way when someone was combing up after a crime was carried out. There were dishes drying in the small rack, a seemingly home made dinner scraps in the trash. When he opened the fridge, he frowned at the contents.
"Hey, Rookie. Leave the evidence alone. Forensics will be down your throat if you mess with stuff."
"Sorry." Dick closed the fridge, frowning as they muttered that the guy probably just had a heart attack. Something just wasn't right... He looked at Dodson, who was hanging back, looking pale.
"Smell?" Dick asked.
Dodson nodded.
"All right. Come on. We'll wait outside."
~~~
2:05 pm
"Officer Grayson!" Dick looked up from the patio table where he was downing a tall coffee with the lunch Alfred had brought him. The woman coming toward them had short brown hair and was in a plain t-shirt and jeans. His blue eyes had to look the woman over twice till he was sure who it was. Officer Dodson continued to look between the two in confusion as they talked.
"Well, you look way different! What's your day name?"
"Cathy, actually. I hate the name, though. It's so common!"
"You know, the other name is pretty common, too."
"I know, but least I'm the only one in B-H. Hey, you want some juicy fruit gum?"
"Always! So what are you up to today?"
"Was looking into going to class again, so was dropping off paperwork for that. You know, at least get my CNA, probably get out of the business, too. I mean, things are better since the trial and the bad cops are out, but it was also kind of a wake up call to how screwed up things are, ya know?"
"I hear ya. But school? Oh my god, girl, give me a hug. That's great!"
"I just hope nothing happens to make me drop out again! I saw you and had to come over and say thanks. You know... for not being like the other officers whenever you picked me up."
"You should never have to say thanks for someone treating you like a human being. That should be obligatory for everyone."
"I suppose, but even so, ya never took nothin'. So... thank you for that. Thanks for saying something about school and stuff, too. It got me thinkin', so... Here's hoping!"
"No problem, kid. I'm stoked for you! Hopefully next I see you, you'll have more news on it?"
"You bet! I'll let you guys eat. See ya later, Officer Grays, Officer Dods."
Officer Dodson looked after her, confused. "Who was that?"
Grayson tipped a brow up in amusement. "Hard to recognize without the get up, wig and make up, huh? That was Candy."
"No way! She looks entirely different! ... Wow."
Dick looked after her, smiling. Some things did get better...
~~~
2:56 pm
Dodson was at the doorstep, holding the warrant out. "Yes, miss, we have a warrant right here. Can you tell us if he is home or--."
Dick heard the backdoor open and immediately started running. "He's running out the back!" He spied the fleeing suspect through the fence and vaulted it.
"I'll go around!" Dodson immediately took off running as well, watching Dick disappear into the jungle of backyards in pursuit. "... I'll never figure out how he does that..."
~~~
3:45
Dodson was on desk duty now, filling out reports and glad to be off the street. Dick had another call and was now riding solo. Well, almost solo. He wasn't alone in the car, but the person spitting insults at him was definitely not a fellow officer.
"You just (bleep)ing wait till you (bleep)ing slip up. I'll show you for (bleep)ing with me, you (bleep) piece of (bleep-bleep-bleep). They'll (bleep)ing toss you to the (bleep) dogs in prison, where they will (bleep) your (bleep) and (bleep, bleep) your (bleep)ing--"
Dick let this go on for a moment, looking at the roof of his patrol car for patience before finally snapping, "JAMS!"
A startled look from his passenger. "What?"
"You're seven years old, for crying out loud, Jams. Stop talking like that or I will tell your grandmother when I drop you off. And stop escaping day care! I do not want this to go like last year! I'm serious."
"Maaaaaan... Whatever. Ninny."
~~~
4:15 pm
Dick stepped between the two men having a disagreement in the driveway, palms up to both of them. "I swear to god if you two don't put those knives away...."
~~~
5:55 pm
The restaurant owner stared as Dick felt at the pulse and pulled down on the cheek to look at the homeless man's eyes. "Man, he probably just drunk. Damn junkie has been searching our garbage for nights now. Ain't got time to deal with it anymore, and he was acting really weird when Nat took the garbage out. I'm sick of him being out here, muttering at everyone. He stinks worse than the garbage."
"Glad you called. It's worse. He's ODed on something." He pressed at the radio on his shoulder. "I need an ambulance, stat." He then looked at the guy, pursed his lips before shaking his head. "You are not going to like this, but whatever is in your stomach is coming out now."
The man of course didn't respond, eyes just rolling, glazed. The restaurant owner tried to see what Dick was doing, but with a short jabbing motion of the officer's arm, the man was gagging and suddenly throwing up a copious amount of alcohol and other stuff, and he looked away with a grimace.
"That's it, buddy. Get it out. Good. Oh... yep, those were my shoes. That's fine. Get it out. Help is on the way..."
~~~
7:12 pm
"Ron, just get in the car."
"I don't need a ride, Officer Grayson."
"You don't need to stay out on the streets in this neighborhood either, kid. You're only 14, and I know what happens to kids out here. Come on. We'll get you a hamburger and figure it out from there, okay?"
"... You promise you're not hitting on me?"
"Why does... ? I have a girlfriend."
"She in Canada, man?"
"Cute. You hungry or not? I'm breaking rules for you, Ron."
The kid shrugged, circling the car finally and getting in. They drove on for a moment. Then Dick asked quietly, "How's your eye?"
"Not that bad."
"I can press charges, you know."
"Already said I don't want your help. I'll get out of the car now, you know."
"I have a friend who runs some of the youth programs in New York. I still wish you'd call."
"I'll think about it... I'm sure she's just going through a rough patch. She'll be fine in the morning..."
~~~
8:00 pm
Dick was subtle when he pushed his toe behind the man's ankle and gave his shoulder a push. "Sir. Sit down. This isn't helping the situation."
The man did sit, though not by choice. He landed on his butt on the curb, scowling toward where his car was, the fender crumpled with another vehicle's. "Well, she shouldn't have ran into me."
"And you should have had your lights on."
"...The wreck must have switched them off."
"I'm sure the alcohol somehow did that as well."
"I haven't been drinking."
Dick continued writing his notes down, not commenting on how he could smell the beer very easily on the man's breath. No sense arguing. The breathalyzer would be evidence enough.
~~~
Finally back at the office, Dick snuck away the file on the dead man that was found, looking over the report. Suspected cardiac arrest. He frowned, finger tapping on his desk. No. The guy had health food in his fridge and work out equipment. Even with the bloating you could see he was fit, too, if only slightly overweight. Doesn't fit for a guy this age.
He finally retreated to the records room for some quiet. He wasn't finding much on his small phone computer, but a fully equipped Bat-computer probably would dig up more. Or as he was thinking from what he saw--very little. This guy had too clean of a past. He looked made up. Which meant he was likely at that address under an alias. So what he needed was a facial link.
Dick opened up a channel on the coms. "Hey, I'm stuck for a few hours here. Anyone able to look up a name for me?"