InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Don't get all upset, sugah."

Dick Grayson (nightwinging) wrote in utr_logs,
@ 2012-07-06 20:55:00

Entry tags:

bruce wayne, dick grayson

Who: Nightwing and OPEN
Where: NYC. Rooftop in Morningside Heights, near Columbia.
When: Friday night.
What: Dick doesn't just accept what he's told. Surveillance first.
Rating: Uh. Unknown, will update as needed.

He'd come through in his costume in the middle of the night on Wednesday. There had been an ID in his pocket; since then, Dick had been able to locate the kid's apartment (shared; two roommates) and, after a quick rifling-through of the bedroom (and the guy's easily-hacked computer) he was able to determine that he'd replaced a Columbia University student who'd just finished his fourth semester. Bio major. Terrible grades.

He also knew that he'd replaced the kid because he'd been able to get a welcome website on his cell phone after only minor googling. Apparently this was a Thing that Happened. People had even spent the time to post greetings on the 'web.

That did not mean that Dick would just unmask and take things at face value. That wasn't his way; wasn't how he'd survived on his own, without body armor and with only his wits and athleticism to protect him. It wasn't what Batman had taught him. He wanted to be certain that what he was being told mapped to reality. So? Stakeout. He'd been outside the kid's apartment for two nights now, watching who came and went. He'd recognize mob if he saw them, he reasoned, and he'd absolutely know that young bodyguard - the Cain girl - if he spotted her. He'd memorized Batman's do not engage list. Hell, he might even have obeyed if this were Gotham, but it wasn't and he wanted real answers - not PR put out for public consumption.

During the day he slept in the upper level of an abandoned warehouse. After dark, he waited. Only the blue bird-shape, a slightly lighter mark on a black suit of body armor, differentiated him from the rest of the roof.

(Post a new comment)

	vigilantknight 2012-07-07 02:15 am UTC (link)
	It was enough. Bruce had been tracking the elusive night-stalker that had started up in local rumor for a few nights, but he finally spotted the tell-tale marking late one night that he was doing a solo patrol. Nightwing. Bruce wasn't going to engage. Not yet. (Reply to this) (Thread)

nightwinging
2012-07-07 02:38 am UTC (link)

Dick was holding himself low, using some of the rooftop structures as cover. He had out a pocket set of binoculars, which he was using to watch a particular building somewhere across the street. He had no cape; because he relied more upon his own physical abilities and less upon zip lines and gadgets (old habits), the extra fabric would have been in the way.

Eventually he put down the binoculars and shifted position, moving completely behind cover so that he could breathe and think. Nothing. How many nights would he sit here? With no payoff, with no sign of anything out of the ordinary?

It was time for a new plan. Perhaps he'd break in, take what he needed from the kid's room (since, by all signs, he wasn't coming back), and regroup.

Nightwing stood, moving low across the rooftop, and prepared himself to jump.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	vigilantknight 2012-07-07 02:43 am UTC (link)
	Bruce was standing behind him, silently moving through the shadows to tap him on the shoulder. "Hello, Dick." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	nightwinging 2012-07-07 03:26 am UTC (link)
	Dick was fast on his feet, in defensive posture before his name could register. Batman. The boy lowered his fists a little, but his hackles were still up - adrenaline didn't ebb that quickly, and he was still on his guard. "Batman," Nightwing greeted. He was relieved. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	vigilantknight 2012-07-07 03:33 am UTC (link)
	It was a sign of how much it meant to Bruce to see Dick again that he had broken code. That and Dick probably didn't understand that in this world, everyone knew them. He still reeled in many ways from the idea that his secret identity was known by virtually the entire planet. "I didn't know you'd arrived." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

nightwinging
2012-07-08 02:53 am UTC (link)

"Wednesday," Dick admitted. "I didn't want to take the 'net at face value. I've been staking it out."

Which raised the question: "When did you arrive?"

The postings were fairly clear. Multiverses. Many whens, many wheres. Dick had done his research, but he didn't really believe it. He wasn't from a universe where aliens invaded regularly and people did magic. Things stuck to a fairly narrow definition of 'reality.'

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	vigilantknight 2012-07-08 03:07 am UTC (link)
	"Over six months ago." Bruce had kept track, but not as closely as he probably should have. Time moved strangely here. It was months for him, but for Dick it might have been seconds. So there was little point, other than shock value. "I take it you're up to speed on what happens then?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

nightwinging
2012-07-10 04:00 am UTC (link)

"If you can believe the 'welcomes' on the Internet." It was a question without the question mark at the end; Dick wanted confirmation from someone he trusted, and there was no one he trusted as much as Bruce. He was tough, but he'd never do anything to knowingly get one of his people hurt.

"It's an exchange. Someone from out in the multiverse for someone here."

And if Bruce hadn't said 'six months,' Dick might have laughed. His Batman didn't tease like that, though. In fact, his Batman didn't tease at all.

"If it's been six months, we're not from the same place. I last saw you four days ago."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	vigilantknight 2012-07-10 04:11 am UTC (link)
	"We are from the same place. Time works differently here. What might have been six months for me was four days for you. Happens both ways." Bruce stepped forward to the edge of the building, looking down. "For whatever reason, the multiverse wants us here. All of us." All was more all-encompassing than Dick could have the slightest idea of. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	nightwinging 2012-07-14 04:54 am UTC (link)
	"So -- Robin, Shiva, Huntress? Catwoman, weird guy in green, that Cain girl?" Dick was trying to get a sense of who 'all of us' might be. Heroes? Villains? The mob? No. He really didn't have any idea. None at all. "Why here?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	vigilantknight 2012-07-14 05:01 am UTC (link)
	"No. I mean literally, all of us. Heroes and villains and normal people from other worlds." Bruce scowled. "Cartoon characters, ponies, you won't believe it until you see it." He shook his head behind the mask. "And that part no one knows, Nightwing." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	nightwinging 2012-07-16 01:57 am UTC (link)
	"If I didn't know you were incapable of joking--" Nightwing huffed, stopping just shy of an actual laugh. He was hoping it was a joke, or a test, but Batman didn't seem overly amused. "Cartoon characters. Like some kind of Roger Rabbit thing?" (Reply to this) (Parent)