“Preservation”
Chapter One
The wind blew Nightwing’s
hair about his tanned face, and he savored the feeling of the moon upon his
skin. Up here, twenty thousand feet above the Earth’s surface, everything was
peaceful, serene, almost perfect. The lights of
The future, or what little he had. He flew up here from time to time to gather his thoughts and regroup. With the traumatic events of the last eight months crashing down upon him and his recent discovery of his prolonged life, he needed the time to collect his thoughts and reflect about what occurred, to come to terms with it; what happened now, to relish what he had; and the future, to know where he was going.
Of course, today was not like the other days. A cold gust of wind blew about his body, wrapping his trench coat about his black Kevlar suit, and he sighed into the comm. unit attached to the side of his head.
“She wants blue roses now. Blue! I told her I’ve changed my suit to red, but nooo. She even says I have to wear my old one. I won’t tell you why.”
“How much?” Batman asked, his voice unusually soft.
Nightwing shook his head. “That’s not the problem.”
“That’s the problem.”
“It’s not the problem.”
“Then what is?”
Another
sigh overtook the younger man, and he narrowed his eyes. With his enriched
sight, he noticed the faint glimmer of yellow slip into a run-down apartment
building. “Quadrant Four, Old
“Aye, aye, Batman!” Flash responded, and other than a mild, exasperated grunt, Nightwing continued without missing a beat.
“—that it’s my wedding, Batman. The least I can do is—”
“—listen to your fiancée and repeat after me, ‘Yes, honey.’ Works every time,” Green Lantern instructed over the frequency.
“Ouch. Lose your man card somewhere, G.L.?”
“Address now, kid, before I decide to use my ring and take yours.”
Nightwing smirked. “Fifth and Goodwin, near Robinson Park.”
“En route,”
Superman advised, and from the left, Nightwing could
see the blue and red cape already halfway between
“So they’re your colors?” Nightwing laughed. “Batman still gives me grief over having Superman PJs.”
“Hal, pick up Roy and me at Ollie’s,” Black Canary’s voice sounded in Nightwing’s ears. “What will you do then, Grayson? Have gray and black flowers to have Daddy’s colors?”
“Oh,
please. That’s not the important topic here,” Red Arrow snickered, and Nightwing made a point of turning toward
“Totally,” Nightwing snapped.
“I-M-O, she likes your ass.”
“Thanks for sexually harassing me over the open JLA frequency, R.A.”
Flash grunted, “Please. At least be happy you don’t wear red on your ass.”
“It’s the reason you where a trench coat now, isn’t it? To hide it? Why not just go with a cape?”
“Will you guys please stop talking about my ass on the open channel?”
“You want us to switch to a private one? Kinky.”
A burst of yellow light shot through the air, and Nightwing dove to the side to avoid it. “We’ve got a fight! I’m engaging.”
“No!” Batman shouted. “You’re scouting.”
“But Flash and Wonder—”
Superman dove into the fight, while a flash of green passed almost too fast for Nightwing to distinguish Red Arrow, Black Canary, and Green Lantern.
“We’ve got more than enough back up,” Batman commanded. “Make sure no other member of the Sinestro Corps come.”
“Wait. Are you in there? I thought we were only meta-ing this.”
“Not if
it’s in
“Then I should be—”
“Stay.”
“You’re making me a watchdog again.” Nightwing let out a groan and crossed his arms to look about the area. Nope. Still no reinforce—ments…He closed his eyes from the sudden tilting of the world, as he no longer could distinguish the stars of Gotham from those in the sky. The canvases were both black, and he only managed to differentiate them once he took three deep breaths. When the lightheadedness eased, he shook his head and listened to the frequency—or lack thereof.
“I don’t hear battle conversation, Batman. Did you have everyone else switch to a different frequency?”
A grunt, a hiss, then a shout, “G.L., seal the building!”
Nightwing growled. This was to keep him out of danger—again. It was the nature of events since he joined the Justice League. Batman somehow managed to order him into the most mundane assignment, masking it as important, and then shut him out of the real danger. Nightwing wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or hurt, but he chose the former. Still didn’t help his anger though. He wanted to engage.
As a green ball of energy surrounded the building, Nightwing called, “Dad! What’s going on?”
A grunt sounded from the Dark Knight. “Stay put and think about…*grr* the color scheme for your second wedding.”
Nightwing blinked. “Second…wedd—ing…”
A pounding
wave of nausea and lightheadedness attacked him once more, and Nightwing felt his altitude drop ten feet. He struggled
against the weakness in his body as the lights once more blurred, and the only
way he distinguished
A sizzle burned in his ears a second before he felt the blast slam into his back, knocking him several feet forward and gaining a hiss from his lips. Gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes, he pushed past the blurring vision to glare at the two figures surrounded by yellow glow. The first looked like a cross between a bull and a salamander with horns, fur, and a long, whipping tail. The other wore a plume of orange and red feathers with long, glimmering talons and a malicious gleam in his eyes.
“Well, well, well—I guess we get the runt of the litter, huh?” the taloned one sneered and pushed his hand forward. “Perhaps we should put him down.”
Nightwing let out a little exhale and yelled into his comm. unit, “We have company. Featherweights.”
“Flyers” in his vocabulary to his father.
“Disengage!” Batman barked into his ear.
Nightwing would have pulled his earpiece out and held it away from his head if he had the time. He avoided a shot of yellow and forged forward with his fists out in front of him. “Sure, you try disengaging Lanterns and get back to me.”
“I’m on my way, my friend,” Geo-Force’s calm voice sounded in Nightwing’s ear.
“Me, too,” Black Lightning reported. “Hang on, kid.”
“Uh, you both fly? Since when?” He ducked another punch of the yellow-shaped boxing glove before his fists slammed into the bird’s gut. He then turned to elbow the other yellow lantern, but the bull-lizard shot a blast of yellow power toward Nightwing. He simply dove, allowing the power to knock his own partner unconscious.
“I can fly to you on a rock, Nightwing, but I will not be much help at twenty thousand feet,” Geo-Force informed swiftly.
Black Lightning agreed. “Maybe you can bring the fight to us.”
Nightwing soared to grab the falling man, snatching him by his uniform’s back, before rolling to avoid another shot. “Just can’t wait to get your hands dirty again, can you, Jeff? Well, if you want it…” Using his super speed, he flew toward the ground with daring speed, his trench coat flapping behind him.
His speed was slower than usual, and it was harder to keep the wind gusts at such altitudes from knocking him off course, but he managed to dive, roll, and keep out of the line of blasts, hooks, and even a lawn-mower the bull-salamander decided to use to cut through the air.
“That’s right. Follow that bird…”
As the
ground came into sight and he could actually see Geo-Force and Black Lightning
standing on the
With a smirk, Nightwing dropped the second man next to him and saluted both Geo-Force, but his eyes ricocheted toward the sky when a flash of yellow escaped the green bubble and launched toward space.
“Runner!” he heard Wally yell, and Nightwing only had a few seconds before Sinestro fled into space.
“On it!” He took off.
At the fifteen thousand foot mark, a wave of dizziness crashed down upon him, and no matter how much he fought it, his speed slowed. His height tampered off, and he began to plummet toward the ground.
Just like all the other times he flew, he thought about doing it, about going up and tracing the heavens with his finger, but all he felt was the wind shear that threatened to slice open his nose.
“Uh, Batman?” He flung out his legs and arms, spreading his trench coat through to make himself wider and take more of the wind.
Batman rasped through the unit, “You come up with another color for the flowers?”
“Uh, no, not really! I was wondering—oh, I dunno—if Superman wasn’t busy saving someone that maybe he might like to save me!”
His heart pumping, his eyes growing fiercely wide, he saw the specks of dirt on the black top, the people standing outside of the cars upon the roads and gathering on the sidewalk to see the fight and the man fall from the sky. He saw Black Lightning and Geo-Force’s mouths drop open, and he brought his hands before his face to brace for impact—then gagged.
A hand fisted in his coat and jerked him to a stop.
“You know, Nightwing, Superman isn’t the only one who can fly.”
The young man looked up and snatched Hawkgirl’s offered hand, smiling with gratitude. “I guess I should thank you about not making the joke about my name.”
Her grin reminded him too much of Red Arrow’s. “Well, at least the wings were correct for a whole minute or two. Oh, and by the way—” She smirked. “It is a nice ass.”
By the time, they landed, the Justice League had gathered by the fallen lanterns, looking worse for wear.
“Sinestro escaped, but at least we have two of his men,” Superman declared, crossing his arms. “Perhaps we can get them to talk before we have an intergalactic war on our hands again.”
“And what happened to you?” Wonder Woman asked Nightwing, cupping the side of his cheek. “Decided to give your father a heart attack?”
“I think he forgot how to fly,” Wally chuckled with a slap on the back.
Nightwing shook his head and looked down at his open palms. “Not forget, can’t.”
“What do you mean, ‘can’t’?” Batman demanded, coming to his side. The man’s cape had been torn in his half, and his face was slick with soot and sweat. His cowl remained mostly intact, though a chunk of hair peeked out from the top left pointy ear.
“Just what I said.” Nightwing met his father’s eyes with his own shaky ones. “I’m can’t fly anymore.”
*^*^*
Francine Langstrom knew the consequences of experiments on genes every single time she looked at her son Aaron. Of course, she couldn’t without a smile. Though the boy couldn’t change like she, her husband, and their daughter could, he was the cutest little boy-bat there was. He did have competition from a few of Batman’s own children, though, even if they were more bird than bat.
The thought tore at her heart as she leaned back against the Crays in the Batcave. “You know, there is a little thing called ‘patient confidentiality.’ Has he signed anything that says I can tell you about his condition?”
Bruce Wayne crossed his arms over his dress shirt and looked back toward the infirmary wing. “Is it that bad?”
“Well, it’s not good.”
The lighthearted echo of laughter filled the dark cave as Dick and Tim sat cross-legged on the medical bed in the infirmary, piles of college applications between them. Tim had long seemed to get over his aversion to his older brother’s situation, ignoring the setting and even Dick’s scrub bottoms, and the two bit down on zingers while discussing the future.
Bruce only wished he could be so carefree.
“Don’t mince words with me, Francine.”
“Who ever does?” She fixed her glasses upon her nose and read from the file. “It looks like the disease is finally starting to progress. As the alien DNA eats away the other cells, it weakens the body all together.”
“Which is why Dick can’t fly.”
“Exactly.” Letting out a sigh, Francine dropped the file to the console and looked past Bruce to see the boys as well. “You can expect more of these side-effects as the cells continue to decompose.”
Bruce’s legs felt weak themselves for a moment, and he collapsed to his chair. “Is the timeframe Star Labs gave still accurate?”
“Yes, as far as I can tell, but with this whole fiasco, you just never know.”
*^*^*
“I dunno, Dick. Looks to me like you have unrealistic expectations—again.” Tim opened the pamphlet and blew up his bangs. “I still have yet to get a 1200 on my SATs.”
Dick snorted. “What? Are you serious? Brain boy didn’t get a 1200?”
Tim blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I, uh, I fought the Joker with Bruce the night before and didn’t get to crash until two hours before the test. I kinda fell asleep during the reading section.”
“Well, then, we’ll just have to make sure you get the full eight hours of necessary slumber before the next one and then a power breakfast.”
“Eight hours?” Tim laughed. “When was the last time you slept eight hours?”
Dick thought for a moment, opened his mouth, and then promptly smiled when a flicker of silver caught his eyes. “Hey Alfred. Got any more zingers? We’re kinda out.”
“Which is why I took the liberty of bringing you fine young gentlemen some water, so as not to spoil your supper. And do not complain or else there will be no supper.”
That shut both Tim and Dick’s mouths.
Alfred took the two glasses off his tray and
placed it on the table beside the bed before picking up the empty plate and Ovaltine glasses. He even brushed away the cookie crumbs.
“Ah, Master Timothy, you are pondering the great experience of
“Dick’s pondering it for me.” A wicked smile crossed the boy’s face. “Y’know, I hear they have a pretty descent law program.”
“Uh, yeah, maybe for Dick Grayson,” Dick said disgustedly, “but for me, that wouldn’t work.”
Alfred paused from his motions. “I thought you had given up on the charade of ‘Sean Madison,’ Master Richard.”
“I did, Alfie, but I can’t enroll in
Alfred quickly moved in with a towel, murmuring, “Can sense the peril of a monkey ninja from twenty feet but cannot sense the presence of a glass of water from two inches.”
Dick sighed. “I have to wait until this whole situation is sorted out before I move ahead with that. I mean, hell, Dick Grayson, missing person, can’t even sign a marriage license. Babs and I are just doing this whole thing on faith.”
“So, is that why Bruce wants a second wedding, one at the justice of the peace?” Tim asked.
Dick shrugged. “I dunno. We really didn’t get to discuss it much before we came here, and then he called Dr. Langstrom.”
Alfred
wiped off the
Dick furled an eyebrow.
“Excuse the expression, Master Richard.”
“Of course. So, what you’re saying is, the second wedding would be to satisfy the world. Well, in that case, Babs and I can get hitched in Vegas.”
“You already have the Elvis suit,” Tim encouraged.
There were sometimes Dick loved his little brother, and then there were times like these.
“No,” Alfred interjected, lifting the tray of plates and now wet napkins. “The second wedding is for Master Bruce. Though he can present you at this cape wedding as his son, it will the societal wedding where Master Bruce will truly be able to be the proud father and prove that fact to each and everyone of the legitimate men and women of Gotham’s High Life. If you value your father’s feelings, then I suggest you do nothing but shut your mouth, choose your two color schemes, and let the man write the check.”
He left with a bristle in his step.
A moment or two passed before Tim turned to Dick. “Don’t you just hate it when he’s right?”
“Totally.” Dick flung himself back once more, knocking over Tim’s drink and sending it to the floor with a shatter.
Tim glanced over the edge of the bed. “You’re cleaning that one up.”
“Later.”
Dick propped up on his elbows when Bruce’s voice sounded. The older man’s tone was tight, while the shadows cast upon his face. “You look darker than usual. Not good news, huh?”
“Francine said you must be tired, that’s all,” Bruce said with a pat of Dick’s knee.
Dick looked from the hand to
Bruce’s face, and then smiled weakly at his little brother. “Tim, why don’t you
start filling out that
Tim heaved off the bed with an exasperated exhale and made sure to mind the glass. “Why didn’t you just say, ‘I want to discuss things with Bruce, and I don’t want you to hear’? It would be less painful than the application.”
Dick watched him go before sitting up and flinging his legs over the side of the bed. “It’s just the start, isn’t it?”
“No, Dick, Francine said—”
“Stop,” whispered Dick, squeezing shut his eyes. “Just stop it already. I know you’re trying to protect me. You have been since I joined the League.”
A hand clenched his shoulder. “You’re wrong.”
“I’m right,” Dick snapped, his eyes meeting Bruce’s. “I get that you want to protect me from the big, bad people out there, and they’re no worse enemies than those of the League. So, I take the scouting missions and the backburner position to soothe your nerves, but this is where I draw the line. I need to know what’s going on with my body.”
Bruce averted his eyes for the moment before his shoulders lost their tension. Taking a seat on the bed next to Dick, he put his arm around the boy and told him the truth.
*^*^*
“Hey Beautiful.”
The Oracle avatar instantly shimmered into Barbara’s real form, and her lips grew into a saucy smile. “Hey FBW. I was thinking maybe you can come over and show me how you got the name ‘wonder.’”
“Sorry, but no can do. I…” He closed his eyes and fought the tremble in his voice. “I can’t fly anymore.”
“What?” she laughed. “Honey, you’re a Flying Grayson.”
“That’s not what I mean.” He rubbed the back of his neck; his eyes kept screwed shut. “Bruce spoke with Dr. Langstrom and found out the disease is progressing.”
“Oh.” Her breath immediately caught. “Oh, Dick, I—”
“It’s okay. I didn’t call you to nurse my bruised ego tonight. I actually called on Oracle business.”
“Oh yeah? That doesn’t sound half as exciting as nursing what you just described.”
His eyes remained solid steel. “I need your help finding someone.”
“Franklin Madison?” she guessed. “I thought we already established that.”
“No…Talia. I know she and Bruce talked, and I think it’s time we had a discussion of our own.”
To Be Continued…