Chapter Text
Metropolis
Flying at speeds only made possible by a Kryptonian living under the strength of a yellow sun, Superman landed inside the remains of what once had been the Daily Planet’s warehouse distribution center.
Wonder Woman was already there helping various emergency personnel that had been called in once the massive explosion happened. Spotting Nightwing talking to several firefighters she went over with purpose, needing an answer. “Any idea what caused this yet?” Her gaze landed on the younger hero, yet another voice from behind her spoke up first.
“Right now my men have been focused on rescuing anyone that may have been in that building. It's been a slow process because of all the damage the warehouse sustained.” Removing his helmet, wiping off sweat beading down his hot and dirty forehead, Chief Nelson looked past Wonder Woman as several paramedics exited the disaster zone. Excusing himself, he left the Amazon to finish questioning Nightwing.
Lightly tapping Wonder Woman’s bracelet, Nightwing pulled her to one side. “Superman’s helping them put out hot spots and looking for survivors,” sadly he tacked on, “if any. I’m hoping that no one had been in there when this happened.”
Lips pursed, Wonder Woman observed the smoking remains. "Perhaps we'll get lucky and you end up being right."
"Considering the time of day this took place it's possible the building had been empty of employees." Nightwing brushed dirt and ash from his hair letting it fall on his costume. Now he really blended in well with all the rescue crews out here.
Before Wonder Woman could respond further, Superman touched down between them. "The building's an empty shell. I caught the foreman of the warehouse who told me everyone broke for lunch and since it was such a nice day they all went outside to eat elsewhere."
"So we're just dealing with another nut job getting their kicks blowing up an empty building?" Scratching his head, shaking more ash from his hair, Nightwing grimaced. "If a crazy wanted to make a statement usually you wait until you have some targets in your sights." He chuckled, adding, "And I thought Gotham and Haven had Metropolis beat in that department."
Crossing his arms, Superman indulged in a slight turn of his lips. "Sorry. I know you came visiting us for a change of pace."
With a bemused expression crossing his features, Nightwing laughed outright this time. "At least when you make a joke it's funny, Supes."
"Well, no one ever claimed that Batman had a sense of humor." Blue eyes twinkling, Superman exchanged a long look with Wonder Woman then he took off for the skies once more.
"Hal always told me he never could tell when Batman's serious or not." Watching Nightwing nod his head in agreement to that, Wonder Woman smiled. "It would seem my services aren't needed any longer here."
Curiosity got the better of Nightwing. "I know what my reasons for being here are but what brought you to Metropolis?" He had wanted a break from the seedier side of Bludhaven and its never ending corruption. Plus he was fed up to the gills with Batman and the others ever since he came back from Spyral. The only ones that appeared happy to see him had been Damian and Alfred. If the other so-called members of his family didn't want anything more to do with him it worked both ways. Batman hadn't helped matters either by letting a good portion of the blame fall directly on him. Knowing he always had an open invitation to stay with his honorary uncle, Nightwing couldn't pass up the chance to get away from his troubles.
"Actually, Diana Prince was touring The Daily Planet with Lois Lane when the building shook from the nearby explosion."
Holding up a finger, Nightwing got it. "Nuff said then." Leaving her with a two fingered salute, he headed over to find Chief Nelson. Before doing so, something else came to his attention. A youngster, around ten or so, had tears flowing down his face. "Hey, hey, no need to be upset, buddy. Nobody was inside."
Sniffing, wiping his nose on his sweatshirt, Tony stuttered, "Lu...Luc... Lucifer was in there."
Instantly on the alert, Nightwing glanced back at the warehouse now being hosed down again by the fire department. "Who's Lucifer? A relative or friend that works for The Planet?"
"No.... no... he's a Doberman that... they let out during the night... to guard the... warehouse once it's closed." Trying to stem his tears, Tony looked up at the hero. "He's super nice too."
Removing his rebreather from a compartment in one of his gauntlets, Nightwing locked eyes with the kid. "I'll see if I can locate him for you." Tapping the boy's nose, he tilted his head to the side. "But you have to cheer up for me. Lucifer wouldn't want to see your sad face. Okay?"
"Sure thing. Thanks, Nightwing."
Superman and Wonder Woman knew they had done all that they could and were about to leave when they both noticed Nightwing entering the building again. Puzzled as to what else the younger man could be doing they were stunned when suddenly a huge chunk of one remaining wall blew apart from another unexpected explosion.
"Oh my God! NIGHTWING!" Superman cried out. In a flash he flew inside the warehouse. Most of the hot spots he'd put out had re-ignited again. Time was of the essence to find his nephew. Using his x-ray vision, he swept the area. It was bad before but now the building resembled a war zone. Gut churning, he wasn't about to lose hope. Going in for another sweep he paused as he heard Wonder Woman's cry.
"Kal-El! Over here!"
Swiftly flying towards her, he hovered above a crater in the ground created from the blast. When the Amazon jumped into the deep hole, he followed. Both of them throwing away broken beams of wood along with twisted pieces of metal to clear the way. They eventually came to a shocking halt.
Covering her mouth with one hand, Wonder Woman exclaimed her dismay. "By Hera! This can't be possible!"
"And yet... it is." After that, words weren't capable for either of them. Floating further down into the hole Superman waited for Wonder Woman to remove the Doberman that was curled up in Nightwing's arms. The dog appeared unharmed but panting heavily no doubt do to the shock of the explosion. Once she accomplished that, he gently lifted Nightwing into his arms. It hadn't escaped his noticed how the kevlar enforced suit hung from the lithe frame.
"Nightwing must have come back for the dog." Whispering those words, Wonder Woman glanced at the bundle in her arms. The Doberman tried licking at her face, with the occasional whine thrown in when she avoided the gesture. Waiting a beat, she asked, "How is he?" Knowing Superman was using x-ray vision to check for any injuries, she waited.
He couldn't speak, words dying bitterly in his throat. His blue eyes hardened, becoming tinged with a heat so intense it could melt you on the spot. Cradling the young man close to his chest, he spared the Amazon a brief look. "No internal bleeding was evident but he's going to have a whopper of a headache."
"Bruises can heal but those cuts will need treated." Wonder Woman became distracted then when the Doberman chose that moment to begin barking at a small figure coming in to view.
"Is Lucifer and Nightwing okay, Miss Wonder Woman?" Tony felt scared. The hero of Bludhaven looked different from the one he spoke with. Confused as to this, his mind was taken off it when the dog was placed in his care.
"I'm sure Lucifer will be much happier with your company, young one." Depositing the animal with the child, Wonder Woman flew out of the warehouse in Superman's wake.
Clark Kent’s apartment
“We should contact Batman.”
“Negative,” Clark snapped. “Dick won’t want that.”
“I don’t understand.” Clearly Diana really didn’t. Apparently she wasn’t getting all her memos over the off and on again relationships Dick has with his family and friends.
“The main reason Dick was coming to stay with me for a time wasn’t just because he needed a break from the city he protected.” Knowing he’d have to lay it all out for her, Clark inhaled a long breath before speaking again. “Something really bad has gone wrong between him, Bruce and the rest of them ever since he came back from his stint as an undercover agent with Spyral.”
“Spyral!” Diana spat the word out in anger. Just thinking about it made her blood boil. “Now that you mentioned it, Richard’s been acting strangely ever since his return. I didn’t want to pry into his affairs so I never spoke up.”
“He tried to make us see only what he wanted us too,” Clark smirked. “It’s one of Dick’s many talents.”
“To his detriment at times,” Diana snorted.
Sparing his guest room a glance, Clark pinched the bridge of his nose. “Needless to say, whatever feelings his family has toward him now, Dick’s not in a good head space.”
“They should be grateful that Richard is even alive after what the Crime Syndicate had put him through.”
“No argument from me there, Diana, but I have a nagging feeling there’s much more to the story than we’ve been told from that young man or even Bruce for that matter. Which leads to the other reason he’s staying with me.” However now, with this new turn of events, Clark wasn’t sure what his next step should be. Or even if he should venture into that next step.
“All right, I’ll follow your lead and not say a word to anyone what’s happened or that he’s with you unless you deem it necessary.” She was not shy in voicing her love for Richard to anyone within hearing distance. Same went for most of the Justice League. He had been her very first claim to being an honorary aunt. She’d do most anything for him and it looked like that’s what was going to happen going forward until this situation resolved itself.
“I know something major’s missing in that mission report Batman turned in to us on what happened when the Crime Syndicate killed Nightwing and his efforts to save him.” Absolutely devastated to discover his nephew had been killed, Clark knew he should have pushed for more information and not just taken the older hero's word for it.
Diana too wished she’d have questioned the matter further but held her tongue in the wake of Bruce’s loss. Folding her arms, she held Clark’s gaze for a long moment knowing that they were on the same page.
“More went on than any of us know,” Clark murmured quietly.
“Well, what do you intend to do with our problem in the other room?” Wincing, Diana still couldn’t believe it. “Because, at least that’s something we do know.”
“We play a waiting game for the time being.” Clark shrugged a shoulder. “That’s all we can do for the moment anyway.” Closing his eyes briefly, he thought that this could have been so much worse than it turned out to be. “I’ve always told Dick he had the luck of the very devil. It’s truly a miracle he came out of this with only cuts and bruising."
“And the concussion,” Diana added dryly with a roll of eyes. "Plus the obvious of course."
“Remember, I checked him out. No bleeding in his brain or anywhere else for that matter.” Silently thanking God for the save, Clark glanced over at her with a wry grin. “Not even any cracked ribs.”
Sighing, Diana shook her head. "No good deed goes unpunished should be Dick's motto from now on." Her eyes once again rested on the door to the guest room. “Why don’t you make us some coffee. I’ll go sit with him.”
Before doing that, Clark stabbed her with a cautionary look. “Be prepared. We don’t know how he’ll react once he wakes up.”
Biting her lower lip she hesitated, resting her hand on top of the doorknob. Diana glanced over her shoulder toward the kitchen area where her friend began brewing their coffee. “You and I have battled Gods before. I believe we can handle this situation.”
Watching her disappear into the other room, Clark’s brows furrowed with concern. Why did this have to happen? Knowing it was a futile question, one he’d never get an answer too or so he thought, he agreed with her. He’s faced much worse odds than this unfortunate turn of events. Clark only wished that their roles could have been reversed and that it had been him rescuing that Doberman instead. They’d probably be looking at a different outcome than the one they currently faced. Then again, whatever affected Dick could have done the same thing to him. Since it was best to put those horrible thoughts aside, Clark began making new plans. Knowing his nephew was trying to distance himself from Bruce, and most members of his family, there was really only one thing left for him to consider. Picking up the receiver to his landline he dialed a familiar number. “Hey, Ma… I need a huge favor.”
Note:
I hope everyone will like this. I'm not sure when the next chapter will go up as I'm currently working on another Musketeer series.