Chapter Text
“SLADE!”
Dick stormed the warehouse, his entrance causing all movement within to halt. The frosty Gotham air and pitter patter of rain behind him acted as the perfect background to his presence, almost as if the entire moment had been perfectly scripted. He wore his Nightwing uniform, cobalt blue symbol proud across his chest, a symbol that so many associated with hope and justice. His escrima sticks shone with violent electric energy, ready to strike down his opponents with efficiency and brutality.
He entered the warehouse to face the mercenary, who was currently running a weapons smuggling operation. Dick had been tracking this for months. When he discovered Slade would be in Gotham tonight, he refused to miss the opportunity to confront the man. Slade was a tough opponent, and not to be underestimated. But Dick had been itching to face the challenge, and had every intention of taking down Deathstroke tonight.
However, it seems the man did not share his desire to fight.
“I don’t have time for this tonight, birdie.”
Dick readies his stance. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be ignored. Slade was going to face him, and answer for everything he has done.
“You’re going to have to make time.”
Slade turns his back on Dick, waving a hand dismissively as he begins to walk away.
“Reaper, if you would.”
Dick’s blood boils under his skin at being so easily disregarded, seemingly not deemed a threat by the mercenary. But before he had the opportunity to chase after him, demand Slade’s attention and ire, several sharp shurikens were sent his way, followed by another figure stepping out of the shadows, stance ready to fight. Dick dodges elegantly, and was fully intending to simply ignore the newcomer, and go right for Slade.
Yet, this new foe would not allow him to do so easily.
More razor sharp shurikens fly through the air, and once again Dick dodges, but a single blade catches his right arm, cutting straight through the fabric of his suit as easily as a knife cuts through butter. He hisses at the sting, before turning his focus to Reaper.
Their outfit is simple. Plain, thick black trousers, and heavy combat boots. Adorning their shoulders and covering their torso is a long cape, which extends past their shoulders into a hood overtop of their head. They wear a simple charcoal domino mask, hiding their eyes.
Dick notices their gear is clearly more designed for vigilance and ranged combat as opposed to hand-to-hand. He smirks to himself, getting ready to charge.
“And who might you be? Some assassin wannabe?”
He charges, but Reaper quickly slips back into the shadows, and Dick quickly scans the area around him, looking for where they might have gone.
“Sorry, but I’ve got bigger fish to fry. So let's make this quick shall we?”
Dick stands on guard, listening carefully for any sound. All he hears is complete silence, until the soft woosh of a shuriken heading his way reaches his ears. He whips around and swings with one of his escrima sticks, deflecting the shuriken. Followed by a second, and then a third. Then, somehow, two shurikens coming from opposite directions head toward him simultaneously, so he launches into a back handspring to avoid their blades.
Upon landing, he is only just able to dodge a throwing knife coming his way. He huffs.
“Doubt you’re about to start throwing water balloons? How about a snowball?”
No response comes from his opponent. His next quip is interrupted by the sound of an engine roaring off into the distance, and Dick realises he’s been had. Reaper just had to keep him distracted long enough to ensure that he couldn’t follow Slade. He curses under his breath, rapidly looking around the warehouse for where Reaper might have gone.
“Looks like you’ve just been ditched. Don’t worry, you can make plenty of friends in prison.”
Once again, Dick is only met with silence. He searches the entire warehouse, but there is no sign of Deathstroke’s… assistant? Partner in crime?
Apprentice?
Dick can’t help but shiver at the last thought, shaking his head to rid himself of it quickly. He taps his comms as he leaves.
“Oracle, Slade’s done a runner. You got eyes on what direction he went in?”
“Working on it now, Nightwing. Had a bit of trouble?”
Dick sighs as he grapples onto a nearby rooftop, beginning to traverse Gotham’s buildings as he has so many times before. It is essentially muscle memory now, to leap between buildings, navigate the complicated twists and turns, monitoring the streets below him. The icy air nips at his skin, but he is well-accustomed to Gotham’s unforgiving weather, hardly bothered by the rain gently landing on his skin.
“It seems Deathstroke made a friend. Reaper, I believe he said.”
Barbara hums.
“That’s a new one for me. Do we have a file on them?”
“Not to my knowledge. Must be a recent alliance.”
“I’ll find what I can. In the meantime, you mind helping the rest of the bats out? Missing kid reported a few hours ago. Young girl, around nine, blonde, last seen wearing a pink top and jeans.”
Dick hums, refocusing on the new task at hand.
“Can do Oracle.”
“Red Hood is about a block away from you now. You two can coordinate your efforts.”
“Heard. Nightwing out.”
Dick continues his path and eventually does meet up with Jason on a rooftop relatively close to Crime Alley. Jason lands with a heavy thud, dusting himself off before grabbing one of his guns and spinning it on his finger. He isn’t wearing his helmet tonight, just a basic crimson domino. He grins at Dick.
“Got your ass handed to you again?”
Dick rolls his eyes.
“Believe it or not, Littlewing, I am capable of winning a fight against Slade every now and again.”
Jason scoffs, but doesn’t say anything more, waiting for Dick to fill in the gaps. Dick looks down at the streets below them thoughtfully.
“He had a friend with him. Reaper.”
Jason hums.
“He finally got around to replacing you then.”
Dick winces at the reminder, but shakes his head.
“Clearly well trained, but I doubt it’s solely Slade’s doing. Unique fighting style; armed with shurikens and throwing knives.”
Jason shrugs.
“Not the most practical.”
“No, it isn’t. Which would suggest they’re relatively new to the field. But they fight like they have years of experience under their belt.”
As Dick turns away from Jason to look out across Gotham’s skyline, Jason finally catches a glimpse of the cut on Dick’s arm.
“You’re hurt.”
Dick waves him off.
“Surface scratch. I’m fine.”
“Come on Dickface, don’t give me that.”
Dick turns back to face him.
“I mean it. It only just caught my arm. But it is a little worrying how easily the blade cut through my suit.”
Jason pauses for a moment before nodding, seemingly placated enough to move the conversation along.
“I’ll see if any of my contacts have info on Slade’s friend. Info Babs might not be able to get. But in the meantime, let’s split up to cover more ground. I’ll take east if you take west?”
Dick nods.
“Sounds good. Let me know over comms if you find anything.”
Jason nods in return, and the two split up, taking off across Gotham’s rooftops once more.
Dick wasn’t sure how long the bats had been searching for this kid; a few hours at least. Whoever they were, they sure knew how to stay hidden. Either that, or they were just stupid lucky. But Dick managed to finally locate the girl, and radios across.
“Found the kid.”
He watches from the rooftop as the girl sobs on the bench, the only light around them coming from a flickering lamppost nearby. He’s about to jump down to go and help, when another person beats him to it and approaches the girl. Dick inhales sharply.
“We’ve got a problem.”
“Report.”
Batman’s gruff voice rumbles in his ear, and Dick watches carefully.
“It’s Slade’s new friend. They’re approaching the kid.”
“I’m five minutes out.”
He watches with bated breath as Reaper slowly approaches the girl, footsteps heavy and water splashing underneath their boots as they do. Given that Dick didn’t hear their footsteps whatsoever during the confrontation at the warehouse, Dick can only assume they are deliberately making themselves louder so as to not startle the girl. Said girl looks up at Reaper, tensing slightly, evidently unsure.
Reaper stops mid-step at the reaction, waiting for a moment. They seem to be thinking about something. Eventually, they reach a conclusion, and crouch down where they are, one hand outstretched towards the girl, the other making its way behind their back, evidently reaching for something.
Dick readies himself to jump into the fray, thinking that Reaper is about to hurt the kid, but he is stopped mid-movement when a gentle tune begins to fill the air. He stares down at Reaper, and watches in confusion as the criminal produces-
…a teddy bear?
Where was that hidden under their cloak?
Reaper holds the bear out to the girl in offering, waiting patiently for her to respond. After a moment, they even begin to move the bear around as if it were dancing, grabbing its arm to wave at the girl as it does. The girl watches for a minute, before slowly lifting her own arms in request for the bear. Reaper rises to their feet and walks over to the girl, passing the bear over. They take a seat on the bench next to the girl, looking down at their shoes.
The girl looks at the bear carefully, before choking out another sob, pressing the paw to make the bear play the tune again. She turns to Reaper, before crashing into their side and wrapping her arms around them, crying into Reaper’s side. Reaper freezes for a moment, appearing unsure what to do, before slowly returning the hug, patting the girl’s shoulder.
Dick stares wide-eyed, entirely perplexed by the scene.
“Oracle, did you see that?”
“I’m not sure I would ever believe that just happened if I hadn’t through your domino cam, N.”
Tim’s voice crackles over the line.
“Anyone wanna fill us in or…?”
“Reaper, the person who was working with Slade and fought me earlier tonight just… gave the missing girl a teddy bear. And is now comforting her.”
A joyous cry interrupts Dick from explaining any further, and he turns his attention back down to the streets below, and sees a lady - presumably the girl’s mother - running towards the girl and Reaper, who are both standing now. The mother wraps the girl up in her arms, holding her close and weeping.
“Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! Oh my sweet girl, I’m so glad you’re okay!”
After holding her daughter a few seconds more, the mother scoops her child up in her arms, and turns to face Reaper.
“Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to her. I owe you everything. Thank you!”
She holds out her hand towards Reaper, who seems to hesitate for a moment, before reaching out their own, and the two shake hands. The mother smiles at Reaper one more time before turning around and walking away, her daughter in her arms safe and sound. The girl still holds the teddy bear close, and Dick can hear the tune slowly fading into the distance as he watches the family head off down Gotham’s streets. When they finally disappear from view, he turns back to look at Reaper, and is startled when he finds them looking directly at him. He quickly moves into a defensive stance, but before anything can happen, Reaper throws a smoke bomb, obscuring them from sight, and vanishes into the night.
Dick stares at the now empty street, dumbfounded by the entire situation that just unfolded before him. He barely registers the sound of Batman landing on the rooftop behind him, and walking towards him. The two of them look down onto the street, eyes on the empty bench, until Batman puts a hand on Dick’s shoulder.
“Return to the cave. We’ll see what we can find on them.”
Dick doesn’t respond, just continues to look at the pavement below, rain drops falling down from the sky and splashing on its surface, sending ripples through shallow puddles that have formed on the ground.