Nightwing

Dick Grayson woke from a restless sleep a whole four hours before his shift as a Bludhaven police officer began. He called Mercy Hospital to check on the condition of Tim Fencik, who had been severely injured by Killer Croc the night before. The staff at the hospital would not give out any information over the phone; they recommended that if he was family he should come down to the hospital as soon as possible.

Dick had never felt as helpless as he had last night. Climbing the ladder took about two or three seconds, but to Dick it felt like two or three hours. Croc had attacked with a fury that Dick rarely saw in most of his opponents. Dick shook his head. He needed to remember that Waylon Jones was gone, totally, and all that remained was the reptilian-thinking Killer Croc.

He showered, put on his police uniform, and grabbed the scrap of paper that Black Canary had written her cell phone number down on. He would call her immediately after his shift ended and they would use the tracking equipment that Babs sent with her to find Croc and take him down.

Dick stopped by the hospital on his way in. He took the elevator up to the ICU ward, and asked a nurse to show him Fencik’s room. He asked the nurse if any of Tim’s relatives were here, and she let Dick know that his mother had been with Tim since last night. Dick made his way to the room, unsure of what he might find. He opened the door to the room to see Tim laying on the bed, tubes and wires of all kinds running in and out of his body. Bandages covered most of his torso and head. A machine made horrible noises as it breathed for the battered policeman. Tim’s mother was there by his side and she looked awful. When she saw him come into the room, she stood and walked towards him. “Are you a friend of my son?” she asked.

“Yes Mrs. Fencik, my name is Richard Grayson, I know your son from the department.” Dick hated the way he sounded; he fumbled for the right words, the whole time trying not to sound like an idiot. “Is Tim any better, that is, is Tim going to be alright?”

Tim’s mother started to sob. “I don’t know, no one knows. They say that some crazed animal attacked Tim and that it tore through his jugular, he also has damage to his lungs and head. They say he lost a lot of blood. He hasn’t woken up and they say he needs this machine to breathe for him. He has another surgery this afternoon. I don’t know what to do, I lost Tim’s father last year to cancer, I just can’t lose Tim too!” Her sobs were becoming uncontrollable. Dick led her to the chair by Tim’s bed.

“I know that Tim is a strong person Mrs. Fencik, he’ll make it through this, I’m sure of it.” Dick fumbled with his words again, “I have to go. I know everyone at the precinct wishes Tim the best, Mrs. Fencik.” Dick left the weeping mother alone in the room. Taking on the Joker was one thing; dealing with grief-stricken family members was not something Batman ever taught to him. He was always taught to distance himself from the victim. Don’t let it become personal – if it becomes personal, you will lose your reason and begin to work on emotion. That leads to mistakes; never make mistakes. But Dick already made a mistake – he underestimated Killer Croc. That wouldn’t happen again.

Dinah rolled over in her bed; she had taken the penthouse suite at the Doyle International Hotel. She loved penthouses; they made easy access to the night life that Black Canary needed, and Dinah loved the way the hotel staff fell over themselves to rush her room service in hopes of a big tip.

She grabbed her earpiece and mic. “Oracle, are you online?”

“Always,” came the computer voice of Barbara Gordon. “You’re up a little early, aren’t you Dinah? Nightwing won’t come to get you for another six hours.”

“I know, I just wanted to go over these motion sensor things you gave me to use tonight. Tell me again exactly how they work.”

“Ok, inside those boxes are forty-eight motion detectors that are about the size of my hand. You can attach them to the sewer walls with the bolts and power drills I included in the box. Once the sensors are up, they will be linked to a satellite that I can monitor from right here in the clock tower. They will allow me to track any object in their radius that is bigger than a normal house cat. Once I lock down your position and Nightwing’s I will know immediately if Killer Croc is in your area. I can tell you how far away from you he is and even how fast he is moving. I’ll relay that info to the two of you and you can coordinate your hunt to avoid being surprised like Nightwing was last night.”

Canary opened her door and allowed Room Service to bring in her lunch and gave the waiter a modest tip. She closed the door as he left. “So this is kind of like that movie Aliens, where the marines had their little trackers to tell them where the aliens were at all times, right?”

“Pretty much Dinah, but you have the advantage over the marines in that you only have one creature to gun for whereas they had hundreds. Think of it more like the movie Hollow Man.”

Dinah took a bite of her salad, “And I have that gorgeous Nightwing on my side. I tell you, Oracle, you have great taste in men. Anymore at home where he came from?”

“Yeah, but unless you like the strong deathly silent type or the underage type, you’re out of luck. And you keep making references like that about my boyfriend and Killer Croc will be the least of your worries.”

Dinah signed off and finished her lunch. She knew Oracle wasn’t worried for one second about her going after Nightwing – that guy was all hers and she knew it. Still, he was fun to look at.

Dick Grayson finished an uneventful shift that day, his partner Amy Rohrbach had heard the news about Tim Fencik and was outraged that the department would have one officer standing guard over Killer Croc’s territory. She wanted to know why they couldn’t just send down the whole S.W.A.T. force into the sewers and bring Croc up in a bag. Dick didn’t say much about the whole situation. He kept seeing the attack over and over in his mind. The guilt was killing him.

Black Canary waited outside her penthouse. The bags of motion detectors were ready to go, and she had suited up in the Black Canary outfit that she normally wore during her time in the JSA; she wasn’t going to run around in the sewers with out anything covering her legs.

Nightwing came swinging down onto the patio; his acrobatic prowess was really something to see, and Dinah reflected that she hadn’t seen anyone this smooth since she first met Batman. “Glad you’re ready,” she smiled at him and said. “I see you don’t dissolve in the sunlight like your pal Batman, that’s good cause a girl likes to see the guy she works with as the sundown reflects off his…” She stopped talking as Nightwing bent over and grabbed the bags of motion detectors.

“Oracle already told me what these things do, so let’s go.” His tone was abrupt, not at all what Dinah was expecting.

“Hey, if you want help on this fine, but don’t pull that ‘I’m a bad ass and you’re in my way’ crap with me! We work this together like partners and you get over this mad-on you have for Croc. Keep it up and you’ll do something stupid and get us both killed.” She stopped yelling at him and saw the look on his face as he dropped his head.

“Sorry, Canary,” he said. “I didn’t mean to come off like a jerk. Croc nearly killed a friend and I have been waiting all night for this shot at him. It would mean a lot to me if you will help.”

“Well, since you put it that way, apology accepted. Besides, who could stay mad at that…” She quit talking again as Nightwing once again bent over in front of her to grab the bags. Very nice, she thought. Who could stay mad at this guy?

Roland Desmond walked briskly down the stairs of his mansion to the foyer. His dinner had been interrupted by some very opportunistic news. “Lady Vic, would you please join me on a small business matter.” It was a statement more than a request.

Lady Vic walked past the butler who helped Desmond with his jacket. “I assume since you said business matter that I should bring my tools?”

Desmond’s eyes lit up. “Oh no my dear, I should think that they will not be needed, after all we are only going to the hospital to see an old friend.”

Nightwing and Canary had circumvented the Bludhaven police and made it into the sewers beneath Dixon Street. Nightwing noticed that much of the debris that Ratcatcher had placed to block off Killer Croc had been torn away. The gas was also receding, but they kept their rebreather masks in place anyway. Nightwing and Canary split up and started placing the motion detectors into the sewer walls. Oracle stayed with them online through the procedure, and as the devices were turned on, she had her heads-up display in-place in front of her to keep tabs on them both.

“Okay birds and bats, I have you on my screen. Canary you are still two tunnels down and about four hundred feet west of Nightwing’s position, you better start heading back. Nightwing, there hasn’t been a blip on the screen yet. As far as I can tell you two are the biggest things down there next to rats.”

“Not many rats left down here, Oracle,” said Nightwing. He sloshed through the sludge and water, “he’ll show up though, he’s had some good meals in this area and he wouldn’t want to quit hunting without giving it a look.”

“Canary, take the ladder that’s coming up on your left to the next higher level, then you should only be about two hundred feet or so from Nightwing’s position...Dinah, there’s something behind you! Sixty feet and closing fast! Nightwing, it’s him!”

“Who are you?” asked Mrs. Fencik.

Roland Desmond straightened his jacket. “I am, my dear lady, Roland Desmond, an acquaintance of your son Timothy. I am a stalwart supporter of the Bludhaven Law Enforcement Community and your son and I have met several times in the past. My associate is The Lady Elaine. I would like a moment of your son’s time alone if you please.”

“But Tim just came from surgery a few hours ago. Besides, he hasn’t even been awake the whole time I have been here.” Mrs. Fencik couldn’t get over how large this man was.

“Be that as it may my dear, perhaps you could join the Lady Elaine for a drink in the cafeteria while I pay my respects and best wishes to your son. It would do my heart good to talk to him, even in his current state.” Desmond smiled and his large head seemed to get bigger as he did.

“Well, I suppose it would be alright, but if he wakes you will send someone down for us right?”

“Of course my dear. Elaine please get Mrs. Fencik anything she desires.” Desmond watched the two ladies enter the elevator and then turned to see Tim’s doctor leave his room. “Doctor, how is our brave young crime fighter?”

“He’s a fighter, but I am hesitant to say if he will ever wake. Even if he does, he has some extensive damage suffered to his neck and spine. Walking may be out of the question. Right now, the only things keeping him alive are our machines.” The doctor quickly excused himself to see other patients and Desmond walked inside.

“Young Mr. Fencik, your doctor seems to believe that you may have a difficult time surviving this ordeal.” As Desmond spoke, the machines worked to keep Tim breathing. “I find it ironic that within months of leaving my protective aura you find yourself battling for your life, a victim of an attack that I had hoped would instead take the life of your new-found friend, Nightwing.”

The machines beeped and breathed.

“I wonder, do you perhaps know who Nightwing really is? After all, the two of you were such good friends that you couldn’t even kill him. Was that because you know him out of the mask?”

The machine breathed and Desmond reached down with his massive hand and pulled the tube from Tim’s mouth. The machines stopped breathing for him. Tim stopped breathing. “If only you could tell me in these last few moments of your life who he really is.” The machines made a noise to signify a flatline, and Roland Desmond walked from Tim Fencik’s room.

“Canary, run!” yelled Nightwing into his radio. He was sprinting as fast as he could to Black Canary’s location. In his head Oracle was shouting Killer Croc’s distance from Canary.

“Thirty feet, Canary, move it!”

“I am moving it, dammit,” she yelled back. She was running in sludge and waste water up to her knees. She dared a look over her shoulder, and the special starlight lens goggles she wore showed her a splashing movement in the water behind her. “He’s getting closer, Nightwing! Where are you?”

Nightwing slid down the ladder separating the two of them. “I’m here.” He slid his escrima sticks off his back and the two vigilantes readied themselves for a fight. But they saw and heard nothing.

“That’s it guys, he’s retreating without a fight. I think the commotion of Nightwing’s arrival scared him off. Everybody okay?”

“I’m okay, Oracle,” said Canary as she shook like a leaf. “Which way is he heading?”

“He’s heading west of your direction. Nightwing, he is not moving fast and you can catch up to him if you want. I just don’t understand why he took off without engaging the two of you in a f…uh-oh. Guys he just doubled back, he’s closing, twenty feet, ten.”

“Oracle we can’t see him, where is he?” yelled Nightwing.

“He’s right on top of you!”

As Roland Desmond headed for the elevator to wait for Lady Vic, the nurses and doctor raced into Tim’s room. “Get the crash cart!” yelled the doctor. The nurse grabbed the cart and warmed up the electric shock paddles.

“Paddles are ready!”

Roland smiled.

The doctor looked at Tim’s vitals on the machine. “Clear!” he yelled. He took the paddles and hit Tim with the volts of electricity. He checked the vitals again, “Clear,” he shocked him again.

One of the machines made a blip.

Then another.

Roland quit smiling, the elevator opened and Lady Vic and Mrs. Fencik exited.

Tim’s mother ran into the room, “My God, what’s going on?”

The doctor turned to Mrs. Fencik, “Well ma’am, I think we may have him back, but I just don’t know for how long.”

The doctor moved away and Mrs. Fencik saw Tim weakly open his eyes. He turned his head toward her, “Mom?” he whispered.

Nightwing and Canary raced to the access ladder, and Oracle blasted information into their ears as they ran.

“Ten feet! Now nine! Hurry up, I don’t know how but he is following you! Canary he’s right on top of you!”

Black Canary stopped and grabbed hold of Nightwing’s hand. They held themselves perfectly still and looked above their heads. Their starlight lens masks showed them a set of reptilian eyes staring at them from the ceiling. Killer Croc dropped on them from the pipe he crawled along on. The force of his attack knocked Canary under the sludge and water, Nightwing was able to grab hold of her arm and pulled her to the surface. “Where is he, Oracle?” yelled Nightwing. Canary coughed into her rebreather.

“He’s right behind you, three feet!”

Nightwing whirled around with a roundhouse kick that clipped Croc in the forehead as he rose from the water. Canary tried chopping the beast in the side but her blow was ineffective. Croc smashed his huge fist into Nightwing’s face, knocking him backward five feet, blood dripping from his nose. Canary reached for one of her Canary Cries, a small object that looked like a grenade but instead emitted an ear-piercing screech for brief periods of time. She grasped the small object but before she could trigger it she was caught in a huge bear hug by Croc. She dropped her Canary Cry grenade and screamed out in pain.

Nightwing was back to his feet, and he leapt into the air and grabbed the pipe Croc had used to travel on. Nightwing swung his feet into the air and kicked Croc in the face, as the reptile man staggered back, Nightwing grabbed Croc’s head between his legs and swung himself to the floor, pulling Croc down and forcing him to let go of Canary before slamming into the sewer floor. Nightwing jumped on the killer’s back and wrapped his arms around Croc’s throat. He squeezed as Croc thrashed about the tunnel. Canary stood up and placed her kicks to the midsection of Killer Croc, knocking more air from his powerful lungs.

Finally Croc dropped to one knee, and Nightwing squeezed more, “Drop, damn you, DROP!” he yelled. He started to twist on Croc’s head as he squeezed. The beast was quickly fading, the fight nearly gone from him.

“Nightwing, you’re killing him!” screamed Canary.

“I thought he was dead!” Roland Desmond whispered vehemently as he pounded the elevator door. “Is everyone connected to Nightwing this fortunate?”

Lady Vic watched the scene in Tim’s room, “Roland, I think this opportunity is just what you have been waiting for.” She slid her Bundi Dagger out from her purse and a smile played across her face.

“Ah yes, good thinking my dear. Get to it then.” He straightened his jacket and watched as Lady Vic walked slowly into Tim’s room and began killing everyone assembled inside.

“Nightwing, Canary says he is dying, let go now!”

Nightwing was trying to block out Oracle’s cries and Canary’s pulling, all he was thinking of was Tim lying in the hospital, possibly dead. And he squeezed harder.

Tim’s eyes were as far open as he could get them, the machines that monitored his progress had long since been knocked over and were no longer making noise. The nurses and doctor that had cared for him lay on the floor dead. Lady Vic held his mother by her hair, a dagger at her throat.

“Let her go,” Tim cried. He was unable to move, tears were coming from his eyes, he felt dizzy and things kept going black.

“Why, Officer Fencik,” purred Desmond. “Lady Vic wouldn’t think of harming your mother, after all she owes you her life. I, on the other hand, will twist her wretched head until it pops off in my hand unless you listen to me!”

Tim was having trouble staying conscious. He started crying again, thinking of his mother. “What do you want?” he cried.

“Want, Officer Fencik? I want Bludhaven as my own, but I am having trouble with that because of your new friend, Nightwing. I think you know who he is, I want you to tell me quickly, and your mother lives.”

Tim looked at his crying mother. She was in pain as Lady Vic pressed the dagger to her throat. “I don’t know,” he lied.

Desmond grabbed the lady by the throat and picked her up from the ground. “I just recently lost my mother. I was devastated, I could barely go on. A mother is the most precious thing in this world, Timothy, isn’t it?” Mrs. Fencik’s feet kicked in the air as Desmond held her high.

Tim was fading fast, he had to make a decision, save Nightwing’s identity and let his mother live, or watch Blockbuster kill her in front of him as he himself dies. “Let her go please.”

Desmond looked at Tim, “I see you are dying quickly, Timothy. Does your mother join you, or do you make the transition to the unknown alone? You know what you must do. Let’s make a deal.”

“Alright…I know...I know what to do...let’s deal,” Tim started to fade.

Croc was fading, but finally Nightwing let the monster loose. Croc fell into the sewer water, the fight long gone from him. Nightwing stared at the killer as Canary tied his hands and feet. “You had me scared there for a second,” she said. “I thought you were trying to kill him, not knock him out. Good job.”

“Yeah, I was just trying to knock him out,” he said as he fought to catch his breath. He wondered, if Canary and Oracle hadn’t been here to call him off, would he have stopped? His thoughts were interrupted by Oracle.

“Great job guys, that was beautiful. I radioed Bludhaven PD and gave an anonymous tip on where to find Croc. I also radioed the local FBI office, just in case the cops don’t show. Either way, Croc is bagged!” Oracle was smiling as she scrolled through her screens, the motion sensors worked like a charm – well almost. And her best friend and boyfriend were safe. She was so happy that she didn’t see the news item on her left screen as it flashed the breaking story of a terrorist attack on a Bludhaven hospital that left six people dead.

High above sewers and streets, Nightwing hugged Black Canary on her penthouse patio. “Bye Dinah and thanks.” He smiled the smile that, unknowing to him, just kills the ladies, and for just a second Dinah forgot that Nightwing was Oracle’s boyfriend. That smile reminded her so much of Ollie that it hurt.

“No problem,” she said. “Anytime you need help, just whistle and this little bird will come back to town.” She reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

“I heard that, you two. Just remember I know where you both live!”

Both Canary and Nightwing joined Oracle’s laughter for a brief moment, until Nightwing said goodbye for the final time. As he swung on his de-cel cable out into the night, Dinah lamented the fact that all the good ones were taken, and then she headed for her shower.

Dick showered and changed clothes, he was headed out the door for the hospital when Oracle called him. “Dick, I’m so sorry,” she said over the phone.

“Sorry for what Babs?”

“Oh my God, you haven’t heard? Turn on channel 8.”

He walked over to his TV and turned it on. He saw the Breaking News bar on the bottom of the screen and held his breath as he saw the hospital that Tim was staying in.

“Tragedy struck today as an unknown group attacked Mercy Hospital this evening, killing six people for unknown reasons. Among the dead are Dr. Henry Chirpa, and Mercy Hospital nurses Angela Regan, Michelle Williams, Kathy Riley and Leslie Brown. Also reported dead is Officer Tim Fencik. His mother Elizabeth Fencik escaped with minor injuries, and is said to be in a state of near catatonic shock. Officer Fencik was hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit after being savagely attacked by the creature living under our very streets, a creature that we now understand is in custody of the FBI. The creature has been identified as Killer Croc, a known criminal from Gotham City. Killer Croc…”

Dick turned the TV off, he sat back in his chair and stared at the wall. “I don’t believe it,” he said into the phone. “Who could have done this?”

Barbara could hear the hurt in his voice, “Honey, I am so sorry.” They talked long into the night. Dick didn’t sleep at all that night.

Back at Roland Desmond’s mansion, Blockbuster and Lady Vic drank champagne and smiled at each other over their success. Nightwing’s life was about to become much more complicated.

The End...

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