31/10

each    night    they    dance    the    same    overplayed    routine        TO    A    FAMILIAR    TUNE  ,      repetitious    steps    so    ingrained    in    the    back    of    his    head    eric    needn’t    keep    count    to    stay    on    beat          &        so      it      follows          :        eric    hunts  ,       the    masked    man    pursues        EDGING    EVER    SO    NEAR        !        closer          &          closer    before    eric    inevitably    slips    through    his    fingers  ,      vanishing    without    a    trace.          𝐚    𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭    𝐢𝐧    𝐭𝐡𝐞    𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.          his    calling    card        ?        a    mangled    corpse        /        the    sole    indication    the    other    had    caught    his    scent    at    all.

night    in        &        out    the    script    stays    the   same        but    eric    isn’t    so    naive    to    think    the    routine    won’t    alter  ,    that    the    steps    won’t    eventually    shift    but    what    does    a    dead    man    have    to    fear        ?        when    it    all    does    go    to    shit    not    even    the    squawk    of    his    feathered    companion    can    alert    him    before    he’s    half  –  lost    his    footing        &        when    the    fog    lifts    he’s    part    amused  ,       vaguely    impressed       &        ENTIRELY    UNCONCERNED.

❛❛        ‘tis    the    season.        ❜❜        cue    a    pointed    glance    to    other’s    own    unconventional    attire    before    both    hands    raise    slowly        ;        a    show    of    surrender.        ❛❛        tell    me        ————        what    happens    when    the    mouse    catches    the    cat        ?        ❜❜

They always seemed to love talking, usually thought they were pretty funny. The power of will required to find the self-restraint to not strike such monsters was unbelievable. “—Shut the hell up.” Words were strained, heavy with resentment, a dash of anger. Maybe Dick would have engaged in blows if hands weren’t raised in a sign of surrender ( —Heaven knows he wanted to— ), a sign that he’d at least respect for the time being. Rather than throwing a thoughtless punch, the opportunity was seized to grab one of the killer’s wrists and twist his arm behind his back, figuring that the man wasn’t planning on staying at his mercy for too long. His grip was tight, secure enough to surely be uncomfortable. 

“so  where  would  you  like  to  start,  detective  grayson?”  raven  asked,  teasingly;  a  ghost  of  a  smile  pulling  at  her  lips.  it  wasn’t  often  that  raven  smiled,  it  was  commonly  around  dick  that  she  did,  they  were  slight  and  they  were  small  but  they  were  there.  and  she  was  excited  about  the  old  fashion  detective  work.  she  liked  figuring  things  out,  "may  i  offer  some  inter-dimensional  assistance?  because  whatever  that  was,  is  not  from  this  world,  the  seismic  magnitude  of  that  was  otherworldly  to  say  the  least,“  raven  stated,  pulling  the  cloak  of  her  hood  back  up  as  she  began  to  levitate  —  something  she  found  herself  doing  more  than  just  standing.  "as  for  tech  though,  there’s  got  to  be  something  like  wayne  enterprises  here,  there’s  always  a  bruce  wayne.  the  world  has  a  lot  of  them,  even  if  they  aren’t  exactly  batman.”

“Need to start at the beginning — heard it’s a good place to start.” It was always nice seeing Raven smile, knowing that she was at least comfortable enough around him for that kind of familiarity.

Her input was already of a huge help, immediately ruling out a large number of ‘natural’ possibilities that Dick had considered to be the cause of the earthquakes. “Alright, good to know. Next step should be finding out if this ‘otherworldly‘ is otherworldly enough for this other world we’re in to be considered otherworldly.” ( —— Phew ). It was quite clear that they weren’t in their ‘home’ as they knew it, and he could only assume that it was a different world entirely; too much of it all didn’t make any sense otherwise.

This was it. This was his chance to get a hold of this slippery bastard once and for all. It had been a long time since Dick has had this much trouble dealing with anyone, wasn’t quite sure how this man seemed to anticipate his approach every damn time. He’d taken every care to conceal his movements, shadows, the sound of his footsteps — everything. Maybe he’s been out of the swing of things lately in Duskridge, gotten a bit slack; it’d be a convenient excuse, except he didn’t feel sluggish. It was fucking frustrating, and yet the teeniest, tiniest bit... exciting.

He’d resorted to a smoke bomb, figuring that if there was a possibility his movements were being watched somehow, he simply needed to become invisible. Unlike the Robin costume, brightly coloured and designed to distract, Nightwing’s dark ( and cape-less ) designs made his silhouette a little less obvious, more difficult to spot in the dark. 

A sharp jab to the back of the knee with the end of an escrima stick was enough to make the man buckle onto one knee. Once the smoke began to clear, Dick got his first clear look at the other’s face. Another clown-looking freak. Just great. 

“Why is it always clowns?”

“tomato,  tomato,”  as  if  the  two  things  were  entirely  interchangeable  (  and  as  someone  who  never  really  liked  to  think  too  hard  about  the  differences  in  schools  when  he  barely  was  able  to  attend  one  –  long  before  his  parents  own  problems  piled  on  top  of  baby  jasons  shoulders,  it  seemed  valid  enough  )  “just  didn’t  expect  y'as  a  police  officer  kind  of  guy.”  and  he’s  not  sure  if  he  hides  his  grimace  on  the  word  well,  but  it’s  something.  jason  and  the  police  have  always  had  a  ..  more  difficult  relationship,  if  it  can  even  be  defined  as  such,  and  it’s  enough  to  make  him  want  to  step  back  from  dick.  the  older  wouldn’t  do  any  harm  to  him  ..  not  that  he  knows  of,  anyways,  so  he  stays  still  and  lets  the  older  shuffle  around.

an  eyebrow  raises  when  he  reemerges  with  a  file  –  jason  had  moved  to  sitting,  because  he  is  kind  of  tired.  fighting  food  vendors  wore  people  out.  "a  warehouse?“  he  snorts.  "seems  kind  of  obvious.”  or  maybe  that’s  just  him.  a  nod  of  his  head,  the  second  robin  isn’t  sure  what  to  say.  it  seems  like  dick  has  this  under  control,  so  why  bring  jason  into  it?  he’d  never  voice  that  concern  aloud  ..  but  it’s  still  in  the  back  of  his  mind.  "seems  like  ya’  chief  needs  to  have  a  board  meeting  about  bribery.“  another  shrug,  eyes  scanning  the  file  to  try  and  gauge  any  ideas  of  his  own.

"well  –what  do  you  have  in  mind  for  taking  it  down,  then?”

"Been a ‘police officer guy’ before, it’s not like some big career change.” While Dick was aware that Jason’s history with law enforcement wasn’t exactly shining, he refrained from mentioning that Jason’s very vocal opinion and attitude towards police was likely the reason his experiences were exactly what they are. “Listen, I’ll spare you the ‘not all cops’ TED talk, but I figured this was the right way to help people.” Admittedly, it was an idealistic notion, although it made a lot of sense to him at the time. Reality wasn’t quite the same, being shackled by all of the rules and laws and codes officers had to follow... He could get more done off the clock down forgotten alleyways, he just had to do it in a way that suited him; not Bruce’s way.

“It’s always obvious.” It really was. If it wasn’t a warehouse, you could put sure money on the shadiest strip joint in town being your location. Where was the originality and taste? Regardless, warehouses were ideal, as it put less civilians at risk. 

“if  you’re  asking  if  this  is  a  gift  from  dear  father  trigon,  i  can  assure  you  that  he  is  concealed  in  the  deepest  part  of  the  dark  realm,”  raven  didn’t  actually  know  where  he  ended  up,  but  he’s  been  defeated,  he’s  no  longer  controlling  her.  she  looked  at  dick,  shaking  her  head.  "he’s  no  longer  a  threat,  and  if  he  is  —-  i  can  handle  him  now,“  gingerly  she  reached  up  and  touched  the  gem  in  her  forehead.  images  of  the  events  flashed  through  her  head,  quickly  she  removed  her  fingers  from  the  gem  and  sighed  softly.  "but  no,  i  don’t  know  what  caused  it.  it’s  not  a  dark  force  from  my  realm,  i  would  feel  it,”  raven  confirmed.  "but  i’m  more  than  willing  to  help  you  figure  it  out,“  raven  loved  the  Wayne  Enterprises  computers,  and  she  loved  figuring  everything  out.  also  —-  bruce  wayne’s  collection  of  books?  completely  enthralling.  the  computer  data  base  always  had  the  best  suggestions  for  what  raven  was  interested  in.

raven  looked  at  him,  and  nodded.  concealing  her  dark  magic  shield,  and  setting  her  feet  on  the  ground  before  the  man.  "i  think  so,  i  did  the  best  i  could  to  protect  the  people  in  my  immediate  area.“  she  nodded,  and  took  a  breath.  looking  at  the  surrounding  people,  "that  really  came  out  of  nowhere?”  she  asked,  "is  that  common?“  she  asked,  cocking  her  head  and  looking  at  the  man  before  her.  heroism  wasn’t  always  her  favorite  thing,  she  wasn’t  every  trying  to  be  a  hero.  "the  weatherman  said  it  was  going  to  be  sunny,  and  as  far  as  i’m  aware;  earthquakes  and  sunny  weather?  don’t  really  correlate,”  raven  shrugged.  "but  feel  free  to  correct  me  if  i’m  wrong,“  she  hummed,  knowing  full  and  well  she  was  correct.

“You’re not wrong,” he answered once satisfied that everyone was well and unharmed, thanks in large part to Rachel’s quick reactions. “Thanks for your help,” he expressed to Rachel, while picking up one lady’s belongings that she dropped when the quake hit and handing it back to her ( — ‘Here you go, ma’am. No problem, you’re welcome’. —).

— beckon. your muse beckoning mine to them without speaking. 

This bastard. This absolute bastard. 

Dick has been on his tail for just over a week now, each night getting closer to catching up to him. He wasn’t hard to find, you just had to follow the messy trail of bodies that was left in his wake in different parts of the city. The man seemed to slip right through his fingers each time as though he knew that Dick was coming somehow. He didn’t know how he was doing it, but he would not be outsmarted for too long.

This guy was getting cocky, thinks he’s real funny beckoning the disguised detective with one finger and vanishing before Dick had a chance to reach him.

In bad temper, Dick hurled one of his escrima sticks at the man’s shadow, frowning at the noise it made as it clattered against the ground.

Next time.

— patience. your muse telling mine to be patient.

— calm. your muse telling mine to  ‘just breathe’. [ ver. 1 ]

“Just breathe, man. Take five.” They had been training with the blindfolds for hours at Jason’s insistence; long enough that even Dick was beginning to feel fatigue creeping into the fibres of his muscles. He could tell that Jason was feeling tired too. Although he wouldn’t admit it and had been unyielding when the former Robin had suggested taking breaks ( — ‘Scumbags don’t take breaks, Dick’. — ), Jason’s movements were beginning to get sloppy, careless. 

Dick could tell that he was starting to get frustrated with himself for not getting the hang of it immediately, but that’s just not how it worked. It took time, patience. Even in the handful of hours they had been practicing, Dick could see a big improvement in him, he was a quick learner, even managed to land a few hits that left a sting; he would master the training soon enough. “You gotta be patient with yourself — you’re almost there.” 

— calm. your muse telling mine to  ‘just breathe’. [ ver. 2 ]

It was hard to tell if the game being played was really that rage inducing, or if it was just Jason having a bad day. “Just breathe. Or aim better.” 

— stay. your muse telling mine to stay in the car. 

They were almost ready to go out on patrol, went over the plan until it was crystal clear and Jason was sick of hearing it. It wasn’t a difficult bust that they were going on, but you could never be too careful, and Dick liked to be two steps ahead at all times. 

Jason was suited and eager to leave as soon as possible, needling every few seconds to ‘hurry up already’. Just to get him out of his hair for a few minutes in order to finish his prep properly, and against his better judgement, Dick threw the keys to his car in Jason’s direction without looking. “Wait in the car.” It was a simple instruction, one that shouldn’t require a follow-up, but just in case… “None of that hot wheels shit. Won’t be long.”

— tears. your muse wiping away mine’s tears

Features softened when Dick recognised the young lady he had met a couple of weeks prior, tucked away at a corner table with her back turned to the world around her. Although she was discretely wiping at the tears that streaked her face, it was clear to him that she was visibly upset once he took a moment to read her body language. While everyone in the busy café passed by without notice, Dick couldn’t help but feel as though he needed to do something to help. Maybe it was something grave and serious upsetting her, or maybe it was something as simple as just a bad day; everyone had them. Either way, whatever the cause of tears may have been, it would bother him for the rest of his night if he didn’t at least try to help; a great believer that there was always a solution to any problem. As far as he could tell, Sabrina was alone, no sign of company. 

if  jason  was  a  normal  person  capable  of  feeling  things  on  a  more  ..  rational  level,  maybe  he  would’ve  expressed  his  gratitude  for  the  offer  of  being  partners  ;  it  still  kills  jason  like  a  fish  hooks  to  the  gut,  the  fact  that  he  still  feels  admiration  for  the  other  robin  —  the  one  that  he  has  to  live  up  to.  it  feels  like  an  impossible  standard  but  todd  has  always  been  up  for  any  challenge  that  life  seemingly  throws  at  him  (  the  need  to  prove  himself  runs  deep  )  and  at  this  point  it’s  second  nature  to  take  things  as  they  come.  however,  graysons  jokes  makes  him  scowl.  "fuck  off,“  eyes  roll  with  nothing  but  good  nature  and  he  makes  it  a  point  to  himself  to  work  on  his  game  now  that  he  has  dick  back  in  his  life  –  he’s  had  a  few  months  to  get  good  material.

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“It’s called an academy, and I did all that after I left Bruce.” Kind of, he did some of it, used a few connections to speed up the process. Dick was a little overqualified for the job, had been doing a better job than the GCPD since he was thirteen years old. Instead of undergoing the full training course necessary, Dick took all relevant exams and physical tests to graduate within a handful of weeks. His express-pass through training didn’t earn him too many favours among the other young officers in the academy, though he hadn’t joined the force to make friends. He joined to make a difference, to pursue justice in a way that Bruce Wayne wasn’t at the time — to figure out what and who he was. Dick’s skillset proved endlessly useful to the force, earning him a quick rise through the ranks from rookie street cop to detective in no time at all.

Telling Jason to ‘hang on a sec’ while he retrieved a file from a briefcase that was sitting on the table, Dick gave the report a quick skim before sliding it towards his partner. “Drugs ring operating outta a warehouse downtown.” It was a case that the station had been building for a month or so, though Dick had his own intel that he hadn’t disclosed to the team working on it. “Think they might be buying one of the cops at the station, that’s why I took this one home. Gotta be careful with it.” The last thing he needed was anyone finding out that he was poaching jobs from other units at the precinct in his free time, let alone suspecting another officer of accepting bribes for turning a blind eye, or possibly worse.

No fucking way.

Somewhere amongst the page-filler articles in the local Duskridge newspaper, an unexpected piece caught the detective’s eye as he skimmed over it. Dick read the article title three, four, fives times just to make sure that he had read it correctly. 

“Businessman’s Generous Donation to Local Youth Centre Makes Waves”

Sure enough, printed plainly beneath the title was a press photo of Bruce Wayne himself, handing an oversized cheque to a social worker that was sporting a huge smile. The article itself spoke of the magnanimous generosity of the local business owner, who’s donation was so grand that it would provide the struggling organisation with everything it needed for several years to come. 

He couldn’t have been in Duskridge for too long — Dick would have known about his arrival by now. The precinct was only a couple of blocks away from the business district, and he’d often keep tabs on the big-wigs around that end of town. Everyone knew that wherever there was money, there was probably some shady shit going on, too. This had to be Bruce’s way of reaching out to them; do something so outrageously flashy, yet well-intentioned, to get his face in the papers and have everyone around town talking about him.

It took only a couple of minutes for Dick to track down which building downtown was Bruce’s new office, wasting no time in getting himself there. 

“I’m here to see Br— Mr. Wayne,” he informed the young lady behind reception once he had her attention. His request was politely turned down, as expected, due to his lack of appointment. However, the receptionist was quick to oblige when Dick presented his badge and identification, which always came in handy whenever you didn’t have an appointment for anything. Picking up the phone, she deftly dialled into Bruce’s office. 

she nodded, a lie slipping through her teeth. “yeah, me either. seems like it could be something though, it’s unlike anything i’ve ever seen.” this was at least true. yes, sabrina may have seen the dark lord but it was still not like this. which is why she felt there could be some connection between the two. the witch had learned not to rule out everything over her past adventures and this would not be any exception even if it wasn’t in greendale.

envious, sabrina wished dearly that her family, salem or even harvey had followed her here. maybe they would have more answers to what she was looking for. “was gotham that bad?” sabrina questioned, not sure that this so-called gotham would come close to being as peculiar as greendale had become to her. “i might have to agree, i think if the others from greendale showed as well, i wouldn’t mind this place as much. i love my job, so– that’s something.”

“you feel that too?” she was speaking about the off-ness, the feeling in the air that kept the blonde on her toes and brought a wave of uneasiness through her. the small rupture had only confirmed this to sabrina that it appeared there may be more than what meets the eye. “i just hope whatever it is–, it’s not something we can’t handle.”

"You ever see anything close to it in Greendale?” The way that she was speaking seemed to allude to having some sort of knowledge of the ‘supernatural’, whatever that entailed; all he knew was that it was a pretty broad topic. At this rate, knowing a bit more about that kind of thing wouldn’t be the worst idea. Just in case. There was a moment of pause before presenting another question. “Don’t suppose you remember how you got here in the first place?”

“Guess I’m not doing much for tourism. It’s not great, though.” It was the plain truth. While he and Bruce shared an ideal of saving Gotham from itself, it could sometime feel like an impossible task. Dick remembered how it felt not having any of his friends or family here with him, and despite not knowing the young lady he was speaking to, he hoped she’d find a piece of her past soon. It was clear to see that she was missing them and that much he did understand. “You could have someone here already, just haven’t found them yet. Hope they don’t keep you waiting too long.” 

she could understand the confusion, even sabrina was aching with curiosity over it. and fear, though she would never admit to it. the witch had jumped tot he worst possible conclusion, and she almost hated herself for questioning the man on it but he appeared to be just as intuitive as she was. sabrina trusted it. “you don’t think it was– supernatural or anything, do you?” it was an odd question but one that had been burning in her mouth since the very moment it happened.

“my family? no.” her chest felt hollow, unable to even contact her family. “gotham. hm– never heard of that either. is– your family here?” there was a questionable emotion detected, sabrina had asked rather on impulse before she even recognized the feelings. “i;m sure it wasn’t as bad as greendale, that’s for sure.”

“Supernatural?” It was a possibility that Dick had given some consideration to while trying to figure out the cause of the sporadic quakes throughout the city. It was something that he simply couldn’t rule out for now. “Could be. I’m not too... versed with any of that to know for sure, though.” His skillset lay more in his physical abilities and agility. Bruce didn’t exactly make any time for supernatural causes for brief yet drastic, unexplained weather changes. 

“Uh— yeah. Kinda. One brother.” As with anything involving Jason Todd, it could be a smidge complicated. “The others, though...” he trailed off, shaking his head. “No idea what happened to them, where they are.” He could only hope that they were all safe back home, hopefully not missing him too much. Maybe just a little. He missed them, that much he was sure of.

A quiet, airy laugh caught him by surprise when the young lady before him insinuated that Greendale was a bad place, as he struggled to imagine anywhere being as dark and depraved as the city that he called ‘home’. “Well, ma’am, I really hope it wasn’t a bad as Gotham.” He’d seen enough evils and corruption in that city alone that he would never wish upon anyone. “This place, Duskridge, it’s not so bad,” he continued as an afterthought, shrugging his shoulders and giving an impression of indifference. He had almost grown accustomed to the city; couldn’t complain that there didn’t seem to be an urgent need to sidestep regular law and order to stamp out atrocious crimes in the dark of night, disguised in a mask. It was... fine.