jayi

Maybe it wasn’t considered weird for a random person to just be on the steep end of a roof around here, or well, it used to be like that.

Not until they finally took action. And by they, it means you-know-who.  

The figure on the roof stretched their arms, and leaned over, curiously peering at the scattering of people going about their day.

People.. they could already sense a headache. 

Sure, to any other person if they saw a figure leaning over a rooftop, they would probably shriek and think they were suicidal; but they have a strange ability to blend in with the dark structure of Gotham, more so invisible.

Not literally.. the figure took in a deep breath and immediately laid down on the edge, criss-cross.

It wasn’t even November, and yet Gotham was teeth-shatteringly cold. But it was probably more preferable than metropolis’ more moist atmosphere.

Jeez, never again.

Gotham had become real boring, recently.

a couple of years after the Joker had finally been rid of, the city had become much more safer, with criminals actually scared of the consequences of their actions. And sure, crime still happens, but way less frequently.

And the worst part of it, they couldn’t do anything either. They technically counted as one of Gotham’s criminals, more specifically an anti-hero.

Now, they couldn’t care less what they actually are.

Whether it’s an anti-hero, a vigilante, and under some people’s perspectives, a villain. However, they don’t go out of their way to hurt random people, so they detest that one.

You thought Batman was widely feared before? Well now, if you encounter him, it’s a death wish.

Obviously not for the people, The Bat still thinks of himself to have high morals (they snorted at the thought), but if you kill criminals, that’s not any different from harming civilians.

Oh well, they couldn’t care less about that either. They’re a bit selfish, sure, (now that’s an understatement) but even they can see what The Bats are doing is still wrong.

And even worse, the Justice League doesn’t seem to protest against it.

Its not like the media knew of every conversation between them, maybe they had protested, but since The Bat is such an essential member, and Gotham is much more clean now.. maybe that’s why they stayed quiet. 

Not to mentions Batman’s partners.

There were a couple that seemed constant.

For one, Nightwing has started to frequent Gotham more.

While he mainly seems to be in Blüdhaven, he actually visits Gotham more often than before. He is also the one that pertains least to Batman’s morals, it seems to be rare that he does heavily injure (putting it lightly) someone, his companions doing most of the work for him.

One thing they like about him are how he tends to have an acrobatic style. Cool, but still scary.

Red Hood, who they figured is probably also one of them, also seems less merciful than before, if that’s really even possible. Let’s just leave it at that.

He isn’t sighted with the rest that much, which is odd, but they didn’t really wanna find out why.

Even this playful one doesn’t wanna get on his bad side.

Spoiler, and Black bat. They tend to be a duo, patrolling together and are honestly the ones who seem closest.

You don’t hear much about them for some reason, but it appears spoiler tends to be more talkative with their enemies, (.. victims?) while Black bat tends to let their fighting do the talking for her, and many people state that their skills are exceptional. Black bat also having a rather graceful touch to her fighting skills, similar to Nightwing. 

Signal. Some media outlets paint Signal as being ‘more merciful’ than their companions, but you highly doubt that. From their observations, Signal tends to do what they want, and is also just as dangerous. Usually, they do day patrols, but on the rare occasions they do night patrols, they are seen with Spoiler and Black bat.

Red Robin, (like the food chain..) they appear to be a more closed-off one, yet just as  unhinged—if not more so than the rest. This one is the more witty and intelligent one, and reportedly can do anything their mind sets them to. Red Robin seems more introverted, yet more social.. and the anti-hero is clueless as to how.

If you ever had to pick a bat to encounter, this one would probably the most merciful, similar to Nightwing. Still doesn’t change much.

After that, and the most obvious one, is Robin.

Usually seen with Batman, however they also do their own thing a lot of the time.

Some Gothamites underestimate Robin because they think they aren’t as able as Batman.. you would be an idiot to actually think that. Robin is just as intelligent and capable as Batman, and equally as intimidating.

If the anti-hero didn’t know any better, they would even say they were related, with how similar the two are.

They mused, it’s almost poetic how the city covers up for The Bats.

But you can’t deny, they have no sense of integrity. What happened to Batman’s optimal no killing rule?

Well, that went down the drain as quickly as it came.

But they supposed for a person like The Joker, you can’t blame Batman for killing him. It was a mercy, honestly.

Now, they just hoped The Bats didn’t turn as corrupted as the villains they swear to cleanse. 

As for their knowledge of all this.. let’s just say, they liked to do a little bit of good-natured spying in their past-time. Just a hobby they found interesting..

Since they only really roamed Gotham around the night, that means they would also encounter a bat or two. Maybe they had not noticed their little stalker yet, but considering the Bats’ capabilities, they honestly doubt that.

Maybe the Bats didn’t consider them worthy enough to even waste a breath on.

As the anti-hero was caught up in their thoughts, they slightly tensed (careful to not show their surprise) as a faint sound, ever so light, was behind them. Soft whispers, and quiet steps. Not noticeable for those who have normal hearing.

They naturally had good hearing, but they were nerved.

Were they so distracted they did not hear this person for so long? 

They weren’t gonna fuck around and find out, as it was seemingly clear to them this mysterious being (an animal, maybe?) was trying to not alert them. So, they obviously did not have good intentions in mind.

That being said, they slowly got up from their position, wanting to appear natural, and then they slowly neared the steep edge of the building, almost carelessly.

They were a bit curious to see what would happen. Sue them..

Immediately the person (they deduced it likely was not an animal.) stopped trying to hide, seemingly wanting to reach them in time—as if they were actually going to jump. Pfft.

Sure, they were careless at times, but they didn’t have a death wish.

As the one behind them began carefully walking to their location, the anti-hero immediately spared a glance behind them to bate their breath at the sight. 

Well, out of all the people they had expected, this one was not among them.

The one sneaking behind them, was a certain Nightwing.

Well this made things to be interesting..

Honest to god, they had no clue what they did to pipe his curiosity. They also didn’t look like a normal civilian with their attire more fit for agility and fighting, if needed. So maybe that was why.

The vigilante (is he even that anymore?) behind them had an unreadable expression on his face, adorning the same domino mask and black-blue bodysuit.

It was pretty sick, to finally meet a figure like him face to face.

When they laid their eyes upon him, he also opened their mouth but also seemingly at a loss for words.

This situation was a bit awkward, like he had no clue what was going on, but it looks like he stepped in, just in the off case they were actually gonna jump. 

As if he actually cares. Man, he kills for gods sake. At least be a little more honest, maybe then he would be more likeable.

”Wait. Can you atleast think about this?” He sounded a bit unsure of himself, like he had no clue of what was going on. Fair enough.. they guessed that to any other person they seemed suicidal.

The anti-hero glanced back at the city ahead of them, city lights just as flashing and obnoxious as always, considering it was midnight.

As the person behind them continued walking cautiously, they tried to spare him no mind. Honestly, he was still sorta terrifying to them, but they still wanted to mess with him a bit—in harmless fun and all.

”Who are you?” They asked, y’know, just to catch him off guard.

Which worked kinda well, as he looked taken aback—at the mere thought that someone doesn’t know him. Oh, the agony!

But, truthfully it would be hard not to, with how he made quite a name for himself.

”I’m Nightwing. Please.. get off the edge, and lets talk about this.” He had a more mature approach than they thought, but murder aside, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

”About what? I’m not gonna jump.” 

”Well, please take a step away, and then I’ll tell you.” They had to say, he wasn’t very exceptional at bargaining.

”No.”

“Alright, fair enough. Are you okay with talking about it? You can stay on the edge, if you want.”

”There’s not much to talk about.” That part was truthful, there wasn’t anything to talk about with Nightwing.

The anti-hero sighs rather dramatically “Is it so bad that a person just wants to watch the city lights?” 

“No offense, but you seem more of an unsupervised child. Are your parents around?”

Okay, rude of him. You take back any good thought you had.

”For your information, I am fully mature and responsible. And please, I would prefer if you leave me alone.”

Nightwing does not listen. He takes a step forward, they take a step back. As their feet take a step back their heel is nearly off the edge. “Hold on—“ he tries to explain himself.

”—You never denied the child part.. and are you sure? Again, we can talk about this.” Nightwing seemed to have this calming effect to him, that would put anyone at ease, but you remind yourself that’s just a facade.

When he takes yet another careful step forward, they don’t take another step back, he takes that as a win.

This time around, the other figure seems to stay quiet and doesn’t reply, a hand reached to their side.

And now that he focused on them, Nightwing realized that they were distracted with other matters.

They took out something of a zip-line device, not exactly a grapple.. not as well-made as Wayne-tech, not even close, but clearly well taken care of.

As that thought crossed his mind, the shorter figure infront of him took a leap—

and they jumped.

Out of pure instinct, he immediately reached his hand out, and realizing he was nowhere close to catch them he immediately made the move of jumping off and catching them..

Only to see nothing.

The person that was before him was no more.

Nothing, other than a dark, cold alley infront of his eyes.

No body, and certainly no evidence of anyone even being there.. it was as if he hallucinated the whole thing.

it can’t be. They were right there. He was sure he didn’t just hallucinate that.

His fingers grazed the ledge, and he noticed—no he was not imagining that, because there was indeed the dusty print of their boots.

He carefully jumped down to the ground, the rooftop he was on a few minutes ago above him, and now he was in the alleyway.

Nightwing crouched and inspected the area—

There was not even a single soul, except for the rats skittering out the dump truck.

And not even the sign of their footsteps, which confirmed – They were not in this alley. If they were, it would have left a mark like it did earlier on the rooftop.

He turned left and right, corner after corner.

Nobody in sight, and that was expected if they knew what was good for them. 

”Nightwing? Are you there?” Barbara’s familiar and stern voice came into earshot, his comms left forgotten as he dived into his thoughts.

”Yes, yea I’m here.”

”So? What happened?” She pried, now he was aware not much could be kept from her watchful eye, but..

“Nothing.. yeah—not much. What’s up with the others?” His voice had distinctly gotten farther as from their earshot as he distanced himself from the alley.

Huh, they had expected him to eat them out. Well, next time they meet (if there ever happened to be a next time) they would be a little more nice. Not that they ever wanted to piss him off..

They willed themselves back, out the dark. The edge of their figure between something solid and mere dark. The shadows pulled, and the wind blew. 

As they moved again, solid and real, they exhaled. The weight of tiredness finally settling in again, adrenaline gone.

Putting a foot forward, they had finally set to make their way back home.

They were gonna make sure no curious little birdie followed them this time around. You weren’t gonna make that mistake ever again, hopefully.