Present: We Needed Static, Not The Whole League and Team (Also Known As Present: Why, Nightwing, Why?)

Black Frost was...annoyed to say the least. It wasn't really Nightwing's fault, it was more of the Justice League and the Team combined are a force to be reckoned with.

Being in this position was not what she wanted when she signed up to take Nightwing in. Why, Nightwing, why?

All Black Frost thought of was how this all happened. It started during one of Batman's nightly patrols two days after Nightwing coughed up blood on the Watchtower and no one heard from anyone at The Nest, Robin had branched off from Batman while Batgirl went the other way. They were going to meet back up at a meeting place they have yet to decide in the next few hours. Knowing the Batfamily, didn't end up that way.

What really happened was Robin walked into something he shouldn't have.

~

Robin had been stopping small crimes for about an hour and a half when he came across a drug deal. Thinking that it was just some routine drug deal, he got ready to grapple down into the alley. Hearing a gruff voice, Robin stopped in his tracks. He somehow thought it was familiar, until a figure emerged from the shadows. One that Robin has known for a long time. Nightwing.

"Black Frost told you not to deal in this territory." The growl in his voice threw Robin off. Once Nightwing was in the light of the alley, Robin's heart dropped.

Instead of the familiar Nightwing uniform, he was wearing an all black suit with a Nightwing utility belt, a mask that looked like the one he wore when he was Robin, and...he had a gun holster strapped to both of his thighs.

To Tim's horror, Dick look like he was reaching for the guns that rested there. What was he going to do? Why was here? What does Black Frost have him do anyway? Wasn't there a war-like battle going on? Unless they were talking about a gang, that actually would explain a lot about the situation.

"Yeah, well, Frost is busy, ain't he. He brought his errand boy instead." The buyer's gravel voice sounded, bringing Robin out of his thoughts.

"Don't! He gonna kill us!" One of the sellers spoke, staring at Nightwing in horror.

Robin noticed the change in Dick as he clenched his hands, inching closer to the one of the guns. Was he going to use it?

Half the men there laughed, while the other grew more terrified as if they truly thought Dick would kill all the ten to twelve men present.

One of the men on the buyer's side stopped laughing for a moment as he asked, "Who are you?"

"Renegade."

In the moment that Dick spoke the name emotional, terrified noises filled the place. Some tried to run, but that's when the gunshots rang out in the alleyway.

In the span of twenty-three seconds all the men were on the ground, a bullet through the head, heart, or throat. All dead.

Dick finished firing, turned away and was on his way to leave. Tim couldn't help the slightly muffled cry from escaping his throat. In that moment, Dick spun back around, scanning the alleyway with what seemed to be a third pistol.

"Dick?" He quietly questioned from his position on the fire escape near the roof of one of the buildings.

Dick looked up, frowned, put the gun away, and motioned for Tim to get down. "Robin, it isn't safe here. Come down, I'll take you home." He proposed, but Tim wasn't so sure that it was a good idea. What he just witnessed wasn't any kind of training Tim has seen before, and Dick didn't even blink after he killed over ten men. And for what? Because they were in Black Frost's territory? Because of a gang war?

Tim didn't know and he didn't stay to find out. He knew that the best way out of this situation was to just run and hide, try to call Batman or Batgirl and to stay away from Dick. Whoever Dick was now. Killer or not. And that's what Lucy meant by the hero-turned-villain routine, Dick wasn't Dick anymore, there was more to everything.

So, Tim did the best thing he could do at the moment and ran. He jumped and ran from rooftop to rooftop, trying to get to the nearest zeta tube where he could get to the Watchtower, this situation needed to be discussed.

Robin was a street away from the zeta tube when he heard a shot. Stopping short, he looked down and noticed the blood.

"Robin!" Was the last thing Tim heard before he heard another shot and he died.

~

Batman wasn't sure what to think when patrol was cut short by a cryptic message from Nightwing saying to go to the Watchtower and not to worry about Robin, he was him.

Batgirl found Batman after listening to the same message and took a zeta up to the Watchtower and was confused when everyone had gotten the same message. The only ones missing that were coming were Nightwing and Robin.

Feeling a little concerned, Batman waited.

After ten minutes, the zeta tube called out the three Robins. All attention on his three Robins, many gasped. Nightwing held a bloody Robin, while Red Hood (who wasn't wearing the hood) walked behind scowling.

Black Canary ran forward. "What happened?" She started looking for the injuries, but stopped when it become clear.

"He's dead." Red Hood stated, glaring at Nightwing.

"What?" Batman asked, his body going cold.

"Goldie shot him. Twice." Red Hood glared even harder at Nightwing.

"I did not-"

"YOU SHOT HIM AFTER HE WITNESS YOU KILLING TEN OTHERS!" Jason shouted, cutting Dick off.

It was then that Batman noticed the gun holster strapped around Dick's thighs. "Nightwing-"

"Black Frost calls him Renegade." Jason commented.

"You're Renegade." Batgirl stated as if she was still trying to believe it. Batman remembered that the infamous Renegade had almost killed her dad at City Hall during a speech. But why would Dick do that?

Everyone broke out into chaos at that statement. Many just shouting questions and demands.

"SHUT UP!" It all went silent as Nightwing coughed, trying to recover from the shouting, but looking better than he had two days before. "I-I can explain."

"Explain that you killed your own brother. What? Were you going to do that to me when I first found out? Was that what you wanted to 'talk' to me about? A bit hypercritical telling me the dangers of guns when you use them all the time." Jason demanded. Bruce has never seen Jason like this. He sounded a little hurt to Bruce.

"Nightwing, how about you give Superman Robin and we can talk-" Black Canary started.

"I didn't kill Robin." Nightwing defended. Bruce didn't know if he had training for a situation like this, but he felt like Dick wasn't lying.

"You had a gun aiming at his dead body!"

"Jason! It was a precaution! I don't want him to end up like...like me." Dick said the last part quietly, though loud enough that everyone heard it.

"What do you mean?" Batman gruffly demanded, walking towards his first son.

Dick simple shook his head. "You are not a part of this." He turned away, heading to leave.

"What about Robin?" Batgirl's sorrow-filled voice asked.

Nightwing stopped, not turning around he replied. "I have to make sure he's actual dead."

"What do you mean?" Superman asked.

Nightwing sighed. "I have to make sure he doesn't come back." Was all he said.

"Like me? Because I was dead, Goldie, you can't bring him back." Jason crossed his arms, looking angry.

Before Nightwing responded, Superboy said. "Like Lucy."

Nightwing tensed. "Yes, and...like me."

"What do you mean 'like you'?" Wally asked.

"If you want to know so bad, I'll take you to the one place that has all the answers. The Nest."

~

And that's where Black Frost found many heroes in the workshop with a body limp in Nightwing's arms. "What did you do?"

~MsPenguingirl1234.

Published: July 2, 2017.