-Dick's POV-

I got home from a long day at work, loosened my tie, and collapsed onto the couch. I took a deep sigh and just let my muscles relax. Checking my watch, I knew I had to head out to patrol in about an hour.

The door swung open and Barbara stepped in. Her lips were pressed in a tight expression and she refused to look at me. I had done something wrong, but what?

I swaggered over to her as she dropped her bag onto the kitchen counter. "Hey Babs, what's wrong?" She whipped around, staring me down.

"Why didn't you tell me Athena was back!?" Barbara yelled, grabbing my shoulders. I rolled my eyes and pulled her into my chest.

"Are you jealous, Barbara?" I teased, smirking and kissing her neck. She scoffed and pushed me off, keeping me at arm's distance.

"Dick, are you serious?" She suddenly sounded sad, "Athena was my friend! You knew she was back days ago! How could you hide this from me?"

I sighed. I really didn't see the problem. Why couldn't my relationships just be normal? Why would my girlfriend freak about me not discussing the return of my ex-girlfriend? Why couldn't it just be a matter of jealousy?

"Barbara, Athena isn't our friend anymore. She deserted us and broke our trust. I didn't think I had to tell you that a stranger just was admitted to the hospital."

"The hospital!? Is she okay!?" Barbara's eyes filled with worry, making me a bit angry. Wait, was I getting jealous?

"Why do you care?"

"Why don't you?" She grabbed my hand, "Dick, I know what she did was wrong, but I bet she has her reasons. You aren't usually this unforgiving."

She was right. I was a firm believer that everyone deserves a second chance. But, Athena was different. I had let her into my life and into the lives of my closest friends, my family. We had all trusted and loved her. I had loved her...and then she left. She returned to the League of Assassins after saying all of her feelings were faked. How could I forgive that when I hadn't really known her at all? There was nothing to forgive because I had never really known Athena.

"If you want to go have tea with Athena, go ahead. No one is stopping you," I growled, walking away.

"Dick," Barbara grabbed my shoulder, "I think you should go too. Before you object, I think you should go because you have been acting different lately. I didn't know why at first, but I know now that it is because of her. By going and visiting, you can purge her from your system and maybe I'll be able to see you smile again." Barbara kissed my cheek. Despite her optimism, I couldn't bring myself to crack a smile.

I ran my fingers through Barbara's fiery hair. "If it will make you happy, I will go see my ex. Why can't you just be jealous instead?"

Barbara smirked and ran her hand down my chest. "Because I know Dick Grayson better than the pig-headed boy knows himself."

-

About a week later, I knocked on the door of Wayne Manor. After Barbara had gone and seen her, I had been let in on her current whereabouts. I felt like I was going to throw up. In the pit of my stomach, I felt anxiety brewing. I gulped as the door was pulled open.

"Master Dick! What a surprise!" Alfred greeted, his face crinkling as he smiled.

I stepped forward and wrapped the old man up in my arms. "It's great to see you, Al."

"Well, come in!" Alfred pulled me inside. The Manor still looked the same. It was sparkling clean and bright. Every time I walked through those doors, I was flooded with memories. Bruce and I playing hide-n-seek, Alfred scolding me after I destroyed the kitchen, Tim and I sliding down the staircase. It was like coming home.

After Alfred offered me tea, I got down to business. "Alfred, I'm here to see...her." For some unknown reason, I suddenly felt that I couldn't say her name out loud. I swallowed down the dark feeling creeping up.

"Oh..." He glanced down sadly, "she's training in the Batcave right now. Tread carefully, she's had a rough time lately."

I slowly descended the stairs to the Batcave. As I entered, I could hear grunts echoing as well as the sound of impact. Slowly and quietly, I made my way to the training section. Just as expected, Athena was hard at training. She was so focused, she hadn't seen me.

"Athena," I called, making her whip around. Her eyes were big with shock. That was out of character. Usually, she could hear me approach even with headphones on.

"Dick." Her voice had no emotion, reminding me of the day she left. I analyzed her current state. Compared to the last time I saw her, she had made a miraculous recovery. She was still underweight, but only by a couple pounds. Her bones were now only partially visible. Muscles were starting to bulge out again. Her face had finally retained it's pinkish color. Sweat prickled on her skin.

Realizing I was staring, I made note of her condition. "You're standing."

She nodded. She didn't even speak a word. Athena turned back towards the training dummy she was brutally punching. With only a sports bra and shorts on, I could see every scar. Some were old and some were blatantly new. A part of me felt guilty for looking at the evidence of her pain.

"They were starting to call you Oracle number two," I joked, but my voice didn't sound very happy. My tone made it seem like I was making fun of her. By the way she tensed up, I could tell I offended her. Before I could try to clear up what I meant, she spoke.

"Why are you here?" Athena turned around to face me. I was surprised by the question, leaving me silent for a moment. Her intense blue eyes connected with mine. Some part of me hoped to see that old spark light up. No such luck. I could tell there was something behind her eyes, but I hadn't seen her in so long, I couldn't decipher it.

I cleared my throat and stiffened my spine. "I came to see if you were alright."

Athena shrugged her shoulders and held out her arms. "I'm fine. Was that all?" She got sharper and more defensive, showing that she was trying to hide something. I didn't know what it was, but she was putting up walls against me. After all the secrets she already had, she was the one trying to block me out?

"Yeah, I guess it was," I mimicked her tone, "I'm so glad you are moving on and adjusting so easily."

Her face turned to stone. I had struck a nerve.

"Yeah, packing on my muscle and nursing my broken bones has been so easy. But, I heard you are doing fine too. Moving on with Barbara so painlessly..." She tossed me a look that was so real. Her face declared she was actually happy for me, but her voice screamed the opposite.

"Athena..."

She shrugged the look off smugly. "Whatever. It's nothing."

I was done playing games. How dare she try to make me feel bad for moving on so quickly when she was the one who left! I wasn't betraying anyone and it was time I made myself believe that.

"Why are you even back?" I spilled, "I want to know what happened, for real. And don't give me the excuse that you can't talk about it when I know you already told Bruce and Tim and maybe even Barbara."

She squared her shoulders and sighed. "I don't want to discuss it..."

Despite the pain in her speech, I pressed on. I was desperate for closure. "Do you ever stop with the lies? Don't you think after everything I deserve to know why you decided to leave me for almost two years?"

"Fine, you wanna know what happened to me?" She crossed her arms. "When I went back to the Assassins, they punished me for failing my mission and choosing the Bat over them. So, for two years, I received my punishment and I came back here after I escaped. Happy?"

I was at a lost for words. I couldn't tell if she was telling the truth. She was so devoid of emotion. But her body...it was so broken. Could they really have done that to her? The more I thought about it, the more a feeling of deep seeded protectiveness bubbled to the surface.

But, it had been her choice. Athena had willingly gone back, knowing what they would do. No one had forced her to go. I remembered specifically on that helicopter pad that she wasn't in cuffs and no one was pointing a gun at her. She willingly walked away from my life. And now she was back. I had no idea why, but I knew one thing for certain: I was not going to let her into my life again.

"Get better," I growled, storming out. As soon as I reached the top of the Batcave stairs, I could hear her continue her training as if I had never been there at all. Classic Athena.

-

I quickly changed into my uniform and hit the skyline of Gotham. I was determined to get whatever had happened in the Cave out of my mind.

As I was passing Gotham Harbor, I managed to spot Batman fighting some goons. I swooped down, kicking a guy in the face.

"These are some nice guns, fellas," I said as I elbowed another one in the face, "You get these at some high-tech gun show or off the internet?"

Batman fought beside me. It was just like old times. I would bring some humor into the manner and he would stay completely serious. Tim had left town with the Teen Titans, leaving me to fill his place.

After the fight was over and all the men were sleeping on the ground, I inspected the scene. "These boys were dressed for a small war. Do you recognize these?" I help up one of their guns, showing it to Bruce.

"They're D.E.O. Stolen three weeks ago. Heavy arms. Someone values the cargo..." He pulled out an explosive-detector as he leaned over an unfamiliar box, "The lids are clean of explosives."

I stepped forward and quickly pried it open. "Great. What do you guess? Arms? Drugs? Tech? I'm betting arms."

Batman and I leaned over to check inside. "Probably. But the casings don't match up."

"Well, maybe we're in for a--" I looked inside, "--surprise. What is that?"

"Just what it looks like." Inside the box, there was a collection of Gotham Rogue weapons. It was like a collector's box. "Those are boomerangs from Captain Boomerang, a few of Freeze's guns, and those bombs are Joker's."

"Admittedly, it's all very lethal stuff, but do you think someone was more interested in their novelty? Like a collector?" I refused to believe the Joker or any other villains would want to collect other villain's weapons. And I highly doubted that any other baddie would want them.

"Maybe."

"Well, it looks like you've got yourself a few new trophies for the Cave," I pried open the crate beside the one we inspected, "I'd never--" The beeping of the bomb made me drop my smirk, "Aw, hell."

"Move!" Batman commanded. We both took off just as the bomb exploded, sending us both off of the boat and onto the harbor. "You okay?"

"Fine." I answered, standing to my feet and swatting away the tiny fire on my shoulder. My ears rung from the explosion.

"There, on the roof," Batman said. I followed his gaze to see a man with a red helmet watching us.

"Move," I commanded as we both grappled after him, "You know him?" I asked as we both started to chase the man.

"No, and at the moment I don't care. Just get him."

The man jumped off the roof. He performed a perfect aerial jump through the air and landed perfectly, still taking off at top speed. He was super fast but also agile. He had practice. He seemed to be able to execute whatever he was doing without even thinking. The guy had training.

Batman tossed a line around the guy's ankle, but he cut it before it even went taught. Now that was strange. Not only was his knife able to cut a Batline, but he also knew what Batman was going to do.

The man dove off another building, crashing through a window. "Impressive," I remarked.

"Nothing we haven't seen before or done before," Batman dismissed as we followed through the broken glass.

"Got that right," I landed hard, "that hurt..."

"Stay sharp," Batman ordered as the lights in the warehouse suddenly blinked on.

"Oh boy..." I gulped as we faced down a man taller than both of us with muscles bigger than my head.

"Stay sharp." Batman repeated as the guy cracked his knuckles, glaring down at both of us.

"I guess I will just have to settle for you two," He said, flexing, "You are easily outmatched. This will end quickly."

By the time I think "this is bad," Batman is already airborne and on the attack, tossing grenades into the guy's face. Even after all these years, I'm still amazed by him.

"You will have to do better than that!" The guy didn't take any damage. But, Batman didn't seem to care.

"I did," he said, tossing a smirk over his shoulder. He had placed an exploding batarang into the man's beefy leg. I was surprised, until it exploded, revealing the metal skeleton beneath.

I recognized who we were fighting. Professor Ivo's Justice League power sucking machine, Amazo! It was capable of retaining the powers of any Superhero he came in contact with. Good for Batman and I, we didn't have any powers.

"Will that do any good?" I asked as we both fled the warehouse.

"It'll slow it down. Despite having Flash's abilities, it won't be able to support it's massive weight on that leg at elevated speeds."

Amazo busted through the wall of the warehouse, angry as ever, just as we grappled to higher ground. "It's an older model, or maybe a prototype. There are no signs of Plastic Man and it's also stripped down. No Golden Lasso or Green Lantern Ring. We got lucky, Nightwing."

I chuckled, wincing from my injured leg. "Yeah, that's how I feel. Lucky."

"You avoid the inevitable!" Amazo screeched, flying after us.

"Move!"

"No time to--" We both talked over each other. Amazo grabbed me right out of the air, crushing my arm against his body.

"You are merely a human being. Flesh and bone. Your struggle is pointless," Amazo commentated, holding me tight in place and I twisted and turned.

"You're pretty cocky for a power sucking microwave!"

Batman grappled beside us. "Professor Ivo created Amazo with a human model in mind!" He tied a line around Amazo's ankle, "His functionality mimics that of a human being! His weaknesses are located at the same points!"

"Got it." I turned around so I was face-to-face with the robot. "Hold still." I pulled out to WingDings and plunged them deep into both of Amazo's ears. "This might sting a bit," I said as he gripped his ears, dropping me.

"I didn't get deep enough to nail his brain pan, but it seems to have affected whatever gyros are implanted in his inner ears," I commented as Amazo smacked against the concrete, "It's a start. We can't--"

Amazo completely ripped away the ladder I was climbing, forcing Batman and I both to jump down to his level. "We seem to have gotten him a little angry."

Batman's silence is something I never got used to. In life, it was hard enough. But in work, he's never one to trash talk or take a dig at an opponent. It's just not him. It's probably why, as a kid...As Robin, I could never shut up. He never told me to be quiet. Not really.

Amazo knocked Batman to the ground. Just as he fired laser beams at me, I jumped up. "Superman's heat vision! That's cute!" I taunted.

As I thought back upon it later, I always figured he didn't mind. Or he was using it as a distraction? Because he is always about finding the next move. He's always about ending the fight.

"It must be frustrating just playing cover tunes with other heroes' powers, huh?" I dodged another heat vision blast.

"I'm not a creature of ego. Unlike you and your other costumed soldiers, I am driven by a single purpose," As Amazo was distracted by me, I saw Batman sneak up behind him, "To destroy---eh?"

Batman placed putty over Amazo's eyes, giving us a chance to retreat a bit. "Obstructing my vision with putty will hardly impede my blast's, Batman!" Amazo called out, firing a blast. It exploded the putty, taking his robot eyes with it.

"No, but firing heat vision through plastique explosives will," Batman said, making me mentally applaud.

"That was pretty slick," I cheered, "We seem to have slowed him down a bit."

"A bit. But we've certainty evened the odds. Get ready."

Amazo lunged forward blindly, reaching for one of us. I kicked his head into a wall and punched him across the face with a crack.

As the fight goes on, silence overtakes us both. I understood then just as I understood now. There's a time for talk and there's a time for action. And there're those times when Batman is ready to play his final card. In this case, it was biding our time until he could get the Batmobile there by remote. Every trick we pulled was a stall. We were waiting for the car. Most time, it takes a machine to take down a machine.

The Batmobile silently pulled up and launched a missile at the bounding Amazo. It launched him straight into the water of Gotham Harbor with a giant explosion.

"Do you think that took him out?" We both stood on the edge of the Harbor, watching.

"If not, he'd be swimming to us at 80 knots under Aquaman's abilities."

"Yeah...I guess he's not coming back up," I looked over to Batman and chuckled, "But we're going to search every drop of water just to be sure, right?"

"Of course." Bruce smiled as we both hopped in the Batmobile.

"So...any clue who might be buying all sorts of high-priced ticket items like villain weaponry and killer androids?"

"Not yet," Bruce drove the Batmoblie into the water through a secret entrance, "but the night's still young."

~~~~~Horray for long chapters!! The fight scene between Amazo, Batman, and Nightwing was very much inspired by the actual Under the Red Hood comic book lol. Hope you guys enjoyed it!~~~~~