-Dick's POV-

I woke up with a start. It was the crack of dawn and my room was still dark. I sat up, rubbed my head, and yawned. Stretching my arms out, I glanced down at the figure beside me.

I climbed on top of Barbara's body, staring down at her. Her pale skin reflected the moon, illuminating her in the dark. She slowly opened her eyes. "Why are you awake?" Barbs asked, staring up at me.

I chuckled. "Nightmare," I whispered, glancing down at her chest. She slapped my peck and pushed me off of her.

"We should be getting ready for work," she said. Barbara got out of my bed and slipped one of my t-shirts over her head.

With her back turned away from me, she looked eerily like another girl. My nightmare had brought up old feelings. I blinked the thought away when Barb's red hair caught the moonlight.

Sighing, I got up too. I pulled on a pair of boxers and walked to the bathroom. Barbara was in the shower, so I decided to brush my teeth. "Are we still on for dinner tonight?"

I ran my fingers through my hair. "Yeah. Why, do you have other plans?"

"No, of course not," Barbara laughed, "do you want to risk going to the Watchtower before?"

"Aren't our reservations at six? I don't get off until five and it's a thirty minute drive to Gotham."

"Well, alright," Barbara pulled open the curtain, "I can't wait to see you in a suit. It has been a while." She winked, her eyes traveling up and down my body. I smirked.

"Our last date was like, a month ago," I pulled her against me.

"Yeah, and we've been re-dating for a year," she kissed my cheek, "I have to go. I'm going to be late."

I let go of her hip, letting her scoot past me. "Bruce is going to kill me if I let his personal assistant be late."

"For the thirtieth time, probably," she pulled on a blouse and a pencil skirt. I watched her from the threshold of the bathroom. "The drive from your apartment to Wayne Enterprises is far enough."

I shrugged. "Maybe I should move back into the Manor again then, even though I'm a twenty one year old man."

"Yeah, maybe you're right. Why live in a spacious mansion in Gotham when you can live in a one bedroom apartment in Bludhaven?" Barbara teased, putting on her heels and nibbling on a bagel.

It was true. Last summer, I had moved out of Wayne Manor to avoid any painful memories. I wanted to move closer to the Bludhaven Police Station where I worked. I was never a high maintenance guy, so I looked for apartments instead of penthouses. When I found a small apartment in the city, I rented it as quickly as I could.

I slipped on my uniform and stood in the kitchen with my girlfriend. She read the newspaper and sipped her coffee. I looked out the window to see the shining sun. "You know it's officially summer in only two months," I smiled.

Barbara didn't look up from her newspaper. She looked just like Bruce. "Yep."

I snuck up behind her, pushing her hair off of her shoulder and kissing the skin gently. "I could take you on a nice vacation. Bruce said he's giving you the summer off, remember?"

"Yeah," she put her paper down and turned around, "I got it off so I could resume hero work full time. It's the same reason why you took the summer off."

"I know, but maybe we could just go to the Bahamas or something for a week or two," I said, backing up from where she sat.

"Dick, I can't. Can we not just enjoy going on patrol together again? Like the good old days?" Barbara stood up.

I sighed and forced a smile. "Yeah, of course," I checked my clock. Time to go.

We both shuffled out of the building and went to our vehicles. Barbara had a nice black car, not too fancy but not too casual. I had my police motorcycle parked beside it. She kissed me quickly and got in her car.

"Remember, tonight at six," she said before driving off. I nodded and waved before driving away to my job.

When I got to the station, I was greeted by my partner. Amy handed me a cup of coffee and a file. "This came in this morning. It's a new case. I'd start working if I were you, Grayson."

"Thanks, Amy," I winked.

"That's Rohrbach to you, Rookie," Amy crossed her arms, her blond hair swinging.

"After working her for almost three years, I'm still a rookie?" I teased.

"Just get to work," she walked off, leaving me laughing.

I sat down and began reading about the most recent criminal. It was about a batch of drugs that were recently smuggled in and out of Bludhaven. I frowned, knowing about the connection.

As Nightwing, I knew that Batman in Gotham was dealing with a similar problem as I was. A lot of the drug cartels and gangsters were starting to import more product and acting more daring. We were still trying to figure out why ourselves.

I put the case file on my desk and grabbed my motorcycle keys. Amy approached me, shoving her finger into my chest.

"And where exactly do you think you're going?" She asked, her eyebrow furrowed.

"To investigate the case you just gave me," I answered. She rolled her eyes.

"You planned on going without your partner or any backup?"

I nodded. "I can handle it. It's just a crack house."

"We're taking the car. Come on," she took the keys from my hand and threw them on my desk. I followed behind her reluctantly to our cop car.

I slid in through the front window, landing in the passenger's seat without opening the door. "That's not impressive, kid," Amy scowled, getting behind the wheel.

As we drove, I mentally reviewed everything I knew so far about the case. The drugs were found at a warehouse, supposedly waiting to be picked up. When the cops were called, the delivery boys scattered and the drugs were taken by the police. We were going to see if there were any clues that were missed.

The warehouse was right next to the port of Bludhaven that went straight to Gotham City. It was usually used for construction items going to build buildings, but no one suspected that drugs were being smuggled from the port. It was such an exposed place for a shipment.

The whole thing confirmed what Bruce and I had previously thought. The dealers were getting bolder as if they were under pressure. We weren't exactly sure who or what was causing the pressure, but it was affecting both Bludhaven and Gotham.

We had interrogated Joker a few months ago when the dealers first started acting up. But, despite how hard he tried to avoid our questions, it was obvious he had no idea what was going on. After how active he was two years prior, he didn't seem to have any schemes at play. Although, even I was still watching him, making sure he didn't escape Arkham again.

Amy and I jumped out of the car and scoped out the area. We ducked underneath the police tape. The warehouse had been bare except for the gigantic crate of various drugs. The Black Sharks hadn't been acting up since Joker's arrest, so they were automatically out.

I looked around for a solid two hours, trying to find a single clue. But, there just wasn't anything.

"Come on Grayson, there just isn't anything," Amy looked around.

I took one last parting look. "You're right. Let's get back to the station and see if there's any more leads."

We drove back in silence. When we got back to the station, I spent a while looking through records of drug cartels that worked in Gotham and Bludhaven. Checking my watch, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was my time to clock out.

I stood up to leave when my work phone started to ring.

"This is Officer Grayson," I answered.

"Hello, is this Dick Grayson?"

"Yes."

"Dick, this is Doctor Vietti at Gotham Central Hospital," I swallowed, confused yet nervous.

"I thought I changed my info, but I don't live in Gotham anymore-"

"I'm not calling for you. We recently admitted a patient and you were on their list of emergency contacts."

I racked my brain thinking of who could possibly be in the hospital. "We contacted the others on the list, but it went to voicemail. We tried your cell phone, but..."

"Yeah, sorry. It must have died. Who exactly is in the hospital?"

"Victoria Smith."

The name didn't recognize at first. But, I remembered. I clutched the phone, not answering as the Doctor talked. I snapped out of it, realizing that they must've admitted the wrong person. "I'll be right there," I said.

Before I left, I dialed Barbara. She didn't pick up, but I left a voicemail. "Hey Babs. I know you're gonna be pissed and PLEASE don't kill me, but I'm gonna have to miss dinner. Something important came up. I'm sorry and I love you and I'll make it up to you when I get home, I promise."

I dashed out of my office and rode at top speed on my bike.

It couldn't be real. It couldn't be her.

~~~~Short chapter, I know. I have been binge watching Attack On Titan all day. Anyone else a fan? I hope you guys are liking this book!~~~~~~