Chapter Seven
-Dick's POV-
What just happened? I asked myself, standing by the open window. Running my hand over the window sill that she escaped from, I checked for anything she left behind. A strand of hair? An article of clothing? A loose weapon? Nothing. I growled to myself. This girl was good.
Some eyes from the building across from me brought to my attention that I was standing naked with the window open. I quickly pulled up my towel and tightly locked the window closed. If this Nightingale broke into my apartment, then that means that she knows who I am under the mask, I concluded. I took a seat on my couch and called Wayne Manor.
"Hello, this is Alfred Pennyworth," of course Alfred picked up. I scoffed and shook my hair of the water that still lingered.
"Hey Alfred. I know it's been awhile since Bruce and I have had a sleepover, but some security issues have made my stay at Wayne Manor necessary," I said, pulling up the security cameras' footage that I had all over the whole building. The footage from all the floors was clean. She must've gotten in my room through the door somehow beause the windows were all in perfect condition.
"I'll have a room prepared, Master Dick." Alfred hung up, leaving me to inspect what exactly had happened. I checked every possible way she could've gotten in, but all the ways involved property damange and there simply wasn't any. She had to of picked the locks on the door. So, why wasn't she showing up on the cameras I had of the floor? I replayed it over and over. There was nothing out of the usual.
Wait. A slight flicker at 11:45 pm. I replayed the footage. Yes, it was there. How had I not noticed it? It was so obvious. The screen shimmered for a split second and then went back to normal. It was a small tremor, but once you saw it, it seemed so clear. She must've hacked the cameras so she wouldn't be seen. The only floor with the tremor was mine, so she must've fallen through from the cieling. I opened my door and looked at the cieling. I had a vent right above my door which lead to the main ventilation cut off on the roof. I thankfully had installed a single camera on the roof. And there she was, gliding onto the roof. I sighed and saved the footage to a folder on my computer.
"Well, I should get dressed," I told myself, packing my essentials in a suitcase. I slipped on a air of jeans and a simple t-shirt and hopped on my motorcycle.
****
"Dick! Well, well. Looks like an over night stay," Tim opened the door and stood in the doorway. I nodded and laughed, trying to push past him. He stood in my way. "Oh, you're not going in," he smirked, challenging me. I put my bag on the steps behind me.
"Alfred, will you get that while I handle Drake?" I crossed my arms and lundged toward Tim. I tackled him down out of the door and onto the wooden floors. His foot made contact with my face, making me fall back and off of him. He stood up and mockingly nodded for me to come closer. I did a roll toward him and swiped at his feet. He fell to my level and carried a small table with a pot down with him. He jerked his head to the side before the ceramic pot could smash on his head. We both stood at the same time and threw multiple punches towards each other. Neither of us made contact until he socked me right in the jaw. I staggered back and he quickly gained the distance, jumping and hitting me in the cheek with a superman punch.
"Off your game," he called, kicking me in the side. I grabbed his ankle before it went back to the ground and tossed him down the hallway. He spun around on the floor like a hockey puck before crashing against a table.
"Sorry, Tim, but no one can beat me in a fight," I offered him a hand up. He rubbed his neck and laughed, nodding up at me.
"Let's get in the ring, then, Grayson," Bruce's deep voice filled the room as he seemed to appear out of nowhere. I chuckled and slapped his back.
"Funny as it would be kicking your ass, I came here on serious business." It made me cringe on how much I sounded like Batman. I hated being the one to dim the playful and mellow mood that happened ever so rarely, but I needed to discuss the new information. "I might have to be staying here for a while until I can find another apartment. The Nightingale knows where I live, and possibly my identity," I declared. Bruce's smile ran away from his face as he looked at me, dead serious.
"If she knows who you are, there is a chance she might know who we all are," Bruce said. His face was completely calm, but Tim's flashed with worry. He looked up at me for reassurance, but I couldn't give him any. She might know.
"This girl is a skilled fighter as well as computer hacker. She hacked the cameras on my floor so the alarm wouldn't go off as well as picking two locks in my house. As soon as I got out of the shower, she was just there, standing in my bathroom. She threatened me to stay off her trail after I had followed her to another one of her murders," I recapped the events that happened just hours before. I was shocked to see a murderer in my apartment. I almost yelled in anger and shock when I was eye to eye with her in my bathroom. She had told me I would get hurt if I kept following her. It's a good thing I didn't scare easily.
"What did she say, exactly?" Bruce asked. I told him about her blabberings about how her or her target would hurt me if I kept on her case and how she thought she wasn't a criminal. Bruce looked completely unphased and instead just nodded. "Who exactly is she targeting?"
"Seems like the only connection to the people she kills is that they are small members of the Black Sharks," I pulled up the profiles of her kills. She had killed six members since she showed up. Last time I saw her, she was demanding to know who the Boss was. "She was asking about the leader of the Sharks. We don't even know that." It was true. The Boss was completely untracable. He left no clues of himself and most of the members had never even seen his face. All members also swore on their lives that they would never give up their leader.
"I think we should level the playing fields. If this girl knows who we are, we should find who she is," Tim went to the grandfather clock, set the time, and ran down the stairs to the Batcave.
"He's right. I have work to do at Wayne Enterprises," Bruce said, grabbing his suitcase and getting the the car he had parked in front of the house. I followed Tim into the cave and sat down beside him at the computer.
"I've began searching girls who are about seventeen, the age Nightingale is approximently about, who have recently entered Gotham. We know Nightingale has dark hair and a fit body style. None of the girls that have entered in the past week fit her persona," Tim explained. I looked at all the data Tim had pulled up, but he was right. None of the girls looked like they could ever be the Nightingale.
"She might've shown up in Blüdhaven first and then taken a non-public entrance into Gotham. Check," I opened the wrist computer I had and looked at the picture I had gotten of her when I had the chance to actually have a conversation. She had a faint bruise on her cheek that she had tried to cover up with makeup. Her arm had been bleeding out when I took the picture, but no doubt she had sewn it up by now.
"No matches. I have no idea how she found you so quickly without DNA samples." The computer showed more women, but still they all weren't right. She must've been dropped out of the sky into Blüdhaven and then swam to Gotham. There's no other way she could've gotten here uncharted.
"Scan Gotham for residents with a bruise on the cheek and an injured arm," Tim followed my instructions and quickly pulled up pictures from public places. There were many matches from hospitals, but none of the people were the Nightingale. Most of the matches were male. "God damn it! She can't be that hard to find if she found us so easily!"
"I searched for girls born around the same time as her who went missing in the past week, but again, no matches." Tim kept searching for something to give her away, but there was nothing. No records, no matches, no identities. We both stared up at the computer screen in frustration.
"I need to go find her out in public during the day. She has to have a life when she isn't in her costume, so I will find her out and about. When I find her match, I will get her DNA and we will trace her," I decided. Teenage girls, no matter if they're a superhero or not, would usually be at the beach on a scorching July day and Nightingale was no different. I turned to leave, but Tim's fingers wrapped around my arm.
"Dick, I know you are Nightwing now and moved on from Robin, but it doesn't mean you don't have to ask for help. We all know you are strong enough to take care of your own problems, but you don't have to do anything alone. If you need help with this case, we all can help you. Sometimes the mission is more important than your ego," Tim stared me down as he talked. I knew he was right, but I didn't want help. I could handle this girl myself. But, Tim's skills could help me with everything I was dealing with.
"I know Tim," I sighed, "but things between Bruce and I have changed. I help him from time to time, but I do things myself. If this case gets even worse, which I doubt Nightingale could make it even harder, I will ask you for help. I'm staying here for awhile, Timmy, so you won't have to miss me." I laughed, ruffling his hair and walking out of the Batcave.
~~~~~Awwww Dick and Tim being brothers :') anyway, short chapter I know. Vote, comment, and follow!~~~~
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