Melanie opened the screen door to a run down, faded blue home in the suburbs of Gotham. She knocked on the metal door loudly, pulling pack as a paint chip fell off. "GCPD." Melanie raised her voice, and Dick glanced to her as she wiped her hand on her jacket, looking around.

The stairs were practically screaming tetanus and splinters, and there was an almost-new tricycle laying in the grass. A rocking chair sat on the porch Dick and Melanie stood on, waiting for anyone to answer.

After a few more moments, Dick knocked on the door. "GCPD, anyone home?" He called out, leaning towards the door to see if he could hear anything.

Dick sighed quietly, looking to Melanie. "Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, okay?"

"That's pretty much all I ever do, Gray." Melanie said, staring straight ahead.

"Stop calling me that."

"Well what I'm not going to do is call you Dick." Melanie shoved her hands in her pockets and leaned back a bit, turning to him with a forced smile. Dick stared at her with a glare, shaking his head.

Melanie turns back to the door and tensed her ears to listen into the house. She could hear the soft trot of a cat walking around, followed by stomping. She assumed it was the kid that owned the tricycle, and then quiet mumbling.

"Take your sister to your room." Melanie straightened up as Dick did, the front door swinging open.

"Can I help you?" A woman stood in a bathrobe, her hair still dripping with water and Melanie could see a few suds. She hadn't even finished rinsing her hair.

The house reeked of cigarettes and vodka, Melanie scrunching her nose before turning away. She pulled out her badge along with Dick, flashing them to the woman. She scanned the woman again, noticing a few scars in n her arms and a fresh cut on her lip.

"I'm Detective Grayson. This is Detective Nyx. We're following up on a lead involving a murder in a butcher's shop." Dick explained as the woman crossed her arms.

"I haven't been to a butcher's shop since I was a kid. What the hell do I have to do with this?" She asked a bit aggressively, looking between the two detectives.

"Actually, we're to question your son. Blake Delacroix." The woman's aggressive demeanor shifted to nervousness, and she continued to glance between Melanie and Dick.

"Blake!" The woman shouted over her shoulder. After a few moments, a young boy who couldn't have been older than 17 ran out of a hallway, coming to a stop. Melanie looked taken aback at the boy's appearance.

There was a bruise on his jaw, as well as what looked like a former injury in his arm. Melanie looked to Dick, but he didn't appear to be affected by the boy's appearance.

Melanie turned back to Blake, eyes widening when his injuries had disappeared. I must be going nuts. She thought to herself.

"What the fuck did you do?" Blake's mother asked as he walked up cautiously. She turned back to the detective's.

"Nothing! Who are these people?" Blake walked up to his mom, who stood much taller than her.

"GCPD. We just want to ask you a few questions."

•••

"Well, mark Blake Delacroix off the list." Dick grumbled, shifting the car into drive and pulled away from the Delacroix home.

Melanie did so, sighing with a frown. "Did you see the bruising on his wrists? He might not be our killer, but we should probably have someone do a welfare check." Dick frowned and looked to Melanie.

"A welfare check? Is that necessary?" Melanie stayed quiet for a moment as she stared at Dick.

"There was a bruise on his jaw, too." Dick turned to Melanie, frowning. "It was healing, but it was there."

"I didn't see a bruise on his jaw." Dick shook his head, turning to back to the road.

Melanie furrowed her brows in confusion, turning to look out her window. "The hell is going on with me?" She asked herself quietly, Dick turning to her.

"What was that?" Dick asked and Melanie turned to him quickly, shaking her head.

"Nothing."

•••

Melanie paced in her living room with short, quick strides, biting her nail as she thought. She looked up to her TV, Valerie Vale speaking into a microphone.

"Batman has finally been spotted nearly two months after his fight with the Joker. He was spotted earlier this evening in northern Gotham, taking down Elliot Spencer, who has been wanted for three homicides." 

Melanie stopped at the mention of Batman, turning to her TV. A blurry picture of the masked vigilante appeared on the screen, followed by a mugshot of Elliot Spencer, who looked to have been beaten brutally by Batman. A look of relief washed over Melanie before she remembered what she had originally been worried about.

After a moment, she shut her TV off, grabbing her yoga mat from the corner and rolled it out in front of her fireplace. Slowly, Melanie sat down in the middle of the mat with her legs crossed, letting her shoulders relax and exhaled in a long breath.

Another minute passed as Melanie relaxed her body, counting down before shutting her eyes. Her running thoughts came to a stop as the outside noise of Gotham became a dull ringing in her ears. She started to focus harder, listening into the TV show Sterling was watching.

Shameless? Melanie's brows twitched inti a frown before the voices on the TV died out and she attempted to focus on something else.

Melanie clasped her hands over her ears as she lost control, every noise suddenly hitting her all at once and she let out a yelp of agony. She fell to the ground in a ball, squinting her eyes shut as she tried to cancel out all of the noise.

She could hear someone screaming for help mikes away, people arguing, car horns that were unbearably loud. Babies crying.

She didn't know how far out she was hearing, but it quickly stopped and she gasped loudly, rolling onto her back. She raised her hands to her face, sighing in relief when she realized her ears weren't bleeding.

A loud knocking on the door caused Melanie to flinch and curl up more, slowly and shakily looking up. "Melanie it's Sterling. Everything alright?"

The buzzing pain went away quickly as the noise dimmed, and Melanie sat up slowly. She fixed her shirt and stood up, walking towards her door. "I'm fine, Sterling."

"You sure? I thought I heard you yelling?" Melanie opened her door until the lock stopped it, Sterling glancing through the crack to look at her. "You need more bandaids?"

"No. I'm fine." She repeated, clearing her throat. "I'm watching a scary movie." Sterling frowned at Melanie before shrugging and nodded slowly.

"Well, uhm... Then I'll just be in my apartment if you need anything." Melanie nodded before shutting her door quickly. She listened to Sterling's footsteps retract back to his apartment and let out a heavy sigh.

Melanie's attention was turned to the kitchen as her phone rang, Duck's name popping up on the screen. She rushed over, answering it after a few seconds. "Hello?"

"I just got back from questioning the last guy." Melanie's face dropped to annoyance as she sat down.

"I thought we agreed to question them all together?" She asked, crossing an arm over her chest. "What's you get from him?"

"Nothing. He got a good alibi from the night of the murder. Just like all the others. But I'm not calling you about that."

"What, you calling me just to strike up a conversation? Doesn't really sound like either of us, Gray." Melanie opened up her fridge, pulling out her water pitcher.

"I got a call from Gordon, there was another murder in a butcher shop. Same M.O. as the last one. Dead owner with a head injury, and the safe was empty when they got there."

"You think it's the same guy?" Melanie set her phone down and turned the speaker on, pouring herself a glass of water.

"Not sure. I'm going to check the place out tomorrow, you should come with." Melanie raised her brows, humming in amusement.

"You sure we shouldn't do it now? You clearly couldn't wait to interrogate a few people." Melanie sipped on her water as Dick stayed quiet.

"I have things I need to do. I'll see you tomorrow." Dick hung up before Melanie could respond and she quirked a brow, slowly setting her glass down. Her eyes fell onto her badge, a bold idea popping into her head.

"Well. Two can play at the impatience game."

•••

Melanie wasn't one to take a cab. Every time she stepped foot into one, there was either a used condom in the back, the stench of cigarettes lingering like a bad morning taste, or the cab driver was just a huge fucking weirdo.

But she was desperate to get to something before Dick could. If he wanted to interrogate people without her, she could investigate without him. And she was just fine with doing things alone.

She preferred it. But everyone knows that.

The detective pressed a flask to her lips. While the coffee drowned out the taste of the alcohol, it still stung her throat as it went down. She shoved the flask back into her inner pocket before stepping out of the cab.

Melanie turned her flashlight on as she snuck her way inside of the butchers shop. There was a spot near the wall that was coated in blood, where she assumed that's where the victim was murdered.

The place looked as if someone had picked it up and shook it like a snow globe. Paper's were everywhere and the same glove that Dick and Melanie had been investigating was left on the ground.

Melanie slipped on a pair of latex gloves, walking behind the counter. Her boots clicked against the ceramic tiled floors, echoing around the near-empty room. She looked in the corners of the ceiling, frowning when there wasn't a camera in sight.

"Dammit." She mumbled, looking behind her to the back of the shop. She waved her flashlight through the doorway before slowly walking in. The back looked as if someone had a breakdown and started throwing everything everywhere. There was a splatter of blood on the wall again, and a large piece of meat on the floor below it. Melanie raised her shirt to cover her nose as the meat already began to smell bad.

She approached the freezer, taking a peek inside. The safe wasn't in there.

Melanie whipped around and swung as she heard footsteps approach her. Her wrist collided with someone's arm as they blocked her attack and she went to punch them in the stomach. They blocked her attack again and grabbed her wrists, spinning Melanie around and held her close to them.

"Are you done?" Melanie looked up to see Robin had been the one pinning her against himself. With how close Melanie was to him, he could smell the old lingering scent of cigarette smoke and gunpowder that frequently reminded Melanie of an old past. Her hair smelled weakly of some fruity shampoo, her breath reeking of coffee... which had the smallest scent of whiskey.

Melanie could almost smell an expensive cologne underneath the suit Robin wore. The faint scent of blood and dirt told Melanie that he probably never washed his suit. His breath hit her cheek in a hot wave, the smell of branded toothpaste wafting into her nose. At least he was aware about tooth decay.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Melanie shoved herself away from Robin and beamed the flashlight in his face. He covered the lower half of his face rather than his eyes, and Melanie frowned at him.

"Report of someone breaking in." Robin looked Melanie up and down, raising his brows. "I can see you're keeping yourself busy."

"I'm trying to do my job. Clearly you were doing yours..." Melanie grumbled before she started to walk away.

"I get that you're just doing your job, but I'm pretty sure it's illegal for you to be here without the proper authorization." Robin stated as Melanie stopped, slowly turning to him.

"You going to rat me out to my boss? Or Dick? Because I have a bone to pick with him right now." Robin frowned at her comment and Melanie turned around. "Who the hell breaks into their coworkers lab to steal some evidence involving a glove? I mean, he would have had to wait anyways. Home Depot isn't open twenty-four seven." She mumbled to herself, just loudly enough for Robin to faintly hear her.

Robin huffed in annoyance and Melanie paused, turning back around to him. "What?"

"Nothing. Just that you seem to really hate this guy." Melanie hummed, shrugging.

"I don't exactly hate him. He just reminds me of me. And I don't really like me." Robin titled his head with a frown, raising a brow.

"You don't?"

"No! I mean.." Melanie started walking away again. She wasn't just about to open up to someone she's now interacted with twice. When the two reached the office, Melanie turned around to face Robin.

"I think he is hiding something." She leaned against the desk, crossing her arms. "Probably something big." Melanie turned away to think as Robin fidgeted awkwardly. Melanie could sense he was getting a bit nervous, looking to him. "Robin."

"What?" He asked in a quick tone, crossing his arms. There were several questions she wanted to ask him in that moment.

Can Batman help me?

What's your name?

How are you healing?

What do I do about my freaky powers and the fact I see injuries that aren't there?

Maybe stay quiet about that fourth one.

"Never mind. You were right. I shouldn't be here right now. I need to go." Melanie took one last scan around the room before walking past Robin. He got that quick whiff of her scent again, turning as she brushed against his suit to get through the doorway.

"Detective." Robin spoke lowly, and Melanie slowly stopped, but she didn't turn to look at him. She listened to his heart, which was steady compared to hers, racing with the warmth of the alcohol that ran through her veins. "How did you get the chemicals to create the neutralizer?"

Melanie turned her head to look over her shoulder at Robin. He was staring at her intensely, clearly wanting answers he knew she wouldn't give. A smirk itched the corner of Melanie's lips as she turned to look straight ahead.

"I know some people back home."

If you guys think I'm going to make Melanie the smartest person in this book but then have her be so oblivious to the fact Dick is Robin, you're crazy.
I'm not giving her plot stupidity . she probably already knows. or maybe she doesn't. just wait and see. because we all know she didn't tell Barry she knows he's the flash until she was moving.

this was just a reminder that Melanie isn't going to be a "omg you sound and loin so familiar but idk you" character
she's the "i know exactly who you are, hero,  but since you haven't told me it's clearly because you don't trust me enough to tell me so i'll keep my mouth shut." character
did that make sense? anyways see y'all next chapter 🥰