Chapter Text
“Dick’s missing.”
Those two words were enough to make Batman pause and finally look at Jason. Tendrils of darkness slowly crept over Bruce’s shoulders, shadowing his face underneath the cowl till all that could be seen were two intimidating slits of white. “What.” The deep voice of the batman growled out.
“He’s gone. His apartment’s empty, keys returned and his Nightwing suit was hidden in a safe in the wall. His scent smelled a couple of days old. I went and interrogated his landlady and apparently Dick returned his keys last night around midnight. He didn’t tell her where he was going or anything but she said he did seem upset and angry.” Jason’s eyes glared accusingly at the figure in the shadows.
“Same story at the Bludhaven precinct, they received an email from officer Grayson at midnight with his resignation and found his badge, gun and uniform at his locker this morning. Oracle tried to track his trackers but can’t seem to find a single one, it’s like he dropped off the face of the earth. I sent Tim out to the Titans to see if they’ve heard from him, but no luck so far.” Jason watched as Bruce’s shoulders slowly hunched in as though they were carrying the weight of the world.
“Bruce, we all heard the yelling yesterday. And we know Nightwing wouldn’t just up and leave unless you said something. So now we all want to know exactly what it is you said. What did you say that would make Nightwing feel so angry that he would disappear off the face of the earth for, that he would leave his family for?” Jason stepped closer, practically nose to cowl with Bruce as he asked his question.
“That is none of your business.”
“It becomes my business when Dick disappears! And your reaction just proves my point, you said something that made him leave. What. Did. You. Say.” Each word was emphasized with a jab of the finger into Bruce’s chest. It might’ve been Jason’s imagination but he was sure he saw Bruce wince for a split second. But it was impossible to tell because batman turned on his heel and walked away before Jason could discern exactly what he had seen.
“Inform me of any updates.” Batman growled before jumping in the batmobile and riding off, leaving Jason alone in the dark shadows of the cave.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
“What did father say?”
“Was it Bruce’s fault-“ “Does he know where-?”
“Have you found any leads?”
“Have you checked-“
Jason was bombarded by questions the moment his comm came online. He didn’t know what to do, this wasn’t his thing. This was Nightwing’s job, Dick had always been the one to calm the group done and give orders but with him gone the task had fallen to red hood, the second eldest of them all.
“Guys.”
“Of course Todd got the information, he’s not a complete idiot like you Drake.”
“Why you little-“
“GUYS!”
Silence reigned over the comms and Jason could physically feel everyone’s attention on him.
“I got nothing from Bruce.”
As the lines went into chaos again at the news, Jason couldn’t help but wince. If they didn’t find Dick soon he’s not sure how long this family was going to last.
/////////////////////////////////////////
Somewhere far away from Gotham, there was a man standing in the streets of Paris, oblivious to the chaos he had started, clutching a baby to his chest.
He gently brushed black hair away from the baby’s face, to look into its blue eyes. The baby looked up and caught eyes with the man before cooing. The man smiled gently and stooped his neck to kiss the baby’s forehead.
“It’s okay. Daddy’s still here, even if no one else wants you… or me.”