Crime didn't keep to a schedule, that was a fact.
In Gotham, that was even more obvious. Whether day or night, there was always something happening. It was not for nothing that it was the city with the highest crime rate.
However, the number and severity of these crimes varied considerably between day and night. Mafia bosses and lunatics had a predisposition for theatricality, after all. So, there really weren't many problems during the day.
Of course, there were always exceptions.
Dick was quite aware that the possibilities were there. Getting caught up in an altercation in his civilian identity wasn't unusual; they had contingency plans for such situations.
The problem was that everything happened too fast for him to react.
An alley, a strange object, then a burst of light that barely allowed him to cover his face.
For a moment, he thought he was going to lose his breath, but fortunately, he recovered it as the seconds passed, then blinked and focused his gaze on whatever was in front of him.
Breathing became easier, but for some reason it wasn't the same as before that incident. And soon he realized that… he was no longer in that alley.
The dark streets of Gotham and its gloomy buildings were nowhere to be seen. He felt the air was cleaner compared to the polluted air of Gotham he was used to, but it was heavier.
Above, a vast sky full of warm colors stretched out; below, the ground was soil and ruins, and all around him he saw only remnants of what looked like a great battle and unfamiliar faces.
At first, no one had focused on him; they seemed to have witnessed something else before he arrived. Dick noticed a blankness in their expressions, but then some of them looked at him.
“Who…?” He heard someone murmur.
It only took a couple of seconds for them to pay more attention to him.
He noticed caution, distrust, and even a certain aggressiveness in their gestures and movements. They were ready for a confrontation, but then…
“Wait…” said another person. Dick turned his gaze towards the voice, remaining alert under so many unfamiliar eyes. “It can’t be…” It was a teenager in a metallic suit, composed of red, blue, and gold, with a spider symbol on his chest. For some reason, his features seemed familiar, but he couldn’t dwell on it for long before the boy spoke again. “Dad…?”
“What?!” Dick froze in place.
He’d expected a lot of things when the boy started talking; after all, he was surrounded by strangers in an equally unfamiliar place. But those words were the last thing he’d expected.
And well, it seemed the situation was the same for everyone present.
Dick took a quick look at each one; some were clearly human, and others had characteristics that made him think they might be metas or extraterrestrials.
Like him, they too seemed to lose the tension after hearing the teenager speak.
He supposed it was a good thing; after all, the change in their expressions was much better than the blank stares they'd had before noticing him, and the suspicion that had bordered on panic and hostility that they changed to upon seeing him.
“You’re surprised…” Dick jumped when he noticed the insectoid woman beside him, her hand was on Dick’s shoulder, and he also caught her antennae lighting up. “I’m agile,” she said with a smile, as if answering Dick’s question about how she’d ended up so close to him without him noticing. “You’re curious about us and a little shaken by what Spider-Man said…”
“I’m too young to have a teenage son,” Dick said, somewhat amused.
The insectoid’s grip was light, barely applying any pressure, which made it reluctant to move away abruptly. He could remain calm if it would prevent unnecessary problems. Even so, he would be on alert in case they tried to do something to his head. The possibility was there; he wouldn't risk dismissing it.
“So, he’s not another member of that genocidal maniac’s group? Well…” muttered a man in almost destroyed armor with a touch of bitter humor.
“Those are very low standards.”
The man just rolled his eyes for a second and shook his head, but then he winced in pain.
“Anyway, why did you think he was your father?” another man wearing a leather jacket asked.
Dick was curious too. After all, it wasn't a common situation at all. Many things in his life weren't either, but it was still strange.
“Well…” The boy’s enthusiasm had subsided a little, but he continued to speak with a certain spirit. “I don’t have many memories of him, but I do have several photos,” he said with a sad smile. “I’ve seen them several times, I don’t think I’m wrong, you know? He looks identical to my father, Richard…”
“You were surprised again,” said the insectoid woman with a smile, “does anything sound familiar?” Damn, Dick had a strange version of a lie detector by his side. “I’m an empath,” she corrected him gently.
That didn't make it any better either.
“Nice to meet you, my name is Richard Grayson.”
He couldn't believe he was doing that; Bruce would be very disappointed. But now that he was processing everything more clearly, he finally realized why the boy's features seemed familiar. Yes, there were things that didn’t match—the eye color and the hair—but the features of his face… They were too much like him.
But Dick didn't have a single child, not that he knew of. And even if there were one, the age difference didn't seem that big, so it wasn't possible. A clone? That didn't seem to be the case either.
The insectoid woman pulled away from him. It wasn't abrupt, but it wasn't deliberate either, at least not entirely.
"Something strange is happening..." she said with a hint of apprehension.
And then... she vanished. She turned to dust before his eyes.
Dick didn't even have time to react when it happened again.
Yet another one disappeared, to everyone's dismay. It was the same way.
Dick watched as the man in the shattered armor took a step forward, seemed to notice something, and said, “Steady, Quill…”
“Oh, man…” murmured the man in the leather jacket, Quill, before disappearing as well.
Dick began to feel invisible in his place, a helpless spectator watching as people continued to disappear.
“Tony…” said another man, one wearing a red cloak. “There was no other way,” he continued, before turning to dust in the same way.
It had to end there, right? Dick felt a deep weight in his chest, one that only worsened when he heard that boy’s voice again.
“Mr. Stark…” he sounded weak, lacking the enthusiasm of a few minutes ago. “I don’t feel so good…” Dick saw him stagger, look at his hands, and walk forward carelessly.
Tony Stark turned his full attention to the boy. “You're all right” he said, trying to project a calmness he clearly didn't possess.
“I don’t… I don’t know what’s happening…” the boy said again without stopping.
Dick watched in horror as, very slowly, parts of his legs began to turn to dust. As they sometimes seemed to try to rebuild themselves, but it was in vain.
He ran towards the boy and caught him from behind as he began to fall. The man looked terrified, which had prevented him from moving forward all this time.
"You're all right..." Tony murmured again, hugging the boy when Dick let go.
He wanted to do something, wanted to say something, but he couldn't think of anything. His body felt too heavy to move, and his mind was too slow to see any way to fix everything.
“I don’t want to go, sir... Please… Please, I don’t want to go, I don’t want to go…”
He just stood there, staring at the terrified child less than two inches away, at Tony Stark with a shattered look, having no idea what to do to stop what was happening.
He wasn't even able to extend his hand when the child's desperate gaze sought him out, before returning to Tony Stark.
It was agonizingly long and painful to watch him disappear.
Okay, I don't think I'll write any more about this, but I had to do something...
dailybridgerton
2087
kianamaiart
turnnoffyourmind
germansingergirl
yousharknotpass
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
