Chapter Text
Cut up into pieces, looking for a reason
Who's gonna be there to make me whole?
I can't stop the bleeding, looking for a meaning
Throw me a line and bring me back home(Lifelines by I Prevail)
“Hello, welcome wagon!”
Dick grinned from behind the box he was setting on the kitchen counter, the voice recognized even beneath the noise and shouted out directions of the movers. “In the kitchen, Renee. Past the stairs and to your right.”
“Holy crap, kid! That’s one hell of a view.”
The smile he wore only grew as he stepped out from behind the box covered island. His new partner and her girlfriend were standing in the chaos that was his apartment, staring at the literal wall of windows that made up the living and dining space. The eastern wall looked out over a balcony that wrapped around the exterior that was an unobstructed view over the Atlantic. Through the southern wall, where he planned to set up his dining table, he could just make out the skyline of Blüdhaven across the bay.
He came up behind the statuesque figure of his pseudo-cousin and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Hi Katie.”
Katherine Kane accepted the greeting with a smile of her own and held up a carry tray with several coffees in one hand with a takeout bag printed with the familiar Holesome Dough logo in the other. “We come bearing breakfast.”
“And a new friend.” Renee Montoya lifted a small terracotta planter housing a tiny aloe plant.
“Grayson, which room does the bed go in?” One of the movers hollered from somewhere in the apartment.
“King goes in the loft upstairs, double to the room on the right down the main floor hall.” He called back, taking the three items from the ladies and motioning them toward the sliding door in the southeast corner that led onto the balcony. The plant he set atop a stack of boxes as he past and opened the patio door.
It was quieter outside, the midmorning breeze coming off the ocean cooling him after hours of lugging boxes and furniture up to the sixth floor. He’d have to look at getting furniture for out here, but for now the wide brick railing served as a table for the trio.
“I’d offer you the tour, but it’s a bit of a mess right now.” He explained as they took their drinks from the tray. He popped the lid of his takeout cup and drank appreciatively at the dark beverage inside. “God, thanks for this. I needed caffeine and have no idea where my machine is at the moment.”
Renee laughed and leaned against the rail. “There’s a café about a block north on the corner into Memorial Park. They’ve got a decent enough brew, though prices are a bit steep. Still, would do in a pinch until you can get yours set up.”
“If he’s living in a place like this he’s not going to have to worry about overpriced coffee.” Katherine smirked at him. “Though I’d like to know how you managed this on a cop’s salary.”
“I wouldn’t be able to if I was paying the appraised rent on the place.” He admitted with a smirk of his own. “Even with my new detective’s salary I’d have been lucky to afford a place in the Cauldron.”
“Bruce?” Katherine asked hesitantly, looking at Dick with a side eye to gauge his reaction.
He knew it was going to be a popular opinion for a while, but he’d learned long ago that he really didn’t care what other people thought of him. Taking another drink of his coffee he shook his head. “Technically I own the entire building. Well, the IFG Trust, of which I am the Settlor and Lucius Fox is my Trustee, does. Most of the block on both sides of the street, actually. Plus, another dozen properties in Gotham, four in Blüdhaven, and three in New York. This apartment was renovated and set aside for one of the boys if they wanted out of the manor but…”
It still stung, the distance between him and those he considered family. Ever since the Syndicate and Spyral, ever since he decided to hang up the mask and tights five years ago, they barely spoke to Dick. Even years later, Jason and Tim still hadn’t forgiven him for ‘faking’ his death. Barbara was walking again and had gone back to Batgirl and the Birds of Prey. Cassandra had her life outside of Gotham. Stephanie was busy with med school. Damian had settled with the Teen Titans on the west coast. And Dick didn’t know anything about the newest addition, Duke, at all.
And then there was Bruce. While the rest at least acknowledge Dick’s existence occasionally, he hadn’t seen or talked to Bruce in more than four years. It had been about six months after he had returned from Spyral. He told Batman he was retiring Nightwing and going back to the BPD. It was the final straw, his first soldier’s last act of defiance, and made it abundantly clear that Officer Richard Grayson was not welcome at the manor.
So, at twenty-five years old, Dick packed up his things in the manor for the last time and left.
Alfred was the only one he had any consistent contact with. The man called him weekly, every Sunday night where he would update Dick on everything going on with the family and Dick would do the same. What the man passed on to the others, if they even asked, he had no idea. As far as he knew, Alfred was the only one that knew Dick had been promoted to Detective and Commissioner Gordon had enticed him away from Blüdhaven and back to Gotham.
“So, Partner, does that mean all after hour cramming sessions when on assignment are done here? You’ve got at least double the square footage of my and Katie’s place and half the occupants.” Renee’s glib statement halted his spiralling mood.
Partner.
Dick smiled at the older woman Gordon – Jim; the man had told him to call him Jim – had paired him with. “My private office will be upstairs in the loft but the living room has plenty of space for us to spread out in. Mi casa es su casa. I mean that, ladies. Actually, that reminds me.”
He placed the takeout cup on the wide rail and hurried back into the kitchen. The extra key he had cut was sitting on the breakfast bar and he scooped it up before heading back outside. “This is my spare key.” Dick offered it to Katie who looked a little surprised at the gesture. “I really appreciate you letting me put your name as my emergency contact and next of kin with the GCPD. This key will get you into this building and I’ll get you programmed into the keypad for the apartment door before you leave. Then with the security system once it’s installed. I’d also like to give your name to Mrs. Palarmose, the building manager, in case of emergencies.”
“Of course, Dick.” The closest thing he had to a cousin said as she accepted the key with a rare, shy smile. “Though I thought you would have asked Alfred.”
“He’s too busy managing the manor and taking care of Bruce and the others.” Dick picked up his coffee again and nearly finished it off.
Katie reached around her girlfriend and ruffled his hair. “I’d be honoured if I didn’t have some idea the kind of trouble you tend to attract.”
He laughed, batting her hand away and smoothed out the now flyaway strands. “I’m not that bad.”
“Wait, he’s my partner. Is this something I should know about?” Renee looked between the two with a teasing scowl.
“Grayson! Is this a table or a desk and where do you want it?”
“I’ll be right there!” He yelled back and downed the last of his beverage. “Sorry, ladies, I’ve gotta get back to work. Feel free to stick around, but if you do I’m making you lift things.”
***** ***** **3 MONTHS LATER** ***** *****
…06:27am…
His phone started ringing as he was buttoning his slacks. He grabbed a dark blue dress shirt from one of the hangers on his way out of the walk-in closet. He quickly slipped it on over his arms, letting the soft fabric drape open against his chest, and picked up the earbud that was next to his phone on the charging device next to his bed. It paired quickly and he pressed the accept button as it rang a third time.
“I still have thirty minutes, Renee.”
“I’ll be there in fifteen,” his partner stated grimly. “Gang and Narcotics got a call this morning of a kidnapping in the West End less than an hour ago. Man was taken outside of a daycare where he’d been dropping off his kid. Witness descriptions sound like the Deacons.”
“West End is Dimitrov territory,” He frowned as he walked to his dresser for a pair of socks. “Deacons are scared shitless of Rodion, no way they’d step that far from Bristol.”
“Kasinsky and Cohen are working on the victim’s profile, but so far there’s no known gang connections or affiliation with any of the Families.”
“Deacons answer to the Dubelz Family.” A few long strides had him down the short hall to his office and looking at the map of the city he had tacked up on the wall. There were dozens of coloured pins and notes depicting the boundaries and territories of the various gangs and mob factions that ran the organized crime of Gotham City. “Agatha wouldn’t risk the alliance she’s got with Rodion.”
“Even if she was trying to make a play toward the Heights? She’s always wanted the University but Rodion and the Five Fingers run the area.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it.” He hummed as he looked at the blue pin in the middle of the upper island. “Panessa Family runs Robinson Park and is stuck between the two. Tomaso has been trying to expand ever since he took over for his Uncle but Rodian and Agatha have a tight grip on the gangs in their areas. There’s been more skirmishes along Chambers Street and near the planetarium the last two months and it looks like Tomaso is losing ground.”
“You think he’s trying to start something between the other two?”
“Or someone else is wanting everyone to think he is.” Dick glanced at the whiteboard he had hung next to the map and his notes there. “Santo Cassamento has been trying to climb the ranks of Cosa Nostra for years. It was suspected he had ties with some of the Families in Blüdhaven, but Amy and I could never tie him definitively to them. Word is he wanted Robinson Park when Arrigo Panessa died but the head of Cosa Nostra gave it to Tomaso instead. I wouldn’t put it past Santo to try something like this to discredit Tomaso.”
“But why kidnap some random civi–”
The rest of what Renee was saying was drowned out by the explosion of gunfire downstairs. Dick was lunging for his gun safe behind his desk, his brain quickly recognizing the sound as a shotgun breacher round, ignoring as his security system began screaming an alarm. In his ear Renee was shouting at him while he was crouching down. He entered the code into the keypad when he heard his door slam open. Several sets of heavy footsteps entered his apartment even as he opened the safe door. His service revolver was in his hand and he loaded the clip, flicking the safety off, just as a set of footsteps reached the top of the stairs.
“M– Mr. Grayson?”
His heart plummeted from his chest to his stomach when he heard Miranda Palarmose’s terrified voice. “Fuck, they’ve a hostage.” Dick’s quietly muttered words silence Renee’s yelling.
“Who are they?”
“Bedroom clear.” One voice called from downstairs.
“Loft clear.” Another said loudly from down the hall.
“Kitchen clear.” A third came from further in the apartment.
“Unknown,” He whispered knowing the earbud mike would pick it up and scowled at the shadow he could see on the floor in the hall outside the office. “At least four, but likely more.”
“Hold on, I’m almost–” The call dropped.
“There was an active call on the phone.” The voice in his bedroom hollered.
“Don’t make this difficult, Detective.” An unfamiliar voice called out patiently from downstairs. “You have a lovely home and I’d hate for your landlady’s brains to mess up the colour scheme.”
“Shit, shit, shit!” He hissed to himself but didn’t hesitate to thumb the safety back on his gun. “All right, I’m here, don’t hurt her.”
“Place any weapon you have on the floor and kick it into the hall.” The shadow in the hall commanded as it was joined by a second. “Then on your knees, hands on your head. She dies if you don’t comply,”
“I won’t resist.” He said and came out from behind his desk.
Dick did as was instructed, dropping to his knees as he watched his gun skitter against the opposite wall outside the door. His hands were coming up to his head as one of the men outside entered the office with an assault rifle aimed immediately at him. The second picked up the revolver and tossed it back down the hall, likely to someone else as Dick never heard it hit the floor, and walked into the room past the first man.
Both were dressed in full tactical gear, their face’s covered with balaclavas, and carried themselves with a precision that screamed professionals. With the rifle aimed at his head, Dick didn’t put up a fight as the second man came up behind him and grabbed one of his arms. He gritted his teeth and glared at the man in front of him as his hands were pulled down and behind his back. The angle was awkward, arms raised and straining his shoulders, forcing him to bend a little at the waist while his wrists were crossed and wrapped in several layers of heavy-duty duct tape. With a tearing sound, his hands dropped to the small of his back and the man behind him started winding the tape around his upper arms and torso. The adhesive pulled at the exposed skin of his chest with every tight layer but he still held his tongue.
“Target secured.” The first man called out when the second was finished and the rifle was lowered to his side.
Together, the pair pulled Dick to his feet and, with a bruising hand on each arm, he was marched out of the office. In the hall, as he suspected, was a third gunman who kept a pistol aimed at Dick while walking backwards. He was led down the stairs and his skin crawled at the feeling of the gun still pointed at his back as they descended.
“The code.” The third man snapped when they stopped next to his security panel. Dick gave them the four digits that would stop the alarm blaring but send the duress code to the company. It wasn’t necessary, Renee already knew he was in trouble, but it would stop the security agent from calling for an all clear.
Inside the now quiet living room, in the early morning sunrise streaming through the windows, there were three other men. Two were armed and dressed as the trio escorting him, one standing menacingly behind a quivering Miranda who was sitting on his sofa. She looked unharmed, but the older woman was pale and her tear-stained face was watching him as he was forced into the room.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Grayson.” The woman sobbed as he was manhandled to his knees. “I – I didn’t – I had no choice!”
“It’s okay. Are you hurt?” He asked her and was mollified somewhat when she shook her head.
The last man was different from the others. He was dressed casually: jeans and a t-shirt covered with a blazer that hung open and revealed the shoulder holster and the pistol nestled there. He was about the same height as Dick with a similar build and not much older, early to late thirties maybe. His face was uncovered, Asian features unfamiliar to Dick though that wasn’t surprising. He had only been back in Gotham for three months and he was still getting to know the major players in the gangs and Families.
“My, my, you are quite the fine specimen.” He said with a leer, almond eyes regarding Dick with interest and settling on his chest. “It’s a shame we don’t have time to get to know one another just yet, Detective.” A few steps closed the distance between them and gloved fingers pulled the earbud from Dick’s ear. “Who were you talking to?”
“My partner.” Dick answered, seeing no need to hide it. “She was already on her way and is only minutes out. GCPD will know you’re here.”
“Well then, we’ll have to make this quick.” The leader motioned to the men surrounding them and without a word four of the five spread out. Two went to the dining table, the other two disappearing back upstairs. The fifth was holding Dick’s phone and handed it over to the man. “A passcode? Don’t trust the biometrics, Detective?”
“No.” He admitted with a scowl, keeping an eye on the man even as he watched the rest opening several cases that had been set on his dining table. His heart was thundering inside his chest when he saw the explosives being withdrawn.
“Hmm.” The man hummed casually and without instruction the fifth man lifted his rifle toward Miranda again.
Through clenched teeth, Dick rattled off the series of ten numbers that would unlock the device. “What do you want?”
The man didn’t answer. He thumbed an app open that Dick couldn’t see, swiping and tapping at the screen for only a few seconds before the familiar trill of an outgoing video call sounded. It connected on the first ring, a police siren screaming in the background.
“Who the fuck are you and where’s Detective Grayson?” Renee’s voice was hard and vicious and Dick would never tire of hearing that tone from his partner.
“I’m here, Montoya.” He said when the man looked at him pointedly.
“As for me, you can call me Niko.”
A chill swept down Dick’s spine at the name. A name he only knew in passing from one of the last cases he and Amy had worked on with the Narcotics division of the BPD. ‘Niko’ was the supposed head of the New Jersey Yakuza but they had never been able to get a positive ID. After months of trying, the Detectives in charge of the case decided to move and shut their Blüdhaven operations down. Thirty men had been arrested and close to five million in product had been confiscated. It would take years, if ever, for the Yakuza to rebuild in Blüdhaven.
The man in question started walking around the room, the fifth gunman shifting to cover Dick with his rifle, following his men that were setting up the explosives along the wall and windows of his apartment. “Is the picture clear, Ma’am? I wouldn’t want you unable to see the ordinance that is currently being positioned and armed in your partner’s home.”
“What do you want?” Renee demanded icily.
“First off, you shouldn’t be on your cell phone while driving.” The man named Niko said with faux concern. “I would like for you to pull your vehicle over, wherever you are, and turn off the engine. I’ll wait until you’re in a safe location.”
“Are you serious?” His partner spat incredulously.
Niko sighed and turned, aiming the phone’s camera in Dick’s direction. Without warning, the gunman standing over him shifted the hold on his rifle and backhanded him hard with a heavy fist. The blow was expected but it still had his head snapping to the side and his body falling to the floor. A fist grabbed hold of his hair and pulled him back to his knees, blood oozing from his newly split lip.
“Goddamn- Okay! I’m stopping.”
Dick stretched out his jaw in the momentary quiet, glaring up at the gunman briefly before watching one of the others dragging a chair from his table into the center of the living room. The man then grabbed hold of Miranda by the back of her neck and dragged her from the sofa.
“Hey! Don’t touch her, asshole!” Dick roared when she shrieked at the sudden assault. The instinct to help had him getting one foot beneath him but a hard kick of a steel-toed boot to his abdomen had him doubling over, gasping and choking on the bile that suddenly burned the back of his throat. Before he could breathe properly again, he was yanked back up and this time the gunman had the barrel of the rifle pressing against his temple.
“That’s enough!” Renee yelled through the phone, the camera in Niko’s hand having shown her the entire exchange.
Unable to do anything to stop it, he watched with growing dread as Miranda was forced into the chair. The same tape that bound Dick was wrapped around her waist, trapping her in the seat, and then he saw in horror as a large set of cuffs were locked around her wrists in her lap. When the assailant stepped away from her, a flashing white light was blinking steadily from the explosive device now attached to the terrified woman.
“This lovely lady is one of six.” Niko said, his casualness now gone leaving behind a hard expression as the last of the explosives, for a total of four plus the one on Miranda, was armed. “Throughout the city, my people have taken other hostages and hidden them with similar bombs. You have until midnight to find and disarm them before they will detonate. That’s almost seventeen hours, but unlike this one here the other five will not be so easy to find.”
“What do you want?” The woman on the phone ask again and Dick wondered if anyone else picked up on the fear in her voice.
“Only my property” The man came to stand a few feet in front of Dick. He handed the phone off to the gunman then took his place beside Dick. He fought back a cringe when Niko’s hand cupped the side of his face and his thumb wiped the blood from his lip. “The good Detective Grayson and his partner in Gotham’s sister city were responsible for the collapse of my enterprise there while I was out of the country. I want it back. The drugs, the weapons, the cash.”
Dick’s hands fisted impotently behind his back when Niko’s hand trailed down the side of his neck, over his shoulder and down to his chest. He tried to get away from the unwanted touch but he had little room to move with the man now crouched behind him and holding Dick against his body.
“Get off me, you piece of shit!” He growled as Niko rubbed the palm of his hand down his sternum.
“Don’t be like that, Detective, I want us to be friends.” A ripping and tearing sound accompanied the words and a length of duct tape was offered to the man. Niko accepted it and, despite Dick’s twisting and ducking of his head, the strip was smoothed over his mouth and cheeks. A hand patted the side of his face haughtily, Dick huffing through his nose and jerking away from the touch, before Niko rose to his feet. “You have seventeen hours, Ma’am. In the meantime, Detective Grayson will be keeping me company.”
“Like hell he is!” Renee barked as Dick was grabbed by two of the gunmen and pulled to his feet.
He grunted behind the tape-gag, his bare feet slipping on the hardwood floor, and he thrashed in futile protest as he was dragged toward his still open door. The two goons descended the stairs from the loft, in their hands his laptop and files and what he suspected was the map from his wall. With no other choice, Dick stopped struggling and let them guide him down the stairway. Six floors later, his heart racing and breath coming in furious pants through his nose, Dick was relieved when Niko pulled the fire alarm when they finally stepped into the lobby of the building.
One of the other tenants, a young mother in jogging attire attempting to push a stroller through the front doors, gasped when she saw them approaching and tried to move out of the way. Niko, with what may have been a disarming smile in a different situation, hurried to help her. He lifted the stroller out of the doorway and onto the bricks of the small plaza in front of the building. She wasted no time taking the infant out of the stroller and backing away, staring at Dick with wide and terrified eyes as he was forced toward the street.
Niko opened the back door to a waiting sedan, one of the gunmen peeling away from the rest for the driver’s door, and Dick was taken to a delivery truck that was double parked. “See you again shortly, Detective.” The man called genially as he eased himself into the car and shut the door.
“GCPD! FREEZE!” Montoya’s voice screamed nearby but he didn’t get the chance to look for her as a hood was placed over his head.
He writhed against the arms that grabbed and lifted his legs, yelling in the back of his throat when he heard the snap of automatic gunfire next to him. For a single second he was weightless as he was tossed into the back of the van, the sound of more gunshots and screaming faded by the walls around him, before he landed and hands were pulling him further inside.
The doors slammed shut the same instant the idling truck surged into gear and away from any chance of immediate rescue. Laying bound and blind on the hard, metal floor and surrounded by the enemy, Dick could only hope that Renee was okay and would be able to save the other hostages.
He had no such hope for himself.