30 August 2017 - Encouraging Words
Title: Encouraging Words
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Nightwing (Batman)
Rating: Suitable for ages 13 and up
Word Count: 967
Warning: only obliquely canon compliant.
Notes: A bit short. This is set around the time when seventeen-year-old Dick Grayson is fired by Batman. This is just a little non-canon idea I had for how he decided to go to Bludhaven. For those who are unfamiliar with this arc, let's just say things get UGLY in Bludhaven. A quick internet search for Nightwing or Dick Grayson should give more details if desired.
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of Nightwing and Batman belong to DC Comics. All are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Sunlight shown down on him almost as if it wished it could warm him, but the weak light that managed to make its way through Gotham's perpetual gloom could do little against the emotional gloom which enshrouded him.
His life hadn't been easy, hadn't been what his childhood promised, but, then, he was only seventeen.
Seventeen and homeless. Not that anyone but him knew that at the moment, but it was something they would figure out eventually. And after that last blow-out argument with Bruce, he wouldn't be going back, not for anything. Not that he ever expected the man to let him set foot on his property again. No, Dick was certain he'd burned that bridge and danced on the ashes.
Still... still there was Alfred. A soft smile appeared on his face. That old man was almost a grandfather to him. Alfred would want him to work things out with Bruce. The two men were, really, the only family he had. Could he suck up his pride enough to go back and work things out?
“You look like you're having a doozy of a day.”
Turning sharply, he spotted a young woman sitting next to him. She screamed “Southern California” to him, but seemed to be about his age. He was instantly on guard. He knew he'd been out of it, but he hadn't heard her approach at all.
“What makes you say so?” he asked, somewhat suspicious.
A soft laugh escaped her. “You're not the only one who's been there.” She met his gaze as he studied her face. “It's never easy finding your own way, especially when you've lost sight of the guideposts.”
“How?”
“It's kind of written on your face.”
Dick nodded. He hadn't been trying to mask his emotions, so he knew they were easy to read. “Or getting people to listen when you know you're right,” he grumbled. “I hope you don't mind my saying so, but you don't look any older than I am, so how could you know so much about it?”
“Thank you,” she replied, a pleased smile on her face at the compliment. “As for your problem, as I said, it's not a unique situation. Only those closest to us can hurt us enough to cause the lost look you had.”
“And you've been lost?”
“Kicked out of my home and had my job taken away.”
Dick nodded, but didn't say anything more. He'd left.
“Yeah,” she continued. “Sometimes people get stuck in their own way of thinking, see things only one way - their way - and won't open themselves to the possibility that their wrong.”
He unconsciously nodded his agreement. As he grew older, he realized how much that exactly described Bruce.
“Sometimes... Sometimes the only option is leaving that situation before being kicked out and making a new way in a new place without them.”
He snorted, though he really wasn't amused. “Make my own path, become my own man. It's not that simple.” It wouldn't be simple staying either, but he and Bruce were family, were partners in the field.
“Things in life rarely are. But decisions are necessary and there's not always time to consider everything before they need to be made. It's easier with a partner, someone who listens and actually hears what you have to say, supports you, and lets you find your own way. But you have to take chances if you're going to grow, if you're going to amaze the world. And if those around you can't let you fly, won't let you fly... well, every fledgling has to leave the nest eventually”
“Risk.”
She laughed. “Isn't that what life is? Risk?”
“Reckless,” he breathed under his breath. That was what Bruce had called him, right before he fired him. Fired. You don't fire a partner, you fire an employee, someone who is not an equal. It proved Bruce didn't see him as a parter, and never would.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. It's just frustrating when people won't even listen to your point of view because they are so certain theirs is correct. Even when they don't know the full picture.”
“Doesn't sound like a partner. So prove them wrong. Go out there, do your thing your way.”
He laughed softly, but there was no humor in it. “I feel like this conversation is going in circles.”
She shrugged and smiled. “Then maybe you could see what's at the center of it in order to see the point.”
“Maybe.” He let his eyes drift away from her, looking at nothing in particular as he thought over what they'd discussed. He knew he couldn't go back, not now. He could only go forward and, while there wasn't any clear path, he could just start down any path and find his way to the correct one eventually.
Turning toward the young woman, he was surprised to find her gone, as if she'd never been there.
Still, their circular conversation had given him a direction.
A discarded paper caught his eye. The headline mentioned Bludhaven. He nodded to himself. Things would go right there. He'd make a difference, he'd show Bruce and everyone else he wasn't reckless and that he knew what he was doing.
Rising from the bench, he turned to leave the park. He had a new city to learn and a home to find.
Stepping out of the shadow of the tree behind the bench, the blonde let a cruel smile curve her lips before shifting shape to look like the young man's dead father. “So much for the Dynamic Duo. Oh, this new universe is going to be so much fun!” the First said to itself before winking out of sight.
End
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Nightwing (Batman)
Rating: Suitable for ages 13 and up
Word Count: 967
Warning: only obliquely canon compliant.
Notes: A bit short. This is set around the time when seventeen-year-old Dick Grayson is fired by Batman. This is just a little non-canon idea I had for how he decided to go to Bludhaven. For those who are unfamiliar with this arc, let's just say things get UGLY in Bludhaven. A quick internet search for Nightwing or Dick Grayson should give more details if desired.
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of Nightwing and Batman belong to DC Comics. All are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Sunlight shown down on him almost as if it wished it could warm him, but the weak light that managed to make its way through Gotham's perpetual gloom could do little against the emotional gloom which enshrouded him.
His life hadn't been easy, hadn't been what his childhood promised, but, then, he was only seventeen.
Seventeen and homeless. Not that anyone but him knew that at the moment, but it was something they would figure out eventually. And after that last blow-out argument with Bruce, he wouldn't be going back, not for anything. Not that he ever expected the man to let him set foot on his property again. No, Dick was certain he'd burned that bridge and danced on the ashes.
Still... still there was Alfred. A soft smile appeared on his face. That old man was almost a grandfather to him. Alfred would want him to work things out with Bruce. The two men were, really, the only family he had. Could he suck up his pride enough to go back and work things out?
“You look like you're having a doozy of a day.”
Turning sharply, he spotted a young woman sitting next to him. She screamed “Southern California” to him, but seemed to be about his age. He was instantly on guard. He knew he'd been out of it, but he hadn't heard her approach at all.
“What makes you say so?” he asked, somewhat suspicious.
A soft laugh escaped her. “You're not the only one who's been there.” She met his gaze as he studied her face. “It's never easy finding your own way, especially when you've lost sight of the guideposts.”
“How?”
“It's kind of written on your face.”
Dick nodded. He hadn't been trying to mask his emotions, so he knew they were easy to read. “Or getting people to listen when you know you're right,” he grumbled. “I hope you don't mind my saying so, but you don't look any older than I am, so how could you know so much about it?”
“Thank you,” she replied, a pleased smile on her face at the compliment. “As for your problem, as I said, it's not a unique situation. Only those closest to us can hurt us enough to cause the lost look you had.”
“And you've been lost?”
“Kicked out of my home and had my job taken away.”
Dick nodded, but didn't say anything more. He'd left.
“Yeah,” she continued. “Sometimes people get stuck in their own way of thinking, see things only one way - their way - and won't open themselves to the possibility that their wrong.”
He unconsciously nodded his agreement. As he grew older, he realized how much that exactly described Bruce.
“Sometimes... Sometimes the only option is leaving that situation before being kicked out and making a new way in a new place without them.”
He snorted, though he really wasn't amused. “Make my own path, become my own man. It's not that simple.” It wouldn't be simple staying either, but he and Bruce were family, were partners in the field.
“Things in life rarely are. But decisions are necessary and there's not always time to consider everything before they need to be made. It's easier with a partner, someone who listens and actually hears what you have to say, supports you, and lets you find your own way. But you have to take chances if you're going to grow, if you're going to amaze the world. And if those around you can't let you fly, won't let you fly... well, every fledgling has to leave the nest eventually”
“Risk.”
She laughed. “Isn't that what life is? Risk?”
“Reckless,” he breathed under his breath. That was what Bruce had called him, right before he fired him. Fired. You don't fire a partner, you fire an employee, someone who is not an equal. It proved Bruce didn't see him as a parter, and never would.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. It's just frustrating when people won't even listen to your point of view because they are so certain theirs is correct. Even when they don't know the full picture.”
“Doesn't sound like a partner. So prove them wrong. Go out there, do your thing your way.”
He laughed softly, but there was no humor in it. “I feel like this conversation is going in circles.”
She shrugged and smiled. “Then maybe you could see what's at the center of it in order to see the point.”
“Maybe.” He let his eyes drift away from her, looking at nothing in particular as he thought over what they'd discussed. He knew he couldn't go back, not now. He could only go forward and, while there wasn't any clear path, he could just start down any path and find his way to the correct one eventually.
Turning toward the young woman, he was surprised to find her gone, as if she'd never been there.
Still, their circular conversation had given him a direction.
A discarded paper caught his eye. The headline mentioned Bludhaven. He nodded to himself. Things would go right there. He'd make a difference, he'd show Bruce and everyone else he wasn't reckless and that he knew what he was doing.
Rising from the bench, he turned to leave the park. He had a new city to learn and a home to find.
Stepping out of the shadow of the tree behind the bench, the blonde let a cruel smile curve her lips before shifting shape to look like the young man's dead father. “So much for the Dynamic Duo. Oh, this new universe is going to be so much fun!” the First said to itself before winking out of sight.
End