Nightwing: Heartache

Part 14: Warning

June 28, 2:14pm
Metropolis

Dick sighed, fighting the urge to rub his eyes with his hands. Brion's constant yelling was giving him a headache. It was obvious the former prince of Markovia was not well versed in being told no. And he certainly wasn't well versed in patience. Connor and Dick had been trying to talk Brion down for the last ten minutes. Dick had been searching for Brion's missing younger sister Tara, and so far all clues pointed to the League of Shadows. The part that wasn't going over well was Dick telling Brion they couldn't storm the Shadows and demand they tell them where Tara is.

The worst part was Dick understood how Brion felt. To be so close to finding Tara, his family, but unable to save her, it must be torture. The sound of the zeta tube was a welcome distraction.

"B:19 Beast Boy."

Dick exchanged a look with Connor, neither one expecting to see Beast Boy walk out of Connor's garage. Since Beast Boy's stepfather had claimed parental rights over M'gann, the Team hadn't seen as much of Garfield Logan as they used to. At least not in person. From what M'gann told Dick, everyone watched Space Trek 3016, especially M'gann.

"Hey, Gar," Dick greeted, cautious. Gar didn't look like he dropped by to say hello to his sister and almost brother in law.

Gar crossed his arms, "I need to talk to you."

Dick exchanged another look with Connor, who just shrugged. He had no idea what Gar wanted to talk about. Brion groaned, but his temper was diffused for a moment, and he stalked back into bioship, which was in the form of an RV in Connor's front yard.

M'gann opened her front door, a bright smile on her face. She probably sensed Garfield's presence. "Garfield!" She exclaimed, walking over and wrapping him in a hug.

He returned it eagerly but looked around her shoulder, eyes locked on Dick, "we need to talk."

"Sure, Gar," Dick answered nonchalantly. M'gann led them all over to the table on their front patio. A pitcher of lemonade and four glasses floated out of the front kitchen window.

Connor poured the glasses but Gar just waved him off and leaned forward, "you're not going to like this, Dick."

Dick sighed, he should have known Beast Boy wouldn't want to talk to Dick just to relive old times. "I can handle it, Gar."

"It's, um, Willa." For the first time since arriving, Gar looked away, uncomfortable. Everyone else at the table froze and looked at Dick, who sat perfectly still, actively not giving anything away, especially the way his gut twisted.

"What about her?" He asked.

"It might not be anything-"

"But you think it is." Connor filled in, lending Garfield some reassurance. Dick nodded encouragement, he needed to hear whatever Gar had to say.

Gar took out his phone and brought up a picture. Connor, M'gann, and Dick all leaned in to see it was a professional photo at some event. Garfield stood in the middle of Lex Luthor and Willa, smiles on all their faces but Dick could see the hint of revulsion in Garfield's eyes at standing so close to Luthor. "I don't know what you guys are doing, but Lex knows you're leading," he met Dick's eyes again, "he threatened Willa the other night."

Dick's fist clenched around his lemonade glass, "you're sure?"

"90%," Garfield answered, "I mean, I'm pretty sure, but she wouldn't talk about it-"

"She wouldn't," Dick muttered under his breath. He should have known he couldn't just let her go. He should have been keeping tabs on her, checking in, something. Lex Luthor was a major leader in the Light, but lately that wasn't Dick's prerogative. He was focused on meta-human... "I'm an idiot!" Dick exclaimed, getting up and pulling out his phone. Of course Lex would be involved in the recent trafficking. Kids were probably being trafficked for the Light. It all made sense. "Lex must be funding these rings," he explained, "that's why..." why he was threatening Willa, Dick finished in his head.

"We don't know for sure that she's in danger," Connor offered half-heartedly.

"Can you stay close to her?" Dick asked Garfield. "That's what you've been doing, right?"

"Of course, but, um.." Gar trailed off, "I'm just filming the new season and she's about to start filming her new movie. I can try, but I can't be around all the time."

Dick nodded, absorbing the information and running through scenarios in his head, "right. Okay, let's get a team and-"

"Dick," M'gann started gently, "let's not blow this out of proportion. We don't even know for sure-"

"There was a guy last week," Gar cut in, "at the coffee shop. Said some weird stuff about metas. Maybe it's not related."

Dick closed his eyes, of course it was related. It's no coincidence Dick almost has meta human trafficking run into the ground when this new assassin targets him and Luthor threatens Will. "I'll get a small team together," Dick said again. "They'll run security until this mess is over."

"Oh, she'll love that," Connor remarked. "Dick, we can't just show up at her doorstep because maybe Lex vaguely threatened her. He's probably bluffing-"

"And if he's not?" Dick snapped, "I'm not willing to risk that. Risk-" he stopped himself before he could finish that sentence. The unspoken word hung in the silence and Dick pushed away from the table, "we'll do recon, see if there's anything there. Then we'll make a plan."

The other three heroes nodded. "Where are you going?" M'gann asked when Dick made his way to the zeta tube.

"We didn't think of this," Dick called back, "I want to be prepared for any other scenarios." Nothing like a night of research and preparation to get his head back in the game. Plus he would make some headway on Tara Markov.