Due to many circumstances, Dick tried to stay away from Abbie. The more important things like her being related to Two-Face, and the danger of him being Nightwing were good enough reasons, but then there was the political and social impacts too. He didn't know how the media would take that the newest Gotham bachelor is spending time with Abbie Dent. He really didn't care what he thought, it was more of Abbie's point of view. There was also the possibility that if Harvey Dent found out about Abbie's new potential relationship, he would get curious, and try something. So Dick continued cleaning the mansion, he continued to fight crime, and Dick Grayson made himself more publicly known. 

He usually made that an excuse to not be in much contact with Abbie, but he couldn't help but reply with a few texts throughout the day. He kept thinking about what she yelled at him that day. There was a saying in the justice department. "Everyone is innocent until proven guilty." Bruce taught him to never second guess himself during these situations. If you had a hunch, you had to stick with it until it proved that it wasn't true. And if it was any one of them, they were usually right about their hunches. But to answer her question, no. He didn't honestly know. But he was almost certain that her father was a monster. If she only knew that Harvey Dent tortured Dick, that he hid his true feelings behind his smart ass attitude. Maybe she would be more understanding. But she'll never know. 

As the days went on the city of Gotham got used to the fact that Batman was gone, but the talk started to spread about Nightwing, and the rumors of where he came from. A "Batman knockoff" was the most used term for him, but that was until Bludhaven informed Gotham of their hero, and soon people would remember him from his early years in Gotham, and some even speculated that he was an older Robin... But those were all rumors. Nightwing would never talk to the media. Or at least not yet. The biggest news that wasn't Batman related was the abduction of Abigail Dent. As you could expect, Dick, Tim, and Barbara were all suspicious, and Dick more concerned than the other two (but never showed it). When she didn't reply to his texts he understood... But when she didn't answer calls, he was concerned, so concerned that he left quite a few (embarrassing) voicemails like:

[i]"Hey, Abbie... I er, wanted to say that we finished moving the house around, and sometime when you're not busy.. I mean, if you have the time I want a pool rematch."[/i] This is when he sighed miserably and hung up. 

He did these once or twice until Barbara told him that the police found a purple sports car with burn marks on the roof. Driver nowhere to be found. It didn't take them long to conclude that the Electrocutioner was involved. 


What they weren't expecting was the amount of work that it was taking to find where she was. It seemed that whenever Nightwing tried to find out her whereabouts, Two-Face's thugs always beat him to it. It only strengthened their suspicions, but it also frustrated Dick. He was supposed to be Bruce's successor! And he was losing to a man that Dick hated the most out of everyone... And if Abbie thought that he was the hero...

They spent a lot of time tracking down the location of the electrocutioner, and they finally got him. Dick managed to sneak in very easily just in time to hear the electrocutioner's speech. He wasn't the most dangerous of the Gotham villains, but he wasn't to be underestimated. The fact that the Electrocutioner knew who her father was just even more confirmation, and he really wasn't happy with all these new clues. The moment he laid his hands on her biceps was when Nightwing went in to action. He took out one of his objects, aimed, at a wall, and flicked it as hard as he could. The room was filled with ricochet sounds as the "batarang" like object used its angles to eventually hit the electrocutioner square in the side of the head, toppling over. 

Nightwing showed himself this time. "Hey sparky. Long time no see." Nightwing said, escrima sticks out and already in "shock" mode. "And if it wasn't clear, I'm the one that's only here to kick your ass and throw you in to jail. Looks like I beat Half-and-Half here." The electrocutioner looked up and glared at Nightwing. "Ah, so its true! The birdie is back! You don't have the Bat Freak to help you in your fights this time." He grinned. Nightwing returned the grin. "That's fine, he isn't here to hold me back, either. I got the whole stage to myself." And with that, Nightwing did a twirl towards the villain, arm extended as he tried to smack him, but with no luck. He smacked his hand away and used his other hand to try and land a electrified fist at Nightwing's head, but he ducked and gave an uppercut to the electric gloved man.

Angry, the Electrocutioner slammed his fists down on the ground, he noticed the metal plating as soon as he came in, so his shocked hands will travel through the whole area. Nightwing leapt back, doing a backflip, landing on his hands and then pouncing back again behind Abbie's chair. He knew that she could fight, and had a feeling she was itching for a fight with the man who kidnapped her. In a swift motion he cut the ropes holding her in the chair, and quickly grabbing her. He then pulled out his grappling hook, not having much time before the electric current reached them. He fired up at the roof and the two took off, suspended in the dark air as they waited for the maniac to stand up again. Once he did, Nightwing repelled down, letting go of Abbie, looking over at her as if saying "Attack him, not me." and then took off towards the Electrocutioner.

He had to finish this fight before Two-Face showed up. It was only a matter of time, and he really didn't want to be here when he was in an angry mood. And even though he had a hunch that Dent wouldn't hurt Abbie, she was coming with Nightwing, not the even crazier maniac.