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[b]Parkthorne Avenue, Blüdhaven[/b]

Dick slotted the second of his Escrima sticks into the slot on the back of his Nightwing uniform and prepared to leave his apartment. As he reached the door he spotted the phone beside it and punched a button on it to play his messages. It had been more than a week since he’d been home long enough to listen to them. After what had happened to Clark he’d cut himself off from everyone and thrown himself into his work at Blüdhaven Police Department. It was selfish, he knew that, and he was going to remedy it once he’d had the chance. Once he’d brought whoever was pumping this Schizo drug onto Blüdhaven’s street he would. The first of the messages played and an animated voice came through the speaker that Dick recognised in an instance. 

[color=yellowgreen]“Dick, it’s Gar, where the hell have you been hiding, man? Look, I know you’re busy in Blüdhaven and we’re all really proud of what you’re trying to do there but… I guess… I miss you, man, and I know nobody else has the stones to say it but [i]everyone[/i] misses you. Things haven’t been right here since… Y’know, since the whole Doomsday thing, and I think everyone could do with having you around. I mean, even Raven seems depressed. Come visit us some time soon, Boy Wonder.”[/color]

A guilty smile appeared on Dick’s face as his thoughts went to his Young Justice teammates. He clicked through to the next message and listened vacantly as he tried to remember who the next voice belonged to.

“Hey Tiger, remember me? It’s Mary from the other night. I had a [i]really[/i] good time and I was hoping maybe we could do it again sometime. Maybe we could out to eat beforehand this time? Or if you’re feeling adventurous we could e-”

With a swift click Dick went to the next message. He could [i]barely[/i] remember meeting Mary in some bar a few days after the Doomsday Incident. His hurt was still raw then, it still bled from him like an open wound, and he needed something and someone to stem that bleed. He’d thrown himself into her arms without a second thought for fear of sleeping alone. It was a mistake. One he regretted deeply and wished had never happened. His regret only deepened when he heard the next voice.

[color=coral]“Dick, it’s Barbara, given everything that’s happened over the past week I think we should talk. I know how important Clark was to you. We’re all hurting. You shouldn’t have to deal with this alone, Dick, no one should have to. Call me when you get this message. Please.”[/color]

A pained sigh slipped from Dick’s lips as the message ended. Babs was the love of his life. She had stood by him through the good times and the bad. Bruce had given Dick purpose and meaning after his parents had died but it was Barbara Gordon that had taught him how to love again. It was her strength after what the Joker had done to her that had given Dick the courage to strike out on his own. Yet stood there, his fingers floating desperately close to the phone, he couldn’t bring himself to find the courage to call her back. Dick slammed the secret door to his apartment shut behind him and took to the rooftops of Blüdhaven to ease his pain.

His target tonight was Vincenzo “Vinnie” Lagorio. If there was anyone in this city that would know who was behind this Schizo drug it would be him. Lagorio had married into the Lagorio crime family that ran Blüdhaven’s east side. Once upon a time the Lagorio’s owned all of Blüdhaven. That was before Blockbuster came along. The metahuman had taken three-quarters of the Lagorio’s territory and eliminated most of the Lagorio enforcers. What was left was a rabble. Vinnie had seen the writing on the wall early and defected over to Blockbuster’s side before it was too late. Now he served as a mid-level enforcer to the metahuman though to Vinnie’s credit he spent more time [i]avoiding[/i] trouble than he did causing it.

He found the enforcer leant against a balcony at “The Rail” rooftop bar in Avalon Hill knocking back whiskeys on his own. He was in his fifties, overweight, with a full head of grey hair and bushy black eyebrows. He stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the crowd of millennials.

Dick fired his rappel gun towards the bar and zipped over unseen. As he climbed inside he made his presence known to other revelers and unbeknownst to Lagorio they began to filter out of the bar cautiously. Once only Vinnie and Dick were left behind, Dick lifted a drink that had been discarded and sipped it as he leant beside the balcony next to Lagorio. He smiled cheekily as he eyed Vinnie and waited for him to spot him. The old Sicilian wa sin a world of his own.

After about fifteen seconds of staring at the Blüdhaven skyline emptily Lagorio noticed the bar had fallen silent. He turned his head to Dick and staggered backwards with shock.

[color=skyblue]“How’s it going, Vinnie?”[/color]

The whiskey fell from Lagorio’s hand as he lifted his hands into the air as a sign of submission. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, I’m not looking for no trouble, man.”

[color=skyblue]“Come on, Vinnie, don’t insult my intelligence. I know you’re working as Blockbuster’s middleman to your in-laws.”[/color]

Vinnie looked at Dick dumbfoundedly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Dick sighed, took another sip of his drink, and stared down at the cars trapped in gridlock on the ground beneath them.

[color=skyblue]“The only reason you’re not sat in a jail cell somewhere with seven of your fingers broken is because [i]somehow[/i] you’ve managed to stop Blüdhaven from turning into a war-zone. I appreciate that, Vinnie, I really do. With that being said, you are still a criminal and I’m still… well, me. So you’re going to have to help me out a little if you want to stay our of prison.”[/color]

Suddenly the doors to The Rail burst open and two muscle-bound men in black suits and black sunglasses burst through. In their hands were Uzis trained at Dick. Without so much as breaking a sweat Dick launched the glass in his hand at one of them, rolled forwards, and pulled an Escrima stick from his back to sweep the other man’s leg out from beneath him. Dick jabbed the stick into the glassed man’s side and sent a shock of electricity through him that knocked him out. He slammed the butt of his stick into the other man's forehead and knocked him out cold. He kicked their guns away and then paced towards Lagorio who was was frozen in place. 

Dick dragged Vinnie towards the balcony by his collar with a grimace. [color=skyblue]“Two men are dead because of this “Schizo” drug and I need to know who’s moving it.”[/color]

“That’s not us, man, I swear to God that’s not us.”

[color=skyblue]“Not good enough.”[/color]

He pushed Vinnie over the edge and dangled him for a few seconds. The enforcer screamed at the top of his voice and flailed wildly.

“Okay!” Vinnie shouted as he tapped on Dick’s arm desperately. “Pull me up already.”

Dick pulled him up and dumped him on the ground at his feet.

“It’s not us and it’s not the Lagorio family either,” Vinnie muttered as he rested his back against the balcony. “The boss man is [i]steaming[/i] because that Schizo shit is out-selling our package. We’re losing money and we’re losing it fast. From what I hear so are the Lagorios. There’s even talk of a ceasefire until we get the freak that’s trying to muscle in on our territory.”

Dick brandished a stick in his direction. [color=skyblue]“Give me a name.”[/color]

“It’s Dent,” Vinnie said with his head in his hands. “It’s Two-Face, man, Harvey-[i]fricking[/i]-Dent.”

[color=skyblue]“See? Was that so hard?”[/color]

Dick pulled a twenty from an abandoned wallet on a table beside the balcony and threw it in Lagorio’s direction. It was still fluttering towards the enforcer as Dick mounted the balcony and took aim with his rappel gun. As it landed in Vinnie’s lap Dick took one last look towards him and smiled playfully as he pulled the trigger.

[color=skyblue]“Buy yourself a drink on me.”[/color]