Three years could really change a person Nightwing realized. Meeting his long time friend face to face brought back a swirl of forgotten memories, as he compared the Superboy he knew, to the Superman standing before him now. A genuine smile forged itself across his features at Kieran’s upbeat response, not everything changed apparently, thankfully. The masked hero stepped aside allowing the other man to stride past.

	“Yeah, definitely.” Nightwing hesitated, then making a executive decision extended an offer to the departing Super. “You should come to the cave afterwards, it will be like old times. And you ought to meet the soon to be newest member of the Titans anyway.” Batman would never have sanctioned an unnecessary visit to the cave. Oftentimes unless circumstance demanded no one but the Batman and his Robin entered, after all it was a mission center not a social hub. For a few years, even Nightwing was not exactly welcomed within its dark recesses, his merely tolerated. Seeing as the base had been solely occupied by Nightwing and Robin for the last few weeks however the acrobat saw no reason not to invite his friend over. Alfred certainly wouldn’t care, he might even enjoy playing the Butler to a guest again. His attempt at adding some sort of purpose to the blatant social call helped him justify it to himself at least. Kieran ought to meet Tim, and get to know the newest Robin.

 	Nightwing fired his grapple, swinging down the last hundred feet to land beside Grodd’s collection apparatus. Left nearly entirely intact after the gorilla’s unceremonious retreat, the machine posed to be the answer behind this attack, and the first step in identifying the maniac’s end goal. Besides, Nightwing could not contain his own burning curiosity which demanded to know how the device worked, and why. Ignoring the curious looks from the Supermen he inspected the empty battery compartment first. His fingers ran over the connection ports and wiring curiously before he moved on to the internal control panels. One glance at the intricate wiring beneath caused the acrobat to hiss in distaste. He snapped his fingers away, narrowly avoiding getting his digits doused in acidic fluid. “Acid wash, activated after the battery cell was removed. Clever ape destroying the software-“

	“Maybe not just Grodd though.” Nightwing glanced behind him, grinning at the sight of an all to familiar scarlet speedster being supported by Obsidian approaching.

	“There you are, I thought maybe you’d gotten lost or were late for the fight. How are holding up?” Nightwing jested, throwing a mock punch at the Flash’s shoulder. The speedster caught it easily, letting their knuckles brush.

	“Great, never better honestly.” The speedster glanced down at his slightly mangled legs, wincing. “Maybe a little embarrassed for being caught.” He remedied at Nightwing’s unconvinced expression. “I think we ought’a be concerned about you though. What are you doing out, during the day? I thought you turned into a vampire? It would explain the new look.”

	Nightwing rolled his eyes beneath the white lenses of his mask. “Harr, harr fleetfeet. Joking aside, what did you mean, maybe not just Grodd. Is there someone else involved?”
Obsidian and Flash glanced at one another. “From what we heard, yeah. I might be mistaken but… It almost sounded like he wasn’t just working with someone, but for someone. If you could believe it.”

	“Grodd, a subordinate…” Nightwing frowned, his lips drawing into a thin line. “Unusual…”

	“You’re telling me.” The Flash waffled for a second and shrugged. “I guess I could be wrong.”

	The masked heroes pondered their conflicting knowledge of Grodd’s usual MO, and what was witnessed today. The violent attack in Central City all fit, the main outlier being no clear motive, and the malefactor gorilla’s apparent subordination.

	“That’s a helluva case bro.” Nightwing clapped Flash on the shoulder, shaking his head as if giving up. “A real conundrum, good luck cracking it, but I gotta get back to Gotham. I have my own head scratchers to solve.”

	“Thanks, a lot” the speedster moaned, knowing full well Nightwing was making a jab at his mediocre detective skills. Eager though he might be, Flash never had been the master sleuth that Nightwing was. “I think I’ll just offload this one to the Supermen, or better yet.” He gave Nightwing a sly wink. “My best bro could help me out?”

	“You ought’a ask him then.”

	The speedster’s face scrunched up under the mask. “Ah, c’mon man. You aren’t gonna make me beg and cry are you? You know I will, I have no shame.”

	Holding up his hands in mock defeat Nightwing resisted the urge to continue their verbal duel. He knew Flash well enough, and the threat of begging and ululations to achieve his goals were not idle ones. A small crowd of civilians were gathering, and the masked vigilante was beginning to feel exposed under their collective gazes. A familiar sensation at constant odds with his natural affinity to the spotlight, built up over the years serving as Batman’s sidekick. Avoiding cameras and publicity at all costs to preserve his identity. There were already going to be rumors, and now that he’d been spotted helping the Supermen of America in Central it was only a matter of time before the villains noticed as well and put two and two together. “Alright, alright fine I’ll help you. Send any information you gather along with whatever data the tech genius back at the Tower manage to salvage from Grodd’s toy my way. I need to split back to Gotham.”

	“What, to much sunshine for the vampire?”

	Nightwing shot the scarlet runner a good natured glare. “Something like that fleetfeet. Heal up bro, and I’ll see you soon.” A nod and a wave later the masked vigilante vanished into a nearby alleyway, blending into the shadows where he belonged.