My life outside the Mythical World

Beneath

Dick's POV

It felt almost like a routine now, go to the Cave - stay at the Cave - send out squads for missions- monitor the missions - welcome the team back - and send out more squads.

It has been a month since Batman and the other Leaguers departed for their intergalactic trial. And so far, Dick had done nothing except working in the Cave, like he's doing right now. As Team leader, he had sent Batgirl, Wondergirl, Miss Martian, and Bumblebee out as Alpha on a mission to Bialya.

"Investigating the origin of the alien bomb that destroyed the Krolotean invasion force is still a high priority," He said over the video call with Alpha Squad as they travel via Bioship to their destination. There was no time to explain the mission to them at the Cave, so he had to debrief it on the go. "We suspect the bomb may have been smuggled to Earth via boom tube. Watchtower sensor scans of Bialya have recorded an uptick in boom tube activity. Alpha Squad, your mission is to-"

"Sneak behind enemy lines, recon known boom tube hotspots, and find alien tech matching the bomb." Said Cassie eagerly, then she remembered something and pressed the WW symbol on her suit, and the fabric turned into a darker shade of its original color... "Oh, and don't get caught or create an international incident, right?"

"That about covers it," He said, mildly impressed.

Miss M looked troubled. "Psimon?" She asked slowly. Bialya no doubt brought back some bad memories, for both her and Dick. Their first mission there as a Team almost ended in disaster. Psimon the mind reader had taken away their memories and left the Team to die in the desert but luckily Megan was there to help them all remember.

"We have confirmation that Bialya's telepathic enforcer is still catatonic in a Quranic hospital after his last encounter with you." He reassured the martian girl. "But Bialya's dictator, Queen Bee, is another story. Her ability to control the minds of men is why Alpha is an all-female squad for this mission."

Barbra seemed to have an objection to his choice of words. "Oh, really?" She began, leaning closer to the screen and narrowing her eyes. "And would you have felt the need to justify an all-male squad for a given mission?"

That got the Bluebird hero speechless. Nightwing cleared his throat and tried to gather his sentences together. "Um-that-there's no right answer for that, is there? Uh...so..." Man, this is embarrassing. "Nightwing out." He said quickly and ended the call.

He wanted to slap himself for being so stupid. Guess the loss of sleep did get to him more than he thought.

"You are losing your touch, Man," Mal said sympathetically, typing away at his station.

"More than you know..." Nightwing answered, messaging the bridge of his nose.

"You sure you don't need to take a rest?" Mal asked, concerned. "You've been working a lot lately."

"I'm fine," Dick insisted. "Busy means I have less time to dwell on...on other things."

"Doesn't seem fine to me," the man said again, pausing his work momentarily to look up at the leader. Then his gaze shifted to look over at the room where they displayed all the heroes who had lost their lives in the missions. Mal had been in that room a few times, he knew that among all those honored souls, there was one whose fate is still unknown and may possibly still be alive. He knew about Tidal-Wing well enough, she was their leader's longtime partner, no doubt her loss took a toll on him, Mal had never seen a man so crushed about the loss of someone. Nightwing may not have known it, but he was a literal walking shell.

Dick didn't care what Mal thought. His mind was dull from work. He looked up for a moment and his vision swayed again. Nightwing clutched the side of his head and knit his brows together.