Robin's Shadow (Batman OC)

Chapter 39: Nightingale Revealed, Part 1

"Get this, Ana." Dick calls and says to me the day after Batman's fight with Jason and the assassins. "That Red Hood guy? He's working with Nightingale. Bruce says they might even be an item, like 'murdering lovers' or something. That's a romance made in Gotham if I ever saw one." He says dramatically over the phone, and I have to hold in my laughter at the notion.

"The new dynamic duo, huh?" I joke back, and he groans in response. "Maybe Batman and Robin have been usurped from their throne by The Bird and The Hood? Red Night? Hoodingale?" I throw out random mashup names of Jason's and I's vigilante titles while Dick groans even more before he eventually end up laughing too.

"I know you don't go out much anymore, but just be careful out there if you go out, this guy is dangerous." He warns me before hanging up.

I'm sitting in my apartment, trying to think about what Jason's next move will be. In the movies, he releases Joker and uses him as a part of his argument to Batman about how he didn't kill him and avenge him. Now, with Joker dead, I'm wondering how the final confrontation will happen. Knowing Jason, it will be something symbolic, and I'm sure it will happen in Crime Alley, where we met Batman the first time. I know him well enough to know he will want to end it where it began, he's dramatic like that, just like me.

Currently, Bruce is gone somewhere. Dick told me that Bats and the jet was missing when he went to find him. I'm guessing he's talking to Ra's right now, getting the story about Jason's recovery. I'm pissed Bruce hasn't called to tell me yet that Jason is alive, and that he's Red Hood. Maybe he wants to wait for the final confrontation or something, which is stupid, I'm his twin, if anyone is going to make Jason stop being a murdering crime lord, it's me. Not that I'm going to stop my brother, I agree with him and his methods, but still, I should have been informed. This is letting me plan out my dramatic reveal, knowing I'm going to make a statement in how I reveal myself.

Turns out, I didn't have to wait long for the big showdown. My security camera I have hidden watching Jason's hide out alerted me of him leaving, so I suited up as Nightingale and headed out to find him. I tracked him to Crime Alley, and heard him page out to Batman on a radio.

"You want me, Bruce? Come and get me. I'm in Crime Alley, you know where." Jason says tauntingly into the radio before destroying it against the wall of the alley he's in. It's not just any alley, it's the same spot we robbed the tires from. I'm not perched in the same fire escape as bac then, I'm farther away because I know Jason would be able to sense me.

I debate for a moment on whether to stay and watch the fight, or let them have their moment. My temptations to be one with the shadows and lurk and eavesdrop is high, but I also know that now tonight is the night that I will be revealing the truth, so ultimately, I decide to let them have their fight. Besides, I don't want to influence them in any way, and I want to see if Jason will come back to me, as Ana. 

I have cameras set up along different parts of Crime Alley anyway, so I can watch parts of the fight myself remotely. I know them both well enough that no matter how mad they are, they won't kill each other. 

I slink down silently back to my bike, and I drive off towards the manor. I can see that Dick and Tim are together doing a casual patrol around the town, so I'll just call them to come home when Batman is done with Jason. I check Batman's position, and see he's already close to getting to Jason.

I ride over to the manor, still in my full Nightingale uniform, and casually walk into the kitchen entrance, going to the fridge and grabbing a snack. As I'm standing there debating on what I want to eat, I hear the cocking of a shot gun behind me.

"Turn around slowly." Alfred says confidently and warningly to me. "I don't want any funny business. I know of you, Nightingale, and I must say, you picked the wrong house to wander into tonight."

I turn to face the armed butler slowly, my hands raised in surrender. "Oh, I think I picked the right house to be in. You always have the best snacks after all, Al." I say in my normal voice, dropping my usually accented one I use as Nightingale. I can see him freeze when he hears my voice, so I reach up slowly too at his confused face and take off my golden wing mask, showing him my full face.

"It cannot be." Alfred breathes out in shock, lowering the gun. "I did not want to believe it was you..."

"Oh, you knew already?" I pout to him sadly.

"No. I had my suspicions, I just never wanted to be right." He says sadly, looking at me in disappointment. "Mistress Anastasia, you have done so much evil. How could you get to this level? How could we not have seen?"

"You didn't see because I didn't want you to see." I say softly to him, walking towards him slowly. "I had to become something else, someone who could cross Bruce's line but not fall into the darkness. And I did. I'm sorry that I deceived you, but I'm still me, I'm still Ana. I'm finally whole again, Al." I say happily to him, looking into his eyes and showing him exactly how happy I am.

"So you know about Jason, then." He surmises from my expression, and my smile grows.

"Batman has nothing on your detective skills, Al." I smirk at him. "Yeah, I know about him. And I'll be mad at you and Bruce later for knowing and not telling me." I say with no edge and fake threat as I pull him into a hug, one that he does return. "I'm just so happy he's back."

"Is he, though?" He asks sorrowfully.

"He might be a little scarred, a little broken." I admit to him. "But aren't we all?" I smile genuinely to him.

"Are you going to tell everyone?" He asks, looking down at my outfit.

"Yeah, tonight. I'm just grabbing a snack to eat during my lecture." I joke to him, turning back to the fridge. "Or maybe a final meal before Bruce kills me and Jason."

"So Master Jason knows as well, I assume?" He asks, turning into his normal speech and moving over to join my side, making a cup of tea for himself.

"Nope!" I say cheerily. "You're the first in the family to know, congrats!"

"Hooray." He dryly deadpans at me. "I shall go prepare the med bay. It seems odds are, one of you will need it before the night is over."

"Oh yeah, definitely. Bruce and Jase are fighting right now, actually. You wanna watch in the cave?" I say happily as I grab a tub of Neapolitan ice cream and a spoon and walk away down to the cave. He follows me, and I pull up my access codes to my private cameras, taking over the entire giant bat computer with multiple camera screens. 

"Nice cameras." Alfred says dryly to me as we watch the end of the fight. There's no audio, but we can see them talking at this point. "Dare I ask how you paid for them? Or your new look?"

"You guys never should have taught street rats how to hack." I smirk at him wickedly and he glares at me. "Don't worry, only the first lump sum was from Wayne funds. Once I learned more from Timmy, the next rounds of funds were all curtesy of Luthor Corp." I start to laugh to myself for my craftiness. It's true, I set up off shore accounts for both me and Jason using Luthor's money after I learned how to hack into his companies accounting department. My twin and I can both retire pretty now thanks to that. 

My phone rings after the fight ends, and I can see Batman talking into an ear piece in one of the cameras watching the fight, so I know it's him calling me before even hearing the ringtone.

"Batman?" I ask curiously and casually with a tone of distrust sine we still haven't talked much.

"Ana. Come to the cave. I have... someone for you to meet." Batman says, then hangs up without waiting for a response.

I shoot a text out to Tim and Dick to come home, and judging by their trackers, they will be here at the same time as Bats will. I watch on the screen as both Batman and Red Hood get into the Bat plane together, and I smile at that, curious how their talk went.