Oh, Birds that Fly (Nightwing x FemPercy)

2. Flight of the Second Bird

Third Person POV

Nightwing whirled around to find Seabird standing there with her arms crossed.

Nightwing didn't know what to do, to say the least Seabird did not look impressed, so he adopted the sternest demeanor he could and said, "You're a hero, right?"

Seabird gave him a once over and stalked slightly towards him, "Why does it matter to you?" she retorted, standing in front of him with her arms on her hips, face in his. He gently shoved her back. Nightwing frowned, "This is my city." Seabird didn't seem worried or surprised. "I'm sorry, I haven't seen your name written anywhere in this city. What exactly about this makes it yours?"

Somehow, it wasn't rude, merely defensive. Nightwing, for some odd reason, did not mind. He couldn't shake the fact that she felt incredibly familiar. Like the brief sight of her eyes and the sound of her voice had triggered a memory he was trying so hard to dig up. " I was here first," he said calmly, looking her in the masked eye. She sighed and dropped her hands to her sides. "I suppose you're right. I'm sorry, I'm not having the best of days. I am a hero, and I have no intentions to bring harm to your city."

Nightwing thought she was genuine but years of Bat training, not to mention paranoia, decided to creep up on him. Solo. He chastised himself, trying to decide whether to follow his bat instincts or be an individual and make his own choice. For once, he chose the in between. Bats would take them in, fight or no fight. As an own opinion, he'd let her go. So, he chose the in between, a free walk with a condition.

"Okay," He said. "But you're going to have to earn my trust."

Nightwing thought he actually heard the female's eye roll. "Well, that's a given when you're in this business."

Nightwing snorted and relaxed. "How long have you been a hero for?" Seabird seemed to go far away as she answered. "As a hero in this definition," she gestured down to her suit. "A week or so. But I've been a hero of other means for a long time, and fighting and training for a long time as well." She said, finally making eye contact with him. Her expression was unreadable,  and yet there was an undeniable mix of sweetness and sadness in her face. And , what could perhaps be taken as a token of recognition — or maybe confusion.

Nightwing believed her. "Well, it was, uh, interesting to meet you, Seabird." Seabird smirked at him and gave him a small salute. "See you around, Nightwing." She fell backward off the building, and despite everything, Nightwing's heart jumped into his throat as he rushed forward to see the teen swinging from a grappling hook into the shadows, vanishing.

After a few moments, he sat down on the edge of the roof fearlessly, feeling completely at home with himself as he allowed the aura of being in the air to soothe him. He kept on thinking about Seabird and he didn't know why. No matter how many times he tried to push her away, to tell himself it would be an unhealthy obsession, a waste of time on his part, but she came back over and over, and Nightwing enjoyed how her image would constantly flash across his mind. He sat with his back facing the skyscrapers and put his escrima sticks back in their holders.

"Seabird," he murmured to himself, liking the way her name sounded.

----

Percy swung into the shadows before vapor traveling back to her apartment along the border between Gotham and Bludhaven. Materializing inside her living room, she looked around briefly before slipping her hand under a light switch to a button and she pressed it, the hallway transforming into a training room, with zeta tubes, equipment, and an alert room. Percy sighed as she removed her domino mask and sat heavily on the leather couch in the training room.

Tonight, she'd met Nightwing, Bludhaven's resident hero. She'd heard about him, of course, ever since her blessing from all the gods she hadn't let a thing slip, thanks to Athena. Which made her wonder, who was he? There was something about him that suggested they'd met before — perhaps the pallor of his face or the sound of his voice.

For some reason, she couldn't get him out of her head. She'd tried to push him out but like a boomerang, he came back nearly immediately. Newspapers and descriptions did him absolutely no justice. Sure, they made him sound epic, but there was just some kind of element that they didn't capture, some essence of him they missed out on, and that was exactly what one of Percy's million thoughts was about.

It was something incredible, the way he fought and moved. As though he'd never made a single mistake. He made no noise.

She removed her suit and changed into a cropped sweater and shorts before hanging her things up and hiding away the rooms and equipment. Then, she remembered Nightwing was infamous for being sneaky and she immediately went into alert. ( Where that detail came from, she isn't sure . But it's resurface as she might as well use it ) . She took her outfit and scanned it. Her eyes narrowed and she found it: A small, red tracker he'd placed when he'd pushed her. Fortunately, due to the lack of any lights that should've been present, she managed to note it hadn't been activated. She took it off and vapor traveled over to a random building on the other side of Gotham, an hours drive from her place on the border between the two cities.

Carefully, she placed it in the darkest corner and wrote a note with Riptide, in pen form. Of course, now she also used daggers and other weapons, but Riptide always held a special place in her heart, after all the sword and she had been through.

Nice try, Nightwing. See you around.

- Seabird

She swept over her surroundings and vapor traveled back to her place. A soft breeze ruffled her silky black waves as she closed the window and turned on the news. "This is Cat Grant, reporting live from Bludhaven. Rumors are circling about a new hero seen in both Gotham and Bludhaven, a someone that seems to go by the name of Seabird. Mariana Gomez returned safely home after she reportedly was saved from a gang rape by this new vigilante. Reports also claim that the popular Bludhaven hero Nightwing was spotted with this girl. Is she friend or foe?-" The rest faded to background noise as she glanced out the window and gave a small smile as she saw the blue Bludhaven bird swing outside to Gotham as she turned out the lights for bed.

"Nightwing," she said as she stared at the night sky from her position in bed and a faint smile crossed her face.

-----

After that, they'd spy on each other. They always knew when the other was there, but they never said anything. And they liked it.

So one night, Seabird stood atop a rooftop in Bludhaven. There was movement behind her. "Nightwing." she greeted, turning to see the hero standing with a grin on his face. "Couldn't stay away?" She asked teasingly.

Nightwing mentally said, No.

"Well, unfortunately AND fortunately; I'm a curious person." He stood beside her. Seabird smirked. "So curious you immediately put a tracker on me." Nightwing groaned. "So that's why it ended up there. I was trying to make sure you weren't a threat!"

Seabird put a hand on his shoulder. "I know." A few moments of silence came over. "Want to patrol together?"

Nightwing hesitated. He wanted to, he really did, but it had been so long since he'd worked alongside someone. He'd been part of the Dynamic Duo. But his relationship with Batman had been mentor and protege. This would be different, like partners. "Why not?"

The pair leaped off the side of the building.

--

Hope you guys liked it. Lemme know what you guys think!

Peace out,

Ally