The Network

Part 4: Return

Dick's POV

A few hours later, I was flying over the outskirts of Gotham in my cloaked jet. I landed in a hangar/warehouse I had, had built for the purpose . The roof opened and I gently touched down. I then unloaded the things I need from the jet into my awaiting car. It wasn't anything flashy, but it was still a good car. Volvos were well known for being one of the safest cars you can get.

Once everything I needed was packed, I changed into normal clothes and drove to my safe house. I hadn't actually ever been to the Gotham one before, having wanted to stay away from there in case anybody recognized me, so I had arranged for some of The Network members to organize it.

It was a nice house, large and spacious, but not too much so. There were 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a sitting room, an office and a kitchen, as well as a garage to the side.

I brought my things in, mainly food and clothing. Once I had unpacked, I went into the office and switched on the large computer. Before I knew it, my fingers were flying over the keys, hacking into the security feed at Mount Justice. I looked around at the familiar place from afar, seeing M'gaan baking cookies in the kitchen, Connor watching static on the TV, a normal day in the mountain. I did notice that they had acquired many more team members since I'd left, which I was actually pleased about. The one person I didn't see though was Wally. That might have been because he was in his room and there weren't any cameras in there, or it might have been because there was still one camera I hadn't looked at. I went into it, finding it to be the one at the grotto, and that's where I found Wally. He was standing, looking up silently at the hologram of… me. What was the date? I looked on the calendar. That's why Wally was standing there. It had been exactly 4 years since I had been declared dead. I had been away for too long. It was time for this bird, to return to its nest.

I changed into my Nightwing suit and headed for the Gotham zeta beam, hoping it was still in the old telephone box. It was. I then hacked into the system using my hologlove. I noticed that "Robin - B01" was still there, though I wast sure if it was because they forgot to remove it, or if it was in remembrance of me.

I decided to have a little fun with them. I changed the name that was designated to B01 from "Robin" to "Nightwing". Having done that successfully, I disconnected my hologlove, opened the doors to the phone box and stepped into the zeta tube that would take me to Mount Justice after 5 years.

Wally's POV

I was standing in the grotto, looking up at Rob's hologram, when I heard the zeta beam announce, "Nightwing - B01"
I was confused. Who was Nightwing? And why had they been given Rob's designation?!

I raced back up to the cave, joining the others at the zeta beams. They looked just as confused as I was.
"There's no one here," M'gaan said quietly.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that"
We all turned, M'gaan, Kaldur, Conner, Artemis and I, to see a guy around about our own age in a black Kevlar suit and Domino mask, with a bright blue bird symbol on his chest.
"Who are you?" I asked, trying to keep my temper under wraps. How dare this guy hack our zeta tubes and use Rob's old designation?! I wasn't having it.
"Nightwing," he replied, "and I thought that would have been obvious, Wally."
At the mention of my name, I felt my stomach drop. How did he know? And if he knows my name, what about the others?
He obviously noticed everyone's surprised and worried states.
"Relax," he said, "I'm a good guy. Who do you think took out Deathstroke, the Joker, The Court of Owls and The League of Shadows?"
"That was you?" Artemis asked, surprised
"Well, me and my team," he replied, smiling, "It's sort of like what you have here, except slightly larger and we have an island as our base instead of a mountain."
"And you lead it?" Kaldur asked
Nightwing nodded.
"I did founded it, so it's only fair. Although I am currently having a break for about a month or so, so at the moment my second-in-command is in charge."
"Why tell us this?" Connor asked, eyeing him skeptically
Nightwing shrugged.
"I just wanted to tell you a bit about what's been happening in my life these past 5 years."
"And why would you do that?" I asked
He smiled.
"I think you'd better call the rest of the team and the league," he replied, "I don't want to have to explain myself twice."

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