Tommy arrived at Barbara Gordon's hideout by her request. He was surprised to find that their were others waiting for him.
One was Black Canary. Tommy smiled at her. She said that she had just been called in by Barbara at the last second, just like him.
Another was Huntress. Tommy glared at her. Tommy had been involved in one of their "therapy" sessions the night before and was still a little sore. Huntress was not gentle. She smiled and licked her lips when she knew Black Canary wasn't looking. Tommy swore to himself.
The third person... Tommy didn't know. He was a tall, athletic man in a black costume very similar to Tommy's Batsuit. The young man wore no cape, though, and no cowl either. Instead, he had thin mask that cast his eyes in shadow. A blue splash of color covered his chest. The man cast a suspicious eye at Tommy. Tommy didn't appreciate it.
"Good, you're all here," Barbara said, wheeling into the circle they had formed. "I asked you all to come because we need to be ready for whatever Lex Luthor has planned for Gotham. For now, while I try to figure out what's going on, I've asked Dick to come in and help out." The man nodded. 'Seems like a Dick,' Tommy thought.
"I've set up some perimeters for you," Barbara continued, directing everyone to the large screen she had along one wall. "If we're running these routes, one of you will be able to react to any emergency in seconds, not minutes." Tommy looked at the territory he was expected to cover: it was the banking district, running a long swath along the riverfront. He smiled; prime territory for crime fighting.
"Why are you giving him that area?" Dick asked, waving his hand dismissively at Tommy. "Shouldn't he be covering something a little less important?"
"Uh, I'll be fine," Tommy replied. 'What the Hell,' He thought in his head.
"No offense, but I think we should give our most critical areas to our best crime fighters," Dick said.
Barbara came to Tommy's defense. "Dick, he'll be fine. You'd be surprised by how much Bruce has-"
"Tommy," Black Canary interjected.
"Huh?" Barbara said.
"His name is Tommy. You called him Bruce," Canary told her.
"Oh," Barbara said. She looked sheepishly at Tommy. "Sorry. Anyway, he'll be fine."
"Fine," Dick said. Barbara continued her presentation, with Canary, Dick & Huntress all asking questions. Tommy tried not to look bored. Finally, the planning session broke up. Tommy & Black Canary left Barbara's hideout and prepared to head back into the city.
"What's that guy's problem?" Tommy asked her.
"That's Dick Grayson," Canary explained. "He was Bruce's protege for a while. I'm guessing he doesn't really appreciate Bruce leaving and putting some other guy in the Batsuit."
"His name fits him," Tommy said.
***
Sitting in the Batcave, alone, Tommy was silently fuming. He had been annoyed all day. He hated this Dick Grayson, this "Nightwing" or whatever he called himself.
First, he had gotten a call from the police to foil a bank robbery. Dick was there when he arrived, just having finished up corralling the robbers.
Then, Tommy had seen the Bat-Signal in the air and hurried towards the top of the Gotham City Police Department's building. Who was there when he arrived? Nightwing, having a laugh with Jim Gordon. The commissioner barely registered Tommy's presence, so intent was he on finding out how Dick was doing. Tommy had finally left after Nightwing told him "he would take care of" whatever the problem was.
Finally, Tommy had returned home to Wayne Manor. As he ascended the steps to the mansion he heard uproarious laughter. Alfred and Dick were just finishing up a delicous breakfast, both of their plates scraped nearly clean. They glanced over and nodded at Tommy, ignoring the cuts & bruises he had accumulated over the night. Tommy followed Alfred into the kitchen as the old man cleared the table.
"What the Hell?" He asked. "How come you've never made me breakfast?"
Alfred looked at Tommy sideways. "Master Dick is an important part of this family," He said, "And I was simply welcoming him home."
"Whatever," Tommy replied. "Why don't you just move all my shit out of the guest room and let him sleep in my bed, while you're at it."
Alfred chuckled. "Oh no, Master Dick sleeps in the large master room upstai-"
"Gah!" Tommy said, turning and walking towards the entry of the Batcave. He had been there ever since, silently stewing.
"Hey," He heard a voice call from behind him. He rolled his eyes and looked at Dick Grayson, his newfound nemesis.
"What do you want?" He asked sulkily.
Dick approached Tommy conciliatory. "I kinda feel like we got off on the wrong foot," He said. "I just wanted to make sure you knew I didn't mean to come across as, well, an asshole earlier. Sometimes I forget that I'm in crime fighting mode."
Tommy turned his back to Dick and towards the computer. "Don't worry about it," He said over his shoulder.
"You want to hang out for a bit?" Dick said. "I could use some company. I forgot how fucking big this house can feel."
Tommy sighed. "I don't know, man, I'm pretty busy and-"
"I have beer," Dick said. Tommy turned and saw he was holding up a twelve pack. Tommy weighed his options.
***
