Chapter 1: Blackout

Gotham City
March 14, 18:09 EST
Team Year Four

"Dick, your work in my class has been excellent. You've had the top score in five out of the past six exams this year. But I can't help but notice that you're not fully engaged with the material. I think this course is too easy for you. Honestly, Dick, I'm beginning to wonder if Gotham University can offer enough challenges for you. With your test scores and achievements, you could have gone to any of the Ivy Leagues."

Dick shifted in his chair across the desk from his academic advisor and suppressed a sigh. He could have told Professor Monahan that. While many of his classmates spent the weeks after an exam cursing Monahan's name and trying desperately to transfer into other science courses, Dick was scoring over a hundred percent and drifting off during lectures, when he actually attended. It wasn't that he had anything against the course, but for the first time in his life Dick had the option of not showing up at school without raising any red flags. After all, what college freshman didn't skip out on a few lectures here and there?

The truth was, Dick hadn't wanted to go to college at all; he had far more important things to be doing than getting a degree he couldn't see the point in. But the disadvantage of being a child prodigy was that Dick was still underage. He'd graduated from Gotham Academy at 16 and whatever his own wishes were, he wasn't truly independent. He may have cast aside his mantle of Robin in favor of Nightwing, but he was still Bruce Wayne's ward and Bruce wanted him to go to school. After several bouts of impassioned arguments from Dick met with periods of stony silence from Bruce, they had reached an agreement, or more of a compromise: Dick would go to school until he was at least 18, at which time he could either complete his degree or drop out; the choice would be his.

Now Dick was 17, in his second semester at Gotham U, sitting in his advisor's office and being lectured on how he was too smart to be there, which he already knew, and gazing absently out the window waiting until he could leave. What he wanted to say to Professor Monahan was that yes, the course wasn't particularly challenging and he'd much rather be spending his time training or helping Kaldur, Superboy, M'gann, and other team members who were unencumbered with secret identities on more missions, and that in fact a college degree was next to useless in his line of work and that he was growing increasingly tired of keeping up a tedious double life.

What he said instead was, "I needed to stay close to my family."

"Of course," said Monahan, looking slightly shamefaced. "It must be a difficult time. Has there been any news?"

Dick's stomach sank. Of course he had known that Monahan would assume he was referring to his younger brother Jason's disappearance. No one in Gotham had managed not to hear how the second Wayne son had vanished, presumably running away one dark night, never to be seen or heard from again. But Dick knew the truth; Jason was dead, and he was never coming back.

"No," he said, looking back out the window where the Elliot Bridge's lights were just flickering on for the evening. "Nothing." More than ever, he wanted to leave. He was tired of talking about a future that didn't matter. If anything had taught him that he couldn't leave being Nightwing behind, it was Jason's death. He had to carry on the fight.

Monahan took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Regardless, Dick, I think you should transfer into a higher level science course. You clearly already understand the basic tenants of evolutionary theory, but I've got a great upper division class that takes a specific look at speciation of Northwestern Snipes—Goodness!"

Monahan was cut off mid-sentence as the power went out, plunging the room into an eerie twilight, illuminated only from the weak late-afternoon sun filtering in through the window.

"I'll call Larry, see if it's just our building or a larger problem," said Monahan, fumbling for his cell phone in the dim light. "Does it look like the rest of campus has gone out as well?"

From the 10th story window, Dick had a perfect view of not only campus, but downtown and the distant Elliot Bridge, all of which had, until moments before, been lit up in preparation for the approaching night. Dick turned back to Monahan, who was repeatedly pressing the "call" button on his phone to no avail. "I think it's more than just campus, professor," said Dick. "The whole city…it's dark."

Gotham City
March 14, 18:09 EST
Team Year Four

"So then Saterstrom says he doesn't think we've done the reading and pulls a freaking pop quiz on us. What is this, high school? I mean, aren't we above all that now? You'd think he'd have a bit more faith in us."

"Wally, had you actually done the reading?"

"You're kinda missing the point, babe."

"So that's a 'No,' then. Wally, it would literally take you about thirty seconds to do it. I don't see why you're complaining."

"Super-speed does not negate how extremely boring it would have been. And psychology isn't even a real science."

"Whatever, Baywatch. Listen, my bus is about to pull up." Artemis was standing on a curb in Gotham City, surrounded by three bags of groceries at her feet, and craning her neck to spot the approaching bus.

"Crap, Artemis, I didn't even ask. How's your mom? How's Gotham?"

Artemis jammed her phone between her ear and her shoulder as she stooped to pick up her bulging grocery bags. "Cold, dirty, and my bus was late," said Artemis. The bus driver glared at her as she clambered on board and struggled to swipe her metro card while juggling the three bags. "Home, sweet home." Artemis shouldered her way through the packed bus to the roomiest piece of aisle she could find, jammed between a business man in a suit and an old granny clutching a bag of recyclables. "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate public transit?"

"Only about a hundred times," said Wally. "Your mom doing alright?"

"More or less. I can't wait until I can get her out of that crummy apartment though. I had to go halfway across town just to find some fresh vegetables."

"California's spoiled you."

"Tell me something I don't know. Listen, Wally, do your stupid reading, okay? I'll call you tonight."

"Fine. Love you, babe."

"I love you too. Bye."

Artemis hung up the phone and readjusted her grip on the bags. It was March and the weather was in that awful period where the streets were flanked with melted and re-frozen piles of filthy snow and every gutter was filled with a sluggish stream of slush. Gotham was indeed dirty, cold, and unpleasant, especially after hauling around three heavy bags and getting dirty looks from her fellow passengers for talking on the phone while riding public transit. Artemis sighed. She wanted to be home in California, with Wally. But it was her mom's birthday this weekend. She didn't get out a lot, and with dad out of the picture and Jade off doing who-knows-what, there wasn't anyone around to celebrate it with her. Artemis and her mother didn't always see eye to eye, but out of all her family members, her mom was the only one to support her, both in becoming a hero and in retiring from it to go to college. She didn't deserve to be alone for her birthday.

Artemis was pulled suddenly out of her thoughts as the bus driver slammed on the brakes and the bus lurched to a halt, sending its passengers stumbling and screaming. Artemis grabbed the old lady by the shoulders, keeping her from colliding face-first with the metal support pole. Her groceries flew to the floor, their contents rolling every which way.

"Just fantastic," Artemis muttered as she bent down to collect her now slightly-trampled produce.

"Is everyone okay?"

"What's going on?"

"Who the hell taught you how to drive!?"

"Everyone, remain calm!" bellowed the bus driver over the hubbub. "There's been some kind of accident up ahead, and things might take a little while from this point on." All at once everyone started talking, shouting questions, and loudly complaining. The bus driver stood up, towering over the passengers, "Everybody, either stay in your seats, or exit the vehicle now."

Clutching her ruined groceries, Artemis wrestled her way to the front of the bus. "I think I'll get out here, if it's all the same to you."

"Be my guest," said the driver, yanking on the door release lever.

Artemis clambered off the bus and into chaos. A few car-lengths ahead of her, the center of the intersection was blocked by a taxi that had been t-boned by another car, littering the road with shattered glass. No one seemed to have been seriously injured; the two drivers were standing in the intersection shouting and gesticulating wildly at the stoplight. The lights in all four directions were dim and gray. She could see downhill toward the east for four traffic lights and another three to her right toward the south. None of them were on. It had been in the middle of rush hour and in all four directions there was a crushing gridlock. All around her horns were blaring and people were leaning out of their windows shouting. Above her, the electronic billboards had fizzled out and in the towering buildings on either side not a single office or conference room was lit. The only lights illuminating Gotham's quickly-darkening streets were headlights from the bumper-to-bumper cars; all the streetlamps had blinked out too.

"Shit," said Artemis, and made her way toward the sidewalk. She fished out her phone, thinking to call her mom and tell her she'd be late, but when she hit the "call" button nothing happened. She switched over to texting, but all her messages failed to send. Frustrated, and with the beginnings of a headache from all the blaring car horns, Artemis pocketed her phone.

Where was the GCPD, or an ambulance? Straining her ears over the cacophony, she could hear sirens, but they didn't sound like they were coming in this direction. Something wasn't right. The GCPD should have arrived to direct traffic and clear the accident. Slowly, Artemis did a 360. All around her, people were frustratedly punching the buttons on their phones and holding them up and out of car windows as though searching for a signal. Next to her, a taxi driver was furiously jabbing the dials of the cab's radio, only to get static on every station. Looking down to the water in the east, Artemis could just see the top of the Elliot Bridge, which had recently been decorated with a public art piece called "River Lights," a display of over 25,000 LEDs that created brilliant designs along the bridge's western span.

It was dark.

A/N: So this is going to be a longer, multi-chapter fic. I've already written about ~1800 words and the first 5 or 6 chapters, so we'll see how it goes. Please leave a review if you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you for chapter 2! ;)

Also, in case anyone is confused, this is taking place in 2014, before season 2. I'm not following the canon exactly, because when I got the idea for this I wasn't aware of the video game and what it establishes about Artemis and Wally retiring, etc. I think everything else should explain itself!