A/N: Firstly, I want to state that I do not own the following characters (DC has that wonderful privilege) and will not be making any type of profit off this story. Also, I do not know if this idea has been done before, but it has plagued my mind for some time, so it happened, I finally wrote down my thoughts!

Summary: Since he started his vigilante career, Dick Grayson had never used guns. However, when he joined the Bludhaven Police force there was now one holstered to his hip at work everyday. What happens when he finds himself in a situation that requires him to make a decision regarding the use of that gun?

CHAPTER 1: Decisions

The police car was a boring place for Dick Grayson to be. Being born an acrobat, he was supposed to be moving, always moving. However, while in the confines of the car, he was forced to stay for the most part, still. The only movement came from his constant fidgeting and finger tapping.

Besides the occasionally passing car, everything remained relatively quiet. The city itself was never truly quiet, but the constant buzz of life was something Dick loved. He had spent several nights in the vastness of space, and without the constant buzz of noise, he learned the quietness dug into him. Dick Grayson was just not a quiet man; if he wasn't talking, it was usually a cause for alarm for those closest to him.

He attempted to keep himself entertained until his shift ended, but after looking at the clock, he realized the next two hours would roll by like molasses. Molasses, mmm, breakfast. Breakfast for dinner? Cereal it is! He began pondering what cereal he would have for dinner before his other "patrol" when his thoughts were interrupted by quiet static. Somewhat awakened from his lazy stupor, he turned up the police radio.

"All Bludhaven on and off duty police officers within 10 miles of 1st street downtown, report to First National Bank, hostage situation in progress, shots being fired."

"Finally, something to do besides sit here," Dick said with a grin. As much as he hated knowing people were in danger, helping them was sort of his forte. Starting the engine, he headed toward downtown. It didn't matter if he was uptown, way more than 10 miles away, Officer Grayson was en route.

Due to his far away patrol location he arrived later than the other officers. He left his car and moved toward the barricade the Bludhaven Police had created between the bank and the innocent bystanders. Their curiosity will be the death of them. As he passed them, Dick asked the bystanders to evacuate further to safety, but he knew it was in vain and continued walking. He found Amy Rohrbach, the Bludhaven Police Department Captain, talking on a police radio as he approached her.

"Grayson, what are you doing here? If I remember correctly, your patrol was in uptown today."

"I couldn't stay away from the chance to help people," Dick replied with a lopsided grin, "how's the situation?"

"Not looking well. The robber attempted to rob the bank, but an off duty officer happened to be inside at the time. He tried to stop the robber, but instead was over taken. And, like the others inside, the officer was taken hostage..."

Dick remained silent as Amy talked. He had stopped robberies in the wee hours of the night at this bank before. For the most part, he remembered the layout, and some not so obvious entrances. However, those entrances were too high for Dick Grayson to get to. He thought about leaving and coming back as his other persona, but he calculated the situation and knew it would be best if he didn't. Coming out in his Nightwing gear during the day was always risky. People could get a better view of him than at night. And since he was surrounded by people who saw him on a daily basis, he figured letting them see someone who resembled a "missing from the scene at the time" Dick Grayson was not the best idea.

"We're trying to come up with a…." Amy's report was interrupted when the sound of heavy gunfire reached the pair.

"That guy has more firepower than the average bank robber. Its making this rescue attempt extremely difficult," Amy half growled. Her brow furrowed and she moved a piece of hair that had fallen in her face to behind her ear. "We need to get officers inside to force pressure on him. He is alone and we should be taking a vantage of that. However, he is out for blood and is not afraid of shooting someone. This means, he must be taken down, by whatever means necessary."

The radio crackled to life, "Rohrbach."

"Roger, Rohrbach here."

"The robber is focused on the north side of the building due to my squad. We have wounded people inside. If you can, while he is distracted, move in officers from your position on the south side."

"Ok, thanks," she placed the radio back down, "Ok, you heard the man. We're going to take this opportunity and move in as many officers as we can without being overly crowded."

Seven was the magic number. Seven offices would make the risky job of getting into the bank. In the seven, was Dick.

They moved fluid as a group. They dodged in and out of the parked police cars until they reached the package delivery entrance door behind the bank. With practiced precision, one officer opened the door from the side, while another peeked into the building. When he gave the signal, Dick moved into the building with arms locked straight down at an angle, gun in hand. He used his trained stealth to sneak toward the main lobby.

They were walking down a small narrow hallway. Dick could tell this hallway would be used for package delivery, because they ran into no offices or rooms. He could hear the other officers behind him, and put his hand up to motion them to stop.

They had reached a rather large oak desk, which Dick presumed would be where a secretary sat to check in any delivers. The desk probably came up to Dick's waist, but while in his crouched position, it completely hid him from someone on the other side. While slightly looking over the desk, he could see the main lobby.

The room was a mess. Desks and tables were turned over, papers were scattered around, and a group of people sat on the ground in the center of the room. Each person's hands and feet were bound with plastic ties while their mouths were taped with duct tape. He acknowledged that each person was moving to some extent. Dick continued to look around the room after surveying the hostages. All the way to one side of the room, a makeshift fort had been created using desk and tables.

Out of a hole in the fort, a barrel of a gun showed. It was pointed toward the north side as the officer on the radio had mentioned earlier. "There is an office behind him. If we can get into it, we could easily get him," one rookie officer in the group stated.

"No way. That's practically a suicide mission. There is no way we could get around him without him noticing."

The others continued to softly argue while Dick ignored them. This situation was stressful. He didn't enjoy the group of six being sent in with him. The more people, the more work he had to do to make sure they all got out safely. Behind him, he would learn later, an officer said something that offended another. The offended responded by lightly shoving the other away from him. But this simple act, caused the first to lose his balance, knocking him into the desk they were using to hide themselves. Dick watched in slow motion as a picture frame with a happy smiling family inside, fell to the ground. The shattered glass hit Dick's ears like a bomb. For a moment, he stared at the smiling family. They mocked his current situation, because this was no smiling matter.

A bullet flew past them. Their cover was blown. The others moved quickly to find cover that wasn't the oak desk, and Dick followed suit. He ran along the wall closest to him and eventually hurdled through the opening in the front lobby main desk. He landed behind the counter and moved back to hug the wall. A sound next to him made him jump; he hadn't expected someone else to be back here. Next to him was a wounded man. Dick recognized him as Officer Mendez's, another Bludhaven police officer. However, he wasn't in uniform. He deduced that Mendez must have been the off duty officer from Amy's report.

"Grayson?"

"Yeah, sorry to just drop in like this, so unexpectedly."

"This isn't exactly the time for puns, Grayson."

"I know. Its just an old habit I can't seem to kick," Dick replied somewhat taken aback. He had never spoken to Mendez before today, but he guessed he should be more professional, definitely considering their current state. As he thought this, he noticed Mendez's grimacing as he moved, "Are you hurt?"

Mendez's paused as he sat up. He lifted his head and closed his eyes while taking a deep breath. "He shot me when I told him I was a cop. I guess he thought I was down for the count, or the sirens spooked him, because he forgot about me and built his sick play house against the far wall. I crawled over and behind the counter while he did that, but I haven't been able to get back up. It took everything out of me. "

"Well, don't worry. We're going to get you out of here."

The wounded man gave him a blank expression, "After that little well planned rescue that just occurred? I won't hold my breath."

Dick sighed. The man deserved to be a little cranky, don't take it personally, Grayson.

A loud noise came from the lobby accompanied by the sound of glass shattering. Dick looked over the counter to see a small fire starting on the opposite side of the room from the robber's fort.

"Was that a low-grade grenade?! He has grenades?!" Mendez shouted over the gunfire coming from the criminal's gun. More glass on some of the windows shattered.

"He is trying to shot the officers outside now," Dick informed the other man.

"Why? What good will that do him? I don't think he cares anymore about getting away. I think he is just trying to hurt as many people as possible now."

Dick knew Mendez was probably right. There was no logical reason to shoot outside. It would just entice the police even more. But it wasn't just the police he was trying to hit. A hostage cried out as a bullet hit him in the arm. Unfortunately, with his hands tied behind his back, there was no way he could compress the wound. The man was going to lose blood fast and would be dead within the hour if he didn't receive medical attention.

Dick looked above the counter to try and spot his fellow officers who had come in with him. He could see two of them from his current position, and they were engaging the target with their guns. However, neither was hitting their intended mark.

When he heard wood split, he turned his head quick to the side to see the criminal's fort hit. The barrel of the gun moved back from between the cracks. The robber moved the gun to above the pile of tables and desk. From there, he took aim toward the aggressors inside the bank.

The robber was, while briefly, exposing himself now to take a shot at the officers. The man was wearing a generic black ski mask. Typical, Dick thought.

"Grayson, can you see him?"

Dick had almost forgotten about Mendez, "Yeah, he is now exposing himself to shot the other officers who came in with me."

"Well, what are you waiting for? You have your gun right? Take a shot."

Dick froze. Take a shot. With…with his gun? He stared down at his hip where his gun lay holstered. He knew as an officer he would have to carry a gun, but he never thought he would actually have to use it, especially not lethally. He only used it to be intimidating or to not draw attention to himself. It would look kind of weird if an officer of the law was afraid of using a gun. Even when he had entered the building, he had it drawn, but he had never planned on actually using it. Besides, there was no way he could shot the robber without shooting him in the head. He couldn't kill a man. Could he?

"I…I," Dick stuttered, barely audible.

"What Grayson?" Mendez asked giving him a questioning look.

Take the shot? What would Bruce think if he just took the shot?

"Grayson, do you have him in sight?!" Mendez was practically yelling, but to Dick it was a dull roar in his ears. "Grayson!" Mendez yelled louder.

Dick had taken plenty of "shots" in his life, but with batarangs, birdarangs, winddings, escrima sticks, and even swords. However, he had never taken the shot with a gun. He could see the hooded head pop up now and then. He could easily make the shot; his reflexes were too acute and his aim to precise to not be able to. But the simple task had him close to a panic.

Robin had taken an oath a long time ago to never use a gun and therefore Nightwing did the same. But this wasn't Nightwing using the gun. This was Dick Grayson, Officer Grayson. Who had taken an oath to protect the people and officers of this city by whatever means the situation called for, and that meant taking a shot if needed.

"Grayson! If you can take the shot, do it before anyone else gets hurt!"

The words rang in his ears. He looked over at Mendez leaning on the counter wall. His shoulder was bleeding heavily still and he needed medical attention, but that wouldn't be possible until the robber was taken down. Before anyone else gets hurt. If only it was that simple. If it was that simple, why had he never gotten rid of the Joker, Two-Face, Blockbuster, or any of the criminals in Gotham or Bludhaven? They would all inevitable hurt more people, but they still had not been stopped. If it was so simple to stop them before more people were hurt, why hadn't he?

There was a line he had been taught to never cross or even come close to. Right now he more than flirting with the line, he was seducing it; and while he thought he was in control, the line was. It came closer and faster to him the longer he sat there. He wished he was in his Nightwing costume. Dick could hide behind the mask, say a pun, bust in and stop the robber with a few flips and kicks. Without the mask though, he was simply Officer Grayson, confused and frozen Officer Grayson.

He thought of all possible escapes from the situation. Dick had rubber bullets but they were back in his police car. And there was just no way to move from behind the front desk counter without being spotted. For the second time that day, Dick found himself still. His body wanted to fight the stillness, but he was trapped.

Dick continued to debate with himself. What was the difference between him shooting the perk or one of his fellow officers? He was just as at fault for the robber's death if he just let someone else shoot him while he could've stopped it. However, he had no way of stopping the criminal without the use of his gun.

A scream caused Dick to startle. When he looked toward the source of the noise, he saw a senior officer from his original group of seven go down, clutching his shoulder just like Mendez. Several officers moved in to help, but the man was unconscious before they even reached him. Dick knew what he had to do.

He picked up the gun. The metal was cold against his sweaty palms. He looked up above the counter to see if the robber was looking toward him. Seeing that the coast was clear, he stretched his arms over the counter and aimed for where he predicted the hooded head would appear. When it did, he hesitated for a brief moment, so brief no one would even think he had thought twice. Dick pulled the trigger and the regret hit him quicker than the recoil.