After the 'Raven' incident, Nightwing had hoped to have more of a reprieve from Beast Boy. In a way, he did. The detached user of dark magic had enthralled the shape shifter like no other girl to date, and as much as he knew Raven tried not to care, he could tell she was developing her own little affection towards him. If she visited the cave (an event that's starting to round out to about twice a week) and couldn't find Beast Boy, her demeanor is just a little more cold. If Garfield is going off on one of his comic tangents, she'll even let out a small smile (not that she lets Garfield see, of course). She was only about a year or so older than him, and they were just on the cusp of becoming real friends.

M'gann had taken issue with this, though.

Which, personally, Nightwing wasn't getting involved with. Nooo sir. Dick Grayson knew all about how cat fights could result when two girls opposed viewpoints, and he wasn't going to chance playing with fire when he knew he was going to get burned. Artemis and M'gann had been shaky at first, but their similar circumstances had drawn them together, along with Artemis not actually being as grouchy as she first let on.

Raven was definitely as detached and cynical as she first appeared.

It didn't have any effect on Beast Boy (which was probably why the blue cloaked girl had developed a faster heart pace around him- according to the bemused Superboy), but M'gann was sure the negative atmosphere the girl perpetually portrayed would hurt her little brother. Raven was equally snide that faking a cheery reality wasn't much better.

Thank god Beast Boy's care for both of them held the two in check. Mostly.

It had been one such day that, finding everyone decently distracted, Nightwing felt it was time to pay one of his new friends a visit. With Gar pushing Raven and Tim into a round of Mario GoCart (don't ruin the friendship too soon, Gar), and the others focused on a recent mission, the elder hero slipped away, heading back to Jump City to speak with an individual of some concern.

He did a perimeter check on the warehouse they had agreed to meet at, then melted into the shadows to wait. Nightwing knew the tech genius that he was meeting up with would want privacy for this- and could understand. The teen had recovered for the most part from his accident, but the changes… he was having a hard time coming to terms with it. When the guy had first reached out to him, it had been through hacking Nightwing's mainframe. Personally, Dick would have been fine with a straightforward hello, but the guy got his point across in one way: he wanted to be a hero, and he at least had the starting abilities to do so.

Since then, Nightwing had done his best to meet at least every other week, sometimes more, to give the unique teen a better idea of what he was getting himself into.

"Nightwing?"

Speak of the devil.

Victor Stone came out from the far area, like Dick had predicted he would. The cyborg like man glanced around the room, probably using his thermal scanner to try and detect his presence (Which would be useless if he didn't point the scanner up. Ah, well. That was what training was for.). Before Nightwing could drop down to greet him, however, something seemed to grab his attention on the side. Victor narrowed his eyes, immediately bringing his cannon laser arm up to position. "Step out right now- what are you doing here?" His red eye stayed trained to the spot, seeing something that even Nightwing couldn't see from his position. "I mean business. Who are you- what are you doing here?" There was the muffled sound of furious whispering, but it was too indistinguishable. However, when Stone let off a warning shot at whatever was hiding, a distinct yelp sounded.

Nightwing knew that yelp.

The cybernetic individual readied another shot, expression hard. "Get out, now. What have you done with Nightwing?"

"They've done nothing Victor, nothing." Nightwing dropped down, hands raised in surrender when the cyborg turned towards him with the cannon automatically. "But when I get my hands on them, it'll be a different story." He turned to the shadows, now able to distinguish three telling (and so dead) shadows. "Beast Boy, Raven, Robin. Front and center."

There was a pregnant pause with some shuffling from the hidden individuals, but the second Nightwing's mask turned into a batglare, the three heroes quickly fell out of their hiding spot. Beast Boy wasn't getting any better at his poker face, at least when it came to the dark hero- he stood with a pale face, wide eyes, and beads of sweat running down the side of his face. Raven kept a bland expression, but her tense form gave her away. Only Robin managed to look nonchalant about being caught.

Dick was going to wipe the floor with them during the next training sessions for this. "Why, since I clearly recall you having no mission debriefings involving this area, are you here?" He glared down at each in turn, starting with Beast Boy. "You aren't supposed to leave the cave without permission from your sister because you're behind with school," he turned to Raven, "you are still on probation for being on the team, and have to get clearance in order to join on missions, and you," he turned finally to Robin, feeling just slightly betrayed, "YOU are supposed to be the responsible one- why are you all here?"

Victor, for his part, watched the proceedings in shock- not having expected the suspicious individuals who had found his hidden training ground to be so… short.

Beast Boy, predictably, was the first to speak up. If Nightwing wasn't mad he would have genuinely appreciated the kid's natural honesty. "I-It was my idea, Nig-sir. We, uh, I wanted to see if you had a mission…? And, you know, maybe you'd need back up…?"

Nightwing winced behind his mask, realizing he still hadn't taken the kid out on that mission he had promised after the last mishap. Crap. M'gann would take her brother's side over this now. Outwardly, he kept his tone clipped and not impressed. "I see. And since you thought I needed back up, you failed to appear before me with this idea within the amount of time being here because…?"

Raven took a small step forward, her face hardening slightly at Gar's crestfallen expression. Great, another over protective person. "And have you send us back before anything happened? Besides, we needed to assess the situation. Shouldn't you have noticed our presence?" Oh great, now she was developing an attitude against him.

"I'm betting you snuck in during perimeter check with Robin's help. That would have given you a chance to quietly slip in and establish your position while you waited to eavesdrop on what I was doing." He looked again to his pseudo little brother. "You should know better."

"I didn't let them get shot by Stone's cannon." He replied blandly.

Well, at least his little brother was looking after his teammates.

"Sorry for interrupting whatever this is, but what is going on?" Victor turned in confusion to him, finally putting down the cannon. "Are they with you?"

Nightwing pursed his lips, assessing the situation. He should send their sorry butts back to HQ with one intimidating Batman to meet up with at the end. But there really was no harm done, this time. He was angry, but acting out in anger (right then, anyway) wasn't going to do much good for these youngsters. "…yeah." He replied, a slight smile coming to his face when the three visibly relaxed. "These are members of the team I've talked with you about. They shouldn't be here," it was a little satisfying to see Gar and Raven cringe, "but I think its about time you started meeting your future teammates."

"Teammates- wait, you're joining our team?!" Beast Boy, naturally, threw aside his concerns in the name of his enthusiasm. "That is so cool! What are your powers? What's your hero name?"

The elder teen looked taken aback. "I… I don't have powers, not really." He looked down at himself. "I was in an accident. Now… I've lost a lot, but I think I can do something with what I've gained." He raised an eyebrow at Beast Boy. "No names, yet. I don't know if I'm quite ready for the field."

"Who made the augmentations?" Robin came forward, inspecting the cannon.

Victor held out the arm obligingly. "I did. Some specs came from my father and his partner, but I developed the enhancements, like the cannon and thermal scanner."

"So you're a cyborg?! Wow!"

"What else can you do?"

Nightwing slid to the side and let the protégés approach the newest hero. He had always been guarded with Nightwing, wanting to present a serious front. But with Tim being on the same intellectual level and Gar's open excitement, he could see the crack forming on the protective mask the young adult made himself wear, allowing his true self to shine. Maybe, despite the fact that he would still get revenge on them for this, it was okay that they snuck along.

Dick stiffened as the vaguely angry voice echoed through his comm. "Batman to Nightwing."

Oh.

Crap.

Taking a few steps away (though Robin noticed, clearly), he quietly answered. "Nightwing to Batman, I read you."

"Why does Robin's signal appear to be with you in Jump City." It always impressed Grayson how Batman never asked questions, he just demanded answers. "There are no missions pertaining to that area."

Secrets. Blowing up in his face. Why. "Training exercise."

"With Beast Boy and a trial protégé. Right."

He's just letting Grayson dig his own grave now. Really? After all they'd been through? "It was an unanticipated exercise. I have it under control."

"No way- you like pie?!"

"Dude- I love pie!"

"Raven, we have to make pie. Vic loves pie too! Robin- do you like pie?"

"Who is that."

It really wasn't his day.

Raven and Robin couldn't be reconciled to care that they just made Nightwing's life more miserable, and Beast Boy was just plain oblivious. At least the other two had the decency to keep their answers short ('we met up with a new potential hero' or 'training exercise', depending on which was asked), but Garfield couldn't be stopped. He was a force of nature, and the force was bent on misconstruing everything with such an oblivious air it was painful.

"Oh yeah- we managed to follow Nightwing without him noticing-"

Why.

"And because he didn't know we were there, we would have been fried toast if it wasn't for Robin-"

Why.

"But its okay! The guy who attacked us- I'm calling him Cyborg- he's joining the hero business! Nightwing was training him in secret for the team he is making with Raven and me and Robin-"

WHY?

Needless to say, Batman was one exasperated mentor. You could always tell his level of irritation by how much he was brooding within his cape. When he reported as requested to the Batcave for debriefing, the man was nothing but a hulking (sulking) black shadow. M'gann hadn't been much more welcoming. Though she seemed fine with Cyborg and his added addition to the group- he did almost fry her little brother. Furthermore, Gar went out with Raven and had not been given permission (never mind that Robin is one of the best chaperone's she could ask for). Somehow that fell on Nightwing, naturally.

The icing on the cake was when Nightwing's presence was requested during a private Justice League meeting. Superman, being the leader of the League, thought it wise to be the spokesperson- but the foreboding figure of Batman right next to him was fooling nobody.

It started off with Superman and his classic negotiator's tone. "While the intention was likely a good one in order to bring together a new symbol of justice within the younger generation of heroes, it is something that should first be brought to the attention of the League- especially when it involves protégés of the League members".

"I understand the League's concerns, and again want to stress that- despite the rampant rumors- I am not recruiting nor planning to recruit any members of the Team."

Superman opened his mouth to reply, but Batman cut through- as Dick predicted. "How do you explain the unlogged absences with select members of the team- and the fact that you did not bring two new potential heroes to the Leagues attention."

"I did request some assistance from Red Tornado to learn how to best aid Raven, and Cyborg was not yet sure what he wanted to do. He specifically requested I help him to train-"

"This was still a matter that should have been brought to the League."

The League should have known already, Bruce.

The batglare he received again made him suspicious that Bruce had been a telepath all along and was just being a huge troll about the whole thing.

Superman intervened, not wanting control of the situation so much as trying to avoid an angry nest of Bats. "I think that having Victor Stone's situation remain under the radar was not the best of moves, but he clearly has the right potential for this life. I'm sure Nightwing will learn from this situation and treat any further delicate scenarios with immediate consultation to the League."

Nightwing nodded once, still cautiously eyeing his old mentor.

Batman leveled another batglare at him, assessing. "Perhaps you would like consultation now. Do you have anything to present to the League." Dick shook his head, now himself exasperated. Batman's line of tension softened infinitesimally. "No more secrets?"

He mockingly raised his hand in a scout salute. "No more secrets, really."

…

…

Okay, Starfire might have been something he should have mentioned before intergalactic forces showed up a month later.

Nightwing is always going to be one of my favorite characters, and I love writing him like this.

Mailbox time!

Wendy: I'm glad you like my work so far, and continued to enjoy it with this new chapter. :D Thanks for being my first reviewer to boot for this fic!