A/N: Hey people! I know I have TONS of stories to continue writing, but I just had to start this one. I've been having this idea for quite a long time, and I decided to put it out :)
I'll explain about the new OC at the end of this chapter :) HOPE YOU LIKE IT AND PLEASE REVIEW!
"Hey." I looked up. A man slid into the seat next to me. "Hi." I responded, twirling the drink in my hand. The sparkly gold liquid swirled around. "You came alone?" He asked. "I – I'm here with a friend. She brought me along."
"Why are you not with her?"
"Parties aren't really my scene." I said, turning to look at him. He was gazing at me with clear and sparkling eyes, almost like my drink, except for they were a bright blue. His dark ebony hair grew slightly past his ears, and his features were well defined. He was rather good looking. "I'm only here because my friend dragged me. I'm new to Gotham so she thought she should show me around and all." He nodded. I heard a few loud squeals and looked over my shoulder.
A man was standing in the middle of a group of women who seemed to be preying on him like vultures. His lips moved as he uttered words that caused the women to erupt into high-pitched giggles once more. I turned back.
"Is that 'Richie Grayson'?" I asked the man.
"What? No no, that's Bruce Wayne." He laughed a little.
"Oh, that guy."
"That guy?" He asked.
"Yeah, the prince of Gotham and all. Heard about him." I said and he nodded once more. After taking a sip of his drink, he spoke again. "Why are you looking for Richard Grayson?"
"Every teenage girl I meet at this party's only talking about him." I offered, and he chuckled. "Really?" "Yup." I nodded, sipping my drink. "Probably a rich, spoiled and selfish brat, you know that type?" I said, looking at him. He paused mid-sip. I raised my eyebrow. He quickly downed the drink.
"Yeah. Gotham's full of that type." For some reason, he looked amused.
"They say he turns up to each party with a different girl in his arms." I continued. "So his name's not actually 'Richie'?"
"Nah, it's Richard. But his friends call him Dick." He said.
A thought came into my mind and I almost choked on the drink. "Oh my God you're not his friend, right?"
"Oh no I'm not a friend or anything." He answered. I sighed in relief. "Okay great, because that would've been really embarrassing." The both of us chuckled as the bartender refilled our glasses.
I said a quick 'Thank you' to the bartender. I tipped my glass towards her. She got the gesture and tipped hers towards mine. As the glasses clinked, we pulled away. She swirled the drink in her hand. My eyes fell on her rich golden blonde hair, which cascaded in beautiful waves and accentuated her crystal-like brown eyes. Her long lashes curled upwards as she blinked. Her features were simple, but they were so far from plain.
She turned to me, but her eyes fell over my shoulder. I was about to turn around and look when someone placed a hand on my shoulder. "I see you're making friends." Bruce smiled his billionaire playboy signature grin at my companion. She stood up and offered her hand. Bruce took it and they shook. "It's good to meet you, Mr Wayne."
"Oh no, pleasure's all mine!" He said to her, and turned back to me. "Now Dick, there is someone I want you to mee—"
"What?" The girls' eyes widened. She put everything together. Her pink lips opened and closed several times before she managed to string a sentence together.
"You…you're Richie Grayson?" Her voice lost its clarity; she sounded soft, almost breathless. I smiled at her, standing up too. "Yes. That would be me."
"Shut up. Shut. Up." She shook her head vigorously. Blood flooded her cheeks. "I – I – Oh my God, I totally didn't mean anything – I'm so so sorry! I –"
"It's alright; I am a rich spoiled selfish brat." I smiled.
Her eyes only widened further and I felt bad for having played with her like that. "No no, I'm absolutely sure you aren't! I'm new to Gotham; I have no rights to say such things –!"
"Don't worry. It's okay." I reassured her but she shook her head once more. "I never should've ever – not my place to say such horrible, horrible things – I'm sincerely sorry –!" I held her hands.
"It's alright." I smiled once more, and she slowly nodded. I grinned and her, and she smiled back, cheeks still flushed. "I got to go." I said, letting go of her hands. "Hope to see you soon, Miss…?"
"Caraway. Estelle Caraway." She said, her brown eyes soft. I nodded and Bruce and I left.
"Rich, spoiled, selfish brat?" Bruce asked.
"She didn't know I was Richard Grayson." I explained. Bruce smirked. "Well she's a good judge of character." I punched his arm. Bruce laughed.
"Doesn't look like a familiar face."
"Isn't. She said she's new to Gotham."
Bruce nodded. I waited for a bunch of people to walk past us, and then spoke. "When this bloody party going to end?" I whined. "We might get late for patrol!"
"We won't, Dick. I promised Damian." At the sound of my little brother's name, I lightened up. "Kid's first patrol. Bet he's squirming back at home with nothing to do." "As long as he's not back-flipping from chandeliers like you did –"
"I was excited–"
"Overexcited." Bruce corrected. I rolled my eyes.
"What was that about?"
"Kylie, leave me alone." I moaned from my seat at the bar counter. My best friend fell into the seat that was previously occupied by Richard Grayson, giggling. "First night in Gotham and you're already chatting it up with the Gotham's golden boy!" She nudged me.
Kylie was the police commissioner's daughter. Which of course, got her invited to about almost every large scale party that was being held. We used to live in the same neighbourhood in New York, before her family moved to Gotham. We never lost contact, and so when I wanted to go to the Gotham City University to pursue a degree in law, it was rather obvious who I'd be staying with. And as with all best friends, sometimes she could be a huge pain in the ass. Like now.
I looked up at her and glared. "What? Did he say something…?" Kylie's dark eyes became serious. I recounted what had happened as I subconsciously tucked back a loose black strand of hair that fell in front of her eyes.
Her mouth was in a huge 'O'. "Are you serious?" I nodded reluctantly. Kylie threw her head back, laughing. "Shut up!" I moaned. "Seriously! You didn't recognize him from all the posters in my room?"
"You have posters of him?! Eww…" I grimaced. Kylie on the other hand, seemed very proud. "I stalked him and took the photos! Myself! Then I blew it up and stuck it on my wall! If only he's ever see it." She added wistfully. I rolled my eyes. "Kylie can we please leave?"
"Oh come on, Stel! Ten more minutes!"
"That's what you said before I came to get a drink! And I'm pretty sure it probably has been half an hour since then!" I exclaimed, grabbing my clutch.
"Please please please?" Kylie pouted. I sighed. I didn't want to ruin the night for her, but I was really tired. And embarrassed.
"You stay. I'll go." I told her. "Stel –" "No I'm feeling really jetlagged. I need to sleep, Kyles." I said. "Fine. You know the address, right?" I nodded, and we bid goodbyes.
I went outside the hall and caught a cab. Within minutes, I reached the apartment I shared with Kylie.
I entered the apartment. Dumping my clutch in my room, I took a quick shower and changed into a thin nightgown. I was about to sleep in my bed, but I noticed the window to the fire escape. There was a deck on the side of the window in my room, and it was adorned with two large cushions. I sat on the deck with my back pressed against the wall, and stretched my legs out. I gazed out the window. The metal flooring and staircase blocked a bit of the view, but other than that, Gotham at night looked beautiful. The lights from the buildings looked like they reflected stars shining in the dark sky above.
My aunt, the only family I had left after a car accident took my mother and sister's lives, and a shootout claimed my father's, wasn't too happy with my decision to move to Gotham. She knew of how dirty and rotten it was. But that was exactly the reason I chose to come here. Where better to become a district attorney than in Gotham, where there were murder cases nearly every day? Gotham was in desperate need of lawyers, police officers, and people who stood for justice and didn't tolerate crime. And I was going to be one of them.
My phone buzzed. I came to myself, and took it from my clutch. As I sat back down on the deck, I read the text message.
Hey Estelle! Just wanted to remind you that you need to be in the Gotham Subordinate Court tomorrow at 3. We'll sit through a live court session and analyze it afterwards. Remember to bring whatever materials you need; they don't allow phones inside so bring a recorder if you need to. In case you want to do a reading beforehand, the name of the accused is Carmine Falcone. He's being charged under organized crime, as the head of the Maroni crime family. Sleep well!
- Jean Crowley
Jean Crowley. She was the lawyer that I was being paired with as part of my internship at Gotham City District Attorney's office. I replied to her message and then put my phone down. I was about to get into my bed when I saw something move in my peripheral vision. I flipped back to the deck and looked out the window. Something big and black swung past, followed very closely by a blur of red, green and yellow, another red and black thing and then something black and blue.
Was I going crazy? I knew for sure I wasn't imagining things. What was that? It looked like…Spiderman. Except there were four, and they didn't look to be in his colors.
Making a mental note to talk to Kylie about that, I double-checked that the window was locked (Kylie made me swear I'd check it every night before I went to sleep) and drew the curtains. My legs were exhausted, and I just barely managed to make my way to my new bed and climb in. Setting the alarm, I briefly thought about the events of the day, especially the 'Richie Grayson' fiasco.
"Argh…stupid me!" I growled to myself. Well, at least he was nice enough to not get offended. But still, he could've told me.
Sighing to myself, I turned over and shut my eyes. Tomorrow will be a better day.
A/N: Here are some important things to note so that it'll be better/easier to understand this story:
-Kylie is NOT Barbara Gordon, but she is the commish's daughter.
-In this timeline, Dick became Nightwing just because he grew up, kinda like in Earth-16. He and Bruce didn't argue and separate or anything.
-Barbara doesn't exist in this timeline.
-Damian is just starting out to be Robin.
-Dick didn't drop out of Uni in this timeline.
-Nightwing's costume is still the blue one with fingerstripes (YAY! I was so angry and upset they took it out in the continuity!)
-Cassandra Cain, Jason Todd and Stephanie Brown do exist in this timeline.
-Bruce didn't 'die' in this timeline. The events of Batman and Son did take place though. Dick didn't train Damian, but they are quite close because he's (Dick's) pretty nice to him and all.
That's pretty much it, if I find anything else I need to add as a sidenote I'll leave it in the Author Notes either before or after the chapter. PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEWS FEED MY SOUL :D