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Posted by Nightwing
on 6/10/2009, 12:59 am, in reply to "What Goes Around... (Part 6: Continued)"
98.242.74.70
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Then…
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Gordon runs his large hands through his hair and lets out a heavy sigh. He looks up at his old partner and reveals the war torn man beneath the hard exterior, “I can give you 48 hours, but that’s it. I need to know where you stand as soon as possible. This thing is getting out of hand fast and I need a man I can trust to help take these punks down.”
Curtis Phillips returns with his own heavy sigh, “I realize the position you’re in Jimmy, but I just don’t know if I’m your man. Maybe after a good night’s rest I will be more clear on how I feel about all this. I appreciate your patience with me.”
Gordon stands and extends his hand, “It’s the least I can do for an old friend. Just make sure you have some good news for me the next time we meet, alright?”
Phillips grins for the second time since he arrived in Gotham, “I’ll do my best.”
As Curtis turns to leave Gordon’s office, he feels the strong hands of his friend on his shoulder, “Wait. Did you by any chance bring your gun with you?”
“That old thing? Nah. I haven’t touched a gun in ages.”
Gordon opens his desk drawer and pulls out a 9 millimeter, “Take this. I don’t want to find out that my last hope was killed prematurely by some random thug trying to make a quick dollar.”
“Ah Jim…I dunno.”
Shaking his head, Gordon places the gun in Phillip’s hand, “Just take it, please.”
Curtis nods and takes the gun into his hand with a firm grip, “Sure thing Jim.”
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Now…
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“Everyone freeze!”
Curtis stares at the two shady characters in the back of the alley, sweat running down his face, as he feels the rush of adrenaline course through his veins. He looks down at the slowly moving body in the alleyway and his mind races as to what could happened to the poor soul who took a wrong turn.
Tightening his grip on the gun that Gordon had given him, Phillips takes aim at the two men and tries his best to sound unshaken, “Don’t move a muscle punks!”
‘Lazy Eye’ Larry, as his associates call him, nervously steps forward with his hands up in the air, “Sorry man, we were just leaving.”
Phillips pulls back the safety on the gun and prepares for the worst. The taller man with bright orange hair smirks and shakes his finger at the older man, “You don’t want to do that mate.”
“Shut your yap kid! What the hell is going on here?”
“Simple. Me and my friend here were just showing this guy the newest stuff on the street. He said he wanted to try some of it, and apparently he couldn’t handle the awesome trip it gives you,” Captain Boomerang steps closer to Phillips and extends his palm. “Want to try some old man?”
As Curtis looks at the syringe in the young man’s hand, he doesn’t notice that Boomerang has placed his hand in his jacket pocket. Before Phillips can tell the boy where he can shove the needle, a flash of light flies across the alley and the older man feels a sting of pain in his hand. His hands instinctly pull the trigger before letting the grip on the gun go. The round fires off into the alley and misses everyone. Gordon’s gun falls to the ground near the helpless Nightwing as Curtis lets out a loud scream of pain.
Taking their cue, Boomerang and Larry both run down the other end of the alley and make their escape. Phillips is enraged at his own stupidity and stands half bent over shaking his head. He can’t help but laugh at how amateur his actions were. More importantly, he thanks God that no one ended up seriously hurt.
As the pain subsides, Phillips slowly makes his way over to the slowly moving body on the ground. He leans in close and checks on Nightwing, who tries his hardest to focus on the face before him, “You ok son?”
Nightwing rolls onto his stomach and barely manages to sit on his hands and knees. Curtis takes the cue and grabs the hero’s arm to help him to his feet. As the two make it halfway back to a standing position, Nightwing falls back to his knees. Phillips recalls his training and wraps the drugged hero’s arm around his own shoulders. Lifting with his legs, Curtis manages to pull Nightwing to a standing position, “You shouldn’t wonder through dark allies at night kid. Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to take candy from a stranger?”
The hero looks sad, but dazed, “My parents…parents are d…dead…”
Curtis frowns and looks at the younger man, “Sorry to hear that…”
To his surprise, Phillips notices a dark black mask attached to the man’s face. He doesn’t know a lot about Gotham City, but even he knows who Batman is. Nightwing notices the scared look on his savior’s face, and tries his best to distract them, “You’re one to talk…wondering…into allies…helping perfect strangers…”
Phillips doesn’t sway easily, and decides to feed his curiosity, “You’re one of those bat people aren’t you?”
“Yeah…slipped…they slipped…me something…can’t…think clearly…”
The younger man manages to halfway smile.
“You better hope it wasn’t what Gordon was talking about. That stuff sounds rough.
The older gentleman pulls Nightwing over to the steps that lead into the Knightmare Klub and sets him down directly under the porch light. Running his hand over his neck, the hero nods at his savior, “Thanks…”
Curtis puts his hands up and shakes his head, “No problem. How do you feel?”
“I’m getting better…vision isn’t as blurred as before. Gordon. You said something about Gordon? Would that be the police commissioner?”
Phillips laughs under his breath and recalls the gun lying on the floor nearby, “Heh, one and the same.”
Nightwing’s face changes momentarily as he looks more closely at his savior. Beneath his breath, he mumbles something that almost escapes Phillip’s ears, “Mr. P…?”
Suddenly, it hits him like a ton of bricks, and Curtis doesn’t know what to think or say. He slowly walks closer and analyzes the definition of the boy’s face, “Wait…what did you just call me?”
“I said…maybe I should pee. Help empty the drug out of my system faster.”
Curtis doesn’t buy it for a moment. He looks at the kid from the side and that’s when it dawns on him, “YOU!?”
Nightwing frowns, “Crap…”
“I knew you looked kind of familiar! My God! It all makes so much sense now. Back in Vegas, that was all you!” Phillips recalls his time in Vegas as a lowly hotel manager. A boy came to stay at the hotel and gradually got more reclusive. Growing concerned for the boy’s well being, Phillips began to try and father the boy. Things went from bad to worse when a large man showed up at the hotel looking for the kid. That’s when Curtis knew that there was more to the young man calling himself Terry McGinnis. Phillips would later find out that that was only a cover for the boy and that he had connections with the hero from Gotham, Robin. That would be the last time he saw Terry. That is, until now.
“You’re one of his men…kid, you’re a superhero working with Batman?”
Seconds pass. Minutes go by, without either of them saying anything. Finally Nightwing nods his head, “Yeah. Something like that.”
Phillips is suddenly beside himself as he rewinds everything in his mind. Nightwing gets onto his feet, wobbling as he stands, but finding a measure of balance. He slides along the alley wall as if to pace, before turning back to his savior, “Look, I’m thankful for what you did tonight, but you can’t just run around this city doing stuff like that. You could get yourself hurt, or someone else. I have to get back to headquarters.”
“Are you in any shape to be running back to your home? I mean, they dosed you up pretty good.”
Nightwing shakes his head, “I’ll live. At least, for now.”
Another few minutes go by without either of them speaking. It’s Nightwing who breaks the silence once more, “I’m sorry about what happened in Vegas. I shouldn’t have brought that on you. I don’t know what your connection is with Gordon, but I’d really appreciate if you could keep all this stuff to yourself.”
Laughing aloud for the first time in days, Curtis shakes his head and looks the hero directly in the eyes, “Kid, you ain’t got to worry about me telling anyone about you. Who’d believe me?”
Nightwing returns the smile, feeling the burden lifted from his shoulders, “What are you doing here anyway?”
“Gordon. He called me here to ask me to join his force and command some special team to fight this drug outburst.”
Walking back to where Phillips stands, Nightwing tries to better understand what he’s being told, “Gordon asked you to become a cop?”
Phillips belts out another laugh and shakes his head, “Kid, there is a lot about you don’t know. That gig in Vegas was my retirement plan. There is a whole other life I had before I met you. Gordon seems to think I can reclaim it, but I tried to tell him I’m not in any shape for what he has planned.”
Nightwing places his hand on Curtis’ shoulder, “Take the job.”
The masked hero makes his way across the alley and into the shadows before Curtis responds, “Now what makes you say something like that?”
“I may not know the guy you used to. The one that Gordon wants back, but I know the guy who helped me out in Vegas. I know the guy who just saved my life tonight, and I’m convinced there is no other man for the job. Gordon made the right call. Whether or not that means you have to become the old you to do the job, is up to you.”
Curtis reflects on the comments made to him, and lets his mind wonder as his gaze falls to the ground. A minute or so later, he looks back up to where Nightwing had been standing. To his surprise and misfortune, the masked hero was already gone. Once more he giggles to himself, “Kid, you’re really something else…”
***TBC***
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