2013.03.17 - Other Dangerous Women

-THUD-

The black boots hit the pavement from a half a story up and Nightwing is already a blur in motion. 2 flashbangs blind the two thugs who happened to be looking in that direction. They stagger and slip on the icy pavement that is in that freeze-thaw mode every night now as the temperature hovers around 32.

In a quick slide move, Nightwing moves up to an uppercut of the next thug, while sweeping the leg of the next. Both slump to the ground with cries of agony. Four down, 6 to go. From behind, however, one of the thugs readies a billy club, looking to hit the former Boy Wonder in the back of the head.

-TWANG-

And a familiar-sounding action of an ultra-taut bowstring recoiling as an arrow is fired with unerring accuracy, landing with a -thwack- through the fingers of the club-wielding thug. As the thug stares at just how close his fingers had come to being impaled by the arrow, another arrow follows, this one a taser arrow that sends the thug into convulsions.

"Yo, pixie boots," Roy Harper greets, clad in his Arsenal outfit, flashing a devil-may-care grin at Nightwing over his shades as he draws another arrow. "You had him covered, all the way, you knew I was here, yadda yadda, good to see you too. You're still slipping, Wingster. Only -four- done by now?"

"Getting' lazy in my old age, Speedy. How goes?" Nightwing is up like a flash, delivering an uppercut, but with his boot in a vicious kick that would make Shawn Michaels eyes well with tears. The boot hits the thug's chin with a pop, as it breaks it. Four left for the two old friends. Nightwing straightens and looks to evade the next attack. He leaps up and walks nearly sideways against the wall to dodge the knife that was coming his way. When the thug turns to regard the slippery hero, he catches a wing-ding to the face.

Make that three left.

Make that none left, as Arsenal settles matters with a net arrow, one that sprawls across the remaining thugs. A tug, a yank, and the thugs were nestled up pretty as a picture in a squirming pile of humanity. "Gimme a break about old age- at least you're still a swinging single. Unless something happened lately with... uh... who's it this week, the redhead, the other redhead, or the brunette?"

Pulling up the string attached to the net and yanking himself down to join Nightwing on the ground, Arsenal flashes a smile as he ties the rope off. "Stopped by to see how you were doing, noticed you were still up to old tricks. Had to watch a little. Little sweet chin music here, I like it. Moonlighting again?"

Nightwing chuckles and his grin widens as Roy asks the questions about his love life, "A whole lot of nothing going on there, I'm afraid to say. But the night is young, of course." Nightwing can't help but laugh out loud as he brings out the wrestling reference. "You know, the boss was always big on recommending we study the fighting techniques of those we respected. I'm not sure that's what he meant, but I just sort of rolled with it." He nods, "Yeah, feels good to be out here. Beats the day job." The day job, of course, is as a police officer with the Gotham City PD. Speaking of the boys in blue, their sirens are getting closer and closer. Nightwing gives an upwards nod, the universal sign for 'let's do this on the roof' and fires his grapnel gun.

"Oh man, tell me about it. Saturday mornings were the -best-. Cartoons and then wrestling," Arsenal comments, even as he squats down to peer over the thugs being surrounded by the fuzz. "Lian? She's being a sweetheart - driving her teachers crazy with all the questions, tryin' to show who's boss. Hard to believe that was my cute little shy girl - where'd she get -that- attitude now? I blame the Mouse."

Glancing up, Roy grins at Dick. "Apartment in one of the 'burbs of New York. I get to schlep back and forth between the place and SHIELD. Although there are the missions... speaking of which, the big bad Bat still keepin' an eye on these guys?"

"She's got a lot of her dad in her it sounds. Aside from the cute part. I'm not sure where that came from," Nightwing jokes with a wide grin. "I'm sure that within a year or so, she'll be having principals bowing at her feet."

Nightwing nods, "SHIELD, huh? I'd heard rumors you'd gone corporate. How you like it over there?" The sound that follows is almost a snort, "He's around. I'd like to tell you he's relaxed a bit, but that's not his style. You know that."

"Yeah. So long as you don't get all dark and grim." Bringing his fingers to the sides of his head, mimicking two bat-ears, Roy does a low growl. "I AM THE NIGHT. CRIMINALS ARE SCARED. WOOOOOOO."

Pause. "Yeah, so he still unnerves the hell out of me, Wingster," Roy goes on, straightening up quickly and checking over his shoulder as if to see if the Bat was -watching-. "And hell, Wingster, not you too. I already socked the old man for tryin' to make out like I sold out to the Man. The United Nations ain't -government-, no matter what kind of nuts think they are. Although I'll tell you, that Nick Fury? He'd give the Bats a run for his money. I'd pay for front row seats to -that-."

Nightwing laughs, "I was gonna say-I recommend doing that only when he's not around. And who knows, he could be around. He's always sort of around." Nightwing happens to know that Batman is in another part of town tonight, but all the same it's good fun.

"I'm just givin' you grief man. It's good that you went official. Part of me would like to do that, but that's not really Gotham-style, if you catch my drift. What other heroes are you working with on that gig?"

"Hell, man, give me a heads up if he's about. Last thing I need is to have him take a year off my life with that -surprise surprise- appearance of his," Roy says, straightening up and turning back towards Dick, flashing a crooked half-grin as he motions about. "How -do- you Bat-types pull that off anyway? Some sort of Jedi mind-trick? I can see it now... 'Lord Vader has arrived!'" Roy motions towards the shadows, waiting expectantly.

And expectantly.

"... He's not around here, is he, Wingster?" Slumping his shoulders, Roy looks somewhat disappointed that the Dark Knight failed to materialize on cue. "Oh well... I worked with some of those Avengers-type. You know, Widow..." Waggling his eyebrows. "Captain America." A slight grin. "Other people." Dismissive wave. "And how's the day job goin' for you? Gettin' fat on donuts?"

Nightwing folds his arms across his frame and gives a gruff chuckle at Roy. "Honestly it comes from our ninja training. Silence is golden, as they say. We put a big emphasis on using the shadows as a weapon."

Nightwing shakes his head, his tone full of mirth, "Nah, I'm just messin' with ya. He's in another part of town. I'll give him your regards though." At the donut joke, Nightwing laughs out loud, "You know, I have the hardest time getting my ass into this suit lately. Maybe I should cut back on the pastries." He follows up with something slightly more serious, "Honestly? The hours are kicking my butt. Gives me great access. I even just got promoted to homicide. But I never really sleep at all."

"I'm sure -Speedy- would be happy to help you squeeze into that suit," Arsenal comments. You know, the female girl who picked up the mantle of Speedy. "She's been wanting to meet you again, though between me and you, I think she just likes sneaking peeks when she thinks nobody's watching."

Wrinkling his nose, Roy backs away from the ledge, stretching. "Yeah. If you -want- to make sure you never sleep at all, I'd be happy to lend you Lian for a few days." Still, Roy's crooked half-grin fades. "You sure you can keep that up? That sorta schedule's gonna slow your reflexes, and then..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Nightwing says, shaking his head at the topic of Speedy. "I'm more than just the body, Arsenal. I'm not some piece of meat your sidekicks can just toy with. I'm a man!"

"You know," Nightwing says earnestly, "I wouldn't mind babysitting if you need me to at somepoint. I don't think I've seen Lian well, since-" his voice trails. "Don't you worry about my reflexes, Red, I've been at this a while. I'll be just fine."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure Speedy wouldn't just stop at toying..." Arsenal smirks, before nodding at Nightwing. "I think Lian'll like to see her uncle Dick, but only if you're gonna take some time off from -everything-, at least, man. And at some point, I think, she might need to stay with Speedy for a few days, since I've got to head to Madripoor for ... something."

Flashing a wry grin, Roy shrugs. "First, I've got to talk to a dangerous lady."

"Blind leading the Blind; kids watching kids," Dick says in response to the comment about Speedy. Though she's not much younger, difference in ages seems more pronounced the younger the vantage point. "I'll take your advice under some advisement. We've just got a couple big homicides we need to close the case on. Then I'll pull back."

"Madripoor? Dangerous lady?" Nightwing raises an eyebrow. "Tell me more."

"Tell Speedy she's a kid, she's as likely to kneecap you as slap you," Arsenal notes, before shrugging. "Undercover mission. If I don't come back..." He motions towards Dick. "You've heard of Madripoor. Lots of criminal activities center around there because, well, the law's a joke. So naturally, I've got to go recruit someone who's probably at home there. I'll be lucky if she doesn't shoot -me- for trying to sign her up, considering how many times I've crossed paths with her."

Nightwing's arms don't move, and either does his head. But his voice does become a bit more grim, "If you're trying to convince me to not be interested, you're doing a poor job. Is this something you've got to do on your own? Maybe I. . .Or one of the others." The others he's referring to are the old group of friends they used to run around with. "If you need help, you don't have to do this on your own."

"I'm not alone," Roy grins. "It's part of the SHIELD gig. You know, you -could- try being an agent of SHIELD yourself. I've got contacts, I'll make it through. But if you ever feel like entertaining yourself being, I dunno... an undercover mobster... well, this is gonna be a long-term sting. Assuming we don't screw up early. Would be easier if you -were- a SHIELD agent, though."

Nightwing shakes his head, "I don't know if I could ever get it past the big guy. Hanging out with our clique as teens was hard enough, but joining a full fledged government tied agency? I'd just as soon try to convince him to give up his identity."

"Heh... my big guy is convinced they're gonna round us all up sooner or later, some sort of fascist plot. But that's part of the gig. People keep an eye out on the little guys, other people keep an eye out on the big guys, it all evens out." Shrugging, Roy flashes a grin. "So that's me keepin' the world safe for democracy. Truth, Justice and the American Way? Leaving that to the Big S and the guy in the star-spangled pajamas. Keeping tomorrow safe for the kids? That's us." Punching Nightwing in the shoulder companionably, Roy goes on to note, "Besides, dangerous lady? Totally -awesome- fun. And no, I promise, I will -not- have kids with her."

Nightwing nods solemnly at Roy's point and he seems to buy it, "Hey man, sounds like it's working out for you. Keep on keepin' on." As the point comes to the dangerous lady and the remark about having kids with her. "Speaking of that, did you ever speak to the other one since. . ." Voice trails once again.

"No, and I've been monitoring the reports," Roy says grimly. "A little flash here and there that -might- be her, but you know her. If I run into her in Madripoor... well, I'll bet you'll notice in the news, all right." Making exploding gestures with his hands, Roy sighs. "Just keeping Lian steering clear of that. She knows, she just doesn't -get- it because she doesn't remember her mother."

Shrugging, Roy makes a gesture dismissing -that- topic. "What about you and your own little sidekicks? Since when did the Batman start churning out Robins like Kardashians?"

Nightwing nods soberly to his old friend, "Well, for what it's worth, I'm sure Lian is very happy and I know she's growing up well. She's lucky to have a dad like you." Nightwing chuckles and shakes his head, "I don't know. Maybe he's trying to recapture what he had with the best one? Kidding. They've all got their own stories that they'd have to be the ones to share with you, but they're all pretty good folks. That's for sure."

"Yeah. Have they formed their own little groups yet? I kinda wish we -had- groups when we were kids. Might have kept some of us from going off into... well, places. I got lucky, there, but..." Shrugging, Roy glances at Dick. "If we're checking into making sure the world's safe for the next generation, should we be sticking our noses into the younger generation's business? Speedy'll squawk, but..."

"I think you're right," Nightwing nods. "Things were hard for a lot of us, but we ended up okay. I'm not so sure others would have been so lucky. I know there's a couple younger groups out there. Titans. Rumors of another group, too." Nightwing, at the second part of his comment, shakes his head, "I'm not sure. What do you think?"

"Well, I know Hawkeye, you know... the female one, she's got a team of her own. Speedy's working on her teams... we could poke our noses around. But man, do you think they'd appreciate a bunch of old geezers poking around -their- businesses?" Arching an eyebrow at Nightwing, Arsenal makes it clear by the look on his face just who he's calling an old geezer here.

"You strike a good point. I suppose us oldbies should just do our own thing." Nightwing shrugs, "I dunno, man. I can't deny the prospect of being on a team sort of appeals to me, but..."

"You wanna volunteer to be the cool uncle checking in to make sure the kids aren't burning down the house, instead of Big Brother beating up the kids and taking their lunch money?" Arsenal retorts. "Eh, let's see what happens. You know, I kinda want to check out any team that took in Speedy. Any team that's got -her- for a member..." A light shrug. "They're probably ready to throttle each other by now."

Nightwing can't help but laugh, "That's a fair point. Be sure to give Speedy my love when you get the chance." Nightwing steals a peek over the ledge. "I should probably get going and get back to work. The big guy will have my tail if I don't hit my spots." Nightwing smiles, "This was good, dude. We need to get together more often."

"I will -not-. She's probably already written realms of odes to your ass, let's not give her more fodder." Rolling his eyes behind his shades, Roy brings two fingers to his eyebrow in a flippant salute. "We will. If I don't, you can blame Lady Luck, it means I've ticked her off once too many times."

Nightwing chuckles, "Don't joke. That's not funny." Nightwing holds his fist out for a bump before going for the ledge. "Take care of yourself, bro."

"Hey, we -laugh- in the face of danger," Roy grins as he bumps fists, and gets ready to start running across rooftops. "Risk is our -business-, man. See you in the funny pages."