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Clean Up

 Nightwing grinned at the sound of the doors opening allowing the last of the crowd and his friends to leave. Unlike Dick though, Raymond had a stunned look on his face. "What? What is she..." "Looks like you had her pegged wrong Raymond. But no surprise there, you got a lot of things wrong." Nightwing struck Saiko, knocking him to the ground.

 "When it comes right down to it, you're no different from any of the other crazies in this city... Victim complex and everything. Always looking to blame someone else for your actions." Another solid blow knocked Saiko down again. "Well, you know what? I'm tired of it. You think all this terrible stuff happened to you because I left Haly's? Fine... Believe that. But we both know it's not true." 

 Raymond wiped the blood from his mouth with his hand. "Except... You're forgetting whose name was on the selection book." Finally realizing what the book he found in the stands of the Circus was for, Dick's mind went numb with the implications. "That's right, Dick... They didn't want me... They wanted YOU. Until the night your parents died, and you ran away with a new daddy BILLIONAIRE! UNTIL THE NIGHT THEY CAME FOR ME INSTEAD!!! Raymond charged Dick from a runner's stance trying to take advantage of the stunned Nightwing.

 "You were right earlier Raymond" Nightwing flipped the charging Saiko over his shoulder and down into the flaming pit behind him. "This does end right here, but not the way you want it." He then used his grapple gun to fire out a line to wrap around Saiko's leg stopping him from falling into the fire. Raymond looked up at the triumphant Nightwing. "NO... You don't get to save me now." He reached up and using his claws in his gloves he cut the rope wrapped around his leg, falling into the fire and debris from the scoreboard that fell through the floor. "NO..." Dick watched on as his old friend fell. Matt had taught him long ago that you can't save everyone, especially if they don't want to be saved. He hated that part of this gig. 

 Logan landed next to Dick after checking that everyone had made it out of the stadium. "Let's go Dick, you need to make an appearance soon or people are going to get suspicious." Dick sighed. "What does it matter now? Raymond knew and apparently told Raya and Brian; no way they stay quiet." "No worries there, I replaced Brian's memory about Nightwing with Raymond telling him you were a gay stripper as your big secret. But I thought I would let you talk with Raya before I do anything to her memory." Dick looked at Logan and just shook his head. "You couldn't come up with anything better?" Logan laughed. "Sure, I could but why? Now go get changed, we got cops to talk to."

 By the time Dick had changed and they made it outside, the police and firefighters had already found Raymond's body in the catacombs. Dick had to ID the body himself just to have a little bit of closure on the whole thing. They told the cops they were on the wrong side when the scoreboard fell. They were trapped until recently and then after making sure no one was left behind before coming out themselves. Taking a moment, Logan texted Pam to let her know he was ok. He knew she wasn't the type to watch TV but just in case she heard anything he didn't want her to worry about him. The police had a few more questions for Dick but not as many as Logan expected them to. As they stood there next to the rubble and smoke of the stadium, the police told them that Raya had confessed to the plan she, Bryan, and Raymond had made to cause this disaster. Bryan swore it was only supposed to be Dick that got hurt, but Raya told them all about the plan to get even with everyone that was responsible for ruining the life she should have had with the man she loved. Apparently, Raymond wasn't the only one with a grudge against the Circus. 

 With typical perfect timing, the police led Bryan and Raya both in cuffs past Logan and Dick to a waiting police cruiser. "They said you confessed, Raya... That you were working with Raymond to do all this?" Dick gestured to the ruined stadium and fleet of ambulances with people sitting on the sidewalk just waiting to be seen and sorted by the level of their injuries. Raya just looked at him without saying a word. "Help me understand... Please! I need you to help me understand why?" Raya just looked at him for a moment more and then ducked into the back seat of the cop car in front of her without saying a word. 

 Logan placed his hand on Dicks shoulder. "She has nothing but contempt for this Circus Dick. It has taken everything she has ever loved away from her, starting with your parents, then you left. She got over that in her budding love with Raymond and then he died in what she was told was an accident. Later to learn about his kidnapping from him when he returned. From that point forward every time she remembered this circus, it just brought on anger and pain. The only reason she relented in the end was because she still loved the people here. I took the memory of her conversation with Raymond about your dual identity, but I left everything else."

 

 Before Dick could reply, one of the ambulance crew walks over to Logan and Dick to check on them. "Hello, I am Dr. Foster, but you can call me Jane. You should let me look you over for injuries before you leave, never know if you're not feeling something due to shock." Looking at the beautiful woman, Logan replied, "It is surprising to see a full-fledged doctor in an ambulance crew?" "I came with a friend from New York for the show, I got to see the Flying Grayson's when I was a kid, and it is a show that will forever stick with me." After assuring her that they were ok she moved on to other people to see where she could help. 

 Dicks phone rang, he answered it and in seconds he hung up. He then looked to Logan, "Matt's back!" We checked with the police to see if anything more was needed from us and then went looking for Ted Grant to make sure his crew was okay. "Yeah, we are all good, found one of your crew though. The young Jonny Blaze was in the stands passed out from the explosion I reckon. After waking up and finding out his dad was truly dead, he took off on his bike talking about a bad deal he made." Thanking Ted for a job well done, we left to get Dicks bike so we could head to the Wayne Mansion. Logan went invisible and flew along at Dicks instance that he may be needed at the Mansion. Once they got there, they learned that Matt had come back about 2 hours ago in rough shape but after some bare minimum treatment, he had asked for privacy. Alfred had granted him this with the excuse of making some food for his master. But all Matt would take was some broth, saying that his system couldn't handle more than that at the moment. 

 Telling Logan to follow him, Dick led him through the secret entrance to the Devil's cave and they both saw why Alfred was so worried. Devilbat stood in his outfit minus his cowl, he looked like he had lost twenty to twenty-five pounds since the last time Logan had seen him. He had an IV in his arm and on a hook next to him, probably trying to get fluids back in his system. His face was covered in stubble just short of being called a beard, but his face was pale, and he swayed on his feet as he worked. "Matt? Geez, what happened to you?" 

 "The man on the table is The Talon. An assassin for the Court of Owls." He brought our attention to a muscular man who looked to be in his late twenties, but his skin was pale, and his veins stood out all over his body discolored. His eyes were open but there was no activity in them, like he was dead. "Is he dead?" Dick asked? Matt continued typing on his keyboard, not looking at them or even acknowledging that Logan was there. "Yes, and no." Matt went into the science of how it was possible with tissue being reanimated, an alloy capable of reactivating dead tissue, and more about cryogenic freezing until needed. Truthfully, the science went over both their heads, but Logan was memorizing the conversation so he could have it for reference later when he started his studies for his second persona. 

 I could tell Dick was just partially listening until "His name is William Cobb." Matt turned towards Dick. "He is your Great-Grandfather." 

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