Talk about bad first impressions. Of all the ways he thought he’d meet the new hero, being rescued during a bank heist as a civvie wasn’t one of them.

A lot had changed since he moved to Blüdhaven as its protector, but Gotham was always a hop, skip and a jump away. He was still hooked into Oracle’s network, and the ever chaotic Batfam groupchat, so he knew about Gotham’s newest vigilante. Not that he was particularly impressed, because spiders? Really? Bird-themed heroes were way cooler.

He’d wanted to swing by and meet the mysterious new hero, but between Blüdhaven’s crime levels and his day job, there wasn’t time. A whole month passed by. While Tim had been obsessed about unmasking the new hero, spending too countless hours in front of the bat-computer, Dick never crossed paths with them.

Until now, and completely by accident.

He swung by for a quick visit, to see his family and maybe snag some of Alfred’s cooking. He should’ve known nothing was simple in Gotham. A visit to the Gotham National Bank soon became a hostage situation. Before he could intervene, the new Spider hero descended onto the scene. When his back was turned, a BANG! went off.

The gunshot never landed. Instead, a stray web yanked him off his feet and out of danger, strapped to the wall upside down in a white cocoon.

“Hey,” he started, trying to feign nonchalance. “As much as I’d love to hang out here all day, I kinda prefer staying conscious, you know? So… maybe you could help me out and flip me right-side up?”

He flashed his best, award-winning smile at the spiderhero. For reasons unknown, he had been webbed up alongside the very crooks who had just robbed the bank. Which—okay, in theory—he could understand. Probably thought they were saving him. Not like they knew he was Nightwing.

“Pretty please?” he tried again, going full puppy-dog mode, fluttering his eyelashes for maximum effect.