>Nightwing gets dumped by graffiti thot
>instead of immediately rebounding he pulls a Batman and goes off to brood
>after a few nights of breaking up some small time gangs he ends up by the docks following a lead on a monster in the water
>docks are empty but he finds orca drunk off her ass swimming in the harbour
>she's still depressed from her gang breaking up and has been stewing in the filthy water for a week loudly complaining to herself
>Nightwing feels a sorry for her and after talking for a bit convinces her to come get cleaned up
>he finds a secluded place at the park and lets her hose herself off 
>he tries to help he find a place to stay for the night but she starts to pass out landing on top of him
>he spends the rest of the night at the park trapped under a drunk whale lady
>next morning, she's hungover, angry, and embarrassed 
>they agree never to speak about this to anyone
>she remembers he was helping her and secretly starts to develop a crush
>causes more minor dustubances to get his attention
>Nightwing slowly starts to realize what's going on
>he begins to play along........

>After the whole scarecrow mess Ric is back in the swing of things 
>splits his time between cab driving and helping the other nightwings learn the ropes 
>one night they meet the Run-Offs while out on patrol
>the other nightwings are immediately suspicious of the group and things start to escalate
>for some reason Ric knows he can trust them and calms everybody down
>they're reluctant at first but eventually the Run-Offs admit they are looking for Orca
>shes missed the last few meetings and they have no way of contacting her
>the nightwings are pretty sure shes up to no good again and promise to bring her in starting a small fight.
>Ric again has to break it up and they part ways for the night
>exhausted Ric stops by the bar
>while leaving he notices a large figure lurking in the shadows down the nearby alleyway
>he goes to see who's there 
>its Orca asleep wrapped in an old tarp 
>he looks around, it seems shes been eating out of the trash
>she wakes up noticing him
>she tells him to screw off, she doesn't need any gawkers
>when he dosent move she gets up and tries to scare him off
>Ric is completely unfazed
>pissed, she gives and tries to go back to sleep
>Ric offers her a ride somewhere telling her she cant stay here

>after a few minutes of angry back and forth she begrudgingly agrees 
>she just barely manages to squeeze into the back seat of Rics cab, having to lay on her side
>Ric asks where she wants to go
>she doesn't answer 
>he tries to bring up the Run-Offs with the excuse he saw them on the news together 
>she abruptly cuts him off and tells him to stop the car
>he ignores her and keeps driving 
>she threatens to eat him if he doesn't stop right now
>he keeps going asking her again about the Run-Offs and if shes in any trouble 
>she is incredibly angry but also seems a little embarrassed 
>she takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down
>she tells Ric shes fine and she just wants to go
>he pulls over 
>she slides out of the back seat but stops, resting against he side of the car
>she looks around for a minute before letting out a sigh
>she tells Ric she might as well get it off her chest, even if it is a stranger
>she explains the apartment she was squatting in got absolutely demolished during the fear gas attack on the city
>she nearly brought the whole building down on top of herself
>and now shes homeless and too proud to ask her friends for help

>Ric tells her she can stay at his place for the time being
>hes almost never home anyway
>his only condition is that she tell her friends that shes alright and that she start going to meetings again
>she seems shocked and more than a little suspicious 
>but shes not exactly swimming in options a this point 
>besides shes a 8ft tall killer whale whats the worse a cab diver could do
>she accepts the offer letting him know if he tries ANYTHING she'll bite him in half
>the next few weeks go by pretty fast
>Orca got cleaned up and went back to hanging out with the Run-Offs and Ric rarely bothers her only coming in once or twice a day to sleep or shower
>still outside her friends she knows she has no chance at a social life
>eventually she tries to strike up a conversation with Ric
>They don't really have much to talk about at first but over time they slowly get to know each other 
>they start spending most nights sitting together on the couch talking about their lives and all they've been through
>Ric talks to her about his memory loss and the traumatic life he doesn't want to remember
>she tells him about her accident and the stupid decisions she made after it
>they start sitting closer together, not even talking just relaxing
>one night after a particularly rough bit of crime fighting they come back to the apartment at the same time
>beaten, bruised and too tired to care they fall asleep in each others arms

>it had been almost a month since she moved in
>they were sleeping together now
>not “together” together, at least not yet
>it was a bit awkward at first but just being with someone seemed to make life better for the both of them
>they both tried to keep it all on the down low but its kinda hard to hide a killer whale 
>for some reason Ric couldn't quite think of, it felt especially embarrassing when that Alfred guy stopped by out of the blue to check on him
>and although they never said anything the Run-Offs knew something was going on
>regardless they were happy
>Ric had helped get her a job down at the docks 
>it wasn't much but it was honest, and the other workers seemed to accept her 
>overtime she became a bit of a local celebrity
>after that whole evil alien sea gods thing a giant orca wasn't quite as terrifying as it once was
>and while she would never admit it just being around people, real normal people, made her feel better than she had in a long long time
>for Ric she had become a rock
>someone to sit with, someone to eat with, someone to sleep with, someone to talk to when those moments came when he had trouble trusting who he was or what he was doing
>plus there was something oddly comfortable about a wall of warm muscle draped over you while you sleep off long nights of crime fighting 
>but in the end for two people to whom human contact was a uncommon occurrence just being together was enough
>it was a weird life but a good life, one they both hoped would never end

>One night Ric came in after work with a crate of beer and a cake
>an anniversary gift, to celebrate 4 months on the straight and narrow
>Grace tried to play it cool but Ric swore he saw a little pink in all that black white
>the cake didn't last long and neither did the beer
>next thing Ric knew he was picking the lock to the university swimming pool with grace standing over him, giggling like an idiot
>she jumped right in while Ric fumbled around for the pool lights 
>with a click the dark room filled with pale blue light
>he turned and saw her there floating in the pool silhouetted in the light
>it might have been the alcohol talking but to Ric, right then and there, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
>They swam together for what seemed like hours 
>she schooled him in nearly everything, laughing as he tried to keep up with her powerful stokes
>still 20+ years of endurance training form the batman is still 20+ years of endurance training even if you cant remember it
>so by the time they were done they both had to catch their breath
>she puled him close, and they sat there floating holding on to each other like they were the only two people on earth
>It was strange Ric thought to himself, all the muscle but here underwater she felt so soft
>a deep silence filled the room, even the sound of water splashing against the sides of pool seemed to fade away
>the pair looked into each others eyes
>the two of them had led hard lives, for Grace the frightened stares of a world that seemed to hate her were still fresh in her mind
>for Ric the judgmental stare of a father he couldn't quite remember burned in his dreams bringing back images of a life that had left him with nothing but scars
>But now none of that seemed to matter much
>he had her and she had him
>he kissed her, and she took it from there

>They woke up together on the floor of Rics apartment
>sore, hungover, and smelling like chlorine
>life was good
>Grace drifted off back to sleep on the cheap carpet
>Ric gave her a kiss on the cheek before getting up
>after some stretches and Tylenol he put on some coffee and hopped in the shower
>The warm water felt great and it gave him some time to think
>last night was a bit hazy but he knew they had done something dumb together
>dumb and fun
>guess they were more than roommates now
>he got out and dried off, thinking about what to do for breakfast
>some bacon and toast sounded good, and would most likely need to go to the store later too
>Grace could eat a pound of bacon easy
>it made the grocery budget a bit tighter but he wasn't about to complain
>telling an 8ft tall bipedal killer whale she needed to eat less was probably a bad idea.

>after throwing on some cloths he walked back into the kitchen
>Grace was sitting at the table nursing a headache and a cup of coffee 
>there was someone sitting across from her
>looks like they had a guest
>Ric recognized her, her name was Barbra
>He remembered they used to like each other but after his surgery she had become overbearing
they hadn't spoken for awhile
>Grace trying to act as casual as possible excused herself from the table to go take a shower
>Ric took a seat, offering Barbara some coffee
>she declined 
>he started to get the feeling this was going to be unpleasant
>what followed was along and tiring retread of a conversation he had too many times
>he was getting tired of having to explain “Dick” was gone
>still something started to feel off, it was like she was angry about something
>“Di....Ric whoever you are, this isn't you! And were getting worried”
>“just look at yourself! You're living with Orca for crying out loud! Shes a-”
>And that was it
>as politely as he could manged he got up and showed her the door
>she just stared at him with shocked expression
>finally she got up and left without saying a word
>with a sigh he shut the door
>Grace was standing in the hall a towel wrapped around her neck
>he could tell she wanted to ask about all that but she just poured some more coffee
>they sat down on the couch together watching the sunrise 
>it was an awkward way to start the day for sure
>and he was going to make it worse
>“Grace? 
>“I think I used to be nightwing”

>he started to explain himself but paused
>the look on her face sent chills down his spine
>trembling she asked if he was serious
>Ric just nodded
>the coffee mug slowly fell from her hands, hitting the ground with a thud 
>she looked.......lost
>Ric didn't know what to say or how to say it, he was paralyzed
>then finally head in her hands she spoke
>her voice was harsh and strained
>“was it all some big joke?”
>“or was it just pity?”
>“please........please tell me it was more than that”
>“I need to......know.”
>carefully he put his arm around her
>“it was.” 
>“it was always more”
>he told her everything, everything he knew and thought he knew 
>about his wealthy adoptive father, about the costumes he burned beneath the city, about the cops who found them
>everything he could
>she looked up at him tears in her eyes
>she took his hand in hers pulling him close
>they sat there together for the rest of the morning

>after a while they both got up and went to work, neither saying a word
>it was a long day for both of them
>Ric seemed to have to deal with twice the normal amount of assholes flagging down his cab and two attempted muggings
>and at the docks everyone had come down with the flu leaving Grace to unload an entire shipment by herself
>by the time the day was done both of them were tired and angry, both at themselves and and the world
>Ric checked the time
>normally he would spend most of the night with the other nightwings , but something held him back
>he drove straight home that night
>she was there waiting for him, an nervous and exhausted look on her face
>“Ric.....I don't want to lose this”
>“I don't want to lose you” 
>“nightwing, Dick, Ric, I don't think I care anymore”
>“I just want you”
>for the second time in a day he was at a loss for words
>so he did what he could
>shutting and locking the door, he walked up to her
>she kneeled down in front of him so that they were face to face
>he wiped the tears from her eyes, and kissed her 
>she fell on top of him, crying into his shirt
>it seemed that for now at least, neither of them had to be alone anymore