Putting his faith in someone he barely knew wasn't something he was a stranger to. Dick had made the call countless times in battle to trust people to do the right thing. But this time, it felt like a waiting game. He had given Perseus free reign over almost half the city, and of course, he had kept tabs on her activity at first, but after a few weeks, there was really no need. From what he'd gathered, she was fast, efficient, and dedicated. Dick knew from experience that a lot of new heroes made the mistake of letting their guard down after a few nights without criminal activity, but it seemed that Perseus was an exception. She was out there most nights without fail. And so far, she had yet to cause any trouble or even toe the line Dick had drawn to create their designated patrol areas. Even when she caught him on her side spying on her, she never complained about the hypocrisy.

Perseus, he found out through researching, was the demigod son of Zeus and one of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology. Although perhaps mythology was not the most accurate term. Wonder Woman was quite secretive when it came to knowledge about her background, but what'd they'd gathered from her was that the Greek gods were a powerful extra-dimensional race worshipped by people in ancient times. They'd long since been killed by Ares millennia ago, but the Greeks and Romans continued weaving stories around them.

The one written about Perseus was interesting to Dick. The old hero had slain the Gorgon Medusa, rescued the princess Andromeda from a deadly sea monster, married her and eventually, after his death, was given a resting place among the stars for his bravery and honor. Dick had gone on somewhat of a tangent in his research, reading up on the stories of other Greek heroes, and it seemed like Perseus's was the only one that didn't end in tragedy. He wondered what that said about the real Perseus.

He had also looked up the name of her sword, Soteria. It was a little harder to find, but eventually, he gathered that Soteria was the goddess or spirit of safety and salvation. It was an odd thing to name a sword, but Dick got the sentiment. Repurposing a deadly weapon for good, which hopefully meant she would make do on the no-killing promise.

A Greek-themed hero wasn't uncommon in the league. There was a lot of symbolism and meaning to the mythology that heroes could take advantage of when creating their identity. At least she wasn't named after a more morally corrupt figure, like Medea, or he'd definitely have something to worry about.

And yet, even after all these signs of good judgment, there were still so many unanswered questions. Not that he was actively trying to find out her identity, but there were still so many unknowns. Dick knew his intuition was good, one the best really, and something was off.

He continued to contemplate as he slipped his costume on, securing his escrima sticks against his back and pressing his mask to his face. After assuring there were no gaps between his skin and material, he opened his back window, scanned his surroundings, and jumped out.

The weather was finally starting to get better, but the temperature still dropped at night so, on his way, Dick performed a few flips to warm up. He crossed over the blue line, the railroad tracks that divided the residential area from the business district, and used the rooftops to get as far as he could. Once the buildings had become sparser, he switched to the ground and snuck through alleys for the rest of the way.

Weaving his way through shipping containers and hopping a fence that read No Trespassing, he finally made his way to the docks.

This better be worth my time, he grumbled to himself.

The only reason he had even come to the docks was that someone he arrested as Officer Grayson let it slip, in an effort to reduce his sentence, that there might have been some suspicious activity happening here. It was immediately dismissed by the precinct because the criminal could not explain what said suspicious activity was, so Dick figured he might check it out as Nightwing. Worst case scenario, it was just some low-level runners looking for a discrete spot to do their dealings. I guess that'd actually be the best case, Dick corrected.

"Nightwing?"

Dick knew it was Perseus before he even turned around. She didn't use a voice modulator, and briefly, he wondered if he would recognize her by her voice if he met her as a civilian.

"What're you doing here?" she asked, looking confused.

While he did cross the line occasionally, it was usually to check up on her, not for his own investigations.

"Just following up on some intel," he informed her, "Probably nothing, but you never know."

Perseus hummed in acceptance, reaching up to redo her ponytail. She gathered the strands that had fallen loose, placing the bulk of her hair in one hand and Dick could see the goosebumps on her biceps.

"You wanna go together?" she asked, "I got something too, maybe it's about the same thing."

Although they'd formed a tentative, surface-level friendship, they hadn't actually worked together on anything yet.

"Why not?" Dick agreed, shrugging, "But I barely have anything to go off of, what did you hear?"

She brushed her hand across the back of her neck to make sure she didn't leave any hair behind, and then stretched out an elastic, wrapping it thrice.

"There's a warehouse on the waterfront and this guy always goes in, stays for two hours, and then leaves. Every two days like clockwork," she replied, pursing her lips.

Dick raised his eyebrows. That was awfully specific.

"Who's your source?" he questioned, curious as to who would give up that kind of information.

...

"Sorry," Percy said, grimacing a little to hide her lie, "I promised them confidentiality."

Because how was she supposed to tell Nightwing that James the black sea bass spends too much time near the surface watching the 'land-dwellers.' And that Percy likes to dangle her feet over the docks and converse with the wildlife on nights where nobody wants to commit crimes.

Before Nightwing could press her, she tucked her front strands behind her ears.

"Let's go," she urged, pointing past a few rows of containers, "It's that one."

He followed her finger, to where a large fence separated the dockyard from a dreary one-story building. He nodded, and they used the containers as cover to avoid being seen as they approached the fence.

Percy glanced through the metal links, and Nightwing did the same, helping to scan for anyone approaching. Finding none, Percy grabbed the links with her fingers and scaled the fence first, jumping softly down on the other side once she reached the top. She looked to her sides and motioned for Nightwing to follow her. In a few seconds, he was beside her again.

"That was fast," he whispered as they hid behind a dumpster.

"Did a lot of rock climbing as a kid," Percy responded, smirking at him, before peering around the corner, "All clear."

She led them both to the side of the building, and they found themselves standing in front of an aluminum door. She kept guard, constantly looking around as Nightwing picked the lock behind her. He tapped her elbow to let her know he was done.

As she reached out to turn the knob, Nightwing placed two fingers on her wrist to get her attention.

"We don't know what's behind this door," he warned, "Follow my lead?"

Percy knew she had a problem with authority and a hard time following rules. But following Nightwing felt a lot like following Annabeth or Reyna into battle, and that was a feeling she knew she could trust.

"Okay," she whispered back.

Nightwing gripped the handle, turning it gently until they heard a soft click, then cracked open the door and peered inside. After a moment, he opened it wider and slipped inside, Percy following and closing the door just as carefully behind her.

Nightwing silently gestured to the end of the hallway they appeared in, where a dim, white light was spilling onto the floor. Percy nodded once and they crept along the side of the concrete wall until they reached the edge. As Nightwing peeked his head around the corner, Percy held her breath and tried to listen to her surroundings, but besides the distant sound of air rattling through the vents, it was silent.

The other hero tapped her elbow again, and they both turned the corner. Another hallway, with florescent lights lined against the ceiling but only a few were lit. As Percy and Nightwing approached the door at the end, one of them flickered out for a few seconds. As they got closer, Nightwing gave her a hand signal, and Percy took the left side while he crept along the right. Reaching the end, they locked eyes for a moment before carefully looking into the door's small window.

The first thing Percy saw was the makeshift hospital bed in the corner. There was a lump in the sheets that she couldn't see under but clearly, someone was laying in it. Red tubes extended from the figure in the bed to a container on a cart with wheels. The container was colored halfway in the same red, and Percy realized that it was blood.

Some movement drew her attention to the other corner of the room where another figure in a white lab coat was standing over a table, his back facing them. His elbows shifted around from their place at his sides, but she couldn't see what he was doing.

Suddenly, the man moved, finally leaving his table, and Percy could see various test tubes at his workstation. She watched as he strode toward the hospital bed, to the other side of the tubes, and stuck what looked like a syringe into the figure laying down. He quickly drew a small amount of blood and went back to his workstation and Percy tracked his movement as he walked past the cart. She was going to watch what he did what the syringe but instead, her gaze fixed on the container on the cart. The level of red was much higher than before.

She gripped Nightwing's arm beside her, who tensed.

"He's taking their blood," she frantically whispered.

The man in the lab coat froze, turning his head toward the door and Percy and Nightwing both immediately stepped back, pressing their backs against the wall. Percy's heart was hammering, but Nightwing looked her in the eye and pressed two fingers to his lips. Copying the rise and fall of his chest, Percy easily calmed down.

They both slowly looked through the window again, and thankfully, the man had returned to his work at the table. Nightwing motioned with his hand, and Percy stepped back out of frame.

"That's an unsafe amount of blood to lose," Percy whispered again, but much softer, "We need to get in there, now."

Nightwing looked extremely troubled as he nodded.

"I can't tell the layout of the room from here, we'll have to wing it," he replied, just as quiet, "Think you can take lab coat?"

"In my sleep," she said, seriously.

"Okay, you get him while I'll take care of the victim," Nightwing instructed, and Percy nodded in agreement, "On three."

Percy got in position in front of the other hero, locking her eyes on the man's back, as he poured something into a tube.

"One," Nightwing started.

Percy watched as he jerked his arm up and down, shaking the tube.

"Two."

The man held the tube up, and the overhead light shined into the purple liquid making it glow.

"Three."

Percy raised her foot and kicked in the door.

...

The loud bang of the door made the scientist whirl around, and as Perseus charged at him, Dick slipped to the side and ran towards the hospital bed. Peeling the sheets back, he looked down at the person in the bed and immediately felt nauseous.

It was a young boy, with horrifically pale and clammy skin. His eyes were closed, and his frail chest rose in shallow but rapid breaths.

Tamping down his immediate rage, Dick reached over and pulled out the needle in his arm. He bunched up the sheets and pressed tight against the puncture wound to stop the bleeding.

He glanced up briefly to see Perseus fighting two people at once, the scientist and another much larger man. Dammit, they hadn't seen the guard. The guard pulled out a pistol and Dick almost got up to help her, but Perseus immediately threw the scientist to the ground and kicked the gun out of the guard's hand before he even had a chance to aim it. Trusting her to handle them, Dick turned his attention back to the little boy.

Just to be sure, Dick placed his fingers against his neck to take his heartbeat. It was much too slow, but it was steady.

They wanted him alive, Dick deduced.

He put his hand against the boy's cheek.

"Hey, kid," he called, gently, "Can you hear me?"

The boy blurrily opened his eyes. He couldn't seem to focus on Dick's figure, but he nodded feebly.

"Where—?"

His voice was weak and barely audible.

Dick brushed a few strands of hair off the boy's sweaty forehead.

"We're gonna get you out of here, okay? But you have to stay awake," he instructed, and even in his daze, the boy managed to understand.

"Oh my god," Perseus breathed, standing over the other side of the bed, "He's just a kid."

Dick looked past her to see both the men she'd been fighting unconscious and tied up back-to-back. Perseus brushed her fingers across the metal ring around the boy's neck.

"A meta kid?" she asked.

"Yeah, this is a standard inhibitor collar," Dick observed, tilting it up a little to see the underside, then releasing it, "He's stable for the moment, but we need to get him medical assistance."

"Not a hospital?" Perseus asked, tilting her head.

"I don't want to risk leaving him in the open. I'll have someone come get him," Dick decided.

He pulled out his communicator and dialed in for Black Canary.

...

Percy watched as Nightwing spoke to the person on the phone. He didn't say a name, but she figured it was another hero. While he coordinated a pickup, she looked back down at the boy, who was shivering slightly.

She placed a hand on his arm. Her powers had expanded since Tartarus, reaching farther than she'd ever wanted them to. Although she promised herself never to cross the line again, the control was always there. She could feel the blood running through the boy's veins and she could tell that it wasn't enough. Whoever had been keeping here to harvest his blood might've wanted to keep him alive, but she could tell that if they hadn't gotten there in time, he might not have lasted much longer.

Nightwing closed his communicator and Percy removed her hand, letting it fall at her side.

"I have someone coming right now," Nightwing informed her, kicking up the locks on the hospital bed's wheels.

He looked at her and seemed to think for a moment, so Percy helped him make his decision.

"I'll watch these guys," she said, jerking her thumb over to the tied-up men, "You go and come back. We can interrogate them together."

As Nightwing started to push the bed, Percy impulsively stopped him.

"He'll be okay, right?"

He nodded.

"I promise."

Percy released him to take the boy outside and then stared at the criminals she'd apprehended. The scientist was no fighter, for sure and although the guard was well trained, he seemed to be more hired muscle than anything else and she took him down easily. She felt disgusted at just the sight of them, but she gritted her teeth and waited for Nightwing to return.

After a few minutes, he returned through the doorway.

"They awake yet?" he asked, and Percy shook her head no, "Let's change that."

He pulled out a small object from his suit and walked over, bending down in front of the scientist. He tore the packaging of the object and held it a few inches away from the scientist's nose. Suddenly, the man inhaled sharply and jerked his head up.

Before he even had a chance to collect himself, Nightwing started to interrogate him.

"Who are you? Why were you taking that kid's blood?"

Percy watched as the scientist stayed silent as he glanced between the two heroes.

"Answer him," Percy growled at him, narrowing her eyes and stepping closer.

"Scientific advancement," the man replied, smiling slowly.

"That's not what I was asking," Nightwing warned, "What were you planning to do with it?"

The man chuckled lowly, his chest straining against the rope.

"Planning? We've already done it. This is merely... upkeep."

Percy glanced at Nightwing, who was thinking the same thing. 'We' could not have been referring to him and the guard. There was someone else involved.

"Upkeep of what?" Nightwing asked instead, "What have you done?"

The scientist seemed proud of his work and Percy hoped the ego would keep him talking.

"We're on the edge of a new wave of weaponry," the man grinned, "No more bullets, no more ammunition, just pure power. And under Blockbuster's leadership—"

He cut himself off once he realized he let something slip.

"Blockbuster?" Nightwing demanded.

Percy had heard the name but didn't know much about Bludhaven's crime lord. The scientist clamped his jaw shut and refused to say another word despite Nightwing's harsh tone.

Percy reached back and pulled her sword out of the sheath, the sound of metal making both men turn their gazes to her. She placed the flat of the blade on the scientist's shoulder, who didn't dare move his head but still tried to keep an eye on it. Beside her, she could see Nightwing tense, but he didn't make a move to stop her just yet.

"Answer his question," she instructed, enunciating each word separately and moving the blade a little closer to his neck each time.

The man visibly gulped, and Percy glared a little harder.

"Okay, okay. I didn't even make it, I swear. I'm just in charge of getting the blood," he stammered, his façade dropping.

"Make what?" Percy pressed.

"The compound," he bit out, "For the guns. I swear to God, that's all I know. Blockbuster didn't tell me anything else."

"What does the compound do?" Nightwing finally spoke.

The man almost shrugged but remembering the sword, he said, "I don't know."

"You believe him?" Percy asked, turning back to address Nightwing.

The other hero stared at the scientist for a second then decided.

"I do."

Percy removed her sword from his shoulder. The man breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived because Percy stepped closer and slammed the hilt into his head, rendering him unconscious again.

She turned back to see Nightwing staring at her.

"What?" she asked, but then sighed, "I wouldn't have hurt him, obviously. But he didn't know that."

"I believe you too," he said, and Percy grinned at him, "By the way, that's an interesting-looking sword."

Percy looked down. Even in the dim light, the dual colors in the blade shone brightly.

"Thanks, it's one of a kind," she replied, "But now what?"

Nightwing looked at the scientist's workstation. It was littered with half-full test tubes of various colors, and the one he had been holding when Percy burst through lay shattered, liquid seeping under the shards.

"I know the guns he's talking about," he said, after turning back to her.

Percy furrowed her brows.

"You do?"

"I got them off some criminals at a bank robbery a few weeks ago, but I couldn't figure out what they did," he explained.

Percy instantly realized what he was referring to, the bank robbery she'd been at. Although she didn't have much experience with them, looking back, there was something off about those guns.

"But I think Blockbuster's using whatever compound they created with the blood to power them," he continued.

Percy was aware that this was Nightwing bringing her onto his own investigation, and she felt a little giddy that he was giving her a chance to work together with him.

"How do we catch him?" she asked.

Nightwing swabbed a bit of liquid from the broken vial and stored it inside his suit.

"Meet me tomorrow at eleven at the top of the Pryst building. I'll bring the guns and we'll go from there?" he offered, then pointed down, "I'll get the police to handle these guys."

That sounded reasonable to her. Percy nodded in agreement and re-sheathed her sword.

"Good night!" she called out, turning her head back briefly as she exited the room.

...

"Good night," Dick replied, but Perseus had already left through the doorway.

His eyes fell on the actual door which lay on the ground to the side, and he raised his eyebrows. She'd kicked it clean off his hinges.

Dismissing it, he turned back to the tied-up men and groaned, running a hand down his face. How was he supposed to explain this one to Rohrbach?

A.N. Sorry guys, I originally took a week break to get my new semester schedule on track and then my cat spilled water on my laptop. I had to wait for it to dry before turning it on which is why this is a day late.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and let me know what you thought!