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Dead of Night AM

Chapter 1: Somewhere over the rainbow

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“It’s midnight Folks, you might not have meant to tune in tonight, you may have not even turned your dial, do you have a dial? I can’t answer that for you, but I can tell you what you’re tuned in to.

Welcome Ghouls, Ghosts and everyday folks to Dead of Night AM. Your late-night entertainment and my quote on quote “day job.” For those just finding us, my name is Danny Nightingale and I’m trying to lift your spirits with my luscious voice as we tune into a little of every genre of music from any time: all from the comfort of wherever you currently reside. Have a song haunting your dreams? Or perhaps you want to get something off your chest?

Call or text 1800-GOGHOST to do so! Remember, just because the party is dead doesn’t mean the DJ won’t take requests!

Relax, you’re safe and if you’re up at this point, you might as well.

And look at that, first call of the night! Welcome and you’re on air, what’s on your mind?”

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The radio broadcast continued with an air of casualness as conversations and music played on. Moments of deep discussions at times, Danny spoke of an accident and how he moved on after it and one passionate debate on if the sea could be considered a soup interlaced between tracks that would’ve not been concerning if Dick had heard it anywhere else.

The fact that he was tuned into a radio station in deep space was concerning.

But there was nothing he could really do, there was no contacting the league yet, and besides noting this down in a log not much else to do about the sound frequency.

He could turn it off, but a frequency making it this far in space is something to observe and add to his report to Bruce when they landed.

Besides, after weeks of being cramped in a ship with the Titans, it was nice to hear voices he didn’t know.

And so, Dick listened, snapping his fingers and tapping his toes the songs he knew and chuckled at the discussions with the upbeat host as messages came in through the line.

“Okay folks, the clock just hit 3AM here in my studio, so you know what that means! It’s almost time for Sam’s witching half-hour, and my moment to rest my throat and go to the bathroom. So, I‘ll be right back and keep tuned in to Dead of Night AM!”

A new voice picked up where Danny left off, feminine and calm greeted the listeners and as the vigilante hummed, maybe he would look up the station when he got back to earth There were often nights in Bludhaven where the nights felt more undemanding compared to his times in Gotham. Sure, he could go back into Gotham to visit whenever he felt long lulls, but he had spread his wings to another city, to go back too often would leave windows of opportunity that criminals would undermine all the hard work he had placed to make the city safe in the first place.

Slow nights merely meant he was doing his job right, even if it made his nights feel a little lonelier.

Suddenly, there was the sound of the studio door being thrown open and Danny’s voice was heard away from the mic, cutting off Sam’s discussion of how to ethically sourced bones for magick.

“Sorry Sam but I need to cut you off really quick, something came up.”

There was a shuffling from the mic as a chair was rolled closer and Dick tiled his head as the mic was moved closer to Danny as continued and felt a chill run down his back as the broadcast filled the small room.

“Listeners, if there’s someone by the name Dick tuning in, I got a message from your brother that he urged me to pass along to you. The Robin is dead, there was nothing that anyone could do for them.  Your father has the body and wants to burry it before you get home from your trip.”

Danny seemed to suck in a deep breath as he went on.

“He wants you not to blame yourself over this, because he is sure that you would somehow find a way to even with where you are right now. He’s sorry there wasn’t something he could’ve done but a rat got to the bird. He misses you and loves you even if he doesn't say it and is sorry things turned out this way. He also made a song request, and I would only feel right I play it right away. So, here is IZ’s Somewhere over the rainbow and listeners, let us mourn the loss of a precious bird to this world but know they are still with us in spirit.”

And as the ukulele began to strum on, Dick felt himself begin to reel.

What was that.

There was no way that that message was meant for him, he was in space, but it felt personal. But that couldn’t be, because the only robin he knew is his little brother and he was fine last time he checked.

Did something happen while he was away? Did Jason do something to boost this radio station to get a hold of hm? What was that about the robin being dead? Did he mean he was finally stepping into another persona like he had been mentioning? Because there was no way-

The station continued to play on in the background, but Dick didn’t pay it any mind as his thoughts raced in circles.

All he knew was that he suddenly had a bad feeling about his homecoming in a week.