Nightwing's attention slipped for a moment, and the things in his hands clattered to the floor. He bent down in a fluster to pick them up, only for everything to end up scattered across the ground.
By then, Batman had already come down the stairs. He picked up a hat that had rolled to his feet and found Superman's signature on it, along with the smiley face Clark often drew.
Batman gave Nightwing a strange look. Was he planning to become Superman's assistant?
An awkward smile tugged at Nightwing's lips as he hurriedly gathered up the things from the floor. "Well... my colleagues want your autograph. Could you..."
Halfway through, even he found it ridiculous. He rubbed his nose and fell silent.
Batman turned the hat over in his hands and immediately realized it was rather small. It did not seem to be meant for an adult, and its cartoonish style looked more suitable for a seven- or eight-year-old child.
Noticing Batman's interest in the hat, Nightwing instinctively began explaining. "It belongs to the youngest member of our team. He heard about your deeds when he was little and has always admired you. Superman too, of course. He thinks you're both heroes."
"He got this signature when he was little and visited the Metropolis Zoo. He accidentally fell into a dangerous animal enclosure, and after Superman rescued him, he asked for an autograph. He... he might have been rescued by you too, so he wants your autograph..."
Nightwing had forced himself to make up those last two sentences, because he did not seem to have ever seen Batman rescue a child.
Yet Batman seemed to have sunk into his memories. This uniquely styled hat really did seem to have appeared somewhere among the fragments of his recollections.
Then, suddenly, he