Nightwing Hurt/Comfort Bingo

by Ash_x_San

Summary:

Open requests in chapter 1

Still open for requests as of June 9th 2024
19 squares still open

Chapter 1

This Chapter is for Requests to be made in the comments. This image will be updated as frequently as possible and if this one goes well Ill make sure to do another one.

Most of these are angst/hurt specific but a couple are relaxed/comfort, just go crazy with it and Ill make sure to write it the best I can. When making your requests please tell whether you want a sad ending or comfort ending and be as detailed as you can unless you want it to be a surprise. : )

These will be the ages and heights for the mains unless specified otherwise in case you wanted to know:

Bruce:  41-6'6

Dick:   20-5'10

Jason: 18-6'3

Babs:  18-5'6

Tim:   16-5'7

Dami: 13- 5'3

This image was last updated June 9th, 2024 2:22 AM Pacific standard time

Star = Completed

Lightning Bolts = Requested/In-progress

Snowflake = Requested/Waiting

 Also just a by the way, Ive only read a bit of the Nightwing comics (pretty much sticking to young justice, Teen Titan, Son of Batman movies, and the batman animated series') so just keep that in mind when requesting characters like Ravager or Catalina(Tarantula) as I might not be able to get their behaviors or speech habits correct. : D

Chapter 2: Refuse To Fight Back

Summary:

"with Dick and Bruce from the Batman: Bad Blood movie there's that scene at the end where a mind-controlled Bruce beats Nightwing up. I'd love to read a more in-depth look at that scene, with Dick trying to talk to Bruce but not wanting to physically hurt him and getting beat up himself in return. Or really anything between the two of them, with Bruce attacking Dick"

"Aaagghh!" Nightwing shouts in pain as Batman slams a fist into his arm that had been yanked behind him, effectively breaking it. Nightwing is dropped to the floor, his arm dangling uselessly at his side before he is forced to roll out of the way. Batman's feet come slamming down in the exact spot where Nightwing had been, quickly turning to his new position as he raises from his crouched position on the floor. One escrima stick is clutched tightly in Nightwing's uninjured hand while the other stick had been haphazardly thrown across the floor when he had lost the function in his arm. The tension increasing to choking levels, Nightwing's lips press hard into a firm line as Batman rushes at him.

Dick thinks back to before all this shit happened, before the levels of contempt had risen even higher. 

Dick had been forced to dawn the great cowl of the Bat, the original dark knight having previously up and disappeared. Batwoman was the one to tell them what happened specifically, that Batman had "died". She was joined by the detective in taking down a crime operation, or more an interrogation. She had said Batman had thrown her out of range when the place blew but by the time she came back up any sign of the DaddyBats was gone. 

Thus Dick had begrudgingly been forced to take up the role of the Dark Knight that he had been hoping he would never of had to. He couldnt bring himself to be "The Batman". This reminds dick of a session he had with Black Canary when he was 13 as Robin. Him and his old young heroes team had just gone through a falied and tramatic physcological training session, that had everyone visiting the vocally empowered hero. He still remembers exactly what he had said when it was his turn.

"Hurting? Try tramatized......I finally become leader and end up sending all of my friends to their deaths. Dick started, hands clasped tightly between his knees as he sat on the sofa chair.

".......When we started this team, I was desperate to be in charge, not anymore....and thats not even the worst of it.

"....y-you can't tell Batman" Dick stuttered nervously, pausing for Canary's answer.

"Nothing leaves this room" Black Canary replied calmly, wanting to help the young hero.

"I always wanted- expected, t-to grow up a-and become him....and the hero bit, im still all in. But that thing inside of him- ttha-that thing that drives him to sacrifice everything for the sake of his mission.....thats not me. I-I dont wanna be "The" Batman, anymore.

Yeah. Look how that turned out, he thought. he bgean to hold batman, and maybe Bruce too, at arms length after that. He ended up basically doing just as his 13 year old self had feared and became batman....and when he finally stepped up to calling the shots and making the harder decisions as batman, they rescue bruce from Talia Al Ghul's hands, almost half dead. This, however, doesn't stop Bruce from taking back the Batman and leader roll rather bluntly. 

"You're not Batman anymore, Dick...I call the shots around here" Bruce's words still rung painfully in his head, of which had shut him up. Getting shut down like that didn't do anything to relieve the stress from what had happened. So naturally the contempt and slight hatred between them had grown even more. Dick wondered at times if bruce cared about anything other than the mission, if bruce wayne had also died that day and now there was only The Bat. Though he tried not to let these thoughts travel far, shutting them down almost instantly. If he allows them to persist then he'll start to question things and think things that could harm him mentally. 

Dick was exhausted battling with such thoughts but he still deep down held Bruce as his father figure and his oppinion still mattered very much to him, even if he didnt want to admit it or has had thoughts of wanting to strangle bruce to death becasue he was angry at him. Every single one of these details made this fight so much harder for Dick to process. He wanted to hit Bruce as hard as he could. Though he wanted to save bruce too. Dick wanted to connect with his father like when he was younger.....But he also wanted to drop batman completely and continue in bludhaven like he had been. Overall, he was so confused and mentally stressed that this fight was taking more out of him than he was prepared for.

A merciless punch to the face has Nightwing brutally yanked from his thoughts as his body flies through the air and down a set of large stairs, rolling and tumbling at the bottom until he's able to find a crouch position and takes a few heaving breathes. Nightwing stares, expression hard, in the direction his assailant is coming from and quickly rises to his feet. He attempts to strike at Batman with his one Escrima stick as the dark figure jumps at him. The bat easily flips over his back and avoids the rather pathetic attempt. Blocking Nightwing's next three strikes easily he steps to the side and shoves harshy at Nightwing's back causing him to stumble foward with a grunt of pain. 

Nightwing has to pause again to try to suck more oxygen into his straining lungs. He knew this was a loosing battle, the horrid painful throb in his arm, his broken nose from an earlier knee to the face, his bruised and battered body, all of it was catching up as his adrenaline started to wear off. Not to mention it was pupil vs mentor, in which this pupil has never passed over his mentor. 

Regaining a bit of his determination, Nightwing charges at Batman as he raises his escrima high. This ends badly as Batman grabs the weapon and yanks it from his hand, effectively giving three damaging blow to the face with it. The first two were mere grunts but the last came out as a horribly gruntled shout of pain accompanied with splatters of blood from his nose. Batman is able to grab his injured arm and force it painfully beind his back as Nightwing's unsteady legs make it easy to tackle him to the ground on his stomach. Batman tightens his hold on nightwing's arm and jams his own escrima stick into his elbow to further echance his immobility and holds him there. 

"Well done, beloved. We will at least have this victory" Talia's voice rings out as she approaches the two vigilantes, a gun in hand.

Batman turns slightly towards her as she throws the gun in his direction, him catching it in a firm grip. He lowers it in front of his face, staring unfazed at Talia for a split second.

"finish him" She intructs, expression unnerved.

Batman quickly cocks the gun as he brings the ready barrel to the side of Nightwing's head, a bit above his ear. Internally, bruce is fighting the brain-washing, fighting to keep from killing Nightwing with the same method his parents were killed.

"Bruce! Don't!" Nightwing exclaims, head moving slightly and eyes squeezing shut from under the immense pressure of the weapon at his skull.

"That's what its all about in the end" A young but hard voice sounds from behind the three, causing Talia to turn her head to Damian standing atop the stairs Nightwing had been thrown down.

"...Isn't it mother? Not the vision of a better world my grandfather had. Its just about control" Damian adds after a slight pause, eyebrows pointed down in a hard glare.

"Start with the bastard, we can always make more" Talia commands as Batman immediately stands while Damian rushes down the steps. Pointing the gun at him makes Damian halt in his steps at the bottom of the stairs, staring silently at his father.

"Bruce...you don't kill, you've never killed- Urg!" Nightwing is interupted as Batman shoves his escrima stick into the side of his head, pining him back down to the ground from the hand and knees position he had briefly attained. Dick's mind flashes blank at the sudden impact to his skull, his vision going haywire. Once he's gathered his thoughts again his emotions turn on him. He wanted to save Batman, he wanted to save bruce, he NEEDED to save his father. He couldnt let their last non brainwashed encounter have been an argument. He couldnt handle the confusion his contradicting emotions were giving him, HE needed to save Bruce to help them BOTH heal.

"Don't let her win. Don't let her take your soul" Dick exclaimed desperately, for himself, his father, and his baby brother.

"If anything I have cleansed it. I washed away his trama. Finish them!" Talia buts in, taking a few steps closer before isuing the command.

Dick needed to try harder, he wasn't going to give up.

"You brought us all together because you understood our pain...our lonliness...better than anyone could!" Dick kept pushing. Batman begins stuggling, mouth contorting into a scowl, the gun shaking in his unsteady hand. Dick hadn't noticed, eyes screwing shut in his desperate need to have his voice break through his father's brainwashing.

"We needed family. We needed you" Bruce's mind was becoming more clear, he grunts strenuously trying harder to drop the gun in his hand. A feminine and irritated voice barking another order at him in panic but it goes unheard through his struggle.

"You're not just a mask, you're a man...........The best man I've ever known" He said it. He was also proud of it. He knew deep down it was the most truthful thing he would say about Bruce but in the instant he acknowledged that truth he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with relief. The mental stress he had been feeling for months now seeping out of him like a hole in a balloon thats about to pop. But it was short lived as Bruce was finally able to take control of the arm holding the gun pointedly at his youngest son.

Bruce brought the end of the gun under his chin during his internal stuggle to regain control, slowly stepping back from the other three. A gasp from Talia and a desperate "No!" from damian told Dick that he wasn't done yet.

"Can't fight it!" Bruce gruntled out as Nightwing was finally able to stand, turning his attention on Bruce and his back on Talia.

"Yes you can dammit! For the little boy who lost his world in that alley" Dick was almost there, he could feel it, he just needed a bit more.

A slight clink came from behind Dick but he failed to notice.

"Enough!"

BANG!!

 

 .........................................................

 

Two hours later and Dick finds himself on a medical bed inside the batcave, his mind a flurry of emotions, thoughts, feelings....all covered in a odd haze. He could guess he undoubtedly looked very out of it as he was pulled back to realtiy from a snapping in his face.

Dick looked up and relaxed. Bruce, other than mentally exhausted stood perfectly alive and well in front of him. Bruce held a grim expression on his face as he focused soley on Dick. Dick knew that was his face of worry.

Dick shakes his head to rid his mind of any left over haziness from earlier and trys to focus on what bruce was saying.

"Dick, status report" Translation: "Dick, are you ok?" Dick chuckles lightly, almost quiet enough that Bruce doesn't hear it but his smile gives him away. Bruce adorns a look of 'what, are you on joker gas or something?' 

"Im fine Bruce, a lot better than I have been for a while" Dick replies light-heartedly as Bruce shrugs off his seemingly weird behavior and continues working on patching up Dick's arm before having had to snap him out of his daze. The moment is silent but comfortable as they strangely find themselves enjoying each others company. After the whole ordeal with Bruce's brainwashing and the things Dick had said to bring him out of it, they had started their path to repairing their damaged relationship.

"Dick?" Bruce calls quiet but serious.

"Yeah, Bruce?" Dick answers.

"....."

"Thank You"

Dick's eyes widen for a second but then dissolves into one of the most real and happy smiles he's had in a long while. He looks up at his mentor and father with somthing a kin to love but not quite, lighting up his eyes to their old vibrant blue.

"No problem, B" 

A slight and fatherly smile creeps its way into bruce's expression at Dick's old nickname for him that he hadnt used since he was 13.

 

This was exactly what him and Dick had needed.

Chapter 3: Your Choice/Idea

Summary:

Your Choice/Idea
"the batfamily giving dick a hard time, either being mad and him or underestimating him, until something happens to show them they are wrong and that he is very competent and that their actions are affecting him negatively
Or just them assuming he is perfect until he breaks and they find out he is more traumatized then all of them.
Very broad, just some ideas! I just feel the batfam doesnt appreciate dick enough, or treat him well, and assume he is weak. I love it when they are proven wrong"

He was the golden boy.

.... 

The first robin.

.... 

The cheerful one.

.... 

The perfect one.

 

Yet he was far from perfect, he was far from golden, and he was far from cheerful. In fact, he was probably the most broken out of them all. The "Perfect" mask he always wore that no one else knew about wasn't even perfect because you could, at certain times, see the small cracks hiding at the edges. So what would happen if those cracks became more and more obvious? Bigger, larger, stretching all across his precious mask until it can't hold together any longer. Afterall, even the prettiest of ceramics crack under pressure.

 

..........................

 

Dick was exhausted, wanting nothing more than to pass out in his bed at the manor. He had been summoned to gotham by the big bad bat to help him with a case he had been working on. When Dick asked why he couldn't do it himself he was met with a harsh "I can't be in 3 damn places at once, just get over here". So once again the perfect first robin was back in gotham helping his oh so caring Daddy Bats and his baby brother with a case. Jason and Tim were, reluctantly, working a lead on Ra's Al Ghul while Cass, Duke, stephanie, and Barabara were working on their own projects. Of course Dick had also been busy with something but there's no way the Perfect golden boy would do anything except drop everything and run home to daddy.

This case they were in now that he had been called in for invlolved activity of a new gang in town, dealing explosives and run of the mill drugs. Intel said that this gang leader had a reputation for being pretty damn good at his job, having even trained his own men. Looks like this is gonna be another all nighter, he was going on number 4. This had "Terrorist Bombing" written all over it. You can imagine Dick's excitement as he sat in the shadows atop a roof across from the target warehouse, waiting for Bruce's signal. The plan had been to stake out in different positions to find out anything they could and assess any situations they happen to find involving the perp, afterwards they'd take down the baddies and confiscate the goods. The explosives were the high priority since they didn't know if they were ready to blow or hadn't yet been prepared, so Bruce had ordered not to immediately engage if any one of them found the bombs. 

Lucky Dick that he's the one to find the explosives, eyeing the henchmen as they mess around in the crate sat in front of the warehouse to the left of the target. Dick reaches a hand up to his comm as he continues serveiling the situation.

"B, Nightwing here" 

A crackle sounds out over the signal before a voice pops in.

"Report" Bruce instructs gruffly.

"I found the explosives but there's guys rooting around in the crates, I think they might be preparing them for the deal which will make them an even bigger threat. Im thinking of stepping in..."

There's a pause, silence taking over the other end before Bruce's curt answer.

"Agreed, intervene with caution and disarm any threat. Keep it covert, we don't want to alert the whole place, Batman out"

"Copy, Nightwing going in"

Dick disengages from his comm and looks for a route to get to the crates covertly. There were two rows of warehouses in the specific section he was looking at, he was on a warehouse in one of the rows. Warehouses identical to the one he was on were placed side by side a ways down both the left and right of his position. The second row was directly in front of him, the original targeted warehouse directly in front with more lined up down both sides. In between the two rows was a wide space meant for loading and unloading trucks, with several light posts that eliminate most shadows to hide in. Dick looks to his left to see the warehouses going pretty much all the way to the end of the dock, thats where he'd go. He quietly makes his way to the back of the structure he was on and silently flips to the ground, then runs behind the buildings to get to the last at the end of the dock. Thankfully there are plenty of extra crates scattered around the end of the dock so he won't be in the open for very long at a time.

Swishing and ducking to and behind every other crate, he keeps a trained eye on the men with the explosives. There were 5 men total, 4 huddled around the crates while one stood off to the side between the doors of the two buldings with a large rifle in his hands. Idealy, he'd be able to get behind the other row of buldings to sneak up and take out the guy with the gun but his path to the back area was blocked by equipment and more crates that were stacked in a way he couldn't flip or climb over. Having snapped his grapple line earlier he inwardly curses at himself, a crack in his "perfect" mask growing slightly bigger but remaining unnoticed. Dick makes due with taking out the first 4 as trying go for the other one without the back pathway would get him seen anyways. 

Dick readied his new sleek black escrima sticks once he got to the crate closest to the group as he could without being noticed. He estimated he could take out at least two of the five before the other three could react. He was about a warehouse length away and could close the distance rather quickly, so tensing his body for the nearing fight, he jumps out from his hiding spot. 

He charges at the first two, spining his Escrimas before griping them tightly as he threw a high and powerful kick to the closest thug. Flipping around he uses his other leg to take down the second closest guy on his other side. Like he had expected the other three were now putting up their defenses, the closer two pulling out identical knives as the one with the gun rushes over. Dick's attention is peeked as his comm lights to life while he takes on one of the guys with a knife. This guy immediately seems better skilled than the other two as Dick finds himself stretched thin focusing on his assailant, the gun, the other guy with a knife, his movements, and the racket in his ear. Dick scoffs at the thought, this was nothing for him.

"Robin here, situation has changed....a buyer seems to have shown up in the target building and him and the leader are making their way towards you, engaging now...what is your status?" Damian's young and serious voice comes through the comm. Dick grunts as he gets knicked in the side by his attacker's knife, Surprised it had been able to tear through his reinforced suit and taking note that their weapons were also high quality. He flips backwards to gain distance and answers Damian on his comm with a short reply of "Busy". He knows Damian will note the shortness and volume of his voice and determine that Dick is also engaged with his targets and not using stealth.

It doesn't take Dick too long to get the upper hand on his surprisingly skilled thug and sends him to the ground with a jab to the chin with one of his escrimas. He turns his head to his left just in time to see the guy with the gun taking aim. Shots fly around him as he jumps and flips out of the way of the bullets but still getting slowly closer to his new target. Dick groans in surprised pain when a bullet grazes his thigh. He grunts even more when he lands on his legs again but notices its pretty shallow, continuing to run at the henchman. Dick notices the gunman slowly backing away from his earlier position to back behind the crates, still a few several meters away from dick who was now just 2 crates away from the explosives. 

That's when the thug does something that unusually causes the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end, he ran. Dick ran after him a few steps before a faint beeping interuppted his movements. He turns his head to the left towards the crate of explosives now right next to him, his heart pratically jumping out of his chest. A bomb sat stuck to the side of the crate, 12 seconds on its timer. 

"Nightwing!" Bruce. His head whipps up to see Bruce and Damian runing directly at him, unaware of the immediate threat. 

11.

Dick springs into action, frantically looking at his surroundings and dropping his escrimas to yank the three unconscious thugs up and throwing them in the other two heroes direction. He then eyes a heavy weighted metallic tarp from its spot over some crates and pulls it free. The explosives crate is considerably closer to him and the end of the dock than where the other five people are currently located.

10.

He flings the tarp at and over Bruce, Damian, and the three men who were still several yards away, successfully trapping them under the protective layer.  

9.

He turns towards the end of dock, the timer seemingly speeding up. 

8. 

7.

Anxiety quickly shoots through his body.

6.

He books it for the water.

5.

His body feels slow, like trying to run in a dream while youre heart is pumping a thousand beats per minute.

4.

He jumps over the first of the crates. The sting from his earlier injuries suddenly screaming at him.

3.

He jumps the second set.

2. 

His foot steps past the 3rd. 

1.

He jumps from the dock. 

 

  ...............................

 

Dick is forcefully jerked from unconsciousness as gut wrenching and wet coughing shakes his body, him immediately turning onto his side as he empties his lungs of murky water. Dick's brain was completely scrambled, his head hurt like hell, his hearing muffled and ringing, his arm throbbed painfully, and something ached horribly in his chest. His body trembles violently, less so from tempature because of his temp regulated suit, and more from the trauma his body had just experienced. Once his coughing dies down, confusion and anxiety hit him like a semi truck going 90mph. Once his mind is finally able gather the pieces of what he'd been doing earlier, he's able to feel the hard concrete beneath him and his tight Nightwing suit hugging his body. The confusion receding ever so slightly he notices his heaving breathing as he lays limply on the ground, his hearing coming back to him slowly.

"Ni-!"

...

"Night-!"

"Nightwing!" Dick jolts at his code name. Bruce? Thats good, taking that as having successfully protected him from the blast. He slowly attempts to open his eyes from where his head lay exhasted and limp on the concrete. 

"Br-Nightwing" Bruce interjects to stop Dick from saying his name. Dick manages to gaze up to a figure kneeling over him, the soft glow from a street light behind them.

"Nightwing, what's your status? Do you think you can stand?" Bruce asks hurriedly as his face enters Dicks hazy vision.

"B-urg-headache....chest hurts....arm hurts" Dick struggles out as he slowly tries to sit up and take in his surroundings, breathing heavy and labored. He takes a look at his surroundings to see hes on the dock he had just jumped off of. The ground was slightly charred, the crates obliterated and remnants scattered everywhere. He doesn't look around for long as a wave of sudden dizziness has him squeezing his eyes shut and his body swaying slightly to the right, griping his head in the process. He then feels a smaller body press against his right that helps to steady him. Dick glances down at the smaller body through squinted eyes to be greeted by Damian's masked scowl.

"Alright, a bullet wound, a knife wound, 1 or 2 cracked ribs, definitely dislocated right arm, and symptoms of a mild concussion" Bruce rattles off the list of his injuries as he gives him a quick physical check over, his voice hard and seemingly irritated. Dick takes a good guess that he'll be gettting a scolding once they get back to the cave, his frown deepening at the thought. Another crack in his "Perfect" mask doubles in size but is still barely noticable.

"Can you stand, Nightwing?" Bruce asks as he finally stops poking and proding at Dick's sore body. Dick's mind suddenly becomes intensely alert as the muddle from earlier abruptly vanishes.

"Yeah, I can stand.....what happened to the thugs?" Dick asks as he shifts to a crouch before slowly standing from the ground, griping his right arm. The other two vigilantes rise from their kneeling with him as their expressions seem to hold irritation. Dick doesn't know what do with the emotion their faces are portraying and resigns to taking in his surroundings again. The place was barren of every single crate except for the discared pieces laying about on the ground, only a few of the light posts were still lit, and the three heroes were the only living things in the area. 

"We captured the buyer and his men along with a few of the gang leader's men, we called GCPD before making our way over here. The leader and the two you were fighting managed to escape and the three you took down will need medical attention when the police arrive" Damian informs strictly, kicking at a piece of blown up wood.

"The call we made was anonymous though Gordon will still know it was us, we should get moving" Batman added, he gives both of the youngers a look before turning his back on them and heading to the spot they had hid the batmobile about a block away. Dick bites his lip anxiously as he watches Damian start to follow, seemingly thinking he's completely fine after basically drowning. Dick clutches his arm tighter and takes a tender step forward, legs feeling like jelly but otherwise stable.

 

...................

 

They Jump out of the batmobile as it parks inside the cave, Bruce and Damian making their way to the changing room and lockers. Dick quickly makes his way to one of their private medical rooms to tend to his injuries. He immediately sets his shoulder back in place once he closes the door to the room, slamming his shoulder into the wall with a muffled shout of pain. Alfred wouldn't approve his methods but its not like he had anyone to help him, he manages on his own just fine because the perfect boy wonder doesn't need help. Dick grunts as he flexes his arm at the slightly lessened pain and grabs the supplies he needs, setting the equipment on the bed before starting to undress from his suit. Once he is just in his skin-tight boxers he drapes his suit over a spare chair and sits down on the side of the bed so he can get to work. Both the knife wound in his side and bullet graze in his thigh will need stitches, starting on the knife one first. 

The painfull tightness and stinging as he closes the wound make themselves apparent, dressing and wrapping his side before then moving onto his thigh. He gets the injury on his thigh stitched, dressed, and wrapped quicker than the first, likely because of the easier reachable location. He cleans up the bloody thread and needle and then goes to checking the condition of his ribs. Using palpatations with his first two fingers, he determines that he'll need to do a loose compression bandaging to help immobilize the area. Based off the pain it looks like he was dealing with two cracked ribs but nothing broken, compression wrapping will do more harm than good for broken ribs. Grunting from the ache at the tightness around his sore abdomen he finishes wrapping his torso, putting away the rest of the cleaning supplies and grabbing a pair of gray sweatpants from the cabinet. Dick heads back to the bed after slipping the pants on and sits back down, his head dropping into his hands.

Dick was completely exhausted mentally, emotionally, and physically. Bruce and Damian hadn't said a thing about his sacrifice to throw the tarp over them, not that they had to since he cared too much about them anyways, but they also hadn't even come to check on him since they got back a little less than an hour ago. He looks to the clock on one of the counters, having lifted his head from his hands. 11:40 pm, they had come back unexpectedly early. Dick thought about getting something to eat, since he hasn't had anything for almost 2 days now but was interuppted by a hard knocking at the door. 

"Dick, we need to talk" Bruce's irritated tone comes through the door before heavy footsteps can be heard fading from it. Dick tenses slightly before sighing and grabbing a black t-shirt then leaving the room. His heart starts racing, his anxiety rises, and impatience grows as he steps into the main room of the cave, the large bat computer lit up from diagonally in front of him and to his left. In the bat computer's chair sat bruce, who had moved it back from the computer, and his baby brother standing to his side. Bruce's eyebrows were scrunched in an exasperated frown and him and damian were in clothes similiar to his. 

"What the hell happened out there!?" Bruce scolds angerly, not moving from his laid back position in his chair. Dick inwardly winces, he'd guessed that's what this was going to be about. He quickly explains what had happened between their talk over the comms and when he saw them before the bomb had gone off, Bruce's scowl slowly worsening.

"How the fuck do you miss a bomb right next to you Dick?! You're trained better than that!" Bruce tenses before abruptly standing from his chair, continuing to yell at Dick. Another crack sprouts from the corner of his mask's eye, much larger than the earlier ones and much too noticable. He ignores it.

"I agree, you were not at the top of your game tonight, Grayson. You will need to make sure it doesn't happen again" Damian adds after a pause in Bruce's lecturing. This crack hurt, stretching across his whole mask. His chest throbbed at the comment, replaying in his head how his baby brother had just had to scold him for his mistake. Dick wants to argue back, he wants to say he couldn't have done anything else in that moment, but then that would tarnish his perfect pupil image that he was supposed to be.

"Right. It won't happen again, Ill get to working on finding out where the gang leader went right now" Dick answers, trying his hardest not to let the emotion into his voice, he could handle this, it was just a scolding, he'll be fine. The perfect golden boy will be fine. Another crack.

Bruce gave an approving nod before going back up to the manor with Damian trailing behind, likely to go have the dinner they hadn't been able to get earlier. Dick grabs the chair once they had left and brought it up to the computer to start working, pushing the hunger, pain, stress, and emotions to the back of his mind.

 

.................................

 

Its been a month since the bomb incident and his injuries from that night were completely healed, having been replaced by more bruises from other patrols. The gang leader had definitely been good at his job, having successfully evaded them and stayed hidden for almost a month. That is until they had caught him just now, the three of them watching as him and two of his thugs are put into the back of a GCPD truck. Dick is relieved that this case is finally over and he can return to bludhaven. For the duration of the month they've been trying to find him they've been going on patrol together, each one of these patrols consisting of him making small but noticable mistakes. Luckily he had only earned two more smaller cracks in his mask, having decided to try and avoid the rest of his family until he could go back to bludhaven. He still hasn't been eating or sleeping nearly as much as he's supposed to but he could make do since there were more important things to attend to. 

The mental and physical stress also hasn't died down since then either. He had thought he was doing a good job of hiding it but worried looks from Alfred, Babs, Cass, and Steph made him suspect otherwise. He hasn't noticed the signs all over his body that are giving him away. His eyes are a dull bluish-gray, dark circles underneath them, he has lost weight though not so much people will notice at a glance, and his complexion is an odd pale look. 

With his mind a in daze with such thoughts, him, damian, and bruce make their way back to the cave after having completed their night of patrol. They get back to the cave rather quickly and change out of their suits, making their way up to the manor to get some rest. Its currently 6 in the morning and they are all excited to have the day off.

Dick heads straight for his room without bothering eat something and plops tiredly on his stomach on his bed, sleep grabbing hold of him almost immediately. 

He wakes up by himself in the same position he started in, his room holding a comfortable silence. He slowly sits up and checks the clock on his dresser, 8:12pm. He then gets up and goes into his bathroom to wash his face and change into different clothes that had gotten sweaty due to nightmares. Nightmares that had started a week before.

He leaves his room and heads towards the dining room where he suspected dinner was just about being served. When he gets to the door he can hear friendly banter and laughing coming from inside, chest throbbing in pain at the sound of his family. He hesitantly opens the door and steps in, only a few eyes shooting up to look at him while the friendly atmosphere remains mostly unchanged. 

"Whats up Dickie, you're late" Jason calls out from his seat where he's fighting Damian over some chicken, waving his fork in victory before stuffing the meat on it into his mouth. Dick tenses before adorning his usual cheerful smile.

"Haha, yeah, last nights patrol completely wiped me out. My bed all but kidnapped me" Dick tries to joke as he takes his seat in between Bruce, who sat at the end, and Jason. He quickly notices Bruce's penetrating gaze as he watches him dish out his, rather small, portion of food.

For the rest of dinner Dick doesn't day anything but makes sure to keep a smile on his face, the comfortable atmosphere only making him relax slightly. The dishes and food are cleared a while before anyone starts leaving, resigning to stay and talk. The first to leave is cass, followed by steph, then Babs, and finally Alfred to go start cleaning the dishes. Its at this time that Dick decides would be a good time to excuse himself too, until he is stopped by an unsusually serious voice amidst the play.

"Stay, I wanna talk some more with you" Bruce says, expressionless. Dick looks at Bruce expectantly from where he stood next to his chair, then watches him give the other three boys a look and them nodding in return. The banter and cheerful atmosphere quickly vanish from the room, replaced with a solemn but awkward silence as his brothers shift to sit correctly in their chairs. Dick's anxiety spikes, they're all in on it.

"Dick, we've noticed the mistakes you've been making on our patrols, they need to stop" Bruce demands harshly, surprising Dick. This crack comes up from his chin though small.

"We've also noticed you haven't been taking care of yourself lately..." Tim adds.

"Which will affect your performance in the field" Damian finishes.

Two more cracks, larger, one going over his nose and the other straight through his left eye. Dick's mind is frantic. He seems to be struggling proccessing what they are saying. His heart gets faster with every beat, chest aching from their words.

"Its part of your responsibility to keep in shape to avoid complications on missions, you should know this" Bruce's voice interrupts. He did know this. How could he let such a thing stain his perfect image? Ridiculous. Another crack splints of a tiny piece of his mask.

"C'mon DickieBird, this ain't like you" Jason. Jason. His little wing. This crack was the largest, going all the way across his face like Damian's had but smaller ones sprouting out from it. 

Oh

He understood now. What they were saying. That they had noticed his mistakes, noticed one of the cracks in his mask and now were going to kick him to the curb. He's not what they thought he was, he's not perfect like they thought he was. 

He's not perfect.

"If you keep making amateur mistakes like this we'll have to bench you-" His mask shatters.

Tears stream down his cheeks like waterfalls causing his brothers and even Bruce to flinch. His legs begin trembling and he struggles to stay standing but failing miserably as he falls to his knees. One hand slaps over his mouth while the other death grips the edge of the table, panicked shouts from his family muffled by the ringing and his own heavy breaths in his ears. 

He's not perfect. He's not perfect. Dick's thoughts frantic, he starts babbling through his sobs.

"I-......sorry- I'm sorry.......I- perfect......perfect......I- be perfect promise.......dont g- rid...I perfect.....I'm.....-"  Dick breaks down harder, words dissolving into sobs as his body shakes and shudders.

 Bruce, Jason, Tim, Damian are huddled around him trying to find out what's wrong when their expressions contort into those of terrified and sad at Dick's words. The three boys look up to Bruce with heart wrenching expressions on their faces that seem to be asking him what to do.

Bruce's expression goes from shocked and horrfied to serious and sad.

"Tim, Damian, go get Alfred. Dick's having a panic attack" Bruce comands as he pushes them out of the way to get to Dick. He tries to talk to Dick, rubbing his back in soothing motions. Tim and Damian are about to argue but then bolt out of the room when they watch Dick collapse into Bruce's arms. 

"DICK!"

 

..............................

 

Dick wakes with a start and bolts up in a bed, flailing with the blankets around his legs in a panic. A gentle voice to his right has him coming out of his panic as two hands are placed on his shoulders. Dick calms slightly and looks to his right to see Jason trying to talk to him. Dick relaxes slightly at the sight of his brother and rests his back against the elevated bed, trying to listen to what Jason is trying to say to him.

"DickieBird! Its ok, Im here" Jason soothes, successfully slowing Dick's racing heart.

Dick looks around at where he is, sitting in the bed of the medical room he had been using since the bomb incident. He then brings a hand up to his face, fingers coming back wet. His mask was gone, shattered to pieces. Pain in his chest threatens to open the waterfalls once again but is interrupted by Jason.

"Hey! Look at me, its me, its little wing" Jason continued, trying to avoid another panic attack. He looks over his bother worriedly, noting his horrid apperance that the tears make look worse. 

Dick, successfully distracted, flinches when the door to the room opens and Bruce, Tim, and Damian walk into the room. He notices all their faces share a look of worry as they look him over, pausing on his new tears. Bruce grabs a chair to Dick's left and scoots it up to the bed, taking hold of his hand. 

"Dick, we need to apologize" Bruce starts, his expression sad and tired.

"We pushed you too far, thinking you were perfect and could handle anything when you really couldn't. We brushed off the signs as you doing whatever you wanted, we ignored the fact that you have breaking points too. We're sorry Dick....and we don't ever want you to try to be perfect, we want the amazingly imperfect self-sacrificing idiot that you are" Bruce says, eyes connecting with his and emotion ringing deep in his tone.

"Emphasis on the 'idiot' part" Jason adds before a smile creeps onto his face. "Who else am I gonna do stupid shit with" he continues causing a slight smile to slither its way onto Dick's face. After he proccesses their words he notices that they have fixed so many of his cracks already, though of his real face and not his mask. He looks over their faces, looking for more they might want to say. 

"Dick, I want to see you smile for real" Tim says sheepishly from at the end of the bed, eyes glistening with sadness. "I feel horrible for helping put all that stress on you to make you try to be perfect" He continues, looking up to make eye contact. 

No one says anthing, the silence stretching on. Dick relaxes in the silence and delves into his thoughts. He's confused to say the least. They hadn't wanted him to try to be perfect but they though thats what he was. He's conflicted, he wants to say it wasn't their fault, he wants to be angry for being put under such pressure, and he wants to just be alone. Yet what he feels overwhelming him at the moment is satisfaction. 

Dick relishes in the relief he felt that they didn't want him to be perfect, exhausted as he is. He knows things will get harder before they get easier because of the many things he'd gone through while trying to be perfect. The many things that he knows will have to be ground up much to his reluctance if he wants to get any better. He also knows he'll put up a fight too, as its his occupational hazzard that he keeps things to himself. He knows that this relief is from his exhaustion at putting on a mask and finally having given up when it broke despite his hard work to preserve it. He really has been broken.

"I-" Dick starts, voice unexpectedly scratchy. His brothers' and father's heads pop up to look at him expectantly.

"I don't know how things will turn out but......w-would you help me fix......things?" Dick finishes, uncertain and hesitant but desperately wanting to reconnect with his family. He watches as their expressions light up and confidence fills their postures.

"Of course we'll help, can't let you do any more stupid shit" Jason replies excitedly, a warm smile gracing his lips. Dick looks to the others as they all nod in agreement. 

He's in a vulnerable position thats messing with his emotions right now, so he knows he'll likely be angry at them later. Still he doesn't care as gives into the tight hug his brothers had pulled him into, sighing happily at the healing atmosphere in the room.

Things would get better.........hopefully.

Chapter 4: Touch Hungry

Summary:

"May I request the touch hungry card for Dick, with him really missing his parents and Bruce noticing and giving him a hug? Maybe a case brings up bad memories, or it's the anniversary of their deaths, or a birthday or something, and Dick just feels their absence and lack of affection they were so free with really strongly"

"Nightwing reporting, east entrance clear"

 

"Red Robin, north side is all clear"

 

"Hood, south side's good"

 

"Good, Batman and Robin going in west side, over"

 

The Bat team is currently staking out one of Cadmus' larger facilities, following a lead that suggests imprisoned test subjects are being kept at this location. The plan was to sneak in and find out if the lead is accurate and then if the circumstances provide, they"ll call the GCPD and free the prisoners. The lead had come from a leak in cadmus' systems that they had a breach in security, making it highly likely that they would be dealing with escaped and terrified victims. Batman and Robin are going in to scout before the rest of their gang of merry men join in, they're just waiting on Bats' signal. Based off the building plans they had gotten a hold of there were 8 stories but no basement, making sure to double check for underground levels as that has been a pattern for their past facilities if Project Kr said anything. Surprisingly, there are no underground levels what so ever, even the elevator is the right type for the 8 story building. The bulding is placed on the edge of the city and looks just like any of the other professional business buildings in the area. However, the floor plans of the place didn't make sense. To put it simply, there are 8 levels of the building but only 7 sets of stairs. So where's the missing set? The structure is large in perimeter along with height so the plans also included stairs in each corner of the building, each sharing the same missing stair similarity. There are only two elevators and they are on opposite sides of the building. 

Dick sighs tiredly as he flicks his eyes across the area around the east entrance, making sure to watch for any changes in the situation. He hasn't been feeling the aster lately even with his birthday coming up in a few hours. Its not like it's his first without his parents but for some reason he's not feeling at the top of his game because of it. He supposes its probably because with his birthday, comes the anniversary of their death just a few months later. He'd been thinking about it a lot lately and it had started to give him a new wave of depression. Not to mention Bruce had started giving him looks just a couple days ago, likely getting suspicious. He pushes his thoughts and depression to the back of his mind as he snaps back to attention because of a voice in his ear.

"The first floor is clear, only reception on this level. Continue with the plan and converge on your designated staircases, try to find where the missing stair is at, Batman out" Bruce's voice sounds out strictly before going quiet and 3 curt replies of "Roger" following. Dick drops his hand from his comm and jumps down off his perch of an abandonded storage unit, making his way towards the east door. He quickly picks the lock and slips inside, serveilling the room for any unexpected presences. 

Directly in front of him is a doorless doorway, nothing beyond it he could see from his position just inside the door. The rest of the room was pretty much empty except for miscelleneous storage items and a staircase directly to his right. Dick quickly makes it to the staircase and starts his way up but is almost immediately stopped by a large metal wall at the top of the second set of stairs. 

"Uh...anyone else meet a huge wall?" Jason's sarcastic voice pushes through Dick's temporary confusion. 

"Uh yeah, they must really not want their security breach to get outside" Dick replies and Tim gives a noise of agreement. 

"Same here, proceed with caution" Bruce comments and everyone gives their answers of acknowledgment, Jason's laughter and a worrying "Lazer time!" coming through the line before it goes quiet once again. Dick sighs exasperatedly before a smirk appears on his own expression as he takes out his own lazer cutter. Making use of the cutters quick-cutting ability, he cuts a Nightwing sized rectangle in the wall and pushes it foward. Dick swiftly catches the large metal piece before it has the chance to clang against the ground and silently lowers it to the floor. Dick steps inside and stops abruptly, looking to the corner directly in front of him in surprise. The "escaped and terrified victims" was spot on as he was now looking at two scared teenagers and one child standing in a corner together. 

Dick lingers on their appearances as if they have all the answers, in which they kind of do.They're dressed in very light purple T-shirts and shorts that have similiar designs to those you might see on mental patients. The two teenagers are girls, the one to the right being noticably taller than the one on the left. They look to be about 17-18 years old while the child looks to be around 8. The child in between the two girls has ears that are pointed like an elf's. He pauses at the boy's ears and realizes exactly what he's dealing with. Meta-Humans. When he looks back up to meet their eyes their faces relax and their postures loose their tension, the taller one seeming to light up with excitement. 

"Holy shit its Dic-" The taller one starts before smacking herself in the mouth, successfully stopping her own sentence. Dick's body tenses significantly. How the hell did this girl know his identity?! He thinks back to them being meta-humans and chalks it up to a new power, he suspects psychic/telepathic or premonitions/future visions. 

Dick presses his finger to his comm immediately after processing the situation, not bothering to introduce himself to the girls as they already seem to know he's not a threat.

"B, nightwing here, I've got civilians. Definitely the test subjects we had been tipped about but theres probably more up ahead.....and they're metas" Dick informs and he can pratically hear Bruce's detective mind going a mile a minute at the new information. 

"Copy, metas are too much for the GCPD to handle. Red Hood and Red Robin, you call the JLA and wait outside with the victims until Nightwing, Robin, and I are finished in here" Batman comands confidently, pausing for a reply.

"Will do, we've also found some, similair situation. Meta" Jason responds gruffly.

Dick takes that as his cue to continue and turns back to the three kids, walking over and extending an open hand to them."Why don't we get you three out of here" Dick smiles gently at the boy as he hesitantly looks between the two girls and him, taking his hand after deeming it safe. The taller of the girls suddenly bombards him in a tight hug and he smiles at the comfort he is able to bring them, helping them outside to Jason and Tim before going back up the stairs and further into the building. He encounters several more Meta-Teens and children on each level as he goes up each floor, telling all of them the directions to the exit he had made. He had found where the missing stair case was supposed to have been because of a large hole in the wall between the 3rd & 5th floors where the 4th had been hidden and where the Meta-Teens had escaped from. He quickly makes it up to the 7th floor as the amount of Metas he finds is coming to a slow. He rushes over to an older boy with cat ears atop his head who was helping an identical looking little girl off the floor after tripping, probably siblings. 

"Are you two alright? Can you get out of here by yourself?" Dick asks the older boy as he holds the younger girl close, nodding to Dick as he checks in with the girl. 

"How?" He asks simply.

"Just go all the way down those stairs over there. I made a whole in the metal wall so just go through it and right out the door at the bottom, my partners are outside to help" Dick explains and gestures to the staircase he just came up from. 

"Do you know if there are any others left up here?" Dick adds afterwards, trying to keep the urgency out of his voice. You wouldn't believe the amount of guards he started finding after going through that metal wall, he didn't want to be here if and or when they send in the cavalry. 

"Uh yeah, I saw Jon and lina heading up to the roof" The boy answers before grabbing the girl even closer and making his way towards the stairs. Dick turns to look after them and notices two black and lion styled tails flicking behind the both of them. Meta-humans really were next world stuff he thinks, raising an eyebrow at the sight before pressing a finger to his comm again.

"Hood, Red, Ive got two more coming. They said there were only two left on the roof" Dick states as he starts to check the rest of the floor to be sure and then making his way back to the stairs. 

"Copy, Superman, Green Arrow, cyborg, Green Lantern, and Canary just arrived and are helping with the evacuation, see you in a bit" Jason informs much to our relief that those kids would get proper care soon. I make it to the door on the roof at the same time as Bruce and Damian, pushing it open quickly after. They now stood in front of the door on the roof on one side, several yards expanding between them and the other side of the roof.

"Don't come any closer!" A young, frightened, and feminine voice rang out at them before they get the chance to do anything. 

Stood on the ledge of the roof on the opposite side as them were the two missing metas, one girl and one boy. The girl is obviously a bit older while the boy looked to be around Damian's age. The differences in their appearances quickly caught all three of the vigilante's eyes. Out of all the Meta's he had seen until now, the only difference he had seen was between the first purple clothes he had seen on the first three and the gray on the rest of them he had met. He had suspected the first three were colored differently because they were special test subjects compared to the rest, if that's the case then were these two the highest rank? 

They both wore replicas of all the other metas' clothes only this time they were white, their left sleeves having a blood red strip on the ends with bolded and black initials printed on. Straining his eyes Dick could see the girl's initials read "Pt". When he looks to the boy's his eyes widen in surprise. His read "kr" though both letters were lowercase this time. He quickly makes note of their physical appearances at this new information. The boy has black curly/wavy hair and looks to be a bit taller than damian, blue eyes decorated his face, large dark circles underneath them making him look older than he actually was, pale skin, and ever so slightly sunken cheeks. The girl looked similar but had green eyes and curly waist length red hair. Dick is pulled from his observing as he finally processes the situation. 

"Wait! We're here to help!" Dick persuades gently. If they were to jump now, non of the three vigilantes would be able to get across the roof and catch them will their grapple fast enough so they wouldn't hit the ground below.

"No you're not! You're fake! A trick! Another one of their tests!"

"We aren't another- No! We're done! We're getting out no matter if we fail your stupid test!" The girl interjects, slipping her foot closer to the edge of the ledge. The girl looks furious and exhasuted while the boy looks terrified but in agreement.

"No! Please! Everybody else is on the ground, getting help! Superman is there!" Dick continues, noticing a slight twitch from the boy at the mention of the kryptonian. 

"R-Really?" The boy stutters so quietly Dick almost missed it, though still giving the boy wonder a bit of hope.

"Yes! We're superman's friends! I'm Nightwing, This is Batman, and This is Robin. We're heroes!" Dick urges, watching the boy slink a bit towards them and hesitantly stepping off the ledge. 

"You? Y-you're a hero?" The boy, he just now remembers was earlier referred to as Jon, question Damian sheepishly. 

"Yeah, don't even have powers" Damian says trying to be nonchalant, arms crossing over his chest to try to hide his actual flustered reaction. 

"Another, older, boy with cat ears said your name was Jon, is that right?" Nightwing starts again, trying to keep his focus on both him and the girl. The boy had ever so slowly made his way to about 9 feet in front of Damian, eyeing him carefully. Seemingly having blocked Dick's voice out and focuses on Damian.

"You're a hero? S-so you'll help?" Jon asks, his earlier fear returning to his facial expression. Damian doesn't waste even a second to extend his welcoming hand out to the boy, causing him to flinch in the proccess.

"Yea, You're safe now" God is Dick proud of his baby brother. He was managing to deal with a very emotional situation like he hadn't been raised to kill without hesitation, it was a sight to see. The boy gingerly and hesitantly reaches out and grips the tips of Damian's fingers as he finally makes eye contact with him, his eyes briming with tears.

"Safe" The boy whispers unbelieving before non-surprising exhastion takes hold of him, his eyes rolling to the back of his head and collapsing into Damian's small chest. Aside from the medical the boy would obviously need after this, Dick releases a sigh at him being safely secured in Damian's arms. Though, his relief doesn't last as he turns back to the girl who still hasn't moved from her spot on the ledge. Her face was scrunched up in confusion and terror, seemingly searching her mind for something before it contorts into a furious scowl.

"No" She whispers and before Dick can process, she's disappearing over the ledge. A horrid and terrified shout rips its way out of Dicks mouth as he pushes his body to get to the other side of the roof, his legs feeling like they're moving at a turtle's pace. He makes it to the ledge and looks over just in time to see the girl's body hit the ground with a grotesque 'crunch' sound, causing his eyes to widen in horror and bile rise in his throat. Dick stares at the scene below for what feels like hours before he is suddenly falling onto his hands and knees, hunched over as his stomach empties itself of its contents. His earlier depression and dejected emotions came back abruptly like a ram barreling into him.

His mother's horrified face had flashed before his eyes in place where the girl's should have been. 

He then feels a firm shaking and pressure on his both his shoulders, trying to snap him out of his panic. He wants to lean into the touch, he wants to feel his parents loving arms around him again. Still, he can't have what he wants because there are more important things that come before his wants.

 

.........................................................

 

He is snapped out of his daze from the clinking of silverware on plates, looking around to see himself sat at the dinning table in the manor. He barely remembers what had happened after his little panic session. Obviously not by him, but the girl's body had been taken care of and the rest of the metas were taken to their relief center with Ed Dorado and his dad except for Jon who Superman had taken care of himself. 

Dick looks around at the others in the room. Bruce sat on one end of the table while he and his brothers sat on the sides, him and jason being the farthest from Bruce with Damian and Tim in between. He then looks down at his food, inwardly recoiling at the thought of taking a bite after his earlier experience. Ignoring his reluctance, he picks up his spoon and subtly pokes at his portion of mashed potatos since he didn't really want to let the others know about his little problem. Throughout their meal he's able to take occasional small bites of his food but leaving much of it left over by the time everyone else has finished, quickly excusing himself to his room afterwards. 

Once he's in his room and the door is closed he drops to the floor with his head in his hands, silent sobs raking through his back. He misses them. Yet he's confused too. He should be over it by now, it shouldn't have such a big affect on him anymore, their death was more than 11 years ago....so why? Why did he miss their touch so damn much!? 

He freezes at a knock on his door, sniffling quietly but the tears still flowing heavely down his face. He doesn't say anything, just listens.

"Dick?"Bruce's voice calls out softly. When he doesn't answer, he hears the click of the door opening a moment after and footsteps padding into the room before stopping right next to him. He can feel bruce kneel next to him before a warm hand is placed on his right shoulder, causing him to flinch. 

"Hey" Voice gentle and quiet. Bruce tries to pull him into his chest, him resisting at first but giving in almost immediately.

His cries break free once again, though no longer silent as whimpers and whines slip through his lips. He wraps his arms around his father's torso, grabbing like a needy child at the back of his shirt.

Even though this touch was different. Even though this touch wasn't from them. It felt so fuckin good to be held by his father.

It felt so shitting good to get the comfort he had been longing for for so long.

Whereas when he had given it to those three kids, it's him who was now devouring it like a starved animal.

 

And it was unlikely he'd ever get full.

Chapter 5: Scars

Summary:

"For the scars, maybe dick taking off his shirt in young justice and everyone is suprised at how many scars a young boy has"

Notes:

For this one Dick will be 17 but still as nightwing. The whole "getting in a fight with bruce and striking out on his own" thing still happened but with him taking on Nightwing while still under bruce's custody, thus the tension and contempt between them are high cause of how they're angry with each other but stuck living together for another year. Finally, since Dick is 17 he will look a bit younger and his chest and shoulders have yet to fill out completely.

"Miss M! 10 o-clock!" Nightwing yells to Meg'aan through the mindlink from his position on the battle field before taking down two of his own thugs. 

The team got a mission on another Kobra-venom operation and were fighting on the grounds outside another one of their bases. SB, Miss M, Artemis, and him were fighting the thugs while Aqualad and KF planted bombs to destroy the drug. Nightwing watches Meg'aan throw down the thugs to her 10 o-clock out of the corner of his eye to his left and smirks victoriously. 

His smirk his quickly replaced by a shout of pain as Mammoth rams into him, a large fist making contact with his left side and sending him to the ground. Mammoth picks him up by his neck from behind and holds him up for his teammates to see while he stuggles in his grip, his teammates halting their movements at the now hostage situation. Nightwing grunts from the pain blossoming in his side and the quickly decreasing amount of oxygen entering his lungs. 

"Nightwing!" He can hear his teammates yell worriedly through the mindlink, Superboy the only one with obvious anger in his tone.

Mammoth is then suddenly distracted as a flash of yellow circles its way around him and Nightwing, providing an opening for Superboy to body slam Mammoth across the field while dropping Nightwing in the process. Nightwing falls to his knees and elbows, coughing and gasping for air as his body heaves in the much needed oxygen. He notices Aqualad kneel next to him before starting to help him stand. 

"Nightwing, are you injured?" Aqualad questions hurriedly.

"No, Im good. Did you get the bombs planted?" Nightwing asks after recovering his breath, straightening despite the pain in his side that has likely turned into a large bruise if not a broken rib. 

"Yes, we are ready to move out. Our job here is done"Aqualad replies simply as explosions start to rumble from the base.

"Alright, Miss M get the bioship, we're gettin out of here" Nightwing instructs as him and Aqualad make their way over to their other teammates. 

They quickly board the bioship and take off from the kobra's now destroyed base. Nightwing sits stiffly in his seat, body tensed to avoid moving in a way that will agravate his injury. It doesn't take long for him to notice the anxious stares from his friends, turning to them while plastering a look on his face to make his friends think he doesn't know why they're staring.

"What?" He asks them, lifting a brow to further the ruse. 

"Are you sure you're ok Nightwing? You took a pretty hard hit.." Meg'aan starts, concern in her tone and expression that were mimicking the others on the ship. 

"Im fine, just a bruise. We get these kinds of injuries all the time" Nightwing states nonchalantly, shrugging it off against his body's protests.

"Uh yeah, a real nasty bruise, more like a "broken rib" bruise" Artemis cuts in snarkily, rolling her eyes at Nightwing's act before looking out the bioship's window to watch the cave's hangar door opening for them.

They exit bioship, still nagging about Nightwing's proposed injuries.

"Dick, com' on you might have a broken rib! You should get it looked at" Wally pesters worriedly as they walk into the main room of the cave. 

"Guys Im completely fine" Dick lies, the ache in his side slowly getting worse as he walks. He would need to leave before they noticed him starting to favor that side, he inwardly thanked that his mask hid his small wince.

"Dick, It is alright to admit when you have been hurt. We certainly do not think you weak because of it as we know through first hand experience how skilled you are" Kaldur assures as he places a hand on Dicks right shoulder and dawns a humorous smile, his remark causing a few snickers behind him.

Dick internally flinches at his words. He had felt a bit of the reason he wasn't saying anything was because he was one of the only two on the team without powers and the only one still underage. He felt he still lacked compared to them as he still got hurt when they were all completely fine, puttting a damper on his self-esteem even though he knew he was the most skilled of the team as he had bragged about it when he was 13. Still though, he didn't let his facade break as he put on an irritated and uninterested expression.

"Who's admitting they're hurt?" Batman's monotone and strict voice echoing through the room as he's walking towards them. 

Shit. Just freaking fantastic. Dicks thinks to himself, dying inside because of the fact that Batman will definitely notice his fake 'fineness'.

"Wing got hit out in the field and we think its worse than he's telling us" Connor states bluntly, giving Dick a look before glancing to batman.

Dick curses inside his head as he's met with a batglare from the oh so great bat himself just 2 feet away.

"Report" Batman comands, tone obviously not happy.

"Why? I thought you said I was gonna start leadi-Report!" Batman interupts, shutting Dick's mouth much to his irritation.

"We went to investigate the new kobra base and found more kobra-venom. When we confirmed the situation Miss Martian, Superboy, Artemis, and I distracted King Kobra's men while Aqualad and KidFlash planted the bombs to get rid of the Kobra-venom. While we were distracting the men in the field I got knocked down by Mammoth but we got him in a counter attack and left as the drugs were be destroyed" Dick reports, an angry glare directed at Batman the entire time.

"Mammoth hit him in the side and then almost choked him unconsious before we saved his ass" Artemis adds to Dick's irritation, him knowing that he won't be able to get out of it now that Bats knew mammoth had choked him too. But he certainly was gonna try. 

He shifts in his spot trying alieviate the pain in his abdomen but without letting the Bat's stare that he was now recieving see through it. Batman was giving him a once over, checking his stance, posture, facial expression, and the overall way he held himself. He saw multiple things he knew the rest of the team didn't.

"You're whole body is significantly stiff, you're wincing under your mask, and your left arm is further away from your body than your right as if to avoid touching a sensitive area. You will be going to the infirmary to get your injuries tended to" Batman deduces wisesly and comands angerly.

Fuck. Dick curses in his head.

"Im. fine." Dick accentuates heatedly, making eye contact with his 'former' mentor as he so put it. 

"No, Im not arguing about this with you. Let's go." Batman states in return.

"I can take care of myself!" Dick responds, his tone rising in volume. Batman is in Dick's face in less than a second, his expression unreadable to others but furious to Dick.

"Infirmary. Now." Batman commands. He wasn't playing around anymore. Dick would surely get smacked if he said anything else. Clicking his tongue in angry defeat, Dick turns his head to the side and breaks his challenging stare. He then quickly storms out of the room towards the med bay. 

................................

 

Batman and the team follow dick into one of the rooms in the med bay and watch him sit down on the bed with a huff. Dick's anxiety was starting to rise, not having anticipated the whole team to stay and follow after that tense argument they had just had.

"Shirt, off" Batman commands after checking somethings around the room.

"What?" Dick questioned nervously, glancing back at his team who stood back against the door to give them a wide birth. Dick was, to his surprise, afraid for his team to see his body. Over the years he had gotten so many injuries and scars from past mistakes, from things he could've prevented. He didn't want to think about his friend's reactions when they saw the just how many he had gotten, considering he's only been a hero for 8 years and was still pretty young. He could barely imagine the horrified and disgusted expressions on his teammates faces when they saw how mutilated his body had gotten without a sharp pain pulsing in his chest.

"Shirt, off, now" Batman instructed, more strict this time.

Dick hesitated, glancing between Batman and his team while nibbling on an invisible thumb in his mind. To everyone else though, this all happened in less than a split second and only appeared to be Dick getting irritated at Batman again. His heart racing in his chest, he stands and turns his back on his friends before taking his gloves off and starting to unfasten the top half of his suit. He lets the back slip off his shoulders and hears a small gasp from behind him, practically feeling the eyes behind him widen. The ache in his chest pulsing again as he slips his sleeves off and lets the stripped clothing drape across the bed in front of him. He turns back around to his friends and sits down on the bed at batman's blunt "Sit" and puts on another mask of an expression.

He made it appear as though he was irritated and bored when he was really actually scared to look up at his friends faces. Batman wraps a hand around the middle of Dick's left forearm, much to his reluctance, and holds it up and out of the way so he can work on assessing his peeved ward's injuries. A hiss of pain slips through Dick's lips as Batman uses two fingers to palpitate the large pink, gray, and purple bruise on his abdomen, obvious to the others in the room that he had been lying through his teeth about being fine.

Batman continues to feel around the bruise with his fingers a few moments longer before releasing Dick's forearm and pushing on his shoulder to get him to lean on his uninjured side. He places his whole hand on the expanse of the bruise and presses gently, checking again for anything that might be out of place and earning a few more grunts and groans of pain from Dick. After finding what he needed batman released Dick completely and then straightened himself as he thought. Because of their fight they had almost a week ago, Bruce knew Dick wouldn't have said anything about this injury, likely having made it worse. Though he quickly shakes the thought from his mind as the reason they were angry with each other resurfaces. 

"It feels like you've got a broken rib but I'll get some x-rays done just to be sure. In the meantime you are restricted to bedrest effective immediately" Batman orders before swiftly leaving the room. 

Now that Batman was gone, there was no one to distract Dick nor his teammates from the elephant in the room. They were still trying to grasp the sight they were looking at. All along the back and front of abdomen were tons of pale and jagged marks, littered everywhere. Some looked like knife wounds, others looked like they were from a gunshot, a lot of the middle to smaller sized ones were unidentifiable, and a couple of the biggest ones looked like they had been life-threatening to the point that they had wondered when and how he could've gotten them and recovered without having taken hardly any leave from the team. Even his arms had a few that were the smallest but still very noticable. 

While they were taking in his appearance a thought occured to them all at the same time, likely caused by mindlinking so much. 

If he had this many currently at 17, then how many did he have when they first met? How many did he have just one year after becoming robin? These questions hit Wally the hardest as he has known Dick a lot longer than the others and was also the first to know his identity. They were the closest of pals and while he had seen some of the marks he was suddenly conflicted that there was so much more he hadn't known about, that Dick didn't feel he could tell him.

After each of them sorted through these questions and came to their own personalized conclusions, they all came to an agreement. 

During the contemplating his friends were going through Dick's anxiety spiked at the awkward and tense silence, occasionally flicking his eyes up to look at his friends. He noticed several emotions flash across each of his teammates faces but there were so many and had left as quick as they had appeared that he couldn't describe what it was he thought they were feeling. Though his fear was telling him that they were horrified and disgusted like he had anticipated earlier. The anxiety getting the best of him, Dick gives in to his mind and body's protests and layed down completely on the bed that had been in the sitting position.

Though what his fear was telling him was wrong.

His friends were proud. They felt sad that he had gone through so much already, but they also felt overwhelming joy. Their youngest, powerless, member had gone through so much and had bounced back like it was nothing. He had been beaten down over and over and over again but kept getting up no matter how hard each task got. Even when it seemed like he woundn't be able to continue, he fought, he fought until his job was done and then some. He was a warrior and they weren't going to miss a single minute of him in action. They all thought of Dick's scars as his trophies, proof that he has won countless times, proof that he was more than worthy to lead their team more than ever. Even if he didn't think of his scars like that they wouldn't let him think down on himself or his scars. 

They all stepped foward at the same time, stubborn and determined smirks on their faces which makes Dick snap his head up to watch them. They surround Dick on the bed and take their seats next to him, each placing a hand on his bed. Wally and Artemis each placed one over his own hands, Kaldur and Meg'aan placed a hand on the bed next to his legs, and Connor rested his folded arms on the end of the bed from in his chair. Their smirks still stuck on their faces.

Dick looked around at their expressions, eyes wide. After only a second, his face softens into a gentle smirk of his own. They had seen through his fake nonchalant acting, they knew that his scars bothered him but they weren't going to let him think badly of himself anymore. 

They had seen through his attemps to hide the pain,

 

They had seen through his attempts to hide his anxiety,

 

And they had seen who he really was. 

 

They were going to stay with their fearless Leader and praise the trophies of battle his body held.

Chapter 6: Straigt-Jacket

Summary:

"Could I have a hurt/comfort with a straight jacket and like comfort/good ending?"

Notes:

Dick goes on patrol as an unknowing target for Scarecrows new fear gas

Dick flips to the next building, landing flawlessly before running to other side of the roof. He had left the manor not too long ago, having had to check in with bruce about a piece of evidence and now making his way back to bludhaven to patrol before calling it a night. His motorcyle had been in the shop the past few days so that left him having had to use his grapple to get to and from gotham tonight. He barely notices the "welcome to bludhaven" sign as he passes it for the millionth time while he jumps from building to building. 

Almost immediately after getting back into haven he sees two guys cornering a woman in an alleyway. Cliche much? He makes quick work of the thugs, jumping down behind them, taking them both out with one kick, tying them up, and then calling the BPD. He gives the woman a nod as she thanks him before taking off back to the rooftops. Dick was eager to get his patrolling done tonight because he had take-out leftovers and a soft bed calling for him at home. Unfortunately, his thoughts of going back to his apartment are cut short as he spots 3 more guys trying to break into someone's apartment. Once again jumping down behind the guys he activates the tazers on his escrimas before tazing two of them in the shoulders. 

Dick is taken by surprise when the third kicks the bodies of his now unconscious acomplices onto him, sending him to the ground with a grunt. Though it doesn't take long for him to get out from under the bodies and chuck an escrima at the third who was trying to run, successfully knocking him out too. Sighing exasperatedly, Dick grabs the third to tie together with the other two before calling the BPD again and continuing his patrol. This was going to be a long night, if the past 10 minutes indicated anything.

.......................................

Dick straightens from his crouched position on a roof, stretching his aching back. He had stopped another robbery a few minutes ago and was thinking of wrapping it up for the night. He had been out for about an hour and a half but had stayed a few minutes longer to see if anything else came up, taking the absence of criminal activity as his cue to head in. He's just about to head towards his apartment when a small noise from behind him has his body tensing and his ears on alert. He whipps around as gas is thrown in his face, causing him to cough and strain to see his assilant. Scarecrow?! Whats scarecrow doing in bludhaven, he usually sticks to Gotham?!

Dicks confusion about scarecrow is cut short when his vision suddenly gets blurry and wobbly, making him stumble around before falling to his hands and knees. What the hell?! This isn't fear gas, its a sedative! Dick thinks quickly as he feels his legs start to go numb, struggling to look up at scarecrow who was looking down at him and laughing maniacally. He suddenly blacks out as scarecrow delivers a painful kick to the face.

.................................

Dick wakes with a jolt, unnatural and massive amounts of fear causing him to look around frantically. Dick forces himself to calm when he remembers what had happened, immediately taking note of his surroundings. Hes in a dark room, no windows, and made completely out of brick. A door in the left corner of the room on the wall opposite him looked to be made of reinforced steel while he sat on a raggedy bed in the corner opposite the one the door was in. Dick realizes somethings wrong when he can't move his arms, making him look down at his torso in surprise. Black socks replaced his missing boots and a traditional white straight-jacket hugged his arms to his body. Shit. Dick curses to himself. From what he could feel his gloves were also gone, though luckily his mask was still stuck onto his face. He smirks at the thought of them having tried to take it off and getting electrocuted with enought voltage to send a normal human unconscious. He suspected that because Scarecrow was no longer a normal human, he was able to get pass the security on his boots and gloves but learning the hard way that the mask wouldn't be so easy.

Dick thought back to the straight-jacket that hugged his torso and crotch painfully tight. He didn't want to think about why they chose to restrain him in this rather than regular chains, it being scarecrow he was dealing with afterall. He shifted uncomfortable on the notably rigid bed-thing he sat on, earning a clinking sound to come from his foot. That's when he notices the thick and silver chain clamped around his ankle that tied him to the bed, surprised he hadn't noticed it earlier. Guess they didn't want him able to get far from the bed, using regular chains afterall and in addition to the other form of restraint he found himself in.

Dick suddenly noticed his anxiety was oddly spiking, though he knew there was nothing in the room that was going to harm him. Oh. They had already injected him with a dose of fear toxin while he was unconscious. He supposes he was lucky Bruce had taught him how to become mostly immune to the effects, though it only made sense to. His training had made it so he would know the illusions were fake, prevented him from gaining any side affects, and toned down the levels of fear significantly. 

He flinches as the door opening pulls him from his thoughts, looking up to see who was entering the room. It was scarecrow, the toxin in his system giving him a slightly more gory appearance than normal. Dick quickly noticed that Scarecrow was no longer in his scarecrow outfit but in one of the traditional and white arkum asylum employee outfits.

uh oh. If he had learned anything while fightly mentally compromised criminals, it was that this meant they were trying to convince him he was the crazy one. His breathing hitches as fear stabs at his mind, trying to take control.

No. He needed to calm down, letting the fear get the upper hand would only make it easier for the bad guys. He trained his focus back onto scarecrow as he approached with a black signature doctor's bag. Dick flickers his gaze from the bag in his hand back up to his face, expectantly.

"Hello and how are we doing today? Im just here to give you your medicine and make sure your jacket is doing okay so you cant hurt yourself, alright?" Scarecrow says trying to be welcoming as he sets the bag on the floor and puts on a pair of latex gloves. Dick eyes him wearily as he fakes a smirk.

"Com'on scarecrow, we both know you're not qualified to be a doctor" Dick jabs playfully. 

Scarecrow ignores his remark and pulls out a small remote with a single red button on it and then pushes said button. Dick shouts in surprised pain as electrcity jolts through his body, his muscles convulsing. He falls to his side on the bed, writhing in pain but trying not to give Scarecrow the satisfaction of hearing him scream. His body goes limp when the electricity stops, his chest heaving breaths exhaustedly. Where the fuck did that come from?! They had wired the straight-jacket?! He turns his head groggily towards scarecrow to watch him put away the remote and pull from the bag a sryinge with sickly looking yellow fluid inside. Dick grunts as he unsuccessfully wills his body to move as Scarecrow injects the fluid into the back of his neck. 

Scarecrow puts the now empty syringe back into the bag and removes his gloves. He approaches Dick again, hands going to check the straps on his arms and chest and then finally checking the strap going painfully tight underneath his crotch. God, Dick hoped Crane didn't get any ideas. To Dick's relief, Scarecrow backed away and grabbed his bag before heading towards the door. 

"Maybe next time we won't have to use the button, I'll see you for your next dose in a few hours" He said before finally leaving, locking the door behind him. Dick regained mobility not too long after that, his body trembling from the adrenaline of fear creeping its way through his veins. He was scared. He was scared because he didn't know how long it had been since he had been taken, didn't know if this fear toxin was the same or a completely different formula, and he didn't know how much of this he would have to endure before Bruce figured things out. However, what he did know, is that he wouldn't give an inch until then.

.................................

Dick was sat on his bed and slumped against the wall, his jacket still squeezing his body. He felt maybe it had been around 2 weeks since he had been taken but he couldn't really be sure since he had no way to tell time in his room. He also felt exhausted, his body and mind tired of fighting the dangerous levels of fear also stabbing at his brain. What was the bad part though was that after Scarecrow's appearance had gotten worse, it was now starting to morph into a normal face, into Crane's old face. He started feeling relieved, against his will, whenever he saw Crane's human face while everything else tried its damn hardest to worsen his fear. Even the walls were creeping him out, screaming ominous things at him. What did bring him comfort though, is that he still fought against him whenever he tried touching him without first imobilizing him with the remote. He had figured out that pressing the button once would start the electricity and it would last until you pressed the button a second time. He found that out when he had been able to get out of his chain and had tried to get to the door after kicking Scarecrow but ending horribly. 

If Dick estimated Scarecrow gave him the toxin every 3 hours then that means he was getting 8 doses per 24 hours, he was surprised he was still alive. Or he would be if he hadn't thought of the likely possibility that it was a new formula that had a shorter time period of affectiveness. Along with this new formula they were testing on him they also made sure not to miss out on beating the shit out of him whenever he tried to escape or retaliate, which resulted in the current twisted ankle and dislocated shoulder. 

Dick jolts, much to his injuries reluctance, as a new fearful tingling touches the edges of his mind. Something didn't feel right, his breathing suddenly getting faster. He had just gotten another dose of toxin maybe 20 minutes ago, he suspected that it was the cause. Fear suddenly attacks his mind, giving him a headache and causing him fall to his side with a groan, his back to the door. His body shakes as moans of pain and whines from fear slip past his lips, him curling into himself in the process while struggling against the straight-jacket imprisoning him.

Sounds of commotion outside his room go unnoticed until a loud boom has him flinching from fear and huddling closer to the wall, his head hitting the corner gently. He trembles in his spot on the bed as heavy footsteps make their way to his position. A hand being placed on his shoulder causes him to jolt fearfully before turning to see who had touched him. Dick recoils severely, slamming his body back against the wall behind him.

Standing over him was a black mass of a demon, eyes red, jagged toothy smile on its face, and two black horns on its head. Dick froze as a cry of fear flows out of his open mouth, tears starting to steam down his cheeks. He had no way of fighting back, this thing was going to kill him like he was a bird with an injured wing that could do nothing but fail and fail as it tried to fly away. 

It broke Bruce's heart to see his bird broken the way he was now, restrained like a crazy person, trembling and scared on something you could barely call a bed. Shaking his head to clear such thoughts away, he focuses on the chain around Dick's ankle and quickly pulls out his lazer cutter. He cuts the chain from his ankle and then focuses on trying to calm him down.

"Nightwing! Nightwing can you hear me!?" Bruce questions hurriedly.

Dick jolts in surprise, this thing knew his codename? Dick shakily looks the creature over once again, the fear being supressed ever so slightly. The similarities told him immediately what this thing actually was, causing him to gawk in disbelief.

"..-b-B?" Dick asks quietly, voice shaking. The creature reaches its hands out to his jacket, quickly unfastening it and freeing his arms. The demon wastes no time in embracing him once him arms are free, causing him to flinch at the movement. "Dick!"

Dick sobs in relief, wrapping his uninjured arm around the frightening figure. "Bruce!" 

They sit in each other's embrace for several moments until Bruce pulls away. Dick gasps as he looks at his now normal appearance.

"Com' on, lets get you out of here" Bruce says as he untangles the rest of the straight-jacket and throws it to the ground.

"B, m-my ankle" Dick stutters as his body continues to tremble.

Bruce nods before grabbing Dick's uninjured arm and slipping his hand under him to hold his waist. Bruce took note that he felt thinner along with more fragile and it didn't feel right, it felt horrifying to him. He quickly helps Dick to the batmobile that sat outside the concrete warehouse Dick had been imprisoned in for more than half a month, securing him in his seat before taking off to the cave.

They arrive at the cave not 5 minutes later thanks to Bruce's illegal driving and exit the vehicle. Jason, Tim, and Damian's eyes widen and expressions contort into fear when they see Bruce carrying an unconscious Dick, princess style, into the main room of the cave and towards the med bay. Bruce ignores the questions he is bombarded with by his other three sons and continues to lay Dick onto a bed in one of the medical rooms in the cave's med bay. 

The boys knew that Dick had gone missing and they all had been looking for him that night when Bruce said he was going to try looking around at a few of the possible locations they thought he could be at. They hadn't heard from him the whole night until just now when he came in with their ragged looking brother in his arms.They all silently set their anger towards Bruce aside as they focused on watching Alfred tend to Dick's wounds. By the time Alfred was done, they had a complete run down of what had happened. He had been scarecrows test subject to try his new fear toxin formulas. Fortunately, his injuries only included a sprained ankle and a dislocated shoulder that Alfred had already braced and set. They all knew there would be likely side effects from the amount of fear toxin he had been injected with that they'd have to make a new antidote for.

Its barely been an hour since he was brought back when he starts waking up, having been changed into a t-shirt and sweats.

Dick slowly pries his eyes open and takes in his new surroundings, flinching at what he sees. Gathered around the bed hes layed in were three similar looking bird-robin demons. The one to his right had a mostly red body, the one to his left had a mixture of red, black, and green, and finally the one at the end of the bed was mostly gray with a splotch of red on its chest. Dick concludes rather quickly that these must be Tim, Damian, and Jason. Diverting his attention from his brothers, he looks down at his body to assess the damage he was feeling. His ankle was in a brace, his shoulder felt it had been set back in place, and his arms were horribly sore from staying in one position for so long. Dick notices oddly shaped indents and bruises on his arms that momentarily confuse him until he pulls his shirt up to see more on his torso. They were from the straight-jacket, having worn it so tight and for so long it had imprinted into his skin He could only imagine the kind of bruising he have from the strap lower down.

Dick pulls his shirt back down, before looking up to his brothers once again. Hes plesantly surprised when the illusions start to wear off and he can make out the distorted human expressions of his little brothers, realizing once he could that they all held sadness. Dick smiles sympathetically before opeing his arms. Tim is the first and fastest to gently hold him in a hug, damian slowly walking over and leaning against his uninjured shoulder, and lastly Jason coming over and connecting their foreheads.

"Its good to have you back Dickhead" Jason whispers simply.

Dick smiles harder as his eyes close happily.

 

Chapter 7: Insecure/Insecurity

Summary:

"Dick is wondering if Bruce really cares about him because Dick is the only member of the batfam who Bruce never adopted, he was only his ward"

"Father! Why did you complete this case on your own?! I could've solved it much faster!" Dick looks up from his spot in the bat computer's chair to see Damian walking into the cave after bruce, both in their suits. Dick's chest twinges at the title Damian uses for Bruce. 

"Because, Son, it required more delicacy and maturity than you possess" Bruce replies, putting emphasis on the 'Son' part as he slips off his cowl. He was trying to make it obvious who the parent was and who was the one in charge, seemingly not in the mood to argue. Dick continues watching as Damian gives Bruce a challenging stare before clicking his tongue and turning to head upstairs. Dick's attention is then turned to his left by a snicker coming from the cave's hangar they had just come from. He watches Jason emerge from the shadows, his helmet in one hand while a smirk splayed across his face. 

"Well, pops, I'll think thats the first time you've successfully reigned in the demon" Jason comments much to Dick's disdain at the nickname and sets his helmet on the edge of the computer's counter. Bruce only gives an annoyed stare as if saying "you're not far off from your brother so you can't really talk" before turning towards the changing rooms and lockers. 

Dick inwardly winces at the look Bruce had given jason, having known what it was saying. He had been weirdly sensitive to such nicknames and references about their relationships. It reminded him of his situation as being the only one Bruce hasn't actually adopted and was, to his surprise, effecting him mentally. He suspected dark circles had started to appear under his eyes and his smile seemed a bit forced. He had been fretting over this for almost two weeks now. Dick wanted to talk about it with Bruce but was unsure if it was really neccessary after having mended things from the fight that caused him to strike out on his own. Though, despite having mended things and growing slightly closer, it seemed like instead of being irritated with Dick all the time like before, he was now just dismissing him completely. 

Its safe to say that Dick had decided against saying anything and has thus let it eat away at him. Dick turns back to the batcomputer just as bruce steps out of sight into the changing rooms, continuing to work on the files he was looking through before he was interrupted. He didn't have time to worry about such stupid feelings when he had the Bat's expectations to meet. 

"Dick" Bruce's voice startles him slightly, turning back around to see Bruce coming back out of the changing room, still in his suit. 

"I need you to watch the boys for the next couple of days, the JLA just made an emergency contact, Im needed right away in metropolis to help superman with something" Bruce informs as hes looking down at his communicator, a bag in his other hand that probably contained a change of clothes. Dick nods but isn't even acknowldged as Bruce quickly makes his way to the batmobile, throws the bag inside, hops in, and then the wheels can be heard screeching out of the caves hangar. 

"and so we're left with the nanny" Jason jokes, laughing as he starts his stroll to the stairs. Dick recoils at his own nickname, having thought of something more like "Brother's night out" but had just been shot down by Jason's retort. Dick sighs tiredly before looking miserably back up to the files on the screen, shutting the computer off and standing to head upstairs. 

He walks into the dining room to see Alfred just now placing plates of food in front of Jason, Tim, and Damian who had shoved three chairs to one side of the table. Dick plasters a fake smile on his face before reluctantly taking the one left over chair opposite the other three and then being met with a plate of his own. 

"So, what's the object of destruction this time?" Dick tries to joke, as the last several times they've been left alone something had been broken. 

"Todd has bet that I cannot destroy Drake at his new gaming console, thus we will be holding said challenge after dinner" Damian responds, unsually formal. Dick's fake smile threatens to fall at the throb in his chest, focusing on the thought of them having left him out. 

"Hey, Dickie?" Jason's voice pulls him from his momentary depression, turning his head to look at Jason. Damn. He must not have been hiding it well enough, if Jason and the other two's expressions were anything to go off of.

"You look like somethings bothering you, and so help me if you try to lie to us Im gonna shoot you in the foot" Jason demands, Dick believing he'd do just that. Dick thinks for a minute, lips pursing in a grim line before finally deciding to say anything. 

"Its nothing really.....but...you guys think of me as your brother, right? Even though Im no...." Dicks words fade out as he looks down at his plate of half eaten food, secretly nervous of their reaction. 

"Well no shit, what else would you be?" Jason sparks. 

"An infruitating one" Damian adds. 

"An overbearing one" Tim finishes.

Dick hides his surprise at their reactions. He knew they wouldn't say such things that he wasn't their brother but he still found himself shocked at their reassuring replies. Dick sprouts a small but real smile and tries to stifle a laugh.

"Right, duh......mind if I join you for those video games? I bet I could destroy Jason" Dick suggests, a mischievous smirk swallowing the earlier timid one. 

"Oh you're on!" Jason says before standing and runing to the living room. Dick looks to the other two before they all collectively jump up and sprint after jason.

"Todd! Dont you dare touch my green controller!" Damian shouts as they run through the manor halls.

Dick notices that his earlier anxiousness about his brothers not thinking of him as their brother gets smaller and smaller throughout the couple days bruce is gone, getting closer to them in the process. However, his insecurity about what Bruce thought of him got worse and worse. Dick kept going around and around in his head, trying to figure out how Bruce thought of him. He knew bruce thought of him as the first and perfect robin, the disciplined one compared to the other three, but what he wanted to know was if Bruce thought of him as nothing more than his first robin or if he thought of Dick as his eldest son. Dick kept going over the experiences he's had with Bruce ever since he took him in, from when he met him to when he became robin and then to now in the present. All these thoughts scrambling in his brain only made things worse until the one question came up that had halted all his other thoughts.

Did Bruce even care about him?

Sure Bruce had always gotten upset when he almost died from an injury in the field, but how sure could Dick be that it wasn't just because he didn't want to loose his prized first robin? The only thing Dick can think of to support the idea that Bruce did care was the fact that he took him in when he was 9 to begin with. Though, over the years Dick didn't think Bruce was now caring for him because he wanted to but because his robins were his responsibility that he couldn't just throw away like it was trash day. Even if he had in fact tried to throw one away in the past and had resulted in Dick leaving on his own in the first place. Dick wanted it to stop, wanted such thoughts to stop. All these things going through his head were resulting in worsening any earlier lightly depressed moods he was having, successfully drowning him in official depression. Depression of which climaxed once Bruce had come back from metropolis. 

All four of the boys are down in the cave, concentrating on their assigned work as they wait for Bruce to come back. Dick was once again in the batcomputer's chair, working on his files when the batmobile came squeeling to a halt in the cave's hangar. Dick doesn't move from his spot in the chair when his brothers do and he also doesn't put up his usual facade. He watches silently as the other three batboys walk over to greet bruce as he appears from the shadows of the cave's hangar but then quickly trains his focus back onto the batcomputer's screen.

Dick doesn't want to put in the effort of listening to their conversation, that would likely make him feel worse, and does his best to ignore them. Which doesn't surprise him when his off behavior is noticed and is pulled to attention when his name is called, turning around in the chair to face Bruce and does his best to plaster on a cheerful persona.

"Yeah B?" Dicks responds, fake enthusiasm. 

"Once you're done with your work you're free to go back to Bludhaven" Bruce comments, half his attention on the other three boys as he makes his way with them to the stairs. 

"Uh yeah, will do" Dick struggles out as he quickly turns back to the batcomputer to hide the pained look of his expression. God, he wanted to say something so badly, he wanted to ask so badly, but his anxiety was utterly devouring him, it having been easier to talk to his brothers because of their better maintained relationship. He didn't want to admit it, but deep down Dick felt scared of what Bruce might say and that only made his inner struggle harder to deal with. He didn't know what to do. Dick forces his gaze to stay focused on his files as Bruce takes his brothers upstairs without another word to him.

A fews hours after they had left Dick hits a rough spot in his work, slamming his fists down on the computer in frustration. Frustration of which that had finally added too much stress to his mind, tears slowly forming in his eyes. Dick curses under his breath and furiously attempts to wipe away the tears, his depression now taking him full force. This causes his earlier thoughts and questions to resurface, the tears flowing faster and his head dropping into his hands as his shoulders shudder from an occasional sob.

Bruce cared about him, right? But if that was the case then why hadn't Bruce ever actually adopted him? He wasn't technically family, he wasn't actually his son. He didn't stop trying to wipe away the tears until a voice from behind made him freeze on the spot, hearing footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Hey Dickhead, you didn't hide my real bullets again did yo- Dickie? Jason interrupts himself when he looks up from examining his fake bullet magazines to see Dick hunched over the computer's keyboard. Dick knows jason hasn't seen his tears yet but he knows that won't last much longer as he can hear the footsteps getting slightly faster and closer to him. Dick dries his tears as quickly as humanly possible before he half turns himself/ is half pulled around to face Jason, eyes glossy, red, and puffy. 

"Dickie whats going on? Wer-were you crying?" Jason questions, expression srunching into a worried look as he immediately takes note of the condition of Dick's eyes. Dick flickers his gaze away from Jasons, already embarassed at being caught in such a state. This one was going to be rather difficult to get out of, if he even got out of it at all.

"Uh...yeah, just frustrated....and tired, my work is taking a lot longer than I expected" Dick supplies, his expression mixing exhaustion into his depressed appearance. Jason adorns an abrupt look of skepticism before looking up to glance at the files on the screen.

"Dick, this is amateur stuff for you, simple descrambling, you should've been done with this in 5 hours tops but you're going on two whole nights now.....what are you actually upset about thats making this stuff frustrating?" Jason interrogates, looking back down to Dick from the computer and his earlier skepticism turning into a more reprimanding look. Shit, Dick curses. He anxiously adverts his gaze and bites his lip as he tries to think of a more believable excuse. However, Jason isn't taking any shit as he takes a creepily accurate guess as to why his DickBird is sobbing in the cold and dark cave all by himself. 

"Its Bruce isn't it? What you were worried about with us...you're insecure about him too..." Jason suggests, taking care to watch Dick's movements closely for any signs that he was right on the money, and if Dick's wince had anything to say, he was. Jason flinches suddenly when he watches a single tear fall down Dick's cheek, Dick turning his head back to look at Jason and making eye contact. 

"I'm not actually family Jay......Do you think Bruce even cares? Cause he never adopted me.....?" Dick urges. Jason feels a throb of pain in his chest at Dick's words, having asked himself that question just a couple years ago. Jason Pulls Dick towards him so his face gets burried into the stomach of his hoodie, sobs raking through his elder brother not a second after. 

"Of course he cares Dickie.....Id be damned if he didn't care about you, after all the trouble he went through to get me back, theres no way he'd give you up for anything" Jason comforts, wrapping an arm around Dick's shoulder and rubbing his back with the other hand. Jason inwardly saddens at the gut wrenching sobs slipping through Dick's lips, avoiding thinking about how long he's been antagonizing himself with such thoughts. Jason tightens his grip on Dick slightly while he stands as silent support for several long moments until they are interrupted by another presence. 

"Jason, you better not be interrupting Dick's work to find your bul-.....Whats going on here?" Bruce also interrupts himself when he sees the position Jason and Dick are in, his expression going from mild irritation to angry and worried. Dick flinches at the sound of his voice, not moving a muscle aside from gripping onto Jason tighter and keeping his head burried into his stomach. Jason looks from Dick to Bruce, refusing to say anything as it wasn't his place and sighing exasperatedly before peeling Dick's arms off him.

"It'll be fine Dickie, just tell him what's been on your mind" Jason whispers as a places a hand on Dick shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze, then letting go and leaving towards the stairs. At the loss of his little brother's presence Dick drops his hands between his legs, fidgeting anxiously under Bruce's gaze once Jason had finally left the cave. Bruce looked him over. He looked tired, depressed, his eyes red and puffy, and wet streaks still shown upon his cheeks. Bruce was very confused, what had be going on to the extent that Dick was crying like this?  Bruce sighs tiredly before walking over and kneeling in front of dick, placing a hand on his left knee and watching as Dick's gaze flickers from him to the floor. 

"What happened?" Bruce asks, barely noticable worry in his tone that is mostly covered by urgency. Dick bites his lip again but this time hard enough to draw blood. He was definitely scared now. He just wanted to run away, hide from any confrontation and push away such feeling and thoughts that hurt him. Obviously, though, that wasn't going to fly at this point because he had been caught. 

"I- Do....you care about me?" Dick chokes out, putting in extra effort to avoid making eye contact. He felt stupid that such thoughts had turned him into a sobbing mess. He was Nightwing, the first robin, and personally trained by The batman, something like this shouldn't have any effect on him. Yet it still was and had been.

"Dick. Of course I care about you, why would you think otherwise?" Bruce comforts, taken aback at such a question. He notices Dick sag in relief before looking back up with another question in his expression.

"But you never officially....adopted me..." Dick mumbles the last part but know Bruce still heard it as he sees him stiffen at his comment. 

"Thats whats got you upset like this? Oh chum....it doesn't mattter if you're adopted, biological, or a ward, you have been and always will be my son" Bruce assures, dropping any facades he may have been holding as showing how much he truly cares for him through his tone. 

"Dick tears come back with a vengence, but this time because of relief and happiness as he yanks Bruce into a hug. Bruce doesn't hesitate to hug back and patiently waits for him to calm before speaking once again.

"How about tomorrow we go and make it official? Tomorrow is your birthday afterall, I think that would be a sufficient present?" Bruce suggest, happines and warmth in his chest at having been able to successfully comfort his son. He releases him as Dick pulls away with a chuckle, wiping away the remnants of his tears.

"Yeah, Id like that.......pops" Dick adds snarkily, imitating Jason's earlier mock. 

Chapter 8: Separation Anxiety

Summary:

request “separation anxiety” with Dick and Jason? Possibly something along the lines of Dick getting grabbed by human traffickers or something on his way back to his apartment (in Blüdhaven) from either his day job or one Bruce’s dumb galas and Jason is the (only) (maybe have Dick and Jason be almost Dick, Wally, and Roy levels of close?) one to realize that Dick is missing a week later ‘cause they were s’posed to hang out only Dick never shows so Jason starts looking and when he does find and rescue him (possibly up to two months later?) Dick panics (severely) if Jason gets out of arms reach, much less leaves Dick’s line of sight, and no one else in the family (including Alfred) can be in the same room as Dick with causing severe panic attacks that only Jason can calm him down from?"

"Hey Jay, I wanted to know what you wanted to do for your birthday this friday?" Dick asks Jason over the phone as he types on his his computer. He had still been at the precinct wrapping up a few reports when the reminder for Jason's birthday came up on his cell. It's only wednesday so there are still two days before then but he's too excited to wait, birthdays being one of the only excuses to hang out with his brothers without them complaining too much. Jason's only turning 20 so he still has another year before he and Dick can celebrate with drinks, so Dick's thinking something like a movie night with pizza delivery. He finishes his reports rather quickly and stretches in his chair with a happy groan. 

" haha I know you love the attention, besides would you rather spend time with me or have The bats make you go out on patrol with Damian" Dick teases with a chuckle as he closes his computer and stands, throwing on his coat that had been hung on the back of his chair. 

".........Alright, alright fine Dickie......what did you have in mind?" Jason chuckles lightly at his light attempt to say no being shot down rather quickly. He did actually like the attention so he wasn't wrong but that didn't mean he was about to admit it, except for eagerly throwing away his earlier excuse of having lots of work.

"I was thinking maybe a movie night? Get some pizza delivered..." Dick suggests as he grabs his keys and heads to the exit. 

"Stuffed crust?" Jason inquires.

"Always" Dick supplies, an excited smirk splayed across his face. He checks his watch as he clacks down the steps to the building and starts towards his car on the opposite side of the street. 8:12 pm. A late night for him, which means he'll only have about an hour once he gets home to change, eat, and change again before going out for patrol.

"Alright then...my place this friday...ok...see ya" Dick says his goodbyes before hanging up the phone and fumbling for his car key as he nears his car door. Dick then hears a soft shuffle behind him but before he can turn his head, large arms are wrapped around him and a cloth is being shoved painfully hard against his mouth and nose. He struggles a few moments before managing to throw the figure over his shoulder and to the ground. However, even though he's managed to get his attacker off of him, the drug on the cloth is already taking affect. He falls foward onto his hands and knees, caused by having thrown the larger man, and struggles to steady his vision and escape the sudden drowsiness. He's then suddenly picked up by the back of his collar and propped so he's sitting on the ground against his car. His vision still swimming, he looks up to see a second large figure kneeling in front of him, an amused expression on his face.

"Now now, be a good boy" The second man says before placing a new cloth to his face. Stuggling to process, he doesn't think to hold his breath to buy time, but instead grabs the arm holding the cloth with both hands and attempts to pull it away from his face. Whatever this stuff was, it was much stronger than chloroform, because not even two seconds later Dick is already half unconscious, another two putting him fully under. Dick's eyes slip closed, his hands slip off the arm gripping his face, and his body slumps against the car as he finally falls unconscious. The two men exchange a look, acknowledging their acheivement before continuing.

................................................................

 

"You said it was nothing!" Jason exclaims, out of breath and fists clenched. Tim and Damian give him a look before sharing one with each other.

"Said what was nothing?" Bruce asks irritated and in a low tone. 

"Dick's missing! He hasn't called me when he was supposed to and its been almost 2 days now! He hasn't been to work since last wednesday and he wasn't at his apartment today!" Jason says heatedly, looking to each of them to gauge their expressions and reactions. He turns to Bruce expectantly when he sighs and grips the bridge of his nose.

"Its only been 2 days, he's been gone for 2 weeks and come back perfectly fine. You're over-reacting" Bruce responds nonchalantly, focusing back onto the bat computer's screen. Jason boils at his response. He doesn't even care! 

"We were going to celebrate my 20th birthday at his place two days ago, on friday" Jason adds. This causes Tim and Damian to perk up, knowing full well how Dick never missed out on celebrating their birthdays with them. Though, despite this, they weren't fully convinced yet. 

"C'mon Todd, spoiled much? You can't expect Grayson to be free every time. Even he can't make it sometimes, albeit very rarely" Damian argues, taunting him with his usual firey comments. Jason was so done with them. He turns around and marches to the hangar and his bike in a pissy stomp. It hadn't even been 10 minutes since he got there but he already knew they weren't going to be much help. He needed to find Dick, and if it mean't he'd have to do it alone, so be it.

 --------

Its been a month, 2 weeks, and 1 day since Dick's disappearance. Jason slumps over his safe-house's computer, stubble on his chin and dark circle's under his eyes. His anxiety had kept rising and rising once the one month mark hit, trying harder and harder to find his elder brother. He didn't know why he was acting so severely. It was true Dick had been missing longer than a month in the past and Jason hardly batted an eye, so what confused him was that it felt natural for him to fear for his brother now. He supposes because back then, he wasn't nearly as close to Dick as he was now, thought of him more as a slight bother than an actual brother. He had manged to slip into Dick's apartment and logged everything he had found. Every single one of his Nightwing suits were there, along with all three sets of escrima sticks. He noticed Dick's badge, gun, tazer, and work shoes were gone, not to mention there were only 4 sets of his Police uniform, thus missing a day's worth of clothing. He knew this mean't Dick had been kidnapped right after he had gotten off work after his phone call with him. This also means he had been taken as Dick Grayson and not Nightwing. Jason curses in anger as he slams down his energy drink after taking a swig, he hoped to his own damn ressurection that he'd find him soon. 

 

................................................................

 

He has to stay strong

His family will come save him, Bruce would save him. 

......... 

 

Then why hadn't he?  A question rang out in his head. 

 

......... 

 

'what?' He questions himself.

 

......... 

 

Who knows if he'll actually come?  The voice adds.

 

'No...He'll come, I know it'

 

......... 

 

Why fight so hard when theres no definite chance he'll save you?  The voice bagders. 

 

'No. No, I'm Nightwing, I'll be fine....He'll come'

'Im always fine'

 

A realization hits him, terror clawing its way through his mind.

 

You're Dick Grayson, not Nightwing

Bruce saves Nightwing.

Batman! saves Nightwing! Not Dick Grayson!

 

He's not coming for Dick Grayson!

 

'no..' 

 

You don't have to do this.

You don't have to fight..

 

Nightwing fights

Nightwing protects

Nightwing is FINE

 

Dick Grayson is beyond repair

 

.....................................................

 

Dick sat huddled and trembling on the floor in the corner of the room, a chain clamped tight around one of his ankles that connected to the center of the wall. It had been a while since the whipping he had gotten. He must have been misbehaving to get such a punishment, he degrades himself. They had also taken his pants away, not that he deserved pants anymore. He sat with his back against one wall while the side of his body touched the connecting wall in the corner. His knees were brought up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them and his head. He shook violently from the cold of the room and the fear ever encompassing his mind. He flinches when he hears the door creak open slowly. He keeps his head down and huddled into his knees just how they like it, until he hears footsteps right next to him. 

He snaps his head up, eyes wild with fear and tears in the corners as he prepares his body to try to scurry away. He doesn't look up far enough to see the man's face but he knows its not Them. This man wore black military style pants, a Brown jacket, and gray chest armour with a red symbol on the front. The man tries to grab hold of Dick's shoulders but Dick is too focused in his fear in trying to get away to listen to what the man is saying. The adrenaline his fear is giving him is likely the only reason he isn't paralyzed with pain, given the state of his body. He muffles protests through sobs, weakly trying to fend the man off with pathetic strength. 

"DICK! It's me!" A familiar voice shocks him into stilling. He slowly looks up, tears immediately flowing from his eyes at who is in front of him. He was scared to believe that Jason was actually there, only for him to wake up to more pain, but at this point he didn't really care anymore. He lunges foward and burries his face into his younger brother's chest, sobbing wetly into his armour. Jason was stunned to say the least. He knew coming in that Dick might be in bad shape but he hadn't expected this. Though, he susposes he already solved part of the problem, if the bullet in Their head was anything to go by. He knew he was going to get into a fight with Bruce if he found out but what was important right now was getting Dick to his safe-house and his injuries tended to. Jason reaches around Dick's smaller frame and pries the chain open and off his ankle with his pocket knife. Once the chain is off Jason carefully picks Dick up bridal style and books it for the exit. 

....................................................................

 

It been a few hours since Jason had gotten back to his Safe-house and Dick was currently passed out and connected to several monitors on his bed. The whip marks, burns, and bruises aside, he had 4 broken ribs and a broken ankle. With these injuries he should heal pretty quickly unless there is internal damage caused by his broken ribs, though Jason had checked and was relieved to find nothing else had been damaged. Jason glances at Dick once more before sighing and getting up to get him some water and food for when he wakes. However, not 4 minutes later a pained cry and a loud thudding has him rushing back into the room. 

Jason's eyes widen at the heart breaking scene before him. Dick is now on the floor, tugging frantically at the wires connecting him to the monitors. His eyes were blown wide with fear, tears streaming down his cheeks, and his chest rising and falling with obvious hyperventilation. Jason hurries over and kneels next to Dick who starts babbling once he sees Jason. 

"Go?! Where'd you go?! Don't go!! Don't go Jason!! Pleaseplease dont- don't go!...I'll be goo-... dont-shhhh its ok Dickie! I'm here, little wing's right here, I won't go anywhere I promise..." Jason shushes him gently to calm his breathing, pulling him into a tight hug. It only takes a couple minutes of Jason rubbing circles into his back for Dick to calm down enough to pull away from Jason. Dick shakily moves back onto the bed, exhaling heavily as his gaze flickered between Jason and the floor while his hand gripped Jason's wrist needily. 

Jason had really hoped there wouldn't be too severe after effects, but that obviously didn't happen. He could have just panicked after waking up alone, but it was likely that this would turn into separation anxiety if the symptoms he's showing are anything to go by. He'd have to stop by the manor so Alfred can properly diagnose him and likely do a better job at assessing his injuries. Though, that would come after he's recovered some, maybe after his ankle heals. He turns his focus back onto Dick who was still a bit shaky and gripping his wrist even harder at the tense silence. Jason sighs before leaning foward and pulling Dick into another, shorter hug and pulling away to finally make eye contact. 

"It's okay, you're safe now, he can't get you anymore" Jason assures further, noting Dick's grasp tighten at the mere mention of that bastard. Jason smiles comfortingly, but with a look of sorrow in his expression that hides under the emotional mask. 

"How about I get you something to eat?" Jason suggests. He watches Dick start to nod eagerly but stops himself, hesitating, before shaking his head no. Jason quirks an eyebrow up in confusion. 

"What's up? I can't imagine they fed you much" Jason questions, eyeing Dick's obviously starved torso. They probably only fed him enough to barely keep him alive, so they could keep toturing him. 

"Stay..please" Jason hears a quiet and timid voice mutter next to him. Now he didn't know what to do. Dick definitely needed to eat something very soon or else his condition would never get any better, but if he was going to have an anxiety attack everytime Jason gets out of reach like Jason thinks he will, then this could get complicated. It'd be easy to just do it while he's asleep but if he keeps waking up to Jason being gone and continues having attacks, then that would also do nothing to help his condition. Not to mention even if he did suceed in leaving and coming back before he wakes up again, the more Dick eats and rests, the more he'll recover and the more he'll be awake. Jason didn't want to take any risks right now with how fragile his state of mind may be in and with his body full of injuries. Jason sighs exasperatedly, rubbing his forehead with his freehand before pushing his hair back and out of his face. 

At this point, he has no choice but to go the manor right away, more for Dick if not to let him get some rest too.

Fantastic. 

Jason once again pulls himself from his thoughts to look at Dick, then turning to look around the room to see what he may need to pack. Medical, Clothes, toiletries, and food will be already at the manor so he supposes he'll just need to get his Red Hood stuff, his keys, and then get Dick and him dressed to head out, all while remaining in arms reach of each other. Jason grumbles as he looks at the scattered items that he'll likely have to carry Dick to each in order to grab. A thought crosses Jason's mind, that maybe he's over-reacting. Its probably too early to correctly say whether or not Dick has separation anxiety. Though, he supposes even if Dick doesn't have separation anxiety, the death grip on his wrist thats causing his hand to turn slightly red wont really let him get out of arms reach anyways. Jason finishes deciding his next move before moving to remove the leads to detach Dick from the monitors, picking him up bridal style to carry to the first item while the grip on his wrist doesn't falter in the slightest. 

He quickly gathers his things in a duffel bag, then dresses Dick and him in his clothes before slipping on his shoes and heading out the door, pausing to lock it. He shrugs the bag onto his shoulder and adjusts Dick in his arms before trudging his way to his rental car. He pauses once in front of the car and sets Dick down on his good ankle. He'd have to risk an anxiety attack in order to put Dick in the passenger side and go around to the driver's seat. He hurries to get it over with and approaches the passenger side, setting Dick inside before prying his hand off his wrist, and closing the door. 

Dick can immediately feel fear clawing through his mind and his vision darkening at the sides once the car door closes. Before he can register what's happening, he feels a hand on his left shoulder and whips his head to see Jason looking at him with a soft but sad expression. This is when he notices his breathing had become erratic and labored and he had started to babble in a quiet but panicked mutter, though he almost immediately starts to calm when he realizes Jason was right next to him again. His hand goes to clamp down onto Jason's wrist again, like reflex. Jason glances at him sadly before throwing his duffel into the back seat and starting the car. 

It doesn't take long for them to get to the manor, parking quickly and moving swiftly to get them inside. Jason decides to take the cave entrance to show those 3 exactly what their laxed behavior caused. He's met with 3 pairs of wide and surprised expressions when he walks into the cave with a now unconsious Dick in his arms. He gives them a glare before heading up the stairs and into the manor and heading straight to his room. He lays Dick on his bed and takes a seat on the side before sending Alfred a quick text to come to his room, with medical. Not 5 minutes later Alfred's knocking on the door with all his medical supplies in tow. Jason glances at Dick before calling out to tell Alfred to come in. 

Alfred opens the door and steps inside with his cart of medical supplies, stopping abruptly when he spots Dick on Jason's bed. Alfred quickly shuts the door and rushes over to the bed, giving Dick a good once over. 

"Master Dick!? Where have you been!? I haven't seen or heard from you for 2 months now!" Alfred exclaims worriedly. Obviously Bruce didn't tell him anything. 

"He was kidnapped Alfred, when he didnt show up for my birthday I knew something was wrong but Bruce didn't seem to care" Jason explains solemnly, looking right into Alfred's eyes with burning emotion. Alfred adorns a look of bewilderment before his expression grows angry. 

"I suppose I'll have a scolding to deal out later now won't I?" Alfred states questioningly before turning back to his cart to grab what he needs to start his examination, Dick now once again awake and watching Alfred blankly. 

"Im gonna go get him something to eat, he's been showing signs of separation anxiety so you won't be able to leave his arms reach once Im gone" Jason explains before standing and taking Dick's hand off his wrist once again, then swiftly leaving the room. He gets halfway to the kitchen before he hears Alfred shout his name and he's sprinting back to his room. He bursts into the room to see Alfred kneeling on the floor to the side of the bed, Dick stuggling to sit up while he clutches his chest. 

"He's hyperventalating! He started panicking as soon as you left but I couldn't calm him one bit" Alfred explains quickly as Jason makes his way over and takes Alfred's place beside the bed. He grabs both of Dick's wrists to help ground him and starts trying to talk to him. 

"Dick! Im back! Im back! Its Jay!" Jason starts with a slightly louder tone to get his attention before pulling on Dick's wrists and enveloping him in a tight hug. Dick resists slightly before his arms are wrapping securly around Jason's back and he's burrying his face into Jason's chest. He shakes violently as he attempts to reign in his breathing, Jason rubbing circles into his back soothingly. Jason looks up from Dick in his arms to see Bruce, Tim, and Damian standing in the doorway behind Alfred, scared and horrified expressions on their faces. A mix of several emotions swirl into Jason's mind. If Alfred hadn't even been able to calm Dick down then no one else in the manor except him would be able to. He looks back down to Dick to see he has mostly calmed down, tears staining his cheeks. He's only had 3 attacks but that one was by far the worst, he looked almost to the point of passing out if he hadn't stopped hyperventalating. Jason was just glad that his presence seemed to be enough to get him to calm down, for now at least. 

Jason shifts to get on the bed with Dick in his lap, he had his eyes closed and head leaning on Jason's shoulder as he tried to rest from the attack, panting slightly. Jason looks up to Alfred and gestures for him to continue his examination. Jason then brings his attention to the 3 figures still in the doorway, expression hardening.

"What the hell do you want?" Jason asks angerly, looking between the 3 of them.

"What happened?" Bruce is the first to ask. 

"He was kidnapped, tortured for 2 months, I found him and patched him best I could at one of my safe-houses" Jason explains briefly, the tone of his voice not giving them an inch. It was at least half their fault that Dick had been totured like he had. If they hadn't ignored the signs and helped Jason to find and save Dick from Them, then its likely he wouldn't have been there for more than a month at the most. It was obvious by the condition of a lot of his injuries that they would have saved him a lot of pain if they had saved him a month earlier. Still they acted like nothing was wrong, acted like they didn't care something was probably wrong with the only person keeping this family together. Jason almost couldn't handle talking to them, especially with what their carelessness caused. 

 

----------------------------------------

 

Its been 1 month and 3 weeks now since Dick came back and can now walk on his own. Though, just because he can walk on his own, doesn't mean he's any better. He follows Jason everywhere making sure to atleast be holding onto his shirt at all times. If the circumstances where different, it'd be almost cute. Though the near damn seizures Dick goes into when he can't for some reason get to Jason quickly makes it not so cute. 

He's also not talking much, which makes things tense around the manor. Very rarely Dick Will zone out into a flashback of his experience while kidnapped and eventually escalate into a panic attack. Now whenever he starts to zone out, Jason has to pull him into his lap, wrap his arms around him, and rock them back and forth to snap him out of his episodes. 

While they dont know exactly what Dick went through, the injuries scattered around his body and whip marks on his genitals tell them more than enough.

Despite the things they know probably happened to him and their new routine of doing basic tasks, Jason can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just yesterday Dick weighed 5 pounds more than what he was before he got kidnapped, and not only said how happy he was, but showed it too. 

Jason couldn't contain the exhilaration he felt when the corner of Dick's mouth upturned the slightest bit. The first time he looked anything but terrified for almost 2 months since his rescue. He sighs contentedly at the memory and rests his chin onto Dick's shoulder. Dick was once again in his lap but this time they were just relaxing, and if it meant Dick wouldn't accidentally lose his grip and panic then he wouldn't mind putting up with a bit of "cuddling" as Dick liked to put it. 

Chapter 9: Kidnapped/Captured

Summary:

"for “kidnapped/captured” set in the time after Joker kills Jason and Bruce and Dick are at odds. Someone kidnaps Dick Grayson instead of Nightwing because no ones got his back and they hurt him a lot and Bruce is beside himself with worry because the last thing he said to Dick wasn’t the nicest thing. Definitely would like it to end on a nice note haha lots of comfort"

Notes:

Warning: mentions and attempts at SA/RAPE

Dick slams a fist down onto the top of the dumpster's plastic lid, anger overflowing. Then, almost immediately after this outburst, his anger recedes and hurt replaces it. He rubs at his fist as he turns and slumps down the wall of Downtown Gotham's small library. Extending his arms out to rest on his bent knees, he hangs his head in exhaustion as he tries to calm himself. 

"Best 20th Birthday ever, Bruce. Thanks so much." Dick whispers sarcastically under his breath. He scoffs, of course things ended up like this, they have been for the past almost year and a half now since Jason.....

He shakes his head at the thought, not ready to touch such a spot yet when he's alone like this. Though, touching it when he wasn't alone is what led to him sitting next to a dumpster in the first place. 

~

"Hey Timbo, is B in his office?" Dick asked as he rushed to close the front door to prevent more of the cold fall wind from getting inside. Bruce had called him on his day off from the BPD asking for him to come to the manor for help with something but hadn't said what. Dick had hoped(like the optimist he was) that it was to surprise him for his birthday. However, that was quickly crushed when Bruce had told him to get dressed for a charity event he apparently said Dick would be at. 

"Alfred set out a suit for you in your room. We have an event to get to in a little more than an hour so don't take too long" Bruce had said. Not even a hello or how are you doing? If Dick was being honest, it hurt him to realize Bruce only wanted him here for another job. But of course, its his fault for assuming the last several months they'd been actually talking instead of fighting, meant they were close enough to celebrate things together again. Fast forward to the event and its clear Bruce was ignoring him. He could have sworn he even saw him giving him a bat glare from across the room while Dick was talking to a guest. His appetite for any social activities after that quickly dwindled. The emotions swirling in his head from anger to confusion kept him distanced from anyone who tried to have a conversation when they noticed his uninterested responses. By the end of the event, Dick and Bruce are both irritated with each other. 

"What in the hell were you doing Dick?! I had guests complaining to me that you were ignoring them?! I asked for you to help not hinder!" Bruce had started scolding him as soon as the three of them got back into the car. For some reason, instead of immediately snapping back like he usually would, Dick attempted to hold it in. For his sake if not Bruce's. 

"Sorry, B, guess I was just out of it tonight." Dick lied, his energy spent just from dealing with the event and Bruce's seemingly pissy mood.

"You're 19 Dick, being "out of it" is just an excuse to slack on your responsibilities!"

"20" Dick cut off quietly, the anger getting the better of him. 

"What?" 

"I'm 20! Did you actually forget or just purposefully not say anything like you did about Jay?!" Dick snapped.

 

Then the fighting followed..........until a line was crossed.

 

"Jason was my Son! I had every right to keep it to myself!" Bruce shouted angerly, knowing full well what he was trying to imply.

Silence followed as Dick's 'And I'm not?' went unsaid, his expression contorting with hurt and anger. He took the chance a red light presented him and angerly flung the car door open and stormed off into the streets.

~

Looking back on it now, he realizes he had started it when he mentioned Jason. He wants to apologize.............but at the same time, after what Bruce had said, he doesn't. Sighing, he scrubs at his face with his hands and attempts to rid his mind of the upsetting thoughts. He needs to figure out where he's gonna sleep tonight, hopefully find a decent hote- "Shit!" He cusses as he suddenly starts frantically patting his suit pockets for his wallet even though he's sure he left it at the manor, pausing when he pulls out his phone. He barely has a chance to turn it on before a sound has him snapping his head up and watching as a steel-toed boot fills his vison. 

 

~

 

"What do you mean no wallet!? He's the son of the richest guy in Gotham and you're trying to tell me he doesn't have a thing on him that's worth a damn?!"

His hearing is muffled but he's just able to make out voices, though his brain is still too slow to understand what they're saying.

"Aw, cut him some slack Z, Jimmy did good on this one"

Where is he?

"And how the hell you figure that one Jay?"

Did he say Jay? Is little wing here?

"Cuz the big ticket item isn't what's on him, it is him" 

What's going on? Who are these voices? He comes up with more questions as his brain finally starts to catch up. 

Something knocked him out, he can remember that much now at least.

"Haha!" an excited laugh interrupts his thoughts. "I knew there was a reason I liked you Jay! You're a damn good right hand, you know that?"

The man's loud voice causes sudden pain to spring to Dick's head, causing his body to jolt while memories force their way back to him.

Ugh, had he really let himself get nabbed so easily? Forget Bruce, even Tim would be disappointed in him. He quickly turns his focus onto his body to get a sense of his condition. His suit jacket, shoes, tie, and belt are gone, along with all of his emergency beacons. Obviously these guys had half the brain to give him a good search, unfortunately for him. He can feel a blindfold tied around his head and freezing concrete bites into his skin below him even through his clothes. He's slightly taken aback at the way his arms are bound and hopes they'll be easier to free than he's expecting. Dick's arms are strapped together behind his back, rope going all the way to his elbows and forcing his arms into a horizontal position; his biceps are pushed between his thumb and pointer finger to prevent mobility in his hands. 

Dick's analyzing is interrupted by the all too familiar feeling of eyes on him, realizing immediately that his earlier movement didn't go unnoticed. Putting on his completely and totally not-a-vigilante act, he feigns waking up ignorant of the situation. He groans quietly(though it still comes to him easily the way his head is pounding) and twitches his arms in an attempt to test his restraints. He's pleasantly surprised to find the blindfold is loose enough he's able to open his eyes under it and he definitely wasn't expecting it be see through even though only a little. When he sees the barest outline of boots in front of his head, the flinch backwards is reflexive. He very much would like to avoid another boot to the head thank you very much.

"What's going on?" who's there?" He asks, furthering his act. Can always count on Bruce to drive home the "No acting vigilante when you aren't vigilante" rule even if it could really save everyone a lot of hardship. 

"Can it Grayson! We know you're a blue boy in training, The helpless civilian act ain't gonna cut it" Dick barely manages to match this voice to the "Z" from earlier when his brain was still fuzzy from waking up.

".....What do you want?" Dick's voice is firmer, getting straight to business. 

He hears snickers from around him, more than the original 3 he thought there might have been. Damn. He faintly registers a shadow move over him and braces for a hit. A hand lands on his head but it makes Dick uncomfortable how gently it sits there.

"Just a quick buck..." Z says, the smirk obvious in his tone. 

He suppresses a yelp of pain when his hair is suddenly grabbed and he grunts as his head is yanked forward.

"...But the fun we gonna have is a nice bonus too" Dick almost retches. The man is absolutely engulfed in vanilla. The smell wasn't Dick's favorite or anything and usually only made him scrunch his nose...but this? The man was practically producing the smell, to the point it almost made him dizzy with their sudden proximity.

"Fuck you" He resists the urge to spit at the man and grits his teeth.

"Pfft, at least take me to dinner first Richie" Z jokes, patting his cheek with his other hand with enough force it boarders smacking him. His hair is released and his head drops back down as light momentarily blinds him, the blindfold suddenly missing. 

It takes him a moment to adjust his eyes to the sudden light but afterwards he wastes no time in scanning in his surroundings. 

A warehouse. Of course.

Its a single empty room and looks about the size of a high school gym but with ceilings twice as low. Dick pauses at the few bulbs that give dim but adequate lighting, his earlier sensitivity signaling at a possible concussion. Moving on to the people in the room, he's disappointed to see about 8 men standing around the area, too many for the escape he was planning. From what he can see, there's two exits, a guard at each. Two more stand on either side of him a few feet away, Z stands in front of Dick and the last three are sat on chairs around a table behind him. His belongings are scattered on the table and Dick quickly scans them for his phone to find it not on the table, but in Z's hand.

Z himself looks to about mid to late 20's, easily shorter than Dick even from above him, muscled but skinny, and has stubble lining his chin. If it weren't for the cliche mob boss silver suit and styled brunette hair, he'd look like any other city bum. Among the others in the room, there are 2 others of similar size and one smaller, everyone else looks almost twice as big and are likely hired thugs. 

"Lets get straight to it, yea? All you gotta do is put in the passcode, we'll transfer the money, and then you'll be on your way. How's that sound?" Z explains as he holds up his phone so Dick can see the lock screen. This causes Dick to pause a second. Did they just kidnap the son of the richest guy in Gotham and ask the son to give them the ransom money? He'd slap a hand over his face if they weren't tied behind his back. 

Even if he had the money these guys want, he wouldn't give it to them; he's not one to let the bad guys win even if it meant his freedom.... obviously, if his past is anything to go on.

"Mm, no thanks. I'm actually broke so I can't help you there." His hair is yanked upwards immediately after his response and his eardrums violated.

"Bullshit!" Z screeches in his face. "Your pops is a goddamn billionaire, no way you don't got a shit ton of cash!" He yells as he attempts to shake him roughly by the hair grasped tightly in his fist. Dick squeezes his biceps tight, causing his nails to dig into his arms as he fights through the pain in his scalp. 

"Me and 'Pops' haven't been on the best of terms lately, no more allowance sorry" Dick says through a clenched jaw. He sensed the man's anger before the hit came, a punch landing square across his jaw and sending him to the floor with the momentum. He feels his lip split and pain rings through his already concussed head as he spits out blood. 

"Well too bad for you! We ain't lettin you go till you give us the money!" Z shouts, clearly frazzled, before he attempts to straighten himself and pats his suit like there was dust on him. 

"Sid, Brax, see if a little exercise persuades him a bit?" Z suggests, waving a nonchalant hand toward the two thugs standing on either side of Dick. He doesn't even have to finish his sentence before Dick is darting his gaze between the two and tensing his body for a struggle. 

The first thug, Sid, reaches for his bound feet. A mistake he'll regret as Dick takes the opportunity to shove both into his face, successfully catching him off-guard and breaking his nose with a resolute crunch. Sid flinches back with a shout and grabs at his face, pain turned anger contorting his features. 

Dick suddenly shouts in pain when a shoe shoves his head into the ground from behind, quick retaliation to his attack a second ago. He feels Sid take the opening to jump onto his legs and, before Dick can even register the action, cuts the restraints and snaps his right leg to one side. Another, more sickening Crack, echoes throughout the warehouse followed by Dick's agonizing scream.

 

~

 

Tim's gaze flicks between the open door Dick had just left from and the unpleasant expression on Bruce's face as he watches him storm off. Bruce sighs, "Continue to the manor, Alfred." He orders with an annoyed huff as he slams the door shut. "Wait, what about Dick?" Tim blurts out without thinking, his eyes once again flicking back to the car door. "Not now Tim, he can find his own way back when he's ready." comes Bruce's reply. Tim opens his mouth to continue but decides against it while he watches the outside blur as they start moving again. Tim picks at his lip worriedly as an uneasy feeling makes its way into his stomach. Once they get back to the manor, Alfred helps them get changed and takes care of their formal wear before releasing them to their own evening activities. Tim takes the opportunity and decides to delve into one of the extra case files on their non-priority list to pass the time before patrol. 

"Tim, get ready for patrol" Bruce's voice breaks through Tim's intense focus, causing momentary confusion before he thinks to look at the time. 9pm, 3 hours after Dick had stormed off. Tim's eyes widen in surprise, sudden anxiety rising from his gut. He quickly closes the case files before making his way towards the cave's locker-rooms as he dials Dick's number on his phone, impatiently waiting until he hears the pick-up sound. Relief washes over him for a split second, opening his mouth to speak as he pauses in the locker-room doorway. 

"Oh shut it will ya!"

"Aagh!"

"Aight, who is this!?"

"Tim-"  "HEY! will you two do your jobs?!" Tim's entire demeanor changes as he instantly processes the sounds coming from the other end of the line.

"Who is this?!" Tim demands, his hardened tone immediately sparking a reaction from Bruce a few meters away. Before he gets an answer, a commotion rings out from the phone until something scrapes against concrete and the line drops dead. Tim sits in silence for a second as Bruce gauges his expression to get a feel for the situation. 

"Someone has Dick"

 

~

 

Dick grinds his teeth together through the pain as Brax holds his broken leg into the air, effectively forcing him onto his stomach as Sid reaches a hand over to once again yank at his hair. Dick attempts to keep a steady gaze on his attackers when another punch to the face sends his head smacking into the concrete, another pained grunt slipping through his lips. His vision dizzies as Z re-enters his view, an amazing reminder of his concussion. Wearily, he watches Z drop to sit on his heels as he fishes for something in his vest pocket, anxiety trickling into Dick's senses. It takes a moment for the haze of confusion to clear when Z pulls out a simple silver earing adorned with a small white diamond and starts fidgeting with it between his thumbs. 

"Gorgeous, ain't she? Better than that haughty over the top bullshit all them rich chicks got" Z compliments the earring as he holds it up to the light and Dick doubts he's looking for a response. His eyes dart to Z's right hand as it moves towards his face and he has to resist the urge to pull away as his thumb and pointer finger rub Dick's left earlobe between them.

"Those schmucks wouldn't appreciate her, but I think I know a bitch that will" Z smirks as he retracts his hand to pull the backing off of the earring before bringing his hand back down to his earlobe with the earring pinched between his fingers. Dick jolts at the sting as the point of the earring is forced through his earlobe and pressed painfully into place before the backing is slid on. Z leans back as if judging a painting before an unsettlingly horrid grin slithers its way onto his face.

"Can't help it if I'm always right" Z uses his right hand to hold the underside of Dick's chin and forces his head to the side as if to get a better angle to admire his work, smearing blood from Dick's ear onto his jaw. 

Dick attempts to glare a hole through Z's face before a familiar ringtone is suddenly echoing off the warehouse walls, both him and Z jolting at the unexpected noise. 

 

"Well looky who we got here?" Z questions as he pulls out Dick's phone and looks at the screen before shaking it in front of Dick's face, 'Timmy' displayed on the screen. 

 

"Ima think we found a different source of payday ma boys, keep him quiet, don't want to ruin my first impressions."

 

"What kind of cliche city thug answers a call from a little kid for their ransom money?" Dick quips as he watches Z click the answer button, watching as his face twitches in anger. 

 

"Oh shut it would ya!" Z exclaims furiously as he stands and signals to the thug holding Dick's broken leg, a pained scream slipping from his lips as his leg is immediately yanked on.

"Aight, who is this?" He can hear Z turn his focus back to the phone call as the blood stops pounding in his ears, his mouth opening before he realizes. 

"Tim" He hopes its loud enough for him to hear until Z's screeching is suddenly reverberating through his eardrums, his headache throbbing before pains explodes behind his eyes as his head is kicked to the side. 

Dick must have blacked out for a minute because he's suddenly opening his eyes to lay a blurry gaze on Z crouching to grab his phone off the floor as curses spill from his mouth. 'Good thing he got Tim to make it extra durable' he thinks to himself absentmindedly, unconsciousness wavering in an out. The next time he's blinking his eyes open, he knows he's been out for at least a few minutes because his arms are strung up above him and he's now only wearing his pants and socks. He jolts as an unexpected hand suddenly gropes at his chest as Z once again(ever the good host) walks into his line of sight. Dick recoils internally at the all too suggestive touching at his chest as he watches Z continue walking around to stand at his back, fingers tracing over old scars. His vision suddenly swims and his head lolls forward at the same time the click of a camera can be heard from behind him. 'Right...ransom, that's what he was here for' he has to remind himself. The sudden and unmistakable sound of a whip cracking behind him has Dick sucking in a gasp and fear sends his mind spiraling. He decides to blame his concussion for the sudden emotions that bring tears pricking at his eyes. 

He lets the tears fall down his cheeks as the past 2 years flash through his mind. The abandonment he felt at being kicked out, the betrayal when he saw some random new kid wearing his mother's name and colors, the affection that showed itself late as he got to know Jason better, the grief when he found out about Jason's death and the anger at Bruce for not having said anything, and lastly, the warmth he felt the first time he and Bruce were able to laugh together again after Jason died. After the last two years, his desire for a healthy family again was more than he could bear. 

But he ruined that didn't he? He just had to mention Jason's death and provoke a reaction out of Bruce.

Now he's once again alone(cause Bruce basically said he wasn't his son after all, didn't he?) because of one of his stupid mistakes. 

 

~

 

Its been about an hour since the first call and Bruce is taking it hard. Tim isn't exactly surprised though, considering what he'd last said to Dick when emotions were high. 

Tim can see the guilt radiate off his figure slouched over the bat computer's keyboard, Bruce's hand rising to scrub the tension from his face. He doesn't realize how much he's staring until his phone vibrates on his leg and his attention his immediately pulled from his depressed father figure. Picking up his phone, he has a feeling he knows what the alert is going to be as he unlocks it and taps into his messages. When he taps onto Dick's icon, he pauses abruptly at the video thumbnail that greets him. Swallowing hard, he moves his gaze past the bloodied image of his elder brother and reads the ransom message underneath. 

"150 Mil wired to burner acc xxxxxx before midnight or pretty boy Richie will start to look a little dead."

 

"Bruce" He calls as he sets his laptop to the side before standing and walking over to the bat computer, phone outstretched for Bruce to take.

 

"The ransom?" Bruce guesses as he turns the phone in his hand, reading the message before hitting the video's play button. At the point where the video starts, Dick already has a few bloodied marks extending down his bare back, a whip cracking from the right. The person holding the whip is purposely cut off frame and they don't appear to be holding back, each slash erupting a pained cry from Dick as his body jolts with the impact. Even with his face mostly turned away, Tim can see the glisten of clear liquid on his cheek. Tim's chest twinges at the scene, Dick looked so vulnerable. He turns his attention to Bruce as the last few seconds of the video plays out and eyes the way Bruce seems to age before him, worry lines creasing and eyes looking even more sunken. 

"We missed our chance to track the phone call earlier but ideally we can use this fresh signal to track them down." Bruce quickly averts his attention to the bat computer as he types away, eyes darting towards the clock. "We've got less than two hours, we'll have to be quick" He adds, worrying the skin on his lip. 

 

 

~

 

 

Dick is once again startled from unconsciousness when the feeling of a hand on his waist sends his alarm bells blaring, eyes snapping open to painful light. The searing pain in his back greets him quickly now that he's awake again and he has to bite his lip to stop himself from crying out again. after several heaving breaths, Dick feels composed enough to focus his attention onto his tormentor he can feel waiting for him. When he looks down to Z, arms still strung up above him, he notices quickly that Z's suit jacket is also now missing and the arms of his button up have been pushed back to his elbows. Dick's comprehensive abilities aren't exactly the best at the moment but through the pain and haze encompassing his head, he gets a feeling those small details aren't a good thing. 

"Good to see you've returned to us Richie" Z starts with a smirk. "Your good ol' pops seems a little slow on the uptake, deadline for our money is comin up" Z exclaims with an amused expression, pulling out Dick's phone(the screen scratched to hell) and shoving it in his face. He barely register's the time reading '11:33 PM' as he tries to remember when Z even sent out a ransom message. He pauses his thoughts when his attention is pulled back to the time again, mind slow at calculating how long he's been here. Around 6 hours give or take how long he's been knocked out. 6 hours and not a word from Bruce, his body slumping further in his restraints as depression looms. 

He really screwed himself this time, didn't he?

 

"Oi! don't be zonin out when the real fun's about to start!" Z shouts as he roughly pats at Dick's cheek, pulling him back before he can spiral again. Now that Dick's focus was back on him, Z took the opportunity to give his body a slow once over, lust twinkling in his eye, tongue licking his lips hungrily. Dick's breath hitches as new sobs threaten to erupt, eyes squeezing tight to block out Z's presence as it moves around him. Blood rushing through his head blocks out any noise as hands start to grope down his sides, slowly feeling out his muscle tones before two fingers on either side are slipped into the brim of his suit pants, rubbing at the fabric of his underwear. He isn't sure if he's breathing anymore as the hands dive deeper before slowly inching their way backwards, his entire body jolting hard as they suddenly grip harshly around the base of thighs where ass and leg meet. Z is saying something but Dick has closed himself off as best he can manage, a cry wrestling out of him as his suit pants and socks are harshly pulled fully off of him, painfully jostling his broken leg. He can feel himself reaching his breaking point as the hands return to his hips again, two fingers on each side once more slipping underneath his last layer of clothing. The touch, now on his bare skin, has him ready to spill the contents of his stomach until, suddenly............the hands are gone. 

He sits there, blood rushing through his ears, eyes squeezed tight, gasps escaping him as he finally releases the breath he was holding. After a few minutes of complete nothingness, his hearing starts to return, muffled shouts and sounds of flesh hitting flesh barely registering in his brain. His fragile attention span is soon taken from the sounds of fighting to the clinking of a chain rattling, the sound suddenly growing so much louder as the fighting seems to end. 

ah, the sound is coming from him, he finally realizes. His whole body is shaking. 

 

Hands are on him again and he's suddenly thrashing his body away from the touch, tears finally flowing from his closed eyes.

'I can't-I can't take anymore, please' He doesn't think he said it out loud but even in his head it sounded so broken and desperate. The hands are gone again. 

 

 

...

 

 

"Chum..." A voice sounding so similar in despair. 

 

His eyes snap open. 

 

 

~

 

Bruce feels devastated.  

He's sat himself in a bedside chair in one of the cave's med rooms while he waits for Dick to wake.

Its been about 12 hours since they'd brought him back to the cave and Bruce can't stop thinking about how yesterdays events led up to the situation he now found himself in. His child was kidnapped by random men and severely injured and tortured because he all but practically disowned him during their argument. He glances up to look at Dick's face, relaxed in the comfort of sleep as his monitor beeps steadily. He never meant to hurt Dick in this way, to push him out, he only wanted to protect him. But this was still his fault, he was the reason his son was almost-.

Bruce looks back down to his clenched hands, emotions rising as he thinks back to the moment they crashed into the warehouse. 

 

He'd tried to keep control and focused on the men in the room before looking at the damage they'd inflicted upon Dick. Punch after punch, just focus on subduing the criminals. Be batman right now, ignore the anxiety. 

The mantra he'd been repeating to himself stopped when the sounds of fighting completely disappeared as the last thug hit the ground. He couldn't stop himself from immediately turning to Dick. 

Bruce shifts in the bedside chair, hand reaching up to grasp Dicks on the bed.

 

He'd looked.......so small, in that moment. Shaking so badly he could see the tremors going through his body and the hear the chains from where he stood across the warehouse. 

 

He looked just like that little boy he picked up from the juvenile detention center, body and mind battered and terrified. His little boy. 

His control slipped from him when the tears and pleading thoroughly broke him. 

 

"Br-uce"  He's jolted from his flashbacks when a strained voice quietly calls his name, his head rising to meet fatigued blue eyes. 

 

"H-hey chum" He clears his throat. "How are you feeling?..." He doesn't know what else to say.

 

"Mmfine, not much pain" Dick replies sluggishly, attempting to sit up without jostling the injuries on his back too much. Bruce moves to grab a cup of water and gives him a moment to gather his bearings. 

"Thanks" He says after he finished the cup and hands it back to him. "How long has it been?" He asks as he takes stock of his condition, avoiding eye contact with Bruce.

"About 12 hours, you have a moderate concussion, closed displaced fractures in your left tibia and fibula, and severe lacerations on your back. Alfred says the lacerations and fractures should heal relatively easy with close monitoring. You should be up and walking again in about 2 months." Bruce reports robotically, falling into habit all to easily. He looks up to watch Dick nod at the information but doesn't say anything else. 

 

...

 

"I'm so sorry Dick" He finally breaks the silence after a few tense minutes, watching as Dick twitches in response. 

 

"When I think about the last year and a half....and what I said to you before you were taken yesterday....I-....its all my fault, and I'm so sorry for how I've hurt you." Bruce can't make any sense of the emotions he's feeling but he does know he wants to be a father to his son again. He looks up and makes eye contact with Dick. 

"You are my son Dick....and I'm so proud of who you've become." He sees subtle tears begin to fill Dick's eyes as he processes what Bruce is saying. 

 

"Hah....I didn't know how much I needed that" Dick says, emotion warping his tone. Bruce is standing from his chair and wrapping gentle arms around his shoulders before he realizes what he's doing. 

 

 

 

Notes:

I might actually do a epilogue to this later, really liked this chapter

let me know what ya'll think^^

#good dad bruce wayne is the best